April 30, 2025 • 69 mins
In this episode of Scene N Nerd, Sarah and Will tackle the emotional aftermath of Joel's death in "The Last of Us," season two, episode three, titled "The Path." They dive deep into the impact of loss on Ellie and the community of Jackson, exploring how grief shapes their decisions and relationships. With a focus on the complex dynamics between characters, they analyze the heavy themes of coping, truth, and the struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic world.
As they discuss the episode's poignant moments, including Ellie’s confrontation with her lies and the powerful burial scene for Joel, the hosts reflect on the show's ability to blend heart-wrenching storytelling with thrilling action.
Additionally, Sarah and Will share their thoughts on the latest developments in "Andor," examining the balance of character-driven narratives and the broader implications of the rebellion against the Empire. They highlight the performances of key characters and the significance of the choices they make in the face of adversity. They also touch on the political intricacies of Mon Mothma's storyline and the challenges of rebellion, drawing parallels to contemporary issues and the importance of hope in dark times.
With engaging discussions and insightful commentary, this episode invites listeners to reflect on the emotional weight of the stories being told and encourages them to share their own perspectives on these beloved series.
0:00 Intro
0:20 Thunderbolts* special recording, You season 5, Sinners Movie
8:55 The Last of Us Episode 2 x 3 "The Path"
41:45 Andor Season 2 Episodes 1-3
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Sarah (00:00):
Foreign
(00:14):
Greetings, nerds. This is Scene N Nerd. I'm m. Your host, Sarah Belmont, and
with me, as always, is our Mr. Producer, Will Polk How are you doing
tonight, Will?
>> Will (00:21):
Doing very well, Sarah. Hope you're doing well this evening after
we figured out when we're going to watch Thunderbolts.
>> Sarah (00:26):
Yep. Figured it out. There will be a special
recording next Thursday.
>> Will (00:32):
Yep.
>> Sarah (00:33):
Where we will share our thoughts and, and it will
be spoilers.
>> Will (00:38):
There will be spoilers. There will be spoilers.
>> Sarah (00:41):
It will be spoiled. Okay, people.
because we are, we are watching it and hopefully this
time Will actually watches it, unlike when he hung me out
to dry with the joke or two.
>> Will (00:54):
Hey, I will watch this one. Yeah, yeah.
>> Sarah (00:58):
And I know, I mean, you were, you were dealing
with a, A minor natural.
Natural disaster at the time. I
mean.
>> Will (01:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, just, just a little,
just a little thing. But, yeah, but definitely,
we'll. We'll watch Thunderbolts this weekend
and looking forward to talking with it about it
with you about that film and
know we've got Last of Us and, Andor. But you
know, content this month is like,
crazy. I mean, it's. Yeah, I mean,
(01:29):
we, we, we, we. We were worried about
all this great stuff, like, happening all at once
and here it is. So, yeah, the life of podcasters,
everyone.
>> Sarah (01:39):
Yeah.
>> Will (01:40):
At least we know. At least we have some sanity and not trying to
like, cover andor the same
week that airs. So I'm glad
for just the enjoyment factor as well
as just, just letting, you know, letting. Letting
the thoughts marinate a little bit. I'm glad we're doing it like we're
doing it. Which is still being one week
(02:00):
delayed.
>> Sarah (02:01):
Yeah. so I did,
despite everything, manage to
squeeze in the final season of,
you on, Netflix.
And I, I love how you know me so
well. So the only reason.
And, and I did not start it
until like, I watched maybe
(02:23):
almost the first episode of the
new season, right before I went to bed on
Saturday night.
So the only reason why I got through the
next nine episodes is because
I, I started fast forwarding
a lot. The dialogue was
(02:44):
so bad, so bad. It was
cringeworthy. Like, like I, I
said it last season, this show should have ended
with season three. This show. this is. And,
and this is even more disappointing than season
three. I m. Am so glad they released all the episodes at
once so we could, like, for those of us who were
(03:04):
still somewhat on board and just curious about how it all
worked out. Well, it under. It works out in the Most
underwhelming way ever. It's
ridiculous, it's nonsensical. And
it just. I don't know, it
just felt like
the writers now.
(03:24):
Hm. I don't know if I can say this because technically
I've never watched the first season.
I got on board with second season,
but I feel
like, because it originally aired on
Lifetime, I feel like the writers went
back to the beats of season one,
(03:46):
which I'm just like, why
would you do that? Why would you go back
there when season one,
the ratings were so low? You got Bunted
from Lifetime only for Netflix to pick you
up and for you to have like a very good
season two, season three.
And I don't know, it just. It just
(04:08):
became way too much, way, way
too ridiculous. And anyway, I just
had to get that off my chest that, like,
yeah, I watched it. I probably
watched 50 to 60% of
it because, like, the last
episode I was just like,
boom. Okay, cha cha. Okay, okay. What
(04:31):
happens at the very end? Because I don't need to go through all this.
I don't care. I don't care. Does he die?
Does he go to jail? Does, like, does he get
a happily ever after even though he's a piece of. I don't
know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you.
No, you can take it down. We're. We're moving.
>> Will (04:49):
Okay, I'll take it down. We're moving on. Okay, Okay.
>> Sarah (04:52):
I mean, I'm. I'm. I'm a bit jealous because I
know you watch Sinners this weekend
and there is a review up about Sinners
that you and your wife did, which was so cute.
>> Will (05:03):
Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Well, it's funny
because, I mean, she's usually not a
big movie watcher. I mean, she likes, you know, we have our shows
we like to watch and stuff. But I mean,
she was super pumped about it. We got out of the theater
on, Saturday night, and then
Sunday morning she was like, well, you know,
(05:24):
she's just had like, just massive.
Just thoughts of just
this is dropped. And if you've seen the movie, go
check out our, Our review.
Because really, Sinners is one of
those films. It's kind of hard that other
than just the sort of general Thai
level discussion
(05:46):
developed. yes, you know, Michael B. Jordan,
Place twins. Yes. There is a vampire
component to the film, but
it's not exactly a van. It's. Yes, it's a,
it's a. It's a movie with, with vampires in it. But
there's just so many things that are deeper about it.
So if you haven't seen it, go see
it clearly people, word of mouth is
(06:09):
definitely like spreading because I think it's.
It only had like a, like a 6% drop all
from the first weekend to the second weekend which
like in these times, it's pretty
amazing. Ah. That that you know, that
the box office did not drop off. And so I mean
it even you know,
(06:30):
with the re release of the Revenge of the Sith and also the
new release of the Accountant too. I mean it did better than both
films. So so yeah, it's definitely something.
You should definitely go see it if you haven't yet. If you have
seen it, go check out our review. We have some thoughts.
but yeah, when I left the
theater, the first thing I turned to Charlie, I said I want to
(06:50):
see this again. It was just so
much that was going on, good things that were going on with that
film. And it's one of those.
Clearly one of these films that like
has something to say.
And, and, and it's
enjoyable and like I said,
can't recommend it enough. So go, go check it out
(07:12):
even. I know you're not a big vampire
horror film fan, Sarah, but I.
>> Sarah (07:18):
Think how, how much horror is
it? Like there's a difference between a
vampire movie and a horror movie.
>> Will (07:26):
Yeah. So yeah, it's not like a slasher
film or anything like that. And as far as the
violence, that's the, the you know, they're jump scares
and stuff.
>> Sarah (07:35):
Yeah, yeah.
>> Will (07:36):
But, yeah, but it's, I mean, you
know, there's probably comparable jump scares in like the Last
of Us that we talked about. I mean so. Yeah, so it's,
it's like that level.
>> Sarah (07:46):
Yeah. Okay. Okay. That, that's what I would expect
based on everything that I'm hearing about.
definitely interest is peak.
However, I feel like I've seen a good
25% of the movie on TikTok
every time. There's like people release so
many clips about it that, that
(08:07):
I've definitely seen the ending and I
don't now granted it's taken out of context so I have
no idea.
>> Will (08:13):
But that's why you need to see it. Yeah. I'm not going to
say anything about the mid credit but you
definitely. Yeah, just go see it. And I do want
to. If you do, I do want to hear your thoughts about it.
>> Sarah (08:24):
Yeah, yeah. yeah. You know that I'm gonna pull you and the
Bear Season two. Like it'll take me until this comes
out.
>> Will (08:30):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (08:31):
Yeah, okay. Okay. As long as. As long as, you know,
like, you might have to sit on that for a while.
>> Will (08:37):
Yeah, yeah, that's. That's fine. That's fine.
>> Sarah (08:39):
All right. All, Right, well,
that leads us to the last of, us. Season
two, Episode three, the Path. After Dina shares
crucial intel, Ellie prepares a
petition to. Presents
a petition to the town council.
wow, this is the worst written
(09:00):
IMDb synopsis yet. Because then
it's just a new sentence.
Near Seattle, a religious group flees at
war. Okay, like, that's,
like, this is. What is this?
Come on, get your act together, IMDb. But.
But we know what happens because we watched it.
so.
(09:25):
Okay.
>> Will (09:26):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (09:29):
Will, what are. What are your thoughts about this episode? We'll start
there.
>> Will (09:33):
Yeah. So after breaking
all our collective hearts for the people who.
Who didn't know what was
happening, did not know what's happening, bottom line,
that, that ending was,
You know, it. It moved us all. So
now we. We're dealing with the aftermath. Then,
(09:53):
you know, we. We get the, cold open. Well, a couple. Well,
first things first. They did adjust the.
The, the opening credit, so. So now
instead of Joel and Ellie walking, there at the
end of the opening credit, we do have the,
You know, now Ellie's just by herself. But in
many respects, I felt like. And we'll get into,
(10:14):
like, more, you know, some of the plot details and stuff here in a second.
But just overall it. When I watched
this episode, I was wondering
how they were going to carry things forward. And in many
respects it felt like a second pilot to me
as I was watching the episode. but, But yeah, that's,
you know, but, I enjoyed it and, you know, there was some
(10:34):
death. There was definitely one scene in particular that. That
definitely did, where, you know, I did have
some emotional, like,
you know, feedback or where I did tear
up a bit. But, But yeah, that. Those are just sort of just things.
Right, right. Right out the gate. What about you?
>> Sarah (10:53):
yeah, I'll share my thoughts as we go along.
But it's interesting you brought up. You felt
like it was a second pilot because in
the initial scene we have
Tommy, walking in
and, all the bodies,
because. Because what. What I think that they
did a good job in, specifically in this
(11:15):
episode is carrying
forward that
it wasn't just Joel who died.
Yes. Like, our main lead
got killed. It's awful
tragic. Ellie is without her father
figure, like, horrible.
(11:35):
But last week's episode,
a large part of it, was also about
the. The horde
ravaging Jackson Hole. And
so there. There were other losses. And there's
that scene in that episode at the end and all
of the carnage. You have Tommy and Maria
embrace, like the. The trials
(11:57):
of wars. And. And please, somebody, correct
me if I'm wrong. I know Joel is a.
Is a vet, but isn't Tommy as
well? I'm pretty sure. So, like,
I'm sure there's ptsd. So what I liked
about this opening is, yes, Tommy walks
into the place and is
focused on Joel's body, like he knows which
(12:20):
one it is, and he walks over to clean it up.
But this shot, the shot design
also allows us to see,
like, Joel isn't the only one
dead. And like, that's carried forward
with, like, the burial site
and. And a lot of other
themes in this episode that
(12:42):
really allows them to.
I'm not going to say justify,
but it allows the
writers to kind of give
more justification. I will say it.
Whatever. It's the only word that's come to mind,
for. For the outcome of the council
(13:02):
vote.
>> Will (13:03):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (13:04):
And. And also for
Tommy's whole ambivalence that
he's dealing with Right. Right now. but why.
I. I wanted to start there. I mean, it is the first
scene, but it's also. When you brought up pilot,
the first line of dialogue we get in this episode is
send my love to Sarah.
>> Will (13:24):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (13:24):
After he sees the broken. The
broken watch.
>> Will (13:28):
Yeah. Yeah.
>> Sarah (13:29):
Okay, Now I have a problem to pick with Ellie,
because I just want to get this point out and then you could
jive it. Ellie, you
best be going back to that shoe box and
grabbing that watch, because that was a dear possession
of Joel. I saw
you took the pistol. You best be having that watch as well.
(13:51):
You know what that means. But anyway.
Okay.
>> Will (13:54):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So
that, That was definitely
the gut. That was the first gut punch when.
When Tommy does say
that to Joel, give Sarah my love.
because, you know, again, it just
really just hammers home the point
that, you know, when it. When it. When they
(14:17):
focus on the watch and,
you know, we. And we see the watch,
you know, we think about the pilot, you know, because
the watch did, you know, Sarah got that
for him for his. Got it fixed for his birthday. And then
it gets, of course, broken the night the,
face gets broken again the night of the,
(14:37):
When the outbreak happened.
And. And. But also it's just, again, that
through line of just, you know, Joel, whether
it was Ellie, then later
Dina, for, a moment, even though she
didn't appreciate it.
>> Sarah (14:52):
Abby.
>> Will (14:53):
was that father figure? And, and, and,
and. And also to your point about the loss of.
In Jackson, we. We saw in the first
episode, Joel really had become
a. A. Almost a father figure or
leader in the community. So it was just
so many things that. That I'm glad
(15:13):
you brought up the. The carnage of Jackson and other people
who. Who. Who were lost during
the. The invasion.
>> Sarah (15:21):
Right.
>> Will (15:21):
you know, it just really hammers home the point of
who Joel was to. To so many people.
>> Sarah (15:27):
Right, right. Yeah.
And. And like, I think leadership is
the key word. I mean, they didn't
exactly say it, but to me, it
kind of was implied. There was a vacant scene on the
council, and Jesse took it. Like,
I think. I think that was Joel C. On the
council. So. So it's,
(15:50):
Like, he was a big pillar, and you could.
With the town meeting, you could get
the sense that there was conflict and
there were people who were speaking for
and people who were speaking against. And you. And
you can't argue with the people who are speaking against it
because you were reminded throughout the episode
(16:10):
of, like, yeah,
what if they come back, but what if others come back? And then
you're going to send 16 people, like, we're still on the
Reba. It's been three months. Three months.
Like, that's. That seems long, but at the same time,
no, that's. That's very brief period of time.
I do just the other thing. I want
(16:33):
to comment about what you just said. What do you brought up?
Abby? Okay. I. I don't
know if I missed it, but, like, I.
I think what you were getting at
was the fact that he saved her because at no point was
he being a father figure for Abby.
>> Will (16:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't articulate it as well, but, yeah, I
mean, I guess it was the point, you know? And also just thinking about
the conversation that
Joel and Gail had as far as I saved
her, which comes up again in this episode. I was
thinking that was really where I was. Where I was going.
>> Sarah (17:06):
Yeah.
>> Will (17:07):
So maybe not. Maybe not the father figure, but I guess the
protector is maybe M. M. Maybe
where I was thinking,
>> Sarah (17:13):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Will (17:15):
Serving that role.
>> Sarah (17:17):
Yeah. that's
interesting. and then the, The next
scene in this opening, while we're still,
like, coming off of the vents from the previous episode
is Ellie wakes up, disoriented,
and then just sees Joel die again.
And then they immediately put her back to sleep, and rightfully
so.
>> Will (17:37):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (17:39):
another big theme in this
Episode that kind of picks up right
when, three months later, and Ellie's
getting out of the hospital, and
she has to talk to Gail for the first time in this
episode, is. Ellie's a
liar.
We, we, we pretty much figured that out.
(18:03):
and, and like,
I, I'm very curious about
the direction Bella was given for
this scene, because I will be honest.
I, I, and I, I'm. I, Like,
for me, the entire conversation with
Gail, I think I was more annoyed with
(18:25):
Ellie in this scene than I was with her
in the first episode. Because
there was. Because I'm just like,
you're, you're A, lying. And B, you're
also really bad at it. Like,
I don't know, like, extremely
bad at it. And like, I, I'm supposed
(18:45):
to feel bad for you right now, but I kind
of feel bad for Gail.
Poor woman lost her husband and,
like, couldn't. Like, she's not able to get
justice, but, like, you're just lying
to her. Like, she has a mystery, which
is brought up. But, but I'm just like,
if you're gonna be a liar, Ellie, you gotta get better
(19:08):
at it because you're, you're really bad at it right
now.
>> Will (19:11):
Yeah, yeah, that, you know, and I
think to the end of the episode where,
where Tommy and, and Gail are
talking, about Ellie
and the lion. And, you know, Tommy raises
the point as a nature nurturer because they, you know, they were
part of the con. You know, part of the context of the conversation
was really getting it. Like, Joel
(19:34):
and Ellie and their person. There's. That's, there's
similar personality traits and,
but, but, you know, you know, so thinking, you know,
so that set up in the. With the session
where Abby, excuse me, Ellie,
like, tells Gil, oh, I'm good. I'm good. And I had
the same reaction. You did, too. I was like, man, ah, she is lying through her
teeth. And, and,
(19:56):
but at the same time, I was just
like. And Gail, you know, Gail basically knew
it too, at that.
>> Sarah (20:03):
Oh, yeah, because she started
acting, like, weird about it too. Like,
you could, you could tell with her responses and the
sarcasm and all of that. But, like,
yeah, this conversation between Gail and Tommy
is arguably my favorite scene in this episode.
because Gail is starting to become a
(20:23):
fascinating character. and I really hope
we see more of her as the seasons
and even next season. And just.
And man, I swear, writers,
hear me now. We best be
getting, a flashback
to, how her husband died,
(20:43):
because that, that man's name Keeps getting
dropped in every single single episode and is very
critical. But we'll get. but before we do, I
do want to point out this quote from the scene between Gail and
Tommy. And it's, it's the quote
that is why the, this episode is called the
Path. If she's on a path, it's not
one that Joel put her on. No, I think they were
(21:05):
walking side by side from the start. Some people
just can't be saved.
So this whole idea,
like, and,
and, and something that I don't. I,
I, I'll be honest, I haven't listened to. I listened
to maybe one review about this so far. I just
(21:26):
didn't have time to listen to any others. But
I don't know how much people are,
linking this song that was
played at the end of last week's episode
and this idea of the path,
because that song there
is. They talk about a path
(21:46):
and, and, and everything in the
lyrics. So it's,
it's very interesting to me that
they, and that song is very important in terms of
the game. And, and of course, we have it
sung by. Covered by the actors
who played Ellie in the game.
So, like, just
(22:09):
like how I, I still stand by that,
that scene that you've mentioned
earlier, this evening between Gail
and Joel, the therapy, like, those
themes we're gonna see play out throughout this entire
season. Yeah, this path idea, it's
the same thing. And like, really,
(22:29):
the first season, Joel
and Ellie were literally on a path
side by side like they
were. And it's just, it's such
a, it's such a good metaphor. And now in this
episode, towards the end, we see,
we see Dina and Ellie
(22:49):
walking side by side, down
a path. Now, is it the best path? We don't
know. it's a path. But, but
it's, It's. It's just I, I
really. That stuck out to me and I love the
connection because I don't,
I don't think that a lot of
people talked enough about the lyrics
(23:12):
of that song, and why it
was so fitting for
ending that episode, and also
fitting in context of the story as a whole.
>> Will (23:24):
Yeah, I, Yeah, I haven't seen it. I mean, I think I
may have seen maybe a stray thread or something about
it to that. But, but you're right. As far as some of the
other. I have listened to a couple reviews
and different, folks and that,
that, maybe, Yeah, because not
even the, I don't even know if they even the main
(23:45):
podcast on it for HBO
with. With the showrunner, with Neil and Craig and
Troy Baker. I don't know if they've raised it to. To
what. What you. What you've shared tonight. So. Yeah, I mean,
I think that you're. But you're right. I mean, but I, do see
what that, what you're talking about there. you know,
as far as that path, and of course, Ellie and
(24:05):
Dina being on that new one. And then of course, there was the.
The religious, cult group as well that
was, was on. You know, there were a lot of paths in this. In this.
In this episode. And. And then also, you
know, as you rightly noted, Gail.
Gail's line to Tommy. they were watching a baseball
game.
>> Sarah (24:24):
Yeah. Yeah. They're getting drunk, watching
a Little league baseball game. And
Gail admits, like, I.
I need a therapist. I need to go to
therapy so that I can be a good
therapist for everyone else, but there isn't one.
So. So what does she do? She just gets drunk, she
(24:45):
becomes an alcoholic and smokes a shit ton of weed.
>> Will (24:48):
Yep.
>> Sarah (24:50):
Like. Like, she's. She's. So.
She's very interesting.
>> Will (24:54):
She's very interesting.
>> Sarah (24:56):
She's had tragedy.
>> Will (24:58):
She.
>> Sarah (24:58):
I mean, she's lived through all of this,
and, And then to have what
happened to her husband.
Okay, well, this is interesting.
The more I think about Gail and what they're potentially
setting up with her. And it goes back
to the Watch, because
(25:20):
when we talked about the Watch during the
pilot episode, and arguably probably
later on in the season as well, that
watch
broke like, time stood still
in that moment, and it broke
in a pivotal event for Joel, and
arguably time stood
(25:43):
still for Joel from that point until he
met. Met Ellie, like,
figuratively and arguably even after
he met Ellie, because there was. He. He had a
ton of baggage. Gail.
Gail is of a different mind
where she smokes
(26:04):
a ton of weed and becomes an
alcoholic to get through the
day. But. But you know what I'm saying?
There's something about the context
of her, like. Like,
she doesn't have a kid playing in the game, but she's gonna go
and act like it's this big Major league baseball
game because, like, she's just
(26:26):
trying to be normal
in a very abnormal situation.
And. And arguably, that's what a lot of people in Jackson Hole
are doing.
>> Will (26:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. They. They
really are. I mean, I was thinking about that as we were talking.
As we were talking about the Little League
baseball game, and. And, you know. Yeah, they're trying to
create some New sense of normalcy. Also, just. Even the
governing council is.
>> Sarah (26:52):
Yeah.
>> Will (26:53):
is, is that just, you know, having a democratic
system? Especially when you think about the other
groups that we've met along the path. You know. You
know, Fedra is like
military organization. You know,
we were introduced to the w. The Wolves in
Seattle, which again looks like a very, you know,
(27:13):
another paramilitary organization. We got the, we got
the cult. So everybody.
>> Sarah (27:19):
Yeah, I. Sorry, I just wanted to say the call
is, they're called the Seraphites.
>> Will (27:25):
Yeah, the Seraphites.
>> Sarah (27:26):
Yeah.
>> Will (27:26):
Yeah, we were introduced to them in this episode.
then tragically they were taken out, you
know, assuming that it was the, the wolves that
did it. So, yeah, so I mean it's just, it's
just, it's very interesting in this world
how everybody is.
Is trying to cope but also trying
to. But also have set up systems to,
(27:49):
to govern behavior in this
new. In this new post apocalyptic world.
And also like you said, I mean, I think that's spot
on with, with you now, with Joe
with the watch and Joel and Gail. Both of
them, you know, they're basically in
some. We're are frozen in time
to that. That event. Whether it was
(28:11):
the actual, you know, the pilot with things with Joel and now
of course the moment Joel kills Eugene. So,
and, and both of them have. Have learned how to
cope with it in their own ways. You know, Gail just, you know, getting
blitzed and, and, and, and,
and
>> Sarah (28:27):
Yeah.
>> Will (28:28):
Be a therapist for everybody else.
>> Sarah (28:31):
Yeah. So. So Eugene is
also a former Firefly
who. It sounds like he was a part of
WLF in Washington for a
moment. where. Or he was
aware because even the Fireflyers, like
WLF is technically
(28:51):
a faction of Fireflies, if I'm not
mistaken,
to what you were getting at. It's like
we're. The world is becoming bigger, not
smaller, the more we go on in the story
as there are. There are a lot of
different factions and societies that have been
(29:12):
built in place m. As.
As the world came crumbling it down
because like people need people.
and so they have to create some kind of normalcy.
But, but through that you also do
develop different conventions
of what you were getting at of rule and
(29:33):
order and right and wrong
and. And you see a more
dictatorial effort, the religious
effort and just
small town Jackson.
>> Will (29:46):
Yep.
>> Sarah (29:47):
but. And we did come across a few other
factions or a few other colonies
if you will, on our way to Jackson
last season. So it's.
There are so many out there. and so I'm
curious to see if we'll, we'll find more. you
already touched on what we saw happen
(30:07):
to some of the Seraphites in this
episode. and then when
Dina and Ellie make it to j. make
it to Seattle, it's
too quiet. And I
just want to say that shot from the Space Needle
was pretty cool. that was a pretty,
just set design wise, that was
(30:30):
good. The actor who played
Falcon. Yeah,
like this is the first time in a long time I've liked you,
sir. Okay. I don't know what you're doing in that
scene, but I was like, yeah, yeah, you're an.
But I like it. Okay. I'm good with
it. and then, and then what
(30:50):
struck me about
the final scene in this
episode was
it brought me back to the Walking Dead.
and, and it's funny because when I think about
it, the moment Dina and Ellie
find the highway and you see the
(31:10):
cars FL for some reason that
shock also brought me back to the Walking
Dead because. And I know
why. And I'm pretty sure it's in
season, towards the end of season one or beginning
of season two where they have to make it
through a highway and there's all these
zombies coming out of cars. And so
(31:33):
like it's, it's just
like that image kind of, stuck with me.
But at the end it reminded me of Walking Dead
because to an extent it felt
like you have a
abandoned, wore down,
down Seattle
downtown street and just these
(31:55):
people who are all in like
walking uniformly. But
it's also just very creepy because there's no one
else around. So it feels, and I like how they were
shot from behind. Yeah, it
felt,
it did feel militaristic, but at the same time
(32:16):
it felt creepy. And it, and it, and it played
more into the post apocalyptic,
nature of the show.
>> Will (32:23):
Yeah. Yeah, it totally did. Because. Yeah, because you
know, Jackson overall, you know, you're right.
Jackson has become a small town.
It has that pre disaster
small town Phil. And you know, and
they have, you know, they still have the council, they
have, you know, order, you know, as a
(32:44):
democratic society, whereas every, you know, but
that Seattle just feels,
yeah, it did feel creepy. And also I
like the I like how, you know, with,
with Ellie and, and Dina were going
on the, the trip, you know, and even whenever they
were discussing you know, they were under the
impression that Seattle is just gonna, this is, you know,
(33:07):
it's just going to be not that many people there.
and then, and then. So they. So whenever we
do see this big group,
marching down the street, it's just like, you
know, oh, you know, we are. We're
introduced to great, you know, greater
challenges. So, again, the show, you know, know, the quarter steps
(33:27):
are still out there, but it's not the focus.
it's a threat that's still out there, but
it's really all the people. And,
you know, and like you said, you know, the groups, for example, we
encountered the first season, now we're. Now that we're in the second season,
now we're getting this next threat
to. To our. To our protagonist here.
>> Sarah (33:49):
Yeah. Yeah.
and. And in this episode, I'm so glad we didn't see a
single infected.
>> Will (33:59):
Nope.
>> Sarah (34:00):
And. And I think that was perfect. I think coming off
of last week, we needed
to, like, as you just said, like, focus
in on the people who got left
behind are still there and
the new foes, that. That are on
our horizon. and it really allowed. the
(34:20):
actress who played Dina, I do want to give a shout out. She's
doing an awesome job. I. I love her more
now than I did in the game.
I feel like the relationship between her and Ellie
is really kicking off on all cylinders the
way it's supposed to, and it's really working.
and same thing with the actor who plays
(34:41):
Jesse. he has a good scene with Ellie in this
episode as well.
>> Will (34:46):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (34:46):
so, like, I. I, like,
I don't. I didn't get too much of, like, this felt like
a second pilot. So much as
this felt like, okay,
everybody take a deep breath.
Let's just, like. I mean, let's
just. It's an interesting
(35:06):
thing in a way. There was so
much noise last week.
They needed to quiet it all down and
be like, we. We're only in episode three,
y'all. We got more story to
come. and more. More people
to introduce and things to happen.
(35:27):
So. Yeah, I. Now you mentioned you
kind of teased it, and I don't think we got there, but, Will,
what was the. What was the scene that made you cry?
>> Will (35:37):
Yeah, this one. This one. it was just. And I'll.
You know, as we were talking about Ellie being, you know, Ellie
being a liar, I think this was the scene of
her having to, you know, go through.
Go to the back of the house and go through Joel's
stuff, and this
scene was just.
(35:59):
It worked. I mean, it just. I mean, I. I, You
know, it was just so honest
in Bella's portrayal. I don't know if she's had
to have to deal with this in her personal life or not.
But as someone who has been in that
situation, my father passed away and
you know, that first time he, after
everything is done,
(36:21):
funerals happen, whatever, and
the first time you go back and you, and
I'm sure some of our listeners probably, you know,
who've had to sadly have to go through this experience,
probably gets where I'm coming from.
it's just, it's just gut, it's
just gut wrenching and, and, and
(36:41):
really just did connect. I did connect with this scene
and understand what Ellie was feeling as she was like,
especially when she started, you know, touching the jacket and going through the
things and. Yeah, it was just a super, we know
Ellie always has know she puts up that exterior.
She does the things like, for example, Gail
calls her out. Well, not, not directly,
(37:01):
but her reaction lets us know that Gil
is on to her as far as her lying to her about how
she's feel, feeling and whatnot. But
this moment here was just so honest.
And yeah, I mean, I, yeah, I was, I was a
little, yeah, this, you know, I didn't tear up last week with
the, with the Joel dying, but this was the one that was
like, damn, this, this, this,
(37:24):
this. Yeah, you know, I, I, I, I
appreciated the honesty of that scene, when they were doing
that.
>> Sarah (37:31):
Yeah, yeah, that, that makes sense. And, and you're exactly
right. You, we got so much of her lying
that to then go into that
moment and see pure honesty
play out. and she didn't say anything
like, and, and that was why it was honest, because
Ellie lies through her.
>> Will (37:53):
Lighten things up a bit. Yeah. Let's go to the, to the,
the council meeting.
>> Sarah (37:58):
Oh. Oh, I thought we were gonna move on. I thought we kind of
talked about the council meeting.
>> Will (38:02):
Oh, no, no. Ellie's speech in the council meeting.
>> Sarah (38:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Will (38:08):
To our point about, to the point about, you know, because m. Yeah,
because we had the, I guess with the council meeting just, you know,
just to really quickly touch on Seth because,
you know, he, he said the things that Ellie wanted to
say, but, you know, But
Jesse, to your point, you know, he gave Ellie wise
counsel on what not to, what not to do.
(38:28):
But, but yeah, I just, yeah, that was, that
whenever, whenever I think they even, they shot the
girl again. Another moment where she was just like, man,
what is this, this kid's talking about? you
know, so again, it's just, I guess how,
how, how great the character Gail is. And
then I guess the other, other moment that was
really, really touching in the episode and
(38:51):
was whenever they do leave, leave Jackson
on the way to Seattle and do stop at the you
know, stop at the graveyard again to honor, you know,
to, to say goodbye to Joel and, and,
and the coffee beans. and I thought back to like
Joel and Elliot's conversation about coffee.
hell, you know, she, she. I can't what you call it
(39:11):
like big or something like that.
But but you know, just. Again, just that love that they
had for one another that she had for him and you know, just
that moment of. Because I think, I think that was a difference that they
made from the game to the to the TV show. Because I think in the game
she just grabbed the dirt and you know, put it
back down. But here they had her, you
know, leave the coffee beans, which, you know, obviously
(39:34):
coffee is such a great commodity and you know, so Joel was
always very ecstatic when, whenever
he was able to get it.
>> Sarah (39:42):
Yeah. Yeah.
okay, well that leads us
to. Now that it's almost 7 o'clock at night for
me.
>> Will (39:52):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (39:54):
we get to talk about three hours of
Andor.
>> Will (39:58):
Yes we do. Yes we do.
>> Sarah (40:04):
How do you, how are you?
>> Will (40:06):
Yeah, let's just take it episode by episode.
I think we can. Like, but with like the
three, I guess with the major story lines
with with each, each unit. Because
I think that's probably the easiest
way of hitting
Endor.
>> Sarah (40:24):
Okay. Okay.
>> Will (40:27):
So. Yeah.
>> Sarah (40:28):
So episode one, one year later, an undercover mission is
sanctuary threatening a chandelierian
wedding. A chilling Empire Imperial Plan.
yeah. What did you think about this episode, Will?
>> Will (40:40):
It was. I, you know, I
really, really enjoyed getting back into this
world. I mean this is, this is, this is like
what I've been missing from Star wars is just good,
great, just great storytelling.
and really hitting
on, you know, really hitting on the things
that George Lucas did very
(41:03):
well with, with Star wars in and of itself with allegory,
storytelling, with, you know, with, with
the Empire, with the Rebellion. So.
yeah, just, yeah, I, I, But it was a,
I thought it was as a very, these first three episodes was a
very solid start, I think. Actually, I think it started
this, these first three episodes to me started
(41:23):
better than, than the first three episodes of season one
did because we definitely, you know, from the action
folks, we were able to jump right in out from, from
the get. with Cassian, stealing the
TIE fighter prototype. and then,
and Then, you know, and then also just
with this one year later, it really
(41:44):
did reorient us with. With
all the key characters. So we had Cassian and his
story, of course, Mamatha and her story. What's going on with the
Empire and then the Ferrarix screen.
>> Sarah (41:57):
Yeah.
yeah, I, I thought the three episodes were. Were
good. It's a good dart. I. I don't know
if I think they are better or worse than
the, the first three, episodes of the first season.
I remember everyone being really high on
Andor, specifically about the third
(42:17):
episode of the first season. so
I'm. I'm glad all three episodes were released at
once. because dear Lord.
Yeah, and. And. And
I, I think this episode was good. Like, okay, I'm.
I'm struggling here with how. How I'm gonna explain my
thoughts in this way. I'm gonna. I'm probably gonna
jump around people. Like, even though Will wants to do
(42:40):
storyline or episode by episode, I'm gonna jump
around. I think
I, think so my least favorite
storyline of these three episodes is
Cassian's. Like,
he had the least to do. It was so
annoying to me. Like I could give a. About
(43:02):
the people on Fairfax. I was just
like. And, and they got the most time because
Andor's there. But I was like, I, I was completely
checked out in episode two on that storyline.
I would. I didn't fast forward though. I know what y'all
thinking. I did not fast forward any of it. Watch the whole
thing. Did I look at my phone?
Yes. I also felt like,
(43:24):
like some of the action sequences went on way too
long, but I, I'll always complain about that.
and there wasn't enough Bix. I thought Bix had
arguably the most interesting thing
going on in this episode in these three
episodes. Com. Comparable to Bon
Matha for sure, especially in the third episode.
But. But Bix with her PTSD
(43:47):
and. And I, I didn't watch
any like, previous Leon or any
recap of, season one, even though Will told me I
should. so I went in kind of like
still. Okay, so here we go
again. And I was surprised, and this is a
strength to the writing, how quickly I
(44:08):
was able to put pieces together of what was going
on, who was who, and. And also
recall events from. Not only
from season one just in general, but I do
remember what happened to Bix and
why she was. Is behaving the way she
is. And I was thinking about this.
(44:28):
Like in
season one, they basically mind
rape her, right? And
then. So she's dealing with that and you can
see it very subtly.
and in these quiet moments. And then
in the third episode, she's confronted with
potentially getting raped
(44:50):
physically by the Lieutenant.
Disney would never let that happen.
so. So I. And.
And also she's a freaking badass because, man,
man, she needed no help. She. Total
self defense. It was. It was very awesome,
awesome scene. even
(45:13):
though the context, like, gross. But yeah, it was
very good.
>> Will (45:18):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (45:19):
So. So I, I really. I
essentially. And it wasn't just Bix. I. I found
everything to do with the Harvest, like,
there. There was fear. We understood why there
was fear there. the. The.
The threat of the visas. The.
Also, also that these are characters who
(45:39):
we know are close to Cassian
and he's not there as their protector.
And so like, the
precariousness of their situation throughout
these three episodes really had me intrigued.
so that was my favorite storyline,
followed very closely,
arguably just because of the way it
(46:00):
ended. But Mon Motha's stuff, everything
to do with wedding.
>> Will (46:06):
Yeah, yeah, that was. Yeah, I would agree with
you. yeah, going back to Bix and.
And the. That story,
her, you know, her arc, I was just like, poor.
they just. Poor woman's been through the ringer. Because
you're right. I mean, she was tortured and stuff
by the Empire in the first season. Then,
(46:26):
you know, with the second episode, the.
The. They laid the. The foundation for
what that Lieutenant was. You know, whenever he was like, where's your
husband? And all that kind of stuff. You know, knowing.
Knowing that this is a. This
regime is just all about, you know,
abuse of power and control.
(46:46):
you saw where that was going. And so
no, they, you know, when
they did have the scene in the third episode, they attempted
sexual. Sexual assault. it
was, you know, it wasn't gratuitous, I didn't
think. I know there was some. Just, you know, there's been a lot of discourse
about that scene. but, you know, in the context
(47:06):
of the story, it. It made sense, for
why it was there. And, and like you said, I
love the fact that she was able to defend
herself and was able to get. Get, you know, get out of
that situation. but yeah, and also,
as I mentioned, as far as my overall fallacy with the story, the story
on the. On the. The Harvest planet,
(47:27):
I, think. I think it's Maya Rao, I believe
is what it was called. But, you know,
it was just so many, like,
historical parallels as far as, you
know, show us your papers and the whole thing now with, you know, the
present day with, the visas and.
And you know, migrants and. And so it's very.
It was very topical, both from a historical perspective, but
(47:49):
also, both so present day. So
that. Yeah, I mean everything about that
storyline, and with. With. With the
Ferrix crew with, you know, and also, you know, it
took me a minute to remember who. You know, Willman, the.
The teenager young man.
I guess his dad was the one. You know, his father was also
tortured and killed by the Empire. So it makes sense why he was,
(48:12):
you know, while he was. While he's with the crew. And of course
Brasso, who was also.
I thought, you know, I really enjoyed Brasso, you know, seeing
him again. Great. you know, I've always liked this character. You
know, of course he was. Whenever they did have, casting,
his mother's funeral, you know, he was, you know, he. I
remember him hit, you know, hitting the Imperials with
(48:33):
a brick and all that kind of stuff. But also,
you know, with this storyline here, you know, he
was like turned over by the you know, who they thought
was a friend, but you know, turns out he was a low level
collaborator, with the Empire. so, you know,
all those things about that, that storyline, with the
Harvest Planet, you know, really. Really. I agree with you.
(48:54):
I think it was my. Probably. I agree that was number
one storyline for me as well.
And then the wedding with Mon Motha. Yeah. And.
And just against have her having to get her hands
started. Getting her hands dirty with, you know, her
conversations with Lutheran and the whole thing going on with Ty
and with you know, with his. His.
(49:15):
His marital problems and financial problems and how he tried
to like, you know, how he went from being like this
big, big talker Tay, you know,
like, oh, you know, I'm Mr. M. Rebellion. You
know, I don't know if this, this conversations may be too much for you
in the first season to now. He's like the guy
who's just like down on his luck and he's trying to
(49:36):
bribe Mon Motha. So. Yeah, those, Those. Those
elements too were like very, very strong.
>> Sarah (49:42):
Yeah. I. So
with the Mon Mothma stuff,
and started to realize I had similar
sentiments last season as well.
Her husband is fascinating.
he gives a speech at
the end of the second
episode. and it says, my m. Hope is
(50:05):
that you move past this cloud of sadness.
Pleasure, gaiety, amusement. These are the
hidden things. Joy will not announce its arrival.
You need to listen for it and be mindful of how
fleeting it can be.
And it's such a good.
I can appreciate the words because at first
(50:26):
it kind of took me off guard because I'm like, oh, that's actually
a good fatherly toast for a wedding
where he's giving away his daughter. And. And
like. Like, you could see, even though, you know, to
some extent he's a dirt bag.
Like, they. They. Like, it's not a loving
relationship between these two. They,
(50:46):
whatsoever. I mean, at one point it might have been, but
things have changed. He accuses Ty
of being, her boy toy
and her boyfriend's upset and. And all this.
And. And. And there
throughout this entire thing. Like, I think I
paid more attention to. Attention to, period than I
(51:06):
did Tay. Just because. Or Ty. Is
it Tay or Ty? T.
Okay, he. Because.
Because he didn't say as much, but the camera kept
cutting to him and a lot of observations.
See, so. And. And I felt. I feel
like they're. They're building up to something,
with him, for.
(51:28):
Sure. Because, I mean, there's a.
There's a war going on. albeit a secret war, but
there's a war. And he has his suspicions of his
wife, and she has hers and everything.
But specifically why this speech, I think is
so good is because that ends,
pretty much ends the
(51:49):
first, Like this storyline in that second
episode. And then the ending of
the third episode
is like Mon Mothma
realizes that. That
her best friend, her dear old friend, friend
Tay is gonna get
killed.
>> Will (52:09):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (52:10):
And. And she's at fault for this. Just
like she's the reason. And, And
her rebellion and leading this rebellion is the
reason why she just had to marry off
her daughter, even though the match.
No chemistry. So,
like. Like she. So there's so much
(52:30):
mom guilt. So for them to
juxtapose that reality
with her honestly living
out exactly what Perion says in his speech
in the previous episode. like she finds the joy. The
music is playing and everything. I
thought that was so good. So good that I
got pissed off at the editing
(52:54):
because I had whiplash,
I think, last week when we were talking about the Last of
Us and we had these two critical things
going on, one in Jackson and one with Joel and
Ellie at the ski lodge. The
editing allowed scenes to breathe.
Allowed specifically storylines.
(53:14):
I don't know what happened to the editors
with episode three, but that
towards the end, I was like, you need to stop. We get
it. I can't. Like. Like,
it was. It, It turned me off.
Like. Like, I was just like okay, this is driving me
crazy. It just felt too much
(53:34):
like they overplayed it. Initially it was
fine and then I was like, okay, so we're still doing this.
Ten minutes later, we're, we're still doing this.
>> Will (53:43):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I, I, I, I
can see that. I mean I, I think because I,
I on first watch it, it did
not, it, I, I did not notice it. But I watched
episode again this half this evening before,
before we recorded and, and I, and I, I see what you're
talking about. It is varied on, on the second watch.
(54:03):
It is very, very distracting. in some
respects because it, it
does, it is over edited. I
would agree.
>> Sarah (54:12):
Yeah, yeah. I, I think
that where they, where
they went wrong was
because they were really
juxtaposing Mon
Mothma and this, this dance, but
also her diet like, like
grief, internally
(54:33):
with, with, with a fight.
And, and so so to me, like
for lack of better articulation,
like there's both scenes had so much
noise that really to get away
with that much back and forth you needed one of them to be
quiet and one of them to be loud. So you had a
(54:55):
good juxtaposition. Instead it just felt like
okay, yeah,
you, you, you're dealing with three story lines this
whole time. You could have ended this one like 15
minutes ago and then we could have had the full like
sequence play out. Like I, I
think, I think maybe that
(55:17):
especially towards the end, but I've beaten that point to
the to death at this point. So
I'm gonna try to move past, past it. But
I, I do think they started off
stronger with balancing the three
storylines and, and yeah, technically there's
four because we get some in
Imperial, which all the Empire
(55:39):
stuff did for me. And I, and I was just like
damn it, Ben Mendelsohn, you're a fantastic
actor. I love you.
You're so good. Like the
whole, the whole Gorgum project
introduction. I love that scene so
much. I, I there, there's something
(55:59):
like and, and Will, I want to hear your thoughts on
this. But there was something about that scene that
just felt so like funny
but also like okay, okay, these guys
are, are bad people. it's the fact that
he plays essentially a propaganda
built movie, ah, movie for
(56:20):
other Empire Imperial
leaders.
>> Will (56:24):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (56:24):
To get them on board
with this thing.
>> Will (56:30):
Yeah, that, that scene. Yeah. It
was just again, you know, as I said, my
overall thoughts, it, this is when
this is when I really enjoyed this show because it
just it just nails it with the prop,
you know, with, with like you said. And it's funny because I,
I was listening there, I think to interview with
Mendelson. I think Tony Gil had to pull him back because at first
(56:53):
he was playing Chronic, is too m.
Mustache. Trly.
And so he had to tell him to dial it back a bit. And by dialing it
back, yeah, it, you know, it, it makes that scene
works. Work so, so well. Because. Yeah, I
mean, you know, he is, you know, he's, he's the
propaganda machine, you know, and, and, and
also when thinking about like
(57:13):
other elements even like in the story, like, you know, going back to
Mona, you know, how Gorham is
such a, A pivotal place in the,
in the galaxy because, you know, you had the. What you had the
wedding party member who talked about. Yeah, my, you know, my.
>> Sarah (57:28):
Yeah.
>> Will (57:28):
One parents from Naboo, but my other parents from Gorham. you know,
of course, first season you had the, the trade lines
and stuff and, and, and the propaganda and,
and of course, you know, the, you know,
using,
using this project to like, say it's going to help us with our
energy dependence and you know, and
(57:48):
you know, even though we all know that this, this, this cow
kike is just going to be used to, you know, for the Death Star.
>> Sarah (57:54):
Yeah.
>> Will (57:55):
But everything about it and just, and delay,
you know, because I understand from the interviews with Tony Gilroy
that the Gore massacre, it's a big thing in Star wars because it's like if
you've watched Rebels, you, you know, that
that incident is what is the final straw
to get my month up to leave the Senate.
And. Yeah,
(58:16):
but, yeah, but I mean, Tony Gilroy's been very clear that, you know, they know
the massacre is, coming and
we all. Yeah. but, they're apparently they're going to play this
out over, you know, over the course of, I think three
or four. Three or four
episodes. and so I, I like the way that
they used this first batch to sort of lay the
foundation that it's not just going to just pop up on us.
(58:39):
They're going to, I mean they're going to show how
what was so genius about it was the use of propaganda.
And again.
Yeah.
>> Sarah (58:48):
The, the use of it. Like,
like what I thought was genius about it
is not necessarily the use of it because I'm used
to that. Like the Imperial doing very
dictatorial.
>> Will (59:02):
Yep.
>> Sarah (59:03):
Dictatorship. Yes.
But, but the fact that the scene
consists of him trying to convince the
others who are
on a part of that.
And like even Deirdre, Deirdre says like,
oh, I, I know he critic offered this
to me. I don't want that.
>> Will (59:24):
Right, right.
>> Sarah (59:25):
Like, like, I, I, I think in a
way by allowing
KCK to, to behave in
that manner with all that freaking
ego and showing that video
and like bringing up what the guys
from the
Enlightenment, which is basically their
(59:48):
PR people.
>> Will (59:49):
Yeah. The Ministry of Truth. Immediately I was like, man,
they're like pulling out 1984 in this thing.
>> Sarah (59:54):
I, I could have sworn they, I, I don't think they said the
Ministry of Truth. I could have sworn it was
a Ministry.
>> Will (01:00:01):
No, it was in 1984. It's the Ministry of Truth. I was just saying.
But in the show they call them the Ministry of Enlightenment, I
think.
>> Sarah (01:00:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like,
but, but then, but then you, you see the
hesitancy. You see there's multiple
conversations and then you continue that with
Deirdre obviously being nominated to take
the lead and then kind of being
forced to in the end, even though she didn't want it.
And then speaking about Deirdre, I called it last
(01:00:30):
season. Like, I remember this. I
remember when these, when Cyril and
Deirdre met. Eyes. Heart
eyes.
>> Will (01:00:38):
Yep.
>> Sarah (01:00:39):
Weird. Heart eyes.
>> Will (01:00:40):
Weird.
>> Sarah (01:00:41):
You know what? So, so
here's what I couldn't figure out.
>> Will (01:00:46):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (01:00:46):
While watching Cyril and
Deirdre, especially with the mom.
They're not married yet.
>> Will (01:00:54):
No.
>> Sarah (01:00:55):
Okay. But they are knocking
boots for sure.
>> Will (01:00:59):
They're definitely.
>> Sarah (01:01:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and I, and I like
Deirdre and how she handled Cyril's mom. Like,
like, and I'm glad
we didn't get too much. Like, it's weird.
I did feel like the first episode
up until we finally see, See
Deirdre. I, I was like the whole
(01:01:21):
episode being like, where's Cyril?
Where is that? Where's that? Where is
he? Like, I
see Deirdre, where's the other one? And, and
then we finally see him. But we, we don't get a lot of
them.
Like, I think why,
(01:01:42):
ah, a, strength of these three episodes
is the,
the heroes are dealing with some high
stakes situations, of course,
but it's all
the, the, the
character foes,
(01:02:03):
like your Krennic or your
Tarkin or whatever. you guys all know
I'm bad with names of characters. No, no,
yeah, yeah. Like, like they're not,
they're not directly facing off with these guys.
Instead we gotta, we got a lieutenant here.
We have, we have these
(01:02:23):
imbeciles who, who Cassian has
to Help. But also has this tape
from. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
like, like we have these. And then with Mon
Mothma it's, it's more of a political,
rightfully so prowess of
like friendships and, and being a
(01:02:44):
mom and the sacrifices that she's
making to move forward with this
rebellion. So it's
it was very, that was very unexpected, but I'm
glad because I felt like it was just a perfect
amount of Krennic,
Deirdre, Cyril, to get, get
us through this and to really launch us into
(01:03:05):
this second chapter of the show.
>> Will (01:03:08):
Yeah, yeah, I, I completely agree. I think they did
do a balance of overall a really good thing. And even
though I agree with you that the the story
with Cassian and the Proto and the other rebel
cell, you know, even though I felt
I was like you, it. There were parts of it
where I did feel kind of checked out. It was still,
(01:03:29):
it was very important to establish. And
again, you know, again we're four, you know, we're four years
prior to the Battle of Yavin.
And so you know, at this point the alliance is still
the, that element of
distrust is, is out out was. It's
everywhere. I mean you see it with, with Luthen
(01:03:50):
and his interactions with with Mon
Motha, you see that with these other
rebel cells that are out there, you know, thinking about
Star Wars Rebels, which is, you know, the animated show, you
know, we see, you know, we
also saw it there and, and so, so
I, I, I, I, I. Even though
there were parts of it where I was just like.
(01:04:13):
It did. It does help to establish.
It just gives us a sort of a, a foundation for
like, you know, the rebellion wasn't all like cooking, you know,
from, from the get, you know, we gotta, we gotta grow to
that point. So just like we saw Cassian grow
in the first season and, and how this
episode starts with him, you know, at the
(01:04:33):
base and you know, and just talking with the
young lady who is the defector and yeah,
you know, she's sort of, you know, she, you know, she's still
questioning is she, you know, is she doing the right thing and stuff.
So, so there were elements in that, in,
in Cassian's story that were, that I
felt were, were good and, and
necessary. But they, there were
(01:04:55):
elements of it where you know, I did feel like they
went a little, went a little too long. But we know we do
get that great shot at the end though of you know,
establishing that this was, that this
was, you know, the Gavin 4
and so again,
hope is on the horizon. Even if these, even at these
like, you know, even that rebel cell that was there, by the end of the
(01:05:18):
episode, they were starting to like, come
together. So. So, yeah, it was probably the
weak. I won't say the maybe weakest is not
this the right word. But it was not the most
engaging story of the. Of other three that
we had in the. In this opening set. But I think
it did, it did serve the purpose that it needed. It just
maybe went a little too long in some places.
>> Sarah (01:05:41):
Yeah, I think they could have done better. Yeah, they could
have done everything you just talked
about, but it could have been more engaging.
And yeah,
I think I've shared all of my thoughts about
andor in these first three
episodes. so, unless you had
anything else to say.
>> Will (01:06:04):
No, I, I think we covered all the major,
major, major beats, of, of the, of the
first three episodes. So.
>> Sarah (01:06:12):
Yep. All right, well that. On that note,
Will, why don't you tell our listeners where they can find you?
>> Will (01:06:18):
Yes, you can find me on all the socials at,
willmpolk W I L L M M P O
L.
>> Sarah (01:06:23):
K And you can find me there too at SJ Belmont
sjblm O N T. Please follow our
crew on X formerly known as ah,
Twitter at cenanerd on Blue sky,
friend us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and threads at
scene, underscore n underscore nerd and Visit our website,
www.scenanerdpodcast.com. but most
(01:06:43):
importantly, rate, follow and comment on Apple Podcasts,
Spotify, YouTube or wherever your podcast. Good night. Geek out.
You're welcome.
>> Will (01:06:50):
It.
Foreign
(00:14):
Greetings, nerds. This is Scene N Nerd. I'm m. Your host, Sarah Belmont, and
with me, as always, is our Mr. Producer, Will Polk How are you doing
tonight, Will?
>> Will (00:21):
Doing very well, Sarah. Hope you're doing well this evening after
we figured out when we're going to watch Thunderbolts.
>> Sarah (00:26):
Yep. Figured it out. There will be a special
recording next Thursday.
>> Will (00:32):
Yep.
>> Sarah (00:33):
Where we will share our thoughts and, and it will
be spoilers.
>> Will (00:38):
There will be spoilers. There will be spoilers.
>> Sarah (00:41):
It will be spoiled. Okay, people.
because we are, we are watching it and hopefully this
time Will actually watches it, unlike when he hung me out
to dry with the joke or two.
>> Will (00:54):
Hey, I will watch this one. Yeah, yeah.
>> Sarah (00:58):
And I know, I mean, you were, you were dealing
with a, A minor natural.
Natural disaster at the time. I
mean.
>> Will (01:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, just, just a little,
just a little thing. But, yeah, but definitely,
we'll. We'll watch Thunderbolts this weekend
and looking forward to talking with it about it
with you about that film and
know we've got Last of Us and, Andor. But you
know, content this month is like,
crazy. I mean, it's. Yeah, I mean,
(01:29):
we, we, we, we. We were worried about
all this great stuff, like, happening all at once
and here it is. So, yeah, the life of podcasters,
everyone.
>> Sarah (01:39):
Yeah.
>> Will (01:40):
At least we know. At least we have some sanity and not trying to
like, cover andor the same
week that airs. So I'm glad
for just the enjoyment factor as well
as just, just letting, you know, letting. Letting
the thoughts marinate a little bit. I'm glad we're doing it like we're
doing it. Which is still being one week
(02:00):
delayed.
>> Sarah (02:01):
Yeah. so I did,
despite everything, manage to
squeeze in the final season of,
you on, Netflix.
And I, I love how you know me so
well. So the only reason.
And, and I did not start it
until like, I watched maybe
(02:23):
almost the first episode of the
new season, right before I went to bed on
Saturday night.
So the only reason why I got through the
next nine episodes is because
I, I started fast forwarding
a lot. The dialogue was
(02:44):
so bad, so bad. It was
cringeworthy. Like, like I, I
said it last season, this show should have ended
with season three. This show. this is. And,
and this is even more disappointing than season
three. I m. Am so glad they released all the episodes at
once so we could, like, for those of us who were
(03:04):
still somewhat on board and just curious about how it all
worked out. Well, it under. It works out in the Most
underwhelming way ever. It's
ridiculous, it's nonsensical. And
it just. I don't know, it
just felt like
the writers now.
(03:24):
Hm. I don't know if I can say this because technically
I've never watched the first season.
I got on board with second season,
but I feel
like, because it originally aired on
Lifetime, I feel like the writers went
back to the beats of season one,
(03:46):
which I'm just like, why
would you do that? Why would you go back
there when season one,
the ratings were so low? You got Bunted
from Lifetime only for Netflix to pick you
up and for you to have like a very good
season two, season three.
And I don't know, it just. It just
(04:08):
became way too much, way, way
too ridiculous. And anyway, I just
had to get that off my chest that, like,
yeah, I watched it. I probably
watched 50 to 60% of
it because, like, the last
episode I was just like,
boom. Okay, cha cha. Okay, okay. What
(04:31):
happens at the very end? Because I don't need to go through all this.
I don't care. I don't care. Does he die?
Does he go to jail? Does, like, does he get
a happily ever after even though he's a piece of. I don't
know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you.
No, you can take it down. We're. We're moving.
>> Will (04:49):
Okay, I'll take it down. We're moving on. Okay, Okay.
>> Sarah (04:52):
I mean, I'm. I'm. I'm a bit jealous because I
know you watch Sinners this weekend
and there is a review up about Sinners
that you and your wife did, which was so cute.
>> Will (05:03):
Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Well, it's funny
because, I mean, she's usually not a
big movie watcher. I mean, she likes, you know, we have our shows
we like to watch and stuff. But I mean,
she was super pumped about it. We got out of the theater
on, Saturday night, and then
Sunday morning she was like, well, you know,
(05:24):
she's just had like, just massive.
Just thoughts of just
this is dropped. And if you've seen the movie, go
check out our, Our review.
Because really, Sinners is one of
those films. It's kind of hard that other
than just the sort of general Thai
level discussion
(05:46):
developed. yes, you know, Michael B. Jordan,
Place twins. Yes. There is a vampire
component to the film, but
it's not exactly a van. It's. Yes, it's a,
it's a. It's a movie with, with vampires in it. But
there's just so many things that are deeper about it.
So if you haven't seen it, go see
it clearly people, word of mouth is
(06:09):
definitely like spreading because I think it's.
It only had like a, like a 6% drop all
from the first weekend to the second weekend which
like in these times, it's pretty
amazing. Ah. That that you know, that
the box office did not drop off. And so I mean
it even you know,
(06:30):
with the re release of the Revenge of the Sith and also the
new release of the Accountant too. I mean it did better than both
films. So so yeah, it's definitely something.
You should definitely go see it if you haven't yet. If you have
seen it, go check out our review. We have some thoughts.
but yeah, when I left the
theater, the first thing I turned to Charlie, I said I want to
(06:50):
see this again. It was just so
much that was going on, good things that were going on with that
film. And it's one of those.
Clearly one of these films that like
has something to say.
And, and, and it's
enjoyable and like I said,
can't recommend it enough. So go, go check it out
(07:12):
even. I know you're not a big vampire
horror film fan, Sarah, but I.
>> Sarah (07:18):
Think how, how much horror is
it? Like there's a difference between a
vampire movie and a horror movie.
>> Will (07:26):
Yeah. So yeah, it's not like a slasher
film or anything like that. And as far as the
violence, that's the, the you know, they're jump scares
and stuff.
>> Sarah (07:35):
Yeah, yeah.
>> Will (07:36):
But, yeah, but it's, I mean, you
know, there's probably comparable jump scares in like the Last
of Us that we talked about. I mean so. Yeah, so it's,
it's like that level.
>> Sarah (07:46):
Yeah. Okay. Okay. That, that's what I would expect
based on everything that I'm hearing about.
definitely interest is peak.
However, I feel like I've seen a good
25% of the movie on TikTok
every time. There's like people release so
many clips about it that, that
(08:07):
I've definitely seen the ending and I
don't now granted it's taken out of context so I have
no idea.
>> Will (08:13):
But that's why you need to see it. Yeah. I'm not going to
say anything about the mid credit but you
definitely. Yeah, just go see it. And I do want
to. If you do, I do want to hear your thoughts about it.
>> Sarah (08:24):
Yeah, yeah. yeah. You know that I'm gonna pull you and the
Bear Season two. Like it'll take me until this comes
out.
>> Will (08:30):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (08:31):
Yeah, okay. Okay. As long as. As long as, you know,
like, you might have to sit on that for a while.
>> Will (08:37):
Yeah, yeah, that's. That's fine. That's fine.
>> Sarah (08:39):
All right. All, Right, well,
that leads us to the last of, us. Season
two, Episode three, the Path. After Dina shares
crucial intel, Ellie prepares a
petition to. Presents
a petition to the town council.
wow, this is the worst written
(09:00):
IMDb synopsis yet. Because then
it's just a new sentence.
Near Seattle, a religious group flees at
war. Okay, like, that's,
like, this is. What is this?
Come on, get your act together, IMDb. But.
But we know what happens because we watched it.
so.
(09:25):
Okay.
>> Will (09:26):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (09:29):
Will, what are. What are your thoughts about this episode? We'll start
there.
>> Will (09:33):
Yeah. So after breaking
all our collective hearts for the people who.
Who didn't know what was
happening, did not know what's happening, bottom line,
that, that ending was,
You know, it. It moved us all. So
now we. We're dealing with the aftermath. Then,
(09:53):
you know, we. We get the, cold open. Well, a couple. Well,
first things first. They did adjust the.
The, the opening credit, so. So now
instead of Joel and Ellie walking, there at the
end of the opening credit, we do have the,
You know, now Ellie's just by herself. But in
many respects, I felt like. And we'll get into,
(10:14):
like, more, you know, some of the plot details and stuff here in a second.
But just overall it. When I watched
this episode, I was wondering
how they were going to carry things forward. And in many
respects it felt like a second pilot to me
as I was watching the episode. but, But yeah, that's,
you know, but, I enjoyed it and, you know, there was some
(10:34):
death. There was definitely one scene in particular that. That
definitely did, where, you know, I did have
some emotional, like,
you know, feedback or where I did tear
up a bit. But, But yeah, that. Those are just sort of just things.
Right, right. Right out the gate. What about you?
>> Sarah (10:53):
yeah, I'll share my thoughts as we go along.
But it's interesting you brought up. You felt
like it was a second pilot because in
the initial scene we have
Tommy, walking in
and, all the bodies,
because. Because what. What I think that they
did a good job in, specifically in this
(11:15):
episode is carrying
forward that
it wasn't just Joel who died.
Yes. Like, our main lead
got killed. It's awful
tragic. Ellie is without her father
figure, like, horrible.
(11:35):
But last week's episode,
a large part of it, was also about
the. The horde
ravaging Jackson Hole. And
so there. There were other losses. And there's
that scene in that episode at the end and all
of the carnage. You have Tommy and Maria
embrace, like the. The trials
(11:57):
of wars. And. And please, somebody, correct
me if I'm wrong. I know Joel is a.
Is a vet, but isn't Tommy as
well? I'm pretty sure. So, like,
I'm sure there's ptsd. So what I liked
about this opening is, yes, Tommy walks
into the place and is
focused on Joel's body, like he knows which
(12:20):
one it is, and he walks over to clean it up.
But this shot, the shot design
also allows us to see,
like, Joel isn't the only one
dead. And like, that's carried forward
with, like, the burial site
and. And a lot of other
themes in this episode that
(12:42):
really allows them to.
I'm not going to say justify,
but it allows the
writers to kind of give
more justification. I will say it.
Whatever. It's the only word that's come to mind,
for. For the outcome of the council
(13:02):
vote.
>> Will (13:03):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (13:04):
And. And also for
Tommy's whole ambivalence that
he's dealing with Right. Right now. but why.
I. I wanted to start there. I mean, it is the first
scene, but it's also. When you brought up pilot,
the first line of dialogue we get in this episode is
send my love to Sarah.
>> Will (13:24):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (13:24):
After he sees the broken. The
broken watch.
>> Will (13:28):
Yeah. Yeah.
>> Sarah (13:29):
Okay, Now I have a problem to pick with Ellie,
because I just want to get this point out and then you could
jive it. Ellie, you
best be going back to that shoe box and
grabbing that watch, because that was a dear possession
of Joel. I saw
you took the pistol. You best be having that watch as well.
(13:51):
You know what that means. But anyway.
Okay.
>> Will (13:54):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So
that, That was definitely
the gut. That was the first gut punch when.
When Tommy does say
that to Joel, give Sarah my love.
because, you know, again, it just
really just hammers home the point
that, you know, when it. When it. When they
(14:17):
focus on the watch and,
you know, we. And we see the watch,
you know, we think about the pilot, you know, because
the watch did, you know, Sarah got that
for him for his. Got it fixed for his birthday. And then
it gets, of course, broken the night the,
face gets broken again the night of the,
(14:37):
When the outbreak happened.
And. And. But also it's just, again, that
through line of just, you know, Joel, whether
it was Ellie, then later
Dina, for, a moment, even though she
didn't appreciate it.
>> Sarah (14:52):
Abby.
>> Will (14:53):
was that father figure? And, and, and,
and. And also to your point about the loss of.
In Jackson, we. We saw in the first
episode, Joel really had become
a. A. Almost a father figure or
leader in the community. So it was just
so many things that. That I'm glad
(15:13):
you brought up the. The carnage of Jackson and other people
who. Who. Who were lost during
the. The invasion.
>> Sarah (15:21):
Right.
>> Will (15:21):
you know, it just really hammers home the point of
who Joel was to. To so many people.
>> Sarah (15:27):
Right, right. Yeah.
And. And like, I think leadership is
the key word. I mean, they didn't
exactly say it, but to me, it
kind of was implied. There was a vacant scene on the
council, and Jesse took it. Like,
I think. I think that was Joel C. On the
council. So. So it's,
(15:50):
Like, he was a big pillar, and you could.
With the town meeting, you could get
the sense that there was conflict and
there were people who were speaking for
and people who were speaking against. And you. And
you can't argue with the people who are speaking against it
because you were reminded throughout the episode
(16:10):
of, like, yeah,
what if they come back, but what if others come back? And then
you're going to send 16 people, like, we're still on the
Reba. It's been three months. Three months.
Like, that's. That seems long, but at the same time,
no, that's. That's very brief period of time.
I do just the other thing. I want
(16:33):
to comment about what you just said. What do you brought up?
Abby? Okay. I. I don't
know if I missed it, but, like, I.
I think what you were getting at
was the fact that he saved her because at no point was
he being a father figure for Abby.
>> Will (16:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't articulate it as well, but, yeah, I
mean, I guess it was the point, you know? And also just thinking about
the conversation that
Joel and Gail had as far as I saved
her, which comes up again in this episode. I was
thinking that was really where I was. Where I was going.
>> Sarah (17:06):
Yeah.
>> Will (17:07):
So maybe not. Maybe not the father figure, but I guess the
protector is maybe M. M. Maybe
where I was thinking,
>> Sarah (17:13):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Will (17:15):
Serving that role.
>> Sarah (17:17):
Yeah. that's
interesting. and then the, The next
scene in this opening, while we're still,
like, coming off of the vents from the previous episode
is Ellie wakes up, disoriented,
and then just sees Joel die again.
And then they immediately put her back to sleep, and rightfully
so.
>> Will (17:37):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (17:39):
another big theme in this
Episode that kind of picks up right
when, three months later, and Ellie's
getting out of the hospital, and
she has to talk to Gail for the first time in this
episode, is. Ellie's a
liar.
We, we, we pretty much figured that out.
(18:03):
and, and like,
I, I'm very curious about
the direction Bella was given for
this scene, because I will be honest.
I, I, and I, I'm. I, Like,
for me, the entire conversation with
Gail, I think I was more annoyed with
(18:25):
Ellie in this scene than I was with her
in the first episode. Because
there was. Because I'm just like,
you're, you're A, lying. And B, you're
also really bad at it. Like,
I don't know, like, extremely
bad at it. And like, I, I'm supposed
(18:45):
to feel bad for you right now, but I kind
of feel bad for Gail.
Poor woman lost her husband and,
like, couldn't. Like, she's not able to get
justice, but, like, you're just lying
to her. Like, she has a mystery, which
is brought up. But, but I'm just like,
if you're gonna be a liar, Ellie, you gotta get better
(19:08):
at it because you're, you're really bad at it right
now.
>> Will (19:11):
Yeah, yeah, that, you know, and I
think to the end of the episode where,
where Tommy and, and Gail are
talking, about Ellie
and the lion. And, you know, Tommy raises
the point as a nature nurturer because they, you know, they were
part of the con. You know, part of the context of the conversation
was really getting it. Like, Joel
(19:34):
and Ellie and their person. There's. That's, there's
similar personality traits and,
but, but, you know, you know, so thinking, you know,
so that set up in the. With the session
where Abby, excuse me, Ellie,
like, tells Gil, oh, I'm good. I'm good. And I had
the same reaction. You did, too. I was like, man, ah, she is lying through her
teeth. And, and,
(19:56):
but at the same time, I was just
like. And Gail, you know, Gail basically knew
it too, at that.
>> Sarah (20:03):
Oh, yeah, because she started
acting, like, weird about it too. Like,
you could, you could tell with her responses and the
sarcasm and all of that. But, like,
yeah, this conversation between Gail and Tommy
is arguably my favorite scene in this episode.
because Gail is starting to become a
(20:23):
fascinating character. and I really hope
we see more of her as the seasons
and even next season. And just.
And man, I swear, writers,
hear me now. We best be
getting, a flashback
to, how her husband died,
(20:43):
because that, that man's name Keeps getting
dropped in every single single episode and is very
critical. But we'll get. but before we do, I
do want to point out this quote from the scene between Gail and
Tommy. And it's, it's the quote
that is why the, this episode is called the
Path. If she's on a path, it's not
one that Joel put her on. No, I think they were
(21:05):
walking side by side from the start. Some people
just can't be saved.
So this whole idea,
like, and,
and, and something that I don't. I,
I, I'll be honest, I haven't listened to. I listened
to maybe one review about this so far. I just
(21:26):
didn't have time to listen to any others. But
I don't know how much people are,
linking this song that was
played at the end of last week's episode
and this idea of the path,
because that song there
is. They talk about a path
(21:46):
and, and, and everything in the
lyrics. So it's,
it's very interesting to me that
they, and that song is very important in terms of
the game. And, and of course, we have it
sung by. Covered by the actors
who played Ellie in the game.
So, like, just
(22:09):
like how I, I still stand by that,
that scene that you've mentioned
earlier, this evening between Gail
and Joel, the therapy, like, those
themes we're gonna see play out throughout this entire
season. Yeah, this path idea, it's
the same thing. And like, really,
(22:29):
the first season, Joel
and Ellie were literally on a path
side by side like they
were. And it's just, it's such
a, it's such a good metaphor. And now in this
episode, towards the end, we see,
we see Dina and Ellie
(22:49):
walking side by side, down
a path. Now, is it the best path? We don't
know. it's a path. But, but
it's, It's. It's just I, I
really. That stuck out to me and I love the
connection because I don't,
I don't think that a lot of
people talked enough about the lyrics
(23:12):
of that song, and why it
was so fitting for
ending that episode, and also
fitting in context of the story as a whole.
>> Will (23:24):
Yeah, I, Yeah, I haven't seen it. I mean, I think I
may have seen maybe a stray thread or something about
it to that. But, but you're right. As far as some of the
other. I have listened to a couple reviews
and different, folks and that,
that, maybe, Yeah, because not
even the, I don't even know if they even the main
(23:45):
podcast on it for HBO
with. With the showrunner, with Neil and Craig and
Troy Baker. I don't know if they've raised it to. To
what. What you. What you've shared tonight. So. Yeah, I mean,
I think that you're. But you're right. I mean, but I, do see
what that, what you're talking about there. you know,
as far as that path, and of course, Ellie and
(24:05):
Dina being on that new one. And then of course, there was the.
The religious, cult group as well that
was, was on. You know, there were a lot of paths in this. In this.
In this episode. And. And then also, you
know, as you rightly noted, Gail.
Gail's line to Tommy. they were watching a baseball
game.
>> Sarah (24:24):
Yeah. Yeah. They're getting drunk, watching
a Little league baseball game. And
Gail admits, like, I.
I need a therapist. I need to go to
therapy so that I can be a good
therapist for everyone else, but there isn't one.
So. So what does she do? She just gets drunk, she
(24:45):
becomes an alcoholic and smokes a shit ton of weed.
>> Will (24:48):
Yep.
>> Sarah (24:50):
Like. Like, she's. She's. So.
She's very interesting.
>> Will (24:54):
She's very interesting.
>> Sarah (24:56):
She's had tragedy.
>> Will (24:58):
She.
>> Sarah (24:58):
I mean, she's lived through all of this,
and, And then to have what
happened to her husband.
Okay, well, this is interesting.
The more I think about Gail and what they're potentially
setting up with her. And it goes back
to the Watch, because
(25:20):
when we talked about the Watch during the
pilot episode, and arguably probably
later on in the season as well, that
watch
broke like, time stood still
in that moment, and it broke
in a pivotal event for Joel, and
arguably time stood
(25:43):
still for Joel from that point until he
met. Met Ellie, like,
figuratively and arguably even after
he met Ellie, because there was. He. He had a
ton of baggage. Gail.
Gail is of a different mind
where she smokes
(26:04):
a ton of weed and becomes an
alcoholic to get through the
day. But. But you know what I'm saying?
There's something about the context
of her, like. Like,
she doesn't have a kid playing in the game, but she's gonna go
and act like it's this big Major league baseball
game because, like, she's just
(26:26):
trying to be normal
in a very abnormal situation.
And. And arguably, that's what a lot of people in Jackson Hole
are doing.
>> Will (26:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. They. They
really are. I mean, I was thinking about that as we were talking.
As we were talking about the Little League
baseball game, and. And, you know. Yeah, they're trying to
create some New sense of normalcy. Also, just. Even the
governing council is.
>> Sarah (26:52):
Yeah.
>> Will (26:53):
is, is that just, you know, having a democratic
system? Especially when you think about the other
groups that we've met along the path. You know. You
know, Fedra is like
military organization. You know,
we were introduced to the w. The Wolves in
Seattle, which again looks like a very, you know,
(27:13):
another paramilitary organization. We got the, we got
the cult. So everybody.
>> Sarah (27:19):
Yeah, I. Sorry, I just wanted to say the call
is, they're called the Seraphites.
>> Will (27:25):
Yeah, the Seraphites.
>> Sarah (27:26):
Yeah.
>> Will (27:26):
Yeah, we were introduced to them in this episode.
then tragically they were taken out, you
know, assuming that it was the, the wolves that
did it. So, yeah, so I mean it's just, it's
just, it's very interesting in this world
how everybody is.
Is trying to cope but also trying
to. But also have set up systems to,
(27:49):
to govern behavior in this
new. In this new post apocalyptic world.
And also like you said, I mean, I think that's spot
on with, with you now, with Joe
with the watch and Joel and Gail. Both of
them, you know, they're basically in
some. We're are frozen in time
to that. That event. Whether it was
(28:11):
the actual, you know, the pilot with things with Joel and now
of course the moment Joel kills Eugene. So,
and, and both of them have. Have learned how to
cope with it in their own ways. You know, Gail just, you know, getting
blitzed and, and, and, and,
and
>> Sarah (28:27):
Yeah.
>> Will (28:28):
Be a therapist for everybody else.
>> Sarah (28:31):
Yeah. So. So Eugene is
also a former Firefly
who. It sounds like he was a part of
WLF in Washington for a
moment. where. Or he was
aware because even the Fireflyers, like
WLF is technically
(28:51):
a faction of Fireflies, if I'm not
mistaken,
to what you were getting at. It's like
we're. The world is becoming bigger, not
smaller, the more we go on in the story
as there are. There are a lot of
different factions and societies that have been
(29:12):
built in place m. As.
As the world came crumbling it down
because like people need people.
and so they have to create some kind of normalcy.
But, but through that you also do
develop different conventions
of what you were getting at of rule and
(29:33):
order and right and wrong
and. And you see a more
dictatorial effort, the religious
effort and just
small town Jackson.
>> Will (29:46):
Yep.
>> Sarah (29:47):
but. And we did come across a few other
factions or a few other colonies
if you will, on our way to Jackson
last season. So it's.
There are so many out there. and so I'm
curious to see if we'll, we'll find more. you
already touched on what we saw happen
(30:07):
to some of the Seraphites in this
episode. and then when
Dina and Ellie make it to j. make
it to Seattle, it's
too quiet. And I
just want to say that shot from the Space Needle
was pretty cool. that was a pretty,
just set design wise, that was
(30:30):
good. The actor who played
Falcon. Yeah,
like this is the first time in a long time I've liked you,
sir. Okay. I don't know what you're doing in that
scene, but I was like, yeah, yeah, you're an.
But I like it. Okay. I'm good with
it. and then, and then what
(30:50):
struck me about
the final scene in this
episode was
it brought me back to the Walking Dead.
and, and it's funny because when I think about
it, the moment Dina and Ellie
find the highway and you see the
(31:10):
cars FL for some reason that
shock also brought me back to the Walking
Dead because. And I know
why. And I'm pretty sure it's in
season, towards the end of season one or beginning
of season two where they have to make it
through a highway and there's all these
zombies coming out of cars. And so
(31:33):
like it's, it's just
like that image kind of, stuck with me.
But at the end it reminded me of Walking Dead
because to an extent it felt
like you have a
abandoned, wore down,
down Seattle
downtown street and just these
(31:55):
people who are all in like
walking uniformly. But
it's also just very creepy because there's no one
else around. So it feels, and I like how they were
shot from behind. Yeah, it
felt,
it did feel militaristic, but at the same time
(32:16):
it felt creepy. And it, and it, and it played
more into the post apocalyptic,
nature of the show.
>> Will (32:23):
Yeah. Yeah, it totally did. Because. Yeah, because you
know, Jackson overall, you know, you're right.
Jackson has become a small town.
It has that pre disaster
small town Phil. And you know, and
they have, you know, they still have the council, they
have, you know, order, you know, as a
(32:44):
democratic society, whereas every, you know, but
that Seattle just feels,
yeah, it did feel creepy. And also I
like the I like how, you know, with,
with Ellie and, and Dina were going
on the, the trip, you know, and even whenever they
were discussing you know, they were under the
impression that Seattle is just gonna, this is, you know,
(33:07):
it's just going to be not that many people there.
and then, and then. So they. So whenever we
do see this big group,
marching down the street, it's just like, you
know, oh, you know, we are. We're
introduced to great, you know, greater
challenges. So, again, the show, you know, know, the quarter steps
(33:27):
are still out there, but it's not the focus.
it's a threat that's still out there, but
it's really all the people. And,
you know, and like you said, you know, the groups, for example, we
encountered the first season, now we're. Now that we're in the second season,
now we're getting this next threat
to. To our. To our protagonist here.
>> Sarah (33:49):
Yeah. Yeah.
and. And in this episode, I'm so glad we didn't see a
single infected.
>> Will (33:59):
Nope.
>> Sarah (34:00):
And. And I think that was perfect. I think coming off
of last week, we needed
to, like, as you just said, like, focus
in on the people who got left
behind are still there and
the new foes, that. That are on
our horizon. and it really allowed. the
(34:20):
actress who played Dina, I do want to give a shout out. She's
doing an awesome job. I. I love her more
now than I did in the game.
I feel like the relationship between her and Ellie
is really kicking off on all cylinders the
way it's supposed to, and it's really working.
and same thing with the actor who plays
(34:41):
Jesse. he has a good scene with Ellie in this
episode as well.
>> Will (34:46):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (34:46):
so, like, I. I, like,
I don't. I didn't get too much of, like, this felt like
a second pilot. So much as
this felt like, okay,
everybody take a deep breath.
Let's just, like. I mean, let's
just. It's an interesting
(35:06):
thing in a way. There was so
much noise last week.
They needed to quiet it all down and
be like, we. We're only in episode three,
y'all. We got more story to
come. and more. More people
to introduce and things to happen.
(35:27):
So. Yeah, I. Now you mentioned you
kind of teased it, and I don't think we got there, but, Will,
what was the. What was the scene that made you cry?
>> Will (35:37):
Yeah, this one. This one. it was just. And I'll.
You know, as we were talking about Ellie being, you know, Ellie
being a liar, I think this was the scene of
her having to, you know, go through.
Go to the back of the house and go through Joel's
stuff, and this
scene was just.
(35:59):
It worked. I mean, it just. I mean, I. I, You
know, it was just so honest
in Bella's portrayal. I don't know if she's had
to have to deal with this in her personal life or not.
But as someone who has been in that
situation, my father passed away and
you know, that first time he, after
everything is done,
(36:21):
funerals happen, whatever, and
the first time you go back and you, and
I'm sure some of our listeners probably, you know,
who've had to sadly have to go through this experience,
probably gets where I'm coming from.
it's just, it's just gut, it's
just gut wrenching and, and, and
(36:41):
really just did connect. I did connect with this scene
and understand what Ellie was feeling as she was like,
especially when she started, you know, touching the jacket and going through the
things and. Yeah, it was just a super, we know
Ellie always has know she puts up that exterior.
She does the things like, for example, Gail
calls her out. Well, not, not directly,
(37:01):
but her reaction lets us know that Gil
is on to her as far as her lying to her about how
she's feel, feeling and whatnot. But
this moment here was just so honest.
And yeah, I mean, I, yeah, I was, I was a
little, yeah, this, you know, I didn't tear up last week with
the, with the Joel dying, but this was the one that was
like, damn, this, this, this,
(37:24):
this. Yeah, you know, I, I, I, I
appreciated the honesty of that scene, when they were doing
that.
>> Sarah (37:31):
Yeah, yeah, that, that makes sense. And, and you're exactly
right. You, we got so much of her lying
that to then go into that
moment and see pure honesty
play out. and she didn't say anything
like, and, and that was why it was honest, because
Ellie lies through her.
>> Will (37:53):
Lighten things up a bit. Yeah. Let's go to the, to the,
the council meeting.
>> Sarah (37:58):
Oh. Oh, I thought we were gonna move on. I thought we kind of
talked about the council meeting.
>> Will (38:02):
Oh, no, no. Ellie's speech in the council meeting.
>> Sarah (38:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Will (38:08):
To our point about, to the point about, you know, because m. Yeah,
because we had the, I guess with the council meeting just, you know,
just to really quickly touch on Seth because,
you know, he, he said the things that Ellie wanted to
say, but, you know, But
Jesse, to your point, you know, he gave Ellie wise
counsel on what not to, what not to do.
(38:28):
But, but yeah, I just, yeah, that was, that
whenever, whenever I think they even, they shot the
girl again. Another moment where she was just like, man,
what is this, this kid's talking about? you
know, so again, it's just, I guess how,
how, how great the character Gail is. And
then I guess the other, other moment that was
really, really touching in the episode and
(38:51):
was whenever they do leave, leave Jackson
on the way to Seattle and do stop at the you
know, stop at the graveyard again to honor, you know,
to, to say goodbye to Joel and, and,
and the coffee beans. and I thought back to like
Joel and Elliot's conversation about coffee.
hell, you know, she, she. I can't what you call it
(39:11):
like big or something like that.
But but you know, just. Again, just that love that they
had for one another that she had for him and you know, just
that moment of. Because I think, I think that was a difference that they
made from the game to the to the TV show. Because I think in the game
she just grabbed the dirt and you know, put it
back down. But here they had her, you
know, leave the coffee beans, which, you know, obviously
(39:34):
coffee is such a great commodity and you know, so Joel was
always very ecstatic when, whenever
he was able to get it.
>> Sarah (39:42):
Yeah. Yeah.
okay, well that leads us
to. Now that it's almost 7 o'clock at night for
me.
>> Will (39:52):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (39:54):
we get to talk about three hours of
Andor.
>> Will (39:58):
Yes we do. Yes we do.
>> Sarah (40:04):
How do you, how are you?
>> Will (40:06):
Yeah, let's just take it episode by episode.
I think we can. Like, but with like the
three, I guess with the major story lines
with with each, each unit. Because
I think that's probably the easiest
way of hitting
Endor.
>> Sarah (40:24):
Okay. Okay.
>> Will (40:27):
So. Yeah.
>> Sarah (40:28):
So episode one, one year later, an undercover mission is
sanctuary threatening a chandelierian
wedding. A chilling Empire Imperial Plan.
yeah. What did you think about this episode, Will?
>> Will (40:40):
It was. I, you know, I
really, really enjoyed getting back into this
world. I mean this is, this is, this is like
what I've been missing from Star wars is just good,
great, just great storytelling.
and really hitting
on, you know, really hitting on the things
that George Lucas did very
(41:03):
well with, with Star wars in and of itself with allegory,
storytelling, with, you know, with, with
the Empire, with the Rebellion. So.
yeah, just, yeah, I, I, But it was a,
I thought it was as a very, these first three episodes was a
very solid start, I think. Actually, I think it started
this, these first three episodes to me started
(41:23):
better than, than the first three episodes of season one
did because we definitely, you know, from the action
folks, we were able to jump right in out from, from
the get. with Cassian, stealing the
TIE fighter prototype. and then,
and Then, you know, and then also just
with this one year later, it really
(41:44):
did reorient us with. With
all the key characters. So we had Cassian and his
story, of course, Mamatha and her story. What's going on with the
Empire and then the Ferrarix screen.
>> Sarah (41:57):
Yeah.
yeah, I, I thought the three episodes were. Were
good. It's a good dart. I. I don't know
if I think they are better or worse than
the, the first three, episodes of the first season.
I remember everyone being really high on
Andor, specifically about the third
(42:17):
episode of the first season. so
I'm. I'm glad all three episodes were released at
once. because dear Lord.
Yeah, and. And. And
I, I think this episode was good. Like, okay, I'm.
I'm struggling here with how. How I'm gonna explain my
thoughts in this way. I'm gonna. I'm probably gonna
jump around people. Like, even though Will wants to do
(42:40):
storyline or episode by episode, I'm gonna jump
around. I think
I, think so my least favorite
storyline of these three episodes is
Cassian's. Like,
he had the least to do. It was so
annoying to me. Like I could give a. About
(43:02):
the people on Fairfax. I was just
like. And, and they got the most time because
Andor's there. But I was like, I, I was completely
checked out in episode two on that storyline.
I would. I didn't fast forward though. I know what y'all
thinking. I did not fast forward any of it. Watch the whole
thing. Did I look at my phone?
Yes. I also felt like,
(43:24):
like some of the action sequences went on way too
long, but I, I'll always complain about that.
and there wasn't enough Bix. I thought Bix had
arguably the most interesting thing
going on in this episode in these three
episodes. Com. Comparable to Bon
Matha for sure, especially in the third episode.
But. But Bix with her PTSD
(43:47):
and. And I, I didn't watch
any like, previous Leon or any
recap of, season one, even though Will told me I
should. so I went in kind of like
still. Okay, so here we go
again. And I was surprised, and this is a
strength to the writing, how quickly I
(44:08):
was able to put pieces together of what was going
on, who was who, and. And also
recall events from. Not only
from season one just in general, but I do
remember what happened to Bix and
why she was. Is behaving the way she
is. And I was thinking about this.
(44:28):
Like in
season one, they basically mind
rape her, right? And
then. So she's dealing with that and you can
see it very subtly.
and in these quiet moments. And then
in the third episode, she's confronted with
potentially getting raped
(44:50):
physically by the Lieutenant.
Disney would never let that happen.
so. So I. And.
And also she's a freaking badass because, man,
man, she needed no help. She. Total
self defense. It was. It was very awesome,
awesome scene. even
(45:13):
though the context, like, gross. But yeah, it was
very good.
>> Will (45:18):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (45:19):
So. So I, I really. I
essentially. And it wasn't just Bix. I. I found
everything to do with the Harvest, like,
there. There was fear. We understood why there
was fear there. the. The.
The threat of the visas. The.
Also, also that these are characters who
(45:39):
we know are close to Cassian
and he's not there as their protector.
And so like, the
precariousness of their situation throughout
these three episodes really had me intrigued.
so that was my favorite storyline,
followed very closely,
arguably just because of the way it
(46:00):
ended. But Mon Motha's stuff, everything
to do with wedding.
>> Will (46:06):
Yeah, yeah, that was. Yeah, I would agree with
you. yeah, going back to Bix and.
And the. That story,
her, you know, her arc, I was just like, poor.
they just. Poor woman's been through the ringer. Because
you're right. I mean, she was tortured and stuff
by the Empire in the first season. Then,
(46:26):
you know, with the second episode, the.
The. They laid the. The foundation for
what that Lieutenant was. You know, whenever he was like, where's your
husband? And all that kind of stuff. You know, knowing.
Knowing that this is a. This
regime is just all about, you know,
abuse of power and control.
(46:46):
you saw where that was going. And so
no, they, you know, when
they did have the scene in the third episode, they attempted
sexual. Sexual assault. it
was, you know, it wasn't gratuitous, I didn't
think. I know there was some. Just, you know, there's been a lot of discourse
about that scene. but, you know, in the context
(47:06):
of the story, it. It made sense, for
why it was there. And, and like you said, I
love the fact that she was able to defend
herself and was able to get. Get, you know, get out of
that situation. but yeah, and also,
as I mentioned, as far as my overall fallacy with the story, the story
on the. On the. The Harvest planet,
(47:27):
I, think. I think it's Maya Rao, I believe
is what it was called. But, you know,
it was just so many, like,
historical parallels as far as, you
know, show us your papers and the whole thing now with, you know, the
present day with, the visas and.
And you know, migrants and. And so it's very.
It was very topical, both from a historical perspective, but
(47:49):
also, both so present day. So
that. Yeah, I mean everything about that
storyline, and with. With. With the
Ferrix crew with, you know, and also, you know, it
took me a minute to remember who. You know, Willman, the.
The teenager young man.
I guess his dad was the one. You know, his father was also
tortured and killed by the Empire. So it makes sense why he was,
(48:12):
you know, while he was. While he's with the crew. And of course
Brasso, who was also.
I thought, you know, I really enjoyed Brasso, you know, seeing
him again. Great. you know, I've always liked this character. You
know, of course he was. Whenever they did have, casting,
his mother's funeral, you know, he was, you know, he. I
remember him hit, you know, hitting the Imperials with
(48:33):
a brick and all that kind of stuff. But also,
you know, with this storyline here, you know, he
was like turned over by the you know, who they thought
was a friend, but you know, turns out he was a low level
collaborator, with the Empire. so, you know,
all those things about that, that storyline, with the
Harvest Planet, you know, really. Really. I agree with you.
(48:54):
I think it was my. Probably. I agree that was number
one storyline for me as well.
And then the wedding with Mon Motha. Yeah. And.
And just against have her having to get her hands
started. Getting her hands dirty with, you know, her
conversations with Lutheran and the whole thing going on with Ty
and with you know, with his. His.
(49:15):
His marital problems and financial problems and how he tried
to like, you know, how he went from being like this
big, big talker Tay, you know,
like, oh, you know, I'm Mr. M. Rebellion. You
know, I don't know if this, this conversations may be too much for you
in the first season to now. He's like the guy
who's just like down on his luck and he's trying to
(49:36):
bribe Mon Motha. So. Yeah, those, Those. Those
elements too were like very, very strong.
>> Sarah (49:42):
Yeah. I. So
with the Mon Mothma stuff,
and started to realize I had similar
sentiments last season as well.
Her husband is fascinating.
he gives a speech at
the end of the second
episode. and it says, my m. Hope is
(50:05):
that you move past this cloud of sadness.
Pleasure, gaiety, amusement. These are the
hidden things. Joy will not announce its arrival.
You need to listen for it and be mindful of how
fleeting it can be.
And it's such a good.
I can appreciate the words because at first
(50:26):
it kind of took me off guard because I'm like, oh, that's actually
a good fatherly toast for a wedding
where he's giving away his daughter. And. And
like. Like, you could see, even though, you know, to
some extent he's a dirt bag.
Like, they. They. Like, it's not a loving
relationship between these two. They,
(50:46):
whatsoever. I mean, at one point it might have been, but
things have changed. He accuses Ty
of being, her boy toy
and her boyfriend's upset and. And all this.
And. And. And there
throughout this entire thing. Like, I think I
paid more attention to. Attention to, period than I
(51:06):
did Tay. Just because. Or Ty. Is
it Tay or Ty? T.
Okay, he. Because.
Because he didn't say as much, but the camera kept
cutting to him and a lot of observations.
See, so. And. And I felt. I feel
like they're. They're building up to something,
with him, for.
(51:28):
Sure. Because, I mean, there's a.
There's a war going on. albeit a secret war, but
there's a war. And he has his suspicions of his
wife, and she has hers and everything.
But specifically why this speech, I think is
so good is because that ends,
pretty much ends the
(51:49):
first, Like this storyline in that second
episode. And then the ending of
the third episode
is like Mon Mothma
realizes that. That
her best friend, her dear old friend, friend
Tay is gonna get
killed.
>> Will (52:09):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (52:10):
And. And she's at fault for this. Just
like she's the reason. And, And
her rebellion and leading this rebellion is the
reason why she just had to marry off
her daughter, even though the match.
No chemistry. So,
like. Like she. So there's so much
(52:30):
mom guilt. So for them to
juxtapose that reality
with her honestly living
out exactly what Perion says in his speech
in the previous episode. like she finds the joy. The
music is playing and everything. I
thought that was so good. So good that I
got pissed off at the editing
(52:54):
because I had whiplash,
I think, last week when we were talking about the Last of
Us and we had these two critical things
going on, one in Jackson and one with Joel and
Ellie at the ski lodge. The
editing allowed scenes to breathe.
Allowed specifically storylines.
(53:14):
I don't know what happened to the editors
with episode three, but that
towards the end, I was like, you need to stop. We get
it. I can't. Like. Like,
it was. It, It turned me off.
Like. Like, I was just like okay, this is driving me
crazy. It just felt too much
(53:34):
like they overplayed it. Initially it was
fine and then I was like, okay, so we're still doing this.
Ten minutes later, we're, we're still doing this.
>> Will (53:43):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I, I, I, I
can see that. I mean I, I think because I,
I on first watch it, it did
not, it, I, I did not notice it. But I watched
episode again this half this evening before,
before we recorded and, and I, and I, I see what you're
talking about. It is varied on, on the second watch.
(54:03):
It is very, very distracting. in some
respects because it, it
does, it is over edited. I
would agree.
>> Sarah (54:12):
Yeah, yeah. I, I think
that where they, where
they went wrong was
because they were really
juxtaposing Mon
Mothma and this, this dance, but
also her diet like, like
grief, internally
(54:33):
with, with, with a fight.
And, and so so to me, like
for lack of better articulation,
like there's both scenes had so much
noise that really to get away
with that much back and forth you needed one of them to be
quiet and one of them to be loud. So you had a
(54:55):
good juxtaposition. Instead it just felt like
okay, yeah,
you, you, you're dealing with three story lines this
whole time. You could have ended this one like 15
minutes ago and then we could have had the full like
sequence play out. Like I, I
think, I think maybe that
(55:17):
especially towards the end, but I've beaten that point to
the to death at this point. So
I'm gonna try to move past, past it. But
I, I do think they started off
stronger with balancing the three
storylines and, and yeah, technically there's
four because we get some in
Imperial, which all the Empire
(55:39):
stuff did for me. And I, and I was just like
damn it, Ben Mendelsohn, you're a fantastic
actor. I love you.
You're so good. Like the
whole, the whole Gorgum project
introduction. I love that scene so
much. I, I there, there's something
(55:59):
like and, and Will, I want to hear your thoughts on
this. But there was something about that scene that
just felt so like funny
but also like okay, okay, these guys
are, are bad people. it's the fact that
he plays essentially a propaganda
built movie, ah, movie for
(56:20):
other Empire Imperial
leaders.
>> Will (56:24):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (56:24):
To get them on board
with this thing.
>> Will (56:30):
Yeah, that, that scene. Yeah. It
was just again, you know, as I said, my
overall thoughts, it, this is when
this is when I really enjoyed this show because it
just it just nails it with the prop,
you know, with, with like you said. And it's funny because I,
I was listening there, I think to interview with
Mendelson. I think Tony Gil had to pull him back because at first
(56:53):
he was playing Chronic, is too m.
Mustache. Trly.
And so he had to tell him to dial it back a bit. And by dialing it
back, yeah, it, you know, it, it makes that scene
works. Work so, so well. Because. Yeah, I
mean, you know, he is, you know, he's, he's the
propaganda machine, you know, and, and, and
also when thinking about like
(57:13):
other elements even like in the story, like, you know, going back to
Mona, you know, how Gorham is
such a, A pivotal place in the,
in the galaxy because, you know, you had the. What you had the
wedding party member who talked about. Yeah, my, you know, my.
>> Sarah (57:28):
Yeah.
>> Will (57:28):
One parents from Naboo, but my other parents from Gorham. you know,
of course, first season you had the, the trade lines
and stuff and, and, and the propaganda and,
and of course, you know, the, you know,
using,
using this project to like, say it's going to help us with our
energy dependence and you know, and
(57:48):
you know, even though we all know that this, this, this cow
kike is just going to be used to, you know, for the Death Star.
>> Sarah (57:54):
Yeah.
>> Will (57:55):
But everything about it and just, and delay,
you know, because I understand from the interviews with Tony Gilroy
that the Gore massacre, it's a big thing in Star wars because it's like if
you've watched Rebels, you, you know, that
that incident is what is the final straw
to get my month up to leave the Senate.
And. Yeah,
(58:16):
but, yeah, but I mean, Tony Gilroy's been very clear that, you know, they know
the massacre is, coming and
we all. Yeah. but, they're apparently they're going to play this
out over, you know, over the course of, I think three
or four. Three or four
episodes. and so I, I like the way that
they used this first batch to sort of lay the
foundation that it's not just going to just pop up on us.
(58:39):
They're going to, I mean they're going to show how
what was so genius about it was the use of propaganda.
And again.
Yeah.
>> Sarah (58:48):
The, the use of it. Like,
like what I thought was genius about it
is not necessarily the use of it because I'm used
to that. Like the Imperial doing very
dictatorial.
>> Will (59:02):
Yep.
>> Sarah (59:03):
Dictatorship. Yes.
But, but the fact that the scene
consists of him trying to convince the
others who are
on a part of that.
And like even Deirdre, Deirdre says like,
oh, I, I know he critic offered this
to me. I don't want that.
>> Will (59:24):
Right, right.
>> Sarah (59:25):
Like, like, I, I, I think in a
way by allowing
KCK to, to behave in
that manner with all that freaking
ego and showing that video
and like bringing up what the guys
from the
Enlightenment, which is basically their
(59:48):
PR people.
>> Will (59:49):
Yeah. The Ministry of Truth. Immediately I was like, man,
they're like pulling out 1984 in this thing.
>> Sarah (59:54):
I, I could have sworn they, I, I don't think they said the
Ministry of Truth. I could have sworn it was
a Ministry.
>> Will (01:00:01):
No, it was in 1984. It's the Ministry of Truth. I was just saying.
But in the show they call them the Ministry of Enlightenment, I
think.
>> Sarah (01:00:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like,
but, but then, but then you, you see the
hesitancy. You see there's multiple
conversations and then you continue that with
Deirdre obviously being nominated to take
the lead and then kind of being
forced to in the end, even though she didn't want it.
And then speaking about Deirdre, I called it last
(01:00:30):
season. Like, I remember this. I
remember when these, when Cyril and
Deirdre met. Eyes. Heart
eyes.
>> Will (01:00:38):
Yep.
>> Sarah (01:00:39):
Weird. Heart eyes.
>> Will (01:00:40):
Weird.
>> Sarah (01:00:41):
You know what? So, so
here's what I couldn't figure out.
>> Will (01:00:46):
Yeah.
>> Sarah (01:00:46):
While watching Cyril and
Deirdre, especially with the mom.
They're not married yet.
>> Will (01:00:54):
No.
>> Sarah (01:00:55):
Okay. But they are knocking
boots for sure.
>> Will (01:00:59):
They're definitely.
>> Sarah (01:01:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and I, and I like
Deirdre and how she handled Cyril's mom. Like,
like, and I'm glad
we didn't get too much. Like, it's weird.
I did feel like the first episode
up until we finally see, See
Deirdre. I, I was like the whole
(01:01:21):
episode being like, where's Cyril?
Where is that? Where's that? Where is
he? Like, I
see Deirdre, where's the other one? And, and
then we finally see him. But we, we don't get a lot of
them.
Like, I think why,
(01:01:42):
ah, a, strength of these three episodes
is the,
the heroes are dealing with some high
stakes situations, of course,
but it's all
the, the, the
character foes,
(01:02:03):
like your Krennic or your
Tarkin or whatever. you guys all know
I'm bad with names of characters. No, no,
yeah, yeah. Like, like they're not,
they're not directly facing off with these guys.
Instead we gotta, we got a lieutenant here.
We have, we have these
(01:02:23):
imbeciles who, who Cassian has
to Help. But also has this tape
from. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
like, like we have these. And then with Mon
Mothma it's, it's more of a political,
rightfully so prowess of
like friendships and, and being a
(01:02:44):
mom and the sacrifices that she's
making to move forward with this
rebellion. So it's
it was very, that was very unexpected, but I'm
glad because I felt like it was just a perfect
amount of Krennic,
Deirdre, Cyril, to get, get
us through this and to really launch us into
(01:03:05):
this second chapter of the show.
>> Will (01:03:08):
Yeah, yeah, I, I completely agree. I think they did
do a balance of overall a really good thing. And even
though I agree with you that the the story
with Cassian and the Proto and the other rebel
cell, you know, even though I felt
I was like you, it. There were parts of it
where I did feel kind of checked out. It was still,
(01:03:29):
it was very important to establish. And
again, you know, again we're four, you know, we're four years
prior to the Battle of Yavin.
And so you know, at this point the alliance is still
the, that element of
distrust is, is out out was. It's
everywhere. I mean you see it with, with Luthen
(01:03:50):
and his interactions with with Mon
Motha, you see that with these other
rebel cells that are out there, you know, thinking about
Star Wars Rebels, which is, you know, the animated show, you
know, we see, you know, we
also saw it there and, and so, so
I, I, I, I, I. Even though
there were parts of it where I was just like.
(01:04:13):
It did. It does help to establish.
It just gives us a sort of a, a foundation for
like, you know, the rebellion wasn't all like cooking, you know,
from, from the get, you know, we gotta, we gotta grow to
that point. So just like we saw Cassian grow
in the first season and, and how this
episode starts with him, you know, at the
(01:04:33):
base and you know, and just talking with the
young lady who is the defector and yeah,
you know, she's sort of, you know, she, you know, she's still
questioning is she, you know, is she doing the right thing and stuff.
So, so there were elements in that, in,
in Cassian's story that were, that I
felt were, were good and, and
necessary. But they, there were
(01:04:55):
elements of it where you know, I did feel like they
went a little, went a little too long. But we know we do
get that great shot at the end though of you know,
establishing that this was, that this
was, you know, the Gavin 4
and so again,
hope is on the horizon. Even if these, even at these
like, you know, even that rebel cell that was there, by the end of the
(01:05:18):
episode, they were starting to like, come
together. So. So, yeah, it was probably the
weak. I won't say the maybe weakest is not
this the right word. But it was not the most
engaging story of the. Of other three that
we had in the. In this opening set. But I think
it did, it did serve the purpose that it needed. It just
maybe went a little too long in some places.
>> Sarah (01:05:41):
Yeah, I think they could have done better. Yeah, they could
have done everything you just talked
about, but it could have been more engaging.
And yeah,
I think I've shared all of my thoughts about
andor in these first three
episodes. so, unless you had
anything else to say.
>> Will (01:06:04):
No, I, I think we covered all the major,
major, major beats, of, of the, of the
first three episodes. So.
>> Sarah (01:06:12):
Yep. All right, well that. On that note,
Will, why don't you tell our listeners where they can find you?
>> Will (01:06:18):
Yes, you can find me on all the socials at,
willmpolk W I L L M M P O
L.
>> Sarah (01:06:23):
K And you can find me there too at SJ Belmont
sjblm O N T. Please follow our
crew on X formerly known as ah,
Twitter at cenanerd on Blue sky,
friend us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and threads at
scene, underscore n underscore nerd and Visit our website,
www.scenanerdpodcast.com. but most
(01:06:43):
importantly, rate, follow and comment on Apple Podcasts,
Spotify, YouTube or wherever your podcast. Good night. Geek out.
You're welcome.
>> Will (01:06:50):
It.
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