Speaker 1: We're Tom Lorenzo and this is the Pop Style Opinion Fest.
Speaker 1: Hello kittens, welcome back to another edition of the PSO.
Speaker 1: I am the team. You're te Low, Tom Fitzgerald, and
Speaker 1: I'm here with the Low and your te Lot Lorenzo,
Speaker 1: my cousin, I love the husband, and we are back
Speaker 1: from our trip back and Lorenzo is dying. He told
Speaker 1: me he was like, I am talking about the trip
Speaker 1: on the podcast. You were giving me fifteen minutes talk about.
Speaker 2: We're asking on Instagram and you know, they want to
Speaker 2: know about our trip and.
Speaker 1: Let me just set the stage and then you can go,
Speaker 1: because you're very bad at setting the stage if you
Speaker 1: haven't been paying attention or listening. We took a almost
Speaker 1: two ten day trip to Edinburgh and Donic, Ireland, and
Speaker 1: a couple of days in Dublin and it was a
Speaker 1: lovely time. And Lorenzo planned the entire trip because I
Speaker 1: am I've been with this man long enough to know
Speaker 1: that you just get out of his way when there's
Speaker 1: a trip to be planned. So I'm turning this over
Speaker 1: to you. If you follow us on Instagram, and you should,
Speaker 1: it's Tom and Lorenzo Official because our original Tom and
Speaker 1: lorenzo Instagram account got hacked and we're no longer part
Speaker 1: of that. So Tom and Lorenzo Official. If you go
Speaker 1: there on Instagram, you will see hundreds of pictures from
Speaker 1: our trip.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you see a ton of pictures because I always
Speaker 2: do that because sometimes I feel like it's a little
Speaker 2: too self endored. But people love it. People love it.
Speaker 2: They say, oh my god, I'm so glad to see
Speaker 2: your pictures. You take great pictures, and I think it's
Speaker 2: a way to share. So if you're planning a trip,
Speaker 2: you know, you get inspired by the pictures and the
Speaker 2: places we've been. I was my entire life. I've always
Speaker 2: wanted to go to Scotland. I don't know why. I
Speaker 2: guess because I liked the culture and everything about it.
Speaker 2: So I was very excited. We we were we we
Speaker 2: got invited to a wedding uh in in Ireland, and
Speaker 2: that was the original plan with the whole family. So
Speaker 2: uh so we were talking about it and then we're like, oh,
Speaker 2: why don't we just go to Scotland too, Like, since
Speaker 2: we're there, let's just add another you know, leg and
Speaker 2: uh we did, and I'm my god, I'm so glad
Speaker 2: we did.
Speaker 1: Edinburgh is magical. I say, it's kind of a beautiful,
Speaker 1: magical city.
Speaker 2: You go ahead, No, no, no, I mean Scotland is absolutely magical.
Speaker 2: It's everything I saw on TikTok five hundred thousand times
Speaker 2: on YouTube everywhere. It's really what you see online and more.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful, magical place. Uh. There's so much history
Speaker 2: everywhere you can feel it. Uh. And it's so beautiful
Speaker 2: and the people were so friendly. I have to emphasize this.
Speaker 2: Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful and it was just great.
Speaker 2: We had the most amazing experience. It's funny because Tom's family,
Speaker 2: some of his siblings went first a couple of days
Speaker 2: first before we landed there, and they were taking pictures
Speaker 2: and I see all these people wearing jackets and blazes,
Speaker 2: and I'm like.
Speaker 1: It was one hundred and five to grays in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: I now left ye and we landed in cold weather.
Speaker 2: Yes, it was really cold. I mean I wasn't even
Speaker 2: going to bring a jacket, but you know, I'm glad
Speaker 2: I did. So. It was kind of like cloudy, gray
Speaker 2: and a little bit of rain in the beginning. And
Speaker 2: then it's funny, towards the end of the trip, we
Speaker 2: were like wearing shorts and it was so hot. Right anyway,
Speaker 2: we made a very good decision. I highly recommend that
Speaker 2: we took the bus toward to the Highlands. We went
Speaker 2: to the Loch Nest, glen Coe and the Highlands and
Speaker 2: all that area, and it was just it's a long trip.
Speaker 2: You were on a bus a long time because it's
Speaker 2: not that close to Edinburgh, but it's so worth it.
Speaker 2: I mean just going and looking at the you know,
Speaker 2: just the scenery and and the mountains and everything. And
Speaker 2: then every time we stopped, my god.
Speaker 1: It's just heaven. It's beautiful. It doesn't seem real. It
Speaker 1: doesn't seem when you're standing and it doesn't seem real.
Speaker 2: So we got to see a lot of things. Everything
Speaker 2: you can imagine. Dura Mile is it's very touristy, but
Speaker 2: so magical. The castle, my god, it's it's not even
Speaker 2: just a castle, it's a whole village up there. It's
Speaker 2: just phenomenon. We had great time. We also had tea there.
Speaker 2: We did the afternoon tea at the castle with the
Speaker 2: whole family, which was very lovely. So we visit every
Speaker 2: pretty much every place. We walked a lot. We saw
Speaker 2: a lot as you can see. I took a bunch
Speaker 2: of pictures and of course I had to try the kilt.
Speaker 2: I mean I had to you you can see pictures
Speaker 2: of me wearing on my our Instagram account. And it
Speaker 2: was funny. The whole thing started with us talking because
Speaker 2: we have we had a family group for the trip,
Speaker 2: and some of the guys, the in laws, were saying, well,
Speaker 2: I'm thinking abouting a kilt. And then I'm like, oh
Speaker 2: my god, let's do it. Let's all do it, and
Speaker 2: we'll take a picture all together, all the boys together
Speaker 2: wearing kilts. But of course knew what he did it.
Speaker 2: I did it. I was like, I'm gonna.
Speaker 1: Do my memory play. That was not my memory no. No,
Speaker 1: no one said I think I'll do it. Lorenzo was
Speaker 1: let's all do it. No one, no one suggested doing this.
Speaker 1: You were the one. Well the funny thing, and everybody
Speaker 1: was like, no, I don't think I'll do it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But after I did it, people were like, well,
Speaker 2: I wish I had.
Speaker 1: Done one person anyway I did it. One person said,
Speaker 1: oh I wish I had done that.
Speaker 2: Anyway I did it, and I thought.
Speaker 1: It was the he or my husband told me to
Speaker 1: shut up. And the bitch in this marriage. But I
Speaker 1: am not the bitch anyway.
Speaker 2: No, he's not.
Speaker 1: I had the most of me. You're not dead serious
Speaker 1: there for a second. No, really, I am the bitch.
Speaker 2: I am the bitch.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: Anyway, I had I love the experience. Uh. You know,
Speaker 2: I'm a fashion person. I've always looked at men wearing them.
Speaker 2: I think it's so hot and masculine and beautiful. So
Speaker 2: I was like, I need to do it. Uh and
Speaker 2: I had. I had no idea what I was doing,
Speaker 2: and I didn't want it to do it, you know wrong.
Speaker 2: I mean I didn't want to like make a fool
Speaker 2: out of myself anyway. So I went to the store.
Speaker 2: Uh and uh, this guy at the store was so helpful.
Speaker 2: He measured me and you know, the whole thing to
Speaker 2: show me how to do it, because it, you know,
Speaker 2: there's very specific things about where it has to go
Speaker 2: up you know, below you your belly button and all that,
Speaker 2: and the knees for the you know where he has
Speaker 2: to hit your knee, and then the socks and the flashes,
Speaker 2: you know, the little flags that you had to the
Speaker 2: to the socks, all that stuff. So I wanted that.
Speaker 2: I was like watching videos how to how to wear it,
Speaker 2: and I loved it, loved the experience, and I have
Speaker 2: it now and I'm gonna wear it. I'm gonna wear it.
Speaker 2: He did in filled it. I love it. It was
Speaker 2: just a great experience. Anyway, Scottland was phenomen.
Speaker 1: My favorite thing speaking of kilts, is I mean, we
Speaker 1: got to see a lot of kilts while we were there,
Speaker 1: but my favorite thing was seeing guys who were not
Speaker 1: dressed up and we're not in the full regalia, and
Speaker 1: I have this very strong image. When we were in
Speaker 1: the Highlands, we stopped in this one small town. Actually
Speaker 1: it was the town where we took the ferry out
Speaker 1: to lock Nest, So we were right on Locknest.
Speaker 2: It's Fort Augustus, Okay, that's.
Speaker 1: The town, and we were waiting in line for the
Speaker 1: boat and this guy just walked by. He was just
Speaker 1: some local walking by and he was in a gray
Speaker 1: kilt with a gray hoodie and a pair of sneakers,
Speaker 1: and I just loved it. I was like, that is
Speaker 1: such a cool look. Yes, yes, it's traditional, but it's
Speaker 1: moderns It has a certain formality to it, but it's
Speaker 1: clearly not formal, and it's just very relaxed, and it
Speaker 1: really I mean I knew this about the kilt, but
Speaker 1: to see it in play to say that it actually
Speaker 1: is a workable garment. It's not some ceremonial garment for
Speaker 1: a Scottish men. It's it's a workable garment. A lot
Speaker 1: of them will walk around wearing it in casual situations.
Speaker 2: So I loved it. I did a lot of research
Speaker 2: because you know, you also have the Great kilt that's
Speaker 2: the one you see on Outleander that is pretty much
Speaker 2: just a piece of cloth that you literally lie on
Speaker 2: the floor and you wrap it around you. That's how
Speaker 2: they were in the on the TV show Outleander. But anyway,
Speaker 2: and I asked people, I asked local, I asked the guy,
Speaker 2: and I was like, am I insulting people here by
Speaker 2: wearing this? You know, I don't want to, you know,
Speaker 2: be accused of like you know, cultural appropriation or anything
Speaker 2: like that. But they were like, no, my god, no,
Speaker 2: everyone loves when people wear them, you know. So I
Speaker 2: did it. Loved it anyway. Scotland was absolutely phenomenal. I
Speaker 2: highly highly recommended. The food was great, Yes, hagus I didn't.
Speaker 1: Well, Lorenzo's a vegetari there's a vegetari, but they're not
Speaker 1: on any of the restaurants we went to. None of
Speaker 1: them had it. Also, Lorenzo managed to find a restaurant
Speaker 1: with absolutely nothing on the menu that I liked. It was.
Speaker 1: It was a tremendous feet on his part. First the haggis.
Speaker 1: I'm the type of person who, if I go to
Speaker 1: a country, I'm gonna, yeah, give me the haggis. When
Speaker 1: we went to Germany, I was like, all right, strudel
Speaker 1: and brought worst. That's what I'm going to do. Like,
Speaker 1: if you're here, you're here. You want to try those things.
Speaker 1: And I'm not precious about foods that might be considered
Speaker 1: a little questionable or or that other people might consider gross.
Speaker 1: As our tour guide said when we were on the
Speaker 1: Highland bus and he was talking about hagis, He's like,
Speaker 1: I don't want to hear anything from Americans. You all
Speaker 1: eat hot dogs, and you know you're you don't want
Speaker 1: to think about what's in a hot dog. But it's
Speaker 1: no better or worse than what's in hagus. It was fine.
Speaker 1: I had it to have it. I had it to
Speaker 1: say that I had it, to experience it and to
Speaker 1: because you know, satisfy my curiosity, but I'll never have
Speaker 1: it again. And I wasn't. I wasn't grossed out by
Speaker 1: the flavor of it at all, and I'm not grossed
Speaker 1: out by what it's made of. It's mostly made of
Speaker 1: orgon me as far as I understand, and you know,
Speaker 1: oatmeal and spices and stuff like that. It tasted fine,
Speaker 1: it had. It tasted like a spicy meat loaf. My
Speaker 1: issue with it was the consistency. I do not like
Speaker 1: mushy food. That's me. I do not like mushy food
Speaker 1: at all. Like I can't eat things like croquettes like
Speaker 1: minced you know, chicken crow, that sort of thing, I
Speaker 1: can't eat. I don't like it. So and that was
Speaker 1: my thing. And I know there are forms of hagas
Speaker 1: that are like deep fried, that have like a heavy
Speaker 1: crust on them. But I had the traditional haggis with
Speaker 1: the tatties and the NEPs, and I'm glad it was delicious.
Speaker 1: But I really don't like mushy food, and that's probably
Speaker 1: why I'll never have it again.
Speaker 2: We tried several things. We tried the kerneken is that kranneken,
Speaker 2: I think, which is basically a trifle but delicious, very
Speaker 2: very good. The Iron Brew Iron brew to drink, which
Speaker 2: tastes like I don't know.
Speaker 1: Clough syrup. I didn't like it at all.
Speaker 2: It has a very unique flavor. And the funny thing
Speaker 2: you asked people what does it taste like? What is it?
Speaker 2: Nobody knows? People are like, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah. To me, it tasted like children's cold medicine. It
Speaker 1: had that really sweet, thick, syrupy feel to it, and
Speaker 1: it it had a non specific flavor to it. There
Speaker 1: was a slight sort of orange, but I don't even
Speaker 1: know if that was psychological, because drink is so bright
Speaker 1: orange that you expect it to taste citrusy and maybe
Speaker 1: you just fill that blank in I don't know.
Speaker 2: To me, felt a little berry ish. I don't know.
Speaker 1: S I didn't get that anyway, But I did like
Speaker 1: Robotus and the kids I had it to.
Speaker 2: And it was all right. I mean, I didn't hate it,
Speaker 2: but that was that.
Speaker 1: Edinburgh Castle, Dean Village.
Speaker 2: Dean Village. I highly recommend Dean Village because when you
Speaker 2: go online, people take a picture by the by those buildings,
Speaker 2: you know, by the bridge, and that's it. They go home. No,
Speaker 2: you have to explore the whole area. It is so nice, right.
Speaker 1: Oh, it's gorgeous.
Speaker 2: It's absolutely nice to just walk around. There's a river
Speaker 2: and then there's like gardens and all that stuff around it.
Speaker 1: It's just beautiful. It's beautiful and beautiful. It looks like
Speaker 1: a fairytale village and it looks like, you know, eighteen
Speaker 1: sixty never ended. I mean, it's very much a snapshot of.
Speaker 2: A time far from the main city. Yeah, you can
Speaker 2: actually walk if you feel like walking, but it's a
Speaker 2: long walk. It's like thirty eight minutes.
Speaker 1: In case you can't tell, we're battling our post trip.
Speaker 2: I know we're a little we're lacking sick.
Speaker 1: But I apologize. All right, let's take a short break
Speaker 1: and we'll come back and wrap up our trip. Yes, right,
Speaker 1: we'll be right back. We're back and we're going to
Speaker 1: wrap up our vacation coverage. But we have a few
Speaker 1: more things we wanted to talk about Scotland. Yeah, let's yeah,
Speaker 1: we want to talk about the Ireland leg of our trap,
Speaker 1: but there's a couple more things we want to talk
Speaker 1: about in Scotland, in Edinburgh specifically. I know we wanted
Speaker 1: to talk you want to talk about Mary King's clothes.
Speaker 2: Which was phenomenon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so let me explain. I'm gonna let Lorenzo explain
Speaker 1: Mary King's clothes, but let me explain that where we
Speaker 1: were staying in Edinburgh and where you get. You know,
Speaker 1: it's like the tourist attraction of all tourist attraction is
Speaker 1: what's called the Royal Mile. And it's literally a mile
Speaker 1: long street, all cobblestones leading up a hill and it
Speaker 1: leads directly to Edinburgh. It ends at Edinburgh Castle. And
Speaker 1: there are tourist attractions all over this mile. There are shops,
Speaker 1: there are restaurants, there are bars. It's where you go
Speaker 1: to get the Edinburgh experience. And one thing I want
Speaker 1: to say about the Royal Mile is it's very much
Speaker 1: a tourist it's there, it's you know, I want to
Speaker 1: how do I say this. It's a tourist attraction. But
Speaker 1: I also want to be clear here. It is an ancient,
Speaker 1: historic mile. I mean, you know, it's not something a
Speaker 1: threw together and you feel that history. And maybe because
Speaker 1: it's not simply some row of shops that actually has
Speaker 1: historic significance to it, it's it's very very old. It
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like a tourist trap. It doesn't feel chintzy
Speaker 1: or anything. There are chintzy gift shops where you can
Speaker 1: buy cheap ass kilts and tetels and magnets, but I.
Speaker 2: Didn't think they were as aggressive as in Paris, for example,
Speaker 2: and I have and.
Speaker 1: There are also places in any city actually, but in
Speaker 1: any European city where you know, you get into a
Speaker 1: tourist area and it's just shitty stores and bad restaurants.
Speaker 1: And this is not that. The Royal Mile is the
Speaker 1: real deal. You will get a real slice of Edinburgh,
Speaker 1: but at the Edinburgh. But at the same time you're
Speaker 1: you were you also get all your needs as a
Speaker 1: as a tourists met. You know, you can buy your souvenirs,
Speaker 1: you can have your hagus, you can stop and have
Speaker 1: a beer. Saint Giles Cathedral is right there, just stunning.
Speaker 1: I was looking at the pictures of Saint Giles Cathedral
Speaker 1: yesterday because Lorenzo uploaded the five thousand pictures that he
Speaker 1: took on his anyway, I was looking at those pictures
Speaker 1: and I was really blown away by how beautiful the
Speaker 1: church was. And it's kind of a shame because we
Speaker 1: went there on our first day, we met up with
Speaker 1: my siblings to go to that church, and uh, we
Speaker 1: were up for like thirty sees.
Speaker 2: We just dropped our box, so yeah, we dropped our bags.
Speaker 2: We couldn't check any yet, and then we just went
Speaker 2: out for a walk. Yeah, and.
Speaker 1: I barely remember that. I'm looking at the pictures and
Speaker 1: I'm like, I barely remember going to this church anyway.
Speaker 1: It's also where the bagpipers come out and play in
Speaker 1: their full Scottish you know regalia and the kilts and
Speaker 1: the hats and everything. And Lorenzo took his picture next
Speaker 1: to one, and my brother took his picture next to
Speaker 1: a much hotter one. We're all looking for the hot
Speaker 1: one anyway. Why don't you explain what Mary King's Closes,
Speaker 1: which is one of the tourist attractions on the Royal
Speaker 1: Mile and a close. They're all over Edinburgh. They're historically significant.
Speaker 1: If you want to be reductive about it. It's an alleyway,
Speaker 1: but they're very elaborate alleyways in between buildings right on
Speaker 1: multiple levels. They like there are labyrinths involved.
Speaker 2: And they're you know, ways to get from one part
Speaker 2: of the city to the next, and they're beautiful. I
Speaker 2: meant lots of steps, lots of step, yes, lots of steps.
Speaker 2: You know, there's a lot of that on Edinburgh, so
Speaker 2: you have to get used to it or walk very slow.
Speaker 2: But anyway, the most famous one, i'd say is the
Speaker 2: real Mary King's Clothes, which they have a tour they open.
Speaker 2: I forget when they opened for the public. It was
Speaker 2: closed for a long time and then they open for
Speaker 2: the public, you know, for tourists, and they have a tour.
Speaker 2: The real Americans closed. It's basically a it dates to
Speaker 2: like the seventeenth century.
Speaker 1: Yeah, seventeenth century.
Speaker 2: It's pretty much a It's a close that is located
Speaker 2: under the Edinburgh City Chambers.
Speaker 1: They built the City Chambers over this close and they
Speaker 1: built the City Chambers in like the eighteen hundreds or
Speaker 1: the yeah, the late like the late Victorian era. But
Speaker 1: for two hundred years prior to that, it was essentially
Speaker 1: a tenement or an apartment building. There were it was
Speaker 1: on multiple levels. You went down an alleyway, but then
Speaker 1: this alleyway branched off and went in right it turns
Speaker 1: into an elaborate hidden city and it was six floors
Speaker 1: of businesses and merchants and you know, we went through
Speaker 1: the whole tour. And part of the reason we're talking
Speaker 1: about this is because it's been what little that is
Speaker 1: left of that close, because a lot of it was
Speaker 1: built over, they have maintained as in its original form,
Speaker 1: so you can go toward it. And it's one of
Speaker 1: those things where they have people in period costumes who
Speaker 1: pretend to be you know, I was. It was you know,
Speaker 1: I died in eighteen fifty whatever, and I kind of
Speaker 1: hate that stuff. But she was good, and it was
Speaker 1: fascinating because you start at the lower level and it's
Speaker 1: where the rats and the poor people and the plague is,
Speaker 1: and then you move up very and then there's a
Speaker 1: middle class level, which is literally a middle class, and
Speaker 1: then there's an upper level where you know, merchants live
Speaker 1: and you get to go up. Mary Kane was a
Speaker 1: burgess and she was right in like the sixteen or
Speaker 1: early seventeen hundreds, and the close was named after her,
Speaker 1: and go ahead, yeah.
Speaker 2: The clothes was named after her, you know, many years later,
Speaker 2: but it's pretty much her view of the whole thing.
Speaker 2: So you get this this guide dressed like her, and
Speaker 2: she's as you know, I'm Mary, I was born and blah,
Speaker 2: blah blah. And I usually hate that kind of thing,
Speaker 2: I really do. I just don't like it. It's not
Speaker 2: my thing. Not saying, you know some people like that,
Speaker 2: but I have to say, in this case was very
Speaker 2: necessary because you needed guidance.
Speaker 1: You need to know you were looking at now.
Speaker 2: You had no idea what you're going down to or
Speaker 2: up to, and you needed someone to tell you exactly
Speaker 2: what those rooms were and explain everything. Show the walls,
Speaker 2: you know, and it's so dark and cold downstairs.
Speaker 1: Really hard to picture how people lived there. But it
Speaker 1: was fascinating because I've never heard of closes before going
Speaker 1: to Edinburgh. I didn't know they existed, and I didn't
Speaker 1: know I didn't know people ever lived that way.
Speaker 2: And when you go down to the you know, lowest
Speaker 2: level where the very poor people lived, she showed rooms
Speaker 2: that like tiny, like bathroom size rooms that where sixteen twelve,
Speaker 2: sixteen people lived. Yeah, I died and died with no light,
Speaker 2: no nothing, So it was very interesting. It's so dark
Speaker 2: where you go that she actually has a flashlight. The
Speaker 2: guide has a flash light and she shows you things
Speaker 2: on the walls, you know, everywhere. I highly recommend it.
Speaker 2: It's it's a very interesting part of the history. Uh
Speaker 2: and and it gives you a very interesting perspective of things.
Speaker 2: How things were, you know back then?
Speaker 1: In anything else in Edinburgh that you wanted to talk about.
Speaker 1: We talked about Dean's Village. Did Dean Village?
Speaker 2: Yeah. The only thing I say is there's so many
Speaker 2: beautiful things. Scott Monument is gorgeous, all these things that
Speaker 2: you everything is absolute as you see online, absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2: The only thing I highly recommend that almost killed me
Speaker 2: is that you go to the Ross Fountain to see
Speaker 2: the castle from the ross Fountain point of view. We
Speaker 2: were walking around the museum, the National Gallery and so
Speaker 2: and I decided to go. I thought it was very
Speaker 2: close and it was a very very hot day. Tom
Speaker 2: said no, I'll stay here, and I went. I almost
Speaker 2: died because it was so hot. But just go look
Speaker 2: at the pictures on Instagram on our Instagram account. It
Speaker 2: is the most beautiful view of the castle from the
Speaker 2: Ross Field.
Speaker 1: The only other thing I'll mention is the Witchery, where
Speaker 1: we went to dinner for our final night in Edinburgh.
Speaker 1: It is a pretty famous restaurant. It's as I said,
Speaker 1: it was impressive that Lorenzo found a restaurant where I
Speaker 1: don't like anything on the menu because I am not
Speaker 1: a picky eater at all. But we got there and listen,
Speaker 1: it's gorgeous.
Speaker 2: It's gorgeous.
Speaker 1: It's very gothic on the inside. Lorenzo has pictures. If
Speaker 1: you want the experience, go for that. But I agreed
Speaker 1: with what a lot of online reviewers said was that
Speaker 1: the food was nothing.
Speaker 2: No, nothing directly, but it's okay. The food is not bad.
Speaker 2: My fish, it's not bad, but the food is not great.
Speaker 2: Here's what happened. I'm usually the picky one. I mean,
Speaker 2: Tommy's always the one having to, you know, be concerned
Speaker 2: about if they have what I what I can eat
Speaker 2: every single time you go to a restaurant. So I
Speaker 2: thought they were going to have something for him. So,
Speaker 2: you know, I just looked at the manuals like, all right,
Speaker 2: I'll have this fish done. Didn't even occur to me
Speaker 2: that that wasn't something that tom was gonna eat because
Speaker 2: he didn't want to eat seafood.
Speaker 1: That we had a lot of seafood. And also there's
Speaker 1: a lot of the seafood on that menu was very
Speaker 1: much of the fish in cream, a variety of seafood,
Speaker 1: which is not my thing.
Speaker 2: So the restaurant has two parts what they call the
Speaker 2: old building, the old room and then the garden. We
Speaker 2: ate in the old room. I'm not saying it correctly,
Speaker 2: but anyway, it's the old part of the restaurant, which
Speaker 2: is absolutely gorgeous. Drop that gorgeous. It's so dark with candles,
Speaker 2: candle light, you know, it's just beautiful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, very moody, very very.
Speaker 2: Medieval, kind of like kind of looking. But always the
Speaker 2: food was okay, service was very good. The aw waiters
Speaker 2: were very polite, very friendly. Just the food was okay.
Speaker 2: But if you want the experience go, I highly recommend it.
Speaker 2: It's not that expensive.
Speaker 1: All right, real quick, because we haven't even gotten to
Speaker 1: the topic like this week's guest yet. What do you
Speaker 1: want to say about Donegal town where we spent a
Speaker 1: few days.
Speaker 2: We wanted to go again. We got invited to a
Speaker 2: wedding again and I said, of course, because you know,
Speaker 2: we wanted to go to Ireland again. This time the
Speaker 2: wedding was in a different part of the country Donegal
Speaker 2: last time was around no not Goalwie. It was somewhere
Speaker 2: in between. Tommy Cavin, Yes, but we ended up going
Speaker 2: to go. We took the Boss Tour, but this time
Speaker 2: the wedding was in Donegal and we wanted to go.
Speaker 2: So we landed in Dublin from Edinburgh and we drove
Speaker 2: to Donegal and so we made a quick stop at Mallingah,
Speaker 2: which is a.
Speaker 1: Little town in the west of Ireland where my mother's
Speaker 1: family is from. And years ago, so my mother's great
Speaker 1: great great great grandfather I think, was married to a
Speaker 1: woman and they had thirteen children, because of course they
Speaker 1: did Ireland in the eighteen sixties and typically were people
Speaker 1: in Ireland who have thirteen children. He had trouble feeding them,
Speaker 1: and this was during the famine, and he stole a
Speaker 1: neighbor's sheep to feed his family and he was arrested
Speaker 1: her and he was sent to a work camp in Australia.
Speaker 1: It's very Irish diaspora story. There's a million people who
Speaker 1: have stories like this in their family. And she got
Speaker 1: on a boat with her thirteen kids and came to
Speaker 1: New York. So my mother always you know, she had
Speaker 1: done my father had actually done research on her family
Speaker 1: and everything. Pardon me, I am battling my post vacation cold. Anyway,
Speaker 1: So my parents went to Mullingar sometime in the nineteen
Speaker 1: nineties and my father had done the research. My brother
Speaker 1: in law, Sean had also done a lot of research.
Speaker 1: He's an archivist, and they knew the family history. I
Speaker 1: don't think my mother grew up hearing the story about
Speaker 1: him stealing the sheep. I think that was something that
Speaker 1: was Yes, it was uncovered in this research that my
Speaker 1: father and my brother in law did. So anyway, they
Speaker 1: go to Moulangar, this is thirty years ago, and they're
Speaker 1: in a pub as one does when they're in Ireland,
Speaker 1: and they're talking to the locals as one does, and
Speaker 1: someone asks or she mentions that her family is from
Speaker 1: that area, and she's the person they were talking to.
Speaker 1: It was the bartender actually said, oh, what's the family name,
Speaker 1: and she said tore Me and he said, oh, the
Speaker 1: sheep stealers. So that sort of became legend in our
Speaker 1: family that, you know, her family was legendary for stealing
Speaker 1: sheep in this small town in the west of Ireland. Anyway,
Speaker 1: it was very charming, Like a lot of these small
Speaker 1: towns in Ireland, they don't overly pretty it up for now.
Speaker 1: They that, but it's still innately charming, which I love
Speaker 1: because I do. It reminded me of like an old
Speaker 1: beach town. Yes that's what it felt like. But yeah,
Speaker 1: afternoon there we went to the Carvery Buffet which was
Speaker 1: on weekend afternoons and just had lunch there with all
Speaker 1: the locals.
Speaker 2: It was phenomenal. And then we you know, we moved
Speaker 2: on to Donegal, which we spent a great time to
Speaker 2: have a beautiful castle there that we had.
Speaker 1: Pretty much the whole thing all to ourselves, to.
Speaker 2: Ourselves because we we went very early in the morning.
Speaker 2: Like I said, we were there for the wedding, so
Speaker 2: we didn't have a lot of time to do a
Speaker 2: lot of things, but I tried my best. So we
Speaker 2: took a bus to a town nearby which they claim
Speaker 2: is the oldest town in Ireland called what is it?
Speaker 2: Oh my god, god, I can't remember now, sham Bell
Speaker 2: and shan and thank you. Charming town.
Speaker 1: Very nice again, one of those rundown towns, but just
Speaker 1: very very charming, lots of old buildings and just very
Speaker 1: you know, you want to go to places that aren't
Speaker 1: necessarily touristy to just sort of get a sense of,
Speaker 1: you know, how people live, where people live and I
Speaker 1: really enjoyed in there. It was a really really charming town.
Speaker 1: And shout out to the mystery lesbian who found us
Speaker 1: in the church yard. We you know, as so many
Speaker 1: of these towns have, there's one very large church looking
Speaker 1: over the town and we decided to go look at
Speaker 1: it because it was an old church. That's Bally again,
Speaker 1: bally Shannon, yes, and the you know, bally Shannon and
Speaker 1: Donegal are very close to the Northern ire They're part
Speaker 1: of the Republic, but they're close to Northern Ireland, which
Speaker 1: means there is a heavy Protestant uhluence influence there. So
Speaker 1: the church is in the area and that is something
Speaker 1: I wasn't used to because I haven't been to Northern Ireland.
Speaker 1: The churches in the area were not Catholic, they were
Speaker 1: Church of Ireland anyway, so this was a Church of
Speaker 1: Ireland church had a very very old UH cemetery and
Speaker 1: we were walking around the cemetery. Town again, just the
Speaker 1: two of us, just a two of us, and this
Speaker 1: is not a touristy town, so there aren't a lot
Speaker 1: of people there, aren't. There weren't any people there. She
Speaker 1: saw she was in the churchyard as well, and I mean,
Speaker 1: maybe I shouldn't make assumptions, but my I spoke to
Speaker 1: my gay brother and his husband who were there that weekend,
Speaker 1: and we described this woman and they were like, oh, no,
Speaker 1: she was a lesbian. She had a pair of jords
Speaker 1: on and a flannel shirt, and she had a butch haircut.
Speaker 1: The way she looked at us and she was grace well,
Speaker 1: and I want to say, yeah, yeah, when we have
Speaker 1: traveled in the pit that has happened. That happens with
Speaker 1: gay people. Sometimes you see each other in a setting
Speaker 1: where there are clearly no other gay people, and you
Speaker 1: sort of you either know or you So anyway, she
Speaker 1: came up to us, and she was Irish and she
Speaker 1: came up and she said are you Are you here visiting?
Speaker 1: And she said it with a certain sense of wonder
Speaker 1: because it really isn't the kind of town you visit.
Speaker 1: And well he said yes, And she said, have you
Speaker 1: seen the famine mound? And I said no, And so
Speaker 1: she said, let me show you, and she walked us
Speaker 1: around to the back of the church. She wasn't a local,
Speaker 1: she was actually visiting for the day as well. She
Speaker 1: said her mother was from there. But she showed it
Speaker 1: to us, and that you know, famine melms exist in
Speaker 1: all over Ireland, but I'd never actually had one pointed
Speaker 1: out to me. And it was, you know, a mass grave.
Speaker 1: During the famine, they just would scoop up all the
Speaker 1: Catholics and dump them in a mass grave behind their
Speaker 1: beautiful church, English church. And she she relayed the whole
Speaker 1: story to us in very bitter tones, and I was like, yes,
Speaker 1: I hear you.
Speaker 2: Sister, and the and sadly, you can't do much about it.
Speaker 2: It's not like you can clean it up.
Speaker 1: And it's not a hill.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just a hill.
Speaker 1: They put a rock on top of it, but there's
Speaker 1: no monument, there's no nothing. And these are not uncommon.
Speaker 1: You can find these in Irish towns anyway.
Speaker 2: So it added some interesting, you know, perspective, and it
Speaker 2: was nice that she pointed out. We thanked her very
Speaker 2: much and anyway, so then, uh, after the wedding, we
Speaker 2: all went back to Dublin. The rest of the family
Speaker 2: flew back to Philadelphia, but we decided to stay a
Speaker 2: few more days because we wanted to spend you know
Speaker 2: a few more days in Doubling. And I love Doubling.
Speaker 2: I think I love it.
Speaker 1: I think we had a lovely time there.
Speaker 2: We had a lovely time there, and we went to
Speaker 2: the Bleni Museum for the first time. We did things
Speaker 2: that we hadn't done on our first trip because our
Speaker 2: first trip we pretty much covered everything. But this time
Speaker 2: we were like, all right, let's just go to places
Speaker 2: we haven't been before. The Bleni Museum. I highly recommend it.
Speaker 2: It's one of the things we did.
Speaker 1: Doublenia saying it so quickly. Double Nia Museum is the
Speaker 1: Viking Museum.
Speaker 2: Right next to the christ Church, which is my favorite
Speaker 2: church in Dublin. Anyway, we had a wonderful time, wonderful time.
Speaker 2: I want to thank the people of Ireland and Scotland.
Speaker 2: The friendliest people have ever met my life. They're so sweet,
Speaker 2: so nice, so friendly, at least to us again, and
Speaker 2: we had a wonderful time.
Speaker 1: Yes, I agree. All right, let's take another break and
Speaker 1: when we come back. Here's what we're going to talk about.
Speaker 1: We're going to quickly run through the Emmy nominations because
Speaker 1: we're very behind on that. Then we're I'm sorry, I'm
Speaker 1: rasping into this my microphone and I apologize, uh, And
Speaker 1: then we're doing little House on the Prairie. Yes, we
Speaker 1: actually watched it, and we have opinions. And then how's
Speaker 1: of the Dragon House of the Dragon? Correct, we'll be
Speaker 1: right back where back? And now we're going to jump
Speaker 1: right into the Emmy nominations, which came out while we
Speaker 1: were on vacation, and we promise you we were going
Speaker 1: to have thoughts when we record their next podcast. So
Speaker 1: here we go. First up, I'm thrill but Wire those
Speaker 1: By got a historic number of nominations, and I hope
Speaker 1: everybody sweeps.
Speaker 2: Now we'll talk about it.
Speaker 1: But anyway, what else that I'm not particularly interested in snubs,
Speaker 1: although I am kind of happy that someone like Jeremy
Speaker 1: Allen White did not get nominated for the Bear because
Speaker 1: that show was wildly over nominated. But you know, you're
Speaker 1: just I also think it's good that Stranger Things did
Speaker 1: not get any nominations because honestly, that final season sucked.
Speaker 2: I agree, but we had like what to k other
Speaker 2: day age as usual, the you know, hacks and uh
Speaker 2: snow horses.
Speaker 1: Pit of course, the pit, the pit, the pit, hacks, hacks, hacks.
Speaker 1: I really don't want hacks to win anything. And I
Speaker 1: know you must be furious that Meganstalter was nominated.
Speaker 2: I'm just I'm just annoyed that every pretty much everybody,
Speaker 2: yeah yeah, and they were annoyed that that, I forget
Speaker 2: her name. The other actress who part of the office
Speaker 2: didn't get nominated because.
Speaker 1: Jabby Hoffman, like, are you kidding me? I didn't think
Speaker 1: any of those people deserve All right, let's steal a few.
Speaker 1: Let's run through some of these. The nominations for Drama Series,
Speaker 1: The Diplomatic, Gilded Age, and Night of the Seven Kingdoms, Paradise,
Speaker 1: The Pit, Floribus, Slow Horses, Your Friends and Neighbors.
Speaker 2: Your friends and neighbors really right.
Speaker 1: The criticallly like it. I'd love love to see Slow
Speaker 1: Horses get it because this show is I mean, I
Speaker 1: think it's the critics love it, and I think it
Speaker 1: has its audience, but it doesn't get the kind of
Speaker 1: no that's juice that so many other shows get. I
Speaker 1: understand why The Pit is nominated so much. It really
Speaker 1: is an excellent show, much like Hacks was an excellent show.
Speaker 1: But the problem with the Emmys is they over nominated.
Speaker 1: They just overdo it. But I would not suggest that
Speaker 1: they don't deserve this nomination.
Speaker 2: It's a fine line, like you stop nominating them because
Speaker 2: you know you want to nominate other people, you know,
Speaker 2: even though they did a good job. You know, it's
Speaker 2: it's a tricky situation. But at the same time, it's like,
Speaker 2: I mean, how many times you know these people are
Speaker 2: gonna get nominated.
Speaker 1: I'm surprised the Guilded Age got nominated. I really don't
Speaker 1: think it's on the same level as some of these
Speaker 1: other shows. I'm also pleasantly surprised that A Night of
Speaker 1: the Seven Kingdoms was nominated, and happy to see the
Speaker 1: sloribis there. Honestly, there's no one in this group that
Speaker 1: I would be mad if they well, I know, actually
Speaker 1: there's no one in this group I would be mad
Speaker 1: if they want. If I had to pick which one
Speaker 1: I want to win, I honestly, even though I love
Speaker 1: Pluribus and I love A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,
Speaker 1: I would probably pick slow Horses that's shown deserves some recognition.
Speaker 2: In terms of deserving Yes, I see it's a little.
Speaker 1: Horses, but I can't make a prediction as who as
Speaker 1: to who's I mean, I think the pit is probably
Speaker 1: the most likely. All Right, drama lead actress Cary kuon
Speaker 1: the guilded Age Chase, Infinity, The Testaments. That's actually a
Speaker 1: little surprising, but she was in the Best Picture Winner
Speaker 1: last year. So that's what happens is with the Oscars,
Speaker 1: you get a gloss on you and it's it starts
Speaker 1: moving on to your next project. I mean, that's why
Speaker 1: it's a big deal when people get nominated or when
Speaker 1: people are in nominated films. It's very good for their career.
Speaker 2: That's why they do the Red Carpet, they do all
Speaker 2: that stuff. Yeah, they get exposure.
Speaker 1: All right. Carry kuon The Guildeage Chase, Infinity, The Testaments,
Speaker 1: Carrie Russell, The Diplomat, Rayes Seahorn, Ploribus, Zendeia Euphoria. Why
Speaker 1: do I feel like this is going to Zendaiya. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because she's got so much buzz on her. It's the
Speaker 1: final season. They killed off her character, didn't they. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so oh it's probably and they want her to show
Speaker 1: up and they want her to bring Tom Holland with her.
Speaker 2: So yeah, hope Eckett.
Speaker 1: Who would I give it to? Well, I haven't seen
Speaker 1: The Testaments. I haven't seen this season of The Diplomat.
Speaker 1: I loved ray Seahorn and Plorabas right right. I don't
Speaker 1: have a thought here. I think this is actually a
Speaker 1: very limited It doesn't really get into it right now.
Speaker 2: I think I haven't watched. I don't like Pluribus, but
Speaker 2: I think she deserves it. I mean she's great, she
Speaker 2: is great in it, she really is. She's the whole
Speaker 2: show pretty much. So yeah, i'd say her my choice,
Speaker 2: all right, nots India at all anyway.
Speaker 1: Drama lead actor Sterling K. Brown Paradise, Gary Oldman, Slow Horses,
Speaker 1: Mark Ruffalo, tesk rufus Sewell The Diplomat, Noah Wiley The Pit. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I don't have a thought. I would give Gary Oldman
Speaker 1: because I like that.
Speaker 2: Show, Slow Horses, but I think I haven't.
Speaker 1: Seen any of the other ones. I mean I saw
Speaker 1: the Pit.
Speaker 2: But The Diplomat is good, but I don't think it
Speaker 2: is that great. I think season one was great, but
Speaker 2: then it's all right now, Noah, It's gonna wain of.
Speaker 1: Course, probably all right. Drama supporting actress Taylor Deared in
Speaker 1: The Pit, Fiona d'Oro The Pit, Alis and Janny The Diplomat,
Speaker 1: Katherine le Nassa The Pit, Sepidei Moaffi The Pit, Julianne Nicholson, Paradise,
Speaker 1: Caroline Vidra, Ploribus.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: No, it's gonna be one of the one of the
Speaker 1: book girls, of course. All Right. Drama supporting actor The Pit,
Speaker 1: The Pit, The Pit, to Bit the Pit. Patrick Billy
Speaker 1: crought up The Morning Show, Sean Hatosi, The Pit, Jaron Howell,
Speaker 1: The Pit, Jack Lowdon Slow Horses, Tom Pelfrey, Task, Carlos,
Speaker 1: Manuel Vega, Ploribus. I did love him in Ploribus. He
Speaker 1: was really good.
Speaker 2: Again, is this a less season of The Pit?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: Oh, okay, Jesus, here we go. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. Yeah, I again, I'm not
Speaker 1: up on The Pit. I've watched it, but I I
Speaker 1: haven't watched them. It's not much of the most.
Speaker 2: It's not my kind of show. I know it's a
Speaker 2: great show. I know. I know they do a great job,
Speaker 2: but I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm not into medical procedurals. I know it's very good.
Speaker 1: I don't need people to tell me that I should
Speaker 1: watch it. I did catch a few episodes. High quality work.
Speaker 1: Good luck to all, I agree.
Speaker 2: All Right.
Speaker 1: Comedy series Abbot Elementary, The Bear, The Bear, Please Hacks,
Speaker 1: Marco's Got Money Troubles, nobody wants its only murders in
Speaker 1: the building, Shrinking, Widow's Bay, wid Dose Bay.
Speaker 2: I mean, if they don't give it to Widow's Bay,
Speaker 2: I will scream Hacks.
Speaker 1: Baby Now, Widows bake them on. I love Abbot Elementary,
Speaker 1: they love the Bear, but Widows Bay is the most
Speaker 1: inventive show of the year.
Speaker 2: Margo's Got Money Troubles.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't get mad at that one. One.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what I think about the show. I
Speaker 2: think it's a great show. They're all very talented. But
Speaker 2: all I can see is all I can say is
Speaker 2: the actors, the actual actress performing.
Speaker 1: That's true. I mean, it's Nicole Kidman, it's El Fanning, It's.
Speaker 2: Maybe it's my Yeah, but I can't focus on the character.
Speaker 2: Everything everybody looks like, yeah, a movie star. It's true,
Speaker 2: all right.
Speaker 1: Comedy lead actress Quinta Brunson, Abbot Elementary, Aoa deb The Bear,
Speaker 1: El Fanning, Marcus, Got Money Troubles, Lisa Kudra, the Comeback,
Speaker 1: Jean Smart Hacks. You know what give us to Lisa Coudro.
Speaker 1: I know that character has been it's been two decades
Speaker 1: working on that character. Yeah, and yeah, it deserves the recognition.
Speaker 1: It's really really good work. And it would be nice
Speaker 1: to see someone other than Jean Smart win it. She's
Speaker 1: going to win, or Quinta Brunson, She's going to win
Speaker 1: Smart again, all right, I would hate that actually, and
Speaker 1: I love Jean Smart. She has snagged several many Emmys.
Speaker 1: Five I don't think it's that many. Comedy lead actor
Speaker 1: Yay Abdlomdine wonder Man, Steve Carell, Rooster, Matthew Reese Widow's Bay,
Speaker 1: Jason Siegel Shrinking, Martin Short only murders in the building.
Speaker 1: I really don't know how it doesn't go to Matthew. Yes, you,
Speaker 1: he was high, hilarious shows so so so fun.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, Yes.
Speaker 1: Comedy Supporting actress Dale Dickey Widow's Bay, Hannah Einbinder Hacks,
Speaker 1: Jennelle James Abbott, Elementary, Katio Flynn or Kate O'Flynn widows Bay,
Speaker 1: Michelle fay for Marcus Cot money Troubles, Megan'stalter Hacks, Jessica
Speaker 1: Williams shrinking.
Speaker 2: How on earth can you put h Megan Stalter in
Speaker 2: the same case?
Speaker 1: Or Dale Dickey and Megan's Yeah, I'm sorry that. Listen.
Speaker 1: I don't get angry about her the way Lorenzo does.
Speaker 1: I think she has an appeal. I think she can
Speaker 1: be very funny. I think her appeal is more limited
Speaker 1: to like front facing camera video, you know, social media video.
Speaker 1: She was very funny in that Millia. You give her
Speaker 1: a script and a character to play, and I'm sorry
Speaker 1: she comes off not on the same level as the
Speaker 1: other actors, so to put, she's not an actress. Okay,
Speaker 1: she's a comic. I don't even mind that performance all
Speaker 1: that much, but I do not think that is an
Speaker 1: acting award level performance. And I think it's insulting to
Speaker 1: some of the other actors.
Speaker 2: Product of social media, and I'll stop at that.
Speaker 1: Personally, I think Katie o' flynn should Yeah, I keep
Speaker 1: saying Katie kat o flynn should be get widows, Bet
Speaker 1: should get them. I can't a sentence should win. But
Speaker 1: also Dale Dickey should win. I mean that that, you know,
Speaker 1: dead baby dead monologue.
Speaker 2: Dead baby, dead baby, dead baby. Come on, that was brilliant. Yes,
Speaker 2: that was hilarious, hilarious, So I'm happy.
Speaker 1: I just don't want Hannah Einbinder or Meganstallter to win this.
Speaker 1: I just don't.
Speaker 2: I hope it's Kate because every single episode she is phenomenal.
Speaker 2: She is hilarious.
Speaker 1: Okay, anyway, Yeah, Comedy supporting actor Coleman Domenico, the four seasons,
Speaker 1: Paul w Down's hacks, Harrison Ford's shrinking, Nick Offerman, Marco's
Speaker 1: Got Money trouble, Stephen root Widow's Bay, Michael Uri shrinking Tyler,
Speaker 1: James williams Abbot ELAMANSI.
Speaker 2: Again, Paul w Down, are you joking? He is not.
Speaker 2: He's a big nothing on the show. I'm sorry, he's
Speaker 2: a big nothing on the show.
Speaker 1: It's just I don't I'm not mad at those characters.
Speaker 1: I don't mind them. I just do not think he
Speaker 1: did anything that deserves an Emmy in terms of his acting.
Speaker 1: I know he's the show creator and everything, but in
Speaker 1: terms of that performance, I'm like, that's not an performance.
Speaker 2: They just pick people like listen. I adore Coleman Domingo.
Speaker 2: But the fourth season is a horrible show.
Speaker 1: Apparently the second season was better, better.
Speaker 2: But it's a horrible show.
Speaker 1: You know, so dated we're saying, but let's face it, it's
Speaker 1: going to Harrison Ford.
Speaker 2: I do oh, oh really, oh yeah, I guess.
Speaker 1: Well, he did win already, didn't that's true. No, he
Speaker 1: won a Lifetime Achievement Award last year. Yeah, and you
Speaker 1: know he's Yeah, he's old. He's old, and he's a legend,
Speaker 1: so they'll.
Speaker 2: Probably get it for him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, I'm scrolling through, scrolling through, I don't
Speaker 1: know limited series lead TV movie lead actress Claire Dane's
Speaker 1: The Beast and Me, Sally Field, remarkably bright creatures, Carrie Mulligan, Beef,
Speaker 1: Sarah Pigeon love Story, Sarah Snook all her fault. I
Speaker 1: have no opinion on any of these.
Speaker 2: I think Sarah is gonna win because this love story,
Speaker 2: Sarah picion. I have to say, Kerry Mulligan was phenomena in.
Speaker 1: Beef was a big question. You don't think it's going
Speaker 1: to Sally Field. Maybe, yes, they're going to give it
Speaker 1: to Sally Field and Harrison Ford, just so they get
Speaker 1: those two legends.
Speaker 2: The Beast in Me was terrible. It wasn't good at all.
Speaker 2: So yeah, Beef, we didn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't even finish it. I did not like it
Speaker 1: at all.
Speaker 2: I just didn't I like the performance, you know, individually.
Speaker 2: But yeah, this season wasn't Great.
Speaker 1: All Right, Limited Series TV movie lead actor Rizamed Bait,
Speaker 1: Jason Bateman, Bateman, Black Rabbit, Charlie Hannah, Monster, The Ed
Speaker 1: Guynes Story, Oscar, Isaac Beef, Matthew Reese, The Beast on
Speaker 1: me again. I don't have a Oscar.
Speaker 2: Is actually good. And Charlie he was good. Charlie Hunt
Speaker 2: he was good. I didn't like Monster, It's not my
Speaker 2: kind of show, but he was insanely good. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2: That's that those are my choice. Probably hate it's gonna win.
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna wrap it up. We're not going
Speaker 1: to get anything like best Reality competition program.
Speaker 2: Oh, supporting actress since we did the actor, there's dakotea
Speaker 2: of Fanny. You know you go.
Speaker 1: I don't have it in front of me. Oh, I
Speaker 1: thought I Limited Series TV movie, Supporting Actress. We'd actually
Speaker 1: didn't do supporting, but I guess we'll do that. Linda
Speaker 1: CARTERLINIY DT see the reason I haven't seen anything. Linda
Speaker 1: Carterolini dt F Saint Louis, Dakota Fanning all her Fault,
Speaker 1: Laurie Metcalfe metcalf Monster, The Ed guine Story, Joyce Sunday
Speaker 1: DTF Saint Louis hu Jung Yun Beef, Constant Zemmer love
Speaker 1: story I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: Was very brief and and she she was all right.
Speaker 2: Linda CARLINI is very funny in DTF Saint Louis. I
Speaker 2: watched the whole thing. Highly recommend it. It's a weird show,
Speaker 2: but very good show.
Speaker 1: All right. Limited series TV movie supporting actor Jason Bateman
Speaker 1: dt F Saint Louis, Richard Got Halfman, David Harbor dt
Speaker 1: F Saint Louis, Richard Jenkins, dt F Saint Louis, Charles Milton, Beef,
Speaker 1: nick Offerman, Death by Light, Oh, nick Offerman. I loved
Speaker 1: him in Death by Like Me.
Speaker 2: It was great.
Speaker 1: He was so good in that.
Speaker 2: Again, Jason Bateman was great in DTF Saint Louis. Also
Speaker 2: the weirdest show I have watched in a long time.
Speaker 2: Half Man, but Richard God again, I don't know how
Speaker 2: you pronounce his name is. He's very good at it,
Speaker 2: but he's a weird My god, what a weird show. Yeah,
Speaker 2: really f stop show. But he was good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that guy's got to work through his isshes. I
Speaker 1: think instead of getting budgets for TV shows anyway that
Speaker 1: can clude your thoughts on uh this year's Emmy nominations.
Speaker 1: Let's jump right into Little House. I have a lot
Speaker 1: of things I want to say right which I didn't
Speaker 1: think I would. So Netflix has dined a remake of
Speaker 1: Little House on the Prairie. I don't feel like I
Speaker 1: need to explain this, but in I knew it was
Speaker 1: an iconic, legendary pardon me television series in the nineteen
Speaker 1: seventies and nineteen eighties, and Gen X and baby boomers
Speaker 1: have some very very strong feelings about that that show,
Speaker 1: those characters. When the show was announced, I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I guess. I mean, I'm not opposed to them redoing it.
Speaker 1: The old show it debuted over fifty years ago, went
Speaker 1: off the air over forty years ago, and it really
Speaker 1: isn't in reruns any I mean that you can find it,
Speaker 1: but I don't think it's like part of the culture
Speaker 1: the way it once was.
Speaker 2: Right I Netflick announced and we put it on our site,
Speaker 2: and I was like, well, that's kind of exciting Sometimes
Speaker 2: a show I like, I don't mind having it redone.
Speaker 2: The only thing I will scream if they redo it
Speaker 2: is the sound of music. But that's the only movie no, no,
Speaker 2: but anything else, yeah, why not? So I saw we
Speaker 2: posted on our site the preview and all that, and
Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, that looks interesting because what I
Speaker 2: like about these remakes is that they have the money
Speaker 2: and the technology to do something great. Right, you know,
Speaker 2: it's gonna look better, it's going to look incredible, and
Speaker 2: the costumes and the people and everything. So I'm I
Speaker 2: always I'm always interested. And Netflick gave us the screeners
Speaker 2: way back. I can't even remember when. So I watched
Speaker 2: them a long time ago. I watched the whole thing
Speaker 2: a long time ago, and then all of a sudden
Speaker 2: we never heard about it anymore. I was like, why
Speaker 2: is the Netflix taking so long to drop this? And
Speaker 2: I was a little worried. I was like, it's that
Speaker 2: because it's not good. They're trying to fix it or something,
Speaker 2: because sometimes that happened. They dropped the screen iss so
Speaker 2: that people can watch it and give their opinion and
Speaker 2: they go back and fix it. But so I watched
Speaker 2: it a long time ago, and then Tom wanted to
Speaker 2: talk about it on the podcast. I was like, Oh,
Speaker 2: let me rewatch the whole thing. And I have to
Speaker 2: say my second watch, I love the whole thing.
Speaker 1: Here's what I want to say. Okay, first off, I
Speaker 1: don't have some sort of connection to the old show.
Speaker 1: I watched it and when I was a kid. I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure I loved it when I was a kid,
Speaker 1: but it's not something i've watched in the years since.
Speaker 1: In fact, last night I went and I found I
Speaker 1: watched an old episode just so I could have a
Speaker 1: point of comparison to this, because no, I don't have like, oh,
Speaker 1: I remember this one. I remember that. I mean, I
Speaker 1: remember the episode where Mary went blind or whatever, but
Speaker 1: I don't really.
Speaker 2: I was obsessed with the TV show, and that's my
Speaker 2: point of reference. I love those characters, loved everything about it.
Speaker 1: I mean I did, but I don't have strong You
Speaker 1: haven't watched that show in forty years.
Speaker 2: Since, but I watched all the time, many times.
Speaker 1: So I still remember my grandmother, who lived with us
Speaker 1: when I was a kid, saying that she would have
Speaker 1: kicked missus Olsen in the face. And my grandmother was
Speaker 1: not someone who spoke that way, but she has hate
Speaker 1: that family and anyway, so when I and also, and
Speaker 1: this might seem unusual for a boy for a man,
Speaker 1: but I read all the books and the reason I
Speaker 1: read all the books is because someone bought my one
Speaker 1: of my sisters a box set.
Speaker 2: And how many books, it's like, I don't know, I don't.
Speaker 1: Know, seven or eight, and I was probably too old
Speaker 1: for them. I think these were bought for my younger sisters.
Speaker 1: But I was curious and no one was reading them,
Speaker 1: and I picked up the one about her husband the
Speaker 1: first before I picked up the other books. I think
Speaker 1: it's like the third book in the series, and it's
Speaker 1: about him growing up as a little boy on a farm.
Speaker 1: So to me, you know, that was my entry into it,
Speaker 1: and it was enjoyable, and I thought, all right, I'll
Speaker 1: read the rest of them, and I did. I read
Speaker 1: the entire series. Now again, I don't have strong memories
Speaker 1: of the series, the book series. I remembered tearing through
Speaker 1: them and finding them interesting enough, and it was a
Speaker 1: nice way to compare what you to what you saw
Speaker 1: on the TV show. I don't remember. Again, I was
Speaker 1: still young. I was no more than a young teenager.
Speaker 1: I don't remember having any revelation like, boy, these books
Speaker 1: are kind of racist or anything like that. That was
Speaker 1: something I had to learned about much later that that,
Speaker 1: you know, Laura Ingles Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane,
Speaker 1: who basically co wrote these books. First off, they had
Speaker 1: very problematic politics. They were both libertarians, they were both
Speaker 1: opposed to everything. Yeah, and part of the books, the
Speaker 1: books were written partially in response to that. There was
Speaker 1: a political component to how those books were written, and
Speaker 1: that component is that they largely they didn't completely fictionalize
Speaker 1: these accounts, but they cleaned them up, and they they
Speaker 1: wanted to tell a specific story of heart of family
Speaker 1: overcoming hardship all on its own without anybody's help a little,
Speaker 1: and also scary Indians and scary black people.
Speaker 2: Right. My understanding is that the first season of on Netflix,
Speaker 2: it's based on the third book because Laura was too
Speaker 2: young in the first and the second book, and they
Speaker 2: wanted to have her a little older. That's my understanding.
Speaker 2: I could be wrong. So there are eight books I
Speaker 2: just checked. Maybe because it just obviously it's already renewed
Speaker 2: for second season, maybe they'll do flashbacks and go back
Speaker 2: to the first and the second book.
Speaker 1: Well, and so we'll say, why don't we take a
Speaker 1: short break and we'll come back and get into the
Speaker 1: actual series and how we feel about it. We'll be
Speaker 1: right back. We're back talking about Little House on the Prairie.
Speaker 1: So I didn't go into this. I didn't go into
Speaker 1: this with much of anything. I didn't have a lot
Speaker 1: of thoughts about it, even though yes, I had a
Speaker 1: connection to the old TV show, I read the old books,
Speaker 1: but this was very, very long a time ago, and
Speaker 1: I would not count either one of those as formative
Speaker 1: experiences for me. There are TV shows from my childhood
Speaker 1: that are loom large in my memory, but Little House
Speaker 1: is simply not one of them. I I watched it,
Speaker 1: everybody watched it, but I just don't have a lot,
Speaker 1: see I. I didn't come into it with, well, they
Speaker 1: better do this and they better do that.
Speaker 2: Oh it was one of my favorite shows because I
Speaker 2: also like western So the whole thing was, you know,
Speaker 2: my thing. When I when Netflix announced the show, I
Speaker 2: was I was curious. I was like, all right, uh,
Speaker 2: how how are they going to do these stories without
Speaker 2: sounding to racist? Or are they going to approach this
Speaker 2: you know or the you know, how are they going
Speaker 2: to approach all these hot topics and the cast and
Speaker 2: all that, you know, how are they going to do it?
Speaker 2: So I was curious they couldn't just do the old
Speaker 2: version anymore.
Speaker 1: So here's my thing. It's not bad. Uh, It's a
Speaker 1: perfectly enjoyable family oriented drama. Uh, it's it's probably every
Speaker 1: once in a while I would get all up about
Speaker 1: some thing on the show, and then I realized I
Speaker 1: would pull back and go, you know, it really is
Speaker 1: meant for kids, Like this is a family drama. They
Speaker 1: are the lead character as a little girl. She is
Speaker 1: the entry character, the identification character. So yes, this show
Speaker 1: is in many ways meant for kids. So I have
Speaker 1: some complaints and criticism about it, but ultimately I would
Speaker 1: wind up describing a very different show. Here's my point.
Speaker 1: It's very pretty, and that is my main issue with
Speaker 1: it is that it is so pretty. And I did
Speaker 1: I went back to look at the old TV show
Speaker 1: because I was like, am I misremembering it? And the
Speaker 1: old TV show was fairly pretty as well. It was
Speaker 1: a very pretty vide. And when I say pretty, I
Speaker 1: mean there's a scene where thereby a creek the little
Speaker 1: girls and they're in white dresses with flower crowns, and
Speaker 1: I'm just like, Okay, everyone was filthy back then, Okay
Speaker 1: in that they were not, And I'm not suggesting they
Speaker 1: were rolling around in their filth. I mean, people wore
Speaker 1: clean clothes, people showered, you know, they didn't actually, but
Speaker 1: it's all white teeth and clean fingernails and shiny hair.
Speaker 1: And it was like that on the seventies TV show
Speaker 1: as well. So this is not a new complaint. But
Speaker 1: the show is very pretty. I mean, at one point
Speaker 1: there's like tablecloths and flowers in vases, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: these are pioneer people. They are living a subsistence level existence.
Speaker 1: There was a point in the first four or five
Speaker 1: episodes where I was and there's only eight episodes where
Speaker 1: I was like, well, hell are these people eating? What
Speaker 1: are they eating? Because they're not doing anything to put
Speaker 1: again food. And that would be a family of four
Speaker 1: on the prairie in eighteen seventy whatever every single day
Speaker 1: would be at to figure out what you're gonna eat
Speaker 1: that day, because you have to realize that the setup
Speaker 1: for there. They arrive in Independence, Kansas, they have nothing.
Speaker 1: They don't even have a house. They have a wagon
Speaker 1: with whatever they took with them. But he has to
Speaker 1: build a house and they have to figure out a subsistence,
Speaker 1: you know, some and the question of what they're eating.
Speaker 1: Isn't even answered until like the sixth or seventh episode,
Speaker 1: where suddenly a crop of corn springs up next to
Speaker 1: the house. We never saw him plant a single seed
Speaker 1: to you know, plow a field. Nothing. That work is
Speaker 1: backbreaking and it requires a team of people. But somehow
Speaker 1: he did that on all on his own in between episodes. Similarly,
Speaker 1: and this was actually when I enjoyed the series. I
Speaker 1: truly did, and I I don't think it's foolish to
Speaker 1: expect a certain level of realism as to the hardship
Speaker 1: of that life, even for a family drama for children.
Speaker 1: I think you can get into a little bit more
Speaker 1: of just how hard. There was a snow storm at
Speaker 1: one point, and they were all excited about the snow,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, no, no, these people would be freezing.
Speaker 2: They would worry about whether they were.
Speaker 1: Going to survive it. There's no insulation, there's no heater.
Speaker 1: I don't even think there was a fireplace in that cabin.
Speaker 1: They had like a stove. Oh no, wait, they did
Speaker 1: have a fireplace. Yes, he built that whole cabin with
Speaker 1: him and this other guy. And that's the other thing.
Speaker 1: And this is the problem when you have stories with
Speaker 1: children in them, and you want that story to take
Speaker 1: place over a long period of time. I mean they
Speaker 1: showed up, He built a house, she took an entire
Speaker 1: pregnancy to term, had a baby, They grew an entire crop,
Speaker 1: and those little girls did not age a day. They
Speaker 1: looked exactly the same as they did in the first episode.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, it's got to be a year and
Speaker 1: a half later they would And that's asking for a
Speaker 1: different show. I'm asking for a show where they show
Speaker 1: dirty fingernails, where they show people freezing to death, where
Speaker 1: they show people wondering where they're gonna eat next. See
Speaker 1: that's what happened to her men, and where they recast
Speaker 1: the young actresses, you know, so to show that time
Speaker 1: has pit. But that's not what they're going to do.
Speaker 1: And I can make peace with that. But the Christmas
Speaker 1: episode was the episode where Caroline gives birth, and I
Speaker 1: was like, come the f on, just a couple you know,
Speaker 1: she breathes, She's not even a scene of her pushing,
Speaker 1: there's nothing. She's just like, I'm nervous, my sisters aren't here.
Speaker 1: I've never done this before. And then you hear baby crying,
Speaker 1: and all I could think not to be brutal here
Speaker 1: because they're in a one room cabin in the snow,
Speaker 1: and I'm just like, okay, that that bed would be messy.
Speaker 1: And i mean there's like a little white curtain and
Speaker 1: I'm like, that curtain would be splashed. Are you kidding me?
Speaker 2: See, that's what happens when you watch a show with
Speaker 2: someone who went to film school.
Speaker 1: It's like, come on, she's a woman on the prayer,
Speaker 1: a pioneer woman giving birth. You cannot even kids can
Speaker 1: handle that, you know what. That would be a hard situation.
Speaker 1: That would be a bad situation. Didn't even have to
Speaker 1: see it. But oh and that was the other thing.
Speaker 1: Because it was Christmas Day, of course a bunch of
Speaker 1: people showed up. Because I'll get into this that they
Speaker 1: treat the prairie like it's suburban New Jersey or something
Speaker 1: like that. At one point, the the little girl, good Eagle,
Speaker 1: the Native American girl, she's going into town for something
Speaker 1: and the mother is like, okay, i'll pick you up later,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, an Indigenous woman in eighteen seventy would
Speaker 1: never have uttered that sentence. It's just not how i'll
Speaker 1: pick you up? What in her car.
Speaker 2: Anyway.
Speaker 1: Yes, So at Christmas Day, everybody shows up near hours
Speaker 1: after Caroline gave birth, and she is walking around, she's
Speaker 1: holding a dinner, she's sitting at a table. I'm like,
Speaker 1: that woman would not have left bed for like three days,
Speaker 1: are you kidding me? And she would not have had
Speaker 1: any visitors. People are coming in from a snowstorm to
Speaker 1: a newborn baby. And I realized that, you know, they
Speaker 1: didn't know things about germs and shit like that, but
Speaker 1: come on, and that's when they lose I told you
Speaker 1: I le to say about this show, and that's when
Speaker 1: they lose me. I'm like, I know it's a fantasy.
Speaker 1: I know it has to be prettified for people. I
Speaker 1: get it, But there you don't. I mean, you could
Speaker 1: at least acknowledge that giving birth in that situation is
Speaker 1: extremely dangerous and messy. You don't have to show everything
Speaker 1: but to completely gloss over it. Similarly, like, I realize
Speaker 1: we have to go with a fantasy here, and somehow
Speaker 1: he's feeding his family of four, but we need to
Speaker 1: see him planting. We need to see him doing some
Speaker 1: of that farming work, because even a city boy like
Speaker 1: me knows that is backbreaking work. That would take months, Like,
Speaker 1: you can't do that off camera. You have to acknowledge it, right.
Speaker 1: There was a scene, there was an episode where the
Speaker 1: whole family had fever, and you know, you're watching this
Speaker 1: episode and pardon me, I do want to acknowledge that
Speaker 1: the show does acknowledge that there's hardship here. You know,
Speaker 1: people get exposed to things. There's danger, there's wolves, and
Speaker 1: there's you know, all kinds of stuff. There's that the
Speaker 1: guy goes down to the bottom the well and he
Speaker 1: almost dies.
Speaker 2: But it's dealt with very quickly.
Speaker 1: It's all dealt with very quickly, very clean, it is.
Speaker 1: And the one where they all had the fever, I'm
Speaker 1: watching it and I'm thinking, well, no one in this
Speaker 1: cabin is going to die because they're all the they're
Speaker 1: the Ingles family. I know they're going to live. So
Speaker 1: all the drama goes out of that scene. And it
Speaker 1: made me realize, you know, and I think the old
Speaker 1: show did this. You can't kill off the Ingles family.
Speaker 1: You can't put them through too too much because they
Speaker 1: are the lead characters. Yes, Mary goes blind and I
Speaker 1: think Caroline loses a baby or whatever, but you can't
Speaker 1: have them go through too much because they're the leads.
Speaker 1: So in that instance, what you do, and like I said,
Speaker 1: I think the old show did this is you put
Speaker 1: other characters through shit to show how bad things could get.
Speaker 1: And that was the thing with that fever episode. I
Speaker 1: was like, you know, I need to see a cabin
Speaker 1: of dead people, right so that now I'm worried that
Speaker 1: this will happen to the Ingles, like they had that
Speaker 1: doctor going around and like they could have just had
Speaker 1: a scene where he comes upon a family and they
Speaker 1: all died, and then everything that's happening and the Ingles
Speaker 1: family cabin becomes that much more. And that's the thing.
Speaker 1: The show never wants to get to that point. It
Speaker 1: brings certain things up, but it never really engages with him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry everyone. So here's where we bring up the
Speaker 1: indigenous question. The way the show, you know, focused on
Speaker 1: the Indigenous people, the way I mean the old show
Speaker 1: never did. The books were racist as hells during the Indigenous.
Speaker 2: I don't remember did they have did they have a
Speaker 2: black people in in the on the TV series? I
Speaker 2: don't remember that.
Speaker 1: Yes they did. True, and actually doctor Tanner is a
Speaker 1: real character from the books. There was a black doctor
Speaker 1: in an Independence.
Speaker 2: I see. I never read the books, but that's interesting.
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 2: I think it's interesting to introduce those characters.
Speaker 1: I think it's admirable. I think it's the correct choice.
Speaker 1: I think they there's no way to write that all
Speaker 1: like all the white people in Independence are stealing land
Speaker 1: from the Osage, and right, the original TV series as
Speaker 1: well as the books, never really acknowledged that. But this series,
Speaker 1: the entire season is that's the main question is how
Speaker 1: are we going to live with these people? And do
Speaker 1: we even have the right to live here? And are
Speaker 1: they going to stay or is the government going to
Speaker 1: force them out? So and I'm glad the show wrestled
Speaker 1: with these things, but in the end only one thing
Speaker 1: could happen, which is that the Osage all get forced out.
Speaker 1: And you have to somehow do that in a way
Speaker 1: that doesn't make the Engles family look like monsters, right,
Speaker 1: And they kind of flub it on that they.
Speaker 2: Introduced to subjects. But but you know, but it's very
Speaker 2: lightly like the whole thing when when two Native American
Speaker 2: men robbed them, robbed them and got into the cabin,
Speaker 2: you know, and did what they did.
Speaker 1: I mean, we know that's from the books.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you know historically that they you know, a
Speaker 2: lot more happened in those situations. But of course they're
Speaker 2: not going to do any any scene like that.
Speaker 1: But that is a scene from the books. And they didn't,
Speaker 1: you know, they didn't beat them or rape them. In
Speaker 1: the books. According to Laura, they came, they stole some
Speaker 1: things in the left and what the series does is
Speaker 1: they And that's actually a scene apparently in the pilot
Speaker 1: episode of the original series. They it's it's the men
Speaker 1: come into the cabin and steal things, but it's stayed
Speaker 1: out in this version because the men are given dialogue, right,
Speaker 1: and that dialogue is the two of them discussing how
Speaker 1: these white people have stolen everything from them, have hunted
Speaker 1: their meat, have chopped down their trees. And that's the
Speaker 1: admirable part here, is that they are giving voice to
Speaker 1: the o sage and they're not making it, you know,
Speaker 1: entirely about the white people's perspective. They also, I thought
Speaker 1: this was admirable, made Caroline a little racist. She gets
Speaker 1: over it very quickly, and she becomes this paragon of
Speaker 1: racial equality by the end of the season. And I
Speaker 1: did not find it believable at all. But I like
Speaker 1: that they at least allowed her to have that moment
Speaker 1: that felt like, all right, well, she sounds like a
Speaker 1: nineteenth century moment, and she sounds a little racist.
Speaker 2: A little hint there because when they ask who's the
Speaker 2: other students? Who else she's she's teaching and she doesn't
Speaker 2: say right, So that yeah.
Speaker 1: They also allowed the Charles at least early on in
Speaker 1: the story in the season. If you've ever read the books,
Speaker 1: or if you've ever actually, if you've read about them,
Speaker 1: and there have been books written about the Ingles family
Speaker 1: that weren't written by Laura Ingleswilder, he was a loser
Speaker 1: and he was an idiot, and he was a really
Speaker 1: irresponsible man who put his family through hell, and they
Speaker 1: bounced around from state to state to state, and he
Speaker 1: had crops fail and he had houses burned down, and
Speaker 1: he just wasn't a stable man. And the show wrestles
Speaker 1: with that a little bit. They first off, he makes
Speaker 1: some choices and like, what are you an idiot? Like?
Speaker 1: He makes some choices that seem a little reckless and everything,
Speaker 1: and the season, the story takes him to task more
Speaker 1: than once for not being honest with his family. His
Speaker 1: daughter takes him to task word his wife.
Speaker 2: Things from his wife.
Speaker 1: So they allow him to be they allow her to
Speaker 1: be a little racist and him to be a little stupid,
Speaker 1: but they really don't take it far they I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously they can't. You can't have lead characters that are
Speaker 1: dumb and racist. You have to sort of teach them
Speaker 1: a lesson. So everything sort of gets glossed, everything gets washed,
Speaker 1: and you know, so, yes, we're talking about the play
Speaker 1: to the Indigenous, we're talking about the os Age being
Speaker 1: forced out, but we're doing it in such a way
Speaker 1: so that Caroline and Charles feel bad, you know, and
Speaker 1: this is just anist, but they're still going to What
Speaker 1: I loved is how they ended it this season. Yes,
Speaker 1: because here's the thing. The Ingles family in the books
Speaker 1: bounced around all over the place. They you know, the
Speaker 1: the TV series in the seventies and eighties, it kept
Speaker 1: it was like nine or ten seasons of them living
Speaker 1: in one place, and that wasn't always the case with them.
Speaker 1: The books were all over the place. They moved at spoiler,
Speaker 1: the season ends with them leaving. And I didn't think
Speaker 1: they were going to do it, like literally right up
Speaker 1: until the end. I was like, they're not going to
Speaker 1: do it, They're not going to be bold enough to
Speaker 1: do it. But they did it because they introduced all
Speaker 1: these side characters, all these people in the town, and
Speaker 1: all of them are gone. Now that I do love.
Speaker 1: That's very true to the pioneer existence.
Speaker 2: I was very happy with that because I was like,
Speaker 2: I was kind of fall in love with those people
Speaker 2: in a way, and then we're not going to see
Speaker 2: They're not going to see them going to be introduced
Speaker 2: to a new group of people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they So the season ends with them and
Speaker 1: they're supposedly heading to Walmut Grove, which is where the
Speaker 1: TV series was set, and they show the ols in
Speaker 1: general stores, so obviously they're going to have the Uls.
Speaker 1: I think they were already cast, but they can't wait.
Speaker 2: They can't wait to see them family.
Speaker 1: But it's it's a perfectly pleasant show. I think it's
Speaker 1: perfectly it's perfect for kids, like I would recommend this
Speaker 1: to anyone who your family, who if you want some
Speaker 1: family time, this is a good show. My criticisms are
Speaker 1: because I would have enjoyed a grittier, more realistic take
Speaker 1: on things, but that's clearly not what this show is
Speaker 1: meant to be, so taking it on its own terms,
Speaker 1: it's a pleasanter version. The men are hot.
Speaker 2: The men what I was like, what the hell?
Speaker 1: I don't remember all the men on the old show
Speaker 1: being this, But every time I turned around, well, you
Speaker 1: know why because they shot this in Canada, so it's
Speaker 1: all these hot Canadian actors, you know, playing like pioneer men.
Speaker 1: But yeah, there's a lot of really good looking looking yes,
Speaker 1: and that's it. That's our thoughts on Little House recommended,
Speaker 1: but only if you want light entertainment, if you're looking
Speaker 1: for pioneer life or anything like that, I'm sorry. It's
Speaker 1: not what I like in it. Too is the original
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five Anne of green Gables. That's what it
Speaker 1: reminded me most of in terms of its esthetic. And
Speaker 1: I don't think that aesthetic works for this because Anti
Speaker 1: green Gables was not about pioneer people and subsistence living.
Speaker 1: It was about people who had a pretty nice life
Speaker 1: so you could pritify it. That was my issue with
Speaker 1: this version is that it's too too pretty. And the
Speaker 1: thing about the Anna green Gables connection, I think that
Speaker 1: was very deliberate. And in the episode where they have
Speaker 1: the fever. Laura has a hallucination where she sees her grandmother.
Speaker 1: And I watched that scene and I'm like, who is
Speaker 1: that woman? Because they really seemed to focus on the
Speaker 1: grandmother who came out of nowhere. And it turns out
Speaker 1: that's Megan Follows, who was Anna green Gables. I did
Speaker 1: not recognize her because forty some odd years had passed
Speaker 1: and she's old enough to play a grandmother now. But
Speaker 1: when I realized that was her and it was a cameo,
Speaker 1: she's uncredited in it, I was like, all right, so
Speaker 1: this is deliberate. You don't give someone like that a
Speaker 1: cameo unless you were making a statement about what kind
Speaker 1: of show you're making. And this, Yeah, she's kind of
Speaker 1: passing the torts from that show to this one. And
Speaker 1: that's fine. I would have liked, like I said, dirty
Speaker 1: fingernails and you know, dry hair.
Speaker 2: And blood splashed all over buring bed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, God, damn it, bare lest. She couldn't scream a
Speaker 1: little bit, she couldn't make it. Oh my god, she's
Speaker 1: walking around in a dressing gown an hour later, taking
Speaker 1: people in and serving them. I don't know. Rabbit stew on.
Speaker 2: Christmas Day, Oh please, all.
Speaker 1: Right, another break and we'll be back and we'll wrap
Speaker 1: up by talking about game. I'm not Game of Thrones.
Speaker 1: House of the Dragon. We are back and we have
Speaker 1: three episodes of House of the Dragon to get through.
Speaker 1: We just talked about this while the mics were off,
Speaker 1: because you know, we went away on vacation. We have
Speaker 1: not We had to catch up on three episodes by
Speaker 1: last night. There's no way we can just recap all three.
Speaker 1: We would be here for another hour and a half.
Speaker 2: However, I have to say I really enjoyed them.
Speaker 1: I am enjoying this season quite a bit. My initial
Speaker 1: complains about this season are mostly dealt with, except for one,
Speaker 1: which I will get to. But the clarity of the
Speaker 1: writing is I'm very grateful for because it is very
Speaker 1: easy to keep track of what's going on. And when
Speaker 1: the season started, I was like, I have no idea,
Speaker 1: I can't remember. It's been eleven years since I watched
Speaker 1: an episode. But they're doing a very good job of
Speaker 1: bouncing around from location to location. And when Game of
Speaker 1: Thrones was really hitting, when it was on all cylinders,
Speaker 1: when it was at its best, this is what it
Speaker 1: was like. They sent characters off in all these different
Speaker 1: directions exactly, and you were able to follow along on
Speaker 1: each of their journeys.
Speaker 2: So I like kind of like Lord of the Rings too,
Speaker 2: you know, like the different stories going on at the
Speaker 2: same time, different parts of the planet very much.
Speaker 1: So one of the things. You know, it was a
Speaker 1: shock when the season great basically started with when you
Speaker 1: were taking the Throne. I did not think they were
Speaker 1: going to go directly to that. But by the end
Speaker 1: of last night's episode, I realized, you know, we are
Speaker 1: in the endgame here. There's only another season after this.
Speaker 1: There's only like really, yeah, there's only like I don't know,
Speaker 1: ten eleven episodes left to tell this story. And if
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not I don't think I'm spoiling anything
Speaker 1: by suggect. If you've seen Game of Thrones, then you
Speaker 1: have to realize this story is going to end badly
Speaker 1: for almost everybody in the story. So we are heading
Speaker 1: towards the endgame, and I'm feeling that sense of doom, like,
Speaker 1: oh wow, this is not going to work out. What
Speaker 1: I like about Rhanira's reign is and you know, we
Speaker 1: can unpack this. In fact, this is something I think
Speaker 1: we should unpack rather than trying to recap the whole thing.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of discussion this season among critics that
Speaker 1: the show is doing a very good job, of course,
Speaker 1: correcting on the basically the Danaris story from Game of Thrones,
Speaker 1: which is largely considered they fucked up that story. They
Speaker 1: never got that character to the point where her going
Speaker 1: crazy made sense. Her heel turn at the in the
Speaker 1: final two episodes was considered poorly handled.
Speaker 2: Well, people are making the connection that this one is
Speaker 2: going crazy too. Well.
Speaker 1: That's my point is that I think a lot of
Speaker 1: a lot of critics are pointing out they are actually
Speaker 1: doing the Danera story correctly this time, right, and they
Speaker 1: So it's interesting to watch Rhaniera And I gotta say,
Speaker 1: Emma Darcy Man, holy shit, they are going to get
Speaker 1: nominated for this season, and I really really hope they
Speaker 1: win because the work they're doing, the subtlety of the
Speaker 1: work that they're doing as well as the more powerful
Speaker 1: still like when her son dies, you know, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: well I'm not getting into that again. The actor is
Speaker 1: non binary, but the.
Speaker 2: Character is well we do anyway.
Speaker 1: Anyway. Uh So I like that Rhinera is not a
Speaker 1: good queen.
Speaker 2: No, she's terrible.
Speaker 1: She's not good at it. And this is kind of
Speaker 1: what I want to unpack, Like when you look at
Speaker 1: the story of the Dance of the Dragons and the
Speaker 1: Song of Ice and Fire, Ultimately these stories come down
Speaker 1: to queen's in a patriarchal system. It was Seriously and
Speaker 1: Denaris and Sansa at the end of Game of Thrones
Speaker 1: all trying to exert power, and now it's Rhinia, and
Speaker 1: prior to her, it was Allison exerting their power, and
Speaker 1: the series, both series the franchise seems to be coming
Speaker 1: down on the you shouldn't let women rule because a
Speaker 1: bad at it, Like that's the story over and over
Speaker 1: and over again. Now obviously that's not what the story
Speaker 1: is saying. What the story is saying is that women
Speaker 1: are not able to rule in a patriarchal system. There
Speaker 1: are so many forces against them, and they are not
Speaker 1: And this is what I think is coming with Ryania.
Speaker 1: And what they didn't make clear enough with Deanaris is
Speaker 1: that maybe she deserves to rule, maybe she could have
Speaker 1: been a great queen, but literally nobody trained her. She
Speaker 1: has no training and she does not know what This
Speaker 1: was very true of Danaris, even though it wasn't as
Speaker 1: articulated with her, and it's much more articulated with right mirror,
Speaker 1: where you can see she does not know what the
Speaker 1: hell she's doing and no one trained her to do it. No,
Speaker 1: And she's very stubborn too, So there is stubborn. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of stubborn and there's a lot of pride there.
Speaker 2: And like the whole thing about the coronation, like it
Speaker 2: was just lady, people are dying, right, People are hungry
Speaker 2: out there. They're mad at you. Everybody's angry at you,
Speaker 2: and you want to, you know, have a celebration. So yeah,
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. And nobody's guiding her there. Some
Speaker 2: are afraid of her, some don't care, some are rooting
Speaker 2: to that she fails. It's interesting. That dynamic is interesting.
Speaker 2: I think my favorite character actually is Alison. I think
Speaker 2: she she's evil, she's oldad, but she understands.
Speaker 1: I love Olivia Cook's performed. Yes, she understands. Alison is
Speaker 1: an asshole, right, but I do of her performance. Here's
Speaker 1: that's This was the criticism I had about the show
Speaker 1: going into the season, and I still have this criticism.
Speaker 1: I didn't read the books that this is based on,
Speaker 1: but I've read the summaries, and I know where the
Speaker 1: story goes, and I know what Martin's intention was for
Speaker 1: these characters. And Alison and Rainier are unquestionably bad people
Speaker 1: in the writing of these stories, and the show does
Speaker 1: not want to commit to that, and I guess the
Speaker 1: thinking is, well, we have to.
Speaker 2: Give them a little bit of a soul, Yeah, I guess,
Speaker 2: because like.
Speaker 1: So with Raniira, she's a bad queen, but it's because, oh,
Speaker 1: there's so many forces against her, and she doesn't know
Speaker 1: what she's doing. It's not because she's an evil bitch,
Speaker 1: but she kind of is an evil bitch. I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I.
Speaker 2: Mean, the thing is with Alison, for example, I mean
Speaker 2: she's offering her kids to be slaughtered, you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: that's how evil she is. And right, but even that,
Speaker 2: they it's a whole yeah, yeah, yeah. She's so conflicted
Speaker 2: and she's so scared and she's just trying to protect
Speaker 2: Helene or whatever it is. And with right Nira, like
Speaker 2: her guards go out and they slaughter people because she
Speaker 2: told them to go out and handle the graffiti that
Speaker 2: was being written aboutter But it's presented like, oh, sir,
Speaker 2: Luther took her her you know, her orders too far,
Speaker 2: and she didn't mean it like they.
Speaker 1: Are actually saying no, no, She she there should be yes.
Speaker 1: She should be sitting on the throne saying I want
Speaker 1: these people dead, right because that's who that that character
Speaker 1: would make more sense.
Speaker 2: Right she and and you can tell that that's what
Speaker 2: she wants. I mean, she's she's evil. She makes to
Speaker 2: you know, she she wants him to do the thing
Speaker 2: she tells them to do. But I I don't know,
Speaker 2: it just feels like they're making again. It's it's pretty
Speaker 2: much every show I think in general. They want you
Speaker 2: to have both sides. They want you to have that
Speaker 2: person making evil comments. But at the same time, oh,
Speaker 2: she's questioning her decisions. She's questioning what she's gonna do
Speaker 2: or she's doing. And you can see that, I mean,
Speaker 2: like you can see those two ladies talking. For example.
Speaker 1: I apologize for that. We had to cut the mics
Speaker 1: because I was about to explode into a coughing fit
Speaker 1: into my microphone. It's fascinating. I am literally getting sicker
Speaker 1: over the course of this podcast. If you rewind to
Speaker 1: the beginning of it, I probably sound a lot better
Speaker 1: than I do right now, and I think we need
Speaker 1: to wrap this up because I'm getting sick. So yes, Ryanira,
Speaker 1: I would. I really think Emma's doing an amazing job.
Speaker 1: I like that the show has allowed this character to
Speaker 1: be a bad queen, although I do think it raises
Speaker 1: questions about does this story have an issue with women
Speaker 1: taking power? But I really wish they would make her evil.
Speaker 1: As you said, they kind of dance around it with
Speaker 1: Alison that she is obviously not a good mother, but
Speaker 1: they again it's all like, well, forces have made her.
Speaker 1: You know, she had to sleep with Vizaras and all
Speaker 1: of that's true. I'm not taking that away from it.
Speaker 1: But I really just wish they would let these two
Speaker 1: main characters be horrible, horrible people, because the story would
Speaker 1: actually make much more sense if they were.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, I mean it. It would make more
Speaker 2: the decisions would make more sense the and and you'd
Speaker 2: have a better point of view.
Speaker 1: I think, as I asked, the show struggles with trying
Speaker 1: to make both of them like heroines of a sort
Speaker 1: and like they're not heroines. Everything they've done from the
Speaker 1: beginning of the story has been awful.
Speaker 2: I mean, to be honest, everyone, everyone is horrible in
Speaker 2: this show, every single one of them.
Speaker 1: Ormond High Tower, Oh my.
Speaker 2: God, I was not expecting that at all. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: thought he was just a not not necessarily psycho God's idea.
Speaker 1: The show was very good at doing these evil characters
Speaker 1: that you just want to want. You just want to
Speaker 1: watch that guy because he's crazy and evil, and of course.
Speaker 2: He's the costume James Norton looks amazing. The costume is point.
Speaker 1: Right near her and and Alison are not given that
Speaker 1: opportunity to be these raging bitches, like seriously, was like that,
Speaker 1: Like she was the most hated character on the old show,
Speaker 1: but people also loved her.
Speaker 2: Oh the Ormond called called her a bitch with with
Speaker 2: a bit with a dragon, a bitch with a dragon.
Speaker 1: But yes, that's my point. He's great. He's one of
Speaker 1: the best new things about the series. Also still loving
Speaker 1: Alice Rivers the Witch's phenomenon. She love her and they
Speaker 1: actually had her doing some like slightly magical stuff.
Speaker 2: Do you think she's an actual goat or she turns
Speaker 2: into a goat?
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe, but they are letting her. They don't.
Speaker 1: They don't use magic all that much in these in
Speaker 1: these stories. Uh, they're very you know, circumspect about how
Speaker 1: they use it. But I'm glad that they let her
Speaker 1: be a little magical in this one. All right, who
Speaker 1: else Baila and her uncle look like they're about to
Speaker 1: get together.
Speaker 2: I think the whole thing with is that Raina and
Speaker 2: the dragon when when Damon found her, you know, yeah,
Speaker 2: that was a really good that was an interesting thing.
Speaker 2: I don't know, he became too fatherly.
Speaker 1: He had no relationship, he had no relation with her.
Speaker 2: And he's a horrible person, so that was a little
Speaker 2: too sweet for me. I agree, But again, you know,
Speaker 2: she I'm curious. I mean, apparently there's more to it
Speaker 2: that that's gonna happen with her and the dragon outle death,
Speaker 2: So I'm curious about that.
Speaker 1: I don't know, there's so much that happened in the
Speaker 1: last three episodes that I am I I'm trying to
Speaker 1: pick and choose what we're talking about.
Speaker 2: I do think the whole thing with Corlis and and
Speaker 2: the fact that you know, yeah, well she pissed him
Speaker 2: off again.
Speaker 1: Oh, she's so conflicted and she doesn't want to know.
Speaker 1: Just let her be a bit like she's not gonna
Speaker 1: do it because she's a hypocrite and a bit Yeah,
Speaker 1: and she mistreats her allies.
Speaker 2: I do like that he pointed that out, that pointed
Speaker 2: out that her kids are all bastard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but she's so conflicted and she feels bad and no, no,
Speaker 1: just let her be a bad character. The show works
Speaker 1: better when she is, and I think that's why I'm
Speaker 1: enjoying this revelation that she's not good at her job.
Speaker 2: I also saw the scene with the rat banquet was
Speaker 2: also interesting.
Speaker 1: It was I saw that coming a million miles away,
Speaker 1: but yes, it was. And I mean, but again, it's like,
Speaker 1: well that was kind of crazy ast thing to do,
Speaker 1: but you know it's crazy she's but it's justified because
Speaker 1: those people and the people are starving in the streets,
Speaker 1: and she cares about the small folk and they're trying
Speaker 1: to do way too much of that stuff.
Speaker 2: I think she I don't think she cares at all.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's my point of these. Either the show
Speaker 2: wants you the show wants you to be questioning that,
Speaker 2: But to me, it's very clear. She is very manipulative.
Speaker 2: You know, she forces people to do things, and then.
Speaker 1: She she's ungrateful all the white She's basically imprisoning off
Speaker 1: in the red Keep. He's not allowed to go out
Speaker 1: to saloons or taverns anymore. So they're getting there, but
Speaker 1: they're still like an they're gonna do like a denarous
Speaker 1: moment where she just snaps and finally goes. And you
Speaker 1: could have just made her an asshole from the beginning,
Speaker 1: like you toyed with this, and you could have made
Speaker 1: her a villain from the beginning. Same thing with Allison.
Speaker 1: I think the story is much more engrossing when these
Speaker 1: two villainous women are at the center of it. But
Speaker 1: they wanted to tell a story about the patriarchy, and
Speaker 1: I get it. I'm not opposed to it, but it
Speaker 1: removes a lot of the teeth from the story.
Speaker 2: I thought also that she believed very quickly that that
Speaker 2: skull was the was the person who killed her her son.
Speaker 1: I mean to me that what else is she supposed
Speaker 1: to believe? You know?
Speaker 2: But I wish we had a scene where she questioned
Speaker 2: a little bit more, or you know, went too quick.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm sure that's going to play out late. I'm
Speaker 1: sure we're not done with that.
Speaker 2: I also like the whole thing with Alison and what's
Speaker 2: her name, Miss Mercer, miss Aria. Sorry, yeah, I think
Speaker 2: that was interesting that they might I don't know, join forces.
Speaker 1: I wish I could say I like that actress, but
Speaker 1: I don't think she's good in that role at all.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I just don't think she is. I've seen her in
Speaker 1: other things, but you have. She was in Crazy Rich
Speaker 1: Asians Rights The Bride, Oh my god, yes, yeah, but
Speaker 1: I just didn't like her. I just don't like her
Speaker 1: in this. I don't think she's very believable. But yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll see. Right now, Allison just trapped in a secret
Speaker 1: passageway with her daughter, so who knows if she's getting
Speaker 1: out of there.
Speaker 2: And I also like the whole thing with the actual king,
Speaker 2: you know, Egon? Right?
Speaker 1: Oh, yes, I do like and Amon is actually really great. Yes, uh,
Speaker 1: first off that I kind of love Agon right now,
Speaker 1: he's even though he's well, this is my point, he's
Speaker 1: an asshole, but you can enjoy watching it.
Speaker 2: It's behaving like an asshole. This is spoiled.
Speaker 1: They need to let right Near and Alison be assholes
Speaker 1: because Egan and Amon are and even uh, what's Matt
Speaker 1: Smith's characters name?
Speaker 2: Right Near?
Speaker 1: And oh Damon is it, Damon, Yeah, they're all assholes.
Speaker 1: They let Amen be horrible assholes, and they're some of
Speaker 1: the best characters on the show anyway. Yes, Egon and
Speaker 1: Laris the strong and their various struggles. I don't think
Speaker 1: his together. I don't think his dragon is dead. No,
Speaker 1: I mean they're making it. They're hinting very strong.
Speaker 2: Oh spoiler, he's not.
Speaker 1: You probably shouldn't have said that.
Speaker 2: Well, it's in the books anyway, right, well, we're not
Speaker 2: talking about them, but anyway, and also they might not
Speaker 2: go with that, but apparently the dragon is not dead.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: Don't yell at me, everyone yell at Lorenzo.
Speaker 2: He just by watching a bunch of.
Speaker 1: Let's get all these mics before we do anything, before
Speaker 1: I hack into them or you give anything else away?
Speaker 1: Do you have anything else you want to say about
Speaker 1: the show?
Speaker 2: No, I'm actually enjoying it. It's actually enjoyable now without
Speaker 2: having read the books, i'd say, you know, like in
Speaker 2: the beginning, I was like, oh my god, do I
Speaker 2: need to read the books because I have no idea
Speaker 2: what's going on. But it's getting better at explaining things.
Speaker 2: I do think the Extors in general are doing a
Speaker 2: very good job. I think so, And it still feels like, yeah,
Speaker 2: an interesting show, and with things happening, and and you
Speaker 2: always you know, there are certain things that I think
Speaker 2: they do a very good job. And the cinematography is beautiful,
Speaker 2: costumes are like lighting, and all that I enjoyed very good.
Speaker 1: I don't think I have anything else left to say.
Speaker 1: I think we have beaten us one today. Yes, all right,
Speaker 1: so we'll be back next week with I don't even
Speaker 1: know what we're talking about. Next week, we'll find out
Speaker 1: whatever crosses ours across our desk. Until then, take care
Speaker 1: of yourselves, love you mean it. Bye bye,