Co-hosts Elissa Karasik and Julia Meltzer introduce listeners to the show and explain why they decided to make it - some people have basic friends that they can’t discuss The Handmaid’s Tale with. Julia and Elissa will be your non-basic friends, delivering hot takes, incisive commentary, and jokes that you are straight up welcome to recycle and take credit for at the water cooler, right into your headphones. From Elisabeth Moss’ first national commercial to bonnet-vision to fertility blindness, a lot of ground is covered in this fiery debut episode. Does the friend zone still exist in Gilead? Do we as a society fetishize motherhood? How did Rory Gilmore become Ofglen? Is Julia even a woman if she’s never had a migraine?  These are the kind of easy, breezy, beautiful questions we ask on Under Her Eye.

Welcome to Under Her Eye

Some people have basic friends that they can’t discuss The Handmaid’s Tale with. Julia and Elissa will be your non-basic friends, delivering hot takes, incisive commentary and jokes that you are straight up welcome to recycle and take credit for at the water cooler. Does the friend zone still exist in Gilead? Do we as a society fetishize motherhood? How did Rory Gilmore become Ofglen? Is Julia even a woman if she’s never had a migraine? These are the kind of easy, breezy, beautiful questions we ask on Under Her Eye.

TV & Film

Julia, Elissa, Katie, and Jessica literally hold each through the season finale and proceed to break it down one last time. After a Comey-esque investigation into Elissa’s lateness to the party (like all great celebrity scandals, we can chalk this one up to a scheduling conflict), we get heady and heavy with it. June is pregnant! Moira escapes! Commander Putnam’s wife savagely asks for the harshest punishment possible! Oh my. Our conversation takes us from Serena Joy’s most fucked-up move yet, to the near-stoning event of our beloved Janine, to the similarities between getting tagged at the Red Center and your first piercing at Claire’s. We also hear from our first mom-guest of the season, Jessica, about what it’s like to watch the show as a parent, whether Elisabeth Moss makes a convincing mom in that gut-wrenching scene with Hannah on the stoop, and whether or not the show fetishizes motherhood. Nick / Max touches us all when he touches June’s stomach, as they sit in silence weighing the new life growing inside of her, and we weep loudly and hold all our loved ones / electronic devices closer. Pick a partner who you want to survive the apocalypse with, is the only dating advice we give on this podcast. We also take a look at June’s inspiring season arc - she’s become a real force of change in Gilead, and shows us that a seemingly small act of resistance can have a huge ripple effect. May the Lord open, and by that we mean, may we all be Junes in times of crisis.  Katie Willert can be found on Twitter and Instagram @kawillert and Jessica Eason can be found on Twitter and Instagram @jesspatsox.

Episode 10 - The Worst Shopping Partner Ever

Julia and Elissa sit down with Dear White People’s Leann Bowen to discuss Episode 9. We discuss June’s transformation into a full-on Mayday boss bitch, and the arc of her friendship with Moira. What kind of friends are they? Not the kind of friends who want to have a three-way with one of their rapists, that’s for sure! We call bullshit on Serena Joy asking Rita for chamomile tea (she’s obviously on all the sleeping meds) and that she spends a night without Fred knitting (this bitch has a secret stash of reports from conservative think tanks, don’t try to tell us she doesn’t). We critique Mrs. Putnam’s mothering skills (Baby Charlotte is not a shake weight) and debate what happens to a wife in Gilead when her husband gets carted off by the Eyes.  Leann Bowen can be found on Twitter @Leann_Bowen and Instagram @leannbowen.

Episode 9 - Toilet Whisperer

To get ready for this episode, which spans Nick’s backstory and the return of Moira, we give a pregnant Angelique Cabral a five-week-old kitten to breastfeed. No follow up questions, please. Ang, Elissa, and Julia go on a real rollercoaster in terms of their opinions of Jezebel’s, which prompts all three of them to dive into that age-old question - would you rather be a Martha, a Handmaid, or workin’ at Jezebel’s? (Answer: you would rather be the James Beard award winning chef who has clearly fucked Nick.) We also ask, yet again, why are all the men with small parts on this show such, such bad actors? Deliberate casting choice or just another example of male mediocrity? Things we learn: clear your browser after googling the correct name for a shaving fetish, Commander Waterford is definitely gay (no follow up questions), and how the Guardians of the Faithful meticulously branded “The Ceremony” (quick limo brainstorm sesh, of course). Angelique also gives us a fascinating peek into her brief stint in Scientology. We know what you’re going to ask, and no, she never ran into Elisabeth Moss. We learn that Scientology is just like podcasting — the more famous people you get to come on your show, the more legit you seem.  Angelique Cabral can be found on Twitter and Instagram @AngeliqueCabral.

Episode 8 - Date Night

SoCal girls Elissa and Jamie kick off this Luke-flashback episode by asking why no one can drive on this show, to which New England baby Julia replies, “Ice is a real thing.” We are all obsessed with Little America, and Julia tells us about the real-life Little America in London. This is a particularly entrepreneurial episode, and no less than three start-up ideas are pitched, including a period-napkin delivery service for Gilead called RED. We are currently looking for angel investors; tweet at us @underhereye. Finally, we take a moment to say praise be, bitch, in response to O-T Fagbenle’s acting in the final scene of this episode and June’s heart-wrenching and efficient missive (Julia still thinks it should have been just a sad face) to Luke via the Mexican ambassador’s aide. Couple goals.  Jamie can be found on Twitter and Instagram @jamiegaul.

Episode 7 - Little America

Julia, Elissa, Caitie, and Hannah dissect “A Woman’s Place,” Episode 6 of the Chronicles of Gilead. The girls discuss how whatever organic cleaning products the Handmaids use to get the blood off the wall do not work well enough, how the leaders of Gilead are fuckin’ dorks who decided they needed to be called Commanders, and the fact that Nick knows how to touch a woman while Serena Joy’s husband...does not. We also debate what June should write on her note to Luke - just a sad face? Their best inside joke? “P.S. I fucked Nick. Super sorry. Love, June.”? But to be fair, she hasn’t written any words  in three years. Do not worry, Julia repeats her impressions of Aunt Lydia and the muppet interrogator because she just can’t help herself. Throughout this whole recording Caitie is wearing a very cozy sweater in an impeccable shade of Commander Teal.  Caitie Karasik can be found on Twitter and Instagram @caitieekk and Hannah Garcés can be found on Twitter @pukingcrone and Instagram @harnargargar.

Welcome to Under Her Eye

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