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00:00:01
The Chair Company
0 Plays2 seconds ago
Walkin' around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down
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Transcript
Confusion and Conspiracy: Discussing Show's Direction
00:00:11
Speaker
Some kind of lonely cloud. Raining days and Mondays always get me down. Funny,
00:00:21
Speaker
but it seems I always wind up here with you. Yeah, no, this is just a perplexing one. This is going to a tough one to unravel, but then also like not a lot. Well, it's like lot happens. Right.
00:00:36
Speaker
And nothing happens at the same time. But I feel like the last couple episodes throw so much at you in a way that almost feels fake where I'm like, well, that's clearly not the solution because that doesn't sound right. But then they keep giving you more, too. So it's like a multiple choice.
00:00:55
Speaker
Like conspiracy theory, which I like a lot because there's parts where I was like, are they about to do like ah David Fincher's The Game? And this was like all put together by his wife. And it's like, no, that's not it. Although.
00:01:12
Speaker
I mean, a lot of things are still on the table. Like we we we could we could talk about like what is real. Like right now I'm kind of taking everything at face value because I think that's funnier that if this reality is that and insane that this stuff is happening.
00:01:27
Speaker
Well, like, I think this kind of extends further to the movie Friendship. ah And it makes sense because the director of that film also directed half of the episodes for the series. Right. um And
Themes and Comparisons: From Friendship to Tech Conspiracy
00:01:40
Speaker
they the thing that's consistent between both of those projects is this kind of, like, aimless middle-aged character who you know... Wants to be charming, wants to be liked, wants to be seen as like a shoulder to lean on, but it ultimately gives into like their, you know, selfish desires. And in the chair company's version of Tim Robinson doing this archetype, I felt that he at least cared for the people around him a bit but more.
00:02:09
Speaker
ah But there was this like desperation to reach for like the truth for his life. And it's something that you kind of see through every character in the story is that, like, people may not find, like, the literal truth, but they find the truth that, like, matters for them. Right. Very leftovers-y kind of thing. and And you can... Very much so tell that like whatever the tech conspiracy ah Tim Robinson is uncovering, it's definitely equal parts therapeutic as it is an actual conspiracy. And if it's real or not, it doesn't matter because it's something that he needs to sink his teeth into. Right. He needs this because he's at a point in his life where, well, like we fill in backstory as we go along. Like they alluded from the first episode that this is like, oh, he's being brought back to this company after some kind of thing that like that he's almost like needs to reprove himself. But he's also just is not really. and i mean, how committed can you be to building a new mall?
00:03:10
Speaker
So, well yeah. In 2025, building a new mall and then the added layer of detail being that like the the failed venture that he had quit his job for previously was Jeep Tours. Jeep Tours in Ohio, because that's where this takes place Ohio. So like it's...
Malls and Protagonist's Struggles: Relevance Today
00:03:31
Speaker
It's very it's amazing interesting confluence of elements there. i do love that little side about him trying to help like reintegrate soldiers back into the community. like it' just It's this great way of like showing that this character has this aimlessness in terms of trying to help people. and And that even extends to the mall where it's like, who is truly going to the shopping mall beyond people who like have no other choice? Yeah, they're just killing time. Like beyond.
00:04:02
Speaker
Exactly. It's a liminal space. Like you're not supposed to like do stuff there. It's it's when you go on this online. Right. And you're trying to shop for a specific item of clothing. And before you decide to, you know, buy it online. You see that it's actually available at a store that's like fairly close to you and you you weigh the option for a moment. And then you go, you know what? I will go to the mall today. And then you go in there and you go to that one store and you don't go to any other store. I feel like that's the 2025 mall experience.
00:04:33
Speaker
Yeah, I don't even have any malls, like, near me. They're still ah just, like, ghost malls, the like, the skeletons of what remain. I mean, maybe I feel like there's talk of, like, one of them getting revived, but, like, who knows? Like, I mean, I guess there's use for them because, like, especially for like young people or teenagers, there's only so many locations you can go to like, like to meet up or just hang out, kill time. That's like not your house. So like I, they have value in that sense, but I don't know you can sustain a business off of just teenagers hanging out there. Like, Oh, or they spent enough money while they're there to make that worthwhile. Like around where I live, like there's actually a fairly decent density of malls. And it's largely because like they're treated almost as landmarks. They're important and parts of like areas within a larger city. Right. So it's like in that context, it makes sense. But then also because there are so many of them, ah the the ones that aren't as, you know,
00:05:33
Speaker
frequently visited are so really steeply declining and you were starting to see like so many of them go
Family Dynamics and Redemption: Protagonist's Journey
00:05:40
Speaker
out of business. So to go to like that liminal space conversation you're bringing up there, I'm very used to the dead or dying mall look. it's It's around often. And with a lot of the imagery in this show, especially when we get deeper and deeper into these conspiracies, um I feel like the closer that Robinson gets to the truth, the more he is in solitude. And what's fascinating is that no matter how...
00:06:05
Speaker
closer he gets to the truth on his own terms, some new character interrupts him and throws their own shit on. Another character interrupts him and throws their own shit on to the point where it's like, it very much feels like they are leaning towards this being Some delusion because like the the conspiracy stuff is like so separate from his like life life. But there are think things where it's like, oh I think Mike has to be a real person because someone like there's like a scene where his son like acknowledges Mike there. So I'm like, oh, OK, so this isn't Fight Club.
00:06:40
Speaker
or maybe But maybe it still is, you know, like. ah But also, like, Mike has a family who hates him and seemingly justifiably so. His backstory is because it's not even his family. Like you find out that it's like, oh, yeah, he must have fucked up. He has a wife and daughter that resent him. And then like, no he got a heart transplant from this other family's dad, was invited to their wedding and then started coming on to the daughter.
00:07:10
Speaker
Yeah, the creepiest possible backstory. And recontextualizes, like, the guy who became the friend in the show. Because, like, the way we're introduced to him, he's, like, beating Tim Robinson with a fight. He's the muscle. He's, like, he's like paid off to to to scare him. He's like, stay stop looking into the chair company. And then, like, the the closer that they become friends, he's like, hey, come over to my house. And he's, like, just watching porn. You know, like, he's not really...
00:07:37
Speaker
yeah All signs point to maybe don't be this guy. but for whatever He seems unlost unstable. Yeah. but But then also there's the element where it's like he needs this too because he wants some kind of redemption. Like he he keeps saying like, I want to do something good with my life. I mean, it's right because he's watching one of the porns he's watching is like a Christmas Carol thing. But then he's obsessed with the idea. You're not sure if he has seen the actual Christmas Carol, the port just the porn version, but at least it has affected him to the point where he's like, I don't want to be like Scrooge. I don't want people laughing at my grave. Hey, so some stories, they transcend all mediums. So God bless him if he was able to get that message out of it, you know, ah but the...
00:08:21
Speaker
The thing is, I mean, out of the porn. Yeah. But the. Also has people tied up in his bathroom, like at the very end. at first, initially, I was like, because there's vibes of when you finally see Mike's apartment where I'm like, this doesn't even feel like his place. Did he like break into someone's home and is occupying it? But then the the guy he has tied up.
00:08:45
Speaker
is the person who was with the like mayor that he was watching. Right. Like the guy who kept asking about the hot tub. And so he just, he just kidnaps the guy. He just does out of pocket shit like ah all the time. And Tim robbins just Robinson's just like, Oh yeah, sure. You gotta do that. Like, I mean, he's scared off. The one time he's scared off is like when Mike gives him a gun and he's like, no, that's too crazy. But he can't help but be pulled back in because but but via Mike, like it's like you could just look into this on your own. He even has like his daughter helping him, which is
Surreal Elements and Humor: Narrative Devices
00:09:20
Speaker
interesting because in the context of that flashback episode. It's like, oh, well, she's helping him, but she thinks he's going through some kind of like psychotic break or something like that. The family has seen this before. like I'm not entirely convinced that like he isn't going through a psychotic break. I think it's all on the table.
00:09:44
Speaker
Yeah, I think that the main thing that I like stick to is like the head injury. He's had three head injuries by the end of the season. like By the second one, and it's like when Mike says that he's family and in the hospital, ah the nurse or whoever says, is like oh, you had another one really close by. You need to like be careful. like Don't have another head injury. And then he has another head injury.
00:10:12
Speaker
It's so pointed that it feels like it's like a narrative device at a certain point. It almost feels too obvious to the point where I'm like, okay, so this can't be in his head because they keep emphasizing the the head injury part. Like that seems like too obvious.
00:10:25
Speaker
well Well, yes and no, right? I do feel as though like every time he gets another head injury, like the stakes and the absurdity of the story keep on ratcheting up. And to go back to this whole like...
00:10:37
Speaker
the built reality perspective thing. This show jumps the shark, so to say, like a lot further than friendship does to the point where like you could describe it as surreal.
00:10:49
Speaker
um But also it it it matters more that he's able to overcome something within himself. And and the interesting thing about this season ah that is that it ends in a place that feels a lot more like pulpy or like a genre thing.
00:11:04
Speaker
And perhaps like I didn't get that impression so much with the show by the end. So when I term came, i was I was surprised and delighted. But also I was like hoping for something with a little more finesse. Well, that's yeah, because we we we' were going all over the place so we could just talk about like the end because like, yeah. there is a the second to last episode feels like there is an answer given. Like he finds about this, this company that's embezzling funds through tech. It's connected to like the local government, but no, it's actually the woman who's like going to be investing in his wife's company. So she like dangles that over him of like, you keep this quiet or, you know, like your wife's not going to get, get, get the money. And, but yeah,
00:11:53
Speaker
ah And I also like his response to it, like when he's like, I'm going to tell, like, it's like, it's like very childlike, like all these Tim Robinson characters, like going back to the sketches or like respond to their world in a very like childlike way. Like that's what a kid says when they found out something bad. is like, I'm going to tell. Yeah.
00:12:12
Speaker
who but But I feel like whenever there's like a midlife crisis story in like comedies or
Comedy Style and Character Motivations
00:12:20
Speaker
drama, what have you. Right. Like I feel like a lot of the actors who are like in their 40s are playing like they're in their teenage years. And Tim Robinson always plays it like he's like 10 or 12 years old. he's He plays it like he's 10 or 12. But then there's also in friendship, there's the whole thing of like Paul Rudd feels like a teenage bad boy. So it's almost like it's like a slightly ah older.
00:12:42
Speaker
But but but he's he's still juvenile, but but he's like inspired by like a slightly more refined juvenile ah persona where he's like, oh, that's cool.
00:12:53
Speaker
who Exactly. Yeah. yeah With ah this show, like he doesn't really have any like idol so much as he is the thing that other people kind of look up to and all he can do is let them down and. And it's fascinating because even by the time that we get to the kind of conclusion with all of these revelations, you reveal that it's all kind of like a straw house keeping him stable where everyone kind of knows he's not as good as he actually says he is.
00:13:22
Speaker
But also to lead into that reveal that you were saying, I do get the impression that whatever reveal... about Tecca that we're going to get in later seasons, it's going to hit more close to home than he will ever realize. And I think that it's a show that's going to be a lot more about like how people are complicit within like the everyday like tragedies almost.
00:13:45
Speaker
It almost feels like it's getting at that at the very beginning of the eight because like the finale introduces a bunch of new shit. And like as I'm glad going in, we knew there was going to be a season two, because like if that was the I mean, it would be I'd be cackling if that was just the last episode, but it would be. you know, there would be an unsatisfactory, you know, kind of taste to it. But like the the beginning of that whole prologue of this this this guy who's like a producer approaching this this sad dad at ah after a wedding and like kind of ah making these these fake promises of making him a star. and then there's And then there's a kid like waiting for him who guns him down. So like that that almost is like,
00:14:29
Speaker
Like what you you were saying of like this complicity of like, I mean, that that's like an extreme version of that, where it's like you even find out that that guy is even like connected to his boss somehow. But like that that this kind of taking advantage of people wanting to like do something with their lives then spirals out of control. it It goes back into like conspiracy theory thoughts, you know, this need to be like the center of the universe. And it makes a lot of sense why Robinson's character would be in that head, like place in his mind, because like after something like Jeep Tours, where he's supposed to be like totally self-reliant, he is in this kind of like on track
00:15:16
Speaker
idea right like designing them all it's been done a million times right like it's not like he's reinventing the wheel right it's a very low effort like in terms of design and all that stuff it's pretty in in the grand scheme of architecture and and when it comes to ah you know how he tries to escape that it's it's it's like this is ah and a form of entertainment to him and it it's interesting with friendship, it felt as though he was far more self-destructive.
00:15:45
Speaker
And in the chair company, i I do get the impression that he does prioritize his family in the long run, but he misses like these little things that are not very little at all. And the sun's a good example of that where, son yeah, yeah. The alcoholism, which is for the, like the first time that that scene happens, it's a Funny scene, but it's also dark, like the implications of it. But but like just the way the son pitches, like basically day drinking to his dad of like, it helps my anxiety. But like, don't tell mom like she wouldn't get it. Like, like it's just like, like tossed off as like a casual thing. But then like it's the seed of that, like just keep the more.
00:16:25
Speaker
that he doesn't even realize he's putting this pressure on his son that is is like driving his son to alcoholism is like, is crazy. And then like the fact that the resolution of that, like when you have that talk about like, you don't have to play bad. It's actually like ah a sincere heartfelt moment. Like that you don't expect from any kind of Tim Robb. Cause like, like, yeah, any of the scenes with this family in friendship are usually just mined for the juxtaposition of like, how crazy is it that this guy is like, like, you know, like living the suburban life. But like, like you said, like he seems to actually care about his family here. i feel like it also makes sense because it's like in a friendship kind of context, you only have what, an hour and a half or something. yeah He can be as unlikable as he wants. In the chair company, it's like, we don't know how many seasons is going to be. We need to see like if he's going to get to a place where he completely spirals out. We need to note to that. We can't just have the first season, have him hit rock bottom right away. Right.
00:17:22
Speaker
And I do think that there are these seeds of things getting much worse, especially with the way his relationship with his wife is. But like even the way that he responds when he hears that his son wants to get into stop motion animation, I feel like he had a more reaction to that than any of the drinking talking. Yeah, exactly.
00:17:41
Speaker
What's he say? They're always trying to help random, but they just can't or something. Yeah.
00:17:49
Speaker
Yeah. um But also the this we mentioned the son, the daughter ah ah we alluded to, who who I like. So Sophia Lillis, ah you know, she's she's been around and stuff almost feels like overqualified casting for like she's kind of sparsely in it. Like it's mainly like.
00:18:08
Speaker
throughout just like phone calls with her. I mean, there's the thread of like, yeah, she's getting ah married. And I mean, that's probably like the funniest, the laugh of the first episode when he's like trying to to to make some kind of a collage. And then he starts playing the Jim Crow, she song and like breaks down crime, like looking at the the pictures of of of her as a kid and stuff.
00:18:32
Speaker
And then commenting on the YouTube of like, yeah, life does go by too fucking fast. It really does. You
Supporting Characters and Plot Twists
00:18:40
Speaker
can just imagine behind every YouTube comment section that there is a guy like that who's got like scotch in his hand who's like barely keeping it together.
00:18:46
Speaker
i feel like Tim Robinson is obviously with this persona that he's been crafting over several projects. He's tapping into like a very particular kind of like blue collar average dude in America. And like you said, there's like...
00:19:01
Speaker
thousands of that guy if not millions right right and those guys are like they're so like insulated and and privileged that they don't understand how easy they have it but they have like this yearning and this desire to be like the center of attention at all times and i feel like that's what makes like a robinson so perfect for this kind of archetype and Because because he's so petulant, because he's so, like, needy. um And then pairing this with this, like, weird noir story, it gives it all that edge. But to go back to the daughter, um I do think it's interesting that she is given this elevated presence in importance compared to the rest of the family. Because she's, like, actually the most active in the investigation than anyone else. Yeah.
00:19:49
Speaker
and mean, you find out that the wife knows about it, like but but like she's not like helping him chase down leads. Yeah. And by the end, it it feels like it doesn't really complete the arc that they were setting up with whatever it was going on with them working together. it kind of just focuses more on what the arc with the wedding, which, hey, it's a funny arc. But also it's like I kind of wanted to know what happens next with their relationship as they get deeper and deeper into this.
00:20:15
Speaker
um and And the wedding stuff, it's like, yeah, the haunted barn was really funny. I thought that the Tara stuff was very interesting. um and And yeah. the Also, the thing with the fiance, ah like that she's like a does like modeling pictures for food, for fast food. And the fact that the Wendy's or Wendy's Carver is like that's their big fight they have is that she told her dad about Wendy's Carver.
00:20:44
Speaker
Because that ended up being part of like how she stuck into a place. It was like, oh, we have all these hams laying around. I love the fact that even in the context of the story, it's not like he went around telling people about Wendy's carvers. He was true to the... He didn't tell anyone about it. you know He kept it to them, right? It's just the fact that she betrayed a confidence. you know like that That was was enough. and Which similarly is... Massive trust issues, she says. Yeah.
00:21:11
Speaker
But then compared to... like When he finds out that like his wife knew about this, like this investigation is kind of like just in in a clearly very patronizing way of like, oh, well, yeah, that it seems to be helping you or you you need that. But. He's initially still on her side, like, like, because like the threat of, oh, this this woman who's doing the embezzling will take away the funding for the wife's company. He complies and like he's like, oh, well, that's she takes precedent. Like you like you said, he does default to standing by his family, which even if his family.
00:21:51
Speaker
family isn't being the most support like I guess he didn't even know how not supportive she was because she confesses to more than he knew at like the last episode when she says like something about like a stupid investigation there's some kind of pejorative that she used when describing what he was doing and he didn't know that she had phrased it that way and then he kind of doesn't care at that point because he's already found a new thread to pursue so he's like ah fine I don't care Yeah, definitely by the end, he feels a lot more aimless. He's thrown a lot of curveballs. And this entire show, he's certainly just working off of impulse. But most of the best mysteries are kind of built that way, right? Like, I like that this is kind of a lazy exploration that's built based largely on how he's feeling any given moment. It's why the show's kind of hard to summarize in like a regular beat-to-beat format, because largely largely a lot of it is driven by just like...
00:22:47
Speaker
this one thing came up and now I'm just obsessed with this for like 10 years. Right, like the color design on a website is now a thread that he can follow. But the fact that ah like many of those things do pay off in seemingly, at least at this moment, being like, oh, you were on to something. It might not be like what he initially thought it was.
00:23:08
Speaker
And then there's also like way more going on than he thought. But then it's like, no, that actually was a clue, the like the color design on this website or like random, and like random things that you would not think would mean anything is like, no, actually that that was a thing. Yeah, it's like that there are answers, but it's just like to put like like maybe to like refine it on my end a bit like that, like rather than oversimplifying it, I guess it's like the answer is aren't like a part of like a grand conspiracy at all times like sometimes it's just like for self-expression or because somebody else is going through their own shit because like again a lot of this show is ah like about like other people like going through their own problems and like they just kind of don't know how to handle it so I think that it's interesting to see how Robinson finds himself in these predicaments because he leans on the empathy side more times than not ah he's not like ah a hand grenade in these scenario Except in certain times where you get the seed of like, oh, is this going to get that dark and that bad? Because there's a whole time when they go to that that that weird town who Mike prefaces like, yeah, the people in this town are weird, like almost like they need to prep you for like how out there it's going to be when they're trying to find people.
00:24:25
Speaker
This guy in the acting class who like pretended to be like a the fake CEO and stuff. And then like in that encounter with the guy with the dented head ah Mike points out, you hit him right in the dent. Like that actually could have been really bad. Like you could have, you could have like...
00:24:43
Speaker
killed that guy if you'd hit him hard enough there. And, and, and, you know, Tim Robinson just plays it off of like, like, yeah, I got lucky. ah But, but you, there is a simmering rage inside him. Like it comes, it comes out in small bursts there.
00:25:00
Speaker
A little bit like when he's like fed up and and pushes his boss, Lou Diamond, who's Lou Diamond Phillips. And I love the the fallout of that where
Humor and Narrative Evolution: Character Flaws
00:25:10
Speaker
they're having the meeting discussing. They're like, well, well, Ron, Ron could have killed him. You know, like he was like basically talking about how people talked about the Will Smith slap of like it was he threw him like a rag doll.
00:25:22
Speaker
And you can see how insecure he is where he's like, well, hold on. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, no, no, no. he He didn't have me that bad. And and honestly, like, the the thing with the his rage is that, yes, you do start to see it flourish more and more throughout the show, but he largely keeps it his anger thrown to his work of all places. Like, he he very rarely, like, is taking it out on his family. He hides it from them. And he very rarely is, like, taking it out on Mike because, like, he understands that Mike's kind of weird, so it's like, whatever. So it's...
00:25:57
Speaker
Really, when he is at work and he's like, you know, snatching the bubble thing away from that one guy. From from from James Downey, who's like having a great year. Like not only does he have one of the best lines in one battle after another, where he's just like a semen demon. ah but But his his like deadpan delivery of like the most ridiculous, and where he's like, I'm having a mistakes party. And then describing the cons, because like this show has like a quote. It just sounds like he's having get like a swing or something. Yeah. Okay. Like the show has a quote unquote plot, but like it'll also be like, we're just going to introduce you a weird guy. And like sometimes that is someone who's like in his orbit who we'll see regularly or just a one off one scene guy where he just runs into a room and there's a guy having an affair who's like, oh, you were you're following me. So I'm going to record you cheating and make some kiss his girlfriend on camera. It's like, yeah, that's cheating. Yeah. That's that's definitely going to be a thread in the second seat.
00:26:57
Speaker
That's definitely going to be a thing where he's going to get extorted. for that for whatever Absolutely. And the fact that it's just pure happenstance because like he happened to be waiting in a car earlier and that guy walked by and his paranoia was like, oh, this guy is walked this guy was sent by my wife. So then when he sees him again, he's like, well, that can't be a coincidence, which is what he's going through, of like connecting all these threads of like, well, this these can't just be random things, which is why I think it's interesting that there's like We talked off mic about the allusions to Paul Thomas Anderson works, but then also Magnolia, like having Amy Mann do that cover of Rainy Days of Monday. It just makes me think of like the whole opening of Magnolia listing all these like fantastic. freak occurrences and being like, was this a coincidence? It's like the hand of fate or what, what, what do all these like freak incidents mean? Do they mean anything? And then, but still underlining, but it did happen, you know? So it's, I feel like that applies to like all of the characters in this world where it's like, yeah, all these things that you think might mean something, it could just be random, but it is happening. Yeah.
00:28:06
Speaker
Yeah, and and off mic, we were also talking ah about this Paul Thomas Anderson comparison, and I had brought up Punch Drunk Love. um And kind of, I feel like it makes a lot of sense that if you're going to reference Paul Thomas Anderson, hey, why not make it a medley?
00:28:20
Speaker
um I think that it most closely resembles narratively, like the whole sex phone line subplot in Punch Drunk Love. Yeah, yeah. And the way that the mystery becomes like personal after a certain point.
00:28:34
Speaker
And I don't think that this show is derivative by any means by having these close parallels. um I do think that Robinson and company put on the twist, especially in how they hire nonprofessional actors largely.
00:28:49
Speaker
The casting is this and this is spectacular. I mean, we've already like talked about like how I mean, I can't praise the Mike performance enough because this is a guy like you look at his IMDb like he's been around is just like acting is just like random. Like he was an episode of Sopranos just probably just probably just like a random Italian thug in the background or he just plays like. Some some unnamed like wise guy or so something. But the he has is is elevated now to like like, you know, pretty much like a co-lead. But then just one scene people like when he goes to that one store, when he's like following the lead of the shirt and the guy's talking about member of like, oh, yeah, this guy is at his limit.
00:29:28
Speaker
That guy works at that store. That guy is like a just a real person who they just decided to like they're like, we like your weird vibe. We'll just use you. i would buy a shirt from that. guy He had a very reassuring tone to him, you know, when I hang out with him. i ah And he was immediately honest after that he was bullshitting him of like he there. He was never here or something. he's like, yeah, I was just trying to sell the membership.
00:29:55
Speaker
And I do love that little aside that we get like later when they find out that like he said that group chat and there's that whole aside where he had taken the shirt, added some leather to it and it elongated the sleeves and upcharged it.
00:30:10
Speaker
And it was like his conspiracy. But but then that leads him to just about leads him to be like, oh, that's what they're doing with the chairs, because he keeps having all these like different theories
Absurd Storytelling and Character Quirks
00:30:20
Speaker
about what the chair company is doing. At first, he's like, yeah, they're smuggling an opioid. So you're like, that's too much like a suburban parent the paranoid conspiracy. Like that can't be the answer. And it makes it makes more sense that it's just like an embezzlement scheme. ah in like But the fact that it doesn't stop there because we don't even really know what to make of like the things that they introduce in
00:30:47
Speaker
the last episode because it's if you just to list them out it's like okay his boss did the theme song for the shell company and there's a picture of his boss with that scam producer guy Stacy crystals but then also this this co-worker who he actually saw per blouse when the chair fell down maybe has psychic powers Her boyfriend has been the one stalking him.
00:31:21
Speaker
yeah There may or may not be like an old boy-esque, like decades-spanning grudge based on like being embarrassed. It's crazy. and and And there's that guy with like the the crazy plastic face that we get introduced to who's been calling. Yeah, because we see we see a mysterious mask guy and you assume it's... connected to the chair company because that's like what has been happening. And they've, you know, hired Mike to threaten him. So he's like, oh, okay, this is just more playful. that Like the one episode that just ends where he sees on the security cam that the guy is in like a Jason mask outside sitting in a chair. And just the way Tim Robbins says to it's like Jason.
00:32:02
Speaker
like like he Almost like like, that's not the real Jason Borden. he's but But he's like like almost reacting like it is. It's just like the classic dumb guy, like the first thing that comes to mind, that that's what he's going to say. And it's, of course, hilarious because it's him. And ah i I did think that the person in question that is revealed to have psychic powers, the co-worker,
00:32:28
Speaker
there was definitely a vibe early on in the season where I'm like, what's going on with this character? Like, I was like, maybe something's going on here, but then she disappears. Because because she goes to HR about him seeing up her skirt, even though she acknowledges like, yeah, there's no way that could have been intentional. It had to be an accident. So that becomes a whole thing with ah HR. And then they dig out the thing of like, yeah, you went to the same high school together. Like, is there is there something here? But it's like, okay, so she...
00:32:58
Speaker
tattled to HR but also seems to have some kind of like hidden kinky streak because like when the Douglas is having the mistakes party there's a whole color coded thing about like where if you take the color like that means you're gonna be fucking around and like that's the mistakes color and she has you find out that no one else took that color except for her Hey, like yeah ah we we see your boyfriend, you know, like we know that she's kind of freaky with it. Right. Like, yeah, I guess if you have a plastic baby face boyfriend, and you're like you gotta be a little freaky with it.
00:33:35
Speaker
that That has to be kink, you know, like that i can't but can't be, a you know, all natural for whatever. Yeah. you know, personal purposes. No one gets that face to be happier. This is what he looks like. This is how he was born. I'm speaking of crazy faces. What do you think of? Because there's, I forget what episode it happens midway through where he just like in typical, like almost midlife crisis guy, not knowing how to please fix a thing in his life. You know, he just gets a dog and the dog is baby. And this is the most, because like you could, you could say the arc of like,
00:34:10
Speaker
This thing is driving him crazy where he becomes more and more a Tim Robinson character. But when he brings baby home, he's fully doing like the ah kind of event baby voice. Hey, it's baby. He's like doing that. Hey, I'm my old baby. hi to baby.
00:34:25
Speaker
Yeah. And maybe he's got a bonnet on for whatever reason. And it's like, look at the puppy. And it's it's clearly like three years or more.
00:34:36
Speaker
And then it turns out being a dog. Well, it first seems that like, oh, this was a dog that ran away and he returns to the owner. But then when he sees the comments online, the suggestion is that some people thought, like, heard this dog, like, being abused and, like, let it go.
00:34:52
Speaker
And that's how Ron found it. But he took it back home to his abuse. Right. It's amazing. It's like the perfect, you know, like that's that's like ah an Eddington style, like worse. He can't even be a hero in returning a dog because he even makes the point of like, can you post this on your Instagram? Like get a picture of me like he needs he needs that victory. sure That picture of him like with his legs up, on the like kind of like smiling. oh my God. Yeah.
00:35:21
Speaker
One of the biggest laughs of the whole series in my so far in opinion. Yeah, it was great. But then also randomly in the fact that this happens after his third like concussion, that he has this dream or whatever, that guy taking him to his shed.
00:35:35
Speaker
what does he say? Like, I invented a new color or something or shape or a new shape. He says, I invented. Yeah, he invented a new i invented a new shape. And then he turns around. The guy is like a monster. face It almost feels like like a Mahalo Drive scene.
00:35:49
Speaker
And you're like, who whoa, where did this come from? This show just gets surreal every once in a while. And I don't think it's like trying to make too much of like a show about it. I don't think it's trying to be like, oh, we're a super surreal. show Which almost is more Lynchian than things that are trying to be weird of like, oh, yeah, we just put a quirky thing in. The fact that like it kind of just bleeds in or is sometimes expressed through character because like the like the little
Midlife Crisis and Character Dynamics
00:36:20
Speaker
person that Mike hires to hide in Ron's closet, just seeing a drunk little man come out of your closet and attack you. That does feel like so like something that could be like a Twin Peaks like set piece. We we know Lynch had that, ah like a real reoccurring thing for short people, you know, so like, who knows? That definitely could have been something from that.
00:36:43
Speaker
And it also does often reflect like ah Blue Velvet, the whole, ah you know, wrong side of the town, you know, you go on the wrong side of the tracks and things get really rough and tumble out there. Well, especially when they go to that coked out town, a coked out town where the people act like,
00:37:01
Speaker
zombies almost like when they're like storming the the apartment of the of the guy in the acting class they're like climbing telephone poles and like rushing into the place who's like coke does not make you do like this is beyond that yeah i think it's all just feeding into like the psychosis of a like middle-aged white dude in the suburbs right Like, this is what their idea of a guy who's on coke is, right? Yeah, people on drugs are fucking feral. They'll just, like, fucking climb up things and, like, run at you and attack you. You don't want to mess with guys when they're crazy on smack, you know? Like, ah that that would be the way that you would talk about it, Ath. That's right. Like...
00:37:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, i don't know what else to highlight. This show is crazy. It's it's I in my review of Friendship, I i said that his character kind of reminded me of the.
00:37:59
Speaker
Rupert Pupkin from um King of Comedy and that he has like the obsession of these parasocial relationships that are only exist as as fantasy and then blurring the lines of that where you're not sure if the character realizes that that was in their head. And but here.
00:38:19
Speaker
like, yes, there is the element of like, he he, could be, it probably is like losing his mind and seeing stuff. But like, this almost is more like a it's not even a one-to-one, but he, it, it is a little bit of a quiet Travis Bickle unraveling a little bit. Like if I was to compare to another Scorsese, uh,
00:38:42
Speaker
ah ah Robert De Niro. He also has a stare when he's doing like a thousand yard stare. He almost has a De Niro face in that one episode where they're doing the rainy days of Monday cover. And he's just like watching the construction, like clear the way for the the mall. And he's just is like staring as they're demolishing it. Like it was like he's kind of doing a De Niro face right now. I hate to make the comparison I'm about to because I and and maybe I'm way off the marker or or not. But honestly, I feel like this is like almost a parody of American Beauty.
00:39:13
Speaker
Oh, a lot of what absolutely is just less pedophilia. But yeah, it's in there. Yeah. thank Thank God, you know, like you we didn't go down that route with him. You know, it's not like the first season of Leftovers, I guess, with them Margaret Crawley's friend.
00:39:29
Speaker
ah But yeah, when it comes to... ah but the way that he's looking at this, right? Like it's this idea of him, like trying to like take it all back, you know, become like this, like really respected person, but he already kind of is right. Like everybody in like the town and at his workplace and in his family is already kind of going like, yeah, you're, you're awesome. Dad, keep going. It's only because he feeds more and more into these delusions that he lets all of these other things slip and slip away and they all mount to like mount on top of one another.
00:40:01
Speaker
um we We didn't talk about the ah the the co-worker that he kind of like leaves in the traffic jam. Like that that might be one of the most malicious things. that Yeah, too. She's having a panic attack and he just drives away.
00:40:14
Speaker
Jamie, yeah, she's like like his assistant or something, right? And they're supposed to be going to like some interview or something, but he wants to go so pursue this lead. So he just like speeds through a light and she could have gotten like...
00:40:29
Speaker
In worst case scenario, she could have gotten killed. Absolutely. like that that Like that was absolutely putting her life on the line for like hiding the fact that he wants to go like talk about a shirt. Like, could he not do that when he's done work? Or like based on his leadership position, like he's like a project lead. Can he just be like, I need to go run an air? I mean, he has to go to that interview. So I guess he's blowing that off specifically. But otherwise, it kind of seems like he can just leave work. I mean, like, yeah, there's there's things that happen like when They find out like, oh, kids were drinking at the site or something like he gets in trouble for like not paying attention to what he's actually supposed to be doing. But he can't come and go as he pleases from work. I'm glad that the show kind of ends up where it does with this employment because it does feel so ludicrous after a point where it's like he doesn't do anything.
00:41:17
Speaker
Like, yeah. what why Why are you allowing this guy to do like if he does get his job back, it'll just be because be from like this insecure, like Lou Diamond Phillips being like this, this wannabe alpha bro, like that opening where he's with like all his rich, like ah business friends. And great it's so good.
00:41:38
Speaker
Yeah. Just the way they talk, like when they're talking about like the the watch that he has and stuff. It's like they're still using like Tim Robinson character vocabulary, but it's like it's almost like he's iterated on like inventing a new like, like, no, this is like a new spin on that kind of guy in within the Tim Robinson world. I want to get this right. There was this Russell Crowe movie.
00:42:01
Speaker
um I just want to get it right. Hold on. Yes, Poker Face. Do you know about his movie from 2022 called Poker Face? So it's it's just like a movie of a bunch of like middle-aged guys and some younger people like hanging out and like doing that kind of shit. Like the Lou Diamond Phillips friends at the mansion. Just having cigars and...
00:42:25
Speaker
Being like, yeah, we're men. it like it very much feels like like there there's an extended sequence where they go on an ayahuasca journey. ah The RZA's in it, so is Liam Hemsworth. Very, very odd movie. And also, like I said, directed by Russell Crowe.
00:42:42
Speaker
Whoa. The way that that scene feels is the same way as that movie feels. And it's the same kind of energy where it's like ah Lou Diamond Phillips, similar to ah Jim Robbins' character, is going through a midlife crisis. But in many ways, his might actually be more perceived,
Narrative Unpredictability and Viewer Engagement
00:43:00
Speaker
maybe perceived as a lot more pathetic. And in many ways is a lot more pathetic because he's almost invisible to everybody else around him. Everybody else is so caught up with Tim Robinson that they don't see how pathetic he is. And he wants to be seen.
00:43:13
Speaker
He wants to be seen. He needs that validation to the fact point where it's like affecting what should be a relatively straightforward task of like just build them all. Like there's not many ways you can do that. But then he's like... yeah but make it cool because he's like seeing the like pictures of like from some friend who friends vacation and was it like mexico or somewhere he's like yeah can you just try and incorporate this is pueblo revival yeah that is pueblo revival you get you see that shit all the time in new mexico like and and when he uh brought those fucking pictures us ah i was like yeah those are cool you're right like it's They are cool, but like, you don't, malls like that don't exist. At least from my experience. I mean, maybe in New Mexico. co Oh, yeah.
00:44:02
Speaker
No, no, even out there, it's more modern, right? Like it's those kinds of buildings. Right. or Or fucking like, you know, small shops, you know, not like, i don't know, fucking Walmarts with with... Hot topics. Probably the funniest like line from Lou Diamond Films is like when at the end when they when he goes to karaoke and he cuts it mid-song. He's like, what version of the song is this? And when he comes back and sits back down because the guy makes him like wait for his turn again to do the the right version of the song. But his friend is like, yeah, the acoustics here are bad or so or or so or something. And he's like, actually, acoustics are good. And it's like, Like, actually, the the sound setup's fine.
00:44:48
Speaker
Honestly, Lou Diamond Phillips is the best he's been in decades. I don't know how he got cast on this show who was like, yeah, him. But, like, whoever did made that decision made the absolute right decision. He kills it. He's just coming to his son's birthday and he's like, yeah, this is more of a kid's party. Yeah.
00:45:06
Speaker
After being warned about it already, he's like, no, no, because there'll be like parents there. Right. So you can't you can't really be like it. Which is the same thing Mike says when Mike when he's trying to talk Mike out of wanting to come. He's like, yeah, it's a kid's party. He's like, yeah, there'll be a parents there.
00:45:23
Speaker
Man, imagine if Lou Diamond Phillips is hanging out with Nick. That would be crazy. Like that. Yeah. That party they should meet. That would be great. and That's season two. You know what? That might be so good. They'll save it for season three. Yeah. Like you got to there's there. There's a lot to have to unpack in seasons at season two. And it'll be interesting to be like. What role will his family take going forward? Because we've already said like there's a strain. hat I mean, the daughter is kind of temporarily kicked out, you know, from from her fiance's place just kind of because she was helping Ron.
00:45:56
Speaker
and And then there's things. Things are trending towards being strained with the wife. He's not like there yet. But like if he continues to pull at that, that will be. He kind of.
00:46:09
Speaker
made amends with his son Like the son is, he's actually maybe in the the healthiest place with his son by the end of the season in terms of like them at least having some kind of understanding.
00:46:22
Speaker
ah and like, he like apologizes to the son for not being present. And like his explanation for why he wasn't present, like he's trying to talk around the conspiracy. He's like, it's like, I can't tell you what, but you know, something that if I were to tell you that that it would be, hey like He maybe you just keeps talking around, but but still needing to make sure that he has credit for being the hero in this really vague explanation. He's like, but it really was me that did it. just and like but it But it could hurt someone else we care about if if it comes out. and It like it was sounds like what?
00:46:59
Speaker
It's like this very narrow margin that somebody can perceive themselves as a hero. And and that's kind of like the the best humor that Tim Robinson can kind of do, where it's like the amount of this, like the a lot of illusions someone has to build for themselves to view themselves as the perfect person.
00:47:16
Speaker
And ah yeah I think that like the family is all there in a very strange place for sure. I think while the brother kind of has like their own thing going on, I don't think that they're like fixed. I don't think it's fixed, but there was some kind of acknowledgement there.
00:47:31
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. and And I think that the sister is only going to delve deeper. i think that she's only going to get worse. Because she she was like, even though she, like, you know, they had know from history that like, oh, dad's like going through something. I'm just going to You know, say I've got him and I support him. But the more that she helped him, it doesn't feel like she was invested to the point of like when he said like it's over and he wouldn't elaborate further to her. She's like she kind of needed an answer. She was like, oh, but why? You know, like she wanted to know more.
00:48:07
Speaker
And I get the impression that, ah you know, like if she's lost her partner, you know, like that's a big hole. Right. And what what was Jeep tours to Tim Robinson? But a big hole. Right. And like to see, a you know, a representation of that through like miniatures in the place that he's building it causes like a spur in him that just completely spirals. Who's to say that she's not going through her own version? Which that felt pointed that the mini RV guys were at the spot where he they just happened. There's like there's just so many things. There's like this can't be just happenstance. Like is someone fucking with him and intentionally trying to make him blow blow his lid or there just happened to be many ah RV guys there where the former failed RV business guy is trying to like do his job. And it's with miniature like jeans that are remote controlled and there's like a rickety bridge. Oh my God. like the fact that that has like its own YouTube page and is seemingly successful. Like they could pull it up when in in the, in the, in the meeting and they're like, yeah, there's a lot before you get to the shove. Yeah.
00:49:18
Speaker
The fact that like they have this YouTube channel, they have this whole like but violent altercation. Right. And they're like, we're not going to lead with that. We but we know the people click on these videos for the G.
00:49:31
Speaker
But seemingly, yeah, it does just seem like they were disconnected. There just happened to be people doing mini Jeep stunts there. ah Yeah. ah Crazy show.
00:49:43
Speaker
Great soundtrack. We haven't really talked about that on mic so much, but that was something we were talking about off mic. Like I was saying, like when the first episode started with like George Benson. Oh, yeah. was like, oh, we are in good hands. Yeah.
00:49:55
Speaker
Like choices like that. i mean, the the the Amy Mann cover, but then they'll just be incidental, like music for a scene that could have just been like some kind of ah mundane transition, like when they're driving to that town with all the coke heads. But then it just goes into this, this like...
00:50:13
Speaker
really good like techno beat and like the editing starts getting kind of crazy where they're doing dissolves and shit. like, oh, you're going harder than you needed to for something that's like like a 30 second like interstitial.
00:50:27
Speaker
The show has this feeling where every scene feels like it's ending, right? And I think that's a really smart move. Because like every single development that they have, they're like, now we're really getting to the bottom of this. So every song choice and every montage needs to reflect that feeling. It needs to make you feel as though like at any moment, like Tim Robinson will figure this out and all of his problems will be gone.
00:50:52
Speaker
ah But we all know that that's not going to happen. Because he never feels close to any explanation until like like the second to last
Surreal Themes and Comedic Depth
00:51:00
Speaker
episode where like everything happens or in the last two episodes where it's just like spamming you with like revelation. But otherwise, it it just it doesn't feel like he's ever close to getting anything. It just feels like he's chasing his tail.
00:51:14
Speaker
hmm. And even when he gets those answers at the end, I don't think that he's any closer to like the truth, really. Like, I feel as though he's just kind of still where he found himself at the beginning of the show, just, you know, with less.
00:51:28
Speaker
Yeah, he has. I mean, there's like more questions now. h And specifically, like within his happiness, right? Like, i I feel like this is just a symptom of a larger problem he's having with his own identity.
00:51:41
Speaker
Like, yeah like, does he really want to be building malls? is Maybe he does want to be a detective. I mean, it's all in the lyrics for Rainy Days and Mondays. what What I've got, they used to call the blues. Nothing is really wrong. Feeling like I don't belong.
00:51:59
Speaker
Walking around some kind of lonely clown. i mean, that's him. Mm-hmm. and And it's an interesting thing, too, because, like, he does have everything, right? Like, like he's got... It's the American dream. He has he has the house and, quote, unquote, success. Like, if he just didn't fuck around, he would have a, like, seems like that job is pretty all right. And his wife also makes money. Like, they're doing fine.
00:52:26
Speaker
yeah it really is just this own, like, call from the void that's really making him go down this rabbit hole. And... I think it's a delightful experience. I think it it speaks to like why people should be outside of their shell. But it's also in the service of like ignoring things that should matter more to him. So there is that like walking of a tight rope there where you you're hating him a bit, but you never fully are off of his side. Like you're always still leaning in for all of these new developments with him.
00:52:56
Speaker
Yeah. The fact, I mean, it like, especially watching when I was watching, you binge this, but I've watched it, watched it week to week, having that week in between, like just the ending of some of these episodes, I was leaning forward of like the, just the taste or tease of some kind of revelation where i'm like, Oh, what does that mean? Where it's like, this is nonsense. it's Like, why, why am I invested in this? It's like, it's like putting you in, in Ron's head of like, where you're like, no, this is important. I need to know like where this leads.
00:53:26
Speaker
And I still need to know where this leads. I, I, I, I really even put all my chips on the Hungarian bugs. When I heard that that was on the table, I was like, oh, Hungarian bugs. That sounds evil. Yeah, let's do it.
00:53:38
Speaker
Well, because then earlier on, there's just the one scene where a bug crawls into his phone and a clo co-worker clocks it. It was like, there's a bug in your phone. and And then you think like the double meaning of like, oh, his phone is, you know, a bugged phone, but it's literal bug. Yeah.
00:53:55
Speaker
o And they they don't really call attention to that again, but like that is such a great double entendre. And then also like on that note of phones, the fact that he has the second phone that he keeps in his thermos to talk to Nick and detail is always that it starts to vibrate and like everyone knows that he's got a phone and yeah he's not hiding it very well. He just goes into his office, like kind of closes the blinds and then like pulls out the phone. Speaking of phones, I just want to talk... the the The depiction of technology in this is so... Because like not only do we get... like So much of this is bored from the frustration of like customer service that goes nowhere like when he tries to call the company.
00:54:39
Speaker
But then also just how... You know, similar to Eddington, like we absorb all these things through screens and we're kind of trapped by them. But just the crazy ways that just casually, like when he transfers a picture from his phone to his computer, he just taps it and it makes a bloop sound. I'm like, wait, can...
00:55:01
Speaker
Can they do that? And I was like, no, that's the thing they made up in the show. Yeah, it just will have these weird like illusion breaks. It does it all the time. You know, it's this way that the show keeps you off guard. i don't think that you're meant to take anything literally from scene to scene. and And I like being able to just kind of take what I would. You can take what you will or or or take it all because I'm kind of like doing both where I'm like like letting it all roll off. We seem to see. But then I'm like, yeah, but this is all real. You know like because i'm i'm I'm like going for the immersive rod experience. So I'm like, well, until he decides that this isn't real, I'm bought into this. that This is reality.
00:55:45
Speaker
I kind of see this like whenever people make these like comparisons to Twin Peaks, they're always like, oh, it's so surreal and all this stuff. And we've certainly done that with this show already. But whenever I think about Twin Peaks, I also think about from the perspective that like the original show was designed as like a light parody of soap opera. Yes. And when they returned, the return was kind of a parody of several different types of prestige television of the era.
00:56:13
Speaker
And I do feel as though there is an added layer of like kind of like streaming show commentary and parody here like this this almost feels like it's like commenting upon like a show like Ozark in my eyes it's right to the like because you have like all Ozark or all those like post Breaking Bad like shows where it's like Family Man Dark Secret leading double life but right down to the Justin Theroux's Mosquitoes right like down to like uh I
00:56:43
Speaker
i so I think like if you were streaming or or binging them, it would also had the episode read because the recaps feel like parody also because it's like has serious music undercutting it. And like the pacing of the editing of the recaps is like, no, this is like a recap from like a show like the those arcs or something, some kind of streaming show where like like this is these these are serious plot developments they're showing. And it's just the most ludicrous shit. But they're like the recap is taking it seriously.
00:57:11
Speaker
Yeah, because like the beats themselves are the beats that you need for something that's dramatically compelling. But then the beats are just replaced with like nonsense. And that's why I enjoy the show, because like I recognize the shape that it's in ah But like the guy says, it's a new shape, right? It's it's it's taking. They discovered a new shape, a new spin on it.
00:57:32
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly. And like it's it's definitely like a parody of these kinds of shows. But I also think that it's an equal part participant. I don't think that it's too snobby with how it's, you know, commenting upon it. Oh, yeah, because I'm sure like Robinson and the writers of Kane and the co-creator. Like they watched that stuff. So like, I don't think that they're being like that. Like, yeah, those shows are trash. They're just being like, well, what if we did that, but took something really stupid seriously?
00:58:07
Speaker
Well, but it's also like imagine Tim Robinson in a normal scenario is a very hard thing to do, similar to like Nathan Fielder in a normal scenario. But then when you have a show like The Curse or this, right, where it's built around them and they're able to like kind of allow for whatever their obsessions and commentary to kind of take form within the piece itself It all kind of builds around so it feels natural in its own construction rather than just like plucking someone and putting them in there. Like if we were to just get like Tim Robinson in a straight up sitcom, I'm sure he would probably be like the Urkel of that show or something, you know, have like a few catchphrases. But it wouldn't may be what makes this kind of show special where it can balance a lot of this humor with like uncertainty and even disparate times. Because in the the world that this movie, i mean, that the show creates, he starts, you know, like, yes, he's unraveling and becoming more Tim Robinson-y and as the season progresses, but everyone around,
Thematic Layers and Unique Charm
00:59:10
Speaker
it like, not just the people involved in the conspiracy, like people in his everyday life.
00:59:14
Speaker
are fucking weird. Like there's the scene in ah the the birthday party after his son throws up, the guy just takes the cake and puts it on top of the vomit because he's like, all right, no one needs to see that. I took care of it. just The logic of the priority is to cover the puke.
00:59:36
Speaker
He went to like the training dogs to be house trained school, you know, but he didn't have any newspaper. So you just use the cake. Cake it was right there. Hey, absorbent. Cake's very absorbent.
00:59:48
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's not even even a show where we can like try to predict of like, oh, yeah, what's next season going to be? I don't fucking know, but I'm going to watch the fuck out of it. Like, I can't wait to see what what what they have cooked up. if if If the end of this is any indication of like how...
01:00:07
Speaker
ah the the last couple episodes throw all these answers at you that really just give you more questions like I had said before you watched it like I did I do see the overlap with Eddington about like you know like the hero fantasy of it all but then also ah i was thinking about the shrouds with the ending of like how the and shroud starts giving you all these like multiple choice conspiracy theories basically of like, yeah, I think your wife was sleeping with this one guy. And like he intentionally choose like spoiler for the shrouds. He chooses to kind of just leave. Like he's like, I'm actually not going to pull it that thread. Like the, the, answers the the possibility of the answers he could get are that's too painful. So he's just going to like go with, ah you know, and fuck off with a new version of his wife somewhere else. Yeah. That almost feels like a fantasy, right? yeah And the Shrouds feels so utterly tragic in what it's saying by the end, and it feels so earnest and like a real soul-search-y thing. This is
01:01:12
Speaker
very clearly in like the mystery box, let's have some fun realm. Like we, we compared it to Paul Thomas Anderson, but like ultimately a lot of the show comes down to like your moment to moment enjoyment of this. I feel like, like we, like, I feel like this podcast may be a lot shorter than the ones that we usually do just simply because like a lot of the enjoyment of the show would just be like us quoting it, you know, or like saying good scenes that we enjoyed, but it's like, really it would just be the Chris Farley show sketch where it's just like, hey, do you remember when he did that? That was awesome.
01:01:47
Speaker
hey Hey, who knows? Maybe that's what some people want to listen to podcasts for, you know, but like and but when it comes to, you know, what it was trying to say, it's very straightforward. And I think that's a very like plus thing.
01:01:59
Speaker
that it has on its side. It's uncomplicated. It has the oddities that made friendship so unique, but it has it in a way that's synthesized, not dumbed down, synthesized to where you can enjoy it just in little spurts.
01:02:11
Speaker
Because I kind of personally enjoy this more Like, I loved friendship. It's one of my favorite movies of the year. But this is almost like a more compelling package to me, maybe because I just like the The coat that it's in of like conspiracy thriller. I've also watched a lot of those prestige show drama mystery box things. So like if you like blend all those elements together, but it's also Tim Robinson in it, then I'm like, well, that's just made for me.
01:02:41
Speaker
ah i would love it if this show was somehow like 22 episodes per season. That would be the ideal. Yeah. Like, if it if it was just, like, this, like, massively bingeable show like that, that was just, like, always coming. Because, like, 30 minutes like this is the perfect amount of run time. love just kind of being caught up in the nonsense of it all. it should just be, like, 24, but with Tim Robinson where it's real time.
01:03:03
Speaker
Oh, my God. Amazing. Right? I only got a half hour in his life every episode. And it's just, all right, I think it's connected to the Panama Canal. I just want to watch them. Because they've already gone. So, because I'm like...
01:03:19
Speaker
do you just create a new conspiracies, which they already are like teasing at the end of the season, but but it's like, how much larger can you escalate what is already on the table? Like with regards to tech and stuff like that. i'm like, like, because like so many conspiracy movies have to keep going where it's like, Oh, this leads straight to the white house, you know, like, cause you can't, once you reach a certain point of escalation, you're like, okay, well, how, what could be shocking of someone in power to be involved with this? i don't know, the president? you Like, you have to just keep going up the ladder. so like, is this show going to do that?
01:03:55
Speaker
I feel like it could either go in that direction or it's just going to tighten the grip around him. Because I think that all signs are pointing towards him being complicit in this conspiracy somehow without him even noticing. Right. Like, the fact that his boss is somehow a part of it, like, definitely feels like, Like, is the construction of the mall part of it Like, it's all, it's all part of it.
01:04:21
Speaker
what What if, like, Tekka is, like like, what if the mall is just, like, a mall for chair? And that's the way that they're going to pawn it off, right? And he's he's getting in the way of his own money, right?
01:04:32
Speaker
There's so many ways it could go. And, and like, I think that the president idea Yeah, like obviously it would make a lot of sense in the like yeah like the stupid mind of a middle aged dude to be like it has to go all the way to the top.
01:04:43
Speaker
Right. But I also think that he needs to do a lot more reckoning with himself. And it's almost funnier that like if the highest government official is just like a comptroller in Delaware City, you know, like that that's like the the the height of the government conspiratorial part of it. Like that that's.
01:05:03
Speaker
his life is not that exciting where the president's going to factor into ah a conspiracy. It's just like is someone in local government trying to do a money scam with chairs.
01:05:15
Speaker
Hey, who knows? Like ah Ice Cube was able to talk to the president during War of the Worlds, right? So it's like ah all kinds of people talk to the president, right? mean, that's almost a level of like how War of the Worlds handled technology and being able to FaceTime the president and stuff like that. like yeah we In his pajamas. Yeah, we're pretty much at that level in in how a Chair Company depicts like computing and like tech technology. So I was like, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they go that way.
01:05:45
Speaker
I wouldn't be surprised if there were aliens. like i based and like Have you seen have you seen the the artwork for the poster for the chair company where it's like the the the top of it is just him like with his mouth agape like doing a Tim Robinson stare. But then below it, it is like like these like waves of shadow coming off of a glowing like entrance to an office space.
01:06:08
Speaker
like building. So it like almost looks like, like so something from the cover of like a carpenter movie or something. So I was just like, and I know that's just the promotional artwork, but i'm like, I would not be surprised if like we keep going at this thread and then it's like, yeah, there's other worldly forces involved.
01:06:25
Speaker
I mean, that thing he saw where the guy had a monster face that could have not just been random. That could end up being a thing. Who knows? Right. And and it would also speak to this like conspiratorial thinking where he's it would only be natural for there to be an us versus them mentality for this guy. Right. feel like that's like the one thing that's missing from him to really go off of that conspiracy. Like they're hiding amongst us. Cause then he can just start harassing random people on the auspice of like, Oh, you're like an alien in disguise or something.
01:06:54
Speaker
Start pulling at people's faces and stuff. Oh, my God. Yeah. That's season two shit right there for sure. ah Yeah. Very funny show. Like ah for how short the episodes are, I'm just grinning the entire way through. Very uncomplicated in how funny it is. You know, like anyone can kind of enjoy this humor.
01:07:17
Speaker
Yeah, I ah feel like
Character Exploration and Narrative Complexity
01:07:20
Speaker
I don't even really have complaints other than i want I wanted the wheelbarrow guy to factor in more, but maybe he'll be back in season two because I was delighted every I just liked his vibe. And then when he gets discovered, he fight it's like an all purpose wheelbarrow. Yeah, i mean, he gets discovered having the outdoor wheelbarrow inside. He's like, oh, shit, don't tell it. He's like freaking out. too He's like, oh, fuck, don't tell anybody.
01:07:49
Speaker
He's just look i'd like everyone has their own little like things. in this Yeah. Characters are just unraveling everywhere. Like even the the the guy who's working with Mike, he like starts going into a thing about why he's been drinking because his life is falling apart. Like that's it's just like every character in in in a Tim Robin in this world is like spiraling in that way.
01:08:10
Speaker
Whereas in friendship, it's like maybe they might sing for you. Right. Like, yeah, it's very weird. Like the ways that these things are, you know, inverted. Like, I just love this world. I could like live in it like under like a blanket, you know, it's just really charming. and Yeah, it's it's comforting.
01:08:31
Speaker
It's like any rewatches of it I do will pretty much like be a comfort watch, like in the same way of like I've already rewatched Friendship like a couple of times. That's just going to be something that this is something I come back to until we get to the new season, which I feel like even though they are doing a riff on streaming TV, that it's not going to be that long of gap between like, I mean, yeah.
01:08:58
Speaker
we'll probably get new episodes next year. Like, I don't think it's going to be like like a regular like an actual streaming show where it's like two years in between seasons. This really does feel like an ideas show, right? like whatever Like, however long it takes for them to have the ideas, that's when they're going to make it, surely, right? Like, if they wanted to do 20 episodes, that would highly be down to like what they could come up with, right? I don't think that's like HBO...
01:09:23
Speaker
would be upset about that. And when it comes to these eight episodes that we have right now, it's like, these are great, but I want a mass of them because like, it feels like we're watching the beginnings of something that's going to be really special.
01:09:35
Speaker
One thing that I, yeah, reason yeah, I, I agree with it. Like one thing I was going to say about like TV shows in general, like I always feel like apprehensive to watch new ones. But I feel like between this and Pluribus, like there's a lot of promise for like ah ah perhaps like a newer kind of like not ah like a more daring prestige television, at least in the form.
01:09:59
Speaker
yeah it's like it's using the form in a way that's like kind of recognized it was like yeah i've seen sci-fi shows or i've seen comedies like oddball comedies before but it's it's like iterating on those in a way that does feel actually new which is like hard to find something that actually does feel like a really original and it's so original in a way where you're like Like I think I said this off mic on pluribus, but it's like I cannot predict where that's going on an episode episode, but even like on a scene by scene basis, like it engages you in in that way of like, i mean, Vince Gilligan is just good at doing that. Like he will do like show you out of context scene and like a.
01:10:42
Speaker
Breaking Bad flash forward or something and then it teases you of a oh how do we get to that but all of Pluribus feels like that of like where he's just like teasing out this stuff over here like I don't know where this is going and that's thrilling that that show you can't predict because like you can guess what's going to happen on the next episode but you'll never be able to guess like five minutes devoted to somebody just like cooking an omelet right um And with this show, you can't really predict it because you don't know what's going to set somebody off. It's not even so much about the threads themselves. It's not like Tekka is as important as it is so much as how somebody tangentially related to Tekka factors into the plot that sends our characters into an entirely new direction. It's so reactionary in many definitions of the term. And I think that it makes it a very volatile and funny watch because of that.
01:11:33
Speaker
Right. Yeah. You're just waiting, not just for like Robinson to explode, but you don't know what any of these characters he interacts with, like how important any random thing is to you. You're like, but then in hindsight, you're like, yeah, I guess Mike really would be upset that he couldn't go to Ron's son birthday. party you're like why rationally you're like why would this grown man care about that but then also when we learn how sad and weird a guy mike is you're like yeah i guess that makes sense he really does need that belonging and he gets him the chocolate also it's like shit all the chocolate yeah the chocolate king i think it's yeah
01:12:16
Speaker
Oh, and and then fucking baby eats it. yeah and And his solution to it, because I haven't had like a dog consume that much chocolate, but you're supposed to like, i think immediately go to the vet or like go to ah like give him something to make him barf it out. But his solution is let's run. You have to sweat it out. Amazing. Amazing. Dumb guy move. And also the the fact that like the dog is fine. it seems Yeah, it did did not. Doesn't seem like the vet.
01:12:44
Speaker
The dog's in more trouble by going back to the abusive owner. What what a weird year for for dogs watching on this show. i got to say, the dog killers and this stuff. What's going on?
01:12:57
Speaker
And maybe dogs posing as humans. I mean, we don't know that that wasn't real. The show just didn't follow that thread, but it could have been something. I'm refusing to believe that's real. Yeah, it I...
01:13:09
Speaker
the mean The show gives us enough to to take that as as as especially like the the weird way that one cop reacts to the the peanut butter sandwich. And then you're like, wait, and there are there dogs hiding amongst us? That's what the show is missing. You know, I hope that the chair company is. What what was that? Yeah.
01:13:28
Speaker
Was it called Big Dog? One second. Mad Dog. Is this ah Big Dog Clothing? Do you remember Big Dog Clothing? No. What's that? So it was just like these pictures. They started in like the 80s and they were kind of popular, like very popular. should say like the 90s and 2000s. But essentially they were just like big like dogs and they would just like put their faces over top of like the Sopranos or whatever.
01:13:53
Speaker
ah Star Wars, you know? Oh, I think I've seen like these shirts before. I just didn't realize that that was there's just like a company devoted to doing that. I remember like yeah young me traveling over to the States in Buffalo because in Buffalo at their mall, ironically enough, they had a big dog store. Yeah. And I would buy big dog shirts there. Right. And where I'm getting to with this is that hopefully in the chair company in season two, we are introduced to like big dogs esque figures, you know, like like humanoids that have like big dog faces. I feel like that's very within the realm of the show played by Justin Theroux.
01:14:34
Speaker
Bring him in. Hey, why not? Right. Get him on board. I feel it. I feel like ah he doesn't have the neck for the kind of dog in Big Dots. You know, but i think I just I just want to see him in a Tim Roth. I just want to see him on my screen all the time. I mean, I'm already he was only in in a scene of the Fallout premiere, but I'm already like, just just give him an Emmy just for the voice he's doing. Like he's doing like a transatlantic like like. oh Oh, you have I'm a rich guy who looks down on the pole.
01:15:07
Speaker
Oh, I still have not watched any of the Fallout series. I probably will watch it. It's surprisingly, it's good. Like, I mean, i yeah, I like the games, but ah I was not expecting anything from the show, especially since, like...
01:15:22
Speaker
Most game adaptations are are dog shit, but like, it's like, no, they actually somehow pulled it off. ah I mean, Jonathan Nolan
Fallout Casting and Speculated Endings
01:15:30
Speaker
makes good tea, regardless of how everyone feels about where Westworld went. I'm kind of, I'm kind of a pro. All four seasons of Westworld are worth checking out. But ah he, this, this, this is a much more straightforward. Like I can, I can defend Fallout more cleanly than I can defend later seasons of Westworld. Westworld was really, from what I understand, really spinning its tires after a certain point. Well, it was throwing a lot in because it really speed ran the actual Westworld part. And then it started. I mean, there are, you know, Future World was a movie and like that story does continue in other ways.
01:16:08
Speaker
But it's kind of like some sci-fi shows have like one or two concepts. They want to like hammer home a season. That would be like Westworld be like 10 concepts in an episode. Yeah. Especially when you get out to the future world that's like outside of the park, they just start throwing shit at you. And I'm i'm kind of a fan of that just so as a fan of big swings where like, yeah, okay, yeah sure.
01:16:33
Speaker
there' There's also the Matrix. oh also all these other ah like familiar sci-fi tropes. Sure. I never want to hear people complain about Lindelof again. Yeah. Like that just sounds like Max Lindelof in my eyes. But Fallout seems much different. and And also I like all the actors who are. The casting is terrific. Yeah.
01:16:53
Speaker
Yeah. That goes a long way, especially if you're going to spend like hours watching these things. You want the personalities to be good. And like Walton Goggins seems great. that The lead girl, ah Ella Purnell, I think her name is right. she's great. And they're great scene partners because a lot of the show becomes about like the pairing and juxtaposition of like, Her night, nightivity of like, she was raised in the vault. So she doesn't really understand the wasteland. And then like the long Goggins, like he's been out there, you know, like, so he knows what it takes to survive. But both of them having to reckon with like, what is this? They both have their own goals they're trying to achieve, but they kind of have the question of like, okay, if I do find the person I'm looking for,
01:17:37
Speaker
What does that mean then? You know, like, while N'Goggins trying to find his family, what but what does that mean? If he finds his family who, you know, presumably would have been like cryogenically frozen to survive the bombs, like, are he's like a disfigured ghoul now who like is brutally murders people. Like, he thinks he can go back to being like a loving father. Is that is what he thinks is going to happen? Like, like that he like that they have to question, like, yeah, well what what are we marching towards here?
01:18:06
Speaker
This is very much like in The Chair Company, how the more that they march towards the truth of about Tekka, like, is this really going to bring them to happiness, right? It will. Yeah. Ron will be happy by the end. He'll he'll be king of the world. He'll restart the Jeep tours and people will love it. That's what why I want.
01:18:24
Speaker
i Like my main, like what I hope happens is he makes Jeep tours happen again. Like that's my largest. That's kind of, that that would be the obvious like full circle, like the the finale or something where he's like, actually, I'm going to give it a go.
01:18:39
Speaker
i feel like, like in order to do that, you have to like, you've have it like all of the things that he was searching. He's right about, he decides open Jeep tours as a big success. And it's got like some stupid kind of Hollywood ending where it's like,
01:18:53
Speaker
and And then someone really famous came. Morgan Freeman, you want to go on the G tour? He just like takes Morgan Freeman on a G tour. like I just feel like that's the way this show kind of ends.
01:19:05
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That would be good. And then they actually get Morgan Freeman. That'd be a'd be good. Mm-hmm. Or just have one of like did these Tim Robinson cast people be like, I'm Morgan Freeman.
01:19:16
Speaker
Just literally like one of the people who's already been up. Kind of like how to did tim Tim and Eric kind of casting, you know, like the guy they had played be be Johnny Depp in the Tim and Eric billion dollar movie.
01:19:27
Speaker
I was thinking ah of it like ah like Jeff Goldblum where it's like, how how did you get this guy? You know? kind of Yeah. Hi. Hi. I'm i'm Chef Goldblum. That's might be the funniest part of that movie, to be honest. I think he he is delightful with their sense of humor.
01:19:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. He's like somehow a perfect fit. I mean, not somehow. It kind of makes sense that his his vibe could be translated that. But it's a yeah. Like you said, it's kind of like, how did that occur to you guys? And how did you make this happen?
01:19:56
Speaker
Well, yeah, I think we've we've covered it all. I mean, yeah, watch The Chair watch the chair Company if you haven't, fuckers. Like, i don't know what you're doing with your life. If you're not watching Tim Robinson, you're not Joe Biden.
01:20:09
Speaker
okay Oh, oh, one more thing I want to point out, because some people are probably like, oh, was there no Conor O'Malley? Like even just a cameo, like his one scene in Friendship? I think I know.
01:20:22
Speaker
He's the guy on the tapes of like when Mike is listening to these guys just yelling profanities and like gross shit, ey like shit on my dick or something, you know, like stuff like that. And it like Conor O'Malley is one of the voices and the other one is the actor playing Mike. Because when you're listening to him, it sounds like Mike is one of the things where I think this Rod even asked him, like, did you record this? It almost seems like he's just listening to something he made. It's everything at his house is just so filthy and gross. I hate being there. It feels like both. Oh, there's bar. Oh, there's bar for the sink. He should get an Emmy nomination. The actor plays Mike just for the wave. when When he opens the fridge, he's like, do you want some? Do you want some? he play that particular He like looks at it because he's not sure what it is. He's like, ah chicken.
01:21:15
Speaker
and Pepper chicken. pepper Like when he says pepper chicken, I just imagine like little like so growths of mold just on there. You have black spots. So he's like, yeah, it's pepper chicken.
01:21:28
Speaker
Disgusting. Gross. I hate being there. Hey, I'm going to go and say Mike is maybe not ah the cleanliest, most trustworthy guy, but I can't wait to see him do more. I'm worried about how he comes back. I feel like he's going to be a ah real wrench in his side on the next season.
01:21:47
Speaker
But I'm also just delighted to see what other hijinks
Mike and Ron: Themes of Redemption
01:21:50
Speaker
happen. Like, I don't take any of this all too seriously to the point where I'm like so nervous. I'm really... Yeah, I'm not nervous, but I i am weirdly kind of invested in their friendship in a way where I'm like, if seeing them be at odds would...
01:22:03
Speaker
It would just break my heart. i'm like, no, Mike and in and Ron need to be to because like it's the the thing of like he had no no one else in his corner. I mean, other than his daughter, but, you know, not in a fully in way helping him. But like Mike is the one who's like, no, this is important what we're doing.
01:22:21
Speaker
I feel like Mike needs this to work for him, too, though. Right. Like, I feel like Mike Mike is getting a lot more out of this than he liked than Tim Robinson realized.
01:22:33
Speaker
Because Ron doesn't actually need redemption for any like Ron. Yeah. Had a failed Jeep thing. But otherwise, like his life scene pretty OK. And like his family is like. People in his life are like willing to move on past any past fault, whereas Mike has like torpedoed anything resembling that could have been a healthy... like There is a world where like you do have some sweet, endearing connection to the family that the donut you know like their father donated you a heart and then you grow close to his family. But instead, it's like weird and gross and strange.
01:23:08
Speaker
Just got to say, like, he you don't pick up the daughter. Like, that's just disgusting, you know, and it ruins most empathy. Maybe the heart doesn't matter. Like the way when she's describing it, you can just hear it in Mike's voice because there is the weird, already weird infatuation with like women in it. Like when they're looking at the the thing of the fake CEOs from the photo, she was like, oh, she can't be involved. She's too gorgeous.
01:23:34
Speaker
Or when he's playing like the gambling machine, he's like, oh, these women are beautiful.
Misogyny and Cultural Impact of Humor
01:23:38
Speaker
You think it's like harmless, like light misogyny where it's like, oh, this guy, whatever, you know, but it just slowly reveals itself. It's like, no, the longer this the shit fester is, the worse it gets. And I think that it that is true to life, too. Yeah. You're like, no, actually, this guy is like dangerous if you leave him unchecked. Yeah.
01:23:57
Speaker
shouldn't be around women. Like there's a reason why he talks like this. I mean, maybe if he just didn't listen to those videos, he would talk to people normal or something. i I think that I read online that that's based on like a real like audio series of things of like these guys just like recorded initially, like they were inspired by hearing these fights of people through their walls in their apartment. And then they just started recording videos of them like being yelling profanities at each other. And I think they would also do some kind of like Jerky Boys-esque like prank calls too. And I forgot what it was called, but like I think that that is like referencing a real thing.
01:24:36
Speaker
This makes a lot of sense. so This just does feel like dicking around like kind of behavior just taken to its worst end. And also like Jerky Boys is highly juvenile. And the fact that they're still doing that when they're like in their 50s, you know, bald men without their There's like this guy who's neighbors with a friend, one of my friends. He was like, he's like basically like late 40s or maybe 50s who was like adamant of like, you guys get, you never heard jerky boys. You got listen to listen this. And he like pulls up, you know, it's the thing of like someone i really wants you to listen to a YouTube thing, but It's jerky boys. And and then we had to reset there and like we're stoned, like listening to jerky boys. And I don't remember. like I was doing like polite laughter because I was like, OK, if we say act like we enjoy it, we just like get them out of here. but
01:25:23
Speaker
get Get out of this situation a lot faster. that that One time i was over at this guy's place and he was really excited to show me like the Star Wars prequels, but they were ah translated to Chinese, but then translated back to English.
01:25:42
Speaker
And it was just like, essentially, just like really poorly translated subtitles was the whole bit. And it was just Phantom Menace. So you were hanging out with, were you hanging out with Nick Mullen. Oh, was he watching this exact thing? No, I was, once you say Chinese, I just say, I'm like, oh, well, Nick Mullen's involved. Yeah. Yeah.
01:26:02
Speaker
No, that like yeah apparently this is like a thing, but like he was dying of laughter and I'm just like, like this is just poorly translated. Like I wasn't like, I didn't see the inherent humor of just like every once in a while, like improper uses of nouns. you know Right. Yeah.
01:26:18
Speaker
it Like very bizarre. Like, I feel like jerky voice is kind of like that now. Yeah. Especially if, especially if someone still listens to it. and I mean, I guess i was gonna say no offense, but full offense to that any listeners. Current jerky boy. Yeah.
01:26:35
Speaker
yeah That's like listening to like old Howard Stern now and just be like, those were the, let's go. We got to go back. Yeah. Yeah. Let's get it. We got to have all things like that. that And, you know, may hey, maybe it's better than like Joe Rogan. By a margin. And it's on the same like continuum, like basically of like that. It it predates the manosphere. But ah yeah you could you could argue one thing led to another.
01:27:04
Speaker
Maybe Paul Giamatti was right. Maybe that that's something we should be all be like considering when we when our heads
Melancholy in Christmas Movies
01:27:11
Speaker
hit the pillow tonight. you know Maybe Paul Giamatti is right. Maybe Paul Giamatti was right. And on that note, you know this will be going out yeah you around Christmas.
01:27:20
Speaker
ah Everyone watch The Holdovers, Christmas classic. ya stay stay cold and in a school scenario for the holidays you need you need to be in a like kind of downbeat like but then uh it's a surprisingly heartwarming and endearing scenario i mean the best christmas things are melancholy like going back to the charlie brown christmas i mean that kid was fucking sad you know like that's that's what that's what the holidays are about I'm always about, like, it's a wonderful life, you know, throw that on a Christmas Eve. Boom. That's that's the one for me, right? Yeah. ah
01:27:58
Speaker
Watch it every year and makes me cry every single time. This year, I've just not watched any Christmas movies. So I'm just going to kind of, like, let it sneak up. I i was in a similar boat until I had watched Nick Recommended to Me. And then I went on his podcast to do an episode of it about Anna in the Apocalypse. It's like this British... zombie comedy Christmas movie. And yeah, I, that kind of got me in the, the movie probably because it's like kind of melancholy and way darker than you would expect. And I was like, Oh, okay. Yeah. That's reminds me of the things that I do like in Christmas movies when they get sad.
01:28:37
Speaker
Yeah, when they're sappy, that's good, but when they when they have, like, the sorrow, like, ah that's like... It just feels more real, you know? It's like, that that's what it's about. i don't particularly, like, love this movie, um but have you ever seen, like, Nicolas Cage's Family Man?
01:28:52
Speaker
Yeah, like, way back when it first came out. Was it 90-something, or...? 2000s? I think it's like 90s, early 2000s or something. it It may unfortunately be a but Brett Ratner movie. It is a Brett Ratner. Donald Trump's buddy, Brett Ratner.
01:29:11
Speaker
ah No extradition living in Israel Claus, Mr. Brett Ratner. Melania, coming to theaters soon. Nicolas Cage was very good in that movie. And it's a very like sad kind of movie because it's about like a guy who was kind of a bachelor.
01:29:31
Speaker
ah He wakes up on Christmas and all of a sudden he has a family. because And it's like with somebody that he was supposed to be with earlier. in I should rewatch it because I feel like I would have more appreciation for that kind of Cage performance now. And the...
01:29:48
Speaker
then I can, you know, I got some cage cage stuff that that I need to catch up on and probably just watch the good stuff like that. So then when Lord of War 2 comes out, i can just inoculate myself and be like, well, well, I had the other good stuff. So it's, I can forgive him for, I mean, I love, ah he's great in the first Lord of War, but the fact that they're doing, i think that's literally Lords of War.
01:30:11
Speaker
That's going to be the most Reddit movie of all time. Every other movie that's been described as Reddit beforehand will pale in comparison to Lords of War. He's an arms dealer, but he has a son. oh Bill Skarsgård's going to be the son? That's... oh Oh, that's how you know it's going to happen. That's Reddit as fuck. but What was that like movie where he played the mute and he was like narrated by H. John Benjamin?
01:30:35
Speaker
You know that movie I'm talking about? It was like a post-apocalyptic... Greg Gelman was it in it. It was like some kind of like death games like thing. Boy Kills World. Yeah, I watched the camera of that and that might be one of the worst movies I've ever seen.
01:30:49
Speaker
I think the H. John Benjamin thing was like a post thing. Like it didn't originally have that. And then they just added that. He's in, I like tested so poorly at festivals. How does Stellan feel that like he has one son that's like does a lot of bad, I mean, and hey, Bill's good in like, he's so good in Barbarian. When he's good, he's great, but ah he's good as best. Yeah, yeah. I don't like those movies, but he's good. He's good Pennywise. ah But, ah you know, compared. Hey, I'll even give him his bad French accent in John Wick 4. He's fun in that. He knows what movie he's in. ah but But like The Crow? is and It's just the the things you'd pick compared to the other scarry Scars guards. It's like, come on, look look at what the rest of your family's doing. kind of can Try and keep up.
01:31:39
Speaker
He needs to do like a dom sub a homosexual relationship movie. And then all of it will go right. And the other person lead is his brother. It's Alex and Bill. see Now you're now you're losing me. Now I feel like you like I have like a normal spot and then took it. You made it weird. No, it needs to be. It needs to be fucking weird and freaky.
01:32:02
Speaker
It needs to go balls. Yeah. Hell yeah. that's That's what needs to happen. ah Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, everyone. And then like ah the Charlie Brown. Christmas time.
01:32:18
Speaker
me
01:32:22
Speaker
Do you have any plugs?
Podcast Promotions and Comedic Insights
01:32:23
Speaker
Nah, nah. You're listening to it. I'm here. You got it. Follow me at PororoloTony on Twitter. That's what you get. Yeah, and you'll find me here, fuckfaces. Also, check out ah Unsourced Wall Radio. where You can find both of us. We're covering the Scream franchise. ah This Sunday, we did the first two already, and then three, and then I... guess somehow we got roped into doing the show that I did not know anyone cared about. But I am kind of intrigued to see what that even is.
01:32:54
Speaker
Maybe maybe I'll be a fan of it. I'll be like, actually, it's actually going for stuff. I'm just glad that we're not doing like multiple episodes for seasons, you know, like I'm glad that we talked it down to just like one episode per season. Cause if we did three episodes per episode of the podcast, would have, Oh man, that was I would have bowed out. I would have quote, uh, Rooster Cogburn in, uh, true, true. I got bowed out.
01:33:26
Speaker
I need to watch that again. Good movie. I need to watch more Coen Brothers again. I've seen them all, but I... i rewatched Buster Scruggs ah the other day. Fucking hell banger. Great movie. good Good filmmakers, I'll say it. a lot of people won't don't make bold claims. like that, but they yeah they know what to do with the camera and a script. Those kids are going to go someplace someday. I think that they, uh, something about the way they make those movies, uh, they got something. They got the stuff. They got some juice. I'll say it. Yeah. Controversial opinion. Write it on our two starts.
01:34:03
Speaker
all right. Well, yeah. Happy holidays to all. And, uh, God bless us, everyone.