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A podcast that holds horror to standards horror never agreed to. Hosts Jeremy Whitley, Ben Kahn, Emily Martin and guests watch, read, listen to, and check out movies, tv shows, comics, books, art and anything else from the horror genre and discuss it through a progressive lens. We'll talk feminism in horror, LGBTQ+ issues and representation in horror, racial and social justice in horror, disability and mental health/illness in horror, and the work of female and POC directors, writers, and creators in horror.
We're the podcast horror never agreed to take part in.
Ben: I like this dark vo
you're sitting in Jeremy.
Emily: yeah.
It's very spooky.
Jeremy: I'm working on
being spookier generally in
Ben: Ooh.
Jeremy: You know,
Ben: I applaud that for you.
I like that.
Emily: Yeah,
Jeremy: it's my, uh, midyear resolution be
Emily: too late.
Ben: I want people to see me and go like,
oh boy, look out now that person is tired.
just leave that person alone.
they look like they are having a day.
Emily: Yeah, it's hard when you
wanna be spooky, but then you
have like automatic dimples, like
Alicia: I believe in the
episode in Scream five.
You said something about
being a failed goth.
Like I wanna be spooky, but I
keep picking up my finger, like I
keep picking off my nail polish.
Emily: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like I, I can't wear black nail
Alicia: In this case, it's like I wanna
be spooky, but my face is just too cute.
Jeremy: All right.
You guys wanna jump into this?
Emily: Yeah.
Jeremy: Good evening and welcome to
Progressively Horrified, the podcast
where we hold horror to progressive
standards that never agreed to.
Tonight we are talking about the New
Zealand based comedy slash horror
TV show that builds off the original
what we do in the shadows film.
It's Wellington Paranormal.
I am your host Jeremy Whitley, and
with me tonight I have a panel of
cinephiles and Cena cina bytes.
First, they're here to challenge the
sexy werewolf, sexy, vampire binary.
My co-host Ben Kahn.
Ben, how are you tonight?
Ben: What a relaxing bunch
of television episodes.
Like just wholesome.
Like if Cottage Core was a comedy
show, it'd be this show, like Watching
this show feels like starting your
day with like a toasted up chocolate
croissant and a nice cup of tea.
Jeremy: Absolutely.
And the Simon role of CINA
by our co-host Emily Martin.
How are you tonight, Emily?
Emily: I'm afraid that you may
be overselling the wholesomeness
of this show a little bit.
What, with all of the like, weird
crypted sex that goes on in it, but
Ben: I said what?
I said,
Emily: I, you know,
Jeremy: accepting of the weird crypted sex
Emily: yeah.
You
Ben: It's the, it's the vibes.
Like it was a very wholesome
vibe about the sex.
Like, oh, look at that guy.
Give him their privacy.
Emily: I did have my honeymoon
in a cottage, so, That's
all I'll say about that.
Jeremy: Our guest tonight,
our Wicked Queen of Scream tv.
Alicia Whitley.
Alicia, thanks for joining us.
We've already been taken out.
Emily: Sorry.
Alicia: Do we mean to imply that
your honeymoon was full of encrypted
sex cottage, core encrypted texts?
Jeremy: I believe that's
exactly what she was implying.
Emily: I
Ben: not even sure that was subtext.
Alicia: I just, I've,
Ben: just flat out text.
Alicia: I've met you and
I've met, I wouldn't describe
either of you as, but Okay.
Emily: this is what I'm saying.
I'm too cute to be spooky.
Alicia: You're, you're too
Emily: you.
But I'm also like,
Jeremy: She's, she's desperately
Alicia: I wanna be, I wanna be spooky.
Emily: I'm
Ben: Like, if y'all don't
think I can't sell my threesome
with Moth Man to a publisher,
Emily: Listen but Maman
is actually very soft.
Ben: can we please have a mini episode
that's just like Emily ranks crypted
by, is it softness or by fuckability?
Alicia: Why are those, why are those excl?
Like why would
Emily: yeah,
Ben: I just don't, I just don't
know which is the main metric
that Emily would be judging on.
Emily: I mean, it depends
like, but that's, I
Alicia: charisma, I think charisma
has to be a part of it because I,
I feel like with Cryptids, it's not
necessarily about the initial outward
attraction, but also like the swag that
Ben: Because let's be honest,
moth Man is the Billy D.
Williams of Cryptids
Jeremy: Yeah.
I mean it's, it's really about how
attracted to them you are after
you are locked in their castle with
them and you saved your father.
Okay, so we're gonna talk
about five episodes here.
It, seems almost like a sort of
random poll, but they're ones that
Alicia and I chose intentionally
having seen all of the show.
There are none of these episodes that
we really don't recommend, but I, I
thought these were like particularly
good for for what we're talking about.
Ben: White people.
Burial ground.
Fucking sent me.
Emily: That was such a good.
Alicia: Do you wanna start
by talking about that
Jeremy: Now let's, let's,
Ben: We got what going on?
It just when I realized that was what the,
that episode was going, I fucking tied.
Jeremy: yeah.
I had to include that one.
So, to get a start, it is, this show is
created by Jermaine Clement and tko Titi.
It seems like overall Jermaine
has a lot, Jermaine has a
lot more to do with the show.
He has directed and written several
of the episodes, including several
of the ones we're talking about.
The show stars.
Karen O'Leary and Mike Nog is our sort
of main cops who are named O'Leary
and Mano just like their characters.
The sort of cast, the main cast
is rounded out by Maka Atu, who is
their police chief, who is also just
Chief Ma or just Sergeant Maka and
Thomas Sainsbury, who plays Parker.
We also get some guest appearances
in one of these episodes from Reece
Darby, and we'll see Linda Toff
playing O'Leary's mom a few times.
And I, I felt like she was worth
noting because she is a, a big
part of a couple of the episodes.
Just to give a general idea of what
the show is like Wellington Paranormal
takes place broadly in the same world
as of Supernatural New Zealand as
what we do in the shadows of the movie
and follows the two local Wellington
police officers, O'Leary and Mano,
who we meet briefly in the film.
As well as their Sergeant Maka
who recruits them to be part of a
super secret unfunded indefinitely.
X-files influenced paranormal unit
to examine all the strange goings
on, in and around Wellington.
They encounter vampires, ghosts,
all sorts of strange phenomenon, and
even a few mythological creatures
that are native to New Zealand
and then part of native co-chair.
They're also frequently joined or followed
by Officer Parker, who is a curious,
yet cowardly coworker who desperately
wants to be part of the team, despite not
being at all cut out to be part of it.
The first one we're gonna talk about
is a little confusing because it has
different names in different places.
And I guess the original New
Zealand one is called ua, which
is the the name of the creature.
The version on Max is called the the Not
Nest monster, which is a terrible name.
Emily: Yep,
Jeremy: This one starts with we get
Mako O'Leary and Mano and Parker set out
to investigate several disappearances
of a fishermen on the coast.
Sergeant Maka believes the
disappearances are due to an
ancient native myth uh, about these
large sea creatures, um, and Nefa.
And,
Emily: Tanha.
Yeah.
Ben: Which my favorite running gag across
all the episodes is Sergeant Maka just
pulling an utter guess out of his ass.
And it's either completely wrong or the
best we get with a half-hearted shrug.
Jeremy: yeah.
So, they meet a very unhelpful man
who starts to tell 'em what he's
seen and then refuses to elaborate
or acknowledge that he's actually
made those statements to investigate.
They get a sonar detection system and
head out on a boat with Captain Quinn.
Who is quite a character?
A Harbo, a Harbor patrol officer with
an eye patch and a hook hand Leaving
Parker alone to monitor the beach.
They learn that not all the stories about
how people lost eyes and hands are cool.
His are both, he, he has a, he has an
eye patch because he has a pink eye
and he lost his hand due to a sinker
raid, which he thinks is a great story.
Ben: No.
Okay.
What What is a, what is a rator?
I, I
Emily: a garbage disposal.
Ben: okay.
I thought that was
Emily: of
Ben: sort of
Emily: Just,
Ben: combination sink and incinerator.
Alicia: yeah, it's, it's when your sink.
Emily: yes.
Alicia: Destroys.
Jeremy: things.
Um,
Ben: yeah, I guess I was just more
imagining a sink that shot fire out of
it also, that just had a fire setting.
Jeremy: who doesn't wanna fire sink?
Emily: I believe the full title
of the device is in syn Rator.
So you're, you are correct.
Semi correct in your assumption,
sometimes fire can come out of it, but
it's probably not designed for that.
Jeremy: Yeah.
So they, uh, they encounter the creature
out on the bay, mostly through the sonar.
It passes by the boat, we see it, but they
don't on its way to the beach promptly.
Eats Parker's tent is
cameraman and seemingly Parker.
Uh, all they find is an arm floating
in the harbor, which we will later
learn out learn belongs to the
unhelpful man they meet earlier.
Further investigation turns up the
cave of the Tanja where all, sorry.
The cave of the tanha, where they, uh,
where all the victims are still alive and
stuck to the walls with seaweed, except
for Parker, who is nowhere to be seen.
The group honors park, his memory
at the beach where he then shows
up in the middle of their memorial.
As it turns out, he didn't get
eaten, but he just got cold
and uncomfortable on the beach.
So he went to hang out at
his mom's house nearby.
The group sees the tenah out in the
water and thinks they're about to
have a Godzilla verse Kong sort of
throw down as the second one shows up.
But what they actually
witness is a massive monster
mating session in the harbor.
And that's the first episode.
What, what do you, how do
you guys feel about that one?
Ben: or as I like to call it an a o
three Godzilla verse Kong showdown.
Emily: Oh yeah.
Well that's what we wanted
out of God delivers Kong
Ben: There's still time
for this in the sequel
Jeremy: more Godzilla plus Kong.
Emily: Yeah.
Godzilla, Excon.
Um,
Ben: v Kong, Don of Monsters.
Jeremy: Don of Kong's
Emily: does, what was that?
Jeremy: I said Dawn of Kong's Dong.
Ben: How much Don could dunk
Kong if Dunk Kong could Kong.
Emily: I, uh hmm.
Alicia: Our
Ben: got away from me at the end.
Emily: so
Alicia: Our dog had a Kong, but
it, he didn't really, he didn't
really ever get the treats out
of it, he just looked at it.
Ben: this episode, man.
This whole show, if
you like deadpan humor.
Oh wow.
Have you hit the jackpot
with Wellington Paranormal?
Emily: The delivery on all
of these is so fantastic.
It's just, it has the same feel of a
lot of the ad-libbing in what we do
in the shadows of these characters
just kind of being in character.
And in this case it's,
it is shot like cops.
Kind of a, a Reno 9 1 1 esque, uh,
Ben: feel like it.
You're right.
I feel like it's closer to Reno 9
1 1 than what we do in the shadows.
The show.
Jeremy: Read 9 1 1 with the
Ben: And, and not just, and not
just because of the cop element,
but just because it is more of
that like them reacting to these
situations they find themselves in.
But also because this, the genre, there
were the sub-genre of cops parody.
Jeremy: And they also throw in a
lot of, of stuff with like copies
in this show where, you know, uh,
O'Leary in particular frequently
says that things aren't optimal.
Um,
Alicia: Optimal
Jeremy: In various, various versions
of, of that things that you would
never say in real life unless
you were a cop in a cop show.
Alicia: assisting.
Like if somebody says, help me.
Assisting.
Assisting,
I've got a visual
Emily: Yes.
Traveling.
I love traveling.
Alicia: Yeah.
Ben: I love anytime they're doing
the radios like over like, no,
you, you don't have to do it.
Well, we can still see each other.
Alicia: While we still
have visual contact.
Ben: Contact.
Yeah,
Alicia: I think my favorite
character and is Parker.
I mean, I don't know.
It's hard to pick a favorite character
because they're also lovable and
Ben: definitely Sergeant Maka for me.
Alicia: I, I do love maa.
I think he's just great.
But Parker's link, when they said they
were honoring his memory and he was like,
I've got a few memories I could share.
Jeremy: he is not like, I'm still alive.
Alicia: Yeah.
Instead of going, oh, no
wait, I'm still alive.
He's just like so politely.
Like, I've probably got a few.
He's a real regular sized Rudy
Ben: are the most like
adorable, ineffectual teddy
bear cops like I've ever seen.
The Reno 9 1 1 Cops.
I'm like, you're always convinced
that like, yeah, we're having fun,
but like if you zoom back, any one of
these people can commit like an act of
police brutality in any given episode.
Emily: It does help that the New
Zealand cops don't have firearms.
Ben: are cream puffs of
Suburban New Zealand cops.
Emily: Yeah.
They, they have a
Alicia: I agree.
Emily: between them, like one taser
between them, and they each have the,
like, collapsible trenches that only come
up when they talk to, like the ghost cop.
Alicia: I also really appreciate
that as just dumb as Mano is.
And O'Leary is like, a level ahead of him.
That doesn't mean that O'Leary
is necessarily more effective.
Emily: Yeah.
Yeah.
Alicia: O'Leary has like more
sense, but still is not necessarily.
Emily: Does the best that
she can with what she has.
And I think it's hilarious that she's, she
is like essentially in this comedy duo,
the straight man which is extra funny.
Alicia: So do you know how
Ben: somehow, they're all the
straight men, but it works.
One of my,
Alicia: so do you know how
Karen O'Leary got into the.
Ben: I know what we do in the
shadows was her first acting role.
Alicia: Yes, she was I, I believe a
preschool teacher who's just really funny
Emily: that
Ben: She's, she's great.
Yeah.
Alicia: and I could see her
Ben: she has incredible comedic presence.
Alicia: yes, and I could just see her
like as a pre, I mean, preschool kids
are really funny anyway, so you have to
be a person with a really good sense of
humor to be able to work well with them.
I,
Jeremy: I I think on that note, I
really like that they don't make
O'Leary annoyed or a spoil sport.
Like they don't give the female
character the job of like
straightening everybody else out.
She is sort of the straight man, but, uh,
as far as that goes, as sort of like her
looking at the camera occasionally and or.
Trying to be, trying to figure out
whether she should correct something.
Ben: for lack of a better term,
O'Leary is one of the boys,
Emily: Yeah.
I mean in this case, the
boy, like if you define the
Ben: I mean Mano and Sergeant Maka.
Emily: yeah.
Jeremy: I think O'Leary feels like the
designated driver, just generally to me.
like
Ben: Yeah.
Yeah, that's more what it
Jeremy: just keeping everybody else
on the road, you know, just, oh, oh,
don't wander off into the street.
Ben: a moment I really wanna highlight.
you know, talking about, about similar
representation, uh, I love, Sergeant
Maa being the authority, but also then
how centering MAA lets them play with
whiteness to really funny degrees.
Like in this episode the you know, story
about how the islands came to exist.
And then he ends up with like, and that's
how we get, one of the most, uh, highest
property value suburbs in New Zealand.
Emily: Yeah, it's interesting
Ben: Great bakeries.
Emily: I watched the, the first
season before any of the, recommended
episodes, like the full first season.
Now each of these seasons is
like six to seven episodes,
so it's not like a huge, uh,
Ben: If you watch the letter,
Kenny, you know how this goes.
Emily: Yeah.
And they didn't quite go as hard into
Maha's ethnicity in the first season.
'cause The first season had some
jokes where I was like, really,
really like the Nick, the Vampire
Bat Lives Matter joke, which I was
like ooh, that was a bit painful.
But the, but Maka like every so
often he'll just go into something
like, so specifically cultural.
And, but it is him also playing up like
the drama like in the episode where
he he's like telling his story and
he said like he pulls out his little,
like aita or whatever it is, and he's
Ben: Yes.
Emily: what's upon a time?
There were the two brothers.
I think that's one of the things about
the show that really shines to me is
that they are, they do really focus
on local creatures myths and legends.
Jeremy: I feel like that they
really find their footing on that.
it's a little like when they were, um,
if you've ever watched the first season
of Parks and Rec where they're still like
kind of figuring out what the dynamic is.
But by season two it, it's
locked in and, and working.
Ben: I mean, just Wellington in general.
This feels like I, I, very much a case
of location as character and just the.
This humdrum, like, it kind of reminded
me of hot fuzz where it's like these
are police who go around chasing the
escaped goose and they're bringing
that exact same energy to vampires and
Loch Nest monsters and sentient robots.
Emily: Yes, it very, very much so.
A little bit more of like if every
character was some kind of Nick Frost in
this O'Leary is a little bit more, yeah.
O'Leary almost evokes the Simon
page and I kind of feel like that
might be on might be deliberate.
With her fashion and everything,
Alicia: Yeah.
And, and speaking of O'Leary's fashion,
this might be, and sentient robots.
It might be a good time to go onto robots.
Jeremy: Yeah, let's, uh,
Ben: will say I do appreciate
Larry, she is more competent, but
no more capable than the others.
Alicia: That's, that is a good way to put,
Emily: yeah, that's spot on
Jeremy: Yeah.
So the second episode we're talking
about is season two, episode
six, which is called Mo Bots.
This the story in this, a massive
number of out of data electronics
are being stolen in sort of this
upper class Wellington suburb.
So the team is called to investigate as
as their headquarters for the operation.
They choose O'Leary's mom's house.
O'Leary's mom is nice.
It still doesn't quite have a grasp.
On the concept of O'Leary being
gay, which they never say outright,
but is made I think very clear.
And
Alicia: And we're to assume that
O'Leary's and O'Leary's brother also
is the one that like enjoyed wearing
tutu's and had a pink phone, right?
Emily: Yeah.
Yeah.
Ben: O is just adding more than one
shade to the rainbow, let's say.
Emily: Yes.
Jeremy: Yeah.
And there's a lot of like
constant references as
things that are did giveaway.
She really loves her softball mitt.
Among other things, that's the thing.
Her mom is like, oh, she really love that.
So when they leave out a lot of
outdated electronics around as bait,
the electronics themselves come to life
and begin creating robotic constructs
leading them out into the night.
There's a lot of chasing them
around and trying to stop and
fight these little robots.
Eventually they form a large, a
larger robot piloted by O'Leary's
own abandoned cell phone.
That resents having been left behind
and is now desperate for an update.
Also is really sad when they discover
that you can't in fact play snake on
a smartphone, but nobody does because
snake is not actually that good.
Ben: I died when the snakes
part started playing.
When the phone started
playing snake on the floor.
Emily: Oh yeah.
Jeremy: Uh, the robot attempts to climb
the nearby cell tower to broadcast,
to signal, to destroy the humans.
But it falls apart as it is
unable to process its own updates.
Also there's a running gag about
a robot made of vape pens and how
much mano hates vaping and how his
brother vapes and it smells terrible.
Alicia: My favorite detail about
his brother is that he has a tattoo
of their mom's back on his face.
Ben: Yeah, because he was too
polite to correct the tattoo artist.
Emily: I feel like a lot of
Jeremy: that he's got that
backwards because surely
she has a,
Alicia: I wish I, did.
Jeremy: surely he has
Ben: such a funny bit.
Jeremy: of their mom's face on his back.
But no also, also as somebody who has done
it stuff, I do love the running gag of
Maha recruiting the police IT specialist,
assuming that everything is going to be
like hackers and he is just gonna hit a
bunch of keys and like kill the robots.
But the guy never actually gets to do
anything because it takes him a normal
amount of time to build this stuff.
And he is, nobody's ever
actually Sure, for sure.
What happened?
It just ends up working out.
Ben: That this episode was the zenif of
the running bit of mage making up wild
theories, and it just being all we get.
Alicia: I really loved and really
understood Maka when Maka said
Ben, the, you know, he gave his
wild theory, which was correct.
Then the IT guy said, probably not.
And he said, yeah, but if you're
leaning towards not all of this, and
he makes kind of like a circle graph
Emily: yeah.
Alicia: with his body
indicating that everything
else is, you know,
Ben: amazing Physical comedy.
Alicia: Yeah.
All of
Emily: fantastic physical comedian.
That guy, like they all have
their own kind of physical comedy.
Bits like mano is like a big gangly guy
and he has like a lot of expressions
and stuff like that, but Maka he'll do
weird pantomimes and he's also got like
such a stern face most of the time.
It is, is very, uh, oh my god.
What's his name?
From Brooklyn.
Nine, nine.
Captain.
Alicia: Brower.
Ben: Holt.
Emily: Yeah.
Captain.
He's, it is Captain Holt esque where
he's, if you don't deserve me at
my stern or you, if you don't, if
you can't handle me at my stern,
you don't deserve me at my stern.
Ben: I love all of Maha's interactions
with Parker and just how it's just
MAA at as much as just impossible to
approve, to please, we'll turn on a
dime to always have the most insane
logic towards any situation like that.
You can switch on a dime to like,
no, Parker, you stay here where
you're most likely to get eaten,
and then be like, oh, he got eaten.
I'm sad now.
Alicia: I think my other favorite,
so I have two other favorite moments.
One is Sergeant O'Leary's
relationship with her mom.
When her mom comes outside and is like
concerned that the electronics might
be a little, get a little chilly and.
That she does have one of dad's old coats
that the now sentient robot could wear.
She doesn't come out and go, ah,
oh no, it's a sentient robot.
She just comes out and she's like, okay,
well you might wanna get a coat on.
It's really late, and
he might need one too.
And also when the electronics start doing
snake across the floor and then go out,
and she goes, oh my gosh, that's wild.
Well, I'm going to bed.
And I was like, oh, I felt that,
I felt that deep in my heart.
Ben: definitely wanna highlight
all like the phone electronic
robots they came up with.
'cause they are really inventive and
Alicia: And that was really
Ben: the phone scorpion.
Alicia: Yeah.
And that was really good.
Like I, I don't know how they did it,
and I think that's what's really cool
about it because I, I couldn't see the
strings of how they made this work.
Emily: Yeah, it was cg.
I mean, most of it was
Alicia: most of it was
Ben: when the phone snake stole the taser,
Alicia: Yes.
And then it's like trying to use a bather.
It's like now it's just
a snake with a taser.
Ben: that was just such
a, that monkey has a gun.
A
moment.
Emily: Yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah,
Alicia: yeah.
I also really, really enjoyed when
MAA is like looking at the feed and
he's like, oh, we've only got so
many minutes until he reaches it.
And Ben, the IT guy is like,
that thing's on a delay.
Emily: yeah.
Yeah.
Alicia: He's like, that's even worse.
We have no minutes.
There are no minutes left.
Ben: Then with the low key fucking
deadpan, like, senior talking
about before where they're talking
about minno brothers tattoo.
That's really where, double
deadpan shouldn't work.
But it seems like that that
really show off why and how
the double dead pan does work.
Jeremy: Yeah, I, I think that's very
true of the relationship between
O'Leary and her mom in this as well,
because I, I like the fine line.
They walk of like, her clearly not
quite getting O'Leary's queerness her.
Maybe to the point of like just not even
understanding it that it is a thing, but
also like that it's, it's never to a point
of like, oh, she's upset about this, or
she, you know, she feels embarrassed.
It's a leery that feels embarrassed
about all the stuff her mom is saying.
That's just sort of like, oh yeah, she
was always, you know, like this as a kid.
Alicia: She does that thing
that moms do where she's just
like insanely inappropriate when
she's talking to your friends.
And even worse, when you're like
at work and you're supposed to be
grown up and you know, she's like,
just not letting O'Leary grow up.
And it's one of those things where
it would be absolutely horrifying
if this was, were your parent.
However, because it's someone
else's parent, you can just be
like, he, you know, like laughing
at their discomfort a little bit.
Um,
Ben: Oh yeah.
It, nails the whole vibe and
just mortifying this of that
embarrassing parent who, like you
said, doesn't let you grow up.
Alicia: Yes.
Jeremy: a lot of this is called
Back in Fear Factory, which
we'll talk about later as
Emily: Yeah.
And it's a good contrast.
We'll talk about that in that episode.
But I want to underline that O'Leary's
mom she doesn't reject O'Leary so much
as she just It's kind of out of touch.
The same way that there's an episode
we're not covering where the oly and
Vivino try to track a haunted car,
and then the kid who owns the car is
speaking, quote unquote too young.
Right.
And they just, they're just like,
can you speak less young for me?
And that's sort of like that gap is
mirrored between O'Leary and her mom.
there's no rejection.
There's, with the mom, there's
no outright rejection there.
Alicia: What reminded me of my parents
is the fact that one of the reasons why
the epicenter of the, or the concentric
circles of the theft of the missing old
mobile devices is getting closer and
closer to Karen's mom's house is because.
She is hoarding all of the old
technology because she just doesn't
want to get rid of it or throw it away.
And you see her open the drawer of
old tech and there's like a Walkman in
there, like there's a cdy disc, Claire,
and I was thinking, this is my fate.
This is what's gonna happen.
I just feel really bad throwing away
electronics that are perfectly functional.
Emily: Yeah, no, I have, uh, two
VCRs in my house right now and
that's not even talking about like
the ancient audio equipment that my
telecommunication professor from the
eighties father has in, in his garage.
Ben: There's always a part of
me whenever I do a big cleaning.
That's just things like, but
what if toy Story is right?
Emily: Yeah.
Jeremy: See, Alicia has that
impulse and I have the, what if
I said it all on fire Impulse.
Emily: Look,
Alicia: I also, I also
Ben: little toaster or brave little
toaster, too toaster goes to Mars.
Alicia: I've also started,
Emily: movies are horrifying.
Alicia: I caught myself.
I'm a little embarrassed about this, so
since I have no parent to tell you the
story, I will, but the other day, well
my parents bought my daughter a game.
They bought her a chess set and my
stepfather was inspecting the chess set.
And I said, yeah, and it came in this
really high quality like cardboard box,
this really nice cardboard right here.
And Jeremy was like, did you just say
this is really nice cardboard right here?
It was at that point that he
uncovered my terrible secret.
I have a hard time throwing
away really nice boxes.
Emily: Oh, me too.
Alicia: Oh.
Like iPhone boxes.
I'm like, it's just, it's a good box.
I dunno what I'm gonna use it for, but
Emily: iPhone boxes are fantastic.
Yeah.
Well,
Alicia: especially if it's a good box.
Emily: yeah, they,
Jeremy: away your iPhone boxes for you.
Emily: So Alicia, I
have some news for you.
Um, As I have been going through my
mental health journey, I found out that
this behavior is consistent with O C D.
I'm
Alicia: it's only, it's
only good boxes though.
Emily: I mean, me too.
Me too.
Yeah, I,
Alicia: You know?
I
Emily: also like glass bottles.
Alicia: unless they're thick, thick
boys, like a thick Coke bottle.
Ben: does that mean every
frat bro, putting up all the
bottles he drinks has O C D?
Emily: I, it's a, it's a version.
You can have O C D without
being like, nitpicky about
Alicia: I, I'm okay.
I'm okay.
As long as it's just, I suppose
we'll be okay as long as it's just
Ben: frat boy.
I'm just imagining frat boy, monk now.
Emily: I'm just telling you right
now, Alicia, you can't re-gift things
with the iPhone box because if you
put something else in the iPhone box
Alicia: is disappointing to everyone.
That's the real problem is that it's
a quality box that I have no use for.
Jeremy.
I did throw away the tiny one that
the little blue one with the little
bow on top that was just so cute.
It was just a cute little tiny box
that nothing else would ever go into.
I did let it go while we were
at a l a, but I want you to
know, I still think about it.
Jeremy: of, let's get to the, uh, third.
Episode here, uh, season
three, episode two.
It's called Tam Marrow.
It is about a, uh, a
camper who's gone missing.
We actually see him live streaming
his own, uh, abduction by something
at the beginning of the, uh, episode.
Uh, the paranormal unit needs to go
out and team up with a local forest
ranger, played by Reese Darby to
help figure out what happened to him.
The Ranger frequently makes allusions
to the fact that there's something
dangerous in the woods that he knows
about but isn't going to tell them about.
And then he himself may also be dangerous.
Oly and mano for their part, recall
having seen a documentary, which they
were in, in which the guy in which it was
revealed that this guy was a werewolf.
He did in fact transform on screen.
They're pretty sure they saw him in that.
He warns them about the dangers of eye
level sticks, which are his versions
of murder, uh, in the forest and
Ben: The psych perhaps, of the forest.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Emily: he's the love of the forest.
Alicia: And littering is the
first degree murder of the forest.
Jeremy: they, uh, scavenge dinner from
the area and end up eating psychedelic
mushrooms and have a bad trip during
which they encounter what seems
to be a giant plant monster thing.
But it turns out to be Parker who was,
Ben: subjective.
Emily: A bad trip.
Ben: Mano has a bad trip.
Oh yeah, definitely.
Menino.
Jeremy: yeah.
So it turns out this thing that
they think is a monster is actually
Parker in a, uh, costume that his
mom made for him when he was a kid.
Uh, Apparently he hasn't, he hasn't grown
any since she made this costume for him.
And then Parker is promptly captured
by the actual giant hairy creature
who turns out to be a female of her
species looking for a male to mate with.
Alicia: Those are more
deadly than the male.
Jeremy: I hear.
Ben: Well, those nails, like
those claws looked like.
Parker should've just
been fucking disemboweled.
Like those nails, like those are some
fucking lady death strike nails on
Emily: Yeah.
Jeremy: Maka does a, a haka,
which uh, the creature objects
to the language of this haka.
He she speaks several languages we
find out, including English but they
end up having an ice conversation
and safely retrieve Parker.
But it does turn out when they ask
that she did in fact eat the camper.
So they need to try and arrest her.
But they are unsuccessful because
during their, uh, illicit mushroom
trip, they have in fact arrested each
other for use of illegal substances.
So they are all handcuffed to one
Ben: This is what I'm saying with them
being just the most teddy bear cops.
Jeremy: yeah, it's, uh, which is a
good gag, along with the other gag that
starts off of this episode, which is,
uh, The non-standard uniform gag where
Maha gives a whole speech about people
not wearing their standard uniforms.
And then we get our pan over to
Parker, who is in a, a police
sweater that his mom has knitted him
Alicia: It's like an Endura sweater.
Jeremy: Yeah, an an Gora sweater
Emily: sweater that just
looks like a police, like the
standard issue police vest.
But instead of being the police vest,
it's just a, like, it's angora with
like a cross stitch police officer.
Alicia: everyone loves it.
He just, he arrested
someone who just loved it.
Ben: I love that bed where he is.
Like, what do, what are the people you
gonna think when people you arrested?
People's like, I arrested
two people, they loved it.
I wanna be able to buy that.
Like there's gotta be a place I
can buy that sweater from Good
Emily: wouldn't wanna wear a sweater
that says police on it, unless
it has like a specific, like New
Zealand police, uh, or like yeah.
Raccoon City police or something.
The,
Ben: It would be, you know what?
It would be good to wear to the, uh,
what we do in the shadows convention
Emily: there you
Ben: that doesn't exist, but should,
Emily: The Parker having
non-standard uniforms is also
a running gag in the show.
But this is sort of like, hey,
take it to the next level.
And then having it be like returned
with a Gilly suit that is his plant
mustard suit and his whole bit where
he is like, I'm a floating head.
Ben: there should be a, what we do
in the shadows mode of vampire, the
masquerade where you play like normal,
but nobody's allowed to have an
intelligence score above the minimum.
Emily: That's just
vampire of the masquerade.
Um, I just, I, have to tell you right
now, like the best thing about what we
do in the shadows for me is that I've
like, no l r P is ever gonna be this good.
No LARP is gonna have this
much like a consistent humor.
Consistent fun.
And like the drama, the stakes
of the drama of, no pun intended,
are about where they should be.
Jeremy: So, uh, any, any
further thoughts about Tim?
There?
Emily: It is more specific to New Zealand
that, that particular creature, um,
Ben: thought Rice Darby was
gonna do more in the episode.
Emily: yeah.
He didn't become a werewolf.
He did reprise his role as
Anton, who is a werewolf.
Not a werewolf,
Alicia: Can we talk about his name?
Is it Rice or Reese?
Emily: Reese.
Alicia: Reese
Ben: Arby, you're right.
Reese Arby.
Emily: Like Reese Witherspoon, but
spelled completely differently.
Alicia: Like, like like Henry viii, right?
Who's that?
Jeremy?
Yeah.
There
Ben: Oh,
Emily: Okay.
Ben: I'm glad you made that
Alicia: Hey.
He knows.
He knows.
He knows what I, man.
He knows what I be talking about.
You know what I be talking about, right?
Jeremy: Yeah, I.
Ben: look, we all, look, we all
wanna be like black, be against
some of them Reese's pieces.
Emily: That's
Alicia: right.
Sorry.
Sorry to interrupt.
You were saying that Anton,
Emily: So he, he reprises
his role as Anton and he
mentions that he's a werewolf.
He doesn't actually transform,
but they've already had a
werewolf episode at this point.
Alicia: so, but is he, is he Anton?
Because like he said, oh, I can't be
out in the full moon and I might kill
you, but then he does come out in
the full moon, like he does, check up
Ben: That did.
Yeah, that I also was
Emily: he was off.
It was just waxing
Jeremy: It is unclear 'cause
it's several days later.
We get a pan of the full moon
like the first night, but
they're there for several days.
Um,
Alicia: okay.
Ben: How long was this fucking trip?
Emily: That's a good question.
Um,
Alicia: I liked
Jeremy: the last day.
They
Alicia: where did O'Leary
get, didn't O'Leary have like
glow sticks or something?
Like where did
Ben: Yes.
Um, Look, once you take enough
psychedelics, glow sticks just appear.
Emily: well, I think.
I think they needed L E D wands
to, um, light their incredibly
elaborate like office in the tent.
Jeremy: I love that Mka brings
all the, like corkboards with red
string and his desk and everything
out into the tent in the woods.
His, his whole like XFiles as set up,
which is also like a recurring gag I
love in this we haven't really talked
about is that like he has an office
that's hidden behind a bookshelf
that he pretends has a code he has
to punch in and he spends longer each
time he is doing it, punching in the
code and making beeps by on his own.
And then like,
Emily: pretending that there's an ai
Alicia: And then I really love how much
detail goes into this police station.
I like how much detail goes into
everything in this, uh, show
actually, like the fake headlines,
but even like just the office that
he's in feels very lived in, like
all the bits and bobs are like,
Ben: I kept pausing
Alicia: things written.
Ben: I kept pausing the
opening so I could read
Alicia: Written.
Yeah.
But it's a lot like, um, the Good
Emily: every opening.
Yeah.
Alicia: Like the good place.
Just put so much work into all of
the details, being real details.
I remember listening to a podcast episode
where they were talking, the cast was
talking about how in the art gallery
episode with Hannis, you know, jerk sister
or whatever, the pieces had little plaques
that had info on them so that they could
actually like stand and read, you know,
and look more like that level of detail.
And you can really see that, especially
in this episode with the corkboard
being transferred to the, to their
elaborate, you know, field set up and
still having bits of newspaper on it.
Ben: MAA being like a Bigfoot
conspiracy theorist was great
Emily: So good.
And I
Ben: right in this one case.
Jeremy: He's got details about all
the, like different bigfoot like
creatures from all around the world
and all the different mythologies.
Alicia: Was this episode also
written by Jermaine Clement?
Jeremy: Let me double check that.
Emily: while you check that, do
we wanna explain what a haka is?
Jeremy: Feel free.
Alicia: If people don't know they need
Ben: Yes.
That was written by, this one
was written by Jermaine Clement.
Emily: Okay.
Jeremy: Yeah, it is written
but not directed by Jermaine.
Ben: Uh, Wikipedia says
it was directed by him.
Jeremy: I M D B says it was
directed by Tim Van Damon.
Ben: Oh, well, okay.
Alicia: either way, I really, I
especially enjoy, I feel like I
especially enjoy the episodes that
were written by Jermaine Clement, and
I'm not sure if that's just because I.
Ben: He also
Alicia: his characters, you know?
And
Ben: He also did our next one, fear
Alicia: Yeah, or if it's just I
really dig his sense of humor.
I know Jeremy's dad doesn't,
Ben: What?
Jeremy's dad get better comedy
Alicia: Jeremy's dad, that's, we were
watching Flight at, we showed, was it
Flight of the Concords or was it Dr.
Jeremy: of Flight of the Concords.
Alicia: Okay.
I couldn't remember if it was the
Singalong blog or if it was Flight of
the Concords, where he said, please
don't make me watch another one.
I haven't done anything wrong.
Emily: such a dad.
Ben: damn, Mr.
Whitley, tell us how you really feel.
Alicia: And then after that, I
remember I showed him Hot Fuzz
and I was like, if you don't enjoy
this, we can't be friends anymore.
It's just, it's over between us.
And he, he did love Hot Fuzz.
He was like, okay, that
was legitimately funny.
And I was like, yeah, so was Flight
of the Concordes, but I'll let, I'll
let it slide that you didn't get
in.
I get, I get that.
That's a.
A certain
Ben: any family members right now.
Alicia: Yeah.
Emily: I thi Flight of the Concords is
definitely one of those things that you
need to have in like small bite size.
Like it's definitely a YouTube
thing, especially like the
there are various songs.
Alicia: yes.
Emily: And also you have to choose your
audience because not everybody is gonna
recognize the very specific reference to
the pet shop boys that they make, or, you
know, like Bowie's in Space is a little
bit more accessible, but like, The inner
city pressure is so of its time that
for me, it's, you know, it is one
of those things that is so targeted.
But, um, I did wanna, before, before we
move on to the next episode just really
quick the Maka Sergeant Maka performs
a haka, which is a, a traditional
Maori dance that is kind of like a,
to paraphrase, it's a hype dance.
Ben: What I love about
that moment is that,
Emily: than that, of course.
But,
Ben: is that that is like his instinct.
Like he is star, like he is startled
Alicia: is so frightened and his instinct
Ben: of fear that like his
first instinct is to haka.
Alicia: yeah.
Emily: down from, the mushrooms
where he thought he was a werewolf.
Um,
Ben: Okay.
Maka thinking he's a werewolf was such
amazing just God that this performed like
Maca as Maca is just so fucking funny.
Emily: Yeah.
Alicia: Yeah.
But in the haka they talk
about a, the hairy man.
Right.
And that is
what, that is what
Ben: Yeah.
Alicia: our,
Ben: She, she
Alicia: reacts to.
She's like, Hey, wait a second.
You calm down.
I'm not a hairy
Emily: it's not the, you know, I, I live,
you die, you know, of the sort of the
dance and that sort of confrontational
element of his specific dance.
But the the other thing I've, I
am a little bit, I get a little
bit weary of some of the jokes
about O'Leary looking like a man.
Just all of the jokes, like I feel
like it's a, it might be a little
too much for me, but that's honestly,
Alicia: it's not even, it's more insulting
than that because it's not even that.
People think O'Leary looks like a man.
People think O'Leary
looks like a little boy.
Emily: That's
Alicia: like that little boy over there.
Jeremy: Hmm.
Alicia: It's like, I'm a
grown, I'm a grown woman.
Jeremy: Well this one,
I feel like it works
Alicia: it works because
O'Leary's like, I get that.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Emily: yeah,
Ben: Yeah.
I mean,
Emily: you're only watching
these episodes, I definitely
like, it's a lot less like, it's,
Ben: look, sometimes lesbians
look like little boys.
It might be a bit of a stereotype,
but that doesn't mean sometimes.
Emily: She's, well, I will
Ben: But she is a, she is a woman.
She is a woman in uniform on the job.
Emily: yes.
And I will also say that Elyria is has
Ben: But come on, let's
not like, act like a leery.
Probably doesn't have like
a beat, like a snapback.
She wears sideways in
an oversized polo shirt.
Emily: oh my God.
Yes.
But like, that's the thing
is that like her, her whole
silhouette is so relatable to me.
Like it's so, I've, I've known, so ma
I've had teachers, I've had like, you
know, aunts, fa, you know, friends,
students, all that who have had that look.
So I, you know, her whole look
is not the, the like, being butt
of a joke sometimes gets a little
Ben: Totally.
A hundred.
No, a hundred percent.
A hundred
Alicia: I get it.
I just think
Ben: I, I, I totally hear you.
Emily: like her, the, her whole look and
her, her delivery is very real to me.
So much so that like, I think it's
because the, the jokes are made so often.
I'm like, no, no, I think we get it.
You know, like she can, she can
be gay, she can be whatever, she
can be butch, whatever she wants.
That's less important to her
character than the fact that
she has to deal with Mano.
And that she is like doing the best
with what she's got no matter what.
The, and
Ben: OG is like someone.
OG is somebody left all the
TV sets on, but nobody's home.
Emily: absolutely is zero brain
cells, like O'Leary has brain
cells, but they're so busy.
Just trying to
Jeremy: No, I, that's the thing about
Mano, I think actually is Mano is
Alicia: Genius things sometimes.
Jeremy: thinking the
connections just aren't quite
Alicia: You may not be making
the same connection as Mano, but
Jeremy: it is just
Emily: Yeah.
Jeremy: not wired correctly.
Emily: that's a good,
Alicia: she's adorable.
Emily: yeah, no, like she's the,
she's got a very, like, friendly,
like it's, it's a trustable face.
It is definitely a face of like a
teacher that I would hang out with
Alicia: And it's
Jeremy: love, I love how much you
and Alicia are the same person.
Occasionally that's like a teacher
that I would hang out with.
That's, that's like the
relatable thing for you.
It's like, you
Alicia: listen, I am,
Jeremy: you hang out with.
Alicia: I, you know, I just gotta say,
as an English teacher, I am the, I feel
like English teachers and art teachers,
Are the people that odd kids can gravitate
to because, I don't know, I just feel
like we, I feel like we attract them.
I don't know what it is,
Emily: Oh yeah,
Alicia: but I have so many
Ben: Yeah, no, she
Alicia: and she definitely feels
like a person that you could like
write about a weird dream and I don't
know if she would love it or not,
but she wouldn't judge you for it.
Ben: from that photo, second photo you
showed, Jeremy I'm getting some real queer
friendly kids, musical show host realness.
Alicia: I'm in love
with this tattoo though.
Emily: Absolute, absolute.
Um, Alicia, you mentioned the detail
that goes into the, the various sets and
Alicia: Yeah.
Emily: I think that that.
That really does help too with the
actors ad-libbing, because I feel that
a lot of the, I don't think there's
a lot of a script for this show.
I would hope there
Ben: I imagine it's still in that, what
we do in the shadows quasi improv world,
Emily: Yeah.
Because the, the, the dialogue is
so haphazard and it's so charming.
Ben: they're bouncing off
each other almost like too
naturally for it to be scripted.
Emily: Yeah.
And, and I'm, I did commit, like, just
real quick, just I did compare it to Reno
9 1 1 and I feel like Reno 9 1 1 doesn't
really commit to its own jokes as much.
It's, it's very, like, I'm quirky.
Ha ha.
But this show is absolutely committed.
These characters are absolutely
committed to who they are no matter what.
Alicia: Well, Jermaine Clement
did say in, in 2018 there is a
question and answer in Twitter.
And he did say that unlike what
we do in the shadows, which was
a lot, which was like all I.
Almost all improvised because they
had time, you know, to work with it.
Because in TV you only have a
few weeks that it's scripted, but
there is a lot of improv in there.
So, yeah, I, I definitely can see that.
I, you know, I, I feel like that's part
of the genius of what makes the show work
is that, like some of the things that
Parker says, like, you know, when Parker's
just bouncing his, his head back and
forth while he's wearing his Gilly suit.
Like, I, how would you write,
how would you write that in?
And I don't know.
That's,
Ben: Oh, when he's playing.
Like pinging pong with his head.
Alicia: yeah, yeah.
Jeremy: of amazing Parker moments, let's
go ahead and talk about Fear Factory.
Uh, which is,
Ben: Oh,
Alicia: we find out Parker is afraid of
Jeremy: three.
Ben: Parker's cowardice saves the day.
Jeremy: So,
Alicia: It's a lot like Norma, right?
Jeremy: yeah, a little bit like
like Norma and Paranormal Park.
Um,
Emily: yes, absolutely.
I was trying to, yeah.
Jeremy: yeah.
So, uh, so this episode, uh, it's
three three it's called Fear Factory.
While on patrol, the unit
encountered several people making
outrageous claims that they've seen
the thing they feared the most.
In the middle of downtown Wellington,
we start with giant spiders.
We get a faceless man eventually man
claims to have been attacked by a
shark in the middle of the street.
Uh, and he is the bite marks to prove it.
Um,
Alicia: talk about my favorite one.
Jeremy: hold on.
Alicia: Okay.
Jeremy: All of the people that
come from the local business, the
Fear Factory, They, they round up
all the employees for questioning.
Two of them are delightful theater kids.
Fun, fun to watch and feel a
little seen by these stereotypes.
But the the manager reveals himself to
be a shapeshifter who feeds off of fear.
He runs around the police
station, terrifying everyone.
Before retreating back
to the Fear Factory.
O'Leary and Mo go in after him only
for mano to be forced to do public
speaking, face sock puppets and deal with
balloons, all of which are his fears.
O'Leary meanwhile keeps encountering her
mother, who is saying and doing things
to embarrass her and make her feel
as, uh, as if she's a disappointment.
Uh, mano comes to the rescue on that
one, reassuring O'Leary that while her
mom may say any embarrassing things
and that, uh, her real world, mom
is very proud of her and told him so
well, she didn't actually tell him.
So, but she gives kind of that vibe.
Ben: That was one of my favorite bits
was that whole like your mom's really
proud of you, says so all the time.
Really?
No, but you know, maybe
Jeremy: But she gives that
vibe, like, and she does
Ben: that was, that floored me.
Jeremy: yeah,
Emily: was so like heartfelt in
such a genuine way while being
like, just so in character.
It wasn't like a very special episode.
It was just like, no, no, no.
Jeremy: yeah.
Emily: Don't worry about that.
Jeremy: Eventually, Parker,
who has been hiding outside,
decides to come to the rescue.
And when the Shapeshifter tries to
confront him, it overloads by change,
trying to shapeshift and do all the
things Parker is afraid of, which he
has been enumerating throughout the
episode until finally, uh, he becomes
a lot of loose change and falls apart.
And they pack him up.
Uh hmm.
Emily: It's a, it's a
pile of buttons because
Jeremy: A pile of buttons.
Yeah.
So they, they pack it all up into a, uh,
jar, and that's, and they call it a day.
Emily: I love that they put holes in
the top of the jar just in case they're
like, I dunno if this is
alive, but maybe it needs air.
I don't know.
It's just like
Ben: So Alicia was your favorite.
Fear shapeshift my
favorite, which was, uh,
slow.
Alicia: 1, 1, 2, 3.
Iceberg.
Yeah.
Ben: Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Alicia: I love, I love
the delivery of who runs
Ben: like the,
Alicia: like, and then,
Ben: the polar bear.
Alicia: was gliding slowly down the
street, and then the cub looks up at its
mom like, what's happened to our home?
And, and,
Ben: I, well, I love how they all agree
afterwards, like, yeah, that's scary.
Alicia: Yeah.
Yeah.
That's
Emily: yeah.
Ben: about that.
Yep.
Emily: it's an important problem.
Alicia: and I think one of my favorite
things is just the way he, he, when they
ask him questions, he doesn't say yes.
He doesn't say no.
He goes, Hmm.
Like it's just a little, Hmm.
Emily: Yeah.
Yeah.
Ben: favorite.
Of all the things we, of all the episodes,
I, I very much enjoyed all the episodes,
but the thing that got the biggest laugh
was right after that when they run to the
Fight Factory and it's, those two people
just laughed there and the old woman just
looks at the kid afraid of climate change
goes like, but they didn't help us at all,
Alicia: Help
Ben: and
Jeremy: Yeah, that, that's wonderful.
This one is, is one of like the,
the out and out funniest to me.
Mano like, turning around in a, a
audience just appearing in front
of him and a, you know, microphone
raising up out of the ground.
And then the audience is sock
puppets and then balloons just keep
Ben: I love his explanation.
Well, you don't know if
they're hands or feet.
Emily: Yeah.
Jeremy: Alicia is a big fan of the
explanation of, of why he is afraid
of balloons because she is also afraid
of balloons for the same reason.
You just don't know when
they're gonna pop and
Alicia: You never know what's
gonna happen around those things.
Oh.
Emily: I've known several people who
are actually like, legit, like on
edge around balloons, and I get it.
Alicia: I don't have like a,
a paralyzing fear of balloons.
I'm not going to run away from them.
But like whenever you have like those
balloon popping contests as kids or
like whenever you blow up a balloon
and you're supposed to tie, like, it
freaks me out to like tie up a balloon.
So I never inflate it all the way.
'cause I'm really afraid of it popping.
I don't like that.
Emily: Yeah,
Alicia: I have a legitimate, I
think exaggerated startle response.
So I startled very easily once I was
sitting at my desk while my class
was watching a movie and it was
dark around my desk because I had my
lamp on and I was like grading and
a student just leaned over and said,
excuse me, may I go to the restroom?
Or like, I need to go to the restroom.
But because they leaned over from the
dark and whispered it so is not to disturb
everyone else, I screamed and fell out of
my chair and my rolly chair went one way.
The
Emily: Oh no.
Alicia: over and the whole class
is like, and she was like, Ms.
Whitley, calm down.
And I was like, I told you, I'm easily
frightened, Jeremy, whenever I'm.
Upstairs or taking a shower.
I think one time Jeremy came home while
I was taking a shower and said, Hey,
babe, when he came in and I pulled the
entire like, like shower curtain down
with me because I was so startled.
It's not a good way to live.
So me and balloons, like,
Emily: Yeah.
I mean, I think
Alicia: I like boxes and I'm
afraid of balloons popping.
Th this is what you found out about me.
Emily: that's, I mean,
Alicia: These are my secrets.
Ben: Jeremy, you're
learning a lot tonight.
Emily: yeah, we accept
Jeremy: Oh, I, I know all of this.
Alicia: And also, but I also,
I loved how O'Leary was like,
well, it's not gonna bother me
'cause I'm not afraid of anything.
I'm just more like always like,
cautiously, what did she say?
Cautiously concerned about
Emily: I didn't hear that one.
Yeah.
Alicia: yeah.
I was like, she was like, nothing
is, I'm not afraid of anything.
I'm just always cautious about everything.
Emily: yeah.
Yeah.
God,
Alicia: Oh, that was a good episode.
Emily: what, what would the
shapeshifter, other than balloons,
Alicia: The ship Shafter.
Emily: the ship Shafter, what would
the, what would the shift shafter be?
And I'm not talking about, we don't
have to get into like the serious
traumas that like O'Leary had to deal
with that are super personal, but like,
Alicia: yeah, sure.
Emily: what's your, we
know about balloons.
Is there a Yes,
Ben: Zombie Monkey from the first
Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
Alicia: That was horrifying to you.
Ben: I just thought that was
a scary ass zombie monkey.
Jeremy: It's scariest zombie monkey
I've ever seen in a movie, I think.
Ben: Yeah.
Emily: I think the rat monkey
from dead Alive is a little
bit just, well, it's grosser.
I just don't like monkeys.
Jeremy: uh, the Heights one really got
me the, the guy who was afraid of heights
in the, who was in the jail cell and like
the whole floor just disappeared below him
and he was suddenly standing over a pit.
I was like, oh, that,
that one would get me.
That's.
Emily: That would, that
would get me too seriously.
Like I thinking about that, I
started feeling a little queasy.
Jeremy: Oh my God, ma is Maha's
story about why he's afraid
of spiders is also hilarious.
Emily: Yeah.
Jeremy: He was at his friend's house,
they were having a sleepover and he
was in the shower and the spider fell
right on his, you know, place and
Emily: A part of his anatomy
that he didn't wanna say.
Jeremy: yeah.
And that, that is,
Alicia: And the friend's mom
had to come and help him.
That was the horrifying part.
Emily: yeah,
Jeremy: oh boy.
Alicia: So I think other than like seeing
everyone I know and love like dead in
some horrific way, like that would be
like if a shapeshifter really wanted
to freak me out, it would be like my
family members, like horribly mangled.
But if we're keeping it light,
Emily: yeah,
Alicia: we're talking
about my irrational fears.
Ben: it.
Zombie monkey,
Emily: Irrational, rational fears is.
Alicia: we're talking
about irrational fears.
I think like palmetto bugs are.
My big thing.
So, if you're not familiar,
Palmetto bugs are like roaches,
but they're really big and they fly
Jeremy: bugs in California.
Emily: Oh, it is like a, yeah,
the, it's the, it is a cockroach.
A
Alicia: and they, and
they
Ben: that's, a, that, that's a good fear.
That's, that's a very valid fear.
Yep.
Don't like that.
Ugh.
Emily: We have what we call
potato bugs or Jerusalem crickets.
I
Alicia: who are they?
Are they, are, they like big crickets
that like hop really high, like we
have camel crickets and those also.
Emily: I think it might be.
So let me, let me look that up.
Alicia: I almost don't wanna look it up.
Emily: I'll look it up.
I like bugs, oh, no, no.
These,
these are big chunky,
you can see they're big
Alicia: oh.
Uh,
Emily: Yeah.
I think they're fascinating, but they're
definitely like, I like bugs a lot,
but if it's in my bedding or like, you
know, there's a certain boundary that
I have where I'm like, you know, no,
Alicia: yeah.
Jeremy: So what you're saying, uh,
to transition to the next episode is
you don't want them on your property.
Emily: no on my property, they just
can't be like on my private person
or, you know, like my clothes.
Jeremy: So, uh, let's, let's go ahead
and talk about Skeleton Crew, which
is our last episode that we watched,
which is season four, episode four.
The station becomes haunted when the
guy's installing high-speed broadband
discover that it was built on a bha,
uh, haha, or white people graveyard.
The white people are incredibly
stereotypical and one of them possesses
maa, causing him, uh, causing his
actions and voice to change into
something incredibly disturbingly white.
Um, they're also, they
also have names like Whitey
Whiteford and things like that.
Um,
Ben: God, the, the names this again,
this whole idea of built on top
of the Caucasian burial ground.
Emily: It was so funny.
Jeremy: It, it turns out that the, the
white people ghosts want what most of
the white people that call the cops want
for people to get off their property.
And they end up having to, uh, prove
Maa has to prove to this, uh, white guy
this ghost Whitey that the Department
of Corrections actually owns this
property and they do not before the
white ghosts will go back to rest.
Also, the white ghosts are very
excited about Parker's upcoming choral
concert, which he is practicing for
throughout by making ghost sounds.
Emily: Yes.
Also, uh, the, the main malevolent spirit,
a John Whitey Whiteman actually was a
serial killer or a sp a spree killer
Alicia: The
Emily: yeah, he's the bogey
man, not the bogey man.
The bogey man, because he didn't get
the 18th hole on his golf course.
And you know, like few
things are whiter than golf.
Jeremy: Yeah, they, they attempt to
exercise MAA by having him, uh, regul
the last hole of this this thing which
he again fails to, uh, land correctly.
Ben: Like, like not even close, like
the carbon, the, the, the fucking, the,
the cup that's supposed to be, the hole
is even not even pointed the right way.
Like, and I, I love, I love how, I love
Parker just being like, I feel like
there's a lot variables to this plan.
Emily: Parker having an eerie moment
of clarity where he is like, I don't
know if this is gonna work, guys.
And they're like, well,
we've gotta be optimistic.
Gotta be optimal.
Mm-hmm.
Alicia: I think my favorite part of this
episode is kind of at the beginning where.
They go down to find out what all
the drilling noises like if the,
if the workmen can stop working
so they can have their meeting.
'cause it's really loud.
And they get down there and the workmen
are eating and they were like, why
did you leave your jackhammers on?
And he is like, the
sound is really soothing.
Emily: I mean, at that point
Alicia: They were like,
yeah, we just left him on.
It's fine.
Emily: yeah, it's white noise.
Alicia: Also, there's weird
stuff coming from out there.
They're just fine.
Everybody's fine.
Everybody's like, it's weird stuff.
And yeah, it's kind of like how when
I went to a haunted hotel I was like,
this hotel is haunted, but it's fine.
Emily: Uh, please elaborate.
Alicia: Jeremy took me a haunted
to a haunted hotel and did not
tell me it was haunted because
Jeremy doesn't believe in ghosts.
Okay, here's the story.
Y'all wanna hear
Ben: Oh, oh, so this is a
hotel That legend is haunted.
Jeremy didn't bring you to an
explicit, like, haunted hotel.
It's October.
We're doing a haunted house.
I'm like, okay.
Surprise.
Haunted house hotel.
That's grounds for divorce.
Just not telling you
Alicia: I don't like surprises.
Ben: not mentioning a ghost
story section on Wikipedia.
I'm, I'm on your side now.
Jeremy.
Alicia: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, I don't like, I don't like surprises.
So we go, so first of all,
you have to know that Jeremy
doesn't believe in ghosts.
And I'm like, obviously ghosts are real.
And he is like, I don't believe in ghosts.
So that's like, that's first of all.
So he has since updated too.
He's agnostic about ghosts.
Like if there was a ghost, he
wouldn't be like, no, I reject this.
But he's not inclined
to believe in ghosts.
Emily: I'm I'm also agnostic about
ghosts, but if there's like a general
vibe I can pick up, like that's
Alicia: So I walk into this
hotel with Jeremy, we're
Ben: gonna sign with Jeremy
that ghosts are not real.
Alicia: Okay,
Ben: I'm gonna come down
on team ghosts aren't real
Alicia: sorry that you're incorrect and
that you were so loud in your wrongness.
I hate that.
I hate that for you.
So we walk into this hotel and I'm
like, oh, this place is haunted.
And Jeremy's like, what?
You just think it's haunted?
'cause it's old?
I was like, no, like feel it.
Like don't you feel the haunting?
And he was like, seriously, you
just think it's haunted because it's
old and old things look haunted.
And I'm like, no, I know
this place is haunted.
Somebody's definitely jumped
outta that window right there.
I can feel it.
I just feel it.
So that night he goes, don't look
up too much stuff about this hotel.
'cause you're gonna
like freak yourself out.
I was like, I can't be any more freaked
Ben: now.
Alicia: place is
objectively
Ben: was, this ho Where
was this hotel again?
Alicia: This hotel is called
the Congress Plaza Hotel, which
Ben: Oh, in Chicago.
Alicia: in Chicago,
Ben: Oh my God.
Of course, of course.
People have jumped out of that.
You think a hotel in that old,
in Chicago of that's, it's, it'd
be mathematically impossible for
there to have not been a suicide
Alicia: So apparently this is like a
big stop on the haunted tours, like
haunted walking tours list, because
it's one of the most haunted places in
Illinois that's like, I'm sitting there,
he's asleep, and I'm sitting there
like looking up all of these supposed
hauntings that are happening here.
Apparently the eighth floor, the floor
that we were on is the floor that
Al Capone used to just hang out on.
That was where his favorite suite was.
Nice.
Ben: I mean, I don't think any,
I don't think Al Cappo just like.
Alicia: I don't think Al Capone was there.
I didn't feel Al Capone's presence.
I didn't, in fact, I
didn't see any ghosts.
I didn't like, none of them bothered us.
I just, it just felt like a fact to
Ben: Would Al Capone's
ghost also have syphilis?
Alicia: You know what, listen, why
don't you go to the Congress Plaza
Hotel, and I'm sure that you can
come in with Al Capone's ghost, and
I dare
Ben: for C two E two?
Alicia: I dare you to asshole Scarface.
Emily: like I am.
Alicia: I, I actually 1:00 AM it's
like one o'clock in the morning and
I text my mom and I'm like, mom,
dude, I'm staying in a haunted hotel.
And she was like, how do you know, girl?
I was like, because I can feel it.
And also, here's this article.
And then she starts, so I call her,
she starts reading the article.
Ben: that opened before the Great
Depression is gonna have seen some shit.
Alicia: Yeah, so then she starts
reading the article to me and she was
like, don't get on the elevator girl.
And I was like, ma, you
can't read the article to me.
Like I already read it.
If you read it to me out loud,
then I really will be freaked out.
Like you cannot.
And so then she insisted on reading
about every suicide, every murder, every
accidental, fall down an elevator shaft.
And at that point I might, I might
have freaked myself out a little bit.
It was hard to sleep, but also the air
conditioning didn't work that well.
So
Emily: elevators are cursed elevators
like no matter what, like elevators.
It doesn't have to be
Ben: I I'm gonna, I'm gonna come
out on the sense of elevators
are a useful piece of technology.
Emily: They are
useful, yes.
But they are cursed.
Like I'm not saying it's
supernaturally cursed.
I'm just saying like,
Ben: This is my pro elevator agenda.
Emily: I look for folks who can't
use stairs very well or at all.
Yeah.
Elevators sure.
I mean, that's cool.
I'm not
Ben: Why?
Why, why
Emily: I'm just saying they are cursed.
A lot of things are cursed
according to a lot of people.
I'm cursed because I'm,
Ben: aids are cursed.
Quote Emily Martin.
Emily: that's not what I said.
I said an elevators are cursed.
There's a lot, like
Jeremy: ramps, cursed,
Emily: ramps are not cursed.
Ramps are blessed.
Ramps are the most
Ben: I'm.
Emily: thing.
Right.
If you cancel me, it can't be for
this because a lot of people agree
that elevators are cursed, you know?
And I'm saying like a lot of people
would think I'm cursed because
I'm assigned female at birth.
And then the moon does shit
to me like, yeah, okay.
Alicia: Okay.
That's true.
It is a, it is a preexisting condition.
Yeah.
Emily: Yeah.
And
elevators.
Yeah.
Ovaries.
Ovaries are, are a little bit cursed.
Yeah.
I would say they're a lot more
cursed than the elevators.
Ben: I was assigned lazy at birth and
they make and elevators make it easier
for me to live in my identity of laziness.
Alicia: also come from a
city where like a lot of the
buildings have a ton of stories.
Ben: fucking walking up
Alicia: Yeah, that makes sense.
Uh, and, and in our
Ben: my home.
Alicia: our, you know, we
don't have a lot of buildings
that are over, like, you know,
Ben: You, you wanna talk
about cursed fucking, yeah.
You think I'm living in a goddamn
walk in this city now that's cursed.
Emily: I just, if you've, I, I stayed
at that hotel in Denver and Jeremy,
Alicia, you remember that hotel in Denver
across from the convention center that.
That one
Alicia: Yeah.
Where it's like, it's like, yeah, it's
like one, two, skip a few, 99, 3000.
Yeah, I remember.
That's the one that I met.
That's the one that I met.
Spike the Vampire in.
Emily: Well, that's okay.
Maybe.
I don't
Alicia: That was a blessed elevator.
He shook my hand and said,
Ben: That's awesome.
Emily: that's that is awesome.
Alicia: And I saved him.
Ben: that dude is cool.
Alicia: I saved him from closing doors.
He was like, oh, can
you hold the elevator?
And I did.
And
Emily: Oh yeah.
Alicia: was James Masters.
Emily: He'll, he'll remember you forever.
Alicia: I don't think so, but it's okay
Emily: I hope he does.
Alicia: I think I was, I
thought I was super cool.
Jeremy said that I was not.
Anyway,
Emily: wow.
Alicia: he said,
Jeremy: she wasn't cool.
She wasn't cool about James Marchers
Alicia: I thought I was being cool.
I was like, oh yeah, I stopped
by your table and you weren't
there, but hello, I'm a big fan.
And he was like, oh,
Jeremy: was vibrating on a molecular
Alicia: Yeah, he said, so
while it's, to me, I thought,
I said, Hey, how's it going?
According to Jeremy, it was more like,
Emily: Okay.
Okay.
That's, I mean, you know,
like I think it's important to
acknowledge that you were probably
cooler than you could have been.
Alicia: and also that the Congress
Plaza Hotel is viscerally haunted.
Emily: So,
Jeremy: entirely or
specifically by white ghosts?
Emily: yeah.
So
Jeremy: like the New Zealand Police
Department,
Alicia: what?
Yes, of course.
Of course they were.
What do you mean
Jeremy: there's
Alicia: the Congress Plaza Hotel.
You think non-white ghosts
were hanging out there?
Jeremy: Oh yeah.
Alicia: No, not really.
Emily: I think, I mean, I.
Hopefully they were able to, to Skiddle,
but, you know, curses being what they
Jeremy: only way people skiddle Emily,
Emily: That's, well,
Alicia: I've never ski dabbled in my life.
Emily: Whoops.
A daisy.
Um,
Alicia: So did you enjoy this show?
Emily: yeah.
Yeah.
I, I enjoyed it so much that I
watched a bunch of extra episodes
and I've intend to watch more.
I didn't quite get all of 'em.
And, you know, there's other episodes
that I would highly recommend.
I think the, I just have to say that
the, the, the White Ghost is that.
It's a great episode.
Highly recommends.
So, perfect, wonderful.
No notes.
The, the sort of cherry on that cake is
Alicia: Wait, wait bro.
You put cherries on cakes.
Emily: I don't know the
cherry on that Shirley Temple.
I don't know.
Ben: Sunday.
Cherry
Emily: Cherry on that Sunday.
Jeremy: a sundae.
Frosting on a cake.
Ben: Yes.
Alicia: we say the cherry on the icing?
Is that a thing that people say?
Jeremy: icing on the cake.
Emily: icing on the
Ben: on a cake.
Yeah, that's,
Emily: is an icing.
This is like one thing and I
couldn't get to, I can't get to like
specific like, you know, the, the
Alicia: No, sorry.
Sorry.
According to the Cambridge dictionary,
cherry on top of the cake
is a thing that people say,
Emily: Thank you.
Um,
Alicia: you're welcome.
Ben: putting the spring in Springfield.
Emily: yeah, let's talk about white.
But the, the cherry on that cake was
the, the ghost refrain of, it's not the
heat that gets you, it's the humidity.
Jeremy: Yeah,
yeah, there's a lot of
good other episodes.
I think, uh, some of my favorites
are, are things that have sort
of like, bookend in stories.
Like the last episode, which is called
Time Cop, but not the Jean Claude Van Dam
one is, is a really good one, but depends
on you having seen a lot of other episodes
in the show to, to be fully enjoyed.
I really enjoy the duo
of plant People episodes.
Um, there's cop circles in the first
season and then that stuff comes back in.
Let's see, I think it's called,
uh, copy Cops in the Second
Emily: yes,
Jeremy: yeah, both of which are very good.
But yeah, I wanted to, to grab these
because I think they hit on a lot of the,
the themes and stuff that, uh, that we
like to talk about in, in unique ways.
Be it O'Leary's queer identity, be it you
know, the, the general racial and social
aspects and cultural aspects of, of MAA
in particular, but that the, the show
really lives in that New Zealand space
and not just white New Zealand, which I'm
sure has a lot to do with Taiko Titi and
Germaine Clement, both of whom are, I,
I believe they're both part indigenous
Emily: Yeah.
Jeremy: people.
Ben: Yeah, definitely Tika.
I don't know about Jermaine,
but No, definitely just, okay.
Definitely having that eye, I mean,
just giving that, you know, just
putting that in the spotlight.
Again, it's appreciated that it
isn't just, you know, hey, here's
the people who colonize the
island, getting all the focus.
And again, and again, it does allow it
to do really fun things and flip some
of the tropes that colonization, like
I said, some of my favorite pits, the
white people burial ground, and the Maui
creation myth of how we got the suburbs.
Emily: Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and I, the creation myth is
real, but then there's, you know,
like in integrating that into
like, and now it's a suburb with a
lovely bakery, you know, is so, um,
Ben: of the highest property
values in Wellington.
Emily: yeah, it's, it, it really
does offer a lot more of a, of
like a full portrait of at least
this community in New Zealand.
I also noticed that a lot of people,
We're using Maori the term like greetings.
And I don't know how the, like I have
very little knowledge about New Zealand,
honestly, like, you know, for the longest
time it's like, it's that pretty place
with the sheep and then lower the rings.
Um,
Alicia: they always said, Kiara.
Emily: K and there's a lot of,
you know, language integration,
which I thought was you know, I
hadn't seen that so much before.
Um, and I'd seen other stuff from New
Zealand, but it was all like genre
stuff, like the Peter Jackson genre
stuff or you know, things that are
a little bit more like look at the
cool sheep or whatever, you know.
But I, I really appreciated
that about the show.
And I mean, I don't know if
that's unusual for New Zealand and
like exported New Zealand media.
But it was, uh, it was refreshing and it
was also like it gave the show its own.
I think it's one of the things
that really sets the show apart
because, I mean, I think the first
season is a little bit monotonous.
It's the, the kind of monotonous
that I really like just because
I like watching these actors.
Like they feel, they feel so familiar
to me and they they, I could see how
they're enjoying playing these roles.
And just like every so often I get a
glimpse of one trying not to laugh.
And it's, you know, it's just like
I'm experiencing this their ad-lib
just, it feels fresh and genuine
and that's what I love about it.
But I do think that there is something
beyond that, beyond the, the sort
of quaintness of the show that makes
it highly recommendable from me.
Jeremy: I think, you know, anytime
we talk about something where the,
the main characters are cops, we
have to walk sort of this fine
line of like, is it propaganda?
Do we, you know, are we,
are we cool with this?
I think Wellington to some extent I
think it, it gets off of that somewhat
because it is not American police.
But, you know, the, they are
not running around with guns.
They have, you know, one
taser between the two of them.
Alicia: Yeah, there's that one
episode where they said, what do we
say when we, I think it was Moots.
What are we gonna say when we get to 'em?
We'll say freeze.
We're not American.
We'll say freeze please.
You know?
Ben: I remember like they argue about
which one has the taser, who's turn it
is to have the, the taser that they just.
Have the one they have to share,
Emily: Yeah.
Ben: which, oh my God.
How about, I forget which episode it is,
but Menino puts the taser in his mouth.
Emily: Oh yeah.
When he is walking into the ocean.
Ben: Yeah.
Emily: Yeah.
That is the episode.
Um, and he's like, just so awkward.
Ben: it dry.
Emily: Yeah.
Oh so good.
And Reese Darby is always a delight.
Like,
Ben: I'm gonna him acting all.
Jeremy: he shows up, but have having
him show up at all and, and deliver
everything So dryly in that episode,
like everything, everything he says
is hilarious and he delivers it with
just like the driest read possible.
Emily: And it's the same joke.
It's always the same joke.
And it's still like the, and this
whole show is kinda like the same
joke, but it's still so fucking funny.
Like, it doesn't get old for me.
For the reasons I mentioned earlier.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
I guess the, you know, we've talked
a little bit about the queer rep
and it, it's not huge or loud, but
nothing in the show is I guess the,
the question for me is, do we feel
like it's kind of feminist as a show?
Ben: It, it's just O'Leary who
I, I really like O'Leary as
queer, as Queer Representation.
I mean, it's.
But like Emily said, there are a
lot of jokes that are kind of just
at the expense of O Larry's gender.
Emily: yeah, and the, and
also her presentation.
Ben: Yeah.
Emily: and, you know, I feel like it
doesn't quite get to the point where
it's super objectionable, but it's
Jeremy: I think having her be the one
that delivers a lot of, that takes
some of the, the claws out of it.
Emily: Yeah.
Alicia: I also do like that, as you
said before, Jeremy Elyria is not the.
Smart, long suffering girl who has
to keep all these silly boys in
order while they have all the fun.
Like, you know, there's, when the,
is the Scorpion gets the taser or the
Scorpion robot gets the taser or Leary's
like laying on the ground, getting like
she has just as much physical slapstick
comedy opportunities as everyone else
Emily: Yeah.
Alicia: does.
Um, and I think, what is it, we gotta
support women's rights and wrongs.
Like we've got some great female, not
bad guys, but like criminals on here that
aren't necessarily in the episodes that
we watched, but I think one of my favorite
episodes is the one about the She Wolf of
Emily: Yeah.
Alicia: Yeah, she was great.
Emily: Yeah.
She, and you know, in other shows, maybe
like if this was an American show, some
of those presentations might be a little
bit like very Reno 9 1 1, maybe classist,
but it didn't come off that way to me
in this probably because the characters
had a little bit more going on with
them than just like, like the the wife
of the haunted of the like, or not the
wife, the, the former girlfriend of the
deceased haunted ghost of the car, you
know, also was very she, she was also
kind of a one of those outrageous common
people, you know, that you get in a lot
of these, these cop shows, but like,
Jeremy: That's in the haunting
of the 85th ni 85 Nissan
Emily: Nisan Yes.
300 ZX or whatever.
Um,
Jeremy: R Turbo?
Emily: yeah.
But yeah, there's, there's more to the
characters than the, you know, leopard
print cartoon pants that they wear.
Jeremy: Yeah.
And I think as you mentioned on
the like class front, this, this
show does sort of deal with class.
It does.
It's not about class, it's not a
big thing for it, but they do like
talk about the Wellington suburbs
and the sort of like, obnoxious
whiteness of, of the suburbs, um,
Ben: We, we do address, uh, how
we treat obsolete technologies.
the plight of the
underused technology class.
Emily: the, the episode with the haunted
car, the Nissan 300 ZX whatever that
one was interesting with the kid that
was speaking young because he seemed
to be, you know, you can sort of see
the, the American version of that.
But when.
It didn't seem as slapstick when
he was like, okay, I won't use all
of my colloquialisms with the cops.
'cause they were like, oh, he
is speaking too young for me.
And he is like, okay,
you know, I got this.
It wasn't huge, like it wasn't
a huge mode change for him.
But then immediately when they were
talking about like upgrading the car, they
were all on the same page at that point.
He just wasn't saying bro as much.
At least that I could tell.
I mean, there could be a lot of signals
that I'm not getting because I'm not
Jeremy: Young.
Emily: Jesus Christ.
Ben: Right fucking Jeremy.
Oh.
Oh my god.
Emily: I was gonna say from New Zealand,
Jeremy: Oh, okay.
Sure.
That too.
Ben: Damn Jeremy.
Emily: I think I grew three more
crow's feet when you said that to me.
Ben: Emily, are you okay?
I wanna give you, I wanna like
put a blanket around ya and
Emily: it's okay.
It's okay.
I, I just got a, an email from Char
Oz novel and I know, well actually
no, that makes me also very old.
That's an ancient anime joke.
Fuck.
Ben: reference.
The Lesbian Gun dims.
That's what the kids like.
Emily: oh.
Yeah.
Uh, witch of Mercury.
You got em.
Witch of Mercury.
It's good.
And, um, I've seen all of it.
Jeremy: Uh,
Ben: up.
I haven't seen it.
I caught up on Hell's Paradise.
A show.
Emily: I haven't seen that.
Ben: it is.
Annihilation meets Suicide Squad.
Emily: That sounds dope as fuck.
Ben: It's pretty it's fucked up in
some oof anime ways, but also dope.
Jeremy: moderately dope.
Emily: Something, something.
Demon, slayer, esba.
Yeah.
So, yeah, there's, it's, it's a little bit
more I don't wanna say sensitive, because
there's not about a lot about the show.
That's nuanced is the word
I wanna, I wanted for that.
It's a lot more nuanced about the
representation of class and like race
dynamics, at least in the, later seasons.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Um, no, I, I think we've all sort
of said that we would recommend it.
Uh, what, what else would you
recommend people who, who enjoy
this, wanna see more stuff like this?
Alicia, what have you got?
Alicia: I'm gonna be honest with you.
I, I had nothing, you know, this
is everything that I wanted from a
procedural about paranormal stuff.
You know, it's like I.
Ben: If you liked this, watch it again.
Alicia: Yeah, that's, that's
the only recommendation,
recommendation that I've got.
They did do some important C
Ovid 19 messages during 2020.
So I'll probably be watching those a
little bit, just enjoying that, but,
Ben: We, yeah, we talked about it a
little earlier, but, uh, if you want
more, you know, Rural cops being cinnamon
rolls, uh, and you haven't seen it yet.
Definitely go give Hot Fuzz a watch
and then come back and thank me
for recommending Hot Fuzz to you
if you somehow haven't seen it yet.
Emily: Hot Fuzz does also lead into
like the cops being kind of like
Ben: It does, but, well, I don't
wanna say yes, but I can't refute you.
I can't counter without spoiling the
Emily: Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ben: you somehow haven't watched
Hot Fuzz and you are listening to
this, I, I don't wanna spoil you.
I, yeah, look, there's propaganda.
You can't avoid it.
There's, we discussed
this in our evil episode.
There's just a certain level that
is, I guess, you know, we choose how
much poison we accept in our meals.
Emily: It's, but also I think the
important thing about Hot Fuzz is that
one, it's about, corruption, right?
It's about classism.
It's about British people
Ben: it's a movie where they originally
had a love interest for Simon Peg,
but then they decided to just cut her
character out, but just give all of her
scenes in dialogue to Nick Frost instead.
Emily: Is that really what they did?
Ben: Yeah, yeah.
There was originally a love interest,
and then they just cut, and then they
decided to cut out the love interest
and just give those scenes to more
Nick Frost Simon Peg diet relationship,
Emily: so good.
Ben: which is why, again, one reason
why I prefer, while they're all amazing
movies, why I prefer Hot Fuzz to Sean of
the Dead and, um, world's End is because
of the way Hot Fuzz is just laser focused.
On that Simon Peg, Nick
Frost relationship.
Emily: Yeah, no, I think that's the,
I also agree that's my favorite one.
Ben: Do you have any recommendations?
Emily: I do, I was gonna recommend
now my mind just went blank, of course.
I do of course what we do in the
shadows, you gotta watch that.
The movie mainly the show also.
But another thing I would definitely
recommend is reservation dogs which is
an American set Tika, Y T t produced.
Produced a show, but the actual
show runner is from Oklahoma.
Remind me, uh, I need
to remember his name.
Boop.
Ben: Name is, oh, GU Hova.
Emily: thank you Alicia, for editing this
Alicia: Take your time.
Emily: Created.
Yeah, Sterling Harrow.
The, uh, yeah, reservation dogs.
It's on fx.
It's created by Sterling Harrow.
It's mostly Sterling Harrows
project 'cause it's a, you know,
more close to home for him.
But, um, taco y t is, is
an executive producer.
And that one has, it is a little bit,
it's, it can be very sad at times, but it
has some really weird, magical realism.
And also very, it is filling a very,
very vast void that we have right
now that is Native American media.
So I highly recommend it.
And if you're interested in that kind
of magical realism, this is nothing
much like, the, the mood or the
genre of Wellton paranormal, but I
really have to recommend I'm a Virgo.
That series talk about committing
to just total insanity.
That series is really good, really
cool in the way that it, it has
like really cool in its messaging.
And its interpretations and just
like, so weird, but like my specific
kind of weird that I love it.
Ben: I thought you were gonna gonna
say reservation dogs, which is, uh,
third season is starting real soon,
Emily: Oh
Ben: third season will
probably have started by the
time this episode comes out.
Emily: yeah.
So there's, I, I would recommend
reservation dogs and I'm a Virgo.
Jeremy: So, uh, a couple
things to recommend here.
I think obviously our flag means staff.
If people haven't seen it, we've
recommended it several times.
I think along with what we do in
the shadows in various versions like
this is, that's an obvious thing.
Uh, a little less commonly talked about.
I think on here is, uh, Reese Darby
did a series it's like, it's just an
eight episode thing of, basically,
it's almost like Reese Darby's version
of, of, I think you should leave.
Uh, it's called Short Poppies.
Yeah.
And it's, uh, you know, each one
of them, he plays a, a strange.
England character.
It follows David Farrier, who's
theoretically the main character, who's a
Alicia: He plays a strange what?
Jeremy: New Zealand character.
Alicia: Okay, sorry.
I heard New England character
and I was like, I don't, okay.
My bad.
Sorry.
Jeremy: it follows David Farrier,
who is a reporter who is going around
interviewing these interesting characters
around New Zealand, all of whom are
played by Reece Stary in, you know,
various aspects, just doing bits and
characters in, in a very fun way.
It's, you know, all of eight episodes.
So like, it's very easy to get through in,
in one sitting if you want, if not, you
know, over the course of a couple days.
But it's a lot of fun and he is, you
know, different character every time,
but still doing very re stary humor.
So if you enjoy him, you enjoy
this show, I think you'll also
enjoy short poppies as well.
That said, uh, that's gonna wrap it up.
Sorry.
Alicia: I finally have a recommendation.
Jeremy: What's your recommendation?
Alicia: You should watch Bluey.
That's all.
That's
Jeremy: The children's
cartoon movie,
Alicia: Yeah.
Emily: I hear
Alicia: from New Zealand
Emily: lot of my friends
recommend Bluey to me.
Alicia: Yeah.
I mean, it's also the same
sense of humor, just no ghosts.
Emily: Interesting.
Jeremy: it will occasionally make
you cry totally unexpectedly.
It'll just throw you a curve ball
and you'll be like, oh my God,
this dog is such a good father.
I wish I was as amazing as this dog.
All right, so that, uh, wraps us up here.
Alicia, do you wanna let people know where
they can find out more about, about you
and what you do and what you're up to?
Alicia: Absolutely.
If you're interested, you can
find me on at Alicia Whitley
on Twitter for right now.
Although I did just get the invite
code for spill, so I might give that
a try, see what happens over there.
Yeah, where I mostly tweet about
education and social justice.
Jeremy: Uh, Emily, what about you?
Emily: I'm Mega Moth on Patreon.
Mega moth.net is my website, which sort
of gets you to everywhere that I am.
Mega Moth on Twitter and Blue Sky.
So, if that, if that's
continues to take off.
Cool.
Yeah.
And mega Mouth on Instagram.
Jeremy: Uh, and Ben, what about you?
Ben: You can find me@benconcomics.com
and on Twitter at at ben.
Do con Instagram at once again, Ben Con
comics, uh, where you can find info on
where to find past work like Renegade
Rule and Griffin Galaxies Most wanted.
And you can now pre-order l
Campbell wins their weekend.
My pro's debut from
Scholastic out October 17th.
Jeremy: And as for me, you can find
me at my website@jeremywhitley.com.
You can find me on Twitter at jro five
eight on Blue Sky at Jeremy Whitley.
On Tumblr, at Jeremy Whitley.
And you can find, uh, all sorts of
information about the new stuff I've
got coming out, including, uh, the,
the recently released Dog Knight.
Which you can still very much
buy and it would be appreciated.
It's also illustrated by BRE in
Nigo, who's been a frequent guest on
here and is just generally awesome.
The podcast is on Patreon at
progressively horrified on our website
at progressively horrified transistor
fm on Twitter at prog horror pod.
We would love to hear from you, so hit us
up and we can, uh, we can talk about this
or whatever other scary stuff you're into.
Speaking of loving to hear from you,
we would love it if you'd reviewed this
podcast wherever you're listening to it.
Giving us five stars on your pod
catcher helps us find new listeners.
Thanks again to Alicia for joining us.
It was great having you as always.
Alicia: Thank you.
Jeremy: And, uh, thank you to Ben and
Emily and all of you for joining me here.
And until next time, stay horrified.
Clap.
Ben: We did it another episode in the bag.