The Ringer-Verse - ‘The Last of Us Season’ 2 Episode 3 Reactions | The Midnight Boys

Episode Date: April 28, 2025

The Boys are back and they’re diving into ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Episode 3. They discuss Ellie’s and Dina’s travels to Seattle and how the show is starting a new plot line almost midway through the season. (0:00) Intro  (7:50) Spoilers ahead  (9:41) Initial reactions  (22:33) Tangent 1  (29:03) Character relationships and lore  (45:03) Tangent 2  (49:48) Seattle  (52:23) Last thoughts  Hosts: Van Lathan, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman Producers: Aleya Zenieris, Jonathan Kermah, and Steve Ahlman Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You don't need WeatherTech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. Come into the reverse. This is, of course, the ringers' nexus podcast feed for all things. Fandom, we are, Steve, the architect, almond, the builder,

and tinker of things. We are. Jummy, explain it. Dinner on. You've got questions. He's got answers. Old man, Van,

he of the resurgent, hairline, Coke, baby, Chuck, 24-carried Clos. Together we are known as a midnight boys. Hey,

wham! Also, socials, Inst, Instagram, Instagram, YouTube. Yo, it's going,

it's popping off over here. Last of us. And door. Thunderbolts. Don't get left behind. What do you mean? Don't sneak Thunderbolts. It's coming right up.

It's coming up. We're going to talk about it. If you don't want to miss it. If you're going to check, lock in. Yeah. Come on, Chuck. Come on, Chuck.

Come on, Chuck. Come on, jump. Come on, jump. Chuck saw all the good news. He was like, nah, nah, it's fake. No, you tried to sneak. We were. We have two good shows.

Thunderbolt still has to show and prove. But at this point, I've done seen 45 minutes of a movie already from the fucking trailers. Yeah, you got to keep your eyes close. We're on YouTube. Like, comment, subscribe, share. You can watch every midnight, boys, and house of our episode on YouTube. com backslash at Ring Reverse. Also, on Spotify, programming.

Oh, programming reminders. I watched the movie, before we get into it, a quick tangent, or early tangent. I watched the movie. I saw the TV glow. Oh, yeah. What's your thing? How fucking disturbing is a movie supposed to be? I submit that that movie, did you see it?

God, no. Oh, it's good. It's really good. I submit that that movie is the only movie that has disturbed me to that degree since Donnie Darko came out. Really? It is Donnie Darko level. Is that your pitch?

The vibes are there. I'm not saying the movie's not good. Uh-huh. The movie is Justice Smith. Jesus Christ, bro. He's going for it. Good, man. Like, the movie is good.

Like, it's good and it's a descent. But I haven't been that like, Jesus Christ, creepy crawley. What the fuck is going on? How do you get to that movie? Who recommended you like you need to see Ozawa the TV guy? It came from a Wikipedia dive that I did. Oh. Wait, wait.

Why don't you start on the Wikipedia time? I cannot remember. So I can't remember where I started on the Wikipedia dive. Right? And I ended up on the page of I Saw the TV Glow. And something happens to me sometimes when I'm reading the plot of a movie. I'll read the first couple of lines and then I'll stop. Because I'll be like, I got to see it.

Got to lock in. If the first couple of lines, people should pay attention to this as you're writing these Wikipedia pages and stuff and these synopsis. if the first couple of lines are like intriguing enough, I'll stop and go like I got to watch it. So it'll maybe like the first half paragraph, four or five lines, I'm like, oh, let's put this on. So I put it on and who's fucked up? Yeah.

It's a fucked up movie. It's really good. Wait, I will say there is a seat towards the end where like, is this? It's that one. And then when he's in the bathroom and it's like, fucking spoiled it. You don't know what a-

Son of a bitch. There's been out per year. But I will say, now you're talking about Wikipedia. Back when I couldn't, like, we didn't have that much money. I remember for fun sometimes. I just like click on a movie. Like, it just imagined it in my mind. I'm not even going to try to attempt to see this.

So let's just read the Wiki. Yeah, I'm just going to read about a random movie. What a freaked out fucking movie, though. I'm glad you guys had that experience. You didn't see it? I will not be there. The Ring of Verse Button Mash returns on Mondays, okay? Button Mash is going to be on Mondays.

You guys going to do that. Tuesday, Ringaverse recommends returns. Oh my God. What am I going to recommend? I don't know. I saw the TV call. I saw it. Maybe.

On Wednesday, the Midnight Boys react to the latest episodes of Andor. Oh, yeah. Andor in his adventures are back. I want to say something. I want to start doing, before we move on. This is tangent number two, by the way. This is tangent number two. I want to start doing just midnight defense.

So I want to come on here and I want to make a statement. I just want to spend the whole hour. It's not a midnight court. Just talking about the statement. So what I want to do, I submit to you right now that curb your enthusiasm is the funniest show that has ever existed on television. All right. Not true, but I want to hear you defend this because I love that show. Okay.

So we can't do it now. Right. Well, this can't be postcard? Can't do it now because I need more time. I submit to you. You got to gather to the fence. That there are a couple of shows that are in the zeitgeist. Okay.

That can, that are legit. I'm not talking about, hey, I'm talking about legitimately hysterical. Right. So you're saying curb is better than Seinfeld. Yes. I'd agree with that. By significant degree, by significant margin. I would think that's right.

Really? It's like what Seinfeld is funny. No, Seinfeld is funny, but I feel like it's more contained where it's like curb. Curb is long in the tooth. There's a lot of seasons where I'm like, eh. That's true. Also, I'm talking about all shows now, right?

Okay. So, Early Chappelle show is in this conversation, right? Early Chappelle show is in this conversation. Curb is in this conversation. I, anyone, give me something that's funnier than Curb and the ridiculous ways that that show is. The first three seasons of a rest of development. Awesome. All right.

Steve, you ruined it. Yeah. Well, I don't say. It's funny. That shit is funny. I think J.B. I think J.B. is the genius.

sitcom character. Act like we've ever had. Like, I'm just like, when he shows up on the show, I'm just like, oh, shit. Like. I'm willing to do this. Everybody pick a show. We'll have a battle of Midnight Boys. Whoa.

Like Rumble. Should we have either a, I feel like we should do a draft of the funniest TV shows. Oh, we should. That's a good one. You know? That's a good one. Martin's in there. Martin's in the, wait.

Wait. All right. Wait, curb is funnier than Mark. There's not a lot of shows funny than Curb. Like, I don't.

It's hard. It's very hard. No. No. I think early office is like, I just, I think early office. It's up there.

The office is funny, but is levels to this. Oh, I think New Girl is funnier than. Okay, no. Never seen an episode. New Girl is great, but it's just a warm blanket.

Shout to Lamar. I'm both say, that's your best. Wow. That's your. It's like, I've never seen it. You never seen New Girl.

A lot of ways that I support my friend I was at the prince last night. You've never seen New Girl? I've never seen it. I've never, like that to me is like the perfect band show. New Girl is? Yeah.

I think that is actually your show. I'd be like, you're going to love Schmidt, bro. You're going to love Schmit. I'll check it out. I'll check it out. Wait, no, he'll be very upset with one Winston arc. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

White women? No. No, it's all right. There's white women. He becomes a cop. He falls his love with a white. Really? She's not white.

Wait. No, no. He falls in love with the process. That's enough. Oh, yeah. It's his post credits now. Right. Yeah, sorry.

But on today's show, we give you our instant reactions to the latest episode of Last of us. Guys, we're about to talk about Last of Us and we're going to spoil stuff, but we promise. We make a promise. So you put this in the document. I think it's very apt. We are only spoiling the game up to the show so you don't have to worry about any of our gamers here on the Midnight Boys

spoiling something that would happen in the future. But we are going to be spoiling stuff that has happened on the show. Steve from the spoiler one. We're getting ready to talk about You're listening to a reaction podcast. The spoilers are coming. Begin our reactions, got to put you in the know. Only way to do that is the Midnight Manifest.

Only person who can do that is Chuck Watt. All right, these are your Midnight Manifest for the Last of Us episode, three of the second season, directed by Peter Horror, written by Craig Mason. Ellie wakes up from the death of Joel screaming, and then we flash three months later. The town is still struggling after the hoard attack from the previous episode. Ellie is given a clean bill of health and returns to Joel's house, grief-stricken, and alone. Dina arrives to reveal she lied to Ellie and does know, more about Abby and her group. Then she led on at the hospital. Abby is part of the Washington

Liberation Front, a small regional army based in Seattle. Tommy says Ellie has to ask council about her Seattle revenge mission. Unfortunately, the council decides that the town doesn't have their resources to allow her to take a 16-man unit to Seattle in order to execute the Abby and the WLF members that murdered Joel. Ellie decides to take matters into her own hands with Dina and homophobic Seth and take on the mission herself. Ellie visits Joel's grade for the first time and then sets out with Dina on the road. But before they get far, They run into a group of murder cult members in the forest. That's been your midnight manifest.

My first question for you, then, obviously, second episode of this season was kind of everything that we've been waiting for, super explosive. How do you feel like the creators? Did they land the plane on the third episode in terms of just, like, getting us where we need to go for, honestly, the second version of this show, a new version of the show? They did something that was very important to do.

They got us right back into story, which you would think would be difficult after losing such a major character. But you have to get right back into story. You have to say that this is a story that's worth telling without Joel. Okay? Which a lot of times with your main characters,

it's hard to do. It's hard to imagine the Sopranos without Tony Soprano. It's hard to imagine Breaking Bad without Walter White. Succession without Logan. Succession without Logan. We've talked about this. It's hard to imagine.

However, this show is not about Joel. It's about he was the anchor of the show. It's really about the world and the choices that the characters have to make. So they have to reorient us to get back into the show without him. And they do a good job. Two things that they do that to me are very effective. And I'm wondering what you guys think. Number one, starting us with just a hint of the trauma from Joel's death.

Tommy looking at it. his body, watch, things of that nature. Then a little time jump to where you assume that people have processed things a little bit more and you see that literally Jackson is blooming again. The season has changed.

But you still have people that are still negotiating the scars of not only what happened to Joel, but the attack and they don't know how to move forward. So I thought that the episode had to do that, and it did do that. It was very important. To me, if, like, if last week, last week's episode, not to keep making the Throats comparison, but this would be the

episode nine of Thrones. Episode 10 would be like kind of the calming down and everybody getting like put in position for the next season, right? But this is episode three of seven, so they have to like keep moving. And your point, they did a really good job of not only letting people be hurt by what happened last week, but also moving us forward in regards to Ellie and Dina and their journey to Seattle. I thought the episode was emotional,

and I thought that it did an excellent job of putting us in that moment, especially with Gabriel Luna, Tommy, and he's got to, like, wash his brother's dead body. He relieves the other person, and he's there, and I was just like, dang. And then you get the shot of Bella Ramsey just screaming their lungs out.

And it's gut-wrenching. That was a gut-wrenching moment. I can't find the words. It was hard. It was just hard to watch. And then again, three months later, and we're supposed to just like, you know, hey, yeah, I'm fine, you know.

I just thought the show did an amazing job of picking up where those characters are emotionally right after, three months later, and their journey going forward. I think this episode is a great palette cleanser the last week. The biggest impression that I get from this third episode is that Bell Ramsey by no means was a slouch performer in the previous season, let alone these first two episodes.

but in the wake of a massive event that happens in this story, you can really see them rise to the occasion that this performance kind of demands of them. And I'm wildly impressed at how well Ellie is portrayed here. She is both heartbroken and measured and, like, complex when she comes back from the hospital, trying to make sure that she can manage the result that she wants for getting a posse together to,

make this mission possible. She can like, when she's told to, like, write her thoughts down, she actually does it. Yeah. And she's taking into account all of the people

that she would need to sway. And even when that doesn't go her way, it's an incredible sort of just like, affirmation of her own will to just be like, okay, it doesn't matter. I'm going to make this happen for myself. And, like, everything that gets us through this episode is carried on their shoulders.

And I'm wildly impressed by it. So for this episode, when Ellie and Dina end up leaving Jackson Hole, I had this feeling of I was like, I'm a little bit more interested in Tommy and Catherine O'Hara and our boy Jesse. That was the weird thing when I was so happy story-wise when they just flash forward three months later. I was just like, I can't. I don't know if I can. You don't need to see her in the hospital for three months. Yeah. Once she did the scream, I'm like, this is emotionally enough. this is so arresting.

I, like, let's get the story moving, which I really, really enjoyed. But yeah, and I think this is kudos to Craig Mason. I was just like, I'm really interested in the council. When Jesse gets a seat, like, how they're governing, who wants to do what? That was actually the moment. I was like, fascinating.

Even Catherine O'Hara, it was such a, like, funny scene when she's watching the little kids play baseball, where it's just like, oh, shit, they don't have sports team here. So she's just like, this is, I also love that she's just sat in left field, like, right near the, like, the baseline. They're not hit that far out. The kids ain't got no power. Yeah, they're not going to hit that far out.

She's fine. They ain't got show hay out there. No, man. I thought, to your point about Jesse, the show did a great job of, you know, showing us, not telling us, right? Because they're rebuilding, right? And Tommy's trying to, you know, get the hammer in the wood, whatever. And he can't do it.

Getting a little old. And he's like, yay, Jesse. come through and just like, bam, I got it. And Thomas is over. I'm going to go crazy for that one. I'm cooked. I'm washed, man. I got it like I used to.

I love Tommy Luna as an actor. He's such a good, because even those small moments where it's like when Ellie and Dina come to him to like tell him about like, oh, we actually do know Abby, whatever. And he's trying to be like a good uncle and like fill this paternal role. And right as the scene ends, he looks at Dina and be like, don't ever keep information. I was like,

dare. I was like, God damn, he is cooking. So I enjoyed the council scene. It was my favorite scene of the entire episode. Because while Ellie was able to deliver a really competent speech. I didn't think she had to enter back. I'm not going to lie to you. She was not cooking.

Well, I don't know. Well, no, because that's not what sushi is. Yes. I immediately, when Jesse's like, write your thoughts down, be coherent. and just keep on script, I thought she would start off and, like, try it and then be like, actually, fuck you, like just how she would do.

But that was important, though, because that even though she was obviously being insincere, it was important to show that she could demonstrate a level of savvy and control when she needed someone to do something that she wanted them to do. Yeah. So there is, at some point, some discipline there to get to the end that she wants. Even though it was all cats.

Even though it was all lies, she didn't get hyper-emotional and lose herself and going to all. And we see that throughout the episode, where she's walking out of the hospital, and she's conning a Catherine O'Hare's character to make her believe that she's okay mentally. And then the really great push-in to her face as the illusion of her being okay,

like legitimately wipes away. Yeah. And the rage comes out of her. She still wasn't able to get people, you know, to come with her to Seattle, but she was able to convince enough people to be on her side so that she had some support and going. How do you feel when I was like,

I love what Kavanaugh is doing? And I was a little like, oh, when she's talking to Tommy and she's basically like, Yeah, you know, some people like Joe, Ellie, lost causes. What are you going to do? I was like, hey, yo, yo, I don't know if Ellie's a lost cause at this point. I really need to give credit. I'm going to shoot bail to the only therapist in the apocalypse in this town.

No, man. Who's really trying her best. They got to train somebody else. She was looking at Ellie crazy. It's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh-huh. You good? Mm-hmm.

That's not what good people. say, I know it's a little bit in Jess, but she don't care about Joe, man. Joel died, that's her up. Ah, that's tough. I mean, yeah. I'm sorry, Ellie. It's not, ah, you're not the only person

ever lose somebody. That's kind of crazy, my man. You know what I mean? It's like, I mean, she was looking at Ellie at that meeting what she was talking like. It's, right. But if you're in therapy, a lot of times your therapist does that to you.

Yeah. You say something. They'll press you. And they go, how profound? And you'll be like, you're not fucking with it, huh? Yeah. And they'll be like, okay, now that you've said the really deep thing, let's get to how you're actually feeling.

And then you call. I'm just a pair. Yeah. It works every time. So, I mean, that's part of it. She's been, like she said, she's been doing it for 40 years. You're not going to be able to sit there. I don't give a fuck how, like, slick you think you are as a 19-year-old girl.

and talk circles around somebody that's dealt with all different. No, no, but does there be like, yeah, she about to crash? She could. Right. But it is crazy. Can I say something?

The contrast to this in the game is actually like way more well nuanced in the show by comparison because after Joel dies, we really only have an interaction with Ellie and Tommy who was at Joel's death. It was him instead of Dina that was going to be.

held there. You can kind of only see her anger at the situation and by all account the intents of purposes she would have left like that next week. And if she didn't have anybody, like there wasn't a council there wasn't an attack on Jackson. The town wasn't in a vulnerable enough place

for her to also have sympathy for her cause because everybody loved Joel in town. But also the fact that she had people around her to be like, hey, she actually is really at the, like she She has a chance to be lost here.

And that's a lot more complex than it is in the game. And I really liked that being fleshed out here. I liked the, we talked about the counseling a little earlier. But it's eight to three in the most like, I'm watching. I'm like, you're not, this not happening. Oh, yeah. You lost this battle. But the three is important.

The three yes is more important because I'm pretty sure, like, again, they don't tell us. But I'm pretty sure Tommy, Maria, and Jesse probably voted yes. You think Jesse were voting yet? Because Jesse was saying that everybody like you. I think Jesse voted. I'm standing up for Jesse, man. Jesse definitely don't even know. I think Jesse knew she didn't have the numbers.

He was like, you know, I'm going to throw you this a little pity vote so you can have it. Maybe not. But I would hope that after everything they bid through, I think it could be the homie. No, Jesse looked at her after the, after they, like when he left, when he was helping her with the bag. I think Jesse voted no because he's a pragmatist and taking 16 people from that town. That's crazy. to go is a monumentally stupid thing to do. It's why.

And he's trying so hard to just let her have the, like, protest and, like, the, like, the appeal to the town without, like, outright shooting her down. Yeah, you have to let her have her say. Yeah. Because you need her. She's never going to give it up. Right. So you realize that you're probably going to lose her to this mission.

But taking 16 people and then going to wage war, killing. killing Abby or killing that entire crew of wolves and then expecting those people to not get you are, it's a war, right? It's a war at that point. Now, maybe, you know, you let one person do it. Maybe it's going to be a war anyway, but it's such a stupid thing.

It's such a stupid ask that I don't think that Jesse would have been able to. I mean, well, first of all, when the old white girl got up to start talking, I agreed with her. She's just like, hey, yo, we all love Joe. But we all lost some people. What the fuck are we doing? I'm like, she's standing.

What about old boy? He was like, well, I've been thinking we bitch are going corn. Corn grows better. I love that guy. I was like to hear it out. It sounded like a Parks or Rec episode. He was making boy. This is the nigger I want to hear from now.

Because I'm like, I'm thinking, because I'm thinking, he's thinking corn. I'm thinking he's thinking corn. I'm thinking all. I was thinking of the top five foods that we can make from corn. Because we got tortillas, we got popcorn now. You got popcorn. We got corn syrup.

We could get some sugar. Well, you get cornmeal? You know what I'm saying? You got all kinds of stuff. Oh, alcohol? You fry some corn liquor. Wait, so what are they so versatile? What are the crops that they're making besides corn?

It's actually, it's so versatile that we're probably eating too much corn. Yeah. Right. But yeah, so he's trying to get the, he's trying to get the fucking village back on track with the corn. Yeah. But at the same time. Don't worry about the beef, man. Yeah.

We're going to eat the corn. Marie was talking to it. Like, Marie and Tar was just like, Hey, yo, fuck you in your corn. It's time for the real.

The court is the important conversation. No, no, we're all rebuilding. We do need this. Going on an execution dummy mission, I was just like, nobody here's, when I knew shit was going left,

was Seth the homopholm stood up. And he started talking. I was like, all right, y'all don't love it. You think he's overcomposated? You think he, like, felt really bad about it? Hell yeah.

He's just kind of like, hey, man, I said sorry. But honestly, It was perfect because he said exactly what Ellie wanted to say. Yeah. Like, Ellie would have said all of that if she just let it out. I thought about Batman Begins.

Oh? We see. It is not justice is revenge. Oh, yeah. Remember that? Yeah. Like, the difference between justice is about harmony. Revenge is about making yourself feel good.

And it's, I've always thought about that since they put that in the movie. I'm one of those people that I'll be in a hardcore actual argument with like my girl. somebody and be like, remember what they say that Batman begins? Right. You just want revenge on me. It's not about just a harmony. You know, I'm the person that like... Been back Rothschild.

Yeah, the whole nine. That's when you know your boy ain't talking. Like, he ain't saying shit when he starts doing this motion. You know, you know. Liar. As an aside, there's a lot of wisdom to be garnered from movies. But I just... I just want to let y'all know, y'all not cooking when you're in a serious conversation about

politics or something and then you like bring up Jurassic Park. Like you're not cooking. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, you're not cooking. There are certain movies that litigate really important societal things. Right. But you'll be talking to somebody after a while and they'd be like, hey, just like what happened. Remember Ace Ventura?

Oh, my. What? Bro. Okay. We talk about Junete. Yeah. Why don't we just take inspiration? What the fuck is going on with the...

You're going to lose me, okay? There were a couple years after Black Panther when niggas was just trying to do to kill monks. I was like, ah. Black Panther is one of the ones. I was like, all right. Because it was like... Because look, here's what you don't know.

Right. Here's what you don't know. You know, Disney Big Corporation. Tachala. Oh, my God. We're doing this. Oh, no. Had the CIA with them.

We're not doing this. So what you don't know? What you don't know? What you don't know is whether or not... Wake up! They're trying to say that, you know... The Black Panthers needed the CIA? Whoa!

Oh! Whoa! You don't know what Disney's really trying to say, right? You don't, you can't rule it out. You can't rule it out that there's some fucking exec going... Brother Lathor, what? You got to remember. Kilbonger, all he wanted to do was give back to the black folk around the globe, right?

All he wanted to do was give back to him. His people. And they made him kill a lady. Once he was being, he was in a true game. And the movie was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, we have to have him kill a lady, make sure that we know he's the bad guy. But see, this is where to me, to me, where clues and them come in.

Okay. Because when you come away from that movie, rest and peace of all brother, when you come away from that movie, you think, oh, my God, what's the way? Is the way, because really, Killmonger won. because all killmonger won it we're gonna get right back to last of us guys all killmonger wanted was for Wakanda to help

that's all he wanted he's like yo we get our asses kicked over here y'all niggas riding around the spaceships what the fuck and in the end he won he got he opened a community they got black panther to come over there and guess what

the only motherfuckers who got vibranium now are fucking government agents like Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. We don't know that. Who got, who else got Vibranium? They might have Vibranium in Oakland right now. They might be ghost riding the world. We don't know that.

We haven't been back there. We don't know what happened to Oakland after the Wacombole. I'm so sorry. The worst scene in that whole movie is with Tachala and Shari bring a spaceship to Oakland. I love that. I love it. I was like,

Hey, you know who I thought about? When they brought the spaceship to Oakland, I thought about Bub Rub and Little Sis. Oh, wow. Remember them? I thought about them. You think Too Short got a librarian muscle? With the whistle, y'all remember them?

They had the whistle mufflers on that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought about putting the whistle muffler on the motherfucking Wakandan chip. Oh, my God, bro. I imagine. What's Bub Rub in that? What was his name? Bub rub.

I think Bub rub is right. Like, E40's probably out there with the Wakandist, man. doing community outreach. If it was my movie, Shuri would, like, they would land and Shari would see some sisters like twerking on the street. And Tataa would be like,

y'all don't have to do that. But see, that's the thing. That's the thing. But that's the thing. That's the thing, no. Tachala wouldn't say that. He wouldn't say that because if the sisters is twerking,

that's actually connected back to Africa. You know what I'm saying? Tachala. Chachala wouldn't say that. That Tachalo was Cedom twerking and he would be like, well done. And then preacher boy walks through. All right, we got to give back. We all one this morning.

All right, we're back to last one. God. All right. So, Ellie leaves. Wait, before Ellie leaves, I wanted to talk about something that was really interesting. That Tom, he says to Catherine O'Hara's character, where he almost, like, obviously he loves his brother. He loves Joel.

But he kind of hints at the fact that he always knew. that Joel was a shoot first motherfucker, find the justification later. And like pointing out that like while he loved Joel, there was probably something about his death that he brought about on himself. And I think a lot of this episode was even when the one homie got up and he's just like, yo, I don't believe in revenge.

It doesn't lead to anything. I just thought it was very interesting for Tommy to be like, he lost his brother three months ago and to still kind of have the clarity to be like, yo, he was a soldier and I've seen him do things that this was always kind of the path that he was going down. Well, Tommy has a larger responsibility. Yeah.

And his responsibility demands that he put Joel in the context. Because if you are trying to govern for the many or protect the weakest, then you have to take into consideration realities. This is the part of leadership that's very tough. for a lot of people. The part of leadership is easy to set yourself apart from people and be their boss, right, and be someone that they have to answer to. It's difficult to be their leader because when you are their leader,

you have to take into consideration who they are. Like, you just have to. You have to, because you have to set people up for success. And when there are failures, you have to be able to look at those failures in a holistic way and say, hey, wow, it is. is in me emotionally to want to go and kill everybody who harmed my brother. I know my brother. And knowing my brother means that there were probably vendettas that he created.

That in this situation, I don't know how many lives are worth sacrificing for Joel's personality. Do you think that calculus changes if Tommy knows what he did in Salt Lake? No. No? No, okay. No, because it, because there's too much, he's got too much tape on him. Right. Right?

Because we don't technically know whether or not Tommy knows that. By all accounts, we don't know if Joel has confessed that information to anybody. But even when I was playing the first game, from what I remember, like, Joel got like skeletons in his closet from being a soldier. He's a bit of a wild. And like Tommy, even in the game is very much like, Joel was kind of the hot head. And he's always been the brother who's like, that's him. Like, I don't know what y'all want me to tell. you, but, and I think that's why he's almost, it's hard for him to not raise Ellie, but be there

for Ellie because it's a foregone conclusion that this girl is leaving, whether he co-signs it or not. But that's why the show did such a great job in that conversation with Catherine Hare, because Joel's like, or Tom is like, this is who Joel is, did he bring Ellie up to also be like this? Catherine is like, no. Yeah. Man, these are two people who found each other, but.

through some cosmic coincidence are the same person who are going to go in their guns blasting first, asking questions later. There's nothing really Joel could have done to keep her from that. That's just who she is. So the end of the day, like, you want to be like, oh, man, did Joel do this to Ellie? Nah, man, that's just who she is. She, I mean, that's who she is. And that might have been the reason why they connected. Yeah.

Because he saw impulses in her that reminded him of himself. And she saw somebody in him that was an evolved version of who she was already. Maybe who she wanted to be. Maybe who she wanted to be. So they leave. All right. You don't know, Horsey. First of all, let's talk about, before we talk about them leaving, the scene of her going back and going through like all of his stuff, nuts.

Been there. Having been there, I, like, I almost started tearing now. Yeah, it was weird. It was bad. It was weird. The first time you go home and they're not there, I was like. Yeah, like, it was weird. Like, I literally went out, like, I went to my dad's house and the TV was still on.

Right? He, like, you know what I mean? Like, the TV was still on. So I'm like, shit. Before they got him out of there, they didn't even, I was there two days after he died. Like, so he died on the fourth. I was actually home the next day. So everything was just as he left.

It's just a really eerie, really weird thing to do. But then I told you guys already. I found his porn and it made me feel okay. I don't know why. I don't know why. He still kept the physical porn. He didn't go over to the internet. This nigga had burned porn.

Like written in like, hell yeah. Like he had burned porn. Like he had like DVDs. Okay, sorry. And it was like Big Booty Hose Volume 4. Wow, he did mixed tapes. Yeah.

Did you pop one in? Yeah, I had to. That's what you felt in connection. I had to give it up for the old man. And I, like, you know, I saw that because he had a DVD, DCR combo. Where, where, Pops, where were you living? DVD, VCR combo. So I put one in and the first person I saw Cherokee Das.

Damn, legend. Damn, pops. I'm just like, and then I took the CDs and I put them into my things. Now is this part of the family tradition of digitizing records? Yeah, it's part of, you know, you want to keep things for posterity. I mean, before we move on, what are your thoughts on Cherokee to ask? Legendary performer. My Rushmore for sure.

Do you know who Cherokee the ass is? Maybe. Steve, I wasn't familiar with your game. That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. Selma Steve. The Selma, Steve is back up. That's funny.

Cherokee is 49. She's still. 49? Cherokee is 49 and... Still working? I mean, I don't know if she's still working, but I saw an updated picture of her. Still got it, man.

Shout out to her. Sometimes I do be like... What are they like that? You're concerned. You're like, I get curious. Because they're not old. They're in their... They're in their...

They're living life. They're living life. Shout out to Cherokee. That scene, I mean, yeah, going back to the empty house, horrific. I think the part that got me specifically is when she's She's the bomb, the jacket that Joel always wears, she's crying.

And then Dina shouts out. And she's got to be like, I'm good. What's up? I'm good. That's Ellie's cloak. Then they sit down and look, Dina offers her cookies to Ellie to eat. Right. All right, man.

Need you to stop. I need you to stop. I need you to stop. I need you to stop. She offers her cookies. And then Ellie offers a cookie bag. offers her a cookie back. Let me tell you.

Let me tell you all something right now. Y'all don't think these writers be fucking around. These writers be fucking around. The nitter thing. And then like these writers, hey, the cookie is either it's that, but it's also a communion that they're both taking.

It's right. They're packed. A peace offering, I believe is what she said. It's a peace offering for sure. But there's subtext of I offer you, you, you offer me me. or no, I offer me you, you offer me you. They both do that.

And then from the moment that they both eat the cookie and get their secrets out, they are the new team. Locked up. So can I ask this? If I'm Jesse, do you think he saw like Dina like making the cookies? He's like, oh, I smell so good in the house because they back together now. He tries to get a cookie. She's like, damn, I lost her again. I mean, they're toxic as hell.

They're off and on. I mean, they talk about it in the first episode. Jesse losses, Jesse girls gone. It's over. You think so. Hold on, hold on. It's over.

She made her choice. She went on a kill mission with her. And then, Ellie doesn't, I love this part of the show. Because the show has so many different levels. It's also, this show could also be like 80s,

fucking teen. Teen romp thing. You know, because they're laying down and Ellie's like, you know, you were super drunk. It doesn't mean anything.

And Dina goes, I wasn't that drunk. Dina really loves Ellie Jesse is a placeholder You know what I mean To me I think she's like testing the waters

With her for sure Like she's like what would you rate the kid But she went back to Jesse When she was in the hospital You know what I mean Like look situation ships are tough Dina's a fuck boy I'm gonna be so honest

Absolutely She got a whole Rosset She's a hot mess She's a hot mess Or Or it's the apocalypse Yeah A situation

And they're not gonna fuck It's tough Jesse was kind of like, Jesse wasn't even tripping over. He was like, hey, yo, Ellie. It's a little fucked up, but you know. But you got to notice about Jesse as well. Jesse has a real job to do.

Right. Jesse is like, like Jesse can't be worried about all of this. Can't hardly wait bullshit. He knows. He knows that he's got to tighten up. Jesse's like, yeah, lover, all of that. When Dina kissed Ellie, Jesse was like,

hey, it's all gravy. Yeah, whatever. Jesse is. But that's how you know this man. He's like, I'm about to be the president of this. They're about to be the president. He's like, I don't give a fuck. So, Dina and Ellie are on their adventure.

Horses have to. Well, even before they leave, right, they have that scene where Ellie is getting on the gear together. Yeah. And he's like, hold on, play. We, this is not going to go down like that. You're not locked in. We got to do.

He's got to take. Forget the converse. We're wearing boots. It gets cold as hell. But that right there just shows you how much Dina has put, how much thought she's put into Ellie's safety. Right. Yeah.

Right. She's, Ellie is a caretaker. Ellie is a hot head. Dina is a caretaker. And she, they are going to be good. But we now must talk about them leaving.

Right. Every time we fucking try to leave, one of you guys goes. So, so they leave. I feel bad for horses to have to walk all the way to Seattle, but it is what it is.

Yes. And I was really interested because I never played the game. Mm-hmm. So I'm like, that was the most video gamey part of it to me. Like the road trip aspect? I'll tell you why.

It's because like with most shows, they wallow in the aftermath of Joel's death. Yeah. And the assault on Jackson for a little longer. But this has to get, if you're playing a video game, you can't do that. You can't stay there and do the emotional part of it.

The game must happen again. Yeah. So Ellie and Dina being on the road to Seattle is essentially them reinventing the formula of the video game from it being about Ellie and Joel to it being about Ellie and Dina. And getting them back on the road. Getting them back on the road,

which is what the game is about. Now, in a game that works perfectly. In a show, I was wondering if it was going to work. I was wondering, okay, so all of this just happened, Now, loading screen, we're back to essentially the show that the first season was. It ended up working, but I was like, God damn, they got right back to it. Was it a bit of whiplash for you? I'm curious, because to me, as somebody that played the game, I'm like, oh, wow,

they, like, they kind of luxuriated in the aftermath in Jackson before they hit the road. I thought it was rushed. I was like, God, damn. I was like, maybe it'll get on the road in the next episode. I was like, I thought the episode was going to be like, she goes to Joel's. grave, she has that big moment and then we get another episode of them finally and it was like, nah, it ain't.

And then they go. I mean, so look, it worked, but I was like, oh shit, okay. So I'm not, I don't know if this will be a hard conversation have, but like the thing that I was worried about at the end of the last episode kind of happened this episode where it just to me was a fundamentally different show where I think when, when, um,

Dina and Ellie get on the horse, there was a level where it was like, it almost felt like Y.A. Like young adult fictiony, where I'm just like, I'm not in a bad way. It's got to be that now. Yeah, and it was like,

it has to be that. It's going to be young people fighting young people. And it was like, that's like, whiplash almost because I feel like so much of the first season and the first story,

because you're following Joel, it feels like a little bit more than an adult series, it wasn't even that it was bad. It's just, it was so kind of like, I was like, when the, probably the thought process you had, when I'm like, oh, they're back on the road, this is the, this is the version of the show. When it was like the two of them on the horse

and in the tent and then being like cute and funny and developing this romance and all this stuff, it wasn't bad at all. It just didn't, it didn't feel like the last of us. It felt like something a little different. Is it the aesthetics of Abby and Dina and then just them being on the road? Or is it

the samingly same formula of season one being that like... They look like kids. Like, do you get what I mean? Like, I'm like, I completely came. I was just like, oh, these are... And maybe that's the point. I'm like, these are kids in the apocalypse. That whole scene when they're like on the horse,

I'm just like, I'm singing Russed root on my way just in my head. To me, well, weird. Like, I liked it. I thought it worked though. I thought once it started, I was a little bit like, huh? But once they got a little bit more into their journey, you know, Lena understands what it's going to rain because she has special indigenous powers.

Oh, stop. That's what they made it seem like. No. That's not what she said. That's what they do. No, that's what is the thing. That's what they do. That's what they do to people to cut people in these shows.

Christ. It's like, there's not. I actually, you got high of group. Right. No. They don't do that thing where they like, Oh, the wind's going to come. Oh, the wind's going to.

coming from the north. You don't know. That's got to be a fit. All right. Hey, they might be on. We might get a tornado, Massa. Like,

you know what I'm saying? Jesus. So, um, but then something else that out of, once again, never played the game. So,

right. The special Joker people that were, that were, that were, uh, massacred. Right. We saw them before.

We saw that they, obviously, they all have a tribal marking. Right. Um, or a, a marking of some group, Steve, you're going to tell us, and then we see that they have been slain.

And they have the hammers. Everybody has, it seems like a right of passage. Is it a spoiler to tell us the name of this group? I don't think it would be a name to say, because these are what's known as the seraphites. They're like a religious, like, fundamentalist kind of cult, but they're, like, traveling. They have, like, special, like, a whistling language

as how they survive out in the wild and stuff. They're like very like brutal in their like punishments and fundamentalist beliefs, but they're like also very like, you know, of the earth. They had like a prophet. They were like kind of just like one of these things

that kind of stemmed off from an old like military salvo and then they made a religion out of it. Those, that group that we saw they were kind of like walk about looked like they were heading towards Seattle. They end up. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business, Fast, reliable internet means everything for your business.

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What, it's been like 30 years. I'm sorry. motherfuckers are already being like this person is telling the future. I'm like, my, my nigga Steve from Chicago, he don't know what the fuck he's going he's talking about, you know? He might, you never know.

Steve, from Chicago. Would you be a prophet? Not for the... Honestly, can you imagine? I'd be like, oh, Ben is going to die tomorrow. And I'm just like, I'm just like, go kill him. Go shoot better than everybody. Everybody's like,

oh my God. Oh, my God. He died. Oh. See? Y'all got to watch. Charles, man. That's that, that's some wake-old branch division. I know. If I'm, if it's the third, I'm if it's my plan, if it's my cult, I'd get the finest

sister ever. Like, nice BB. I'd be like, you to profit. This is, Charles, this is what they do. This is, this. See, this is bad. That's what they do. What are you talking about? See, that that's what these cults are about. How do you just

some guy that wants to have sex with all the women in the town? I'm trying to say, like, yo, it's the fucking end of the world. It's the apocalypse. Everybody's dirty, smelling and shit. You find the finest system. You'd be like, all right, you're a prophet now. We're going to put like a shroud on you.

You're going to start. This is how the Badiqazerite started. What are you doing? Honestly, honestly, shit, the Bentejazzarits, shit. Like, I'm getting my sisters. We drink in a blue drink. You know what I'm saying? We have a baby.

Do witchcraft in the woods. He's going to be spaceless. You ever see the postman? What? No. Okay. So the postman is a, is the postman is the postman. The Postman is, I'm telling you, maybe the CIA is behind some of these movies.

Is this Kevin Costner movie? Yeah, so the Postman is a movie about, it's a post-apocalyptic. Right. And Kevin Costner gets people believing in civilization again by delivering the mail. Okay. That's what it's about. Like, he delivers the mail. Right.

And because he delivers the mail, he becomes like a figure. He's kind of a charlatan, but he becomes a figure of great inspiration because he's the postman. He delivers the mail. Oh, this is directed by Kevin Costner. Okay. Yeah, that was when Kevin Costner. I mean, Kevin Costner is directed. Yeah, but I like a lot of great movies.

Sure. You act like you hate it. I'm not trying to hate that. You know, because I'm like, there's a lot of like Americana like. Chill up. Manxas with wolves, my nigga. Yeah, I get it. So, so, so, but, you know, in the podcast.

in the postman, the bad guys played by Will Patton. You guys know Will Patton, right? Yeah, yeah. And he talks about the fact that in his past life, he was, he fixed Xerox machines. Or he was a Xerox machine salesman. And you always think about that, because I would watch that. I would think about, yo, the apocalypse went bad and then this guy put together this group of the apocalypse on bad. The apocalypse happened and this guy became like the worst motherfucker in the world, the most shrew, crazy motherfucker in the world.

And he used to be like, he used to sell Xerox machines. Like who's going to break bad in the apocalypse? At this table right now, who would break bad in the apocalypse? Jomi. Jomi. For sure. For sure. I'm dying immediately.

No, no. No, no. No. No. He would have. I can't agree. Excuse me? Like, Jomey, for sure.

It's not running from zombies. You are literally, you're the, you are fucking meagin-ass, motherfucker. Yeah. A herm of women. Because you're too, you're so genteel and awesome now.

You have a canon event that happens to you that just like breaks your brain. That just fucking breaks your shit. Yeah. Jomi breaks bad in the apocalypse. I don't know. I get a man. Me, Van Steve, we come to your settlement.

We like, we're like, oh, Jomey, is there any way, you know, we can get some food and clothing. He's just like, kill him. Yeah. Get rid of them. Yeah. Get rid of them.

Yeah. Like, Jomi goes, Jomi comes over to my... Can I be further from my... Jomey comes over to my house. He's like, man, you know, we need munitions. We need weapons. I'm like, okay, cool.

Yeah, I got some stuff. Like, yeah, yeah. Let me inspect what you have. And I'm like, here. He's like, I don't know how this works. Like, loaded for me. And I'm like, okay, click. There's one in the chamber now.

Chief Jomey. Chief Jome. Boom! Just shoots me right there. And then that's his sidearm. This motherfucker would take Bozeman with him. He's like, your mind. Bozeman will love it too.

Yeah, yeah. He's like, you got treats it? What are we going, Uncle Joe? Can I be further from the truth? He's got Armour on. I die immediately. So these people, so then we make it to Seattle. We make it to Seattle. We see that they've all been killed.

We don't know who killed them. We make it to Seattle. Seattle is in ruins. However, there is a military, military infrastructure that the wolves have there. And they have ridiculous resources. how in the fuck Like is Abby fucking Not Abby is Ellie John Wick

She's like it's like how the fuck is she going to get First of all find Abby How is she going to find Abby in all of that It's a major American city that's been left to ruins And then these motherfuckers got tanks Like I literally, that was a great scene Because I'm literally looking at all the stuff that they have They've rebranded these tanks with their insignia

They're walking with all of these people And I'm thinking to myself, I know that there has to be this struggle that's going to happen. But what are they about to do? Are they going to turn around and go back to Jackson? I would have what happens. Like, ah, they got tanks, man. It's kind of looking, it's looking bad. I mean, even here's it.

This is why also it's a dummy mission to me. If I'm the council, I'm like, this dumb motherfucker is about to lead this army back to our, like, back to our enclosure. Like, because, like, basically, Ellie and Dina were kind of just like, how many of them could there be? And I'm just like, I don't know. They seem very well trained. There's a lot of them. Is there a point? Because I don't know what the headquarters of the wolves look like right now.

Yeah. Right? They're on patrol. I don't know if they have a place. I mean, everybody looks healthy. So obviously, their sustenance there. Obviously, they must have found a way to grow, whatever. But is this a situation where,

maybe Ellie has a point that is actually proactive for them to go up there and fuck over them because now they know where the people in Jackson are and if they get a little froggy maybe they send some guys because they didn't see like

Abby's people were looking at the compound and they're like goddamn they have generous because that's what I was like do they not have that in Seattle because they're like they have electricity they have this they have that if I go back to the WLF I'm like hey yo look we take a tank over there

We've been ambushing at night. We got free corn. My nigga got so much. I don't know how far you can get a tank from Seattle. I don't know if you're going to drive a tank from Seattle, Wyoming, but maybe. I mean, you can't stop get gas.

I mean, Mawkinson put some ropes on to start. I was dragging it. Yeah. So look, and then we end with, to me, what the show is about, which is terror and grandiosity, which is kind of what the show is about. Terror and grandiosity.

Like you have, you have, and wonder. You have Abby and Abby, I keep calling it, Abby, Ellie and Dean in a new place there. Right. Amongst this place, you see the ruins of the society and the civilization that once was. You see this huge threat, and you also have some mystery because you're wondering who killed these seraphites. So the show got to a point to where this was really a new pilot. Yeah. This was a second pilot episode.

You could argue that the first two episodes of the season were a continuation of the last season, and this was really the pilot. episode of the second season of the show. How do you think people will, and not the bad faith actors. Like, if you're just someone who was watching the show, maybe didn't know Joel was going to die, how do you think they're going to feel about, like, this pilot and them being so

kind of unceremonious about, like, all right, now that we got that out of the way, here's our new story. Because I was just like, it was jarring for me, and I knew it was going to happen. I don't know, although I will say that that was the work of the show, and the creative team

to make people it's a delicate dance to make people care about Joel's death but also be connected to the show in his absence and we'll see particularly in the next episode not even in this one because his DNA was still over

and I know we're going to see Joel again but whether or not they could do that whether or not the new story that they're telling is is going to resonate with people and that's that's you know because there's a third season as well.

So, certainly, yeah. HBO and the creators must have a feeling like, not only do we have enough story to tell

to make a third season, but we trust in the actors and the world that we built that we can get you back on board after the Joel thing. And I mean, if I'm going to be honest,

if there's an MVP for the season, I was just like, oh, the actress that plays Dina is so charming, and it's so magnetic that I'm just like, even though it's not

filling the Joel role, I'm like, oh, there's somebody for Ellie to play off of that. I'm like, a new dynamic. A new dynamic. A new dynamic. Well, midboys, what do you guys think?

I think, I mean, something you said earlier, Charles, about the difference between Jackson Hole and Seattle. I think when they were, like, looking and been like, oh, they got generators, they got electricity, they got all this. It's less about, like, all the stuff they have.

It's the fact that it looks like a community, right? It looks like these people have, like, band it together to do something for the greater good versus just, like, take over a city and you come up, we're going to bomb y'all, you know what I'm saying? We're going to start shooting, like, very much ran like a military versus like a family. I think it's when they're, like, looking out at Jackson and go, oh, man, y'all really like a child over there.

That's real cute. We ain't really got that over there. We beefing all the time. I think, like, that's a core difference. And let's just see if, or I'm sure when Ellie and Dina, you know, trying to sneak up and handle business with Abby. how different it is for them. Because again, it looks like there's a lot of people

who will kill them if they try to like step out of line. And so like you can't, I don't know if you do the whole Abby thing. We're like, oh, I'm helpless. Look at me. Any help come save me type act. How do they infiltrate Seattle? Well, they've seen them. So you can't do that.

That's what I'm saying. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? You can't do that. Yeah. So it looks like there's, they're going to need some help that's not coming. I'm going to be honest, though, if it's the apocalypse, I've all the places you can live.

I'm not living in Seattle. I'm like, like, I have had this conversation. You had this conversation to the kid. First it was Jackson Hall, now it was Seattle. Well, I'm going to like, I'm going to like a nice suburb. Like, why am I going to the ruins of a city? There's nothing happening there. There's no TGI Fridays anymore.

You know what I'm saying? There's no nothing. But you got more stuff there are more resources to pick over. Yeah. But you also got more effective, probably. Probably. Yeah. anywhere that there are people

that's going to be infected. Why can't I go to the Hollywood Hills get like nice like little Bachelor pad, whatever? You're acting like there's still Wi-Fi, man. But the problem with the Hollywood Hills is that you're going to have to go up and down the hill by foot.

You ain't got no car. Wait, can a horse go up to Hollywood Hills? Yeah, likely. Yeah, but that's bad for the joints. I mean, shut the fuck up. You got to turn them in the glue sooner rather than later. Yeah, yeah, you got to retire early.

I will say that my last thing, I hate when shows do this when you take the real racist character or the homophobic character and then you're like, yeah, he's helping him out now. I, he's like, take this. And I was like, I was with Ellie.

That's why I said, is he overcompensating? Like, is he doing too much? That was the moment where I said, always do that, bro. But, you know. I mean, he showed out for it. At that point, you got to let bygones. Trading rifles.

It was better. It was better. It was a better rifle. That was also, that was also, does that happen in the video game? They're like, here's an upgraded rifle for you. Well, no, a bigot doesn't hand you a better rifle. No, that doesn't happen. Oh, I'm sorry.

You happen upon it. You happen upon a rifle and you can like modify it and like build it. And that's more realistic? I'm not saying that, wait, the show being more realistic. You know what I like? I like the fact that Ellie was going on a trek to Seattle. And she brought all weapons. nothing else.

No cupcakes. Like she brought heart attack though. She brought, yeah, she's heart attack. Hard tack. Hard tack.

Hard tack. Hard tack. See? Gross. They had heart attack. But also, it didn't seem like they had much food.

I'm like, what the fuck they eat? You know, like, if it is me, I'm like, we can get rid of some of the grenades and let's put some steaks out because I would have been like to set.

I'm like, you got some steak sandwiches first. Like, I like to write it. It's going to go bad. I think we never see people fishing in the show. Shouldn't they be fishing?

Do they fish? I mean, how much time do you want to spend with them watching, watch them fish? I want to see. I want to see somebody catch a fish. Catch one fish? I want to see them fish. That's enough. Good episode of television, guys.

Yeah, great. Great episode. Good fucking episode of TV. All in on where The Last of Us is going. Interesting to see when Joe pops back up in flashbacks and how they use them. I'm sure you guys know because you played the game. But interesting to see that. But also at the same time, I think.

I think I'm good saying goodbye to Joel. What? It's a, it is kind of interesting how the show moves forward without him and you're like, it's kind of, it makes sense. Yeah. I mean, I want to see, I need to see what Abby, what Abby's cooking. Like, where's Abby been the last three months? Yeah.

Has she gotten a little, little flabby now that she's got, she's finally had the thing. She's kicked back. She's like, I completed the mission. You know what I'm saying? If I'm being honest, the training montage with Ellie was the shit. I'm like, you hit a punching bag a couple times. You on the road. She was doing pushups and crunches

when the doctors weren't looking in the hospital. Good straight right though. Good straight right. Mm-hmm. I thought it looked good. Good straight right. Look, I thought I see, you know, you watch enough TV and movies

and you see guys that were throwing a football like the dude and the, and it's like, but I thought she threw the decent little straight right. I was surprised. Handed on business. Y'all was a business. All right. We're out of here.

That is a wrap. This week on the Ring ofverse Feed. Ring of Verse. returns on Mondays. Tuesday, Reader's Reader's recommends returns. I can't wait. Can't wait.

You guys have something you're going to recommend? Yeah, buddy. And on Wednesday, the Midnight Boys read to the latest episodes of Andor. There's a show about Rebel spy Cassian Andor.

Okay? It's an insurgency that's happening against Emperor Palpatine in the galaxy. Yeah. And it's Luton. Okay. And it's Cassian.

I don't know what this is. And it's Bix. Yes. And they're going forward. Okay. You guys might want to tune into it. I might want to tune in to Disney Plus to watch Andor and then tune in here as the Midnight Boys cover it. Yeah.

Okay. The fuck I'm talking about. Tune in. God damn it. All producers are Steve, the architect Almond. Jonathan Kerma. Jomey Adirondon on socials, hashtag, I saw the Jomi glow. I saw the Jomey glow.

That's good. And in the apocalypse. Jomey will probably take your hope. Hell yeah. Additional production from Arjuna, Ramgapal. Chuck, take us out. Dina has a strong indigenous spirit. Where we're going in season two, we'll see.

Shout out to an icon of the sport. Miss Cherokee. Boom! Perfect. What's a movie theater popcorn? Movie theater popcorn? They just have that. They just be selling that.

Everybody can get movie theater popcorn everywhere. Yeah, you can order it from postmates. Like an AMC? Like, it's not going to be cold. Send me a. Well, I mean, there's two things you can do. Number one, if you order it from a movie theater near you, it's not that bad. Depending on, but the Grove is here and miss because it takes those guys a while to get in there.

I can't imagine that trap as well. But when you get it, you put it in an air fire. Oh, okay. Pop fry back up. Now, if you, if it was like fucking. like three, like five hours, I'm sure. But like if you get it, you put it in the air fryer, me and Kalika will have movie night,

and we'll get the stuff. She'll even get an icy. Instead of making popcorn yourself? Yeah, because the movie theater popcorn is just better. I mean, you could get the kernels and get the... Well, I have a popcorn maker. Very true. Yeah, but you can use that popcorn maker in your house.

I feel like it's going to smell like popcorn for days. So this is going to be... This is going to sound so stupid. Okay. Do you know the reason why I don't use the popcorn maker? Why? Because it triggers me and reminds me of the pandemic. The popcorn maker, I got on my 40-year birthday.

Yeah. Okay. And that was during the pandemic. And I was making a lot of popcorn because, just because. Because it was like. It's something to do. Something. That was your sourdough start.

That was my sourdough. Yeah. Yeah. So I was making a lot of popcorn. And like we will watch. What's that movie with Chris Hensworth? that came out on Netflix during the pandemic. Extraction?

So, oh, we got, we're going to watch extraction, right? We're going to sit there. We're going to watch extraction. Let's make some popcorn watch extraction. So you're watching it, and you're like, this is not the shit. Yeah, I like the extraction. I'm not talking about the movie. Right.

I'm talking about, yeah, we made popcorn. Yeah, we're at the movies. We're watching the extraction. Yeah, it's dark. Yeah, this is not the shit. Yeah, no, it's not. And so I was making so much popcorn, popcorn smelled the whole time. And now when I make that fucking pop, when I use that popcorn machine,

it reminds me. You get more flashbacks. It reminds me to the thing. I swear to God. So. Tough. I order it. And, you know, put it in the Black Panther tin or whatever I still have.

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