The Ringer-Verse - ‘Murderbot' Check-in, Episodes 1-3 | Mint Edition

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

Jomi and Steve jump into the world of ‘Murderbot’ with instant reactions to the first three episodes! Later, the guys look at the news of Avatar, Hunger Games, and other series in fandom. (00:00) Intro (05:00) Murderbot (37:00) Nerd news Host: Jomi Adeniran and Steve Ahlman Producer: Jonathan Kermah Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, everyone? I'm Nora Prynciotti. And I'm Nathan Hubbard. And we're coming in like a wrecking ball to announce a brand new series. That's right. It's every single album, Miley Cyrus. Deep dive with us into the career of one of our most creative and confounding pop stars. We're starting, of course, with the best of Hannah Montana. And ending with her brand new album, Something Beautiful, in June. And don't forget about Miley Cyrus and her dead pets.

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active ulcerative colitis, serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more, or visit trimfire radio.com. This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and make it a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer,

unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner. Or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those weather tech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need weather tech unless you plan on. doing summer.

Visit weathertech.com today. Hello and welcome into the ringerverse. Your nexus feet for all things. Fandom, I'm Steve Allman. I'm Jomey Adoneron. And this is Mid-Edition, folks. It's the once-and-while podcast about all of the latest family that you just can't live without Jomey a Denneron.

How are you? You know what, man, I feel good. You know, the conference finals are up right now. Okay. Hoops, we got on this podcast a couple weeks ago, and you and Matt James didn't believe in the Knicks, brother, and yet here we are.

They are still playing. Our man had the Knicks hat on, and he was just like, I'm ready for pain. I'm ready to be hurt again. Listen, and he's a Knicks fan. He would know better to me. The Knicks have been through it. But they prevailed against the Celtics. Now they're here in the conference finals. Timothy Shalameh came out like Princess Diana,

blessing the people. Good for Timothy Shalemate. You know, his life's been so hard the last couple years. I'm glad he's got one thing going for. I frankly was really concerned about him. I was like, man, can Timothy Shadamay get a break? I'm like, can he get a girlfriend or something? You know what I'm saying? Like, he's not like the hottest movie star out there. He's not dating the hottest women. He's just like around. Right. And he finally got to see the Knicks go to the conference finals. So good for Timmy, man. That's all he does. Good for Timmy, dog. Good for him. By the way, what are we doing here? Oh, yeah, we podcast. We podcast. What are we podcasting about today?

We're talking about a couple of handful of things. A little bit of news, but we're really going to be talking about the new Apple TV Plus series MurderBot that debuted last week. And the third episode is out today, this Friday. And we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about the books that they're based on for a little bit. And a handful of news items that came down the pipeline that might particularly affect us and the things that we are going to be talking about in the near future on this here, ring or versed feed. But if you want to learn more about that, Ring ofverse feed.

Show me dinner on where can they be finding those bits of information? They can be finding those bits of information on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, and on TikTok. At Ringiverse, make sure to follow so you don't miss out on any of the good stuff that's happening up and around these feeds.

That is very good to know. By the way, stray shot, stray thought here, just for you. Just for me. Should we be opening up a mail bag? Just on Mint. Just a little mint mail. Mint mail. Mint mail. Should be doing me doing that?

I only consider that because somebody was asking me, like, if I checked the Reddit, and I'm like, I promise my therapist that I wouldn't. But I would like to hear from our good nature fans. Every time I want to whale, mail. What is that? Are you serious? I didn't quite catch what you were doing right there. What is that?

Wait, wait, wait, wait, Kerm, you don't know what this is? Kerm, get on the mic real quick. What did Jomi just do? I don't know. I'm going to combust in this podcast booth. I just sang the Blues Clues mail time song. And none of you got this. Now, I'm putting in my resignation today.

I cannot pause. I was four. I was five. All right. Confession time. That's nuts. I get why you wouldn't get it. I was a little too old for blues clues.

You were too old for Blue's Clues. I definitely grew up on Blue's Clues. I remember Steve DeJosh. Like, I remember. Yeah, yeah. And yet here we were. You know what? I just don't remember everything, man.

You can't, listen, audience, you just can't pile with anybody. At this point, I'm a free agent. I'm going to reach out to Rob Mahoney if you want to get on board. Maybe we shoot big for the stars to try to get Chris Ryan. That's right. Because the fact that I just sing the blues clue song and none of y'all knew what I was going on, Steve, you were a little bit old, but that is. You think Chris Ryan was going to get on and be like, oh shit?

Let me tell you something about Chris Ryan. Chris Ryan knows everything about everything. If I sing the blues close song, he's singing right of along with me. No, no, he'd be like, what episode of the Bureau was that from? Nah, man, don't do that to my man. Don't go to my guy. Come on, man. I cannot believe that. There are people listening right now, like, I can't believe they ain't and all that. And there's all supposed people are like,

show me what the hell are you doing? Well, maybe they should write into us. Maybe they should do that. Consider us. Let us know what your thoughts and takes. If you want to get, reach out to us, tell us what you might think we could be covering on this year's show. We'd love to hear from you.

Maybe we'll do that. Anyway, today we're going to talk about a handful of news items later on, but let's get started with our headline item, MurderBot, the new Apple TV Plus science fiction comedy show, starring Alexander Scarsgard and David Desmaltchen and a handful of others that are coming to us. This is a comedy series based off of the Adventure MurderBot sci-fi books by Martha Wells. And it follows the plot line, pretty much of the entire first book, All Systems Red, I have read three of these books. They're both very, very short and very, very fun.

A highly anticipated adaptation for the fans of the book. Jomi, you haven't read these. Just no spoilers at the moment, but what did you think of these first three episodes of MurderBot? I thought these episodes were just on our overall level, like way funnier than I thought. We're more introspective. I didn't know what the vibe was coming in,

You know, which is like, it's a show about robot in space finding, finding himself, right? It's like, you know, Wally is like a whole different thing. But, like, it's just like, you know, like a robot, like, in his own space. And so I was like, okay, I'll tap in. What is this like? And it was funny and introspective. And I think the mystery element is what's, like, really keeping me. I think it's really well done.

It's really well-bred come to the first three episodes. But I just think that Alexander Scarsgard has the main character. is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and I think it's working. I think the show is very funny. Like his little, like, in jokes when somebody says, oh, that won't be through tough, and then he's like, it will be difficult.

Yeah, it would be, like, really, really tough. Think, like, all of that is funny. The writings are really shunning in that aspect. I'm having a lot of fun with the show. Again, somebody's never even, I didn't even know the books existed until you were like, oh, by the way, the show's based on books. I was like, what?

But I'm really, I'm really, really excited. I want to see more because, I'm having a good time. What about you, Mr. Bookman? I am having a pretty good time. I wasn't quite sure what the tone and vibe that they were going for in contrast to what I had experienced in the books was. Bill Scarsgaard as Murder Bot or as...

Alexander Scarscar. Oh, my God. Alexander Scarzgard as Murder Bot is a very interesting choice. obviously a star-studded one and a big swing for this main character. I've liked this a lot. I've wanted to kind of compare this to the best of the sci-fi network shows. And I mean this as an absolute compliment because I love the magicians. I love Eureka.

I love early Stargate. And there's this level of lightheartedness. And like, the show just kind of feels fluffy. not bad, not like in a sort of like reductive way, but there's just some sort of like lighthearted nature about everything that's going on, even when our characters are in peril, even when there's like a intriguing mystery

or presumed danger, there's kind of a warm blanket era of safety with a sitcomy tone that I genuinely love when it comes to this adaptation. Am I wrong with this? They're still making sci-fi shows? They absolutely are still making sci-fi shows. I thought

I'm not gonna lie to. I thought sci-fi went the way of Spike TV, bro, in G4. I thought they got the thing up out of it. No,

no, no, no, no. Sci-Fi has been making hits. Wow. They had like a big, they had a chucky show

that was a big hit. You know, what sci-fi's been up to? No, brother. Bro, what do you think? I probably not. No, man.

I was watching. You should watch Eureka. I was watching Spike TV. Okay, so you're big MXC guy. You're a big what? Bro, Blue Mount State.

Come on. Blue Mountain State. That castle, come on, man. That was really popping when I was 14. What was the Delious Warrior? Brother. Code Monkeys? Oh, wait, no, that was G4.

A thousand ways to die. Thousand ways to die. Deadliest Warrior, that was classic. Would Gangas Khan survive being against the predator? Dude, that was cinema, man. We would talk about that in school, but like, yo, did you see that? That was crazy. No, I think, I mean, for me, my sci-fi show really is aging the shield, right?

Like, that's what it is, right? But this is, I mean, this is very different, right? Like, an Asian show could be funny, but this show is, like, actually, like, trying to be a comedy, right? Sure. It's trying to, you know, make you laugh to care about the character, MurderBot. Which, by the way, he came to that realization really quickly. He was like, what's to call myself? Murder Bob, boom, next.

Yep. You want to think about it? You don't want to be, like, John or something? No, he's very, like, literal when it comes to that. And this is, like, kind of my absolute. This is where my love of both the show and the books come in to where if a if a robot gains sentience by hacking his programming. Yeah.

And instead of wanting to learn more about humanity or expound on the ideas of free will or humanity and all those things, instead he wants to be a loner that just watches his soap operas. He just like me for him. And not really deal with anybody. He's kind of just clocking in and clocking out. He hates his job. He doesn't want to get caught up, right?

Like if he gets caught up, then that means that he has to get melted down and recycled. And nobody wants to do that. He doesn't want to do that. Nobody wants to die. You know what I mean? And so I completely get it. But I just thought it was funny because, like, murder bot, like, coming to murder bot after, like, five minutes of gaining, like, freedom is nuts. You don't want to be called, like, you know, John Gildes-Alexander or.

something like, you know what I mean? Or he would name himself after one of his favorite characters on a TV show or something like that. But instead, I think it's just like, this is my purpose and I spread butter. Names murder, and he don't even be murdering nobody. I mean, he kind of does, again.

He don't murder nobody. We don't want to spoil too much. Oh, but he's got the little vision. You're right. That's very true. And I certainly don't want to spoil anything farther in these books that I've read. Maybe that's what he, oh, see, I'm, I'm feeling it now. I'm on my Mal and Joe stuff. I'm theorized and I'm locking in right now. he's called murder bot because he's got residual effects from that those memories he'd be having where he was murdering all there there was some trauma there's some trauma there that is so under so in his like deepness processing he can't even get rid of it so speaking why he calls himself murder by I'm locked in I'm speaking of trauma I kind of want to put this on the head so like my main

divergence that I've been noticing from the books from the show which I wouldn't even say as a knock on it but it's just very interesting the books really center around the POV of MurderBot. He narrates the entire adventure. He has a lot of quippy and introspective thoughts about how the people around him are behaving, as well as the situations that he gets himself in at the behest of the company that commissioned him to be on these expeditions with these hippie-dippy miners.

And it feels a lot more... casual and it feels a lot more charismatic of a character in the books because he's just talking about himself in his own head. When we get the show, we are outside of his head for the most part. We have a couple of,

if we have a bit of narration where we get his own thoughts, but it isn't translated like that to other human beings because he's very stiff and awkward and acts like a robot. And it actually retroactively made me rethink

the books because maybe in his head he thinks he's very charismatic, but then when projected outward, he doesn't know how to be human. He doesn't know how to act like a normal person. What did you think about? Because whenever I see Alexander Scarsgaard act as murder bot towards other people, it kind of makes me feel sad. He feels, he is so awkward and so, like, saddened by interacting with people where he'll just be like, I will check the perimeter now and then just awkwardly leave. It's awkward, but also

suspicious as fuck. Like, yeah, suspicious is fuck. It's so suspicious because, like, again, he's trying to,

you know, he's, he's hacked the program. He's supposed to be this non-feeling very, very, very literal, like,

you know, actually just robotic, right? But he's having all these thoughts, all these emotions, and he's, he just can't really,

like, process them. And so when somebody's, like, maintain, eye contact, he's like, that's gross. Why would I want to do that?

But I have to do that. And it's painful for him. But I have to do it to maintain the cover so I don't get melted down and turn into food recycling. And in the earlier chapters of the first book, he's not really concerned about that because he just kind of glides along acting like a normal or at least pretending to be a fully functioning and accurately depicting murder bot. but he's just very calculated and measured

about how he wants to interact with people. In this interpretation for the show, he's almost kind of bumbling those interactions. And I kind of find it interesting because you could talk to, say, an augmented human's personality, played by David Desmaltzian. And they have this interesting back and forth

about how when they sift through data, It's as if they're going through a physical space and they're bumping into each other. And he can't really process like MurderBot. So Dusmalchon's character tries to empathize and is just shut down. I kind of like these dynamics because in a show that's willing to take its time, this actually plays with these ideas pretty well in small doses. Garathan? What's his name?

Gratham. That's my op forever. That's my op forever. You think so? Bro, like, he hating on murder bot, really. Because a homie with faster process it came. It's like when the homie, he had like the new, he had like the Jays from like six months ago, right? And he's still like rocking him.

Then a homie come with the Jays from last week. Uh-huh. And he's like, yo, his shoes better than mine. I'm going to just hate off that. And here's the thing. I cannot stress to you enough that this murder bot is a shit-tier model. Yeah, well, yeah. It took the least expensive.

Well, they also make it very clear that, like, you suck. Like, we didn't even want to get you the first one. But the only reason we can get insurance is because... They're not mean about it, but they're like, are you sure you want that broken down piece of crap? Yeah. Are you double sure? And ultimately, like, that's what they get.

But I think the show and Alexander Scarscar do a good job of, you know, bringing some... It's not humanity. It's not the right word because he's a bit awkward. But just some, like, realness. you know, to somebody who's in a situation. There's extremely uncomfortable, but yet by all accounts, they do not want to have to do this thing,

but they are doing it. And it's so awkward, but so funny at the same time. The thing about the show that I kept not bumping up against, and this, like, I want to preface this by saying, like,

this is a me problem. And you're watching the show, and your head, you're like, this is all good. This is all fun. I'm having a good time. I see the vision.

Yeah. But, like, you know, you're like, what would it be cool if they did this? What would be cool if they did that? You know, it's a problem we come up. We talk about all the time on the Middap Boys about like writing the show.

And like it's a thing that like all of us, everybody that we do all the time, we have to like not do. Just enjoy what you're watching. Yeah. But in my head, I'm like, what if he never took off the mask? What if the whole show was just the robot guy

doing the robot thing? Or what if he just was just had a face the whole time? And it wasn't like the thing. I think I would, prefer if he never, like it was literally just like a manned situation, just a dude, in a robot suit. And then maybe you get to see his face. No, you never get to see his face.

Right. The whole thing is that he's a robot and they cheat him like a robot. But like there's a robot they try to cheat like a human despite the fact that he's a freaking robot and you don't see his face, you know, and he's like having all these thoughts and having all these things. So you never see him. And again, because, and maybe this is my fault. maybe I just have PTSD from Halo.

Okay? Because I mean, I think we could both agree this is a far, far bigger upgrade than Halo. But, but Halo did the thing where they're like making a big deal of him taking the mask off. Sure, sure, sure, sure.

You're going to see, you're going to see Master Chief's face, man. You're going to get all of it. And it's like, cool. I don't really need that. Like, he can just be Master Chief. Like, that's really all we hear for. Right.

Like John, but again, if we had decades upon decades of knowing the character of murder. that he never showed his face and then he showed his face in the first 10 minutes, then I think we'd have a problem. But, again, it's not a problem. It's just like me doing the thing I'm not supposed to do, which is like the show.

And I think that this is, asking the question like, what that, is that something you've read the books? Is that something that would make sense, like if they were like, again, if they were just like started from scratch. Yeah. Right. I think, yeah, I'm watching. I'm like, that could be a little bit more interesting.

Not that I don't find this version of the show interesting. already, but just something like in my head, I'm going like, I think I would really like it if he didn't like close and open his face. So yes and no, because again, the books are from murderbot's perspective and as we

have now, and I think I should probably say like light spoilers for the show as it is, because I'm mainly going to be talking about the pilot here. The biggest kind of protocol breaking thing that MurderBot does is show his face in order to

comfort and console somebody who was recently attacked by a gigantic centipede, which was really, really funny and fun. It wasn't funny for me, man, because I was hot because MurderBot was like, yo, hey, leave. They're like, not actually we're fine. And I'm like, guys,

leave. He, like, told them like three times to get out of it. They didn't. You got bid up. And then they go back, they're like, we can't trust this MurderBot. He's like, yo, he did his job. He did what he was supposed to do. Why y'all mad at him? I just thought that was ridiculous. But he also has.

great responses to those dumb things in his mind where he's just like, how would you feel if we left those people to die? He was like, alive. I would feel alive. I would feel good, actually. It's really not a problem for me. He's doing my job. But the idea being that the thing that he has

been constantly worried about in the show is the fact that he knows that they know he's not supposed to show his face. And his organic parts are kind of organic parts are usually here for

both cosmetic and for certain like functional things like he doesn't have genitals because he's not a sex robot he doesn't he has like musculature because he has to be strong he has a face

because there have to be ways of talking and like using like one's like facial expressions to convey things but in order to do this to a degree. Like he thought of this on his own because he saw it in

a soap opera. In the books, he doesn't nearly show his face that much, but the idea of connecting with humanity through his organic parts and his and mainly his face is a crux,

but it's explained via his thoughts. And he's not paranoid about it. He's just like, oh, well, this is what they do, so this is what I'm going to do. And I think it's kind of interesting because there's a bit of a cat and mouse about figuring out, okay, well, do I hide my autonomy from these people that might be empathetic to my cause? Or do I just play it straight because I have access to not only the company's spyware on everything that is going on on this ship, but also access to these people? And that's another question that I wanted to say, because as I'm watching both this show and a big thing that I noticed in the books is that this feels like a very big sort of commentary on big corporate entities, getting people to sign away like massive amounts of their data, personal information, and access to their lives in order for security and creature comforts. The idea that MurderBot has not only access to every single security feed,

but relays that entirely to the corporation that they are then working for, all detailed in a massive terms of service document that I'm sure that they didn't read. Do you feel like that theme is kind of a prescient now and really like stated well in the show? Yeah, I mean, I mentioned Wally at the beginning because, It's kind of in the similar vein of, you know, robots finding themselves. And also, the big corporations are the bad guys. Don't listen to the big money people. And we've been having this, again, Wadi came out in like 2005.

You know, it's like, it's old as hell. And so at least for me. Okay, wow, date me. Jesus. What do you mean? It's 20 years. I understand. That's a long time for anybody.

I know, yeah. Yeah, because you old doesn't mean it's not a long time. I know. I'm just as the oldest person in this room. You know, but, that may or may not have exposed wiring, but it's fine.

It's, it's literally like, bro, I mean, we can even go back further to aliens, alien. Alien.

You know what I'm saying? The Whalen Corporation. Mm-hmm. Whalenuton. Dude, I've been on TikTok for, you know, I mean,

I'm in the time for forever. But somebody's been showing on my tip of talking about the Cloverfield movies. Mm-hmm. And how there's a corporation in the Cloverfield movies. for movies and the reason the cofrew for monster showed up is because they were using some of the they were mining some of the juice from under the ocean to put in their drinks that made people addicted and that's how the cloverfield monster got out like hold on let me find the corporation cloverfield

man that's some that's some tough stuff i was because i was about to ask like if there is a top like evil corporation that you would work for that see that if you could think of like at least the short-term benefits to long-term surrendering my life? There's a corporation in Golderfield, and basically they're a deep sea exploration in petroleum mining company that extract stuff from the sea. They put in the drink, and it's really bad, right, obviously. And then he asked this question. So here's my question for you. In the list that I'm about to give you of evil fictional corporate entities, who would you

work for murder bots evil corporation wayland utani wailing utani the umbrella corporation oh no no umbrella hell no how about omni consumer products from robocop

definitely shot you got an office you got shot up in an intermediate bro hell no I mean but you get you get some pretty cool gear nah no no no all right have you seen mr. robot e corp nope no not e corp

okay uh maybe maybe the Tyrell Corporation from Blade Runner. I think you get a sick office in the Tyrell Corporation. Here's what I'll tell you. Here's where I work for. Work for Monarch.

You work for Monarch. Okay, what are you doing at Monarch? I'm the social media guy from Monarch. You're the social media guy for Monarch? I'm posting TikToks of Godzilla. Okay, but you're not. You're actually specifically not supposed to do that.

That's actually, you're like, who is this, Godzilla? I'm like, what? Yo, it's so. It's me, Jome. I'm outside, man. Godzilla, Godzilla, how you doing? No, no, no, no.

You're going to be... No, no, no, this is what you do. Jomey hunts down Godzilla and be like, hey, Godzilla, we need you to do this one viral TikTok dance that's going around. It goes like this. It's called the Apple dance. Yo, what's up, Ma. What's up?

What's up? Y'all'm here with Mothra, man. We out here. Oh, ah! We're making the viral shortcake, strawberry shortcake brownies, man. What is it? Mothra, who is on your Hear Me Out cake? Go.

Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, mecha Godzilla, man. You guys, I'm out here. We definitely made you, but it's me, it's me, it's Becca, guys. Well, it's P.R. I got to spin the P.R. Right, right, right, right. The whole thing is to spin, it's like, yo, Mechia Godzilla and Godzilla, they're going to have an Among Us tournament.

We're going to get everybody out here. You know what I'm saying? It's going to be a Shimu. We're going to get Mopra. We're going to get Space Godzilla, guys. You don't want to miss it. Make sure you follow us on Twitch. I'm just seeing a bit...

So you see the stream. I'm just seeing a bit of like Logan Paul fights Mecca Godzilla on Netflix. Bro, I'm sponsored by Prime. Dog. Yo, we're getting... Yo, it's Mike Tyson versus Space Godzilla in a 1v1. Yo, subscribe.

Everybody's asses out. Subscribe to Monarch TV Plus. So you don't miss out. I work for... Listen, man. They paying a check, you know what I'm saying? Jomi, how could you work for such a bankrupt company? To check...

Morally bankrupt. but not financially. You know what I'm saying? Listen. The bread is there. Who do you think rebuilds Hong Kong every time Godzilla show up and blow it to smithereens?

Yeah. It's easy. That's easy. We got Godzilla napping in the Coliseum. Anyway, back to murder. Regular. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable internet

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be a two percenter. Learn more at Wells Fargo.com forward slash active cash terms of play. Back to murder bot. I love these side characters. I really do because you get these wonderful little

Easter eggs of these side stories about making the love contract of an open relationship just so, that that woman's wife gonna have sex with her co-worker Okay, we need to have a conversation about throuples.

Okay. Because, guys, I've been waiting for this. Dude, this, I've been watching TV for a long time. Okay. And between this, the politician, I don't know if you watch a politician on Netflix.

It was, it was a show man. The politician on Netflix? The politician on Netflix, but I watched it a thousand years ago. I had the dude from, um, What's his name? He's a famous guy who would be singing a lot.

Ben Platt. Got Ben Platt. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Zoe Deuch was in it. There's a throuple in that one. David Cornswet was in it. David Cornswet was in it. Wow, Superman.

Superman was in it. It was stacked. My home girl was Leo Tap, man. I was like, I'm going to tap in. There's a lot of thruple conversation. I'm like, yo, man. What's going on? What's going on over here?

Because I thought. that those characters were like, they were locked in, you know what I'm saying? I thought homie just had a crush, right? So I thought like Penn Lee and Arada were like locked in, you know what I'm saying? I thought they had something special. And I thought, uh, Ratty was just looking.

I thought he was just like, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It'd be nice if I could get, you know, somebody, you know, I'm gonna hear out alone. Exactly. Meanwhile, they was plotting. Because remember, as soon as they signed the thing, they start making out like,

like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, I actually, but I also kind of love that, just the setup of that because it's just like, okay, let's plop the contract here because this is clearly a thing that happens all the time. We got to remember in society. Mensa mentions like she got multiple spouses. Yes. So clearly they've evolved in the future.

Yeah. It's not even like monogamy is crazy in the future. You only got one partner. They're like, hey, bro, what are you doing? You only got one partner? But then again, like it's, this, the show can weirdly get deep when you think about it more. I mean, that's mad progressive. It's mad progressive, but also, like, to think about contractual, it's like, it's another

terms of service just to get the creature comforts of what you want. We don't really know what the contract actually is, but to know it's more things to sign away, more things to surrender in order for you to just get that one thing you want. And it's a theme that's, like, subtly and sometimes not so subtly hidden in this show that I kind of really dig. It's actually pretty conscious like that. It's good. I'm just like, yo,

this is another thruple on another show. This is what we're doing. All right, man. Let's go. Garathan mad as hell. He won't men so bad, but he can't say nothing. I don't think so.

Bro, he was, he went and smelled, did he go, didn't he go smell her, he was on some real freak stuff? That's crazy. With the pillow. Have some shame, brother.

Yeah. Murderb I can see you. You know there's cameras. You got to know there's cameras. You got to know there's cameras, man. Why would you do it? And again, like, I don't, I keep finding myself thinking,

I'm like, it's so, I know that it's, I might be going in too deep about this, but again, it's the level of like modern day, uh, conveniences that we know that like, hey,

listen, we know that your phone is tracking you 24, seven. And yet you still look at the things you look at on your phone. And you still do the things you do on the internet. And a lot of people are a lot more reckless than we think. And we know that those, that data and all of that information,

all in the, in the guise of a person, personified, like, murder bot that is all of that terms of service personified. What does he care about? He doesn't give a shit about any of that. He just wants to watch his stories. So let's talk about-the-fall of Sanctuary Moon. Let's talk about Sanctuary Moon real quick.

Oh, shout out John Cho. Shout out Clark, Greg. Your man. Your man's. Real quick beard watch on our guy. Wow. There's a lot going on. That was actually crazy.

There was a lot going on, you know what I'm saying? But my man, he can get a check. You feel me? Shout on my boy, Colson, Dunes Day. I know that they say, do you not in it, but the cameo is going to go crazy. It's going to be the best cameo we've ever seen. Tap in. Y'all, y'all, y'all, don't miss my man.

And DeWanah. Wryor's. Yeah. They shut out the Shat, Apple, man, got that bread. They shout out the check for the people. They're just having fun over there, and that's what I really like. I mean, you might as well, you know what I'm saying. You're a trillion-dollar company.

You might, you can throw Clark Reg a couple hundred dollars. Exactly. John Cho, you know, DeWanda, John Cho, you know, DeWanda, Jack McBrayer, come get a stack. come work with us. I thought, I mean, I was, I was hoping they'd come back in more episodes, but it's really just that first bit. But it was, it was really just funny seeing John Cho

and then like, patting off for this Clark Reg. I'm like, yeah, what's my dog? What's that, dude? You know? Arianna? You love those, you love those buzz and surprises. But again, I think the strengths of this show, and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of it.

Oh, yeah, definitely. I think to, like, put a little bow on it. Like, it's easy to recommend the show. But I actually might consider you binge it because episodes are only 30 minutes of pop and they're going weekly. Yeah. And we've got like 12 episodes to go.

So this is going to be a full-ass season of television. And it's really like a, it's not a hard watch. It's like 30 minutes, man. It's breezy. It's light. You're just like, okay, well, I'm off for the rest of my day. You could probably knock this out in a weekend once it's done. Honestly, it's really interesting to think about

because, like, when you think about like how TV used to be, where a show, I mean, I don't know if they make a show like this back in the OG days, but the fact that they do, and it's like no commercials, right? So it's literally 27 minutes of TV, right? And I know, like, you're talking to me crazy because back in day it was 30, but it was really like 22, 23 with commercials. Yeah, 22, 21 minutes. It's literally just like 27 minutes of show content and boom is done.

Like, it's really like there's nothing to it. If you look at it, you're like, man, An episode of Friends moves fast by today's things. They got to get them jokes out. They got to. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? If the audience is not laughing, then it's not laughing.

Then it's not really anything. This is obviously, like, more to tell, like, a story, right? And so while I, I'm enjoying it. I mean, I'm going to watch a week to week as it comes out. But I think it could work as a binge, I think. I see the vision. And again, like, I rarely advocate for the binge model. I really do.

But for some reason, I'm just like, man, I just want to knock this out. I want to see where this goes. All right. The bear. Okay, let's not talk about that. Let's not do that. Listen, man, they said we go, here's what we're going to do. Every single May and June, you get 10 episodes of the bear all at once.

That's y'all problem. Good luck. Here's what I will say. They crank those out. You get those every year. That's why I'm not mad at the binge because I know I'm getting 10 every year. It'd be one thing if they were like, cool, you get them once a week for 10 weeks, but you got to wait once every two, three years.

ah, would you rather have that or would you rather have this? Exactly. That's fair. You see it. And guess what? A.O. Debris' TikTok doing a lot more marketing for the show than FX. I'll say that. Listen.

I found out about season four from her and not from an actual trailer. I just wait. I just wait for on Twitter and see people going like her and Carmen, Cynic Carmi should not be together. They're co-workers. And I'm like, ah, we're back. That's it. Yeah.

If they dredge up the culture, War of sending garbage up the CIA, man. The CIA has been on a, like they have been on a generational run of not doing nothing. Okay. Ever since Jack Dorsey was like, yo, I'm going to vet this app. I'm going to call it Twitter. CIA has been on a LeBron James 2012, 2013 run. They have done none of the, they have done nothing.

No. All they had to do is let people tweet their thoughts. And it caused the downfall of this country. Insane work. Voluntarily. You got to give it up Guys, give it up for the surveillance state Give it, give it up for the Central Intentiazsche, man

I will say this I've been watching a lot of poker face There's a little bit of aura in a FBI Flag Jacket Oh, I mean, listen They're still cool They're cool, but you can't, you can't do it, man You can't do it, man, you can't do ops, nah

Man, I want to be Let me tell you it's bro I want to have an FBI flag jacket And I want to be shouting into a radio In a black sedan So here's thing, Kerm's looking at you crazy Because what's going to happen is you're going to pop out with an FBI jacket.

And people just start running the opposite way. And I'm like, you're out of your jurisdiction. People are just going to start running. You're out of your jurisdiction. The opposite direction. You'd be like, yo, why is everybody doing to talk to me? It's because you literally dress like a cop. And then I walk in and it would be like, no, this is a federal case now.

It's a federal case. Pack it up. Do you see that please don't destroy a bit from the John Hamm episode where they're like cops and they're looking for this missing girl? But John Hamm's like, I want pizza. And no, no, no, no, no. It's really funny you see it, but there is a flag jacket in that one. And I always, and to your point, I was like, this guy looks really serious.

FBI flag jackets look cool. But you can't wear him because you want to be a cop. It's an easy Halloween costume. Yeah, but then you kind of look like you got some sauce. You put a tie on. It's great. It only works when you're Bert Macklin FBI and you're goofy. You get a big ass walkie-talkie, like a 1992 Motorola brick shit.

But then you also have the, you have to have the glasses. Yeah. You need the badge around your neck and you need to go up to every, single person. You got to be, and you kind of feel like you're just like, I'm on the right side of the law. Excuse me, this is a federal case now. I need you to move away for those chips.

Is it all right? Yeah. Clear out. Hey, no more beers for you, man. This is federal case. Give me, give me that beer. Come on. You feel great.

Hey, you have to take a shot. Doesn't that feel? Doesn't that feel great? No, man. I feel like a, I literally feel like a police office. I don't know, man. Hey, we got to take shots right now. This is a federal case.

Everybody's got to take shots right. So you got to put on this vest? I got to put on a vest. Eagle is moving, eagle is moving. Jesus Christ. I don't know what we're doing here. We're talking about the news. Biggest thing that broke Jomi's heart this week,

Netflix's Avatar of the Last Airbender series, Season 2 has announced that Dichen Latchman from 01 Severance, aka Ms. Selvick. And Ages of Shield. And Ages of Szil. Oh, boy. There we go, every single one, single time. Yep.

She has been cast as, drum roll please, Yang Chen. Avazar Yang Chen of the Western Air Temple. And Jummi, you have the floor. And you know what? Good for her, man. You know, check is a check. You can't be mad at it. You know what I'm saying? The bills don't pay themselves.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, what it's really all about is that everybody's having a good time. You know, everybody's having fun. Everybody's getting paid. And, yeah, that's really all I have to say about that. I have no bad things to say. LeBron, LeBron, sorry, yes, here. Steve Allman from the Ringer, yes, follow a question. Does this loss of one of your favorite stars to a extremely middling Netflix series

and all break your spirit at a time like this? Or will you be watching season two? Brother, not only will I be watching season two, we will be covering it on a podcast or another. So you will be watching it as well. the thing that it just it's her casting is not like

it's not a bad thing inherently like obviously good for her she's been like severance has popped off in ways I don't think anybody she's incredible she's I don't think anybody who made the show thought that it would pop off like that right so ultimately like she's getting roles

like that is not the issue the thing is that season two is coming out and you were just reminded of that fast I was like, no, man. Dichin. They dragged you into this? No. Because I'm not going to sit here and say the show stinks.

That's me. But it's not great. And then you have like... Right. Less than ideal. The problem with the lead of season one was like all these quotes come out about how they change in the show. And you get disappointed. But you're like, man, maybe fingers crossed.

Maybe I'm tweaking. And then the show comes out and it's your worst fears realized. Right. And then they're doing the same thing for season two where they're talking about Taf. It's like, yeah, man, she's going to be more in touch with their feminist side. I'm like, yo, brother, man, that's not. What are you saying? Nobody asks for any of this, man.

Like, if you're going to make a live action adaptation, cool, it can't be one for one because then what's the point? But at the same time, don't change core character aspects of the people just. for fun. See, but then we're talking about the same kind of philosophy that I actually, as the days go by, I rock with more and more because when we get

our live action How to Train Your Dragon directed by the same person that directed the live, the animated film, his reasoning for directing it, A number one,

they were going to make it anyway, so I may as well do it and make it right. I mean, listen, you know what he wants. I just, I like... Because, but it's really funny because ultimately was

what it is is now if somebody else makes it and he don't like it, now you got to get up there and be like, yeah, man, it was cool. You're not trying to lie about it. Like, look, no, yeah. I only trust me to make this happen. So I'm going to make it happen. The thing is, though, you already did make it happen to one time, right?

And I don't know what the difference. And then you made the original guys leave. Right? I don't know what. Because you weren't doing it right. Right? So I don't know what the difference is in this one. I mean, as soon as Breke exited.

the avatar stuff, I was like, ah, it's looking bad. Yeah. And now, brother, the show's going to end with Quattara and Zuko kissing. I'm a crash out. I'm going to have a full-blown 100%. Like, they got to put me in a mental hospital. I swear to God. So it's either, for your own mental health, you pretend this doesn't exist?

No, we have to cover it. Like, it's a show that people are going to watch and people are going to want to hear somebody. It's possible. And I have going to get on there. And I'm like, oh, I. But I feel like on principle, you could just be like, I may or may not support this.

Watch the thing that is better than. I mean, maybe, I mean, but the thing is the animation, the animated show doesn't not exist. It's still going places. Don't even get me started on a movie. I got thoughts about the movie. Are you not happy? Oh, man.

Are you not happy? No, man. Okay, oh, wait, no, soft pivot now to the animated universe of the, of Avatar, last airbender. I mean, I'm not getting this tech. I got to refine this take. This is not for that. Okay, this is a take on.

construction. This is a take under construction, but I'm looking at it. I'm like, hey, man, yeah, we're going to... You think they're just lean into Ang heavy? We're not taking this seriously.

Really? We're not taking this... You think we're too reliant on Ang? Are we too reliant on the Skywalker's of the Avatar universe? No, no, brother. We talk about this when the backs is off, but... Interesting. I'm looking at it on my life.

Jomey shine away from an Avatar take. I'm surprised at you. Nah, man. It's... Actually, I'm gonna give this take... I'm gonna take... You gotta bleep this take. Hello Ringiverse fans

I regret to inform you that due to the initiation of Deep Shaddle Protocol this bit had to be edited out of the pod I know I'm just as disappointed as you are thanks as always for listening and the Midnight Boys Poo Poo Poo Poo! We'll get back to you shortly So yeah that's the take Okay and you know what I'm saying so I guess I got there's a little work that needs to be done But you can see where I'm sure

But you can see why that needs a bit refining Needs a bit of refining but I think when when at the end of the day we're talking about the live action avatar, I hope that there's still time for them to pivot. They do have a lot of big stars. Nah, man. They got a lot of stuff.

I think that my main complaint from when we had that, not only because it was a bit like atonal when it came to covering the things in that first season that I would have really liked and it carrying that in the way. There was like a big way that that show looked where things were like too clean and too glossy,

and people just looked like they were wearing the best versions of cosplay that you had ever seen rather than feeling like it's true to life. Does that feel, right? It's that same take that we're like the last of us. Somebody wrote an article

about how The Last of Us will show torture, but it won't show a woman with bad hair because Dina's hair is like immaculate and they live in the apocalypse and I'm like, when did you even shower, let alone blow dry your hair? That kind of stuff. that's the kind of like dissonance

that we have from like making the show the best looking version of a thing rather than a thing that could be authentic to the vibes that you want to bring. Yeah, I mean, I, the look was like always going to be a question. Obviously, it's a TV show.

You're doing all these effects and things like that. Yeah. Like the look and the dressing and the CTA was always going to be something that we always had questions about. But you got to get the characters in the story right, man, and they didn't do any of that. So it is not something

I am looking forward to, but I unfortunately have to be there. Okay. So, grim. How about a little bit of positivity for you? In the least surprising news ever, guess what, The Hunger Games prequel book is getting a movie about it. Yeah.

Well, they made, they were like, hey, you're going to write the book so we can make a movie. Which is, which is, listen, I'm all for people, I'm all for people reading. Truly. I really, really am. But I'm like, man, are we just doing this

so that people can get movie deals? Is that all we're doing right now? Yep. That's fine. That's fine. But The Hunger Games, Sunrise on the Reaping has added L. Fanning. Yeah. To its cast as Effie Trinket.

Oh, man. I can't wait, bro. I can't wait for this. Of the Westchester Trinkets? The West, Jesus Christ. You know, that elegant family? I'm not sure. I'm not really sure what we're doing.

I didn't read Sunnaries on the Reaping. Joey, does this ring true to you? Yeah, no. We love L. Fanning. We love L. Fanning. We love El Fanning. Everybody watched The Great. That's like one of my favorite show.

ever. She's going to be in the new Hunger Games. Show me your thoughts. Dude, this is, this cast is stacked, bro. I'm surprised they keep getting, like, incredible. Like, the fact that Woody Harrelson and Philip Seymour Hoffman were in the same movie together doing this. Elizabeth Banks, dude, Jennifer Lawrence dog at the height

of the Jennifer Lawrence popularity. You know what I mean? One of the Hemsworth brothers, Liam, I believe, is his name? A baby Jack Quaid? A baby Jack Quaid? The thing was popping, bro. You know, Sina? Lenny Kravish, too, man. The movie got, the movie got stars. You know what I'm saying? We'll be hitting. But this one's got some hitters too. Ray Fines as President Snow, Jesse Plymouths. They got Slim Damon as Poochark, Heavensby. McKenna Grace, who he was being in like basically everything. Wait a minute. Let me guess. Jesse Pumman plays a evil white man. Well, he's not evil.

Plutarch is a good guy. Okay. You would know, I wouldn't. You've watched The Hunger Games. I have also watched every Jesse Plymouth's role. That's fair. That's fair. They got Joseph Zada as playing Hamish Aberdaffey.

Okay, okay. Woody Halston and the original games. Original games. Hunger Games. Yeah. Oh, that was right. But yeah, no, the movie, it's getting, we're getting there, man. We're getting like a nice little big test.

For sure. I mean, it was coming out 2026, I believe. So they're locked in. Like, they're making this thing happen as we speak. But I, I liked the book. It was really sad. It was great vibes all around. I mean, it's the freaking hunger games.

You know what I mean? Like, it's, uh, wow. Maya Hawk as virus. Okay. Okay. So it's, it's happening, dog. The whole thing is going. Uh, I think the last, some, I saw somebody say,

they're trying to get Kieran Calkland as Stanley Tucci's character from the games. That's a big swing for Hunger Games, man. Hey, but listen, I mean, all you got to do is just put Kieran in some crazy clothes and go act. Hey, go be yourself. And then that season. Hey, you fucking hunger kid. Honestly. What do you want to fucking do?

What? as I thought, I'm sorry. Kieran Culkin, you're awesome. I was just trying to do a terrible impression. But not. They're going crazy on the casting. Every single day there's a new thing where it's like, oh, this is exactly what the fans wanted to. I'm tapped in, brother.

Like, this one I'll be excited to talk about. We didn't talk about the first book because, or the first prequel. Bows of Songbirds and Snakes. That's like, first of all, that's a long title. It's a very long title and I didn't really like it. Sunrise on the ripping's not like the shortest title either. It's a cooler title But I was like, y'all trying to humanize snowman

I don't like that, bro I don't like that dude Why am I trying to Nah, bro? But think about this, who among us wouldn't go crazy If they lost their shorty? Now, I wouldn't,

I wouldn't like kill everybody every year You know, and like a re-being. So Hunger Games presents How valid is the crash out? How valid is crash out? I don't listen. Who among us

Hasn't fumbled a baddie so bad that we spent the rest of our lives, you know, making other people pay for it? I mean, no comment. Who among us? Success is the greatest revenge. We'll say that.

Nah, you're not supposed to do that. So I was just like, no, I'm not really, I'm not really like interested in the snow thing. But, you know, the movie popped off and people liked it and saw I was like, well, I guess I'm reading this one. And it was a hiter, bro. So, yeah, I got to tap it. I mean, I did it on Ring of Verse recommends. For sure.

I can't wait to listen to her. We look forward to that sequel, saving cinema along with that and Tom Cruise and the, well, Tom Cruz is saving cinema. Exactly. He's only keeping the lights on a paramount. So we're going to be seeing more of that guy, it turns out. Tom Cruise in the firm, too. The firm.

Refirmed. Firmer. Infirmary. Infirmary. The firm two, infirmary. He's a lawyer at the doctor's office. Oh, shit. And it turns out that some of the doctors are killing the patients and skimming the insurance.

And they come out of FBI flackjackets and they say you're out of your jurisdiction. No, it's Ed Harrison. He's old as hell. Oh, but he's still really cool. But he's coolest, dude, he's head in the FBI. Ed Harris and a flag jacket, are you telling me that's not aura personified? What are you talking about, man? You've seen the firm, right?

Yeah. He's got, he doesn't have the flag jacket, but he's got the overcoat. I understand that. And that's, that's fire. The over because the flag jacket, you are a cop. We know you're a cop. But the overcoat's like, ooh, he could be anything. I would argue the flyest that Ed Harris has ever looked is the vest in Apollo 13.

when he gets the vest on. Do you remember that? And everybody's like clapping. And it's like that pure like cream vest with that cool patch on. And he's like, all right. Good for him, man. He went to space. Tom Hanks went to space.

Yeah. Kevin Bacon went to space. Katie Perry went to space. Gary Seney did not go to go to space. Oh, yeah. No. And he never got the measles. And he won't.

He had the most, yes, he did. Well, he tested that he could get the measles. But he never got him. He never got the measles. Yeah, but then guess what, though? Lieutenant Dan also didn't get to go to space. space. Right.

Because he ain't got no legs. Well, no, because that's that's Forrest Gump. Yes, but I'm saying Gary Seneas can't go to space. He didn't get to go to space in Apollo 13 and Forrest Gump. Okay.

I thought you're talking about actual Gary Seney. I mean, he might go to space. Good. He could. Katie Perry did it. I mean, he kind of owed at this point, but like, you know, we ball, right? At this point, like, you might as well.

It's 20, it's 2025. You can do whatever you want. You know what I'm saying? Get on a jet. They got a car up in space. They did. Fast 10. this has been a minute edition.

Thank you guys so much for listening. It's been a great time. Let us know if you want to write into us in an email bag. Email bag. Let us know if you want us to set up an email address. Email address. Or maybe we just set one up and you can tell us one anyway. Send us mail.

We'll set up a P.O. box. Yeah. And just write write letters. Send a little wish and throw it in the direction of Los Angeles, California. We'll have Kerm read all of them. Send the producer gift cards. Oh, whoa, whoa, soliciting money on the podcast. Wow.

Wow. Who was, that was my brother. James Kermar just came in and recommended that I should do. Wow, Jim Kerm. Yeah, that's crazy, right? That's crazy. Kerm has to recoup expenses from all of his crypto investments. So when he comes back, liquid, he'll be ready.

Yo, Jim Kerm be on there like, yo, don't pay me in cash. Just pay me in gift cards. My money is tied up in, in Kohl's cash. now. I need to get liquid. I'm not liquid. It's all coal's cash, baby. You send me $200 of your cash so that I can liquidate these, this cold's cash. And I promise you, I will send the money back as soon as I do.

It's a quick transfer. It's none of that. In fact, it's so easy. I'm spending the 30 cents to make it instant. Don't worry. It's so easy. Give me your banking information. Yes. And I'll make it happen. It's a lot easier that. Yeah, it's way easier that way. That's your password, your accounting number, your routing number. and your mother's maiden name.

Exactly. I meet that. Please, thank you. What we also need is for you to tune into the rest of the Ringerverse, where we're going to be covering The Last of Us on Midnight Boys, right after the episode ends. We're also going to be covering Last of Us on House of R and on Buttonmash, as well as next Wednesday, we are going to be talking about Mission Impossible. That's what they do with the...

Con Winston, how epic that was. on the midnight boys. This coming Wednesday, we're going to be checking that out. So sit tight, check out some cinema on the weekend. Have a great one. Jomi,

any parting words? I do have some parting words. Listen to this on Friday. That means around the horn is ending. And we got to give a shout out to our guy, man. What? You're saying like he died. He's wildly successful and very.

much alive. He is not dying. Jesus Christ. We got to give a shout out. He's not, he's not dying. In the arms of the angels. That's crazy. Shout out Tony Reallie and everybody at Around the Horn, a real one man. You know, Tim Kallashaw, uh, Bill Plashke, Woody Page, Jackie McMullen, man, Blackstone, uh, Beaumani Jones, bro. Yep. Just real legends over there. So shout out to everybody out around the horn. We're going to miss you. Gotta give a shout out to our Intrepid producer and his brother, Jim Kerma. Jim Kerma. His brother.

Jim Kerma. Shout out to our guy, Shea Kermis Alexander. Oh, there you go. And we will see you guys.