The Ringer-Verse - ‘Lanterns’ Episode 3 Instant Reactions | Midnight Boys

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

The Boys are back, and ‘Lanterns’ is officially picking up speed. The guys discuss the third episode’s handling of John Stewart’s arc, question how the Guardians pick the right kids, examine Bernadette’s agency in her son’s transformation, and debate whether Hal is just a dickhead. (0:00) Intro (13:30) Spoilers ahead (15:27) ‘Lanterns’ Episode 3 instant reactions (1:38:49) Outro (1:40:15) Post-credits Hosts: Van Lathan, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve AhlmanProducers: Devon Baroldi and Jamie YukichAdditional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopowell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode of the Ring ofverse is presented by Searchlight Pictures. More than ever, America needs a laugh. Enter Super Troopers to the rescue. The cult comedy classic returns with the most offensive installment yet with Super Troopers Three. A debauchous bachelor party, an over-the-top wedding, and a dangerous drug smuggling ring, all threaten the troops' future. Fill your leader of cola and roll up to the multiplex for Super Troopers 3.

Meow playing only in theaters. Get tickets. Meow. Welcome into the Reverse. This is, of course, the Ringers Nexus podcast. feed for all things fandom we are Steve the architect almond the builder and tinker of things Jomi the explainer the dinner on you've got questions he's got answers old man van he of the receding resurgent hairline coat baby chuck the 24 carry closer together we are known as of our midnight boys we'll be right back after this now more than ever quality matters

but so does price at marshals you don't have to choose you can get the good stuff for less the stuff that lasts, because there's no point in tightening your belt if it's just going to break when you do. Get the good stuff in store at Marshalls today. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the five. and help create a world free from the fear of cancer.

Register today at pmcf walk.ca. Okay, so files on socials. Insto-in. Instagram. Instagram. Instagram. You don't have threads on there. No.

Jummi, what's up with socials? Why are you disrespecting my line of work like this? I'm not. I'm just saying, follow us on the socials. Did you follow us on socials? Do you have a message about the socials? If not, we've got to move on. Thank you guys for coming out to our American

Sima Tech showing of the Matrix Reloaded. Matrix Reloaded. Amazing time. Yeah, it was a great time to be in the theater with you guys watching that movie. That movie is better than I remember. It's not. It's not. Stop fucking.

You were shitting on the movie. It's so interesting. I'm interested in knowing how, you know, people put on a film festival. Just so you guys know, people put on the film festival, and then they want us to get people out there to the film festival so people see the movie. We sold out the screening. Thank you. Sold off the screening.

Yes. Shout out. And then Jomi shits on the movie before people watch it. Yeah, I was like, Jomey, what are you doing? You're about to watch some garbage over here.

And here's the thing, you gotta, you gotta be real. People were fucking carrying on in there. People were very... Oh, man. That was, and that was like...

I forgot the where's my book? Where's my... I forgot. I had never seen that movie. Again, I never saw in the theaters. And so, like,

there are moments that, like, are enjoyable of the movie that, um, I mean, we don't got time to get into it. I don't really particularly,

like, love it. It's a fine movie. But seeing, like, the highway scene in the room, with the packed that room with all the people. It was fantastic.

Architects scene. Architects scene. It actually was awesome. It's actually awesome. It's crazy. I love me. No, the archit, that's the worst part.

He says bullshit. Really, really quick. I'm getting deep into this, so I got to ask Vann as Steve really quick. So the six cycles, right? Oh, Neo. Neo is the six. Yes.

In this. But they're not all Neo. Basically, it's all an anomaly from the system. Yes. And they all. have two choices and Neo is the first, basically, Messiah who chooses love. He's the first one to fall in love over rebooting the Matrix. Correct.

Because whenever you pull somebody out of the Matrix, you create an anomaly. But whenever you create an anomaly, the Oracle intuitively gave people choice, subconscious choice. So whenever they choose to get out of the Matrix, that creates an anomaly inside of the matrix. Enough anomalies created inside of the matrix means that the matrix has to be rebooted. So what the matrix does is it dumps all of the code that is remaining from those anomalies into one person.

That's the one. Yeah. But in order for to reboot the matrix, you have to take that person and use the code that they have in them to reboot it. Yes. So the way that- Visualized in that choice. The way that they do it, the way that they force that person to put their code

back into the Matrix is to hold the people of Zion hostage and the people of the Matrix hostage at the same time. If you don't let us reboot the Matrix, the humanity's dead. But Neo was like, fuck it, fuck it. Because of Trinity. Because like when he met Trinity, he fell in love with Trinity, fell in love with Trinity, and the Oracle knew that this was going to happen.

So that's the way the Oracle's been playing it. The Oracle knew that if you watch the first Matrix, she's like, I see why she likes you, you're not that bright. The Oracle knew that the Neo Trinity thing was different. And that was the Oracle's game. The Oracle, you would think, was acting as a part of the Matrix

to make Neo reboot. But she was also doing stuff to make Neo and Trinity, like, together so that their love could destroy the, because she fell in love with humans after, like, orienting them for so long. So that was the Oracle's game.

The Oracle's game was to free that by that, that, that's why the architect is like, I know the Oracle is up to something. I don't know what. That's why at the end of the entire thing, it's the Oracle and the architect sitting down, like going, what kind of world do we live in now that there's been a truth, not that there's peace.

And the architect in that back and forth, if you watch the scene knowing, I'm going to be real with y'all. When I first watched the scene, I had no fucking clue what was happening. True. I had to see it like 10 times in order for it to make sense. Right. But when you first watch the scene,

when you watch the scene and you know what's going on, you can see that after a certain part, the architect is afraid of Neo. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like, he, like, he, Neo answers differently, and the architect's like,

wait a minute. Because he's seen this same thing play out over and over and over again, and Neo was breaking. And Neo is breaking the code. It's different. It's different. How can you...

If you don't like it, he don't like it. Hey, look, let me tell you something. That shit was a masterpiece. If you don't like it, you don't like it. That's cool. I will say that next time we do a film festival,

maybe we should introduce a movie that we all like. Like, we should do Asians and Shield or something like that and get the people going. Yeah. Maybe we should do something that we all like. Because we can't, we shouldn't, we shouldn't be the downer boys where we get up there

and everybody's decided to see the movie they love and Jummi goes, it fucking sucks. Isn't that bad? Can you say no? It's good. You like it. Okay. But, okay, let's do this. What would be a movie?

Because we're going to do it again next year. Right. It's also about movies that we can show. Like that is the thing. For sure. For sure. They're going back to the studios about like, boy, it's not. What can we clear?

What can we... Like, what would be a movie that we could all show that we all like? And it's not going to be like... They're not doing Infinity War with that bitch. No. So, like, what's the movie that we can show that we all like? Well, we want to do the prestige, but obviously, I think the prestige is coming out next year. Like, they're re-releasing it.

Yeah. So it's like, those are the harder movies to get. Could we not get planted to the apes? Because that's technically Disney now. Which one? I mean, any of the Andy Circus ones, I was thinking of... What was the second one? War?

War or... I think all three of those. are bananas. Yes. How many did he make four? Three. The Andy series did three and then... It's Rise War, Dawn.

The James Franco won. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, no. It's Dawn Rise War. No. I hate it. No, it's Dawn Rise War. Don Rise War because it's Dawn of the Planet Apes, Rise of Planet Apes, War to Planet Apes,

the end. And after that, Caesar dies and it is the man. And the new one was pretty good, too? Which one was the new one? fall of the planet of the I can't, but they're not making it. I don't think they make it anymore. That one was really good. The one that we saw. We reviewed it on the Midnight class. Oh yeah, we did. That was good. It was good.

It was good. It was good. We did a whole podcast on it. It's like years in the future and then there's like a... Oh, no, that was good. King of the Planet of the Apes. Yep. That was good. I had not thought about that. What a lovely day! When they had the young and they were deaf. No, it was good. That was good. I liked it because they had the humans and the humans have the little thing at the end.

And she had the gun minor back and she was going to betray them. They're communicating and the humans obviously are still around. I like to. Nope, I enjoyed it. Fuck it. I love those. I love those movies. Okay. At Rearverse on Instagram, on Instagram, you want to say anything about like what we've been talking about being the deal, like the Matrix or anything you want to say anything before you got out of here? I just, I just, I want it better from you. I want it better from all of us with your job, you're actually stuck in the Matrix. So you should be paying attention

to these. I just, I just, you be on the socials, you be in the algorithm. He's rejecting the code. You got the most to learn from these movies. Of anybody. Actually, you know what? I just. Actually, you know why you acting like this?

I thought highly. I thought more highly of you guys. Probably because you are agent. That's why. Damn. You probably act. You are an agent. Also, shout to Wachowski sisters.

I forgot the Matrix is a black ass. You did. Yeah. Hey, I'm trying to tell y'all. And don't get me started on the Cloud Atlas. another movie Let's get the Wachowski movie Let's get the Wachowski's on here

Cloud Atlas I would legitimately Get their shit off Like get like it like come on I like it Cloud Atlas I would ask them a million The Races

All right we're not gonna do The Speed Racer's fire Speed Racer's gas I never saw it You never saw speed racing Oh man I never saw it You don't get to that car

because you want to drive Speed Racer is a train We're doing We're on YouTube We're on YouTube We're on YouTube We're on YouTube dot com backslash at ringerverse and also

on Spotify program me and reminders on Monday House of our continues their lanterns coverage love that this Wednesday marks the epic return of ringer quest and I'm going to tell you guys one thing right now if there's one thing

that you guys watch from us for the rest of the year please do not fucking miss ringer quest ring quest is the most fun one can have every time we finish ring request I start to go to that place that's on Robertson where I walk by and see you can explain.

But I'm too afraid. Why? Because like, because he'll never come out. They got their own culture in there. They're going hard in that bitch. Okay. I will say the gaming community in terms of like tabletops, all that shit, they're a very welcoming community.

They want to bring you in. I'm going to go in there. I want to play. We had a lot of fun. We drank me. This story was, Steve is a fucking genius. This story was even more immersive. and fun,

twisty and turning. Right. You guys, you guys got to watch it. You guys got to watch it. Do not miss ring requests or else you'll bitch-ass-ho. Okay.

Now, on Thursday, Midnight Boys, bring back another special episode of Midnight Court with a special guest celebrity judge. It's a celebrity judge for Midnight Court. This is the first time.

Yeah. We're excited. No, we're excited. I'll fucking tell the episode, guys. We know, like, special guests, who's going to be?

No, no, no, special guest celebrity judge. That's when we're supposed to go, oh, who could it be? Who could this special guest celebrity judge? Whoa. Your name who streams in the back, real quick. Do you guys have access to the speaker? Wasn't that anticlimatic from them? I didn't know you were throwing it to me to be like, ooh, nice.

Everybody in the back, like, we're trying to get, it's a special guest celebrity. Get excited about the shit. I will say, yo, shout out all the people come in. Finally, you know, we see who the courage is. people in the town are who want to come, chop it up with the midnight boys, have a good time, get their shit off. Hey, yo, come to the Thunderdome.

I'm telling you, the person that we have... I'm excited. The coming has been in movies with Mark Wahlberg, Charlese, Theron, Patrick Dempsey. He's like Tom Holley. The person we have is... Chris Pratt. Chris Pratt. Oh, yeah?

Mike Myers. Yeah. Big role in the Mike Myers movie. Okay. All right, so we have some of the great... Yeah, you just gave it away. Come on. You gave it away.

I gave it away. You gave it away. Yeah, I don't think so. When we put everything together... You don't want me to hide. All I'm not saying, no. Hype it up. Yeah, we can...

Hype it up. Go, go, go. Hipe It Up Homes is gone for the day. Wow. Oh, wow. Hipe It Up Holmes. We wanted more from him. We haven't seen Hyper Up Holmes before.

When did we see Hype It Up Homes? Yeah, what was the HIP-It-Hoh? from? Wait, hey, when I'm drunk and I'm out, you see it.

Oh, I think we're talking about like on the pod. No, with the drinks in them. This is what we should do. We should have the D&D die

and we should cast the die. Right. And if the die lands on a certain number, you should have to be hyping up homes for the whole episode.

So between one and 20. Right. All right. So we bring in the liquor? Not now. No? The drugs. Come on.

But let's. What? Drugs? What? What? What? Potting on drugs? No, he's the mushroom guy, not you.

What's wrong with drugs? No, but what's wrong with drugs? I got it, I got it. Hyped it up Homes for New York Comic-Con. There we go. That's it. Come on.

We're going to New York Comic-com. No. Damn, I don't know you like to get wet. What is we're old today? This is the normal time we record. Jesus Christ. He just doesn't. Hiped up home.

Who's Chuck on Angel does in New York? Whatever. Give him 50 phone calls, he wouldn't get. On today's episode, we will be reacting to the third episode of the HBO Max series, Lantern, starring Aaron Pierre, it's John Stewart. Kyle Chandler is Hal Jordan. Okay? Fucking show is cooking.

Capturing the imaginations of people, the show is breaking through. Yeah. And the question with each episode is, can you? they keep it going. But before we get to that, spoiler warning, see, we're getting ready to talk about you're listening to a reaction podcast. The spoilers are coming.

This is the Midnight Manifest. That is Chuck. Chuck, take it away. All right, this is your Midnight Manifest for the third episode of Lanterns, directed by Stephen Williams, written by Vanessa Bade and Kelly. In a flashback to 2016, we finally witnessed that what went wrong, with the Stewart family, John Stewart, Sr. was a candidate for the Green Lantern Ring, but denied after revealing to the weapon that he felt fear. Most believe the sergeant was crazy,

including his wife, Bernadette, but this all changes when a Guardian visits Bernadette to apologize for revealing their normal process for choosing lanterns left many human candidates with traumatic memories. The Guardian reveals that John Jr. might be genetically predisposed to be a great green lantern at his parents train him right. The stewards forced their son to undergo physical, mental, and emotional training to overcome fear and give him the best chance of becoming a future space cop. John joins the Marines, becomes a sergeant major, and gifted sniper. However, he's dishonorably discharged after Howe ruins one of his operations as the Green Lantern. Luckily, John receives his big break after joining art school. The guardian that visited his mother gives

him an interview for the position. After a detailed interrogation, John is named as Howe's replacement. This angers Jordan, who shows up at the Stewart household to inform John that he'll have to take the ring off his dead body. That has been your midnight manifest for lanterns. Throwing it back to you, Van. Instant reactions. So swing. So swing here after you've had two successful episodes to go bottle episode, John Stewart, origin story. So swing.

So swing. And I feel like they hit a home run. I thoroughly enjoyed the episode. Wasn't a perfect episode, right? Not saying it was a perfect episode. But in ways, the most important one we've seen yet. Because this deepens our understanding of the personal, stays for John Stewart, which is what this show probably is going to be oriented around.

Men, boys? I like this episode a lot. I think I was a lot more frustrated with where it fell in the season because you just end an episode two with Hal Jordan sitting down with Sinestra ready to talk and chop it up. And then you grind all of that to a halt to give me like why John is feeling the way that he's feeling. For an episode, it's great. I think it's very well executed.

for the most part. I think that this is probably the thing that this is kind of conceptually taking the biggest bite out of and it's what the conditioning of being a green lantern from birth and like raising somebody to be that, is that abuse, is that programming,

is that something that can be conditioned into and or out of someone simply based on being told that you are destined to be something. something great. It's kind of really high concept for somebody to execute in the span of an hour. I think it was a really good job. No, I mean, I really like this episode. I mean, I would understand why people would, you know, bump up against it because, you know, we're not in Rushville for this episode. We don't get a ton of

Kyle Chandler. And like you said, the last episode ends with him talking to Sinestro, and we don't get to see that continuation. However, I think the episode did two things that I really, really enjoyed. Number one, we had the question of like, where did John get all this, like, no fear from, right? We thought it was from his dad, like, his dad wanted it for him. However, like, we find out it's really his mom. His mom was the one that was locked in and we see like how that, like, took John, like, as a baby and molded him into the man that we see today. And two, his relationship with how and how far that goes back, even though Before they even met they had a relationship.

Right. They've only been doing this for two months. I'm like, man, how must have been a dick in two months for you to hate him like this? But really, this is something that's been going on. Basically since the day he was born where Hal takes the, well, he really takes it, but Hal gets the green lantern

over his dad, there's that little resentment. And then when he's in the hill or in the mountains in Russia trying to kill that guy, Howe takes that away from him. And then he has to get dishonably discharged from the military in order to save faith. And so I think that episode, to your point, like, gives us, like, real history, real background only on John, but his and How's relationship. And I think that's a good foundation for an episode.

I love all the lore they keep adding because the more that they reveal about it, you just realize just like how sure of a hand, Lindeloff, Mundy, and King have where it's so smart to take something from the comics that is, you get the Green Lantern Ring essentially when another. Green Lantern dies and it will find you and then being like, okay, but like if we break this down into the process, what if the ring is finding a bunch of people and it's driving them insane? I'm like, that is fascinating because what this episode does is almost better than Superman. It situates how destabilizing it would be if you wake up one day and either meet an alien or maybe you know aliens are out there, but it comes crashing into your life. It just like deepens the world of just the DC universe. So I loved all of that.

I loved all of the component parts of this episode. As of you, I'm getting very, very, very tired of prestige TV having to do flashbacks. Flashback episodes. It's, yeah, I just had, my frustration was this was just like, all right, we're only on the third episode. And to Steve's point, we are like grinding, grinding, grinding to a hole. And like, this is all stuff that I was like happy to learn, but it definitely did take the momentum to me out of the season. And not in like a way that's like, the show's going to be shit.

It's not. Like, this is still a great show. It was just, I was like, okay, we're doing this again. Yeah, I think, number one, from, that's their style of storytelling, obviously. And number two, I tend to think in scenes of these shows, these episodes are by far the most important. They tend to be, like, laying a, like, emotional framework around John and what it took for him to grow up like that, which was, like, I wouldn't be, like, I wouldn't be crazy for saying that that was, like, some pretty intense levels of abuse that his parents put on him when he was a kid to know that he absorbed all of that and still was resolute in picking himself to be Green Lantern rather than doing it. as a thing that his parents indoctrinated him into,

which they did, but in the end, he still chose himself because he believes in himself. I think that's a great message. It feels, again, just really weird to put it so soon, because I think in the architecture of, at least the show that it's presenting itself to be,

we would find that along, like, either breadcrumbed or there would be a big reveal of something like that near the end of a season. No, what a lesser show would do is give it to you, through exposition. I'm not saying that it's a lesser show.

No, no, no, but listen, what a lesser show would do is give that, it's just tell you that. Right. It's just, it's just, it's, you'd have John go, you know what? My entire life I've been raised to be Greenlander because it actually chose my father, and he was too afraid for it. And there's something else that this, I mean, and just a lesser show would do that and just give you that, and then you would go, oh, okay, well, his dad didn't have it, or they'd flash it back or whatever.

this show is the origin of, in my opinion, this show, Lanterns, is the origin of John Stewart as the Green Lantern. That's what the show is. And it is smart to do, because you could do that show as a pilot, right? The one we just have. Or like a Widows Bay where it's like,

a lot of times for these TV shows, like it's like in the sixth episode. Exactly. Or it is like that is the one where you get, like Widows Bay did a, here's the history of the island episode. and you kind of halt the narrative to like basically reveal the mystery that was always there. Right.

Like the way, the reason why to me, I think it's smart to put it here, but let me go back. Forget about that. If it's in the sixth episode, if it's in the second, third of episode, that criticism is going to be the same, right? Because at some point, you're going to have to stop the narrative, even in Widows Bay. When they go back and I'm like, there's a lot of other stuff. that I was really invested in at that point and you're taking an episode off, right? The Patricia episode, which I really loved,

is almost like all about her in that situation and, like, Lufus isn't in it that much, and whatever. So that I'm not even... But this episode actually did a lot more than just John. Like, if you watch this whole episode, and I watched it a couple of times, the Guardians themselves. Yeah. This episode is an origin story,

for the version of the guardians that we're going to get. And it creates mystery and intrigue about why they've changed their process. Like, what made them change their process? It is, in fact, true that the ring finding a green lantern is either imperfect or it results in carnage for somebody's life. They also don't like the green lantern that they got. The green lantern that they got, the fearless one,

doesn't have any architecture to his personality. He's reckless, which this episode demonstrates from Jordan, right, jumping in there doing something reckless. He can't be controlled. Not only is he fearless in his life, he's not afraid of them, which means that he doesn't respect authority. And what they wanted to create was a green lantern

who both was worthy of the ring because he had no fear, but respected the chain of command. Which in order for John to demonstrate that he didn't have any fear, he had to respect the chain of command because that was his parents then into the military, right? Yeah. So coming out of this, the actual arc for John Stewart will be when he loses faith in the guardians and has to make a decision based on himself as an individual and how that will resonate with his character and what he's got in his entire life.

because she asked him to sit in that seat for a whole night and he sat there. They asked him to set up on somebody for almost a year, and he ate bugs and berries and did it. The question will be at the end of this show when either the guardians or someone else, or maybe even his parents, ask him to do something and he knows that it's wrong when he'll actually be a full hero

and do what he thinks is right over somebody else. And like the groundwork of this episode showing how dedicated he is to the idea that a greater power telling him to do something and service to that power is heroism is the thing that the show has to get right for him to come out of this as the Green Lantern. I mean, they also kind of drop an interesting thread where it seems like the Guardians were not ready for humans. There is something about our emotional process and our society that gives Hal Jordan

this power that they almost seem afraid of. And they are afraid because Sinestro was his mentor. And that connection of like, okay, Sinestro was powerful enough to kill one of us. And How, even though he took Sinestro down, has this mentor bond? And it was interesting where I was like, oh, it seems like the guardians want a human

that is powerful that they can control. Where they're like, even if we can't control how, there's something about him that makes him such a green lantern, if we can essentially engineer one from birth, now we have a chip. Right. And I was like, oh, that's fat. Which is, like, to them, a very short lived wager

because to them, humans only live for so long anyway. So what's another 18 years to just wait to see if they can cook a John Stewart from that? And I've liked that idea. I think that the biggest, like, revelation that I got from this episode was, like, the very, like, the very beautiful and, like, poignant metaphor of in episode two, when John constructs a bird, when he wishes to fly,

and now we actually see the real relationship that he has with birds in this episode, where he basically considers them to be, like, this sort of, like, overwatching angel figure of the guardians in his life, because his mom said that the guardians come to them as birds and talk to them. I thought that was like, oh, that just made episode two a lot sadder. And that actually gave a lot of,

dimensionality to John. When he has to crush the bird. And yeah. And he and he looked very forlorned and sad when he had to like put that bird away. He's like he wanted that bird. He didn't hesitate though. He didn't. But it's also it is it's not the most subtle like metaphor or whatever. But it's interesting that John is so talented at his job that he can essentially create a bird, a living creature, but he cannot fly. Like that is the thing like as a green lantern he can't do where it's like, how can fly like that? Like it is just like he has enough. freedom and belief in himself where he's just like I have this power that I can just at any time just go off and do what I need to do whereas like John can create so many things

with his mind he's so creative but he is so repressed that there is a part of him that is holding back and I was like okay that is a good buddy cop dynamic for a show to go down. Is how a dickhead? How? Yeah. Because I imagine like once they once the call comes in. And they're like, hey, we're giving John Stewart the ring. Like, he went to, oh, well, he was like, yo, I'm not doing this.

And they were like, you can either do that or we take the ring. He was like, all right, bet. I'm going and I'm going and be mad at John. He showed up to the parents' house. He plays nice. It's like, man, you guys, what a son. Wow, this is incredible. West Coast, Midwest Huxibles.

Crazy. Yeah. Kind of not. Crazy. Right. The Midwest Huxibles, I was like. Hey, Timor, I love you. I love you, my dog.

But legitimately says things like that to make people uncomfortable. Everything is a power play. Goes outside. Did I spoil it? Oh, no, I'm awful. Hey, by the way, you never get in this ring over my dead body. And then flies off. I'm like, yo.

Hey, I can respect it just because I'm like, I'm not training my replacement. I'm not doing that. Like, shit, I've been in the league. What do I look like handing it, handing it off to you? Fuck you. He ain't have to be that mean about. But you know what it, but the reason why him popping up at the end of the show to me was, worked so well is because this entire endeavor is obviously there's a racial component here.

The ring finds someone who is like made in their society to run society. Like he's a test pilot. He's a white male, good looking white male. He's all the reason to be confident. and fearless in his society. His society is not engineered around making him be fearful of it, which is why the show addressing that there is a difference between fear, and I know plenty of fearless nicks.

I don't know what the show was talking about. I know plenty of guys that just ain't almost like, it's ridiculously fearless. But anyway, one guy being grounded, like stuck on the ground and one guy being legitimately in the sky is you trying to figure out which version of the Green Lantern thing, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you're, you, you, you're,

it means to be that. Like, what they are willing to put their son through, what it means to be that, what he's willing to do to protect it, it's something greater than being a person. It's like a, it's a higher calling and something different. And what people are really trying to do in this world, at least between these two, it's two guys is transcend. And they don't, they feel too regular when they're not the Greenlander. They feel too ordinary.

So they're fighting for their identities. Like one identity that's been given to John Stewart, it's going to be interesting to me in this show when John Stewart has to really come to terms with what he's ever wanted for his life. Like, did he like, has he always actually wanted this? Does he even know what he's actually ever wanted? Like by the time we meet him, he's really young and he hasn't even lived enough life to consider what it is he wants for himself.

And is that the reason why he's not wearing the ring at the end of the show? Is he not wearing the ring when he finds Hal Jordan because he's decided, at least for a time, that he wants something different, that this is actually not where he's at in his life right now. So, and then when you see Jordan, Jordan is holding on too tight, so tight to it because he has no family that we've seen yet. Like he doesn't, like he has nobody around him. So this is legitimately, this ring for Jordan has, like, given him purpose and community, and the ring for Stewart has given him destiny.

So, like, it's competing. To defend how, and this is where I think the comic books come in, is like, I think he's so mean to John because John is essentially an agent of the guardians. And I think when he had to arrest Sinestro, I think it's not that Sinestro was wrong. I think Sinestra, well, he was wrong in terms of like killing a guardian. But to me, what this is leading us to is Sinestro probably was starting to unravel a conspiracy about all the things that the guardians are hiding. Where it is just like, if the guardians created the Manhunters and the guardians are essentially

like bureaucrats who are trying to put a certain level of architecture and control over the universe, I could see how Hal is just like, so I'm being replaced by someone. who is going, like a mindless Marine who is going to listen to whatever the fascists say and that to me is like, just makes for great story where it's like there is the racial component they're playing with, but I do think it's a level of like he also sees how powerful John is

in terms of like, oh, they got to him. Their way might be right. But yeah, I mean, to your point though, there is a like when, we know, you know the Guardians, they're not the greatest people. Yeah. Never, you know what I mean? And they hand out this immense power.

And so that's actually an interesting way to think about it. When you, like, know about the Guardians, when Laura Linney is doing the thing and she's like, you know, no, look, we protect all the worlds and all this. You're like, yeah, but at what cost, right? And so when you have that background, there is a level of, yeah, like, how is not, like, how is bumping up against the Guardians and the Guardians don't like, we know what the Guardians have gotten up to. So they aren't completely trustworthy. So I have to ask this, though. and this was intentional but I was like

Hey yo Arnda Cardi is a little racist She was looking at baby John Like this was the NFL compound She was like She's like genetically He might be free Right

My main thing was like Like Nick Saban Coming to the ball Like she was looking at you She's like Well he got your genetics So like I think he could do some I'm like

Yeah man You can run a 4-2 You think they're racist? I don't think they're racist I'll tell you what I genuinely clocked the fact They seem to know when to present as

nice white lady Laura Linney and claim to not know anything about racism. This is too much, guys. You're saying it's not race? Yeah, no, what the fuck is that? That's the first time that's ever happened. Wait, no, no, I thought that that was intentional when... Absolutely. I'm mostly joking, but when

the Guardian was just like, well, she's talking to the mother where she's basically trying to, like, be like, well, it almost chose your husband, so, like, there's something genetically here that you guys have that makes him predisposed to be a great Green Lantern when I'm just like, no, you are just controlling this mother who wants her family

essentially to be intact and to think of something greater than themselves and for her son. And that's why like the real sadness of the episode is how lost Bernadette gets in trying to chase this thing when we kind of know you're being controlled by aliens. That don't care. That literally just don't care. She was tempted with power. She was tempted with money. and all of those things were spat back in her face.

She got arrested for trying to cash in the diamond. Like, I'm tripping. I saw this completely different. Number one, the Guardian recognized that Bernadette wasn't afraid. So, like, when she was talking to Bernadette, she says, your husband has something genetically. Then she says, you are a very formidable woman. When Bernadette is out there, hold, remember, as soon as the guardian, as soon as the guardians come through with a lantern, comes through the ring comes through, to John's dad, Johnny, that nigga was like, you afraid?

Yes! Yeah! Like, yes. He got whipped up in a bubble, dog. He's afraid. But when the Guardian presents herself in front of Bernadette, she goes, like, you're one of the guards, she goes, prove it. She turns into an alien. She regards her.

She turns back. She goes, you want some coffee? She's never scared. Right. Like, she's not, like, she's not afraid at all. And so when the Guardian goes there, it could be something genetically. in your husband that makes him, that made us seek him out,

but you are a formidable woman. Like she sits there, she talks to the guardian, and she's not only, like, giving her the real, she's chiding her. Like, she's putting her at the end of her spear.

Like, you guys need to do this better. Do you have any idea? She's talking to, like, an ancient alien and has absolutely zero fear of her. That is what the guardian saw. The guardian said, with what your husband is genetically,

which made him us look for him in the first place. 6-2. Yeah, like 6-2, 4-2, 4-3 speed, like, could aim. And what I see in you, you could make your child fearless. And so, like, it's- But you don't see that as, like, manipulate. Like, it, not to break, like, ironically,

it reminded me of, like, the Friday Night Lights episodes where they would go to, like, Flash's house. And it's just like, oh, we're throwing all this stuff. It seemed like manipulation from the guardian in terms of just, like, yes, she sees that this person is fearless or that there was something about her husband but it's like, oh, there's a Marine and there's a

teacher here. If I poke and prod them in specific ways, I can engineer a green lantern that we can control. Because she could have chosen anybody on Earth. She didn't have to listen to the plight of the Jordan family. She couldn't have chosen any other. Or not the Jordan family.

But she already had found a family that disliked how Jordan. Here's the deal. She couldn't have chosen. anyone else. I mean, I guess she could have. The ring chose, and then he didn't meet the test of the ring. So the ring chose. Right. Right. So the ring chose John Stewart's dad. Then he didn't meet the test of the ring. Now, for whatever reason, they came back down there. They said that they went and these organisms are certainly collecting information, right? I'm not saying that at all. But for a certain reason, they went down there and decided they wanted to cure people's trauma with gigantic. diamonds, like, you know what I mean? So whatever that is. And then in doing that, she recognized

that there was a possibility that they could get something out of John. I'm not saying that she didn't want that. But I think saying that it was manipulation actually takes away Bernadette's agency. Like, Bernadette, like legitimately, when she's sitting down there, in my opinion, she gives all of the reasons why her husband failed. But then when presented with the opportunity for her child not to fail, this right here is an allegory, like, just of the black experience. Like my parents felt this way. All of the reasons why they failed,

they wanted to take all of those reasons away from me. As being a black man in the world, they wanted to take my fear. They wanted to take my, my, my, and stuff couldn't read. My great uncles and stuff like that, those guys couldn't read. They wanted me to be like John Stewart.

And once I did it, they wanted me to be loud about it and not for anyone to be able to tell me that they were better than me. And that, to me, is why she's freaking out. When she gives, and she does kind of freak out because she starts crashing out the whole fucking episode. But she sees John's role as a Green Lantern,

as a way to like access his humanity to show that he is good enough. And another way that that exists is she feels like her other two boys are already gone. They haven't done this intentionally enough. They've never tried because it's never been a project that they thought was possible. And when the Guardian speaks to her, she goes, oh, well, if it's possible for me to create a fearless space cop that will go out there and transcend everything else, I'm a take that. So she turns into Marvorevich? Yeah.

I mean. But here's the thing. This is why, to me, what was like, and it's the nuance of the episode is like, Bernadette actually isn't without fear because the moment when she's like, when John goes, okay, I'm going to shoot the apple off your head. The fear is like she finally realizes like, oh, this is what I've turned my son to. Right. Whereas like I read that less of, oh, I'm afraid of losing my life if he misses.

and more so, like, there's something that I've done to my son that has cut him off from his humanity. I don't think that's necessarily fear. I think she has some regret. But, I mean, by the way, I'm not necessarily even saying that she was fearless. Because there's definitely concern when he walks through the bad neighborhood

and it comes back at night. When she comes, and when he, she's waiting on his bedside and she, like, there's a level of relief that comes off her face and she's like, go get a pork chop. Yeah. Go to the kitchen. It's in the microwave. She walks away.

That was when I was like, oh, yeah, she's like, she's trying to hide the fear that she has from her son in order so keep, it's like contagious, right? If she's so she's afraid, then he's going to be afraid. That ruins the whole experiment. I think it was very interesting to see when, uh, the dynamic between John's mom and, uh, her husband when clearly he's also having some reservations about this because in the pilot, see him as the only person that was shooting apples off his head. We haven't seen his mom in any episode but this one.

And there was a part of me that was like, oh, no. When he says, I'm about to shoot the apple off mom's head, am I about to see John kill his mom? And this is going to be a huge, like, complete bummer of an episode. Thankfully, that didn't happen. But there's this interesting, like, order of events that the show is giving us to where not only is John's dad kind of having hesitations about, the way that he's raising his son with his wife.

But in the pilot, he was the one that was probably doing that of his own volition before he was already even training him about to be a green lantern. I don't know. It was very interesting to see. I mean, also, going kind of back to the Guardians, what I was interested about was the ball scene because that Guardian is interviewing other people.

So I was just like, okay, is this part of a larger conspiracy where this guardian was doing this to a lot of kids? Were they for sure? There was something. Was it? Somebody was leaving. Somebody was leaving. So part of me was just like, so there were other candidates this whole time. And was this like a competition?

It seemed pretty obvious that they were looking for somebody to replace Hal Jordan and they were going to look until they found that person. So it seemed to me. I don't know if there were kids that, like, this has been, like, for, like, whatever, it's, like, 10 years or whatever? Or was this just, like, other agents where they're just, like, hey. Set the scene for John. Yes. I thought that's what it was. Yeah, I thought they were just, like, playing a game.

So, like, it's other people, man. It don't got to be. I don't think so. No? Because she had been visiting the other candidates. Right. So she talks about in the thing that, like, there was, the ring had more than one person that went through the. trauma. And I think they didn't get someone. They got Hal Jordan displeased with

Hal Jordan, whatever, Hal Jordan is fearless, which means he's uncontrollable. I think that they were probably looking for people to fill that trainee role. Yeah, but there's also that interesting line that she says, like, I've found that my natural form to be unpleasant. So by the time that they reveal themselves to other people or other potential candidates, or the parents of other potential candidates, I think that conversation that they had with Bernadette might have gone a different way with other people. They might not have had the types of welcome. Like, no, just give me the diamond and I want to leave. Well, Bernadette, maybe it did, but also Bernadette is, once again, when the lady says that when the guardian sits down,

she's impressed with Bernadette, which is another thing that makes her lean into John. She's impressed with her. Bernadette has her own demands. She has her own worldview. She's curious. She knows what the guardians are supposed to be. She demands that this woman like this being, as sincere and authentic in front of her as possible. And when she has something to say, at times the guardian looks in that scene looks stupid in front of Bernadette for not having considered some of the things.

And then Bernadette obviously becomes obsessed because it seems that she's obsessed with her son like becoming something more. But the interesting thing in all it is, is at the end of this, John loves his parents. Yeah. So, like, John doesn't seem to, at least at this point in the show, carry any scars from the brutality of his upbringing. And even this episode did an interesting way of painting him as singular amongst his brothers, singular in terms of his relationship with his mother and his father, but still part of his family.

At the end of it, when they're a little older and more distinguished and they're sitting down, John is, he says he's excited to tell his parents that it worked out. Well, I think the thing that's also, like, once again, if we bring in the comics, the guardians don't really believe in emotion. They're emotionless creatures. And when John is going back and forth with the guardian, he is having to explain humanity to someone who, like, has really no frame of reference for it. and the emotions that come with it.

And I think where the season is leading is essentially they were trying to recreate a manhunter with John. They're like, can we create a green lantern who does not feel emotion, but still has the power that someone like Hal possesses? And there's a thing in John that no matter how brutal his parents are or his upbringing, there is still a love there and there is still a reverence

that even then the guardian is still trying to be like, we kind of thought we would be thinking, What is, I mean, what does he say? Like, we're not, like, we're not robots. Like, you can't program us. Yeah, we're raised. We're not programmed. Exactly.

And we, what's the difference? We love the people who raised us, regardless. Well, there is no difference, but, yeah. There's no difference between raising someone and programming them. There's definitely a difference. No, there's not. I see where Vans coming is this. It is, it is, it is, raising someone is the most efficient form of programming them that

exist. Until you get out into the world, you will regurgitate your parents' ethics. You will do everything that you think they want you to do. Like raising someone is learning, growing older is unlearning. It's your parents give you everything. They give you your religion, your sports team, your diet, your education system. Like the things that they feed you, they figure it out, hey, you don't like this, whatever, whatever. They give you all that. that stuff. Like actually being a free individual adult is challenging all of the things that your environment and your parents gave you. It's going, I don't believe that. Think about when you first start beefing with your parents. When you first start beefing with your parents, it's like,

ah, you know what? You'd say, I don't, I'm not a Christian. What? Like, I'm not a Christian. You know, I don't, that stuff, the thing that you do, or when you tell them about themselves, like when, when they do something and you go, wait a second now, you're telling you. telling me to do this, but I've now have enough of a brain in my own head to see what it is that you are doing. And I will, I'm challenging you on what you're telling me, because it doesn't seem like you're following your own programming. And for John, that is what is about to happen. What is about to happen is, because even in this, his dad is still calling him. his dad is like still doing it right now he's still raising him he's still calling him he's still calling him

asking him it john is going to start making decisions for himself and that is when the character is going to be a fully formed adult person that is not under the the thumb of anyone but i think there's a difference between to me programming is something that is efficient it is like humans are not machines where it's like programming doesn't fail if you if parents are doing their job right it is essentially like the minute a kid starts having a thought of their own, it is having the ability to be like, okay, this person isn't a machine. Part of raising someone is like nurturing them to become their own person.

Like I think it was very intentional that John is still a child, even though he's an adult, when Hal Jordan fucks up his shit and he has to go home. And his mom being like, hey, I signed you up for art school. This is the thing when I was trying to program you this whole time. that I was trying to beat out of you and I knew deep down

this was your path I kind of have to let you go and that to me is the difference between programming someone and realizing like people are not machines people are people you have to let them go their own path It's so fascinating though because you mentioned that like when if it was anybody

but the Guardians asking. One second she chose this path She that was more he didn't make that decision she told him to go to art school And then when she told him to go to arts, she said, you're sitting here too long. You'll now go to art school.

And then the art school is where they found him. So I read that scene completely different because when he's drawing as a kid and she's realizing like, oh, he's an artist. He wants to be an artist. And because I've chose this green lantern role for him, there is something that I'm having to be out of my kid and ignore. And to me, it wasn't a, I signed you up for art school to continue your programming.

It was more so her being like, I should have done this a long time ago. I should have gotten out of the way and let him be an artist to begin with. I think that's her being like, oh, John will never do this for himself because I brainwashed him. But the way to do that actually would be like,

go sit down. And that's why I say parents can't help but program you. And to like parents can't help but make decisions for you and put information into you. until you make your own decisions. The way to do that would be to go sit down in front of him and be like, you're out of the military. Have you thought about what you want to do now?

No, I haven't thought about it. I haven't thought about what I want to do. The only thing I've ever wanted to do is Green Lantern. Well, you know, when you were a kid, you really loved art. Like, we've put a lot of pressure on you in this time. We understand that. But right now, if you want to go be an artist, go and be an artist.

well, like, it's like, think about what it is that you want. The other way is to make a decision for him, because you think that that's best for him. But he's not a man yet. But here's the thing, that's where the nuances, where his parents, like, his mom is realizing. She's just like, oh, the reason that she, like, signs him up for art school is he's like, oh, I've made a robot. I've made a machine. I literally need to, I'm like, I'm not disagreeing with you on most parts.

I think what the show is trying to litigate is essentially this is what happens when a human is raised by the guardians, when a human is raised by something that's emotionless. Because even the dad, the dad at a certain point is like, oh, we're raising somebody that we don't, like that this doesn't feel right. And it's the mom that keeps his like. But there are even small things. Like, John doesn't like cheeseburgers. Yeah. They try to reward him with something.

that he's not even asking for, right? Like, the, it, I thought the art school thing was a really interesting thing as well because I halfway, I'm not even, I'm not sure that that wasn't part of the plan. For the guardians or for the parents?

For everyone. For art school, no. Like, to, he goes to art school, and that is essentially where he is harvested. There's a, A, Pierre is a really brilliant actor. and when the guy is asking Aaron Pierre to draw

the thing, he softens his face he's happy to do this and then when he when it becomes obvious that this is some sort of test he reverts like he straightens up yeah like when he's like hey draw this he's like sure he's happy

he's happy but then he absolutely reverts and gets right back into what he has been programmed his entire life to be. And I see that also when he's back in the interview and she asks him, do you think that if you weren't raised

like this, that your connection to your brothers would be less complicated? And he takes so long to respond to that. Like I counted it. It's like 15 seconds. Like it's a very long time and he's just like staring her down and he's thinking about that. And all of those things about programming versus

being raised, I loved the fact that the Guardian was asking him that question, and we've never heard anybody else in John's life asking him that because under the guise of that interview, of course he would say that I was raised and not programmed because that's all he knows. And he's telling that to the person that will give him all of the purpose that he's ever wanted in his life.

So he would, of course, say anything to get him closer to that. What you mean? You think he's lying? It doesn't matter if he's lying. Oh, I don't think he's lying at all. I think he's saying, what he absolutely 1,000% believes to be true. Yeah.

But he obviously was programmed. Like, that wasn't how you raise a child. But he doesn't, shit. It depends. Sure. Like, it, like that, it, he, he's talking about what he believes. He believes his parents did this because they loved him or because it would get. Yeah.

Because that's what they said. That's all he's conditioned to know. Like, but if you were to see another set of parents raised somebody else, he would think, well, what do they care about that? Like, this is my destiny. I'm great. They don't love that kid as much as they might love me. And the fact that he's interrogating that,

I see that what he's interrogating in front of her because he has every intent to be truthful to her, but he's trying to sniff out his own weakness in front of that interview by taking so long to respond. To me, he was being very strategic in that interview. Yeah. Where he is like, he knows, all right, this is what I've been training for my entire life.

I know the question behind the question that this guardian is asking me and he's doing the calculations in real time to be like, how do I get my job? You guys, John is naive. Like, you guys, John is naive. John, in this, John in that interview with that guardian,

John is naive. John hasn't realized a bunch of things yet that are true. like John just sat on somebody for nine months and waiting for him to come out John hasn't realized a lot of the things that he thinks about himself and that he thinks about this entire world

that they like he has to become a little bit more like how in order to access the full version of who he is John is sitting down there when she's when she's saying program he's that people on program they're raised like John is naive. He believes that. No, no, no, no, I'm not saying he's not naive. What I'm saying is he has been trained

his entire life to be a Marine and to think in certain ways that will help him pass tests. And I was just like, yeah, there's, it's nuanced. There's a bunch of stuff that he's telling the Guardian that he believes, but he is also sitting in that job interview being like, I know what you're asking of me, which is like, will I follow your orders, whether I disagree with them or not? And all of these questions and everything you're asking me is leading up to this point of, can we control you? And he's essentially being like, yes, and how represents the thing that is like, actually, man, like, you getting this job is not the end-all be-all.

Your parents were trying to raise you to get this job to be great at it. But John also believes in the control. Yeah, yeah. Right. So that's the thing. So the thing is, is like, he doesn't need to. He doesn't need to feign to them that he believes in their authority. Yeah.

He believes in it. Like, like, he, he, he actually believes in their authority. Right. Like, it's, it's, it's, part of his fearlessness comes from structure. How Jordan's fearlessness comes from a complete lack of structure. Part of, like, like, he, he's sitting down there, even when he is, like, when he is hesitant to sort of, uh, he's, tell certain things about them.

There are times when he, and she goes, if you want the job, you need to tell me everything. Right away, boom. Classified. Classified. Classified. Because he's, there are points at this, in this show, that permission structures for Jordan, for, for, for Stewart are clashing.

Like, he doesn't want to talk about classified information, even if it will give him the job for, of the military, because he believes in the sanctity. of the oath he took as a Marine. Like that, that permission structure, or lack thereof a permission structure to, for that, that means something for him. She has to use her authority to coax it out of him, right?

To get to the point that she wants to get to, which is, you know, letting him know that it's Jordan's fall and all of that stuff. Like, to me, this, this entire, at the end of the episode, we see Aaron Pierre emote more than we ever see. He's smiling. And he's walking to his parents.

Like when he's walking to, and even when he's walking out with Hal because Hal hasn't shown himself yet, he's still happy, despite everything that he feels about Hal Jordan. But you know, I'm going to be real. You could read all of these scenes either way. Like, I read the scene with the Guardian as an echo

of the scene with Bernadette. When he was sitting there, when he was sitting there talking to her, that scene is an of the scene with his mother earlier. He is his mother in that seed. Like, understanding the

power of the guardian, but still testing the guardian, still with questions for the guardian. Like, at one point, like, the guardian says something, and Stuart actually goes, am I supposed to say something? Like, those little

parts where he shows that he's actually not afraid of them, but yet still has complete, like, understanding and reverence for their authority is exactly what the guardians want. But I also, I think what the, at least through the first three episodes, what this show is interrogating is like,

any of these people being fearless as a fallacy, you know, that is, like, that is another form of control where it's like, Hal is scared. Like, Gary's just like, what are you talking about? You can see through the facade of Hal Jordan. Howl Jordan is lonely. He is sad and he's scared.

in this swashbuckling way he swings his dick and goes through life is a way to hide it. And I think for John, John, Bernadette, they're all fearful. What they're actually teaching their son isn't how to be fearless. It is like, how can you control yourself enough and hide enough that you can get what you want?

And I'm just like, I think where the show is leading, because this is where all Green Lantern shows lead is like it's not about being fearless. it is about having the courage to admit I do feel fear and I can overcome it. You know what's interesting? This is the Midnight Boys Court debate of the city. You didn't read that at all.

So, no. So do you know how did, how did, how did Bernadette say that she was going to get, make him fearless? How does she say that they're going to make him fearless? Raise him without fear? No. by acclimating him to fear.

By getting him, like you are going to, when we are in situations where, me, for example, I went 10 years, didn't get on an airplane. Like, maybe longer. Like, complete, didn't get on an airplane. We didn't go nowhere.

We didn't do nothing. I didn't get on no airplanes. I didn't take no trips to New York, no places like that. 10, 15 years. Actually, more like 15 years. Didn't get on an airplane. the way that I got over the fear was to acclimate to that fear,

to be on an airplane. Being on a smooth flight doesn't help you get over your fear of flying. Being on a bad flight does. Where the plane is like this and all of that stuff. And you're like, oh, you sit up and down. The pilot comes on. Hey, man, just let y'all know. It's a bad air.

Y'all fucked. Like, you know what I'm saying? Whatever the plane does the drop thing? Yeah, yeah. I'm like, all right, man. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, so you just let y'all know y'all. And then after you get on that and the plane still lands,

the next time you're on the plane and all of that starts again, okay. The next time, then after that, you're like, God damn, like, stop fucking moving my coffee. Like, all of this turbulence and stuff like that. So for them, making him fearless was, like, immersing him in the emotion so that it didn't affect him. like not that he not that he necessarily had to mask it

but immersing them in it so even when fear is there that he feels nothing he doesn't feel anything right what's gotta be afraid about yeah because like you didn't walk through you didn't walk through the you didn't die you didn't shot the thing off it

you didn't die like and there's a confidence thing that comes in there too right like when when he's about to shoot she goes he can shoot the moth there's no reason to be afraid he can shoot the wings off a moth. There's no reason or a moth out of sky. There's no reason to be afraid.

So if you're afraid that that fear is a synthetic expectation of doom. And that's what they're trying to rip from him. And at this point, it's also taking something else from him, which is his ability to properly emote. And the question is, once there's a reason for him to emote again, because that's what the lady says about, about Kyle, is that he's actually cut off from, how is he's actually cut off from his emotions.

Once there's a reason for him to emote again, will his fear return? Because I think what his parents did is they got rid of a very super official level of fear. It's the stuff that they talk about when you go to therapy, where it's like, hey, you might be acclimated if you are like a soldier to go to war.

And through your training, you're just like, I'm going to get the job done. And then when you get back home, the fear of like, okay, how do I have a, a conversation with my brother or my mother or my parents. A lot of what John is experiencing, even when the guardian is asking him questions about his family is like, he knows what he needs to do to get the job. But if he ever actually questioned things about love and abuse and how he was raised

and how this is disconnected him, that's where real fear. Like, that's a level of fear that comes deep down. I don't think I understand. To me, how being able to mindlessly point. a gun and shoot or to listen to orders, all of that is very superficial, where it's like you're conditioned and you're trained to have the courage to sit down and have a real conversation with someone and to feel heartbreak or to feel like, oh, I was raised to do this thing, do I feel complete?

Is this actually what I wanted? That's actually where deeper emotions of fear. Right. I said that, I said that's going to, I don't think that it's possible for a human being to be fearless. Yes. So, like, I think it's a, I think it's a, another thing that this show might do is because if you don't have any fear, you can't be brave. Yes. So there's no, there's no, being fearless doesn't matter.

The only thing that matters is bravery. Everybody has fucking fear. You're, you're scared of something. And I think once we learn more about this character, he'll probably learn that lesson, that being, like, emotionless or cut off. like Jordan is, is not actual real fearlessness, because for human beings, part of our makeup, part of who we are, is to have a wide spectrum of emotions. Right.

Which is what the Green Lantern shit is based on. And even James Gunn, I think, I tease that there might be another ring that is just like, for people don't know, the yellow ring is fear, red is like anger, rage, red is, blue is hope, indigo is compassion, or love, yeah. Or pink is love. where purple is love. You have white is life,

black is death. All right. That was too easy, what about the dirty Sprite ring, man? No, I got it. DS2 ring, man. Speaking about the future had one of the rings. DJ screwed a purple ring.

What were future manifest, what would future, if future was the Green Lantern, what would future manifest? You wouldn't have manifest, His Bismo 2. Him crying next to a room full of strippers. That's not these holes.

Double cup. Double cup. Double cup. Double cup. Like, yeah. Can you imagine if the teacher was like the future? Make a double cup from memory. Make a double cup.

Manifest it from your mind. Manifest from memory. Okay, but check it out. What if he got the double cup and you drink it and it's Sprite and primithesis? You'll be like, hold on. He can manifest the cane? Can you manifest the lien? So this is, and this is where the show is confusing.

Because they're basically like what makes Stewart, like, and I love this, like, because he's an architect, he can see how stuff structurally works. So they're like, he made a real thing with the bird. So I'm like, well, the bird then would have to have like blood. So can you like taste the blood? Does it, if you killed it? Sure. Does it smell like the same thing with the lead?

Like, if I drink it, am I getting fucking high off? Sure. So when I'm making the permethazine, it's made of this compounding, this compound. Compounds will have to funnel these into the cup and then put the sprite and the sprite is made out of this Flavor and then this amount of carbonation and then throw a jolly ranch in there Manhattan. Oh, yeah. I watched that last night too. I watched it. I watched it. Wait, there's the Snyder or the HBO? I watched the HBO one. Okay. The episode. That one episode is amazing. The episode where the flashbacker, yeah? It's tough, bro. Wait a minute. Are you talking about the flashback episodes where he's going through time? I'm not talking about the episode where sister night

reveals that her partner is Manhattan Oh. I remember I was standing up. I was fucked. That is one of the That's an underrated television Oh shit moment. Oh yeah. Because that was, I mean, I guess now when you look back on it, there were other people who had sniffed it out. Right. I'm dumb.

I didn't see it at all. God damn you. But by the way, I think all the stuff that we're talking about, It can be looked at either way. Yeah. For sure. To me, that is why Lindeloff and all of these creators are so genius, where I'm like, we're arguing about it. Where I was like, no, a good writer is writing.

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Something where it's like, it's in the eye of the beholder. It's how you were raised, your history, whatever. I do want to ask, because I like this episode, but there was a moment where I'm like, we're in Surf Dracula territory, where this is a show called Lanterns, and with three episodes in and they're not doing a lot of lantern shit.

So part of me is I'm like, I'm gonna have to start seeing some ring slinging. That was my worry when we, when we go back to the trailer and I was like, the first trailer they showed us. I was like, I don't know, it's not a ton of ring stuff was going on. And people was like, no, no, it's coming.

So Charles, guess what? It's coming. We got five episodes left. To know that Guy Gardner is still has yet to show up in the show, I'm not worried about. I would rather them slow roll it and slow play it because they know what they're doing. I still like the show.

There is a level of like, my nigga, like we know budget concerns and everything. Got y'all like pinching pennies. I need to see some, some lanternjury. I'm not seeing poverty when it comes to the fact that like, and now honestly,

in the span of this conversation, I'm now like turned around in the placement of this episode because this is really going to inform every single thing that John does and says for the entirety of, no, no, no, no. It's the,

it's the one, it's when you're listening to a classic rap record and they become cows are like all right here's one for the ladies and I'm like Nick it just just come on sometimes you gotta eat out of this get your vegetables early and then you can get to dessert no no no no it had to be here too because

to advance point earlier if you do this in episode six or seven bro you should be like if we right at the precipice yeah and then you cut the like that you've flashback episodes are coward shit I don't know if it's like that I think you have to, and again, you said this earlier, this is a story about John Stewart becoming a Green

Lantern, right? It's not, this is not about how, this is about John. You have to give us the full John experience. We know how, right? We're familiar with how. He's been all the comic, I mean, I know that John has been a man, too, especially in the animated show, but we are building John up to be the Green Lantern of this DC universe. We have to know where he came from. We have to know who he is, what made him be, what made the guardians choose him to be the ring lantern. We need to tell this side of the story. It had to happen.

I'm glad it happened earlier rather than later, but it's cool. Man, bring Sinestro back. Bring how about. We'll get it back next episode. They'll probably be there next week. I have a question for you guys. We didn't talk about them because, just like their parents, they don't care about them.

Marcus and Aaron. Like, if you were the older, if you growing up, and your parents are like, yeah, man, he'd a chosen one. Like, we're going to take care of this kid. And it's really like, y'all's... They basically calling you pussy every day. Kind of hard. Hey, I'm not going to lie.

This is something that does happen in the area community, but I've seen it happen. There are times when I've seen, like, Uncle Zahn's parents, grandparents. They make a calculated play. It's all the time. He's going to get us to the league. Y'all can understand. You need to go out there. He's running drills.

You need to go out there and help your brother. Like, like, hey, you should be. hey man we don't need no negative energy we're trying to help your brother your bro what about me you're out there and goddamn mowedofucking lawn nigga that's what you do we're trying to help your brother

it happens all the time and it particularly happens this is another thing there's a lot going on in this episode because sometimes man if you the black community particularly southern black community where I'm from them four threes

them raps them sings and them dances that's how you buy your humanity. You buy your humanity with your vertical leap. You buy your humanity with how fast you can run, how you can sing, how you could dance. And sometimes it's a family of four kids and not everybody got the same shot. And I'm just being for real. And decisions have to be made. Like you see t-shirts with people's faces and a jersey number on them and your jersey number ain't on that bitch, right? And it's not in a bad way because

it's not. When I say this, it's, it's not in a bad way. It's like what people are saying is, it's part of your job as a family member to prioritize the member of our family that's going to change things

for everybody. Right. So just like we doing it, you got to do it too. Some niggas are good about that. Some guys are you know, my little brother the one with the juice. My big brother the one with the Jews is cool. Some of them are not. And I can understand why.

But it's interesting even where even if I did not like the choice, I was like, there's something true in this where it's like, because Hal is on such a singular focused journey of excellence, where ATLN's comes on, there's something that he, there's a, there's something about the black experience that he is not being able to access because his parents are basically pushing him into a corner where it's like art

hip hop and all of the things that give you a reason to kind of like live and become a fully formed human being do you have time for that when it's just mission complete and that was very sad where i'm like damn this motherfucker like want to get his raps off and his friends are like hey shut up his brothers seem like kids yeah that are curious and have questions and he seems like someone that is waiting for orders. And continuously throughout this entire deal, Stewart is doing something, and then he waits for orders. Throughout this entire show.

Yeah. Like, he waits for orders. He's like, wait, like, they're all talking, listen to them. Hey, get out and go do something. He's been in a whole life waiting for orders. There's going to be a time in this show, I promise you. And we have not seen ahead. There's going to be a time in this show, I promise you,

where he's not waiting for orders, where his gut, you know how Jordan moves off his gut? Mm-hmm. Where his gut and his agency are the things that make him a hero. Where he's not listening to what nobody else said, and it's going to cost him something.

It was a little whack when the suburbia black family drops John off in the hood, and they just like, overcome your fear. I'm like, all right, guys. Tough. I was like, we could have done it. Take about it. By the way,

Can I be all the way real? Like, I just gotta name this. They're not gonna do nothing to you. I don't know very, they're not. They not. I don't know very many places and maybe you guys can tell me places I've been in the hoods

that I've been in where they're gonna see an 11-year-old kid. Black kid. Black kid walking down the street and just fuck them up. Like, they're not. Nobody's gonna help them. They just coined a new term. that was some A24 black shit.

Like, come on. Like, that was, that's a term. That's a new term. That was a little bit, like, I'm like, that's not even, it's not even, I've never, the A24 blacks is just like,

if you drop them off in the hood, something to have it. I'm like, literally somebody's going to be like, yo, where's your mom at? But you know what? Yeah, like, who,

like, who you got to, yeah, like, where's your pay? That's not even close to the same thing, though. They're drinking the, like, like, nigga,

what you, you know what you're doing out here? Hey, bro, go around there, but I guess it's not about whether or not they would do something to him is whether or not he would be afraid to do. Exactly. Or he can't get there. But you do see how it could be a little problematic

how the middle class black family thinks the ultimate fear test is dropping your kid off and hood. Dropping them up. That's not the old thing. They're shooting fucking apples off of his head. They're going crazy. I'll stay out there. He probably was like, God, damn.

It feels good over here after these niggas shooting apples. I got to shoot my mama. I don't rather do this than shoot. I guess he shoots her later. But I'll tell you something. When you can, both in John as an adult and John as a kid, you can see it in there sometimes. She goes, I'm going to wake up your father. He goes, no.

It's crazy. And like, he goes like, no, don't wake him up. Let this nigga sleep. I'm going to shoot you. Even when he's like, I don't like cheeseburgers. I'm like, damn. Yeah. Get some hair on your chest.

I'm saying, these are the ways that he is starting. John's freedom and his autonomy, I feel like is what's going to make him like a great land. I just, the only thing I can't figure out, because every time it feels like you're getting an understanding of what needs to happen to this character, you know what the monkey wrench is? Jordan. Yeah. Like, Jordan comes back in and just reminds you that we all having fun in this bitch. Yeah, yeah.

I think this in the greatest way possible because Kyle Chandler is one of my favorite TV actors. He's almost in a different show. And what I mean by that is, like, he's done TV for so long and we have such connection to him where his charisma almost overpowers the entire, and not even in a bad way, in a way where I'm like, damn. But it's so fitting for joining, though.

I love this episode. I had a great time watching it. I rewatch that last scene like three, four times. It's so good. When Gasoline Dreams comes on, when he's just like, yeah, now you're going to have to kill me for this. I was like, and I feel bad for Aaron Pierre because Aaron Pierre is like a phenomenal, like, actor. It is very different when you're Kyle Chandler and you're just like. Just going for it.

But it's not his fault. It's not. No, it's not his fault. I think what is happening here, and I think we should recognize it and call it, is that everybody in the show is operating on a high level. like efficiency-wise I don't feel like I'm talking about basketball but like everybody is hooping and then Kyle Chandler's like cool

here's a five-minute cameo I'm gonna give you 75 like that's all he's doing I can only I got a minutes limit bet I'm just gonna be the man for my five minutes and go like he's operating at such high level in this show

can you imagine Kyle Chandler being in the Justice League next to like corn sweat or fucking patency just being like the old dog who's just like I don't care with none of y'all talking about Is Kyle Chandler even attempting to play a comic accurate version of Hal Jordan?

No. Right. And so that is, because Hal Jordan is a test pilot and he's a flyboy and all of that stuff. But I think the excess in which he's playing the character, although I agree, sometimes he's just like, it's just him and he's just being the dude from Wolf of Wall Street. You know, you remember like at Wolf of Wall Street was like, I like this boat. This is one of the best boats I've ever been on. One of the best bolts I've ever been on, huh? You mind saying that again?

Real slow. And I love, bro. He was a bribe of federal officer? Love that scene. So, Ken, is this, to me, it's actually similar to what Robert Downey Jr. did with Iron Man, where you can read Iron Man before Robert Downey, Jr., and you could read them after. Yeah, and they literally, like, it wasn't that he wasn't. Tony Stark, it was almost that he like ratcheted up who Tony was to fucking 10.

Can I ask you a question? Do you think in this situation and in that situation that in these two actors and their portrayals of these characters, that what they actually gave us is how that person would have to be in a real grounded world? Because Iron Man is sort of grounded. And to have Tony be millionaire, billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropy, philanthropy. philanthropist, he just is going to be feeling himself

a little bit more than the pragmatic, almost tortured version of Tony Stark that you get in the comics. And when you humanize that character through performance, maybe you guys juz it up a little bit. Because this version, this niggas is a joke a minute. He's going crazy in this movie. But think about it, and this is what makes a genius in the show. Now Hal knows, he's like, he walked up into the

steward household, he's like, he was the niggins who said no I'm the one who said yes and that happened to a bunch of humans I would feel like the man if I'm like an alien came down chose me I'm the Messiah essentially I mean in that scene he was doing recon

yeah yeah he was not there to be nice he was doing recon yeah for sure which is why he didn't give a shit that he stepped on the announcement he was in there trying to size these people out exactly he went there to find John John will stay for honest parents he was like oh this and this the whole fake like like I saw

through it immediately so when he's doing the oh man I stepped during a moment I was like I don't but if we're doing if we're doing timeline because I was like if he called them the Midwest Huxables was this before or after the Hannibal Burris stand up I don't think no well no I mean are we in 2016 we're in 2016 this is literally like months maybe even weeks before Rushfield. It's like three. He falls out. Yeah, this is like... Two months. It's two months. It's two months. Yeah. Jesus. That felt like so long ago. Here's the thing, though. It doesn't... It doesn't matter because either way, he's being mean about it. Yes. No, yeah. He's an asshole. But it adds a little bit more so...

It does... Yeah. But also, it was after Bill Cosby's like portrayed out, like, we find out he's a nasty man. Yeah. But regardless, it's still a dig. It's still like, oh, look at you a little, small little. Y'all, y'all nice. Y'all cute, you know? That's crazy. I got to kill him. You got to kill John. He's talking about your parents? like that. Now me personally, I won't let that slide. I have a, we're finishing up, it was been a phenomenal

midnight, midnight men episode. This has been, we have, we have. We've been met enough. We've been met up. This is like, flavors of midnight, earth level, like, discussions about shit. Okay.

Oh. Lanters is bringing Sinestro. Oh, Jesus. Stewart. Mogo. Hal. The Guardian.

Right. I just come with a diamond. Like, we hear you like these. You know what I'm saying? That was crazy. And I mean, by the way, that diamond going last. What the fuck these niggas spending money on? You see the size of that fucking diamond.

Like, the one nitpick I have is saying that the diamond money rent is not, you can't. No, no, she got arrested. She couldn't cash it. No, they did cash it because then they were trying to hang up the satellite. He's like, hey, yo, the money is going down. I'm like, oh, it's been like five years. What do you know? That's like a $500,000.

Wait, where did they? $500,000. That's way more than that. The Kobe. Rest and peace. I thought it was a diamond from Sierra Leigh. Those love diamonds. Like a diamond, that fucking size.

That big, that clear. It's like 10 million. But it was also 1996, you know what I'm saying? Those are the type of diamonds where you go to an auction house. Exactly. Millionaires, billionaires. You pay them 10% just to get it away from you. That's the problem.

She went to a pawn shop. You got to go to like, you know, you got to go. Yeah. You got to go to South Alaska. Yeah. Oh, that should have been a whole thing. Take her like on a mission to like sell the diamond. But it also really does speak

to the arrogance of the guardians to like A, not know about racism, just give somebody a diamond and not think that was going to be a problem. Okay, so 10-carat so let me not speak out of the side of my goddamn face. So a 10-carat diamond, no, see, that's not even, look, that's a 10-carat diamond. That bitch.

Do the Michael... Michael Cain. Of a 10-carat. The 10-carat diamond is worth this one right here. One that fits in the palm of your hand. No, no. This one is on somebody's finger. Right, right, right. So that one goes from, they say,

natural mine diamond goes from $100,000 to $3 million, which is a wide range. Yeah. But also, we got to think about when this happens too, because I'm like, when there was the money, this was the financial crisis,

this was around 2008. In the Midwest, you could stretch the money a little bit further. They probably own that house. Like, you know what I'm saying? I mean, military family? They definitely do. And I forgot a military family.

So they got, they got the babies. They're not taking care of. Why didn't, I would have been like, hey, man, I appreciate the diamonds. It's really cool. Thank you. I would just take some cash. Yeah, you got bonds? Do you got like a?

So you want the, so do we think the guardians, do you want the guardians to rob? I guess they have to rob the dime. I mean, I don't like, this adds to my, are the guardians little races? Because she went to the black woman and she like, you want some bling bling bling? Like do you look? Yeah. Lossom-a-Lig is crazy, so

guys, we've been hearing this little wane around here. These giant diamonds that I'm seeing, guys, yeah.

These bishes so that one. How much is that the first one? Like, how much is that? Now, this,

this diamond here is like niggas back in the day it's uncut. So. Okay. I don't understand how they did it.

You don't need to. I don't know what I'm saying. Jomi know what I'm talking about. I'm just going to interact with that. But yeah. No. Not, for a second.

Let me see how much. How come I got to do, no, I don't want to upgrade New York Times. Is you what I'm saying, bro? Hey, bro, to all of these people out here, you know, y'all fucking up your own shit. Because the nigger already paying for this, and he just want to read the article, and I got to go through hoops. Okay.

So this diamond was found in Botswana. Boswana. And. Can't even shout out my African honors, man. In Botswana, in 2024, it's 2,500 carrots. Jesus. Okay. And it...

How big is it? It's a bomb size. It's gigantic. Yeah. It doesn't have a price on here. Oh. Like, it doesn't have a price on. But that's the size of the diamond.

That looks like some Superman shit. That looked like white cryptocurrency. Yeah. Let's see. Let's see. Botswanan diamond. How you say, Baswana? Botswana.

Botswana. Batswana. We need to wrap up. We have to, but I want to know now. You want to know how much that diamond is? Batswana. Balswana. So, 40 million.

40 million. It's called the most sweaty, the most sweaty diamond is, is fond of the car of mind. Yeah, so what would they spend in all this money on? 40 million. They did not get 40 million for that thing. Housing market crash. Even if they get a couple mill.

So this diamond is not, so this diamond. It's not nearly as big as that time. The diamond that they gave her. It's not quite as big as this one. And I think the uncut diamonds are like worth more. But I'm going to tell you the diamond that they got, that's got to at least be a $5 or $10 million diamond, maybe even 15.

Okay. Like, that's got to be at least a-and-where they live? God knows. Where do you live? Gotham flats? I don't know, nigga. No, it's in the Midwest. So I'm like, oh, you're not living in New York or L.A. or some shit.

You could like. What are they out here spending the diamond money on? What did they drop young John Stewart and Gotham? He'd going to the strip. For his night out. Oh, dog. That, Steve brought up a good point. What if they dropped it?

It would have been way better if they drove to Gotham. And it was like, all right, walk home. Now, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's cold. That's fear. That's fear. You know, because you know what's going to pop up then? Scarecrop. Scareclaw.

Yeah. We're going to see. We're going to like, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, I don't have any fear. Oh, yeah. You will. Because here's the thing. That's dropping, his parents dropping him off in the hood.

They're like, you're going to be afraid of poor blacks versus like, Rosal Ghul is running the street. I'm like, damn. Like, you think, I'm the Joker. Like, say, be a skis. Like, go through that.

Who's the little homie? Omar? Can you imagine if John just saw, like, Joker popped out? We can never remember his name. Was his name? Kevin? The kid.

Start with the King. Yeah. Knar. Knaar. Canar. Can you imagine if John just popped the Joker with the little sniper. He's like, get out my face.

Joker's like, let me get one of the... Kinnard. Kinnard, man. Kinar popped. Kinar wouldn't have been scared. Kinar was fearless. I'm telling you this.

They should have been. Cinnard could be the Green Lantern ring, too. Marlowe could have been the Green Lantern. Ah, he's going to kill everyone. They would have given him. They would have given the ring to McNulty, man. They would have given the ring to McNulty. I started watching the wire again, like, recently, too.

The pilot is just... It's perfect. It's just... What are your season rankings? Of the wire? Of the wire? So I got to go... one right four oh right three two five you're not putting four at one no i was i was like four three

one four three i'm one three which one is three is i'm a three i'm a three i'm a three i'm a three love three i'm a three what's wrong with three school's nothing wrong with three four is the schools four is the schools four is the school no yeah no it's Three is the beginning of the Stanfield Barsdale War. So, like, but three, I love three. Sorry, I mistake that. Three is more politics for school. Yeah.

If I can remember, five is the press. Yes. And then two is the docks. One is the corners. Yeah. So, but like, I love, so for me is one, four, three, two, five. Okay. And I'm a season two, truther.

Season two, that's not bad. One, one, four, two, three, five. Yeah, one four Is that low? Yeah, I like season two Man. And wait, am I, am I tripping?

I like three is one of their best seasons. Like, no, three's great. I mean, I mean, three's great. I love three. It's just that four is so Four so good. Four is so good.

It's just I love three. I think season two, like, when I first started watching in the, this is actually not the pandemic. It was like when I graduated grad school. And I was thought of my people and they were like,

yo, man, season two, it's a dip, whatever. but season two is like fundamental undergirding to the show and like it's politics it just kind of stops all of the people that you know and love from season one and then gives you a kind of a new base

but what's happening at the docks and with the Greek and all of that stuff informed so much of season three season four season five that you can't really you can't like tell the story of the show without it and so when people are like they don't matter this and this

I'm like no like all this stuff, like what they're able to get away with, what they're able to do versus what Barksdale and Marlowe and Stanfield can't do. I'm looking around like, yo, this is like so foundational. It's crazy that they were like, that's a, I don't want to say like it's a crazy swing because when the show, when was this, like 2002, 2004 or whatever? Yeah, 2003 or four. Like, I would, like, even sitting in like 2018, I was like, yo, this is a brave swing.

I do got to talk to Simon though, the serial killer shit. I was like, what? I was like, damn. That's right. Stuff. I don't know how y'all thought y'all could get this fast. Hey, guess what? It's tough.

It was tough. It was tough. It was tough. 2002 to 2008. Yeah. Still a great show of all time. Special. Special television.

I love it. All right. We are out here. Midnight men. We're leaving. We got special guests coming up. Come on. Special guest coming up.

We don't give a fuck. Because we'll have guests on this bitch. And then we'll fucking love it. Are the Midnight Boys getting a little too Hollywood, though? Are like, are we not really? I think we can say. to be a bit more Hollywood, honestly. Really? More Hollywood.

Outwardly. This is what happens with the rappers. I hate when the rappers get to Hollywood. I hate when, like... What happened is? People still sell out these days? Hell yes. I mean, you can sell out. They can sell out after they are single.

But here's what I mean, though. Because back in the day, man, when you, like, people got so mad when you sold out. I can't believe this band is selling out. This person's selling out. Now, we see it all the time. Yeah. People sell out.

No, that's the goal. It's tough. If you got a Mr. Beast contract? I just be honest with you, it's just different now with the sellout conversation now that I'm older, man. It's different now. It's different. I believe it not compromising my ideals.

But at the same time, in this social media era, these audiences turn on you so fast, man. They turn, bro, they turn so fast. I'm going to bring this up. Everybody getting on any day like, she didn't want to be a heat too. I'm like, hey, she probably's going to get a gentleman. generational bag for playing road.

She made the right to say. Like, what are you, I love Michael Mann. I would love, if it was between Michael Mann's entire filmography and the MCU, I'm picking man. We're listening to people that pay $20 to be on Letterbox for that. She made the right decision. Like, why y'all are you? And look, we talked about this a little bit.

Sean Financy made a great point that you can compare her career, not, because the comparison I made was this. Do you guys know who Doug Ray Scott is? Sounds familiar. You got, huh? You guys know what that is? Give me a roll.

So Doug Ray Scott is a guy who passed on being Wolverine Right So that he could play The villain in Mission Impossible. Yes, Mr. Monster 2. Now look, look, now look, now wait a second now. Wait a second. Sean made a point and a point was

It's probably much more instructive to look at Anna Pacquins career and what she got from playing rogue And what she got was playing rogue in a bunch of different movies Then she got True Blood and all of that stuff. Right. And I understand that. I think that's why Sean is so smart because he's always comparing apples to apples as I compare apples to pairs.

Now, but what I will say is that if you ask Doug Ray Scott right now, you never know what's going to happen when you play the role, right? Maybe he's not, maybe he doesn't nail Wolverine the way Hugh Jackman did. You could tell Hugh Jackman had it in two scenes, right? But you know what won't happen. And what won't happen is you won't get to be fucking Wolverine because what Wolverine brings you is the stability of a character that you can keep coming back to while you do the prestige, while you do the greatest showman,

while you do, it undergirds a career. It makes you into a star. Then those other roles, you can go out and grab them when you want. Now, that don't mean that you go, like, you know, I fuck with Chris Evans, but, you know, there's Snowpiercer and then there's a lot of other stuff that didn't work. You still got to go act, huh? You didn't like go to?

I think Samuel L. Jackson, someone told him, like, I forget the actor was like, you need to find. Nick Fury became this role. He's like, you need to find the role when Schitts gets tough. You know they're going to make these movies. Yep. And the bank account is dead. Was this?

It was this Stallone? I've heard the story. Is this like Stallone? It was one of like the class. So what I'm saying for her is there's no guarantee that she nails Roe to the point to where it. But there is a guarantee that if you don't take that, there's not going to be a heat three. Yeah. Right.

If you don't take that, it's a whole in the economic and cultural part. of your career that very few other roles could feel. Bruce Willis. Yeah, Bruce Willis told him. I'm not saying the role carries the same prestige, but. We also don't know if Heat 2 is going to be good. And that's not me saying it'll be bad, but I'm just like, I know that they're, to year four, I was like, there's going to be more X-Men movies where she's like,

even if I don't nail Rogue first time out of the gate, they're going to let me at back five six times. She's like 20-something? You got to take the role in wrong, bro. It's just like. The one thing that Marvel has is money and plans. And look, I get it, man. Y'all think we fanboys, cool.

But this is why you want James Bond. This is why you want any of these things. You want this. This is almost, again, how old is she? 25. Yeah, come on. Generational money. You got to take the role.

Look at Adam Driver. Adam Driver was in a lot of movies that, like, prestige and artistically were very interesting, but he hasn't had a hit in a while. There's a reason he's coming back to play Mr. Sinister. Like you have to realize I'm like if you want these actors to give you like the Oscar shit You need a couple of roles in the talk where you're like They gotta fill the house I could talk about the like we could

We could broaden this and have a whole conversation on this The great work that Andrew Garfield has done The great work that Florence Pew has done Right The great work that a lot of the characters and the people that are involved in MCU and other stuff like that The great work that they've done while they're in it Because they don't have to worry about

like these movies. These movies take up a lot of action. Don't get me wrong. Sure. But they don't have to worry about being in successful movies. So they can be in movies that are artistically successful and smaller and whatever. Timmy Chalwood May, Dune, Willy Wonka. It's like, oh, I need to undergird like the stuff that, like, Marty Supreme was a good movie.

Robert Pattinson. Robert Pattinson. You're Batman. Then you can go do the drama. Chris Anthony, did it out. Man, I saw a movie that, we got to go. But I saw a movie with Robert Pattinson and it called The Rover. Have you guys ever seen that?

The Rover. I haven't even heard of this. This fucking movie slipped through the cracks for me. God damn it. This is brutal. A post-apocalyptic

Australian outback movie. From 2014. Like Mad Max? 24. Guy Pearce. Robert Pattinson. The rover? It's called the Rover.

Is Robert Pattinson doing a crazy Australian accent? He's kind of not really. But you know who else is in it? The guy I can never, his name is like scoot something. Oh, is he infurious? Is Scoot Infurious?

I don't know. Is he the guy in the wheelchair from Batman? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that guy. That guy. I love that guy. I love that guy, too. I love that guy. That guy's awesome.

He's in the movie. From the HBO, never seen this. We caught it, and then we watched that bitch again. That bitch is crazy. For the same guy that did. Animal Kingdom.

Animal Kingdom. Oh, yeah. Animal Kingdom. Yeah, he's the man. The king? Oh, right. Animal Kingdom, the king with Timothy Shalomey. Yeah, he's awesome.

Yeah, he's awesome. The Rover. Everybody. Everybody check out through. I don't know why we're talking about. All right. On Monday, House of R. Everybody was right on this podcast.

I was really loving the text. I'm having fun with the lanterns. I'll have a great conversation. Lanterns is breaking through, man. And guess what? We're going to follow it up with the people versus Guerrilla Grot next year, baby. I'm excited.

Why are you negative? It can't believe you hate it on the movies. Thank you to the people over at American Cinema Tech. Yeah, man. Sorry, Jeremy. It was a bummer. Sorry, yeah. But he was funny about it, at least.

On Monday, the House of Arc continues their Atlantic coverage. This Wednesday marks the epic return of re-request. I'm just begging you guys. I know how I'm so fun. And on Thursday, the Midnight Boys bring back another special episode of Midnight Court with a special guest judge. Staple. Our producers today are Laelaideznaris, Jacob Cornett, Devin Baroldi,

Jamie Yukic, and Jomea Adiron on socials. Hashtag, throw your hands in the air. I love that. I'm like you just don't care. Additional production from Arjuna Ramgo Powell. Chuck, take us out. I don't fuck with a flashback. How Jordan don't give a damn.

And so far, with these season of lanterns, the gun hasn't jammed. Remember the era of everybody having a liquor company and then selling the liquor company and getting a billion dollars? Yeah. And then like, it stopped. Yeah.

Everybody was trying to do it. The Cranston one was when I feel like that was when after that, everybody was like, all right. They were shillin. The Rock, man. The Rock, LeBron and them had one. Lobos. Lobos.

Toramana. But the thing is that, like, Casamigos was actually good. It was good. Oh, yeah. No, it was. It was good. It was good. But, like, the rest of these came out, it tastes like fucking gasoline.

Tough. That LeBron shit is crazy. You don't like Lobos? I don't like it, bro. Well, you don't like LeBron. I'm just, I'm just objective. And that feels like hate to dick riders. Exactly.

I'm not too. Dick riders. It was like hate to Dick riders. The first time I finally tasted Sorok, I was a little bit like, damn, did he really almost? Dude, see, and that's the thing. I was too, man, when Sorok was in all the music videos, it was everywhere, I couldn't drink. I couldn't know.

And then I got some Sorok and I was like, oh, this is all bullshit a little bit. I ain't never had Saratner. Never had a lot. Yeah. It's not, you can't. Gray Goose was like one of those. Great Goose was a celebrity one? That wasn't celebrity, but it was in the music videos.

Oh, yeah, yeah, because that was just like a. Gray Groves was, Belvedere was. Restall. Like, all of that stuff was. Remember that era? It was crazy. Y'all guys. A's the Spades.

A's of Spades. That was their brand. You guys ever do an Incredible Hulk? Issa Spades? Yeah. Hypnotic and Hennessy? No. What's that?

No. Hypnotic and Hennessy. It turns green, yeah. Never had it. I can't get that niggerish with the hypnotic. Yeah. Why do they got to be niggerish, man? Hypnotic?

I've never heard of this before. You've never heard of the Inxonic. No, no, I've never heard of the incredible home. Oh. Yeah, the hypnotic tendency, you miss it together, it turns green. It was called it. Interesting. Now, we were too bent on four locoes.

I was, pre-FDA four locoes. Man, that was those are the times. Like, late 2000, like early 2010-ish for locals. I remember being on the way to school with my dad and having the radio on. And they were like, man, these four locals, man, are killing the children. They're killing the kids. Kids go to college. I was like the Washington.

I was like the Wachamacallum, what was the Panera bread drink that was killing me? Oh, the Panera lemonade. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It was just the interest element like, I wouldn't give up a lot, but I would give up something to try like a day one for Locco. Day one for a local. Day one for a local was crazy.

Like right off the press. They probably got some cans left over. Nah. It's Bucker. That was 15 years ago. It's like a wine cellar full of four loco. It's like excellent year. That's a rat pool.

Yeah, I got the 2009-4 loco right here. And for the lady? You know, it's got notes of cherry, vanilla, and instant death. Yeah. If you want some, come, come get some. That's insane. Not just like how rich people got, like, the last stashes of, like, quailudes and shit. Oh.

Oh, right. From, like, the 70s? Because they stopped making them. Yeah. I didn't know we was running out of drugs like that. Quailudes, apparently. Oh, yeah, they stopped. They discontinued them, like, a long time.

You saw Wolf Wall Street. They talked about it in the movie. I do. Yeah. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research.

Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today. at pmcf walk.ca.ca.