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Yes, That Was Oprah Winfrey in The Handmaid's Tale

Talk about a stealthy cameo!

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Lindsay MacDonald

If you thought you recognized that voice on the radio in Wednesday's episode of The Handmaid's Tale, chances are you're right! The voice of the freedom fighter broadcasting from "somewhere in the great white north" was, in fact, Oprah Winfrey!

After watching Nick (Max Minghella) get hauled away, Offred (Elisabeth Moss) was left abandoned in the vacated house of the Commander whose family adopted her daughter, with very little resources to help her escape. After a mild freakout, she tried valiantly to pack up food, water and other necessities into the car in the garage, and she even got the thing to start. That's when she noticed a very strange broadcast coming through the car's radio.

The broadcast included news that the American government in Anchorage received promises of aid from India and China, and that the U.K. had implemented additional sanctions on Gilead and would be taking in more American refugees. It was basically a 30-second soundbite that proved the rest of the world hadn't gone crazy.

"We'd heard Oprah was a fan of the show, and had a story idea, and thought, wouldn't it be wonderful if... So we asked and she said yes, and it was a lovely, easy process," said creator and showrunner Bruce Miller. "The radio segment she recorded was inspired by the free radio of the Allies from WW2. It was an absolute honor to have Oprah featured on the show, and especially thrilling as she was the one who presented us with the Emmy last year."

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Elsewhere in the episode, the real news from a world at odds with Gilead provided a rare moment of hope for Offred, even if it only lasted long enough for her to realize she couldn't get the car out of the garage. Oh yeah, and the physical exertion plus the stress of the situation sent her into labor -- all alone in the middle of nowhere.

The Handmaid's Tale has never shied away from the graphic nature of its subject matter, and Offred's birthing scene was no different. Her bloody, panicked and solitary delivery of her own baby was juxtaposed with flashbacks to the delivery of her first child, where she was surrounded by loved ones and supported by medical professionals, friends and family. It was a heartbreaking comparison, but both deliveries ended the same way -- with the birth of a healthy baby girl.

Sadly, during her panic over whether the complications with her pregnancy would end up killing the child before she could even be born, Offred shot off a gun she found in the house as an SOS. It was a brave choice, opting to save her baby's life even if it meant returning both of them into Gilead's clutches, but it meant that soon after the birth of Holly -- named for the grandmother she'd never know -- Offred was discovered when a pair of headlights pulled up in front of the house.

But hey, at least we got an Oprah cameo?

New episodes of The Handmaid's Tale are released every Wednesday on Hulu.

Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale

Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale

George Kraychyk, Hulu