Finished ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’? Here are 4 shows to keep the fight alive
Finished ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’? Here are 4 shows to keep the fight alive
From sci-fi uprisings to hidden rebellions, these shows carry on the resistance.
My wife and I just watched the series finale of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and while it didn’t quite deliver in the way I wanted it to, I was still disappointed to see this powerful (and important) show come to an end. I asked myself, what’s next? Well, it turns out there are a few other solid dystopian dramas (and thrillers) worth getting into. So, if you want to keep the spirit of the fight against Gilead alive, here are four other shows to watch after finishing “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
The Handmaid’s Tale
Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship. A TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel.
This harrowing series features dynamite performances from Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Joseph Fiennes, and Ann Dowd. The show’s first season won 8 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series.
Loved ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’? Watch: ‘The Sympathizer’
If “The Handmaid’s Tale” pulled you in with its themes of loyalty, betrayal, and life under a brutal regime, “The Sympathizer” brings that same tension — but drops you into the chaos of post-Vietnam War America. It follows a Communist double agent trying to survive in exile while spying on the South Vietnamese community he’s embedded in. It’s twisty, sharp, and packed with moral gray zones that’ll feel familiar if you’ve been rooting for (and yelling at) June for years.
Where the two shows differ is in style. “The Sympathizer” leans more espionage thriller than an emotional survival story — it’s less about escaping a system and more about living in two at once. But the sense of paranoia? The blurred lines between resistance and complicity? All there. If you’re up for something with big ideas and even bigger stakes, this one’s worth diving into.
The Sympathizer
Near the end of the Vietnam War, a spy who was embedded in the South Vietnam army flees to the United States and takes up residence in a refugee community, where he continues to gather intelligence and report back to the Viet Cong.
Check out ‘The Power’
If “The Handmaid’s Tale” made you rage at how women were controlled, “The Power” flips the script entirely. In this one, teenage girls around the world suddenly develop the ability to generate electricity with their hands — and that one shift throws the entire global power structure into chaos. It’s bold, unsettling, and super satisfying to watch women rise up, especially in societies where they’ve been silenced for so long.
That said, “The Power” doesn’t just paint it as good vs. evil. Like “Handmaid’s,” it digs into how people respond to sudden change — who fights for control, who clings to old systems, and who becomes something they never expected. It’s more global, more sci-fi, and has way more sparks (literally), but the core idea is the same: when power shifts, everything else starts to crack.
The Power
The world of The Power is our world, but for one twist of nature. Suddenly teenage girls develop the power to electrocute people at will. Following remarkable characters from London to Seattle, Nigeria to Eastern Europe, the Power evolves from a tingle in teenagers’ collarbones to a complete reversal of power balance.
Binge next: ‘3%’
If what hooked you in “The Handmaid’s Tale” was the brutal system of control and the slim hope of escape, “3%” takes that same idea and gives it a sci-fi twist. Set in a future Brazil, the show drops you into a society where only 3% of the population is allowed to join a utopia called the Offshore. To get there? You’ve got to survive a ruthless selection process that’s basically part job interview, part psychological warfare. It’s intense, high-stakes, and full of characters risking everything for a better life.
Unlike Gilead, this world doesn’t lean as much on religion or gender — but the divide between the powerful and the powerless is just as sharp. “3%” is more puzzle-box thriller than emotional slow burn, but it still raises the same questions about who gets to thrive, who gets left behind, and what people are willing to do to change the system. If you want something fast-paced but still grounded in big, dystopian ideas, this one delivers.
3%
In a future where the elite inhabit an island paradise far from the crowded slums, you get one chance to join the 3% saved from squalor.
Try out: ‘Silo’
If you were drawn to “The Handmaid’s Tale” for its claustrophobic world and buried secrets, “Silo” has a similar feel — just swap Gilead for a massive underground bunker. In this world, people live inside a giant silo because the outside is supposedly toxic… but no one really knows why. When one woman starts digging into the truth, she realizes just how tightly the whole system is built on lies, fear, and control. Sound familiar?
Where “Silo” stands apart is in its pacing and setting. It’s less about rebellion in the streets and more about slowly unraveling a mystery — layer by layer, level by level. There’s no religious regime or forced motherhood here, but the oppressive rules and constant surveillance will definitely scratch that same dystopian itch. If you liked the slow-burn suspense and unraveling of hidden truths in “Handmaid’s,” this one’s a solid next move.
Silo
In a ruined and toxic future, thousands live in a giant silo deep underground. After its sheriff breaks a cardinal rule and residents die mysteriously, engineer Juliette starts to uncover shocking secrets and the truth about the silo.
More to watch after finishing ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
‘Paradise’ | Hulu
Paradise
The tranquility in a serene, wealthy community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high stakes investigation unfolds.
‘Yellowjackets’ | Paramount+ with SHOWTIME
Yellowjackets
This equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama tells the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later.
‘Station Eleven’ | HBO Max
Station Eleven
The survivors of a devastating flu attempt to rebuild and reimagine the world anew – while holding on to the best of what’s been lost.
‘Sweet Tooth’ | Netflix
Sweet Tooth
On an epic adventure across a postapocalyptic world, a lovable boy who’s part human and part deer searches for family and home with a gruff protector.
‘Surface’ | Apple TV+
Surface
A traumatic head injury leaves Sophie with extreme memory loss. In her quest to put the pieces of her life back together—with help from her husband and friends—Sophie begins to question the truth behind her picture-perfect life.
‘Sense8’ | Netflix
Sense8
One gunshot, one death, one moment out of time that irrevocably links eight minds in disparate parts of the world, putting them in each other’s lives, each other’s secrets, and in terrible danger. Ordinary people suddenly reborn as “Sensates.”