The Prestige TV Podcast - ‘Bad Monkey’ Season 1 Finale: The Bill Comes Due

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Jo and Rob hop aboard an airboat and ride off into the sunset to recap the ‘Bad Monkey’ Season 1 finale. They discuss how the Apple TV+ series somewhat overstayed its welcome, whether they want another season of ‘Bad Monkey,’ and Yancy’s significant character moment at the end (1:21). Later, they talk about how Vince Vaughn’s performance anchored the show and their thoughts on where many of the side character arcs landed (16:34). Hosts: Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney Producer: Kai Grady Additional Production Support: Justin Sayles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Look, it's not that confusing. I'm Rob Harvilla, host of the podcast 60 Songs That Explain the 90s, except we did 120 songs. And now we're back with the 2000s. I refuse to say aughts. 2000 to 2009. The Strokes, Rihanna, Jalo, Kanye, sure. And now the show is called 60 Songs That Explain the 90s, colon the 2000s. Wow.

That's too long a title for me to say anything else right now. Just trust me. That's 60 songs that explain the 90s, in the 2000s, preferably on Spotify. This episode is brought to you by Borris Head. What if we told you the taste of deep fried turkey is now available at your local deli? Well, Borershead just did that. Bursting with flavor, perfectly seasoned with that indulgent taste that usually means

pointing your whole day around it. Presenting the Friars turkey breast only from Borishead. The backyard tradition now available behind the counter. Visit your local deli today. Discover the craftsmanship behind every bite. Borershead. committed to craft since 1905. This episode is brought to by Whole Foods Market.

Spring is here, so celebrate it with fresh, juicy, seasonal produce and some very tasty limited time flavors. New Whole Foods, Market Peach, Apricot, Rose, Italian soda. Perfect for a picnic or brunch, as is their trending mango, Yuzu chantilly cake. But if you're on the go, new 365 strawberry pretzels make a great sweet snack. That sounds delicious. Get savings with yellow sale signs storewide and everyday low prices on 365 brand items. Enjoy the fresh flavors of spring.

Save at Whole Foods Market. The Prestige TV podcast, feed. I'm Joanna. I am Rob Mahoney. We are here to talk about the finale or I guess the entire season of Bad Monkey on Apple TV Plus. So if you have not finished the season of television, you're going to want to go ahead and do that before you listen to this podcast because that's what we're going to be talking about here today. I don't have any spoiler warnings for you all because it's just this entire season of Bad Monkey.

That's what we're going to talk about. We're not going to go too in depth because, you know, the shows over, I think sort of half the fun of the show was like, what's going to happen? And it's already happened. So we're not to go too deep on this. We're just going to have a quick breezy check in about Bad Monkey and how we feel about it all at the end of this season. Rob Mahoney. How are you feeling? You know, not enough monkey, honestly. Yeah. I was really expecting...

Genuinely. Griggs to have more of a role to play at some point. Like, literally something to do. Yeah. Not a lot of monkeying around going on. And I will say that's surprising because otherwise, there's a lot of room to breathe in these last couple episodes. This really felt like it could have been eight and it turned out to be 10.

Yeah. Honestly, maybe... I mean, we had this concern after six that the fundamental mystery of the show was already winding down. And I got to say, having seen the way this wrapped up, Joe, those fears were not assuaged at all. There was just way too much dead air here. Yeah, it's a real shame because I had such a good time with the first six episodes of this show. And it's not like I had a bad time with Back Four.

You know, there was like... It goes down very easy. Very easy. And like, you know, if I'm always in favor of a week to week, so if you want to stretch your time spent with these characters that you like in this location across 10 weeks and you're just dipping in every week and this is your little sunny vacation,

et cetera, I can understand the appeal of that. I think this, if this had been like six episodes, this would have been a great show. And like, I think a good comp for it is a lot of the,

like, British mystery series. And those are often shorter seasons of television. I mean, you and I are just wrapping up so horses this week. That's not a real good comp. That's a spy show,

not a mystery show. But, like, that's always a tight six episode. experience. I just, you know, Heart Stopper just premiere. That's like a really short season.

Like these are, this is the kind of story or watching as a story. There's a ton of characters. There's a ton going on. There's a ton to tie up. But I feel like, and this is a phrase I'm borrowing from,

I think Alan Seppemaw at Rolling Stone introduced it to me, this idea of arcing out. Yes. This idea of like your character arc is done. So what are we still doing here? Is how I felt for most of the backboard. the biggest alarm bell to me on that front was Michelle Monaghan's character,

because she has a great ending. We last checked in episode six. She's a great ending in that episode. She goes off at a boat, and that really should have been it for that character. Into the sunset. Let her go. Let her go, which she has. She has to drive off into the sunset moment.

It's just like nine different turns of the plot later. I'm sort of like, I don't, I didn't need her to be. the one to burn down the house or like have her confession. And like, I have never once, not an admission of possible franchise, not in any single second of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. I've never once my life asked for less Michelle Monaghan.

And like, it's just her character and then she's far from the only one. Yes. But her character is just sort of done and then still there. Anything you want to say about that character specific or that sort of, I don't know, I guess problem overall? Yeah, I just think the closer we got to the

end of this season, the less interesting, basically everyone became. And I think there were two variations. One of them is the Bonnie. And I think, I think Gracie, the Dragon Queen also has this problem of just like too much time and explaining too much about characters that I really liked as much for what we didn't know as what we did. And they dug a little too deep on both of them. And then there were some characters who just didn't have anything to do. Like Neville, once Neville intersects with Yancey in the story, he has absolutely nothing to do. And his role is just like, I guess, I'm Yancey's best friend now, and he's hanging around,

even though we have no foreground for why those two would have any kind of relationship other than one of them got on a plane that happened to bump into the other. It didn't really make sense on either way. And so I'm left with this feeling that I'm confused by the big decisions made in the structuring of the show. And I still enjoyed a lot of the scenes and the dialogue and the smaller elements. And that's still an enjoyable experience to watch. I'm just kind of shaking my head. I'm confused by how we got here.

Yeah, I think the Dragon Queen, Gracie, is like a really good other example. Because you and I were both like completely enthralled by that character and that depiction. And we really loved it. And then the beats of, okay, she's crossed a line that she can't come back from is reiterated to us over and over and over and over again until she dies in a way that we're not at all surprised because we've already been told like 20 times that she's made her choice, you know, one step over and over and over again until she dies in a way that we're not at all surprised because we've been already been told like 20 times that she's made her choice, you know, one step over the way. the line too far and she can't come back from it. Well, I was a little surprised by impaling on a stump. That was a little surprising. I mean, especially when there's a knife and play.

Like, you know, we went, we went tree branch instead of knife. But like, and then what happens after when her like ghost visits everyone, I thought that was like beautiful and great and I really liked it. And so, again, if all of that could have just been, that could have even happened in episode six or episode seven, you know? Yeah. So again, I didn't have a bad time. The show went from like really good

slash potentially great to just sort of like slightly overstaying it's welcome for me. That's how I felt. And I think you also saw that in the way that when Yancey finally does jump islands, there are characters who have just been in a different show the whole time. I think the Dragon Queen is one of them.

Like when they start having conversations together, I'm just like these two people have, they are nothing to each other. And it felt like the kind of thing that happens in TV sometimes where because of the amount of time we have spent with a character, the show treats it as a big moment when these characters

come into contact, but they have no background for who each other are or why they should be talking at all. And it just ends up being this weird, weird experience. On the one hand, I would mostly agree with you, on the other hand, if I were to meet Gracie, the Dragon Queen literally anywhere, I would be like, this is a big moment of my life.

Look, I agree with you. This is a significant moment in my entire existence. An email we got from listener I suppose they sent it to ours time, the Pope at gmail.com, which is the email that we're using for Slow Warses. But we did get an email from a listener that there is another book with Yancey in it called Razor Girl. And so this idea of like, do we want this to be an ongoing show? Do we want a second season of this or more? And despite everything we just said, I would personally say yes. I'd watch it again.

It's funny because I did, I did, here's the thing I spelled myself on. I didn't like read the full description of, a bad monkey or anything like that. But I read the slimmest of outlines on Razor Girl, just to sort of see if Yancey was like a main character or not. And it was like he's been busted down to Roach Patrol. I was like, oh, so he's still, he's not getting out of the food inspection gig. This is going to be his ongoing thing, which is sort of similar to slow horses, not to make this about the other show we're talking about.

But like, maybe we don't want to see Yancey get his badge back because it's important to us that he stay sort of busted down. to Sloughhouse into Road Patrol and remain the underdog and all of this. And maybe we don't want to see him get the girl because he needs to sort of like keep struggling to get the girl and all that sort of stuff. So like

I would definitely watch a bad monkey colon razor girl or whatever they want to call season two. I would watch probably endless seasons of this if they kept it like super tight. Completely. You know, there are again British murder shows

like death and paradise or similar things that are on their like 30th season and no one's bored because they just keep it short and keep it breezy, easy, breezy. So, and I still think this is a perfect vehicle and role for Vince Vaughn. He's awesome in it. Charming. He's wonderful.

And he's the reason why we would want to watch more is because fundamentally that character. And in particular, I think the idea that he is not a cop is what makes it appealing. and I think cleans up some of the general like jurisdiction issues that would arise if he was working for a specific police. If all of this shit

just kept happening in the keys, it gets weird. But if every season you want to make of this show, you can just send him out to some tangential location because Roe has a weird box in his car that he needs delivered to a place. There's kind of unlimited room to explore with that. So when Yancey

grabs the rope at the back of the boat and has a big let go moment. I just want to let you know. Has this happened to you? It was just like a water skiing incident? What happened? When I was a child and we would spend summer sometimes in like the lakes up in Washington State. My first and only time I remember water skiing, nobody told me that if you fall down, you're supposed to let go of no one told me this. This is such a thing. Like everyone always forgets to mention. You need to let go of the rope. So I just got like towed around the lake for a little a little while until finally I was like,

well, I don't care what I'm supposed to do. I'm letting go of this because I'm like drowning. And then I mean, surprise, surprise, I never water skiing again because I was like, that was genuinely traumatic. So when Yancey was doing that, I was like, he's going to die. I know, I know, I had such a visceral

feeling of that, but what did you, I mean, first of all, what was your first time water skiing? And secondly, what did you make of this big sort of supposed to be a big character moment for, yeah? See, I did not have this experience the first time I went water skiing because I did it on, I'm not sure if this is like a regulation thing or something my uncle rigged up, but it was basically like a big boom bar that stuck out of the side of the boat. Oh, cool.

And so you're very close to the person who's driving the boat and they can kind of coach you through it and then coach you through the process of pulling. Yes, they can most importantly tell you to let go of the rope or in this case the bar. So much, the training wheels of water skiing as it were. Yeah. I get why this is the ending of kind of like our main action here and it's very purposefully anti-climactic. That's the whole arc is the whole deal is he's got to let go of the person he's chasing. It still does feel like a big fizzle at the end of this thing.

And I think this overall mystery has some of that feel where because we've had all the answers for four episodes, there's just been a lot of time running out the string trying to figure out how to actually get these people arrested. Yeah. that when Yancey is ultimately in pursuit, again, it's like there's so many weird constructions to get him there. For example, like, when Rosa gives him the ultimatum,

like, you need to get on the plane with me where I'm never speaking to you again, except also I will definitely speak to you again, and this doesn't matter at all beyond this scene. Okay. And it's like there are 15 different versions of that that led to him ultimately letting go. And I'm like, I'm just not buying any of this at that point.

On the one hand, yes, I agree with you on the other hand. I do think it, I mean, I thought, That moment when she gets on the plane felt the reason it rang false to me is that we didn't have enough of a buildup that this was important to her character. You know, that he be someone who let go of things. And so she just decides in the midst of a life-threatening storm that this is the moment she's going to draw a line. Who says getting on the plane is any better an option flying into a hurricane than sticking around at that point? But like, she makes this line in the sand that she draws. But I do think, yes, she does see him at the end.

But, like, she is now in the Bonnie role where she's just sort of like, this is a casual thing. This is not us building a life together. True. Sort of thing. And I liked his sort of like, what was that movie? Good luck Chuck. Was that the name of the movie? Where it's like...

You've already lost me. Is that the Dane Cook? Good luck, Chuck? Where the whole premise is like, you date him. you break up with him and then you meet who you're going to marry after him. A starter boyfriend. Yes, but like, yeah, a preternaturally sort of talented in that direction sort of guy. Dan Cook is, of course.

And then we're actually I've never seen Good Luck, Chuck, but I believe the arc of that film, that cinematic experience is that he finds a girl that he does not want to, like, let go. You know, that would be my guess. But that was what I was thinking when Yancey at the end of the season was like, everyone's like starting their new thing or moving on to their thing. He's a catalyst, you know? I'm just here. Yeah, he's just the good luck check of the Florida Keys.

What are you going to do? I do love that the neighbors that he got. I thought that was like a pretty charming wrap up to that story. And again, it's just like a really good reflection of Vince Vaughn as that character, that I believe that character is just sort of like, yeah, these guys, these randos that I met on this case. I'm actually delighted they're my neighbors. But yeah, that big let go moment and then he hasn't let go

at the end of the season, he has to see the box that's in his car, you know. And so again, we like that. But then don't make it like a big character moment that seemingly they've achieved something if you're just going to undo it at the end of this season.

What else we say about Battle of Keyrock? I mean, I think just a lot of arc questions overall with these characters. And I think if I did have one defining piece of advice. As we go forward with potential future seasons in the bad monkey verse, fewer arcs. Just like not every character needs a big arc. Sometimes characters can flit in and out of the story and that's okay and they can be mysterious and they can be side characters and they can still be really meaningful and have a big impact. But when everyone has to have a big conclusive point that

they land on, I think it dilutes the impact to the ones that actually matter. That's interesting. And I wonder, you know, you can email us at our stand the Pope at email.com if you prefer. Or tweet directly to Joanna Robinson at Joe wrote this really with anything you want and as often as you would like. Thanks Rob. I've already told you like an embarrassing water ski story

and also can recall the plot of good luck Chuck so I really feel like I've laid enough on the line for this podcast today. You know, if you feel like this is a function of the book itself, again we haven't read the book, or this is just like a Bill Lawrenceification of this story, I don't know, because

it does remind, I mean, it certainly reminds me of the broad ensemble approach to something like Ted Lassau and to a certain degree scrubs. I think eventually Scrubs becomes more of an ensemble show than like JD's show, etc. Even the big let-go Yancey montage felt very much like the last five minutes

of an episode of Scrubs. Yeah, I agree with that. Just clear out a lot of the clutter. And I do think, having read some Carlis, though not this book. I do think it's something that works better on the page because you're just sort of like

tangled up in everything and you're just like what's going to happen to everyone and let's go check in on this person and check in on that person. But yeah, in the context of this show, I mean, this is just a thing that really, I guess here's my question,

would you rather a show miss the mark to begin with or like this have something so good that overstays it's welcome? I would rather take the overstays it's welcome. There's still a lot of good things happening in this show. And I think in particular, like, we've talked about Vince Vaughn and his performance.

That's just a character that can anchor any scene that he's in and make it delightful and make it bouncy and make it. He brings a lightness to this stuff that honestly, and this is something we could touch on too, when he does finally turn up the darkness. Like, there is a moment when he's finally worried that Rosa is walking into a trap and is having a conversation with Gracie. And it's like, if you don't tell me what's going to happen, I'm going to make you pay for it. I'm going to hold you responsible for this. And that's the side of that character we haven't seen before and one that I would love to see more of, frankly, if this show continues, just in drips and drabs.

But overall, there's still a lot going for it. And I think it falls into the pitfall, if anything, that so many mystery shows do, which is it is much more interesting to set up a mystery than to solve it. It's so much more interesting to lay the breadcrumbs than to follow them and find, ultimately, that the people who laid them are just kind of like dumb crooks who are bumbling about and don't have a master plan.

And I think the big third, of all of these things tends to be troublesome because it's really hard when you've built up any kind of criminal enterprise for 10 episodes for it to really pay off.

I will say, I think in addition to that in terms of like the bounciness of a scene, I think Meredith Hagner who plays Eve, again, her character is arched out really early.

I would say Rob Delaney as Nick is arched out pretty early. Like all this stuff is arched out. When I'm revisiting them, I'm like, I know where this is all heading, right?

A betrayal from her. his regret about his daughter, whatever it is. We all know exactly where this is going. I found her to be just extremely fun always. Oh, totally. And always just was excited to check in with her, especially when she knew she had the upper hand on someone

inside of a conversation. I don't mind the pratfall, like Looney Tunes aspect of her death. I hope her dog is okay. But Rob Delaney getting to say, fuck you to a Pomeranian over and over, is worth the price of admission in and of itself. Just sort of like dumping him into the water was like pretty incredible.

What happened to the rascal? He was he was scooting around himself. You know, he had full autonomy even after his vicious spinal injury until the very end. You know, I just got got his ass dumped into the ocean. Yeah, that's how spinal injuries work, right? They just get better and better. They do. Look, also as someone who also saw the substance this week, that's a lot more.

oozing spine wounds than I thought I was in for. Light spoilers for the general body horror of that movie. You make it sound quite attractive, so thank you so much. It kind of is. For that promo of substance. It's a fun time, but it's a lot.

Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity. Or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems

to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. Zepound contains terseptide and should not be used with other terseptide containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it,

Or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepbound with a sulfonel urea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems.

Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-99 or visit Zepbounce.lily.com. It's time to refresh your yard during spring backyard days at the Home Depot. Get low prices guaranteed on propane grills starting at $179, like the next grill 3-burner gas grill, or get $50 off to select Weber Spirit Grill and bring big flavor to your backyard. Then set the scene with Hampton Bay string lights that bring it all together.

Shop spring backyard days for seven days at the Home Depot. Now through May 6th. Exclusion supplies to home depot.com slash price match for details. You said this place was steps from the water. We just haven't found the steps yet. How much did we save? Enough. Enough to get lost.

Or you could book a stay with Hilton. Welcome to your oceanfront room. Just steps from the water. The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay.

Hilton for the stay. What other arcs do you want to talk about? Anything else specifically you want to talk about in terms of character arcs? Well, let's talk about the striplings a little bit because I agree with you, arc-wise, they've been done. And so at this point, they are really just sort of like

moving the goalposts in terms of the plot. They're setting these traps that is pretty obvious that the characters are going to walk into. And yeah, I think they are probably the greatest example of people who are carrying scenes, characters and actors who are carrying scenes just on being really funny and really engaging. And even their dynamic as played out as it is,

I did enjoy. Like, I did enjoy, you know, like, Eve, as Nick is going down on her yelling about how she wants pizza after, it's like, I'm just cool spending time with these people ultimately. For as trashy and violent as manipulative as they might be. And I think getting to see Nick's comeuppance in this sort of transactional relationship he has created for himself where it's like the bill was going to come due. And it was just a matter of when. And in this case, it turned out to be when he got stabbed with a fishing rod and was stuck in a wheelchair. but like I think there was a sort of satisfaction in that in its way.

It just, again, could have come a little bit earlier, ultimately in the scheming of a story. My favorite back four episode Eve moments, and I think it's tied between I'm going to eat pizza, which was phenomenal. And her reaction to the idea that they're going to London to the UK. I knew this one would have to resonate with you. London, pit, pit, chip. Johnny could Gov, like it was really good. The Govna really got me. Yeah, it's really good.

She's an actor, you know, ultimately. I will say, Rise of Claspers as a character, the pilot. Love Claspers, yes. Great. You know, all that stuff was really fun for him. First character I've ever met with a Fritter problem. Yeah. And I have no choice but to support it.

Hopefully not your last. I also think that in terms of all the like, dun, done, done endings they have, I do think the Polaroid over the shoulder on the bar wall was like one of their better, like, oh, no, endings, you know, and that comes relatively late. Well, and if we can flip that, I think that's one of the better done-dun-dun-dun endings. The complete assault team that is descending on Yancey's house because his realtor neighbor hired a Russian hit squad to come kill him that somehow fizzles out in like three minutes is probably

the worst one. And that being the ending, I guess, to Alex Moffitt's role on the show. Tough. Sort of a fizzle. Yeah. Going back to the question of, would I rather see something? miss the mark entirely or fizzle out like this, I think it's almost tougher to watch something fizzle

because you know how good it could be. Oh, you would rather not have loved and lost, is what you're saying. But I mean, in terms of believing and loving again and hopes bringing eternal, we can think about if the right lessons are learned from a season one. Yeah. I think about that all the time with shows the right, you know, I would say more often than not the wrong,

wrong lessons are learned from certain things, but I think, you know, hopefully with someone as seasoned as Bill Lawrence, we could see the right lessons being learned from here. I don't know what the viewers, if they had a drop or anything like that towards the end of the season, but I would hope that in a second season, fewer episodes, fewer arcs, but more like, but keep the side, like, keep all the random side characters. Right. You know, you know who I think was a perfect level of side character? I don't have his name. in front of me, but the security guy. Yeah, exactly.

Perfect. Even his little ending, like, moment. I just loved that. And I was just like, that is the ideal level of checking back in with the character. Completely. Like, we knew who he was and what he wanted and he got there in the end. And guess what? I didn't have to see how he grew up.

You know, like, it just was not necessary. Yeah, that's the, like, we call that the lostification of television show where it's just sort of like you don't need the full backstory. and every single character. Zach Brough, yes, but no one else. Completely. I'll take the Zach Brath. But yeah, I think ultimately,

I'm hopeful that they would take the right lessons. And I think anthology style storytelling, it's a little bit more suited to wholesale change, right? Like, you can completely scrub the deck of every character who is not, like, Yancey and Roe, ultimately. Like, they could be the only holdovers as you go into a new adventure. I'm going to need Hurricane Mel to keep her job. And they're on the TV.

the background. I fully support it. I will say very, very weird and surreal watching a hurricane near Miami as in real life. A hurricane is nearing Miami. The timing is unfortunate. Very. And also, I will say, as a person working in the weather industry, I don't know that Hurricane Mel is like the best name.

I would say Heather with the weather was much, like, much better, far better. Significantly better. And also just maybe a smidge more tasteful considering the subject matter you're reporting on. Who knew? Heather with the weather. was the classy one, but here we are. But while we're going to our chief correspondence, I have to ask you, Joe, as a senior

witch correspondent at the Ringer, how did you feel about ultimately the spooky, surreal elements of the show being kind of literalized, at least as far as Gracie the Dragon Queen goes? She is straight up forced ghost appearing to all of her loved ones. It was just so good

that I didn't mind it, though I do think if those scenes hadn't landed, I would say I prefer the supernatural to be a question. This is her question, right? But yeah, like, she gets a visit from her mother as a ghost. And that's usually a TV trip I don't like. Like, ghost dad, ghost dading is usually something I don't like.

But ghost momming? Ghost momming was like, I was like, okay. Honestly, I'm not embarrassed to say it worked on me. The whole time or like? No, not the whole time. But, like, ultimately the final, like, again, it's like, it's very overwrought. And I recognize this and like them walking up to her grave and having this conversation, it's like, I don't like this. But I do get that sort of like chill on the back of your arm feeling with it sometimes.

And again, I don't know how to reconcile that. No, I liked it way better than most ghost addings we get. But I will say like her questioning the reality of the magic was an interesting story. Again, drawn out a little longer than it needed to be, but was an interesting story. So to have a firm answer one way or another is less interesting than to keep it ambiguous and keep it in the realm of faith. That being said, again, I did think like her final visitations were incredibly good. And in general, you know, Jody Turner Smith just like holding the camera and our attention the entire time. So yeah, I don't think her forced ghost will be back for Razor Girl.

But to your point, in terms of like an anthology level show, yeah, you could have Yancey Roe and I would say Yancey's dad in like a light sprinkling of his dad. And that's all you really need to carry between seasons. And I'd have a great time with it. So yeah. As far as Yancey's dad goes, you know, one thing that these final episodes did hit and I think kind of tied together through him as much as anyone is this idea that the show had been vaguely gesturing in the direction of a kind of uniform.

magic in the world. And it's an energy to some people. It's a religion to some people. It's like a spiritual thing. Like with Gracie... It's a manatee. It's this power of nature. Like, there is an order to things.

And there is ultimately a kind of carmic balance that comes for people. And I think that the show actually did a pretty good job, like living within that ethos that said, I didn't get to see one goddamn baby sea turtle. Are you kidding me? How many conversations did we have about baby sea turtle? You don't show me one baby sea turtle crawling out to the ocean?

Oh my God. Again, Home Springs is a turtle for season two. I really agree. That felt like one long turtle tease the entire season. On the one hand, I mean, I was going to ask you this question. I wasn't sure if it was like worth discussing in the context of this world, but like, what is the morality of the show? And, you know, it's interesting because we get from our narrator this idea of when the wrong

people die and then we get a flash to Gracie's body sort of cover. You know, or, you know, the implication being that Gracie is the wrong person who has died. And on the one hand, I would agree. But on the other hand, like, she crossed the magic. And so the magic took its toll or she crossed the island, if you prefer to put it in last terms. Also stole property from a dead man in his family? Yeah. It wasn't great.

No. It wasn't ideal. It wasn't great. It wasn't great. But, like, I think it's fun. that this is a world where there is some sort of intrinsic justice in the world

that even if you escape Yancey a baby carrot is going to get to you and I think that comes down to Yancey being the kind of guy who can't again can't let the various structures who are going to let things go just have the final say that he has this strong internal moral

compass and that his connection to the intrinsic rights and wrongs of the island of nature of how you treat baby turtles is is uh is running the driving the whole thing and so that that has to be true in this world um yeah this show could be this show could run forever genuinely this show could run forever and um i guess my question to you is like because i i was still reminded even in the back floor when i felt like things were being dragged out i was still reminded so much of justified in a positive way is this what justified is without boy crowder because i think

about, I think about justified all the time without Boyd Crowder because the character Boyd Crowder, if you've never seen Justified, is like the foil to our, our lawman, our lawman who sometimes works outside the law, which is, you know, what we would say if we were talking about Yancey, but like that there is this criminal foil to him that they had this childhood together, that they are two sides of a coin. And that character, that character Boyd Crowder played by Walton Goggins, was just to die at the beginning of Justified. And I think all the time of what would justify had been without Boyd Crowder, if they had kept this sort of case of the weak almost structure that they had in season one of justified,

I don't think that show ever reaches the sort of like heights that it did without that character and without breaking that premise into sort of like longer, longer arcs. And so does the Yanceyverse need someone like that? Like, if your question is, does the Yanceyverse need Walton Goggins? The answer is, of course it does. Oh, my God. Well, and Guggins, please, you know, go straight from filming White Lotus season three where you were like chilling in Thailand forever or whatever and go down to the keys and

film, Film Razor Girl. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, and Bonnie is a character, you know, Bonnie is a character who could be like that if she broke even badder. or something like that, like someone who is on the other side who is challenging his morality and forcing compromises and stuff like that. I think that could be interesting.

I think what's interesting about that idea for Yancey is because he's not a police officer. For one, I think you remove the general kind of edge and threat of violence that is hovering around the justified kinds of stories. Yeah, there are guns in this. There are people who are getting shot. There are lots of people who die.

But ultimately, he is not himself, a gunslinger type. I think the other thing justified as working in its favor is it does nail the episodic stuff. If it was just the episodic show, I think that's a really good show and a really good show because of its charismatic lead and because of the world that it creates.

And if Bad Monkey can get to that level, maybe it doesn't need a Walton Goggins, though we'd all be overjoyed, where he'd just show up. Be it Walton Goggins, be it Aubrey Plaza, whoever wants to come hang out. Any counterpoint whatsoever. Yeah, in Florida.

We will be happy to see them. All right, so that does it for our coverage of Bad Maggiya show that we, like, largely enjoyed, slightly overstated welcome, still interested in what they might do with the second season. We also have coverage of the Slow Horses finale this week, a big episode, huge episode, I would say, for that show, sort of emotionally. And we'll be back later on, maybe this week, maybe next week, who's to say? We're starting coverage of disclaimer, which is a show that we're really excited about on Apple TV Plus. It's created by Alfonso Cuaron, and it's starring. Kate Blanchett and Kevin Klein, among other people. And that is, I mean, talk about prestige.

Putting the prestige and prestige TV. So we'll be back with some disfamber coverage. If you want to hop on board that slightly grim yet beautiful-looking show. We can't wait to cover it. We'll see you soon. Bye. This episode is brought to you by Netflix's remarkably bright creatures. What if a Pacific octopus held the key to a mystery that could heal your heart?

Well, that's Tova's reality. An elderly widow working at an aquarium. Tova forms an unlikely friendship with their cramudgeonly, Marcellus, whose remarkable intelligence leads her to a life-changing discovery. Remarkably bright creatures is now playing, only on Netflix. The right window treatments change everything. Your sleep, your privacy, the way every room looks and feels. At Blinds.com, we've spent 30 years making it surprisingly simple

to get exactly what your home needs. We've covered over 25 million windows and have 50,000 five-star reviews to prove we deliver. Whether you DIY it or want a pro to handle everything from measure to install, we have you covered. Real design professionals, free samples, zero pressure. Right now, get up to 50% off with minimum purchase, plus get a free professional measure at blinds.com. Rules and restrictions apply.