As President Donald Trump was sending the country into a frenzy by declaring a national emergency to fund his wall at the southern border on Friday, the scene on the National Mall in Washington was coincidentally ominous.
The hit Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale chose this sunny Friday to film at the Lincoln Memorial. Dozens of women in red robes and white bonnets dotted the steps of the monument.
The scene at the National Mall looks ... a little different today. Elisabeth Moss and co. are filming "The Handmaid… https://t.co/uakwXtszH9— Lori McCue (@Lori McCue) 1550259054.0
Spoilers for Handmaids Tale Season 3: here on set in DC and Offred, Serena, and Fred are all here for some sort of… https://t.co/Ta1eh5fLnx— Steven (@Steven) 1550251265.0
More pics from #TheHandmaidsTale filming at the Lincoln Memorial. #dc @juliemason @DCist @PoPville https://t.co/9Oay5NKUUr— Phil Yabut (@Phil Yabut) 1550257372.0
A bit haunting, no?
HANDMAID'S TALE is filming in DC today. https://t.co/04PhNaNfrv— HWU (@HWU) 1550252393.0
“The Handmaid’s Tale” Is Filming on the National Mall and the Photos are Kinda Intense https://t.co/1jmQ2Qr9OL https://t.co/638mLCLeh9— Phyllis Michaels (@Phyllis Michaels) 1550256723.0
Handmaid's Tale filming at the Lincoln Memorial #washingtondc #handmaidstale #lincolnmemorial https://t.co/1phzxO00PU— DC Memorialist (@DC Memorialist) 1550268490.0
The Handmaid’s Tale filming in DC today, I’ve never been happier to not have Friday classes. Blessed be the FRUIT??… https://t.co/mhlc3tYmuu— Aria (@Aria) 1550267600.0
And people were kind of freaking out.
Define irony: The Handmaid's Tale is filming on the National Mall today and the real President just declared a fake National Emergency.— Ben Freeman (@Ben Freeman) 1550258164.0
@paddykelly By a coincidence that's too good for this world @HandmaidsOnHulu is filming in DC today https://t.co/WZY2cwwMaV— Jonathan Urquhart (@Jonathan Urquhart) 1550259932.0
These two get it.
@philliefan_99 @juliemason @DCist The peace sign one is just spectacular— PoPville (@PoPville) 1550257847.0
@LoriMcCue The camera guy is having a rough time https://t.co/gl4WOrtm4C— Phil Salvador (@Phil Salvador) 1550259254.0
We all are.
The dark series takes place in a dystopian, theocratic future in the post-USA republic of Gilead, where rich men run the show and free women have few rights.
(No spoilers ahead).
In this universe, many of the wealthy are mysteriously infertile. The handmaids, clad in red, are captured fertile women who survived the collapse of the United States.
Canada is still awesome though.
The handmaids have one duty: breeding. Those that successfully give birth are spared. Those who step out of line, or fail to bring a pregnancy to term, are disposed of. Justice is merciless.
Fans of the show were pretty stoked.
Handmaid's Tale principle actors are filming a scene with a large audience. #dc @juliemason @PoPville @DCist https://t.co/aNk7tLI3lE— Phil Yabut (@Phil Yabut) 1550265675.0
The Handmaid’s Tale is currently filming in dc at the lincoln memorial...WHY AM I 3 HOURS AWAY!?!— bailey (@bailey) 1550262843.0
Another great day in Washington DC. We have been to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence an… https://t.co/PCsM3mwFWL— Windsor Girls' (@Windsor Girls') 1550262248.0
People dressed as handmaids flooded the nation's capital last fall to protest the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Currently, The Handmaid's Tale is filming its third season.
A trailer which aired during the Super Bowl teased that the Washington Monument had been converted to an enormous cross. Moss, who plays the lead character June (known as Offred to those in Gilead), does a voiceover: “They should have never given us uniforms if they didn’t want us to be an army."
Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum, indeed.