Episode nine of the sixth and final season of The Handmaid's Tale opened with the handmaids, in formation, escaping the center after an uprising against the Commanders.
Playing over that scene? The brand new 'Taylor's Version' of Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do."
© Getty ImagesHELLO! Exclusive
"Our cast and crew are filled with Swifties and I know Elisabeth Moss has been looking for an opportunity to include one of Taylor's songs on the show," showrunner Eric Tuchman old HELLO! at TheWrap's inaugural Showrunners & Creators Breakfast on May 21, revealing how this the collaboration came about after all these years.
"Wendy Hallam Martin, our editor for the episode, realized it would be the perfect song for that sequence, and it worked so beautifully."
There was never any consideration of using the song elsewhere, adds Eric, who said: "It really worked so perfectly because the Handmaid's had just escaped and so it fit it so well."
The opportunity to use that song came from Elisabeth herself, who Eric shared "was able to speak to Taylor's people to get permission to use the song – and we're thrilled".
It's also not lost on Eric or c-show runner Yahlin Chang that the 35-year-old gave permission for them to use the brand new, never-released 'Taylor's Version' of the track.
"For it to be Taylor's Version, it was huge," adds Yahlin, with the pair admitting that they knew it would "blow up" because Taylor's fans "are a force to be reckoned with".
Taylor Swift's Tale
It's the perfect moment for the song, which was first released in 2017 and came after Taylor disappeared from the public eye for almost 12 months following Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's attempted takedown of the singer.
The song recalls a betrayal from a supposed close confidante, and how the protagonist has returned "up from the dead" to fight back and reclaim their reputation.
In the scene in question, the handmaids and Aunt Phoebe are seen marching through town to meet up with the Mayday trucks but as the trucks carrying guardians arrive to chase them down, they begin to run – and the bombs set by Mayday begin to go off.
© Variety via Getty Images"Taylor has been such an inspiration to me personally. As a Swiftie myself, and I think I can speak for [co-star] Yvonne [Strahovski] and our entire cast as well, who are all Swifties, it’s such an honor to be able to use her music in the final episodes of our show," Elisabeth previously told Billboard.
Dystopia or reality?
The surprise drop of the new version also came days after President Donald Trump took to social media to call Taylor "not hot," a shocking commentary from the President of the United States.
© Getty ImagesAt a time when there are fears America is becoming close to an authoritarian state Yuhlin shares that it has been "incredibly surprising and shocking and disappointing" to discover that after six seasons The Handmaid's Tale is even more like real life than before.
"We thought we were just making a TV show, we didn't expect it to be a how-to or an instruction manual," she says.
"It was supposed to be a cautionary tale. It's not like we're trying to rip from the headlines or anything, but we do research into how authoritarian regimes take over… the real world just keeps creeping closer and closer to our show."
