The Ringer-Verse - ‘Moon Knight’ Episode 4 Instant Reactions | The Midnight Boys

Episode Date: April 20, 2022

The Midnight Boys have their bingo cards in hand, ready to discuss the latest episode of ‘Moon Knight’ (04:23). They discuss the tomb shenanigans that transpire between Steven and Layla as well as Marc’s jealousy. Charles gives a wild theory about what the episode’s conclusion might mean (35:14) and where it all might go from here.Hosts: Van Lathan and Charles Holmes Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman Social: Jomi Adeniran Additional Production: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Dave Chang and Chris Ying. We are the hosts of Recipe Club. You may have listened to it before, but we are now back on the air, new and improved, with the same host that lose every week. I still don't know what the rules are because they've changed as well. Chris, can you give a quick rundown? Every week we debate the best way to cook the things you want to eat. We take a user, listener submitted recipe, and we all cook it with our friends,

Priya Krishna, Rachel Kong, Brian Ford, and John DeBerry. and then we talk about what went right and what went wrong. No, I actually really don't want to do this podcast. And they are hardly our friends. They are enemies. They are enemies. It's Dave's civil disobedience. If you want to see Dave Chang in an act of civil disobedience,

tune in to Recipe Club where he will not follow the recipe. I'm contractually obligated to make this podcast. But I'm here to have a good time. So listen to Recipe Club every week on the Ringer Podcast Network. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks.

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Borershead committed to craft since 1905. Welcome into the first. The ringerverse. This is, of course, the ringer's nexus podcast feed for all things fandom. We are Steve Almond Joy, cutley lover bear.

Jomey, the explainer, a dinner on. You've got questions. He's got answers. Coke, baby Chuck, the 24-carat closer. What up? Old Man, Van.

He of the nearly non-existent airline. And together, we are known as reunited and it feels so good of the midnight boys.

I just like to say before we get into this podcast the midnight boys we'll tolerate no slander. Slander from where? Doesn't matter. If I see you getting your little shit off,

I'm coming back. You slanded Chuck. You slanded, hey, we can fight within ourselves. This is the family. Slanded Jemey. You slanded. Nobody ever slander Steve.

He's like, Steve is he without Steve Steve is he who he who remains without slander he remains unscathed

he who remains without slander and by the way I think I know why um All right Get to the appropriate

I will I will take no slander Okay Oh Grammy reminders Utterly Ridiculous

This Friday the House of R will be giving you their deep dives to the third episode of Moon Night. But I gotta say my two favorite podcasters, Mal and Joe and Joe and Mal. Joe and Mal are my favorite podcasts. I love you guys. But I love this.

I'll be honest with you. Joe and Mal, it's so soothing. It's so intellectual. It's so adult. It's so hard hitting. You get smarter every time when you listen to the House of R. And also, I've already established this.

It's a girl power era. Girl power era, yeah. I feel like we are like taking like, you know, a bottle of henny to the face, just like rock issues. Like what the fuck did we do? And then like Mal and Joe are just like, ooh, we got, we're having a nice, chill, relaxing Sunday brunch. You're going to learn a lot. I have a lot of great conversations. Make up for all the shenanigans that happened on Friday, you know?

What did Jay Electronica say? The shit I dropped last year, bro. My white boy said that shit you dropped last year, bro. is like a real fine throw. It's like a cashmere throw and a fine merlo. That's what House of R is. Cashmere throw. Fine Merlo.

Fine Merlo. All right, the Midnight Boys are going to be back to give us our instant reactions this entire season of Moonlight, whether you like it or not. Moonlight, this is not higher learning. We're not discussing Moonlight. That's because I'm thinking about my mashup. All right. On today's show, we're going to be giving you our thoughts on the fourth episode of Moonlight.

Moonlight. The first episode of Moon Night Stuck in my brain. Tramonte, real Christ. The first episode of Moonnight. And without further ado, we have to get into it. Steve, give him my spoiler warner. We're getting ready to talk about Moon Night. You're listening to a reaction podcast. The spoilers are coming. In order to do this, we have to get smarter.

There's only one person in this podcast that's smart enough to make us smarter. And that is Charles Choke Baby. called baby Chuck Holmes. So we have to do the Midnight Manifest for episode four of Moon Night. Chuck, take it away. Guys, let's get into episode four of Moon Night called The Tomb, directed by Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, and written by Alex Menahan and Peter Cameron and Sabir Razada.

For this episode, Layland Stephen escaped from Harrow's men. Stephen tells Layla that he made a deal with Mark that the body is his once Conchu is gone, and now Conchoo is gone for the foreseeable future. Stephen and Leila raid Harrow's dig site for supplies before heading into Ahmed's tomb. Stephen tells Leila why Mark is trying to protect her, and then they get their Mac on, the both of them kiss. When Stephen gets into the tomb, him and Layla realize it's a maze based on the shape of the eye of Horace. When the two get further into the tomb, they watch Hecquise zombie sacrifice one of Harrow's men.

Stephen and Leila split up as they run from the Heca Priest. Layla defeats her zombie while Stephen finds the long-lost tomb of Alexander the Great. Leila meets Arthur and he reveals that her father was trying to prove Egyptian gods walked among us and that Mark knows what happens the day her father died. Stephen has to go down Alexander's mouth to find the Ushdabi that will help resurrect Ahmed. Leila confronts Mark. He reveals that his partner is the one who executed Layla's father, father, and that he's been trying to tell her ever since.

Harrow finds and shoots Mark. And then we got a scene from a movie called Tombbuster and a main character that's called Stephen Grant. It's like a pastiche of a Tomb Raider, and this main character is looking for the Aztex Lunar God. Then we're in a mental institution where various things we've seen throughout the entire season. I'm talking about the cupcakes, Steve's old boss from his job, Stephen's Goldfish, Layla, a Moon Knight action figure. The ankle restraints from the bed, everything is right here, and you start wondering as the audience, and like, where are we? Is this Stephen's mind? But no, this is actually Mark.

Mark is then wheeled into a meeting with Harrow, who is his therapist in this world. Mark tries to escape, but ends up in a room where he frees his Stephen personality from a sarcophagus. We see another sarcophagus that ostensibly has one of Mark's other personalities hidden in it. Then Mark and Stephen run into a hippo god, Tare, the Egyptian god of fertility and childbirth. And that is your midnight manifest for episode four of Moonnight. Guys, I just realized something. First of all, fantastic manifest. Thank you.

Secondly, I just realized that the manifest music is booty shaking music. I mean, is that a problem? Is that bad? Nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong with it. It's a positive. I was looking to it. I'm like, oh, my God.

This isn't the Ringer music show, but I have a question for you, Van. Yes. Can you shake your ass to Kendrick Lamar music? We've been debating this for a while. Sometimes. There's some songs. Okay. Give me two Kendrick Lamar songs that you can shake your ass to.

What's that one that Charles Barkley was dancing to from To Pimp a Butterfly? The first one he came out with, huh? No, no, no. I? I. You can't shake your ass to eye. Yes, you can.

Yes, you can. You can shake your ass to eye. Yes, you can. You can shake your ass to eye. Can you shake your ass to humble? Does it only have to be a Kendrick Lamar song? Humble. No, because he has a new album coming out, and the debate is always...

Humble, you could. You could, you could to humble. It's going to be some hard. It's going to be some really righteous booty shaking, though. You're going to really be shaking your ass for the people. If you got a BBL, it might, like, hit you into the next to the video. If you got a BBL, you could shake your ass the fucking Mickey Mouse Club theme song. All yeah, I do is just walking, it shakes.

What about Kings Not Dead? You could, you could, right? Maybe. Maybe. I mean, there's several. There's different songs. Maybe, maybe nothing on Section 80. No, all the stars from Blackman.

There you go. I don't know. That's a little mid-tempo, Joe. I don't know. That's a great song, though. No, maybe a lap dance, but not shaking. Maybe a lap dance. Lab dance from the most cerebral, woke-ass stripper ever.

All right. Instant reactions on this episode. Chuck. I think I enjoyed the second half. I think the second half is what I've been asking for for a really long time. Something positive. Jesus Christ. Let's go. Whoa.

Relax. Relax. I think for three episodes, I've been kind of. wondering where is the show going, where is the plot going? And by the time we get to the second half, we really, really get a mystery that's unfolding. And I think that there's a beautiful, circular kind of narrative to this episode. In the beginning, Stephen finds this eye of horace maze. And he says, it's a royal symbol, protection in the afterlife. I have Horace is also the eye of the mind. And it's this really cool thing where you realize, I'm like, oh, they set this up in the

beginning of the episode. So by the time that Stephen descends is killed by Harrow or at least shot and he kind of travels through this water, this river of sticks type of symbolism, we realize either A. Stephen or Mark is dead or we're in his mind. And this is his eye of horace. This is his journey through his personalities. And I think that that's super, super interesting. I think that's really, really good writing. And it's just kind of something that I wish would have happened sooner because it was like, for the first time I was like, all right, cool, we're here, plot's going, I'm super interested.

What did you think about episode four? I liked it. So I'm really enjoying the show, and I know that the show is very divisive amongst the fans, and we poke from the Charles, but this is a familiar refrain. Like, a familiar refrain is that people are, some people will find it a little difficult to get into Moonnight or to fall into the show for whatever reason.

People have criticisms that they're, not a clear through line in terms of the narrative. People have criticisms that there's not enough moon night. There's absolutely zero moon night in this episode. There's no moon night. So if you had a problem with there being less moon night in previous episodes, this one really, really stuck in your car. And to be honest with you, we don't really have a blueprint to how we're going to get more

moon night in the next coming episodes. because the show took to me a step forward and a turn in this episode. And I will say, this is the first time I had viewed this one. I did not get a chance to watch all four of them during the now Much Balibahood screener game. So this one was a little bit trippy. It was trippy the whole way. Also, I've already just, do you guys? know what my favorite Indiana Jones movie is?

Guess who can guess my favorite Indiana Jones movie? Go. Last Crusade. Boom. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Wow. Last Crusade, really? Last Crusade is my favorite one. It's my favorite too. Not Raiders? It's the best one. No, last crusade is my favorite one. Look, I'm going to be honest with you. I personally think that

Raiders is the one that captured everybody. I think Last Crusade is far superior to Raiders. I mean, I think it's much better. 100%. But, but, uh, but, but, uh, but, but this movie. There's a wild take. Oh, really?

I'm going to watch. I'm going to watch again. I might do like a watch them all and see like I might think differently if I do a rewatch. Yeah. Look, I like it a lot better. Raiders is a so blind movie. I like Last Crusade much better. This movie obviously is an homage.

Like this movie obviously has the same DNA. I would say is a stepchild, a cousin, a grandkid of Last crusade. And the way that in that particular movie, Indiana Jones, keeps uncovering more layers of mystery. But the mystery is actually inside of this really important interpersonal relationship. The movie is really about a father and a son, but it's about a father and a son's relationship to this huge grand world where they're trying to like discover something amazing. And that's kind of the same thing here. You have Mark slash Stephen and Layla who they have all these really, really, to me,

precious little personal moments, but wrapped up in these amazing stakes. Like, by the time she confronts him right there next to Alexander the Great Tomb or his sarcophagus, whatever it's called, you don't know what you want to happen more. You don't know if you want them to escape more, or you don't know if you want them to come to the end

of this dramatic moment more. And that kind of reminds me of almost indie and his dad, rest and peace, Sean Connery, that just bummed me out, his father in Last Rucet. Can I pitch you on this? When I was first kind of reviewing the show, I did have complaints that I felt like the show sometimes doesn't feel like tonally or aesthetically, like it knows what it wants to do, whether it wants to be a horror show, whether it wants to be, you know, mystic and magic, whether it wants to be like this Indiana Jones pastiche.

And this episode, to me, like, I did enjoy the last half of it quite a bit, but I was wondering, do you think that the audience would be a little bit more invested in it if they were just like, all right, we're just going to do Indiana Jones or we're just going to do like horror? We are going to kind of like stick to one thing and not have such so many tonal shifts in between episodes. Because sometimes it does feel like a normal MCU product. And then sometimes it doesn't. And that can be jarring for, you know, casual fans. It's a good point. It's a good question. I'm not sure. So here's the thing that I never really know about MCU fair these days. I never really know. And we've been talking about this. I think my knee-jerk reaction to the conversation that you, me, and Jomey had about the MCU shows versus the movies was incomplete in a way because I don't know what the audience wants. So because I am doing this, I oftentimes think that the audience wants. multi-layered, completely interconnected, really, really deep, really, really adventurous, daring,

groundbreaking shows. I don't know that that's the case. I think there are a lot more casual fans of this than I suspect that there are, people who don't give a fuck about any runs in the comic books, people who just want to get introduced to a character in the same straightforward way that they were introduced to Tony Stark and Iron Man,

and that all of this stuff distracts them sometimes, that they don't buy it or playing with genre a little bit too much can turn them off. So to that point, I'm not sure. If the show were simpler, it might have a wider audience. I don't know if it would be better, but I'm saying I'm not sure what the audience wants.

Because if you want deep lore, incredible meaning, if you want like high concept stuff, then this would be the show for you. If you want a guy in a suit stomping the shit out of people for six episodes, then this might not be the show for you. See what I'm saying? No, I totally agree.

And I think sometimes we get stuck up in the fact that like we're speaking to like the midnight writers, the midnight mob, the people who live and breathe this shit. But sometimes when I just talk to the homies, like when they hit me up after they watch a Moonnight episode, I'm like, oh, they're, what they want from the show is completely different from, like what like super Uber

MCU fans want. You know what I mean? So I'm like, oh, that's actually the problem of the NCU. What they're making sometimes is like you're making it for like three, four distinct audiences. You know what I mean? Yeah, and those audience are converging. And that's why look, that's going to be the big trick of this

new era that we're into. With no infinity saga. The big trick is going to be you know, how do you marry all of these things? And is there going to be one type of ten or in tone that you make for one group and are you going to leave the popcorn shit for the popcorn

situations, which I guess is more so what Jomey was talking about, which, you know, turns out to be a really good point. This episode is brought to by Whole Foods Market. Spring is here, so celebrate it with fresh, juicy, seasonal produce and some very tasty limited time flavors. New Whole Foods, Market Peach,

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Save at Whole Foods Market. All right. So tomb shenanigans, not Benigans. Steve and Layla go exploring into Agent Tomb, bar for the course in a MCU. show, we talked about how people react to shit. Just like mythical beasts attacking them. Doesn't fuck with them. Doesn't bother them. They go, how

how far would you get in that particular tomb with everything that's going on? And how are you going to deal with that zombie? That zombie was gnar. A, my black assing is stepping in that tomb. It just not happened. Like, I used to have a lot of white friends.

They used to, like, go to, like, abandoned buildings for fun. And I'd always be the one to be like, I'm just going to wait in the fucking car. Like, I'm not, I'm not doing this shit. This is how people get killed. Hell no. I'm not making it into the tomb. And I'm going to be honest, if I see a zombie at that point, it's a rap on my life.

I know I'm not winning against the zombie. Layla is way more gifted with her hands and her in her combat. Be honest, Van, do you think that you're going to be able to beat a zombie? No. I mean, I'm I will try to box. But look,

here's the thing. I don't fight monsters. That's a tenant of me. Like if we're, if we're, if we're like in a situation where it's like me and Khalik and I have to fight a monster. But I feel like monsters are to be reasoned with. You know, and I don't, I don't, yeah, I don't fight monsters. How are you reasoning what the heck of zombie? I mean, I'm not sure how, but there's something I can give them. First of all, me and him both African.

That's the first thing I talk about. The first thing I let them know, hey, we Africans, bro. Like, if you really want someone to be mad at, be mad. It's Steve. It's Steve's people who came here and plundered. You know what I mean? Like, why don't we join forces? I'll be your avatar.

I'll be, I don't even need to be the avatar of a God. I'll be the avatar of a zombie. You know, I'll be a zombie avatar. I know, Jeremy. Jeremy, he goes in there and he messes. We find Alexander the Great's tomb, which I didn't expect an Alexander the Great appearance in this show.

like that's something did anybody have Alexander de Grey showing up on your bingo card here? Absolutely not no Not even close Macedonia It's a clever little thing It's like the history

Could check out with that What does check out? I mean like not for the MCU Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah Alexander the Great You know I said I mean I

Egypt from Persia They thought he was They made him a pharaoh He became a feral God king The city Alexandria named after Alexander DeGrate you know

So if I remember But he's not He's not from Egypt He's from... It's from Macedonia. Macedonia. Which is why on the tomb, some of the writing was in Macedonian, and then they...

Hey, it's Alexander the Great. And they've never found... Like, if he has a mummy deal, they've never found it or whatever. He probably doesn't happen. I mean, I think, like, symbolically, writing-wise, having to be Alexander the Great makes a lot of sense

because he's the voice of Amet. He's this... He's this person that's not from the place that he ends up, quote-unquote, saving. And you see Harrow, the new quote-unquote avatar of Ahmed, a white character who obviously is in love with Egypt, but similar to Alexander the Great is not there. And he's going to do whatever, like he's not being very respectful of the tune.

You know, they're raiding it, they're shooting bullets in it. There's not this reverence for it. So I do think that it is a very intentional choice for Alexander the Great to be one of the avatars and then to show Harrow being one of them from just like a racial context and what it means for someone to conquer another place. Oh, expound on that. Yeah, that's interesting.

I didn't think about that. Race, you brought race into it. This is like only the six times. I know they hate when I do that, but I do think that it's a very, very intentional choice in terms of like why you would pick that Thera. Oh, speaking of that, I would like to address something that happened here on the Midnight Boys podcast. We talked about the avatars that were inside of the tomb and all. our ignorance jumped right out of us. We don't know.

I'd like to apologize to everyone from North African or Egyptian heritage that pointed out to us that the avatars in there, many of them were in fact Egyptian and that they might have looked white to our stupid, minuscule American brains. They're taught light skin, white, whatever. I still have a lot to learn and I appreciate you guys doing it gracefully and I appreciate you guys always continue to educate us.

All right. So yeah, you got it wrong. I was triggered. I've been living here for a long time. So we appreciate. Shout out, y'all. Thank you.

Shout out the mob and the riders for making that plane to us. So I want to ask Jomi this next question. So it's basically as if Stephen and Layla are basically on a date. And then all of a certain the third person pops up who is Mark. I want to specifically ask Jomi about how he feels about that. Was Stephen's kiss out of line to Layla?

Because if you're on a date and then somebody else just pops up on a date, like, is that something that like, is that something that you feel like is appropriate? Well, here's what I'll say, right? I tweeted this last night. I don't condone Stephen's behavior, but I understand. Okay, Mr. Seahillyo, girl.

Go on, Joe. I mean, you got to, I mean, you got to, like, let's be honest, right? Layla is capable. She is smart, incredibly beautiful. You know what I'm saying? And so when she's giving you those eyes,

like I'll be honest, I'm folding like origami, man, I don't care what Mark is doing right now, bro. This is why I knew Joe. me, I knew you liked a dirty Mac. I just, you see it. Doesn't they look like a dirty macker? Hell you.

You look like a dirty macker. Jomi, Jomi, the type of friend. Like you were like, yo, me and my girl are in an argument and he slides in the DMs be like, yo, man ain't shit. Like, you want to,

you to show him to someone to talk to? Would you say Mark circled the block on him? Uh-huh. I would say Mark definitely circled the block on him. Listen, definitely sold him. And he showed up with some family.

You can't. You can't be mad As Stephen. I understand my brother. You can't be out of Steve. Man, Joe, Joe, me, I understand. I understand. Mr. St. Steele girl over here.

Listen, listen, listen, listen, Mark, he was outside. He wasn't doing what he's supposed to do. My man Steven said, this is my time. I'm taking my shot for three. Nothing but net. Splash. Bang.

Mike bring bangs in the background. Bye. You know, honestly, though. Honestly, though. it seems like they've been playing to this for a minute, you know, even in episode two when they were in, they were in Mark's flat or Stevens Flat, and they were sharing French poetry together.

Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, there have been vibes for a minute. And so first, for Mark, the last thing for Mark to say is, you better not lay a hand on her. I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm good off that. That was nuts. That was insult.

That was some, I can't believe he said that. That was some in-cell. That was nuts. So I saw something over from our friends over at Screen Crush. Ha-ha! Yeah! I saw something from them that was a very interesting point to point out.

That perhaps everything that Stephen is is representative of or actually is the suppressed parts of Mark that Layla actually fell in love with, right? So he's charming. He is, he's sensitive. He's into all of the historical things that they're talking about. He also is wanting for her. The parts of Mark that he had to suppress because he didn't want to put Conchu, he didn't want to put Conchu onto her scent,

for lack of a better way to see it, So the distance that he had to put between him and her, the parts of himself that he had suppressed, they manifested themselves in Stephen. And so she almost can't help but fall in love with Stephen because Stephen is the part of Mark that she actually became enamored with, which I thought was brilliant.

Can I be, like, I don't mean to be, like, edible about this shit. But is there a certain level of, like, you know, Mark it seems like is the dominant personality, at least from what we see, at the end of the episode. We also learn about this execution of her father. Stephen kind of seems like a mirror of her dad

in terms of like this is someone who really, really loves archaeology, loves Egyptian shit, loves all of these things, and that's the last person he saw before he died. You know what I mean? So is there a level of like he's taking on some of the aspects of her father? I mean, yeah, basically, I mean, look,

For her, I feel like she was by far the most compelling, she was by far the most compelling character in this particular episode. Absolutely. Easily. Easily. I felt like this was kind of her episode. You know what I mean? Like, in a lot of ways,

the narrative was given over to her, which was good because she had the most emotional sort of way. She had the most emotional stakes in this. So I dug that and I think she's kind of figuring it out. I think she's figuring it out which parts of this she's more attracted to because like what I mean to say about that is she's longing for Mark but Stephen is right there.

You know? And when she finds out that Mark is involved in the death of her father, like that's what comes with a guy like that. And this is like something that I've heard ladies talk about. Like what comes with a guy that's like all alpha, that's all like a, that's a world traveler that's all secretive. That's all, is that there's secrets. They're scars.

There's stuff in the past. There might be a baby mama out there somewhere or something like that. You got to deal with some of that stuff. But the Stevens, they'll come over, help you do your homework. You know what I mean? The entire thing, and be right there. They might not fight off a jackal for you. You might turn into Mr. Knight instead of Moon Night.

But there's all of these sort of dynamics that are wrapped up into this. And, and now she doesn't know who or what to trust, you know? Wait, can I, can I, like, nickel flip? Because this isn't a quarter flip. This is a nickel. It's not a big thing. But I was just like, what are we doing here? This script needed another pass.

At one point, she, like, she starts sniffing Stephen, and she's like, sniff, sniff. You smell just like him. And I'm like, does she think that these are two different bodies? I'm like, this is still the same person. Like, just because you have DID does it not mean you change bodies or, like, or sense. She is being fairly respectful of the condition that Mark and Stephen have because she clearly is like she's not missing a beat when she's beefing with Mark. She's like, I need to talk to Mark now. She's being very respectful.

But there was that one moment where I'm like, does Layla think that these two personalities are supposed to or identities are supposed to smell differently? You're missing it. The reason why I say you're missing is because that shows just how much. that shows just how different they really are. When she's talking to Stephen, she doesn't think of him as Mark. That's what that scene was meant to know. She doesn't think of Stephen as Mark.

She doesn't think of Mark as Stephen. She has to be reminded that they're inhabiting the same body because they make her feel two totally different ways. She feels totally different when she's with Stephen than she does when she was with Mark. And so she's surprised that they still smell the same because her wavelength has changed. By the way, it's true.

By the way, just to let you know, that's the most sexual scene in the history of the MCU. Not when they were actually having sex in Eternals? Nah, that was actually the least sexual scene in the history. Yeah, there was just a little, it wasn't even like, there was just a little pulse.

It was like, it was a little bump and grind, yeah. Like, they were both looking at each other like, yo, Chloe, call cut. Both of them, I could see it both in their eyes. man, we got it. Can we move on, like, the least? So she smelled this man. That's when you know there's love. She smelled him. Like, smell. Well, I think she, yeah, she smelled him and was surprised, like, oh, this smells like Mark, even though like- I still think it's goofy as hell. Like, you could have shown something else. I'm just like, yeah, they smell. Girl, of course they smell

the same. It's the same body. Like, what are we doing here? He was Mark five minutes ago. Like, what are we doing here? I think the goofiest part was just realizing how little game Stephen has when they're both down the hall and he's like, wow. Well, no, because he was like, wow, man. This is, this is so gorgeous. And Lela's like, oh, he's talking about me. Nope, he's talking about the architecture in the back man.

He's talking about the statue. Oh, that happened a while ago. I had to go watch a dog and I had to come home to get my PS5 and I'm like, my girl's like, oh, like, why are you, why did you come back? And I'm like, oh, I had to, you know, I had to get my baby. And she's like, oh, thank you so much. And then I start unplugging the PS5 and she's like,

you're a dick. That's nuts That's nuts All right Got to talk about Arthur now Arthur's back He does the most villainous things That villains always do

Villains always The most villainous thing That villains do to me Is when they so dissension Between people Who are trying to do the right thing That to me seems like Look you're out here

You try to take over the world That's one thing Who hasn't thought about that? But when you get in between the relationship of two people and try to make one person hate the other. You're literally being, in this instance, Harrow in the tomb, seemed to me to literally be the snake in the Garden of Eden.

He was literally the snake. First of all, the Garden of Eden was in Africa. I'm sorry, Trump states. Get over it. Ethiopia. I'm sorry. Get over it. It's where it all.

started. I understand. You guys wish that it started. In Montana? It's too cold. I'm sorry. Wait, wait, wait, really quick. But for those of us, you aren't so religious, I'm going to pitch you guys on another thing. Is Mark and Layla, are they A saparaki and Rihanna and Harrow? He's like, he's like, hey, you don't know.

What are you talking about? My Adam and Eve thing is much better. Let's be honest. No, no, no, no. Harrow is definitely Drake. He's definitely like when ASAP leaves the room, he's like, yo, no, no, no, no, do you know what? The only problem is we have absolutely zero evidence that Drake is meddling in the relationship with ASF Rock, Rock, Rocky, and Rihanna. Y'all keep wanting Drake to be hurt. Y'all need Drake to be hurt.

Drake is chilling. Drake is chilling. Drake is chilling. Drake chilling with Taylor Swift right now. What should be it? Wait, what? You didn't see that photo? Yeah, you ain't see.

They booed up. Not really booed up, but they have pictures They're hanging out. Yeah. My girl was telling me, supposedly he's on the remake of 1984. Get you know, yeah. Okay, but you didn't see the picture?

Somebody dropped the picture in the chat. Hold on, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Y'all mean to tell me Drake is fucking Taylor Swift? No, we're not saying that. No, no. We didn't say that, man.

That's what you guys are implying? No, no. No, no. Like, well, hold on, hold on. This is what, this is what, This is what I don't like. You guys are certainly implying that because we're talking about, wait, what the hell? I hate it.

Jolie just said, he doesn't hear Rihanna. He's got Taylor Swift. You guys were certainly implying. As a shoulder to cry on. They both have like ups and downs and downs of relationships. Let me see this shit right here. For those that don't know listeners, Steve just dropped a page six link into the chat. Oh, no.

We got to, man, we got to talk about this, Drake. I can't. I can't. Look, man. We got a, like, Drake, Drake, Drake, we've allowed. Look, shout out to Drake, man. Shout out to Drake, man, shout out to my man, Matt, and everybody over at OVO that I know.

Shout out. Nah, man, we have to do a whole, if this becomes the truth, we have to do a Midnight Boys pop culture edition. We have to. We'd have to do a whole emergency episode on this. Because I feel like this is like the last straw that we've really lost control of humanity.

that would happen. What are you talking about? Lost control of humanity. Two successful people get together. Like, that just makes sense. That's how it works. Did you read the caption? Did you read the caption that he said? What did the caption say? They too soft to understand the meaning of hard work. Okay. All right. Let's just move on. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters.

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Dutton Ranch starring Colehouser, Kelly Riley, Annette Benning and Ed Harris now streaming on Paramount Plus. Wait, guys, can I pitch you on serious? Can I pitch you guys on a theory? Sure. I want to, like, one of my Coke baby Chuck theories. So Harrow comes, I was trying to sew it's dissension to Vance Point. And he started saying, he did about that Mark knows what happens when Layla's father dies.

And he's like, you need to go ask your boy. And I was just like, hmm, last episode, we saw Harrow boot up with the other god, right? The other avatar. And the thing that we've revealed from Harrow is that Haro says that Layla's father, his big goal in life was to prove that Egyptian gods walked among us. And the reason that Conchu was mad at the Pantheon is like, you guys abandoned humanity. You guys want to hide in secret. They just want to watch. They don't want anyone to know that they're still there.

So did the Pantheon actually kill Layla's father? Did like his mercenary friend actually was an avatar that on the behalf of the Pantheon got Layla's father out of here because he was so close to telling the entire world that Egyptian gods. walked among us. A break from the source material, it would be. But still, very, very, very, very intriguing. Because you said in a previous episode, Vin, when you have gods in these shows, always there's something that gods are hiding. The gods know too much. They're not trying to let something out. And there's a reason, potentially that Conchu is so mad at them. So potentially that this might be the thing that they're hiding, that they want to be secret. And Layla's dad. came really, really close to revealing their secret.

I like that. Well, you got to remember. So in the beginning episode, the beginning episode, they put Conschus Ushepti into, it's in the pyramid with the other gods. They hid Amets in the throat of Alexander the Great.

Like, they didn't want anybody to find that Ushepty. So to Charles's point, like there's something real different going on with this one. and why Layla's dad finding it, and now Mark and Layla finding it, is a huge problem that the gods are going to have to deal with at some point. The conflict and obviously Harrow plants that seed

when Layla and Mark really need to make their escape because Layla comes back, she sees Stephen. Of course, she wants Mark. She was talking to Mark. Mark tells her that, look, I didn't kill your father, but I was there. I feel like that's a pretty good excuse or pretty good explanation

into the whole thing because Mark himself was shot. I guess she's still a dick for keeping it from her, but, you know, he didn't kill it to that. So Layla, then the herald's guys come, Layla smashes out, Mark says he'll hold him off. He grabs a gold axe from the tomb.

And I guess he thinks, because remember, no suit, no suit, I guess he must be fucking. fucking yandu. And he's going to make the axe go around and kill everybody as he whistles. I don't know what he thought he was going to do with the axe. Obviously he got dotted up.

There's like 20 guys in that. 20 guys with guns. When he picked up the axe, I'm like, what do you think you're going to do with this? I thought he was going to do some crazy what's the ring thing? No, no, like some crazy fucking, what's my man's name from Metal Gear?

You know, Snake. Solid Snake? A lot. I thought he was going to do some crazy stealth solid snake shit. Yeah. Some, you know what I'm saying? Some crazy Assassin's Creed shit.

You sneak up on somebody. He took a goddamn axe and the axe had no mystical powers. Maybe I thought maybe it did for a second. Immaculate condition, by the way. It's been there for a long time. It's been there for a long time. Axe looks perfect.

No dust. Not even dust. Question. But it's gold, right? So it would stick. It would be, it would last for a long time. It's a little dusty. Or maybe the tomb is airtight. I have no clue. I don't know.

Okay? I don't know, man. Sometimes it's supposed to be well-preserved. I don't know. There are moon gods. I think you can get past a well-preserved axe in a tomb. Let's talk about specifically the artifact that Mark gets out of, before we move on to the middle hospital,

the artifact that Mark gets out of Alexander de Grates, gullet, that he went deep into his gullet. Chuck, that is what everybody is looking. for. That is what you need to resurrect the god, or at least that seems like the artifact, how you trap a god. That's what they did to Conchu. I also think to Jomi's point in the beginning of the episode, there seems to have been some type of potential war with the gods, where it's like there are a lot of gods that they've imprisoned. It's not just Amit. It's not just Conchu. I might be wrong, but there was other, there were other of those around Conchu in the beginning of

the episode. So I don't know if those guys, gods are trapped as well, what happened with them. But it's kind of very, very interesting. It doesn't seem like all of the gods are of the same accord. Also, I wonder if Harrow could have found it and done what Stephen did. If all of this isn't part of Harrow's, you know, remember a national treasure? I do. Jomi, National Treasure.

Love that movie, by the way. Fantastic. I'm working. I'm not going to do my take on National Treasure. No, no, no, no, please. No, no. I don't want to hear it. No.

I don't want to hear it. No. I would love to hear it, Charles. What do you have to say more than that? No, no, no, no. It's an open forum. We got, you know, the listeners want to hear it. You know, we're friends.

No. It's just the four of us, Charles. No, we ain't doing that. That's Deep Shadow Protocol, okay? Oh, my God. Deep Shadow Protocol over national treasure? What are you talking about? That's how you know it's a bad tank.

Yeah, that's how you know it's a bad take. It's a great thing. I'm just not saying. I'm just not saying. I'm just not saying. Like, National Treasure? What are you talking about? Just give us a statement.

take now. I feel like people like because we watch it in school a lot, people talking about National Treasure like it's a five-star movie. It's like a good movie, but everybody's like, we're watching National Treasure today. And I'm just like, all right, out of all of the- Watched it in school. I was like 24 when that shit came out. Then I don't know why you're talking about it.

Like in the pantheon of like of school movies, it's like in the top five, but it's definitely not one. Like the day before tomorrow is easily better. It's not even close to being true. Wait, what? You think, you think National. You think National Treasure is the best movie for school? It's just like one of the best movies ever made.

Period. So I love National Treasure. I'm going to be honest with you. Period. I love National Treasure. I love National Treasure. And it was 2002, right? 2004.

2004. Okay. So that's 24. I love National Treasure, but I'm going to be honest with you. I don't know. I don't know if I like it better than I like the day after tomorrow. Come on. I know for a fact movie.

It's a good school movie. Like Day After Tomorrow is really good. Okay. Anyway. Moving on. All right, let's go to the middle hospital, and I'm going to be honest with you. The mental hospital sequence in Moon Night

is the most intriguing sequence to me in the history of the MCU television shows besides the He He Remains reveal. So it's number two. When I say intriguing, I mean, obviously there were things about Wanda, vision that we're like, what's happening, what's happening, what's happened. But in this one, I am looking everywhere.

My senses are raised, my spidey, they're tingling. I'm looking around. My tenders are up. I'm like, wow, this is here, this is here, this is here. And I still look at it as this crazy, amazing dreamlike surreal sequence to where really important things about this show and about the narrative of this show and about where we're going to go in the next two episodes of this show, are being revealed.

Fellas, what do we feel like the mental hospital could be a metaphor for? I mean, I already just think that it's a visual representation of his mind, where when we see that he unlocks Mark, the thing that's very, very interesting is it's that it isn't Stephen. Like for the whole series, Stephen has been our protagonist, But it's not Stephen who is in the wheelchair. It's Mark, which makes me think that Mark is actually the main identity.

And what we see when we get there is like all of these different things from his life, the cupcake van, you have the little cupcakes there. His manager is one of the patients. So is Leila is one of the patients. The little restraint that he had to tie on the bed is actually a restraint to keep him in his wheelchair. It's all of these things. The two police are orderlies there? Yeah, exactly. So what I actually think this is is that when Mark runs away from Harrow

and opens up a sarcophagus and you realize that Stephen is in there, and then they run past and there's a sarcophagus that doesn't open. Not only is that the third personality, I think this is supposed to be a metaphor for A, Stephen's death, because the eye of Horace is connected to death, but it's also a metaphor for the mind because that's also what the eye of Horace from the beginning of the episode was. So that's the metaphor.

It's like he's having to kind of go through like this ego death to kind of find out his feelings on what it is to have DID and all of these identities. So Steve has it written down. Do we think that this is a trap sprung by Arthur Curry? Is Aquaman in this movie? That's what I was thinking. We go see Jason Momoa show up? That would be so crazy. You're talking about something that would be unexpected in the MCU movie.

Damn it. is if Aquaman shows up in this movie. Now, Curry. Arthur Harrow, okay? Do we think that this is a trap sprung by not Arthur Curry, Aquaman, because he has no dog in this fight? Okay.

We don't know that. You're actually right? We don't know that. He's seen as possible. But could this be a metaphysical place for the gods' avatars? Also, is this a weird sort of afterlife situation? Where are we right now? I've liked this idea of the afterlife being a reflection of yourself.

Him being under this protection of the eye of Horace having the dreamlike metaphor state of actually interacting with Stephen and Mark as two separate beings. We see that third or that second sarcophagus that has yet to be opened. I like the idea of this being a reflection of himself. And the idea that Arthur might know that to, actively silence him and keep him

in a sort of like state of limbo to not interfere with the rest of these things. If this is a mistake, great. If this is on purpose,

I find it very intriguing. So I think, and I'm ready to call my shot, I think the next episode is going to be episode five. Nobody has seen episode five yet, to be clear.

Nobody in the world. This is the threshold. The next episode is going to be I'm going to call my shot It's going to be one of the best episodes of MCU television That we have seen so far Don't say one of if you're going to call a shot Yeah call your shot

If you're going to call a shot Oh my God Yonnes is going to be one of the greatest players in NBA history yeah no shit Like he's having a great career Don't say one of Say it's only with your chest Say it with your chest.

Is this going to be the best MCU episode? Is this going to be the... Jomi. Woo! That's what I like, Jomi. Get into it. No, I want to say it on my...

Nobody yells when I said, Jomey, is this going to be the best penultimate episode in MCU television history? Watch a God Jomster. Let's go. First of all, that's not a high bar to clear.

But I will say absolutely 100% yes it will be look i mean loki had a pretty good episode but episode six was way better than episode five but this episode is gonna be mark and stephen coming together right they're you know coalescing and then episode six we don't get like you know moon night you know maybe not moon night proper we're gonna get consue back hopefully gonna get him in the suit they're gonna be mark and stephen working together as one not in like you know the the half and halfway they've been doing it so far like this that the next episode is going to be it after they come to get like them coming together it's going to be cathartic it's going to be enlightening you know there might not be all the action

everybody wants but it's going to be we're going to see oscar isaac doing like two different people acting their hearts out come on come on that's television that's magic is what you want that's charles that's the fuck i'm talking about i like what people get excited charles that's Television. That's magic. That's Jomey. We're jammed up. People have been talking shit. God damn it. People have been saying, you know what? The moon, the, the midnight boys aren't as excited about moon night because they're out of screeners. We're jammed up over here. All of us. Injected to our veins. Yeah. I'm a lot. Injected to our veins. Woo-hoo. Charles, I need one yelp from you. I need one woo.

It doesn't know. Charles, do it. Charles, I can't. I can't. Charles, I can't. Charles, access. It's can't. Charles, access the core of yourself.

Okay. How about this, Charles? The core of myself is a hater. We have done too many episodes for y'all not to know this. Okay, how about this? Pretend that Moon Knight is a new Kendrick Lamar album that features some random musician on every track, something that you can get excited about, you know, maybe it's Kendrick Lamar featuring Bell and Sebastian.

or something like that that a critic that be wild that a critic like you would love it's moon night moon night ex tame and Paula guys I got in trouble because I said Drake was better than Kendrick

so that's that metaphor doesn't okay never mind all right we've watched we try we try we try guys I don't know you guys you guys can get a woo

like not like a wolf it's just like a wolf there you go yeah I take it I'll take it. Wait, can I pitch you guys on something seriously? This is actually seriously the thing that, like, the reason,

when I was watching this half of the episode, I was wondering, is this mystery more intriguing than the mystery that they've been giving us throughout the entire season? And what I mean by that is, like, I think there is something universal to the fact of, when we see Mark holding the action figure of Moon Night, you start wondering is like,

is Conti real? Is any of this real? Is, and I think that is kind of a metaphor for mental illness in itself. If you ever had mental illness or dealt with someone with melchill illness, you deal with the society that tells you to get over it,

that what you're thinking isn't right or it's not real, why can't you just be normal of these things? That's the stigma of mental illness. And when I saw this scene, I started thinking of being like, you start having those slides,

like, what about Marx's reality is actually based in the real world? Are there really Egyptian gods? Is there really an Arthur Harrow? Is any of this thing? is anything that we're seeing on screen, can we trust it? And that's something universal,

whether it's about mental illness, whether it's about blackness, whether it's about being a woman in society, people not believe in you when you say how you feel. And like, I immediately my mind started going in a million directions when I kind of see Stephen's mind. I'm like, I wish we would have gotten more of this because that to me is more interesting

than just the Stephen and Mark dynamic. It speaks to a lot more. You're a brilliant man, Charles. All of that stuff was very well said. I'll tell you something that made me think about when I was having panties every single week in my 20s, having panties, panic attacks every week, twice a week, three times a week. And the paramedics were coming. And the paramedics came more of this is in my book, Fat Crazy Entire's, Tales from the Transformation.

It's coming out April 26. wherever books are sold. Wherever books are sold. Pre-order on Amazon now. The Paramax were coming out every single week. The Paramax were coming out, and I remember this guy telling me, I was like, yo, they hooked me up when I was having a panic. I'd be like, you're going to tell me you're okay.

And he's like, no, I'm not going to tell you you're okay. I'm going to tell you that there's nothing wrong with you physically. Like, we don't see any defects. Everything checks out, right? But I'm going to tell you right now that there is something wrong. And a lot of people around here would tell you that there's nothing wrong with you, that you need to get over it, that there's nothing you need to address

because they look at actual elements as being a broken bone or a clogged artery. He's like, what's happening, like in your mind and to your body is very, very real. And it's going to, like anything else, it's going to get worse if you don't deal with it. It's just that your prognosis is better than if there was something wrong with your liver.

So that to me, like what does real even mean? Obviously, the Matrix explores that, but what is real? Like, if these Egyptian gods are, in fact, beings from other planets who have found their meaning in the fact that they're worship for different things, does that mean that they're not gods? Is Thor a god? I mean, Thor is being at least for thousands and thousands of years. He can bless people. He can protect people. Like, Thor can answer a prayer in the Marvel universe.

Is Thor a god? I mean, don't they even question that is like, what is magic to Thor and all the Asgardians? That shit is just science. Science. To humans, it's magic. And that's actually what that episode, to your point, like, makes me wonder. It's like, you know, that appearance versus reality, especially when you have a mental illness. What some person sees and feels isn't what another person feels.

And like, that to me is really, really fascinating. I just wish we would have gotten it earlier. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. Lastly here, Mark and Stephen are met by a hippo, the Egyptian goddess tolerant. I love a hippo.

I think hippos are amazing. I think they're very cute. Really? No, see, shout out to my man Philip Barnett. He put me on. Hippos are the most terrifying animal. That's true. On land.

And I didn't know this. I didn't realize that hippos just live to fuck shit up. That's their whole thing. That's their entire thing. It's like if you get trapped in that mouth, you're done. I did know that they just, but I've always thought that they're very cute. I love a hippo. I love a duck bill platypus.

You know, these are the animals that I love. Big difference between a duck bill platypus and hippo. Did I say they were the same, Steve? I didn't know. Steve, did I say that the duck bill platypus was the same as the hippo? I never said it, Steve. I know there's a big difference. I have a spectrum of animal.

Steve, what animal do you love? I don't know. I like tigers. Tigers are cool. That is the, that is the, guess what? That is the, like, straightest, whitest answer you could. Like, tiger. No way you said that, man.

No way you said that. LSU, come on now. Not, no, it's Bayou Bengals. It's different. I love you. I love you. By the way, by the way, even LSU's name, the Tigers really doesn't have any to do with the animals. It's some Civil War Confederacy shit.

Damn. It's like the Tigers were like a Civil War brigade of Confederates. The LSU was named after it. So fuck the Tigers still kind of works. But I love them. Spring game, I'm going. But, yeah, Steve, you don't hate on my love of the hippo and the double platypus.

Tiger School. What animal would you guys like to personally be you, personify you in the afterlife? Red Panda. That probably might be because I love turning red the Pixar movie so much. Nobody hates it, Red Panda. Everybody's like, Red Panda, cute, amazing. Yeah, you're always happy to see one. I would have gone with Tiger, but since because we can't go with Tiger,

I think I would go with an Osprey. you know like a wow yeah you're like real fly five real fast yeah yeah yeah I would have had a sloth a sloth yeah yeah in my heart I'm very lazy I'm very lazy don't say that because they're gonna

they're gonna be on your ass if this episode ain't up on time when the episode come out of 5 o'clock you'd be like that's why Steve the episode come late Steve no no no no it's late because every time I see a tweet saying where's the episode I'd lay it by five minutes I don't know what about you very

Van, what animal would you like to personify you in the afterlife? Oh, platypus, for sure. Platypus, really? Come in, I'm a little weird, I'm kooky, I'm out of here. Are you wearing like the jewelry like she was wearing at the end of the episode? Got to be dripped out. Blinged out? 4PF chain.

But like a giant platypus though. Oh, like an eight foot tall. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a platypus that's like... And you're standing on two legs. Yeah, I'm walking around like a giant platypus. Are you wearing a fredora as well? Do you got a fordora on?

the whole nine. I got the fedora cocked to the side. You know what I'm saying? Gotcha. It is like the whole night. Cigarette in the ear. You know what, guys, we've talked about it all. Moonnight episode four is in the brick, is in the books. Okay? I am loving Moonnight. I got to be honest with you guys.

I'm loving Moonnight. I know that people are divided on it, but I am loving Moon Night. I have no idea what's going to happen in the next episode. None of us do. We're at the threshold. So we don't really know what's going to happen. But I think that the show is on a perfect track. I think we're going to get much more Moon Night in the next two episodes. So anybody that's worried about that, I don't think you need to be worried about it.

I think we're going to do much more, get much more moon night. So coming this Friday, the House of Law returns with their deep dive into the latest episode of Moon Night, and the Midnight Boys will be giving you instant reactions to every episode of Moon Night, every Wednesday. And we're going to do more shows. We'll do more stuff. We're here to stay, the Midnight Boys. Producer, our producer is Steve Alman Joy, the Cutter. literally lover bear.

Jomi, the explainer, a dinner on. You've got questions. He's got to answer. Hashtag free Jomey on social media. Additional production from Arjuna. Ram Gapal, Charles, take us out. Moon Night episode four, went out with a bang.

We will not be returning to sender. Shout out to Benigans and my boy Van Lathen's chicken tender vendors. So look, I'm not. moving down the document here, and Steve puts together a great document every single time we do this, right?

Every week. Every week. And I'm pretty sure that this next thing is supposed to say tomb shenanigans, because we're supposed to talk about what goes on in the tomb. Sorry. But it says tomb binigans. Tomb benignans. Tomb benignans.

And it made me hungry. I used to go to Benegins. After my shifts, look, if you guys want me to tell a Benign's story right now about how I knew I was a foolback. Okay, this I knew I was addicted to food. This is in my book. Fat Crazy and Tired, tells from the trenches of transformation.

It comes out of nature. Ah, you shouldn't this plug. This is in my book. This is how I knew I was addicted to food. I was working Best Buy. Store 495 Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Working at Best Buy. That's what I'm doing.

In working at Best Buy, I would leave and go across the parking lot to Benegans after every shift. Every shift? Every shift? Every shift. How many shifts did you work a week? I had a job full time, so there were many, there were many shifts. So like five times a week?

Sometimes I will go to Benegans for lunch. Sometimes I will go to Benegans for dinner. Wow. Jeez. Man. Wow. And Benegans had these amazing, gigantic chicken tenders. And they had two sides that would come with them.

The chicken tenders was like huge, the size of your hand, two sides come with the chicken tenders. I would get loaded mashed potatoes and french fries would be my sides. Oh, boy. Man, two types of potatoes? You only need one type of potato. That's a lot of starch, man.

That's a lot. Were these just like fried breasts? Were they not tender? Are they just like big fried breasts? I didn't ask for the judgment. I'm not asking. I just want specificity. They're big ass tenders.

Yeah. All right. Like maybe split the breast in half and then you whatever. Okay, all right. And so I had this little trick that I would do. do. And I will go there, because I would get a dessert as well. I will go there and I would act like Charles had just called me. Oh, what's up, Charles? Oh, for real? Oh, okay, you want the double

molten? Yeah. I'm here for it? I do it. No, I'm here right now. I mean, I get it. Yeah. Oh, okay, you want a chocolate shake? Okay, cool. All right, damn, bro. You got a sweet tooth tonight, all right? All right. Hey, could you add a, um, um, a brownie, double molten brownie, and the chocolate shake to that. Yeah, so that was my order and then... I have a follow-up question. Did the people at Benegans understand this, or did they fall for this ruse?

Or did they figure this out that you were just ordering this for yourself? It was like Bill Clinton's marriage. Everybody took part in a lie. Here's the thing. You want to know how I know everybody took part in the lie? Because before I was a successful podcaster or semi-success at this point, I was a waiter at Applebee's. So like you knew the regulars. I'm like, come on.

Like, why are we doing the shenanigans? Like, just come down. That's exactly how they felt. So anyway, this one time I'm working. I'm looking forward to my chicken, tender fries and molten chocolate cake at Benikins. And or whatever it was, a chocolate brownie or something.

It was a brownie and ice cream at Benegans, whatever. And I leave work. And I look across the parking lot. And I notice there's only one car in the parking lot. I'm like, what's going on to Benignis tonight? It's like a slow night. And then it dawns on me, they might be closed. And the reality hits in that they are actually closed.

But I can't accept this. Oh, geez. I get into my car. No. And I drive over to the Benninger's Sparklelight because there's one car there. What I didn't realize that I was working a holiday shift. And being that there was a holiday shift, us, the retail store was open. The Beniggins had closed early.

So I go over there And I see the one car I'm thinking maybe there's somebody in there You know maybe there's one or two pieces of chicken And I go up and I'm literally I cut my hands and I'm peeking in the window Of the Benignans I promise you this is all true

I'm peeking in the to see if there's anybody in there There's obviously no one in there I get back in my car and I cry Man I swear I promise to God Was this a sad? No, bro. Oh my God.

I get back in my car and I cry. I'm like, I needed the food pick me up. Like, I had to have it. And look, I promise you, in the moment, I had a Mark Specter Stephen Grant moment to where I, like, looked in my mirror of your rear of your mirror, and I laughed at myself. I'm like, nigger, you got a problem.

That's the day we make a change. Yeah. Was that like Spider-Man putting his suit in the trash can? you like I'm never going to eat Benigans again. I'm putting it down. I'm putting it down. Right. Like I'm like,

like, bro, there's something wrong, bro. There's something wrong. And I remember I left and I went to McDonald's because I knew McDonald's was open. I got, oh,

geez. Come on. I got a 20 piece McNugget deal supersized with an apple pie. And I sat down and I ate it. And I just felt like shit because it wasn't that Benning's. I'm pretty sure the shit is you eating

a bunch of fucking chicken Nuggets. Super Sides. I appreciate your journey every day you share it, Van. I really do. Can I just say,

can I tell you guys this? You know how, like, I know that I worked at Applebee's like for way too long is because they used to give you like half off for two for 20. You guys remember the two for 20?

Yeah. Yeah. Good terms. So the thing is, you couldn't get Buffalo chicken, like chicken tenders, whatever, whatever they had. Next time you guys go to Applebee's,

you guys should be making more money. But for all listeners, anytime you go to Applebee, never get the boneless wings and I'm going to tell you why get the two for 20 and then ask your man in the back to hook you up with the sauce

because it's the same thing they're all chicken tenders they're just smaller and you could get you could just get them big tenders in any sauce that you want wow the album of these people try to not tell you that shit

Charles for the people on game don't tell them it came from me because they're going to kill me all right okay no it'll know hey my man Charles no one said Charles hey I know

I know one thing Mr. Lathan, we can't do that. I know one thing. I know y'all better go back there and bring the motherfucking chicken tees out. My dog, Charles Holmes, told me this is going to work.

If not, I'm going to have Sean King and Ben Crump at this motherfucker. No, the white people were going to have a chicken tinder, fucking march. Anyway,

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