The Agency and Future Podcast Plans

This episode is brought to by Netflix. The T mobile homeome runun Derb is right around the corner. might be one of the best showcases of pure power and off sports baseballs Biggest slugggers. along with some legendary Announcers, Puhos, Rizzo, Bs, Sabbathia L Duncin Yeah Hunter Pence, Matt Fas Kirzian, a whole bunch of people. And it's the one night where you don't swing to make contact You swing. to make history. Im interested is see what Bond says about this actually. Anyway, it is all live from Citizens Bank Park In Philly, Watch the T mobile homeome runun there we liive on Netflix this Monday, july thirteenth at eightM Eastern five PM Pacific. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast instead of Doom sccrolling? Smart move. Another smart move Getting help from one of State Farm's nineteen thousand local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto. Bundling. Just another way to save with the personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. And supports sta have to clear Watch, My name is Chris Ryan. I am an editor at theringer dot com and joining me in the studio fresh off a nine hour twix stream with Jayen Brown. It's Eddie Green Wal. What do you mean? I just had a colonoscopy? What's up, brother? It's great to see you. Good to see you too. It's the watchatch. It's Monday, A lot to talk about Today on the show, July fourth, Taylor Swiss wedding, England, Mexico. Where would LeBron James live in the T State area if he were to become a sixer House of the Dragon, the agency star city. . But I only have an hour to talk to you, so I'm just getting. That's exciting. It's great to see you, the watch at Spotify dot com dot the watchatchPod underscore and Instagram Yeah. Vinggerash TV on YouTube, You can watch us and listen to us on Spotify, which I hope you're doing, but you can also find us elsewhere I wish they Simul cast us on BBC World Serice I think that could be arranged. I think we have a fan base over there. How are you? How How is your England Mexico experience I mean, that was one of the greatest sports events of my life.. I mean this sincerely and I understand what it would do to cheapen the nature of the event, but I wish there was World Cup every day for the rest of my time on this cursed earth. spepecifically, I want knockouts, but I want three of them a day. Yes start at nine and end at like eight thirty. Yes. And I want both the Cinderella teams to win, but also for the best players to keep playing. Yes. And I want both teams to do their celebrations at the end because because I love all. I a leader who could make that happen. H. L a guy would step into the to the void and say it's me. This is actually I can fix it O he can fix FIFA. It's true. Yeah. It's true. I mean when you have It's just a shame to see yet another institutionally Can. U organization lose guardrails. You know what I mean? Likeust historically, FIFA has always been so delightful. I seriously. I mean it is truly like it's like the heart recognizing its counterpoint in another It's beautiful. These two deserve each other. I just want to say we're recording there's at ten AM on Monday, so the USA plays Belgium in a couple of hours. insanely bad sports karma The worst Like DuBrne Masterclass is incoming. Yeah I think that's likely. Let's say let's focus. I think it's good. Like look everyvery country would do it if they could. Yeah also it is it is by far the most shit house sport in the world. like people have won on handballs. there have been juntas that kidnapped people to win World Cups I'm just saying. I just want to say as a long timee Ball fanatic att least as far back as June. Yeah. I That was a bullset red card. which chse Thalgans. Yeah I agree. I usually like to agree with them on some points. I just think nobody's wrong one hundred percent of the time. It's true. Okaykay? I mean, show me Who among us, this is a television that is increasingly just friendship pod, which I think is good for us, but in terms of the television The World Cup is the best television of the year.. And I genuinely like most of the time and I'll make this about me because I rarely do that Um, I feel bad for me like when my children won't watch sports with me because I like watching sports I feel bad for them that they are not watching this. I felt If you're listening to this and last night you were like, Oh, the legally blonde prequel is on Amazon. Let's fire that up. What are you doing? Yeah? What are you doing with your life? That was so wild. My two favorite countries in the world to visit each other's throats. So it it does come back the dandy bowl. Yeah. Come on. And was ultimately, ultimately On the record right now. Yeah, who are you cheering for Who am I cheering for the most? Who were you cheering for For e England Yeah I've been there more recently. and sides of the argument trying to secure the LA vote Incredible Incredible. The other thing that I want to say about this match though, it was redable Drama, incredible television, incredible sport but it was also a match that began airing at two AM. GMT. Yes. And we were texting with people they were called the time zone in England Look look at here, Men are the people Greenwich meantime. We were texting with people who were awake for this match and I got to say in England in England. Yes. And I barely me. I gott to say If the situation was reversed and whether it was the USMNT playing in a in the middle of the night or if it was the Eagles, because I tried this last like the whole Super Bowl season of the Eagles They began that season playing a spirited contest in Brazil that I learned about via text messages from you and Zach when I woke up in England the next morning. Yes. So like I'm just saying I don't have that gear and I don't know if it's a particularly like an age thing. Do you think it is part the reason the English we were able to stay awake is in fact gear Well Have you thought about that? Well said. Do you think that all the lads down at the pub weren't just they weren't on the Guinness all night? I'll just say that. More than that. I would not be shocked if the last season of Iustry, the final season of Iustry, is about a coaked out triter who arrives at work at seven AM and accidentally caused a financial crisis straight from the pub From the session ye Okay. Yeah. But do you think you have it in you just purely on vibes? like just natural the natural stimulant of enthusiasm. Yeah because honestly the thing that was almost more intoxicating than the match itself was the buildup Buildup was so is a real like I will never quit this app moment was the pure storytelling chops of the world's collected meme makers as as we and also I mean when you watch Harry Caine s sing a Narco Corrito, like you really are kind of like in the loving embrace. twow of the best sentient intelligence. Two of the best meme creating cultures, I would say The Morrisy Bowl is of this match referred to. Yes Any final thoughts, I believe Jordan Henderson played for Liverpool. your b. Yeah, was are like basically the closest we thing we had to representation on this team. So for people, representation matters. Y. For people who aren't up on the World Cup and have not hit skip, skip skip Jordan Henderson's performance last night was elite. He did not enter the match as a player He was kepted in the sense that he received a yellow card for was talking. He ally brought to provide veteran leadership and vibes. payoff on that, the return on that ticket was he got a yellow card for talking shit from the bench And then in the celebration, he slipped roke wrist was an advertising hoarding during Wonderwall. And when he was trying to get down, he fell and seriously broke his wrist. Like had to be airlifted to a hospital. He needed oxygen. I mean, everybody needed oxygen. Yeah. I needed oxygen. Yes. But yes, And thus Liverpool's World Cub ends Yeah It's amazing What other pop culture stuff? I will say and I'm sureean and Amanda will hit this becausecause I'mealing Seaan's I was I saw him over the weekend and he made this point, which is essentially that you can tell that the World Cup is is mega because Like Mions was down bad Oh was it? And and Supergirl continued to be down. likeike I don't, I think this is actually like ye, I personally Forgot that I did House of our the thrates when it came up on my feet, I was like, Damn I did that. Like That show is on tight. In your defense, in order to combat altitude in the House of Rr stududio, you were absolutely gagged on beetroot in Viagra like the English national team. Yeah performance matters and everything U Yeahah, I mean, look we're I don't know. mayaybe people haven't seen what what was a honestly like awesome episode of House the Dragon I am excited to talk to you about. I also did I watched that episode before any of the knockout round matches this weekend. so I think it's going to be interesting Do we have conft I heard over I heard prior to the weekend U, illumination Animation Entertertainment Corporation. confirmed that the mininions at no point worked for Adolf Hitler Do we have like? Yeah, they were asked about this. Where the minions period piece Yes, this is the thing. Okay, we'll get back But I wanted to know if you think they've worked for Carmine in Ffantino. But yeah, soarmine, name? Giann. Giohnny? Yeah. Why do I call him Carmine? Because you're racist against stalliions? I don't know. Let me know next time they make the Mundal, okay Oh Carine in Fantina was the publisher of DC Comics. It's actually worse. I'm both racist and a big dork. This is this is my for me being gonna to do the Bill Simmons. I'm half Italion, so it's okay. I promise you, I am not I did sleep at Holiday Express last night. Oh my God, there you go. That's why I thought that. Anyway The minions It's been established that these small little yellow friends been in existence throughout history and what they do is They find a menacing evil power and bootlick and do whatever they can to serve whoever has been evil throughout history. So there's like funny little shorts where they're helping a mean caveman and then the caveman dies and they're like, and they go help someone else. It Sos they They're eternal Yes, and this movie that came out this weekend that I also completely forgot about I believe is a period piece set in the silence film era Okay. you know, it's really weird. If you I can't believe it only made like thirty five million I want to protect you from like if you peel by the onion here. This is this is the line that I draw. Okay And I shall not pass. I'm not going into the minions verse. But I see it, I see like the minions out on the highway. You know the big one coming up over univers. Like I'm familiar with their vibe. I know that like somebody Who did they say somebody's saying Bohemian Rhsody in Mion? They're saying like there's lots Who said that? The internet. It's like there are joes about Emily Blunt speaks in Mion in Dclosure Day and stuff like that. Did she? Are you Googling Carmine Eatino right now? Oh, I know everything about Carmine Eantino. late great. But yeah, like my only point was just that like it was sort of amazing to see an event become so massive And I think between World Cup and people simply using data centers to power their Taylor Swift wedding snooping. Yeah. Everybody stayed home this weekend or, you know, went out to the July fourth party but did not go to minions and did not go to D did not go see obsession probably because everybody on the planet are saw it So this is a headline. Ag, you missed this because you could just talkalk it up to the World Cup or your lovely holiday travel that we did together. But Man this is a headline from deeadline July second Dateline, July second Minions and Monsters Director makes it clear Minionss N Dline Burbank. Minions no Dline a bunker underneath Berlin Minions never worked for Hitler. Okay. now Did they take a meeting you have the phone call? They were tech. the phone call. Who I mean, it also then opens up the follow up. so were they with Mussolini Yeah, exactly. were they doing in the forties? Minions and Mster co writer, director, byy the way, do you know the guy that created the minions is named Pierre Coffin U See, if how deep does this thing go? Be he's buried under that money. That's de for real though She It was a wild fan theory after twenty fifteen's film Minions revealed that they served Napoleon in the nineteenth century, leading, quote, many to wonder where they were during World War twoI. Many many were they on the other side of the French Revolution It's a little bit unclear, but it does say the First Minions movie had them quote, hibernating in a cave from eighteen twelve to nineteen sixty eight onvenient. A actually, you know what? I don't think I actually know I saw Napoleon and I can't remember. what did he do during the French Revolution You're saying you saw Ridley Scott's Napoleon, but you don't remember the M minionionss role in the film. No, I don'tember Napoleon's role in the Revolution. I want to tell you for the record, that movie would have done double the BO If in the Ridley Scott director's cut Hold on, shhut the whole podcast down. Seeing the director's gut for all I know minions are all over it. Are they in the Director's Gut of Kingdom of heaven? Yes. What they work for in the Weyland Uutani Universe. Paul Riser Billion Riser is essentially a minion in aliens. This is such D you know how much money we're making for someone else right now If you redid the entire Ridley Scott filmography includluding fucking matchstick men with minions in it Okay, you just all right. I'm just letting you cook. I can' It's too it's too rich a text But it would be exciting. I just wanted to give you some space here because you're cooking Well You're racist. you're doing you're doing alternative history. Minions are showing up in in blade Runner. Yeah. What do you think of Taylor Swiss' wedding hour or the rain falling on him and then the minions slowly ease him into the soil. Beautiful Okay, sorry what? What did you think of Taylor'sw sweating Um, You're sweating. I'm worked up about this. I think that if also it's the new lighting that we're not allowed to talk about. If we survive this period of history, the World Cup, I mean, I might not survive that. I do think that this abomination in Manhattan will be looked back as a nadeer Like of a real breread and circuses moment. I find the whole thing Really awful, Re, really tacky, really awful. I know that doesn't jibe with the with the general You know I was I was where you were at at various points. I know but then what you did was you focus grouped it. you went out into America. You know what I did when is when I saw the guest list, I was like, this is this isn't grrotesque this is just weird I mean, it is grotesque in a lot of ways, but like I was like, this is just strange. because then you saw George Stefanopolos as D Blandino at her wedding. You know is But even Travis Kelsey is Travis Kelsey friends mo. refereeing expert. There's version of this that is like it's actually when you are this rich and this famous Friendship is a meaningless umbrella term And that's what you, I think the end result of that is like We were so happy be married by. Cristian Ronaldo has just got like a single tear going down his face while he listens to us before Portugal, Spain. I hope he listens to us That's what you get when you have an invitation or whatever it was that said like know the postcriript was like we were married by our good friend Adam Sandler. Yeah. I challenge you to define the word friend in that sentence. I imagine that you both enjoy the filmography of Adam Sandler. And I'm sure both of you at some point were introduc to Adam Sandler at a party and you' were like, holy shit, you're Adam Sandler, and he was like Zooboo or whatever. I Try to imagine what my Adam Sandler would be. Do it. Do it, We're married by my good friend John Bernthal. This is right. And he's just like, okay. Damn. I had no true love was here. We all have our version of like Adam Sandler, like the, oh shit, wouldouldn't that be funny? Mine was the late great Carmine infantaino. It could have talked about when he brokered the deal to have Spiderm Man Superman cross over once in nineteen eighty two. Uh You you know what I mean? Like I find that I mean Patton Square Garden All due respect to the mayor of New York, Joan Brunson, but like It's not particularly like intimate or romantic venue. No. I mean, there is obvious like technical reasons why they did it. It's because they probably because they filmed it and they're going to sell it. Which is also strange strange is a politic word. Yeah. And I know that there was like, you know, everything about it was secure. and that was the one way that they wouldn't have helicopters taking pictures and they had the security levels outside and that you could basically get a filming permit that would then shut down midtown O july third, which I'm sure was annoying. You know, under Big Zo, everything just seems to just keep rolling I think it does work, you know. It's true. Yeah. I I think that was my big I looked at the list of the people who had been confirmed to have attended and I was just like, This is just so random. L there are just so many people where I'm like, this guy from NCIS. It's a party for famous people.m cononggratulations Have a nice weekend. Okay, let's talk about howouse the Dragon I guess O on Talk of Thrones, J Iadore doing with Mal and Joe, and they did a great job explaining some of the in depth more textual readings of this episode I declared This the best episode of the series Do you agree with me I thought This this is this is the ego craase, I guess Not at all. the ego of the very siloed. I was like Zag. This is a great episode of T. Yeah. Apparently, not a zag. Apparently I think I think conventional wisdom. I think for maybe there are people who are like that was. There might be people who are like, that was boring. And there might be people who were like But what about X, Y and Z happening outside of the castle walls or whatever. Right. I just thought this This episode lack had with some of the other episodes which is subjectivity Yes, well said. and I find that ironic becausecause even though I have not read U fire and Blood. I think that's the text this is based on G it That is famously or not even that is written from multiple perspectives, sometimes conflicting accounts that is a quasi historical document about this time. And That the show is not really leaned into that. It's never leaned into This was kind of perceived by this person in this way And this was really like the first in my mind, the first time we ever got to watch the events of a episode take place Solely from the perspective of a character who's going through something. An entire episode, for sure. Yeah. I would take it a step further. I remember from over a decade ago now and we were doing after the Thrones and with Jason and Mal and especially in their role as big fans of obviously of the franchise, but particularly of the books, that one of the things that made the book so indelible and attracted such an enormous audience even before HBO got interested was the very, very specific way in which they were written, which was in quite long subjective POV chapters so that during a Dance of Dragons or whichever book it was That's what we're doing now. that I think Howouses the Dragon is the dance of Dragons? Oh yeah, it was like a song of Ice and Fire. That's the series. It doesn't matter. I'm already discrediting myself. My point is the books that I haven't read are broken up and there's like a lot of Caitlyn Stark perspectives. There's Tyran chapter. There's Tyrian chapter, and that br you you know it brings you the subjectivity that I think is really, really appealing when you are reading a book, but also can be really, really precious when you're watching a TV show. Yeah My guess is that this is a meaningful episode not just for the House of the Dragon Superfan, but for the Westeros literati as well because This is close but at least is haacking towards what drew them in in the first place. And I found it really, really compelling also found it really reassuring isn't the word But like And I think actually I'm going to say something, I'd like to punt it at the end of a conversation, just because it really speaks to the challenge of adaptation at all for medum across mediums Um, watching this episode, which had like notot just Um, warmth and subjectivity and interesting and unique perspective, Um I also had flickers of wit It had more thematic elements to it, political elements I found really, really compelling. It L the sound design was incredible with like the ticking and the rats scratching and all. And I felt like what you could perceive in this hour of television was everyone every department Um taking their shackles off and being like, No, we know how to do this in a more traditional or enveloping way We are making a show that has a go's eye fixed perspective and we are doing other things and to see them Yeah the god'sye has to be very far away because you got to shoot the dragons. And the dragon seems to be I think Game of Thrones was like The dragons are like the kind of The carrot at the end of the, you know, like down the line for and the stick was sort of the brutal truths about families and politics. Yeah Uh this show front loaded Dragons, obviously and I made the bet that it could take advances in VFX and depict the dragon wararfare in a way that hadn't They hadn't even been able to do in Thrones I don't I don't know if I agree that they've succeeded necessarily But what really struck me about this, and I don't think I articulated this quite well enough on the episode that aired last night was I kept saying tempo and it is a fast episode. They people speak with a quicker tempo. Yeah Bite U What I admired so much about what C Claire Kilner, the director and Sarah Has the writer did with this one is In any other episode of House of the Dragon, a lot of these scenes would be conducted by two people standing in a static position in a room. And the blocking was pretty. Vanilla and the like acting was kindind of almost like comoming back to the direction of single, single master, like over the shoulder conversation stuff And far be it for me to ask for like West Wing set in Westeros Almost every scene in this episode was either a walk and talk or someone moving around a room in a way that felt unconventional for the show. Yeah. And even something like Allicent coming to visit Rhaenyra And Raenyra's like, how did you make all these decisions when you were kind of operating as the real headad of the head of the state Um I thought that Allicent wandering around the room and being like, this is so weird Be here with you. Like you were We were best friends Now we're kind of enemies, but I'm also counseling you. like this is really strange. Yeah. And Rhaenyra being kind of doubled over with menstrual pain and like you know like everything that's happening inside of her head and the paranoia that she's got, even the staging of something like that where it's just two people who really remain relatively static. There were little U, there were little kind of flourishes. that really made those scenes come alive. Think about I think that's very well said and think about how Think about the effect that the dragons had on people in Game of Thrones, like people on the show. Yeah. Like because they hadn't seen them or they thought they were mythological or enough time had passed O they just for like they're never to come back. And so the what the fuck? wasn't overlooked before they started torturing everybody What was cool about this episode in the absence of dragons and just generally was that Rhaenyra Physically was the What the fuck Because she is someone who was an idea, she was a cause, she was a shadow, a danger, a threat. And a prophecy. And now she's just a lady walking around a house And everyone's like, what do you what? You know, and she's making decisions and it was like a workplace comedy. The scene with Allison with Allison is like, well, you killed my father? Yeah was N Not funny. Do you know what I mean? Th I think that was and it was self aware enough for that The thing that I it's something that I noted last week and then I was happy to see played out differently this week Last week, Because of the necessities of plot and moving things forward, the two most powerful people in the realm, Rhaenyra and Daemon pop off their all powerful nuclear bombs and then just walk through the castle. Yeah And they they are thus at risk and, you know, then the stakes shift accordingly The same thing was happening in this episode, but for much smaller stakes effects, which made it a little bit more Um I don't want to say relev. It just made it more palpable. It made it more engaging to me that her being there and making these decisions and all the decisions in front of her being was much more interesting in the sense of like she is supposed to be up on high and now here she is brought low and heavy is the head,et et cetera, et cca. And then there's this like sort of spectrum of ideology that runs through Ohough. cohort of people that have brought her to power or helped her get to power And you've got people like Masaria who are like, well, I kind of believed in you because I thought that you were going to be the person to change the way things ran for common people And then Damon's like, I believe in you because you're the person who's going to bring the Targaryen line back to its customary place as basically demigods and paying no mind to law or whatever. you know, and we should just go around burning up the rest of the world until we get to almost fantastical places, more fantastical than where we were now Yeah. And the way in which that information is conveyed was so much more Witty artful, but also like forget the idea that these two people are like there are men with wings like like a land beyond the sea kind of stuff It was just very fascinating to see these two who are like, well, on one level, you're the only one who understands me. But on another level, you're pulling me right into the direction that Targaryens of the past and Targaryens of the future get pulled into where they think they're gods And that way spells doom. So I just thought all of that stuff was so well dramatized. I want to talk about I want to talk about the place, the city on the edge of the world where men have wings First of all Book me a ticket. Sounds awesome. And are they eligible to play for the USMNT? They have wings. They're very good play. We don't have a lot of wingers We don't have a lot of wingers. Oh that's good. Maybe you mis heard, mayaybe it's where men are natural wings, three and D stretch wings they could play for the six too. Yeah. This was something that I said probably too many times when we covered Game of Thrones, but I just felt that it was always important to not just to serve what I wanted to see in the show, but to balance the scales of what the stakes were and what people were fighting for or fighting against. and that was to Let us know what else they could be doing M us understand the choice to continue to march towards King's Landing. when you could, in the case of the original Game of Thrones series, show Arya going east Show what life is like in these other places. Is it better? Is it worse? Why do they keep coming back give us a sense of Dorn as being like, this's pretty nice. Why don't you just stay here? Yeah. So that when Damon says it in when Damon talks just what you were saying, when he is grandiose in this episode, it is night and day from when he was grandiose in the previous episode. In the previous episode, he's reciting a prophecy that sounds as romantic as a to do list In this episode, he's saying Here all these things that are possible for now So what will we do? can do anything, what will you do this that absolute dogged march towards The nightmare throne. is tough when you don't understand the psychology of why characters are doing it, other than the fact that they have always done that or they have been told they are meant to do that. Yeah And she's blinded by a sense of destiny that I think is undermining her ability to maintain alliances, which is really well depicted in the scene with Corus, They like finally brings to Steve Tusant off the bench and let him like do a cool scene where he expresses an emotion that he He didn't even express when like his wife gets killed, you know what I mean? Like he gets to say everythingvery that's been like happening inside of his person for like the last two three years where he's just like, you've got to be fucking kidding me. I am asking you for one thing. Yes. I have essentially like backstopped you this entire time against better judgment. Yes. I am saying like, you know, we both know how things happen in bedrooms here justust call these guys. Vuren is all I'm asking. and she doesn't because she doesn't want to bring in questions about like, oh, so now even bastards get special dispensation even though that's exactly what her sons have gotten. Also Look how nice it is when plot lines intersect. Yeah what he has been doing the last three episodes He is the precursor to this conversation. Cri's episode to episode. and I do not mean this as faint praise. It's kind of an echo of what I said after the premiere, which is People making the show are very good at their jobs I think that the overall mission statement may be slightly off at this point. But the fact that they were able to execute a battle that big and then do the very basic stuff like overlap plot threads in ways that create satisfying knotghtty circumstances I don't want to discredit that. That is that is good work and it pays off when you can just take a breath in an episode like this. I would love nothing more. I've not seen the next episode. I would love nothing more than if the next episode continued with this pace of momentum and especially This sense of subjectivity, I don't know if this show has enough runway to start hopping around and really diving into, you, the interior life of Ormund Highower. I know he is in the scenes for next week rather heavily And he certainly pulled a fast one on Raeniyro this week. Yeah You don't hire James Norton just to do like three scenes where he smells perfume and then walks away So I'm excited for the emergence of that confonflict to to come to the fore maybe next week, but I've I've really come back around on this. I think, you know, I wouldn't necessarily say it gives me anything close to the feeling I got watching Kight of the Seven Kingdoms or especially peak Game of Thrones. But it's a It's becoming more of a pleasure to watch I think U what hopes do you have for it going forward? I mean, I think it is it is an old school TV move back when TV shows had to make twenty two episodes a year or Let's do one about this and let's do one from her perspective.. Let's see what else we can do. Yeah. Let's let's take this thing out on backroads or see it on the autobond or see if it floats, you know. L let's just see what it is that we have here. It is a luxury in this age of condensed seasons and years between them and expensive postwork that's required I feel I feel seen, I feel heard. I really enjoyed watching the episode. I think that the nuance that they were given that these characters were given for this one hour will pay some dividends going forward if it goes back into the churn of plot But I also think the show is what it is. So I feel I feel happy that we got here. I guess it just I thought that this episode, if you're not going to have part of the reason why season two kind of fell flat was because everybody was like, okay, when's the battle coming? All right likeike. I understand if it's going to be quiet, loud, quiet loud. We have to kind of build up to this battle, but like the way in which it's quiet is so snail paced and so kind of Morose and sort of strange and Damon with the tree and all this stuff that's happening. and You're just like, okay, okay, okay. and then they don't do the battle You know and now the beginning of the season was almost too much battle. Yeah. It was almost like that's cool, but like It's been two years since this show ended and we pretty much jump in and start a massive naval battle Yeah with a charac with many characters whose motivations I have somewhat forgotten. You know, And now obviously you can do your homework and find out, but I think that if they are going to have episodes where they don't have massive army on army, dragon on dragon conflict. This is a really good blueprint, but I don't, I mean, obviously the show is done so I don't know when know, But we're're we are still God bless us, you know, we still are covering television on this podcast week to week in an old fashioned model. And the truth is the majority people who ever watch House of the Dragon will watch it when it's done streaming on, you know patio of David Ellison's Mega yacht or whatever the case may be. and It may be that much like when, you know, when when you said things like, o, what's my reading order for Jonathan Hickman's Avengers? It'll be like, what's the best way to watch House of the Dragon? And it might may well be to watch it in these chunks and one chunk will be treating last season season two as ending two episodes into season three and then maybe, you know It'll advise you to Take a walk around the block, take a break and then pretend it's starting over here and that will be a different experience. And that's okay it just is clearly imbalanance in terms of the story A couple things in terms of how it was delivered to us, couple things, a couple bullet points for this episode if I could Um One Uh, I found it amusing that Dan Foggler is now on the show Yes. were funny. I was like What? It was just funny because 's he's a fine and amusing and good actor and And he was doing a passable He was doing a fine Engish accent. He was totally fine. He was good. It was just like what? Just kind of a lean in moment and And part of me was like Did we actually run out of British character actors because Kight of the Star City And Star City took them all? And they were like, o my God, we've called the Royal Shakespeare Company. We'veine.. Is that where we're headed? And I'm kind of here for it. I thought that was amusing U, do you think that King's landing is right for a DSA candidate in the next election. I think that's what Missoria wants I think that's what she wants to, but she is still You know, she's just like allying herself with the Eric Adams administration and being like, no, no, we can do some work here in from within I did really like Again, speaking of things I never thought I would see in a Game of Thrones show, I never thought I would see that cinematic staple giving out turkeys in the hood on Thanksgiving Yeah. I really enjoyed that scene as well. I also Across fifteen years of the show now, one of my favorite things of this world. One of my favorite things remains Every so often when someone has a normal name and then you get a line like an ADR line of you still have to kill Darren, which just sounds absolutely banal The hiding a child thing was pretty good they hid because they hid that kid They hid that kid because Orman put that kid in the Pier coffin somewhere. Well, he's not dead, but he just hit him somewhere The real one. Yeah. Yeahah, but also it's not that hard when only nine people have blonde hair You just have to get some bleach. Yes. But it's like he's also playing on the fact that Allison hasn't seen this kid in years. So it's not like he's hoping that people don't realize like what he's done until it's too late. It's also he's really showing deep ball knowledge because he also knows that people haven't watched or thought about the show in two years and I don't even remember how many kids she has. So when a blonde kid, I was like, Oh, guess there's another one and that's him. Yeah. He's just's the' actually like a little bit of a runner for fans out there who are like, what I think he plays a different role in the text. I don't think his actions are different, but I think he's a little bit more present or at least people have a better understanding of what's going on with him. and I think that they were like, we haven't cast him yet, you know L so it was sort of strange and there's a couple of characters that it doesn't seem like they're going to introduce because they they've sort of maneuvered things so that they can do away with certain certain characters, but we'll see. like Bob Uh, Yannies. Well, Stevie? Christopher Sanchez. I I also did want to say like in the hopes that we can unite One of the more popular shows or worlds we cover on the show with one of the more divisive. I did enjoy Top Chefs King's Landing Which one's divisive? Well I feel like sometimes people are like, I rock with these guys when they talk about obscure ass spy shows on Brit Box. The fact that they devote ten weeks every year to cover season twenty three of Top Chef might And areg you about it as passionately as anything in the world? S we can't care about U That's the only thing keeping me on to be honest. But on Earth theings truly. The King's landing episode of Top Chef where all of the noblemen were there for the tasting. Yeah and they brought they did this they like it did the fine dining. Like they all placed it at the same time and everyone kind of recoiled like most people do at fine dining restaurants these days. Tom would have been like, did you mean to caramelize the rat? Yeah Tom would have been okay with the rat, but there was a little okra on the pl. He didn't like it. R Now you didn't need another starch. I thought that. Too many starches on the rat? Uh I I solve two problems at once. Rats and the rich And needing a protein for the evening. Yeah Uh, I I enjoyed it. I like the line, I'm Awash with dilemmas and uncertainties That's just being alive in America, R. us. Let's talk a little bit about Star City, which we usually say for the very end because I think we assume It's a not a required taste, but a niche offering and you know, it remains in and around like the bottom of the top ten of Apple We don't know what that means. I don't know what that means. I would like it to be in the five or the top three because I wanted to be renewed because I want to keep watching this show. Yeah. This was an interesting episode because it was a true testament to just my pleasure that I get from watching it h this had a You're a you'd Time jump to start I don't I think was it was into the next year. It was referred to as last summer. I think the implication based on the end of the episode was that it's been about nine months. Okay Um I believe you. gototcha. And it's worth noting that I think it's becoming a little bit harder to avoid if you're reading about this show the for all mankind D echoes, which I didn't know as extensive, but I think it's pretty Cool and interesting Um, This was a very melancholy episode of television. Yeah. You know, like a real like this is This is what I sort of authoritarian regime leaves behind in its wake for the people who try to participate in different parts of government and different parts of society and like get broken because they He tried to fly a little too close to the despate sun And I in that it was great. I thought that the it essentially followed the same rhythm or rising action as the previous episode. So instead of and this is spoilers for the season of Star City and for this episode, but instead of the loss of the Veneera crew, we got the possible rescue of them or the possible signs of life still thought it was gorgeous the Rock Mon enough playing as they as they break down these algorithms and start you know doing secret channels to Anastasia up in in the space station. But also it's like There was a Not ins signignificance, Mtage of beautiful classical piano music while a man wrote algebra with a pencil. Yes Thank you, Apple. Like truly. L I cannot believe they got that through. I don't know how they pitched it. I don't know what it appeared like in the script But that's That's not even the first thing to go. That's the thing where you're like in the room, you're like, it would beautiful. but we will never have beautiful things in this life. And it was great. Again, I feel like I'm a broken record, but I've said that there's been moments on the show that really play the espionage greatest hits. I thought Ana going to goingo to Rascoova's apartment. brief look into her life of like kind of wearing this sad tracksuit and having something in the oven. And then her revealing to Ruskova that like she's been tasked with bugging her and she's like, you should bug me. And then we're also gonna like run a run a double on on Petrosvski who's taken over Star City was awesome. you know, even if you've seen it before and It was choosing who you work for and why and who's running who and how no one ever, everything is an op I will say just as a sidebar Last week, you were wondering if Frascoova was veering a little too English when she yelleds sorted out I think discovering her in her flat dressed like she was in the Verve in nineteen ninety seven was a real tell as to where her allegiiances lie. I listen in an rban hymn but it was caught at a moment. You caught me at a very bucket hat time of my life? that the drugs don't work. Truly. It was beautiful. Please continue your I mean we could talk more. I just my my headline from this episode is Davies. He plays Surday and He obviously gets like a kind of cool moment at the end of the episode, but his reaction Yes. than you to the entire process of trying to apply for professorship U somewhere like at a college somewhere would obviously be a step down financially for him, but would be a break or an escape from Star City where he has essentially been demoted to the sub sub basement and they keep moving his stapler you know and then finding out Not only that his apartment has been burgled, or roasted. that the guy who was enticing him essentially to make this application was probably spying on him or working against him And Davis's reaction Yeah to finding his apartment in the state because the apartment is really the only Like his like cooking and his music and his book. It's his private world is the only thing that he has got that is like for pleasure in this life I thought it was like really legitimately heartbreaking and a beautiful piece of acting. And he's probably the fifth or sixth build actor on this actually exists in the four all mankind universe. so I think for some viewers, they're like, this is extraordinary to get to see this guy as a young person. And apparently Davies's performance echoes the older actor's performance as Serge as he gets older. I thought it was loveovely and In an episode where a lot of the main faces, Tanya, the cosmonauts, The chief designer are largely off screen. Yes. He really stepped in. I love you shouted him out, highlighted him. I agree. He was hisis performance is brilliant and it's understated and it does what the best acting can do because We who have likely hopefully never had our inner sanctum our private lives like Tosts like that He you could imagine. This guy's got a lot of zin Oh, noope, found some more. Yeah. How old are these laws ofes? Texas Chainaw massacre too on four K. He wasn't fronting about physical media He really he's really about this life as they quietly let themselves out I think that our supposition about how we would feel would be one of anger O sadness or about the mess or whatever our natural pathways of emotion are. What he communicated in that moment was such deep indignity. Yeah, he puts his hand over his mouth to like stop him from stop himself from actually expressing an emotion. And the camera captures the broken vinyl records and things and it is a violation And it is just one indignity stacked on top of another. I only have this. And you've put me in prison already and you've stripped me of my work and of my purpose, and you've stopped listening to me, and you've removed isolated me from my colleagues and now you've taken this was beautiful. and the performance was so gripping that I did, I hadn't I Googled him before and realized like Adam Negidas, he was briefly in Chernobyl, but where we had seen him before was Andor where he's one of the prisoners on Narquina And no shit and I'm not saying that like, although I feel like basically this podcast is constantly in service of this idea that Tony Gilroy is uniquely able to draw out nuanced performances from British stage actors performance and The role the character plays on this show is cut from the same cloth as to what Tony did with Andor, where private lives of public facing genre storytelling is it's an incredible feat Do you think Andy Burnham should just cut the dole and just say we've been able to outsource Funding for the arts to Tony Gilroy, will continue to put British stage actors in giant sci fi epics. I would bring it up, but I think Andy Perham's too busy doing would be viral Instagram things where he's like, They're like st Stone Roses or urban hyns. That was he was asked that. Stone Rses. I think he's calling ine Fantino about Kansz's Rd card and about Martian Manhunter's role in the original crisis on Infinite Earth. Yeah, I thought that was incredible. I thought it was incredibly beautiful. I would say to your original take on the episode. I think this may have been my favorite episode of the series to date. I thought it was It's not just that I thought the tone was so eleerggetic and interesting. it's of a piece with the conversation we were just having about House of the Dragon, which is like, When you have a show that has a mandate, in the sense that like It was pitched and sold as a companion piece as a spino off. as a way too bad. And also a lot of history. likeike you know how this story kind of ends because we are already into the, I don't know, like the twentieth century twenty first century on the other Yeah. So so so I think that when you accept a job or you're even the one who pitches it, like the larger assignments is manifest.s and servicing that takes up reasonably so quite a lot of your creative oxygen and your practical budget Finding the little pockets and the little space to make something that is special and stands on its own is even more precious and even more rare and L week when I was talking about the show, I was saying I did feel a little bit of for All mankind mission creep, not to diss that show, which I have regrets that I've not kept up on My feeling that kind of kept me out of it was that there was this inevitable drumbeat of history, history, history, and it was telling us about it as it was breathlessly trying to catch up to what it wanted to say And last week there was I had that sense of like, well now we're on to this next mission. Now weve got to do this The fact that they took a beat. for a show that was notable for in episodes five and six. picking up the action seconds after the previous episode ended, like Areinna in Tanya's apartment, which was surprising to me that they did that, but it felt reasonable and interest not just reasonable, it felt exciting after this incredible cliff hanger. of a crescendo of the previous episode that we begin months later It's just a it is a really masterful. And they also just sewed it up by having Riscova's report kind of basically yada yada what happened, you know? It's a masterful use of off speed pitches. likeo doog, you know, of like, oh now, oh, something has changed. And again I There was not a single moment in watching this episode that I thought the Venus mission was lost because these are to no withith Chadia joining it, I mean, she was not initially in the cast, but the other two are two of the leads of the show And I'm not saying the show is so sentimental that it can't kill main characters, especially as it churns towards the twenty first century, That story wasn't done. You don't have Um What's his name Sasha You don't not Jesasha the other guy. Ngatus No, will y? Sasha. You don't have Thank Sasha's honesty husband. You dont have them fall in love accidentally and then leave Eth without some resolution. Yes. So I knew they were coming back. The question is how do we get there? And I just think it's remarkable when you have creators who are like, let's see Let's solve this problem and see it as an opportunity. I thought I was Tottally pleasable to watch. Rescs to get a little George Bush Cameo I am always wondering what the Bush family is up to. in an alternate history where, you know, they can sort of shake free of right and left, you know, and just be good sense versus no sense, you know Aarently it's an underrated presidency, according to the story. I wonder if in for all mankind, George W just stays as the Rangerss owner And then becomes a painter? Yeah I he be great. Hopefully we're gonna to have Matt and Ben who created the show on if hopefully this week. And I unfortunately won't be here for that episode because I'm going to be in Toronto, but Andy is gonna hopefully be talking to those guys this week. Yeah, is this time for some other housekeeping? Sure. Well, I think that if we are able to line this up This is exactly where Kaya likes to keep all of our important show announcements at minute fifty two. tot Let' start sitting. You guys clip this, right? This is going be good that we will hold the episodes till Friday when the season finale comes up. Yes. But also I was going to say I had an idea Let me know how you feel about this because you're going to be traveling So really I could just do it. You could do whatever you want, but I don't feel comfortable with that much freedom. Do want me to drop questions from space and hope that they will? Hope they led to the r pase But all the other podcasts find the questions getting mad. I wondered if it would be useful to do a prompt If there I don't know if anybody cares about this stuff, but if there's any like super specific, like industry type questions of like working in the mind's questions me. Those guys are for that. No're just like We could do an all ask Andy, anything? kindind of. Within reason. Do you do whatever you want to do. But you know what I mean? Because because I don't know, maybe that's interesting to people There's there's some actually like there are a fair amount of question for And's at our inbox. Okay.. Well I'm happy to tackle Where is your favorite pce steamed fish you've ever had, you know? Well, that's a great question. Ce De is amazing. Wester's L laundry though actually often has it's kind of deep in arsenal country now, which is feeling a little iffy for me. Oh do you wantan to announce your Tottenham Hotspur lifelong family? I don't need to announce something that's been part of me from the very beginning. I think can ask Andy anything cod would be Will you slip in some questions that have been lingering? no,ust things you' wanted to know. I got I think I know the whole story. You're good wishing you could be there live for the big game, soaking up the atmosphere of the crowd. Too often, life gets busy or the price hld you back Priceeline is here to help you make it happen With millions of deals on flights, hotels, and rental cars, you can go see the game live. Don't just dream about the trip. book it with prriceline. Download the prriceline app or visit priceline. comot Actual prices may vary limited time offer And we're live from the living room as Doug eyes up the match they spread. He's reaching for the buuffalo wing. Perfect Hang on, what's this? Oh, he's good for a can of Pepsi too. Incredible to finish. sensational combination. Look at the delight on his face. There's no doubt about it. He just tastes better. Match days deserve Pepsi. Food deserves Pepsi. 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I want to hug you I'm gonna hg you I'm I'm in for hu Do you want to talk about the agency at all? I think I wonder whether or not like if you want, I know you're up through three, right? Yeah. I am through five We both think this season is extraordinary. We have had somewhat similar conversations as we've chipped away at this second season and they've basically been like, it's funny to watch this veryery, very, very thrilling and expertly made in expensive cover song of a song we adore. And I think that that has disoriented us, but I will say that I am fully loving the season I would like to ask you a question. Is any of the methodical way that we are going about this tied not only to the fact that somewhat we know the story in the broad strokes because we watch the bureau, but also that Paramount has not announced its season three renewal It's not just that Paramount hasn't announced a renewal It's that they dropp the entire season over a weekend. And which is not what they did with season one cororrect me if I'm wrong, I haveve not seen any press. I don't mean like I haven't seen like wraparound ads on buses. H the te involved in the show. I don't have any grand theory of this, but I will say that I have seen on social media various places U a kind of wave of Michael Fastbender on the hardest scene from Steve Jobs. And I was like, whyy the fuck is that a blog post? And I'm like, o, 'cause they're asking. Oh he did do an interview about it. Well, no, they they did junkets. but I think so much of junket stuff now is a guy going in and he's got Katherine Watattererson and Michael Fasbender. he's like, I have to ask them about these five movies they did. Like I can ask a couple of agency questions, but then it's like, when you were playing David in Prometheus, did you think that you wereight? And that stuff then gets aggregated Yeah. But then the editors of these sites or these algorithms can just be like, nobody's watching the agency. We can just publish all this Prometheus and Steve Jobs stuff Now I don't that's not like a conspiracy or anything against the show, but I do think it's something interesting about It used to be kind of like you would go to these things and you would be like I have ten minutes and I can be like, what did you why did you drew to this role and all that stuff. And now it's like, I have ten minutes hold a dog Try a hot wing and tell me about these three movies that have nothing to do with the agency. So I don't know if it's working for them or not, but like I do find that I have anecdotally heard from people out there who are like Yeah, like I don't like starting shows that aren't going to finish Oh, for sure, for that Yeah, yeah yeah. You know, this is a a dense compleplex Adult thriller that I think is hitting its stride and clearly was a massive investment to get Gear and Wright and Watterersston and all these people to do it to say nothing of the British actors who were sometimes playing Americans who are Also, they shot the show in London, Kenya, and Morocco. Yeah Like that's like twenty nineteen money. It's wild. And we have the merger coming and we have No definitive news yet. And it's been five weeks. it's been a minute. It's a couple of weeks. a couple of weeks since this came out. Do you feel like I am slightly to blame because when we had the entire cast of the agency available to us, and I only asked Catherine Watterson ten minutes of questions about her role in the HBO Avant Garde Theater show The third day I think that might have contributed. to some soft numbers I don't regret it. Fascinating show Um I think that's really well observed. I think I think this is an interesting conversation in relationship to Star City too, which also has not been officially renewed to my knowledge. I know that uh Matt and Ben Created the show talked about like we're not going to do decade jumping. We're going to keep it in the seventies. And tell the story of Star City specifically not get into the Mars. Like what's it like for a Russian on the other side of a scene that you've already seen and for all mankind I do think that there like it would be a mistake to just say like we have the roadmap for a five or six season show Presumably Michael Fasbender committed to that goingo into this. Yeah Um I mean, I think well couple things I think it would just because Liir than of more than a few things. Liro is one of the great television shows of all time. Everyone should check it out. the way that each season builds the world out while also diving deeper into the possibilities already presented by the characters we thought we knew is extraordinary. just worth watching, whether you love TV, want to make it, anything So the thought of assembling this kind of avengers and then not getting to do that level of work, knowing what could happen for Jeffrey Wright's character for John Magaro's character. Like that is a real shame because it's the best of new TV in the sense of its ambition and old TV in the sense of God, I love that guy. I didn't even notice him for two years that's a real shame. I I'll say that the my interesting experience with this season is that I am finding it incredible. I mean I love the story because I love the story I love watching Richard Ger be in a TV show. He's just cooking Um I find I'm finding it incredibly engaging both because the story is engaging and because of the pace of the storytelling I am finding it a little I'm also passionate about ethical diamond mining. Thank you. Well and accurate South African accent work whichich frankly has been absent from our screens for some timees Itince legal Perhaps before Blood Diamond, you know who knows? Certainly before Blood Diamond. So congrats to Michael Fasbender for bringing that back Um I have found it a little Hamphest at times this season. Okay bothoth in the sense of like The Jamagaro character, Owen like being bad at doing spy stuff And that's sort of textual like he's not good at it. Yeah. But then also the people around him being like, I just trust you for some reason, Steve, let's go to the Central African Republic. That's like we got to get the show on the road, but also that was weaker to me than and the other things that are going on. And weaker to you than the bureau version of it. For sure. I think the other thing that frustrates me slightly I do enjoy the Butterworths writing in American cast talking about American cultural of snowflake. Yeah. It's like you libard snowflake. like why don't you listen to me talk about the English national team for ten minutes, Th we can see our're square. There are moments that I just feel like are missed opportunities, but the sort of missed opportunities that could become gold over the course of a longer run Jeffrey Wright is so he's such a brilliant actor And he's funny Um This show is not written. so much for him to be funny so that when he gets like a small crumb like the scene when Fastbender asks him to give him control of Gremlin the agent they're running in Iran and he goes, let me think about it I thought about it. That's funny And like, I wish we could have a little bit more of that because see the last linees. That's the good, But him he makes it funny. He does. and The show is written And I love the whole like the Katherine Wateraterston pulling the guy into the one. That was awesome. Blind spot and him then going and getting the 'ightind. of course, it's a blind spot. yeah. I love that. I just I wish there was more room for that, but I sometimes feel like that's the kind of like spontaneity that comes from more u fluid productions as opposed to something that is so like We have this much time, we are doing it on this budget, We have this blueprint, and we have these very busy screenwriting brothers, and we are going to execute. Yeah. Sometimes I appreciate that efficiency in terms of time trying to kill one of them. It's possible. We don't know what's on off screen. Anyway, all this is to say, we will circle back. We will cover I think So we have Thursday's show will be or Friday's show released will probably be Star City finale related and some M scandy anything stuff then think you're out the following Monday. And we have a lot of travel this summer. We do. and I'll do some exxciting work that day. You should should do you should do a follow up maybe maybe next Thursday. Are you back nextxt Thursday? We can finish the agency. Do you think we should would you want to spend some of Monday fact checking my answers to the questions about me?