The Handmaid's Tale
TV Show • 2017
ReportYour TriggersEdit Back to Top
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10
No
69
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Abuse Back to Top
National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-Child)
Yes
66
No
8
6
Hannah describes how her new parents physically abuse her and then blame her for their actions.
5 community comments | Add comment
0
This is a main theme throughout the series, with multiple women being used "as an example" to show the other women what will happen if they disobey the rules of Gilead.
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National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233)
Yes
91
No
3
Add comment
Yes
23
No
6
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1
S5
SPOILER: At the conclusion of the fifth season, June is shown offering assistance to Serena.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
31
No
3
5
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.
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
61
No
6
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National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233)
Yes
33
No
6
3
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.
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
45
No
6
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Addiction Back to Top
Yes
52
No
3
1
One of the characters is seen smoking constantly.
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
52
No
3
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Animal Death Back to Top
Yes
84
No
9
1
S1
E7
The family cat is killed offscreen. I don't know when it is, but it's during flash back.
2 community comments | Add comment
(besides a dog, cat or horse)
Yes
59
No
18
0
S4
E1
30:00
A pig is shot
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
34
No
3
0
S4
E1
30:00
Mr. Darcy the pig, Janine is then forced to eat her
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
59
No
4
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Yes
2
No
51
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Yes
1
No
54
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Animal Distress Back to Top
Yes
11
No
37
Add comment
Add comment
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Yes
1
No
15
Add comment
Yes
2
No
11
Add comment
Yes
1
No
15
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Animal Phobia Back to Top
Yes
2
No
38
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Yes
6
No
35
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Yes
1
No
46
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Yes
0
No
16
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Add comment
Appendages Back to Top
1
S1
E3
There is talking about it at the very end
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
89
No
3
4
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 community comments | Add comment
Yes
69
No
2
3
A person’s finger is cut offscreen, however they do show how the finger looks after the amputation
4 community comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
23
Add comment
Yes
20
No
21
Add comment
Yes
24
No
1
Add comment
Yes
1
No
9
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Assault Back to Top
Yes
32
No
2
2
A severely abused minor keeps her abuser under drugs to minimize the abuse.
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
31
No
2
2
June is water boarded as punishment.
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
56
No
0
1
S1
E3
One of the characters is arrested/restrained as a result of being outed as a Lesbian
2 community comments | Add comment
National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233)
Yes
36
No
0
1
S2
E8
Kind of. The commander uses a belt to strike Serena. The belt is raised up but the strike is not pictured but heard.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
18
No
5
0
S2
E8
The commander uses a belt to strike Serena. The belt is raised up but the strike is not pictured but heard.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
30
No
1
1
There are many instances of mouths being covered during sexual assault scenes, as well as very graphic shots of women with their mouths stapled shut in the 3rd season. Their mouths are covered by red face masks (look like Covid masks) and they do reveal their brutalization in a very shocking sudden way.
1 community comment | Add comment
Children Back to Top
Yes
81
No
4
14
A minor is killed for 'infidelity'
5 community comments | Add comment
Yes
45
No
3
4
Offred‘s daughter is abducted from the arms of her mother (Offred/June) as they were trying to escape
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
56
No
0
1
The show involves mainly forced childbirth, so this is somewhat expected.
1 community comment | Add comment
Creepy Crawly Back to Top
Yes
0
No
16
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Death Back to Top
Yes
11
No
12
0
S4
E1
Janine befriends a pig who is killed and eaten minutes later
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
27
No
2
1
fred is beaten and battered to death by escaped handmaids and marthas etc
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
35
No
1
0
Multiple people die almost every episode. Some very brutally
1 community comment | Add comment
1
commander lawrence gets on a plane knowing that he has a bomb and plans to blow up the remaining boston commanders to free boston from gilead
2 community comments | Add comment
Disability Back to Top
Yes
0
No
28
Add comment
-3
Character who loses an eye played by actress with two eyes.
1 community comment | Add comment
Drugs/Alcohol Back to Top
Yes
27
No
6
6
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 community comment | Add comment
Family Back to Top
Yes
67
No
3
1
Every time a handmaid dies. She is a parent.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
32
1
A child loses her toy when she’s taken but her dad later retrieves it and takes it with him to Canada
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
18
No
2
Add comment
Yes
82
No
4
5
Offred was married before becoming a Handmaid, and she goes on to have an affair with a worker at her master's house.
4 community comments | Add comment
Yes
82
No
0
11
basically most of the female protagonists were kidnapped and enslaved as a fundament of the political system
2 community comments | Add comment
Fear Back to Top
Yes
6
No
47
Add comment
Yes
1
No
11
Add comment
Yes
45
No
13
1
The handmaids are also often transported in small vans or shown kept in crowded cages.
5 community comments | Add comment
S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® (1-800-DONTCUT)
Yes
28
No
0
1
someone’s legs are shaved
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
47
Add comment
Yes
0
No
61
Add comment
Yes
0
No
56
Add comment
Yes
55
No
4
1
no showers, but several bath scenes (no sex content in baths)
4 community comments | Add comment
Add comment
Yes
16
No
4
2
In several different episodes mannequins are seen in shop windows as characters walk by
1 community comment | Add comment
Gross Back to Top
Yes
95
No
9
9
S6
Episode 1 - safe
Episode 2 - safe
Episode 3 - safe
Episode 4 - safe
Episode 5 - safe
Episode 6 - safe
Episode 7 - safe
Episode 8 - safe
Episode 9 - safe
(I’ll try to update this as the season progresses)
Episode 2 - safe
Episode 3 - safe
Episode 4 - safe
Episode 5 - safe
Episode 6 - safe
Episode 7 - safe
Episode 8 - safe
Episode 9 - safe
(I’ll try to update this as the season progresses)
19 community comments | Add comment
Yes
38
No
4
Add comment
Yes
1
No
15
Add comment
Yes
2
No
19
0
Spolier
When killing a commander, he is bitten
When killing a commander, he is bitten
1 community comment | Add comment
3
S1
Close up of a woman’s crotch as she wets herself before a potential hanging.
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
19
Add comment
Yes
40
No
12
2
A handmade spits into another handmade's drink at the beginning of episode 8, season 3.
2 community comments | Add comment
Head Back to Top
Yes
100
No
3
9
A handmaid, after being rude, has her eye removed. This is shown offscreen.
5 community comments | Add comment
Yes
41
No
23
12
Teeth fall out due to radiation poisoning
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
55
No
4
3
A character's head is crushed by a car.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
1
No
16
0
S1
E5
Someone’s head gets run over and it’s quite gory but it’s over quite quickly, sorry idk time stamps but after a girl steals a car and gets into it just be careful, it doesn’t happen immediately tho
1 community comment | Add comment
Large-scale Violence Back to Top
Yes
1
No
29
0
There are terrorist attacks in similar scale on the news. 9/11 is mentioned in comparison.
1 community comment | Add comment
Law Enforcement Back to Top
Yes
1
No
31
3
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 community comment | Add comment
Yes
21
No
0
Add comment
LGBTQ+ Back to Top
Add comment
Yes
12
No
8
Add comment
-2
The handmaids are forced to accept a new name and are not allowed to use their preferred names
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
27
No
1
3
Yes, and she is killed for it. More than one gay character is made into a handmaid (sex slave).
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
4
No
17
Add comment
Loss Back to Top
4
Monuments in Washington DC are shown as having been destroyed or altered to fit Gilead's image
1 community comment | Add comment
Medical Back to Top
Yes
56
No
7
4
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 community comments | Add comment
7
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.
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
52
No
14
2
Cattle prods are frequently used to “discipline” the Handmaids
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
10
No
31
0
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.
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
79
No
0
1
S3 Ep9 is taken place in a hospital, shows many medical tools, as well as self harm by using said tool.
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Add comment
Yes
24
No
2
Add comment
Mental Health Back to Top
Yes
9
No
35
9
It is heavily implied that everyone with any type of disabilities dies.
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
14
Add comment
Yes
6
No
15
Add comment
5
Technically no, however a character finds out she’s pregnant and attempts to starve herself.
2 community comments | Add comment
3
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 community comments | Add comment
Yes
48
No
1
3
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.
2 community comments | Add comment
0
Not so much unhinged, but a lot of flashbacks to and fro from before Gilead. Could be described as unstable as it causes characters to become unsettled and mourning their before life.
1 community comment | Add comment
Add comment
1
Yes.
S1E1 A character appears to be dissociating and believes herself to be at a past job serving coffee.
S1E1, S1E2 - A character is raped and seen with a blank expression on her face during the act.
S1E1 A character appears to be dissociating and believes herself to be at a past job serving coffee.
S1E1, S1E2 - A character is raped and seen with a blank expression on her face during the act.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
30
No
10
-2
They talk about the punishments like getting your finger or hand cut
In Episode 10, a commander gets his hand amputated as punishment.
In Episode 10, a commander gets his hand amputated as punishment.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
45
No
5
Add comment
Yes
0
No
17
Add comment
Yes
1
No
16
Add comment
Add comment
Yes
18
No
3
0
Season 1 episode 4 in the car
1 community comment | Add comment
Natural Disasters Back to Top
Yes
0
No
7
Add comment
Neck Back to Top
Yes
96
No
1
7
There is a lot of hanging in almost every episode
8 community comments | Add comment
Yes
10
No
5
-1
There are multiple hangings throughout the show. It is one of the main punishments for dissenters in this story, and it frequently shown in full on camera (the act and the victim’s reaction).
1 community comment | Add comment
Add comment
Yes
16
No
5
Add comment
Yes
22
No
2
Add comment
Noxious Back to Top
Yes
30
No
20
2
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.
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
11
No
34
0
Most scenes have a very smooth movement, but there is a lot of camera movement
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
11
No
3
0
Usually things such as doors slamming or footsteps which startle the characters when they are trying to go undetected.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
24
No
0
Add comment
Yes
13
No
3
Add comment
Add comment
Paranoia Back to Top
0
The entirety of Gilead is under surveillance. The characters frequently talk about camera surveillance as well as “The Eyes”- a group of male watchmen tasked with capturing and executing dissenters
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
7
No
24
0
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 community comment | Add comment
Pregnancy Back to Top
Yes
39
No
5
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 community comment | Add comment
Yes
70
No
3
1
S1
E1
No, but miscarriages are mentioned
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
78
No
1
11
Childbirth and pregnancy are a main focus of the storyline and several women are shown giving birth.
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
57
No
5
3
A pregnant woman is shot and rendered brain dead. Her body is kept alive on life support to continue gestating the fetus.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
40
No
12
6
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 community comments | Add comment
2
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 community comment | Add comment
Prejudice Back to Top
1
A mentally ill character overdoses and another character chooses not to rescue her because her disability makes her a liability.
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
66
No
4
9
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 community comments | Add comment
8
Since the society The Handmaid's Tale is set in is extremely transphobic and kills all known trans people for "gender crimes" it can be assumed that all trans people are misgendered.
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
4
No
35
0
In episode 2, Offred jokes to Moira about weight gain.
1 community comment | Add comment
Add comment
Yes
98
No
4
4
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 community comments | Add comment
Yes
79
No
1
4
just for better understanding; certain figures' speeches include misogyny and homophobia, but it is not affirmative or uncommented.
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
14
Add comment
Race Back to Top
Yes
0
No
18
Add comment
Yes
19
No
8
2
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 community comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
46
3
surprisingly they don't seem to focus on targeting race throughout the series.
1 community comment | Add comment
6
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 community comments | Add comment
Yes
7
No
45
10
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.
2 community comments | Add comment
Relationships Back to Top
Yes
38
No
1
2
S4
E1
Their is a child bride
1 community comment | Add comment
Religious Back to Top
Yes
26
No
0
1
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 community comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
11
0
Technically no, but since the religious themes are so prominent and shown so aggressively, we frequently hear about “bad people” and Hell is implied as a punishment. Some characters state that Hell would be better than living in Gilead.
1 community comment | Add comment
Self Harm Back to Top
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
Yes
90
No
0
2
A woman hangs herself in Season 1. The main character finds a woman dying from suicide (overdose) in Season 3.
9 community comments | Add comment
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
Yes
35
No
1
1
Janine tries to jump of a bridge with her baby. I think season 1 or 2.
2 community comments | Add comment
S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® (1-800-DONTCUT)
Yes
57
No
7
1
A character in a therapy session mentions they cut to cope with being a handmaid
5 community comments | Add comment
Yes
33
No
4
3
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.
2 community comments | Add comment
Sex Back to Top
Yes
39
No
2
2
S2
Forced child marriage occurs.
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
20
Add comment
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800.656.4673
Yes
2
No
42
Add comment
Yes
92
No
0
5
Every single episode has Sexual assault shown and or mentioned. There are no rights for women/pregnancy in this series. Its exhuasting and would be triggering to most people especially rightnow in the US with roe v wade.
4 community comments | Add comment
Yes
26
No
6
1
Scene where a woman is naked while giving birth. It’s not a closeup shot, but her silhouette is clear.
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
43
No
0
Add comment
Yes
1
No
14
Add comment
0
A child bride loses her virginity during the second season
1 community comment | Add comment
Sexism Back to Top
2
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 community comment | Add comment
Sexual Assault Back to Top
10
In almost every episode, particularly season 1 and 2, someone is raped. It is a main theme throughout the whole series.
7 community comments | Add comment
Yes
110
No
3
18
In Season 2 Episode 10 there is a violent and aggressive rape scene that goes beyond the normalized “ritualistic” rape scenes we’ve had thus far. I won’t spoil who it’s between, but I just needed that to be added here because I didn’t see it yet.
7 community comments | Add comment
Yes
33
No
2
4
Pedophilia in-universe has quickly become normalized in this new society as you might occasionally see child brides
2 community comments | Add comment
Yes
46
No
0
3
S1
E1
Mentioned and heavily implied. Rape is a continuing theme. This is shown quite explicitly.
1 community comment | Add comment
Add comment
Sickness Back to Top
Yes
0
No
19
Add comment
Yes
11
No
4
0
At the colonies
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
25
Add comment
Add comment
Spoiler Back to Top
Yes
43
No
6
2
It doesn't end yet
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
11
Add comment
Yes
0
No
51
Add comment
Vehicular Back to Top
Yes
67
No
1
1
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 community comments | Add comment
Yes
58
No
6
3
someone attacks somebody else with a car in purpose to kill him
6 community comments | Add comment
Yes
17
No
34
1
June nearly escapes on a plane which is shot down before it's able to fully get off the ground.
2 community comments | Add comment
Add comment
Violence Back to Top
Yes
70
No
2
0
Head squish
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
58
No
1
1
There are explicit depictions if people being shot.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
56
No
8
4
In season 2, Episode 12, two side characters get drowned in a pool as punishment
4 community comments | Add comment
Yes
4
No
41
1
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 community comments | Add comment
Whole Body Back to Top
Yes
39
No
3
-1
S1
E5
A man is run over by a car. It's pretty graphic
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
101
No
3
10
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.
8 community comments | Add comment
Yes
32
No
4
4
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 community comment | Add comment
Yes
17
No
36
0
S4e1 June has a bullet wound cauterized and is in a lot of pain
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
54
Add comment
Yes
61
No
2
3
In Episode 8, the protagonist gets her legs shaved by her commander
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
14
No
13
0
Multiple women are crushed by running in front of a train. It is a very tense moment where we do not know if they will make it. June and Janine make it, the others do not.
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
1
No
39
Add comment
Yes
19
No
3
0
S4 I think, a commander tries to rape June and she stabs him repeatedly with a pen, you see it clearly and it last for a while, look away when she grabs the pen and look back after he begs her not to hurt him because of his wife and kids (after this he is hit in the head with something heavy if that also bothers you)
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
20
No
26
3
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 community comment | Add comment
0
S4
E3
They are pushed, but yes
3 community comments | Add comment
Yes
35
No
3
4
In season 2 episode 13 a character is stabbed, beaten and pushed down a flight of stairs
1 community comment | Add comment
Yes
32
No
0
1
S04E01 June faints
1 community comment | Add comment