It's the Seventies in Russia and 'A Knight' Makes Us Happy!

Hello to all.

This is taking it down.

Of course you know that you clicked on it.

Our episode today has all three of our hosts.

Here includes me.

We're going to talk about the TV show Ponies on Peacock.

Sounds like an odd name, but we'll explain that some of you may have watched it.

We'll talk briefly in the non spoiler side about the NBC debut of the the Fall and the rise of Reggie Dinkins.

And and we have to talk about the new series in the Game of Thrones universe that debuted recently titled the Night of the Seven Kingdoms.

Joining me will be Adam and Donovan.

We'll get them in here.

We hope that we help you find television shows.

And in the spoiler section, which is in the back half of our weekly podcast, we hope we give you the depth to think about each of these shows you've watched, compare thoughts.

So share us with a friend.

But for now, I'm going to get Adam and Donovan in here and begin the show.

Take projection.

Okay, here we are.

Right, we're recording.

That's true.

I'm here.

Never any spoilers in this first half of our weekly podcast.

But Donovan, did you want to start with HBO's hit heated rivalry?

My wife likes the show Heated Rivalry and she is a very, very good sport about watching a lot of stuff for this podcast.

She asked me if I would watch it and this is a little bit my own fault because I said I heard there was a wolf parade drop in one of the episodes.

I'm like, I like Wolf Parade.

The memories we talked about.

And I said, okay, I'll watch it.

And what I have learned these past, I've watched four episodes and I am fairly to very straight.

That's your takeaway?

That's my takeaway.

If, if you like it, that's great.

It's not for me.

The acting is pretty good, you know, like it's a well made series.

It's just not what I enjoy.

I had a friend text me and say I'm having to watch Heated Rivalry to know what the hell my friends are talking about.

And she said, I'm guessing you don't have this problem.

And I said this has not come up in my day to day.

And then the very next day, Donovan, you texted and said so about this heated rivalry show.

Yeah, it is what it is.

What it is is something a lot of people like.

And, and that's fine.

And I, I have to say I've tried to give this show a very fair shake.

Not playing on my phone.

Like I really want to, like, okay, if I'm gonna.

I'm gonna really try and, like, engage with it.

And what I've learned is that after games, all professional athletes kiss each other.

Wow.

Every single one of them, man, just.

Immediately start having, like, flashbacks to the.

The Bruno comes to Alabama.

Pat Mahomes, Travis Kel, he just making out.

They're celebrating each other's strength.

Tom Brady, he was kissing everyone on the lips.

Well, he's a handsome man.

Donovan.

What?

In seriousness, because this is clearly like a cultural phenomenon happening.

Why do you think that is?

In the way that, like, most of the time, even if we watch a show that we don't like, it's like, okay, I understand X, Y and Z about this.

Honestly, I'm not sure.

I guess on the heels of something like that, I also don't fully understand, which is, you know, if you read, like, kind of in the book world, right, like, these kind of quote unquote, like, spicy romances have been really popular now.

I do think that one of the appeals of it is, like, at any time is, like, it has a happy ending, right?

Like, you know, that it's going, you know, like, it's a romance, you know, going in that it's going to have a happy.

Do you even.

On hbo?

Yeah, well, it's a Canadian show.

Oh, so woke.

Oh, is it woke Blaine?

Is it woke Blaine?

Several of the hockey players are gay.

So this is according to my wife.

There is.

There's plenty of sex in it, and the sex is.

Is moving, but it's what the work it's doing is.

It's moving the plot forward in that the characters are.

Are being tender or are emotionally engaging with each other or whatever.

And so that.

Honestly, my review at one point was like, I feel like I'm watching anime at the gates.

Like, these sex scenes are interminable.

I've never understood how sex scenes can progress a story.

I've never understood that.

I know I'm doing a TV podcast.

This is what I've been told.

Honestly, for me, I don't want to say anything offensive because I don't think that anything's wrong with this show.

No, I don't want to.

I'm not trying to say anything homophobic, but at a certain point it was like, okay, I don't need to see them, like, brush their teeth either.

Like, I get that they're engaging in, like, a normal human activity, but, like, this is like watching them do the dishes.

Like, I don't.

I'm not feeling the, you know, like, I'M not feeling it moving it forward.

Yeah, I don't, I don't need to see them take a crap either.

Right.

There's some stuff like where they could stay perhaps after they've had sex or where their, their, their relationship, you know, because there's a sexual tension.

But the scene itself has not done much for me.

So if you are the kind of person who, who likes that and you know, I think there are lots of people out there who are able to, to kind of see that emotion through emotional, through line, then, then more power to you.

But for me, I was just like, okay, this could be two episodes.

Like we could get four episodes into two episodes if we could just get these two.

Stop banging all the time.

Here's my totally unqualified take.

And it's multi layered.

I think that there's a lot of excitement that it was a very popular romantic book.

Uh huh.

Okay.

So there's that.

And then the second aspect I think is that critics are just thrilled with representation at this level.

But yet there is an article I recently read that said critics are thrilled.

They think it's great representation.

It's pumping up on porn sites even.

And then the gay community think that it's nowhere near enough.

So yeah, okay, I don't understand.

But the thing that happened to me was that it just one day I saw one article, the next day I saw two articles.

The next day I saw five articles, the next day I saw 10.

I was like, what is, what is this show?

I've been enjoying the Onion and clickhole content.

You know, the Onion will do like seven questions with.

So they're having a pretend interview with one of the actors.

And like they asked like, what did you do for this?

I was like, well, I went to my acting coach.

Like, I prepared.

And the other guy's like, I went on pornhub and searched gay.

That made me chuckle.

Yeah.

I mean, at least for my wife.

It is a book.

I guess it's a two.

There's two books about these characters.

Okay.

People already went into loving it.

And I mean, I agree, like, representation is important.

You know, I kind of made that joke about Enemy at the Gates, which I really dislike as a movie, but there's a horrible, horribly, interminably long sex scene in the middle of it.

Yeah, it's like nine minutes.

Yeah.

And it's like.

But on the other hand, I'm like, you know what, what if that can go out there, then this should be able to go out there too.

Right?

Because this is it.

The stabilizing that level of heteronormativity is probably not bad.

However, it is not necessarily my cup of tea.

This is a totally different conversation.

And maybe we're digging too deep here, but, like, it's a phenomena that ladies and men probably are now that there is Kendall, that they can read things without being embarrassed about what's on the.

COVID This is a different conversation.

This is a different conversation.

It's a funny one.

It's an interesting one.

Like, I can read anything because I. I have occasionally had a book where I'm like, yeah, I don't want to really see anybody.

People don't need to see me reading how to boost your self awareness, you know?

And I'm like, I'll stick a piece of paper in front of it and read it.

That I was totally joking about.

To all you listeners out there.

I. I hope I come across respectfully.

Just.

It's not for me.

And that's fine.

You gave it a shot, which is.

I tried to give it a. I tried to give it a fair shake, and I wanted to engage with it honestly.

HBO's never put it on my home screen, by the way.

Do like, you know, because it's a Canadian TV show, and they're like, well, we're only gonna have basically, like, Canadian music in here.

And a lot of it's like late aughts, early teens, and it's like, you can actually soundt pretty damn good show that way.

I wonder if there's any, like, extra incentives for them to do that as a Canadian production, much like Canadian radio has to play X number of Canadian artists.

Yeah, that's good.

That's a good question.

I don't know.

Well, I don't know if we can get any further in this week's recording without bringing up Netflix's Skyscraper Live that aired over the weekend.

Man, I couldn't make it 10 minutes, honestly.

Did you not watch all of it?

No.

Oh, I called my daughter in the room and she was just like, all tense and yelling, and I was like.

I could see someone die here.

I can't handle this.

No, she was for it.

She kept saying, they've got Ned Sundry.

And I was like, no, they don't know, darling.

They have no ropes or nets or.

There's no big, huge rubber mat at the bottom of this.

And she was just like, bro.

She kept saying.

She says bro now.

Oh, yeah, that's a good development.

Yeah.

Does she call you chief yet?

Not yet, but she kept yelling to the tv, bro, you're going to Fall.

I loved it.

Adam, you've climbed in your time.

So what are your comments or thoughts that you have on Alex Honnold and the 11th tallest building?

I looked it up because I think I missed when they said it.

Yeah, I mean I spent a considerable amount of my twenties climbing and traveling for it and all that stuff.

And like.

Like rocks.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Not skyscrapers.

Not like the Empire State Building.

No, no, no.

And like at a.

For an amateur who of limited athletic skill, like at a high enough level to understand what they are doing.

And I only say that because when he first popped up back in the even before free solo and all that, when I watched, I could like intellectually understand kind of what was going on because they're doing things that are well within their ability.

There's a few disciplines in climbing, right?

Like a lot of people.

Boulder, which is where you're climbing not that high over pads.

You can sport climb which is where you're clipping in.

You have a rope that you're clipping into pre drilled bolts as you go up a rock face.

And then you can also trad climb traditional climbing where you're placing.

That's like the old, you know, you have like that full rack of stuff around on your harness and you're like oh, I got to put this cam right here that's going to catch me if I fall.

I say all that to say when you sport climb that's where you're climbing kind of at your physical limit.

You did?

Yeah, I never did the trad climbing.

It was all bouldering and sport climbing.

The trad climbing freaked me out.

Because you have to climb below your physical skill level because you're placing those pieces as you go which obviously you're expending extra energy to put the piece in.

And then trusting that intellectually you understand you're making like judgments for your life the whole time.

And like sport climbing is more dangerous than going for a walk.

But like in the grand scheme of things, significantly less dangerous.

I mean you're still like 100ft up in the air but less dangerous than this.

So for him to go past all of that and be like I'll just none of that.

Not using any of it.

When you see the movements that he was doing either in free solo or last night on Netflix, it's like I understand how he's doing this now.

I haven't been climbing in over 10 years because it just really shredded my hands and I started making money playing music and that seemed like a bad idea.

But I Did not have sweaty palms when I watched him before last night, my hands were drenched, my feet were sweating.

I mean, the whole thing.

It was.

And your wife's done some climbing, did she?

Quite a bit, yeah.

She yell at the tv.

She hated watching it.

Hated it.

And part of it is, I think that.

And she brought this up.

She.

She actually said, this is like one of the most graceful, artistic sports that you can do.

And I agree with.

The movements are very.

They can be very powerful in gymnastics.

But there's also.

You have to be in complete control of your body and making kind of life or death decisions.

Even if you're sport climbing and you're doing it with the flow of this natural object.

Right.

Like up in these spaces that you could not otherwise be.

And so to just climb something that someone has built takes away a bit of that communion with nature in a way.

I mean, he did the same movement over and over again.

Now, all of that said, I thought it was pretty.

It was like manipulative TV in a way.

You know, like having his wife be interviewed and all that.

And, like, I saw some of that.

It's such a thin line.

Because the.

On the one hand, this is like primal entertainment.

Yeah.

You know, like, I think that we have been as a species.

It's like, y', all, old boy is going to climb that cliff outside of the village.

We should all go watch.

Because either he's going to do it and it's going to be awesome, or he's not.

And, like, it's tough to look away from a car wreck.

Yeah.

Do you know what I kept thinking?

What's that?

This is better than any Alabama football game I watched this season.

You shut your trap.

Hey, I'm serious.

When we were climbing a lot, because it is so.

It's not life and death in the same way that we watched last night, but it does feel very, like, primal.

Again, I'll use that word.

And then you go back.

Yeah, I mean, then you go back and watch like a normal sport and you're like, oh, this is kind of.

I mean, they're playing like nerf ball here.

You know what I mean?

Like, it doesn't feel quite this.

Like, I flipped over to Alabama, Tennessee to catch the end of that.

I was like, oh, the stakes are not high enough for me right now.

Maybe if they would, like, execute the losers, that kind of thing.

Like.

Like, if they just take the team out behind Coleman and shoot him.

Which brings us to Ponies, a peacock series.

So we will actually get into it.

Adam and I have laid eyes upon two episodes.

I watched a trailer and.

And I'll probably watch it.

Yeah.

Okay.

I was just curious.

Unless you got.

Unless you two hated it.

Well, I'm interested to hear.

I really am interested to hear what Adam has to say.

It's.

It's pretty cool.

I think this show successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully blends several things together.

It's almost a comedy buddy show.

It's very much a spy thriller.

It's a gal hang in a very fun way.

It stars Emilia Clarke in her eyebrows doing fine work, along with what quickly becomes her sidekick, Haley Lou Richardson as the character Twyla.

The setup had been lured in.

I talked about it in our preview episode and it's that both ladies are in 1977 Moscow as wives and the peak of the Cold War, and they're both considered persons of no interest.

That's the title Ponies, in case you're confused.

It's the first Peacock show we've ever discussed on the podcast in any depth.

And I'm very.

Just curious.

Broad thoughts here.

Broadly.

It's funny that we.

I couldn't have foreseen us talking about Alex Honnold before talking about this show, but it does kind of make you ask the same questions in a way.

I mean, it's obviously a fiction, but there are people who are choosing to.

If you.

I thought it's not a spoiler to say that if you're an American in Moscow in 1977, you're in a fair amount of danger, potentially.

It's scary as hell and I wish they would tap into that more.

We'll get into this in spoilers.

What.

What sold me is the aesthetic is very interesting.

Yes.

I have not seen many shows that are based in 70s Moscow, you know, unless they are like.

I kept thinking how many times says someone ended up behind the Iron Curtain as like a B plot or like a few episode arc and then they get out or, you know, whatever it is thinking of like Stranger Things or something like that.

He was in the Siberian camp, but that was it.

I don't know.

I enjoy it because I think we're thinking more about Russia than we have in some time at this moment.

And it's interesting.

Interesting culture that is like not in a way, like not accessible to us.

So, like to.

To be somewhere, especially in the first episode, that kind of.

They're just like going to the market and going to a pub and doing like, oh, yeah, I'm up for this.

Yeah, me too.

I really like those scenes.

I have a deep Concern the show won't find its audience because it's buried in layers.

It could have a.

It should have a broad appeal.

Having the ladies at the forefront of the Cold War spy game isn't something you see often.

So there should be some novelty to that that would bring in more people.

And I think that a lot of people will see it as a spy thriller and shrug it off and misinterpret the fact that there are dynamics between two ladies who are friends as well.

So.

Yeah, and to see both of them acting in this way is fun.

Like I, I think Emilia Clarke being.

It's funny people who are like stars of things like a Game of Thrones, you know, you think of them as very big stars, but are they then stuck with that forever?

You know, and to see her do something a.

It's a very different character.

Hugely different.

And she's.

I think she's doing very well.

And I think to see her, her counterpart.

Remind me that actress's name.

Haley Lou Richardson.

I mean, I know her mostly from season two of White Lotus.

Oh, that's right.

I've forgotten where I'd seen her.

And she's playing an entirely different character.

Yes, she is.

That's.

The two leads are, are they're there to contrast one another.

Buddy style.

Right.

It's the Odd Couple.

I like that.

Once again, you know, you've got Emma Clark's button up rule follower versus Haley Lou Richardson's maybe over the top at times, very loose canon type person.

And you know, we've seen it in the Odd Couple.

We've seen it and I mean, you name it.

Hey, one of my favorite movies of like the past 10 years is the Nice Guys and it's just, it's Shane Black, right?

It's the Lethal Weapon formula.

It's a lot of that.

It's a lot of that.

And then that sometimes helps it and that sometimes hinders it.

We'll get into a lot more specifics.

This is good.

This is interesting for me.

Yalls review because I had actually come into it.

I'd watched the trailer and maybe not picked up on that.

And I had come into it thinking, wondering if I was going to just the whole time I watch it be unfairly comparing it to the Americans, which I think would be okay.

It's a very, very, very hard.

I was curious how they barred and cleared in the ad.

I mean, there seemed like a little bit, but it was also kind of like spy, like spy stuff.

It seemed more built around spy stuff than any banter, really.

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but.

And they do a lot of spy stuff and when they do it, it's really good.

More in spoilers for those who've seen a few episodes, two episodes.

NBC did a really weird thing a couple of weekends ago.

I think it was on January 18, after an NFL playoff game, they debuted the pilot of a sitcom called the Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins.

It's available on Peacock 2 for those of us who don't catch things immediately.

Co created by Robert Carlock.

And if that sounds familiar, it's because he co created or worked on 30 Rock, the Unbreakable, Kimby Schmidt.

Plenty more, Mr. Mayer.

Usually he's paired with Tina Fey and she's only in a producer's role here, but we got Tracy Morgan playing a failed NFL star and I can't help but laugh because it is a good show and he's trying to regain some credibility with the help of Daniel Radcliffe.

That's right, Harry Potter.

He is Arthur Tobin, an Oscar winning director.

And he's basically saying, film me, create a documentary around my current life.

And they're both thinking they're doing separate things.

He's thinking, this is going to make me a lovable man again.

And Tobin is thinking, I'm going to really document this gentleman's life.

And that neither are on the same page.

And there were jokes here that had me really laughing.

And so much of it is Tracy Morgan's blank stare delivery.

I was coming into this and I was thinking there are some folks like, like this for me, where I'm like, I don't know if he's funny or not because I laugh at everything he says.

Just like the way he says it is so funny to me.

It's hilarious.

We may not bring this up in spoilers because I don't think Adam has seen it, so we may leave it on the table.

But again, it's really weird.

They did the pilot January 18th and they're not going to air the rest of the eight or nine episodes until late February.

Yeah, I thought that was because, honestly, based on what I saw, I'd watch more now.

Again to watch more.

And this is, this is kind of right up my alley.

I love that 30 Rock style of humor.

And it's going to be on NBC once a week, if I'm not mistaken.

Apparently I had good ratings.

See, this is where I was confused.

Blaine, which we mentioned before, I thought it was on.

I really thought it was a peacock show, the way NBC did this.

Yeah, no, no, it's a.

It's NBC broadcast.

It's funny to be talking about a broadcast TV show here.

I was just thinking, like, NBC is really the last network that I've ever felt that I have felt a need to talk about, like, their.

Their broadcast TV shows.

I think they had the last, like, truly great, truly, truly great broadcast TV drama, which was Hannibal.

Oh, that's right.

And that every week that that was on, you were like, how the hell is this on NBC?

Yeah.

How's it on broadcast?

I kept seeing headlines of that great show.

It's like art house tv.

It's awesome.

But you're right.

Tracy Morgan, him trying to brag on his son for studying.

I'll leave it at that when we find out the reason that he's had a fall.

Yes.

That's a good reveal.

I was howling.

Yeah.

And it's so well cast because Michael Costa and Ronnie Chang, both from the Daily show, appear in this, and they fit perfectly with how they're appearing.

Michael Kosta is an ESPN type of guy.

And you're.

Yes.

I mean, it's just like, yeah, of course he is.

Give it a try, people.

I feel like from the first episode, Daniel Radcliffe hasn't quite clicked with me yet.

But also, it is a pilot.

They are moving pieces into place.

And I have a lot of faith in Daniel Radcliffe.

You know, he gets the most well adjusted child actor award.

Yeah.

He is funny and he is good.

Like, he's not bad in this by any means.

He's going to come around.

Well, because of some things you find out.

Yeah.

One of my favorite bits of Tracy Morgan ever in.

In 30 Rock.

Ha.

Word play, Liz Lemon.

Another thing, whenever I'm thinking about trying to review something, there's a bit in 30 Rock where he's like, I want to hold up a mirror to America and get an award for the biggest mirror.

He can deliver, man.

Great.

He's so good.

You guys aren't as big as SNL fans as I am, but he may be one of my favorite SNL guys.

He's funny.

Boy, he was good.

There are things that he did in 30 rock that are.

They still, like, made me cry laughing about, oh, he's.

I'm kind of glad he's back.

I hope they.

I hope.

I hope they hang in there with this one.

I do, too.

I feel for a pilot.

I was like, this is really funny and coming together, and they have a vision.

Also, I like, I have a soft spot for Bobby Moynihan to see.

I do too.

See his.

See his character.

Did you recall him on SNL as drunk Uncle?

Because I love.

That was one of my.

Yeah, that.

He was great.

He was great.

And he hasn't really done a lot of stuff, and I think he's actually really funny, so.

Same.

Same here.

Glad.

Glad to see him.

Yeah.

It was clicking for me.

The flashbacks clicked.

The flashbacks were just like, it's good.

The dynamics of all the characters were cracking me up, like, just a lot.

It was just.

It was.

It was really funny.

It really is.

I thought about watching it twice.

That's how funny it was.

Yeah, I enjoyed it a lot.

Thumbs up from Beth, too, because she likes Tracy Morgan a lot.

And of course, who doesn't like Daniel Radcliffe?

He seems like a nice guy, and he's a good actor.

One of my favorite bits of Tracy Morgan ever in.

In.

In 30 Rock.

Ha.

Word play.

Liz Lemon.

Another thing.

Whenever I'm thinking about trying to review something, there's a bit in 30 Rock where he's like, I want to hold up a mirror to America and get an award for the biggest mirror.

He's great.

He's so good.

You guys aren't as big as SNL fans as I am, but he may be one of my favorite SNL guys.

He's funny.

Boy.

He was good.

There are things that he did in 30 rock that are.

They still, like, made me cry, laughing.

Thinking about, oh, he's.

I'm kind of glad he's back.

I hope they hang in there with this one.

I do, too.

For a pilot, I was like, this is really funny and coming together, and they have a vision.

Yeah.

Also, I like.

I have a soft spot for Bobby Moynihan.

I do, too.

You see his character.

See his character.

Do you recall him on SNL as Drunk Uncle?

Because I loved.

That was one of my.

Yeah, that.

He was great.

He was great.

And he hasn't really done a lot of stuff, and I think he's actually really funny.

So.

Same.

Same here.

Glad.

Glad to see him.

Yeah, it was clicking for me.

The flashbacks.

Click the flashbacks.

Like, it's good.

The dynamics of all the characters were cracking me up.

It was just.

It was good.

It was really funny.

It really is.

I thought about watching it twice.

That's how funny it was.

Thumbs up from Beth, too, because she likes Tracy Morgan a lot.

And of course, who doesn't like Daniel Radcliffe?

He seems like a nice guy, and he's a good actor.

While we're here talking, it's time for the big one.

The HBO foray back into Westeros with the Night of the Seven Kingdoms takes.

That coveted Sunday slot puts us always a week behind, but we don't mind because they're usually pretty good.

We got the debut of a freshly knighted Sir Duncan the Tall, played by Peter Claffey, and he is soon paired with young squire Egg, who's portrayed by Dexter Soul Ansel.

And yeah, this is another Game of Thrones entry, but besides it taking place 100 years before of Game of Thrones did feel difference, and it did.

That was sort of the purpose.

We're going to create one that feels a little different in this universe and I think you guys both liked it.

Right?

Yeah.

Thumbs up here.

Thumbs up.

I've got more to say.

I've got more to say, but thumbs up.

Yeah.

We'll hold off on spoilers.

I'll ask you more.

The first episode is the Hedge Knife.

That's what we'll be discussing.

All of these will run down in the same order except for Reggie.

Well, we'll hold off on Reggie Dinkins until he starts making some more moves in late February.

He's.

He's good.

Watch that one if you have.

I'm gonna watch that.

Let's take a break and we'll talk spoilers of two episodes of Ponies and the Night of the Seven Kingdoms, our home site, the Alabama Take, where writings and many more podcasts exist.

We've got two special podcasts coming out soon, one of which is Hidden Creatures.

The other is Punk Love and Compassion.

Be sure to follow along on the Alabama Take on any social media site or even better and even more reliable is to subscribe to the newsletter and you know what's going on with the Alabama Take.

Alright, let's get into spoilers.

All right, if you like 70s spy thrillers with dashes of humor, you may have seen Ponies on Peacock.

You may want to see Ponies on Peacock.

This is the spoiler section section.

So you probably will have want to have seen Adam.

First question, is it me or is it just really obvious that it's going to be revealed that Andre is a young Putin?

I don't even know what you're talking about.

That made me laugh.

I mean it kind of looks like that hair.

Apparently like I was looking up reviews and apparently there is some.

I was read started reading reviews of this and apparently there's some sort of twist at the end.

So I don't know, maybe a twist already.

Okay, Episode two.

And then I've seen three of them and so yeah, the series doesn't waste time with Its first episode.

That was my first thought.

Oh, we're in it.

We barely even see the CIA husbands before they're killed off screen.

And suddenly Beatrice and Twyler.

Twyla are operatives.

You know, since they're the least suspected to be involved in spite of them.

Yeah, that it accelerated quickly.

I thought that they were probably.

I didn't know it was gonna happen.

You know, I went in fairly cold and to be honest, even their routine as ponies, you know, just people who happen to be in this kind of the hotbed of international relations at the time.

That would have been an interesting show.

To me if someone ever did make that show.

Like, can you imagine if, like, Matthew, like, Weiner did?

Like, yeah, you're on the periphery, you know, like, that would be so good.

Can you.

Like, there's stuff happening just off screen, but you just have an office job.

Yeah, that would be really interesting.

I mean, obviously, because Mad Men does such a good job of that.

Totally.

Just the fact that you are.

These superpowers are engaged in this standoff, but you still need a secretary, you still need just the paper pusher kind of bureaucrats to be there too, is very interesting.

I thought the, you know, in some ways, I don't want.

It seems like you have to suspend disbelief to think, oh, these widows, essentially, less than a month after the death of their husbands, can just go to the CIA and be like, hey, we want to be spies in the most important arena that you got.

And they're like, yeah, okay, let's try it.

But at the same time, I.

You know, when every time the CIA declassifies something and you find out about it, you're like, they're throwing a lot of stuff at the wall.

Maybe they did try this.

I was just about to say that, like, if you ever go to, like, their declassified reading room, and it's like, you know, hey, we're gonna.

We're gonna get with organized crime and see if we can convince them to kill Castro.

Right.

You know, it's like, let's just try it.

There are no bad ideas.

Yeah.

The tension of that first episode, it was perhaps a lot lighter than what we've become accustomed to in the streaming age, where every episode has to create drama with every single scene.

Not as much here.

The only real suspense in episode one was towards the end where the KGB agent approaches Beatrice in a bar and Twyla's standing outside the bar and sees one of the clues that their husbands unintentionally left.

I suppose, I think a dead Soviet Cooperative had left it behind and they know about it.

The rest of it was a lot of build up in episode one.

But I do suppose there's a lot of high stakes with the very real notion that anyone could be kgb, like that lady selling the vegetables to the bartender or a priest.

You know, everybody could be telling on anyone.

And that part of Cold War era Moscow, Russia scares me to death and fascinates me at the same time.

Yeah, I think just by being there, the stakes are fairly high.

Right.

Like once you kind of clock into the game, there is no break.

You know, little things like, oh, we put a phone in your apartment so that this big bad guy can like call you to flirt with you.

Young Putin.

Young Putin.

If we want to get into kind of our feelings on the quality of the show.

I thought episode one was very, very good and episode two fell off a little bit.

My opinion is the flip.

And let's see.

I feel like episode one was like kind of the classic pilot syndrome of like they thought a lot about that script and knew they had to hook you and kind of eased off a little bit in episode two because I thought the build up from.

It's not that they had no stakes in the game because obviously they had loved ones that were killed in the, the line of duty or so we're to think.

I feel like everything is up for debate in this show.

Yeah, everything does fill up.

Right.

There has been.

Some may not have died in that plane crash.

Regardless, they think that and they, they leave.

I thought them being sent back, I mean they, they do little things, the details of the show to make you really feel like you're experiencing it in a, in a positive way.

Little things like telling them how to pack to go home, you know, oh, we'll send the rest of your stuff and then showing back up jet lagged at your family home.

I don't know, you just you and feeling like they went from a very interesting place to like how do you.

Indiana trailer park or something.

Right.

Rhode island, whatever.

Like how do you come back from the rush of being in the middle of all of that, even if you're just next to it, when you put.

It that way, it makes a lot more sense that Twilight especially would say, I think I want to go back.

I think she is the, you know, they say the, the guy with nothing to lose is like the most dangerous person.

You know, like she.

And they do little things with her to establish that.

Like I thought the, the bar scene works so well because Lil Putin, this KGB agent is Like.

Right.

Yeah.

They convince you very early on that you should be afraid of this guy.

He's creepy, you know, and he.

Dude is creepy in episode three.

I won't say much more, but he's creepy.

They establish stakes.

Yeah.

You know.

Yeah.

He's got a body count already going.

And, you know, being like a.

Generally just like a handsome guy, but cold, you know, it's not like he's like the guy behind the trench coat or whatever.

He's like, you know, kind of just walking through Moscow.

Everybody's afraid of him.

But him showing up at the.

They call it a pub at the bar and crashing that.

That meeting is great.

But then her as being the lookout outside being that feeling of like, someone's yelling at me in Russian and I'm supposed to be undercover, but I have no idea what's happening.

Yeah.

I don't know.

I felt all of the stakes in these scenes.

I really like this show.

First episode was really good.

Second episode was just okay for me.

Okay.

The second episode is where I really started feeling everyone is suspect.

And I'd forgotten that idea in.

In episode one.

Episode two drove it home.

You know, the lady trading disco information for cupcakes.

She could be reporting to anyone in the party.

Totally.

I got a feeling she could just be getting by.

That's true.

I got a feel for Secretary Cheryl.

I was like, this annoying woman keeps turning up everywhere.

Is she a double agent?

So you get all that, like, every person raises your eyebrow.

Not quite as high as Emilia Clark's, but your eyebrows get raised.

You think Emilia Clarke is a little sus in this one?

No, not at all.

I really don't.

I think she.

Not her.

But almost everyone else is open for interpretation.

I think this is in the second episode as well.

So the head of their program there, half CIA, half embassy.

Right.

It sort of embassies the COVID The actor who.

Who's playing Dane Walter, the head.

I think he's doing really.

I like it when he's on screen.

He plays it probably a little too seriously, but at the same time, he reminds you of where they are in the time period and he tells each other.

Doesn't he convince Twilight in episode two to create a version of herself that makes Russians open up to her?

Right.

I love that that's part of her job.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Beatrice gets the training from Emile, who's not from France at all in the least.

In fact, he turns out to be a Holocaust survivor from Auschwitz, which all of that says things in very short order.

Maybe too much shorthand there, but I thought it was okay for me.

Yeah.

And it lets her talk about her family, right?

Yes.

That's part of the importance there.

It deepens.

Beatrice, who had, I think, grandparents in the Holocaust, which.

Both of which was a sad moment.

Is this really filmed in Moscow?

That's a good question.

Budapest.

Every building, though, looks like it's in the 70s and has a KGB agent lurking around it.

I love all the street shots.

Yeah, the street shots are amazing.

I don't know if you picked up on this, Adam.

The aspect ratio's made to look like a 70s TV show.

I love that kind of thing.

Yeah.

Second episode.

Plenty of reasons to keep watching the mysteries unanswered.

Like, did their husband's flight really crash?

Is Andre onto Beatrice?

And how much danger are both of the ladies in at that point?

And what's so important about that executive of Coke that the spies would need to get in bed with him?

I mean, he's just a great capitalist.

Right.

I suppose.

Gotta bring him down.

And it's his very blatant wig.

Is he an agent?

You know, because that wig is a wig.

He's wigging.

He is wigging out.

George of Coca Cola wearing a wig is.

Is very much happening in.

In ponies.

You know, this is one of those shows that I have said how much I enjoyed episode one and episode two was good.

I just wonder, like, does it.

Will it end conclusively this season?

Or.

It feels like this would be like a very good miniseries or movie.

But I don't know.

Like, do I want to see repeated adventures of this pair?

I'm not sure yet.

The underlying notion that they're taking advantage of sexism of the time, especially in the ussr and turning it into a positive.

I thought those twists and ideas are relatively cool.

And I don't think I've seen much of it.

Even Dane admits that the Russians have paid no mind to the wives.

Even.

Even if I'm not so sure that's the case.

He does say that it is interesting.

I mean, it's kind of an easy point to score, right?

But, like, it's still compelling, I think.

Yeah.

If they were widowed and they went away and came back, wouldn't.

Wouldn't they take notice of that?

I don't know.

That would personally raise a red flag for me.

But I'm also not in counter intelligence, so what do I know?

That is sort of explained in episodes three and Donovan, you're right.

There are.

It does have a moment or two that feels like the Americans yet flipped.

Huh.

But it's not a too, too bad when that kind of thing happens.

It.

It still kind of works.

Hey, folks, if you like this show, just go watch the.

No.

Watch this show.

Sorry, I was.

That was making it sound like I didn't say finish Ponies then go watch the Americans because you're gonna.

If you like that you're gonna like they make as well.

Yeah.

Very different feeling shows, but yeah, one's very serious drama.

1.

The balance of the tone of Ponies is an odd one, but we'll see how it goes.

I'm intrigued.

It is intriguing.

Maybe I'll like it, maybe I won't, you know.

No, I think you will.

Yeah.

And I think viewers probably like it if they've seen the first two episodes.

It's just a matter of understanding.

There's probably not some greatness here, but it's quite good.

Especially if you like spy intrigue.

Yeah.

You know, the one hurdle to enjoying here is fighting off the intrusive thoughts of Genuine's song pony every time you pull it off.

Well, especially the Parks and Rec.

Let's switch gears very, very much.

Not 1977, but no gears on a horse Fantasy world.

True.

The Night of the Seven Kingdoms.

It feels as though it's going to give us plenty to mull over in its eight episodes.

I think we're getting.

If it does give us plenty to mull over, it's.

That's on par for HBO shows it on Sunday.

Do either of you know more of the story than what's given in episode one?

I have not read the like book.

Okay.

So I'm.

I'm really.

I'm.

I'm coming in blind.

Same.

You know who was not only the King of the Seven Kingdoms, but the king of spoilers.

Who?

Joffrey.

Oh, was he the one who mentioned the Duncan egg?

Well, he.

He mentions Sir Duncan the tall for sure.

Oh, really?

I did.

I didn't remember that at all.

Yeah.

Okay.

That helps me a lot.

He gives a whole speech and if you remember that, then yeah, you.

You don't know what's going to happen, but you can.

You kind of know.

Well, I'm not going to look at it.

I want to be surprised.

I don't.

I didn't recall the context of when it was mentioned on Game of Thrones, but the poster for Seven Kingdoms Knighthood, it does say a tall tale that became legend.

It's legendary in the Game of Thrones universe.

But we shouldn't bury the lead here.

Tell me what you've made that Obvious statement making moment of using the classic Game of Thrones intro music only to have it cut to Dunk taking his shit behind this tree.

We haven't had this courageous use of poop in an HBO show since the poop episode of Somebody Somewhere.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

And this one showed a flight path.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That made me chuckle a little.

I'm like, this is juvenile, but it may be chuckle a little bit.

Some green apples on that tree, apparently.

Well, and Game of Thrones has always kind of been like, this was like the low fantasy, like we're going to be in the dark corners.

But like this is not.

Dunk is not, you know, he.

He's a little rough around the edges.

Yet also kind of wholesome.

Yeah.

Yes.

He's a sweet lad.

Yeah.

I found that a little, little too hamming it up.

Hey, here's the Game of Thrones intro.

Nope, Here's a guy taking this poop.

Yeah.

I feel like a lot of critics are promising a really comedic tone beyond this episode.

I did not find it hilarious or anything, but it was, it was a little lighter.

Of course, a bit light hearted.

Yeah.

Especially sometime the house of House of the Dragon where everyone's brooding.

Sometimes the humor is like, that's a little forced.

At least that's how it came across to me.

But this, this is nitpicking at this stage.

It's the first episode they're establishing things, they're trying to establish the tone.

But it feels humorous or light hearted just because.

Doesn't immediately feel like the other two shows.

Yeah.

You know, which you guys have already kind of said.

But like, I think what I enjoyed about it was.

And this, we texted a bit about this.

The idea of saying like, here's a world that you enjoy existing in.

What about the other stories that happen there that are not as like people are going to die in this almost certainly.

Right.

Because they're dropping like flies all the time in this world.

But, you know, it feels more like a fun ramble than the immediate the world's going to end kind of vibes with the other ones.

It's a smaller scale.

It's a different scale.

It is a scale thing.

I think it is a scale thing.

I think we may only end up focusing a lot on Ser Dunk the.

Tall, which is fine.

He's such a likable character.

He's at the end of his rope.

He's not really a knight, you know.

He'S his last chance.

I don't think he has been knighted.

I don't Think so either.

That's the question.

He claims to have been knighted right before his night.

He was squiring for died.

That's the opening scene of him burying the guy.

So the question is the robin.

The robin said that, he says was the witness is the bird that he looks at while taking a shit.

So I do not think that he's been knighted.

Maybe I'm wrong, but is he.

I think he's kind of.

He's kind of down on his luck here, you know?

The reason to doubt that to me is like, does this guy seem capable of pulling the.

That was my question.

Is he a lie?

He's not the lying type.

This is not a dick.

Whitman.

Well, he's trying to think of, like, what can I do long term?

Right as he's talking to the horses, he's like, I sell you.

That's all you.

I don't think he's doing this maliciously.

You know, he's just.

He's not trying to, you know, at this point, like, he's not trying to, like, marry a princess or something.

He's trying to survive.

It does.

Regardless of if it's a legitimate knighthood or not.

Just the idea that we have only seen the great knights or the shameful night or like, people who, again, it's a matter of scale and stakes.

And even if he has been knighted by this other hedge knight.

You know what I mean?

They're like, so unimportant.

Like, you are a knight, but, like, who really gives a shit?

Yeah.

In the show, they're like, well, technically, anyone knight can make a knight, but they're not impressed.

Do we want to explain what hedge knight versus other knights are?

I don't know if I caught that.

He's sort of an itinerant.

He does not have a house.

Right.

That he's.

He's in a.

In a.

In a.

In a feudal relationship with.

Right.

They don't necessarily.

They're kind of.

He's not going in the house.

Yeah.

Kind of going where they can.

Working where they can.

That's important.

Okay.

That makes a lot of sense to me because I. I'm sure they said it, but sometimes I miss some things.

He's middle class, but he's lower middle class.

Yeah, definitely.

Oh, well, now I relate.

That answers the hedge knight versus house knight.

Right.

Would you say house knight?

I don't know if you'd say that, but that's kind of the counterpoint, right?

Like someone who had.

You have a lord, you work for him, he feeds you, you have A place to live.

You have a place to stay.

You have a job.

And then you have the king's knights, which is even better.

Yes.

I don't know if we'll see them.

Adam may know more than that because he remembers Joffrey saying such and such.

I. I was so happy to watch this show.

Like, the joy it brought me was weird.

Damn, I like Game of Thrones more than I thought I did.

Yeah, it was just fun to hang out there.

And then you.

You pair that with Dunk, who seems at least friendly, nice, or affable.

He.

You know, the one thing he does do is he barely threatens Egg with a beating.

But he would never touch the kid, you know?

You know, he would not.

There were great scenes, I thought very much a pilot episode.

I'm here at this tournament.

I do hope that the whole first season isn't the tournament.

There was this scene, though, where Duncan opened up about his insecurities to Egg.

I think they were watching the star sleeping under a tree.

And I found that to be one of the better scenes of Game of Thrones in a while.

Yeah, it was good because he is insecure and he is aloof.

Not aloof.

Kind of goofy.

People pick up on that, you know.

Lionel Baratheon, I'm glad to have another house name dropped here.

Lionel Baratheon brings him over and you think, oh, shit, he's been caught at the party uninvited.

And Lionel says, what are you doing?

And he says.

He kind of says, I'm eating.

Came for the food.

I came for the food, dude.

And Lionel's like, hey, I like that.

Come hang with me.

And he up ends.

Ends up placing his antler crown on Dunk, which was.

It was in Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon.

They would end up fighting or being pissed at one another and fighting three episodes down the road.

Not here again.

Like, not everything is going to end in a.

In a duel or something horrible.

This is just kind of like life is happening in this kingdom.

Usually, festivities in Game of Thrones end with people's throats being split.

Usually not a good time.

Yeah.

Lionel Baratheon, I could not get out of my mind that.

Is that Oscar, I think, in a cameo.

I see it.

I see it.

Yeah.

All right, well, the opening to a Night of the Seven Kingdoms.

Yeah, I think it's worth your time.

I wanted to watch more when it.

When it ended.

Yeah.

Like, okay, I'll stick with this.

I have good news for your evening, then.

Yeah.

Yeah, for our evening again.

We record on Sunday.

We're a week behind on Sunday evening shows.

So next week, I bet we'll talk about episode two, especially if there's a little more narrative trajectory, I suppose.

I've seen a Knight's Tale.

I know what's gonna happen.

There might be some jousting.

He's gonna do something extraordinary because he's a legend.

So what's that going to be?

Let's all find out together.

We reached the conclusion of our podcast episode, and for Adam and Donovan, I am Blaine.

And we hope you don't find yourself defecating behind a tree anytime soon.

Not unless you want.

But if you do, I hope you see a shooting star as well a little later on.

Yeah.

Take care, everyone.