The scripts for The Handmaid’s Tale season four are being devised at the moment. However, following the publication of The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, the new series is likely to be taking a new direction. Season four could be incorporating the material from the new book into the show going forward.
Will Pearl Girls appear in The Handmaid’s Tale season 4?
WARNING: This article contains potential spoilers from The Testaments
The Testaments introduces Pearl Girls, missionaries spreading the word about Gilead to the world.
The idea of these missionaries was created by Aunt Lydia (played by Ann Dowd), who encouraged the upper echelons of the Gilead regime that the Pearl Girls would be good PR for the nation.
To the outside world, Gilead is a brutal regime where women are treated as an underclass with no say in their lives.
Pearl Girls are an underclass of Aunt but they can leave Gilead and go abroad to recruit more women to come to Gilead.
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The Pearl Girls go to countries like Canada and other places but are sent in pairs, so that no one can lead a single one astray.
However, the Pearl Girls are hinted to also be spies and sent to gather intelligence on Gilead’s foes.
They are also suggested to be Aunt Lydia’s underlings and part of her plan to take down the alt-right Christian regime from the inside.
US streaming service Hulu and MGM have already confirmed they will be working on adapting The Testaments for television.
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At this stage, it remind unclear whether the material from the novel will be included in The Handmaid’s Tale or as a separate series.
But The Handmaid’s Tale showrunner Bruce Miller is “involved in discussions” in adapting the material for television, according to TIME.
From a narrative view it would probably make sense to include some of the material, particularly Aunt Lydia’s backstory – of which viewers have only seen glimpses so far.
Pearl Girls would fit in with this well and makes sense and give further context to how Gilead develops over time.
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Dowd previously told the publication: “It would be thrilling to watch Lydia get the job done. I guess you and I are allowed to talk about it because we’ve read it. But just spectacular.”
After narrating the audiobook for The Testaments, Dowd said she now had a better understanding of her character,
Saying the novel “gives a clear indication from the creator of this story of where she will end up and what will happen”.
Aunt Lydia is also likely to have a bigger role to play in season four now after The Testaments.
Dowd added: “To drop into that world with which I was so familiar, and to see the direction she took it, and who Lydia turns out to be, it was like being let in on a secret.”
The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 will air on Hulu and Channel 4 in 2020
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood is available to buy now
