Drama Queens - Monster In Law • EP 808

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

Rob poses a moral dilemma, involving whether or not you’d keep a secret from your partner if their parents asked you to.  The Queens delve into Brooke and Sylvia's evolving relationship. And, Joy shares why she had anxiety about filming Lydia's birth scene.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. It may look different, but native culture is alive. My name is Nicole Garcia, and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aim to explore that culture. Somewhere along the way, it turned into this full-fledged award-winning comic shop. That's Dr. Lee Francis IV, who opened the first Native comic bookshop. Explore his story along with many other native stories on the show, Burn Sage, Burn Bridges. Listen to Burn Sage Burn Bridges. Listen to Burn Sage Burn Bridges on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

First of all, you don't know me. We're all about that high school, drama girl, drama girl, all about them high school queens. We'll take you for a ride and our comic girl. Drama girl. Cheering for the right team. Drama queens, drama queens, smart girl, rough girl, fashion but you'll tough girl. You could sit with us, girl. Drama queen, drama queens, drama queens, drama queens, drama queens, drama queens.

Hi everybody. Hi. I'm so sorry we weren't able to be there last week, Rob. How'd it go? It was a disaster. When you two aren't here, the wheels come right off the wagon. It was your first time hosting. I meant to text you too. I kept like thinking of it in moments when I was like driving or brushing my teeth or like the wrong moments. I was like, I need to text Rob. I got to find out how it went. How did he feel about hosting the episode? You know, it's kind of. of a big deal like totally it fell apart what there was a fair amount of nervous crying at the beginning on my heart gorgeous luckily lee and antoine are just such great guys and such natural performers that they really helped carry me and i think at the end of the day we got something that is going to be usable amazing i love that for you though i got to be honest i was feeling the exact same way joy i was just thinking to myself of course because we have similar brains at like 1230 at

night or like 6.45 in the morning when Rob's on the West Coast and it's a deeply inappropriate time to text him. I wanted to ask all these questions and I also felt myself like back in my younger self going, well, I'm sad I didn't get to hang out with the boys. I wonder what they talked about. I wonder if they had a good time. Like I was I was amped that you guys basically had a treehouse experience episode and also my little like younger self ego was wounded that the girls didn't get to come and play. Especially after watching that episode, because it was just so fun. Well, that's why it was perfect, right?

And that was sort of how I led in. I'm like, it's kind of funny because it's like our parents, like the parents are away and it's just like a boy's night in. And it's the perfect episode for that because that's essentially what we do there as well. Yeah. And no, it was great. We had a lot of fun managed to keep things on track because with those two guys, it's like my brain wants to go in a million different directions conversationally.

But it was great. And now it is awesome to have you back. I feel like before we even get into 808, we do need to touch upon the greatness that was both of your performances in 807. Because you two, Sophie, you and Sharon at the Bride Expo is just like the episode, and of course it was like a heroine Strauss episode. So the episode was just rife with killer one-liners. Yes. With the gist of them being between you and Sharon and then when Joy pops in. And Joy, your stuff was so funny like you trying in earnest to show up as a friend.

Haley's trying to show up in earnest as a friend for Brooke. But because of what's happening hormonally with the pregnancy, constantly undermining her at every turn. And just the comedy playing between you guys was so good. I will say, I think that's one of my top five episodes. we've ever done. I had the best time with you and Sharon in that full storyline. And especially That was a fun day. I remember that. It was so fun. And everyone, I mean, the wardrobe was amazing. The set was amazing. Like, I remember walking in there and thinking, oh, this is going to be good. And especially because we are, and I think really beautifully, in this arc for everyone this

season where people are really trying to figure out life. They're figuring out their emotions. They're figuring out things that require the maturity our characters have earned, emotional intelligence. So to have just an all-out comedic fun fest was, it was relieving for me as an actor. And like, you and I are goofy. We like to be funny. And it was nice to get to show that. And to do it with Sharon, come on. She's such a genius. Everything she's. I mean, I tell you, she always, I said this already, she floats through every room she's in, but the way she played this character. And also, I had totally forgotten that she was, had this drinking issue. And so as, I didn't realize that she was getting progressively more and more, like, silly and loopy, I guess I thought she was just being a little more happy or pushy or just, but it felt so jovial that you couldn't help. And I think Haley couldn't help, but just fall in line and fall in love with her. And so when you find her, her collapsed in the, in the hallway. It's like this, the turn was so great because I hadn't spotted it. But if you go back and watch, you can see Sharon's deliberate choices to progress.

Yes. It's like the sixth sense. You don't see it coming. And then once you know the secret, you realize you saw it the whole time. Yeah. It's the best kind of misdirect, I think writers can do. And to your point, Rob, heroin Strauss are just such a good writing team. And they, I think they just crush it from the funny to, to the emotional, really. There was a line where it's when you're looking at bridesmaids dresses, and she goes, how about these? And you said, actually, I was thinking about, I was planning on designing them myself, you know, something cute.

And she says, oh, no, honey, the whole point is for your bridesmaids to look ugly, so you look pretty. And I love that because it was perfect, right? it's there it is the leanest joke in that there is like there is nothing extra on it because first of all that's accurate why are bridesmaids dresses always hideous but it's also perfectly backhanded like yeah dear you need them to look bad so you can look good which is so rude so brilliant yeah because god forbid another woman look beautiful than you don't it's such an antiquated way of thinking and it's perfect for a mother-in-law particularly for Brooke's mother-in-law because Brooke's entire business is literally based on making other women feel

beautiful. Yeah. Just so tone-deaf. She just shows up so toned-de-depth. It's so good, though, because it's such a perfect illustration of how these two do not speak the same language. They do not come from the same era. Yeah. And it's, you know, perfect. I also really like that Sharon didn't make choices to be aggressively pushy, that the pushiness just came out of the flow of her, it's the, what's her character's name? Wait, Sylvia. Sylvia, right. It's like, it's the Sylvia show.

It's always been the Sylvia show in her mind and everywhere she goes. It's just, she just floats around. Oh, no, no, no. Oh, yes, yes. Oh, this is what we need to do. Oh, that's what. It's just so endearing. You love it, but you also hate it.

Yeah. Well, that's the thing, right? She does the thing that good actors do, which is she makes it hard to just make a snap judgment on, like, who she is, right? Because she's doing things that aren't cool, but she's coming from kind of a good place. Like, I think the characters are the best or the ones where, like, the water is muddied. And it's not easy to go like, they're great or they suck. It's sort of like, man, she's kind of being a mom zilla, but she's also offering to pay for it. You know, it's like, okay.

So I wanted to ask you, though, at the end of the episode, obviously, she gets chained. You have to help her get home. She passes out with all of her jewelry on, brave. And at the end of it, she says, hey, don't mention this to Julian. He worries about me, which also helps tie back to last season when he was like, my mom was in a bad way. And we had a conversation about how it was like, this woman seems very put together. It doesn't make sense. Now we're getting a glimpse.

But if you were in Brooklyn. Brooks shoes and your mother-in-law did that and asked that of you, would you keep her secret or would you share with your partner? It depends on how often it happens. I think the first time I might not say anything. If it became a pattern that I was noticing, then I would bring it up. Yeah. God, that puts people in such a rock and a hard place in between such a rock and hard place because you never want to keep something from your partner, but to your point, especially when you don't know someone, I could see if that was a real situation, you know, putting myself back in the shoes of that character thinking, well, maybe she just got a little carried away today. You know, plenty of people do that. And, you know, sometimes somebody drinks too much. And it's sort of the lore, right, of even like a rehearsal dinner at a wedding. You know, half the people there get chained and then they're hungover the day of the wedding. Like how many times have we heard that story? So I feel like you could rationalize it to yourself in a way, and especially because they're having a hard time, I could see

wanting to ingratiate yourself and not make it worse, not make your mother-in-law hate you. But on the flip side, it would make me feel so icky to keep a secret. So I feel like, especially at this point, thinking about how young our characters were, being in our mid-20s now, different story. I think we've all gotten to the point where you're like, look, you just got to figure it out, be frank, deal with shit. But then I might have been like, wow, we had such a good time. And they definitely gave your mom a lot of champagne. But, you know, obviously, because she said she'd pay for everything. Like, I feel like I would have tried to make it not her fault, but alluded to the fact that she wound up drunk. You would have been passive aggressive? Is that what you're saying? No, I think I would have tried to, do you think that's passive aggressive? Oh my God, I think that's so protective. No, because it's not aggressive, but it is, it is like... Okay, maybe I don't know the definition of passive-aggressive. I thought it was that you're saying something directly, but you're not being directive about it.

You're being passive about saying something that is very direct. Yeah, but that's when you're mad at someone. Wouldn't it be passive gossiping then? Yeah. The way I look at it is more like, I don't want to rat on her and she's asked me not to say something, but I don't want to lie to Julian. Yeah. So I think I would have said something in between, like, they really gave you

mom so much champagne yesterday, like, whoa. Hinting. You know, but I would have, I would have told him a little, but not said I had to carry her home, put her in bed, and then she told me not to tell you. Mm, yeah. You know, again, in my 40s, I would have a very different conversation. Because it's your partner, though. Yeah, it's your partner, but you're also 20, and it's his mom.

And I don't know. I see. I see how tough that is. But I hear what, like, I hear what you're saying, though, Joy, because I would, like, listen, it's not like she went to Applebee's on a Tuesday afternoon by herself and got she canned, right? That would be like, oh, okay, you're right. Yeah, that's a conversation. It is a highly atypical environment that is very tailored to like, let's get a little boozy and have fun.

Yeah. And I'm a watcher. Like, if I notice behavior, I don't, I hold on to it. I put it in my filing cabinet, but I don't do anything about it until I see it becoming a pattern and then I become aware. Well, yeah, because you have to make sure you're not filling in a story. based on a moment because of any subconscious or preconceived notion you have. So you have to make sure you're not filling in the blanks incorrectly. Yeah.

And in an environment like that, like you're talking about Rob when it's all catered to that. Yeah. Like, of course they're giving the mother of the bride or the mother-in-law a shit ton of champagne at a wedding expo. So I see how, and again, hats off to heroin Strauss because they made it sticky for Brooke. And when I think about the life experience we're all bringing to this conversation about what would we do, imagine trying to figure this out at 22 or 23 years old, like nightmare. Yeah, what would you do, Rob? Today or then?

I don't know. I mean, in my 20s, I would have kept the secret because I just wouldn't want to rock a boat. Yeah. I kind of, it's funny, because when you answer Joy, I went, yeah, that's what I would do. I would gather some more data. But then when Sof was talking, I kind of agreed it because it's like, so if your answer was sort of the like halfway

between keeping the secret and gathering data where it's like, I'm going to tell you some of the information without like laying it on super thick and worrisome, you know? Because I think, yeah, now it's like it's my partner.

I'm not going to, that's my primary. I'm not keeping secrets there. I think that's how I would let myself off the hook is just go like, nope. You know, this is, this is the diode everything else comes second so I'm just going to go ahead and share that

because I suck with secrets also I'm a terrible secret and surprise keeper me too surprise keeper yeah so can I ask you a question okay before we move on this will be the bridge between the episodes I panic when I have to for example like you just said help with some sort of surprise and people are like you're an actor you're supposed to be good at this and the thing that always comes to mind for me is no you're missing the point other people write the dialogue we memorize. That's what we're good at. We make the dialogue true. When you ask me to come up with the fib to do the thing. I'm not a writer. I don't want to do it. I'm bad at it. I start to get weird. I start to panic. People are like, why is your voice going up an octave? I'm like, I don't know.

What are you talking about? I am the worst at that. Nicole Garcia, and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aimed to explore that culture. It was a huge honor to become a television writer because it does feel oddly, like, very traditional. It feels like Bob Dylan going electric, that this is something we've been doing for a hundred of years. You carry with you a sense of purpose and confidence. That's Sierra Taylor Ornelis, who with Rutherford Falls became the first native showrunner

in television history. On the podcast, Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we explore her story. along with other Native stories, such as the creation of the first Native Comic-Con or the importance of reservation basketball. Every day, Native people are striving to keep traditions alive while navigating the modern world, influencing and bringing our culture into the mainstream. Listen to Burn Sage Burn Bridges on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, on to episode eight. Take us away, Rob. Here we go. Season 8, episode 8, mouth full of diamonds. Air date November 9th, 2010. Nathan's career as an agent takes a big step forward when he visits Atlanta, while Haley consoles Jamie regarding his new braces.

The drama between Brooke and Sylvia finally comes to a head. Oh, boy, does it? And Chase makes a decision regarding Mia and Alex. Does he? directed by I love this man, Mike Leone, and it was written. It was.

For our lovely friends and listeners at home, Mike Leone, you've heard us talk about before, our script supervisor on our show. The person who literally keeps every single note and beat and moment organized in the entire script in every episode sits right next to the director. I think there's probably nobody

who knew our show better. I agree with that. And God, he directed the heck out of this episode. I just loved it. Also, hats off to Mike Leone. I've told the story on the podcast, but the best burn I've ever received on a set was courtesy of Mike Leone

when while shooting our show one day. I was normally very good about my lines, but I just went up on a line and was like, what's that line, Mike? You'll scream me across set because he's far away. And he shouts it back to me. I go, thanks. And then he just goes, it's a good script.

You should read it. That's right. And I just died. So to this day, I still repeat that to people when they ask for a line. You got me, Mike. Just the funniest, sweetest man. I love Mike Leon. He really was.

Such a sweetheart. So generous. This episode had so much funny and good in it. I loved the opening scene was so sad and funny to me. It's when Brooke is. signing away all of her assets, and she's liquidating everything. She's signed over clothes for bros, close over bros, excuse me. And at the end of it, when she's kind of just sitting there shell-shocked, there's like a pause and

the lawyer goes, could I have the pen back? Yeah, I noticed that too wrong. I was like, they even stripped her of the ballpoint pen. It could just be like, keep the pen. Just, you know, it's fine. So good. Yeah, the look on your face too, like, sure, you can take this $4 dollar pen. even this speaking of looks on face is joy you pull off an eye patch quite well thank you

thank you very much darling consider it for my next look yeah that was fun I remember that isn't that funny up all the random things that we remember there's so many scenes we shoot that I'm just like I have no recollection of being in that location or anything and that one I really remember wearing an eye patch I don't know you I was very appreciative of your performance because you, you always do this, and I always say that, but you fully committed to the lame parent jokes. Yes. There's a later scene in which you're wearing the wonky glasses and the messed up teeth.

And I, and it even, because what struck me was you're funny in the whole scene, but the scene ends. Jamie leaves the room. Yes. And you just, you just create this additional moment where you kind of turn back to camera, because it's sort of like over your shoulder-ish. And you sort of like, like do something with your mouth and you look around. It clearly wasn't scripted.

And I was like, look at her just leaning into the absurdity. Like there's no vanity and comedy. And you were hilarious because you looked for none. What I loved about that beat too is that what it told me as an audience member was that Haley was having a good time. Yeah. You know, not just for Jamie's sake, by the way, that you were enjoying yourself. you were having a silly day with your kid, and it took what Rob's talking about, the nature of

like, you know, what we call dad jokes. It took the dad joke a step farther, and it made it yours. And I was like, yes. That's so nice. That's so cool. I think I've discovered it, which is funny, I didn't, you know, I wasn't a parent then, but I was actually pregnant, so I was going to be. But now that I am one, I think one of the secrets to parenting is that, Rob really genuinely enjoying yourself. Like all the things that we do to entertain our kids, it just, you know, you can go through the motions, but if you can't find a way to make old McDonald has a farm, like, actually fun for yourself, like, you're going to be bored.

Like, that's part of enjoying parenthood. You know, how do you sing twinkle, twinkle little star in four different languages or, like, teach your kids a sign language or whatever it is that's like something you can get out of it too. Yeah, 80% of my day is doing voices in stupid bits. Yeah. And if, it's like, we, we ran into this problem a lot when we were trying to find a nanny. No one knows how talented you are except your kids and your wife, right? Like, nobody's, because it's amazing the kind of talent that really comes out when you're with your kids. Oh, yeah. It's that terrific mix of desperation, exhaustion and a spark of talent. And, but, but truly, like, the key is, like, to just not care, to not care. To not care.

about how you look to let it all go right and we ran into this issue when we were like trying to see if we could find a nanny up here we found people who were great at like looking after a kid and sort of doing play but when it came time to do a voice or be out and out silly not in their wheelhouse and boy that shuts things down so fast we had to start saying like hey silliness is our brand here if you're not comfortable doing voices and outrageous like silly bits like it's not going to be a good fit because like you're right that's the key it's like enjoying it and just not caring how dumb you look and that's part of it i think like you're saying when you get to the 18th repetition of something or the 140th repetition of whatever song twinkle twinkle it's like you're so desperate for the laugh

that every parameter goes out the window and isn't that really just what great improv is yes yes That's what acting is. I mean, you just got to push all the boundaries. You're like, I'll give you anything you want. You want me to do it in a headstand? Fine. Yeah. Truly.

Were those braces actually Jackson's real braces? Yeah, he got braces. Is that why that became a storyline? Yeah, I thought so. It did. And his little head gear. I'm so funny. And how far long in your pregnancy do you recall around this time?

I looked like I was five or six months along. I mean, I was, I looked big. Yeah. You're not like big, big, but you can tell you are you are starting to grow a human being. I actually wonder if I was wearing a pad at any point because my on-screen pregnancy was ahead of my personal pregnancy. So it's possible I was wearing, I was wearing a pad. Because I'm remembering at the end of the season, we had to obviously get you out. So you didn't come to Puerto Rico.

And then I remember, which sucked. Oh, my God. I've never felt worse. I was like, oh, I guess we're all going to the beach and you're not coming. But do we send you photos and say, wish you were here? Does that make it worse? Like, what do we do? But I remember how weird it was.

I don't know if this helps the timeline. This is episode eight. I remember how weird it was when you had to come back and do the episode where Haley has Lydia because you were like, I just did this. This is too, this is like way too personal. Remember? Because we talked about it. I sat in the hospital room with you and you were like, I don't know how I'm going to tell them that I don't want to do the scene where I give birth on camera. I don't want to do it. And we were like, just tell them. Just say no. I think I was nervous about it because I don't remember I was going to try. Like I really would, you know, I mean, it's work. I know, but it was weird. It was too personal. Yeah, that's right. When we, and yeah. Whenever that happens, you had already had the baby a few weeks before then, three or four weeks. No, it was the other way around. When we got to. I didn't want to go through a fake labor with people that I loved around me

and have it like, like I didn't want to experience my first labor that I was going to experience in like four weeks or whatever. Oh, I have it reversed in my timeline. Yeah. Whoa. That's what it was. I was so uncomfortable with this. I don't know.

I don't know. And then we got there and I felt like I was hyperventilating and it was, I was, I thought I was having like a mental breakdown. I was like, this isn't fucking with my real life. Like, I'm trying to have a baby for the first time ever. And now I have to do a fake labor that it's not real. But like, Sophia's going to come visit my actual baby in the hospital. But now she's here in the fake hospital.

Like, I'm, this is real life intersecting with, with fantasy in a way that I can't make sense of. I got to go. So what ended up happening? I pulled Greg aside our executive producer and just started like weeping and told him, like, please, this is. Really hurting me. Can we do this later? Can we film this later? And I've never done that on the whole show. I'd never asked for a request to like, I mean, I told you the story about Atlanta. Like I went to great lengths, you know, driving 13 hours. Like great lengths to make sure I was at work and got my work done. So this was, it was an exception. But I'm really glad they did. Greg said, no problem. Let's shut it down. Moved on to the next scene. And they pulled it up a few weeks later after I'd had my birth. That's great. That's what it was. We were in the hospital. And then I'm combining two days. We were in the hospital before. And then when we finally came back, they brought the whole scene back up. Yes, they brought it

back up. And that day was hard because we were in that hospital setting where there were all those rocks to, remember between the trailers? Yes. Is it a gravel parking lot. But it wasn't just gravel. It was like these big, big rocks. So weird. Anyway, I was really having, I had a hard labor and I was having trouble walking and I needed them to take me to set in a wheelchair and I felt so ridiculous and like overdramatic, but I was like, I, this is hard. I need, I need to help. But then they had to wheel me over these rocks, which kind of made it worse because I was just like, look how good, good, good, gick, oh my God. That was a shit show, man, it really was. Yeah. Meanwhile, everyone from a distance is like,

look how committed joy is to her character. Oh, no, I think they were like, look how overdramatic she is. You know, I wish they would have just not done that scene, because I got to say, labor scenes. Yeah. Like, we've all seen them. They all look the same, you know, but you're a trooper. We'll find out when we get there. I mean, we'll watch it eventually. Sorry, we're totally off this episode right now.

Derailed. It is helping us sort of track your timeline. Yes. So that's how far along I was. But, yeah, it was really cute seeing Jackson with his braces and everything. I liked the device. I really liked the device of Julian going around with his camera and finally having it work this time. So I love to set up that they presented at the beginning of it failing and then previous episodes, excuse me,

and then bringing it up to this point where he's really figured it out. I liked watching the artistic process. I like seeing people open up and be honest. It was great. It really was. And it was an interesting way to just get a layer deeper with all these characters that we know. but there is something that happens when you're in a first person interview like that

and let alone with someone you trust. And to see how sweet he is with Jamie at the top of the episode, it's so disarming that in a way I felt like that disarming nature carried through every single interview. Yes. And particularly seeing Nathan

be the sort of torchbearer for this group theme of my life is changing and I don't really know what comes next. I'm trying to figure it out. I'm in a I'm in a period of transition. Yeah. It was really beautiful. I loved Nathan in this episode. It was so fun to watch. It may look different, but Native culture is very alive. My name is Nicole Garcia. And on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aim to explore that culture. It was a huge honor to become a television writer because it does feel oddly, like, very traditional. It feels like Bob Dylan going electric, that this is something we've been doing for a hundred of years.

You carry with you a sense of purpose and confidence. That's Sierra Taylor Ornellis, who with Rutherford Falls became the first native showrunner in television history. On the podcast, Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we explore her story, along with other Native stories such as the creation of the first Native Comic-Con or the importance of reservation basketball. Every day, Native people are striving to keep traditions alive while navigating the modern world, influencing and bringing our culture into the mainstream. Listen to Burn Sage Burn Bridges on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You did a great job, Joy, of playing Haley's, I feel like, discomfort being on camera.

Yeah. Because the first time, I was weird because it gives strong hostage vibes. And I was watching it going, why do I feel like I'm watching a ransom video? And I realized, oh, yeah, Joy's playing it like Haley is uncomfortable. She's not natural in front of the camera. You know, she's used to being on a stage, not sitting directly in front of a lens. It's funny because if you go back and watch it, it looks. like you're being coerced to say everything you're saying,

especially because you're like, I'm, I like parenting. I'm a good parent. I think's fine. Yeah. I'm a good mom. Yeah. Yeah, that was definitely a choice. It was fun.

And what I like about it too is, and it is also hats off to Mike Leone for talking to all of us in the way he did as a director. It's really smart when a director can be present for actors who are all doing the same thing, but give them such different colors in it. And we needed the levity from Haley because Nathan is giving up his dream. And even the metaphor or the action rather of him taking the Ravens basketball down and putting Troy's football up, he's moving on to this next chapter. And he's not hiding that it's hard.

He's hopeful. He likes it. He knows it's the right fit. He's proud of what he's doing. He's using the fact that it's hard to make it better, to make it through. True. And to inspire the other guy, Troy. And I like that he's not hiding that it comes with loss. And then Brooke is in all loss. It's so sad. She doesn't know what to do. She feels like she's losing her identity. So it's really nice to sort of counter where Brooke is to have Haley in this very comedic, uncomfortable. I like my life. I don't know why you want to ask me about it. Yeah, why are we talking about this? I'm so confused. Hi. Like, it's great. It's a great energy.

And who know who else is in transition is Clay? This can for God's sake. It was so great. First of all, you had such a baby face. Oh my gosh. I'd never seen a baby face like that. Dude, I did. You did. Was it the angle, the lighting? I don't know what it was, but you were like eight years old. Yes. In my confessional with Julian, I was like, oh, my gosh. Like a 12-year-old who ate too much salt. You committed to this bit with the can so well.

You really figured it out. Good on you. Physical comedy. Listen, there's some lines between Brooke and Sylvia that are my favorites. But suck it soup. I'm just going to spoil it, is my honorable mention. Yeah. It laughed out loud.

High up there. And I love the subtle nod back to it when Clay, There's the very, very sweet homecoming where Clay is waiting for Nathan at the airport and he's clapping for him. I love that friendship. But when Nathan gets in the car, he's like, what is this? And Clay just goes, an electric can opener. And it's perfect because he doesn't talk about it. So it's just like a little like to the audience.

It's just for him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you did that so well. It wasn't, it was, there was no cheese on top of it. It was just, you just said the line and threw the thing in the backseat. It's all it required. It's like, cool.

I conquered it. Now I'm never going to do that again. But I got that little. spread of pride being like, I solved a puzzle. Moving on. It was such a good little vibe. It actually made me laugh out loud. I also liked seeing Clay. It was a great device for when he spills the chips or cereal on the newspaper. And then he sees Will's obituary. And it was nice to see him go to the cemetery just because he got so close to dying. And we haven't really seen him talk about it or feel anything about it. So it was, I liked the sort of still quietness of him just

sitting there and having that speech to Will's headstone. And he kind of ends it with saying, like, thank you for what, for what you did. I'm going to earn it. And I just, I thought that was so effective. And the mirroring of the earning with Troy as well and the way that Nathan was talking him through that at the end. I just love seeing this transition for Nathan. How did we shoot those scenes with the Braves, by the way? Was it the Falcons? Falcons, excuse me. So last episode, there are only, there's only one shot.

It's the first shot we see where Nathan is sitting down with the representative from the Falcons. And when I watched, I was like, holy cow, we're at the Falcon Stadium. Why do I not remember this? And then the scene is so short that I thought, oh, I went back and watched it because I thought, oh, maybe we green screened it. Because you don't go to, you don't go all the way to this Atlanta Falcon Stadium. only do one scene. And then there's a bit on like Nathan the escalator. So I was so confused because it was clearly not a green screen. So this episode, it really pays off because holy cat, first of all, shout out to Stephen Howell, who played Troy, because he's so earnest and believable

and likable. He's a great actor. It is the perfect pairing with Nathan. And, but he got to dress up. Yeah. Excuse me, suit up in Atlanta Falcons gear with the pads and take the the field through the tunnel with an actual crowd there? Mm-hmm. How did we do this? I mean, we must have just gone to a real game and made a deal with the Falcons and told everybody in the stadium. Here's what's going on.

We're shooting a TV show. Ha, ha, ha. So badass. I love it when shows do stuff like that. It's incredible. We had Tony Gonzalez, who was an Atlanta Falcon at the time, who, by the way, much like Jerry Rice, very good on camera. Great actor.

Yeah. Tony was great. So comfortable. He's gone on to host, so I guess it makes sense. but I remember I was watching it going like, oh, oh, okay, you know. And just going back to what you said about Nathan really quick, one thing I liked is he's not hiding the fact that he's in transition and he doesn't have it figured out.

I like that in his conversations with Troy and in his conversations with Tony Gonzalez, he references it. And he's like, yeah, I don't know. But it was just cool to see that as opposed to like the other like kind of cliche guy thing of like, no, it's good or I'm good or what are you talking about? And instead he was like, yeah, I don't have it figured out, man. Wish me luck. You know, I was like, oh, that's so cool. Like, he's self-aware enough and he's not hiding the fact that like he doesn't have it figured out and he doesn't know what's next, but he's just showing up for it. It's in a mature

phase of life. Yeah. Well, it reminds me kind of of what we were talking about at the top of the episode, even figuring out what would you do in this situation? What I love, about where all these characters are, is there in these phases of discovery and change that require a level of emotional intelligence to be patient, to be honest, to be upfront about what you're going through, you have to check your ego and just say, this is what it is. And especially for, you know, it's TV, obviously, but for something that people always used to bring up about our show, like, well, for a small town, these people all had these really big, unique careers.

Like, it's nice to see all these people who've succeeded in ways that are kind of ridiculous. Just say, I don't know either. And I think it's one of those things that was good for us, you know, to be experiencing as actors, because the challenges felt grounded and real. But these are the things that our fans talk to us about where they say, oh, this made me feel so seen. That's what I was going through. The circumstances are really unique, but the transitional journey in life is so universal. And even now, looking back at it as a viewer, I feel like I see myself, I see all of you, I see people I know.

Like, I see relationships to people's real lives in this show, in this episode in a way that made me feel so proud that we got to do this. It was so nice. I think that's great. Yeah, it was really, it was tied together all so well with Julian being the voyeur and, you know, the, well, maybe that's too aggressive of a word, but the, you know, the glue that's sort of like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's not really what I meant, but. Well, in a way, he kind of, he fills the role almost in a therapist as a documentarian in this episode, you know. It's like you get to see people on the couch. Yeah. But giving us that feeling, you know, that feeling that you're talking about. And it was so carefully crafted to bring us to that place where Troy's running out and it's the stadium and smoke. And, you know, we're, we're cheering for him, sure, but we're cheering for us and for everything that we're achieving. And the new transitions and the new phases of life that everyone's stepping into, that's the culmination. So they gave us that in this big, gorgeous, glittery, huge moment. It was wonderful.

And it was a cool thing. I mean, it gave me chills when I watched him run out there. I was so excited that we'd done that, that we'd been able to pull off the partnership. You know, and it's our second time, by the way. We did it with the Bobcats for James, and now we're doing it with the Falcons for Stephen, who plays Troy. Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, you know, the NBA, the NFL, like, these were big deals. And in a really interesting way, there was the juxtaposition of going for,

from the field with him, where I was like, oh, my God, like true dream come true energy to seeing Brooke alone on that bench on the roof, finally just say, I'm having a really, really hard time. Yeah. And just be in it. It was really, I don't know, I loved the choice even in the edit to say, like, sometimes you you reach the peak and sometimes you're you're hitting rock bottom and and those things are going to happen on the same day that goes to julian's comment to you about happiness

which i loved this comment that happiness is a mood it's something that comes and goes it's not a state of being that you will achieve and just be there permanently it's yes it's a it's a mood and that's okay um and i like that he says i think if more people i wish i wrote it down but it was something like if more people thought of it this way the world would end up actually being happier because everybody wouldn't be in this constant state of like oh no why am i not happy it's okay it's okay well and and the fact that he compares it to hunger he says it's a condition it's like being hungry that's what it was yeah and goes and to talk about it in that way after acknowledging that most people think, if I get this, if I get that, if I get this job, once I get

married, once I have a kid, once I buy that car, once I fill in the blank, I will be happy. Amen, sister. Then you miss your whole life waiting for a thing instead of living it. And we've all tried that. It hasn't worked. Yeah. I mean, I feel like we still try it. I still tried subconsciously. And then I'm like, wait, why am I doing this? What am I doing? Exactly. But what a cool What a cool thing to do. And I thought Austin played the scene so beautifully because he didn't try to put a hat on a hat.

He just said, look, this is what I'm noodling with. This is what I think. And maybe we'd be happier if we thought about it this way. And it's so perfect. It gives Brooke kind of a permission to feel like it's hard and like she's not having it. It's okay to feel that way because happiness. will come again. Yeah.

The coda for this episode was so strong. And yeah, Julian was doing some great partnering because obviously the way it ends, like when Brooke's having that moment, he just comes and just sits down next to her, which I love. You know, it's like he's not trying to fix it or talk her out of it. He's just like, cool, I'm just going to be here with you, you know. And then earlier, I think in the same location, when Brooke and Sylvia have just had it out and Brooke is chucking water balloons down the street, which is hilarious. in and of itself. I guess this was something that Peyton used to do. Did we actually show that on the show? Did we know that? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, we did a lot of water balloons. So it was so funny. But then that way that, first of all, that seems funny because Brooke is like, I shouldn't have yelled at your mom. And as an audience member, I was like, you 100% should have. You're not a dormant. You did the, you did the right thing. But I love at the end of it, Julian goes, well, do you want me to go down there and walk around so you can practice your aim? I was like, it's so good.

Let's get into the Brooke Sylvia of it all because the lines in this episode were so funny. When she finally snaps, she says, you're a spoiled little bitch to which Brooke responds, okay, drinky, and ends it with good luck with being old. Oh, God. And then the perfect blocking for the next bit where Julian is there for his mom. and she has the washcloth over her eyes while she lays out on her fainting couch. I know where you're going. And she ends it with, because of course, he's just being reasonable and like asking

follow-up questions to which she takes it as being attacked and not believed. And she ends by saying, she has poisoned you with her hoo-ha. A perfect line that Sharon delivered perfectly. She sure did. Sharon is such an icon. And then Julian, we're done here. We're done here. We're done here.

We're done. Yeah. That was so, so funny. And for as funny as all of it was, I love the repair. Yeah. I love the sincere, not funny part of it where Brooke showing her character comes back and makes it right, makes an amends, repairs it. And she receives it and accepts it. And you guys, you know, end up sort of being in a much more, I think, respectful, amicable place.

That's so lovely. I actually don't want your money, but I still do want your advice. Right? Wow. Yeah. I respect you enough to be honest with you. Yeah. And there's something really inspiring to me about, granted, it didn't go well in iteration one, where the fight broke out. But for her to say, I learned my lesson. I know what it means when you take people's money. Yeah. I don't want that energy in my feelings. family. And I feel like that's what comes out more in check-in number two, where they make up

to say that, to say, no, I still don't want this part. I know that that actually can be what poisons relationships, but I want you to be part of it. That, to me, I was, I was very impressed. I thought, it's nice writing. That's a nice little life lesson right there. Sharon is so effervescent and so easy she falls in line with all of us so easily she just folds into the family like i want to see more and more and more of sylvia and i love this dynamic between the two of you guys and with julian it's so fun to watch it's great and yes speaking of it's reminding me at the start of episode seven when julian's like i don't know it's going to be my best man and brook goes well who is your best friend growing up and just as she walks through the background of the scene sylvia goes i was

they are killing this nightmare mom thing. But yeah, I thought Brooks repair, it was such a show or an act of like respect and kindness because you can have that conversation and you can build a real relationship on top of it. Yeah. If you don't discuss it, it's like you're never going to really have. There's going to be resentment and unknown, but it's a Brooks wave going like, hey, I take up space. Here are some boundaries inviting you to be a part of it. But now you know where I stand. Yeah.

Something that dawned on me, too, and I wonder if you guys got this, the, when Julian is explaining why his mom is so particular, and he says, look, my dad wasn't around. It was really just me and my mom. I saw it on my face, and it like, it took me back to sitting and making notes in the script thinking, oh, Brooke knows exactly what that means because she didn't have her mom or her dad around. Her friends were her world and you guys still are. You know, these people, Tree Hill, it's so important to her. And in that one sentence, I feel like Julian kind of gave Brooke a key to Sylvia. Because it's like she had nobody but her kid. Yeah. I built a community of my peers. Of course this woman feels threatened by me. I see Julian as my peer. He's my partner.

She sees him as her only person. And so in this weird way, I thought that that simple thing that he said was what gave her the ability later to say, I understand why it could be scary for you that your son has me now. But you're still welcome in this family. Like you're still going to be part of this. Yeah. And it was a very interesting sort of shift in, I think, the way. She could see a parental relationship, especially with what she's been through with Victoria. And I was like, man, it's really simple dialogue, but it communicates a lot about the history of these characters.

That's great. And the way that they wrapped up that scene was perfect, where it's like the repair has been made. You guys are all good. And she goes, well, it's all right. It wasn't even the worst part of my day. And Brooke goes, oh, no, what happened? The look on your face, Sophia. Some jackass hit me with a water balloon.

What is wrong with people? Awful. And your face. And just laughing into her forehead. It's so good because she can't see your face, but the audience can. It was just, you guys crushed it. It was so good. It was so fun.

That was my electric can opener moment. It was just for the audience, but as an audience member, it's so fun to watch. Yeah. You know what else was fun to watch was mouth and chase. I loved this. I didn't know I needed this. Exactly. This whole storyline of cleaning out the back room, you know, and mouth opining about what he's going to do and Chase being indecisive and torn between the two women.

It was just, it was fun and it was like cool to see the friendship between those two. And they both did so good. It's such a relief not to have to deal with like sexual jokes and inappropriate shots of women. and like it's like thank god we don't have to bear the emotional burden of this right now we can just watch these two guys just trying to figure out life it's so nice and they're so much fun to watch and very much like we've gotten such excellent male friendship with clay and nathan i love stephen and lee together i love that they're vulnerable i love that they're questioning I love that they're talking about what isn't working. Another sign of maturity because mouth, usually with skills, you know, they're into shenanigans. Like, they're getting up to things. They're sort of goofing off. There's not a lot of real depth of conversation. There has been a few, but usually that's their routine with each other. So to see mouth now entering into another relationship that is, there's a maturity level. Like everybody's leveling up. Yeah. It's so cool.

And have you ever heard the expression You can save your ass or you can save your face But you can't save them both at the same time? No, but that's amazing I love that quote But you see a lot of that happening When these guys like Nathan Like mouth are not trying to put up an appearance

Or a facade of like It's all good or I'm on top of it Instead they're just like owning it And they're not trying to save their face They're just trying to figure out what to do with their ass you know phrasing that's great Laura Isabor is great

who plays Aaron here's a question by the way highly Googlable question so shout out to me for not doing 30 seconds of research on this but was she acting before this show because she's terrific and natural yes she really is

she's so understated I think I remember her just being terrified and being like I'm just going to sit here and not do anything and say my lines. And I was like, that's the key. Yeah. That's all you ever have to do. Do less. Yeah, she was great. I think, I'm actually wondering if maybe we had, we must have had it deal, relationship with a label, Warner probably, and Lindsay had, Lindsay Wolfington had artists that she was wanting to put on the show or maybe Warner Records did and they were trying to find artists that they could bring on to the actual TV show and not

just play. So I think Laura was probably one of them. But she was great. She was so good. And the way she asked questions of Haley, I really just felt like the two of you, you were sharing about what it's like to try to make something because how you trust a person with your art, it's a gamble. You know, it's sort of like showing up on a set and having to act with someone who's a stranger, but on day one they were meant to be your lifelong best friend or signing a deal for a record label. It's like it requires a fully surrendered trust fall without an evidence of why you should trust someone. And you just have to do it.

I mean, it's just showing up to do an indie film or an acting project with a director that you don't know and you haven't seen a lot of their work. It's like, I mean, I know what I can do, but we'll see how it turns out on the actual cutting day. Exactly. And I think what I loved about watching you two talk to each other is I got the sense that Aaron and Haley were having the same conversation about. this gamble without having to necessarily say all of it. Yeah. And I loved it. And to your point, Rob, I thought, God, she's so good. Has she been acting?

No. Her only other acting credit is one episode of Bones that also aired in 2010. Stop. Yeah. Which is wild that she stepped on to the set and was like this good and this natural. And then it was also probably just like, I'm good. I'm good on that. Yeah.

This is something she could easily do, and she probably was just like, I'm good with music. No, thanks. That's, but I also liked, they did this cool thing where, I feel like this can happen a lot in shows where when a guest star comes in, they are immediately ready to trust or jump on board with whatever is happening with one of the main characters of the show. And it's only the main characters who ever question the new people. Like the new people never have like stakes.

They're just like, I'm all in. whatever you say, I trust you. I like that she came in and was real thorough with sort of vetting Haley before deciding to sign on. Because I think the easy thing would be like, a record deal, I'm in. And instead she was like, nah, what's your deal? Maturangle, friend. What are we doing?

Again, maturity, the difference between a 20-year-old who's like, I'll take whatever I can get and somebody who's like, no, what I have is valuable. What do you have? Did you guys, I had this funny note that I laughed at that, I don't know if you guys caught, because I don't think the normal viewer would saw, but when at the Atlanta Falcons game, Troy and Nathan have their moment. And it's before the game, excuse me, it's when they're just on the field, the two of them, right? And they're having this like, we did it, we're here, this is your dream, earn it, love it, blah, blah, blah. And then they say a goodbye as if they're not going to see each other again, or at least for a while. And I found myself laughing going, dude, that's your agent.

You guys are going to be texting and talking probably every single day. But it was probably the last time he was going to see Stephen Howell, because I don't think Troy came back. I don't think he does either. So I just thought it was funny because I would be like, yeah, it's like you're going to literally be texting that guy questions tonight. He's probably going to be texting you great games. He's literally going to be on the sidelines that they're like, hey, hey, hey, hey, thank you

for everything. No, no, no. Hey, thank you for everything. It's like, you guys, you're going to see each other in like 60 minutes. Goodbye, my friend. Like, Carrie and the Henderson's like, guys, you're driving home together. Meanwhile, Nathan and his whole family are at the first game. Right.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. They're going to be on the sidelines. Yeah. It's so good. Wait, was I there? I wasn't there. I don't think you were there, but in my brain, I assume. Jamie was right?

Yeah, Jamie was there. Yeah, Jamie was there. But in my brain, I assume you all would have gone and you probably would have. have been there, but I think they just didn't want to fly everyone to Atlanta. For sure. Also, they are still, despite being quite pregnant, they are still putting Haley in lots of short skirts, lots of platforms. Oh, yeah. I know it's TV, but I found myself going, okay.

All right. No sweatpants in her arsenal. No way. No athleisure wear. She's keeping it cute and chic. Rob, it's a TV show. That's right. I know.

I know. I just wanted to. to be real life so darn bad guys. Yeah. It may look different, but native culture is very alive. My name is Nicole Garcia, and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aim to explore that culture. It was a huge honor to become a television writer because it does feel oddly, like, very traditional. It feels like Bob Dylan going electric, that this is something we've been doing for a kind of years.

you carry with you a sense of purpose and confidence. That's Sierra Teller Ornales, who with Rutherford Falls became the first native showrunner in television history. On the podcast, Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we explore her story, along with other Native stories, such as the creation of the first Native Comic-Con or the importance of reservation basketball. Every day, Native people are striving to keep traditions alive

while navigating the modern world, influencing and bringing our culture into the mainstream. Listen to Burn SageBurn Bridges on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, we've got a question from Lisa who also gave us her nickname Shoshi. That must be a show she. Yeah, Shoshy! When you are going to direct an episode, do you get to pick the episode?

or is it you get what you get and you don't throw a fit type of situation? You get what you get and you don't get that. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. And you don't throw a fit. I like that.

Yeah. Because they make a schedule. Certainly when we have visiting directors based on their availability, then our recurring directors like Joy, when you were talking about Greg Prange, who I think directed the most episodes of our show of anyone, our on-site executive producer, then his would fill in.

They basically have to build the director schedule, like a puzzle. And then they would essentially slot us as directing cast in last, because we're all there all the time anyway. So it's the easiest for us to work around other people's schedules. Yeah. But still pretty cool. Like, they gave us big episodes. They gave you the Halloween episode.

They gave me the Thanksgiving episode. Like big stuff. gosh makes me really grateful hadn't thought about that before it's pretty well maybe I had I just forgot but it's pretty cool but it's dawning on you again and it feels nice it is it's kind of a great thing about having a short-term memory is like I remember new things all the time even though I already knew you're constantly in a sense of awe and wonders and discovery well it's like a memory pops up like it's like someone's blown bubbles by your face and you're like wait a second I know that that's right I love it honorable mentions do we have them

I've already spoiled the beans on. Mine is suck it soup. Suck it soup. That was great. I really want to give, actually, Mike Leon to me. I think he did such a nice job. He always did a really good job directing, and he worked so hard at it, and I don't think he got enough credit. I agree with that. I absolutely agree with that. I'm going to give mine to Austin. I think he is showing up everything he's doing right now as Julian he's got this like really beautiful quiet sort of strength and he really glued this whole episode together for me and I think it's a testament to him as an actor to be able to do that sort of service and be what every single

other person you're in a scene with needs yeah and I just think he's he's in such a great groove right now, and I really appreciate what he's doing. Love it. I agree. We have a good gang. Okay, let's spin a wheel. Joy, can we get that again with less enthusiasm? Let's spin a wheel.

There it is. Oh, come on. It's too many. Okay. Most likely to cry during a rom-com. Me. Me? My knee jerk was Joy.

Really? I mean, I cried everything. Yeah. I'm a weeper. You do too, Sof. Yeah. I think because things are so busy, it's like if I'm going to really, I don't know, elevate something, it's usually because it's something that I'm fired up about.

But then I realize because most people see each other on the internet that I think everyone thinks I'm like fired up all the time. And mostly I'm just emotional and reading. And then I get mad about something and I'm like, everyone should know about this. This is really important. And then people hang out with me and they're like, wow, you're really like sensitive and also kind of nerdy. And you make weird jokes.

And I'm like, does that not translate? So, yeah, I'm definitely a rom-com crier. All you do is read, eat sandwiches, and cry. I thought you'd be different. You know who also would cry? To spill the beans. Listen, closet case rom-com crier. You?

James Lafferty. Wow. No way. Just a weeper. Such a softie? Oh, he's so stoic. That surprises me. Wow.

He can't watch how to lose a guy in 10 days without burning through a whole box of Kleenex. I like when the boys know things about each other that we don't. I need verification on this. Yeah. For character, it's going to be skills, right? Because of the notebook. Isn't that the whole thing? The whole thing that he's actually a big softy.

Yeah. Oh, that's funny. Yeah, so skills. This was fun. This was fun. What do we have next week, Joy? Season 8, episode 9, between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace. Oh, okay.

A nice place to be. All right, we'll see you then. Bye. Hey, thanks for listening. Don't forget to leave us a review. You can also follow us on Instagram at Drama Queen's OTH. Or email us at Drama Queens at iHeartRadio.com. See you next time.

We're all about that high school. Drama girl, drama girl, all about them high school queens. We'll take you for a ride And our comic girl Cheering for the right team Drama queens Dreamer smart girl rough girl fashion but you're tough girl

You could sit with us girl Drama queens drama queens drama queens drama queens Drama queens drama queens drama queens Drama queens It may look different But native culture is alive My name is Nicole Garcia And on Burn Sage Burn Bridges

We aim to explore that culture Somewhere along the way It turned into this full-fledged award-winning comic shop That's Dr. Lee Francis IV, who opened the first native comic bookshop. Explore his story along with many other native stories on the show, Burn Sage Burn Bridges. Listen to Burn Sage Burn Bridges on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.