'Hit Man' Dresses Up Netflix, 'Bodkin' Podcasts Murders, and Identity Crisis in 'Dark Matter'

[00:00:00] Good morning, good evening, good day, good lord. When do you guys listen to podcasts? I always listen to them in the car sometimes. I listen when I'm getting ready for the day in the morning, for the day ahead, especially

[00:00:19] if it's just like a short podcast or it's a segment I really want to hear. I think I can squeeze in those minutes of it. I don't put the big important ones on during that time because I'm afraid I'll miss something when the shower water is going strong.

[00:00:35] Long trips are really good for podcasts though. Social media is a wreck these days because of bots, because of the algorithm. You know I followed someone because I wanted to see some pictures and personal things, not a robot. So stop showing me the things I didn't follow.

[00:00:55] I don't need suggestions. That's what friends are for. That's a good way to make sure you don't miss anything from the Alabama Take as well. Let's get a little bit more, some stories, some side notes, some behind the scenes, some fun anecdotes.

[00:01:08] Go to thealabamatec.com, click on Newsletter, put in your email. You'll get it in your email inbox. Just visit the Alabama Take in general. You can click on Subscribe and find all the podcasts, all the places where those podcasts are available. Take your favorite app, follow those shows.

[00:01:32] In the newsletter though you get a sense of what's going on with the site and our podcast is. But you know it's extra stuff too, stuff that is not posted on the website. I hope you enjoy it. I think you will.

[00:01:43] I dug into some stats recently for this show just out of curiosity. I haven't done that in a while. A pretty funny stuff kind of. Apparently a lot of you listened from New York and California, which I would not have guessed. So thanks for doing that.

[00:02:00] I'm curious who you are, how you encountered us. Tell us more. Reach out to us. And also Germany, another locale for listeners. Which is where Donovan was born. Donovan was born in Germany. He's not allowed back we don't think.

[00:02:18] I recently began the TV series Eric on Netflix stars Benedict Cumberbatch. He plays like a disgruntled puppeteer who works for this dirty mirrored version of Sesame Street late 70s New York.

[00:02:37] He is married to a lady played by Gabby Hoffman and they have a kid and the kid, something's happened to the kid. That's about all I'll say that's really not a spoiler at all. We don't do spoilers early.

[00:02:54] So I watched the first episode boy it's hard to get a grasp of the tone of this show but and that in and of itself makes it kind of interesting. It's darker than I assumed it would be.

[00:03:09] They're incorporating aspects of that era of New York, which I didn't expect. I'll report back on that one. I think the show of the summer is presumed innocent could be the bear but I haven't watched it

[00:03:25] as of yet the bear that is I haven't watched the bear as of yet. It just released as I'm recording this. So some shows of the summer are going to be at battle with one another on FX Hulu the bears third season.

[00:03:41] They dropped all those at once odd choice if you ask me but hey I'm not in charge presumed innocent week to week on Apple TV plus and on HBO it's House of the Dragon in its second season. All of those nice blend of summer television.

[00:03:58] It's a good balance. I'm trying to talk to guys that are watching presumed innocent. I don't know if they're biting on it but I've seen the first two episodes of presumed innocent on Apple TV plus as of now I think there are four out.

[00:04:12] It is sizzling this show. It is a remake of the Harrison Ford movie. I think it was about 8,990. You know why reboot something that was well done before. I've never figured that one out but this one has Jake Gyllenhaal Ruth Negga and none

[00:04:31] other than Bill Kemp just chewing scenery man. Bill Kemp is one of our underrated actors maybe ever. He's up there right? So Bill Kemp you may know him from Queens Gambit. He played the janitor.

[00:04:46] He's had a lot of roles like that where you're like oh yeah I know him. I've seen him and you know how good he is if you recognize him from that but so in case you don't know anything about presumed innocent it's just Jake Gyllenhaal plays a lawyer.

[00:05:04] Someone ends up dead and man the twist that turns the who done it aspects the it's filmed well it's written by David E. Kelly if you remember him he man he's been writing forever

[00:05:18] since I was a kid he's been writing this guy has gotten better at his craft I think David E. Kelly probably the most recent thing you might know him from I mean there's

[00:05:29] a lot but big little lies and this is kind of comparable to that in that it's magnetic draws you in quickly I think this one's filmed a little better probably because of the Apple budget I don't know the big little lies with that HBO budget there's some similarities

[00:05:45] to it you know with with the whole who did what what's gonna happen now with this being a reboot I don't know if they're gonna take the same tack that they did with

[00:05:54] the movie from 89 or 90 with Harrison Ford I don't know and I watched that movie but I was really young so I don't remember I'm on the ride I might cover it in this part I don't

[00:06:07] know will the guys jump on board next week we'll see presumed innocent I can recommend this though it's it's it's a very adult kind of show if you are like needed nice balance from House of the Dragon from the acolyte something like that you're like

[00:06:24] hey but I'm still an adult I want adult television as well not swords and dragons and lightsabers this is it this is your balance is your palate cleanser I took advantage of some time on vacation to play a lot of catch up on three-body

[00:06:41] problem several weeks ago the last time I brought it up here I'd only got about two or three episodes finished I gotta admit I did start to enjoy it a lot more than I thought I think it's got a lot of bad parts that are fucking bad like

[00:06:55] not good now it's it's some acting in a couple cases it's the character of Augie especially all the way through Saul the character of Saul starts out bad but that actor really finds the rhythm of who he is supposed to be I

[00:07:13] like that the good news there is that Saul becomes a better character thanks to the actor but three body problem rushes through anything that would give me a chance to care about any of these people sometimes or even like them that

[00:07:27] happens but on the other hand I don't know how it could pull off any kind of deeper moments with some of them without it becoming a slog some of these characters are kind of boring and don't seem to exist except in

[00:07:38] relation to others Benedict Wong's also in three-body problem he plays a detective every scene he's in especially for the first five episodes of this series it just feels like he was taken straight from another deeper better

[00:07:51] series and like Photoshopped in or dropped in via some method he's just much more lived in it's a credit to Benedict Wong he's pretty good guy pretty good actor in more stupe hands all this could be fixed where there

[00:08:07] are these moments to breathe with some of these people maybe it needed one more episode you know sit to understand who these characters are but that could have slowed it down hard to say many often wise though are the

[00:08:21] creators they did incredibly well with Game of Thrones for the most part till the last what four or five episodes last season both of these are based off books three-body problem based off of a Chinese author they took this and

[00:08:34] expanded it a little bit more globally than I think the book does but here's the biggest issue of all which is a component of the books and that's the video game so this series involves a video game now when you get something

[00:08:48] that's video game involved in a TV show it's like the stakes are eliminated they die but it's only in the video game right it just I don't really give a shit about that it's hard to do that it's hard to give a shit about that

[00:09:03] kind of stuff and honestly I don't care if it gets played I mean what is this twitch I don't I don't watch I'm not into twitch I'm into television good news on that front it gets a little away from that I would have liked to see in a

[00:09:18] braver choice by the creators to find a workaround or substitute for that aspect of the whole video game but hey they get it done and knock it out I suppose but hey that might have been a little too far away from the book so

[00:09:31] midway through episode four again I'm not gonna spoil anything but midway through episode four and all of episodes five six and seven which ends the series for season one the show really finds a nice little rhythm a little clunky but a

[00:09:43] little rhythm there is a character that's in contact with a particular group of people and I just didn't buy it although the actors Jonathan Price you might have known him from Game of Thrones he's a fine actor renowned actor

[00:10:01] but I wasn't buying it three body problem time makes up for some of the issues it has with its brisk pace if you can hang in there first episode I thought was really great the premise is is laid out and I'm like okay let me

[00:10:16] have more episodes two and three dip a lot and then it kind of picks back up you know as a southern guy I just think our reactions would be much more flippant than what some of these characters do and say about the possibility

[00:10:30] of what's going on here you know it is involving a particular video game and aliens and I don't know I think that we would be a little bit more indifferent about some of the time factors involved but it's fun three body

[00:10:46] problems fine it's kind of a mid tier sort of show the ideas intriguing for Netflix I think it got decent views and it's not dribble just leave some things to being desired right this episode is episode 201 I thought we'd

[00:11:08] get it out to you early is that okay you like that we won't do two episodes a week going forward it's just a little too much on our schedule but hey here you go I hope you enjoy it all right thanks tuning in let's get into shows get

[00:11:23] the guys in here was talk some some TV wrecks and some analysis of those things on your TV where to find them if you should watch them episode 201 let's go join him now to help me clear the week from the chaff this week for TV TV

[00:11:51] viewers who want recommendations and some conversations indeed did either of y'all watch the Netflix maybe hit man yes I missed it I give it a thumbs up it's Richard Linclair he usually does a good job this one was fun little dark too

[00:12:09] oddly yeah oddly dark right when Powell directed by Richard Linclair as you mentioned it's a hot one it's really I mean it's not odd in a bad way it's just like who's this for oh I guess for me because I really enjoyed it I loved every

[00:12:27] moment I was watching it I just and it took a twist return that I didn't expect him but I was just curious about it there there's a there's a playfulness to it that throughout it that made me very surprised at something

[00:12:43] happened towards the end of the if you had to give it a letter grade what letter grade are you gonna give it oh that's someone with a Netflix account a month and summer evenings a minus yeah yeah I was going to be plus wow somewhere

[00:12:58] in that range hi marks yeah he knows how to make a movie that is enjoyable and it actually does have really interesting things to say about the nature of identity it does in a really airy way breezy way yeah it doesn't it's

[00:13:16] not like taking your medicine it's fun you know it's kind of hard to pin down Richard Linclair's style that's one of the things I like about him he kind of does whatever he feels like doing yeah you know sometimes making money

[00:13:32] sometimes he's like I'm gonna film a kid 18 years and that's gonna be a movie it's almost like if you could line up his movies and watch them all in a row you could figure out something about them that they all have in common but it would

[00:13:45] take some serious thought I mean just think about I'm just gonna name some of random right like okay dazed and confused Bernie boyhood school of rock and then the animated sci-fi adaption a scanner darkly right those do not

[00:14:03] sound like they come from the same person no dasting a fused Bernie in school of rock or some of my favorite movies Bernie is so good I wonder if they study school of Iraq at like film school they should I mean it's just about

[00:14:15] when you talk about pacing and character and yeah perfect and it was co-written by Mike White yes who went on to do the white Lotus yes very good he's a good writer it hit man is like a elevated Sunday afternoon movie totally totally

[00:14:35] sounds perfect I was a little sad I didn't see this in theaters because I do feel like it would have had a good crowd vibe and I don't want to spoil anything but I do have a favorite disguise for Glenn Powell you have to

[00:14:50] tell me off Mike yes I'm no spoilers for hit man it's breezy and just light and fun there is one thing I didn't like about it is that which is that Glenn Powell he's

[00:15:07] either you're younger than me or he's my age and he looks like an actual adult and sometimes the student workers in the library think I'm 25 this is a personal problem that you have with a human being not with the problem okay I don't want to

[00:15:24] leave he shouldn't look like a man why can't I look like a man all right well let's talk about another Netflix project it's a series called bodkin stars will foret of SNL fame if you can go back that far it is about will foret

[00:15:44] plays Gilbert a podcaster who's had success with one podcast he's coming to Ireland to dig around a little perhaps for a podcast story little true crime about these three people who went missing about 24 25 years before the last

[00:16:02] time they had a sourdain festival which for us would be like a Halloween kind of festival excellent recall on the pronunciation that's pretty well they pointed out to you they do but luckily luckily I didn't see it spelled

[00:16:16] before I heard it so that's what stuck this one has some kind of serious elements that it it's described as a dark comedy but I don't think it's incredibly you know funny per se I think our audience this will appeal to a lot of them so

[00:16:35] before we spoil anything who's the viewer for this one and Adam what drew you in and kept you watching you both know my affinity for anything in the folk horror genre anything that takes place on an island anything that had not

[00:16:50] that this is on an island but it's a bit of a closed society similar thing Donovan is itching to say something so what do you have to say oh no sorry I was just thinking like folk or you can't go wrong yeah you just looked like

[00:17:05] someone who like was itching to jump in there no no no I was just thinking like yeah folk yeah when the when the setup is that this very Midwestern very like wide-eyed podcaster and everyone in town already kind of dislikes him because

[00:17:24] he's a podcaster but they enjoy listening to podcast I love that is a funny element to it blame you discussed is it comedy or not you know he's making his way through through this closed society with two companions who I feel like we

[00:17:41] shouldn't we should highlight one is a dove a serious investigative journalist who's kind of been exiled as part of this project and the other is kind of an assistant who is meek and simply tagging along to handle logistics at

[00:17:57] first Amy yeah so they go in search of the story and start peeling back the layers of this little town so I think it's made for Netflix at its heart meaning it rewards binging or at the very least watching night on night as

[00:18:17] opposed to every week and I yeah I mean if you enjoy the Irish countryside and and weird stories that center around Celtic pagan traditions then yeah this is for you you had me a pagan traditions some of what I'll say to begin

[00:18:36] it's going to sound a little derogatory but I do like the show to me it's a a house of tropes but built in a different location in a different paint scheme instead of a detective it's a podcaster instead of its the rough and

[00:18:53] edgy cop it's a jaded journalist instead of maybe like an LA crime scene or Midwestern small town it's Ireland yeah so what what's the appeal then well to me it's still intriguing on where it's going to go and who did what I'm

[00:19:10] just never dissatisfied with it each episode doles out just enough to connect more and more things and characters together I can't say that if it surprises me or if the twist get me because I don't really watch TV that way

[00:19:26] even mysteries I just sort of take what's given what I think it does well more so than any of its peers it's got a is the mystery is well written it's almost like the missing person's puzzle was written in reverse like they knew

[00:19:42] exactly who did what and where and then they backed out of that to tell this story of Gilbert and Dove and Emmy trying to figure it out like we are well and centrally shameless becomes the the other main character and I think he's

[00:19:58] true if there's good acting across the board possibly are we are we getting into spoiler territory let's do that I have seen we're gonna at least spoil the first four episodes well I was just gonna say with that that mark that

[00:20:11] I think maybe the acting at times outpaces the writing or the not necessarily like the dialogue writing but the you know some shows are fun but you can't look too close at what's propelling the story forward does that make sense like

[00:20:28] the conspiracy is maybe not airtight mm-hmm but it doesn't yeah I agree with that especially here yeah it doesn't always matter because they just kind of lean on vibe and I think it kind of works for him on this if you just take

[00:20:45] it from what it is which I think you're spot-on blame that it is a you know the the jaded cop and the the kind of wide-eyed I see a wide-eyed optimist Gilbert even though that that hits some hiccups as well moving through this

[00:21:02] this world that they are very much not not native to although Dove interestingly hates it more than anyone because she's from there and has gone to do big quote-unquote serious things in London which he's running away from

[00:21:18] I don't know there's just a lot of good you know between that her Irish history and tying in actual Irish history with the Revolution and the Civil War and all these things are still you know that's that's the interesting

[00:21:36] backdrop to me like how how a people that were at war for so many years just now live in a modern society where where did everyone who was locked up and then released on the Good Friday agreement go like they went home and they're like

[00:21:54] neighbors now you know how does that work so that's that's one of the interesting wrinkles here I do get annoyed at times of the trope of small-town characters who won't talk to outsiders because that's gonna solve the

[00:22:08] crime way too quickly there was a lot of that in the first episode mmm it's almost like the show scratch is a similar itch that true crime podcast do for people who love them I noticed that people who love true

[00:22:21] crime podcast tend to listen to any whether they're incredible or merely okay I think the good definitely outweighs the mediocre aspects though can you guess the plotline that I did we find incredibly magnetic and wanted to

[00:22:37] watch if for nothing else though I did want to watch for plenty else but I'm not going through because I have finished it and I don't want to say anything wrong so about midway through the thing that's got me on a hook is

[00:22:50] Forte's character Gilbert seems to have marital problems financial issues and maybe a gambling addiction despite being so bubbly and all shucks yeah it's like in that first episode you even get a hint of it when he's on the

[00:23:03] phone with his wife and he suddenly gets mean and I was like oh that's I want to know more about this I did not want to know more about the cold jaded journalist who's never smiling and doesn't like anyone give me the bubbly

[00:23:18] guy explain to me how he's bubbly despite being broke and all these other things it is a bit of a Ted lasso to him isn't there a little bit that's a good point yeah but there's there's a lot going wrong behind this this facade

[00:23:35] of you know he sold early on is here's this mega successful guy dove you have to you're banished while we sort out your legal problems to go just help him because and everything about it is like an affront to her right like why is this

[00:23:51] podcast her why do I even have to acknowledge that he exists this is not serious I'm serious it's lampooning that true crime fixation that has developed over the last 10 15 years but also kind of kind of making fun of what I said

[00:24:11] about the Netflix thing to right get self aware that like we want true crime drama that's very neat and we get little vignettes of real people's lives that we get to just forget about as soon as the show's over they don't forget

[00:24:28] about it I do think I will be interested after you watch all seven episodes how you feel about Gilbert's art compared to dubs because she does come across in the early episodes is fairly one-dimensional yeah and they really

[00:24:47] spend more time with all three all three become they have an arc for sure nice yeah the second story I definitely want to know and this is a spoiler if you watch the first scene it's how doves journalist co-worker came to either be

[00:25:04] hanged or hanged himself it's probably of note that he's wearing his shoes in the suicide I just learned that this week if you're wearing shoes in your hanged or suicide or jump off of whatever that's supposed to be a signal

[00:25:20] that you're murdered but if you take the time to take the shoes off that's a signal that you did it will forte though plays a perfect naive American who's in over his head mm-hmm I really like him he is one of the reasons I do like

[00:25:35] this and as well you brought up the the guy who played shameless whom I don't really know I don't think he is also pulling me along and it helps the show and one of the things the show has in spades is character

[00:25:48] interaction mmm Seamus and Gilbert Gilbert and Emmy Emmy and Dove so that's well-written despite it being a little true crime trophy which I think it's supposed to be yeah it's supposed to lean into that putting it and I think

[00:26:07] this is a reason that I like the genre of putting the story in these closed off locales immediately gives you a pretty rich assortment of characters who it's you don't have to make a leap to like wonder why they know each other you

[00:26:23] know like everything is interconnected so you're really pulling apart the town by getting you know well this person doesn't talk to that person because of this and this person has this personality may own all that land and this person

[00:26:35] does that there and blah blah blah it gets a little confusing at times it gets a little confusing in this one especially because they do not make apologies for the accent I appreciate that though there is a character in this

[00:26:50] series nicknamed shit pants reminds me of my high school days there was a there's a young guy unfortunate young man who shit his pants during basketball practice and everyone called him and still probably do call him shit britches

[00:27:08] just the southern version of the Irish stuff yeah tough life for shit britches it's a shame that this show to me you commented on this but I think it's kind of a shame it's not on like an FX and I think that if it was out weekly it

[00:27:23] would generate discussion have more of a grip even on me instead of lost within the Netflix content factory yes and I think that that works on two fronts one I think it would be appreciated in a different way and two I think it being

[00:27:38] created for that medium instead of Netflix would have led to a better show what do you mean I think that this is is built to be a page turner more than like there is a very good story there I think that they again what I said at

[00:27:56] the beginning like it doesn't necessarily hold up to close investigation it's not airtight you know and it's not meant to be okay I think I said it relies more on vibe and I think forcing it to iron out those details would have

[00:28:11] made for a better show I do well that's odd because I do find the rod and kind of airtight I like the okay this person is part of the mystery because of this reason you know those kinds of things I thought was good or good I'll be

[00:28:25] curious to see what you think at the end I don't think it necessarily takes away from it but you have to meet it where it is and so what what what you

[00:28:33] said of what if it was on an FX even an HBO obviously HB I say even an HBO is if that's not the the mountaintop but yeah if we're on something like that I

[00:28:46] think you could take the same setup in a lot of the same details and it would force it to a higher standard than it hit I think Barack should have read this one all the way the voiceovers leave so there's like a little voiceover to

[00:29:04] begin and end each episode I think that those could have used some work shopping just how they're written but it's part of that because it's supposed to be this kind of cheesy guy maybe that's how I took that before we wrap I just have

[00:29:18] to throw this one at you Seamus says I used to have anger problems and Gilbert's reaction like I said the character interactions and Gilbert says oh yeah hmm it's a pretty good moment then buddying up is it's good television

[00:29:33] that is good television yes yes and once Dove begins to have a personality her pairing with Amy becomes a little better too yeah in case you want to add anything I am the last episode I watched was the eels revelation if that helps okay

[00:29:52] yeah I mean what just so many twists and turns of like what how much activity can one small village really hold it is a place where sheep across the road you have to stop the car yeah but I mean the energy levels of these people have to

[00:30:08] also be getting blackout every night is it's just very impressive and gambling with hippies violent hippies at a pretty high level that was not a what did he like eight grand or something like that yeah that was not a flip in the quarters

[00:30:25] no something serious I don't it's not it's easy it's a beach read except yeah in TV show for him right a cold rocky beach read still a beach read yeah my favorite kind of beaches of each my great you know fight here yeah waves or

[00:30:44] waves well I'd rather let's take a break for station identification in a second we're gonna do a deep dive into a lot of the show dark matter I just want to before Adam leaves us I gotta tell you guys I gotta hook you guys up to something as

[00:31:11] well as our listeners so it'll be a two-for-one here y'all got to get on that presumed innocent on Apple TV that's gonna be the show of the summer was good fire okay it's fire I'm not joking it's just the chronic one

[00:31:25] episode in and I'm like yes and there are three out as we record today there's three there'll be four out by this no maybe five is there any new to me from Jake deep buddy do you like nudity this one's got a little nudity right a

[00:31:45] bit banging yeah I mean you like watching consenting adults bang doesn't yeah well presumed innocence your show it's a remake which you know hey do we need another one no remake of the it's a Scott Turrow book but shortly after it was

[00:32:04] released it was a Harrison Ford movie and I remember watching it but I don't remember what happens so it's been that long ago I think 1990 and no this is good it is just solid it's a you're the screens on fire man it's I hope you all

[00:32:24] do get a chance to watch it because I think do you think it's worth it and the other show of the summer though there maybe it's a little too early when it started to be the show of the summer is dark matter it's the late

[00:32:35] spring show of the summer there you go we're gonna just jump right into spoiler territory because I do think this was just high quality TV every because it's so propulsive none of what on screen feels like it's

[00:32:54] wasting your time I'd agree with that one of the things I like about this show doesn't waste your time everything's going to something and yes they're going through worlds I'll ask myself questions like where the hell

[00:33:06] do they get money from but you know it's not an interesting answer and the show doesn't wait and I like I like that right like it's like just they're smart people they're doing it it's not an interesting answer let's go with the

[00:33:21] interesting stuff that's the only complaint the internet seems to have with this show by the way I mean it's you know you said you're like your credit card work in every world but I don't care I don't care show if

[00:33:37] you're still with us show starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly based off the Blake Crouch book of the same name a little bit of sci-fi but sort of like this realistic possible sci-fi what happens if you make this decision does

[00:33:50] it create a new you we thoroughly recommend it I think I can speak for Donovan yeah yeah this is a thumbs up for me yes I'm hooked we're gonna spoil everything up until the last episode man I just even so like it's been solid so

[00:34:07] far but like this last episode I'm really liking what they did because it was something I literally never considered I didn't consider it either and it's good right it would be hard to pull off in less careful hands yeah it would be

[00:34:25] too confusing it would be to I mean I do need they do need to get numbers tattooed on their forehead so I can keep everyone's train there are tails so what's happening yes there are you know everybody who's who's listening this

[00:34:37] far knows what we're talking about I'm gonna pump the brakes I'm gonna build up to this yeah these last couple episodes I had a pretty distinct reaction to that first version of the world that looks as if it's suffered a

[00:34:49] nuclear war or something when they open the door the box that's pretty scary stuff you know the one that scared me that one is scary the one where something going extremely wrong with the Sun and there's no atmosphere yeah that one was

[00:35:05] pretty pretty pretty viscerally yeah the Ice Age version of Chicago they might spend a little too much time there as far as the show and the writing is concerned but it did allow us to build a little something with the with the

[00:35:22] character of Amanda I think yeah yeah I think it was important to for her to move from like I'm completely freaking out to you know we we actually start to see like the capable person she is you know and also I like you know you

[00:35:41] get a little bit of that spark between them between Jason and Amanda and you get the like the very reasonable like how would a how would a rational person react to this you'd probably lose your goddamn mind mm-hmm yeah it's impressive

[00:35:56] how Edgerton plays the bad or second Jason Jason too was such slight seediness to begin there's a hint of menace and he doesn't employ with the good professor Jason it's just us they're just a grimace because it is so slight

[00:36:15] he's trying to hold it together be normal but like he the the person he is the person he became has never had to compromise right has never had to think about others in a way that someone in a marriage might have and is clearly

[00:36:30] used to getting his way and not thinking and so it's just those like between the way that he reacts when he wants something or the way that he seems hurt when something that he does doesn't go right yeah you can read it in his face

[00:36:45] and react yeah yeah but it's so but it's so good right because he has to at the same time be holding it together as if I'm the same person you always knew yeah there's that layer of thought you can put into the show but you can also

[00:37:00] just watch it as a thriller completely works as a thriller and that's one of the things I like about it where it is at least to me propulsive like there's stuff happening that I want to see and it makes it you know it goes between like

[00:37:15] the like crazy sci-fi worlds to like what are you gonna like more normal worlds but things are still different you know to the the last episode but it does have those like who am I questions at the end of it like Jason really

[00:37:34] calling Jason to bad Jason yeah Jason to I think is honestly with the shows you get Jason to is identically similar to I'm sorry genetically similar to Jason one there is no difference you could find maybe superficial things like

[00:37:54] maybe he lost a tooth that the other one didn't right but there's no difference between them but they are such completely different people which just answered I mean we kind of talked about this with the first episode but it just does such

[00:38:07] a good job of saying over and over again who am I yeah what makes me me yeah it does anything make me me could I be anything good bad horrific you know other shows and movies can't do this as well as this one in because it hasn't

[00:38:28] gotten old to me seeing someone go into the superposition box and discover what it's like to pick a new version of of a world thanks yeah I deal with you're gonna see which is kind of fun too it's just thrilling scary like that

[00:38:43] version of Chicago where Jason and Amanda arrive and it's just besieged by this plague and he has to Jason has to help his wife die in peace with an overdose of morphine I mean other shows and movies hit you with that and it's

[00:38:59] affecting but here is just disturbing and pretty bone deep they've done it I feel a good job maybe it's a little sensationalist but he's seen versions of Daniela that he can't save and have died because of him or one version

[00:39:17] where he clearly did something horrible like he still loves all of these Danielas mm-hmm but who is she now Jennifer you know and Jennifer Connelly as Daniela her line reading of how they took Jason out but she's confused that

[00:39:32] he's at the door jay taking him out meaning that his body yeah that was yeah that was rough I there and then there's this I think I'm still in the same episode Amanda she's played by Alice Braga I think her name is she

[00:39:46] faces a version of her mom in a world where she is already dead Amanda is already dead and Edgerton advises her just to comfort her as if she's a spirit or a ghost and it's just doing more than just sad I agree I'm trying to think

[00:40:03] what it's doing like I think I'm trying to I agree and I'm trying to think of like something nice and coherent to say to that but it is just kind of like it's so maybe the thing I like the best about kind of how they go to these

[00:40:16] situations back to back is like I think they're doing a good job of making me feel disoriented in a way that the characters are so much so that in the I think this is the next episode I do they're getting a little yeah let's get

[00:40:30] into it Amanda says I need a break and you're like yes you need a break every oh yeah you know I think that might be an episode or two ahead but yeah she needs to break and then she decides to stay in that particular Chicago

[00:40:47] because it's a very altruistic version of the world I had thought for a while but they had had done had done more telling than showing when it came to Amanda but not in that episode I think they made up for it quite a lot she

[00:41:04] her elevator ride was genuinely you know pretty sad the fact thing I agree yeah Charlie nearly dies from a nut allergy little little harkens back to Jason saying he loves peanut M&M's but never has them yep yeah they did a good

[00:41:23] job of I feel like they've done a good job of giving us a little Jason one says something and then it kind of unravels from there because like especially with Jason to rate like he doesn't know about the tree he doesn't know what

[00:41:37] they do on Charlie's birthday he doesn't know about the ice cream you know he doesn't know all this stuff and it's weird and then which helps Daniela his wife come to a bit of a conclusion that Jason isn't the Jason she knows because he

[00:41:49] flosses his teeth yeah right like can you imagine her position right because it's like you must feel like you're going insane everything is gonna tell you this is your Jason like if you took him to a hospital mm-hmm and yet she knows

[00:42:07] he's not what's the giveaway that you aren't who you say you are probably killing my trying to kill my son with ice cream no I'm in Donovan not not a fictional hey well what's the what's the giveaway that you weren't who you

[00:42:21] say you are even your closest companion would recognize me if I come in and I'm like I'm so glad it's still on the air I just saw the funniest episode of Family Guy oh then like I've been I've been switched something happened it's not

[00:42:38] me the seventh episode which is the penultimate one mm-hmm had me thinking this is a sign of a good show if you ask me because it had me thinking I think I could take myself in a fight that's if there's one person that's the

[00:42:58] question right yeah you know all your own I could actually actually kept making me think of the the arrested development episode where Lucille and George George senior are getting their vows renewed but he has to fight Oscar

[00:43:14] comes to fight for him but they all know each other's moves so they just pluck you can either can defeat the other I like the philosophical idea of how different could a version of you be if there's good in Jason to then how

[00:43:34] much deceit is in Jason one sure I mean he has you know I'm not sure if I would because I think this is a local plane I have you know he sort of has his dark

[00:43:47] night of the soul right like sneaks into the the house like maybe he'll do the same thing that but but for me it was kind of like look there's there's episodes coming up I know he's not gonna do this yeah I feel like there could have been

[00:44:02] not that it was like bad but I do I do almost feel like that's a really interesting question you know and like he's like you know what I almost did it it was too much it brought me to the edge but also I was like I feel

[00:44:14] maybe they could tease this out a little more you know what exactly for most of the show our Jason is he's a pretty good pretty decent guy right and Jason to it's kind of a piece of shit right like he ends up going to a man like as

[00:44:35] soon as things start not working out for him you know he's done this really horrible thing and it's like you know at least you could just stick around since you ruined somebody's life and he's like yeah I might be out you know we

[00:44:47] had a little fight or whatever now I might be done and then so I think with Jason it's almost like I'm probably gonna express this poorly it's almost like the interesting question and Dr. Jacqueline Mr. Hyde right because Mr.

[00:45:02] Hyde is ready takes the the potion and Mr. Hyde is the pure evil but Jekyll is not the pure good because he's hide is something that's in him the whole time so I think that you know I wonder if you could have done well and maybe it

[00:45:22] maybe it would be a distraction maybe what'd be good right but I do wonder if that you could have done more than just that one scene with like Jason to is maybe you're Mr. Hyde but you know those tendencies those things maybe

[00:45:36] we're all are also in our Jason and how does how you know yeah there may not I might I might be asking for a board like maybe if they did that it would just be

[00:45:47] like I hated this and it was boring that was too much you know I might have killed the momentum eh Jason to this motherfucker kidnaps another Ryan I know he's I mean he goes and grabs such an asshole like lie upon lie was

[00:46:05] there an early episode where Jason one and Amanda opened the door to a blocked off box yes I don't know if it was blocked off in concrete but they opened a door that they couldn't go through okay well you think it's lucky how many of

[00:46:21] these variations of Chicago it's not in some deserted warehouse it's just like on a nice spot yeah that's pretty lucky yeah am I wrong in thinking a lesser show would really toy more with the idea of a world where both sons live

[00:46:37] yeah I mean I think we knew we were gonna run into it but maybe I'm just a sucker I like the way they did it we're like for Jason this is like the one of the

[00:46:49] most overwhelming and devastating things he can imagine he just wants to tell his son he loves him unconditionally and the son is like clearly he and his dad are having problems so he's not here to hear it yeah that was that was and then he's

[00:47:05] got to go on he's got to take that with them right yeah because he's got to get back to his world kudos to the makeup department and the prop department for helping me keep up with some of these versions thank you thank you so like at

[00:47:17] least like the kind of forgiving Jason a scrape and then the substitute for ring yeah the riverband or the hair tie hair ties in the hair tie yeah thank thank you so yeah the penultimate episode has many Jason's coming out of nowhere

[00:47:35] that got a little confusing but I try not to overthink it too much how that could happen I thought for some parts the confusion was the point and I thought like it was so good because it's like of course if the premise is based on

[00:47:51] like every action you then that Jason who's been kidnapped immediately starts splitting off yeah and who knows how many and of all those infinite Jason's some of them are gonna make it there right yeah and how do you as Danielle I have

[00:48:08] the other interesting thing I thought was like how do you as Daniela choose they're all the person that was kidnapped mm-hmm yeah and how do we as viewers know he's the real Jason at the end who's hugging right right and I

[00:48:24] suppose he doesn't really matter they're all him so long again it goes the one who got kidnapped who are you yeah you know except you are different right because it's like our Jason you in just an encounter we have our Jason a man

[00:48:40] who found a world to stay in the other Jason he probably saw his Amanda killed right how is that not gonna change you right so you're the same person but you're not this you know you're not you're not yeah in which one of

[00:48:54] you is real how do you interpret the look Danielle makes at the end of the penultimate episode while what seems to be Jason one hugging Charlie she gives a look and that's how it ends and with that episode ending with such

[00:49:09] a focused shot there what what are we supposed to take away from that going to like the most simple explanation but my thought here is like how can I be sure especially cuz like this is the way Jason to acted at the beginning you

[00:49:26] know yeah like I'm so glad to see you I'm like my son this is great you know like won't the suspicion always be there yeah maybe that's that's how yeah exactly brilliant plan to get arrested so he could just like yeah it

[00:49:43] was actually pretty good the key is to get to Daniela and not the other Jason I thought that was a nice that was a nice plan another bit of sort of questions which will of course be answered but I do like to speculate sometimes yeah what's

[00:50:00] to become of Ryan and you know that other the real Ryan is out there in the doors open again yeah but he can't get back he doesn't have to bring him back right and the only person who knows where he is yeah it is Jason Jason to the

[00:50:20] bad Jason and it seems same with the guy he kidnapped the mechanic you know what else knows where he came from the poor mechanic yeah I feel bad for both of those Ryan's honestly he got an okay haircut from someone who's not a

[00:50:34] barber he did get a nice haircut and then the last question that's lingering might be answered might not you know Blair the lawyer yeah I thought the show was gonna do something with her being maybe another version of herself

[00:50:50] you think so I thought it might it never really did other than we saw her in the world where the giant yellow jackets are killing people yes and then that was it so it seems like there might be more to do there maybe I mean I have

[00:51:06] noticed that there's a lot of we meet a lot of the same characters the doctor in the episode with the plague mm-hmm that's the doctor that treated him in the hospital in oh the first Chicago and then the police lady who arrested

[00:51:23] him's the bodyguard yeah yep yeah exactly they have been bouncing so I was like I don't know if this is just they're bouncing people around because they had done that with other characters yeah you're seeing there they're at the

[00:51:36] other versions of themselves so I don't know really good show because it could do because it's doing two things yeah you know sometimes you get your kind of sci-fi show that doesn't have the heart and soul yeah but this one's got them

[00:51:53] both yeah you know you get the sci-fi show that's just like oh lasers and spaceships those are cool you want to watch that right right with no humanity the flip side of that is it like it is doing it is very grounded mm-hmm in these

[00:52:09] really big questions while also still being a really exciting thriller that's right you know like it's very propulsive you know so it's not like you're eating your veggies while you're thinking these big questions right like you're having fun it's it kind of reminds me of severance although yeah

[00:52:28] severance was even deeper I think severance I agree severance not that this not the dark matter is bad severance is deeper and one of the things I like about severance is it's weirder yeah it's definitely weirder but also

[00:52:46] interestingly kind of playing with the same things right same thoughts who are you mm-hmm if you can't remember your experiences you know you're just stuck at work right like who is that a different you are you a different person now yeah

[00:53:00] and who's the real you yeah the one outside of work or the one inside who's more is one more real than the other a new look at nature versus nurture yeah yeah yeah exactly all right well that's when we return we may have to talk

[00:53:17] about the finale of dark matter so for Adam and Donovan I'm Blaine head to the Alabama take comm slash newsletter get yourself something in your inbox every now and again it ain't bad folks I'll tell you this plane is that you write it

[00:53:33] all blame right yes you're a pretty damn good writer you you made see this is neither here nor there folks you got to get up to this because Blaine wrote something about those little plastic swimming pools oh yeah you did

[00:53:47] take you back that yeah and and then the thing you the thing you said was like I've never seen one of those in the trash have you and I'm like there's like an X files level conspiracy that Blaine has just unlocked here because I have also

[00:54:02] never seen one of those in the track where are they going just remember my parents throwing the one we had away but I know it's not there anymore right yeah I'm ready to go I don't know it's cooling off some other Blaine and another

[00:54:17] multi-universe it's cooling off angels now thanks for listening sign up for the newsletter and subscribe to us if you're not already we will talk to you pretty much every Tuesday adios