The Greatest Generation - Banana Margarita That Fucked a Brunch Station at a Resort (ENT S3E22)

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

When Captain Archer and Degra bring convincing evidence to the council, Dolim starts colluding with a Sphere Maker to steal the weapon and go rogue. But after Commander Tucker finally forgives Degra and Dolim gets his rewenge, the away team returns to the ship with more data on the spheres. Where is the Sword of Xindi Arcocles hanging? Will Ben enjoy Fireball? What natural resource did the Xindi fight wars over? It’s the episode that shows how scary a grappler can be.Support the production of The Greatest GenerationGet a thing at podshop.biz!Sign up for our mailing list!Follow The Game of Buttholes: The Will of the Riker - Quantum LeapThe Greatest Generation is produced by Wynde PriddySocial media is managed by Rob Adler and Bill TilleyMusic by Adam Ragusea & Dark MateriaFriends of DeSoto for: Labor | Democracy | JusticeDiscuss the show using the hashtag #GreatestGen and find us on social media:YouTube | Facebook | X | Instagram | TikTok | Mastodon | Bluesky | ThreadsAnd check out these online communities run by FODs: Reddit | USS Hood Discord | Facebook group | Wikia | FriendsOfDeSoto.social Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Here's to the finest crew in starving. When it comes to my crew, you won't get any argument from me. This is a parody. Paramount owns the song. Welcome to the greatest generation. It's a Star Trek podcast by a couple of guys who are just a little bit embarrassed about having a Star Trek podcast. Maybe today, most of all, I'm Ben Harrison. I'm Adam Pranika.

we've been wanting to do this specific episode for I think two weeks now almost two weeks I was gonna say three Jesus because yeah it got kicked a couple of weeks ago because I was very sick and then last it was scheduled for it was like it got rescheduled like way out from that yeah and then last week we were about to do it and then you got sick

you're like stealing my material here what's wrong with Ben this time That is the thing about the game of buttholes, the will of the Riker, is that when you land on a square like we did, the Zindyark Square, where the hosts must take shots of five different alcohols during the episode, you got to make a plan for that. You can't just do that like a regular episode. You really can't.

Certainly can't do it when you're sick. No. And I don't know if you can hear it in my voice. I'm on day seven of a COVID and then double sinus infection run I've been on. Very Ben-like. My doctor just told me I had the beds. And I knew exactly what that meant. Did they put you in a hyperbaric chamber to?

This is how the other half lives. It's really been an eye-opener. How are you planning on doing this? Because I kind of, maybe I misremembered the way it is described on the game of buttholes, but I kind of thought the spirit of this was doing it like all at once right up front. Oof. The Zindi Arc Square is not specific.

Here is what it says word for word. Okay. The hosts must take shots of five different alcohols during the episode. During the episode. So it has to happen within the confines of the record. I didn't quite know how to do this. I don't have five shot glasses. I have one shot class that a friend of DeSoto sent in.

Yeah, who has five shot glasses anymore? I don't know. That's college shit. That's college shit. I've only ever had this one. So what I realized is they sell shot of alcohol. Like airplane shot? Yeah.

So what I did is I went to the liquor store and I bought five shots. Wow. And what I tried to do is get a spectrum at them. So I've got things I want to drink at one end of the spectrum. For example, a little adorable bottle of Diplomatico, one of my favorite rums, which is not always available because of the various political tragedies that befall its home country of Venezuela. I got a bottle of la grittona, a tequila that we've taken to calling my daughter la grittona because she screams a lot. She's just that type of baby. And then, like, further toward the don't really want to drink end of the spectrum, I got one that I've always been curious about, 99 bananas.

Oh, yeah. Which is a high-proof banana liqueur. I think you're going to like that one. You and I have talked about crem to banana quite a bit over the years. Yeah. I've seen the, like, the airplane bottle of 99 bananas, like, discarded in gutters my entire life, but I've never actually tasted it. How could you not be looking forward to drinking that? Well, it sounds amazing.

It's gutter liquor. I've got Fireball, which is... Oh, yeah, a classic. I understand this to be a popular shot alcohol, but I've never personally tasted it as far as I can remember. I just want to hit pause on the record for a second and just look at all the FODs and the eyes and like the nods of recognition we're all sharing right now.

Like, we could have presumed that Ben would have never had a shot of Fireball in his life. Fireball, basically the shot that you're given when you are drinking age, legally. I don't know why. I just never, I don't think that they had it maybe. I don't know. Fireball has been so prolific in and around my friend group over the decade that I don't know that we've ever had a hang without it. Wow. Wow.

It's like a handshake between us. Is it good? Like is it a like, we like this so we always have it? Or is it a we feel obligated because this is the kind of shot we take and it's a tradition? It's just easy. I think that's what it is. Here's the bet, though, that I want to put on the board. Will Ben like Fireball?

Okay. I kind of feel like though it is a long shot for it to be yes, I kind of feel like you'll like it. I think I might like it. Yeah. The last one is the funniest shot that they had at the liquor store that I went to. It is eggo waffle branded liqueur. It is a waffles and syrup cream liqueur. It's called Ego brunch in a jar.

You can see that it is a creamy daddy in the jar. You know what it looks like, Ben. Looks like rum chata. Yeah, that was kind of what I was thinking. Another thing that I've never tasted is rum chata. Do they sell the mini shot of rum chata? That would be fun. I looked around.

I didn't see that one. I went to a total wine, which tend to have like a very prolific. Yeah, near the register, they have a fun little impulse buy selection that have a lot of these things. And it's like tons of stuff and stuff that you've never seen in airplane bottle format before. Yeah. Well, Adam, how are you going to be doing this? You're going to be lining up bottles and pouring out shots? Ben, I can't do this in my condition.

I really can't play the game the way the game has told us to play it. I think it would be irresponsible Are you fucking kidding me? To take shots right now. I know, but you're better. You're better now. Right? I'm not better. I'm still fighting. We've been waiting three weeks to do this. I've got a mug of throat coat in front of me. I've been on Afrin for three days straight and behind the counter pseudafed. Oh man. I don't think I can play. I didn't realize this was like a flu game for you. I thought you were back in business like we recorded yesterday.

Oh yeah. And those were terrible episodes, I thought. Personally, I sounded like a hacking, sneezing mess. Hmm. Excuse me. I hate disappointing you. I think you are the person I hate to disappoint the most in my entire life. And I feel your judgment, I have Sauron utterly. No, no, no, no. That's not where I'm coming from. I don't want people to think I'm trying to bully you into drinking when you're not feeling well. But I also have a reputation of dodging the consequences of this game. I've done it before. Now people are going to think I'm doing it again. I've gone to a lot of trouble here and I feel like I'm going to do this. Are you going to take a rain check and like, I think what we need to do is there needs to be a sort of zindi archicles hanging over you and we can we can trigger this on a future

episode when i know you to be of sound mind and body i mean famously the rules of the game stipulate that you can veto a square and then what you do is you trigger the watching of a quantum leap episode in the bonus feed can i just go and do that by myself Self. Solo app on Quantum Leap? Yeah, just do a This American Life solo quantum leap thing over there. Nope, can't do it. Can't allow it.

You're going to have to make this right with the Friends of DeSoto and with me at such time as your body has recovered from your bout with the novel coronavirus. I can't argue with this. I feel like this is a suitable outcome. Like, I can't not do this. I have to do it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

I've always made up my dodges in this game, haven't I? The ledger is even. Something with a ledge. Allegedly. Mm-hmm. I accept the terms of the agreement if the terms are as follows. Okay. You today will be doing the Zindi Arc Square on the game of buttholes.

Oh, there's the cough for sympathy. I like it. As a consequence. for my not doing it this episode, you will have in your back pocket a Zindy Ark card to play that I would hope is played somewhat responsibly in a like, if you're aware

that I have a thing going on that night that would be catastrophic were I to wander into it with five shots in my birdie. Adam is meeting with his lawyers about some unspecified business concern. A friendly five-shot Zindy Art card is issued to you for future use, and I will accept the terms of that agreement, virtual handshake style. Well, the terms of a much higher stakes agreement are being discussed in today's episode of Star Trek colon Enterprise.

Do you want to jump into that, Adam? I do, Ben, but first I want to know, like, when are you going to start taking shots? I'm going to start right now. And I think I'm going to start at the ego end of the spectrum, the one that I'm dreading the most. I am fascinated by this choice. I would have saved the sweet and underage style drinking shots for the end. But you're starting with the sweet. I'm starting with the sweet.

Cheers to you, man. I'm going to do a little delayed gratification. I'm going to save the ones that I'm most excited about for the end. This thing, it smells like a bowl. Do you remember waffle? What was it called? Like, it was waffle crisp cereal? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Was that a cereal? Yeah. That's what it smells like. It smells exactly like that. It's going to taste great, then, if that's the case. Yeah. It might lacerate my mouth the way that cereal did. All right, bottoms up.

Well, I'm. All right, there goes the shot, and here goes the episode. It is Enterprise Season 3, Episode 22, and it's called The Council. Got free speech. and guitar It's like Maple eggnog Doesn't sound so bad

Hey what's the proof on that BT Dubs That one is lower I think that one was 20% I read the proof And not the percentage When I was grabbing it And I was like oh this is a full power thing

I'm also like working my way up Over the next three Because the fireball I think is 30% And then the 99 bananas, obviously, 49.5%. It's a lot of bananas. We got a very hard-boiled last time on, some of the ruggedest shit that the entrepreneur

has encountered on its way to the events of today. And then, like, speaking of getting the bends, like we're out of the last time on and into this ethereal white space where all of these transdimensional sphere Builder ladies are, I mean, they're scheming. So it's not like there's intention in the scene, but it just feels like very like, you know, oh, this is like, this is nice. They got kind of of a heavenly vibe to where they hang out. They have the kind of meeting where there is no offense

taken to not looking at each other during. Everyone's kind of looking past each other. It's that kind of vibe. Yeah, it is that kind of vibe. There's the one transdimensional being. who has been seen, like, glowing into Zindy Council meetings, who I would wager is kind of fucking up by the measure of the other transdimensional beings attending this staff meeting. She's kind of gotten the job of get the expanse ready for our invasion. You know, if you believe the narrative that Archer is pushing.

Yeah. That's her job. And the timelines are not going the way they want them to. And they're like, get it together. I, FODs will probably agree that I'm the degenerate gambler of the two hosts of the show. This felt to me very much like a, we made a bet on a thing and the line has changed, not in our favor. And now we've got to figure out whether or not we're going to hedge or maybe get involved, like with talking to the horse race horse owner, you know, see if we can't put something in the food. Or whatever, like, should we take a heavier hand here?

Sneak a little bit of sponge material into the horse's nasal cavity. Right. No one's happy about the odds of the Zindy weapon usage decreasing, because everyone's bet very heavily on it being used. In the context of you having made a bet and the line changes, do the, like, pay terms change also after? No. So you're locked in at the terms you play.

place the bet at? Because they're not, right? Like, the line changing for them means, like, worse for them. No, no. I mean, the line changing for them is just for everyone in line to bet that game or competition after you to deal with. Okay. Yeah, sure. Well, uh, the house always wins and they ain't the house, it turns out. And they're pretty stressed and they need like number one sphere builder lady to get her shit together and get on these zindies to make it happen kill the earth yeah i mean that's collectively the decision at the end of this is like we're going to become more involved because we have to be and after the theme we cut over to enterprise and dagger ship flying side by side and in six bay dr flocks tells to paul that there is no longer any trellium in her

system and that's great right scene really made me realize how much starships don't have a waiting room in six bays. Because, like, you should not be able to just walk into where somebody, like, what if somebody is having the doctor check to make sure they're not getting, like, a hernia in their testy satchel, you know? Where do you go for that on a starship? Tripp walks in and is like, what's going on with DePaul? What's why is she here?

What's her medical need at the moment? And they have to shut the fuck up immediately because they're talking about some secret shit. I had exactly the same thought. I don't know if a waiting room is something you have room for on a ship of this configuration, but at least a lock on the door, seems like a good idea at this point. Yeah, like a on-air light kind of situation. Like HIPAA rules in place, please wait in the hallway kind of deal. Tripp does the what's her deal at Dr. Flax as if he could or would possibly

tell him. Yeah, he's good at this, though. Like, Fox has some game when it comes to deflecting and slithering out of a tricky question like this. Topal is out and Fox is like, yeah, Tripp, if you think that like anybody on the ship hasn't been having a rough couple of weeks, you're deluding yourself, basically. Yeah. Tripp's in there for some shoulder tightness. He hasn't quite been getting as much spin on the slider. as he's used to.

All this extra weight on my forearms. You wouldn't think that a little bit of erectile tissue would weigh you down so much, but there you go. And speaking of clenched up, it doesn't seem like he's going to ever come around to the idea of Degrah being persuaded by Captain Archer. He's in the background of this whole thing, kind of shaking his head still.

It really is. I did feel like Fox kind of put his foot in his mouth here, saying, oh, yeah, I don't know how you could possibly think ill of Degra. He seems like a pretty straight down the middle dude. You know how there are... Two trip. Some people, you don't talk about other people around under any circumstances. It seems like Degra is that to Tripp. It really is. I was amazed at how Tripp let this go.

Like, maybe this is just like the 2025 everybody is like redressing everything to the hilt with each other all the time. But I was like, oh, Tripp kind of just like let that go. Like, that was a very uncalled-for way of putting it by Dr. Flax and Tripp was like, hey, man, knock it off. Anyways, moving on. I think this may be an example of Dr. Flax getting a pass from everyone because everyone likes Dr. Flax. Yeah, yeah. Maybe he has, like, alien assumptions about what people want to talk to him about. I mean, he's never been one to avoid an awkward conversation.

he kind of launches right in. Not at all. In a way that I think we've appreciated over the last couple of seasons. Yeah. So over in the control room, Tepa is telling Degra about the spheres and how they may have some kind of smoking gun evidence

about who built them. Like are these people that we are accusing of being the sphere builders, in fact the sphere builders? And Degra is very interested in getting some evidence like this because he's already been persuaded by all the other stuff that Archer has shown and told him up to this point. But they're now going to go before the wider Zindy council and he would like some evidence in the back pocket to persuade the rest of them. So he's very eager to help them. Like he's like, I'll give you everything we've got on our sphere research

from our database and you guys can research that too. Part of the presentation that kind of bump me for a moment was like the theory is that these spheres are being controlled by AI did you hear that part yeah huh that's unusual everyone's hoping that like by at least cracking open one of these spheres and taking out its computer core for study they will have a little bit more intelligence about the sphere builders yeah instead they're going to find like a picture of the sphere builder and it'll have like six fingers and you know You know, like the folds on their clothes won't make any sense. I'm like, oh, that's not how things wrinkle.

Yeah, it's got all the wrinkles wrong. But this is going to be like a little side quest that they send a shuttle on. And Reed is going to be in command of that mission. And he is meeting up with a Mako who has something in his curriculum vitae about doing EVA combat training. Yeah, this is Corporal Hawkins, who seems real excited about this, more than Wharf ever was. Yeah. He does not like zero-g combat. I remember it made me sick to my stomach.

Corporal Hawkins absolutely does. He's like, it's my favorite kind of combat. It gives him nowhere to go. And I was amazed at how quickly the shuttle left the ship. Like, this was an away team that got assembled and launched really quickly. Meanwhile, DeGRA is over on his ship getting all of the info about the spheres together to send to the entrepreneur when sphere builder Numeruono shows up to try to persuade him to tack in the other direction. Stop helping the entrepreneur go back to helping the Zindy kill all humans. Part of this conversation goes toward the direction of

Not only do I want you to come back to Team Sphere Why did you turn away from the cause to begin with? Man, I thought we were tight. Yeah. We don't get to hear his answer. Instead, we cut to the clarinet rental room where Degra is telling Archer how manipulated he feels the Zindi have been

by the sphere builders. And this manipulation has come in a time of great weakness for the Zindi, right? Because you've got to remember, the sphere builder started appearing right after the homeworld was destroyed. And they kind of took a heavy hand in guiding them towards planets where they could resettle. And like, it is in that advice and guidance that there's a ton of gratitude directed toward them, even worship. They have a godlike role in Zindi society. Dave was like, yeah, like I was raised to venerate the guardians. I raised my kids, even that third one that we don't talk about to venerate the guardians.

This is going to be very, very hard for a lot of Zindy to accept that we've been like, we've been deceived by these people because we fucking like them and they've helped us out a ton for real. All right, second shot. This one's going to be fireball. Fireball. Going up and in. Ben's first fireball. What a moment.

I'm glad I'm here for it. Oh. So it's just, it's like cinnamon trident flavor. It is. I think it's better when it's really cold. It doesn't look like that one was anything cooler than room temperature. Yeah, these are all room temp shots for me. A fireball shot is something you will find in a hole at a golf tournament. Oh. You'll just find them distributed all around for the enjoyment of others. Is it like a bros-icing bros situation where if you find it, you must take it?

Very well put, yeah. Okay. Well, I don't particularly care for it, so I won't be joining any golf tournaments. Wow. Yeah, all right, I'll see you guys there. What's your handicap these days? It's a 12. That sounds good.

It's down from 15 or 16 last year. All right. Yeah. Progress. Yeah, doing okay. that means in like four years you'll be a scratch golfer that's what it means exactly ask any golfer and they'll tell you that's the trend

here's the thing that degris says in this scene you're like look I used to be one of these worshippers and if I can change yeah maybe there's a chance that others indie can change their mind too except it's going to be really hard right because I told you about the reverence and what was the word you used before Oh, veneration? The veneration? I obviously know what that word means.

I feel like maybe FODs could use a definition of that. Why don't you go ahead, I'm going to take a drink of this throat coat. Maybe you could tell them what that means. I would say it's like sort of synonymous with worship held in extremely high esteem to the point of, I mean, I think you could venerate a king. It doesn't necessarily have to be a supernatural beast. well done well put yeah i mean i would have put it perfectly but that works too but you were drinking throat coats so it fell to me yeah there's a lot of coaching that needs to happen and this is because each zindi species have their own little ways of doing things and their own little biases that

archer may not have gleaned just yet because he hasn't met that many of them i love archer using his experience with clangons as an example of this like i've done an open mind at the Kling on Apollo before. Like, I can handle a tough room. I'm basically the Bill Burr of trying to convince people not to invade my planet. They're going to fucking love me. And Degro's like, no, no, no. Like, you need to know that, like, the aquatics are extremely deliberative and the bugs

are super quick to judgment. And this dude, Dolom probably by reputation anyways, killed his own grandson because his own grandson didn't have. have any military prospects when he was born. How about that, right? I didn't think he was that old, you know? I mean, just because you have a deformed arm doesn't mean that you can't have a useful life, even in the military.

There's things you can do in the military that, you know. I mean, here's a question. Yeah. Dahlum and his family, reptilians. Right. Were you not to, like, cut off that deformed arm? Does it not grow back? That's what I'm saying.

Why didn't he try that? I don't know. Dolom doesn't seem like the smartest lizard in the driveway. Coincidentally, we cut over to him. And he sleeps sitting up like an old when one of his henches comes in. I love that a lizard has like a heat lamp room in his office. Yeah, a bunch of crickets on the ground. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The news is that the reptiles, Zindy, have learned of the destruction of the ship that they sent to go find Degra recently. And Dullam is very interested at this, like figure out what happened to it and why it was destroyed. That is your highest priority. And then this guy's like, oh, you know, by the way, also Degra and a bunch of people are approaching where the Zindy Council is. So do with that information what you will. One of those ships as Enterprise? Would that interest you? There is a pretty tense little interaction between Dolham and Degra about this.

Degra's like, all right, yeah, I'm bringing them. They can, like, so that they can, like, petition our government, as is their right. Dahlum's like, like, fun you are. Like, I'm fucking shooting them. And Degra is rolling way deeper. Like, he outguns Dolem in this moment. He's like, you know, fuck around and find out. Dolom like this is happening whether you like it or not and he shoots a a warning

torpedo to make his point I mean to read I feel like this is a a targeted torpedo with intent to hit I think he's probably a little confused about what happens here yeah like when he reads the log of this later he's like oh I see they began to attack and Dolan backed off I think this moment really informs the part of this episode that happens later when Dahlum finally commands the weapon ship. Yeah. Like, this is the last time he will be outgunned for a very long time. It really is.

I have, like, such a strong maple taste in my mouth still from that first one. I mean, you talk about throat coat, Adam. You got to get some of this ego brunch in a jar alcohol. You know what's kind of interesting to me is the order with which you took the shots kind of sounds like a compatible combination in a way that I almost want to say the bananas should be your next one.

Yeah. Like bananas and maple and cinnamon like all together. Should we test this? Should we test? Oh yeah. I don't know if there's necessarily a cocktail here,

but there is a dessert concept. I just want to go on the record to say that I think you did this in the wrong order. I think you should have ended with these. I think going to hard liquor after these is going to be some big trouble.

This is the hardest liquor I've got is this is this 99 bananas shot all right bottoms up oh oh it burns it burns oh oh that is such like like laughy-taffy banana flavor it does not it does not mix well Enterprise. Oh no. I thought it would. I really did too. I wasn't trying to set you up there. Yeah. I will say this. Try to imagine you taking two good shots of liquor and then finishing with that. I think you're right to have gotten it over with here. Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited that tequila will wash this all away as my next shot. Yeah. So meanwhile, the shuttle pod we saw launched a while ago has got Mayweather to Paul Reed and Hawkins on board, and it's making it through the membrane and on into the range of the sphere. Also in the range of something dangerous as Enterprise, where Archer is getting ready to address the Zindy Council, and he'll be going with Hoshi, who is in desperate need of something

to do. She really is. They get a bye-bye from Tripp who, I guess, will be in charge and really wishes that they would take some gendarme from their mako contingent with them but that's just not how it goes in this indie council like you got to check your weapons at the door kind of a vibe down there so it's just archer and hoshi and as they go like there's still so much to learn for archer about like how you interact with these races like don't yell at those guys but do yell at these guys and if you've got some like visual aids like that would be helpful At what point does Archer tell Degra to stop with the whole aquatics are slow to make a decision thing? I fucking get it.

Does your race just keep repeating itself? Is that your deal? Are like broad generalizations about other races one of the things that your race does? Like is that like, if I was talking to an aquatic, would he be saying the same stuff about the insects and the lizards? Or are you kind of projecting? rejecting this shit on everybody else. Yeah, I love that idea. Yeah.

Legally, it's just a fart joke. You will never take the greatest shit alive. Ben would rather die. We learned that the council is on a very cloudy planet under cloud cover, and it stays under cloud cover all year round in a ruin of a kind of palace that was built. by the avians. And I really liked this stunt casting that they had

where Jaimon Hansu played one of the crewmen of Degra's shuttle and he looks up at the ruins and he says, I did not know avians could build such things. So good. I love this mountain layer, didn't you? Yeah, it's cool. So fun. Fun Star Trek location.

The side of the mountain, covered in bird shit though like oh yeah like disgusting wars were fought over extracting this guano to use as fertilizer

yeah it's so rich in bird shit inside the chamber every kind of Zindy is here and Commander Dallam doesn't need any sort of ramp up time to get pissed he's already there

he's already pissed and he's like mad that Degra bought the humans, but there is going to be a moment where Archer gets to address them and everybody shuts the fuck up. I was struck by like the hero's entrance that Archer and Hoshi got, which tells us that they changed their uniforms. Fresh uniforms for both of them for the first time in many days, I think. They're finally cleaned up. And other members of the crew have not had that luxury like yeah the gang on the shuttle were still like disheveled you know you got to make a good impression to the council yeah you got to and archer stands at the top of these steps and does not

it does not seem like he had like prepared remarks like the first thing he says is like you fucking what you did was fucked up ask anyone who specializes in public speaking and they'll tell you you want an attention-getting introduction to sort of like grab everyone's eyeballs and ears and like get them into your deal. And for Archer's attention-getting start to be, you guys killed Florida and I hate being here. It does get some attention, I think. I guess so. Yeah, it is, it's like those like very negative kinds of clickbait where it's like, yeah, I do want to see what my favorite child stars look like now that they're all like addicted to pills. and not famous.

Right. Everybody is listening. But he starts talking about how the guardians may in fact be deceiving them. And this really goes over like a lead balloon with the insect Zindy in particular. They do not care for this accusation. And I was kind of like, I was wondering about this because DeGro was like, these guys, like, they're very impulsive. They make their decisions quickly. But this episode seems to imply that they make their decisions quickly and then they stick with them.

Like, no matter what they hear afterwards. Did you get the sense that the insects do that because they only live for a short amount of time? They're like, all right, get to the point. Like, I'm not going to live forever. I may not live until the end of the meeting. Yeah, this is like every time I have an argument with my wife, I'm like, yeah, get to the, just tell me why I'm wrong so I can own up to my wrongness and we can be back to, you know, putting Seinfeld on or whatever.

Aquatics, Indy, get right in the middle of this argument. They're like, can we please stay on the subject? And so they do that, because I think everyone respects the aquatics, right? Yeah. Everyone's got the little, like, the, like, dots along the cheekbone and then the little, like, maybe it's like a cheek nostril or something. That's the unifying racial thing between all of them, huh? Do the aquatics have the cheek nostril, or do they just have the dots? I feel like we never really get a very good look at them.

Yeah, we never see close up on face. Yeah. Anyways, Degra and Dahlum are really going at it. And Dahlum is like, you know, like this is insane. Like you shot guns at me on your way in with these guys. Like, I don't really know why we even have a council at this point. If you're going to shoot guns at me, another Zindy, on behalf of these guys, the ones that are supposed to be annihilating our species.

Like, I don't fucking like you, Degra, and I don't like that you did this, and I don't like that our council is entertaining any of this stuff. So I'm going to go ahead and say, no more counsel. Is there a part of you that gets Dahlum's deal here? Because Dahlum's argument at its core is, like, Degra, you just can't go unilaterally making these decisions on your own. Like, that's why we have a council. And if you're going to get so upset at me for going rogue, then, like, what the fuck are

we even doing here? Like, I can't, I can't go rogue like you, Degra? That's fun. Cool. Just for Degra and no one else. It's a bit of a double standard, double Degra standard. Yeah. And, yeah, I mean, Degra has explained this. Like, the guardians are essentially, you know, to the Zindi, what the prophets are to the Bajorans. And can anyone second guess Dahlum for having faith of the heart? Mm, really can't. Degra tries to stop Dallum from just walking out of the council chambers, and he gets hit for trying. And then Archer gets dragged down by an insectoid for getting involved. Let's talk about this moment where Archer gets dragged down from behind

because it is a pretty nifty effect sequence here. It was. You know there's nothing there. I'm not really certain that anything at all is dragging Archer back from behind. I feel like he is the one physically making this flop happen, the way a wrestler would take a bump. like selling the hit basically

I felt like his uniform moved in a way that made me think they might be like tugging on it with a rope or something because it's supposed to be like grabbed uniform

throw on table and then like the insectoid cusses him out and how she goes like I'm not gonna translate that one I thought it was sold really nicely like it's janky because

the effects aren't the best but like in order to pull this off in a way that holds together at all I feel like takes some sophistication and they were able to do it. Yeah. They didn't sell

anything half this well in Voyager when they started having CG aliens. Absolutely. Yeah. So we cut back over to the shuttle where they are now in range of the sphere. And Topol

pulls this insane move where she wants them to fly at an exhaust vent that we learned later is like a hidden with a hologram. They're going to be flying right through it. She could warn them ahead of time.

And Reed afterwards is like, why didn't you just tell us that we weren't going to die because that was a hologram? Like, what was the point? And I felt like maybe this is Reed's best moment so far in the show. Wow. Yeah.

He's right for maybe the first time. So Paul plays it off with some sort of like there wasn't time kind of dialogue. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe she's just a drama queen. She's a messy bitch who loves drama. Yeah. She was letting the tension ratchet up for no reason.

How many panels total do you think are holographic, though? I think it's just that one. I think that's the implication. Amazing. Anyway, they penetrate right in, and once inside, they get ready to depart the shuttle. Back at the council, it's halftime at the council meeting, and the players on the team are falling apart. Yeah, I mean, there's an amazing halftime show going on for everyone in the stands. Right. Zindy Beyoncé is really fucking tearing it apart. But, yeah, they are in the midst of a consultitutional crisis.

The arboreals and the humanoids have gotten together in the locker room to talk about, like, whether or not this game is even winnable at this point. Yeah, because it seems impossible to think that they could. ever convinced the reptilians? I mean, and what does convincing the aquatics even get you? Like, the evidence could be persuasive enough, but like, Degra in this moment seems to have an idea of what could constitute that persuasive evidence. He's going to need Dr. Flax's help for that. Yeah. He has a great idea to create evidence that will be persuasive to the I've got some evidence that you could use to persuade

it's this bus full of school children rigged to explode what do I care about the collateral damage we're trying to convince the Zindy Council I mean you put it like that way I'm persuaded yeah yeah

I won't cease or desist Because you really think it's fair use. Over on Dahlum's Repto Ship, a lady's sphere builder is pissed about Archer being permitted to address the council. And you can't have Archer sowing any doubt. Have you seen the odds? Have you gone to this indie sports book and seen what's happening? We're going to lose our asses on this thing.

Yeah. Because this weapon needs to be launched. There is this weird moment where he's. is like, you know, we can't just go get the weapon. That could cause a civil war. And plus, we, like, need the whole council to use the weapon. Which is like, you're just going to have to go ahead and, like, figure that out, Dahlum. This is the inflection point in their whole relationship.

Because Dallum sees this sphere builder as kind of all-powerful. Yeah. And he starts to put together, like, what do you need me for? If you could do all this magical shit that I think you could do. Yeah. like she also becomes much more legible to me as a manager yeah we saw the thing where she's getting chewed out by her bosses and like sometimes when your boss comes into the office and is a fucking dick to everyone it's like hard to imagine why your boss is doing that but she's doing it

because she's fucking in trouble and she's like you got to fucking solve this problem i can't fucking solve it i'm a middle manager i think it's especially due to the very specific thing that she wants Dahlum to convince the council of. She's like, I want you to convince the council that me, a sphere builder, did not build the spheres. Yeah, there's that one reptile guy that's like, I mean, did you? She's like, who the fuck is he?

Get him out of here. And Dallum's like, well, sure, I mean, if you have proof, and she changes the subject right away. Yeah, yeah. I feel like Dahlum just likes the idea of destroy, throwing the earth too much to, like, really question her that much. Yeah, he's in it for the joy of it. Yeah, yeah. Love of the game.

Just like me, and to a lesser extent, Adam, as I hit my fourth shot of this indie arc. Amazing. There it goes. Ben, really one of the great shot takers in my life. Like, I don't style myself as a shotsman, particularly. I'm more of a sipper. Look at you throwing them back. I have not taken a lot of shots. I watch a lot of real housewives and they take shots like drinking a fucking glass of water on those shows. And I'm always remarking like, look at her.

She just like came home and took a shot out of, like she took a bottle of Tito's out of the free out of the freezer, took a shot as like the first act after getting home from something. Who lives like that? It's an amazing life. It's an amazing choice because like I love a martini as much as anyone. one. And what is that except a giant shot? But I'm not shooting it. No, you're sipping it. Yeah. The subject changes away from getting proof that the sphere builders didn't build the spheres and into Dahlum being convinced that they should maybe steal the weapon and use it themselves. And Dahlum is like, we would get our asses kick for doing that. What? No. But the sphere builder

tells him it would be a whole lot cooler if you did. And if you did, and if you did, reptiles indie would be the dominant indie after humanity is destroyed and that's a good deal right it's very interesting like what power these guys do and don't have because they don't have the power to destroy humanity themselves but they do have the power to like show the reptiles enough like resources in their area of space to give them an advantage yeah or at least they've proven that they have that ability to the like that i don't think they actually intend to give Dolom what they're promising at this moment, right? Like, this is just, like, who gives a shit like we need to get our fucking genocide done so that we can finish our invasion of the

expanse. But, like, Dahlum believes that he is getting political ascendancy from this deal. And over on the entrepreneur, Degra is working with flocks on getting some visual aids of the dead sphere builder that they're going to show to the aquatics. And then he's got to to go work with Tripp on the sphere builder pod that they recovered. And I thought it was amazing that it was DeGra that broke the news to Tripp that Captain Archer had determined that Tripp should work with DeGra on this. Amazing. Yeah.

Why were you not in the room for that, Archer? Like, could you not show your boy the respect of telling him that to his face? Out in the corridor, DeGra is done, taking trip. Tucker's lip like done at what point does his sacrifice of his family of the zindi that he's killed start to matter to trip that's his point and like you never want to scorekeep in arguments but i found this pretty persuasive you know he's given up a lot and trip has given up a sister and when you compare the two i don't know i feel like they're even at least right yeah Degro's like, I know you wish it was the other sister, Tripp.

And Tripp is like, how'd you find out about that? You son of a bitch. I'm allowed to say that because I'm her brother. You're not allowed. You're not in the family. I know everybody knows she sucks, and my other sister that died ruled. But that's for our family to say, not for you. On or in the sphere, the Dustbuster Club is walking toward the memory core inside their EV suit.

And if you had to bet your life about which passenger in the shuttle pod is told to stay behind and watch the monitors, would you have guessed that that person would be Mayweather? Just like being back in the world. Who are you? Insom Travis Mayweather. Parents must be very proud. When I was a kid, we called it the sweet spot. Who are you?

I'm the houseman. I guess growing up a boomer has its advantages. And your mom, very proud. That's true. Takes practice. Other than keeping Insin Mayweather up at night. I'm not sure what we expect to accomplish here. My $10 got me $11 that that was Mayweather.

Unreal. Yeah. He is doing something important, though. He is detecting possible threats, which he finds. He does. And tells the group to watch out for it. There's like a red thingy in the wall of the sphere. Look, I'm telling you, there's something moving in.

It ain't us. But his readings are very cooked, and he can. can't give them any specificity on this thing. Would you rather be in the shuttle pod or out in the EV suit? I think I'm hanging with Mayweather. The shuttle pod is armored. I feel like, yeah, that's, you're basically in a tank, aren't you? Pretty much, yeah.

I mean, we've seen what kind of abuse those doors can take. Yeah, well, I don't love the sideline of Mayweather. I do get strategically why it's safer for him. Yeah. Especially because he's not the one trained with weapons and shit. like yeah that's hawkins yeah and to a lesser extent read there are no mountains or rock faces to climb out there yeah and and to paul knows like the duck deck dodge balkin technique you know let's not forget that yeah degra visits archer in the clarinet rental closet he's pretty pleased with

the work that he and tripp have been able to accomplish like he's like trip was actually pretty helpful. And I can't really account for that. Archer's really glad to hear it. And he tells DeGre that on the Enterprise J, he knows that Zindy and humans serve together. And they serve together specifically in a official capacity in the Federation.

As equals. Separate, but equal. Sure. And isn't that a future worth fighting for? sure is over in the council chambers they have agreed to view the new evidence that archer has promised proof that the sphere builders and the guardians are the same thing and this proof is the chamber with the body inside and the thing about this is it's not the real thing it's a biometric hologram made with zindi technology that's why degra had to work with trip he couldn't do it on his own

and humans aren't capable of making something like this and that's part of the reason why this evidence is to be so persuasive like they can't fake it they don't have the technology to fake it I love that that is part of the sales pitch like these idiots couldn't trick you with something like this yeah so yeah this seems fairly persuasive to at least you know like the aquatics are like more open to this but they're like, you know, we got to kick the humans out so that we can talk this over. And when the talking over has been done, Degro reports back that, in fact, it is the reptiles that want to hear more.

Like, what a fucking twist. The reptiles want to hear more? Wow. Back on the sphere to Paul works on the computer while Reed and Mako Hawkins keep an eye out for Charlie. Mayweather calls it out. Bogie incoming. Yeah. And Reed and Mako Hawkins can't see it until it's too late.

It's a grappler, Ben. Imagine being at the, like, downrange of a grappler if you're Malcolm Reed. Like, that is your fucking nightmare. And once Miko Hawkins is in its claws, he can't break free because it's made of metal and this grappler is strong. Reed's phaser is useless against it. There's a lot of shooting at the grappler, but Hawkins is long gone. on by the time they actually disable this thing. And then Travis is like, yo, there's like a bunch more of them coming, though.

Didn't you kind of feel like it was a waste for the grappler to grab Hawkins and then use an energy beam to vaporize him? I thought for sure the grappler would grab him and then just crunch him like a tin can. I wish we had the effects power to do that. But this is like syndicated TV in the early 2000s, not... They do it on New Star Trek. They would do it on New York. You see eyeballs flying out.

Yeah, like there would be a the boys level gore effect here. Yeah. And I've got faith of the far heart. Legally it's just a far joke. They pile into the shuttle. Travis Mayweather blows up some grapplers and they load in and get the fuck out of there with all of the data disks that they've rated from this sphere. Like one of those desktop.

up CD file effects things that you used to see in the 90s. When I saw that thing, I was like, there was something about the aesthetic of the inside of the sphere that I hadn't put my finger on, and it was like, it's the sharper image. Like, the visuals of the inside of the sphere are like something you would see on a TV in a The Sharper Image store.

Great call. And every object in there feels like a The Sharper Image object in one way or another. next to the computer core there's like a chess set that plays itself like you don't have to touch the pieces pieces move on their own there's little magnets in there uh-huh it's like the only thing i can think of from the sharper image yeah i feel like the sharper image probably had a chair that massages you oh sure but it was just like little like vibrators you know it wasn't like the ones at costco that cost 20,000 dollars that actually like need your flesh those things are great Cut to Enterprise where Degra has an update to the council deliberations.

The reptilians, led by Dahlum, have agreed to postpone the launch of this indie weapon. Hey! But it isn't over. It's just like the start of a slow motion handshake between him and Archer, right? Yeah. There's more to do here. But, like, with this news, I feel like Tripp is like, all right. Like, this, you know, this DeGre guy may have killed my sister and he may have killed the wrong sister.

but I think he's all right. I wouldn't mind working with him a little bit more. I'm going to ask him to help us with the batteries he left behind. Big step. Bigger step than maybe the handshake. Yeah. Trip is sorry for being such a dick for so long. And you believe him.

Yeah. So they get to work and then like we flash forward to DeGro like late-nighting it in his office back on the planet. and there's this like shadowy figure that appears at the door which is like it's no fucking secret who this shadowy figure is like 30 seconds into the into the scene yeah but they really milk this and it's dollom and he's talking like you know i didn't like the way the avians constructed their things doesn't appeal to to us lizardman anyways just wanted to talk and And Degra's like, anyway, I really appreciate you delaying the launch of the weapon. That was cool.

And Dahlum reveals that he knows that it was Degra that shot that reptile ship inside the cloaking barrier of the sphere. And he plunges a knife into Degra's guts. R SvP Degra. Dahlum, bad guy monologues in Degro's face as he's dying. Yeah. about how his family is going to die too. Really good bad guy stuff here. Yeah.

By Dahlum. The, like, the last Zindy you're ever going to betray died yesterday. I thought that was well written. This is a good moment. Yeah. Good stuff. You know, it's over for him when the blood starts coming out of the corner of his mouth. Like, he's not coming back from this.

Sure isn't. Dallum could have been written by Nolan the way he's talking in this scene. so well put that's that's a four-shot observation right there I'm about to do my fifth amazing I've arrived at the end the one that I was most excited about my my beloved diplomatico rum now that you're totally pallet shot yeah now that the inside of my mouth

tastes like a banana margarita that fucked a brunch station at a resort yeah it's a bad time in there This feels like it might be more than a shot. This feels like a big bottle. Yeah, it is. It looks hefty. It looks like the size of a candle.

Yeah, it's a big boy. All right. Bottoms up. We cut to Six Bay, and it's also late at night there. Dr. Flux is visited by a triptucker who is feeling better about things. Dr. Flux, too. This is one of those TV moments where, like, you know when everyone's feeling good, everyone's about to feel bad.

Yeah. They are way too comfortable for this moment. I do like the revenge blue balls that Tripp is expressing. Yeah. That felt well observed to me. I also like that they've moved on from GLP1 type of weight loss interventions in the future to tapeworm on purpose. You know tapeworm on purpose is coming, right? Yeah, yeah.

The natural method. Like, why wait for it to crawl out of a potted plant in the corner of your bedroom and up your butt, you know? Amazing. Dr. Flax is keeping it tight, though. Yeah, it looks good. Looks great. So Archer wakes up to the news of Degra's death, and he's talking to the other primate counselor who I don't think ever gets a name. Like, that guy is like.

Yeah, yeah. The other humanoid on the council. I've done the research. He's just known as counselor. Yeah. It's crazy. He's like, I couldn't convict, but I'm pretty sure this was the lizards. And Archer issues a tactical alert.

And we cut back to the shuttle where Reed is having an absolute fucking meltdown, having lost Hawkins. He cannot stand that they have lost so many people and feels like they're getting overly comfortable with the expendability of Khruman on this journey. I'm upset for just so many reasons. One, the constant death I'm surrounded by, the need to write the letters, of course. And also, I cannot grasp how a grappler could cause this much damage. I'm going to have to completely rewrite all of our tactics battle plans.

It's just so upsetting. In the Zindy council, Dahlum admits to killing Degra, and he's proud of it. Look at him. Oh, and also, he admits to taking the weapon, and they're going to use it. And guess what? The Insect Zindis are in on it. They're in. Try and stop us.

No more counsel. You think we need all the codes? Fuck you. We don't need all the codes at all. You think we haven't thought of that? You may have forgotten how the codes go. We didn't. On Enterprise and Engineering, Tripp tells Archer that the ship is not ready for combat,

like kind of a bad time, Dalem has chosen to go through with this plan. Bad for us, anyway, because we're going to get our asses kicked if we try to engage him. Archer's reply is kind of like as though he's replying to Harrison Ford about to jump off of a hydroelectric dam claiming he didn't kill his wife. I don't care! And off they go, the insectoids launched the weapon, and we see this happen, like a section of this planet, like opens up, like, I was thinking about the airplane that the X-Men fly around in, the way it, like, comes up out of the basketball court on, in front of Charles Xavier's house. Yeah. It's been hidden underground, and it launches, and the entrepreneur is going to try and help the humanoids and the arboreals to intercept the arboreals to intercept the.

this thing. And the space battle gets going. And it's like a pretty exciting battle where the shuttle's, you know, detecting this. And we're like, oh, shit. Like, what's going to happen to them? Like, they are pretty much defenseless in this whole thing. Like, did we pick a bad time? Come back? They get ordered to, like, sit this one out, like, chill the most as much as you possibly can. We get like, like huge spheroid weapon with its Zindy escort and then Zindy and entrepreneur like chasing them and shooting at them. I thought it was really exciting, interesting dynamic for a space battle. Yeah. Yeah. Because of the perspective. Yeah. And because of like the relative size of different things. Like the sphere is like as big to these ships as a Borg's

cube is. Yeah. But it's a game of keepaway instead of a game of like the Borg's Cube is coming and killing everyone. That's a great comparison. Yeah. And when the sphere goes through the spatial vortex, they beam Hoshi out of the bridge and they get away. And everybody on the bridge of the entrepreneur is sitting there realizing that they have failed that Earth is going to be destroyed and then the fucking credits roll. What an ending. But did you like the whole? whole episode?

I can't pay. Could for late. Got no case. Tempting bait. I did really like the whole episode. I liked the exotic location. I liked all the palace intrigue stuff. I love how politically savvy, like, Dahlum is like, he's not just a thug.

Like, he is really, like, playing 3D chess with everyone to get what he wants. And I think what he wants is just like, I don't really care why. we're killing all the humans. I just want to do a genocide. Like, he's like a terrifying character in that respect because he has been shown the same evidence everybody else has, and he doesn't really give a shit. It doesn't matter to him because all he wants is to be in charge. Yeah.

And he will do whatever it takes, like the ends justify the means to him 100%. And I do feel like that is a, like, a real kind of villain that really exists in the world. and I thought it was a really interesting episode. How about you? Yeah, I thought this was much, much better than I thought an episode called The Council would be or an episode where its central storyline would involve Archer addressing a council

and trying to persuade them. This was an episode that had a ton of action, and I think it traded on that tension that Best of Both Worlds did when Picard was stolen off of Enterprise. Like, when you take a character by four, force like this, especially before a ship flies away. It's a terrifying moment. And to end the episode with that instead of like, in best of both worlds, that was, that happened what? Like two

thirds of the way through part one? It feels so random here because it's just like, did you get the female? And it's like, she's gone and we don't know why. We have no idea like what could have possibly motivated that. Because unfortunately, Hoshi is such a low value character on this show. With such little to do, you're like, that's actually a mystery to me.

I have no idea what they could possibly want from her. Goes over my head. Did you make a mistake? Like, were you intending to get someone else? The doctor, maybe? No, the other female. The one in the cat suit.

What are you doing? They are both very attractive, but I actually meant the other one. I have a thing for pointy ears, Susie. Ben, let's see if we can snatch a message out of the Priority One message inbox. Priority One message from Starfleet coming in on Secured Channel. You need a supplemental income. Supplemental.

Supplement. Yeah, it's extra. The interest alone could be enough to buy this ship. This one is of a promotional nature, Adam. It goes like this. those who are just as inspired as I was by Yosemite in Star Trek 5. You might like that I just released a kick-ass book about my journey on the Pacific Crest Trail and the Camino Santiago too. What does God need with a starship? What I presuppose is to get to a bookstore and get my new

book, Hicological Escape. If you don't have a starship, it's available on Amazon. Check out more of my work at Christian homin.com Thanks for a great podcast, Ben and Adam. You kick ass. Harry Kim drop. Something about it reminds me of being in the womb. Get out, Harry.

Who are you? Harry Kim. Parents must be very proud. Who are you? They come as a pair. Who are you? Harry Kim. Who else is she supposed to get chummy with?

Harry Kim. And your mom? Very proud. Who are you? Harry Kim. I lasted 22 minutes. And your mom? Very proud.

Harry Kim. Who are you? Harry Kim. Wow. You get to take it on over to C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N-H-O-M-A-N, ChristianHoman.com, where Traveler, Hiker, Author, and Geek keeps a blog and information about his work.

I love a good, you know, into nature book. I've read a number of these over the course of my life, and I'm psyched about a, about one by, like, a member of my generation, who has a shared interest of mine in Star Trek. That rules. Pretty great. Way to get out there, Chris. Thanks for the commercial P1. Chris, I hope you get that greatest gen bump.

Got to. Ben, we got a personal priority one message here. It's from Gabby, and it's to Nate. Here's how that goes. Happy wedding day, Nate. Whoa. Words can't begin to describe how excited I am to call you my husband. Thank you for your unwavering support.

as I navigate the extreme highs and lows of graduate school. Wow. Love you always. Oh. Happy wedding day, Nate, and Gapy. I like to imagine a wedding day has arrived. The guests are seated. We're playing like the soft music you play when people are coming in.

There's a little string quartet in the corner. And then someone solemnly hits play on a boombox. or Gatby's message to Nate as read by me yeah but it's like they have to hit skip 30 like so many times to get to that part so you just hear

snatches of our dick and fart jokes along the way and me taking a shot and then like an ad for Bactor or whatever me blowing my nose a bunch of confused people at the wedding listening to this oh man I'm so happy for you too

congratulations on your on your nuptials great stuff enjoy your special day yeah uh our last p-1 here is from dave ellis it's to old friends and new at stLV 2025 shout out to all the awesome FODs at STLV 2025 Corey best Vegas antique drink guide ever true becca Liz Chris, Ricky, Matt, Aziz, Ainsley, Alexandra, Tim, Lisa, Catherine, Michelle, Jesse, Rustin, Lana, and way too many more to mention in 350 characters. This pod brings together the most amazing people. Can't wait to hang out together again. LLP, fuck yeah.

Great job, Dave, in getting the gratitude out for what was a really fun hang out there at STLV. it really was uh good times i feel like it's almost a tradition at this point the uh the p1 sent from pranica cabana yeah that's fun like i don't know if this one was that or not but uh it had the energy of that so um thanks dave and thanks to everyone who uh who hung out with us at stelv 2025 yeah let's run it back next year you can send us a message to read at maximum fun dot org slash jumbotron all you have to do is write a couple of words about a personal project or a personal message

we'll do the rest, you'll get the bump both go a long way and support of the production of our shows. Sure do. Hey Ben! What's that, Adam? Five shots in. Did you find yourself a drunk schmota?

Yeah, I got a guy. I don't remember exactly when this was, but there's a moment where we're on the bridge of Degris ship. and like the way the bridge of Degris ship is set up is very linear there's like captain's chair station station all in a line and I just felt so bad for like front guy on Degris ship like you can't fuck around at your station at all like you cannot get solitaire open it's the worst like everybody can see what you're doing on your computer and you just have to be fucking locked in from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every fucking shift. There's no alt tab for you. You can't do it.

No. You can never, like, get the fucking spreadsheet open when the boss comes around the corner of the cubicle because the boss is behind you at all times. Yeah. Yeah, that's a bad life. Yeah. So I just, I felt bad for that guy. I feel like the actor that portrayed that guy maybe used some of that in his portrayal.

Like, he doesn't have any lines. He's not like a character in the episode or anything. He's just an extra, but he, like, he looked fucking put upon in a way that I found very funny. Pretty great. Mine's going to be dullum, just because when you combine the confidence of the bad guy with not having all the information, like not knowing that he's being pawned, maybe there's a little bit of that crystallizing in his dumb head. But, like, I mean, that's even worse for him.

If he thinks he's being played and still going along with this because the promise on the other end of it is like to become the ruler of the Zindi when the dust settles. Yeah. Like that's even worse. Like he thinks he's in control of his situation and he isn't.

And that makes him my drunk smota. Yeah. Unfortunately, like, feels very realistic. Like person who would compromise everything for political gain no matter how like horrific the act is. Yeah.

Just like a normal kind of guy, unfortunately. Yeah, yeah. Dahlum, just a normal kind of guy. Faith of the fart. All right, Ben, we did a special thing. You did a special thing this episode, and I did. I respect the hell out of it. Yeah.

Good job by you, hitting all five shots. What does the game of buttholes will of the Riker have for us for the next episode? Got to go to gachdabiz slash game to find out. Yeah, we're going to find out right after I tell you about next week's episode, Adam. It's season three, episode 23 of Star Trek Enterprise. It's called Countdown. With help from Zindi Allies, the Enterprise crew attempts to stop the arming of the weapon aimed toward Earth. And let's see.

So we're on Square 26, that Zindi Ariris. that Zindy Ark Square. Yep. All right, I'm going to roll this 100-sided die and we'll see what, if anything, will be confounding our efforts

next week on the show. You're required to learn as you play. Roll. Hit it. Do you have good news, Ben? I'm such bad news. this is this is bad news for a number of reasons adam uh not least of which is that we are

scheduled to record this episode in about 15 minutes uh i have landed us on square 57 it's a mourn-hammered episode what the fuck man what does it mean Are you ready to keep drinking because I'm ready to keep not drinking? I can't do it. This is a power hour? It's a power hour. Do I have to veto?

I think I have to veto. I think that I cannot. I am meeting friends for drinks after we record that. I can't fucking power hour before I go to drinks. Ben, you know what that means. If we both co-sign on the veto. Yeah, if. It means that we have to watch a.

quantum leap episode and put it right in the bonus feed that's the only choice we have though we have no choice but to watch a quantum leap episode god the game really screwed us holy shit fuck if i were healthy and you didn't have anything going on we would do it though right we would do it i mean five shots and a power hour that is that is sick shit i don't have any beer i I'd also have to, like, walk down to the fucking corner store and get a six-pack already drunk. They're not going to sell to me in my current state. This game is awful.

What the fuck? It's like it knows. All right, so do you agree to a veto? Have to do it. Okay. Yeah, we have to veto. That was very generous of you, Adam. I appreciate it.

How is it generous? It's impossible. for me to participate and irresponsible for you to participate. Yeah. It's irresponsible. We can't. Oh. All right. Well, oh, God.

The combination of flavors in that furf is indescribably horrific. What have we done to ourselves, Adam? Why is this the way we make our living? Anyways, let's just do a regular episode next week, and we'll throw a Quantum Leap bonus episode into the feed. I think it'll be our November bonus. Amazing. I can't wait for that.

It's been a while since we watched Quantum Leap also. It has, yeah. I don't particularly mind going back to that. It's straight out of quantum. That's what we're calling these episodes. Sure are. It's got merch and everything. Podjob.biz.

Hey, thank you to everyone who made today's episode possible, especially the folks who go to Maximumbundon.org slash join. and support the show on a monthly basis. Thank you so much to our great, great producer, Windy Pretty, who probably edited that horrible burp out just a moment ago. How about new? She just does amazing work on this show, and we couldn't do it without her.

Thank you to Adam Ragusia, who made the theme music for the show, and Dark Materia, who made the original Picard song. Thank you to Rob Adler, our social media, director, editor-in-chief of the greatest newsletter, our monthly email, periodical that you can subscribe to. Yeah, we're all writing little columns for it. Sure are. That reminds me I've got a column of my own.

Do you. Yeah, I've got a couple of things queued up for the next one, myself. Got to thank Bill Tilley, the Zindy-Bortime consiglieria of this program, who also helps out a ton on the social media, is making those cards, those trading. cards that you get to see every week on the Insta and the blue sky. How great are those? That really

make me happy. With that we will be back at you next week with another great episode of Star Trek Enterprise and an episode of the Greatest Generation Enterprise where I'll be hammered. It's a lot more than hammered.

It's funny, like this is an episode where you got gradually more and more hammered shot after shot. Next episode more and more sober it'll be great it'll be an interesting experience yeah I'm realizing that

I'm realizing that my has a metal cap it's not a twist off Oh, really? Like all of my other shots. And I usually have a pocket knife on me, but I don't have one in my pocket. What? You don't have a burtel opener?

I usually have one. You got a metal desk. You could do that thing where you hold it on the corner and then like punch your own fist. I know, but it's like a, it's like got an enamel coating. I don't want to do that. I found my pocket. There it is. We need to cut all that out.

We don't need that. Maximum Fun. A Worker Own Network of Artist Owned Shows. Directly by you.