Blessed Be the Ratings: Streamer's Bleak Dystopian Series Scores a Second Season

After a slow start, it seems that Hulu is happy with the ratings for The Testaments. The Handmaid's Tale sequel series has been renewed for a second season.

The Testaments Season 1 will come to an end on May 27, 2026. It has to include the cameo Margaret Atwood teased as the new series started. The author of the books couldn't delve into which type of character she would play, but we haven't spotted her nine episodes in!

Now the question is whether The Testaments can avoid the problems that The Handmaid's Tale faced. The first season of the predecessor followed the single book it was based on almost to a tee. This set up some issues moving forward, as there wasn't a framework for anything that happened to June.

The series took on a life of its own, further developing the totalitarian regime that was Gilead, giving us a look at life for those who made it out in Canada, and even a snippet of life in parts of America that hadn't been taken over.

What about The Testaments, as it faced the same issue, being based just on a singular book? It's a little easier for the sequel series not to face this issue. After all, elements of the story have already changed, including the prominence of Aunt Lydia's part of the story. There is plenty more to explore with that character throughout the second season, including whether she is now part of Mayday or not.

There's also the fact that Daisy is definitely not Baby Nichole, as she is in the books. The timeline doesn't work out, and showrunner Bruce Miller already explained this change.

"I didn't want to make any changes at all, but I felt like I wanted to have Daisy and Agnes physically together, and not tell their stories 15 years apart like they do in the book," Miller told The Hollywood Reporter, "So it was very hard and I didn't want to do it, but Daisy is not Nichole/Holly."

There have been other changes more recently, such as with Becka's arc. In the books, Becka ends up going to Aunt training, but in the show, we have just seen her kill her father and her fate in the hands of the Eyes. With the addition of Garth, Daisy's handler, it opens the door for new storylines as The Testaments Season 2 gets underway.

There is no premiere date just yet, but we're hoping for 2027!

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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 11:58 AM.