New to Hulu? This is the must-watch drama show to start with
New to Hulu? This is the must-watch drama show to start with
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is intense, emotional, and still one of the most relevant shows on TV.
When I think of Hulu, I mostly think comedy. But don’t let that fool you. This platform has delivered some genre-defining dramas too, and if you’re new to Hulu and wondering where to start? Easy. “The Handmaid’s Tale” is the drama to watch. I’ve seen every episode over its six-season run, and while the ending wobbles a bit (which often happens to shows like this because there’s no one way to pay it off in a way everyone loves), there’s no question this is one of the most powerful dramas ever made for streaming. It’s bold, chilling, and totally gripping — and it’s the drama TV show to watch first if you just signed up for Hulu.
Top drama TV show to stream first when you sign up for Hulu
Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is the must-watch drama on Hulu
What makes “The Handmaid’s Tale” hit so hard is the totally believable world-building — especially for a dystopian story. From the very first episode, it drops you into this terrifying alternate version of America where women have basically lost all rights. It’s bleak, brutal, and completely absorbing. There are scenes that are genuinely hard to watch — not because they’re over-the-top, but because they feel like they’re just a few steps removed from reality.
The show’s roots go back to Margaret Atwood’s novel, which already had a big cultural footprint before the series even launched. But the adaptation takes everything to another level. Elisabeth Moss as June is just… a force. Watching her try to survive, fight back, and hold onto some shred of hope in a world built to crush her? It’s devastating and inspiring at the same time. And the way the show expands on the book — digging into other characters and corners of Gilead — makes the world feel even more terrifying and fully realized.
You can’t talk about “The Handmaid’s Tale” without mentioning how much it’s influenced pop culture. The red cloak and white bonnet have become a symbol of resistance, used in real-life protests and movements. That’s not something many TV shows can say. And it’s not just a gimmick. Those visuals carry weight because the show itself is so emotionally grounded. It’s not interested in easy answers or feel-good endings. It forces you to sit with the discomfort, to think about what happens when power goes unchecked.
Yes, the final stretch of the show has a few wobbles, but what long-running drama doesn’t? Regardless, across its six seasons, “The Handmaid’s Tale” stays unflinchingly bold. The pacing shifts, the tone darkens, but it never loses sight of its central question: what happens when people in power decide that women’s lives matter less? That question lingers through every twist and every hard-won victory, making it the drama that defines Hulu. If you’re going to start anywhere on the platform, start here.
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.
What is ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ about?
“The Handmaid’s Tale” is set in a near-future America that’s been taken over by a hardcore religious dictatorship called Gilead. In this world, women have basically lost all their rights, and the ones who can still have kids are forced into being “handmaids” — assigned to powerful couples to bear children for them. The show centers on June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss), a woman who’s torn away from her family and thrown into this brutal system. At first, she’s focused on surviving day to day. But over time, that survival turns into resistance, and June becomes one of the most dangerous threats Gilead has ever seen.
Even as she gets pulled deeper into the rebellion, everything June does is driven by one thing: getting her daughter back. That mission is the emotional core of the whole show. She wants to escape, sure, but not without Hannah. That’s what gives the show its urgency. Watching June go from a captive trying to keep her head down to someone who’s willing to burn the whole system down if it means saving her kid? That’s what makes it unforgettable. It’s a tough watch sometimes, but it’s also incredibly powerful — equal parts personal and political.
Other must-stream drama shows on Hulu
If you’re looking for more can’t-miss drama after finishing “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu’s got a solid lineup of heavy hitters that deliver just as much punch. Start with “The Dropout,” the wild true story of Elizabeth Holmes and the rise — and spectacular fall — of Theranos. Amanda Seyfried is incredible in the role, showing how one woman’s ambition and deception fooled some of the most powerful people in tech and finance. This was one of my favorite shows of 2022.
Then there’s “Paradise,” a twisty thriller from “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman that blends part murder-mystery with sci-fi and real emotional stakes underneath. With a stacked cast led by Sterling K. Brown and slow-burn tension that keeps building, this one’s perfect if you like your dramas with mystery and major emotional fallout.
And don’t miss “Little Fires Everywhere,” a sharp and intimate miniseries based on the bestselling novel. It follows two families (one white, one Black) whose lives collide in a wealthy Ohio suburb during the late ’90s. Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington lead the cast, and the show explores race, privilege, motherhood, and what happens when you try to control everything.
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.