The Handmaid's Tale, TV Shows

New Filming Photos Hint at Dark Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Plot

The Handmaids Tale

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As filming continues for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, new behind-the-scenes photos are emerging, providing more clues about what to expect when the show returns in September. (See a previous series of set photos in our story here.) The latest photos hint at a particularly dark plot, and that’s definitely nothing new for this post-apocalyptic series. 

This post has spoilers for Season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale, based on filming photos shared on social media. 


Filming in York University Showed What Might Be a ‘Wife School’

In early July, u/emiirin shared a filming photo on the York University subreddit from The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5. 

Handmaiden’s Tale filming at Yorku from yorku

The series was filming at York University. You can see what appears to be small, semi-see-through pods set up that are big enough to hold one bed apiece. 

York University is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is the fourth-largest university in Canada. 

According to a post made one month earlier, some scenes were also filmed at Vari Hall at York University. The Handmaid’s Tale was filming under the code name “Ruby Road.” 

As for the most recent photo, it appears to be some type of “Wife School” set, according to a post shared by u/YeahWTF20 on the subreddit Coconuts and Treason. 

"Wife School" apparently. from coconutsandtreason

One person in the subreddit, jennfinn24, speculated on whether this might be a Gilead birthing center in Canada where Serena gives birth. However, the OP said that some of the boxes were labeled “Wife School,” thus their guess.

Another commenter, mur0204, suggested that perhaps this is a “finishing school” of sorts for wives-to-be. Went-full-potato suggested the same, writing: 

Photos were also shared on The Handmaid’s Tale subreddit that showed the crew packing up the set and preparing to leave. 

Handmaid’s Fans on Twitter shared more photos of this terrifyingly intriguing wife school. 


One person on Twitter speculated that maybe Hannah will be trained here, which is a really disturbing thought. Thus, it might be part of the plot. 


A Trailer for the New Season Has Been Released

As Post Apocalyptic Media previously reported, a trailer for the new season has been released. 

New Trailer for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Teases Major Serena-June Standoff

The new trailer doesn’t have any hint of the “wife school” that some fans saw being filmed, so this might take place later in the season. 

The new trailer has plenty of other hints about the plot, though. 

We see scenes in the trailer from the Commander’s funeral, along with both Luke and June appearing to have run-ins with the Canadian government. Meanwhile, it looks like Serena is gaining power, even while she’s in Canada. And that could be very, very bad for June. 

Want to chat about The Handmaid’s Tale? Join our Discord server here or our Handmaid’s Tale Fanatics Facebook page.

    Stephanie Dwilson started Post Apocalyptic Media with her husband Derek. She's a licensed attorney and has a master's in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].

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