Intro

SPEAKER_03 0:00

What's up, fools? April has arrived.

SPEAKER_00 0:03

That's right. And this week we're gonna be chatting about the drama and the Super Mario Galaxy movie.

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And for TV, we'll be discussing Monarch Legacy of Monsters, Season 2, Episode 6, and Daredevil Born Again, Season 2, Episode 4.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Anyway, let's get stupid.

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This is We Should Watch Episode 2.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So the drama is the new film from Norwegian director Christopher, and I think it's Borgley. He's the guy behind Dream Scenario, the weird Nick Cage movie from a few years ago. And if you've seen his stuff, you know he loves taking a simple idea and basically pushing it to deeply uncomfortable territory. In the drama, he's basically asking, how well do you actually know the person you're about to spend your whole life with? And what happens when the answer is worse than you expected? It stars Zendea and Robert Pattinson as a couple heading towards marriage. And it starts off feeling like a pretty grounded relationship movie, then one conversation completely flips everything. And the rest of the film just sits in that tension with trust breaking down, identity getting questioned, and both of them trying to figure out what they can actually live with. So yeah, Sush. As you know, there's a big spoiler at the center of this movie. So just for our audience there, we're not going to talk about it. We need to talk around it, but um, we won't be spoiling it. For sure. Um yeah, what do you think of the movie, Sush?

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Well, I wasn't aware of Christopher Borgley, nor have I seen any of his previous films. However, I've obviously seen other movies with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, though I've definitely seen more films from the latter. Beyond that, I'm usually pretty open to seeing anything released by A24. And I know it was a pretty late weekend for new releases, probably due to Easter. So, you know, just didn't have a lot of options. Beyond that, I admit to being suckered into wanting to know what Zendaya's character did that was so bad. And I even admit to letting Ashley spoil what it was prior to seeing the movie. But I honestly felt like it had little influence on my desire or lack thereof to see the movie. Honestly, I probably was more interested in seeing it because I'm not religious than my options for going out on Easter and not having to be surrounded by families and see a new release movie were limited. Yeah, I mean, just being honest. Though I hadn't seen anything from Borgley, I did look into the movies he's worked on before, and it seems like he's known for working on uncomfortable movies.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:13

Additionally, I didn't realize until I started looking into the movie that Ari Aster was one of the producers for the film. So I'm sure that also contributed to this movie feeling as unsettling as it did, too. While I'm a huge fan of Midsummer for me, I think that to actually enjoy an unsettling, uncomfortable movie, they also need to have some unintentionally comedic elements. Like in Midsummer, I found this with Florence Pugh's crying, Will Poulter's facial expressions.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:50

And just how delightfully off-kilter the commune in the movie was. This movie, while unsettling and uncomfortable, just wasn't funny enough, nor was the messaging really clear or meaningful enough for me to think that it was more than an exercise at watching a bad situation, snowball out of control. While I feel like Sandya and Robert Pattinson did a great job acting, his main characters Emma and Charlie, I just felt like the character development for them was lacking because I find it hard to get a sense of who they really were, especially uh Emma. Sure, we're showing glimpses of her past, but I don't think they provide enough context as far as motivation or actual thoughts or feelings the character is experiencing. And while I didn't necessarily like Alana Haim as Rachel, uh Emma's Maid of Honor, nor Haley Gates as Misha, as far as how either their characters were written, or it could be due to the limited amount of time they were seen on screen. For what I feel I know of them anyway, I do think they did a good job portraying people that are dealing with the types of situations they are. I don't think there was anything notably bad nor good about the design aspects of the movie, except maybe some of the flashback scenes involving the younger version of Emma. Because I feel like the viewer never really gets a sense as to how literal or figurative the scenes we see with young Emma are. I can't really say anything about them aside from maybe that they do a good job of eliciting a response from the viewer. But what kind of response is going to vary from viewer to viewer, and I can't really elaborate without spoiling the movie. Before seeing this movie, I thought I would be seeing a drama comedy about some secret revealed close to the wedding. Though I honestly had no idea how much of the movie would be dedicated to the lead up to the reveal and how much would be dedicated to the fallout. After seeing the movie, I have to say it's definitely got more of a darker tone than I was expecting, and it certainly felt less comedic than the impression that the trailer gave me.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

Going into my ratings, I gave it a two and a half for enjoyment and a three for quality. Overall, I think this movie was okay. Though I probably wouldn't have seen it if it didn't lean so heavily on the reveal, uh mostly because it occurs a lot earlier in the movie than I expected. If Zendaya and Robert Panson weren't as genuine as they were in this movie and portraying their characters, I probably wouldn't have even given this movie the middle score of two and a half. I just think there's too much that depends on the reveal, and also the weight and relevance of what's revealed is negligible as far as like the timing within that person's life. Unfortunately, this movie just felt like it was an example of someone choosing a controversial topic and uh basing a movie around it, but not really having any other purpose besides making people feel uncomfortable. Quality-wise, I gave it slightly higher than the middle score because, like I said, uh Zendaya and Robert Panson's acting. Also, even though some of those scenes with the young Emma likely didn't affect me the way that the filmmakers intended, I did think that they had a good use of color. Definitely a movie that for me was at the higher end as far as polish in a comedy drama film compared to others I've seen. As far as recommendations go, if you want to see an Ari Aster produced film that is uh unsettling but is also kind of funny. I definitely recommend that summer, the director's cut. If you've already seen the theatrical, I just think that it's a really stunning film that has some riotously funny moments among a generally unsettling vibe, but mostly everyone is horrible, so you don't feel too bad about their fates.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Yeah, I mean, this movie, I should start from the beginning here. I as Sushi pointed out, I went into the drama knowing what the big spoiler was. And I'm sure a lot of people are probably debating whether or not to read up about it before the movie. And I would say some people may want to. So again, I can't say what it is, but I'll say if there's something, a topic that you're very sensitive to in movies that troubles you, causes you anxiety, maybe look it up just to see, make sure it's not on that list. But if you go in blind, I think that's okay too. I read a couple of interviews with the director, and one of the things that I thought was pretty notable is he often talks about how he wanted the drama to make people feel uncomfortable. And I'd say he succeeded, you know. Um the situation at the movie's core is uncomfortable to say the least. And the way the lead couple and the people around them react is uncomfortable. It's also trying to explore the idea of learning something about your partner's past and how that changes relationships. But I just kept asking myself, why? Like, why? Why are we talking about this? Why are we focusing on this couple? Why did they choose that central conflict? Like, what does it have to say about love or judgment or empathy or violence or morality? Because it gestures at all those things. It sort of is like throwing balls up in the air and not catching them, I feel like. It it never really commits to any of them. So you're left there sitting in discomfort without much of a perspective to hold on to. I just walked out feeling like, what was the purpose? And I think it's frustrating because we've seen serious things handled in satire really well. A good recent example for me is Slanted. Um, I thought that movie was genuinely hilarious. It was also depressing and it was moving. And the characters go through a journey. I understood why they were telling the lesson. It balances all those things well because there's real depth behind it. It feels specific and lived in. And listen, I'm not saying that the creator of a movie has to have lived experience of the story they're telling. But I do think that you need a deep understanding. Or if you don't have it, you need to have voices involved in the creative process who do.

SPEAKER_04 10:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

And watching this movie without getting into that spoiler, I really don't think that that was the case here. You know, it feels like they didn't really care about that central topic. And it's one that deserves a lot of care and attention. It it just felt like it was being approached from the outside. It didn't really seem to give you any insight. And yeah, it's just frustrating. And I know that the idea is that it's not really about that topic. What they want to explore is that that topic's a lightning rod for communication and how relationships can grow or fall apart. But I just say, well, then why did you choose this particular topic? Like if you're going to use something serious, you just have to engage in it in a meaningful, informed way. Otherwise, it just feels hollow. And that's really where the movie started to lose me. I mean, it felt like there was a lack of detail and care and understanding. And I know you've talked about it, but with the secondary characters, they felt really underwritten for me. The performances are great. I think everyone across the board, small to large roles, does a great job. But uh it felt like they weren't real people. And that can be fine using archetypes if you're doing it in a way that's really intentional and has a point of view. But if you're not, what's the point? And that's just kind of what I kept coming back to. I think that it was a concept that just wasn't fully developed. I don't think it has the nuance or depth supporting it that I would need for it to be enjoyable or to feel like I've learned something or to feel something that felt productive. Instead, it just feels like, all right, you made me feel kind of shitty for an hour and 45 minutes. Well, why? You know?

SPEAKER_04 12:40

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

So getting into my score, I mean, as you can tell, I did I didn't enjoy it. For enjoyment, I gave it a 1.5. And part of that is based on how I felt watching it. Part of it's also how I felt thinking about it after. There's something about the shallowness and the sort of surface level exploration without the movie having a point of view and it being about something serious.

SPEAKER_04 13:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

That just rubs me really the wrong way. I think it's a little bit No, I agree.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

I feel like sometimes people get in this habit of making films that are trying to have an uncomfortable conversation. But the question is, why are we having this conversation in this context of the movie? Like, I don't think that the specific confession that is made in the movie warrants the type of fallout that happens necessarily.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

And the way it happens.

SPEAKER_03 13:49

Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

And the way they explore what did happen. Like all of it just felt strange. You know, a movie that I also was thinking about when I was sort of putting my thoughts together about this movie, one that's also about a big conflict in a relationship was Midwinter Break, which we didn't review, but we saw earlier this year. And it's a really nice drama about an Irish couple been together for decades, and they come to a head and have a big conflict that's related to things that happened in their past, how they view it, how they communicate to each other. And that's a movie that I really loved because it took its time to explore the characters and then perspectives, the worlds they live in. And so you walk away thinking, you could think the same thing for the either of these, like, oh man, relationships are hard. Yeah. But with that one, you're learning something and you're looking at longevity and you're feeling something because you get to know the characters.

SPEAKER_03 14:52

That's true. I think both movies also share the element that they're not trying to necessarily tell you how you should feel. But I think, yeah, definitely Midwinter Break does a better job at illustrating that rather than making it feel like it's trying to make you feel a certain way for the hell of it.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Right. I mean, across the board, I generally feel like movies can make me suffer. They can make me feel uncomfortable, they can make me feel sad, they can make me feel depressed. But I I for them to get the the gift of my suffering, I want something in return.

SPEAKER_03 15:33

Exactly. Some kind of message or some purpose behind it. Right.

Movie Review: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yeah. And for a quality, I gave it a 2.5, largely due to the acting. But yeah, it's an interesting one. Oh, uh suggestion for a movie, different vibe, but a movie that handles uh a secret coming out in a relationship, not a sexual relationship with this one, but that uh changes the movie and how people interact that I would recommend is twinless, also. All right. Well, moving on, we have a very different type of movie, my friends. The Super Mario Galaxy movie, which I don't know, that name cracks me up. It's just so specific.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

They're like, who's it about specific to the game series Super Mario Galaxy?

SPEAKER_01 16:27

I love it. And it's directed by Aaron Hovath and Michael Jelinick, the same duo behind the Super Mario Bros. movie. This sequel expands the world to a much bigger, obviously cosmic way, bringing back core voice actors Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor Joy, Charlie Day, and Jack Black, and Michael Keegan Key. Then we also have new cast members, uh Bree Larson, Donald Glover, and Benny Safty. This time around, Mario, Luigi, and the crew head to Outer Space, where they meet Rosalina and her adorable star like companions, the Lumas, while facing off against Bowser and Bowser Jr., who are plotting something big enough to threaten the entire universe. It's a galaxy-spanning adventure that pulls heavily from the Super Mario Galaxy games, blending familiar characters with new worlds, bigger stakes, and a much more interstellar vibe. So yeah, what'd you think, Sush?

SPEAKER_03 17:27

Well, to start off, I just want to be upfront with the fact that I am a mostly retro gamer.

SPEAKER_04 17:35

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

And I guess I'm what some people might call a Nintendo fanboy.

SPEAKER_04 17:41

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

So I was already familiar with the main works referenced, the Super Mario Galaxy video games. And am familiar with most of the core Nintendo IPs, uh, Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid, and probably know more about the lore and the collector's side of things than things within the actual games.

SPEAKER_04 18:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:10

Even with that being the case, though, unless I'm watching a documentary, I tend to still care more about flattened story, which I think is important to keep in mind for when I get into my thoughts after seeing this movie. But even before I saw the trailer, I remember catching the announcement of the actual title and being caught off guard by the fact that Nintendo immediately went from introducing the Mushroom Kingdom and only Mario-related characters like Donkey Kong and some characters from his games and Spike from Wrecking Crew, an early game that Mario was also featured in in the Super Mario Bros. movie, to something like Super Mario Galaxy, which were games that weren't released until over two decades after the original Super Mario Brothers game. So aside from maybe reading an article regarding the announcement of the movie title and seeing the trailer, I didn't watch any content regarding the movie since I was gonna see it regardless. After seeing the movie, I'd say I thought pretty highly of the writing of the first movie because it wasn't just the fun family film, but it also did a great job providing reasonable but accurate foundational knowledge as far as Super Mario Bros. characters and lore across the entire history of the franchise. With my only real complaints of the first movie being the overuse of licensed top 40 music from the 80s in the present. This movie, though, to me, it weirdly felt like filmmakers felt they had something to prove as far as proving to the hardcore long-term Nintendo stands that they know about that obscure thing in Nintendo's path by steadily making references to them throughout the movie and proving to film junkies that they could deliver the same action and level of intensity as a live-action Hollywood blockbuster or superhero movie. Strangely, by trying to reproduce elements from them or sometimes even entire scenes. If you want to know more about what I'm talking about, go look it up on YouTube. Just look up Easter eggs or references in the Super Mario Galaxy movie. There's plenty of lists for about this type of stuff if you really want the details. But pretty much the entire voice cast from the first movie return, like Ashley said, we have some new additions. Only naming those who voice characters I actually recall seeing in the trailer. We had Benny Safty as Bowser Jr., Donald Glover as Yoshi, Rhee Larson as Princess Rosalina. All of them did fine. I think that I focused a lot less on the voice cast this time. I think mostly because for the first movie there was such a reaction as far as the casting went before the movie was actually out in theaters and people actually saw it and realized how little it mattered in the end. So yeah, this time I didn't really care as much. So I think everybody kind of did a pretty good job. Design-wise, the visuals are just as cute as before, but holy shit, I felt like there was way more frantic action.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

I used the word frantic as well.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

Then compared to the first. Movie, which definitely contributed to the feelings I experienced with this movie that I mentioned earlier, which were the references for long-term Nintendo stands and film junkies. Even as someone who understood the references regarding both Nintendo and the Hollywood blockbusters in the movie, I seriously felt like there were several moments I simply felt overwhelmed. I seriously am surprised this didn't have an epilepsy warning. I agree. That's how crazy it gets at certain moments. One aspect I did think that they went a long way in improving was the music. Yeah, from what I caught, it seemed like most, if not all, music this time was original score that was oftentimes based on music from actual Nintendo games. While again, the visuals sometimes were a lot. I felt like the music this time actually helped to ground a feel a bit more. From the trailer, I was expecting something more similar to the last movie that I felt was more of an animated family film that did an amazing job staying true to the Super Mario Bros. franchise. While I could clearly see the effort and attention to detail put into this movie, I almost feel like it kind of lost out on an easy opportunity simply to be a good sequel. You know, instead, it's weirdly trying to justify its existence among both Nintendo Super fans and Hollywood film fanatics when everyone knows it's at least going to make back its investment. And by the time we're recording this, actually, this movie's already made three times that. Oh my god. So why do people even care about some of the things? This is what I wondered. I think that was a lot of it, and that's what I'm gonna get into that prevented me from really enjoying this more than I did. So for ratings, uh I gave this a three for enjoyment and a four for quality.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

Yeah, overall, while I certainly wouldn't say I dislike the Super Mario Galaxy movie, I will say I enjoyed the first movie from 2023 more than this one.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 24:18

Yeah, even as someone who has been a Nintendo fan since the 80s, there were several moments where it felt like the movie wasn't allowed to breathe enough to enjoy all the references made in the movie. Like I'm seriously the type of person to really dig deep into those things that I enjoy. And I definitely think that for video games, I've spent a lot of time researching Nintendo, and for movies, I've spent a lot of time watching Hollywood blockbusters and action films. But even loving both of these things, this was just a lot.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

It was overwhelming.

SPEAKER_03 24:51

Yeah. Uh quality gave it a four mainly because I just can't deny that there was a high level of polish and effort thing. I mean, even with as good as I thought the first movie was, I still am unable to deny criticizing it for its overuse of licensed top 40 music. I couldn't give it higher than a four, mostly because I think that those ratings are reserved for movies that really hold your attention and don't definitely take you out of the moment, which I think this movie failed to do for me.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

But as far as recommendations go, I actually have a few. If you want to make animated films similar to this, that also references actual video games. I'd say check out Disney's Wreck It Ralph movies. Oh and if you want to throw back Nintendo centric 1989 live action movie, see the wizard starring Savage as well as Christian Slater and Bo Bridges.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

Bo Bridges too. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 25:57

Yeah, it's not a great movie in general, but it is a great movie as far as Nintendo references, and it was one of the first avenues of introducing Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. 3. So that was the big deal with it when you were and you saw it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Didn't it have a glove too?

SPEAKER_03 26:15

Yes, the power glove does make an appearance in the movie.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Okay, yeah. I didn't know anything about Nintendo then, as I pretty much don't now, but I remember thinking the glove was cool as hell.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

Yeah, yeah, the power glove.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Awesome. So yeah, this movie is a lot. You know, and I I went into this one like medium-informed. I I saw the Super Mario Bros. movie. I've seen the crazy one with Bob Hoskins. But yeah, I thought the last one was cute. It was fun, easy to watch, but I'm not deep into Mario lore. I know Mario Party, but other than that, I don't know the deep cuts. And honestly, this movie is a fever dream. Okay, I wrote this down when we were watching it. This movie is like a nerd's gummy cluster, extremely sweet, a little crunchy. Yeah, it's like it's very sweet and cute and fun, but there's something a little wonky about it.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

Space scenes also look visually like nerd scummy clusters. Oh my god, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Yes, they both really fire up the dopamine.

SPEAKER_03 27:24

But yeah, it's anybody working for uh the nerds people want to sponsor the show through.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Under named we should have nerds nerd gummy clusters. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:36

God, there's we'd be happy to take them off your hands.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Yeah, we housed two bags of them this week. Okay, but that confession aside, this movie, visually, conceptually, I was having a great time. The whole cosmic Mario Universe stuff is wild. And I love those little star guys. They're like aggressive. Yeah, the Lumas. I liked that at the beginning the way they introduced Rosalina and her whole situation with them. I thought it was pretty clean, effective storytelling. You get to learn what's going on with her, her world, her powers. Then you find out her connection to the wider world, and then we're off to the races. But after that, the movie is a lot. Like I frequently found myself wondering what's happening right now and why. It's just so packed with stuff. There's characters popping in, references flying, locations changing quickly. And if you don't have deep Mario knowledge, but you're kind of just vibing and hoping for the next crazy thing to happen. That's kind of where I was.

SPEAKER_03 28:43

Yeah, actually, what's interesting for somebody who does know all this stuff, uh, watching it with somebody who doesn't have the context, it was interesting that you at least picked up on the fact that it seemed like everything was relevant. And it really was. I mean, everything meant something. How much it meant to you, that obviously varies based on your knowledge of Nintendo stuff in general. Right. So, yeah, that's all I could say about that. I just think it's funny though, that even without having the specific knowledge as to what is a reference, you get that feeling.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Well, and part of that came from I didn't know what the hell was going on. So I figured this must be here for a reason. I'm like, I don't know who this big guy is, but he's gotta mean something to somebody because he doesn't mean something to me, you know.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

Yeah, but I also think that's incredibly interesting. And I was thinking about that when I was putting my notes together, and I think what's funny about that that I didn't think about in the moment, but I thought about it's like, oh yeah, kids are into things for different reasons, even if the content that they're watching is based off of something that already existed. So I guess my best example of this is Fortnite. Okay. Fortnite is known for having characters from video game franchises that have been around forever.

SPEAKER_02 30:13

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

Is that you have a character, one that's definitely this happens with is Lara Croft Tomb Raider. Like people our age know her as Lara Croft Tomb Raider. We know the relevance is that she had a video game series, blah, blah, blah. But kids know her as some lady from Fortnite. So that's what I mean. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

Or like Nino Music is samples that were in rap song that were from music that our parents knew from these they knew the albums. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:48

And for them, it's like Mario's the character in the Switch video games.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

Oh, yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_03 30:56

So to them, they may not be picking on it up on everything, but that's cool enough. You know what I mean? So I think it's funny because we're overwhelmed by it, but they may not be as overwhelmed now because they're just like, everything looks cool, and that's all that matters.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

Yeah, you know, and I thought it looked cool too. I just was like, what's happening?

SPEAKER_03 31:20

Right, but as an adult, you you think about things, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're not sometimes it's hard to completely forget and and leave yourself in a position to just enjoy it. Like you have to think, like, oh, is there a message? What are we trying to say here? But it's like, it's the Mario Galaxy movie. I know. Yeah, I had to be a little bit more forgiving. It wasn't even that I was upset about it, it was just more confusion.

SPEAKER_01 31:47

I didn't know yeah, it was wild. I would like to highlight two of my favorite non-spoiler jokes. Okay, the first one is that there's a bit where someone says that Bowser's gotten in touch with his feelings, and then he goes, I'm drowning in them. I thought that was great. And then I also enjoyed the part point where Bowser Jr. gave a speech and then asks his henchmen or whatever, how was it? And the guy says, very descriptive. And I thought those were two funny lines. But yeah, there was there's lots of funny stuff. And I was happy that Lewis Guzman was in there. He always cracks me up. And okay, I was just thinking that the film was very entertaining in terms of like high quantity of entertainment. You know, like every there was like a thousand things on the screen that were supposed to entertain you all at one time, and it was just like, ah and the movie is a very fast pace. You blink and you're in a new set piece, which is both a strength, but also by the end, like I was saying, I just kept wondering how do we get here? I would be watching and think, all right, I know what happened directly before this, but what happened before that? Because I have no idea because so much has happened and I can't keep up.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

I'm just glad I didn't see it in 3D because I won't. Oh my god. Like I gotta focus on on watching stuff in 3D and trying to figure it out at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 33:17

Can you imagine seeing this in 4DX with like the water spraying in your face and shape? Oh my god, I would just yikes. I didn't know until you told me that it was from the games, but I thought that was cool. But yeah, overall, I blanked out for maybe the last 20 minutes of the movie and just I I literally gave up on following the plot and was like, I'm gonna look at the pretty colors and laugh at the haunts. So yeah, I had fun. Also, it was cool watching something that was made specifically for people with Mario lore. But yeah, I think the kids were just happy to be there when we saw it. I kept judging how kids related to the movie because there was this one kid who would just repeat lines that he thought was funny, he'd be like, Crowning in it, or like Mario, like he would just say stuff back. So I'm like, this is great. But yeah, for my scores here, I gave it also a three for enjoyment. I didn't know what was happening, but I liked it. Colorful, lots of stimuli, lots of stimuli, like cute stuff, yeah, very cute, like incredibly cute. Like, I want to hug it, you know, I want to hug the movie.

SPEAKER_03 34:33

No, that's how they sell that merch, man.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Hell yeah. And then for quality, I gave it a three as well. I think it's cool that they packed so much in there and that it's funny and colorful, but I did dock some points because I didn't know what was going on.

SPEAKER_03 34:49

No, I don't blame you. Some of that stuff, remember, I just remember telling you, I'm just like, why do they even have this in here? I swear, only like 40 or 50-year-old dudes know this stuff. Right. That was before girls were into video games. So it's clearly something that only 40 and 50-year-old dudes probably remember. Yeah, the correct not even just any 40 or 50-year-old dude, specifically ones that care that much about knowing weird Nintendo details.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

So yeah, it was wild. Okay. Well, I guess we're gonna have another one, right? They announced it.

SPEAKER_03 35:25

Oh, yeah, they already greenlit that shit. They're trying to cash out while they can. Here's the thing uh when you see the movie, especially if you know Nintendo stuff, there's absolutely no doubt that they're trying to go the MCU route with this shit. And that's fine, man. Because I'm one of those people who doesn't care. If it's stuff from my childhood that I loved, what the hell, man? Just put it in a movie.

SPEAKER_04 35:54

Go for it, dude.

SPEAKER_03 35:55

I'll spend money on it. I'll waste the two hours or whatever seeing it if you want to make it. I'm not gonna say I'm gonna enjoy it every time, but I'll give it a chance.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Yeah, it's crazy. Oh, and shout out to AMC for an incredibly cool popcorn bucket. The Yoshi popcorn buckets.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 36:14

I've never seen so many people buy the popcorn. There were at least 10 people in our screening at a 9 p.m. who had the popcorn buckets. They're so cute.

SPEAKER_04 36:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:26

All right. Well, let's head on to the television.

SPEAKER_04 36:30

All right.

SPEAKER_02 36:33

Hey sushi, what do we have going on in the TV land? The TV vicinity, if you will.

SPEAKER_03 36:41

Well, let's kick it off with Monarch Legacy of Monsters, season two, episode six, Requiem. This week I'm going to start with the flashback storyline since there isn't as much time spent on it. And this episode ends in a pretty crazy reveal that takes place in the modern storyline. So we start the flashback storyline in 1958 at Monarch HQ in Arlington, Virginia, where Keiko and Bill have just arrived and are met by Bill's new secretary, then led to each of their fancy new offices. As Bill comments about wanting to get back out in the fields already, and Keiko unpacks and puts up a drawing from Hiroshi. They're greeted by Lee, who stopped by only to inform him of his relocation to Maryland for a promotion, which they're obviously sad to hear about. Lee arrives at his father's place in Maryland, and while it's uh initially a nice reunion after they haven't seen each other for five years, we end up seeing how bad of an influence his dad is, as he not only encourages him to get drunk and show up late for his first day, but also eventually has him reassigned without consulting with them at all.

SPEAKER_01 38:00

Into Vietnam, no less.

SPEAKER_03 38:02

Later we see Lee at Keiko's office, where he offers to put his feelings for her aside if they'll allow him to rejoin their team after a glimpse into how awful his life could be without them, and she happily accepts. The episode starts off with a scene from two weeks earlier for the modern storyline where we see Kong wandering around Skull Island and Kintaro hiding in the trees, sketching him. Kong senses him, and seeing this, Kentaro steps out from behind a tree to make himself known and smirks at him. However, Kong growls at him, unamused, causing Kentaro to run away. We catch up with him at night as he almost gets himself zapped, sneaking up through the electrified fence. Hiroshi approaches and asks for his sketchbook and flips through before asking to keep one of the pages with sketches of Kong. Hiroshi steps over and grabs a couple of cans of beer off the hood of his jeep and hands one to Kentaro, catching him off guard with a rare father-son moment. Specifically the one where he tells Kentaro about his experience with Axis Mundi and how time works strangely there. While Kentaro initially is angered by Hiroshi keeping this from him until now, he immediately cools off once his father explains it was to protect him and how much of the time they've spent together lately is meant to him. We skip ahead to Hiroshi's funeral, where we see a montage of several scenes eventually leading to his burial. As Lee watches the family from afar, an elderly man approaches him to ask if he's there for Hiroshi's funeral, and it ends up being Dr. Suzuki, who is surprised to see him. Kate tries to vent to Kentaro about her guilt surrounding their father's death, but instead of being empathetic, he blames her for being foolish for approaching Titan X and assuming no one would die. Jeez. Keiko sees her grandchildren arguing and tries to intervene and pleads with Kentaro that their father wouldn't want them to fight. But he just continues to blame Kate and her contribution and potentially causing another G-Day before storming off, leaving his mother to chase after him as Keiko can comforts a crying Kate. However, it isn't long before Lee brings Dr. Suzuki over, who is even more surprised at the sight of Keiko than he was seeing Lee, and meets Kate for the first time as well. Korra shows up at Kentaro's place apologizing for not attending Hiroshi's funeral and they head to a bar. And we eventually see that he really did leave everyone at the funeral when we see that Dr. Suzuki is at his place sharing his memories of Hiroshi with Lee, Keiko, and Kate. Over there, Lee steps away for a moment and Suzuki checks up on him soon after, revealing that Lee stopped drinking at some point before they lost contact, but eventually leading to an even bigger reveal that he's developed an improved Suzuki device. Keiko is at a pier with Kate, consoling her over her father's passing as she witnesses her communicating with Titan X. They head back to Suzuki's and arrives to see him and Lee have loaded his new device onto a truck and are headed out to test it, hoping that it'll work so they can send Godzilla to attack Titan X. The ladies aren't as optimistic about their plan and feel it isn't right to make Titans fight each other, but Shaw says he's more concerned with the survival of humans than the well-being of Titans. At Soda's bar, Korra recounts a memory of a time Kintaro seemed especially endearing, leading to him making a move on her. She apologizes for potentially misleading him. Kentaro gets angry and makes a sarcastic comment about he's the wrong randa, referring to him overseeing Kate getting close to her too, uh, which leads to Korra leaving him alone at the bar to cool off. Soon after, Kintaro's approached by a woman who oversaw his incident with Korra and sits down next to him at the bar. She eventually lets it slip that she's the daughter of Walter Simmons, billionaire CEO of Apex. Yeah, and even though Kintaro initially assumes she's there to spy on him, she claims to want to help continue their research into Titans. But Kintaro isn't hearing it and eventually walks out on her. Later, we see Kintaro walking down the street as he receives a Titan alert on his phone. He then runs into his mother, Korra, then Kate while evacuating. As Godzilla swings his tail around and they're about to be hit by it. He awakens and finds his mother's fine, revealing it was only a nightmare. He returns to his father's grave to pay his respects before calling Simmons' daughter back to take her up on her offer to help. At the pier, we see Keiko has returned to run tests with Kate as she communicates with Titan X, which eventually leads to the revelation that Titan X is experiencing panic and fear due to being lost, actually. We follow up with Shaw and Suzuki testing the uh new Suzuki device, leading to a rift opening momentarily, followed by Shaw receiving a distress call over the radio. But to the surprise of both of them, we find it's actually from Shaw's past self as the episode ends. Yeah. Wow. So, Ashley, what'd you think?

SPEAKER_01 43:52

Oh my gosh. Well, lots of stuff happened here. I I guess just from the beginning. I really like. Liked the opening with Kentaro and Hiroshi. There was something about it that reminded me a little Jurassic Park. They've got big fencing around. Yeah. He's out observing and doing sketches. And I really liked seeing that, oh, that's pretty cool that they're having this connection that we haven't seen before. Right. And also see how while Kate was gone, they got really close, probably in a way they haven't been before. So I can see how he could feel pretty conflicted about Kate because her disappearance led to them getting closer, but also obviously led to his father's death. So pretty intense stuff, man. Then the funeral. Oh my God. Kantaro is such a piece of shit here.

SPEAKER_04 44:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:53

I I mean, I get that he's hurting. I really do. And I get that they didn't grow up to together. And he probably feels resentful. I mean, there's so many things there, but the way that he comes at Kate really pissed me off. I mean, she has been defined by guilt this whole season.

SPEAKER_04 45:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

And she's finally feeling a little bit of relief in the last episode. And then he just throws it in her face like, yeah, yeah, well, dad's dead because of you. You did this. It's your fault. You're stupid. It was so brutal. Yeah. It was so brutal. And I think part of it is maybe some of that anger is jealousy because yeah, she became the center of their lives when she disappeared. So there's a lot there, man. He's not as uh actualized as I hope he becomes. But also, I really liked the monarch flashback stuff, especially their first day at DC with Monarch.

SPEAKER_03 45:51

I thought that was fancy offices. Yes. They're super nice, too.

SPEAKER_01 45:56

So cute. And the whole sequence has a bit of a lighter energy. They're really excited.

SPEAKER_04 46:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:01

I was super into the detail where Heiko hangs up Hiroshi's artwork and says it's a Hiroshi saurus.

SPEAKER_03 46:09

Oh, right, right, right. Hero saurus.

SPEAKER_01 46:12

Yeah, Hero Saurus. That's right. I thought that was so cute. And it also was cool because it ties back to, oh, okay. Both he and Kentaro have an artistic bent, you know?

SPEAKER_04 46:24

Oh, yeah. Good point.

SPEAKER_01 46:26

I thought that was cool seeing how they're alike, you know. Um, I also liked when those flashbacks, the tension between Lee and Keiko, you can feel the aftermath of their affair in such a way that I'm like, how did her husband not see it? But, you know, he's a little oblivious. But I thought the art the actors played the awkwardness really well. And yeah, just for him to tell them that he's transferring departments because it's what's best for everyone, but then not elaborating. I mean, that's pretty obvious.

SPEAKER_03 47:02

Yeah. Well, good thing Bill has been oblivious about it pretty much this entire time because he's always too into wanting to be out in the field to really notice anything. So, yeah, that's the the good part about it is he doesn't notice it at all. It's really just between the two of them that this is being said, basically. So at least they understand the real reason behind it or the motivation behind it.

SPEAKER_01 47:25

He's just thinking about monsters and maps, he's in his own world. But yeah, I thought that was cool. And then also I thought it was interesting getting into Lee and Suzuki in the present day trying to oh my god, bring back Godzilla or find a way for Godzilla to fight Titan X and kill him out of revenge. That is very intense, and it sort of stood out to me as kind of a philosophical divide forming in the gang. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:56

Yeah. No, I have something about that in my notes too.

SPEAKER_01 47:58

Oh, yeah. Cause he literally wants revenge. And meanwhile, Kate and Keiko are like, these aren't weapons you can throw into a fight. And it just echoes. There's this line that his dad said, I believe, earlier, there was like, it's us versus them, and the only thing that matters is who wins.

SPEAKER_04 48:17

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_01 48:18

And you're like, wow, he's still got some of that from his military father, you know, in his outlook on life. So yeah, it was interesting to see how that sort of mentality of his father affected him, and how again, family generational trauma, the monster show. That's what we get here. I also really loved the small but powerful moment where Kate goes out to see her grandmother, and they put their feet in the water, and then all these ripples form around. And that's when Keiko realizes this connection that Kate has. And I thought that was very cool. And it leads into the sort of experiments that she does. I thought it was really cute that uh Keiko was using old analog technology to try to test what was happening and to hear what Kate was hearing. I thought that was super cool and brought them a little closer together.

SPEAKER_04 49:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:18

And then the ending. Okay. So we got timelines interla connecting here. That's pretty wild. Creepy in the best way, fully leans into the time distortion stuff. And I'm pretty curious about what's going to happen next because that there's a lot of stuff going on. And we've only got four episodes left, right? After this.

SPEAKER_03 49:43

Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_01 49:44

So yeah, I'm I'm intrigued, I must say. Yeah, what'd you think, Sush?

SPEAKER_03 49:50

Well, I like that this episode started with a moment between Kintaro and Hiroshi from not long before his death, because I felt like it not only showed us that uh even though Kate may feel like he and her father were closer.

SPEAKER_04 50:09

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 50:10

That's really only partially true. Also, even though I don't think Kentaro's treatment of others in this episode was excusable, I do think that it at least does a good job showing how far he's come as far as building a relationship with his father.

SPEAKER_02 50:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:29

The only thing is that I wish they would have shown us the quick flashback of him from last season when he basically wanted nothing to do with his father, since it's been a while since then, and the show has a lot of details to keep track of.

SPEAKER_01 50:44

It really does.

SPEAKER_03 50:45

Yeah, I had to think about that. Like, I really had to go back and check to make sure because I vaguely remembered that, but I needed to go back to just confirm, and that happened to be the case. Even though it was only a nightmare, I love the fight between Godzilla and Titan X in Tokyo.

SPEAKER_01 51:04

Yeah, that was so cool.

SPEAKER_03 51:06

Yeah, it's another amazing looking scene where we see the Mac Pros hard at work. Given how realistic the Titans looked as they caused destruction throughout the city. I'm not sure at what point Lee started believing the best course of action in dealing with Titan X is to send Godzilla after it. Like I know he's always been most concerned with human lives, but I was always uh under the assumption that he kind of sided with Keiko's methods when it came to the approach to take in order to achieve that. Regardless, I understand that Monarch as a show is more about the humans, so I feel like the writers felt the need to continue the uh thing where they introduce new challenges for the different parties and characters. But I didn't really think this was really necessary given that we're still dealing with Hiroshi's death, whose side Korra is going to end up on the reveal that Titan X is just trying to get home and everything else. Speaking of Korra, I'm not sure if approaching Kentaro alone and agreeing to go drinking with him was a great idea. I mean, Kate recently cut ties with her and she's working for Apex, so it's just weird, even before we remind everyone that they were in a relationship before. And it's weird of Kentaro to also accept help from the daughter of the CEO of Apex, given yeah, like given the different ways the companies impacted his family and his friends' lives, it just feels like he's going to go off on his own to meet with this girl moving forward. But it really doesn't make sense given how often the guy is looking to blame others for sayings.

SPEAKER_01 52:56

That's very true.

SPEAKER_03 52:58

He's not at all skeptical about this, or at least his skepticism doesn't cause him to not follow through with this.

SPEAKER_01 53:05

It was just weird to be my hope is that he's mole, but I don't think that's it. I think he's pretty and he's sad. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 53:13

Maybe it was great to see Suzuki reunite with Lee and Keiko, but it's kind of frustrating how it kind of eventually led to some questionable decision making on Lee's part. Also, given that we just had Korra basically split from the group to join Apex, it just seems very soon to be introducing not one but two potential angles where other people from the protagonist team are splitting off to take action on their own with little to no discussion before doing so.

SPEAKER_01 53:44

That's a really good point. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:46

Yeah. But overall, I think this was one of the weaker episodes since it seems like most of it was spent introducing characters or other elements in the modern storyline to potentially set up conflict among the protagonists following this major character death that impacted all of them in order to propel the show through the remaining half of the season. I did kind of enjoy the flashback storyline scenes this week since they kind of fill in some gaps as far as how Lee and Keiko eventually get to the point where they're just friends, you know. Like when we first meet them in the first season when all three of them are together. And I appreciate how it was more that being with the two of them kind of grounded him and gave him purpose rather than he really needed to like be with Keiko again or anything like that. Right, right. And obviously, I'm so looking forward to what the hell is happening with old Lee getting the distress call over the radio from his younger self. I admittedly was a bit confused by the details about the test that Lee and Suzuki were conducting and how his new device differed from like his previous one. So that probably has to do with why I feel like I have no idea what the hell is going on at all. So yeah, I just hope to kind of get more clarity about that stuff. And uh hopefully, since it's the second half of the season now, they don't have to rely on creating situations as much as they did earlier in the season. But other than that, I think my nitpicks are very minimal for a show that's overall really polished.

SPEAKER_01 55:34

Yeah, it's interesting. There's some shows I watch, and when they're constantly starting new plot lines, new conflicts, I'll get frustrated because I don't know where it's going. But in this show, maybe because I just really like the world and the characters.

SPEAKER_03 55:50

Yeah, you kind of want to let it breathe.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

Yeah, because like I agree with that.

SPEAKER_03 55:54

Maybe more so than usual, you know.

SPEAKER_01 55:56

Yeah, I didn't think about it being a weaker episode until you were talking about it. And I thought, well, yeah, I guess structurally and in terms of um direction, that could be so.

SPEAKER_03 56:06

I mean, I think a lot happened, but I think a significant amount of it felt like it was just done to set up stuff happening in the future or kind of set up this division within the group.

SPEAKER_01 56:19

Yeah. Still, though, I'm just so along for the ride and just like no.

SPEAKER_03 56:23

I mean, the acting is so good, and the writing, aside from those small nitpicks, is otherwise pretty good. And I like how we're constantly being shown a changing balance of the flashback and the modern case scenes. So it never is like exactly the same amount. I like that they kind of balance it in a way where it makes sense for whichever episode they're doing. So I think all that stuff's fine. So I'm just really looking forward to the rest of the season.

SPEAKER_01 56:56

I just had a realization if they can hear stuff from the past, does that mean they're gonna be able to talk to Bill? He's dead, but he is alive in the past, you know?

SPEAKER_03 57:13

Yeah, I guess it depends on how this whole thing works.

SPEAKER_01 57:16

I know. What are the limits to what's gonna happen? What the heck? Okay. Well, I guess join us next week to see what craziness is going down with Monarch.

SPEAKER_03 57:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:27

Cool.

SPEAKER_03 57:28

All right, let's move on to Daredevil.

SPEAKER_01 57:30

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 57:34

Moving on to Daredevil Born Again. We're on season two, episode four, entitled Gloves Off. The episode opens with Billy Joel's New York state of mind playing as we see Bullseye's surprisingly mundane morning routine, perfectly frying an egg, greeting his elderly neighbor, and feeding her cat. But the calm is shattered when we see Bullseye at a diner scanning for potential weapons, uh, then calling in a false punisher sighting, uh, as the AVTF appears and he dispatches the officers with deadly precision, leaving his mark literally in catch-up before walking out.

SPEAKER_04 58:18

I loved that.

SPEAKER_03 58:20

Yeah. After the credits, a new Mayor Kingpin video sets the stage for Fisk's charity boxing match. We see Matt and Karen's new hideout has become the de facto resistance headquarters, with allies like Jack Duquesne and Angela wearing her uncle's white tiger pendant joining the fight. Christophe Sava, the first mate from the Northern Star, finally reappears, arriving at the hideout, offering crucial evidence. Plans are made to record a statement while the AVTF is distracted at the charity event, which is suspected to be a trap for Bullseye. Fisk's relationship with Vanessa is strained as she prepares for a trip to Albany, feeling shut out from his upcoming charity boxing match. Meanwhile, the AVTF raids Murdoch and McDuffie, searching for Duquesne, but Kirsten stands firm despite threats. At Red Hook, Fisk's dealings with Charles escalate, with Buck eliminating obstacles and Fisk maintaining control despite Charles's threats. Vanessa's meeting with the governor goes well, securing support as long as she keeps her husband in check during his term as air. Information for the Mayor Kingpin videos is covertly passed via Angela through Javi and us the unsuspecting young man who works at a food truck. Matt, disguised as an AVTF officer, investigates Bullseye's whereabouts, leading him to his own church, Clinton Church. There, clues from a priest in training help narrow the search. A tense confrontation unfolds in Bullseye's apartment. Bullseye expresses remorse for Foggy's murder, trying to convince Daredevil he's turned a new leaf as the two fight, but escapes after taking his neighbor hostage. Later, BB and Daniel arrive at Fogwell's gym for Fisk's uh charity boxing match. Javi slips an SD card to BB, continuing the information chain. Fisk prepares for the fight, orchestrating a deadly plot against Christophe, whose transport turns fatal at the hands of Buck. The brutality of Fisk's match shocks the audience, and Vanessa's arrival triggers a chaotic showdown. Olzy kacks, Vanessa shoots him, Fisk deflects a deadly glass paperweight, and Daredevil intervenes. The episode ends with Vanessa gravely injured, one of the shards of glass from the paperweight having stabbed into her right temple, leaving Fisk desperate for help. Ashley, what'd you think of this episode?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:08

Oh man. Okay. I think episode four might be my favorite so far. Um, and that's because there's a lot of action, there's investigating, and there's a lot of humor. I really, really loved the opening. Seeing bullseye have this calm, beautiful morning. It's so idyllic. He fries an egg just for his neighbor's dog. Like, what is that? Who is this guy? And then as soon as he goes into the diner, the camera hits a really extreme Dutch angle, and you're like, oh shit's gonna go down. And wow, I love how the violence plays alongside the humor in a very specific bullseye way. I mean, the first guy he takes out, he does it basically with a spitball that he's gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:58

It's actually, you know what I found out after rewatch. He first puts a toothpick into his mouth, and then he puts the straw into his mouth, and so he's actually just using the toothpick like a blow dart.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:15

That's amazing. That's even better. That's even better. And he's so funny in that scene. Like at one point, he walks up to this man holding a tiny little dog, and he's like, Dogs should not be in restaurants, it's um sanitary. The guy's really worried, and he's like, Don't worry, I'm the good guy.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:36

And then seconds later, he just throws like a lobster, like yeah, the lobster, like the the discarded shell from a lobster claim is great.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:48

Throws it and then hits this guy in the eye. It was so funny, and I just loved his flat delivery. Like when he calls 911, he's like, Oh no, there's someone here with a gun. It's just great. Um, so it just sort of reinforces that he's not just dangerous, he's also just he's just psychotic. And he's psychotic.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:13

Yeah, he's kind of screw loose, but in a humor, it's normal. It's just funny. You can see it in his face. It's good.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:21

You can. And I really liked his performance uh in this a lot. And I also enjoyed in this episode how it leans back into Matt as a detective. I thought it was so it was so cool when he goes like undercover as the AVTF guy to get into the diner. He's sort of talking shit to get them to leave, and they're like, oh yeah, that was great. Him sort of going through the crime scene, finding the church token, and then tracking bullseye all through that confessional scene. So that was cool. I liked that sort of methodical thing he was doing. And then also I thought, I don't know if it's just in this episode, maybe it's me, but I was really into the Vanessa stuff this episode. And I'm sure it's because they played it up because of the climax of the episode. But uh, I loved the interaction they had before she goes to see the governor. She's like, I should be at the fight. We're a matching set, she says.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:24

I loved that line. And then I really liked her interaction with the governor and the way she's like, Hey, you're incredibly smart and calculating, and I see you making moves behind the scenes. You could have done this without him. Why are you with him, basically? And she's like, I never thought it would be him, but now I can't imagine it any other way. I I was kind of taken with her since she first showed up in the previous iterations. But she's so sort of calm and smart and glamorous. So I I really enjoyed her. And then, oh man, when she wore a white dress to the fight at the end, I knew shit was going down.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:10

Yeah, you knew it was a bad sign.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:11

I didn't know it was gonna be her, I thought maybe it would be other people. That was cool, and also like her outfits are really interesting. But yeah, I love Canassa. I also, the power dynamics around Fisk crack me up. He is constantly trying to be on top, being control. There's that scene where he's griping about his situation to Buck, and then Matthew Lillard just shows up talking about wombat poop sitting on a pile.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:41

He doesn't even show up, he just happens to be where they end up.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:46

I just love how he always is just there.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:50

He doesn't care whether people care or not that he's there, he's just always making his presence known though.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:00

Yeah. I thought that was so funny. And then it was just cool to see how the dynamics shift throughout that scene because you've got Fisk at the beginning dealing with the frustrations of people chipping against his power. Then someone shows up who really does have a tremendous amount of power over him. But then Buck shoots Matthew Lillard's guards, and then suddenly, oh, this goes back on top for now. So it's that constant jogging for power and stuff that I find really entertaining. And then I mean the final sequence was just so good. The setting, the way they made up the gym to look was so cool. All of the merch was cracking me up.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:46

I immediately knew the paperweight was going to impale someone because Chekhov's uh paperweight, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:53

Check off last paperweight.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:57

I thought that was funny. I liked seeing the way different people reacted. That was cool. Vanessa, when she came oh my god, she made that amazing entrance near the end. It's like time stopped. There's Vanessa.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:10

She sits down, and for a moment she seems a little shocked by his violence. Which maybe that'll come up in the future again. She accepts it but isn't used to seeing it. I could be wrong. That is depending on what happens next. And then bullseye tearing through the task force, Daredevil, trying to can't contain it. Like there's so many things happening at once. And bullseye using Fisk merch as a weapon is just such a good detail. I love it. And the Vanessa moment really lands because this episode has really been setting this up the whole time. It's funny. I noticed earlier when she went to visit the governor that she was wearing a burgundy dress with a red coat over it, of a different, like an apple red coat. I thought, now why is she wearing two different shades of red? The red is very noticeable. And I'm like, oh man, were they setting up what's going to happen at the end? I could be reading too much into it, but I used to do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:13

No, I think you were totally reading it correctly because why would they have a meeting where they literally point out how she's the one to keep him in check and how she kind of has always been the one? And that's kind of been her role in that relationship. And I think that he even was able to get to the point of being mayor because there was a balance that to him at the time as far as his moods, and it was only that that allowed him to be able to appeal to everybody because otherwise just criminals knew him, but nobody else knew him as anybody, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:52

So uh yeah, really a lot of stuff happened. I and you can't go wrong if you love the beginning and the end of an episode, you know? And it the beginning and the end really stood out. So yeah, what'd you think, Sush?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:06

Well, like I was saying, I gotta love how we have the governor trying to be buddy buddy with Vanessa as a setup to her potentially getting killed off. So Fisk can just go full kingpin on Daredevil and everyone else who he hates in New York. Well, it definitely means more for Matt Carrot and all their friends to deal with. All I can hope is that it's building up to us finally having the Punisher return or Jessica Jones appear as expected.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:37

I love Jessica Jones. I need Jessica Jones.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:40

Marvel Studios, are you really serious here with bringing us all along this far into the season? We're literally at the halfway point after this episode, and you've barely had Frank on, and not even a mention of Jessica. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:57

It's true, it's true.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:59

I suppose if they're going to make us wait, it was cool that they at least did it during an episode where we got to spend so much time with Bullseye.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:09

Who I've really gotten to like on the show.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:12

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:12

I think the actor who plays him, William Bethel, has really done a phenomenal job with this character since for as much as I hated him last season, him being this precision killer trying to turn a new leaf, but seeming incredibly crazy in the course of doing so. It's probably one of, if not the most amusing part of this season so far. And I'm gonna hope and assume that that's gonna continue on for the remainder of the season. Yeah. Every episode there's more Mayor Fisk video fallout happening. So I feel like we're just one episode closer every single time to Fisk having Daniel taken out. Maybe even doing it himself, given how close they've seemingly gotten and how much he would feel betrayed over it. I thought the scene with Charles, Matthew Lillard's character, like I was saying, is he just happens to be exactly where Fisk and Bus Buck decide to meet was not only hilarious, but was really interesting because while it seems like Fisk thinks he's running things, I think it's less of an actual concern and more of an irritation to Matthew Lillard's character. And eventually this is just going to result in Valentina stepping in and replacing Fisk with someone she can control easier.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:36

Damn, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:37

Because you know that she's kind of allowing this to happen. So if she really wanted to, she could just put somebody in that position to just do the same thing. But the moment with Daniel where he's purchased a bunch of merch and is showing it to BB and Sheila, with Sheila mentioning that there's like an employee discount that Daniel was apparently unaware of. That was pretty hilarious. And he seems like really disappointed to find out after he bought all the stuff. Again, it's too bad this kid is inevitably going to be the first one in Fisk's camp to die. The question is whether it's going to be one of his own people or some random New Yorkers. Let's not even get into how that glass paperweight he bought along with the rest of the merch just ended up being the thing that Bullseye attempted to use to assassinate Vanessa. Yeah. I mean, like Fisk will not get to see that part of it. But us as the viewer, just like, God damn, man, are you serious? There's one more thing. Uh even though I don't think it'll happen, I'm almost hoping that Vanessa isn't dead and instead she ends up in a coma or as a vegetable, just so we can see Fisk haunted by his decision to set a trap for bullseye. Knowing him though, he probably hasn't gotten around to blaming himself at all for what's happened yet. So whatever. But yeah, overall, as I mentioned, I'm kind of frustrated with the fact that we still haven't seen Punisher Return or Jessica Jones appear. But there was enough story progression in this episode to make me hopeful that they'll be on soon. I'm expecting that with everything that's happened with Vanessa, it's obvious Fisk will escalate things, which I'm expecting will either lead to his downfall for the season or potentially a change, as I was mentioning, as far as his role among MCU villains. So maybe he'll even do something different. Maybe they'll put him somewhere else. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:31

Just a really well-balanced episode, though, as far as the action story and acting goes. And yeah, looking forward to next week.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:39

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:47

We are watching you, me, and Tuscany and oh my god. You got too excited at you, me, and we are watching you, me, and Tuscany and Faces of Death. And no, those are not just one movie, it's two.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:08

Actually, I'm really looking forward to that you, me, and Tuscany show because it looks ridiculous. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:16

I love a cute, silly movie.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:18

Oh man. But for TV, we're gonna be watching Monarch, Legacy of Monsters, season two, episode seven, and Daredevil Born Again, season two, episode five.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:32

Well, thanks so much for listening, guys. We appreciate you as always for spending time with us today.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:39

Yeah, and make sure you subscribe, rate, and uh review, preferably positively, like uh a Tuscan vacation, perhaps. Uh and follow us on the social medias, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. Other than that, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:03

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:04

I mean, thank the audience, not thank you, Susan.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:07

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:07

Well, thank you as well. Thank us all.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:10

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:11

May a thank to each and every one of us.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:14

All right.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:14

Fairly well.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:16

And we'll see you guys next week.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:19

That's right. Hi, guys.