The Handmaid's Tale
TV Show • 2017 • Drama
ReportThis tv show contains 101 potentially triggering events.
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| Season | |
| Episode |
Your Triggers
Yes
6
No
56
Unanswered Triggers
Does an abused person forgive their abuser?
88 supporters
Yes
0
No
0
1
FleetwoodMacNCheez
S5
SPOILER: At the conclusion of the fifth season, June is shown offering assistance to Serena.
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone abused with a belt?
77 supporters
Yes
0
No
0
1
PatBunnyTabata
there is a very graphic and brutal scene. The abuser is the abused own husband.
Severe welts are visible after.
Severe welts are visible after.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Abandonment
Is a child abandoned by a parent?
145 supporters
Yes
10
No
0
0
Not intentionally, but yes.
1 comment | Add comment
Abuse
Yes
4
No
1
Yes
26
No
10
Yes
56
No
7
1
Equivamp
Commander Waterford spanks his wife as a punishment.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
8
No
2
1
lilyflowersapphic
S4
E8
June, struggling with the trauma of being a handmaid in Gilead, tries to coerce her husband into sex after he says no multiple times.
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone gaslighted?
412 supporters
Yes
41
No
8
3
Rowynn
while there are several instances of gaslighting and similar manipulation tactics throughout the show, the most upsetting instance is in the first episode. a character is shamed by a group of people for having been raped as a young teenager. This scene mainly consists of the repeating phrases "her fault!" and "lead them on!" while this isn't exactly gaslighting, it is extremely distressing and definitely something to be aware of.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
44
No
10
5
miriamm0798
Hannah describes how her new parents physically abuse her and then blame her for their actions.
5 comments | Add comment
Addiction
Is there addiction?
226 supporters
Yes
33
No
9
0
Keyla
One of the characters is seen smoking constantly.
3 comments | Add comment
Does someone abuse alcohol?
208 supporters
Yes
33
No
8
0
PatBunnyTabata
There is a soldier known to be an alcoholic. He is found drunk, trespassing on a farm.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
36
No
8
Animal
Yes
0
No
5
Yes
1
No
44
Yes
39
No
20
0
PoeDameron
S4
E1
A pig is shot at the 30m mark
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
9
No
30
Yes
1
No
41
Is there a dead animal?
617 supporters
Yes
43
No
8
1
Diabird
S2E1 : a woman escapes in a meat truck and there are cows and pigs upside down in it.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Does a cat die?
1,207 supporters
Yes
59
No
11
7
Friday
Which episode is this?
2 comments | Add comment
Does a pet die?
420 supporters
Yes
13
No
7
3
PoeDameron
S4
E1
Mr. Darcy the pig, Janine is then forced to eat her
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
1
No
46
Yes
2
No
35
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
1
No
42
Yes
0
No
4
Yes
5
No
33
Assault
Does a woman get slapped?
National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233)
101 supporters
Add comment
Yes
6
No
0
Is someone drugged?
144 supporters
Yes
8
No
1
0
PatBunnyTabata
A severely abused minor keeps her abuser under drugs to minimize the abuse.
2 comments | Add comment
Is there pedophilia?
227 supporters
Yes
7
No
1
1
SiRenfield
Pedophilia in-universe has quickly become normalized in this new society as you might occasionally see child brides
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone held under water?
127 supporters
Yes
4
No
1
1
FleetwoodMacNCheez
June is water boarded as punishment.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
8
No
0
Yes
3
No
1
Yes
25
No
3
Yes
72
No
4
11
JohannaH
sexual assault is a main topic and shown several times
5 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
4
Yes
19
No
0
0
LisaW13
Trigger warning! Season 2 episode 10 Fred violently rapes June on screen to force labor. This happens after Serena says she feels it is best for the baby to be born naturally. She calls June to her bedroom where she holds June down and Fred rapes her. She yells no and thrashes around. This could be extremely triggering.
Throughout the series - at least the first season, it is non-violent. The premise is that women who are able to conceive are handmaids. They are assigned to people whose wives are infertile to reproduce. Offred is raped on screen twice in the first 3 episodes on screen. It is non-violent, but being a Handmaid, there is no consent, but manipulation, and brainwashing, along with fear tactics to coerce them into "willingly" participating are used in orientation.
Throughout the series - at least the first season, it is non-violent. The premise is that women who are able to conceive are handmaids. They are assigned to people whose wives are infertile to reproduce. Offred is raped on screen twice in the first 3 episodes on screen. It is non-violent, but being a Handmaid, there is no consent, but manipulation, and brainwashing, along with fear tactics to coerce them into "willingly" participating are used in orientation.
2 comments | Add comment
Bodily Harm
Yes
0
No
4
Yes
0
No
44
Is there body horror?
216 supporters
Yes
10
No
1
1
Freyfreyb
S4
In Commander Winslow’s house, a metal ring is pieced through someone’s top and bottom lip, preventing her from speaking. you don’t see the piercing action.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
3
No
13
Yes
3
No
1
Is someone burned alive?
439 supporters
Yes
15
No
31
1
Diabird
S2E1, someone's hand is burned on a stove.
2 comments | Add comment
Is there amputation?
310 supporters
Yes
49
No
7
2
Keyla
A person’s finger is cut offscreen, however they do show how the finger looks after the amputation
5 comments | Add comment
Is there genital trauma/mutilation?
520 supporters
Yes
56
No
6
12
meganw
S1 E3 Clitoridectomy
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
1
No
32
Yes
0
No
17
Is there a hanging?
489 supporters
Yes
60
No
7
5
Ellayesay
There is a lot of hanging in almost every episode
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
5
No
7
Is there finger/toe mutilation?
633 supporters
Yes
65
No
6
1
Equivamp
In one episode a character reaches into a medical sharps container and gets an approximately 18g hypodermic needle jammed under her fingernail, shown onscreen. In another, a character's severed finger and wedding ring are mailed to his wife after he is killed. In yet another, characters suffering from radiation sickness are shown losing their fingernails.
4 comments | Add comment
Does someone become unconscious?
95 supporters
Yes
10
No
0
0
Anonymous
S04E01 June faints
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
14
No
20
Are any teeth damaged?
476 supporters
Yes
23
No
26
9
MaraveTheGM
Teeth fall out due to radiation poisoning
1 comment | Add comment
Is there eye mutilation?
981 supporters
Yes
68
No
6
5
DaisyDancer
A handmaid, after being rude, has her eye removed. This is shown offscreen.
2 comments | Add comment
Is someone tortured?
761 supporters
Yes
74
No
6
4
Kenzbee
Basically the whole series is torture. Every episode shows directly or implies bodily,, sexual, or mental harm. I any of those bother you steer clear. If not, I would highly recommend.
6 comments | Add comment
Does someone fall down stairs?
109 supporters
Yes
13
No
7
2
In season 2 episode 13 a character is stabbed, beaten and pushed down a flight of stairs
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone fall to their death?
194 supporters
Yes
32
No
12
0
PoeDameron
S4
E3
They are pushed, but yes
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
19
No
8
Is there shaving/cutting?
502 supporters
Yes
44
No
7
2
Putschibert
In Episode 8, the protagonist gets her legs shaved by her commander
2 comments | Add comment
Does someone have a seizure?
176 supporters
Yes
13
No
26
1
Rowynn
In S3 E9, there is a brief scene in which an unconscious character has a seizure on screen. This is stated, by another character, to be a frequent occurrence.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
37
No
3
Does a head get squashed?
573 supporters
Yes
40
No
6
3
Equivamp
A character's head is crushed by a car.
1 comment | Add comment
Children
Is a minor sexualized?
445 supporters
Yes
17
No
1
0
Freyfreyb
S2
Forced child marriage occurs.
2 comments | Add comment
Is an infant abducted?
156 supporters
Yes
20
No
9
2
Offred‘s daughter is abducted from the arms of her mother (Offred/June) as they were trying to escape
1 comment | Add comment
Does a kid die?
644 supporters
Yes
61
No
8
9
lenamadi30
A minor is killed for 'infidelity'
4 comments | Add comment
Death
Yes
0
No
4
Yes
5
No
1
Yes
8
No
2
Yes
4
No
1
Disability
Yes
0
No
21
Drugs/Alcohol
Does someone overdose?
192 supporters
Yes
10
No
9
3
vantae
In season 3, episode 12, June walks in to find commander Lawrence’s wife Eleanor in her bed breathing raggedly and unable to wake up. June notices a bottle of medication on the nightstand with pills scattered around it. The overdose is heavily implied.
1 comment | Add comment
Family
Is someone kidnapped?
171 supporters
Yes
56
No
5
6
MikaSun
basically most of the female protagonists were kidnapped and enslaved as a fundament of the political system
2 comments | Add comment
Does a parent die?
326 supporters
Yes
47
No
6
1
Freyfreyb
Every time a handmaid dies. She is a parent.
1 comment | Add comment
Is a child's toy destroyed?
239 supporters
Yes
0
No
26
0
A child loses her toy when she’s taken but her dad later retrieves it and takes it with him to Canada
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
2
No
1
Does someone cheat?
212 supporters
Yes
54
No
9
3
vinylzombie
Offred was married before becoming a Handmaid, and she goes on to have an affair with a worker at her master's house.
4 comments | Add comment
Fear
Yes
0
No
38
Yes
12
No
0
0
Freyfreyb
someone’s legs are shaved
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
5
No
39
Is there a shower scene?
159 supporters
Yes
43
No
7
1
JohannaH
no showers, but several bath scenes (no sex content in baths)
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
54
Are there mannequins?
95 supporters
Yes
5
No
1
1
In several different episodes mannequins are seen in shop windows as characters walk by
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
1
No
2
Yes
4
No
0
Yes
0
No
49
Gross
Yes
0
No
5
Does someone spit?
198 supporters
Yes
22
No
17
2
SleepyMaya
A handmade spits into another handmade's drink at the beginning of episode 8, season 3.
2 comments | Add comment
Does someone vomit?
1,196 supporters
Yes
64
No
7
15
Season 1:
Episode 1: All clear
Episode 2: All clear
Episode 3: 10:39: word “nauseous” is said. Nothing else
Episode 4 is all clear
Episode 5: 34:53 very short sick scene. More coughing sounds than anything else. Can kind of see it in the sick. It’s blurry. Starts after Ofred repeats “it always means worse for some” and goes into the kitchen. All clear after she runs the water and the driver asks “are you sick?”
Episode 6: All clear
Episode 7: There are parts where the guy is doubled over in pain and clutching his stomach but nothing happens. Same with later in the episode. He makes a kind of choked gasping noise and doubles over but nothing happens.
Episode 8: All clear
Episode 9: All clear
Episode 10: All clear
Episode 1: All clear
Episode 2: All clear
Episode 3: 10:39: word “nauseous” is said. Nothing else
Episode 4 is all clear
Episode 5: 34:53 very short sick scene. More coughing sounds than anything else. Can kind of see it in the sick. It’s blurry. Starts after Ofred repeats “it always means worse for some” and goes into the kitchen. All clear after she runs the water and the driver asks “are you sick?”
Episode 6: All clear
Episode 7: There are parts where the guy is doubled over in pain and clutching his stomach but nothing happens. Same with later in the episode. He makes a kind of choked gasping noise and doubles over but nothing happens.
Episode 8: All clear
Episode 9: All clear
Episode 10: All clear
13 comments | Add comment
Does someone wet/soil themselves?
134 supporters
Yes
26
No
7
1
Freyfreyb
S1
Close up of a woman’s crotch as she wets herself before a potential hanging.
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Yes
24
No
8
Large-scale Violence
Yes
0
No
19
Law Enforcement
Yes
3
No
0
Is there copaganda?
238 supporters
Yes
1
No
24
3
vercettikayy
Not necessarily "copaganda" but the guards (basically military) play pretty big role in the society, the audience is not meant to like them however.
1 comment | Add comment
LGBTQ+
Is there deadnaming or birthnaming?
149 supporters
Yes
3
No
3
0
FleetwoodMacNCheez
The handmaids are forced to accept a new name and are not allowed to use their preferred names
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
2
No
4
Yes
3
No
2
Loss
Is a priceless artifact destroyed?
5 supporters
Yes
3
No
1
1
FleetwoodMacNCheez
Monuments in Washington DC are shown as having been destroyed or altered to fit Gilead's image
1 comment | Add comment
Medical
Does someone have cancer?
231 supporters
Yes
8
No
28
0
JohannaH
In one episode a character is shown with thinning hair and is being prayed over for recovery. They never mention cancer, though, and she is only in that one scene.
1 comment | Add comment
Are needles/syringes used?
497 supporters
Yes
43
No
10
0
Equivamp
In one episode a character reaches into a medical sharps container and gets an approximately 18g hypodermic needle jammed under her fingernail, shown onscreen.
2 comments | Add comment
Is there a mental institution scene?
386 supporters
Yes
38
No
9
6
Anonymous
In a way, the Red Center resembles a form of brain-washing camp where young women are trained into thinking in a way that is compatible with the new government. Occasionally, women are punished and mistreated with the goal of manipulating their thoughts.
2 comments | Add comment
Is there a hospital scene?
197 supporters
Yes
60
No
5
1
Keyla
S3 Ep9 is taken place in a hospital, shows many medical tools, as well as self harm by using said tool.
2 comments | Add comment
Is electro-therapy used?
263 supporters
Yes
40
No
17
2
MaraveTheGM
Cattle prods are frequently used to “discipline” the Handmaids
1 comment | Add comment
Mental Health
Does someone say "I'll kill myself"?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
273 supporters
Yes
19
No
8
1
Equivamp
June implies that she will follow the path of the Waterford's previous handmaid if she's kept locked in her room for much longer.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
42
No
11
0
Kristenflies
A character in a therapy session mentions they cut to cope with being a handmaid
4 comments | Add comment
Is a mentally ill person violent?
250 supporters
Yes
24
No
6
2
Rowynn
Mentally ill and traumatized characters do occasionally behave violently but, to my memory, they are not demonized. They are most often 3-dimensional protagonists and are treated compassionately by the narrative.
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
5
No
0
Is there autism specific abuse?
573 supporters
Yes
7
No
33
9
HeatherShields
It is heavily implied that everyone with any type of disabilities dies.
2 comments | Add comment
Does someone have an eating disorder?
573 supporters
Yes
4
No
34
3
MaraveTheGM
Technically no, however a character finds out she’s pregnant and attempts to starve herself.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
1
No
3
Yes
0
No
8
Yes
3
No
13
Yes
18
No
6
0
Freyfreyb
Janine tries to jump of a bridge with her baby. I think season 1 or 2.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
34
No
10
Yes
0
No
6
Yes
1
No
2
Yes
1
No
5
Yes
22
No
12
Is there a claustrophobic scene?
238 supporters
Yes
33
No
15
1
meganw
S4 E3 June is being tortured and is shown being locked in a small box with no room to move
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
72
No
6
1
JohannaH
A woman hangs herself in Season 1. The main character finds a woman dying from suicide (overdose) in Season 3.
7 comments | Add comment
Does someone suffer from PTSD?
263 supporters
Yes
31
No
3
0
LisaW13
Many of the Handmaids, their loved ones, and others undoubtedly display PTSD symptoms. Many are raped, witness community violence in the form of hanging, requirements to kill those who break crimes, etc.
1 comment | Add comment
Noxious
Yes
10
No
1
Yes
2
No
1
Yes
7
No
28
Does a baby cry?
120 supporters
Yes
35
No
5
0
HickoryDickoryProductions
The show involves mainly forced childbirth, so this is somewhat expected.
1 comment | Add comment
Are there flashing lights or images?
354 supporters
Yes
17
No
22
1
Equivamp
A scene of a "shipment" of captured women shows Gilead using strobe lights to enhance the fear and disorientation the women feel.
There are scenes of crowds of media photographers with flashing cameras.
There are scenes of crowds of media photographers with flashing cameras.
1 comment | Add comment
Paranoia
Yes
6
No
1
Is the fourth wall broken?
141 supporters
Yes
4
No
20
1
Anonymous
Main actor is not talking directly to the audience, but is often looking directly in the camera, so this could be interpreted as a nonverbal communication.
1 comment | Add comment
Pregnancy
Are there abortions?
186 supporters
Yes
27
No
15
3
Rowynn
There are flashback scenes in which a character gets an abortion (which is not shown on screen). This includes a scene in which she mistakenly goes to a pro-life organization for advice, and they use fear tactics and shame to try to dissuade her. This scene may be upsetting to some viewers.
3 comments | Add comment
Is a baby stillborn?
137 supporters
Yes
21
No
10
0
Not only it happens, it is also discussed, within the show a major plotline centers around more and more people losing kids, having them be stillborns,or have the babies not live for more than a day.
1 comment | Add comment
Are there babies or unborn children?
166 supporters
Yes
31
No
2
0
There is Charlotte/Angela, the baby from Janice, and she's alive and well. Through flashbacks we also see Hannah as a Baby. Generally,the show has pregnancy and unborn children as a main element
1 comment | Add comment
Is there childbirth?
276 supporters
Yes
57
No
8
8
JohannaH
Childbirth and pregnancy are a main focus of the storyline and several women are shown giving birth.
2 comments | Add comment
Does someone miscarry?
281 supporters
Yes
57
No
8
0
Season 2, Ep 5, major plot point on Offred having a miscarriage and hiding it
1 comment | Add comment
Does a pregnant person die?
257 supporters
Yes
42
No
9
1
Equivamp
A pregnant woman is shot and rendered brain dead. Her body is kept alive on life support to continue gestating the fetus.
1 comment | Add comment
Prejudice
Is there hate speech?
417 supporters
Yes
58
No
6
1
MikaSun
just for better understanding; certain figures' speeches include misogyny and homophobia, but it is not affirmative or uncommented.
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
34
No
13
3
KhoskekhGharl
There are Jews hung on "the wall" a place where they hang the dead bodies of the undesirables with bags over their heads indicating what kind they were. Some have the star of david.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Are there n-words?
310 supporters
Yes
0
No
40
1
Kayden632
surprisingly they don't seem to focus on targeting race throughout the series.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
1
No
29
Is a minority is misrepresented?
181 supporters
Yes
11
No
3
1
FleetwoodMacNCheez
Gilead is shown to use violence against those who don't conform to their ways, but the groups themselves are not depicted in a negative way. Gilead is clearly the oppressor.
2 comments | Add comment
Are there homophobic slurs?
591 supporters
Yes
48
No
8
5
EmJorgensen
In one episode, a gay professor is hung in a homophobic hate crime, and the word "f*ggot" is is spray painted behind him.
3 comments | Add comment
Are there fat jokes?
449 supporters
Yes
1
No
34
0
In episode 2, Offred jokes to Moira about weight gain.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there ableist language or behavior?
522 supporters
Yes
25
No
15
1
Equivamp
A mentally ill character overdoses and another character chooses not to rescue her because her disability makes her a liability.
2 comments | Add comment
Does the black guy die first?
273 supporters
Yes
5
No
39
8
SleepyMaya
Unlike what the other comment said, Offred's original husband doesn't die in the first episode (though it is hinted, it is later revealed he didn't die). Black people do die in the series though, but not the first death.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
6
No
37
6
WhyamIdoingthis
There are no trans/non binary characters, but people have been hung for "gender crimes"
2 comments | Add comment
Does an LGBT person die?
640 supporters
Yes
82
No
9
3
DaisyDancer
In the first episode, we see someone hanging on a wall with a pink triangle on them, whilst Offred narrates them as gay. Later, a lesbian is referred to as a 'gender traitor' and her lover is put to death.
5 comments | Add comment
Race
Yes
0
No
7
Relationships
Is there a large age gap?
223 supporters
Yes
19
No
5
1
PoeDameron
S4
E1
Their is a child bride
1 comment | Add comment
Religious
Is religion discussed?
46 supporters
Yes
4
No
0
0
So glad there's finally a religious trigger!
This show is based around extreme fundamentalist religion and beliefs. There are recitations of specific bible verses as well as Bible stories.
This show is based around extreme fundamentalist religion and beliefs. There are recitations of specific bible verses as well as Bible stories.
1 comment | Add comment
Sex
Yes
26
No
2
Yes
5
No
1
Is there sexual content?
719 supporters
Yes
71
No
3
4
Anonymous
A major concept within the book and TV series is the role of the Handmaids to conceive a child for the Wife by the Commander. Offred herself describes the complex ritual by which the Commander attempts to impregnate her. She also has s*x with the Commander at an underground party full of scantily clad women wherein he leads her to a room and sleeps with her. Later on, she has an affair with Nick.
4 comments | Add comment
Are there nude scenes?
264 supporters
Yes
10
No
12
0
Anonymous
Scene where a woman is naked while giving birth. It’s not a closeup shot, but her silhouette is clear.
1 comment | Add comment
Are there incestuous relationships?
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800.656.4673
737 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
38
Yes
0
No
8
Sexism
Is a male character ridiculed for crying?
172 supporters
Yes
0
No
18
1
alexmonroe
Not as such, to my memory, but a traditional concept of manliness is enforced within the dystopian society depicted. Emotionality in men, though never explicitly mentioned, is pretty obviously discouraged in Gilead.
1 comment | Add comment
Sickness
Yes
0
No
21
Yes
6
No
3
Yes
0
No
9
Yes
2
No
1
Social
Yes
3
No
17
Yes
0
No
7
Yes
8
No
0
Yes
0
No
3
Spoiler
Does it have a sad ending?
536 supporters
Yes
37
No
5
2
ClaudiaTroncosoU
It doesn't end yet
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
46
Yes
0
No
3
Vehicular
Does a car crash?
189 supporters
Yes
55
No
6
1
Anonymous
In an attempt to escape the oppressive regime of Gilead, Offred (or June Osborne in the new series), and her husband crash their car against a tree. Fortunately, she and her family not significantly harmed but are slowed down in their flight.
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
20
No
4
Is someone hit by a car?
180 supporters
Yes
44
No
11
1
MikaSun
someone attacks somebody else with a car in purpose to kill him
6 comments | Add comment
Does a plane crash?
126 supporters
Yes
6
No
38
0
Equivamp
June nearly escapes on a plane which is shot down before it's able to fully get off the ground.
1 comment | Add comment
Violence
Is there a nuclear explosion?
110 supporters
Yes
4
No
35
1
Equivamp
There are explosions, but they are caused by either handmade bombs or military, non-nuclear air strikes. The Colonies is a stretch of land in what was the Midwest that is contaminated with radioactive waste, but whether this waste is from war or industry has not been stated.
4 comments | Add comment
Is there blood/gore?
546 supporters
Yes
57
No
5
0
Head squish
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Does someone drown?
272 supporters
Yes
44
No
11
3
Putschibert
In season 2, Episode 12, two side characters get drowned in a pool as punishment
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Is there gun violence?
232 supporters
Yes
45
No
2
0
There are explicit depictions if people being shot.
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