Mystery Maniacs

🎙️ Episode:  https://share.transistor.fm/s/e99cc14c
📓 Show Notes: https://midsomermaniacs.transistor.fm/249

Mystery Maniacs Episode! In Podcast 249, a killer uses a light to kill in a room full of murder magnets who should not wear skinny jeans. Stop singing, you're going to be arrested! 

Show Notes
Mindsomer Murders Live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFhfkccb3Vk


Thanks again for listening!
 
Mark & Sarah

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Upcoming Tentative  Schedule
  • October 27 - The Brokenwood Mysteries S09E02 - "Old Blood Money"
  • November 5 - November Newsletter

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Creators and Guests

Host
Mark Bell
Co-host of Mystery Maniacs
Host
Sarah Smith-Robbins
Co-host of Mystery Maniacs

What is Mystery Maniacs?

Mystery Maniacs Podcast is a comedy recap podcast dedicated to British Mystery Television. Formerly, Midsomer Maniacs podcast.

Mark:

He doesn't know what a good superhero is, but that's okay.

Sarah:

Likes Spider Man over Batman.

Mark:

Children can learn that Batman is better than Spider Man. It's a

Sarah:

Hey, maniacs.

Mark:

Hey, mystery maniacs. Mystery maniacs is a comedy recap podcast dedicated to mystery TV. Each week, we dig into an episode of a show including the murders, the mayhem, the loonies, and everything else we love. This week, the Brokenwood Mysteries.

Sarah:

Season nine, episode one. Brokenwood. The musical.

Mark:

The musical. I'm not going to sing.

Sarah:

It's so bad.

Mark:

I'm Mark.

Sarah:

I hate his gloves. I'm just gonna say it. They're dirty and gross, and they

Mark:

freak me out. That's okay. He's dirty and gross too.

Sarah:

I just had to get it out. I'm Sarah, by the way.

Mark:

This is a spoiler podcast. So we give away who the killer is

Sarah:

We're gonna wear it.

Mark:

And what gloves he wears. Well, he

Sarah:

he's the

Mark:

He's the victim. But and if you let your kids go to musicals, which I recommend that you don't. Why? Because I hate musicals.

Sarah:

They just get songs stuck in their heads.

Mark:

And then I had a child who chose to do musicals and I went to a bunch of musicals and I still don't like them.

Sarah:

I would rather have to go see a child perform in a musical than have to watch Frozen 40 times a day or something like Yes. Which a lot of our friends who have younger kids have been exposed to.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Yeah. I'll take it.

Mark:

Ladies and gentlemen, hockey is upon us, baseball is upon us, Toronto is winning all over the place. I'm a happy boy when it comes to sports.

Sarah:

Good for you, the rest of us. But Follow it.

Mark:

I wanna start off the show talking about Midsummer Live. So Midsummer Live is a on stage production that we've talked about a couple of times.

Sarah:

Mhmm.

Mark:

First of all, we give Midsummer social media nothing but crap. We give them crap all the time.

Sarah:

Mhmm.

Mark:

We have said not very nice things. Their video for the Midsummer live shows is excellent.

Sarah:

Yeah. We saw it on Instagram. Right? Yes.

Mark:

Yeah. It has all the good stuff that we would expect to see in it. Mhmm. And then Daniel Casey as Barnaby at the end.

Sarah:

I think he's gonna be great.

Mark:

I think so. His sergeant is played by James Bradwell, who some of you might know from Bridgerton. Mhmm. This is a big get for them, I bet.

Sarah:

Mhmm.

Mark:

This is this is quite the

Sarah:

I think Daniel Casey is kind of a big get.

Mark:

I think so too. There are a lot of dates. Right? So it starts on the October 24 in London and goes all the way to the June 6 and their final shows are in Dublin.

Sarah:

That's awesome. I So that's lots of opportunities for you who are over there

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

To go and see it and be a correspondent Yes. For the podcast.

Mark:

That's what we need you to do. Yes. We need correspondents to be taking pictures and meeting people, and especially if you meet other maniacs. We definitely wanna hear about that.

Sarah:

And we wanna talk to you and see what it was like.

Mark:

Yes. We wanna hear about to go. About what it was like.

Sarah:

If you are planning to go, if you have tickets already, email us at mysterymaniacspodcast@Gmail.com. Let us know when you're gonna go. Yep. We'll put together a schedule of interviews of people who are going to go so we can talk to them after they have been.

Mark:

Absolutely. Because midsummer, new midsummer dates are imminent and we'll talk more about those at the end of the show but we're expecting new midsummer season 25 in December on Acorn. But that information has not been released yet.

Sarah:

No. We don't know yet.

Mark:

Yes. But we have been watching Evensong on Acorn, which is excellent.

Sarah:

I I really like Evensong so far. I I the actress who plays his mother, whose name I I don't know. I should have found it. Her name in Nutrix. She was the the female Yes.

Sarah:

DCI in Nutrix.

Mark:

Amanda Redmond.

Sarah:

Yeah. She's great, And she's super good as his mom. Yes. Matthew Lewis, you might know him as Neville Longbottom when he was a kid in the Harry Potter movies. He's grown And I so far, think they're really they're set in the eighties, which is kind of interesting.

Sarah:

So well worth a watch.

Mark:

It's it's definitely set in the eighties, but isn't overwhelmed by eighties made up culture, I guess, you would say.

Sarah:

Yeah. I mean, it touches on current events, though, like the AIDS epidemic, and the music is current to then.

Mark:

What we learned was that Richard Coles, who wrote it, was in not only Bronsky beat, but the communards as well.

Sarah:

Couple of bands that half of us probably have never heard of, but

Mark:

But we're definitely eighties To

Sarah:

go from an eighties kind of punky band to being a reverend and an author and a comedian is kind of a Quite the art.

Mark:

He he's had quite the life. He is a he has a memoir out from pop to preacher, think it's called, that I may read after I finish Evensong, the first book. Cool. Because I think he he definitely had an interesting life.

Sarah:

We've also been watching the new season of Karen Peary on BritBox.

Mark:

If you need a reminder, she's the millennial detective with the fanny pack. And the popped collar. Yes. So I had not noticed this in the first episode. The first episode, one of the very sub sub sub subplots is that her sergeant, who she calls Mintz, because his name is Murray, because Murray Mintz is a thing Mhmm.

Mark:

Said that she had a nickname and then he tries to say not what it is. And later on she asks what it is. And at one point he says, Fanny Pack. And she looks at him like, what?

Sarah:

Because because that means the fanny's quite different Yeah. In The UK. And they don't call it a fanny pack. They call it a bum bag. Yes.

Sarah:

Right? Which if we we heard bum bag, we would that's not very flattering either. It and to be fair, it's not flattering as she wears it. No. But it's a good show.

Sarah:

If you watch the first season, you'll like the second season so far. If you didn't watch the first season, it's worth it's worth a watch. Yeah. Karen Peary.

Mark:

It's fun. Definitely good. And then I wanted to make a note that we've mentioned something wicked this way comes on the podcast before, and we lamented that it was unavailable on any streaming service.

Sarah:

Not that it's a mystery. It's a Ray Bradbury story. It's a creepy kids movie. Yes. The Disney movie that was gone?

Sarah:

Disappeared? Very For a long time. Halloweeny. Yeah. It's on and now it's on Disney plus.

Sarah:

Yes. So you can watch it over and over and over again.

Mark:

Oh, I've only watched it twice so far. It is so epically Halloween y.

Sarah:

Yeah. And Jonathan Price is in it. A young Jonathan Price. Doctor

Mark:

mister Dark, and Jason Robarts is in it as well.

Sarah:

Speaking Jonathan Price is in that, along with Isn't Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Jonathan Price is also in Slow Horses

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

With Gary Old man, who is awesome, based on the books by Nick Heron. It's on Apple Plus. It's the fifth season.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

It's so good. It's very, very good. If you haven't watched Slow Horses yet, go back, watch it if you've got access to Apple Plus. And if you did, oh, don't miss the new season. It's it's probably I think it may be one of the best.

Sarah:

I mean, it's the best one. It's my favorite book of the series. Yeah. So it's, yeah, really good.

Mark:

It's super good.

Sarah:

On a side note, if you follow Midsommar Murders on Instagram, I don't know if they posted it other places.

Mark:

Band posted on Reddit too.

Sarah:

A band with an odd name wrote and released a song about Barnaby that the Midsommar Murders official account cross posted and promoted with like a little music video. Because the song is called Barnaby, and it's about Barnaby.

Mark:

Mister Barnaby is what it's called.

Sarah:

The name of the band is Shit Baby Mammals.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

The post says, though the band has a naughty name, we really like the song. I have mixed feelings about the song. It's fun.

Mark:

It's a little weird that it's a song about John Nettles whose birthday it is today. He's 82 This Saturday. That we're we're recording. But not about the new Barnaby.

Sarah:

No. It's it says something like, give me give me my

Mark:

Old Barnaby. Yeah.

Sarah:

The old guy back. The o g or something. Yeah. Like, it it's purposefully against the new Barnaby.

Mark:

Which seems weird, but, you know, we've mentioned in this

Sarah:

show people have that opinion.

Mark:

That Midsummer social media is a bit weird.

Sarah:

Yeah. But it's kind of a fun song

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

By a band who has a very brave name. Yes. It's kind of a limiting name, I think. You're kinda putting a cap on how popular you're gonna be when you name your band Shit Baby Mammals.

Mark:

Yeah.

Sarah:

Are you ready to talk about Brokenwood?

Mark:

Brokenwood the musical was aired in the 04/10/1939. Oh my gosh.

Sarah:

One hundred years ago.

Mark:

02/2023. Like last week basically. Like a mere two years ago. Directed by Katie Wolf who is the woman who played the spider expert in the early on episodes and written by Timothy Baum. Katie Wolf and Timothy Baum had a meeting and said, let's write some silly songs about Brokenwood and have every single guest star we've ever had in a single episode.

Sarah:

It's not everybody, but it's a lot.

Mark:

It's a lot.

Sarah:

You can't have a mystery show set in a small town and not have a theater group that has tons of internal drama.

Mark:

Midsummer's done it all sorts of

Sarah:

You can't have a small theater troupe in a small town without having a prima donna run it.

Mark:

Yes. Midsummer's done it twice.

Sarah:

Somebody who is The way too big for their

Mark:

off market Kurgan episode also the very it's like third episode.

Sarah:

Off market Kirk. That's what we call that. He's gonna get.

Mark:

That is a deep, deep,

Sarah:

deep You're talking about the episode with the performance of Amadeus Yes. At the corn market where where Joyce is on stage when the guy slits his own throat.

Mark:

Oh, and and by the way, if you go to see Midsummer live, wear your maniacs merch. How you

Sarah:

know what I'm saying. How you recognize each other. Just a tote bag, you know, something. Carry a mug. I don't care.

Mark:

And a group picture of all the maniacs there there that night would All be two.

Sarah:

Oh my gosh. That would be awesome. All two people.

Mark:

We would go, but I'm scared to leave the country anyway.

Sarah:

Anyway. Yeah, so you can't have small town mystery without having a theater troupe. A musical theater troupe, I think, takes the drama to another level. I think people who perform musicals, because they have a plethora of talents

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Are maybe more dramatic as people.

Mark:

I don't know. These these groups are everywhere.

Sarah:

And Kristen got a haircut.

Mark:

Yes. The group the town that I grew up in had a group that was called the Mississippi Mudds that performed shows just like this.

Sarah:

Were they about Carleton Place Canada?

Mark:

No. But they they did musicals and

Sarah:

But did they write their own? They sometimes did.

Mark:

And we went to every one of them because we were so bored that it was exciting to go to something.

Sarah:

We forgot the Pirates of Penzance Midsummer.

Mark:

Yes. That's the Well, that's the Kurgan one.

Sarah:

Oh, that's right. That's Kurgan. Never mind.

Mark:

There can only be one. Off brand Kurgan. Wow. We're so deep in the rest.

Sarah:

I think Kristen's hair looks great. I like her new haircut.

Mark:

I think she has a new girlfriend, which is she goes everywhere with Gina now. Yeah. Mike's by himself, and we find out why at the end of the episode. But mostly, it's because he didn't get unmarried and didn't tell anyone.

Sarah:

All I have to say is I love it like crazy where no one is lazy. Dogs don't have rabies. Let's settle down and have some babies.

Mark:

That has some fantastic

Sarah:

AI would do a better job Yeah. Writing lyrics than that. Yes. Terry Weaver deserves that light fixture.

Mark:

For a number of reasons. He is a despicable human being that deserves to die.

Sarah:

Not just for his parents.

Mark:

Think you should kill anybody, but if you're in a cozy mystery and you kill a person for this reason, I might let you get away with it.

Sarah:

I kind of like plots where the most despicable, unlikable person is also the victim.

Mark:

Yes. I can understand.

Sarah:

Because then we don't have to see them very much.

Mark:

I totally understand that.

Sarah:

When you start watching a show and you're like, oh, I hate that character. Yes. I hope they get killed.

Mark:

Yes. You

Sarah:

feel a little bad, but not not a lot. Yeah. Not a lot bad. It also includes Frodo rapping and break dancing.

Mark:

One thing we are not going to do one thing we are not going to do is go through every Shakespeare reference No. In this production because they're all over the place in this show. And I do wanna bring up that the woman who does the country song Mhmm. And the Crab Shack song

Sarah:

Mhmm.

Mark:

Is on the poster. Okay? He tells her that she should get a starring role and sing two songs.

Sarah:

Okay? You're talking about Sue. Sue. Because she gets to play Crab Shack Jenny. Yes.

Mark:

But purveyor of

Sarah:

fish based meals.

Mark:

That's what he In the scene where he offers her the role because he says she's too old to play Settler Mary or whatever it is. There is the poster of her in costume in the background.

Sarah:

Mhmm.

Mark:

That's that's a problem. Mhmm.

Sarah:

And they're in the theater too. Yeah. Like that's the that's the poster.

Mark:

Well, that's okay that when it's in the theater because that would be promotion but this when they have the discussion to ask her to do those parts

Sarah:

Oh, and she's already playing the part in the picture?

Mark:

She's already playing the

Sarah:

Gotcha. Part in the see. Yeah. That's kind of time wise impossible, isn't it?

Mark:

No. So Frodo

Sarah:

Unless he tricked her into putting the costume on and took the photo and told her that that was the settler lady costume.

Mark:

Maybe, except it's got a crab. Tonight, the player of Statue Of Liberty will be played by Terry Weaver. I love how they're just completely like, oh, okay.

Sarah:

It's a pretty fancy theater to have one of those lifts that comes from under the floor.

Mark:

Yeah. It

Sarah:

is. That's pretty snazzy for a small theater.

Mark:

It is indeed. Frodo raps.

Sarah:

And breakdances. Don't forget. It's breakdances.

Mark:

It's sad that I have to say that bro Frodo is probably a better breakdancer than he is a rapper.

Sarah:

He's not saying much. So we've got

Mark:

Then by the way, Frodo has the easiest gig in this.

Sarah:

Oh, yeah.

Mark:

He sings. He does the little rap thing.

Sarah:

And then looks sad.

Mark:

He dances. He does one interview with Mike, and then he's there at the end to tell the other guy not to clap. Yeah. And that is it.

Sarah:

And just looks sad in the background in the meantime.

Mark:

Yep.

Sarah:

So we've got Vicky and Timothy, who are the main characters in the musical, who are a couple

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Who are as sweet as they can be Very, very sweet. Todd Yes. And Frodo.

Mark:

Todd who

Sarah:

Todd has more jobs than Frodo. Yes. Roger Yes. The psychiatrist who is the partner of the reverend. Also Psychiatrist who attracts murder.

Mark:

With Todd, Frodo, and the doctor, there is no way someone is not dying in this They

Sarah:

shouldn't be allowed to be in any kind of activities together.

Mark:

All murder magnets.

Sarah:

And then Sue, who is Crab Shack Jenny, and Missy Yes. The water tester

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

And then Terrence Weaver who is the director, writer Yes. Asshole in the glove. His gloves.

Mark:

Does he have the gloves on when he's dressed up

Sarah:

as Always. Sorry. No. I actually don't think he has them on when he's dressed up as the Statue Of Liberty because I remember in the flashback scene, he touches Vicky's costume. Yes.

Sarah:

And I think he's gonna get green paint on that white dress.

Mark:

Yeah.

Sarah:

Don't touch her.

Mark:

Yes. Well, he shouldn't touch her for a number of reasons.

Sarah:

Oh, for a million reasons. Yeah.

Mark:

So And the return

Sarah:

of Rafe Sinjin.

Mark:

Yes. The man with two pretentious names. Rafe and Singin.

Sarah:

So he's the second character who has killed someone, gone to prison, and come back. Yes. Him and Trudy.

Mark:

Him and Trudy.

Sarah:

Trudy is fantastic in this episode. Like,

Mark:

got removed from prison super easily. Removed? Like, got let out of prison. Yeah.

Sarah:

Yeah. He should be doing more time than he's done.

Mark:

Yes. And the doctor comes out with no pants on as Captain Cook. Everybody laughs. He's a brave actor.

Sarah:

Yeah. He's dedicated.

Mark:

He's got some decent legs on him for a man his age.

Sarah:

I love that the the costume shirt is just long enough to leave you wondering if he has anything underneath it.

Mark:

Indeed it does.

Sarah:

Tighty whities probably.

Mark:

Yes. So I have in my notes in a room full of murder magnets, obviously a light is gonna fall on somebody's head. And what do you know? While singing The Star Spangled Banner, he gets hit by a light.

Sarah:

Can we just talk about Terry's despicableness? Okay. Get it out of

Mark:

the way. Okay. Let's get this out of

Sarah:

the way. Because his gloves really gross me out.

Mark:

We heard the gloves.

Sarah:

But beyond that, he's a liar?

Mark:

Let let's get to the end and the reason for the killing, but before that, he is faking out everybody in this production.

Sarah:

Yeah. Well, it's he get the funding to put it on. He he lied to the mayor and and showed him letters supporting the production that were fake from producers and Broadway and stuff. Like, he's just fabricated everything. I mean, the dude is a loser.

Sarah:

He lives in a one bedroom apartment Yep. That is just full of his grossness.

Mark:

He's trying to sell it a theater production that you could put on anywhere, especially in The United States.

Sarah:

Especially any town that ends in wood. Yes.

Mark:

The one they mention is Castlewood, South Dakota, which is actually a real place.

Sarah:

It's not hard to find places that end in wood. I wanna know what Terry does with the $100 he gets from the city because it's certainly not in this production.

Mark:

Yeah. And and okay. No community the size of Brokenwood is giving a $100 to anything

Sarah:

They wouldn't have a tax base

Mark:

to pay for that. Road construction.

Sarah:

No. They'd have to get like a grant

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

I would think.

Mark:

And you can't don't do that to the mayor. Don't do that to the mayor. No. The mayor is the nicest guy in the world.

Sarah:

And a pharmacist.

Mark:

Yes. He's super helpful. Don't do that to me.

Sarah:

But he falls for it. Suddenly he's gullible.

Mark:

Then on top of all of it, he's both culturally appropriating people and sexually assaulting. Oh.

Sarah:

That scene with Vicky in his room, I just wanna go Just headbutt him. Just punch him.

Mark:

And she does headbutt him. No.

Sarah:

She kicks him in the crotch.

Mark:

Oh, she does. That's right.

Sarah:

Which It's okay too.

Mark:

And I wanna say that Brokenwood actually does a really good job of placing her in peril, giving him, like, saying the horrible things that he would say

Sarah:

Mhmm.

Mark:

But still remaining cozy.

Sarah:

Mhmm.

Mark:

It it there's

Sarah:

no Because nothing happens to her. She gets away.

Mark:

She gets away.

Sarah:

But the fact that he tries to attack her, and when he sees he's not going to get away with that, he doesn't just give up. He says, well, who's going to believe you that nothing happened? Yeah. Like just when you think he's hit the bottom, he digs a little deeper, and then he plays the Statue Of Liberty, sings like crap.

Mark:

Yep. Just

Sarah:

No. No. Anyhow, he dies. Yes. Oh, darn.

Mark:

Now there was one thing, and then we're not gonna go through everything. We're not gonna through

Sarah:

it point by point. No.

Mark:

No. But I did wanna mention that when they do the scene of the crime thing, Mike asked, what is this x on the floor? And Chalmers and Sims share a look. And I think that is some reference to Neil Ray not knowing where to stand and see

Sarah:

Not hitting his mark? Not hitting his mark. I think you might be reading into it. But if you're right, it's funny.

Mark:

It it it's really on the nose. Right? And they've done theater stuff before. Well, yeah. So I think it's kinda on the nose.

Mark:

So.

Sarah:

The other character we've not mentioned is Grey Jenkins, who is the mayor's partner.

Mark:

And the costumer in town.

Sarah:

Yeah. He's great. Yes. I was I I didn't know if I liked him. Yeah.

Sarah:

But I really like him. I really like Trudy in this episode. Yes. And I really like Missy in this episode.

Mark:

Missy is fantastic.

Sarah:

Missy is abrasive, but good.

Mark:

And her explanation of missing her date with Chalmers is on the nose.

Sarah:

Yeah. And she's right to want to explain it to him first. Before telling Kristen.

Mark:

All completely.

Sarah:

What I really like that they did though, they do a good job with her character because she is super abrasive and super standoffish and stands up for herself almost to a fault. But like in the scene where she's in the cafe and she sees Vicky after they've had a couple of rehearsals before Missy leaves the show, it's like genuine friendship between her and Vicky. Like she's a warm person to people that she likes.

Mark:

She can sing. Yeah. That actress can sing. Yeah. When she's asked to be the cultural advisor, she's like, I'm not qualified for that.

Mark:

Mhmm. I understand my culture, but that doesn't mean that I should be a cultural adviser. That shows a maturity of a person.

Sarah:

Yeah. Yeah. I just like her. I like what they do with her character in this episode. Yes.

Sarah:

Absolutely. Chalmers Kristen calls Chalmers a Nigel no mates

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

For being stood up Yes. For the date with Missy.

Mark:

Nigel no mates.

Sarah:

I've never heard Nigel no mates, but I like it.

Mark:

So Frodo gets interviewed, and he gets asked about seeing a gentleman dressed as a Jew. And Frodo goes, I'm going full froed here, and calls him an acidic

Sarah:

Jew. Yeah. But it's it's it's worse than even that, because the reason why Rafe is dressed like that is because when he played Shylock, that's how he portrayed Shylock.

Mark:

As a Hasidic Jew, which has nothing to do with that play.

Sarah:

No. Rafe Rafe is also contemptible, but he's absolutely deluded. He's just broken.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

You know?

Mark:

And I love how the lawyer says he he's deluded. And Kristen goes, yeah. We know. He killed

Sarah:

somebody. The last time he was involved in any kind of theater, somebody died because of him. Because he's jealous and wanted to play Hamlet, though he's like 70.

Mark:

Yeah.

Sarah:

I love him reciting Shakespeare at the Snake and Tiger though.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Dressed in all black like a beatnik with his little keyboard.

Mark:

True. He's like, I let him on at two. Yeah. He's like, not at lunch. No.

Mark:

No. I wanna keep

Sarah:

stuff. I believe in a second chance, but I still have to run a business. And then she says that he's he's causing her regulars to drink more because they're trying to, like, tune him out with alcohol or something. So he's good for business.

Mark:

I think in this episode, they also do a fantastic job with Gina.

Sarah:

Mhmm. Yeah. She's fun.

Mark:

Particularly the shoelaces twister thing.

Sarah:

I wanna know how many times she had to shoot that scene to get her wrist so quickly. Like, did they have to put a wire in her shoestring so that it would stay the loop would stay open enough for her to put her hand in it that quickly?

Mark:

I guess because

Sarah:

she does a really good job at it.

Mark:

She does a very good job. Kristen's super nosy at the beginning of this episode, but then not at the end. Mhmm. And I think that's okay. Oh my gosh.

Mark:

You know, the the trivia and goof section of IMDb is a battleground of stupidity.

Sarah:

It often is.

Mark:

And the note about the sword of Damocles in this episode was, like, so incredibly pedantic. Actually, it's not the king who's in the chair. Whatever. It works. You're missing the point.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Congratulations. You showed how smart you are. Are you happy? Yes. Are you proud?

Sarah:

Go away.

Mark:

What's that?

Sarah:

Rafe is so delusional that he goes to the grave of the man that he killed. To do Yorick. Yeah. Over a grave, and Gray shows up and is furious. And I'm like, you tell him.

Sarah:

Because Rafe is so out of it, like just out of touch, inconsiderate, self absorbed. And Rafe is like, but it was a mistake. And Grey says, 60 year old men wearing skinny jeans is a mistake. You killed somebody. You killed somebody.

Mark:

That is the line I of the

Sarah:

like that line. The cops at the cop shop are drinking soda out of glass bottles. What are they drinking?

Mark:

They're drinking karma soda.

Sarah:

What's that?

Mark:

That's the thing they've mentioned in the last five episodes.

Sarah:

But now it's in a glass bottle?

Mark:

It's always been in a glass bottle.

Sarah:

Oh, I thought it was in a can. Nope. Well, that explains it.

Mark:

Ass over kite. Is that a New Zealand thing?

Sarah:

Because it's ass over kettle. Yeah. Because you're carrying a kettle and you fall and you trip like, you trip so badly. Yeah. Who gets married at the snake and tiger?

Mark:

I don't

Sarah:

know. Because they're planning quite the reception there. Yes. They actually kind of make it look nice, Sort sort of. By just hiding everything.

Sarah:

Maybe it's the only venue in town. It looks really big

Mark:

It does.

Sarah:

When they've got everything out of it.

Mark:

It does.

Sarah:

What's her name? The the wedding planner lady does a good job.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

It looks nice.

Mark:

Yes. Now, at the cafe, Sarah asked a question when we were rewatching this, to which I had to reply, it's a kiwi. The thing in the background on the wallpaper.

Sarah:

There's a repeating pattern behind the reverend when he's sitting at the table talking to Mike and Sims. And it's like a yellowy, butterscotchy kind of colored wall, and there's a brown repeating pattern on it. And it's kind of an abstract silhouette. And I'm like, what is that? But you know what?

Sarah:

Everything in that cafe makes me go, what is that? Yes. There's a wall that's made out of like old wood pallets. There's this big dried coral flower mushroom growth thing thing that looks like it's about 10 feet across on the wall. There's just some strange things in that place.

Sarah:

Yep. As soon as you said it's a kiwi, I was like, oh, of course it is. It's a bird. Yes. Duh.

Sarah:

Yeah. Obviously. Of course, Dennis Buchanan comes and represents Rafe.

Mark:

Of course, he does.

Sarah:

He has

Mark:

to. Of course. He's fantastic.

Sarah:

You have to get the nuttiest lawyer to represent the nuttiest client.

Mark:

And he doesn't do like, they have a little confab in the hallway Yeah. Where

Sarah:

they're Let's go talk reality away from the crazy person.

Mark:

Where finally Mike says, I'm going to put him back in prison if he doesn't start talking. Yeah. Because he wasn't supposed to be at a theater. I'm sure there were certain people he wasn't supposed to be around. All of that he completely ignores.

Sarah:

Rafe needs some therapy.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

When he says, I played Othello. Yes. And Chalmers just looks at him like, you did, Really? Yeah. And then Rave said, and I had to do the whole, and gestures to his face.

Sarah:

Chalmers Chalmers eyes roll so hard, you can almost hear it. Like, of course you did. Yes. Because you're insane. And now I'm just picturing the actor who plays Rafe at the age he is in the episode with black face on.

Sarah:

Oh. And how horrible and stupid he would look.

Mark:

Just horrific. Missy misses the date with Chalmers with a completely valid reason.

Sarah:

Yeah. Which is her child is sick. Yeah. Her little boy was spewing everywhere.

Mark:

Had to go to the hospital. Right? He looks about eight or nine. Yeah. He doesn't know what a good superhero is, but that's okay.

Sarah:

He likes Spider Man over Bat Man.

Mark:

Children can learn that Batman is better than Spider Man. It's okay.

Sarah:

Batman is not a superhero.

Mark:

Okay.

Sarah:

He has no powers. Okay? He does. Money is his power. Yes.

Sarah:

And that's not a superpower. That's like saying Elon Musk is a superhero. No. Because he's rich.

Mark:

No. He's not. No. It's Because a bat a combination of things. He's rich.

Sarah:

It's complicated.

Mark:

And mentally broken enough to dress up in a costume and beat people up.

Sarah:

And that makes him a superhero?

Mark:

That's what he

Sarah:

is. We've had this conversation before. Can you tell?

Mark:

Anyway, Chalmers does the right thing and interacts positively with the child. He's great. And simply He's great

Sarah:

with that little boy.

Mark:

And simply says, okay. That's who you are, and I completely understand.

Sarah:

You want a deep cut? Yep. I have a note.

Mark:

Okay.

Sarah:

That says Reif performing Shakespeare in the pub is like Vogon poetry.

Mark:

Yes. Woah. That is an appropriate deep cut.

Sarah:

If you've ever read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, there's a race of aliens

Mark:

That blow up the earth.

Sarah:

Who torture people by reading their poetry to them, and it makes your ears bleed and makes you go insane because it's so bad.

Mark:

They choose to be thrown out of a spaceship rather than listen to Rather

Sarah:

than hear anymore. Yeah. Thrown out of a spaceship into space Yes. Rather than hear any more Vogue on poetry. Yes.

Sarah:

That's that's Rafe at the snake and tiger. I love when Mike says, Rafe, get out of the car.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

It's the only moment where Rafe is like, you're right. Yeah, I get it. I'm Like, reality kind of Beeps together. Little bit out

Mark:

of the car.

Sarah:

I have a major issue with the plot of this episode that I need you to help me with. Yes. So Rafe and Mike are sitting in the car at the Snake And Tiger because Mike has given Rafe a ride there after they've released him from the police station because he has an alibi. Yes. Right?

Sarah:

And they're talking.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

And Rafe explains to Mike that Terry was a predator.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

And then he liked to trap women and manipulate women. Yes. And he tells him what he observed when Vicky and Terry were sitting at the Snake And Tiger, and Terry was trying to convince Vicky to change her name.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Right? And then lures her back to his apartment Yes. With the letter from the supposed Broadway producer.

Mark:

I hate that. I hate that Rafe also is like and she couldn't get her panties off fast enough.

Sarah:

I know.

Mark:

Oh, Rafe, you're horrible.

Sarah:

He is. But he conveys that information and that's important because that's the that's the proof that Mike needs to know that Vicky may have gone to Terry's apartment, though she says she's she was never there.

Mark:

Because in his completeness of description, he also mentions Whose? Rafe's.

Sarah:

Mhmm.

Mark:

Completeness of descriptions, he also gives an entire inventory of what Vicky is wearing, including her earrings.

Sarah:

That's the problem I have.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

So Mike has found an earring in Rafe's room. He and Kristen agree that it could be a man's earring or a woman's earring.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

And Terry had pierced ears. He wore earrings.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

So it could be his.

Mark:

It could be.

Sarah:

There's only one. It could be his. And yet, from Rafe's telling of that story of their conversation at lunch, Mike has a revelation that the earring belongs to Vicky. It is. How can he know that?

Mark:

Mike cannot know that, but the audience knows that because we see it.

Sarah:

So he's just taking a chance that the earring that he found is hers?

Mark:

No. I think it's a problem in the plot, but is solved by television.

Sarah:

And by her confessions.

Mark:

And I think that and I think they edited it in a way that makes me feel they probably realized that. There's a

Sarah:

little gap.

Mark:

There's a little gappy gap there.

Sarah:

Okay. Now I need you to take a trip with me Okay. To a place I called Knitter's Corner. Yes. Welcome to Knitter's Corner.

Mark:

Okay. Hi.

Sarah:

Hi. It's very nice. You're not a knitter, but I

Mark:

I'm I'm not a knitter, but boy, there's a lot of yarn here.

Sarah:

I have knit many a sweater

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Out of many of variation of kinds of fibers.

Mark:

Yes. Yes, you

Sarah:

have. I have never ever in my fifty years

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Knit a sweater out of yarn that would be strong enough to support that light. No. Because it would be the most uncomfortable sweater made of rope Yes. Ever. Yes.

Sarah:

Okay.

Mark:

And it's certainly not ma camre cord.

Sarah:

We say macrame and they say macrame. Yes. And that's fine.

Mark:

It's weird.

Sarah:

A word you say very often anyway. But so I will I will give them a nitter.

Mark:

Meanwhile, all our American listeners are like, oh.

Sarah:

Macrae. You have to watch it with the subtitles. Though, here in Knitter's Corner Yeah. We are giving the writers a big demerit for supposing that you could knit a sweater out of something strong enough to hold up a light.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

I will give them bonus points for the look of Timothy's sweater because that is the perfect example of a poorly knit sweater.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

It is I don't even know how the person who made it managed to do such a bad job and yet have a wearable garment. And he loves it. Of course he does, because she made it for him.

Mark:

She made it for him.

Sarah:

But if anybody who knits will know what I'm talking about. The decreases around the neck are completely wrong. It's like you're supposed to go down a needle size when you do ribbing because it makes it pull in so it's stretchy. She clearly didn't. It looks like she went up a needle size at the ribbing for the bottom.

Sarah:

I'm telling you, this is knitting corner. I warned you. This is like you talking about music.

Mark:

Okay.

Sarah:

His sweater is the quintessential first sweater somebody tries to knit. Like it has all of the problems that somebody who doesn't quite know what they're doing would create, and it is so well done. It is so well done.

Mark:

Well, I'm gonna

Sarah:

Bravo to whoever made that costume because it is perfectly bad.

Mark:

Yep. We we should ask Trudy if her friend made that costume because wow.

Sarah:

So now we can leave Knitter's Corner.

Mark:

Now, in fact, that person Facebooked me. So I will Facebook them and ask. Yeah? Yeah. I will.

Sarah:

Great. Okay. It's it's it is it's great.

Mark:

I realize I'm a visitor here in Knitter's Corner, but I also have a comment about knitting to add to Knitter's Corner.

Sarah:

Okay.

Mark:

She has no idea how

Sarah:

to knit. Oh, no. The actress that plays Vicky does not know how to knit.

Mark:

In the same way that often people who play musicians have no idea how to hold or play their instruments.

Sarah:

I don't think any actress who's ever played Merple knows how to knit either. And she's supposedly constantly knitting things, and somebody's responsible for casting on a few rows of something on the needles and handing it to the actress

Mark:

I don't then know just if they even did that.

Sarah:

Who then just jams the needles into each other

Mark:

and plays with the down.

Sarah:

Yeah. Or sits them in their lap and holds them in a way that a knitter never would hold them because the stitches would immediately fall off.

Mark:

So that is my contribution to knitters.

Sarah:

That was a totally valid contribution to knitters corner. Congratulations.

Mark:

Do you have a review of the, craft shop where she buys the McCrammy?

Sarah:

It is, not a craft shop.

Mark:

It is a

Sarah:

craft shop.

Mark:

It's a craft shop.

Sarah:

They don't have enough balls of the same color of the same yarn to even make a sweater.

Mark:

They have a lot of ribbons.

Sarah:

Is she buying it at the hardware store?

Mark:

I don't know where she

Sarah:

is. Maybe that explains the yarn. She buys it at the hardware

Mark:

store.

Sarah:

I don't a jumbo shop.

Mark:

Maybe. Something? What I don't like is her the sudden hand movement due to get it catching on his wrist, which it wouldn't have actually, I don't like the wrist part.

Sarah:

Okay, I completely relate to the wrist. I can actually defend that. So one time I was walking a dog who was super rambunctious, and I had one of those leashes that reels into the handle, so you can let it out and let them run a little bit. And she took off with it, and it startled me enough that I let go of the leash, it fell out of my hand. So she ran, and as she ran, because the leash handle is heavy and was kind of catching on the grass, it stretched the leash out to its maximum length,

Mark:

Okay.

Sarah:

But then the dog decided to run back to me Oh. And pass to me. Oh. And then back to me. And when she did that, the leash cord wrapped around my bare ankle.

Sarah:

This I understand. Severed my Achilles tendon.

Mark:

I understand this. And I got enough rope burns from water skiing to absolutely understand this.

Sarah:

What

Mark:

I don't understand is how it works in this situation.

Sarah:

Like how it manages to loop itself around like that? Yes. What I don't understand is how you wear a sweater made out of something that is strong enough to hold up the light and rough enough to do that kind of abrasion. That sweater has got to be miserable.

Mark:

It can't be nice.

Sarah:

It's got to be rough.

Mark:

Timothy, with a callback to the Christmas episode with the steak and cheese pie being king of pies. Mhmm. Just a callback. Call it's like callback callback Shakespeare reference. Callback Shakespeare reference.

Mark:

Callback.

Sarah:

Yep. So here's a challenge to our listeners. When they're on stage in the denouement and Vicky confesses Yes. In a very sweet scene Yes. She and Timothy sing to each other before she goes.

Mark:

I'm absolutely sure that if she ran out of the building, Mike would be like, I guess we have to chase her. Yeah.

Sarah:

Do we have to? But they have this very sweet scene that makes everybody cry where they sing

Mark:

Including Sims.

Sarah:

Because they sing to each other all

Mark:

the Yeah.

Sarah:

It's just part of who they are.

Mark:

Yep.

Sarah:

And they sing to each other. And the line that she sings is, He called me nothing, and did I mention how much I love you? Yeah. And the way they sing it, it sounds familiar to me. But I searched all over the place for lyrics, and I can't find that song.

Sarah:

I thought at first maybe West Side Story or something like that. I couldn't find it anywhere. So listeners, if you recognize those lyrics, if you know where they're from, please tell us. Yes. If

Mark:

I have in my notes, stop singing. You're about to be arrested.

Sarah:

Yeah. If they wrote those lyrics for the episode, they did a really good job.

Mark:

They did.

Sarah:

Because it sounds like a musical, what they're singing to your side.

Mark:

And then in the best part of physical comedy in the entire episode, Todd goes to clap. Yes. Frodo stops him.

Sarah:

And that's why Frodo is the smartest oge. He is the smartest oge. He actually has some social intelligence. Clearly, Todd does not. Yes.

Sarah:

And I misspoke earlier. I said Todd was Frodo's cousin. Todd is Jared's cousin.

Mark:

Jared's cousin.

Sarah:

Jared of the Rubber Boots. Yes. Who is long gone now.

Mark:

Yes. And we find that Mike is not married because he is still married

Sarah:

Yeah.

Mark:

To a woman who lives eight hours south in an unreliable valley.

Sarah:

With being off the grid.

Mark:

And she is not responsive.

Sarah:

And thus we get the introduction of the secondary plot of the season. Yes. And Beth has gone to visit her mother

Mark:

In Oz.

Sarah:

While he straightens things out. Yes. That Do you think she's mad?

Mark:

I would think that she would be like, let's get married. And he was kind of terse about it. And then when they got home she was like, what's going on with that? Because she seems to be a very forthright communicative Mhmm. Person.

Mark:

And he would have said, well, it's actually like I'm not I'm not unmarried to this woman. And she would have said, okay, well you have x amount of time to figure this out, or we're not getting married, or I'm not going to be with you.

Sarah:

Is that what you would do in that situation?

Mark:

Oh god, not me. I'm an emotional wreck. I'm completely the wrong person to ask what I would do.

Sarah:

I think there's just as much chance that Beth would say, let's get this figured out.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

We'll drive down there together.

Mark:

Yes. Oh, I'm sure if it's a matter of convincing her, I'm sure Beth would volunteer to do that.

Sarah:

Mhmm. But apparently Beth needs to know that Mike really means it.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

And that's why she's

Mark:

Which I can understand also.

Sarah:

Yeah. I can. I can. It's been eight years though. Yes.

Sarah:

So it's not like he's still hung up on

Mark:

this He's not hung up on this woman.

Sarah:

But he does need to prove that he wants to marry Beth enough that he's willing to straighten it out.

Mark:

Yes. And not straightening it out for eight years is a bit irresponsible in Mike's case.

Sarah:

Yeah.

Mark:

And does not like, I can see her going, that's maybe not the person I wanna spend the

Sarah:

money on. Poorly on his character that he hasn't taken care of it before now.

Mark:

Yes. It does. Yeah. And then we see the broken tree, which is the broken wood.

Sarah:

Yes. Which is also the thing that was in the mysterious picture in the snake and tiger.

Mark:

Which is in a future episode, I think. Is it? I think it's in one of the latest season episodes.

Sarah:

Where we ask people, what is that what is that picture? It's something that's surrounded by, like, a fence?

Mark:

Now we know it's a giant stump with Frodo in it rapping.

Sarah:

We had to go back in time to solve a future question.

Mark:

Yes. Aren't we cool? Speaking

Sarah:

And that is Brokenwood the musical.

Mark:

Brokenwood the musical. So what would mince what would mystery maniacs the musical be like?

Sarah:

I think you should just look at that bingo card and make a song about it in square.

Mark:

I would sing a song about how I don't like musicals. Yeah. Definitely. There would be the so so so so so song.

Sarah:

Yeah. Because you have to cut up every

Mark:

time we say

Sarah:

so much.

Mark:

So Perhaps the Halloween decoration song?

Sarah:

Maybe.

Mark:

And the Mark Does Too Many

Sarah:

Hobbies song? We could have the don't use that for your outtake song

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Where I just say one embarrassing thing after another followed by and don't use that for your outtake. Yes. Because that happens a lot.

Mark:

And then finally, we're sick again.

Sarah:

So No. I don't want to sing that song ever again. No. No. Not that.

Mark:

We are we are healthy right now.

Sarah:

We could sing the what do you mean there are no more midsummers for us to cover? Yes. We never thought we would get to that point.

Mark:

Yes. We definitely have that in some sort of origin that revolves around me wearing riding a moose.

Sarah:

Instead of a bald eagle.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Like like a moose came up to you in the woods and whispered, make a podcast about If

Mark:

you make it, they will come.

Sarah:

And then and then wrote ran away. Yep. Is that what moose do? Is do they whisper

Mark:

like that? I guess so. So should Vicky go to prison? Yes. She killed a person?

Sarah:

Yes. Premeditated murder. Yep. But I think it's reckless homicide.

Mark:

Yeah. I think I think

Sarah:

because I think she can argue that she didn't mean to kill him Yeah. If she's got a good lawyer.

Mark:

I'm thinking Buchanan could easily get her off on reckless homicide.

Sarah:

But she's still going to prison.

Mark:

Yeah. She's still going prison. Yeah. I think Rafe's going back to prison. He's doing stuff that he should not be doing.

Sarah:

He needs something. He's not ready to be out on his own.

Mark:

The mayor needs to have some fiscal responsibility.

Sarah:

If I was a taxpayer in Brokenwood, I would want to know what happened to that money.

Mark:

Yes. And we know that Missy shows up in a couple of

Sarah:

more episodes, so we're I like her. I'm glad that she

Mark:

Yes. Definitely. So and that is Prokenwood, the musical.

Sarah:

Mhmm. Before we wrap up

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

I would like to ask the listeners a question.

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

We know at some point in the near future, near being in the next four months probably.

Mark:

No. I would say within the next four weeks, we'll know.

Sarah:

Yeah. Yeah. There will be new episodes of Midsommar. Yes. And it's been a long time since we've had new episodes of

Mark:

December, January.

Sarah:

Yes. So we'll, of course, do minis, and then we'll do regular episodes on Midsummer. But Yes. It feels to me like we should celebrate a new season of Midsummer in some bigger way. Yes.

Sarah:

Like, I don't know, a live show or what do you call it when you watch something together? Watch party. A watch party. Something. Something.

Sarah:

So if you have ideas

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

On how we should celebrate a new season of Midsommar

Mark:

Yes.

Sarah:

Let us know.

Mark:

Please let us know. We would love

Sarah:

Mystery maniacs podcast@Gmail.com.

Mark:

Yes. And, of course, contact us if you're going to Midsummer Live and tell us all about it and what other

Sarah:

Give us the scoop.

Mark:

What other maniacs you met there.

Sarah:

Alright. Until next time. Bye, maniacs.

Mark:

Bye, maniacs. Thanks for joining us on the mystery maniacs podcast. If you enjoyed our crazy podcast today, don't miss out on future episodes. Follow us on social media for updates, beyond the scenes content, and exclusive sneak peeks. Subscribe, like, and share to spread the word.

Mark:

Bye, Maniacs. Go back to my reference about the despicable people from there. The guy who did the killdozer thing in Colorado is from there.