Podcrushed - YOU Roundtable: The Women of Season 5
Episode Date: April 28, 2025[SPOILERS AHEAD] In this series finale actors roundtable (I’m not crying, you’re crying!), the incredible women of YOU come together for a conversation to discuss that epic finale, intuiti...on and erasure, and how they worked together to seal Joe’s fate. Featuring Madeline Brewer, Tati Gabrielle, Amy-Leigh Hickman, Charlotte Ritchie, and Anna Camp. [Watch the episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/qAr3KFeejO4] Massive thank you to DNS Productions Inc for shooting & editing this! Director / Supervising Producer: Daria Scoccimarro Co-Producer / Line Producer: Madia Hill Scott Post Producer / Lead Editor: Owen Donovan Associate Producer / Assistant Editor: Jesse Williams Director of Photography: Charlee Harrison Camera Operator: Dylan Endike Camera Operator: Stacy Mize Gaffer: Graeme Dempsey Key Grip: Chris Angarone Production Designer: Denise Pascal Sound Mixer: Sergio Reyes-Sheehan Sound Mixer Assistant: Chris Barone Sound Mixer Assistant: Dylan Andrew Lappin Production Assistant - Set PA: Madison Collins Production Assistant - Set PA: Jay Hernandez Preorder our new book, Crushmore, here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/book... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want more from Podcrushed? Follow our social channels here: Insta: https://bit.ly/PodcrushedInsta TikTok: https://bit.ly/PodcrushedTikTok X: https://bit.ly/PodcrushedTwitter You can follow Penn, Sophie and Nava here: Insta: https://www.instagram.com/pennbadgley/ https://www.instagram.com/scribbledby... https://www.instagram.com/nnnava/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iampennbadgley https://www.tiktok.com/@scribbledbysophie https://www.tiktok.com/@nkavelinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Lemonada
Welcome to a very, very special episode of
Pod Crush
I'm joined by my co-hosts
Navajavon and Sophie Ansari
and these lovely women
I am not going to host today. I'm a participant
hands off the wheel.
Yes.
Welcome to.
You can actually just leave.
Just kidding me now.
If you want to, it's very good.
No, just a warm welcome to most of the women of you for this final season.
We are about to, just for our viewers at home, we're about to get into some major spoilers.
We are about to spoil everything for you.
So this is your chance right now.
If you want to click off, go watch the season, come back, and enjoy everything that we're going to divulge.
Three, two, one.
Welcome to Podcrushed.
We're hosts. I'm Penn.
I'm Nava and I'm Sophie.
And I think we would have been your middle school besties plotting the takedown of our exes.
They had it coming.
Does anyone else ever get that nagging feeling that their dog might be bored?
And do you also feel like super guilty about it?
Well, one way that I combat that feeling is I'm making meal time everything it can be for my little boy, Louis.
Nom Nom does this with food that actually engages your public.
senses with a mix of tantalizing smells, textures, and ingredients. Nom Nom offers six recipes
bursting with premium proteins, vibrant veggies and tempting textures designed to add excitement
to your dog's day. Pork potluck, chicken cuisine, turkey fair, beef mash, lamb, pilaf, and turkey
and chicken cookout. I mean, are you kidding me? I want to eat these recipes. Each recipe is cooked
gently in small batches to seal in vital nutrients and maximize digestibility. And
Their recipes are crafted by vet nutritionists, so I feel good knowing its design with
Louis' health and happiness in mind.
Serve nom-nom-nom as a complete and balanced meal or is a tasty and healthy addition to your
dog's current diet.
My dogs are like my children, literally, which is why I'm committed to giving them only
the best.
Hold on.
Let me start again because I've only been talking about Louis.
Louis is my bait.
Louis, you might have heard him growl just now.
Louie is my little baby and I'm committed to only giving him the best.
I love that Nom Nom's recipes contain wholesome nutrient rich food, meat that looks like meat
and veggies that look like veggies because, shocker, they are.
Louis has been going absolutely nuts for the lamb pilaf.
I have to confess that he's never had anything like it and he cannot get enough.
So he's a lamb pilaf guy.
Keep mealtime exciting with NomNum available at your local pet smart store or at Chewy.
Learn more at Trinom.com slash podcrushed, spelled trinom.com slash podcrushed.
Hey, it's Lena Waith. Legacy Talk is my love letter to black storytellers, artists who've changed the game and paved the way for so many of us.
This season, I'm sitting down with icons like Felicia Rashad, Loretta Vine, Ava DuVernay, and more.
We're talking about their journeys, their creative process, and the legacies they're building every single day.
Come be a part of the conversation.
Season 2 drops July 29th.
Listen to Legacy Talk wherever you get your podcast or watch us on YouTube.
There are two things that unite all of the women who are here today.
You are all the women who got away from Joe Goldberg, but you are also all the women who brought Joe Goldberg down.
So congratulations to you.
And we want to kick things off with a question that's open to all of you.
Well, half of Anna.
We're going to be talking
The better half some would say
So we want to
We're actually going to jump right to the end
We want to know from each of you
Do you feel like Joe got the ending that he deserved?
We don't want to know that from you yet, Penn
But from all the ladies here
Do you feel like Joe got the ending that he deserved?
I do
I couldn't say that firmly
I think he got the ending that he deserved
I don't think that there could have been a more fit
final moment for him
not just in that
like he's in a cage
he doesn't have access
to women anymore
but that he still
won't admit
what he's done
and that it's like
he is at fault
I think it was like
right through to the very end
he is this character
he is
it's consistent
and I think he gets
what he deserves
I think whatever the outcome
would have been
everyone would have been like
there was
would have been like a, like another opinion on it.
So I think, yeah, because he has to live with it, you know.
Yeah.
Because I think, yeah, no, I definitely think that him, like, I know a lot of people
wanted him to die.
Like, but I don't, yeah, it's like that dying in itself is an escape.
It would, like, it doesn't allow one to suffer properly the way that he should.
So, yeah.
Is he done though?
I mean, oh my gosh.
Come on.
I'm saying he gets the fan letter, right?
Is he done?
But is he going to learn something?
Is he going to change?
But he was done.
Okay, I'm just asking.
I'm just throwing it out there and there you go.
I wouldn't have minded maybe a bit of redemption, some kind of realization.
I agree.
I think it's fitting that he didn't because he wouldn't realize what he's done.
But part of me feels so frustrated that he finds a new channel in blaming
the writers or the viewers
and just some sense that there is
a possible redemption for somebody like that
that there's a moment where they left
with no channel except for to look inwards
finally to like look at themselves
but it wouldn't have felt right
but kind of can you do that with a psychopath
right right no humane or empathetic
truly empathic person like this is full-blown psychopath
right so it had to be yeah
yeah if we're going to try to bring reality to it
at some point Joe was an innocent boy
And it's like, again, not worried about him now, but like, how could we save more innocent boys?
And people, girls, whatever.
But I do think, like, there's something unique that a man is capable of becoming.
Is something, some kind of unique predator, a man is capable of becoming if all the conditions exist.
And then he makes certain choices of certain points, right?
So, like, I'm just wondering about the innocent boys who could be prevented.
That's, like, a whole toxic masculinity conversation, too.
as like the way we treat boys and condition boys to not be vulnerable to be men and to
be strong and powerful and domineering and then you know uh and to have no vulnerabilities
and to not explore their emotions and to to not be scared and it's like a whole thing if there
were those accommodations and those like not even accommodations but if we were a society who supported
Joe Goldberg exists the way that he does, even though he isn't real.
Speaking of the way that we treat boys, I think it is hard to escape this world as a woman
without experiencing some of the broader themes from this show, manipulation, gaslighting, toxic
relationships, then also like reclaiming power, pushing back.
And I'm curious to know, to the extent that you're willing to share, if for any of you,
any of those broader themes resonated for you, the actress.
for the character that you're playing.
Oh, loaded questions.
Yeah.
Let's go through to pass.
No, no, no, no.
Let's talk about it.
I mean, for me, it definitely hit home a lot just so even from the beginning.
Like, I was in a very abusive relationship at a point in my life.
And just a couple years before getting on the show.
And so it brought up a lot for me in the course of doing so.
or in the course of shooting
but it was also
in some ways particularly with
with Marianne herself
it was also healing in ways
like over time and like especially
the conversations that she has
with love in season three
and then with Bronte in this last season
like it's
I could hear
I was I could hear myself talking to myself
and sort of telling the same things
or trying to reconcile with some of the like because it's a hard thing of like you know you don't know
until you know and you make certain choices and you do have to live with those choices but there's
always room to there's always room to grow there's always room to be a different version of yourself
um and to not lose faith in oneself and think that just because even if it happens more than once
even if it um it can it can it can always be brought back um that that that that that little voice in the
head that that that that girl inside can can still be made happy yeah we went back and watched that
scene with love in season three and i started crying it's really powerful thank you yeah thank
you i found myself getting very mad at joe i mean i'm always mad at joe like in every season
but this season like what i'm just watching him lie to you his wife and and watching that
scene where, like, you see her coming down and the massage, you bought the massage. And I just
was so angry at this man. And I was so, like, oh, pissed off at just how he can, like, look at
somebody in the face and just lie to them. And, like, everything is okay. So that really
resonated. We can talk about that later. You know, there was a Vanity Fair article recently.
Maddie, you were interviewed. And you talked.
about how, even before the show had come out, there was already some, like, backlash about
your character. And I found it really straight. And I think you talked about, like, how people
were angry, had anger towards Bronte more towards her than, like, Joe, a mass murderer. And I was
thinking about how one of the female leads who didn't get as much heat was love, who was the other
mass murderer. And I was like, what is, yeah. Yeah. I think so. So, and I was thinking, like,
what is that? Like, what does that tell us about society that people really actively root for
like bad people? Like, and I'm just curious if you have thoughts on that. I think there's
something interesting about the playing out of like internal or like darker fantasies. There are
sides to us that you don't get, we all have light and shade, right? So then you, I do think there's
something about entertainment or this format that means that you can exercise that. And you can kind
of root for a person that does things that you know if you met them in real life, you'd think they
were horrid, but because they're not real, because they're distant, because you can control
your relationship with them, I think it's something about that enjoyment of the transgression.
I think we kind of like, I don't know, I'm looking straight at you, I think we kind of like
that.
Well, I say we, sorry, I try to speak just for like for myself, but I think I have, I definitely
enjoy watching awful characters because there's like, there's a sense of decorum and like
reasonable kindness and normal ways of behaving that you, you uphold, but as a human, you have sides
that you can kind of lean into that are fantastical.
It's so thrilling to watch someone just kind of throw it all the way.
Not care and just do it stand and be this, yeah.
I mean, it's also probably like a really bad indictment on where we're at, like, as a broader world.
But I think Joe goes back to that sort of mental health conversation of like, like, we live in a world that does, that likes to play nice, that we've been taught, like, since like, both girls and boys, it's like, you know, be a good boy, be a good girl.
Like, it's like, that you're never, like, we all have a shadow self and that there's balance is necessary to create a full person.
person, but it's like we have, as a society, we've made this odd agreement that like,
no, no, everybody's shadows stay in the shadows. And so like because, but like TV and
film and stuff has started to bring that out. And, but still we are not like addressing it or
allowing freedom for everybody else to like sort of address their shadows and walk in in
life in this like full manner. Yeah. You're right. There's like an extremity to it in the media
because it's not integrated. And then when you cage an animal like that, then it's just, of course,
It's going to, and I think that then goes into why the chaos in the world and why everybody's like raging now because it's, you, you keep a dark thing in a cage for something. It's going to grow. It's going to get bigger. And yeah, it's kind of, yeah. I know that Penn wants to make a joke about the word cage.
No, I can feel it. In this one instance, no. I mean, it's the first time ever.
I don't know. Try. I just, he's rubbing off on me because I was like, cage, cage.
Well, Penn is the person who has received like almost only love for a character that you famously hate on.
What are your thoughts?
What are your thoughts on like your female colleagues receiving like some maybe unmerited hate or critique?
I'm curious.
Oh, sorry, just to say, I don't you've made of it.
I feel I was justifying that it's specifically a sexist thing.
Like I would say that was a more broad thing about why.
Yeah, yeah, but please Penn, go on.
Yeah, I guess that's, yeah, I mean, it's definitely there.
I've found in this press run
because we're in the middle of a press run
the press cycle for the release
of the end of the show. I really do
I'm finding, like I'm scraping
the bottom of the barrel and trying to find new things
to say about him. I mean
it's there. I'm having
my own
personal revelations that are actually
quite
profound and kind of intimate and maybe
in time can share.
But yeah, look, the social thing is of course
there. Like, there's a difference in treatment of men and women. Yeah. It's there. He's also
the star of the show. So then it's just focusing on the main character, main character energy,
right? And then it's like, you know, he looks and acts the way that he does, which is
specifically there to make him charming. I mean, he's never been a clinical portrayal of a serial
killer. You know what I mean? Never, ever. The show's not about that. It's about love. It's
about like the things that we understand about love and don't understand about love. And like,
you know, you fall to its conclusion.
Actually, it's closer to possession.
That's not love.
It's closer to abuse and jealousy and coercion manipulation.
So that's what the show's about.
He's constructed to be actually impossibly likable.
Paco, first season, impossibility, I think.
He would sooner abuse that boy than he would.
Well, if anything, he was grooming him, you know.
He was grooming him.
He gave him a sandwich.
In the end, he kept Beck in the cage.
He groomed Paco, okay?
He's not nice to him.
season two
Ellie
killed her sister
need I say more
oh no love killed her
but
come on
he slept with her
so to keep even happen
so that's where Joe is
you know
he's actually
like not most dangerous
in the box
when somebody's in the box
Joe is finally
transparent about who he is
he's the most
transparent about who he is
like those
plexiglass walls
where he's the least
transparent
and most dangerous
is in the bedroom
which is why
we took his dick
speaking of
villains
we do get to see
a new side of Kate this season in Charlotte.
And I'm curious what it, did that change your interactions with Penn, the dynamic between
the two of you as actors and what was it like to bring out that new side of Kate?
Yeah, I was so grateful to get to kind of broaden her out a bit and kind of, I think she's so
guarded and so icy in the fourth series.
We only really get to see her kind of thought a bit when she starts to really fall for
joke
if she does it
and so we see that
and it was a real pleasure
to get to see her
in her kind of element
with control and power
and a vision
and a sense of like
possible redemption
and this
it was great
and she kind of
you almost has a sense of humour
and it's really great
and I felt that
particularly there was a scene
where I really get to go at you
about everything that you've done
and there's something about
Kate's ability to see things
quite she's quite kind of rational in some ways and there's a kind of icy like intellectual way
of not feeling things and just analyzing them but that that scene in particular was really fun
because it changed the power dynamic there was this but also there's a kind of link by this point
they kind of know a lot about each other so that was really fun I really enjoyed that I thought
yeah such a great scene too oh it's great yeah I loved this new breath that you brought to keep
in this season really good I think I yeah I think I also sort of was resisting her quite a lot in the
fourth series. Because I felt like I was judging her. I was like, God, I was like, no, get in,
get in here. Get in here. So that was fun. Yeah. Love it. Some of my favorite scenes of this past
season were the arguments between Joe and Kate. It was something, there was something happening there
that hadn't been able to happen yet. It was like maybe the most mature stage of a relationship
that he'd been in. Right. So therefore, there was like, you know, it was like its own version of
it was like an evolution of the marriage therapy scenes in season three which i also really enjoyed
with love um i love yeah actually so i forget there's one episode episode six where i'm like
mostly not in which was phenomenal i just remember because it's like it's like it's all yeah yeah
he was in miami um just not getting in the sun can't yet continuity stay pale stay pale stay pale um
But the huge argument that we have, you know what I mean?
That was like, I really loved.
That's quite fun.
Also, it's just great to get, when you've watched the show and you watch him,
that I got to like list the things that you've done to your face,
and be like, hello.
And if we had to respond at length, too,
because he often usually doesn't respond.
Yeah, yeah, of course.
So I was responding.
And we're like, we're like really, probably more give and take than I can think of,
save for the final sequence.
Yeah.
Because so often you all know most of you,
it's like you have to sort of like,
I'm especially thinking of Marianne in season three,
like the trauma that she is just like sharing with Joe,
you know what I mean?
And that's what he did with Beck, season one.
It's like, let me listen to you just monologue about your trauma.
And I'm never going to give anything back.
You know, like just, it's just that.
And so I really loved these scenes where he's,
because with you, with you,
he's still trying to like accomplish something
with you he's like
giving up
and so he's like
and so that was for me
for all the heaviness that I've often spoke
that was not
that was like fun
because it's just like
there's no limit
to how confident I can be
about hating this
that was fun
Kate is pretty complicit
and I think in this season
we find out that she's complicit
in poor Nadia's fate
sort of in like
like sealing her fate and getting her in jail and stuff.
And so I want to know, do you feel like in the balance of things she achieves redemption or
she's still pretty complicit?
Oh, great question.
And there's a fellow countryman as well.
And then I have the same question for you.
You know, how do you feel about it?
I don't know.
I'm not sure how clear cut it can be about like there's no denying that Kate has done terrible
things and she'll have to carry that with her always.
I think she manages to she wants to have
when we have that scene between the three of us
when she decides she's going to be the one that tries to kill him
that there's a real sense that she wants this redemption
but whether I don't really like I don't know if she
she's done it there's nothing she can do about the fact that she's done this to
and she had all the intentions to do that I don't know
but you do feel like she's changed I don't know how to answer that
only because it's like a really fair question
but I just still not worked out my feelings around that
like whether she can do a kind of tip for tat
like I did this and but now I've done this
so am I good
am I cleat like I don't know
she'll have to hold it all together
don't you have a scene
I know that you have a scene at the end with
with Lady Phoebe right
but then are you two interacting at the end
because there's this like sort of thing
I'm Kate
yeah
um no
the last time is when
with the gun and then you go back down
to
And then we just, we made a joke.
We were like, where do we go?
We go to the same.
That's it.
Like, yes.
One back.
A celebration.
How do you feel?
Do you think Nadia should forgive Kate?
Do you feel like, no.
I mean, I lost three years of my life.
I mean, she didn't really have a choice, did she?
It was Kate or nothing.
It's weird because when the show, I watched the show before and you do get, like you say,
get behind the characters that you spoke about
in such weird way. And
I found it so interesting that when season
four came out, how many
people were like, she got what
she deserved. Glad she's
impressed. I thought people really liked you.
I saw people were like Justice for Nadia.
I saw a lot of
shouldn't have gone snooping,
things like that. Oh my God.
It's awful. I saved
her life.
Not me, but you know.
And I thought that so I found
I was a lot of, I didn't know that either.
I'm kidding.
There was a lot of nice things as well.
But I did find it interesting because you would think that given the circumstances,
there would be none of that.
But there were so many things about snooping around.
So to have, to come to, I'm really interested to see how people I don't too react.
Well, that's just also like a woman trusting her instincts is a bad thing.
Right.
It's like that.
And also, Joe's whole thing is snooping around.
Right.
That's like crazy.
That is, that lady is real on that.
That's wild.
It's really how it all changed.
It's because you didn't have that bar cap.
If you had that bar cap and you would have that bar cap.
It made a sin.
And a penis.
There you go.
And probably.
Great.
Yeah.
You should have had a penis before you did.
Penis and a bar cap.
Come on.
Can we wait.
Thank you.
Pieness.
But no, I did, I did think.
Sorry.
No one wants to say ball cap.
I say bar cap and apparently that's not a thing.
A hat?
A baseball cap.
I thought you were saying bald cap.
That's why I was so confused.
Anna, are you okay?
I suppose it's a ball cap.
Like a baseball cap.
A hat.
I was thinking can we make penis bald caps?
I was going to what we're saying now.
Did you think Kate should be forgiven?
Sorry.
I have an idea.
No, no.
I love it.
Because it's, you know, yes, she helped get her out, but you still put her there.
You know, snakes, three years of punishment for what?
So I think no, I think no.
And I think she just had to go with it because there was no other option.
But it was nice to have that moment.
And I think that's, I mean, out of us, Lott, I'm the only one that wasn't.
a love interest?
No.
Yeah.
It was technically not even, yeah.
No.
But, and that case, point is a void.
You're still in a minority there.
But it was nice to have, like, when we had that moment when Joe was in the box cage,
whatever it was, it was, it was nice to have that you guys were coming from a completely
different perspective.
Yeah, you're like ironclad in a way.
Yeah.
Well, in the sense that you weren't ever pursuing a relationship.
relationship.
Like, Nadia wasn't ever pursuing.
You know, you're like, no, I was put in prison.
I went to fucking school, guys.
That's what I did.
I was pursuing an education.
I shouldn't have gone sleeping.
That's the crazy thing about people turning on Nadia, which I didn't know.
I hadn't seen any of that because Nadia, like every season there's a mentee and that that
character, that's the like save the cat.
We've had like the showrunners discuss this.
And that's the sort of thing that helps the audience root for Joe, right?
It's like, but in season.
before he imprisons that character and blames her for a murder shooting commitment.
And then we see Joe from Marianne's perspective from the first time.
And it's the first time that we see Joe without like the artifice of like,
what's that word charm?
There's no charm when we see him from that perspective.
So I feel like that should be the season where everyone stops rooting for him.
And it's amazing.
Like the writers lift the veil and they show us the monster fully.
And it's amazing that we don't stop rooting for him.
But it's good because we see Joe be so charming.
and I think when people have asked me this before
I'm like that's why it's so important
to know that like you know
it's not as obvious when people
bad people aren't obviously bad people
they are good at what they do
and that's why
we have you
yeah that's why I'm performing a tremendous social service
Nadia
did you know at the end of season 4 that you were cut
your character was coming back
Amy Amy sorry Amy
Did you notice that I got to you now?
Did you say that?
No.
You're face didn't change.
No, Amy, did you know that Nadia was coming back at the end of season?
No, I knew, I really thought that I was just, like in season four,
I thought that I was just going to be, come in and do scenes with you in the university
and not be on the side of anything.
So I found out, like, watching an episode, essentially, like, and then in, I think
when everything was going on with, like, Marianne and Nadia, I thought,
I'm going to be dead at 10.
So I was sort of waiting for that scene where I was going to be killed.
And then when I went to prison, I kind of hoped, but I didn't think because I knew that they were going to do something completely different to take it back to New York.
So, no, I was pleasantly surprised, yeah.
Stick around. We'll be right back.
all right so um let's just let's just let's just real talk as they say for a second that's a little bit
of an aged thing to say now that that dates me doesn't it um but no real talk uh how important is your
health to you know on like a one to ten and i don't mean the in the sense of vanity i mean in the
sense of like you want your day to go well right you want to be less stressed you don't want it
it's sick. When you have responsibilities, I know myself, I'm a householder, I have two children
and two more on the way, a spouse, a pet, you know, a job sometimes has its demands. So I really want
to feel like when I'm not getting the sleep and I'm not getting nutrition, when my eating's down,
I want to know that I'm being held down some other way physically. You know, my family holds me down
emotionally, spiritually, but I need something to hold me down physically, right? And so honestly,
I turned to symbiotica, these vitamins and these beautiful little packets that they taste
delicious. And I'm telling you, even before I started doing ads for these guys, it was a product
that I really, really liked and enjoyed and could see the differences with. The three that I use,
I use the, what is it called, liposomal vitamin C, and it tastes delicious, like really, really good.
Comes out in the packet, you put it right in your mouth. Some people don't do that. I do it.
taste great. I use the liposomal glutathione as well in the morning. Really good for gut health
and although I don't need it, you know, anti-aging. And then I also use the magnesium L3 and 8,
which is really good for, I think, mood and stress. I sometimes use it in the morning, sometimes
use it at night. All three of these things taste incredible. Honestly, you don't even need to mix
it with water. And yeah, I just couldn't recommend them highly enough. Do you want to try them out?
Go to symbiotica.com slash podcrushed for 20% off plus free shipping.
That's symbiotica.com slash podcrushed for 20% off plus free shipping.
The first few weeks of school are in the books, and now's the time to keep that momentum going.
I-XL helps kids stay confident and ahead of the curve.
I-XL is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning.
Whether they're brushing up on math or diving into social studies, it covers math, language arts, science,
and social studies from pre-K through 12th grade with content that's engaging, personalized,
and yes, actually fun.
It's the perfect tool to keep learning going without making it feel like school.
I actually used I Excel quite a bit when I was teaching fifth grade.
I used it for my students to give like extra problems for practice or sometimes I also
used it to just check on what the standards were in my state for any given topic in math,
or reading or writing. It's just a helpful tool all around for teachers, for parents,
for students. I honestly do love it. Studies have shown that kids who use I-XL score higher on
tests. This has been proven in almost every state in the U.S. So if your child is struggling,
this is a smart investment that you can make in their learning. A single hour of tutoring costs
more than a month of I-XL. Don't miss out. One in four students in the U.S. are learning with I-XL,
and IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S.
Make an impact on your child's learning.
Get IXL now.
And Podcrush listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL memberships
when they sign up today at IXL.com slash podcrushed.
Visit Iexl.com slash podcrushed to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.
As the seasons change, it's the perfect time to learn something new.
Whether you're getting back into a routine after summer or looking for a new challenge before the year ends,
Rosetta Stone makes it easy to turn a few minutes a day into real language progress.
Rosetta Stone is the trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years.
Their immersive, intuitive method helps you naturally absorb and retain your new language on desktop or mobile whenever and wherever it fits your schedule.
Rosetta Stone immerses you in your new language naturally, helping you think and communicate
with confidence. There are no English translation so you truly learn to speak, listen, and think
in your chosen language. The other day I was actually at the grocery store and I asked one of the
people working there if they could help me find a specific item and she was like, sorry, I actually
don't speak English. She only spoke Spanish and I was like, if only I, my Spanish was good enough to be
able to have this conversation in Spanish, we will be sorted. And that's where Rosetta Stone comes
in. I really need to get back on my Rosetta Stone grind. With 30 years of experience, millions of
users, and 25 languages to choose from, including Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and more.
Rosetta Stone is the go-to tool for real language growth. A lifetime membership gives you access
to all 25 languages so you can learn as many as you want whenever you want. Don't wait. Unlock your
language learning potential now. Podcrush listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership
for 50% off. That's unlimited access to 25 language courses for life. Visit Rosettastone.com
slash podcrush to get started and claim your 50% off today. Don't miss out. Go to rosettastone.com
slash podcrush and start learning today. Tati, tatty, tatty. I have to tell you the episodes 8 through 10
of season four.
Oh my gosh.
Like some of the best episodes of television
I feel like I've ever seen.
Yeah, it was.
Right?
And that is what Nava just mentioned
where like it's the first episode,
I think in the whole entire show
where we see Joe,
but we don't get his inner monologue.
Like we're hearing Marianne's inner monologue.
And so we see Joe for like how vile he really is.
And I feel like it wasn't until,
for me at least,
It wasn't until that moment where I actually felt that way.
Like, I really embarrassingly, I represent, like, I represent the girls on the internet, okay?
I think also because I know pen in real life, like, it's hard for me, honestly, to really be fully against Joe until that moment.
And then when we see him without hearing him, his manipulation, then I'm like, oh, shoot, he is a monster.
And the way you're telling it, the way it's written, where you're telling the fairy tale to your daughter, I mean, it's,
gorgeous um what was my question about that i think i just wanted to give you your flowers i'm like
it's made me obsessed with you but no but funny enough like i had this date because it's like i i
think for half the time not i didn't wasn't ever rooting for joe i guess in my watching the show but
just was like why am i charmed by this person um and then i wasn't rooting for him
but like for me actually too even being in like and i think it also did had to do with the
fact that during the shooting of season four like i didn't get to interact with
you as much either. So then my hatred for Joe grew significant because I couldn't have
the love of Penn. So it was like and then even days on set like I remember like being scared
by like I remember sitting that that first scene I think in episode eight when we're sitting at the
table and like Joe's like watching the video of Reese and like and feeling this like super disconnect
from you like like as like both like as the act like Bravo by the way like that was.
really scary um but like it made me like from that point on and then even like watching this season like
I was like from the jump I was like fuck this guy like why are we even fuck this guy like yeah so yeah
we did talk about this a little bit but in in season three love and marian have this really
incredible moment where we think love is going to kill marian she's ready to kill marian and then
they actually have this conversation where Marianne says something really, you know,
meaningful and tells her to sort of go back to herself.
And then you kind of pay that forward with Bronte and that conversation with Bronte is really
what seals Joe's fate.
And so I'm curious how you felt about the decision for the character Marianne who got away from
Joe in kind of like the most epic way to come back into the dangerous fold.
How did you feel about that?
Um, I, I guess not scared. No, not scared because I did always like hope that Marianne could for her
own self and her own ability for closure and moving on that she could have some part in
taking him down or seeing her own justice because justice in her life is, is something
that is very important to her that she never received for herself. So to have her own,
her own hands in taking that justice back, like I was actually really excited to be
able to do that um uh and then particularly too with like i liked in the way of like when we have
that scene between the three of us and like kate is like you didn't stop her and i was like what
was i supposed to fucking restrain her like i like that like that marion just had a conversation
fronte and like it just was like we to give us the power to not be him to not have to like use
physical force that like we have our own uh
as women that we have our own I don't know the words that I want to or just like this this
energy this power that we just that the world tries to make us forget that men can try to make
us forget that we can just that it just takes one little instance to bring it back um so yeah I was
I really I really loved that episode in the way that like and especially even being so angry and
she could have taken the anger that she just had for Joe in that moment to Bronte and then like
what are you doing um but instead she was
was like no like it was almost like this is what I would have wanted to hear um it said to have
brought me out before it got to the points that it got for me um so yeah can i so sorry
well no go ahead thank you there's this so it's so beautiful the way you do that and that there's
something i think really particularly important which i guess you start to learn as you get
older which is marianna's not trying to control bronte and what she feels she's just sharing
her own and that is enough
that that exactly that's what's so
beautiful she's not saying do this don't do that
she's having her arrive at it herself yeah and it's that's
really I think that's beautiful
that's that was what I want to underscore is like when you were
trying to find the word you said
the charm or you know maybe it's a power
what you're actually describing is power
and it's empowering
and to empower someone is way more powerful
than to coerce them exactly and so
just let's talk about some social dynamics
right here this actually is
about, like, for a moment, it's about, yeah, no idea.
It's what I'm saying.
Let me say it like this.
In this one sense, this is about power dynamics because mutual empowers, if you give power
to, that's not, you don't need to take that power away from somebody.
Like, the sort of power that is only valuable when you have to, when someone else doesn't
have it, is not very powerful.
But that is the power that we currently believe, it's a very...
I hate to say masculine because masculinity, I don't want to actually paint as bad, as inherently bad, not at all.
Like, it's sad that actually maybe men believe, and the world responds to most, this notion of power that is dominant and coercive, and it isn't mutually empowering.
But the sort of power, if it's feminine, I don't know, I think it's broader than that, but the sort of power that you can give to somebody while having, while keeping every,
bit of your own. That's just logically, mathematically, that's more power. So actually what you're
saying, like, you know, it's funny, I just wanted to underscore that you were struggling to find a
moment, find the word for a moment and, and sort of skate it over that it's power. But like, no,
that's powerful. Some of the most powerful moments are moments where it's like, yeah, I'm not
trying to control you. I don't need to control you. I can't control you. So what I'm going to do
is share.
And if that's empowering, great.
Then we both have it.
You know, and that's just, it's also, it's just, it's just, it's just so much more powerful.
So, yeah, we've, we've, we've, so yeah, anyway, we'll cut that, we'll cut that one down.
Yeah.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
No, no, no, no, no.
Okay.
Bronte and Marianne have this really meaningful scene together in Mooneys.
I want the two of you to take us into that experience.
What was it like filming that?
Tell us more about it.
I was great to shoot.
I was so,
I was so excited to work with you.
Was that the first time you guys were working together?
First time we worked together,
we'd like not bring each other
and been around each other a few times.
But I mean,
it's a pivotal moment,
at least in Bronte's journey.
As you said,
it like sets up the entire finale,
sets up Joe's fate.
And I love that scene so much for what you just said about, about kind of giving power, not giving power, but empowering.
And it could only come from someone who truly understood what Bronte was experiencing.
Because, and I think what's common about, I mean, maybe Nadia doesn't forgive Kate, but maybe opens the door to her because she knows this man and knows what she might have experienced with him.
him. Do you know? It's like unless if you know, you know kind of situation when it comes to
Joe Goldberg. But I think for Bronte, it was so easy to write off Kate's warnings. It was so
easy to say that woman is a jealous ex-wife and I'm the mistress and she's going to say
anything she can to make me turn away. Just so many reasons why. I mean, Bronte makes the same
excuse, like for Kate, for, God, what is Natasha's character's name? Dominek for Clayton is like
there, they don't get it. They don't know what I've experienced. And then this woman that I thought
was a ghost, like I walk into Moody's and I'm like, there's a ghost standing there. Um,
because Bronte has been like studying you, studying you and, and knows who you are,
presumes you to be dead. And then you stand there and you just list everything. Like, every experience.
Every thought Bronte's had herself, but maybe wouldn't dare herself to, to let it, like, come out.
And only someone who has experienced what Bronte has also experienced can do that, could show her,
this is not going to end the way you think it's going to end.
And especially highlighting the way he makes you feel.
And what you think, oh, God, the one about the other women, about like, that happens to stupid women.
that doesn't happen to us and it's so easy to fall into that that like that's something that
happens to other people it's the same thing with like you know with anything you never think
it's going to happen to you but you also think you're smarter and you're more savvy than that and
um i never let a man do that to me um but it's in the end yeah um it's so it's 180 for bronte
at that point because of what you allow her to find it herself just through your own experience
Well, and I think, like, it's really, it was really interesting, too, because, like, through it, like, Marianne uses all you statements.
She is, like, technically, in the same way, it's just, yeah, like, saying, yeah, you, you, you sort of pointing the finger in the same way that, like, I guess Kate has done it, that, that Dominique has, like, of, but it's gentle.
And it's, like, though using these you statements, she's expressing from her own experience.
Yeah.
One, and it's like, and two, dang it, don't lose the thought.
ADHD.
Uh, darn it, it's gone.
Um, but basically just like the fact that like, uh, it's, it's just more welcoming because it, that, there it is.
In reality, like, to Bronte, if Marianne had come using those use statements, using the same way of coming at, because you could, in the same way Marianne could be coming from the same place as Kate from this angry, like he put me in a fucking box and trying to kill me.
Like it's like she has every right to also be angry, too also be hateful to also.
but it's like somehow still
she I guess it's more so
she's speaking to the empathy
that they both have shared for Joe
even in the his monstrosity
I think it's like you acknowledge like the good parts of him
the parts that you fall in love with
whereas everyone else is like he's a murderer
he's a murderer you're insane
and it's like you don't get it you don't get it
and you acknowledge that there are there are parts of him
that make you fall in love
that you become attracted to
and you can't blame yourself for that
that's all part of it though
and
yeah
yeah
yeah
great scene lots of fine
I was too
I was weeping in that scene
and he was just so beautiful
and you were like
truly felt like it came from the heart
and it was God it was
yeah
thank you
thank you you know it was really a pleasure to do that with you
yeah like even from the the jump that coming in the door like I was like it was a very interesting
energy because like I don't think that Marian had ever I don't know experienced much of Joe's
world too before that or any any other no that's not sure she did leave me love but not extensively
only in that one little moment but it's like to to to meet the like oh this is the and I think
to Marianne I guess even seeing parts of herself in Bronte of like already off rip of like just
energetically um they're two of the most similar characters i think because they're both very
like mistress energy you know like keeping keeping them in not a literal box but the figurative box
you love these boxes i show's about that's beautiful Anna yes we've got to come to you
your character kind of stumbles her way into sealing joe's fate she um
You know, she lights that fire.
She lights this kind of iconic fire.
And I'm curious, sort of before we get to that moment, she murders her twin.
She intends on murdering Joe doesn't quite accomplish it.
So I'm curious for you, like, in the end, do you think Maddie is the bad twin?
Great question.
And sort of like, what is your thought on Maddie?
Oh, my God.
No way.
She's like coming from a place of pure love, honey.
Like, no, really, I don't think so.
I loved her so much.
I mean, I think that she obviously
will do whatever it takes
to get what she wants,
but ultimately, well, wait a minute.
She killed her sister,
but her sister, I mean, he makes up the best
point when he's trying to convince
me to kill my twin. He says, do you think
that she would hesitate for a moment
if I asked Reagan to kill you?
So ultimately, I think she's saving
herself because I think Reagan wouldn't think twice about it and would just be like done
can you put on your Reagan hat for a second and like do you think that there's that you
yeah um yes do you sorry ball cap
ball cap thank you I can't understand you if you don't say
put on your Reagan ball cap got it do you do you think there's a girl
is there a penis on gorgeous it's kidding nuts again and then let's back here okay go
Do you think there's a world where she would save her sister?
I'm forgetting what was the ultimatum, like you both die or one of you?
You said if you don't kill Reagan, you both of you will die.
That's what you said.
I remember that.
That's a tough one.
I was there.
It's on camera.
That's a really tough one.
Yeah.
I mean, and I believe, I believe you.
Heart goes out to those girls.
That's a real tough one.
That's a real hard one.
All the ultimatums he's giving them.
that one's, oh my God.
I don't think she's evil, though.
But that's like the
Carrie
Carrie and Carrie.
Sherry and Carrie, they both got out.
They found a way to not kill each other.
They get the same ultimatum.
Maybe ultimately Maddie wanted to kill her.
You're impatient.
I mean, I think that scene that I finally, you know,
I got to act with like the best scene partner myself.
I'm just kidding.
No, she needs a little work.
No, but I finally got to that.
scene though just how horrible Reagan was making her feel yeah it's just like maybe she
couldn't wait for a reason to kill her you know and she was just looking for that and there
happened and so yeah I don't know who's evil I don't know who's more evil now it's a great
question you filmed with real fire is that right yes yes what was it like were you
hot it was so cold um no it was really cool I had just actually
just worked with fire before. So I was kind of like, oh, okay. And everybody was like really
freaking out. And I was like, ah, I just did this, you know, and I just lost one eyebrow. It's
fine. No, it was really cool. They like lit the whole aisle, obviously, with like gasoline and
they had everybody and all the guys were around, like checking in on me and making sure everything
was okay. But I remember Marcos, the director said, don't leave the shot until I tell you to.
So I was like, Marcos, I trust you. I really trust.
you here and he said, I'm going to yell, leave when I want you to leave. So I lit the match and I
like throw it on the fire and it's raging and it's getting hotter and hotter and hotter. And I just
was like, he's going to call it, right? Like he's going to call it. Or is this how I go?
Because this is what happens? This is the end. And then I hear him go, leave. And I go boom.
But I waited. I did wait. So it was really fun. It's so funny because, you know, Penn was telling us,
We interviewed Lee.
We watched the finale episode with Lee who directed it.
And they were talking about how there are some, like, safety precautions around, like, you.
Maddie, you and Penn couldn't, like, be in the water.
And, like, there's all these safety issues.
But then there's, like, you could be in front of the fire.
With, like, hairspray?
Yeah.
Air solve it.
So just to be clear for a moment, I mean, yes, all that's true and dangerous and she's very brief.
Thank you.
But we were inside a giant soundstage.
is a, the entire thing is fireproof.
And it is, it's highly, highly highly.
I'm not, I'm not, I'm not.
I'm not.
I'm really proud of myself.
Um, we, we, we, so it's not to say that it's like, I understand what you're saying.
And what you're, what you're pointing to is like there are weird inconsistencies in this safety standards.
Yeah, yeah.
Because they're like, he cannot drive that car.
Put him underwater for eight hours.
It's right.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, sure.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
Um, so, yeah.
There were a lot of fire stuff, though.
Like, all the clothes were had like, had, had, had,
be covered in like fire retardant.
Oh, right.
They were stiff.
I was wearing like a very stiff version of my outfit.
So, to be clear, so for two entire episodes, because it had to match what we were all wearing
in the episode prior, we were all wearing specifically fire retardant clothing that had been
sprayed so that it's like, it's like, yeah, it was like, yeah.
It was like, jeans.
Oh, my God, no.
So, you know, so, and that's where the, that's where she was fine.
They also rebuilt, I was brave.
They built two versions.
of so moonies they like fully build that library and they built a second one on a fire safe
stage yeah to that's one that was lit on fire i was really happy my improv got in though
when i was like dousing the books with um with gasoline with vodka i go goodbye books
yes i love that i was wondering if that was you guys i just added it goodbye goodbye
books a bit of Anna that it's a little me yeah don't make me laugh
Okay.
It's amazing.
And we'll be right back.
Fall is in full swing and it's the perfect time to refresh your wardrobe with pieces that feel as good as they look.
Luckily, Quince makes it easy to look polished, stay warm, and save big without compromising on quality.
Quince has all the elevated essentials for fall.
Think 100% mongoling cashmere from $50, that's right.
$50, washable silk tops and skirts, and perfectly tailored denim, all at prices that feel
too good to be true.
I am currently eyeing their silk miniskirt.
I have been dying for a silk miniskirt.
I've been looking everywhere at thrift stores, just like all over town.
But I just saw that Quince has one on their website.
It is exactly what I've been looking for.
So I'm just going to click, put that in my cart.
By partnering directly with ethical top-tier factories,
Quince cuts out the middlemen to deliver luxury quality pieces at half the price of similar
brands. It's the kind of wardrobe upgrade that feels smart, stylish, and effortless.
Keep it classic and cozy this fall with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to quince.com
slash podcrushed for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
That's Q-U-I-N-C-C-E.com slash podcrushed to get free shipping and 365-day returns.
Quince.com slash podcrush.
Does anyone else ever get that nagging feeling that their dog might be bored?
And do you also feel like super guilty about it?
Well, one way that I combat that feeling is by making meal time everything it can be for my little boy, Louis.
Nom Nom does this with food that actually engages your pup senses with a mix of tantalizing smells, textures and ingredients.
Nom Nom offers six recipes bursting with premium proteins, vibrant veggies and tempting textures designed to add excessive.
to your dog's day. Pork potluck, chicken cuisine, turkey fair, beef mash, lamb, pilaf,
and turkey and chicken cookout. I mean, are you kidding me? I want to eat these recipes. Each
recipe is cooked gently in small batches to seal in vital nutrients and maximize digestibility.
And their recipes are crafted by vet nutritionists. So I feel good knowing its design with
Louis' health and happiness in mind. Serve nom nom nom as a complete and balanced meal or is a tasty and
healthy addition to your dog's current diet.
My dogs are like my children, literally, which is why I'm committed to giving them
only the best. Hold on. Let me start again because I've only been talking about Louie.
Louis is my bait. Louis, you might have heard him growl just now.
Louis is my little baby, and I'm committed to only giving him the best.
I love that Nom Nom Nom's recipes contain wholesome nutrient rich food, meat that looks like
meat and veggies that look like veggies because, shocker, they are.
Louis has been going absolutely nuts for the lamb pilaf.
I have to confess that he's never had anything like it and he cannot get enough.
So he's a lambie laugh guy.
Keep mealtime exciting with NomNum available at your local pet smart store or at Chewy.
Learn more at trynom.com slash podcrushed, spelled try n-o-m.com slash podcrushed.
August 2025 marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina changed New Orleans.
forever. There have been many accounts of the storm's devastation and what it took to rebuild,
but behind those headlines is another story, one that impacted the lives of thousands of children.
Where the Schools Went is a new five-part podcast series about what happened to the city's schools
after the Levy's broke and how it led to the most radical education experiment in American history.
Hosted by Ravi Gupta, a former school principal, where the schools went traces the decades of
dysfunction before Katrina and how the high-stakes decisions that followed transformed the city's school
system. You'll hear from the voices of the people who lived it, from veteran educators who lost
their jobs, to the idealists and outsiders who rushed in, to the students and families who lived
through it all. Whether you're a parent and educator or someone who cares about how communities and
public systems can work together, where the schools went is a story you need to hear. From the
branch in partnership with the 74 and Midas touch where the schools went is out now find it
wherever you get your podcast and start listening today mattie yes the audience um experiences this
kind of shift in perception with your character sort of the first five episodes she's constructed
she's bronte she is catnip to joe and we find out that she is kind of trying to trick him
and then she's Louise.
And I am curious, like, she's meant to trap him, but somehow Joe traps her, and he's not, he doesn't know sort of what the ruse is.
And I'm curious here from you, but also all the other women, how do you think Joe keeps pulling this off?
How does he keep trapping people?
Even when he's not deliberately trying to trap someone who is trying to deliberately trap him.
Yeah.
He likes the wounded bird, so he plays the wounded bird.
like that's that's what he does almost like like it's like like that's how it's kind of how he gets
it's kind of how he gets braontages in his writings and things no it's formulaic exactly like yeah he gets
that's how he gets marianne that's how he like I mean love is a different story they were psycho together
but like it's how like yeah he he plays the wounded bird and so it's like it's like oh we can be
wounded together like it's like and yes we could hear part of that in his in his inner monologue but
it's also how he lays himself out in front of the women.
Like, he also, like, he, he finds out the very specific thing about them that through his, like,
recon and, like, stalking and all of that, all of the other questionable stuff he does.
Then I called it recon.
Then I called it back.
Through his research.
He, he figures out who they are and what very specific way he can kind of warm,
his way in there. He, um, I mean, Beck, it's like her friends, her, her family, her ex-boyfriend. Um,
love, it's her family. It's her brother. Uh, Marianne, it's her daughter. Her ex. Her ex. Yeah. Kate,
it's her family. It's her friends. It's and Bronte's kills all those people, doesn't they? Yeah.
Yeah. And so he like builds himself up and finds the one thing and just like gets in there.
and becomes who they need just morphs himself,
shapes himself into this kind of white knight figure for them.
And the white knight is not right.
It's just like.
Yeah, well, I mean, it is.
That's what they're called.
Is that what it's called?
So he's, yeah.
Yeah, don't you say that?
Yeah, let's say you're not a white knight.
Yeah.
And so he just changed.
Yeah, but I'm a bad bitch.
Oh, boy.
I can't believe I didn't see them.
I wish.
I wish.
But so he does, he, it's formulaic.
He does it every single time.
He does it.
It takes a different shape every time, but it's always the same.
It's for the same purpose.
And then he starts killing the people around the object of his affection at any given season.
And under the guise of protecting them or, and the only reason it doesn't really work with Bron.
is that she has no past that he can find out about.
And she's positioning herself exactly the way she wants him to.
Or like, because she figures out the formula and makes herself into the perfect candidate for Joe.
Yeah, I think it's, I really like that this is how.
it was brought to a conclusion
in the writer's room
because in a way
she kind of does everything
she could have possibly done
you know
she kind of checks all the boxes
establishes as many safety
guards as there can be
and I hadn't really
funny enough
I hadn't quite realized all this
hadn't thought about it
that deeply in a while but
she does set the perfect trap
but that doesn't realize like
I'm the
trap like she doesn't realize how much she is really putting herself in danger yeah which is to say it's
i'm trying to think of the perfect way to put it yet i almost don't have enough perspective but it's like
she's not giving enough credit to feelings actually which is that which is the age old thing like
it'll never happen to me yeah and i'm smart in that i have all the information i know everything about
this guy i've been stalking him for years that's the power of feelings yeah they just can sway anyone
anyone so hard once she allows him to get to know her uh when she speaks about her mom like that
is true i mean that's like kind of her fatal flaw is that she does open up to him it's not fatal
you know but uh she does open up to him as bronte but with things that are real for louise
and when he does what he does and and and creates space hold space for that um because that's all he's
doing. He's holding space.
Yeah.
It puts the walls just for me.
He creates that space.
You need space.
I'm creating space.
If there's no walls, there's no space.
But he creates that space for the real Louise.
And that's how he gets in to her, to the real side of herself, to the Louise side of
herself.
And Louise has had a tragic, I mean, losing her mother and having.
no other family that we know about and being a caretaker for all these years, a caregiver,
he, there it is, boom, he nails that he gets, he takes care of her, that's which is all she wants
and he adapts to fit her. And, um, I find it, I mean, I can't help but look at her this way,
but I find it to be like a testament to Louise and to any person who's, who feels that it's their
fault when they um find themselves in a situation with a manipulator a gas later an abusive person is that
you were accepting love you were allowing what you thought was love into your life and um and you weren't
right but that's not your fault yeah yeah can you tell us what went through your mind well there's a
couple questions here what went through your mind when you first read the script for the finale which
I have to say is epic.
I watched it and live
messaged our group. I was like
through every moment I was like, you better not kill her.
Okay, thank God.
She said, fuck you. She said
fuck you because she thought he had
killed you. And they really don't swear
that much.
I was like, Sophie,
I'm three hours ahead.
And like
I don't stop texting. It's not real.
Stop texting this number.
Yeah, I thought it was epic.
I want to know what went through your mind when you read it.
And then also, if you both could tell us what it was like to shoot those scenes together, the fight scenes.
And, yeah.
I mean, I was stoked.
I couldn't wait to get to the end.
I think the first time I read it was at our table read.
I mean, it was like, so we kind of like read it together and got to experience it.
and um
you guys remember what I wore at the last table read
did you have a bandana on your head
I'm surprised that you don't read
because you were like oh
you came back from a run
running yeah
but I forgot
and I like had a bandana on
like a running shirt and so
and you just you just had particularly
you're like oh my god
yeah it was just
I think there was something about the run
that really got to me
yeah because we were all waiting
we were like where's that
I thought that the table read was a half an hour later
and it was my lunch break
and so I was like, I'm gonna run
which I like did once.
It just happened to be that one time
in the entire show.
Ted Sarandos was visiting that day.
Sorry, it was in the middle of your answer.
That's okay.
I don't have anything interesting to say.
No, that wasn't a joke.
I feel like I really don't.
It was great.
I was super stoked.
I knew I had a feeling I didn't tie.
I wanted to know Bronte's fate,
But I also wanted to, I mean, when we end episode nine,
I was really excited to see like, okay, she's going to see this thing through.
Where is this going to end up?
And, you know, we get to like the, I mean, reading all the voiceover was just thrilling.
Like, it was so exciting, even though like a lot of it isn't in.
I mean, I recorded so much.
It's not in there.
But that's fine.
I'm fine with that.
I'm fine with that.
I mean that, truly.
Yeah.
Yeah, but shooting it was incredible.
I mean, we shot like 18, 16 days over, like, what we usually shot episodes for like nine days.
And I don't know why I chose to wear my hair up for that first half.
It was a lot.
It looked cute.
Can you talk about the shoe, like the feet shoes that you were wearing?
Oh, my God, our toes shoes.
I know it's not important.
Our Vibrum shoes.
Before we, if we move on from this too far, so he said, the feet shoes.
These guys were having to like run in barefoot.
But you weren't barefoot, were you?
No.
You're wearing, oh, yeah,
how do you have the cat's out of the bag now?
Wow.
You have to talk about it.
Yeah, we were wearing these like flesh-colored,
yeah, like toe shoes.
To shoes.
Which, when you're far enough away,
they don't even have to, like,
paint it out in post.
They can, it's just sort of, you don't see them.
But they're, like, sort of slip on.
They're, like, fake toes.
You put your toes out.
They're like barefoot shoes.
Yeah, I see.
You're like weird foot shoes.
Like, like, marathon running.
Yeah, that's like that.
I get, but these ones were like
completely matching your skin tone.
Yeah, they were.
And no, like, it's not like the ones that
people wear that, it's their
their own thing.
There was, I mean, maybe it's not a huge deal,
but I just couldn't take my eyes at that point.
You said the photo.
I feel like Penn made a big deal on our finale
rewatch about running barefoot in the forest.
Did you know?
And he wasn't.
And you didn't say anything about the shoes you love so much.
It was so hard.
Yeah, I mean, no, no, a lot of times.
I'm so brave.
I ran through fire.
Yeah.
So it was about half and half.
I mean, it was like half the time we were barefoot,
half the time we were wearing shoes.
Sorry,
so not a big deal.
I wish I hadn't mentioned the feet shoes.
I loved them.
I loved them.
I was on the way to see her on WikiPee.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Are you going to become a barefoot guy?
Well, no, I mean, my wife wouldn't allow that.
I mean, it's just, it's just wouldn't.
And I agree with her.
Yeah.
Like, I'm not going to become up.
Less toes?
He does.
Yes.
So what we did, I mean, this is also the thing.
Like, he's meant to have, meant to be missing two toes.
So do you remember how we had to wrap two of my toes and green tape?
Yeah, because we also had like, I feel like we shot half of like a love scene.
Yeah.
And then you were like, oh, I've got to spend out this whole time.
What are we going to do about that?
But in the end, I would encourage anybody to, if you know, you have the time and the patience.
Go find it.
Go find those toes.
Are they green screened out?
Do they get rid of?
No, because that would take a lot of like, consider it.
Like, it's, so much money.
So what we avoided was, well, I think we avoided in many of the shots is just like,
you can't, just as blurry.
It's just you can't really see.
Yeah.
It also has that, I mean, there's that effect in a lot of the shots where it has like a
blurriness to it.
It's got this kind of, you don't even know the aesthetic of your own show.
Yeah, no, I don't, I don't.
Oh, you mean.
Like in the shots, the lens has like,
A little bit of like a blurry kind of dream-like thing.
Whatever, man.
Whatever.
Anyway, shooting the final episode,
we don't often get to do this in shooting television especially,
but shot a lot of it in sequence because we were,
I mean, by the end of it in various states of like undress with like cuts and blood
and wounds from guns.
and other things the continuity actually finally so there's like stages of blood
and sweat and dirt um and different wounds different times like for instance when she
stabs the cat claw thing yeah so it's like you know you've got to because we're just
shooting everything out of order it was like we were just constantly having to remember like
no there's a mark of dirt there yeah i've got to have the blood dripping but then this one has to be you
You know, it was like so many things doesn't necessarily make for an interesting answer,
but it's just highly technical.
And so I think, for me at least, it was, it was, it was kind of, you know, Joe in general
has been a very technical role all throughout.
And so it was sort of like a final crowning technicality.
It was just like everything was, the fights, the, the, was.
whatever danger there was of like, you know,
she had to be underwater and like fake, fake, fake drown?
Fake drown.
No, it's a fake fake drown.
And it looked really real.
Yeah, which does that mean it's just a real fake drown?
Yeah.
But, you know, like all these, everything about it, highly, highly technical.
And so there's something that's really satisfying when you're just doing a lot, you know?
Yeah.
And again, it may not look like much on camera.
No, it looked incredible.
But it was, yeah, it was just a really satisfying way to bring it all to an end.
Even, again, just from that technical perspective, and then, like, those moments where it's so intense.
I mean, I remember, like, there's two moments, one where Joe, um, he punches Bronte in that, in that, in that fight sequence.
And, um, then there's also the moment where he's saying, like, you know, you want to, you want to know what happened in Beck, well, I'll show you.
And then, and then he strangles her.
And I remember, like, that was, that was, you know, that, those are some of those moments where the audience is,
purposely been withheld from seeing him do that explicitly, you know?
And then there's moments where finally doing it, and it was just like, this, you know,
feels awful. And so I think my voice, you know, and like the voiceover, it's a little bit of like
a mask for him. And imagine if he was like, and then I, I see you come into the store and, you know, so
like that.
You know, so like that.
Hey there.
How are you?
Oh, yeah, wow.
You know, but in that last moment, I don't know that I don't, I haven't seen it in a bit,
but I remember just knowing like I didn't want to go even deeper and be more gravely.
It's like for the I'll show you, I remember a little bit.
It was a little nasly.
It felt to me, it was like, like the over the top version to make the point is he was just kind of like,
I'll show you.
You know, kind of like that.
It's like, ew, bro.
You know, it's no longer even in that moment
using this sort of performance of
of maleness to like make it, you know,
attractive. So it just all felt, it felt like
if it had been a movie, we would have done this
and the, like, we would have done this with Beck.
But we had to see it all come out.
And so it was, it was weird after seven,
not seasons, but years to,
to finally make him as kind of,
of just gross as he could be and it was like you know just felt like no there were periods of time
I think it was definitely during the fight sequence and then um out in the grass with like I you're
strangling me I'm crying and a whole thing and we're like shooting this over and over again and we're
like should we hug yeah no I remember one point well also it's just like you know you're smaller than me
and I just felt like I was really it it felt there were points where you know we're like
panting it's three in the morning
there were people surrounding us but like
we're just doing this super intense thing and I
just remember being like kind of put my hand on you
being like are you all right
like this is this is really
because you were hyperventilating
and like crying I think how could you not
and like and I and even though
you know my hands were just like limp
as limp can be around your neck
and it was so choreographed
and then that's why your neck hurt so much
is you were like
not actually strangling me
Right. But it's like I just, it was just all still so physical. And there's, you can only fool your body so much before it just starts to feel like, you know, there's real abuse happening.
There was like, I was ignited in a way, like my body was responding in a way as though I was in danger because you don't know.
I mean, but like I'm sure we've all experienced that at some point in our careers where you're like doing something that is like this isn't real.
But my body, I've been doing it so many times now and taking myself to a place now that I have to, I have to protect myself from, from this.
And it just became so, so real.
I don't know.
It just kind of,
um,
and it felt we,
I think it was,
and it's to say like you have,
we don't show it on camera or you don't show it on camera for the first four and
three quarter seasons.
And then,
uh,
finally to see this abuse on camera,
um,
it really brought it back home that like this is a domestic violence.
This is like,
like a,
an interpersonal violent relationship.
Like,
and they're common, especially between men and women.
But it's violence in inter-partner relationships are so, it's so common all over the world.
Yeah, it was intense.
And I'm so grateful for where we take it and where it ends and to kind of like bring
that point home to him right at the end there, like out in the woods.
I also love that Bronte is smart and savvy and she still fell for Joe and she still saw
her question through to the end.
She set out on this journey to figure out what happened to her friend Beck.
And she answers that question.
And yeah, I'm very proud of her.
As you should be.
That is a perfect segue to our last question for the women.
And then we have a final question for 10.
Okay, when all of you were 12 years old.
I was waiting for that.
How would you're 12 years old
I was think of?
No.
So the theme of the finale
and really like brings the series home
is listening to your intuition.
So sort of like in the previous four seasons,
Joe is able to succeed or accomplish what he accomplishes
because the women don't listen to their intuition.
He helps them kind of erase their own voices.
And Bronte names that.
And she listens to herself and she has him kind of redact himself.
And so just want to hear from you, like, in your own lives,
what have you learned about listening to your own intuition?
Or if you have a specific moment, like, was there a time when you had a feeling of intuition about something
and you followed it and you were right?
Yeah.
And actually the one, like maybe a couple of times where I haven't, sorry,
I've really been trying not to move.
someone say isn't it really poignant i'm like just be still if i look weird and
anyway so um the couple of times where i haven't listened to my intuition
i'm sorry i'm not like where i haven't listened to my intuition i have then realized that i should
have in the first place and that's kind of like you know speaking for nadia she always did go on her
first instinct and she was always right so that's what I'll say on that I think I've learned in
recent years how much stuff I have to get rid of to find my intuition I feel like the constant
messaging from so many various places from such a tiny tiny age so you you pile on all these
things and for me it's been a thing of just like trying to actually work out what
which one of the many many voices is is my intuition and that's been really amazing to try
and find that yeah and then listening to it once you can hear it for me even hearing it was
an issue not necessarily even having it um yeah I would say that's a big thing um for me I guess
like I don't want to make it dark um but no like I mean for me I like
Like I mentioned in the beginning, like there was a situation for me that I denied my intuition
entirely and went through what some of these women have, not to the extent, thank God.
But yeah, and so from that point forward, and when I, like, thankfully, due to the powers of the
universe that sort of got me out of that situation, like, I sort of vowed to myself that I would
never deny my intuition again and learn that the more like even in little moments of like
picking what like pastry you want at the coffee shop it's like that listening to even pressure to put
in yourself it is man but no like I just even in because the more we tell ourselves like or we quiet
it like that the more the the more that we quiet it how do I want to put this in words the more
that we quiet it but like the more it's going to go go away the more that like it'll think
that like your body will stop to just stop trusting you entirely and then kind of worse things
are are capable of happening so yeah I just in every moment now like I I try to just just listen
just listen and if I don't have it then just like shoot for something but yeah just made a very
very strong promise to myself that yeah yeah I think that
intuition's been a difficulty of mine
because I've been so riddled with anxiety my entire life
I have I don't have a memory before anxiety
I just I've been an anxious kid my mom calls me a raw nerve
I'm just like buzzing with electricity and anxiety
and so I've struggled with honestly trusting the anxiety
more than the gut and like thinking but but but but I'm thinking I'm thinking I'm feeling I'm
feeling and not realizing like thoughts are not actually feelings I'm thinking of every single
thing that could go wrong and everything I've done wrong and everything I have ever said and thought
is wrong and I'm learning more now the difference between the two and that I can trust myself
and that there's peace in that trust and that I my trust in myself is enough and I don't need to be
constantly getting validation and reassurance because that is what anxiety does and to me at least
the way it manifests is like, are you sure? Do you think? What do you think, Hannah? Tell me what to do.
um i like constantly needing that validation and like i and maybe it's just like being in my 30s now
and i've like landed in the knowledge that i know what's right for me i've been with me long enough
i know and um it's something you can't possibly know when you're like 20 i guess like things are
different and and and you might not know yourself as well or you might not know who you're going
to be or what is possible for you because at every age I feel like you know I don't feel like you
start learning that you can be constantly reinventing and anything is possible at any age but at 20
it doesn't feel that way and so um yeah separating the anxiety from the intuition has been a huge thing
for me in my life I'm 40 uh two actually um and I have I mean
I'm so happy to be getting older as a woman. I've changed so much over the years, but I was
raised to please other people. I was raised to please my dad, the patriarchy. I mean, I've been
serving. I go to set. I make people laugh. I try to make sure everybody's comfortable. You know,
I still do that kind of thing. But I've really learned that if I get that gut feeling, I mean,
I've been in relationships with men before because I didn't want to upset them.
I've stayed longer.
You mean like from the outset?
Like from what?
You mean like from the beginning?
Not from the beginning, you know, but I've stayed longer because I didn't want to upset them.
I didn't want anyone to be mad at me.
And I had these moments where I would be sitting in my room or in the door was closed and I just go,
something doesn't feel right.
Something is off, just get up, just go downstairs, just say you don't want to do it anymore.
But instead I would get up and I would give them a hug.
give them a hug.
And I finally decided
I'm never doing that again.
And I've never been happier.
So lovely.
Yeah,
I've got nothing ahead of that.
Okay, well, that's good.
Because Penn, we have our final question.
Wait, wait, why doesn't Penn get to do the intuition?
The intuition?
If you want to, you can't.
Sure.
I don't.
I know it was like a women's question.
No, no, no, no. You're right. You're right. Yeah, what have you learned about listening to your intuition pen?
Hmm. Um, I, I've very much struggled with a relationship to that because I think it's like it's something that, uh, you know, very early on seemed like I had to learn to stop listening to it. So, you feel like you need to unpack that a little bit. What do you mean?
Well, I think
Culturally we don't have a lot of...
I don't know.
What is intuition?
So...
Do you know?
Sorry.
No, please, please, please.
I just heard about this study that was done
where they collected the sweat
off of two groups of people.
Has anyone heard about this?
One group of people, they had just sweat
from running on the treadmill.
The other group of people, it was from when they were skydiving.
So there was like adrenaline, fear.
Moral fear.
And then they took those samples and they had like a group of people smell each sample.
Try sweat.
It smells worse.
Yes.
I stink right now.
No, not that it smells worse, but they were like, maybe they were scanning their brains at the time.
I don't know.
They were measuring activity in their brain.
And that when the groups would smell the sweat from the skydiving, their fear signals would like shoot up.
Interesting.
You're kidding.
Yeah.
So there is like a gut.
instinct that like some i think some of intuition is mystical and divine probably spiritual and
then some of it is also just like a physical like your reaction to physical environment things that
you don't even realize you're perceiving yeah yeah well that yeah i think i pose that question um i think
because it's difficult to answer and that gets towards it it's it's it's a combination of physical
and spiritual it's like the nervous system is actually a place where those two things meet and you're
learning how to, are you all touched on this in some ways, like learning to listen to your body,
but of course we're not just bodies. So it's like you're learning to remember to have a right
relationship with your body where you can listen to it, it can listen to you if there's separate
things or at all distinct, but then ultimately like remembering about the right relationship
there and that you're not, you know, sometimes it is anxiety. And it's very hard to discern from
the two. You know, so I think it's like, um,
Yeah, I mean, I've talked about this before.
I think it's just coming up in Hollywood and finding myself in a lot of environments where listening to my intuition would have meant like leaving a place that I couldn't, you know?
And I experienced that from a very early age, that particular sensation.
So I think
I really
I think for a number of reasons
I have spent most of my life ignoring my intuition
but having it
that's actually why
I'm oddly comfortable
being like
the poster child for something I don't like
I'm uncomfortable all the time
I'm perfectly happy about stating
the ways in which I am uncomfortable to millions of people
because I'm nearly 40 and that's just, you know, the position I've been in.
So, you know, and so, so, but, but the way that I've been slowly reclaiming
my relationship with my intuition is, um, solely in meditation and prayer.
That's the only place where I feel like I can really listen to it and completely agree
with it.
And then I open my eyes and try to enact it and I'm like, oh, real life.
Yeah.
I don't know, you know, but I'm serious.
It's true, it's about the interaction with the real world, isn't it?
Yeah, I had this experience.
The internal coming to.
Yes, no, really, like two nights ago.
I was just like in this like languid, lovely, like, hot tub mental state,
just like super relaxed, coming to terms of all this stuff.
And then, you know, open my eyes.
And it's like the moment you start to move, you're like, I don't know if that was real.
Anyway.
Well, there's that like, just to touch on that, there's like that corporeal, like,
instinct or intuition that you feel that is like a sensation almost and then there's like the
spiritual intuition that is is I don't even know how to describe it but there's also like a divine
intuition that feels like it comes from somewhere or something else and it's not you yeah you don't
feel it or maybe you hear it or maybe you sense it um I just call it like divine intervention all the time
happens in my life.
But that, like, spirit is the one that I think is almost like the gut instinct.
Like, it's a part of you, but it's something you have to listen to.
You don't feel it, but you know it.
And there's, like, different kinds of intuition and instinct that, like, I think when you,
we are someone who practices meditation, I am not, I never will be.
Sorry.
Never say never.
I don't.
Thing I don't like about people who meditate.
If you don't want to do it, that's why you need it.
It drives me crazy.
But there is like that I know the piece.
Do you know that David Lynch died in meditation?
I didn't know.
He was in meditation.
Because he was an active transcendental meditation practitioner and he died.
Is that why you're not going to do it in meditation?
I mean, if there's a way I want to go out, it's the way David Lynch went out.
But like, it is a beautiful thing.
but I
So pick it up when you're 80
Maybe I'll get there someday
It's not like I haven't tried
It's not for lack of trying
It's that I sit there and I'm like
Go crazy
Anyway, but yeah
That like divine spirit
And corporeal intuition
And instinct and
Knowing the three of them
And knowing which is which
It's like
It's like the great work of your life
Yeah
Anyway
Well
Watch you on
That's what this shows about
We have one final question
And it is Penn
Do you feel
We've asked everybody in the room
But you
Do you feel that Joe got the ending
That he deserved?
Absolutely
I mean
How long do we have?
I think someone literally
Just came to be like you have one minute
Yeah
Easy answer, yes
Basically I think
I think it's
As you were saying
I'm at the beginning of this
this
this uh
this
this is
um
this enterprise
this journey
we've been on
uh
it
wow I lost my train of thought
hold up
hold up
I don't remember I said
I think Amy said
there
was a two divine intuition
there's always could have been
another option
someone else
oh yes yes
yes it's like it's
it really
it's not possible
to have a perfect ending
I don't think
there
and one of the reasons
is because Joe
has done too many impossibly dynamic things.
I think he's too many things at once.
That's a normal thing for a protagonist of a show
that lasts this many seasons.
It's just too many things have to happen
to keep viewers, to keep exploring something new.
He's just, you know, I don't know that he,
like, does he really love Henry?
Like, you know.
I don't think so, but like,
there has to be some reality to that
in order to make it even a possible device
at some point in the season, you know?
I think it's as good as I think they had a nearly impossible task for themselves,
the writers of this season and they and they I've actually been saying it all my other press
like you know hats off to them to Michael Foley, Justin Lowe in the whole writer's room
they they kind of checked every box that needed to be checked in a very satisfying way
and I've been joking about it a lot but the removal of his genitalia is the removal
specifically of I think again
one of the tools he used
the most to manipulate in the most
insidious way because it's and
I don't mean actually like
sexy what I mean is
he didn't do it in the box
you know the box was like
a bumbling fail safe
where he was like all right gigs up this is what I do
so how are we going to get out of here you know
but the bedroom is the
symbol of
it's the representation of
how he just always was
he's like no no no no no no no no
you know no no no no no sit down i'll listen to you you know like i'll i'm here for you you know
that's so so i think he was brought to his absolutely best end um possible like make him real
bring it to the real world give him real justice what would that look like i don't know um
but i yeah i think i think it's i think it's i think it's yeah i think it's yeah i
I think it's perfect, basically.
Me too.
Thank you guys so much for joining us.
Yeah, thank you.
I actually want to extend a heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you,
in particular my co-hosts, because, if you shall know,
this is basically the end of my press tour.
It's the end of the...
I have to do a few things, minor things.
Someone at Netflix just gasps.
Yeah.
This is the last, the most substantive,
bit of it all. Yes, we have a lot of, a lot of carpets to walk and things to do. But I hadn't
planned it this way, but this feels, in this interview, I was sort of zoning out at some point
being like, hey, I can't listen to all these women. No, I'm of course kidding. What I meant was
really like, this is crazy that this is the way it's all ending. Like it was, I actually really
was lovely to listen to all of you rather than have to find out new things to say. So, and thank you
both for leading it and guiding it.
This is a dream.
Yeah.
I love you all.
Thank you for having it.
Thank you so, so much.
Podcrushed is hosted by Penn Badgley, Navacavalin, and Sophie Ansari.
Our senior producer is David Ansari, and our editing is done by Clips Agency.
Special thanks to the folks at La Manada.
And as always, you can listen to Podcrush ad-free on Amazon Music with your prime membership.
Okay, that's all.
Bye.
That's lovely.
Are we rolling? We're all good?
All right, lock it up.
Whoa.
Did you say rock out?
Lock it out.
Yeah, I like that better, but lock it up.
Okay.
Rock it out.
Lock it out.
Lock it out.
And, um...
Oh, okay.
