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On April 28, The Handmaid’s Tale will return to Hulu for its fourth season. Alexis Bledel has played Emily Malek throughout the past three seasons of the show, and in 2017 she won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for the role. Will Bledel appear as Emily in Season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale?

Alexis Bledel attending Hulu's 'The Handmaid's Tale' FYC Event in 2018
Alexis Bledel | JC Olivera/Getty Images

Hulu released a trailer for ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

On Feb. 25, Hulu released a teaser for Season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale. The trailer does not show Emily, but it does give a glimpse of what to expect from the fourth season.

It appears that The Handmaid’s Tale will shift locations, and instead of being focused in the Boston area, June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) will make her way to Chicago, which is a battleground in the show.

At multiple points throughout the trailer, June is seen in a yellow sweatshirt and blue hat instead of her Handmaid’s uniform. At the end of the trailer, June is seen on a dock with the Canadian flag hanging in the background.

“My name is June Osborne. I am a citizen of the United States,” she says in a voiceover.

Emily will appear in Season 4 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

While Emily was not shown in the trailer for the fourth season of The Handmaid’s Tale, Bledel’s character will be present. In a 2020 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Bruce Miller gave some hints about what to expect from the fourth season.

The third season ended with June helping dozens of children escape Gilead. Because of this, life as a refugee will play a huge role in Season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale.

“And refugees have been very much in the news in the last five, 10 years, and that’s the journey you’re seeing: what happens after you cross the border?” Miller proposed.

He continued, “For Emily (Alexis Bledel), Moira (Samira Wiley) and now for Rita (Amanda Brugel), these people are living with the question of how much Gilead did they bring with them to Canada.”

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What else to expect from the upcoming season

At the end of the third season, June was shot while distracting a Guardian. The season concludes with her fate unknown. While the new trailer assures fans that June survives, there are still a lot of questions to be answered about what to expect from June this season.

“June is going into a very interesting world, she’s on the run, she’s got women with her who she feels responsible for. She’s also bleeding to death,” Miller told The Hollywood Reporter.

According to Miller, fans of The Handmaid’s Tale can expect the new season to be completely different than past seasons.

“June has a taste of freedom now, and we’re going to follow her. So I think it’s entirely different than other seasons…,” he said. “It starts out with June having done this big thing that almost got her killed. What do you do after that? Do you do another big thing? This one almost got you killed.”

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