Golf In 'Stick' Is Only a Game; 'Dept. Q' Played the Best with the Rules

Hey, you're the voice that says an Alabama take production, aren't you?

Oh, yeah, that's me.

What are you all talking about this week?

Let's see.

We're going to talk about your friends and neighbors.

We're going to talk about the TV show Stick that's on Apple plus and we're going to talk about Department Q in full.

That's the Netflix show.

Are you going to do spoilers?

Oh, no, no, no, no.

We start with non spoiler segment and then we take a break and after the break we'll talk about the spoilers related to those shows.

Well, get Adamant and Donovan in here.

Let's do it.

Alabama take projection.

I have a note here that says, Adam, you watched one episode of your Friends and Neighbors.

Well, that's enough podcast on, isn't it?

If we've learned anything in the last 10 years in the American Public Forum is that I am now an expert on this program and can just shoot from the hip with authority.

Yeah, no, there were a few shows here and there where we fell behind during like a two week unplanned break earlier in the summer and it's we're still paying for it Catching up way we've yet to discuss our quick binge of Mormon Wives.

Right, guys?

We.

We said that we were keeping that.

Between us as the Mormons do, just.

Like the Mormons do.

But the group chat was a safe place.

Guys, to all Mormons out there, I'm really sorry for that joke.

Every single one of you have ever met seems really nice.

Can I tell you what happened with me and Mormon wives?

This is a TV podcast.

It was on my home screen on Hulu and I thought, what is all the fuss?

And I hit play thinking it was going.

I don't know why I had pictured Amish ladies on screen, but it's this hot lady, like talking about being married to, in a way, other hot ladies.

This is a roundabout way of you telling us you're going to Utah and.

We'Ll be broadcasting from Utah.

Yeah.

Anyway.

But yes, another one of those shows that we got a little behind on was your Friends and Neighbors on Apple tv.

Like I mentioned, Adam did catch one this week.

I'm still behind, but I do love the show.

We're not in specifics territory.

Anyway, so non spoiler topic right here.

That's the one that stars John Ham, Amanda Pete and Olivia Munn as upper crust New York state people who each have some issues on their own as well as as a group.

Most most notably John Ham who Plays Andy Cooper.

But Adams watched one of the episodes.

Lay it on me, Adam.

Really interesting to see Jon Ham play what she said.

Upper crust New York.

Yeah.

What a strange that their social lives are kind of weird and their interior lives are fraught with peril and drama and you know, who could have guessed that he could play that character so well?

You know, I mentioned this show three or four weeks ago when it first came out.

No, it's been longer than that now.

But one of the things I said that it's.

It's.

There is this propulsive plot that you're going to tune in for, but you end up sticking around for that internal stuff for the characters, which is different than Mad Men in that it's.

In 2025.

It is different.

It was funny, though.

I mean, I immediately texted you and said they when you plop Jon Hamm in your television program and you don't want me to think of Don Draper.

Well, I don't.

I don't know if you do or you don't.

I assume that they have to play with that on some level for all time.

But having the opening being him sitting at a bar alone, drinking whiskey and getting hit on by a younger woman, this is doing nothing for me to suspend disbelief that this is not.

Not dawn here.

But as the show progressed.

We've only seen the one episode.

I thought it was a really strong opening episode.

Yeah, it's really good, isn't it?

We will be watching more.

I can vouch for the rest.

It doesn't drop in quality.

I think the.

And I'll tiptoe around it.

The actual thing that looks to be the plot, I'm not as interested in.

I am.

I'm very interested in the characters.

Yes.

It's a, It's a vibe show more than a plot show.

Well, I've got big memes for you.

Does it stay vibey?

Yes, it seems to be 70% character, 30% this thing we're not going to talk about.

Right.

I mean, I understand that things theoretically have to happen.

Yeah.

In mass media to make conflict.

Right.

And it can't be internal.

It can't just.

Just be internal.

Character based conflict in our world, maybe, is what you're saying.

Yeah.

For an Apple TV show.

Yeah, I get it.

But again, you.

You put this man in the corner office of a New York skyscraper and have him stare out a window and I'm in.

I'm just in after he gets hit on by the woman.

His office is kaput after that.

Right.

Yeah.

That's like the first few minutes and we're.

This is episode one from two months ago.

So I think we're okay.

Yeah, but we won't go much further.

Other than.

What were you gonna add?

Jeff was gonna talk about Mad Men probably.

Like, like it like at any given point.

Right, Right.

I mean in my head right now, it's just the slow, like haunting sound of it's always lurking.

Well, we will continue with Apple as a streaming service.

I think they've been killing it of like knocking down threes in a fast paced offense, if you ask me.

Is that.

Is that a reference to an Apple show?

No, that's a golf reference.

Golf.

Is it golf?

Shit no.

That might be baseball.

Is that basketball?

Cricket?

Do we know what a sport is?

We're gonna bring up stick here in spoiler territory as well.

This is the one that is about golf.

It stars Owen Wilson.

He's a washed up pro who takes it upon himself to mentor a kid whom he's trying to get in the professionals of golfing.

And we brought up this series, I think twice at this point.

This will be the third time, especially in non spoilers.

About the only place I've brought it up.

It is at its halfway point with episode five this week.

And we're all pretty much on the same page.

Watched all five episodes.

Making the turn to the back nine, if you will.

Let's keep it going.

That's all I got.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, I am basically like Donovan was when we were in college where he had like the one they really need to run the ball to open up the.

The passing game.

Like, like that kind of thing.

That's all I really have for golf.

It's a rebuilding year.

You know, you're gonna.

Yeah, you know, that's what you say when they lose.

While we're on the topic, I do have a very serious golf question that neither of you guys can answer, but related and it's.

It's a golf question.

True golfers who listen this podcast, of which there are thousands, I'm sure will laugh.

They're probably on the course right now, earbuds in.

Yeah, they're gonna laugh me out of this podcast app.

But is it not an unfair sport and maybe even a true representation of our society?

Because it's.

Is it not unfair to play against someone who may have 2000$3 wood versus the guy next to you who might just have a 903 wood?

Like, you got these stellar clubs, but this other guy has maybe just one a couple steps lower tier or even basic ones?

Shouldn't all PGA members play with the same one?

Like all basketball players shoot the same ball during the same game.

They say it's not the girth, the size, the cost of the stick plane.

Donovan, kudos to you for just opening with the joke and then working backwards.

I think this is like any other equipment based thing, right?

Like is.

Well, baseball players have to use a wooden bat.

That much I know.

Right.

But there's differences in.

In the bat.

In the bat.

In the.

Tennis.

Tennis, you would have different.

Okay.

Different players prefer different.

Not only racket size, like the.

The size of the face that you hit the ball with.

Some players like a bigger one, but you sacrifice some control for that.

They have different tensions for the strings, all this stuff.

So I mean, I would assume in terms of money as a restriction, if you were like a wonder kin, like this.

This one of the main characters is in this.

I think you play your way into having the good stuff, right?

I guess so.

I mean, I just couldn't.

I thought back to Thomas Brady and how he messed with the football a little bit out of regulation.

I don't know.

It is interesting.

I thought of basketball, but those are probably.

Maybe those are the two few where the equipment is mandated.

As far as like what you're.

Whatever.

Football, soccer, basketball.

I mean, I would.

I know nothing about.

You can't mess with the ball.

Yeah.

I know nothing about hockey, but I assume that the sticks are pretty customizable, but the puck is not.

I mean, what more could you do with a stick?

So where are you with this?

With stick.

Apple TV plus as a comedy, summertime viewing as what it's doing so far.

You just laid out the keywords.

Comedy, summertime viewing.

Check.

Donovan, it's time.

Yeah, go ahead.

Say the word.

Say the line.

Donovan.

Which I don't know.

I can't remember.

America.

Do you like to laugh?

Oh, yeah.

Thank you.

I was like, it's my own line.

Yeah.

It dares to ask the question.

Dares to ask the question.

Bravely.

It's a very brave show.

Yeah.

This may be the ultimate.

I think I texted y' all.

Saturday in June, lunchtime viewing.

Do I want to commit an afternoon to it?

I'm not sure.

Am I going to make a sandwich and sit here anyway?

Yeah.

So I'll watch this show.

Compare that to another.

What's another summertime middle summer show?

I think Owen Wilson excels at these.

These are the.

The vehicle for Mr.

Wilson.

Absolutely.

Now that's not to say that I haven't seen him do excellent Work, you know, with the.

The Wes Andersons of the world.

Yesterday, it's Saturday.

Crashers is on chapel tv.

There's nothing else on.

I'm not really paying attention.

I'm not even in the same room with the tv.

It's on.

They do some funny stuff when I'm walking through.

That's great.

I find this to be very good.

Adam just described primarily because, like Owen Wilson, I think his character over the couple episodes we've seen is like, he's a basically nice guy who is genuinely befuddled by a child and that.

And with.

With Owen Wilson doing like a nice guy, like sincerely trying to connect with a kid and just, you know, that that's actually really funny.

It's like he has no clue.

It brings to mind my favorite parts really aren't even that he's befuddled by the child, but that he's befuddled by what's he.

What I'm doing is not that wrong, is it?

Yeah, you know, gambling is not that wrong, is it?

Does have some laughs, but I feel like episode five might be the dog leg in the layout of the hole.

We're trying here, aren't we?

God damn.

I can't do it.

Can I play golf exactly five times?

Four times in my life.

I played golf once.

And on my best swing, my best absolute swing, I.

I did not grow up playing golf.

So I was trying to hit it like a baseball.

I wasn't holding my hips right.

And it's tough.

When I finally like stopped and like got a sweet, sweet hit, I just watched the ball arc through the air and head right towards my friend Patrick driving the golf cart where it hit with a thunk.

And I was like.

I had a moment where I was like, it's gonna.

It's gonna take his eye out.

You're supposed to yell 4 if you know nothing.

I was too.

I was too stunned by horror.

I also.

I also put a golf ball through the roof of a golf cart once.

Yeah, you guys are a couple real Santiago's here.

It was such a good hit.

Like, it really thunked it.

Like, it was like I had done it exactly right.

I think my last game of golf, I broke my friend's dad's three wood because I hit the ground instead of the ball.

You ready for this?

I broke my father in law's driver twice.

Didn't hit the ground either.

To break a man's heart won't it?

I have no idea where it went.

One had like a fairly sentimental attachment for him too.

You're not invited to Thanksgiving or Christmas anymore, are you?

I'm not invited to the driving range anymore.

Another series we'll cover is one we began last week.

It's the Netflix crime thriller Department Q, starring Matthew Good as a detective in Edinburgh who's been assigned to a new department to investigate any cold case crime he wishes.

They just kind of put.

They're just trying to get rid of his ass.

If that sounds familiar to you, it's because it is.

Donovan and I unpacked all of those tropes last week, which there are plenty.

And with only three episodes to watch last week, we couldn't quite make the cough.

It transcended the genre of your standard crime thriller or your who done it.

Well, Donovan, we've seen every episode now, you and I, both for Department Q.

Do we understand the responses, the raving about the series?

I'm not sure that I understand the raving, which sounds like I disliked the show or liked it less than I did because I did actually like it.

When I'm watching it, I'm like, I want to know what's happening next.

I like the characters.

I think it set up a really firm foundation for a couple good seasons, too.

It's doing everything.

Or not.

Maybe not everything, but most of what it's doing, it's doing just about as good as you can.

For me, it did not.

It didn't transcend, but it's a really, really great example of the genre.

Does it transcend the genre, I think was one of the main questions we tried to deduce last weekend.

No, I don't think it does either.

That's my stance, which is a lot.

To ask, honestly, of a show, but.

I think that it employs every trope, every element of a crime thriller, of a whodunit, and it says to audiences, yeah, we're gonna do this, but we're gonna do this better than maybe any show you've seen.

Yeah.

I guess when I say, like, it's asking a lot for someone to transcend.

Yeah.

Is if you're not, like, there's no shame in, like, being good at what you're.

What you're good at.

Yeah.

If that makes sense.

Like, that sounds like I'm being somewhat dismissive, but actually, like, if you're.

If you're really good at something, that's, you know, you're at the top of.

Your game and once again, almost like your friends and neighbors.

It's the character work, it's the character writing and the acting.

I want to see more of it.

So if Netflix does green light a season two of this, are you.

Are you going to be excited?

Are you going to watch it?

I'd watch it.

Yeah.

I'm definitely going to watch it.

There's obviously they left some things unresolved with this, with this first season.

Yeah.

So there's more to build on.

They left all the characters at a place where we have gotten to know them, but we can still see that we're gonna.

There's more space to learn about their past and see how they grow in the future.

Yeah, I'd watch it.

I enjoyed this.

Yeah, I would too.

I really did like the characters a lot.

They resolved plenty.

But you're right, there were there.

There's more to go.

There's.

There's stuff left to.

To build on for another season, dear listeners.

And then spoiler free section.

I did not feel like cheated or thwarted by the resolution.

Oh, no, they did.

They scrapped up their season very satisfactorily.

I agree with that.

So that should take us to our spoiler section.

What we're gonna do is we'll take a 30 minute, 30 second break, then come back.

30 minutes.

That's time for activities.

Yeah, you could go play.

You could go practice your swing.

All right, listener, if you're this far, you may want to ease up on the gas as we enter the spoiler part of the track.

That's a NASCAR metaphor.

We're gonna employ them all.

We're all the sports metaphors.

That what you're saying.

Okay.

Yeah.

Use your time steps to jump to either Stick, which we're about to begin, so that's not hard.

Or the Netflix series Department Q, which we know a lot of you've watched.

All right.

Oh, now that we're in edging towards spoilers, guys, let me give you a little taste of what we're going to talk about.

The Q stands for question apartment Question.

Keep listening.

I don't have to say that this is our favorite part of the podcast.

We get to say anything without reservation.

It's time to take a swing at Stick on Apple tv.

Plus, has Donovan been holding back?

I think when Stick used a.

A story with a man named Willie Gross Wiener, it really, really moved me.

Inspired me.

All right, first question here.

Does Mark Marin as a sidekick, as former caddy, boost or hinder your enjoyment of the episodes?

No.

When he got stuck in the bed, that was perfect.

It was pretty funny at first.

I was like, you know, not that I like, dislike Marc Maron, but I'm not like the biggest Marc Maron fan on the Planet, but he's doing a great job playing a grumpy caddy and getting stuck in the bed was really fun.

And also when he gives his pronouns as like a normal guy or whatever, he just refuses to give his pronouns.

I'm enjoying him in this role.

First thing I think of with him is his podcast at this point.

I think he would be fine with that legacy.

You know, when he's riffing at the beginning.

Not always my favorite part, obviously.

Same same feeling.

I do like that part sometimes.

It depends on, on his podcast, when he begins with his day or whatever.

Yeah, sometimes it's funny.

Like, if I'm driving.

This is a long road trip.

I don't really mind if I really just want to hear the interview.

I'm kind of like, okay.

But him in this role reigns in a bit of the insanity and just lets him be grumpy.

But also like, he's kind of like the voice of reason most of the time.

Kind of the moral barometer so far as well.

Is he too much of a curmudgeon to be appealing to everyone?

No, no, no, no.

I don't think so.

Not right.

I mean, this is like a pretty obvious show.

Yeah, it is.

Yeah, yeah.

It's gonna have its beats.

Yeah, yeah.

He can be the caricature.

It's broad.

The characters are tropes.

Sounds dismissive, but, like, they're.

They're.

They're familiar characters.

Right.

And I.

And I think that the payoff works, right?

Because it's like, not that this show is like, stupid or anything, but it's like grumpy, curmudgeonly guy.

Stick him in a situation where he's out of control and can't handle it.

Comedy ensues.

I mean, this is.

This is like easy listening television.

And that's fine.

Yeah, exactly.

What's up?

What the.

What the nicks?

What the fucksters?

I wonder if there isn't too much of an under performance when it comes to Owen Wilson and especially Judy Greer, because there is this fact that they have a child who's passed away, and that's heavy.

That's capital H heavy.

Something you should be able to read in the faces or actions of characters.

I'd say Owen Wilson gets a few opportunities to do that or moments that can be construed as that level of pain, but, man, they did not do Judy Greer any favors.

And she's not that bad of an actress.

You would not have known that element of their backstory if it was just her Her.

Yeah.

I'm glad you brought up Judy Greer, because I think that she is fantastic.

In this or in general?

In general.

Okay.

Yeah, for sure.

And I feel like they're not really giving her anything to do.

Yeah, that's kind of here.

Besides kind of be.

She's not this stereotype, but, like, the closest thing to be, like, almost like a nag here where it's like, get your life together.

You know?

I'm like, give her more to do than that.

Yeah.

She's not mean.

I had a mean about it.

More subtle read on it than you guys, which I don't know if I'm giving her more credit because I like her.

Mm.

Maybe.

Maybe the numbers become more clear as time goes on, but, you know, he's.

She asked for a divorce seven years ago.

They have this child together who died.

You assume that this could have been, like, a decade since this happened, and this is someone who has worked, put in the work to rebuild.

Okay.

You know, whereas Owen Wilson is still shown to be very.

Yeah.

He's a man child.

Dismissive.

And I mean, you know, he's surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol and him smoking the joint and.

Yeah, that was hilarious.

But it was also like, oh, this is a guy who's hiding from something.

They're both dealing with it or not.

He's not confronting it.

She's moving on.

I just think she was in a small role, and I wish they'd give her more to do because I love her.

Yeah.

Yeah, that would be great.

She, to me, embodied the classic Henry Francis line.

There are no fresh starts.

Lives go on, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm not so sure.

He hasn't regressed.

His character is not supposed to be someone.

We think he might have had it together, and then his child passed away, and then maybe he just went straight back to man child.

Things have only ever gone right for you.

The classic everybody knows.

Everybody has a plan until they get hit in the mouth, you know, like the first.

And obviously, that's about as hard as you could possibly get hit.

So if it was.

No, you know, if you're top of the world athlete, have a great marriage, and then it all falls apart.

I'd say he's doing pretty well.

Maybe it blends that heartbreak, but I just don't know if the heartbreak's there enough or if it doesn't want to be that kind of show.

It wants to be a much more easy comedy.

And if that's the case, is that the sort of baggage that Price needs to be carrying Is it lacking its nuance for that kind of plot line?

And now I see its obvious comparisons to Ted Lasso, which I did not get for the first four episodes.

I kept thinking that's not a fair comparison.

But I see why some would say that in that it's trying to.

It's trying in the same regard to blend some heaviness.

And comedy and team dynamics are here.

Price and Santiago and.

And Mitt, you know, they're down and out, but sometimes in stick, I just don't think they can get to the gravity and the comedy as well.

Not necessarily in the same scene.

It does have some moments of warmth, but gravity?

Not yet.

I was pretty shocked when they revealed that not only has he, you know, he's behaving as if he's going through a very difficult divorce that he does not want to happen, he's not necessarily behaving as if he's lost a child.

And when they revealed that, I thought, wow, this is about to be a completely different show than I thought it was going to be.

And then it immediately went back to the type of show that I thought it was going to be.

The end of season, sorry, season one, episode one, where he's watching the home movies, almost feel like tonally is completely out of whack with the rest of the show.

So heavy in a way that the rest of the show hasn't really been interested in being.

Episode five does tell you that he's.

This has been hinted at as well, that Price is just completely 100% in denial, just not.

This is his way of just never mentioning it, never thinking about it.

Can golf be a metaphor for grief?

You know, not only does Price have a elongated grief over a child that he's not even dealing with, but Mitts, his wife's also died at some point in the history of the show.

Or maybe they just want, you know, their characters to have some depth and it's.

The nuance of it not quite there.

Although the comedy might be definitely still worth sticking around for the death of the wife.

It seems a little more like here's a guy who possibly wanted to just go within himself, you know, and now is forced to, like, you know, he's got a new family.

Like that kind of cliche thing, that one you hate to say, oh, the dead wife is a little easier than, at least in terms of the narrative to think to put in, but he also seems like a.

An adult dealing with it.

Whereas Price is shown to be, like we've said a billion times, man, child.

Francine's, death.

That's not hard to fit into the story they're telling.

You're right about that.

You look at that guy and you're like, yeah, of course this is.

Yeah, yeah, it fits.

It's really almost like a plot driven debt in the sense that's like, for this guy to be where he is, doing what he is, something needs to have happened.

So his wife died.

If that makes it like, why would he be running the scam with, with.

Oh, okay, because his wife died, so he's.

He's got no one to check him up.

Right, exactly.

He's just, you know, like, why is he participating this?

Oh, because his wife died.

You know, so he's begrudgingly, like Adam said.

I don't know if you've seen any commenters online, but they have bemoaned to the point of being pretty rude about the addition of Zero's character.

What's the, what's the hold up there?

What's the problem?

They just hate the character.

That's all you can get out of these commenters.

It's not a, you know, this is the Internet.

It is not an in depth discussion.

They just say, I can't wait till she's gone.

That's what I'm reading, you know, but you can't ask, I suppose, why add her or them.

I like her on there.

I think that it kind of played off of one of my favorite things here.

Like, one of the things that I like the most, and I'll give an example from the first episode, is, is Price's attitude towards him being like a young kid.

And like, he seemed like he kind of keeps doing this.

So like there's a, there's a bit where he's like trying to get talked to Santi and he's like, say you need a smoke break.

Or like, what do you kids get?

Like, mental health break this.

And it's like, it's funny, but, like, because he's like, he's genuinely not being a jerk.

He's like, he's asking in a way that's really funny.

Like, that's the right thing to say now, right?

Mental health break.

And so to give, to give him a character that he, to interact with that he just absolutely has no sense what's going on, you know, at any point I found.

Very funny.

Yeah, I think he's doing pretty well for a guy who spent his life on golf courses.

He's.

I mean, he's like.

And that's part of the comedy for me is that he's like.

He's like, general, genuinely nice and trying.

He just has no clue.

And.

And it's.

And it's really funny.

And Gen Z is scary.

They are mean.

Yeah.

Adding them to the.

The RV percolator, if you will.

I mean, it just exaggerates the generational.

Thing, which is fun, especially with.

With Marin, too.

I was just gonna say he gets to play the straight man, you know, old, old guy, straight man to kids that he doesn't.

He doesn't understand or care to understand.

I thought, will he have some grudging respect for them at some point?

I don't know.

Somewhere there's a writer being like, this show rates itself.

Yeah, it kind of does in a.

In a good and bad way.

Because.

Because Zero's Edition, I'm happy with.

I.

Let's put one more character in there and someone who's a little different.

That's fine with me.

But you also can clearly see she's going to break up or leave, and it's going to.

Makes Santiago absolutely miserable and he's going to lose his shit, much like Price did.

You know, you also.

You also know at some point Price is going to come back and get into golf, or you kind of hoping, I don't know, maybe they'll play with these expectations or these.

They'll subvert them.

But, I mean, that'll be the tough choice at the end, right?

Is he a player?

Is he a coach?

You gotta.

You gotta think if they're planning two or three seasons of this that they're gonna have.

Price and Santiago have to be on the same course for.

I don't battle it out for Augusta.

Good.

Good thing that you guys saved these for the spoiler section because he's, like, seeing into the future here.

I mean, what does it really.

You like the Oracle?

You know, it doesn't.

No.

I do love the show for making Santiago a primary in a world of rich white.

And it's not that Santi is a perfect kid who just so happens to be a minority, but having a minority face down in rich white dude territory is a nice sight in this economy.

I'll pop a thumbs up there, too.

With having his mom.

Exactly.

Be such a part of the show.

It makes it feel like it's not just like a token or throwaway thing, but it's like, here's.

Here's actual, you know, folks who speak Spanish and are so usually excluded from the.

I might be wrong.

Yeah, I get the sense that she's Puerto Rican.

And he's had folks that are often.

On the outside of this in the golfing world.

You know, it just makes it part of the character.

So kudos to them for doing that and not making it feel like a kind of cheap throwaway, a token thing.

That would be an interesting.

I don't think it's the type of show that it is, but, you know, there are.

We talked about the financial barriers to getting clubs, you know, at the top of the show.

Like, this is not a sport that you just show up at a court and start shooting a basketball or, you know, playing pickup football with your friends.

There's a pretty serious barrier to entry for a.

Well, I guess she wasn't a single mom at that point, but, you know, there's a.

There's a story there.

Why golf?

You get the impression that she was married to a white guy.

Yeah.

Which is going.

And that's just another little layer that they've done, which is a good layer.

You know, it fits perfectly.

When you.

When we find more out about that, you know, we're going to meet the dad at some point.

This is gonna be just like water boy.

He's gonna show back up.

Oh, the addition of Timothy Oliphant to the cast, I think that ups the ante.

It ups the watchability factor for me.

He hasn't been a villain in a while, and seeing him have that nice, rich, white asshole smirk on tv and then Marin just going off because he's on the tv, that's good stuff.

When.

When he and Marin get in the scene together, I'm excited.

I hope it's soon.

I mean, he does look like the kind of mouth that would say something that.

That gets you punched in the mouth.

I was going to say very punchable.

He's.

He's.

He's such.

He's such a slime on that TV commercial.

He's so good at that.

Well, yeah, that's going to be.

That's going to be good.

I think I do, too.

I think so.

There's.

There's some potential here and there's.

There are layers here, even though it's not hitting the nuance of the child who's passed away, I think.

And then.

But that.

That's hovering over everything like a specter, isn't it?

Yeah, they had.

And they've had, like, some.

I think.

Yeah, they've kind of had a.

A hard job figuring out that vibe.

Right.

Yeah.

Like.

And sometimes they bring it in, and sometimes they're like, well, he's in denial, obviously.

So we're, you know, we don't have to have any subtext.

Right.

Particular subtext in this.

In this scene.

What Jason Keller and the other creators are trying to do with that.

It's.

I think it's pretty obvious.

They're trying not to be too stereotypical and push it down your throat and remind you every second.

But at the same time, they're also not finding the balance.

But it doesn't hinder the watching, the watchability of the show, I don't think.

Yeah, I'll say.

I have extremely tempered expectations for this show.

Yeah.

And it is a show.

Adam and Blaine, you have demonstrated this amply.

Like, even if you know exactly what's going on, even if you know every trick, you know exactly what's going on, you know what they're doing basically in every scene, it's still kind of fun to watch if it's.

If it's done good enough.

I mean, there's not.

There's no.

There's no really mysteries or surprises here, though.

I don't.

I don't think so, anyway.

It's kind of like watching Jordan at his height.

You knew he was gonna win.

It's just a good time, I don't think.

Yeah, if you're wanting more, I don't think that it has the depth of.

Or the storytelling chops of Ted Lasso or a show like that, but, you know, that's.

That's okay.

Yeah, it is.

In the Birdie Machine, the most recent episode, I loved Price's conversations with Zero.

I love that that was the central struggle of the episode.

You know, he believes he's trying to help Santi and in Zero, even to a degree.

But he hears Santi's backstory about, look, it's his dad.

His dad did this shit, and he felt manipulated.

You know, sometimes there's not a lot of difference between helping and manipulating.

And I thought that they played with that little part nicely.

And I loved, you know, what they did.

It was very minor, but I was just like, oh, okay, this is pretty good storytelling.

When they had Owen Wilson explain what was going on in a very mini voiceover as they showed hole 17 for guys like me who don't know that much about golf.

And they showed you, oh, okay.

And then they quickly went back to him in Zero, and you could read their expressions.

That was good TV making, I thought.

It does do a good job of.

You talked about the.

The very, very thin, blurry line between manipulation and teaching or helping or whatever it is.

You know, they set Zero up to be someone who questions everything and Has a hot take on the agricultural industrial complex.

All these things.

Yeah.

But then for them to try to analyze good intentions, you know, it's.

It's like this lesson of like, well, not everything's black and white, you know, that I thought was pretty well done.

That moment where they decide not to intervene in Santi's poor decision making.

It's like, well, is it.

Are you.

Who are you helping here, you know?

Yeah.

Let him make the mistake on his own and learn from it.

That's a tough, That's a tough thing to do as a dad.

But is zero even.

I'm not sure that they're computing it that way.

No, it's more just like I was talking about Price on the sidelines where he was just like, okay, he's, he's on fire.

Let's let him.

You know, I don't have to be the.

Oh, I think that that was just him trying to logic out what he knew was going to go poorly.

Yeah, of course it was.

Yeah.

I don't know, just the.

It's.

Since generational differences seem to be coming to the fore.

I think that's a Gen Z particularly seems so this is right.

This is wrong, this is absurd.

This is whatever, you know, I mean to.

They're more black and white, you think?

I mean, you're a teacher, you would know better than me.

It just seems like the off the hip hot take is in as a society and so young people are feeling that maybe more than most.

So, like having to deal with complexity is a bit more of a challenge.

I don't know, maybe I'm out on a limb here for a show that is not really out on a limb.

It's always safe to make broad, sweeping statements about generations that I don't really know anything about.

Yeah, well, it fits perfectly with what I thought was going on, which was, you know, I think it's probably saying a little something about how much do you listen to others?

Maybe someone who's older than you or wiser than you or are the right people, you know, how much do you listen to them?

To where it's not bad for you, but you're learning versus them manipulating, you know, especially if it's a man child on the sidelines.

Well, I was going to say the.

How much are you going to.

Price really knows what he's talking about with the golf, but then everything else completely undercuts any authority that he would have.

So I understand their reservations there and.

It brings us giggles just even thinking about it.

So we'll Keep watching.

It's like Adam said, you're gonna be in front of your TV for 30 minutes almost no matter what happens.

Might as well turn this on.

Timothy Oliphant, Owen Wilson, Mark Marin.

And this young guy who's playing Santiago, who I think's doing great.

I think he's a believable kid without being.

He doesn't grate your nerves.

You know, a lot of times they'll write these teenagers to where they're.

You just want to yell, shut up.

But he's never like that.

Zero is only kind of like that.

But when she is, it's kind of funny.

She's way over the top with everything in that stereotypical age.

Yeah, I think it's gonna be good.

Plus, there's no telling who they'll get to play the dad once he finally appears.

So tie it all together.

Apple tv, bring in John Hamm.

Jon Hamm's his dad, Luke Wilson.

Now we're.

Now we're talking.

Well, you know, doing guesswork here, that's definitely what we were doing last week.

But we don't have to do any more with Department Q.

We know we can double check ourselves after last week.

Like we said, it's a show.

It demands to be.

Take your best guess.

Anyway, same warning as before.

If you've not made it through all the episodes of Department Q, know that we're probably going to go back and forth throughout these episodes four through nine, all of them maybe.

Even so, just I can't guarantee we're going to go episode 4, 5, 6 in the order that they are.

So you might just want to wait until you're finished completely for spoilers.

I can.

I can pretty much guarantee that my brain won't just.

And this.

This is a.

A casualty of dropping all at once on a streamer.

Yeah, if I.

If I watch something where it's a couple in a row like that.

Yeah, I.

I lose track of happened.

When I think I watched one a night.

Anyway, with our spoilers for Department Q, everything's fair game.

We left off at episode three.

We ended episode three.

So we're gonna pick up with episode four, probably.

You know what?

Something we don't off think about or mention is opening credits.

I love these opening credits.

That song kept getting stuck in my head.

In a good way or bad way?

In a good way.

I liked it.

Yeah, I agree with you.

They're good.

They're good.

Some opening credits are eminently skippable.

This is just a good.

Like we're getting started.

Little, Little Red Explosions of Carl.

That was perfect.

Demonstrated exactly what you're getting into, I think.

Yeah, exactly.

Episode four is the appearance of the ex wife who comes and goes almost as quickly as she's mentioned, but there she is being all ex wifey.

A bit of what I'll bring up today a couple of times is a couple of things I found unbelievable in Department Q.

Here's one with mysteries, with detective work, with those kinds of shows, it is so hard to get every single thing right.

This has nothing to do with the mystery at all.

I just don't.

I can't conceive a lady would leave her son in the care of a man that she dislikes, even if he was a stepfather.

At one point.

Yeah, that was.

That just seems super weird to me.

And maybe this is fodder, but it's like I need to know more about like the reason that they both agreed it'd be better for him to grow up with.

With Carl.

Carl.

Thank you.

I almost called him Matthew Good, which is his name.

But that is character's name, you know, so I'm like, it's like, what's the backstory here?

Right.

Because.

And I think without more backstory, I'm not buying it.

I think without backstory, what you're supposed to take away as a viewer is that she saw something in Carl that we can't see in episode four because he's only been angry and assholish mostly.

Yes.

So what is it, what is it that you're going to put Jasper in his care for while you work with the.

With airplane.

You know, being on the airplane.

It's not stewardess anymore.

We're not supposed to call them that.

What are they?

Flight attendant.

Flight attendants.

Thank you too much.

Mad Men.

Right?

You've been.

You've just poisoned your brain.

Yeah.

The best moment in episode four is subtle.

I love subtle things, as you guys know.

And if it's been happening throughout, it's been happening throughout.

But episode four is the first time I caught it.

It's the aspect ratio.

Yeah.

For the screen.

It changes when it enters the tank.

I started noticing it around that point too.

Uh huh.

You get more claustrophobic.

With merit.

And it's really noticeable in episode eight and nine because there's a back and forth between her and the person we knew as Sam Hague.

And his is full screen when he's looking in, talking to her and then it flips to her talking to him and it's confined.

Interesting choice there.

Fun choice.

But yeah, around episode four.

Get your.

Your Merit backstory.

It's implied here.

She could have gone back to the island of Moore.

Still, her dead mom's necklace.

During the funeral of whoever the insane person was who injured William, we found out it's.

It's.

It was an attack.

Of course, we also later found out that's Harry's funeral.

Her buddy, her part time boyfriend.

It sets up Merit as a lady who is someone who's going to just be having affairs.

Yeah.

The rest of her life.

I think it's kind of fun for a character.

She's not like the most likable person.

Right.

She's borderline bad person.

Yeah, borderline.

She might be a bad.

She's obviously good at her job and.

Passionate, but she's passionate about being a lawyer.

She takes care of her brother at least.

Or at least has, you know, make sure he is taken care of in a way.

She's not like some innocent in distress.

Right.

Like, she's done things that, like, people could legitimately be angry at her for.

And yet there's still.

I like them still, like, well, we still have to try and find her because that's our job and like, that's what she deserves.

Oh, yeah.

That's like what a person deserves.

So I kind of like that aspect too, for in.

In this show.

So her first affair, we find out, is with co worker Liam, known for his Speedos.

And.

And then this.

Sam Haig is, as we first know him, young and with a black and brown eye.

But of course, that's.

That's Lyle Jennings, the insane younger brother to Harry.

I'm glad that they actually did end up going in this direction because there was a moment where I was like, I'm getting really confused about Merritt and Sam, like with the timeline when they start.

And it's like, oh, you were supposed to be confused because the timeline doesn't make sense.

Because.

And here's why.

Yes, but I had a.

I had a moment where I was like, I'm just not following this very well.

I guess I.

I had to do some mental acrobatics to.

To hang in there at times, but it was still good.

Don't get me wrong.

I'm not.

I'm not docking it for that.

In fact, if anything, that's a good.

That's well thought, well, well layered, well thought out.

Of course, it comes from a book, so maybe the thinking's there for you.

But I.

I'd give a thumbs up and for yes, Blaine, I agree, you kind of have to keep some things in mind, but I did Find that, like, scene by scene.

You're kind of scene by scene.

It's an enjoyable show.

Oh, so.

So you're just.

You're just happy to be there for the ride, too, which I think is where it really works.

Like, you want to watch it.

Oh, apparently we've talked about.

It's a book.

Department Q.

You know, it's a Danish series.

It is.

So Department Q is a punishment in Danish.

That just doesn't really translate to English, basically, like, lost causes, lost things.

I like that.

Something with that in here, obviously, which is the perfect.

It's the queue on the bathroom wall.

Because it just doesn't translate into English.

Well, that makes perfect sense, because that's exactly the overarching idea here.

We get so many people with so many lost causes, or they may come off at first as a lost cause episode.

I'm gonna jump up to episode six, because, sure, here's where some things become clear.

And I'm not just talking about the crime of merit being kidnapped as much as I am the series.

Why it's a standout.

I noted here in episode six, that, boy, this dialogue is crisp.

Yeah.

You know, it was heightened above so many other crime dramas.

I particularly love the metaphor between Akram and Karl, whether they're doing this very blatant stakeout on purpose, like, we want to be seen.

And he makes the tiger metaphor, but Akram flips it on him and says, yeah, well, some tiger trainers get their arm eaten.

Yep.

And, boy, oh, boy, Akram.

Is this where we want to just say MVP character of the season, Unsung hero, too?

Because this whole show, I'm like, Akrum seems to be doing a lot of the work here.

My favorite character, Akram.

Yes.

I think Carl's still mine, but I do not.

I like the guys playing Akram, though.

Yeah.

Apparently, he's Russian.

And there's some complaint online about not getting an actual Syrian, too, to play.

Yeah, that's too bad.

That is too bad.

Yeah.

You know, the first three episodes revolved heavily around these situations of men who are abandoned by women in one way or another.

And then we do find out that Akram's wife has been dead.

You know, the series seems to have home down on how trauma easily creates fear, which can then section off into rage or even disability.

I mean.

I mean, especially with, like, the.

Was that.

Was this sex, too?

When he talks to Jasper and.

And you kind of close.

Yeah.

Okay.

Right.

And I think they really pin that with Carl.

Right.

Like, he's.

He's.

He's Angry because he's not.

He.

He really needs to see a therapist because he's not dealing well with what he's seen.

But the things he's seen are things people shouldn't see.

Yeah.

So, like, how do you know?

It's like.

It is the catch 22.

Right.

Like going crazy is the only rational response.

That means you're saying, and poor Hardy, who's physically disabled.

Yes.

You know, not due to his own fear or trauma, probably.

In fact, he seems like he has a nice home life overall.

But then there's Rose, who can't muster the ability to be normal.

She's lying to her mom.

She's a wreck when it comes to having to drive again.

That was actually kind of funny.

It was when they pull out, like, you can go faster.

Yeah.

But it's really sad, too.

It is really sad.

That's a good point.

Lyle Jennings, whose entire family is that of hurt and passing down some sort of hurt and drama to others because of their.

It's not that they have abandonment of a mother figure or a female person, but it's because they had a horrible one.

Yeah.

I don't.

I don't have anything smart to say about the relationship between Lyle and his mother and the way he described the, like, the abuse that she put him and his brother through.

And.

But I, like, there was something in me that was like, yeah, this is very.

Right.

Like, this feels correct.

That did it.

That this kind of.

Yeah.

That this.

This woman was.

Would be able to turn on Merit like that.

And that the.

The kind of messed up dynamic there between mother and son.

That.

That it just worked for me.

And I wish I had something smart to say about it because I can't pull it apart.

But it was just like, yeah, I.

Wish you could, because that was.

That was.

You know, I talked about.

I'm going to mention a couple of things that are unbelievable.

That was the.

One of the things I don't necessarily find unbelievable, but I just needed more.

Like, what really she would go to this extreme to harm Merit?

Because she kind of, sort of.

Not kind of.

She blames.

She and Lyle both blame her for Harry's death.

I mean, I.

You see this on shows where the wrong person gets or has to carry the blame of someone else's death.

And you're like, well, it's really not their fault.

You see that all the time.

But to have someone go to such torturous extremes to punish them.

I was just like, I think I need something else about this mom.

Like, what the hell's up with her.

But that might have been overkill.

The part that always like strains for me is like, okay, where do you get the resources to do this?

And they actually.

No, they actually address some of that.

But like, this is a pretty sophisticated thing to do.

Oh, the resources I was on board with, you know.

But once they explain that, that was good for me.

Just knowing that there was a history of punishment past.

Yeah.

Mother and son.

Somebody's reaction to a tragedy might be extreme and irrational and to punish.

The whole time we were getting ready to talk about this, I was trying to think of what I meant and I really just couldn't put it into words.

Which is too bad because I think something there is.

Is catching my attention.

But I, I'm not.

Maybe, maybe, maybe in the future I'll be able to figure it out.

But I haven't quite figured it out.

But it.

That actually, that worked very well for me.

She was a cruel, evil woman.

Yeah.

Yes.

Our primary question last week was does it rise above crime thriller genre?

And, and this is what I was trying to eloquently state earlier.

My answer is no, it does not.

It absolutely does not.

Because that's not its goal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Instead, it employs many, if not all the expectations of a crime thriller genre and says we're going to do this.

The most amazing you've seen in at least several years.

Yeah, I'd agree.

It's.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with like following the rules and painting a masterpiece.

Right.

Like, that's as, that's as valid as breaking all the rules and doing something.

You know, here are the parameters.

Let me do it as good as anyone has.

Yep, exactly.

In hindsight, you can see how it all begins as a.

A good crime thriller and slowly ratches up to something that's impressively well written and well thought.

The threads the show has to remember as well as keep specific attributes and front and center in the viewer's mind as well as well as have some deep character work as well as have some backstories that are mystery laden.

And it's not just Carl and Akram.

I mean, like I mentioned, Rose Merritt, these Jennings villains, they.

How the show itself looks.

There's just mystery in these moments.

And so that was one of the things that really worked for me is how the show kind of what you're.

You were describing, Blaine, how the show opens up as the characters open up.

That's very.

Getting as much of the show.

I mean it's just, it's.

It's really very well done to the to the point where like my thinking About Carl in 1, 2 and 3 is different from my thinking about him at the end of six.

Very much just because it's turned and.

I think it opened up more.

I think it might be six where Carl visits his ex therapist in a restaurant where she awaits a date.

And it simmers.

That scene simmers with the sort of conflict.

I know that stereotypical.

But I just love it.

You know they're going to.

They kind of have a thing for one another but.

And that's the conflict.

And Carl had to stalk to find her very unquestionable means to get to the end there.

Yeah.

He's.

You know, there's.

There's a completely other.

There's a completely different conversation to be had and that's.

Carl is very casual about civil liberties.

Which, you know, it's fine.

Right.

I mean, honestly, for this, this show.

Or maybe they'll do something with this later.

I don' I don't think they are though because it is so character driven.

You do kind of get the like we've seen enough.

You've.

We've given you enough about Carl.

So you know, he's the good guy.

So yes, he entered that house without permission.

But like don't worry about it.

But Akram is the same in that he.

Civil liberties.

There's certain parts we.

Parts of life we take for granted in a free world that he negates for people.

Yeah.

Do you process being one?

He is conversant with how to get unwilling people to do what you want.

Them to do and you love him for it.

I tell you what though, there was some.

This is another thing.

This is completely out of left bank.

The.

Some of the violence was actually like kind of surprising to me in this show.

Talking about when Ockram flips the guy down the stairs and his femur sticking out of his leg.

Which was kind of funny the way Akram's just calmly diagnosed like this man's femur is sticking out.

That's right.

Yeah.

He's.

But plays it that, that the killing of the.

I'm really jumping around here.

No, I was going.

The killing of the.

The police chief.

You know, a couple of those.

I'm like, whoa, this is really, actually really violent in a way that kind of surprised me.

Yeah.

I do regret Having my 7 year old watch this series.

She learned new words, new concepts, new ways to kill a man.

She learned the perfect way to use with Carl off.

There's humor here though.

You know, the look Carl gives Ackerman the notion that the criminal driver, as Rose puts it, fell down the stairs.

He gives him that look.

But then there's.

There's Akram moving the gate after Carl climbs up to it.

Now that's high comedy.

That was good.

It's so he just walks around.

But it's so good too, right?

Because you can almost see it.

It's almost like it's funny, but it's almost metaphorical for the differences between their characters.

Whereas, like, Carl's charging ahead, going the.

The hard way, and Akram takes a moment, reflects and walks.

Walks around.

That's good.

Like, it works.

It works, but it, like it.

It's laugh out loud funny.

When you see, like, I literally laughed when.

When I saw it and then I was like, actually, that was pretty insightful, I thought.

Yeah, like, it works more as part of me was like, why a gag here?

And I'm like, actually, yeah, it's reinforcing what we know.

What would this character do or should do?

Exactly.

Which is, you know, when you've.

When you've done great character work and you're able to say every scene with the character is showing me what this character would do in that situation.

You know, you're.

That.

That's.

That's when you're doing your job.

Carl's anger at those very disturbing threats to Jasper in the ice cream shop was a moment where I was cheering for his anger.

He's flawed, but in that instance, his flaws play for the better of Jasper and others.

It was moving and very good on the part of Matthew.

Good to see.

You know, we'd seen this relationship mostly only marked by contention.

And at this, with that, we saw, like, the fierce protectiveness.

There is a moment of, oh, this is person that, like, the mother knows will never hurt her son.

Yep.

You know, and we see.

And we see that.

I think he did a great job.

And honestly, I wouldn't mind if that guy did get kicked in the face a little more.

Exactly.

You know, although that.

That was another thing that was.

I was kind of on the edge and I know it's like supposed to be the money or whatever, but there's no universe where he's not like, fired from a cannon, like from, you know, after, after.

After two incidents and public incidents like that, they're.

But it worked.

I mean, you know, you fire him, we don't have a show.

So, yeah, big moment where it's telling and not showing.

I think it happens twice.

I'm going to mention once up here, but I was thankful for it.

I was thankful the writers did it when Carl, Rose, and Ockram have to explain everything bit by bit to Maura.

Yeah, I needed it around that time.

And I think we all did the exposition there.

I think it was toward the end of episode six.

And it was well done.

Right.

In a way, because it felt natural instead of, you know, because, like, the bad way to do this is the classic, like, as you well know, Dr.

So and so, you know, and even.

In, like a voiceover.

Exactly, exactly.

Whereas this felt natural around episode seven, Carl no longer parks on the sidewalks.

Perhaps he's healing.

He's healing.

Plus, you know, he wears that thick jacket less.

Yes, he does.

Which signals to the viewer that he's removing a layer.

Maybe just a little.

He's thawing a little.

Yeah.

You know, the.

The thing.

And it's not stated, but the thing that I liked is pretty clear way that we see that it's not.

It's not that the work is good for him because it's not necessarily good for him.

It's the work with the people that he's working with.

That's what's good for him.

They are the ones that really get him back more on track.

You know, Hardy.

You know, his partner Hardy, Akram, Rose, all of them.

And then, you know, he starts.

And we see that he starts treating them with much more respect, too.

Well, Hardy had always respected, but Akram and Rose, definitely.

And I really liked that.

It was not said, but clearly it would.

Yes, that was definitely shown and not told.

I took a lot of pleasure in Merit almost escaping and knocking the evil Jennings woman out of her wheelchair after she took such pleasure of Merit losing a tooth and pulling it out her damn self with pliers.

Another gruesome scene, but when she falls out of the wheelchair, gets knocked out of the wheelchair, and a wig falls off.

You know, at that time, we did not know she was a Jennings mother, but I thought, oh, okay.

That's maybe why I felt like that was a man dressed as a woman.

Because she is wearing a wig.

She had Mrs.

Doubtfire wig.

She had a Mrs.

Downfire wig going on.

Yeah.

Does take Merit to a memory where she loses a tooth as a kid, naturally.

And her mom gives her a necklace and abandons her.

It made me think that surely she's not the captor.

I didn't really go there, but I.

I thought, okay, so this series has something to say about mothers or the absence or bad mothers.

Yeah.

And with Merritt's mother, that was very sad.

Right.

Because she's killed in an accident, if I remember correctly.

Oh, is that right?

She didn't abandon her.

Well, there was the bit where she was trying to go and get the money for her children from her family.

And if I remember correctly, she was killed in a car accident.

I gotcha.

So the necklace.

You have the absent mother with the necklace who is actually, even though she's absent, you know, still loving, whereas you have the present mother who is.

Is rancid and you know, for your.

For your.

For your emotional and mental well being.

So I thought there was a little nice interplay there.

Yeah.

Department Q is the kind of show wants you to guess.

It had me pausing Sam Haggs file as Hardy read it.

Yeah.

In order to determine if that was Sam, the Sam Hag we knew.

And I paused it, and it is hard to pause it because they show it quick.

His picture of his death at the bottom of.

Of the thing, but it was not him.

You can pause it and say, interesting things start coming together.

I did.

I didn't even notice that.

Yeah.

I was like, okay, is that really Sam?

The Sam Hague?

The dream begins episode eight.

We're getting near the end here.

Yeah.

Penultimate episode.

It felt really realistic and as the series has shown us thus far.

But did you for a second believe Carl's shooting of the guy?

I.

Or was that the moment where you were like, this is a dream?

I was kind of like, I.

If they chose to do this, the investigation, etc.

In this way, I believe Carl could do it because he's angry.

But I don't believe the show is doing it.

I think this is a dream.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because the idea here is that he's improving.

And yes, it's.

It's following a little bit of a trend.

You know, he no longer parks on the curves and the.

The symbolic code, if that's where you're seeing it.

And he's opening up.

This is, I think, where he opens up in a almost gentle way to Jasper.

Yes.

I think this is the.

So it's episode eight where he sits him down and says, we gotta talk about this man, or it's gonna build up.

Almost.

Yeah.

Therapeutic.

For someone who seemed completely uninterested in therapy, he's able to offer.

You know, you kind of wonder, like, is Carl punishing himself because he was fine, he lost a tooth and Hardy was paralyzed.

Is that.

Is he punishing himself in therapy where he's able to give Jasper a grace that he's not willing to receive for himself or he's willing to you know, help.

Help Jasper deal with his.

His feelings about something really horrible that's happened.

I think that's right.

I think.

I mean, I think.

I think they play it.

They play it in such a way that I think it's.

It's plausible, it's believable.

Yeah.

I'll get to my second big.

Okay.

Unbelievable thing.

I wasn't sold that Lyle Jennings, as crazy as he was, could pass as Sam Hague, who is supposed to be as smart as he was.

Mm.

I don't think the series hinges on adult Lyle being able to pull off being quote unquote normal, but an intelligent for that long enough to sleep with merit or her not recognizing him as an adult, but a little unbelievable.

Yeah.

It's hard to recognize people even if they're grown.

Yeah.

I.

I think I'd agree with you, Blaine.

Not that it's like a deal breaker, but it's just one of those things where it's like, okay, it happened for the mystery.

Does that you know more than.

Yeah.

Because we're looking at it, like in.

You know, because we think this is really, really accurate.

And I was.

It's fine.

Right?

Like, as soon as you see it, you're.

As long as you're willing to go with the logic of the show, which I think going with it is rewarded and the show is.

Is smart enough to make it worthwhile, then it's fine.

Final episode begins with Rose recounting her investigation on Elle Jennings.

And I thought, is this another telling.

And not showing?

But no.

We did see her go to that trailer slash house where the Jennings live.

It was just such an earlier episode that I had.

Yep.

I'd forgotten it because she'd had the other police officer, the son, drive her over.

That's right.

Nice reminder to have.

Remember.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Nice reminder to have island policeman John, I think his name was.

Was that it?

Yeah.

John or James.

Come to Elsa, mom of the year Jennings house to bring her mail, follow up on an emergency call.

Now here to me was another, you know, again from the book, maybe the show.

Yes.

It's a sign of good storyboarding, I thought you knowing when to place each scene for maximum effect because you've got the cop and as soon as he takes off his radio, I thought, oh, he's going to die in there.

Yeah.

He won't be able to get help.

But no, he had a hand in all of this.

Yeah.

He doesn't want.

Was that his radio or his body cam?

I think it may have been his bike because I.

When I Saw him take it off.

I was like, he doesn't want this recorded.

Oh.

Which nothing.

Nothing good ever happens.

As we know, unfortunately from real life.

Nothing good ever happens when a police officer turns off his body cam.

There's no.

Nothing good follows that.

We're talking phobias, fears, inescapable mental and emotional wounds.

They are rampant in Edinburgh.

It's the weather, I think might be what you think about.

What'd you make of morons seeming to have arachnophobia suddenly?

Not suddenly, but the reveal is a little sudden.

We'll see.

There's something going on there.

Okay.

They're building on something for further seasons, I believe.

Okay.

I think there's something because.

Especially with connecting it so much with her.

Looking at the.

The.

The case where Carl and Hardy were shot.

There's more.

More to happen in there.

I believe I know where I stand.

I'm fine with it.

Are you?

You're fine with no overlap between Carl shooting and the investigation of Merritt?

Yeah, I'm completely fine with that.

Yeah, me too.

They're both their own things and they're both doing different things for the characters and the shoot.

Carl's shooting.

I'm completely fine with it being a larger mystery.

Over the.

The course of.

Hopefully we see a little more of this series.

I'd watch a second season.

I enjoyed it, definitely.

I hope we get one.

I thought it was touching.

Smart moment to have Carl Merritt only see one another in passing and not over dramatize.

Yeah.

Neither of them knew.

Well, he knew what she looked like.

She didn't know what he looked like.

So that was.

But he didn't need that.

Right.

He just wanted to go back, get to work.

It tells you something about him, but it also doesn't get into melodrama.

But I will say having Hardy come back into the office is enough to draw some happy tears from viewers, maybe.

Absolutely.

Especially as he funny scene as he's at the top of the stairs and he can't get down.

Yeah.

What the fuck is this?

Yeah.

Yeah.

But that also minimizes the dramatization.

Matthew Goode's reaction to Hardy coming back.

It's such so well played to end the series.

Exactly.

Because, you know, he's like, thank God.

Thank God he's alive.

Thank God he's up and moving.

Thank God he's back at work.

It's all right there in that slight, not even smirk.

The characters make this show.

The actors make this show.

The.

The scene placement makes it.

And you know, I'm sure a lot of it's borrowed from the books, but it's so worth the time.

Very tight show.

Not a lot of fat on the bones here.

No unbelievable moment or two.

Yeah, maybe, but that's just gonna happen.

And maybe this is what we get with the or this is the price we're paying for unbelievable moments.

Because I did think that another good thing was with the show was how, like, it does kind of leave some things unresolved.

Like, I mean, there's some resolution, but, like, the guy in Merit's case who killed his wife, he gets away with it.

He's not in prison or anything at the Finch.

Thank you.

He's not in prison or anything at the end.

You know, there's a lot of, like, you win some, you lose some, and life goes on.

Finch, played by the creepy guard in adolescence.

Isn't that him?

Well, that's the end of our episode.

We had a lot of fun.

Hope you did, too.

For Adam and Donovan, I'm Blaine.

And we hope that no one turns off their body cam on you.

Yeah.

All right, take care, everyone.

Talk to you next Tuesday.