The Watch - ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Finale, ‘Top Chef’ S23E6, and ‘Bandi’

Episode Date: April 17, 2026

Chris and Andy talk about the buzz out of CinemaCon (3:19) and the news that the next season of ‘The White Lotus’ is taking place in Cannes (8:14). Next, they talk about ‘Bandi,’ a Netflix crime series from the creator of ‘The Bureau’ (18:48). Then they discuss the Season 2 finale of ‘The Pitt’ (29:31). Later, they react to ‘Top Chef’ Season 23, Episode 6 (60:54). Finally, The Watch: After Dark (01:08:47). Subscribe to the Ringer TV YouTube channel here for full episodes of The Watch and so much more! Hosts: Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald Producers: Kaya McMullen and Kai Grady Additional Video Supervision: Sarah Reddy Order and it will come. Like today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you know about one and three people with plaques psoriasis may also develop psoriotic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling? Does this sound like you? Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away. Trimphaya, gusalcumab, taken by injection, is a prescription medicine for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, who may benefit from taking injections or pills or phototherapy, and for adults with active psoriotic arthritis. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur.

Before a treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. Imagine being a million miles away. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Trimfaya. Tap this ad to learn more about Trimfaya, including important safety information. This episode is brought to you by Brooks. Running connects us to a rush of energy that flows through our world.

The cheers of friends that unlock a new gear within us, the intersection of interest that inspires a run crew, the support that gets you over the finish line. Connection is why we move forward and what inspires us to keep going. Let's run there. Learn more at brooksrunning.com. I need supports to have to clear the run. Stand up and walk now.

Hello, and welcome to the watch. My name is Chris Rye. And I am an editor at the ringer.com. And joining me in the studio, now his day shift has ended. It's Andy Greenwald. How are you? Good, brother. It's been a minute.

You're back. I am back. Yeah, I was in San Francisco. I was in Denver. I've seen the West. Yeah. What do you think? We're all doing great.

Whoa, this is breaking news. Socially, economically, everything is solid. Yeah, good. Air travel, I've heard, was good. You know, honestly, it wasn't that bad. They're keeping it together everywhere. Denver Airport did not see. see any Illuminati

there, it's supposedly at the headquarters. Were you doing your research for Paradise Season 3? I was. I was. Did you see the horse? The horse? The demon horse outside of the airport? No, that's the thing is like none of this, like it just, all I noted about the Denver airport is I think it could be closer to Denver. Because in between Denver and the airport, it's just like a lot of Costco's.

I didn't see much that was like, well, we can't have a plain land here. Right. But yeah, other than that, Denver lovely place. This is your note? You go to the CEO of Costco and tell him he has to move his five outlet stores. I don't think the Costco has been there for like 120 years. You know what I mean? Like it seemed like a pretty new build.

You don't think it's a landmark? No. It's wonderful to see you. I haven't seen you in a while. I know. I've changed. How have you changed? You're going to find out over the course of this hour.

I have some news and stuff for you like from the television and entertainment world, but I wanted to just kind of fill you out. Did you say what we're going to do? We're going to do the pit finale, obviously. Welcome to where that happens. And also we're going to talk about Top Chef. We're also going to talk about an out-of-nowhere appearance of a new series from Eric Rochant, who is responsible for one of our favorite TV shows of all time.

Yes. The Bureau. The Bureau. The French spy drama. He has a new show on Netflix. I had no fair warning. No heads up. I just saw that it was trending on Netflix, that it was in the top 10, that I checked our email

inbox there were a couple of like dude is there a new show from eric rachshant i did a little bit of digging into this it's an interesting story but we can get to that um bandy it's called bandy it's on netflix and and we should also say at the top we are going to cover to buzzed about new series on monday which are margot's got money problems and buff it's the french adaptation of beef can i tell you yeah beef's getting beef's getting grilled that sounds delicious the critics do do not like beef. They, really? Yeah.

It was age too long? I mean, there's some diversity of opinion, but, uh, and that's what this country is all about, you know? You learn that in your travels of the West. But, uh, it's largely being disliked, being panned. Wow. Yeah. Huh.

How do you feel about that? Do you still take critical, critical consensus as like a directional for you? No, I do that with NFL draft coverage, but I do not do that with. Oh, I was going to ask you about this. We can save that for After Dark, if you want. We can save it for After Dark. I have a lot of draft thoughts. My big television headline, obviously CinemaCon this week, so there's a lot of movie news.

I've mixed feelings about CinemaCon. I'm very happy that Sean and Amanda are there. I'm honestly a little bit jealous. Yeah. I don't know if I'd want to be in Vegas for four days, but it is cool that they get to see stuff. On the other hand. Yes. I don't know if I want to digest movies at like, here's a sneak seven minutes of the Odyssey.

See you in three months. Well, there's also, is there any world? in which you are shown the first 10 minutes of apparently the saving private Ryan-esque opening of Dune 3 and you're like, it's kind of mid. Like, it's designed to make people insane. Or the flip of that being like, now I'll see it. Okay, you guys got me.

So I think out of my feeling of inadequacy of not being there, I'm also like, it's not for me. I wouldn't do it anyway, even if they invited me. I invented that move. Um, but, uh, there's, you know, obviously a bunch of stuff coming out of it. Uh, Dune 3, the Odyssey screened some stuff. Sounds like it went very well. Uh, I saw that the Thomas Crown Affair.

Some footage from that was played. Uh, that Michael B. Jordan remake of that. Starring your maxima, Adrian Ariona. Uh, which is not Maxima. I think it's Wonder Woman. It's, it sounds like it's going to be Wonder Woman. Van is going to comment being like, get off my corner again. But I'm pretty sure.

Um. I was thinking I have to go to New York soon. You are just a man on the move. And I was thinking of seeing Gene Gray, aka CDC. Yes. In Romeo and Juliet. I thought she was in London. I think that's in London.

I thought it was in Broadway. Well, we'll find out when I show up at that really reasonably price theater. And I'm like, one ticket for Romeo and Juliet, please. Maybe you could watch it. You know, they have that thing in some cities where they have like the camera that's on in another city. Oh, yeah. Maybe they could do that for the way. For like really expensive Broadway tickets

of West End. If you just peer into it, you could watch Paddington the musical. Yes. Somewhere at South Street Seaport. And then I'll go to London to watch Burnthal on Dog Day. Might improve it.

I have one or two TV-oriented news bits for you, but did you want to say anything about the cinema con news? Do you have any advance, again, based on nothing that we've seen, but apparently they did screen a trailer

or some footage of Tom Cruise's return to capital A acting? By only advanced knowledge about it is what Sean tweeted. Right? Yeah. is this like the second screen experience where you want people to go to Twitter

to see what you do? No, I just, like, Sean's tweet kind of said it all. It was like, it seems like Tom Cruise is playing Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys owner, in a movie directed by Michael Bay. And I was like, well, that's going to take me a couple of weeks to process.

To kind of parse. Yeah, exactly. Okay, there was that. And then so I think there's like that. And then what was the other one? Oh, for me, personally, the most exciting news is that, that Gareth Evans, who did the Raid movies,

is directing a remake of a cult as My Passport, which is a Japanese yakuza crime film. Have you seen that film? No, Sean said that it looked like John Wu meets, like, set in Detroit. I feel like you're going to be first in line. I'm excited for that. I also have some breaking news. Sadie Sink is currently starring at the Harold Pinter Theater

on the West End in London. Okay. So I'd like to, I just wonder, would you like to revise your earlier comment in which you said, then I'm just paraphrasing. I have to be in New York soon to see Sadie Singh. No, I do have to be in New York soon, period. And while I'm there, I just didn't say while I'm there.

I thought I might check in. My initial idea, we had talked about going to see Dog Day. Yeah. I want to see Giant, too. You know what? I'm not a doll guy. Everybody's like, and then Giant opens. And I'm just not a rolled doll guy.

I don't think. I don't want to burst your bubble here. I know it's not rolled doll like. It's a movie about a raging anti-Semite. So I don't think you should be like, big dog guy. I can't wait to see it. His legacy has been protected on stage.

But I just mean, like, getting under the hood there is not in the top 100 things I want to pay $300 for. Do you not see Hamlet because you're not a big Danish monarchy guy? Come on, bro. That's not the same thing. It's not the same thing. But they're not like, yo, this is as good as Hamlet. But I think that there's a part of you that's worried that there's going to be a chocolate factory on stage or a couple oompa lumpas telling you half the story. That was that crossed my mind.

I know. There's no giant beach. Who's playing? Is it Lithgow? It's Lithgow. Wow. My colleague. Your boy. Yeah.

Yeah, that guy is a lot of energy. I would just say that if I had spent nine months filming a massive television show, I'd take a rest. Yeah. And I'm a lot younger than him. And our friend Aya Cash is in it. Oh, that's really good. That's cool. I don't know why we're doing theater advertising before we talk about the pit.

I just really feel like there's a little more meat on the bone of you announcing to your wife and colleagues that you must travel to New York to see Sadie Sinkmaker. Shakespeare debut. Look, man, I'm just trying to figure out where you're at, so I'm throwing a lot of stuff up at the wall. You're liking where you're finding me. Hey, they announced what's happening on the White Lotus this next season, and I just thought I'd mention to you. Season 4 will take place during the Cannes Film Festival. Love it. I think they're going to do some shooting there.

That was some of the word, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. They're shooting currently in production. I believe it did start production, and it is going to be the first season of White Lotus that takes place at two White Lotus. properties. Oh. So, the white and low tie. One in San Trope and one at the Quassette in Cannes. Have you ever been to the South France? Yes, yes, I have. Thank you for asking.

What was your take? And what year was it when you were there? My take? Yeah. Got it. A model for Americans. Well, I don't have to. Now that... There's a ceiling on how much white lotus, like I can talk about. Now that urbanism has fallen, the real model for how our society should live is Provence. Okay? That's my take. I had this. It's very, very beautiful and the beaches are cold. Were you in Can? Where were you? I was not in Cannes. Were you doing work for the British government? Why are you

I can't say. No, you fly to Nice and then you do a little traveling along the coast. I did fly to Nice. I took a train. Wow. Yeah. Well, okay, Joe Biden. How was that for you? Do you think it would be funny if like we just, all JD Vance did for the rest of his term was go to different. places in the world and fuck things up by like trying to like do the opposite. I think that would be, I mean funny is doing a lot of work there. No, I don't mean wars and stuff. I mean like the Cannes Film Festival.

Oh. He came up on stage and did a talk and he's like, here's the reason why. And as vice president of the can jury, he gives the Palm Door to Fokker-in-law. Yeah, exactly. I love that. I also, this is not really in our

bailiwick, but I do love the fact that that Mrs. Kirk had to bail out of a TP, I'm more polite than you, out of a turning point event, and her backup plan was the vice president of the United States? Yes. So good. So good. We are doing great.

I think it's a beautiful place. I think it's a great, great location for the show and also a kind of a cool idea to tie it more firmly to something other than people's, you know, bettering themselves. vacation. Do you think there will be any studio-esque cameos? I did wonder about that. We are definitely in a golden age of shows suddenly all seeming to have the budget to just do a week or two in Europe. Yeah. Well, isn't that because it's cheaper to shoot there than it is to shoot in the city of angels here? It is, but here's a genuine production question. Like, I don't think that the studio decamped to Venice for six weeks because it was cheaper. I think they did it because they win Emmys and it's Apple and

they have a blank check. But I am hearing more and more of shows that just like do a little splinter unit and not like a splinter unit into, you know, San Bernardino or something. Like actually they go to London to shoot the London scenes. And I don't understand how that is in any way saving money. I think it's just spending money and flashing cash, which is all right. There's been a lot of really interesting stuff on the trades this week about like, because I think a lot of the producers who are at CinemaCon have been asked about like, are you going to do anything to save Los Angeles. And I don't know why I'm thinking about this much

because maybe it has something to do with like this whole arc light protest that turned into a potential lawsuit that, you know, is now kind of everybody's thrown their hands up and it's just been like, looks like that's just gonna, that landmark to cinema will just stand.

If that was Nithia's whole platform, she would win. But there's also been a lot of talk about because I think some of the networks are in pilot season, weirdly. They are. Like, are you going to shoot this here? Are you going to shoot this in L.A.?

will you use the studios and a lot of non-committal, like, well, we need a federal tax break and we need, you know, rebates on above-the-line talent. And I just don't know what happened to the game I loved, you know? Like, I don't know how, are you saying like, how did they fuck this up so much that they're like, well, we can't make it unless you guys pay for Johnny Gallickey to like be in the show, you know?

That's the name, right? Yeah, you're good. Was that, is this like, this is just kind of a recycled NBA take that it's too international for you now? No, but it's like, I don't know why Scrubs is rebooting, the reboot of Scrubs shoots in Vancouver. It does also wild pronunciation there. Vancouver? Usually.

Yeah, I like that. Vancouver. I think you're thinking of Van. Yeah. I think he's living rent free in your head. He is. He is. Does it really?

Yeah. That's pretty wild to me. Because I would feel like something like a reb- because the only thing anyone's spending money on, obviously, is what they believe to be safe bets. Procedurals. Procedurals and reboots of sitcoms and things. And I'm not saying that Zach Graf was like turning down other offers to do this show. But I am saying that generally when people are asked to come back to fill a role that only they can play, they have enough clout to say, I would like a commute that doesn't involve a border cross. Yeah, there's also just not that big of a shortage of studio space in Hollywood right now. Yes. And we are hearing like from anecdotally and from people that like people who are working on.

the lots, you can hear the wind rattling around in the empty offices. Johnny Carson's ghost. That's Johnny Galicki. He's like, this will be perfect. So anyway, that's cool. I hope White Lotus doesn't do the thing that everyone is doing again. Like it runs through this town like a virus every few years, which is like, ah, I will entertain with a withering satire of the industry I am in.

I think like we're good on that for the most part. So I hope that the White Lotus doesn't go too far in that direction. great cast, great setting, it'll be fine. And Mike White, I wonder how being on Survivor will affect his production this year. You'd have to weigh in on that. Well, he's no longer on it, you know, on this season. I didn't know.

But he is jacked. Did I tell you that? You sent me a image. Yeah, I was like, how did he do this? To be clear, it's not weird. Chris has sent me pictures of Mike White beach side for years. It's more of like an ongoing tracking thing.

Yeah, it's not. Biohacking Mike White. We cannot become Mike White, but we can recreate his torso in aggregate. Oh, Christ. I have a question for you. Okay. You jump in any point. No, I'm good.

If you're like I'm taking some different directions. I'm great. Look me in the eye. Take a sip of coffee and then, and I'm going to ask the group here as well. Okay. Yeah. Are you going to read Luna Dunham's memoir? No.

Famic. I'm not. Have you been intrigued by it? intrigued mean voraciously consume all content outside of reading it? So why not read the memoir? Because you feel like you can get, it's like reading literary criticism

where you get both the book and the theories about it. That is a deep kicking and screaming reference and I respect it. Oh, is it? Yeah. Sorry, I just pictured argument. Well, no, it's more like I am not

that interested, but I am also human. Yeah. That kind of thing. Where are you with it? I wasn't. And then I was like, I kind of would like to read about the making of girls.

It's a very specific moment in TV history. also just want to hear about Jemai McCirk and Zosha Mamet living together and that apparently not going well. I obviously have read a lot of the aggregated stuff about Driver and about the making of the show. I don't know how much

post girls lean and done am I need like in terms of like our memoir. How much of the memoir is dedicated to directing the pilot of industry during the pandemic? That's the problem. It's like I got to control F industry but then it'll probably be a lot of stuff about industries. other industries, coal, shipping. I'm like, I've got to read this now.

Damn it. Caya. Yeah, where are you, Kaya? Oh, I'm on the wait list at my library. I'm ready to go. So will you give us a report? Sure, happy to. My life's doing the audiobook while she drives around.

Did Lina read her own audiobook? I think so. It would be amazing. It would be funny of Jemai McCirk read it. She was like, wait, that's me, mate. That was your Jemai Mankirk invitation? From Vancouver. it's Jemima McCirk.

Jemai McCirk. I thought her interview with David Markezy in The Times this weekend was fascinating. And it does sound like for as much as, it sounds like she's in a healthier place and certainly the perspective that she's bringing to this is on par with the kind of savage self-surgery that she's done for much of her career.

There was something in the way that she was talking about what she felt she had to do and what fame did to her and what being an artist has done to her and what it continues to do that did make me feel on a human level because this is someone that I've met and spoken to and liked a lot that maybe sometimes you should do something else or just direct or something like there there is this constant we never do do we no look at us we're on camera but but I found and I'm directing this you're doing great I did find the like the it just felt Some of it felt really rough. Yeah.

And that is interesting to her to continue to mine, but I felt empathy more than lurid interest, I guess, if I'm going to be serious about it when I read it. Where do you read instead? What am I reading instead? Yeah. I've got a great book, man. It's over there.

I'm reading this book called Lives of the Saints by Nancy Lemon. Okay. It's awesome. Is it new? No, it's her first book from the 80s, but she has a new book out also from New York Review of books called Oyster Diaries. and she's, it's one of those things where, like, Jeff Dyer writes the intro and is like, eventually the long arm of time returns masterpieces to print.

I'm like, yeah, let's go. So, NYRB, are you going exclusive NYURB right now? After Affingers? I'm negotiating with them. I would like to get an exclusive look. I have never more desperately begged for a brand endorsement. Like, I would wear that on my uniform. Like, is it Rwanda for the Sixers?

Yes. And they are uninterested in this kind of sponsorship. right now. I don't know why. But that's a great book so far. Why would they not be interested in you? You talk about NYRB more than you talk about like. Because I think you know what their, you know what I think their point is. And I don't know this because I've never spoken to the great men and women of NYRB. Yeah, the New York Review of Books if we haven't said it. I don't think they need to pay me because look at me. Oh, yeah, that's the problem. I'm giving it away out here. This is the problem with influencing is you have to withhold your influence until you're paid for it. And you know me, I'm very

generous with my influence. Well, uh, one thing that I think. I think. feel like we can take, like, the smallest amount of credit for influencing is the fact that the Bureau has got, like, a degree of domestic. Look, I'm not saying that we were ever, like, the dudes who brought the Bureau across the pond and were like, sirs, what we discovered. That was our predecessors at the AMC network. That's right. Are we ready to announce or not yet? But La Bureau, obviously, Eric O'Shaun's spy drama from a few years ago, it's celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025, I believe. It did, yeah.

Yes. And still just an absolute diamond of a television show that I think about all the time is currently being remade in an English language as the agency on Paramount Plus. Which is a sign of a great source material

where I'm enjoying watching the show again in English. Absolutely. I can't wait for the second season. I think it will improve on the first. And he's got a new show on Netflix. Now, I had initially started this as this is the problem with Netflix. They don't tell us about these things. Like where it was the trailer?

Where was the drumbeat of from the critically acclaimed creator of Libero? Did a little bit of reading into this, although it was hard to come by. And it does seem like Rashon has had, he's got a production company called Maui. And over the last couple of years has shepherded or, you know, kind of co-created or co-executive produced or whatever, several shows, some of which,

like there's one that's on Disney Plus, I believe. and that like it's this is not like the first thing he has done you know since the bureau went off the air or anything just just to interject like I do think the reason we're talking about him is because it's for the same reason we talked about pluribus in the sense that like when people who have created truly great art within this medium that we cover do the next thing it's worth our attention and then so I like I said I got an email in our inbox about bandy I saw that it was the number seven and now number eight show on Netflix I was sort of surprised that I hadn't heard about what it was, doing a little bit of research into, it's created by Roshan and his daughter. Capucine. Capucine. And it is, in his own words,

self-consciously, a effort on his part to make something in the top boy, Piki Blinders, Netflix genre. You know, of sprawling crime drama, intergenerational, one family moving through,

like, a cityscape. So obviously, top boy set in London, and Peakey Blinder is set in Birmingham. This is set in Martinique and is about the Lefleur family. A rather large family in Martinique. Eleven kids,

raging from like six or seven to early 20s. Who are grappling with a family tragedy and deciding where to go with the family in terms of the legitimacy of like their family business. There's like a central kid played... There's a central kid named Killian, I believe. Kiki. Kiki, who's his like...

street name is Mallord, and he is getting into the drug business and finding out about, like, the international drug trade out of Martinique. I watched the first episode last night. You checked it out this morning. What did you think? Yeah, I, first of all, making a TV show with your daughter, come on. Goals. That's so sweet. So I'm already all the way in. What if you were like, I don't like this kind of nepotism? And I won't even watch the show. What if I was like that? Do you want me to do the rest of the show and character? No, but if it was his son, would you be like,

God, I'm not so into this? I did just feel my whole self go cold, just completely lost interest. I found, well, big picture, I think incredibly exciting anytime Netflix's budget and cameras go to a place that we don't spend a lot of time. Absolutely.

And so the show looks beautiful. It's in Martinique, a place that I would like to spend more time in. And it is, taking us in back streets and homes and bars and just bringing a place to life in the way that international crime fiction can do and international crime television can do that I found really, really exciting. I think they've managed to find some really exciting charismatic actors, at least even through just one episode. Many non-professional actors. Yeah, and I am intrigued. I would

say that for people who are hearing all of our raves about it, I would reset expectations just to say that one of the things about Libyro that was really, really remarkable over time is Roshant's, again, not unlike, this is the one thing that I would compare it to Vince Gilligan, very, very interested in minutia and bureaucracy and process. And so the show is very A to B to C to D about introducing huge swath of characters in a place who've never been. And a lot of the potential is ahead. So it really does a yeoman-like job of setting the groundwork. for something that it could be interesting. And, but I'll say that, like, I didn't find this episode to be like,

I didn't feel energized and exhilarated at the end of it. There's not a lot of wit or surprise or verve. What there is is a lot of solid story building and a lot of promising leads and a canvas that I would like to see him. In the first episode, if you watch a lot of, like, Criminal Underworld TV or even a fair amount, like, a lot of very familiar meets, you know, a lot of, Like one brother who is going one direction and another brother who's going another. There's like the sort of mysterious drug lord who takes the lord under his wing.

There is, you know, a lot of just basically like, you know, mechanics that you would be familiar with. If you've watched like power, if you've watched a top boy or whatever it is, I think that the thing that jumped out at me wasn't really, and this isn't really a critique because I think it's a really interesting gambit. but I do think that working with a lot of non-professional actors puts the show in a little bit of a disadvantage if it's also going to be a little bit cliche in its story. Now, that being said, like, if you watch the first episode of the Bureau, you might say like this is a lot like a lot of spy shows I've seen before and obviously it changed. So I'm going to keep checking out episodes of Bandi, but yeah, it was a little bit of a letdown in so much as I had five minutes of knowing it existed before I checked it out. And it was like, oh, okay, maybe this isn't like on the level of Libero yet or whatever. And maybe that's not the intention.

You know, it also is a show, you know, the other thing that we might be responding to slightly? I think everything we've said about it is probably that's the top line headline and is valid. But I do think that we are still, despite our interest in international shows, we are increasingly unused to seeing pilots that don't have to make the case for themselves within the first 50 minutes. Right. This is a episode of television that was clearly written knowing they were going to be more and potentially 20 to 30 to 40 more due to his stature or due to his confidence. I mean, it hasn't been renewed.

But what pilots are required to do these days in this country, in this industry, is set off the entire sky full of fireworks like the PITS had to do last night. Like Paradise had to do. And yes. And then it leaves everyone who's making the show being like, well, now what's the series? Because I burned it all in the first 56 minutes. this show does not burn it all in the first 56 minutes, and I respect that.

I was going to mention that there is still talk that he is going to return to the world of espionage in a 2025 interview. I read with Roshan, he was talking about a show called Secret World, I believe, that he was working on, which was going to be about agents from five different countries. But he spoke very eloquently in this interview

about how the paradigm of, spy fiction and spy stories as essentially shifted and is changing almost faster than a TV show can capture. And that, you know, like essentially, you know, if you went back six months and we're like, what's the state of AI last, you know, in October versus today, it would be so different. And even the global, you know, the global stage and the changes that have happened in the Middle East, like it would be very difficult to document that or to reflect that in a TV show. So I think he's maybe not struggling with it

but is adjusting to it. I mean, it was interesting. I think now five, six years ago, he had a pilot. The China Room, right? It's called the Chinese Room that was going to be a return to the spy world and it didn't get made for whatever reason.

Was it Peacock? I think that, I'm not sure if he was ever set up at Peacock, but I know it was being passed around. But the script was floating around. And one of the reasons he was doing it is because, you know, You could see in each season of La Bureau, he was like, the aperture kept getting wider as he was

both realizing and engaging with shifting tides in the world. And the antagonists kept changing and who is actually behind it, who was ascendant in the world. And he hadn't really dealt with China's role in global espionage. No, I mean, that was the brilliance of the show was to interconnect, like, Russia and Syria and Iran. Yeah. So I hope we hear more from him. I think that to that point and more from him in the spy space. But to that point, this is a subtle detail,

but one thing that I appreciated in the bandy pilot is that the fact that all characters have cell phones is a part of the story in a way that doesn't feel intrusive. Time and time again, you will see pilots or probably movies too where the writers are like, I yearn for a world

where characters weren't constantly on their phones. Thus, I will create it on screen except for the time my one character has to call the other character. Yes. And so you feel that, artificiality, sometimes it can be fine and you don't notice it. But it's important, I think, to notice when it's done relatively casually and normally and easily. It feels very baked into the world. This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. Ever have a plan come together out of nowhere

and realize you're missing something? Like a last minute beach day, a spontaneous hike or an outdoor movie night you didn't plan for. That's when Prime's same day delivery as you're back. getting you exactly what you need fast and reliably so you can actually join the moment instead of watching from the sidelines. Same day delivery, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon.com slash Prime

to find millions of items delivered fast available in select areas. Terms apply. That's it for news. The Madison has been renewed for a third season. I thought I mentioned that to you. Congratulations on your lobbying work behind the scenes on that.

Yes, K Street really came through for me. T.S. Street, I believe. Let's get to the pit finale. I think we should. It's a pretty big show. One of the reasons why I wasn't tripping over myself to get to it is I loved it, but it also felt a bit like it was reiterating some of the stuff that had been saying over the last three weeks rather than breaking any new ground. Probably for the best. I don't know that ending on a cliffhanger or, you know, I don't know how many more fireworks this show could have.

Literally. Let's start with Robbie's darkness, which has been obviously a. growing concern over the course of the whole season, but especially in the last couple of weeks with his conversations with Dana, especially with Duke, and in this episode with Abbott, concerning whether or not he is considering taking his own life,

what the purpose of this quote-unquote spirit quest is going to be his helmetless trip to the Dakotas. I thought this was an interesting place to start for this would just be, did you note or feel like he changed he moved the goalposts a little bit in what he was saying because to Duke previous week he had said

everything in the hospital makes sense to me it's everything outside of the hospital that I can't deal with then to Abbott he was like every time somebody dies in this hospital a piece of myself

or piece of my soul dies too so what was your read on that if you noticed it and where are you at with where Robbie ends he also says and I thought this was worth noting too he says that, you know, every good thing he's ever done for the world. Is in the hospital.

I thought, well, broadly speaking, I really love the finale. And I really love engaging with the show both for what's on the screen and what I can't help but kind of try to mind read are the logistics and conversations and decision making. That is happening behind the scenes in terms of what to push forward and what to pull back on. And this shows, I think, pretty active engagement due to its quick turnaround time with its. with its audience and knowing what they might expect and how they could still surprise us. Broadly speaking, it is a bold gambit to build a season this way, that having educated us on one season about the craziest most violent day in the history of the emergency department, probably, condition us for something similar, and then kind of have that not really be the case.

It's a day from hell for any number of reasons, but the long night of the soul is really internal and it's Robbie's Dark Night of the Soul. One of the thing, one of the downstream effects of that decision is that as things get quieter and we get closer and more tied to Robbie's head, we start to notice some things good and bad. And one of the potentially bad things

is that he does have a version of the same conversation two to four times. Yes. I couldn't help but notice that. You also couldn't help but notice then that the show kind of asserted the primacy of this character, which is not a surprise

and actually works for the show. if you watch the show under the impression that it is somehow an ensemble piece, I advise you to take a look at the series season posters for season one and two, both of which are pretty much one man's face. But the downstream effects of that are that some characters get nice little buttons on their season and some closure. Some characters get used for shock value. Not in a bad way, again, but like what's her name, checking out early for boundaries? and joy checking out early for boundaries

or Jesse getting arrested by ICE. But then you also get things and you could probably put a pin in this and come back to it. But Dr. Mohan's goodbye essentially being all about Robbie. My one note about that was lovely scene if they had not made a giant public announcement that she was leaving the show, I would not have thought of that as her last scene.

Exactly. Ultimately, I really, really respect the gambit what they did with this season, and I thought they landed it in a way that felt slightly surprising but ultimately right. And the reason I say that is that when we live, like in our real lives, even those of us who are anxious and have like prone to catastrophizing thoughts, the worst, worst things, the most violent, horrible, hideous things often don't happen. And what you have to deal with is the margins and dealing with what your day to day is.

The nature of the show means that at least one to ten times per episode, the worst, most hideous, violent things happen. in the margins on the operating table or what have you. So what the show can do then is force Robbie to live with the margins of that. Talk about other people's death and what it's doing to him. Flirt with the idea of driving a motorcycle off a cliff like a buffalo, but really be stuck with himself and his best intentions, caring for a baby, and his worst intentions, yelling at Dr. Alashimi.

So to your point about it being the Robbie show towards the end of this season, I thought that that's why the al-hemi confrontation was better than just reiterating her or further explaining her situation, her condition, which is she has long had, she has historically had seizures, but through treatment has been able to get them under control, but experiences too on this her first day as the senior attending at the ED to take over for Robbie in his absence. The implication for that is that we saw at least one of them on camera, which. She had one with Baby Jane Doe and that she had one when she was looking at the kid who needed to be put in the... Yes, and he caught that one. And he caught that one and kind of like sharks around the ED until he can get to the bottom of it. But it's her confession to him. It's her showing him her medical history and he's just like, Braun is this you?

And then they have this nice conversation at first. Although Robbie is starting to be like, it seems like you're trying to talk me into how this is all okay. And at the end of the day, she's like, so we're good. My neurologist said, I need to just try this different medication. And he's like, we're not good. You can't be in the attending here if you can't do procedures because you can't always have another attending with you, which now explains maybe why she was like, I've decided we need two seniors on staff all the time. During their big fight that they have in that moment, she says like you're making this all about you. like you're so narcissistic essentially.

And this is kind of an interesting thing that's happened over the last couple of weeks, and I can't help but also bring in a little bit of the outer pit discourse about like, I'm ready. Robbie as a good or bad man or boss, because I don't really like let that affect how I watch the show at all. But it's the show's right on the line of giving us enough of other people's opinions about Robbie within the world of the show to have some distance from Robbie as a character while we watch it

versus we're just watching this guy and it's like if it's just more guys like Robbie we're in charge of the world we just all be a better place and so a couple of people are like you're a dick or you need help or you're a narcissist but the show is about this guy

holding a baby at the end of it and being like you know what I mean like it's about Robbie so it's like right up against like who's POV are we seeing this guy through you know? I think it's a really good point to make, but I think the show is more subtle than critics might suggest.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's certainly not subtle in some ways when it does direct-to-camera address. But I don't know if you know this. So Robbie says, the only things I can control are in this room and that the human stuff is impossible for him. We see it in practice when a pregnant woman arrives in preeclampsia and distress and says, I don't want any medical care. I don't want any medical intervention. Here's what I believe. Here's what I want. And then as soon as she starts seizing,

the doctors can doctor, which is not presented as like a great outcome. It's an incredibly tense and dramatic scene. But it is an example. That scene is so crazy. And we should talk about it just on its own merits. But I'm just saying the show knows what it's doing when it gives them a chance for things to get easy for them

when it gets hard. And the show is also being its best self, I think, when it ends with Robbie holding the baby and telling the baby that the baby he's going to be fine, that everything's okay, and that the baby's going to have a lot of love in her life. And I will say this is something that I've said as a parent. I'm sure Eric Roshant has said this to Capucene, his screenwriting daughter. But he doesn't know that. I've said it to Vijay Edgecombe, and he doesn't know that either. You know, I was just building my son. I think in that case, you're right. I think you have some certainty

that it's going to be fine for him. So maybe you're choosing. wisely. I just mean that like that the illusion of control at the heart of the show is woven more subtly through the episode than I think the Vue Maxers who are just like, what's bound this might appreciate. The subtle kind of details in Robbie's like, so here's one thing that I thought was really interesting. The sort of action set piece of this episode is an emergency C-section where the lives of both

the mother and the baby. You mentioned this woman who wants to do a wild birth. She keeps saying it. And has refused all prenatal care and doesn't want any medicine. And he's like ultrasounds and Abbott asks her why. And she's like, women have been giving birth for thousands of years. And he's like at a like 30% mortality rate. You know, that's, this is crazy.

We have all this stuff for you. She starts seizing. She's preeclampsia. At that point, it becomes full of clampsia. Yeah. I didn't know that. I didn't. Neither did I, that that was a transition. and all the hitters are in the room. The night shift is rocking out, and Robbie is brought in kind of like as the closer,

Edwin Diaz coming out of the bullpen. And I thought it was interesting. No Duran? You're wearing the Phillies hat today, but you're still keeping him guessing. You are appealing to all 50 states. He comes in and he sees what's happening and he's obviously been in and out of this room.

and he kind of has his own seizure. Like he has his emotional kind of like, I fucking can't make the last patient I see before God knows what happens to me is going to be the death of a mother and or a newborn. And he has like a moment where they're like, bro, like glove up, let's go.

And then what they do is essentially the pit version of the heat bank robbery. I mean, it is the most gripping kind of you know, stomach turning if you, you know, it's, it's among the more visceral things that they've done on this show. It was a masterpiece of technique. It was like, I was like, I forgot to breathe for two and a half minutes. It was just one of the most. What was your Apgar's score after that? I was blue. Low? That was blue. Um, they bring McKay in. It's just an incredible scene, dude. I don't know if you were able to watch it. Like, oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, I, as a girl dad,

C-sections are cool. Yeah. Yeah. It feels like a, a nine or 12 year old, I'd be like, I can't watch this, but like, it's a nine-year-old falls in a pool. You're like, no! It's a sliding window. You know what I mean? I care about what I care about. Yeah. That's how you feel about rookies into the second-year player.

You're not interested in G-League development guys. That's right. What did you think of the scene? Oh, I was just going to say, like, they did not put too fine a point on the fact that the very thing that Robbie is sort of saying is happening to Braun, which is you kind of are unable to do procedures, almost happens to him. Yeah, I also just. In that moment,

I, in that moment when I'm just watching the technical brilliance of the people who make this show executing something on such a high level with the choreography of the actors,

the performance of the actors, the lighting, the camera movement, the stuff I usually don't even look at or care about, like the, how real does this look? The viscera, yeah.

Truly, was unmatched. And I also really liked the way, again, like, it's just these little things that they decided to do, which is the last two episodes,

we will focus very, very intently on one horrific, potentially bad outcome medical scene per episode. Last week it was Langdon resetting the guy's spine. And this week it was this birth. And look,

it's a five-tool player as a show. They're showing you what they can do in miniature as well as what they've done in the past with chaos. So who do we... Ogilvy lost a patient, the teacher who was really nice.

Yeah. Louis died. Yep. they had a pretty good game. Well, there's a, someone lost the leg above the knee. But it could have been worse. It could have been worse.

Yeah. Could have been worse. Yeah, so your take on the day was pretty good, good game, guys. For all the adversity that they faced with the digital stuff, like, you know, everybody's really tired. They're charting while they're working and stuff. It's true. Let's talk about the show's relationship with catastrophe, because one thing that happens over time in any TV show, even not medical ones, is we just feel. so close, so much empathy, so connected to characters that we really just want good outcomes for them

and we want them to win and often shows start to service the audience as well. I thought one of the smart things that this episode did, and I don't know, I'd be curious to ask if we get the chance to talk to Noah again, how they discuss this in the writer's room, how much thought they give to perception. What I mean by that is there were a number of moments in this episode where even, I I feel like I have a pretty good read on how the show operates, but even I am not immune to being like, Dr. Al Hashimi shouldn't be driving on a roof right now. Yes.

This goes back to the old, like, Don and Sally Draper in a car and being like, please don't get an accident. It goes back further to Diana Moldauer on L.A. law as Rosalind, whatever, stepping into an elevator shaft. You know what I mean? Like, there was a... And even Mohan being like, well, is that her last scene? She's standing in the ambulance bay, and those AMBO drivers get a little while.

They clip the edges sometimes. I almost wonder whether or not that, like, the way that that ended left the door open for Superior Ganesh to come back to the show. Well, I think the doors are always open for characters on the show. Unlike ER, thus far, helicopters aren't falling on them. You know, like they are just medical professionals in other cities. And the show, which is very smart, can be clever about bringing people in and out for short stays, long stays, callbacks, whatever.

So I think that that's always, always in play. even this season, not ultimately that important for the storyline, but something to note that they might consider again is when the night charge nurse shows up, you know, 10 a.m. as a death dole. Right? Or that, you know, people have other, like Abbott, people have other jobs.

Yeah, they have hobbies. And they can show up as patients as well. The alishimi ending note of her and her car, I thought was very well done. And I thought that that's a character who has not been given a lot of, like, room to, like, kind of stretch out. She's a very buttoned up character. Yes.

And I even just, like, watching her, like, walk out with her headphones in. Like, I was like, this is cool to see this moment with this person. I thought they were setting it up for Robbie finds her, her, like, water bottle and is going to go, like, run after her and, like, apologizes to her at the car, or maybe she does have an episode and he saves her or whatever. So it was interesting that that was not how it ended. that's just basically like this woman at a crossroads in her life, as are many of these characters.

I was going to mention to you the, well, I want to talk about Langdon. Orlando had a bad outcome. What happened to him? He fell off something that was too small, potentially for what he was trying to do. And then Robert was kind of flipping about it. This is an interesting development over the second season. Is it, you know, from our Hawaiian death prayer to there's a dead guy in the waiting room and Orlando should have picked a higher place to jump from

is like a little bit of a change of tone. A little gallows humor. We talked a little bit about Mohan. Like I said, wouldn't have known that she was leaving unless there had been 5,500 articles about it. Yep. What do you think about the Greek chorosification

of Whitaker, Mel, McKay, and Santos? And like, basically, keeping them around for three episodes after their shift ends to sit at a computer and banter, but having little to no dramatic arc for any of them. Well, other than Mel's sister, I guess. I mean, I think that's something that I would imagine

they are going to try to look at in they're just finishing the writer's room for season three, but that they are looking at and what to do. Like, Robbie is the main character of the show, and he shares that distinction a little bit, I guess, with the ED itself and maybe Dana as one B. There's not a lot of, a story real estate to go around on this show.

And to that point, making the decision that he's now said publicly, which is a much shorter time jump, so it does sound like they'll be going from July to winter-ish. Yeah. We'll allow them to pick up these characters more rapidly and thus continue a story, maybe that they've established this season. The attempts to give each one of these smaller characters

some individual arc, I think was really hit or miss if we're looking back on the course of the season. I think that McKay wanting to have a personal life, great color, episode to episode. She's giving me great performance, but I don't think that really landed. Well, they're not going to go out on the date with her, so it's almost like she would have to have left at like eight o'clock

and been like, I have a date tonight. So can't do it. Mel, being forced to do a second deposition, just doesn't really hit for me. I mean, not if we're not going to see the deposition. Also, what was the case? What are the stakes? It's the fourth of July.

It's the fourth of July. Where I think her and Ellis did his spinal tap. It's from season one. Oh, it is. Okay. So maybe that's my fault. And Alice was like, I can't talk about what I said, but I want to tell you like you're a good doctor. So that might come back since Ellis is now also being upstream to the day shift.

Javadi maybe more successful because also that was the most ER in its small moments way. I think the most ER plot line because one of the challenges ER had was like, how will we keep these characters here and her becoming an emergency mental, like emergency psychiatry. Yeah. So she's going to be on the show now.

Obviously she's going to be on the show, but that locks her in. It's like that dude, the Pirates just called up. And they was like, he played two games. Carter Griffin. And they're like,

two games. Like, here's a nine-year contract. The Tigers just did that too. It's a great time to be 19 in the MLB. That's so sick. You get eight years, 150. Did you know that like in like when did we start this pod?

2012? Like mid-2013 I went to Bill and I was just like lock me up. Please. Ten-year deal. And he was like, no, bet on yourself. Yeah, and look where it got me. Still here waiting for that. Waiting for that payday.

If the rule you followed brought you back to me. Anyway. Yeah, like the difference I think with with someone like Whitaker is that Whitaker's role really is mini Robbie. So what Robbie does now kind of reflects on him, how he is being a doctor, how he is showing up what he's... So it's interesting watching the show figure this out. And I genuinely don't, again, with no actual knowledge of what's going on behind the scenes, I really am exhausted by the assumptions by a rabid fandom that there's some conspiracy plot to get rid of Supria Ganesh and Dr. Mohan. Like, sometimes characters don't take flight, and it's not...

about the actor. And I'm sure that people involved with the show would never blame her. It's they couldn't find a place for this character, a place for her to go. Yes, I also, I mean, like, I enjoy the character. I enjoy the performance quite a bit. One of my least favorite things about TV shows

is when they're just like, and we've also added six more people. Sure. And yet we're going to try and make room for the original six, the new six, and all the people in the background. I want to talk a little bit about Langdon,

who I would, was a bit surprised got like the arc that he did this season, I suppose, and this is in relationship to the Greek chorosification of those other characters that I mentioned, Santos especially, who I think was much more central to the first season. And in this season is more like, kind of like over it and also making a lot of jokes, but didn't really have like a huge moment other than her confrontation with Langdon, which I thought was quite good. But you, this karaoke erasure will not stand. Because they, they chickened out and didn't leave the hospital. I, I, I was, wanted to see them rocking out and singing.

You clearly turned off the show too fast. Did they go to karaoke after the fireworks? Yes. Oh, I did. I did turn. I was, I was testing you there. Oh, yeah. How is karaoke? Would she sing? They sing, uh, you ought to know.

Oh, that's good. She and Mel, rocking out on stage together. And that's how the season is. That's just a my B. Yeah. That's accountability. Listen, if the Marvel movies taught you anything, it's stay tuned through the credits. You get a little...

It was a stinger? Yeah, it said executive producer. and then you heard the music. Oh, come on. Yeah, dude. Yeah. What do you guys want for me? I'm grinding a lot of tape here, you know?

You would have seen conformity gate, too, if you had just kept it rolling. What's conformity gate? Isn't that the, that's the Stranger Things episode that came on after the finale. Yes. Well, me and some of my large language models are working on that right now. Some of my large language models. That's what LLM stands for, right? Sure.

Type it into Google. I dare you. It's probably something quite, quite obscene. Yeah, they show karaoke. Anyway, Langdon did not get invited. He also took off setting boundaries for himself. Well, actually, he doesn't. He comes back down, has this fight with Robbie.

I will say for a brief split second, I thought that dude was going to have some dirty work in his pockets when they were like, turning the pockets out. I was like, this guy has a perk? What's going on? Yeah. He did not. Viewer, he did not.

He was clean and sober. And he does his drug test. maybe it's a little cocky. Pun intended. Yeah, I mean, he does his drug test. He goes up, he sees that Mercilady lost her leg, but saved her life. Yep. Goes back downstairs and pops off at Robbie a little bit.

He does. He's had enough. I don't know if that's in the steps. You know what I mean? I don't know if that's part of the program. But he is just like, you don't like, you know, I'm doing the work. I came back. I showed I belong here.

But I could have paralyzed that guy. Like, I don't know what kind of teaching method this is now. And he's like, everybody knows you're on the edge. And you need to get help. I thought that was decent because one thing that you will notice if you've watched the last three episodes is that Robbie has not made much of a secret of his despair. You know, like he has talked to Duke about it. Dana obviously can see it. Can obviously see it.

Everybody's talking, you know, about this. What did you think of the Langdon arc? And what did you think of that moment with him? I've decided to double down on my number one criticism of the show, which is that someone's got to fuck his hair up. I've thought, I've done some time. I've done some work. I've done some reflection on how I just called that out a few weeks ago

and the reaction it got, frankly, in this room. That's the least important thing I could possibly care about. And I've decided that it does matter. And I hope that the powers that he listened to this note because this man just worked 15 hours through savage back pain, which he is treating with... And also showed up wearing a Pittsburgh penguin's hat.

Right, which would have had an effect on the... Look, I just want to see that he's been through the day that we've seen him go through. Yeah. Everyone else, like, a little bit, they look a little bit... They look a little bit worse for wear, yeah. Not him. Looks amazing. Okay.

Hair. Genuine... I would say, I'm done. I turned off the episode after that. No, I think that the worst tendencies of the pit are the fact that within the structure that they've created and the way that they have to process time and story, that when the tide goes out and suddenly characters have a brief moment to talk, there's almost too much pressure on that moment to deliver something that feels as natural and humanistic as much of the rest of the show when it's at its normal cadence. that happened last week when Whitaker popped off at Langdon all of the sudden. And was it consistent with how he probably was feeling based on what we've seen? Sure.

But we've never seen them talk to each other like that. And it felt kind of jarring. I felt similarly about this scene. It was meaningful. It had to happen. It was foreshadowed appropriately when Robbie realizes that he wanted to say something to him before he left and asked Dana where he went. It was better dramatically that it wasn't another learning hug at the end of the season. it gives us somewhere else to go.

But also, in the flow of the episode, as it was delivered to us, it was another one-on-one scene where someone tells Robbie a version of, you need help man. And we've had a couple of those. It was a different tenor. It was a different relationship. Yeah, we've had screaming. We've had take accountability.

We've had your narcissist. We've got to, like, embrace the darkness. Like, like... We've had hugs. And I thought it was actually, like, in a total, a really amazing portrait of the importance of like talking to people and the importance of like in some way

I think that this episode or this season has been Robbie's cry for help and he seems like it's been heard a fair amount. I thought the conversely I thought the Abbott scene was pretty spectacular. Yeah man. Those two guys blacking out in that scene.

He's incredible. And it's the right level of intensity and guys don't talk about feelings but also some jokes but also... But maybe guys do talk about feelings if they save two lives and, like, just dump a bunch of pads

inside of an empty stomach. You know what I mean? I wondered if you were gonna ask about that. Like... That's just like, that's the crazy shit with doctoring where like, they'll be like, oh, we have to do all this elaborate, like, don't do this to the vein

and like move that and like we're gonna do this crazy laser underneath. And then one part of it will be like, shove a ton of gauze into this guy's gut and let's see if we can stop the bleeding. And I'm like, that is what they did during the Civil War. Like, you guys have to have developed different fucking techniques.

Okay, now, to be fair, they did not have gauze in the Civil War. Like, we don't even have starting pitchers anymore. Why are you guys still pumping gauze into people's stomachs? I also thought it's a little... And where did they get it out? That's what I was going to say. Does dissolve? No, it's a little bit of a fun game for the friends upstairs.

Yeah, that guy is like, find my gauze. You texted me 12 minutes ago. What the fuck happened down here? And also, where's all my gauze? Can I reuse it? I really liked I liked the Abbott line about I'm your emergency contact

and I do not want to be contacted I thought that was a great line and I just thought the way that they spoke good Are you emergency contact? Uh-huh. Cool. I mean... We'll find out.

I got a motorcycle trip coming out. You're going to cut your brakes and just to see. What if you just got a call being like thank God we've reached you, you're Andy's emergency contact, HIPAA laws prohibit us telling you much, but his entire midsection is bursting with gals. I feel like sounds like you guys saved it.

He sounds like you got it. And then you'd be like that George Bush meme, you're like, now watch this drive. We got probably a, it sounds like a six-month time jump coming. So it'll be interesting to see whether that is geared, both because they want to get some autumnal slash winter disasters going. but, and maybe we can get like a hockey rink kind of situation, whatever, yeah. Penguins.

But also, like, that would put Al Hashimi and Robbie on track to be back if they want to do that. Great season. Do you feel... Last thing. I, you know, there's two types of discourse that I... Well, there's many types of discourse that I don't like, but the purposes of the show, one that I really have no time for is to, like, give this man all the Emmys now. But the second one I also don't like is this blank spin-off when. That said, this show is just heaving for a night shift.

It is this episode when not only does it let Abbott take center stage, but he is leading his crew in a bespoke chance saying that they are night crawlers. This is my one prediction for season three is in the same way that they did. Abbott shows up briefly in the first half of the season. and then runs like the last three or four is a much bigger presence. I do wonder if we get like three episodes, four episodes of Avent and Ellis finishing a shift.

Yeah, I think we should, I think it would be great to start. Just because Ellis is being brought up to main cast. And then that would be like, that would be really interesting. If day shift has to come in and like whatever, what could happen in the morning, like a big tractor trailer accident out there outside of Pittsburgh.

I don't think this can happen. or will happen for a variety of like specific production based reasons. But it has definitely at least been floated that if they could get the timing right, they could run the pit

all year by alternating use of the set by having a day shift as a viewer? Yeah. I mean, I think it wouldn't really serve anyone other than potentially future you know, owner of the hospital, David Ellison. Like I don't I think just in terms of the bastardization of story and attention

It's probably not worth it But could I handle it? Yeah like I actively I feel quite sad that that was the finale Because it's I enjoy this job But I also just enjoy having a show like that to watch It's it's unique To the feeling of One of those monocultural shows

That we know and love Where I feel like anticipation for the moment that I'm going to turn it on and excitement to talk about it afterwards. And just eagerness to turn it off, apparently, even before it ends. That's my bad. I thought when I got to R. Scott Gemmell,

I was all clear. There was the dulcid tones of Alanis Morissette. I'm going to start putting fake Stinger podcast moments where I'm just like, after you've left, I'm going to be like. You should. During the credits. This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime.

Ever have a plan come together? out of nowhere and realize you're missing something, like a last-minute beach day, a spontaneous hike or an outdoor movie night you didn't plan for, that's when Prime's same-day delivery as you're back, getting you exactly what you need fast and reliably so you can actually join the moment instead of watching from the sidelines.

Same day delivery, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon.com slash Prime to find millions of items delivered fast, available in select areas. Terms apply. The playoffs are here, and you can predict. the action all the way to the finals with Fandul Predicts.

Follow all the playoff dishes, swishes, wishes, wishes, and misses. Predict the spread, the total points, and even the game winner. Sign up for Fandual Predicts and predict it from the couch. Offered by Fandual Prediction Markets LLC, a registered futures commission merchant. 18 plus. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tools. This episode is brought to you by the Active Cash.

credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets at the game or grabbing a coffee, it earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. Say it with me. The active cash credit card from Wells Fargo, be a 2%er. Learn more at Wells Fargo.com forward slash active cash terms apply. Let's do Top Chef for a few minutes here. Okay. So that was the pit finale. Thumbs up. From the pit, the hospital to the barbecue pit. That's right. Spoilers for Top Chef. And I will say

we're going to get a little bit granular here about Top Chef as a production. So spoilers also for Last Chance Kitchen. Yeah, we have to. We have to. I begin at the end. Okay. Is that okay? Do what you need to do. What happened? What happened there? So Seeger loses on the show itself. Yep. you can debate whether or not like his he was he falling on a sword was he making some great hero move to like cook the whole hog himself and stay up all night and cook the toughest part of

the pig i don't know enough about pigs to tell you you know like there is i thought laurence did a great job there was some good looking dishes but for the most part this seemed like a very difficult challenge yeah and also a complicated one in so much as it was two teams, a captain, but then there was, you know, Justin's cooking, but with, like, Jen's milk bread that everybody seemed to love.

Yada, yada, see your loses. I wouldn't say he lost, like, entirely gracefully. He seemed a little bit like, see fucking soon dog, you know, to everybody. They go to Last Chance Kitchen, and Tom is like, basically, like, I can't explain what's going on, but we don't have a challenger for Rota today.

All will be revealed in next week's main episode, he says, basically. So the operating theory seems to be that next week... There's two potential outcomes. Yeah, go for it. Jen will have to drop out of the competition before even a quickfire starts. And because of that, and because she's sort of been on warning about, like, you have to compete if you're going to be here... 65 game rule. They will pull her from the competition and Seeger will automatically go back in. Because he was the last one eliminated.

What's the other theory? The other theory is that he threw a hissy fit and said, you guys all suck, I'm out of here, I'm not going to do your funny little after show, which has only ever happened one other time. Oh, really? The guy with the hat who got eliminated first two seasons ago, David, I think, he made like garbage pizza was his business.

No offense, but I think his business was literally like, you know, pizza, but with everything on it. No, pizza with like scraps that other restaurants throw away. Oh, yeah, yeah, he was like dumpster diving, right? And he didn't go to Last Chance Kitchen? No. Look at your face You like people who compete

It's incredible This has really got your blood out I could see both happening And I definitely already be I mean People do receive what's known as the villain edit Often in reality shows And I express my displeasure

At Sieger's attitude towards the children Previous week For example I don't think he would like the show Bandi at all Because he's not interested in people Who Collaborate with adult children but I also felt like the Top Chef is as far from the most people's baseline understanding of reality TV as it can get. I think it doesn't really go for soap operatics. Yeah, it doesn't indulge in a lot of like interpersonal dramas and stuff like that.

And it's mostly, especially in the last, I don't know, 15 seasons just generally uninterested in that. And I think that's to its credit. That said, whether it's the edit or just the guy himself, Seeger was incredibly unlikable over these last two weeks. I felt his, like, the way that it was cutting to him, I mean, one fun thing the season is, I am watching it with my kids and, like, them not really yet knowing the rhythms of a show in which I'm, they don't understand that if you get the interview where they talk about their family or background, that means they're either winning or losing. Yeah.

And you don't know which. Yes. So the way that Seeger was like, you know, I've trained with Rodney Scott and I've done all these things, was setting him up to lose. But like, TV can reveal things even if, you know, it's not necessarily a malicious edit. and he was so tight and so resentful and angry about how things should be done that he was definitely set himself a failure

and set up for a potential. I believe his final interview in this episode didn't look like other final interviews have been. Like he seemed to be in a different space that potentially this was done. And that could be either because he bailed or because he had to film that talking headpiece separate from the normal talking headpiece

because of whatever it happened. Yeah, I don't know exactly. I'd be curious to know, but maybe they wouldn't tell us about when they shoot Last Chance Kitchen in relationship to the episodes. I think in times it has been like this person walked out of an elimination and into Last Chance Kitchen. I've also heard that there have been seasons in which

they shoot Last Chance Kitchen over a course of like two days closer to the end of production. Interesting. If you are on a show like this. Before they go, like it's basically like you win Last Chance Kitchen over the course of two days and go right back into the regular show. I believe that's right. It catches you up to that point.

Everyone who signs up for the show is committed to, like, a blackout. They have to be there for those four to six weeks regardless. But, like, theoretically, like, Nana could have to sit in Last Chance Kitchen for two weeks or something like that. Yeah, or just sit in the hotel. Yeah, exactly. The strangeness in Last Chance Kitchen did create a pretty fun... I mean, I kind of liked the chaos of it because Tom was clearly, like, I don't know what's going on. And then the nature of the challenge that they had come up with was so bizarre and specific.

and like he made them put duckheads into everything. But I also kind of like the fact that there were two chefs there who were eliminated and he was just like just come and try to win money. Yeah, I thought that was cool. I thought it was cool. I thought it just spoke to perhaps a flaw in the engineering of the television show like in the production itself if like depending on when they're shooting this and whatever. And like just the fact that you leave an episode of TV and you're like,

I don't really understand what happened, but not on a cliffhanger way, more than it like, Tom seems unprepared. from what's just happened. Did you have any other big notes from the show itself? Another great challenge in what's been a good season. I really like that they

made them do something incredibly specific and hard. There was no quick fire. It was a whole hog cook all night. People want a little nuts staying up all night. I definitely... What do you think is easier?

Neither is easy. But do you think it's easier to stay up all night and then plate a delicious hog dish or stay up essentially all night and then deliver a baby and save a mother suffering from Eclampsia.

The question is, like, have you ever done the, like, my flight is so early, I'm just going to stay up all night? No, I can't do that. Yeah. That's the, I think in any situation, I would be like, I'm going to go get a couple hours of sleep somewhere. Yeah. Like, my brain needs to shut down for a second.

So I would rather, personally, just for the, just for the memories, do the C-section, you know? That's not where I thought you were going to go. But I could be the gauze guy, because it seems like that's just like put a bunch of gauze in the stomach. Did you, first of all, you're saying, do you mean there's technique to that? People don't know this about you. Come up and under! You could be like, did you see the video of the kid who sunk the half court for 10 grand at the six-year's game? And then fucking maxi and PG came out to him.

That's you? Even longtime listeners probably don't understand that there was a period about 20 years ago when you had spent a lot of time watching House MD and thus sort of fancied yourself a bit of an amateur medicine man. And anytime anyone was slightly ill or perhaps hung over, your suggestion was a towel of indeterminate temperature.

Yeah, sometimes cold, sometimes hot. We turn to you like the wise sachem and be like, Chris, I'm suffering from these ailments. And you'd be like, hot towel around the neck. I don't think that was from house. You don't think? I mean, I think I was watching House, but I think it was more just like,

I need you to rally. That's probably true too. It's probably true, too. Speaking of sports. Yeah. Switch it. I'm wearing Eagles Green. And that's what I want to talk to you about. My wardrobe choices.

Last night during the Sixers play-in game. Oh, yeah. First of all, I thought I found you very quiet yesterday and not particularly chatty with me. That's fine. These days happen, but I didn't think that you were like engaging with me. Oh, do you want to talk about that? No, that was fine because that's not abnormal.

What I didn't like is that when Zach and I were texting about the Sixers' incredible performance against the Orlando Magic. Yeah. The only sporting event that anyone cared about that last night. You were like you guys are so loyal. Yeah. And I was like, don't fucking do that.

No, I... This is a safe space where we talk about our obsessions and our fandom and you're like you guys really like the Sixers. And I was like are you being held for fucking ransom? Like what is going on? I'm kind of,

My heart has been bruised too much. I'm kind of in Proven mode with them. It's Wednesday night. What were you doing? Well, clearly I had a full day. And the fact that it's driving you crazy, you don't know what I did yesterday. It's okay.

I was monitoring the situation. I had eyes on the game. Are always such an abelient, like, gregarious fan. You were just like, guys, because... Hello, brothers. Like, what Philly's sporting event is happening today? Because here's the thing.

You're like, you guys like this shit, huh? First of all, it was a bit of a brushback pitch. Because I have definitely sent a disproportionate share of Andrew Painter text slash, do you think we're going to get Kenyon Sadiq at 23 texts. And frankly, some crickets. Some mock draft content I sent in your way. No one responded to it. Well, that was Barnewell being like, this won't happen, but what if it did?

First of all, it wasn't Barnwell. It was NBC Sports Philadelphia. So click the link Anyway This is why journalism is collapsed This is why you're like Probably Bill Barnwell I love Barnewell but I was like

I saw that on ESP.com and I was like This is speculated You didn't even see it yeah You don't even know the fantasy situation that I was sharing with you for no reason on a Tuesday at 3 p.m. Okay The The fucking Sixers man

Like come on Come on You don't understand It's Jekyll and Hyde man I do understand it. And when Joe is out there, it's like watching a brannosaurus, like, move across a pasture. And you're just like, this is not fun. Yeah.

But when it's VJ and Maxi and playoff P, I know. But you clear, you're still trusting. Here's the thing. I love Dr. Jekyll. I am a patient of Dr. Jekyll. I make appointments to see Dr. Jekyll. And then while he's examining me, I'm like, you want to hang out sometime? Yeah.

I've gotten too close to Dr. Jekyll. Do you know what Dr. Jekyll is like when you get too close to her? Is Dr. Jekyll Jowell and beating this? No, it's the fucking team because then I'm like, maybe this team has a chance. Then Paul George is suspended for taking drugs? Yes. And then I'm like, hey, Dr. Jekyll, you're looking good again.

Do you know what I think about that? And then Dr. Jekyll's like, oh, my appendix is just burst before the playoffs have begun. I don't have the... Okay. Okay. I'm battered. I'm old, you know?

I don't want you to ever think that when I don't respond to your draft, your deep, deep, deep draft lore, that it's anything about, like, it's not that I don't find it interesting. But I guess what I should do is be like, you sure do read a lot. Yeah. I do.

I read a lot of New York Review of Books content, like the great Nancy Lemon book that I'm reading, The Lives of Saints, New Orleans and the 80s. Come on, you're going to love this book. I also read a lot of draft content. Yeah. I'm very excited about the upcoming NFL draft. I am. I have a take too hot for you.

Before we go to that, I would also say that the reason why I was particularly salty about the Sixers is because I did peek in on our fight and fills. Oh, yeah. And it's just, yeah. Hey, don't eat, you know what they say? Don't even check the standings until game 60. It's all noise. It's no signal. Who says that? The rates and barrels guy at the athletic podcast. Whoa. And they were like, don't even worry about it until game 60. It's like, yeah, you can have a disaster. season and at Game 60 you might not be in it, but it's all noise. The signal doesn't start till Game 60. Okay. Yeah. That's very calm. Yeah. I love that. Do we have a rule about that for television shows? Because I've never found it. No. I mean, that's the problem with TV. I'm not hanging

out till Game 60. It's too long. Yeah. You know, I honestly, like, I'll be completely honest as we're doing After Dark. I got, I realized why I don't like reading reviews is that if I get warned off a show, I'm not really looking forward to the prospect of watching eight hours of beef if it's not good. I'll watch anything that's a bad movie. I don't give a shit. Oh, for sure. It's a time thing. Yeah, but it's just like eight hours of like something that doesn't work out and is like kind of not focused.

But who knows, maybe the critics are wrong. And maybe we are the critics that matter, you know? It's possible. Or maybe we are going to turn vegan from it. What's your hot draft take? I can't share it on a recording. What? I will share it, but like then we have to cut it.

I'll be completely honest with you. This is, sorry, sorry. Don't mean to offend anybody. Beep this. This is going to be great. That was my draft take. And we didn't include it in the podcast because. Daniel Jeremiah could never.

Thanks to Andy Greenwald. I thought you did a really good job today. Thank you. But I am just rookie numbers compared to what you've done today. Sarah, Kaya, Kai. Thank you so much for being here. And thank you so much for witnessing my last pod. if that tape ever gets out.

And we'll be back on Monday. Euphoria beef. Margo's got money problems. Oh, it's a big show for us. Yeah. Big, big, big show. And we'll talk about, since I didn't realize you were so swayed by reviews,

how engaged you are with Euphoria Season 3. The reviews? Well, no, you just were like, ruin reviews are bad. I don't want to watch it. Now you're like, it's Levinson time. Big Sam coming through. Nobody has his finger on the pulse

of Young America more. Yeah, honestly, you've got a point there. Also, I keep going along for the ride. I love it. Thank you for riding shotgun with me. See you guys on Monday. Enjoy more ways to save at Ralph's, like low prices in every aisle. And when you download the Ralph's app, you can clip and save more with digital coupons every week. Plus, you can earn fuel points to save up to $1 per gallon at the pump.

At Ralph's, you can enjoy more ways to save and more reward. rewards every time you shop. So it's always easy to save big every day with savings and rewards. Ralph's SoCal for over 150 years. Savings may vary by state. Fuel restrictions apply. C-Syte for details.