Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Handmaid's Tale
Good news, The Handmaid's Tale fans. The Hulu/Channel 4 series taking the world – and surely the upcoming awards season – by storm is officially coming back for a second season.
And, according to star Elisabeth Moss in an interview with The Pool, "season two is going to be bad too, really dark – it's going to get worse".
Want to find out what else is in store for the ladies in red and blue alike?
Just put down those oranges, flip patriarchy the bird and take a quick gander at our pretty extensive list of everything you need to know about season two.
The Handmaid's Tale season 2 release date: When's it on?
As far as an official airdate is concerned, it's early doors, but the show will definitely return to Hulu in 2018 (and we assume, Channel 4, as well).
We can probably expect pre-production to take a little longer this time around, given the show is expanding beyond the source material.
However, Romper reports that the series could be back on screens as early as April 2018, so it's not all bad news.
Blessed Day.
The Handmaid's Tale season 2 cast: Who's in it?
In short, everyone.
Elisabeth Moss will of course be returning as Offred and Alexis Bledel has now confirmed she WILL be making an against-all-odds return as Ofglen, despite her penchant for decapitating Gilead soldiers in spur-of-the-moment joyrides.
Also confirmed to return are Moira (Samira Wiley) and the tragically-fated Janine (Madeline Brewer) after her fellow Handmaids dropped their stones in the season finale.
"Obviously, Janine is supposed to be sentenced to death and then she isn't," Brewer told Vulture.
"What are we going to do with her now? She has two healthy ovaries!"
Luke (OT Fagbenle), the Waterfords and the heavily eyebrowed but ever expressionless Nick (Max Minghella) are also a shoe-in for season 2.
Equally, we expect the return of June and Luke's daughter, Hannah and evil Aunt Lydia, because that woman's a cockroach and probably won't ever die.
The Handmaid's Tale season 2 plot: What's going to happen?
The opening scene is going to be VERY unexpected
Ahead of the second season, Elizabeth Moss has teased fans by promising them they won't guess the opening scene of the first episode.
"Don't try to guess what happens in that first scene of episode one in season two," Moss told TV Guide.
"You will never get it, and I mean that objectively as a viewer. You just won't guess, and I love that so much."
Expect big shocks and bizarre scenes, such as Offred being best friends with Serena Joy or even a trip to the colonies.
Offred is going to get "rebellious".
Good news, Offred fans. Showrunner Bruce Miller has confirmed that The Handmaid's Tale will still be all about Offred and, this time, she's much more bad-ass.
"Season two is what happens after you become a little rebellious," Miller told EW.
"The things you are seeing blooming in Offred are not going to go away. Her spirit of rebellion and her careful march away from being a well-behaved handmaid and making some trouble is where the season is rolling towards."
Praise be.
There might be an Aunt Lydia back story.
Miller has also confirmed one of the show's most brilliant and brutal villains Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) may well get a back story of her very own.
"Aunt Lydia is one of my most fascinating characters," he told New York Times. "We would like to explore her back story, and what the lives of the aunts are like."
Offred's mum WILL make an appearance.
In the book, Offred refers to her mother several times, later learning she was sent to the colonies.
However, in the TV show, she is mentioned only in passing, when we learn she orchestrated Offred and Luke's attempted escape from Boston, giving fans reason to think her story would be included in the show's second season.
And they were right, as showrunner Bruce Miller has now confirmed Offred's mother will be a part of season 2 and even beyond that, with an interest in her brand of feminism in particular.
"We've been thinking about her a lot," he told THR.
"It's a story we want to tell — she was one of the most memorable characters."
Just spitballing here, but anyone else think a resistance group made up of primarily elderly/menopausal women and led by Offred's mum would be awesome?
As may the wider resistance.
Seeing as Ofglen (Alexis Bledel) will be coming back and Moira (Samira Wiley) is back on board with the rebellion and out of Jezebel's, it's likely we'll find out more about all the resistance groups, including Mayday, next season.
This theory was also supported by Elisabeth Moss, who previously hinted that the second run will help stitch up the "huge gap" between the book's cliffhanger ending and epilogue (which details Gilead's eventual downfall at the hands of a resistance group).
"There's a huge gap between the epilogue and the end of the book where there's a lot of unanswered questions," she told The Hollywood Reporter.
"There's so much that hasn't been said in that book, and we're looking to explore that."
Based on this, we expect both the toxic waste-filled colonies and the mysterious Little America to be explored in more depth next season.
The fate of other countries will be explored.
In the first season of The Handmaid's Tale, we got a glimpse of what post-Gilead life was like in Canada and Mexico, with the Canadians at the forefront of the resistance while Mexico were looking to trade with Gilead for some Handmaid's of their own.
Shame on them.
However, it looks like we'll get an even broader view of what the hell is going in other countries around the world in season two.
In the book, Japanese tourists take pictures of the Handmaids in all their gear, suggesting that some countries are fully aware of what's going on in Gilead and are happy to treat the Handmaid's as a mere cultural quirk of the newfound America.
Given Elisabeth Moss's promises that more parts of the book would be explored in the second season, we surely can expect to see more about how the ROW is reacting to the newly formed state of Gilead.
And so will Gilead's race issue.
In Atwood's novel, Gilead is a white-worshipping patriarchal society, a detail that was crucially absent from season one. However, it looks like all that will change next season, as the issue of race finally comes to the fore.
"I've been fascinated by the conversations about race," showrunner Bruce Miller has revealed.
"The thoughtful conversations online really inspired a lot of thoughtful conversations in the writers' room about this. We're taking advantage of that [in season two]."
The Handmaid's Tale season 2 episodes: How long will it run?
The first season of The Handmaid's Tale spans 10 episodes. However, season 2 will actually have a more extended run and feature 13 episodes (via The Hollywood Reporter).
That's more like it.
The Handmaid's Tale season 2 writers: Who's on board?
Producer Bruce Miller will be back next season, as well as Margaret Atwood.
It also strongly looks like Reed Morano (who directed the first three episodes of the first season) will be back serving as another exec producer.
Margaret Atwood may have admitted she never thought of a future for Offred, but it doesn't mean she's giving up.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the novelist hinted she would be heavily involved in plotting season two, giving some indication that the extension of the Handmaid's Tale world will be in safe hands.
"I think it will be more involving in the second season because we will be in uncharted territories so more invention will have to take place," she said.
Phew!
The Handmaid's Tale season 2: Who's directing?
Exec producer Reed Morano is a shoo-in to direct a few episodes next season, but who else?
Well, based on this season, possible returning directors could be Mike Barker, Floria Sigismondi, Kate Dennis and Kari Skogland.
However, given the show's a huge success, can we also get Wonder Woman's Patty Jenkins signed on for at least a few episodes next season?
Once she's done with her new horror film, that is.
Speaking of fantasy directors, wouldn't A Wrinkle in Time's Ava DuVernay be great for an episode where the series finally tackles its race problem?
Quick. Someone make the call.
