‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 2 Finale: Is Aunt Lydia OK After That, Um, Accident?

Showrunner Bruce Miller explains what that incident with Emily means for Ann Dowd’s future on Hulu series

Handmaids Tale Aunt Lydia Ann Dowd
Photo by: George Kraychyk/Hulu

(Spoiler alert: Please don’t read ahead unless you’ve seen the Season 2 finale of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Word.”)

Ouch, that had to hurt. On Wednesday’s Season 2 finale of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) was literally stabbed in the back by Emily (Alexis Bledel), as the long-suffering Handmaid finally snapped and attacked the woman who had trained her in her childbearing role within Gilead’s dystopian society.

But not to worry — if you’re the kind of person that would actually worry about the willing accomplices of state-sanctioned evil. Though we saw Lydia wasn’t in great shape after the incident — writhing in pain on Commander Joseph Lawrence’s (Bradley Whitford) floor, the Hulu series’ creator, Bruce Miller, says she is gonna be just fine — or at least alive — come Season 3.

“Aunt Lydia doesn’t die [laughs],” Miller told reporters during a conference call Monday. “I don’t think Aunt Lydia can die. I don’t think there are forces in the world strong enough to kill Aunt Lydia. And by extension, the incredibly strong, fabulous Ann Dowd I think is with us for a long, long time, as well.”

“But Aunt Lydia doesn’t die,” he continued. “She’s transformed by this event, one of her girls — she has you know has twisted herself into thinking there is a love between her and her girls — has literally stabbed her in the back. And that kind of, you know, alters your workplace feelings on a day-to-day basis. You don’t want to turn your back on them. So I think in some ways, there’s a lot of possible effects, but in her case it makes her double down on that she feels she just wasn’t strong enough in her discipline. So she’s decided it’s time to get tough.”

Though she won’t be getting tough with Emily, at least we don’t think, seeing as the Handmaid and June’s (Moss) daughter Holly/Nicole were last seen heading out of Gilead come the finale’s end, thanks to June’s sacrifice and a little help from Joseph and a lot of help from the Marthas.

Read more from our interview with Miller about the Season 2 finale here.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 2 is available for streaming now on Hulu.

Comments