If you’ve watched “The Handmaid’s Tale”, you’ll know it’s not for the faint-hearted. You need a spine of steel and, as they say, “hair on your teeth”, to survive the intensity of Gilead’s world.

The hit dystopian drama, based on Margaret Atwood’s chilling 1985 novel, first premiered in 2017 and has gripped audiences ever since with its brutal storytelling, powerful performances, and terrifyingly close-to-home themes.

Set in the fictional and oppressive regime of Gilead, the series follows the lives of women stripped of their rights in a patriarchal theocracy built on fear, violence, and control.

Over the years, “The Handmaid’s Tale” has earned critical acclaim and scooped numerous awards but it’s also taken an emotional toll on its viewers and actors.

As the show gears up for its sixth and final season, fans are bracing themselves. Some are eager to see how it all ends, while others are dreading the heartbreak and heavy themes that the final chapter will no doubt deliver.

One actor who won’t be returning for the upcoming series is Samira Wiley, who portrayed Moira Strand for six seasons. Moira was one of the few sparks of resistance in Gilead – a former handmaid turned rebel fighter and one of June’s closest friends.

She was fierce, loyal, and one of the lucky ones to escape to Canada, becoming a symbol of survival and activism.

But for Wiley, her time with the series has come to an end. She won’t be returning in the sequel.

In an exclusive interview with “Parade”, she said: “I’m not gonna tease and say maybe or nothing. Nope. I am done with it. I am done with the trauma. I am. I mean it.”

She credited Margaret Atwood’s deep and layered writing for making the role so meaningful, but admitted the emotional weight was real.

“I feel like I have played my part and my story is done,” she said. Wiley also revealed she had to rely on tools like meditation and mindfulness just to detach from the darkness of Gilead.

“I often tell people who binge-watch the show, like, please take care of your mental health.”

Shows like “The Handmaid’s Tale”, while fictional, often mirror very real issues; oppression, abuse, and systemic control. Viewers may not realise how much it weighs on the mind, especially when watching back-to-back.

The emotional impact can linger, and experts often advise pacing yourself, taking breaks, and talking about it if certain scenes hit close to home.

Another familiar face from the show, Sam Jaeger, who played Mark Tuello (a US government official working to bring down Gilead), also reflected on the challenges of being part of the series.

“It’s a hard show. It was a hard show to watch for some seasons, and I think we knew that,” Jaeger admitted.

Still, he praised the creators for knowing exactly how they wanted the story to end. “A lot of times people try to end shows, and they don’t know how,” he said.

But with “The Handmaid’s Tale”, “They really stuck the landing.”

“You don’t want to be lost. I understand, for all intents and purposes, you want to feel like we got to the end, and people feel satiated, but it also feels true to the show.”

However, the story of Gilead is far from over. A sequel titled “The Testaments” is officially in the works, based on Margaret Atwood’s follow-up novel of the same name.

Set 15 years after the events of the original book, the new series shifts focus to a younger generation of women who have grown up knowing nothing but Gilead’s oppressive regime.

According to reports, “The Testaments” is a coming-of-age story centred around girls who have no memory of life before indoctrination.

As they face being married off and forced into servitude, they begin to question the system and look for allies, both familiar and unexpected, in their fight for freedom and a life they can finally call their own.

It seems the horrors of Gilead are far from over, but so too is the fight against it.