[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale series finale.]
The Handmaid’s Tale brought an original star back in the series finale in a big surprise for fans. The move to bring this character back for one final scene made for a nice moment of reconnection in the after of Mayday’s liberation of Boston seen in the penultimate episode of the series.
Alexis Bledel returned as Emily in the series finale, titled “The Handmaid’s Tale,” available on Hulu as of May 27 at 12 a.m. ET/9 p.m. PT. Emily was a fixture of The Handmaid’s Tale from the very first episode up until her unexpected exit in the Season 4 finale.
Season 5 began with an explanation of Emily’s absence when June (Elisabeth Moss) reconnected with Emily’s wife, Sylvia (Clea DuVall), who revealed that she had returned to Gilead to fight for the resistance and hunt down Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd). Emily was never heard from or seen again. But that changed in The Handmaid’s Tale series finale. Bledel’s Emily appears in a scene with June in the episode.
Disney / Steve Wilkie
Bledel won an Emmy for her performance in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 1, which saw her character experience some of the show’s most disturbing body horror, such as the surgical removal of her clitoris as punishment for fighting back against those in Gilead trying to break her and the other trapped handmaids.
Emily went on to escape Gilead with June’s help and make a new life in Canada, but reconnecting with her wife and their son was a long and difficult process. She committed herself to it nonetheless before feeling the urge to go back to Gilead and try and take down the regime from the inside.
Another presumed-dead character came back in the Season 6 premiere: Holly, June’s mother played by Cherry Jones, who had previously only been seen in flashbacks.
The Handmaid’s Tale, Series Finale Available Now, Hulu