The Prestige TV Podcast - ‘Cape Fear’ Finale: All Rise

Episode Date: July 31, 2026

Jo and Rob break free to recap the finale of ‘Cape Fear.’ Intro (0:00)Instant reactions (3:27)The Cady family cookout (7:04)The Bowdens (24:51)Max’s mock trial (30:04)The ending (37:14)The ‘Cape Fear’ corkboard! (43:17) Email us! [e-mail] or [e-mail] Follow us on IG and TikTok! Subscribe to the Ringer TV YouTube channel here for full episodes of ‘The Prestige TV Podcast’ and so much more! Hosts: Joanna Robinson and Rob MahoneyGuest: Bill SimmonsProducers: Kai Grady and Devon RenaldoAdditional Production Support: Justin Sayles and Jacob Cornett Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Now streaming on Disney Plus. The Hulu original series Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black, played by Emmy Rossum, on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. New episodes week over week, watch the Hulu original series Furious, now streaming only on Hulu on Disney Plus. Welcome back to the Prestige TV podcast. I'm Jordan Robinson. I'm Rob Mahoney. Somehow it is Cape Fear finale time.

Can you believe it? I'm so sad. I know. I feel a deep... I mean, there's the storm that rages inside me. Yes. For sure. Yes, of course.

There's the existential turmoil. There's probably a lot of scopolamine in there. Oh, yeah, yeah. But also just a deep sadness that our run with this show is over. A big heavy dose of scopolamine just racing through your veins. Enough to bite your tongue off. Wow, wow. I'm so excited.

We're going to talk about the Cape Fri finale. Before we do that, though, we wanted to, while we have you guys here, we are planning to do a mailbag episode a little late. this summer as we figure out what to do between the end of Cape Fear, the beginning of slow horses, and the rest of the year. See, I was going to say we were doing it because we like to engage with our audience and listenership. Well, some of us do.

The beloved people who listen to this show. Always sucking up, Rob. Always suck it up to the listeners. Anyway, Rob, do you want to continue your suckup fest and tell the listeners where they can email you and what they should email you about? I would love to. They should email me, but also Joe clearly. Okay, sure.

At prestige TV at Spotify. If you would like to email, think of a baby carrot at gmail.com or any of our show-specific emails, those work too. But I mean, we're general this time, you know? We're gazing into the world of television. We're taking stock of the universe of content. But I would see people can email us about pretty much damn near anything. Sky's a limit. You can email us about, do you want to hear Rob Moni's take on The Odyssey?

Does anyone? Yeah, they do. They definitely do. I don't need the excuse. But by the time that episode airs, will the Odyssey still be a thing or not? Absolutely. I think I suspect it will. It is quite long. Do you want to ask us deep personal probing questions that we probably won't answer?

You can email us. I can't guarantee we'll answer it, but you can email us. Actually, Joe told me she will respond to you via email. She may not answer it on the pod. I'll text you directly. I'll call you. So that's press cTV at Spotify.com, all of your, hopefully TV questions, but anything else you might want to ask us. You can go ahead and ask us. Yeah. Sorry, anything reasonable and appropriate goes.

Be cool, guys. Be cool. Anything else we want to talk about before we get into this. finale. I cannot be held back any longer from talking about this episode. You're leaping off the roof into the pod and you're ready to go. Let's just talk about that right now. Right now, I am a husk of a person animated by two things.

One, a lot of coffee, to be honest with you. Two. More coffee than man now. Truly. The second is absolute glee from that moment of Homiur-Dem on a rainy rooftop, tiger pouncing on Zach. into the balcony on Zach who's like maybe I'll just stick my head out the window for a few minutes into this torrential downpour. It's not the most impressive moment of Bowden decision making,

but also Zach has been through a lot. He is not quite himself in many respects and is getting his bearings. Does that mean he should hear thumping on the roof while they're looking for the guy who's going to murder them and then open the window to let him in? Probably not. But he did it. This episode is called The Executioners, which is the name of course of the original novel that all of is based on written by Nick Antoska, Peter, Blake, and Tara Shivkimar, and directed by Amanda Marcellus, who directed the last episode as well. And this is just an absolute bat-shit-shit-shit-shit show of a finale for a bat-shit-shit-show of a show. It's like a... It's like a mock trial.

It's like what we're doing here. It's not a big showdown, action showdown on a boat. It's, you know, a mock court case inside of the Bowden family kitchen. You were hoping we would go back to the house. I was. We had a big mom of the house. You were hoping the tree would play a role in all this. And lo, it did.

So how are you feeling about all of your predictions, all of your anticipations? I'm just on top of the world. Yeah. I mean, you know it's a finale because all of our favorite characters are coming back. The possum is back. Lexi is back. The tree is back. The nail gun has returned.

The nail gun has returned. was maybe my favorite part of all this because like we've been tracking these sort of like checkoffs payoffs inside of this episode and usually an episode of Cape Fear the payoff is either within the episode or the very next episode right you see the pepper spray it's going to be used right away you see like you see sorry you see uh Natalie in this episode lighting candles she's going to use that lighter uh you know forthwith to burn her wrist but also eventually the zip tie Right? So all of that is true.

The nail gun is a payoff from the beginning of the season. So that took some patience, took some time. The nail gun is a payoff from the point of the show where Callie Nats' crush was still a part of it.

Existed in this universe. Who's to say where she is at this point? Was still a character who was alive? We should say, here's my one note for the possum. Yeah. Should have fucked those cops up a little more, I think.

No consequences for the cops. single bit. Sorry about that. We got a real sorry about that. Half-hearted at best. Absolutely. Glibfest. Which was more half-hearted?

The apology or the sweep of the house? Or the police were required to be like, okay, we don't see him. Keep your proven to be faulty security system on and get out of here as soon as you can. We're not going to leave anyone here. No, no, no, no. Bye. Also, here's my other question. Yeah.

If the plan was actually to leave, if Anna was like, pack your bags, Natalie, were going, why did Natalie then light between 50 and 100 candles around the house if the plan was to leave immediately? Was that before or after the retrieval of the shotgun? I think before. The cops were still there. Well, maybe she wasn't informed of the plan. No, she was. She said, Natalie, pack your bags.

The cops are like, we're going to do sweep. Next shot, Natalie's letting a romantic. amount of candles around the house. You know, it's fair. Okay. But also, if you are Natalie, do you take anything? Your weird mom says at face value anymore? I think I probably wouldn't.

But when the cop showed up in this episode, it's like, Joe is going to get exactly what she wants. All of these dudes are going to die. I know. And then they just fucking left. Not a single one. They just left. You got Lexi returns in a-shocked.

In a snappy pantsuit and a Mercedes convertible. First of all, let's call it what it is, an amber pantsuit. This woman's. closet is a revelation. I don't know what's going on in there, but I was very happy about it. Lexi is also, she's had a personality makeover. She's decided she's a girl's girl. She's like, your wife.

She's a piece of work. She's great. She's a tough one. Yeah, she's sassy. Some real balls on that one. All right, let's go back to the beginning. Yeah. To the Katie family cookout that happens on the, on the boat.

Okay. You're welcome. You're saying we got bookend barbecues in this episode. Yeah, I really wish Max had showed up in his Leopold's ice cream shirt to be like, well, the secret of this barbecue family gets out there. RIP Luke, Consent King. Oh, my gosh. You know. Luke slash Adam.

Did he have it coming? How did you feel? This is A.I. Slop Sun. I mean, we can get into it a little later when the revelations happened. But honestly, when he got shot in the gut, I was like, oh, no, he's definitely out of it. This is, we have been misreading this whole show. This is a Greek tragedy, right? This is the come up.

This is a man being so blinded by rage and revenge. They can't see the family right in front of him. This is, I mean, just also a show where... Eipus. Well, I mean, it is Oedipal for sure. Yeah. My greater point, some toes can't be uneaten. You know, there are damages that we do in life that you can never take back.

And clearly, Max is inflicting quite a bit of them on his own family here. Can I just say that toe, maybe something could have been done with that toe. But then they burned that toe. I'm just saying, like... What would you have done? We were put in a scrapbook? Could you have like sewn it back on

even if it was like lifeless in some way? You just want a lifeless grey rotting toe attached to Zach's foot? Or like mold it like pour a mold of it and make sort of like a prosthetic toe that matches the original? Actually we never answered the most critical question of all Joe which is if hypothetically a madman was released from prison

and used the power of suggestion and maybe some drugs to force you via a third part to eat your own toe. Definitely some drugs. Give Zach some credit. I don't, it's complicated. That syringe was full. Well, that was a king-sized dose.

Yeah. You know, that was a lot. But in the event that you ate your own toe, would you have kept it in the first place? If it were me. Yeah. No. You're getting rid of the...

You're like, you can keep that one. But if we're going to go to the trouble to jar it in the first place, should we not be doing something with it other than just burning it and throwing it away? That part is a fair point. All right. So, I mean, Max kills everyone.

He does. Really tough. You need help right away, but out here you're fucked. I thought he was going to leave him to, like, painfully bleed out from the stomach. But no, he got burnt up right quick. Poor Luke. Ron Paralman got locked in the crate. Yeah.

Also burnt up, though. Real come-up instead. And then Max offers this exit line. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to open a restaurant. Fantastic. In his track suit, the whole style. Here is great. Then you get the shot of the spider,

the spider's web. The spider's web right after the reflection of the burning boat in the eyeball. This is just a gorgeous episode. I mean, again, consider we are opening the finale. All the hopes and dreams we had for Crystal, she just gets shot immediately, dispatched, put in the hold.

I don't know that I had hopes and dreams for her, but Luke... What? Well, in terms of her involvement in the episode. It just mean in life. No, she killed a lady. Who? You know, different strokes.

Luke maybe. Yeah. Oh, sweet, sweet Luke. But the houseboat had sailed on Crystal in her future, I think. That's probably true. But yeah, they're all dead. Hester lives. Hashtag Hester lives.

I don't think Hester's going to be living very long. Someone better do like a quality of life check on Hester post-haste. Who's going to make sure that Baby Doll Crystal finds its way into Hester's arms? Yeah. Baby doll Crystal better go with. test her wherever she ends up after this. But I mean, without Daddy Katie there to help take care of her, without consent King Luke

there to take care of her. And to think of the dogs, I just think of, you know, there's a lot of considerations at the Katie House that we don't get tied up in any way whatsoever. Did you enjoy the horror movie moment of this perfectly nice family driving along down the road and here comes Anna out of the underbrush?

I mean, speaking of reverse nocturnal animals left and right. Like, we're just evoking all the classics. Stripping in Cape Fair Riverwater. I mean, while we're doing the, like, would you do this game? Yeah.

Are you letting bloody-handed Anna into your car? Um, multi-Oskar nominated actress, uh, Amy Adams? No. No. I'll get you another one.

I guess they didn't really have a choice. She just kind of invited herself in, wrapped her hand in that girl's shirt or whatever that was. It was like, take me home. Tom makes bail. And then the whole will he or won't he kill himself, plot just sort of evaporates into thin air.

Yeah. A roll nothing burger, honestly, as far as I'm concerned. we're not legal experts. We've gotten many emails from many lawyers and paralegals and people in the legal community over the course of season. I mean, you have studied swamp law. I have. I am a scholar of swamp law.

Yeah. Rewan, Law, Esquire. No, see, I don't pretend to have a title. Okay. Just casual in my alone time. But I have to say. I was just like you all to picture Rob all alone practicing swan.

What is the show done to us? Sorry, you're saying. For all of the emails we've gotten about legal quibbles with what happens in Cape Fear, I mean, this bail system seems very convenient. For both Natalie and Tom, they're out of there so fast. Well, I will say, Lexi, at least there's like a Lexi, and Noah is in the legal profession. So there's like legal teams behind their release. They're fast tracking it and they have the experience to do it. Yeah, yeah.

Here's my number one card on the conspiracy board paid off moment. Melissa Amper Sand, Adam. That is what the restaurant is called. Really paid off. I feel really good about that. I feel great about it. And as we discussed, I mean, I have a very complicated relationship, as many millennials do with ampersand restaurant names. But Melissa and Adam is much more tasteful than some of the alternatives.

You know, anytime an ingredient is involved, if it's like two nouns that are not proper nouns, get out of here. Melissa and Adam is just a good concept. And here's the real victim here. All right, pine and crane. Okay, actually, Pine and Crane. Zero shots fired at Pine and Crane. I'm taking aim at the flour and waters, you know?

Sure. Okay. Here's who I was thinking of during this whole showdown. I can't believe you, a foodie, would move to Los Angeles and make an enemy of half of the restaurants in town. Well, all those can get fucked. Okay. I'm not worried about them. Who I am worried about is Max Lodon.

launched this whole restaurant venture, Anna shows up, understandably, wants to embarrass him, make an example, provoke him. Still just like caked in river water. Yes. She smells bad. That hand has fish bits in it. And she's just walking around like that's a normal thing to do. Yeah, Noah's like, should we go to the hospital now?

What do you think? Someone needs to have an intervention. Like, this can wait. I promise this can wait. But Max got this whole restaurant concept off the ground. He's hired bartenders. They've done a soft opening. The whole wait staff is right there.

Tabitha's uncle or whoever invested in this business venture. And now it's just going to go to absolute shit. I mean, I know the restaurant industry is tough, but this is, this is uncalled for. Well, here's the question. We had decided, and it seems again in things he says this week. So, like, last week we had talked about how it seemed like Max wanted to die. Just a few more things that I'm going to join my AAS Lop son and my be-banged ghost wife in the afterlife. And in this episode, he sort of once again says,

something similar to that. And the fact that this episode ends, spoiler, with Anna and Tom not killing him, but saying you have to sit and rot in a cage, what is prison if not? Big crate. Crate time forever. Yeah, crate time forever is literally in my notes.

Coach Taylor says crate time forever, right? But that's worse than death, is you have to live with this forever. So that's the punishment. Yes. So you're telling me Max Kitty went to all this trouble to get Melissa and Adam off the ground and then he's just going to off himself?

Like he's not living to see the legacy of his Amper-San restaurant? Yeah, what's the appeal of getting the restaurant launched if you are going to kill yourself? Like, it's not going to live beyond you. I wonder if, like, at the end of the day, he wouldn't have had the chutzpah to, you know, take his own life

when he's like, I know I said I would, but maybe I just want to be a restaurant tour now. Here's my main question. What was Anna and Noah's plan if the restaurant launch didn't involve an audiovisual presentation. Multiple audiovisual elements. Yeah. Well, Anna showed up with a deadly weapon, which is a Bluetooth speaker.

Absolutely. She's got the Bluetooth speaker. Yeah. But Noah's plugging the waterlogged USB, I suppose, directly into the laptop that's hooked up to the projection here. So, like, you know, what was the plan if that hadn't been rarely available? Hold up an iPad. Hope everyone can see it. Just wave the USB around, water sloshing.

out of its crevices. Yeah, it wasn't going to go great, if not for the monitor that was already conveniently there. But, you know, the plan worked. I really can't take too many issues with it. It's preposterous and at the same time, it's a bit satisfying for Anna and Noah

to use Max's favorite weapons against it. Right. Public perception, audiovisual support. You know, Max is like, these are AI slot voices. And it's just sort of like, hoisted by your own.

I know. Tech pertard, my friend. So here we are. Plus just a nice little inversion of the gala to open the season where they first kind of meet again, right? Like having someone on a stage where they can't duck and weave

the way that they might otherwise is its own kind of vulnerable position. And that's one thing, how Max got pushed to the point that he's just strangling this woman in front of Tabitha and the waitstaff and everybody. People who have their shirts? That's what I'm saying.

They have embroidery. The embroidery cannot be undone. I think there was a screen printing actually I'm sorry And then Noah's like Hospital, what do you think? Get those fish bits out of you? Even before that, Amy Adams

I mean her twang is twanging in this scene The line that I caught, my ear caught Maybe more than any all season is Oh, you think that's all I have Amy Adams, what? You're a wonderful actor, what are you doing? I can't. That's a one time only. Well, good things the cameras were rolling.

No, we're not recording this. All right. Now I was like, let's get this fish bits out of you. Yeah. Go to the hospital. Natalie's back in her see-through yellow shirt, her fave. She's at Paul's house. Useless Paul, who once again can't keep a single teenager in his house. And then Danny, you remember Danny from beginning of the seasons.

Zach's one friend who has a crush on Natalie. Yeah. This is something I would add to the cork board. if we decide we're adding stuff to the cork board today. Danny's country house. What a gentleman. Yeah. You can come stay in our country house.

It's a very nice offer. Yeah, absolutely. With no ulterior motive. No, no. He's not trying to turn a lesbian at all. It's fine. I just think the Megan Rapino shoes could have cleared a lot of things up. Absolutely.

Do you think real estate would turn the head of a lesbian so quickly? Probably not, but, you know, I don't know what Danny knows. Clearly, he thinks he's got a shot. He seems like a nice enough guy. See how it goes. Sure. A nice guy like the male character and obsession, that kind of nice guy? No, I feel like their dynamic is a little different.

Danny has only done like nice little warnings popping into Natalie's life this year. Sure. You know, I don't have anything bad to say about Danny. Anything else you want to say about the Lexi that we haven't already covered? I really think we did it. But if you have more to say about your girl, you'll let me know. I just, I mean, you could do a whole palette of Lexi's from this season. Just side by side, the color looks.

Truly immaculate. But also... Would you say Amber is the color of energy? Or like, what do you mean? In this scene, clearly. Yeah. Actually, is it? Is Amber the color of, you know, of release in this case?

Of working back channels to prove that someone is not a murderer, but simply an asshole? Actually, maybe Amber is the color of that. That does kind of fit now that I think about it. Of mercy. Of a certain kind of mercy, but also I still hate you. Anything else you want to say about your girl, Lex? You did it? I genuinely cannot believe she appeared in this episode.

Here's what I genuinely cannot believe. When Natalie goes to find Zach wandering around outside of their home. Yep. And he can't get inside even though there seemed like 20 different ways to get inside the Bowden household. Clearly. One of the most breachable houses. But he can't get inside. And she's just like, I'm so glad to see you.

And he's like, I'm so glad to see you. And there's none of this like, sorry I nuzzled you or shoved my thumb in your mouth or all of the other weird shit that happened. And I guess we're just saying that wasn't Zach. It was also several episodes ago, so no one remembers it. Oh, okay. What are you talking about? Way too long ago. Yeah, I would think, like, I haven't been in this position.

I've never had a sibling shoved their thumb in my mouth before. If they did, I think I would remember it longer than Natalie seems to. I would be disturbed by it a little longer. One would hope, though a lot has been happening. Honestly true. You know? In the grand scheme of this show. Yeah, what's a little thumb between siblings?

The 50th, the weirdest thing to happen to Natalie. She's been to prison since then. She honey trapped her sister. She honey trapped her own sister. I was thinking when they were in prison, I mean, Nevea gets some good kicks in on Natalie. Yeah.

It's like, was the honey trapped the wrong play? Should she have been trying to recruit her for the soccer team? I think Nevea's got some untapped potential. Maybe this is just World Cup brain talking, but like I see a striker in there. Well, okay, so at the end of this episode,

there's a very like, we'll never have peace. Like we're looking over our shoulders sort of moment, which I quite like, but that I also started to worry that if Cape Fear is as popular as I worry it is, they would try to do a Cape Fear season two. Starring Nevea? But what if it's Nevea Soccer League?

What if it's like a Ted Lasso crossover and it's Nevea Soccer League in prison? I know you hate Ted Lasso. I know you hate Ted Lasso. I want to set the record straight right now, Joe. Have you considered prison lasso? I will not be watching Prison Lasso. I will not be watching any

further adventures of Ted Lassow. And for anyone who's listening to this show, do not email us asking us to cover Ted Lassow. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. It simply won't. I'm sure there are many other podcasts

that we'll talk about it. It will not be one of them. It simply will not be us. Okay. So not in Zach are at home. Anna's in the hospital. Tom comes to visit her. Tom, it must be said.

Always, but I just took a special notice in this episode. He loves a clingy khaki. Hmm. And like a clingy shirt. Well, he loves all clingy clothing. He's like, I just want to let you know that I've not been skipping back day. And so this shirt will cling to every curve and muscle.

Even though I just got out of prison and I'm visiting my wife in the hospital, I just thought I'd put on my clingy as khakis for the occasion. So I just want to note, Patrick, your game. He's doing great work. There are some dads who've gotten a lot of positive affirmation in like the carpool pickup line when they're swinging by the school, when they're subbing in at the PTA meeting, whatever. Tom knows his power. What do you think is delfing harder this summer?

Is it Patrick in Cape Fear or is it Matt Damon? Oh, wow. Ancient Greek Delff. I mean, he's, the biceps don't even seem comparable. You know, like, Damon's really got something cooking there. So does, well, they are definitely comparable biceps. We're going to need a measuring tape on this. Side by side.

We're going to need a side by side. We've got to see. Okay. But I think it's just a big summer for DILFs everywhere. Okay. Well, hot Dill summer. Enjoy it. Please do email us if you have your thoughts about who out Dilfts the other this summer.

Is there another candidate that we're not thinking of? Oh, gosh. Matthew Reese in Widows Bay. Certainly. As people in a trance. You know, I just think there's dills for every kind. Matt Smith in House of Dragon? Sure.

Why not? You know. Incessuous Dilfs? Like, there are many. Absolutely. All right. Quick question for you, Rob. If you've gone through a hugely traumatic event with your partner.

your beloved partner. And your partner says, I'm glad you know the truth. I love you. Is the response you're looking for vague nodding? That's all that Tom gives Anna in that moment. It would not be what you're looking for in that moment. I also still can't blame Tom for not wanting to just like roll back into being house husband again.

You know, they've resolved nothing as far as their intrinsic problems in their relationship. She comes clean. He has yet to do his come clean, which he will do in a minute with Zach. But, like, she's like, we've exorcised our demons. Just because you say the thing you didn't say for 20 years doesn't mean you're just immediately forgiven. She also took a fish knife to the hand. She did.

I feel like we could be nicer. Look, I have sympathy for everyone who's taking a fish knife to the hand. But if you take the fish knife to the hand and then you just walk around for two days with sashimi sitting in there, I think it's at least partially on you at that point. I really think it was only like a couple hours. But half of that time was spent in a disgusting river. Yeah. Like there's parasites in there. You got to be careful.

You really do. They even had a conversation earlier this season about like, can you swim in that river? I thought it was disgusting. Anna took a dip to save her own life. No problem there. But you got to go to the hospital. Do you think that's the one payoff of like Max Katie can't swim is that like he didn't follow her into the river?

She was already long gone. Yeah. So there was no payoff for that. Plus I got to say, I could have. sworn at the end of episode nine when Max rolls up, there's still daylight. And then we open episode 10 and it's like pitch black outside.

I think it was like sunset. So maybe the sun just dipped right below the horizon. You think he just spent like a quick like 20 to 30 minutes watching the family bicker on the deck. Sometimes that sun goes quick, you know, right at the end there. The bones get home. Natalie has peanut butter. Never you fear. Peanut butter is fine. Peanut butter makes it all the way through to the family barbecue at the end of the episode.

It's true. Great job, honey. I'm proud of you. How do you feel about this Zach performance as like nice boy, good son? Mom, what happened to your hand? I find him still tremendously creepy. I spent the whole episode wondering what he was up to. I really thought something was about that. He's absolutely shifty.

Shifty as hell. I could not make heads or tails of him. And certainly if I were in that family, would not be fully trusting of my son who just escaped the psychiatric care with which he was entrusted. I know the ending note of this episode is like, no one's, ever going to be okay again. But I think of the people who are most not going to be okay again,

I think it's good old one syringe away from biting your own tongue off Zachie here. Forever unclean, unfortunately. Tom has a hard tart with Zach, which starts with Zach when I was locked up. And that was real like soft suburban dad trying to sound tough to me, energy.

So he comes clean about his brother. This is like very bizarre to me because Tom tells us this, story. And the, you know, the underlying message is like, we shouldn't suppress things if there's things going wrong with us psychologically. We should not ignore it. We should not just hope things are going to get better. We should get help, et cetera. But what Tom says here is that my brother didn't die in an accident is just something my parents told me. Yeah. So does that mean that the talking heads poster flashback of him finding his brother hanging there is like a constructed, like,

memory. Because if his parents told him he died in a car accident, which is the cover story or whatever, and then later he found out he hung himself. But then he never actually found him hanging there. It's just just sort of like in his mind he is discovering him

hanging there. Is that your interpretation of this? I took it a little more, again, on face value, if he did find his brother there and his parents just kind of started saying the company line and he started imitating it. But I could see it going either way. It was just something my parents told me.

Yeah, I like a sort of impressionistic idea that he never saw it and then it's putting together these pieces for himself. Regardless, clearly is hung over him his whole life. I might want to go back and watch that like really, well, I probably won't rewatch Cape Fair. But if I did, I would rewatch that rooftop scene that we thought was really weird. Still really weird. Which is like cut off awkwardly. And so like maybe they decide to add that sort of like talking heads flashback thing

later. And it sort of contradicted their original. idea, which is that he didn't find his brother but was just told that his brother died in a car accident, and that's why that other part is edited so weirdly. I don't even know that it was edited weirdly. It seemed written weirdly. Why not both?

All right, the dipshit cops are here. Yeah, about that whole thing. Glyptopia. Just... Fucking wild. You arrested this man for murder. Sorry you fucked up. Let's make sure y'all are safe. These cops deserve to die. I really wish that possum

had fucked them up. They did at least find the possum. Hard confirmation that the possum lives to hex again. I will take that if nothing else. But the possum should have hexed the cops. Or at least like jumped at their faces a little bit. A little Max Katie, you know, face jumping.

Just a couple stray scratch marks on their face. They should be like, oh, we found the possum. Actively bleeding. We're going to go to the hospital now. Then that would explain why they leave. All right. Well, they do leave. And then we see Max Katie standing on the roof. Yes.

I look, I know that Max is a somewhat supernatural manifestation of like evil incarnate, right? Even so, this is but a man standing on a roof and hurricane winds. Like, it's nothing. You're just chilling up there. That's a real, felt like a real De Niro and Scorsese sort of moment. Clearly, but they're struggling to walk around on the sidewalk and he's up there on the roof. Quad strength, I think.

I mean, they're probably quite strong. Yeah. Part of him absolutely jacked all season. Well, let's add him to the Dillf Pool. It's a great point. Absolutely. Add him to the Dillf Pool. He has an exacto knife at Zach's throat.

And Tom gives out what I can only describe as an exasperated, hey, hey, come on. Hey, come on. What are you doing? Real great moment for Tom. Classic dad stuff. All right. Then we get a mock trial. Yeah.

Swamp law. How'd you feel about all of this? I loved it. I would say, first, we've gotten many great Bardem scenes all season. He's, to me, been the clear standout of the show. I love everything that he's been doing. He is the show. And this, more than anything, like wrathful, losing control, Max Cady, doing his mock courtroom thing.

Head injury, Max Cady. Yeah. I mean, it's just, like, weird and strange and sinewy in a way that lets him chew up everything in sight, and I fucking loved it. We get Lady and Little Gentlemen of the Yuri My favorite thing about this line delivery is he says jury as jury Like 50 other times

But occasionally he goes Yuri When he wants to put that sauce on it It comes in so strong And I mean again just tremendous work From one of our greatest actors Okay so the question that he asks And the show is asking us did Anna and Tom make Max the monster he is today?

That's his assertion. Yeah. I would argue a man who sexually manipulates his step-sister is not purely on the epit. Was he a murderer before he went to prison? Maybe not. It seems not. Well, definitely didn't kill Melissa. I wouldn't count out that.

It seems like he's guilty of, until the moment he went to prison, guilty of nothing he's actually accused of other than the crystal stuff. Other than incest, manipulation, mindgave. It says my games. Yes. But again, it's like it's a hurt people hurt people thing.

That's pretty bad. It says my game is pretty bad. It's bad. But his dad also, like, I don't want to excuse anything. Sure. But I just think the whole family is pretty fucked up.

Oh, okay. Max, there's nothing wrong. I hear you. Not what I said. I just think, once you're serving crate time, it does things to your brain. All right.

Here's, we already got to hear your incredible Amy Adams' impression. Here's mine. Please. Your sister stole you baby. So what's telling them all his shit. I've heard about,

It really is. Your sister stole, you baby. Also such a call and response, we fast forwarded through the beginning so fast, we missed it, but Bardem himself, Max Katie himself, hitting a hey little sister.

I mean, what is going on in this show? All right. Also, on the line front, when Natalie gets away, has a chance to run, doesn't run is going to like try his day to save the family.

Yeah. Max somehow gets the jump on her in the sort of like witch possum magic room. Yes. Thank you for calling it by its proper name. You're welcome.

And says, you have jury duty to Natalie. His commitment to the bit cannot be challenged. Track her away. And then TikTok is nail gunna clock. She nails guns him

in the butt as well as the head. She gets some shots into the butt. But crucially, his most tenderest spot. The head wound. I think it's most of our most tenderest spot. But yeah, he's got some head wounds, gets a nail to the head. Yeah.

And then goes into like a full Christ-like crucifix falling pose and then comes back from the dead. And I was delighted. Let's keep on the Natalie part for a second, though, because is she just like low-keyed the hero of the entire season? Tell me why. I mean, she gets the critical testimony from Nevea, then smuggles, like the thing we didn't see last week, records the whole conversation she's having with Devea, confessing to Max's manipulation. I didn't know if she just stole the... I thought maybe she was just having the conversation,

getting the info, and then stealing the phone. I thought by the way she was asking questions and Aveo was answering them, that was just like a clearly recorded conversation where she was like, and then what did Max Katie ask you to do? It was absolutely the case. And pulled off the one party consent recording, her own mother could not.

Oh. You know? She is using Max's own tactics against him and Nevaea. This is why you are an expert in Swampla. You remember the details. She's coming up. And look, she has the chance to escape, as you alluded to, but she doesn't. She doubles back to pick up the nail-up gun to protect her family. Yeah.

I just think she's the one really doing this whole thing. I mean, let's give the parents some credit. They do sort of double-drawn him in the pool for a second. Everyone gets their shot at, well, yes, let's not skip past Zach, who is saved by fishing memories. Comes back to himself, you know, via fish memory. So if you parents are sitting at home and you're like, should I create my kids? No. That wasn't what you were saying last week

I was in a bad way last week Should I crave my kids? No No That's my hot take Should I be the delph of the carpal line? Sure, something to aspire to Should I take my kid fishing?

Yes, it might save them one day It might The reveal of Zach sitting over in the corner As all this bullshit goes on With his flappy half-bitten tongue Holding an imaginary fish Almost broke me

Of all the moments in this episode So for some reason, that damn imaginary fish, I was, I imploded. Our producer, Kai, who's really struggled, we've just, like, really dragged him through this whole season. And every single week, he's like, he's like, guys, are we sure we want to do Cape Fear? This is bad. This is the episode that finally got him. And he said it was the shot of Bardem spider monkeying down from the roof onto Zach. But I think it might have been floppy tongue, flappy fish.

The double flap, you know what I mean? The flap-flop is very good. But, yeah, the spider monkey, I think, might not just be the pinnacle of the season, but of television as we know it. It's going to be hard to top that. They go to the pool. Tom's pristine, white dillf sneaker holding Bardem down to the bottom of the pool. Anna gets in on the action. The couple that drowns together stays together.

But she's like... I think it slays together stays together. Because it's the whole family. It's true. It's true. But then, you know, the kids are watching now. And she's like, kill him. And she's like, we can't corrupt them the way that we corrupted ourselves and all this or so like that.

We shall not judge Yuri and executioners. We will not be executioners here. We'll let him live. And as I told you in my notes, it says great time for him. I also have great time for life. I mean, this is Swamp Law, though, because they are within their rights under the castle doctrine we learned about earlier this season to murder this man in their pool. they would be encouraged to do it. But they decide, you know what,

we're going to be better than that, despite Natalie's please kill him, kill him, kill him, in which I would say she's channeling her dad, I don't know which one, either full agro-Tom or homicidal maniac Max. Oh, but not the Paul Cuck. It's not Paul.

Let's be real about it. Did you see what we got from someone who was like, this is the plot of Mamma Mia? If you zoom out and squint, it's Mama Mia. Someone needs to cut together like a Mama Mia style.

trailer using this footage of Cape Fear. Oh my God. It would absolutely slap. Delighted. There's a lot of boat footage we can use. It's going to be great. Okay. This is the Cota. Good old Tabitha has produced her true crime doc. Yeah. With a very

unbiased, journalistic lens of I love Max Cady. It's a great moment. It's got to be the best reveal of this episode. So good. It's so good. Then we get a backyard family barbecue, the Leopold Ice cream shirt is back on, we're sort of doing the same zippy commentary. If it were me, Rob, I would move. Now, I know they said something earlier the season where they're like, it's our

house. Yeah. Castle Doctrine. It's a symbol. It's our house. He doesn't get to disturb our life. But if you're having a callback barbecue to the opening of the season, but remember that like how your friend Ray was at that barbecue and then afterwards he showed up in pieces in that pool, Yeah. You were ever going to swim in that? Natalie taking laps in that pool after she found pieces of ray in it? Like, why are we staying here? As they were having this barbecue, all I could think is like, all we are is skunks in the pool, you know?

It's just for as much as we try to run and change and alter our circumstances, like, we're just waiting to be discarded. Did you write lyrics again? That was a one-time affair. Hey there, Delilah. Skunks in the pool. All right. Natalie's calling Tom Dad, right? we've made some more progress.

Her banks have ungreased themselves. She's just like really free of the summer swelter. Everyone's thriving except they're not. Yeah, I would say definitively not. No, yeah, of course. Clearly looking over their shoulder. But I would say if you thought that Anna and Tom had maybe improved his parents, maybe they'd grown a little bit.

You know, I would go as far as to say that Tom's best dad moment is him at least trying to connect with Zach about his brother, wrong-footed at times, though it may be. Yeah. He's trying to do something fatherly. this kid just bit off, almost bit off his entire tongue. And they give him a glass of water with lemon? No, it's not just.

This isn't the next day we're having this barbecue. Tabitha has produced her entire documentary. I don't care how far in the future this is. That thing is going to stay. That's not true. If he's received medical attention, he should be able to have citrus in his mouth at some point in the rest of his life. First of all, my medical understanding.

And we cover the pit, so we are doctors. Swamp Law and Swamp Medicine. Swamp medicine is very complicated. Okay. I would think... Anna's hand definitely swaned medicine. I would think a tongue wound would be among the slowest to heal, right?

There's a lot of movement. There's a lot going on. It's a very complex muscle. I don't think it's just like sealing up with a couple stitches, no problem. I don't know. We saw them seal up a tongue with a couple stitches,

a bitten tongue on the pit this season. Yeah, but then they didn't pour lemon juice in it. Well, this isn't the next day. It's not the next day. The keeper is not the pit. It doesn't all take place in one day. It kind of does, though. It only takes place minute to minute.

It's Groundhog Day. No one remembers what happens the next day. We just wake up and it's fresh. Anything that we haven't covered that you want to cover. Hey, was this a good show, Rob Mahoney? I don't know if it's a good show even still. Okay. But I had a much more positive experience with this than I did with presumed innocent.

Because presumed innocent, we were trying to get our footing all season. We were trying, well, with both disclaimer and presumed innocent. Yeah. We were like, let's find the good show in here. Yeah, there's something here. I think we had the right attitude this time from the jump. I think it was the right attitude, but also the right ending. Like what presumed innocent does in the final episode, we won't have to get into it specifically,

but it's just like a wild, terrible swing. It does not make any sense. It validates everything that you've watched. Yeah. This did not feel that way. This felt amplifying. This felt confirming of the insanity that we've been going through week to week in a way that I really appreciated. I think not everyone on screen always.

has the firmest grasp of what kind of show this is week to week, but the key players do, and that was enough for me. And so, like, good show or not? I definitely had a lot of fun with this. I had a blessed. I don't think it's a good show. I have a couple remember wins for you, just because the show does move fast. There's a lot of things.

There's a lot of stuff happening. Do you remember that time that Anna went to Nevaea's mom's house and fondled all of the murder weapon and evidence? and then no one ever spoke of it again or found Faith's body? I do remember that. Do you think the cops remember that? They have not made it to the house yet.

No one knows that that woman is dead. I think that smells so bad over there. Smells awful. Or do you remember when the S.J.L.P. Yes. That Anna and Noah work for. Correct. Devoted all of their time and resources

and political capital to getting a man who was wrongfully accused out of prison. And then Max Katie immediately murdered both him and his mother, and no one gave a shit about it or mentioned it ever again. I do remember that. What? Like, why do these characters not care about things that are supposed to be important in their lives? I just can't believe there was an entire brutal murder with a, like, just a horrific

murder scene that never, ever came back this season. How was that not a thing? How was Anna never sent to prison? Here's the most important question. Remember how Ethan Embry was on this show? He was. Just going for a dip, just having a drink, just pound. Allen around with his girlfriend.

I got no closure there, personally. Well, he should have been the star of the show. He should have showed up in the backseat of the Mercedes with Lexi. He'd been like, hey Tom, hey Tommy boy, you know? We needed the moment where Anna runs out in the street with her fish hook stabbed hand and is flagging down the car and it's Ethan Embry inside. That's what we needed. Yes.

And we just never got it. Honey, honey, honey, honey. Honey, I mean, I think she's doing well. Okay. Although she may have some words for Tabitha, given the weird way that she's talking about her man in this doc. Okay. Her man.

Max Katie. Tabitha watched Max Katie strangle Anna right in front of her and was like, that's my guy. I love that guy. That's my guy. The warmth of his gaze. Wow. Hey Rob, one last time.

Want to go to the board? I would love to. Okay. All right. It is with the, I don't know, saddest of my heart that I bring you our last trip to the Cape Fear conspiracy board. How does it make you feel to see it in all of its glory now that we're at season's end? This was my idea.

It turned out better than I could possibly imagine. It was my idea and I am brilliant. No, well, thank you for, I think if you hadn't joined you and Kai and the rest hadn't joined me with like great enthusiasm, it never would have. I mean, Kai gave us this possum printout. That's the thing. Well, first of all, it was a wonderful idea. And it's taken on a life of its own in ways that I am legitimately sad. Some of these things never came back.

And also, I think we hit a lot of them. Do you want to go through our new cards or do you want to take it toward the board really quickly? Let's do the new cards first. All right, let's do it. Katie Family Cookout. So fucked up. Smells delicious. What we got?

Flapping tongues, flopping fish. If your son is subject to both of these forces at once, I think you should have real concern. Maybe consider some great time. All right. Tom's clingy khakis. We've wondered if maybe we should start something called the Delf World Cup. Maybe something to do before the end of this. We?

You enthusiastically concurred. I said it was a thing. I didn't say I want to run it. You enthusiastically. concurred. I don't think I'm qualified to run the DILF World Cup. A DILF bracket before the end of the year for an end of the year. Here's the problem. A Dolf bracket does sound something like we would do at the Ringer.com. I know. You know, just free content ideas out there for our team. But if you have a king-sized dose of scopolamine, if we just give a king-sized dose of scopolamine to any of our editors, we will get the DILF bracket off the ground. No question. Great time forever. I put Detective Grayson's unscratched face. Lamentably. Possums needed to be involved. He met the possum. He, only a couple people in the entire season of Cape Beer, have seen the possum eye to eye and come out alive. And one of them somehow is

Detective fucking Grayson. Here's what I choose to believe. The possum hexed him and we just have yet to see the fruits of the hexing. The come up is, has not yet. It's just a slow burn hex. All the best ones are. I agree. Lexi, she's a girl's girl. Total character rewrite. Don't even worry about it. Don't worry about it. But you know why it's okay? Yeah. Because she's got an amber pants suit. And it looks resplendent. She's really pulling it off. Not a lot of people can do Amber.

Danny's country house. It sure might win him the heart of his local lesbian. Maybe. Guys got to try. Yeah. I got two left. So thank you for writing these cards and not showing them to me. So that I get to do, Lady and Little Yottoman of the Yorri.

Max Katie, ladies and gentlemen. Javier Bardem. Give this man a trophy. I don't care which one it is. I don't know what it's for. It doesn't even need to be in an award ceremony of any kind. No. Just get him on a stage and let him give a speech as he deserves it.

It should be like a melted zip tie. And last but not least, Natalie's romantic mood lighting because there's never a bad time to light 50 candles in your own home even when you're about to leave it. Let's take a tour on the board. Yes. What are the things that never came back that you're a little like, huh, I really thought that was going to go somewhere?

I mean, we already talked about faith. Yeah. Absolutely ridiculous that she's not on. this show. What else is really sticking in my craw? Yeah, what is sticking in your craw? Oh, I know. You want to talk about the butthole surfers. Okay. We had a whole

like psychosis trigger involving the butthole surfers. Yeah, a Pavlovian response. With Crystal, aka Delilah singing it to Max via videotape. It triggered this whole thing and then never came up ever again and no one ever spoke about it.

Let's see. What am I bummed didn't come back. I mean, I don't think we had a true payoff of the Max Katie can't swim plot line. We were talking about this. He did almost drown. He thrashes around in the pool, but like that's three feet of water. We didn't need the information that he can't swim. It just was not helpful or interesting at all. Never ever paid off. Who takes care of Romeo now? Our beloved dog, Max Cady's beloved dog. Honey, honey, honey. Don't you think Honey's taking care of Romeo? Honey seems like a no commitment kind of girl.

We added some red exes for some people who left us. I don't know. I think there's a lot of great payoff here. Melissa's Taki Heart Necklace I guess did all the work it needed to do. Savannah Coffee Roasters didn't get another shout out before the end of the season. Too bad. I know the exact one that we are, I think,

both most upset about. The alleged murderess. Oh. Catherine Buckley. The alleged murderous. We loved her energy. Also a great pants suit, if I remember correctly. Kate Fair Season 2. starring at the alleged murderess Catherine Buckley, who you may remember possibly murder her husband,

but definitely did Tom and only Tom's help to prove her innocence. Absolutely. And she should. I think the nail gun is the most satisfying thing that came back. That was great. Anything else? The Megan Rapino's shoes. I wish they had come back.

I mean, Brandon, Natalie's grandfather, just really disappeared after his moment in the sun. We got no comeuppance for him, no follow through whatsoever. Oh, the glitch description, the prescription for his glitch. Yes, for Max's glitch. For Max's glitch, did pay off. A.I. Slops Son, here's what I'll say. The cut from his vision of A.I. Slops Son to, oh, no. He looks like that.

That guy is a very, like, sweet, good-looking guy, but, like... Talk about the actor who plays Luke? Yeah. Who plays Luke? He plays Luke? No, the actor who plays Luke. Seems like I really thought he was, like, a sweet, good-looking guy, but it's, like, so clearly a just like, that's not who I thought my son was moment.

You know what I mean? Well, you're a little more attuned to the wake. community than I have. Was that a wig he was wearing or do you think they just gave him a nice curl on his hair? Those are those are a curls. You think that's a natural curl for him? I do. I mean, it came straight from Max himself, you know? Absolutely. It's beautiful. Anything else. I wish we had had one more incident of, well, like I was going to say, I wish we had one more incident of fish based crimes. But I mean, what is the flopping imaginary fish if not fish based crimes coming, fish based justice? Yes. Mind over matter. Yeah. When it really comes down to it, like, what is your

totem in life? And for Nevea, it's eating tin fish in a movie theater. And for Zach, clearly, it's just having this fond memory with his father. Also, that flash drive was waterproof. Somehow. Something for you to consider wrong when you get skeptical about... No. That flash drive is not functioning. No one in the show should be functioning,

and yet they all still continue to be. Okay. That's it for us. I will continue to hope that there's someone watching out for Baby Doll Crystal, someone watching out for Romeo, the dog. What? Hester herself. Not you, Hester.

What? I don't think so. That lady had a rink. Rancid energy. Wow. I mean, you've been really big on the Let the Old Ladies just die corner lately. I mean, it's tough to watch. I'm going back to that.

That's telling, isn't it? Rob, we'll be back with what? Definitely a mailback episode. And people should email us at PrestigeTV at Spotify.com with their questions, with their thoughts, with their concerns about TV, Cape Fear, your favorite shows of the year, whatever you want to email us about, frankly. We'll also have a live show that's happening in August that may or may not have already been announced by the time this

podcast comes out, who can say? Stay tuned. Yeah, we'll be doing some Hall of Fame episodes leading up to the next season of Slow Horses, which is coming soon. Thrilling. Thank you to Jacob Cornett, Devereignaldo. Kai Grady. Yes. Well, plus thank you to nail guns. Thank you to

scopolamine. Imaginary fish. Imaginary fish to possum, which is everywhere. Halfbit tongues. You know. Joe, thank you to you. Thank you for imaginering this bored and driving us through this insanity all season. It's been a treat. Thanks for hanging out with me in the cramped crate of content that was this summer. And we'll see you soon. Bye.

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