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Episode 014 - Celebration Hype
56 Plays7 months ago
This week Shawn and Andy get really excited about Celebration with the announcements of new merch. We also chat about the penultimate Bad Batch episode, cool new trailers, For All Mankind, X-Men, Argylle, eye surgery, nice mattresses, and so much more.
Thank you to our good friend Chris Hall for the amazing cover artwork!
Connect with us via our website https://justshillin.com or send us an email/voicemail at [email protected]
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Transcript
Gratitude and Acknowledgements
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode number 14 of Just Shillin. I am one of your hosts, Sean Hoffman. And I am your other host, Andy Bell. First, I want to take a second. I'm just going to derail the whole thing in the first 30 seconds. I want to take a minute.
00:00:21
Speaker
And I want to say a huge, huge thank you to Mr. Eric Strathers for that amazing episode last week. It's by far our best episode. I don't know how we're going to top it. We should probably just end this and publish it so we can just rip, get it out of the way. But that was awesome. Like I've never listened to one of our own episodes and been like, man, that was, that was good. That was good stuff. But last week, back week, last week was
00:00:47
Speaker
was killer, and I want to say a huge, huge thank you to Eric for that, taking the time. Yeah, I'm still buzzing, mate. Yeah, I've been on quite the high over the last week about that episode. It almost gave us a little bit of credibility as being a proper podcast. No, it was awesome, man.
00:01:18
Speaker
I mean, you know before we started just how busy the guy is. And he had to go off, I think he was going off that evening for a gig. And he gave us not only time, but he gave us more time than I expected. And while I was stressing about the limited time that he had, he kept volunteering more stuff. And I was thinking, is he okay with this? Is he okay with this?
00:01:45
Speaker
So I was, no, I was, mate, I was, I was absolutely stoked. It was, it was superb. Thank you so much, Eric, again. Nothing, nothing is better than when the superstars make time for their fans, you know? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. You can squeeze this into a busy schedule, but now, uh, all joking aside, that was awesome. Second, second order of, uh, of affairs that I want to get out of the way. I said it at the end of the last episode, but I want to, I want to front load it a little bit more this time. Um,
00:02:14
Speaker
Another huge thank you to our friend, Chris Hall, for our amazing new cover art, our new artwork. Awesome. Words can't describe how thrilled I am, want to be personified with the blonde wig on and all that, but it's just... I love it. It turned out a billion percent better than I could have ever imagined. I love it. It's fantastic.
00:02:44
Speaker
Yeah, now Chris is a really, really good guy and I really appreciate his friendship and I appreciate him doing things like that for us because he is a talent and
00:03:03
Speaker
Talented people typically come come at a premium But he's good value To his mates anyway, so thank you very much Chris. Yeah, you are alleged Another another superstar making time for his fans. Appreciate that. Yeah, exactly exactly It's either taking time or or pity. I don't know. I can't work out what it is yet. Oh bless them Well, we'll find it. We'll find out. We'll find out sooner or later. I'm sure
00:03:33
Speaker
They might make it to episode 15. You never know. Let's give them a bit of a bunk up. Let's give them a bit of a helping hand.
Andy's Madrid Work Trip
00:03:42
Speaker
But anyways, man, how are you doing? How's your week? What's going on? I'm good, buddy. It's been a weird week. I've been out again. Had another trip with work, but it was properly full on. I mean, I was, again, because
00:04:02
Speaker
I work with many, many people from many, many, many different countries. We had to hook up and we hooked up in Madrid, which again sounds salubrious and fantastic. And Madrid itself, I have been and enjoyed it as a
00:04:17
Speaker
as a private person, but unfortunately we were there strictly for work and it was properly full on for three days, you know, eight in the morning start, eight o'clock at the very, very earliest we finished in the evening. Didn't get to see an awful lot of the city at all, which is a shame because Madrid is a beautiful city.
00:04:40
Speaker
and beautiful people with fantastic food. So I didn't get to see an awful lot of the plays. On the food front, I was very lucky on my last night that we had a little bit of time. I mean, the wonderful thing about Madrid or Spain in general is that they tend to eat late, very, very late. So we finished about, let's say eight o'clock in the evening, by which time
00:05:08
Speaker
we need feeding. So we went to a local restaurant that was highly recommended. And we got there for eight, or just after eight, should we say, for a couple of aperitifs and a few glasses of wine. And the kitchen stuff hadn't even turned up yet. They don't turn up until nine o'clock.
00:05:30
Speaker
Wow. So they take orders basically at nine and keep you well oiled, shall we say, until the food turns up about half past nine quarters to 10. So yeah, it was... We ate very, very late, but the food was delicious. Absolutely delicious as you'd expect, the typical
00:05:52
Speaker
very, very stereotypical Spanish fruit with paella and hamon. But I chose something different, and I chose the local monkfish. And I have to say, it was delightful.
00:06:07
Speaker
Sorry, we're turning into a Jimmy Dice cuisine podcast, aren't we? But yeah, no, I had probably... That's a good thing, by the way. Oh yeah, I'm not complaining, but I'm not complaining at all because it was absolutely delicious. Absolutely delicious. I'd never had fish cooked quite as exquisitely as that for quite a few years. And bearing in mind, I was born and brought up
00:06:33
Speaker
by the sea on the coast, living in a fishing village. And this was really, really well done. Anyway, that was the trip to Madrid. Apart from that, we haven't done an awful lot because
00:06:58
Speaker
Certainly on the downside of the trip, I've been absolutely shattered. I bought a new mattress, if that's exciting. So as we're getting older, we're realizing that our joints and our aches and pains are getting us down. So we bought a new mattress that we haven't done for quite a few years now.
00:07:17
Speaker
and spent a few bucks on it because sleep is really important to both of us. So that turned up and it is amazing. It's probably amazing. I feel as if I've deprived this as a married couple for the last 10 years or so by sleeping on an inferior mattress. It's amazing what can happen when you actually spend a little bit of money and do a little bit of research on your sleeping patterns. So that's been great.
00:07:45
Speaker
And then the downside, the downside, about a month or two ago, I started noticing
00:07:57
Speaker
should we say, a rapidly deteriorating eyesight in my right eye. And I thought to myself, oh, crikey, that's not good. I know I'm getting old, but it shouldn't be that quick that my eyesight's going. Because my eyesight touch wood has been pretty good. Anyway, I found out last week that I actually have a cataract, which is not
00:08:22
Speaker
It's not actually common for people under 65. So that made me feel like shit. But because of...
00:08:32
Speaker
You just, you part it too hard? Well, it's most probably associated with it being my strongest eye, number one of the two, because I do have two, and my high VDU usage or my high monitor usage. And it's because of the, should we say, the overstrain
00:08:55
Speaker
on my over-reliance on my right eye that they believe has caused this cataract. I didn't realize there are different grades and different flavors of cataract that you can get, but mine
00:09:11
Speaker
would be associated with someone that spends way too much time behind a monitor. Can you do me a favor? Can you turn down your monitor brightness real quick? I know we were just talking about that before the recording and you're like, look, it's like a light. I'm like, you can go ahead and turn that right back down.
00:09:32
Speaker
Well, there's two things. A, it's a soft light purposely
Eye Health and Screen Time
00:09:35
Speaker
designed to give me light. And secondly, I can't see this right eye at the moment anyway, so I'm absolutely fine. But yeah, that's going to be done. And it's going to be done quickly as well, which I mean, the great thing is, it's quite common. And so yeah, so a two weeks, sorry, a week on Tuesday next week, so it's the week after that, it gets done and they'll
00:10:01
Speaker
they'll sort me out and that should last the rest of my lifetime, which is great. A bit of a weird one though, bearing in mind, despite appearances, I'm nowhere near 65, not yet anyway. I've got a few years before I get there yet. What about your week, mate? I came into this podcast consciously this week. I'm like, I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to make a joke.
00:10:29
Speaker
And then my body lets me down and actually actually actually sustains the bit for you. So you're okay. My own body's doing it to me now. So my week, my week's been pretty uneventful. Um, I do want to, I do want to, you know, I'll follow your similar pattern. Um, this morning I made some eggs. I just kind of got, I'm not a breakfast guy, but I just got like a stick.
00:10:54
Speaker
I got a stick there and I was like, you know what, I'm going to make some eggs. And I just like put some rosemary in, a little butter, a little major green cheese, a couple other things. And I'm like, I made some eggs. And then I got in trouble for only making myself eggs. And then I had to make Madison eggs for lunch. Yeah, I did following up with the food bit.
00:11:15
Speaker
in the mattress conversation was pretty interesting because, um, I, I, for the longest time was a, you know, a mattresses. There's good mattresses, bad mattresses, but I never really cared or betting is betting. Yeah. But, um, but Madison kind of, uh, has formerly come from like the hospitality world and has educated me over the years on like the,
00:11:40
Speaker
not just like thread count, but like types of sheets, winter sheets, summer sheets. And so I have been living the dream. And so I know she'd never get on a special podcast with me to talk about the ins and outs of betting and how to live a much better life because sleep is important. But if you ever need tips or anything like that, she knows
00:12:09
Speaker
What's up? I live a very happy sleep life. Best pillows, best sheets ever. Best mattress. Could we not have a spin-off podcast called Just Living?
00:12:20
Speaker
Just linen or just like I was gonna say just sleeping, but just linen is better. I like that. That is that I'm gonna write that down. Just linen. That's awesome. So good. She's gonna be like, no, I'll send you I'll send you a Google Doc with some links in it. But now there's that. Yeah, it's I love I love my sheets. And on the eyes thing, that's actually really interesting because
00:12:48
Speaker
My mom had to have something similar, way worse, obviously, way older than that. Had to have something similar done. And what was funny was she had the cataract removed, but it also, as you get older, your eyes tend to yellow for a multitude of reasons. And we've always complained to her for years and years and years about how bright her TV is, or she'll have all those recessed lighting in her home that's that really
00:13:16
Speaker
blue bright light after she had when she had those cataracts removed it actually corrects the yellowing as well and so she got home and she's like oh my god is my my tv always been this bright like it's so bright in here it's so white it's like it's not yellow and like warm like it always been like no your house has always been this way and so i don't know i thought that was interesting as well it's like i never knew that that
00:13:42
Speaker
One, I never knew it got that bad, the yellowing, but I didn't know that the laser eye treatment for cataracts and laser eye surgery and things like that could correct that as well. It's one of those things that, so what you're describing is exactly what we've experienced with my in-laws, with Lucy's mom and dad.
00:14:06
Speaker
where you go into their house and you watch some TV and the TV is, it looks like a cartoon because it's so vibrantly bright. I mean, the grass is green. I mean, lime green, you know, the water is a deep blue. It's almost aqua, you know, it really is aquamarine. And it's in itself, it gives you a migraine. But
Nostalgia for Air Shows
00:14:36
Speaker
I haven't experienced anything like that, which is the reason why this kind of crept up in the latest weeks. And I just think it may well have something to do with fatigue as well, but there's a whole bunch of... Although cataract surgery in general is pretty much reserved for the older folk, what they're doing for me is very much akin to anyone
00:14:59
Speaker
There's a high volume of VDU. Can't believe I'm still using this acronym. Anyway, using a lot of monitor work. And so if there's one lesson or one piece of advice I can give to anyone across our family and friends this evening is just look after your eyes. And when you do get your next test, be very clear that you do a lot of monitor work.
00:15:27
Speaker
because it will help you. Anyway. Where are the sunglasses when you look at the eclipse? Step one. Yeah, that's another one. That's another one. What about news, mate? I've got a couple of things, but only a couple of things because I have been out of the picture again this week. What about news? Let's fit the discussion to you first on this. Have you picked up anything?
00:15:56
Speaker
So the first bit of news that I have is more personal I realized how dirty my floors were because my my vacuum broke and then I bought a new one and it's like whoa That old vacuum was not Doing great. And so that was the first bit of news a little bit of a shock but moving on to more broader news Not a whole lot of news just mostly some trailers like that's my main things The Deadpool and Wolverine trailer I thought look
00:16:25
Speaker
Really cool, I'm excited for that movie. I think the X-Men cartoon, which I'll talk about a little bit more in a bit, has got me, like I've always enjoyed those movies, but I've never been like, I'm gonna go see that in the theater. It's always been like, you know, we'll see, we'll see what happens. But this one I'm like, I'm kinda, I'm feeling it. There's just some, it's the hype, it's the fact that it's not completely spoiled.
00:16:54
Speaker
It's, and it's kind of, it feels like the start of something new, like, um, like this, there's something's going to happen in this. It's going to be like the, the, the opening, the floodgates to like new, exciting content going forward. And like, it's not too deep. It's not too weird, but it could be, it could be a good time. So I saw that. Did you have a chance to watch it?
00:17:17
Speaker
I did. I did. And I thought there was something comforting about it as well, because it's like, yeah, it's moving to Disney, but it seems to be retaining the attitude of the first two films.
00:17:42
Speaker
And it's kind of also acknowledging the fact that it's now Disney as well, which I always think is a little bit of self-humiliation and parody is a good thing. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it. It's one of those Marvel films that I will go to the cinema for. You and I have already talked about this. I've dropped off Marvel quite a bit in recent years. And is it fatigue?
00:18:10
Speaker
probably, but I'm okay with that. And I cherry pick what I want and what I want to watch. The last film I went to see in the cinema, as you know, was Guardians 3, which broke my heart. But yeah, I'm looking forward to this. And again, it's the kind of attitude and the kind of
00:18:33
Speaker
a sense of humor that Lucy enjoys as well. So I know that she'll be coming with me as well. So it's an easy sell. It's a really easy sell. The another trailer that I saw is a bit a bit out of left field. But I wrote it down, so I got to talk about it. It kind of came out of nowhere. It's it's a for a movie, a documentary called Blue Angels. The Blue Angels are a
00:19:05
Speaker
Navy pilots, US Navy pilots who do like air shows and things like that. And I got, I'm excited. I'm excited to see it. The Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds and stuff have a special place in my heart.
00:19:21
Speaker
Growing up, my dad was using the Air Force and worked on radars and worked on the A-10s and stuff like that. And so my childhood was pretty much just like spent at the base and watching these air shows. And I distinctly remember getting to meet the Blue Angels one time, because we were, you know, doing stuff. I was in places I probably shouldn't have been during an air show and got to meet them. And it's like,
00:19:51
Speaker
just always being amazed at kind of not not the military industrial complex not all that like all that stuff aside but just the the aura and the fascination with that kind of thing like just the stuff that they're doing it's it's bread and circuses like in a lot of ways but it's yeah
00:20:13
Speaker
I don't know. It's just, it's like this weird, it's borderline nostalgic kind of thing. Like if it didn't exist and they tried to like propose it today, people be like, nah, that's a lot of money. We're not doing that. That's dumb. Like it just feels like this relic of a bygone era. That's like, we're going to take a bunch of fighter jets and we're going to fly them and do crazy stuff. And they're going to be about three inches off each other. I sound like a good idea. And it's just, I don't know. There's just something about it. I'm like, I, I'd watch it. I'm excited to watch this for some.
00:20:40
Speaker
For some reason, it's okay. Is that a movie or a TV series? Sorry. I thought it was a movie, but now that I'm talking about it, it kind of sounds like it'd be a show. No, no, I think it's great. I think it's great. I think that we're obviously over here, across this side of the pond, we've got the Red Arrows. They're at the RAF, the Royal Air Force Red Arrows is a big, big thing over here and there. They come out for everything. A little bit long in the tooth these days in that
00:21:07
Speaker
They might need to look at modernizing the fighters they use, but they're so agile and nimble that quite frankly, they don't think they've got.
00:21:15
Speaker
anything close to it that can replace it. But yeah, I mean, like you guys and the Blue Angels, yeah, I've seen a couple of times when I've been across the pond myself at one or two events, and it's stunning. It's amazing what those guys do. So anything like that, it's fantastic. I mean, it's not, yeah, okay, they're military pilots, but it's, sorry, they are Air Force pilots, but ultimately,
00:21:43
Speaker
Are they Navy? Sorry, which? They're Navy. They're Blue Angels, they're Navy. They're Navy, yeah, they're Navy. So they're like the fleet, for us, it'll be the fleet to our arm. Okay. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, but I mean, for me, yeah, of course, they're part of the armed forces, but ultimately, they're
00:22:03
Speaker
their whole goal is to wow and impress and entertain. And I think that's phenomenal. They just so happen to be working for the armed forces. So, no, they're great. I'd be really up on that as well. It's a movie and it's going to be on Amazon Prime, at least over here. It's weird because they said it's a movie and it's a documentary, but they're like, oh, it's a season. I'm like, I think that's where it gets confusing.
00:22:27
Speaker
Yeah, I'm with you. It's a season of the Blue Angels, but I don't know. I'm excited for it. I'm going to watch it and be like, hell yeah. Like, airplanes, cool. But other than that, I think that's the most news that I have. I know you had some things on your side of it.
00:22:45
Speaker
Yeah, first of all, I was really stoked. And it's quite interesting how many other folk are switching onto and discovering For
TV Shows Excitement
00:22:53
Speaker
All Mankind. And I know I've been talking about it for nearly, well, for 14 episodes now. But For All Mankind on Apple has been confirmed as, sorry, season five has been confirmed for release in a year or so. But really, really strangely, and
00:23:15
Speaker
very much welcomed by myself, is there's a spin-off, which is based on Russia or the Soviet Union's point of view. That's also been confirmed as well. So while they'll go to season five, which I'm assuming is the next decade from where they are at the moment, so they've already made it to Mars and they're looking to go beyond, and that will be the steps beyond Mars now.
00:23:44
Speaker
They're now looking at, yeah, I'm assuming from the get go, the Soviet Union's point of view prior and then subsequent to them landing on the moon, which I think is fascinating and quite a daring move. And I think that's pretty cool.
00:24:03
Speaker
Some sad news, and I hate to talk about this, but I think the world of the guy, Warwick Davis, his wife, Samantha, died over the last week or so, which is very, very sad because she was very much his soulmate and encouraged him to be
00:24:24
Speaker
to not let his dwarfism impede his career in any way and was very much the driving force towards his ambition and just how well he's done in life. And she died at the very, very young age, ridiculously young age of 53, which is very sad. And so obviously I feel gutted because Warwick is a
00:24:50
Speaker
a fave of mine and my condolences to both him and his family. It's never a good thing, never a nice thing. He's a good dude. Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, what a showman. What a showman.
00:25:06
Speaker
And just being so accessible to fans, whereas we all know, we all hear the adage of you should never meet your heroes because when you meet them in face to face, they end up being somewhat of a disappointment. The guy is a legend and is genuinely, genuinely
00:25:30
Speaker
interested and engaged with the people that love him. And that's a good thing. On the comic book front, so I thought you'd be interested that I was talking about comics, but I'm also interested because the subject matter.
Comics Comeback
00:25:48
Speaker
Now that obviously Disney owned Fox,
00:25:52
Speaker
They're doing another crossover with Aliens. So going a few years back, Dark Horse Comics did Aliens versus... Obviously, the original Aliens versus Predator, but Aliens versus Superman, Aliens versus Batman, Aliens versus anything that Dark Horse Comics also had the publishing rights for. Now that Fox is owned by Disney and obviously is akin to a Marvel,
00:26:22
Speaker
They're doing an Aliens versus Avengers comic book crossover that's coming our way. And that might, might get me back into reading comics regularly again, because I'm pretty stoked for that. Because going back quite a few episodes now, I know we've only 14 in, but it feels like an eternity. Going back quite a few episodes ago, my love of that, that kind of cross franchise
00:26:54
Speaker
mix-ups and match-ups and stuff was great when I was a kid, so I'm all for that. And then lastly,
00:27:08
Speaker
As we all wait with Bated Breath to queue for our celebration tickets for Japan, I see that there's been some announcements of some merchandise, exclusive merchandise that will be available for folk that book their tickets. I have to say, I'm really quite impressed compared to... Don't get me wrong, I did like the London stuff and I thought the design of the
00:27:38
Speaker
of the lanyard and one or two of the t-shirts and stuff that created the London brand for the event was pretty good, but I'm really stoked for the Tokyo stuff. In particular, the fact that an awful lot of the merch is quite rightly written in Japanese in the first place, the whole topography is
00:28:03
Speaker
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I'm getting that fan. I'm going to get one of those fans. Those fans are sick. Yeah, no, I mean, it's cool. I mean, standing out for me at the moment, I went a little bit because London was my first. I probably went a little bit over the top and I wasn't, in hindsight, I wasn't particularly happy with the quality of some of the merch that I bought.
00:28:32
Speaker
You can be honest, the shirts are shit for everybody out there. The shirts are not good. They're never good. I wasn't. Don't do it. I wasn't particularly happy. I mean, some are as long as they touch my kneecaps and some are as short as my... They make good cleaning racks though. As my nipples. So, yeah, I wasn't that impressed, but certainly the cap, I'm going for the cap.
00:29:02
Speaker
We're going for the cap when we order in the Japanese variant of the cap and obviously the lanyard. But the official t-shirt, the white t-shirt with the black vibe being in the
00:29:21
Speaker
The amazing, amazing Darth Vader print with Mount Fuji in the background looks absolutely mint, but I just don't trust the teas. That's the only problem I've got, the only reservation. But the whole styling and the whole branding of it, I think is really quite classy. What did you think, mate?
00:29:44
Speaker
Oh, dude, I love it. Like for one, like I said a second ago, they I like the key art. I'm excited to see like they always kind of have like the main key art and then they'll like expand it into like a banner. I'm excited to see how that expands. I think it'll be really cool. I'm very excited about the fact that they've made. Kind of the hero logo. In in Japanese, selfishly.
00:30:10
Speaker
I'm like, dude, I'm straight up taking that and I'm going to make that into a stamp. Like for, for some reason, because I've been, I have a couple of different things. I'm, I'm making stamps out of them. Like this is perfect. Like it's not just the plane celebration. It's got, it's got the Japanese kind of wording on there. I'm like, this is so fricking cool. Um,
00:30:31
Speaker
Yeah, dude, I'm excited. I'm excited to see what else they have. Like, it's definitely going to be different this time around. Like, I was already kind of mindful, at least when I went to London, like, OK, it's not it's not an Anaheim. I got to be mindful of how I'm getting this crap home. I still bought a skateboard deck in London, but I don't think that's going to necessarily
00:30:53
Speaker
Maybe, I don't know, I guess Madison will be there, so it'll be easier in some ways, but just being mindful of what I'm gonna waste my money on this time. I'm hoping there's more, which there always is, but. But that deck you bought was the one piece, that's exactly the piece, that was the same brand as the lanyard, which I thought was the one single piece of really good and well thought out,
00:31:18
Speaker
branding, not just merch, branding that came out of that event. Yeah, I mean, I just bought a hold of ancillary crap on top of that. But yeah, no, that debt you've got is actually a good looking debt. Certainly better than some of the mainstream one can get now. Well, I think it's similar to what we've talked about in the past about our collecting. Yeah. The first time or two you go to Celebration, at least is my experience, and it sounds like it was yours.
00:31:45
Speaker
You go and it's just like, it's so overwhelming. It's like, ah, I gotta get it all. I gotta get it all. And next thing you know, okay, like I've been a couple of times now and now it's like, all right, I want those unique items. Like I don't have a lot of wall space anymore. That's why I'm so excited about the fan. I'm like, ooh, I could get that fan. It looks really good right there, right on my wall, right there. And it's not- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't need 400 t-shirts. I already have a billion t-shirts. Like I have- No, I'm not. I'm not.
00:32:11
Speaker
I don't need another black Star Wars t shirt with some arbitrary anniversary on it for some arbitrary thing. It's like there's there's ones every year. Like it's the it's the 27th anniversary of something something like I want something that's going to be unique. There was some stuff in London I really wanted. But I didn't get there was I did get those nesting dolls. I thought those were
00:32:36
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's that's the stuff that I think is really exciting. Like, I am excited for the key art in that fan. But I'm also excited for more of the like, what, how can I mix it? How can I mix and say like, Okay, what, what's something that's maybe traditionally Japanese? Also with Star Wars, like, I hope there's some like,
00:32:54
Speaker
I know there's going to be chopsticks, obviously, but like, are there going to be like small bowls? Are there going to be things that you use and integrate into your into your home or your whatever that kind of makes it, but it's not like in your face. It's like, I don't need a.
00:33:11
Speaker
I'm not gonna buy a kimono or something like that. It's yeah I want something that's gonna be more Integrated into my my home life now similar to our but we're saying about collecting like it needs to have a purpose Because yeah got a billion shirts and things like that
00:33:27
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, you already know that, I mean, I'm not allowed... I mean, this room that I'm recording at this moment, I'm not allowed to get any of this junk outside this room. However, I do have one or two more tasteful pieces that I've collected over the years in the house because they're not seen as
00:33:52
Speaker
cheap Star Wars shit. It's seen as actually, it's quite tasteful. It's done really well. It's quite subtle. That fits actually with the ambiance of where we live. The rest of the tap that I buy, yeah, it's got to stay with me in here, unfortunately.
00:34:10
Speaker
Tell you what though, I know we haven't started the Road to Japan segment of this podcast, which we're planning to do going forward, but I tell you what I am really looking forward to. Looking at the merch made me think of one thing and it made me think I'm also looking forward to doing some shopping.
00:34:31
Speaker
out there because I really hope it's a lot more different. Sorry, when I mean shopping, I mean actually in the event, in the marketplace, I don't know what you call it, but where all the stalls are. The floor, the floor out there. Yeah, the main floor because I'm really hoping it's not the usual Western merchandise stuff that
00:35:01
Speaker
blew me away, if I'm perfectly honest with you, during celebration, but is also accessible in any other con. I go to a few every now and again with the Scruffy Boys and it's like almost the
00:35:20
Speaker
The floor these days is becoming a little bit samey and I'm really looking forward to an awful lot of the, should we say, Japanese license or certainly Eastern licensed stuff that is ridiculously expensive to import into the UK if you were to buy it online today. I'm looking forward to an awful lot of that stuff, like the SH Figure Art stuff is infinitely better than Hasbro in my personal opinion.
00:35:48
Speaker
I'm going to need a suitcase for just Bandai stuff alone. I was about to say the Bandai model kits are going to be infinitely better. And of course, it's your buyer from the source, so they should certainly not have the import duty that you unfortunately have to experience in the US at the moment. The figurines, the statues that are out there,
00:36:18
Speaker
I'll get the name in a second, but the point being is that I'm looking forward to that and more and being a very, very, very different culture, some obscure stuff as well. I've always found the
00:36:34
Speaker
the Samurai take on a lot of the Star Wars characters to be fascinating. I haven't actually jumped in and bought yet because I haven't seen anything that quite appeals to me yet, but hopefully there's a lot more choice and a lot more vendors that perhaps don't make their way even via shipping to the West that we can choose from.
00:37:01
Speaker
Well, even to take it a step further, like I, I noticed that when I went to London last time, but when you, when there's the cons in Orlando and Anaheim and Chicago.
00:37:15
Speaker
There's always like the resellers. There's like all the big names and they're just kind of like the art area. Then there's like the people who have like the t-shirt walls and just like the piles of crap. There's good stuff in there, but it's all con prices and whatever. In the US, it's always the same ones. They're just moving their crap between different cons. But then you went to go to London and it's like, I'm sure for you, it's the same ones you see all the time. But it was kind of new and different for us.
00:37:45
Speaker
To take what you're saying a step further, I think it's going to be even better for both of us going to Japan because it's like, oh, it's not going to be those same resellers that you and I are both used to. It's going to be something totally different. And it's a totally different market, a totally different pile of crap that maybe we can't, we don't get that pile of crap at home.
00:38:04
Speaker
but we can get it there. And so that's, I don't think I've been this excited for a celebration as a whole. Like I'm excited for the panels. I'm excited for like the art show. Like that's become a new big thing for me or like the art area.
00:38:23
Speaker
Um, but now it's like, I'm actually excited for the resellers and just all of the other like crap that you have to be been a couple of times. You're just like, yeah, I know. I'm not going to go pay 10 grand for a job of sale barge. Like I'm not that desperate. Like, but over there, it's like, I'm going to go look at those stuff. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, um, I've, the name I was looking for was Kota book here. Yep.
00:38:51
Speaker
Do you know those guys? They're exquisite, but you're talking for what you can buy out there for what? Let's say 50, 60 bucks. You can quadruple that over here. And so for me, it's like buying a hot toy. It's just completely
00:39:11
Speaker
unrealistic. And the stuff they do is different and the whole physicality of the kind of statues that they build or artwork they build, I think is pretty sick. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to it.
00:39:28
Speaker
Usually look at the Tamashi Nation's movie realization figures. That's where they take like Darth Maul. They turn him into a samurai and he's got like the big flaming swords and they're all like wearing samurai armor and stuff like that. That was what I was talking about. I didn't know the brand, but that's what I was talking about in terms of the samurai crossover stuff, which I haven't jumped into yet. But yeah, I'm really stoked to looking and all that kind of stuff. I'm just really looking forward to it.
00:39:57
Speaker
And there is, we spoke about it last week, spoke about it last week with Eric. I am literally flying in and out and I'm done. Am I going to experience Japan or even Tokyo? No, unfortunately I'm not because I'm only there for celebration. But I'm really looking forward to the Japanese take on celebration, which hopefully will give me a little bit.
00:40:28
Speaker
a little bit of the skew and the beauty of that country. It feels so real now and I'm really hyped for it. I really am. I hope they bring back the beer vending machines. That was- Yeah, that was smart, right? That was smart. That was awesome. God, that was smart for us as well.
00:40:51
Speaker
I mean, talk about a rendezvous point. Where are we going to meet? Well, where do you think we're going to meet? All roads at the end led to the beer pumps. It went unspoken. You don't even have to ask. It's just like, I know that's where people are. Then you see the hat, you see the Star Wars spelt out hats, and you're like, my people, there they are. My people are here. My people are here. Buy the beer vending machine.
00:41:20
Speaker
So yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. And I do hope that we all get what we want. I'm interested to find out later on about the panels and stuff and how that's all going to work. But as I found out last year, I got into a couple of the, should we say, side panels that weren't exciting for an awful lot of people and I had a blast.
00:41:49
Speaker
My very, very first panel that I went to was with Catherine and we got a pretty much front and center into the Andor panel with
00:42:04
Speaker
with the team, talking about how the whole thing was made and it was phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. And every subsequent panel, that was probably the biggest panel I got into and then every subsequent panel was, should we say,
00:42:22
Speaker
a lesser priority for most people, but I still have a blast. So, um, yeah, no, I'm, I'm, I'm. Oh, it's something to look forward to, which is fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I have to, I have to talk about my, my, one of my favorites just because what you said, it's like. One of my favorite ones I went to was a small one with, uh, with our buddy Andy Campbell, one of the Andes. Oh, I love, no, I love Andy. What a dude. I mean, the nicest guy.
00:42:52
Speaker
Yeah. We went, we both went to the micro galaxy squadrons panel for the little, the little ships and stuff. And it was so funny because it was in like one of the overflow rooms, but there wasn't a lot of people there. And I don't know if you've ever been to an event where like they bring 200% of the hype and they are like, they're, they're super pumped. And it's like, but it doesn't match like what
00:43:22
Speaker
They're trying to hype up, but there's people in the crowd who are also hyped, but there's not a lot of people. And so they're doing like these like teased reveals of like, what's the silhouette going to be? And then they show it's like, Oh, it's an ATA ACT and people, there's like 10 people in the crowd going, yeah, let's go.
00:43:39
Speaker
What is happening like prototypes from underneath the desk and people are like losing their minds like there's people in there who know the people on the panel like by a first name basis and like it was a whole vibe I'm like
00:43:54
Speaker
I feel like I'm in a like a small town and everybody's like really hyped on these like certain branded toys. But it was a really good time. We had a blast in there. We felt like we were out of our element because we're like, oh, cool, those are neat. And then we get in there and it's like it's us and a bunch of other people who are very, very into these these toys. But we're just we're just in there vibing, having a good time. It was it was a lot of fun and no regrets. And I highly recommend anybody if you have if you have a gap.
00:44:22
Speaker
Go do a panel like that. They're a lot of fun. You can walk away with free stuff too. Well, I, sorry, go on the Andor subject as well, because I spent a lot of time with Catherine, which helped me an awful lot because I had no idea what was going on. But two, three days, probably on a Sunday, we went to see
00:44:41
Speaker
Jamie Benning, who leads the Filmumentaries podcast, had no idea about him, had no idea about his podcast.
00:44:52
Speaker
And it was literally because it was behind the scenes, another and or behind the scenes panel. And it was quite a small room. I mean, because Jamie is quite a small, it's quite a small podcaster, but he managed to get some amazing lineup of ILM folk on his panel. And I over time in my life, because it was smaller, it was a lot more intimate and it felt like
00:45:19
Speaker
I could appreciate what they were saying because they were saying it to me. Really cool. Another one. There was another ILM behind the scenes. There's a theme here, right? There's another ILM talk with Doug Chang. Now, Doug Chang's always been a hero of mine. I mean, the guys are freaking legend and bought in a creative
00:45:45
Speaker
style to the prequels that was nothing like the OT, but made sense and it still felt Star Wars. I love him, I love his philosophy, I love his nature, I love his outlook and his very humble and grateful demeanor as to where he is today. I just sat there and watched it and
00:46:15
Speaker
I can't believe we're going down this, but I'm loving it. When the panel was over, I just sat there and just waited. It was almost like I was waiting for an end credit scene because I loved it. I loved the whole thing so much. And because I was late, Craig was with me as well. And because we were somewhat late leaving the room,
00:46:43
Speaker
we ended up leaving the room and going into the hallway just as Doug Chang was being corralled by his protection or by his people onto the next thing. I pretty much had a foot, two foot away from an absolute legend. Didn't say anything, of course, because I wouldn't know what to say to the guy, but I thought, this is amazing.
00:47:06
Speaker
I could never do anything like this anywhere else in the world at this moment in time. It's superb. But yeah, I loved it. I loved it. And I'm sorry, back on track folks, back on track. Really looking forward to Japan. Honestly, it really feels real now and I'm really looking forward to it. And yeah, can't wait. It's going to be fun. Let the countdown begin.
00:47:36
Speaker
Yeah, officially, as far as Josh Shilling, a podcast for positive people with low sodium content. A podcast for people with a lot of time on their hands. We are starting our countdown to Japan right now.
00:47:58
Speaker
Uh, we're within a year. That's as, that's as close as, that's as close as the number is going to get for right now. We're within a year. Exactly. Exactly. All good. Right. So, um, gosh, that's a lot more than I thought. Bearing in mind,
Shogun Series Finale Plans
00:48:13
Speaker
it's been a busy week. Um, so I'm going to let you know what I've been watching, what I have watched, what I'm still watching and what I've listened to, um, because it's a relatively short list. So, um,
00:48:29
Speaker
Yeah. Unlike last week where I had a plethora or a shopping list as long as your arm, about everything that I'd watched, it was been a very, very quiet week this week for obvious reasons. Still watching Constellation, Scrubs, Battles like Elector, yada, yada, yada. But the only show
00:48:54
Speaker
that I've seen that we're both watching apart from obviously Bad Batch, which we'll talk about in a second, were Shogun and most importantly, the finale of Shogun. So with that in mind, I'm going to put a pin in that because I do want to talk to you about Shogun and how I feel about that show and how I think it's worthy
00:49:17
Speaker
of you and I and potentially a guest one day to actually talk about the series as a whole. So I'll put a pin in at the moment and pass back to you. What have you been watching? What have you watched? What are you listening to? What have you listened to? Just the same thing twice. You know what I mean?
00:49:38
Speaker
Over to you, man. So I too watched the finale of Shogun, but I'll save that. So funny enough, after last week's special guest episode with Eric, Madison was interested in watching Requiem for a Dream, which she'd never seen.
First Impressions of Requiem for a Dream
00:49:56
Speaker
I gave her plenty of warning, lots of, are you sure? Are you sure about that?
00:50:02
Speaker
Um, yeah, and she was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then about, you know, two thirds of the way through the movie, she's like, What? What are what are we doing? What are we what are we doing here? I'm like, I warned you about this. So we will collectively probably not be watching that again. We did finish it. And she's like, Yeah, that's not for me. But yeah, respect it. She's like, the soundtrack is good, though. Um,
00:50:30
Speaker
Another I've also been watching the X-Men animated series.
Praise for X-Men Animated Series
00:50:35
Speaker
I'm switching my recommendation. So I remember way back in the beginning, like, I don't know who this is for. I am even further in the camp of this isn't for kids, not. Nope, that's a big strong no in that regard. But I do say that this is a good this is good. This is a good show as much as the old 92 series was
00:51:00
Speaker
Like all over the place at times and just kind of like, whatever, like hard to follow. This is, it's really good. And I'm, I, I hate to say it, but I'm like that kind of person. Like I used to be like, give it all to me at once. I want to watch it all once and be done with it. I like the, the, uh, the weekly nature to it. Like some of them are just whatever, but it's also got this underlying narrative and it's, it's low risk.
00:51:27
Speaker
Um, but there's a lot going on in it. It's heavy at times. Um, it does not pull its punches. Uh, it's, it's, it's surprisingly good. Um, all bundled up into a nice little, it's not like a, like a Star Wars live action where it's like you get one big arc for a season. It's like, no, there is, there is stuff happening. It's also Marvel. So they could all get undone with a snap of a finger or whatever, but it feels.
00:51:56
Speaker
heavy and weighty and it's got meaning and it's not just moral of the week stuff. So I'm really, really enjoying that. Great thing about Marvel. It has a lot more liberty than Star Wars. I mean, how many times has a particular superhero's origin story be rewritten, rewritten, rewritten, rewritten?
00:52:23
Speaker
and nobody bats an eyelid. It's a little bit like the conversation we had a while ago about James Bond being recast and redone and history changing and to serve the purpose of the narrative. And while I perhaps wouldn't want that for my Star Wars, I do envy those universes that can do that because
00:52:48
Speaker
They're not bound by any expectations or preconception bullshit that other media like Star Wars has or franchises like Star Wars has. That's cool. That's really cool. I've heard nothing but great things about it. I have not got around to it yet, which I am kind of gutted about, but there's so much to do. Sean, there's so much to watch. I mean, I haven't finished Blue Eye Samurai. I haven't finished
00:53:17
Speaker
Here's here's my prediction. Sorry. Here's my here's my prediction with it, though. I'm only staying on top because I have a feeling it's going to. It's here's drawn yarn on the corkboard again. It's like I think this is going to be tied into Wolverine and Deadpool and the Marvel Universe. I think it's all I think it's all going to be like there's no there's no signs of this. There's no like.
00:53:40
Speaker
It's just like, I, it's coming out at a weird time. They're reintroducing X-Men. They're doing this stuff. I'm like, I think it's all gonna, I think it's going to be all connected. Um, I want to be part of it. I don't want to be, I'm tired of being spoiled on the internet. Uh, like I want to be, I want to feel, I want to feel something. Um, so that's why I'm staying, staying with it. How, how good would that be? How good that would that be? Be awesome.
00:54:08
Speaker
Like, it's got me excited about Marvel again. Like, and I've never been a huge X-Men person. Like, I've always enjoyed the games and whatever. But like, I'm like, ooh, I actually kind of like.
00:54:19
Speaker
It's kind of what Winter Soldier and stuff did for me with MCU. I'm like, ooh, I kind of like this. This is cool. I'm not going to go read 80 years of comics, but I'm going to maybe get on fandom or look at the Wikipedia of X-Men and dive a little deeper. But no, I'm enjoying it. That would be very, very cool because
00:54:47
Speaker
I mean, we were, we were, we were speculating a couple of weeks back about how the, um, what will be the impact of bad batch, you know, in terms of what happens afterwards, what we've already seen in this, in, in both the OT, the sequel trilogy and the TV series, but you know, what is still to be planned, you know, what is still to come.
00:55:14
Speaker
And maybe, we'll talk about it later on, maybe my expectations were a little bit too high. But yeah, and I love the idea of this... Again, it goes back to the days of multimedia, shadows of the empire type of thinking where you've got video games, you've got literature, you've got comics, you've got
00:55:41
Speaker
live action when we never had live action. But the point being is that anything that can create this immersive multimedia experience I think is fantastic. Matrix went from animation to video game and the video game straddled two of the movies and created some extra content and added some meat to the bone. I love that stuff.
00:56:08
Speaker
Love it. Cool. I need to watch it. It's on the list. But without a doubt. So something else we watch, this will be a short one. We watched the movie Argyle over the weekend. Seen a billion advertisements for and on Apple TV. Yeah. I. I don't I give her watch a movie and you're like,
00:56:37
Speaker
What? Like, you just want to understand the backstory. Like, how did this become? I'm not going to spoil any of it in case you I mean, I don't recommend it. Don't don't just don't. It's not what it says it is. It's it's just my theory is that it's like, OK. Is this somebody's first experiment with like, let's save money on writers, pay it all towards big name actors and just let AI write a script?
00:57:07
Speaker
Uh, like write a story and just see what happens. Um, it's, it's just weird. Uh, and like, I'm sure somebody out there could like, like it had, it had beats that were familiar and like kind of fun, but then it's just like, like it, somebody took the Kingsman, like the original Kingsman movie.
00:57:30
Speaker
Um, which is all over the place and kind of weird and whatever, but like it's in a good way, but like remove the violence. The first one you mean? Yeah. The very first one. Oh, the first one's a great film. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But like, but take that, but like keep the weird irony, but remove the violence and.
00:57:52
Speaker
And then just like any, I can try to like do all these like weird story twists. Like that's kind of what it became. Like I just, I don't even know what's real, like what's real anymore. Like it's, it's, it's a whole, it's a whole thing, but I don't recommend it. I knew I'd heard of it. Cause my boy Henry's in it. Um, but looking at the cast, Sam Rockwell, banger, Rich D. Grant, banger.
00:58:20
Speaker
Bryce Talon Howard. Banger. Oh, it's, it's all big names. Brian Clunston. Banger. John Cena. My God. I mean, it's, it's huge. Do oleapas in it. I mean, why do you think I picked it? Yeah, but good.
00:58:38
Speaker
What was going on? Yeah, watch it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. I know what you're saying, but there's a list of folk here that I adore and Lucy lusts after. So I may just have to watch it just for shits and giggles and I'll get back to you. But you know, that's
Fallout Season One Review
00:59:01
Speaker
a shame. That's a real shame.
00:59:03
Speaker
It has legs, but I'll let you watch it and then we can we can we can chat about it the only The only other thing I watched was I I churned and burned through fallout season one yes, and and so I enjoyed it to start I I Get why they released it all at one time That's oh
00:59:30
Speaker
As I was watching it, and the episodes would end, I'd be like, yeah, I would not enjoy this if it was week to week. I feel like it needs to be consumed as a whole. I enjoy it, I'm not knocking it by any means. There were times where I'm like, I feel like I should be more excited than I am. Okay.
00:59:57
Speaker
But it's like nine out of 10. It's very good, but I'm just looking for that. I had a weird feeling the whole time. It needs to be consumed all at once. A week to week would just not work because the cutoffs for the episodes were just very stereotypical cliff hangery at times.
01:00:20
Speaker
Well, it's also kind of experimental anywhere and it either works or it doesn't work. So, you know, getting, if you see, if you, if you get someone and I was trying to explain this to someone in the day and they said, well, maybe because it is a bit of a gamble. Yeah. I mean, let's face it, gaming franchises always are. And ironically, it was somebody in the gaming industry that I was talking to about it.
01:00:46
Speaker
And it may well be a case of let's just test the water and get it out there. Because the worst thing, I mean, the letter of two evils is for everyone to watch all of the seasons.
01:01:01
Speaker
Sorry, all the seasons, all the episodes than folk dropping off after episode one or two. That is, from a consumption point of view, the worst thing that could ever happen to a streaming service. So yeah, the more I talk to people about it as to why they did it that way, and now listening to you, what you're saying,
01:01:27
Speaker
Cool. Fine. I mean, maybe because I was so vested in the whole franchise anyway, that probably was an unfair bias towards or gave me bias towards my, or certainly impacted my reaction to what I saw on the screen. But no, that's, you know, every opinion is a good opinion. It's great. That's absolutely fine.
01:01:49
Speaker
I think they learned from the mistakes of what Halo and some of the others have failed from. And I'm a fan of the franchise. I'm familiar with how on the nose and just cheese dick it can be at times. But that first episode, if that was a week to week, that first episode would have
01:02:14
Speaker
the internet presence would have drug that show and it would not, it would have been a failure out of the gate because I think people, you know what, you know the world that we live in now, like people would have taken that and taken it all the wrong way. And so I think they learned from that mistake and they knew what they had. They're like, you've, cause you kind of have to get through those first two. Like you're familiar with the show, you're like, all right,
01:02:37
Speaker
We're in the camp, we're in it. Again, we saw that in the franchise that we mutually love. We saw that in Star Wars where you saw the first three episodes of Bad Batch, the first three episodes of Andor published on the same day to get over that hurdle of
01:03:03
Speaker
of getting folks interest in the first place or getting them engaged in the first place.
01:03:11
Speaker
I get where you're coming from and perhaps I was oblivious to it because of my, as I said, my vested interest in the franchise. But no, it's all good. It's all good. I just hope they keep it going because I think it's got some decent legs and I also think it's got longevity as well. Unlike other franchises that kind of have a beginning and middle at an end, this can kind of carry on for as long as you need to because quite frankly,
01:03:41
Speaker
There are many, many vaults. There are many, many folks. There are many, many countries that the nuclear war impacted. I hope there's something from this. And to be clear, I think they learned and I think they did it the right way.
01:04:00
Speaker
Yeah, I think releasing it all at once was the way to go about it to make sure it's successful and to make sure people are hyped. I think it was an experiment. And I think they did the right thing. And that season two will come through. What's weird is I know I'm going to be the only person in this camp is like,
01:04:17
Speaker
I think this did better as a bulk release initially. I wouldn't have been excited week to week, but I'm the exact opposite with Halo. It's like, I know people hate that series, but it's like, you know, I think they cut the episodes well and I'm excited to see what happens next week.
01:04:36
Speaker
Yeah, it's not the same. But they're different and they're unique in their own ways, and they're both, in my opinion, good. And I want more both. What a boring planet we'd be living on if everyone had the same opinion. Oh, sure. Everyone had the same likes. I mean, at the end of the day,
01:04:55
Speaker
what works for you, doesn't work for others, doesn't work for me, doesn't work for that guy, doesn't work for... It's like, who cares? It's to coin a friend, sorry, to coin a phrase from somebody that we know, good job liking what you like, you know, it's... Ace job liking what you like. Ace job, sorry. I get it wrong every time and he always corrects me and I'm finally gonna remember it. It's like, ace job, ace job liking what you like. Okay. All cool.
01:05:24
Speaker
Right mate, we're on the hour. Shall we delve into our love of Star Wars and talk about the latest episode of Bad Batch because I think we're probably in a good place, probably better than ever, in that we've only got one episode left as the finale to speculate about what's going to happen next. I think I'm on board with that.
Bad Batch Series Setup
01:05:55
Speaker
So we had, we had, um, we had flash strike as our pedal tumor episode. Um, high level top line. What did you think? My, my top line is it wasn't even 20 minutes.
01:06:20
Speaker
It wasn't, it was crazy, crazy short. Cause I was like, that wasn't 20 minutes. I went and started from the very beginning of the content to right before the credits. That was sub 20. I'm like, wow. That genuinely surprising. But in terms of content, um, it's not what I thought it was. It's not what I thought it was going to be. Um, I'm in.
01:06:45
Speaker
It's hard to talk about in a way that's not like predictions of what next week is going to be because that's how it felt. It felt it's like it is set up. It's all set up. Um, I thought it did a really, there's a weird amount of focus on echo, like out of nowhere, like no echo, no echo and echo. Now it's like.
01:07:06
Speaker
Echo. Echo gets a hand, echoes. How's Echo gonna get off the ship? How's Echo here? Echo's dealing with Emery. It's like, we don't get Echo for like a season and a half of like genuine Echo content. And now it's a lot of Echo. Another small things of like, okay, next up next week is
01:07:28
Speaker
My gut is it's going to be a long episode, not two, but it's maybe like maybe they'll do like a blue special and they'll be like a 45 minute. Bad batch. Cause if it's another 20 minute one, it's like, I, I don't know what they're going to do. It was interesting to see the Zillow boy, uh, the Zillow beast hanging out there. I'm like here, here, I thought we were going to get out of this, this series without any more Zillow beast, but it's like, ah,
01:07:50
Speaker
It's like poetry, it rhymes. We're gonna somehow end with the Zillow Beast. But that's kind of my takeaway. It's hard to have an opinion until we see how it ends, because all of this feels like set up for the true ending to something. And there's a couple different ways I could go, but I'm curious to hear your high levels as well. Hi, Evel.
01:08:20
Speaker
I like what I saw. Like you, I was a bit surprised it was so short, bearing in mind for the last four weeks, I've been saying, oh, they've got four episodes. They've only got four episodes left to wrap up the story. They've got three episodes left to wrap up the story. They've got two episodes left to wrap up the story.
01:08:38
Speaker
and I even got the finale. So I do hope it's gonna be tough to deliver an awful lot of storytelling in one episode. In the finale, sorry. What I saw was great. I'll go through my notes as to what I was observing in the moment at the time. But yeah, no, it was good. I guess the one takeaway that I had was that
01:09:10
Speaker
I perhaps expected a lead up to a grander finale with lots and lots of characters. The title of the finale is The Cavalry Arrives, or Here Comes the Cavalry, or some variation of that, which suggests, which got us all speculating about who's going to turn up, who's turning up to save the day, will it be
01:09:40
Speaker
all of the rescued clones that Rex and Echo have been in the background liberating over the last couple of years or so. Are we going to see Asajj again? Are we going to see Fi coming in as well? Was it going to be that kind of
01:10:06
Speaker
dare I say, rise of Skywalker moment where everyone from every corner of the galaxy will fly in and save these amazing heroes of ours. Bearing in mind, we are at the finale next week. I don't think it's going to happen now. I'll give you a little bit about what I think is going to happen when we get to the end of this part.
01:10:34
Speaker
It was fine. It was absolutely fine. And I really want... We are a positive podcast and I want us to remain positive about the stuff that we did take away from it. But yeah, I'm not in any way disappointed. I think what I can say is my expectations were perhaps a little bit
01:11:00
Speaker
different to where we are at the penultimate episode. Does that make sense? I'm bewildered. I'm bewildered, kind of. It's like- Okay. Like, I'm not disappointed. I still have hope that something's going to happen. It's like, I think I'm in the same boat of like, maybe my expectations were too high. And it's like that we're going to get like the rug, like the carpet reveal by the end. And it's like,
01:11:26
Speaker
Like I just now, now I'm kind of in the middle of like, I just want something that wraps, wraps it up nice. Like, yeah. I don't think it's the last of this. It's the last of the series. That's what's crazy to me. It's like, yeah, it's the last of the series. Like I'm more in like anxious anticipation of like, how are they going to do this? Like, yeah. But we still have plenty of time. So if you think about the timeline, your clone wars that wraps up, we then have bad batch.
01:11:57
Speaker
And then we had, sorry, we then had rebels, but at the end of, we then revisited Clone Wars, which led into Bad Batch season one, two, and three. We then have a gap, which you could assume is more or less the Obi-Wan Kenobi is set.
01:12:23
Speaker
We'll go into speculation later on, but I don't think this is going to be the nicely packaged with a neat bow on top ending that perhaps a lot of people, including yourself, were looking for. I just can't see it.
01:12:48
Speaker
There's too much momentum that has been generated from the very start of this series, particularly at the beginning of season three. There's so much weight there.
01:13:09
Speaker
unless, of course, again, we're stepping ahead of ourselves a little bit, unless, of course, it's not the genesis of some of the things we've been thinking about over the last couple of weeks, such as the Dark Trooper program, and of course,
01:13:27
Speaker
the resurrection of Palpatine. Maybe it's not that, maybe it is something else that leads into what we know later in The Mandalorian and indeed in the sequel trilogy.
01:13:44
Speaker
But anyway, I was going to share with you. Yeah, go ahead. No, go ahead. I was going to say, I was going to go through my notes like I do every week and they're typically two or three word or four word or five word bullet points. So flash strikes.
01:14:02
Speaker
My first comment was a personal opinion, rather than a comment on what I was seeing on the screen. I've never liked the V-Wing. I've never liked the V-Wing this time. I don't like it. All the things that came, and I was just complimenting earlier on about Doug Chang and the way that he created this amazing, almost art deco, certainly in the early films anyway.
01:14:29
Speaker
art deco environment, but to make it still feel within the Star Wars universe was classic. The V-wing concept of it almost being a mashup between... I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all up for kick bashing, you know that. But the V-wing being almost like a kick bash between a TIE fighter and an A-wing never really
01:14:57
Speaker
Adam Savage said this once and he said, you can always tell good design by silhouette. Um, if the silhouette is meaningful, um, and seems natural and the silhouette of the V wing just never felt particularly right with me. So that was the first comment I spent as usual way too much time on it. Um, cross hairs loyalty to Omega.
01:15:26
Speaker
And the fact that he was telling, he was talking about to his brothers that she didn't give up on him, so therefore he won't give up on her. That was the first time he properly vocalized perhaps his feelings towards her, which I thought was pretty awesome. Certainly in that, as deep as that.
01:15:55
Speaker
I liked Echo's replacement hand. I love the fact that he took the protocol droid's hand and attached it to himself. I thought it was very hot toys. I don't know if you remember when the hot toy came out for Echo, but he had this extendable attachment for his hand, which was a claw as opposed to the droid spike or the spike he normally has, which suggests that
01:16:24
Speaker
that appendage he's got is a bit like a Swiss army knife and you can fit many, many different things into it. So I thought that was quite cool because again, it reminded me of the hot toy, which the time we all thought, we all speculated, oh, is that coming up in the series? And it never did. So that's a little bit of justification for that.
01:16:46
Speaker
Next one I thought is a question was, is Crosshair completely free of his brainwashing? But again, that's a question I could have asked three or four episodes ago, but is yet another facet that needs to be tied up in the finale? So you've got Rampart,
01:17:12
Speaker
talking about foreshadowing a bit, almost foreshadowing that he's not completely over his conditioning yet. I just wrote down more monsters in the jungle, and that was before I knew anything about the... That was before the Zero Beasts arrived, but there was more monsters in the jungle.
01:17:40
Speaker
I'm still... Oh, one of the heart tugging moments was when one of the kids said, I'm so hungry. And the reaction from that evil doctor, not Emory, but the one who's turning into a bit of a nasty bastard in the vault, her reaction, which was, it'll pass. I was like, oh man, a young child tells you that they're hungry.
01:18:06
Speaker
that really pulled on my heartstrings and made me want to throw a few chairs. Zillowbeast is back. We don't know in what capacity at the moment or indeed what they're doing. Are they torturing it? Are they trying to antagonize it? What are they doing? Are they trying to... Because I think it was the scales or the carapace of the
01:18:31
Speaker
of the beast that was particularly robust. Are they trying to farm the scales for something else? I don't know. But the fact that Zillow Beast is there is good, and I think will play a massive part in the season finale. Eberie clearly is regretting her decisions, her life decisions, especially around her career. I mean, she almost
01:19:02
Speaker
rather humbly said to Echo, I was just doing my job, but she knew in what she was saying that she was kind of pathetic. Echo didn't pull his punches on that at all. He was just like, yeah, I like it. And to be honest with you, from Emory's point of view, yeah.
01:19:19
Speaker
He was probably stating the obvious. She knew it already. I genuinely think she knows it already, which is the reason why she's trying to lend a hand now. And then lastly, I wrote down, has it finished? Because it was so quick. Again, I expected to lead it to a grander finale with lots of characters involved, which leads on to what we're going to talk about now. What do you think will happen? Because I wrote that down in my thoughts as well.
01:19:47
Speaker
So that was that was that was my notes. So what do you what do you think is going to happen? I think I have a view. I would not be surprised if you have the same view as me.
Speculating Bad Batch's Conclusion
01:20:02
Speaker
I think there's like it's kind of picking up where we what you're saying a minute ago of like
01:20:09
Speaker
Like I'm always, I'm always on team. Like we'll see, just wait and see, just wait and see. Like what they have, like, not that they always have a plan, but like, they're not just spraying and praying with these shows. It's like, these are professionals. Like they know, they know kind of what they're doing at times. And I think maybe there was an element of like, I'm hoping that the curtain would be raised and we start seeing these connections. And I think it's hard to not get.
01:20:36
Speaker
not be not frustrated but like be disappointed when you get this close to the end and it's like at some point in time
01:20:43
Speaker
You want a show to mean something and not just be prepping for a new show. Um, like I always want more content, but like, I don't want. Clone outcast season one, where now we have more clones and Emery is the new tech and it's just the same vibe. Just three days later, doing something different under a new name. It's like some, at some point in time, something's got to mean something in like
01:21:09
Speaker
It can, it can just be what it is. And I think there's, there's that struggle right now between me and I was like, okay, next week could be a 45 minute episode. And there could be some meat on that bone. There's a lot, a lot to cover. We got to cover the Zillow Beast. We got to cover Rampart. We got to cover the twitchy hand crosshair. There's got to be some kind of conclusion and wrap up, like,
01:21:36
Speaker
You want you want something conclusive kind of for the clones in some way to escape without it being like that was the it's the end of the show. And so even if it is leading to a new animated series. Like it needs to have a wrap up, and I think that's where I struggle with it of like. What are they going to do? It's like, yeah, so they're going to do the simultaneous. My prediction is they're going to do the simultaneous breakout.
01:22:03
Speaker
Omega's gonna be, she's gonna help get the kids out on her own because that's her showing determination and her capabilities while the Bad Batch is wrecking, wrecking stuff. Rampart's gonna snitch, the Zillow Beast is gonna wreck things. I do believe that in some capacity, if Emery doesn't die, it's like, oh, she's gonna be the new tech, like at some point, like whatever the future thing is, like Emery is new tech.
01:22:34
Speaker
I don't know how they're gonna, as far as I can guess, that's gonna be the thing. What I'm most interested in, what are the last 10 minutes gonna be? Is it gonna be the hidden, I want the hidden path stuff so bad, I want it to all tie together. If they gave us that in the last five minutes of like, hey,
01:22:59
Speaker
Here's Quinlan Voss or Cal Kestis and we know where to go. Like, I'll be like, they did it. They, they made a decision and it concluded. And like, there is a place for these people to go. Um, and something meaningful, something meaningful for them to do.
01:23:20
Speaker
And a reason for them to not be around and like, I could sit and I'd be okay with that. Not this, not this like, I think Rex was on indoor. If we, if we retroactively do it and like everybody else is just, who knows? I just want something to mean, I want it to mean something. Like, cause I'm, I'm really invested in this show. I'm really invested in these series and they've got really strong character. I just want to know how they tie it up. That's where I'm at.
01:23:48
Speaker
I don't, I'm pretty much 100% agree with you. I think that the... I think there's so much going on with Omega and Crosshair that we will see them in the capacity again as leading
01:24:18
Speaker
characters of some sort. I think we'll see Wrecker and Hunter again, albeit as ancillary characters as they pretty much have been this whole season anyway. And I'm okay with that because I don't think you need to go that deep with them because they're a little bit like
01:24:40
Speaker
It doesn't get any more complicated and they're a good bedrock for any kind of to kind of launch the main protagonist.
01:24:52
Speaker
I think that she's going to break out the Zilla Beast. I think that's her answer as we all can see it coming. She's found something big and she's going to need their help. That thing could be pissed. They have been torturing that thing for a long time. It's going to change everything. Like I said, originally, I was thinking to myself, how on earth are four folk
01:25:21
Speaker
the three boys, sorry, plus Echo, four boys, and Omega going to rescue all of the torture souls in Mount Antis. And the point being is that they couldn't. So I was expecting for the cavalry to arrive so that they can truly liberate Weyland. I don't think that's going to happen. I think that they will rescue
01:25:53
Speaker
the folk and demolish Tantus by setting the Zillabees free. So the cavalry will come from within, if that makes sense. It'll come from within the confines of the mountain. And actually, if they keep it as simple as that with the prospect of it continuing
01:26:24
Speaker
to something different to placate someone like yourself that's looking for a little bit of conclusion on the clone stuff or on the clone saturation, I'd be okay with that. If they try and squeeze in everything in 45, let's say it is 45 minutes, they try and squeeze everything in 45 minutes, I might be a little bit more disappointed because they should have
01:26:51
Speaker
paste the latter half of the season to have accommodated that and tied up those loose end or need to progress the story of those loose ends earlier. So I'm almost wishing for it to be quite a simple conclusion now next week. And I hope that makes sense. And I hope I'm... I think by squeezing everything in, the last episode would be
01:27:21
Speaker
not smart writing. It feels like bureaucracy at that point. It's like... Well, it just feels like... We've spoken about this both on the pod and offline before. There are whole episodes dedicated to cameos, which will welcome cameos, but they didn't progress the story quite as fast as the first half of the season. And so the progress that was made between the...
01:27:51
Speaker
Oh, the bounty hunter. Come on. Fennec Shand. Fennec Shand and the Asaad Ventress episodes. What they learned in terms of story progression probably could have happened in one episode, for example. Well, at the end, it doesn't mean anything. But I enjoyed them. I enjoyed those episodes for what they were.
01:28:22
Speaker
Having those episodes to sacrifice really condense everything into the finale.
01:28:32
Speaker
I perhaps would think that would be a bad idea. And so therefore, I'm hoping for almost like a simple conclusion to this, with the promise of other things, which will placate folk that want to see Rex, that want to see Cody, especially Hawes, of course, want to see Cody, want to see the bad batch.
01:29:01
Speaker
again, in some form or another. Want to see, especially Omega, I mean, good God, there's got to be some sort of reunion or meeting with her brother at some point in this journey. But also, really want to tap into some of the other stuff that lead into rebels, like the hidden path, like the formation of
01:29:24
Speaker
the underground movement, like the integration of, or sorry, the engagement with politicians that may well or may not be able to influence the Senate. Those kind of stuff in animation would be totally cool. And while the clones are still there and their story continues, it somewhat becomes more ancillary to the main plot of the animation.
Crosshair's Fate Discussion
01:29:50
Speaker
And I'd be totally cool with that.
01:29:52
Speaker
Totally cool with that. So I have a question for you that I hate that I'm even asking, but I think with some of the foreshadowing and stuff that we had from, uh, Rampart, it begs the question. Do you, are you in the camp that thinks that crosshair is going to make it out of this alive? Because I, I've almost flipped back to the other side of like, I think
01:30:17
Speaker
I am not confident. I'm in the camp I don't think he's going to. I think he's going to make a sacrifice and that is going to be the proving that foreshadowing wrong. To be like, yes, I have committed and I am no longer part of the empire and therefore I am willing to make this selfless act. He's like, oh, you only care about yourself. I will prove to you that I am not selfless by sacrificing myself to save everybody else.
01:30:43
Speaker
I hope not, but it would be epic because he's been so prolific in his story and it will be epic. It better be, it needs to be. And actually, what I was just saying about Hunter and Wrecker being somewhat, I wouldn't say in the background, but ancillary to the storyline, it actually would make your life easier as well in that
01:31:13
Speaker
I wouldn't say your life easier. Sorry, what I'm trying to say, it would also make for what happens next less complicated and less storylines to follow through with. So for example, if his conditioning starts reverting back to where it was, you know, starts taking him back to where he was and therefore he, and he recognizes that and therefore makes a self attack like,
01:31:40
Speaker
takes his own life or, I don't know, does one almighty death charge. He stays behind to push the button that blows up the place. Exactly. Because he can't do it remotely. Because he knows, but he also knows that he can't escape the conditioning that he has always been through.
01:32:00
Speaker
then yeah, that will wrap that
Future Dynamics without Crosshair
01:32:02
Speaker
story up. And it's a little bit like Tech, who pretty much dominated season two, or was very prolific in season two anyway, that would be, that would kind of end that person's story, leaving the two boys to kind of join the... I think it'll end a lot of it. I agree with you. And that's what I'm trying to say, it'll leave the two other boys to kind of
01:32:27
Speaker
join up and help others and go back to what you and I have been prophesizing now for quite a while, which is to kind of help formulate the hidden path with like-minded folk and ex-Jedi like Gwyn and Vos. Because if crosshair goes, there's not going to be a
01:32:48
Speaker
Hunter, Wrecker and Omega show. And even if they add Echo and everybody else, it's like that's that's not a cast. Like if the crosshair goes, I'm like, that's this is probably the last we'll see of these characters until they are brought into something else as an auxiliary character. But there's just no there's not going to be no mega show. Well, no.
01:33:12
Speaker
unless she's older. I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, I was about to respond to your first part of that, which is there's not going to be a Hunter Omega wrecker show. I don't think there will be because Omega's way beyond them now. Yeah. Way, way beyond them. I mean, she has become something in someone
01:33:40
Speaker
meaningful in her own right,
Omega's Leadership Potential
01:33:42
Speaker
but quite frankly, of course you need family, of course you need your brothers, of course you need your loved ones around you, and indeed you need to be a loved one for someone else as well. But quite frankly, the independence and just amazing
01:34:06
Speaker
I don't know. Strategy, tactics, self-reliance that she's demonstrated during this season is phenomenal. She doesn't need them anymore. It's that simple. And so if there was to be
01:34:22
Speaker
another show and it did feature Omega. Omega will be a leader. She'll be leading this. I mean, add 10 years on. I mean, how long was the gap between Order 66 and New Hope? Are we talking 20 years, 22 years, 30 years, 22, about 22 years, isn't it? Something like that. Anyway, point being, add another 10 years onto this. So she's what, 12 at the moment, 10, 10, 11, 12 at the moment.
01:34:49
Speaker
She's in her early 20s. She's going to be a leader of some kind, whether it's to do with the rebellion, the hidden path, whether it's she takes over a criminal syndicate, I doubt it, but that might be an option for her. The point being is that whatever she does, she's going to be out there helping people. And if they are a trio, if they are a trio, she's going to be leading them.
01:35:15
Speaker
Without a doubt. A wrecker should probably sit the next one out because that dude's had, what, nine concussions this season? I was about to say. It's like how many times has he ended up on his ass this season? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:35:30
Speaker
all that say I just wanted to mean something like I've gone with you man just just make it just make it count make something count like if the whole if the whole show just wraps up with with crosshair being a sacrifice to save whatever that's fine like yeah but just but make it meaningful make it have an impact make it
01:35:47
Speaker
I think we'll be satisfied at the end. I think as with all these things that we love and we get engaged about, we speculate to the point that we speculate so much that it's almost impossible to realize what we're speculating and actually probably wouldn't be a very good TV show anyway.
01:36:11
Speaker
What if this happens? What if that happens? What if this happens? What if that happens? I mean, there's so much speculating. We've done in what, how many weeks it's been? In 13 weeks, 12 weeks, sorry. That quite frankly, if you squeeze everything that we speculated into one show, it would be so bloated and lardy that quite frankly, it wouldn't be worth watching.
01:36:38
Speaker
So, you know, keep it, keep it, keep it clean. Keep it, keep it, keep it lean. Um, let's see a really satisfying conclusion and let's see the promise of something that could happen potentially in the future. Yeah. And I think, and I think to that point, it's like the, the whole key, the whole thing that makes it so emotional is like, it's the end of the show. Like that. Yeah.
01:37:01
Speaker
Yeah, it was just the end of the season to be like, I don't give a shit what happens. Just, you know, whatever, but you never know. But don't forget the bad batch came out of clone wars. Yeah. You know, there's no reason why they can't be a component of, of another show with a few more, with a few more folk involved or a few different folk
Bad Batch Season Reflection
01:37:21
Speaker
involved. Who knows? Who knows?
01:37:24
Speaker
It's been a good, it's been a good stint. It has been a really, really good stint, especially the first half, the first half of the season so far has been some of the best Star Wars I've ever seen. It's been phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. And because it has been so good, I've been prone to speculating the most weird and wonderful things, but it's been tight and you can't accuse the production team of doing nothing but their best. So I'm pretty cool. Nice.
01:37:55
Speaker
And that's, oh my goodness me, look, look at us one hour 40 before recording this evening. We've said to each other, you know, it's been a pretty slow week. I don't think we'll have a lot to talk about. I'm genuinely shocked at how long we talked about bad batch. Cause it's like, I was sitting in the camp of like, I don't have a lot to say about it. I'm just like, I'm, I'm interested to see what comes up. Um, but yeah.
01:38:24
Speaker
If you build it, they will come. Well, it's because we care. It's because we care about the characters as well. I mean, at the end of the day, any of us can watch a 20-minute episode of any kind of media. And if we're not invested, chances are the discussion will be quite short. But we're investing in these people. And Omega in particular should be through a lot.
01:38:53
Speaker
And I think she's pretty awesome. Well, you know, I do hope they take this into something that's really quite meaningful.
Omega's Transition to Live Action
01:39:04
Speaker
I can see, you know, the same way that Filoni took Ahsoka and some of the rebels crew into the Ahsoka TV series. I would love for just knowing how independent and deep and
01:39:21
Speaker
really deep. Omega is as a young girl, it'd be great, wouldn't it be great to take her story into a more serious live action production like Andor, for example, get Gilroy writing for writing for Omega. How amazing would that be? That'd be amazing. I'd love to see her as like a humanitarian leader. And just
01:39:51
Speaker
like just her empathy that she has for everybody involved. Just be a leader of that kind of initiative. I think that'd be really cool. Would she be too young to talk to me in season two of Andal? Bearing in mind that's five years prior to a new hope with every
01:40:14
Speaker
Is it every three episodes being a year? In the five years, something like that? I can see Gilroy pushing back on bringing... Oh, bringing other people's influence in. Yeah, no, I get it. I get it. Yeah, I'm with you, man. I'm with you. But it would be amazing to see her 10 years from now and the experiences she's been through.
01:40:40
Speaker
and the people that she has led to freedom. That would be awesome. All right, man. One more week.
Anticipation for Series Finale
01:40:51
Speaker
And then we get the finale. Yep. We're getting... This is the last time we're gonna... Next time we record, we will have the answers. We'll know. We'll have all the answers. And then we do need to put some time in for Shogun. We need to work this out properly because...
01:41:10
Speaker
It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. It follows the book very, very quickly. It follows the book really, really well.
01:41:22
Speaker
And it's similar, but very different. I know it's an oxymoron, but listen to me, to the 80s production with Richard Chamberlain in it, it follows the same story, but very, very differently. And I'd love to spend the time with you.
01:41:45
Speaker
talking to you about the differences between the original 80s production and this. I mean, at the very, very least, it's a lot more realistic because that's where we are in filmmaking these days. But yeah, I'd love to spend a good chunk of time on
01:42:03
Speaker
discussing our thoughts of the show and discussing maybe whether it should continue or not, because officially we're at the end of the book. That's the end of the book. But good God, it will be amazing if they get some writers to take that story forward. But we'll do that another day, for another time. For another time.
01:42:31
Speaker
All right, buddy.
Show Wrap-Up and Listener Engagement
01:42:32
Speaker
Well, I look forward to talking to you next week. Should we say goodbye to our friends? Goodbye friends. If you want to send us a voicemail or email, uh, go to our website, just showing.com. Um, you can find all links to that crap there. Uh, yeah. Goodbye. Thank you for listening. We tried, we tried to get under an hour 45 and here we are. But.
01:42:55
Speaker
Dude, it's like clockwork. It's crazy. We're fated. We're fated, mate. It's an art form now. Look after each other. Look after yourselves. Stay happy. Stay safe. And look forward to speaking to you all again a week from now. Take care. Bye. Bye.