'Euphoria' Disappoints, Promising Shows, and 'DTF St. Louis' Finale,

Hey, thanks for joining us.

On this week's episode, it's only me and Donovan, as Adam's on tour.

We'll talk about where you can see Adam on tour.

If you're in the uk, we'll discuss the opening episode of Euphoria and how it's a little of a disappointment.

We'll give you a list of shows that you could use as recommendations.

These are things we'll possibly use covered next week and beyond.

We'll discuss the finale of DTF St. Louis in non spoilers.

So we'll do broad strokes there and then after the break, we'll talk the specifics of the whole season as well as the the most recent episode of Rooster on hbo.

That's the sixth episode.

We'll do that in spoilers.

Let me get Donovan in here and let's begin the show.

Yeah, like I said, it's me and it's Donovan and that's all you're getting this week and for the next four weeks.

And you better like it.

You better like it.

Adam's on tour.

If you're in the UK and you're wanting to see Adam leading his shoegaze duo, Sister Rae Davies, you can go and see him, assuming your schedule works and you got the cash money to do it.

He'll be playing tonight.

If you're listening on day of Release tonight, Tuesday, April 21, in Newcastle at Clooney Two.

They'll be at Leeds tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22, at Heathrow House.

And they'll be in Glasgow on Thursday, April 24th at Classic Grand.

And then the next two shows at Wendover and Lancaster are both sold out.

If you're looking for more toward the weekend, if you'll message us@the alabamatakemail.com we'll see what we can do.

I'll get in touch with Adam.

Our UK listeners are about to flood the email.

No promises, of course.

Understand that.

Oh, Sunday, though.

How about Sunday, April 26?

They'll be in Bedford at the venue Esquires, so check them out.

Sister Ray Davies with Sonic Cathedral Records.

You'll have a blast.

It's going to be so good.

It's fun just to watch him turn on and off all the pedals and also run the drum track and also play a killer lead guitar.

There's some.

Some videos of them playing floating out there on the Internet.

I feel like I almost had the same feeling watching Beach House, where I'm like, yeah, what I heard on the record and what I'm watching you doing is not how I Imagined you would have made that.

But it's so cool.

Like, it's so crafted.

Yeah, it probably isn't.

You have to find play that stuff.

Yeah, the.

The man knows his craft.

It's.

It's great.

Donovan, you and I will attempt a brief experiment.

Not sure how prolonged it will be.

I'll discuss my broad opinions on the recent episode of this, the first of the third and likely final season of Euphoria.

That's per Zendaya herself.

She thinks this is the last season.

You've never seen it?

I've never seen it.

I was so far off the wagon that I think this must have been in the second season.

And you and Adam had been watching it.

But you mentioned that all the, like, the kids at your school.

Yes, the students were like super into it, which I thought was interesting.

Still, a few are.

Okay.

This go around.

It's been a couple years.

Yeah, about three years.

Yeah.

They've graduated now.

A little too long for a Joe hide.

I think a year and a half.

Two years is the right.

But three.

Seems they're all out there making movies, right?

Yeah, they're out there.

Big stars.

It's got Zendaya.

I mentioned Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, and a lot of really good, talented actors.

The first two seasons, they were juniors and seniors in a high school, respectively, so it makes sense that a high school crowd would enjoy this.

The teenage angst resonates.

Yeah.

But season three does a time jump, which makes a ton of sense because they're all adults now anyway.

Yeah, some of them have been in Frankenstein's.

I mean, you can't put a Frankenstein back in high school.

Absolutely not.

You build that guy and he's got to go straight to the senior center.

Well, he.

He's at least working on a graduate.

Degree, which is kind of the age range of these folks.

Now in the series, it's Maude Apatow.

Jude Apatow's daughter is also in it.

I forgot to mention her.

Huh.

But they're all probably, you know, 23, maybe 24.

That time of life when you're tempted to go into a graduate program in English.

Don't do it, guys.

Don't do it.

Luckily, none of them are not.

This is non spoilers.

I won't say anymore.

I'm sad to say that while the time jump makes perfect sense, Sam Levinson, the writer and creator and director of this episode one, has zero idea what to do with these characters now that they're not in high school.

Oh, Dan, that's not good.

That's not a good way to start your series.

This is one of the most visually entertaining pieces of television I've turned.

That's turned out to be quite a dud in a long time that I've talked about.

Is this getting to the point where based off of this first episode, are you questioning whether you care enough to finish?

100%.

Wow.

100%.

Midway through this episode, I thought to myself, okay, am I going to watch this season?

Wow.

Because I remember for two, you and Adam talking about it.

I think you were both pretty high on this.

And of course, the.

I like Zendaya as an actor.

I like Jacob Allure.

You know, like, there's good talent in there.

I do too.

I like them all.

All of the actors that have returned.

I like them all.

Of course, Angus McLoud could be a big hole in the series.

He.

The actor, he was killed in New York.

He played the drug dealer with a heart of gold character, and it worked really well.

You wanted to watch him, I think, because you never would have thought you'd like this character as much as you do.

And yet he, Angus McLoud, turned it into something just warm.

Yeah.

And he's gone.

That's a shame.

You know, real life tragedy and then obviously affecting the.

The show, you know.

Very sad.

Yeah.

It looked stellar.

It looked as though they shot on film.

That wouldn't be a surprise to me.

I've seen only the premiere of the third season.

It's just not promising.

Yikes.

Let's talk a little plot here.

They the series.

Levinson has taken on this Tarantino writing style as far as what the characters do when they do it.

Okay.

In Tarantino's films, occur in a reality larger than life.

Yes.

But here it feels like a bad cartoon.

Okay.

Huh.

There were several which.

Which Tarantino can, if he's not on top of his game, can feel that way too.

So that's an interesting comparison.

I agree with that.

Several characters, perhaps one most notably, who act so stupidly that you wonder if you can pull for this person when they were in high school and.

And doing these things.

Perhaps it made more sense mixed with a teenage angst I mentioned.

That's relevant.

Still pertinent as you get a little older, but yet when you do get older, you expect people to make certain decisions or else you wonder if you want to help them or not.

Yeah.

It's sad too, because it's a group of actors who can do more than this ridiculous change that they've put on them.

It makes sense to Have a change, though the direction is not earned.

Everything felt unearned.

Top down.

It's.

It was a tough watch.

That's.

That's too bad that I wonder that this is me not having seen it, but everyone else had me, you know, being in movies, having moved on too.

I wonder if there's just an element of, like, we.

The actors are now more adult people than we were in season one and season two, if that makes it.

They're a different stage in their careers and lives, I guess is what I meant.

That's exactly what I was about to say.

It's.

You wonder how to grade something like this because it looks good, the sound design is good, the sets are brilliant, the actors seem to be doing the best they can, but you wonder if they're not hamstrung by the writing.

Like, I know Jacob Elordi can do amazing things, but here it was so off putting to see his character say and do certain things.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Because he's, you know, the thing that stuck in my mind the most recently from last year seeing him was, you know, he plays the creature and Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein.

And he's fantastic.

He's fantastic.

And I don't think.

Think that.

That the pairing with Oscar Isaac, I don't think it would have worked without him in Saltburn.

Yeah.

Yeah, he's great.

It's.

It's.

That's.

That's a shame.

So it's a. Yeah, it's a shame.

And then, of course, they run the preview, the trailer this season on at the end, and I was hoping for something there, like, thinking, okay, they're going to zig and zag some, and that'll keep me invested.

It all looked about the same, so I'll give it another couple episodes.

This is starting to get last season of Game of Thrones vibes here, where you're like, oh, big.

Oh, we don't have an exit strategy.

And I was kind of relieved to see critics say the same thing, because I was running it through my mental filter, my process, and then I waited before I clicked on anything.

And then I went to these reviews and lots of ohs.

Huh.

Okay, speaking of websites where I sometimes get my news, is it just me, or is every pop culture site way more interested in reality shows than scripted ones?

When it comes to coverage, I won't.

Read it at all.

Yeah, I don't.

I. I can't stand reality tv.

There's like one or two I. I like.

And then there's the challenge, which is kind of half Competition.

Half.

Yeah.

That game show.

Different.

I feel like most like this few viewers, if you will, remember my.

My love for.

For the curse several years back because it showed how much I.

You know, they're kind of doing that fake HGTV show, and it features so much of what I hate about reality tv.

And it's like.

It's.

It's.

There's nothing enlightening.

It's all scripted.

It's.

You know, it's getting people wound up, and there's.

It doesn't say anything about humanity or us as human beings, by and large, except, like, maybe we can be extremely petty.

I always go immediately to the Bachelor, the Bachelorette, the Housewives set of series, and then Vanderpump rules, whatever that is.

I'm still not sure.

It's just a lot of yelling.

That's just the thing.

It's intentionally putting people in charge, like, putting people who you already know are volatile in volatile situations.

And, you know, like, often the case, you know, I've been unfortunate enough to see the Bachelor, Right.

Like, when all the.

Or the Bachelorette, like, when all the dudes are coming, you know, they're in this room with, like, no food but alcohol.

Right.

So it's like, this is not.

I don't feel like this has.

This.

This doesn't say anything to me about my life or anyone else's life.

Yeah.

Is there a reality show out there that you think could do it, like.

Or it hasn't been written?

No.

Excuse me.

Wow.

Great question.

I'm sure there's.

I'm sure there's.

There's gotta be at least one out there that I'm not being fair to.

Or one that could be created maybe.

And I do think.

I think, would it just be people.

Sitting in a house playing video games and.

I mean, that's kind of like a documentary, you know, like a documentary is like the reality show that might actually be worth something.

Did you ever like the Real World?

I liked it.

Okay.

I used to really like it.

It was.

It's.

It's not on the level of, like, not.

And I don't mean this negatively, but it's not on the level of like.

We just want you to fight for the cameras, please.

Yeah.

Those first five, six, seven seasons where it probably wasn't that scripted.

Yeah, it was good.

But it just blows my mind that there's so much of that on any coverage site, and yet there's just a plethora of new tv, which is what we're about to start talking about.

Yeah.

I Wonder if it's, you know, there's a reason there's so much reality out there.

It's cheap.

And your ROI is good probably, you know, for TV writers too.

It's like there's always something to talk about, you know, that's true.

And I get that.

I watch the challenge and there's a lot of yelling there.

But there's also an escape valve for some of their tension when they play the game.

Right.

They have the competition, the actual competition.

Right.

It's a little.

It leans a little more into Hard Knocks than Real Housewives.

Right.

Speaking of plethora of tv, let's run some of this down.

Well, first of all, let's wrap one up.

There's the finale of the Pit, which was absolutely fantastic.

So much so that it's getting a third season that is just perfect for it.

For an excellent second season that's ended.

That third season renewal is nothing short of deserving and exciting.

I have a spoiler piece on the alabamatake.com if you have watched the finale.

I. I praise it.

There.

You can read more.

Apple TV is now streaming its second season of your Friends and Neighbors three episodes out now.

I've watched two.

It's the Jon Hamm show.

You may know it.

The second season's enjoyable.

It's interesting.

Still digs at how wildly 1% of us live watching Ham as Coop attempting to avoid trouble and digging himself out of other issues while digging himself in others.

Good TV at its worst.

The only slide I think I have with this show is some plot lines here and there and the voiceover that Ham does.

There are some things that are just obvious and doesn't have to be said.

That's.

I think that's probably always the case with voiceovers, but the second episode relied heavy on the second episode's ending.

The first episode is the reset to normal.

That's always pretty interesting.

The second is the inciting incident, which doesn't happen until the end, unfortunately.

It should have happened earlier.

Could have done some things.

Still, good television.

I mean, you put Jon Hamm in front of the camera, it's 90% of the time.

You're gonna enjoy what you see.

What's the old saying?

The camera loves him.

It's true.

And he loves it back.

That's the good news for viewers.

There's the fallen Rise of Reggie Dinkins, which has ended its stellar run on NBC.

Just a surprise.

Enjoy us.

I don't feel like I have anything new to say about it, Blaine, because it's.

It's making Me laugh.

Like line readings.

Line readings are great.

Daniel Radcliffe.

Surprisingly funny.

Plenty of jokes.

The joke, the joke.

A minute meter is good and it's honestly kind of smart and surprising in some ways.

Honestly, it is intelligent.

I would say that.

Yeah, it is almost.

It's funny that we were just talking about reality TV because they're making a documentary, but it's really kind of a real reality TV show.

Yeah, but the, the relationships between the characters is not what you would expect for this kind of reality TV show.

It isn't.

It's kind of.

There's a certain heart to it.

Absolutely.

These relationships which you wouldn't expect.

And, you know, if things like a little kid saying, I'm bored, I'm gonna do drug cigarettes doesn't make you laugh, then I don't, I don't think you understand humor.

That's a great joke.

I'm going to shift gears into shows we haven't seen yet and that are on the horizon or just started and we just haven't seen.

These are options for us.

Maybe in the future.

AMC has begun an eight episode run of the Audacity.

It's a dark comedy about tech companies which stars Zach Galifianakis.

I do like Zach Galifianakis.

My wife can't stand him.

He cracks me up.

Did you ever watch Baskets?

Of course.

It went to the.

It got to the point where my wife wouldn't watch it with me.

But I thought it was so funny.

Oh, it was so funny.

She's like, he's just so mean to Martha.

I'm like, yeah, that's, that's not the point where.

It is the point.

And Martha plays a character in Euphoria, the lady.

Really?

Yeah, it's, it's, it's a fascinating turn.

Interesting.

Speaking of actor Zach Galifianakis, he's releasing a new gardening show with and for children on Netflix tomorrow, Earth Day.

I bet I might be watching that one.

Maybe even discussing his little here next week.

I may even rope my little girl into it.

She loves gardening.

I think it's genuinely, like, it's a genuinely nice thing.

Yes.

I can't praise it enough just for the idea.

I don't want to go on a tangent or sound like an old curmudgeon, but, like, have you seen this YouTube shit?

The kids are watching, like, go outside and like, plant a flower, please.

You need it.

I think you and I could probably do a segment next week on YouTube TV.

It's just, man, it's, it's, it's bleak.

And the Fact that it's invading us via Netflix now.

Yeah.

The stuff that is like.

It's like there's.

There's only like even the stuff that's not like actively harmful.

Exactly.

Is like.

There's just nothing.

There's nothing there.

It's just like content.

It basically.

It's the, it's the, it's the edge.

The, the, the slightly older kid version of just like, here's like some, you know, contrasting colors that you.

A baby can see.

Right.

There's nothing there.

Yeah.

There.

Let me pose it to the listeners like this.

If you were a mother or father of a seven or eight year old kid, would you plop them down in front of the TV and let them watch the Real Housewives of Atlanta Min.

The swearing.

No.

That's basically what these shows are.

Yeah.

Bombast.

Yeah.

Look at this.

Horrible editing choices.

I'm not leaving until Mr.

Beast is tried for war crimes.

Not leaving this show.

I cannot stand him.

I have a whole other tangent about Mr.

Beast where I just think it's disgusting that it's like, oh, we don't have health care, but we have like homeless guys competing for money.

You know, like, that's a whole other.

That's one of my missiles in this war against Mr.

Beast.

Yes.

Hate it.

Hate, hate it.

Unfortunately, I think that a lot of this YouTube stuff does actually say things about us as a society, as people.

It's just nothing good.

I agree with that.

Sadly, hate to say it.

So.

Yeah, go outside and garden, kids.

It's good for you.

It is.

Peacock has the Miniature wife with Matthew McFadden, whose performance we heavily praised with Netflix's Death by Lightning.

He was great.

I'm a little unsure about this one,.

But this one's got you unsure.

The Miniature Wife.

Scott.

Elizabeth Banks, as you guessed it.

The miniature wife.

The titular miniature wife.

It's a riff on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, but a dark comedy?

I don't know.

I may check out a few and see where it goes.

I'm on the edge.

I don't know.

On the fence.

I did like Matthew McFadden a lot in Death by Lightning.

That was a real surprise.

You kind of see what it could do.

Will it subvert any of those expectations?

That's the yes.

Beef on Netflix has returned now it's already dropped.

Will probably will be covering it next week.

A guarantee, I would think.

It's returning as an anthology series.

And this one stars Oscar Isaac, several others, but Oscar Isaac's the big name.

That's almost all I Know on purpose because same because if it's half as good as the first season, it should be pretty decent.

I felt with the first season, I didn't.

I knew the actors going in and didn't really know a ton of the details.

And I was happy that I watched the first season.

Just kind of letting me if it's as good as last time.

I thought it was pretty good.

There was a lot of good weird stuff happening.

Oh yeah, it made the top of my list.

Of course, Oscar Isaac is always a pleasure to watch as well.

Yes, he's.

He's very good.

And lastly, on our list of shows we could watch, we may watch that are out there for anyone who wants a recommendation, there's the upcoming HBO series Half Man.

Speaking of Netflix shows, this is the second big thing from writer, actor, creator Richard Gad.

That name sounds familiar.

He is the writer and creator and actor in Baby Reindeer from Netflix.

I still can recommend that.

Be interesting to see if he has more in his creative tank after something so autobiographical and specific.

But I'm glad he gets another shot to do something because I was a little afraid he was a one and done or that's how he would be treated because Baby Reindeer is so original and quirky and you want to see what, what he has left in his mind.

Right.

When I mean, it is.

It's kind of.

I mean, I think you nailed it exactly, Blaine.

That it's.

It is original and quirky because it is so autobiographical.

And you know, there are some artists that can.

And this is not a knock, but there are some artists who can only write about themselves.

And then there are other artists who express that in a different way.

And I don't mean that negatively.

I just mean it's.

It's a different.

It's different strengths.

It's where you get your.

Your material from.

Yeah, well, Donovan, I'm gonna ask you to speak up because I can't hear you.

Actually, that's not true.

That's a callback from DT of St. Louis, a repeated line from that HBO series that ended last week.

She's listening to the like the Power Moves, the negotiation or whatever.

It's so funny.

This is the one with Jason Bateman as weatherman Clark Forrest, David Harbour as Floyd Smirnich and Clark's best friend.

And then lastly, Linda Cardinelli as Floyd's wife.

Carol loves Mernich.

We're in on spoilers, so don't worry, we'll help you dissect if this is right for you.

I have two ways for you to tell me about your general thoughts, Donovan.

Okay.

Since it was a suburban mystery first, what do you think?

Now that the mystery solved, I almost.

Don't know what to say.

Without spoiling, just how did you feel?

Good.

Bad.

Fine.

Although, you know, the mystery, I think, worked very well with what the show wanted to do.

This is not Miss Marple.

Right.

It's not really about the mystery.

The mystery is a vehicle for constantly new perspectives on our characters.

And I think we're almost.

Our point of view character is almost the senior detective who is trying to piece this or that.

The audience standing.

I mean, who is trying to piece this together.

And it's just like, these people are weird.

I cannot figure out what's going on.

It was a smart move to have the two of them.

Yes.

Because you have Detective Homer, who's a lot more.

Me personally.

And then you have Detective Plum, who is probably a lot more of our younger audience.

Yes.

That's good stuff.

So season as a whole, thumbs up.

Season as a whole.

Honestly, when we talked about the first episode, and there was.

It was kind of suburban malaise, you know, I had kind of maybe expressed some reservations about, is there anything new to say here?

Is there anything new or useful to say here?

And I think by the end of the series, it had actually gotten away from cliche and it did have something new or poignant to say, and I.

Think it did so by focusing on something a little specific in our last five years of living, I thought the show was excellent.

I found the finale specifically to resonate and establish this breadth of emotional heft, which maybe you didn't see coming, maybe I didn't.

I think a lot of that, too, lies on the shoulders of Jason Bateman and David Harbour.

Agreed.

It's very well done.

They're doing very good work.

I'll return to a word I've been using for this show a couple of weeks.

It's the tone.

I think that that tone, the originality of tone, the unexpected tonality of the show felt as though it had a lot to say about current things.

And I think I liked it more than critics did.

If I'm looking at an overview of.

Just a brief scan, I thought the New York Times had a nice brief piece on it.

I think a lot of critics, really.

It's not taking it on its own terms, but I think some people were more invested in the mystery than the show really wanted you to be.

For critics to do, because they're smarter than I am about some of this.

Stuff, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.

I can see.

I think I could see how someone could argue that there's a misfire here, although I don't personally believe it was a misfire.

And I think that towards the end of the series, the series is pretty, pretty broadly saying its attitude towards the mystery.

I agree.

Especially in the penultimate episode.

I think a lot of our listeners, I suspect, wait until the end of a season and then maybe come back and listen to us.

So if you're in Non spoilers and you're debating on whether to watch it, I would say give it a try.

If you like original, slightly dark, odd things that end up saying something.

But what if you're gonna give it a try, Give it one or two episodes at a time.

I don't think this is a binger.

Just give it.

Give it some.

A little bit of time to sink in.

I see what you're saying.

Yes.

One or two.

Yes.

Yeah.

Don't watch four, five, six in an evening.

I thought you were giving us that classic caveat, which I strain with.

Give it its second episode.

Give it its third episode.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

Yeah, give it.

Just dole it out.

I think it's good for the first episode, but give yourself.

I enjoyed seeing.

I think this is something that, you know, I'm glad HBO doesn't do this, but, like, if this was Netflix, you know, they would have dropped it and you would have burned.

We would all burn through it in a week.

And I kind of liked having each week to kind of sit with, like, what has been recontextualized for us.

Yeah.

You end up discovering maybe it's not as much about the mystery, though.

That's certainly entertaining.

Yeah, it's.

It's a.

The mystery is the plot device.

But I think there's a richness without.

The mystery that'll take us into Rooster.

I don't think I have a lot to say about Rooster this week.

It's the other HBO series we've covered.

I'll mention it here.

Non spoilers.

We'll decide on other things as we go.

This is the Steve Carell vehicle from Bill Lawrence and company.

Stars John C. McGinley, Charlie Clive as Steve Carell's daughter, and Phil Dunster.

6 Episode 6 Deep Here.

I thought it did small movements with its sixth episode.

I thought it was a perfectly fine episode.

Seems to set up the last four.

I didn't laugh as much, but I did enjoy it.

That's kind of my review too.

You know, I think, like, this is not.

I'm not gonna die on the barricades for this show, but I like Steve Carell.

I like some of the actors.

It can be surprisingly funny and it can be.

Yeah, it's a good hang.

I don't know.

I do think it nodded at a couple of things and did answer a question or two people seem to have, albeit not in any sort of mystery way.

It's not that kind of show.

Do you think you want to mention in spoilers at all?

I mean, we can.

It made me laugh.

I mean, you could see it coming, but it did make me laugh.

We'll briefly talk about that.

Let's take a break and on the back half we will talk DTF St. Louis in full the whole season.

So beware and pretty much one through six of rooster.

This point, though, we'll heavily focus on episode six.

Stick around if you've seen those, or if you don't mind spoilers.

We all know now that social media doesn't show us everything unless we do a couple of clicks, and even then it's questionable.

But now we know.

And you probably want to get all your information about the Alabama take in one place.

Anyway, head to thealabamatake.com, click on newsletter and subscribe.

Or if you're in your podcast app, go to the Show Notes.

Click on the link and you can sign up for the Alabama Tech's newsletter, where you'll get some quirky stories as well as a rundown of what's happened on the site that week.

Now back to the show.

So let's pick up the things in the order that we presented them and non spoilers.

As far as the things we're going to spoil, the first of all is the ending the whole season of DTF St. Louis, which means the entire miniseries is over on HBO listener Tim Hamilton from the podcast Seti Bimco the Revenge Part 2, where they cover B movies, the possible sequels that they never deserve.

He sends us another listener email this week.

Loved him.

Thank you very much.

He writes Just a few thoughts about the ending of dtf.

I was a little disappointed with a few of the details they never cleared up.

In the end of episode three, Carol chillingly reassures her son Richard that they will be financially secure, hinting at a potential scheme involving Floyd's life insurance.

She seemed kind of happy, if I remember, even though she seems sad he died later.

Also, why did Clark suddenly tell the truth at the end after lying about being at the pool the whole time?

And why did we never get any Time with Clark's wife and how she felt about this, even just 10 minutes.

It was an on show that I did enjoy, but I don't think they stuck to the landing at the end.

Hope all's well, Tim.

I think I'd agree with each of those points.

You do agree.

I wrote him back and told him I would just address this on air.

And in fact, I'm going to go through his points kind of one by one in a lot of this.

And it's fun, especially the one I don't want to get out of sequence.

But the.

Why does Clark confess now?

I think that the show can kind of let you in for some things, but it's possible that these are actual structural weaknesses in it.

Yeah.

I mentioned to Tim in a reply that I thought many would be disappointed in the ending, but that I was not.

Yes.

I thought it was really good and it's because of things I'll mention here and throughout.

Let's go through some of these.

So Carol reassured her son about money.

I think hindsight's supposed to reveal that Carol was.

Was a jaded lady.

Not because she murdered her husband for money, but because money issues have made her that way.

She was able to look on the bright side things and try to cheer Richard up in the moment.

The Buddha capitalism had just been on her throat, her life, and it finally was not.

And although Floyd died, he was a teddy bear of a man.

She felt relief of a lot of money.

Yeah, I think you're right.

I mean, one of the things we learn about the sealed conviction.

Right.

Is that it was shoplifting toilet paper when she was 12 years old.

Maybe the saddest crime you've ever heard.

This is completely below the surface.

I think I might be just completely wrong.

But Floyd was obviously not the strong one in that house.

No.

And I wonder if there's almost like a relief that she doesn't have to take care of Floyd.

Yeah.

You know, along.

Along with Richard.

It's a sad stance on surface, but there are people out there, I'm sure, that feel that way.

I mean, this is not to go.

I think the show did a good job of going so far as to be like, this is not that she wanted Floyd dead.

It's not that she didn't love him.

It's just that, you know, she gives that kind of great talk about no way, Jose, her little joke.

But, you know, she.

I mean, it's.

It's true.

Right.

Like when you're.

If you're in that kind of debt, if you're in that kind of situation.

Like, money is freedom.

Like, if you're.

Yeah.

If you're being pulled down, she's like, you're not going on cruises.

You're missing out on birthday parties, you know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

That's got to be a weight off your shoulders.

Unfortunately, I think we're to infer that she would have happily had Floyd and a million dollars.

Yes, I agree.

Now, if she was forced to make the choice, who knows?

But that's a different show.

It wasn't this show.

And, well, if you ask me, she would.

She would choose Floyd.

You think so?

But grind it out.

Yeah.

She's not going to pick.

No, I don't think she's gonna murder or.

She's not gonna murder him.

Why did Clark suddenly tell the truth?

Well, that's one that does bother me.

I felt like that could have been handled a little better.

It had to happen.

Unless someone else was privy to what was going on and no one else was having the son.

Recount.

That may have been better or more solid writing, but the son wouldn't have gotten or even understood the emotional beats in that final scene with Floyd and Clark when they're together in their final moments or Floyd's final moments.

I still think that's the gist of the show.

And when you take that away, that was one of the main points that was being made.

Yeah, I think I completely agree with you, Blaine.

I think there could have.

I think if I sat down and thought about it, I could come up with an explanation for Clark saying it right at that moment.

And maybe we're supposed to be.

You know, there's a kind of relief in him.

He's like, oh, they're not going to convict me.

That was it.

It was kind of of a piece, though, with him talking throughout the show.

Because he talks a hell of a lot without a lawyer.

Yes, he does.

And then even when he does have a lawyer, he's.

He's talks a hell of a lot.

So it's kind of like there.

Are we not really meant to take this seriously?

I don't know.

Throughout the show, it was kind of a thing that kind of was like, this sort of doesn't make sense.

I don't think it takes away.

It's kind of like what you said, right?

It's.

It's.

This has to.

We.

We the viewer know that this has to happen.

Clark has to.

To tell what his side or what he experienced.

Like, we know it has to happen.

So there's elegant and inelegant ways to do it.

And I think this was a little bit like.

And then Clark decides to come clean.

You know, just.

It didn't.

It didn't, like, take away from Clark's story, I think.

Yeah, I did have a problem and what happened and what was depicted, I.

Definitely had a problem with it in the moment.

I thought, whoa, wait, why are you doing this now?

But as time lengthens, I thought it might be one minor issue out of 10 big choices.

Yeah, I think it's not a make or break for me.

And like I said, I think it's something that the show kind of handled wonkily already.

So if it didn't bug me three episodes ago, I'm not gonna let it bug me now.

Maybe that's why you start with Clark just being so willing to.

Yeah.

So no time with Carol and how she felt.

I believe that this may be putting words into a writer or creator's mouth, but the ending was supposed to reinforce that it wasn't about the women in the series, which was more obvious with Clark's life.

This was a story of male bonding, of masculinity, male loneliness, male friendship, the desolation that men can feel, which is what I was talking about.

Non spoilers.

This is an issue of the last five years or so, maybe longer.

10.

It was an examination of those things and some sexual aspects thrown in as part of that inspection.

So as harsh as it may sound, Carol's point of view didn't matter as much as we were led to believe it was.

A bit of her point of view was a little of a red herring is all.

Though you did need a few of those things from her point of view to get some of this.

She, in her point of view, helped color in some of the things that happened, but it wasn't the central idea.

It was about what males sometimes go through.

Not everyone.

Not all males, but in our modern world, what that feels like.

Yeah, I think I'd agree with you there, Blaine.

Kind of like the mystery itself.

Carol is a little bit of a red herring, and maybe this is a weakness.

I don't know.

But I think the show is.

Yeah.

More focused on the men and their relationship.

And it turns out that, like Carol is.

Is a link between the men and yet another link as they kind of build this structure, this relationship that they have.

It's almost as if the sexual encounters between Clark and Carol didn't matter as much as we thought.

Like.

Absolutely.

You're saying they were the link between Floyd?

There were this incredibly strange bonding link between two guys, which, hey, it happens, you hear.

I mean, men who want.

That they want to watch their wife have sex with other person.

Now, do they want to do it?

Because they also want to befriend this other person or get a deep relationship with them.

I. I don't know.

I've never experienced that or been around it.

I mean, Floyd almost says as much when he.

He asks if Clark could watch because he's.

He's like a.

He doesn't want to feel just like a voyeur.

He wants to feel like they've all been part of this thing together.

They've all been changed by this experience.

And of course, you know, I guess kind of a hint for this too, was like, who's going on the wine tasting tour?

Is it Carol and Clark?

Is it Carol and Floyd?

No, it's Clark and Floyd.

Yeah.

They're having a very stereotypical female friendship.

I thought this was kind of interesting because I don't know if I'm going to be able to quite.

I don't know if I quite have the knowledge to really express this correctly, but it seemed like it was dealing with male friendship and intimacy and loneliness in a way that our society can't really talk about because it feels like there's either a binary between you're just guy friends or you're romantically involved.

Exactly.

But.

But, you know, we used to see the, like, we read some of these letters from people from, like, the 19th or 18th century.

Right.

Where, like, they're talking to.

And there's like a romantic aspect.

And it's understood that there's a romantic aspect to this.

This.

What is a friendship.

You know, they're not going to go out and have sex with each other.

They're going to talk about the, you know, like, very intimately and romantically to the point where even, you know, some of these are.

Friendships are, like.

It's more important than the women in your life.

These romantic male friendships are the most.

Are the.

You know, that's.

That's the most powerful thing you can have.

And I think.

I think this was.

This show was a tragedy about that.

Yes.

You're speaking of an era where men would hold hands.

Yeah.

Or kiss to welcome one another.

Yes.

Some of it was.

I laughed at it, but I don't think that the characters were mocking, being mocked.

You know, there's funny stuff on the.

When they're on the white.

The wine tour together and, like, they do hold hands, you know, and they're having a good Time.

But there's David.

I was to.

David harbor especially plays this with such a joy.

Yeah.

Like, when he's on that wine trip, he seems like a kid who's on, like, a field trip.

Like, he can't believe this is happening and he's here with his friend and.

And so it's funny, but I don't think it's.

I think at the end of the day, these characters were not being mocked in any way and, in fact, being taken really seriously.

His is a manhood that's ripped up by an ounce of stupidity and a ton of capitalism.

Yeah.

Richard is the one who hurt Floyd, and he did it after finding out that Floyd would be signing as a job.

Yep.

Rather than something more lucrative.

Yeah.

It made his mom cry.

Yeah.

I do think that it's tragic for both of them, but I think the real tragic figure is Floyd.

And I think part of that is as the character was played and portrayed, like, we should have a world where he feels welcome and accepted.

Right.

Like, we shouldn't have a world that he feels like he needs to leave.

Right.

Like, that's.

Like, that's on us.

I agree.

A person with these virtues should.

Like, he shouldn't find it so hard to make it in life, but that's not the world we live in.

Kindness is not repaid.

Gentleness is not valued.

You're right.

And the joy that Harbour plays, you mentioned.

But fast forward to the finale and those last minutes of Floyd's life.

He got so joyful at the idea that maybe his and Clark's friendship was that of romance, which would fill a need that he wanted.

He wants as well to feel as we all do, lived and desired.

And he just seems, like, genuinely excited to share with a friend.

Yes.

He has such a giddiness when he's.

When Bateman says this might be something, and he's like, oh, yeah, something.

Yeah.

It's sad.

In hindsight, of course, those scenes could not have been easily shot with.

If you're the actor in his underwear, in his tighty whities.

And, you know, it was something like there was sort of a comedy to it, but it really was where I think it was taken very seriously.

And I thought that Jason Bateman, in that scene actually did a really good job of a guy who, like, you can just constantly see him, like, brushing up against a boundary that he may not even be able to articulate.

There's just, like, something in his face going on, you know, like, he feels really.

It seems like he's.

He's Conflicted.

Like he loves Floyd.

Like he's.

He loves Floyd.

We know that, but not romantically.

What does that mean?

Yeah.

Deeply.

I'll shift gears a little.

The finale was packed with more small details, I think, than previous installments.

Yes.

There is this one shot that I will use to prove this was a deeply thought show.

Carol is ironing a crease in a pair of pants.

Yeah.

And that is both old fashioned and out of style.

Yes.

And that says a lot about the.

The men that she's ironing the pants for.

Yes.

There are layers of this one shot that you can really unpack if you wanted.

Another small detail.

Homer's glance down at glance and.

Hmm.

Paper person.

Yeah.

That was telling.

And then Detective Plum with the knowing look.

I just thought it was small.

Things were so well done in this finale.

That was good.

And probably throughout, if I were to think back.

Moment of genuine comedy, too.

When they're asking the kid, like, you're 15, how are you in charge of the.

Like the Umpires Association.

Yes.

It pivoted in the last episode to a more stable tone.

I thought it was a sad despair, but it fit.

That's what it.

You know, this is the ending.

You don't want to go wild with your tone either, so.

Yeah.

Makes perfect sense.

Is actually good.

It's downright pitiful.

I think people will gauge the series on its ending if they felt the despair and pity or not.

Yeah.

I mean, I think it's almost like it's.

It's almost like a cap.

It's a capital T. Tragedy.

Yes.

You think so?

I think so.

There's the old definition that a tragedy has to be someone of high standing and then fall.

Of course.

It's a death.

A death of the salesman tragedy.

Right.

Yeah.

It's death of a salesman tragedy.

Yeah.

I'm not.

I would say I'm not going to.

It's not Hamlet.

It's not Greek tragedy, But I mean, coming out of those, I do think it is.

This is not something I can speak authoritatively on, but, like, from what I half remember of my classes, I think it's coming out of that tradition.

I see nothing wrong with that interpretation at all.

And you know, Clark, he was a man of high standing on his billboard.

Okay, all right, that's fair.

And then everyone around him ends up dead or wanting nothing to do with him.

Okay, fair.

Yeah.

He's all by himself at the end, you know, in his big.

In his big empty house.

What a time to write and create this drama with the inside of manhood.

Here it had elements of what people think and say about sex outside of any manhood motif.

But the central aspect of life was this examination of masculinity.

So therefore Clark's wife is only a figure lurking in the background.

Makes more sense with that lens.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think with knowledge you gain.

In this final episode, it's clear that Carol's anger and bitterness towards the bike shop, towards the java juice, employs the police.

That's real and realistic.

Frustrations about money issues and the irritation of the symbol of capitalist type machine from the police, you know, that's held her down all her life and she wanted to break free from it.

I think the audiobook illustrates that she wants others not to be dragged through the life of which was revealed through her sticking up for kids at baseball.

So her happiness at the freedom that money can bring, like you said, is.

I think it's perfect.

In hindsight, I agree.

She's so clearly said, once we kind of get a clearer picture of her, she's never caught a break in her life, you know, and I mean, if you start like laying out like the bills and her son has borderline personality disorder.

He needs to get into it, you know, all the things that have been.

She's never gotten a break and she finally got a break, it would.

It wouldn't make sense.

Her hostility toward police if they arrested her for stealing toilet paper.

I was just about to say, I think you're exactly right, that it's like I don't think that she's sitting down and like these are the representatives, you know, these are the people who enforce private property.

But it's just like the hassle.

Who are the people that police hassle?

Usually poor people.

Right.

Yeah.

They can get away with that.

Clark on the swing final shot where he's examining the other side of the fence.

How greens the grass on the other side.

Yeah.

Almost literally there while his house stands empty.

You know, it just hints that he's going to get lonelier, but also made his future bleak financially.

Yeah.

And then makes it more pitiful what he tried to do for Floyd, but also, you know, deserving of the choices he made prior to that, I suppose of with Carol.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, if there's anyone who was like not a character in this show, it's Clark's wife, basically.

And kids.

Yeah, they're just kind of scene setting.

I think they work for him.

Carol's characterization in this last episode, not making her the murderer.

I think it gave it her a lot of heart.

Some whining online that she was a sex object only I don't think that's quite the case.

She was opposite of a sexual object.

He couldn't get full on with the umpire universe,.

Do you have a good interpretation as to why they include a home movie feel that some shows and films incorporate with that grainy look with a little red on the side?

Yeah, it's all.

And it's every time she's an umpire.

Was it because that's a memory or what did it have to do with the umpire?

Because it's a memory and because like it's almost the kind of shot you see in some of these shows where like somebody's remembering, like pretend that like, okay, they're at a beach and there's, you know, there's my wife and she's in a bathing suit.

But it's that kind of feel.

But it's, it's her and her big umpire uniform.

You know, it's not which is.

Which is.

Which he has already said is a problem for him.

Yes, agreed.

I saved it for the end here.

But Adam surmised that this is the most Trump era TV he has seen.

Much as the Obama era gave viewers girls in the newsroom.

Trump era policies gave us this.

I thought that was a very clear sighted read on the show.

Ol Adamaru is a pretty sharp fellow and he.

Yes, he is.

He gets to the heart of things.

He does.

He got that and I'm glad to attribute it to him.

Even though he's out this week, I don't have a good segue from that to Rooster.

Speaking of balls.

Sure.

With Rooster, I only have a couple things based on the sixth episode.

I'm very happy.

Rory Scovell, the officer, was back this week and seems as though they're gonna set up something between him and Greg.

He's very funny.

His two exchanges with Greg could be a whole show.

Yeah.

I know that the students engaging with Greg have heart and this generational gap comedy, but these two guys are just hilarious together.

It's so fun to see a really good comic and then Steve Carell, who I don't think ever did stand up, but a really good comedic actor play with one another there in the, in the scenes.

Total side.

Now it could have just been a stupid thing that didn't make, but it's like the bit where he's always forgetting his gun that is so funny is like genuinely funny.

Like he makes it genuinely funny and.

Then he says they're easy to lose.

It's a gun.

And it goes Right there on the police's hip.

What?

Left it at the gun range.

Best place to leave a gun.

Everyone noticed, I'm sure.

But a standout couple of lines were Greg's daughter, Professor Russo.

She.

Is she not so admiring.

Admiringly taken in Greg's new half bike, half motorcycle.

And she tells him that any lady who loves this thing's going to be a keeper.

And then we get two big scenes.

One where Crystal doesn't really like it or doesn't react to it appropriately.

And then Dylan, who is.

Yes.

Overjoyed to get to ride on this new bike.

Motorcycle contraption.

E bike.

She does e bike thing, right?

Yeah.

You know, she may be looking for someone else's arms to fall into now that Dana Riggs is back and smoking cigarettes in the office.

He's learned.

No, he's.

He's learned no lessons.

I am sorry, but if you have a character, have a heart attack, have a health issue, and then, yeah, when you see them again, they're just smoking it up.

That's comedy.

That's funny.

And it shouldn't be, but it is.

It's good that the dean is back.

I think we need another character or two to kind of get to know.

He's really, you know, the only real villain.

I kind of joke that.

Oh, that difficult student Greg.

Oh, he's funny.

I kind of joked that the difficult student of Greg's is the real villain, but she's not.

It's the dean.

You know, he's just.

There's nothing redeeming about him that we've seen so far.

We could use another character to throw these comedic fastballs for sure.

Baseball.

Baseball metaphor.

I don't see Greg and Krystal staying together much longer, especially that we found out.

One guess a lot of audiences had was that she's Tommy's mom.

Yes.

Doesn't mean that his dad's not the hockey coach, by the way, because aren't they divorced?

Yes.

Yeah, I guess that's potentially true.

Although didn't the hockey coach die somewhat suddenly and that's why they had to replace, because they were putting Greg in the hockey coach's house.

So I'm thinking in my head, the timing doesn't work.

Like he would have had to be there already.

I don't.

I don't know.

But again, it's probably not quite this kind of show.

But hey, if he does a.

Sure.

If you have come, if that does become who's the dad of Tommy, that's fine.

I'm sure it would be funny.

It Would.

Yeah.

Well, that hockey coach is kind of funny.

He's funny.

And I swear I was going to look up who that actor is and figure out where I've seen him, but I.

It slipped my mind.

The.

The bit, it just.

I keep coming back to it.

It's cracking me up.

Where he uses, like, the.

He's got the beer bottle and he uses, like, one of the player's masks.

Just pop the top.

To drink on the job.

To drink while he's.

Another funny thing that never gets old.

I do Hope that the 4 Katie sign bit is put to rest.

It had its run.

Yeah.

I think when Archie chased down the student but didn't catch the correct one, that was the moment.

It should have been finalized, though.

I mean, it got the, you know, the moment with Katie being like, you know, I didn't ask you to do this.

You know, no one, you know.

So I think at that point, it should be.

In my opinion, the emotional ripples should continue.

That thing should probably.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, I see.

My two cents.

No, I got it.

I get what you're saying.

That makes sense.

I mean, I did enjoy the Tommy and Steve Carell face off in the kitchen as Krystal from the other room says, get some whipped cream, and he's.

I want to lick it off your balls.

It's the wrong half.

That's naked for a man.

Yeah, that is good.

That made me laugh.

Yeah, that's it.

I'm very appreciative of listeners, viewers.

Time for Adam and Donovan.

I'm Blaine, and we hope that you don't end up in your tidy whiteies around your bestie.

Unless you want to be.

Unless you truly want to.

That's right.

Next weekend.

Gosh, Beef seems.

I think we got to dip into some beef.

Especially now that we've kind of closed or turned the page on dtf.

I feel like Beef might step into that.

We'll see.

Beef might step into that role if rooster felt important.

Maybe that.

Maybe Half man Richard Gad series on hbo.

Don't know, though.

The Zach Galifianakis gardening series.

We'll see.

We'll sort this.

I might have to watch an episode of that, too, because I'm trying to have a better.

I don't dislike gardening.

Sorry.

I don't dislike my yard.

I dislike gardening.

And I'm trying to have a better attitude about it.

Well, you also have a niece or two.

I do.

They're going to become of age and you can rewind it and play it for them when they are a little older.

So thanks, everyone, for listening.

We will talk to you next week.

And there's some options.

You can kind of play along with us.

Have a good week.