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- [00:00]
Michael Fassbender
This message comes from Showtime original series the Agency on Paramount. Michael Fassbender plays a covert CIA agent in the new 10 episode Spy Thriller now streaming on the Paramount plus with Showtime Plan. Visit paramountplus.com to get started.
- [00:18]
Aisha Harris
Hey, it's Aisha Harris. And before we start the show, we're closing in on the end of another year. Wow. I can't believe it. And our team is looking back at all the great conversations we've been able to bring you in 2024 because of your we dove into the sleeper hits and the shows you shouldn't sleep on, the sequels and the prequels and our favorite binge watches. We stayed up all night to catch you up on the Oscars and the Emmys and debated the best fictional bands and the pop culture hills will die on. And it's all because listeners like you step up to support our work, either by giving to your local station or by joining npr. NPR has grown a lot this year and we want to say an extra special thank you to those supporters right now. You know who you are if you don't know what I'm talking about. NPR is a sweet way to support the independent public media you rely on from npr. So when you sign up for a simple recurring donation, you support our mission of creating a more informed public and get special perks for more than 25 NPR podcasts like sponsor free listening, bonus episodes and even exclusive and discounted items from the NPR Shop and the NPR Wine Club. So by donating now, you'll fund not only NPR's award winning journalism across the country and around the world, but also the stories that make you laugh out loud, the ones that might make you cry because they resonate so deeply, and the quirky ones that can only come from the wonderful world of public radio. Join us on the plus side today at plus.npr.org thanks so much. Night Bitch, yes, that is the actual title stars Amy Adams as an exhausted stay at home mom to a toddler, missing her career and frustrated by her inattentive husband. Her woes begin to manifest in a bizarre way. She transforms into a dog at night. I'm Aisha Harris and today we're talking about Night Bitch on Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. Joining me today is entertainment journalist Christina Escobar. She's the co founder and editor in chief of Latina Media Punto Company. Hi Christina. Welcome back.
- [02:23]
Christina Escobar
Hi.
- [02:23]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Thanks for having me.
- [02:24]
Aisha Harris
Great to have you. Also with us is Philadelphia Enquirer's arts and entertainment editor and film critic, Bhadatri D Chaudhry. Hey, Bhadatri. Welcome back to you too.
- [02:33]
Christina Escobar
Hello. Hello. Glad to be here as always.
- [02:35]
Aisha Harris
Great to have you here. So, Night Bitch. I love saying this word. Sorry. Night Bitch stars Amy Adams as Mother, a stay at home mom who's put her career as an artist on hold to raise her toddler named Sun. Spending all day and night with sun is exhausting and tedious. And her feckless husband named what else? Husband barely notices his wife is drowning. He's played by Scoot McNary. So one night, Mother's body starts to undergo some shocking changes. She develops a tail, sprouts fur and other animalistic qualities. Quite frankly, she becomes an actual dog. And she enjoys tapping into her animal instincts. Although eventually she's forced to confront her resentments towards motherhood and the lack of support she gets from husband. Night Bitch was written and directed by Marielle Heller. She also made A Beautiful Day in a Neighborhood and can youn Ever Forgive Me? The latter of which I adore that movie. So if you haven't seen it, you should definitely go check that out for sure. And Night Bitch is in theaters now. So, Christina, I'm gonna start with you. What did you make of this very weird, kind of fun body horror movie that we've got going on here?
- [03:44]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Yeah, I liked Night Bitch. I felt like it was an apt metaphor for what motherhood can really feel like. I thought that some of the pieces, like even just the opening sequence where there's a montage of her making the same breakfast in silence over and over and over again, that felt really resonant to me. There were other parts where there were mothers in conversations talking about their experiences and particularly giving birth and how it makes you feel like a wild animal. Which I was like, I've actually said that. So it felt like, oh, this is interesting. I thought there were places where the movie was a little bit too on the nose. Like she gives sort of an opening speech where she lays out the thesis of the film and what's to come. And I was like, I get it, we've kind of been here before. But overall I thought that the metaphor worked and the weirdness worked because it's a strange movie and watching it feels weird. There's moments out of time. There's the Night Bitch part, the dog part, right? Like that's a big part of it. But overall, I felt like the journey worked. It had me thinking. It had me in conversation with my husband, who I watched it with. We have two kids together. Thank God they're no longer Toddlers. That was, like, my top takeaway. I thought it was a good ride with plenty to chew on afterwards.
- [04:58]
Aisha Harris
Thank you. Well, Bdadri, how about you? What did you make of this?
- [05:01]
Christina Escobar
Okay, firstly, like, disclaimer is, I don't have kids.
- [05:04]
Aisha Harris
Same.
- [05:05]
Christina Escobar
So I might have had a very different experience. You know, I read somewhere one of the reviews say it's a better idea than it is a film. And I absolutely agree with that. I think I had the opposite problem of Christina, that I think the beginning was really good for me. Like, you know, the idea, the leaning into the body horror. I enjoyed it. Even though, as someone who doesn't enjoy body horror so much, I really enjoyed that first bit. But then, to Christina's point, a lot of there are, like, these monologues, and they're, like, very trite. I think they try to be campy, but are not. But then towards the end, I think the filmmaker felt. May have felt this very strong pressure to have a neat ending to a story that I think would have been better off clumsy as this animalesque thing. But I think it tries to get neat. And that's where it started to lose me.
- [06:00]
Aisha Harris
Yes, yes. But, Atri, I think you and I kind of fall on the same spectrum. And maybe it's not a coincidence that I also have never had a child. I do not know the experience of what the Amy Adams character is going through. But I did really enjoy the way the first two acts or so of this story are told. I don't think this is necessarily a novel approach in a way. I think we've seen a lot of recent movies and TV and books that are really trying to focus in on, like, what it means to be a mother or a woman in this age and thinking of, like, really fun and different ideas and ways that can manifest in fiction. There's like, a whole montage sequence where mother, like, needs a break, and so husband decides, oh, I'm gonna. And of course, it turns into a thing where she's trying to rest. And then he's in the other room and he keeps asking her, where's this honey? I need it? And she's just like, well, this is supposed to be my break. And it made me think of this old I Love Lucy episode from, you know, way back in the 1950s. It's this episode where Lucy's pregnant. Ricky offers to make her breakfast. And the same thing essentially happens. She's in bed, he's like, lucy, where's the waffle iron? Where's the waffle mix? And she has to keep getting up and keep getting up. And that's how far back this idea of men not pulling their own weight goes. And I use that as an example. Not because I feel as though it's a hackneyed way of looking at it, because it's clearly still something that a lot of people are struggling with, is that balance. But I also think that that's kind of like, for me, the limits of where the rest of the story winds up going. Because I kept thinking, oh, it's great that we're having this conversation. It's great that this is happening in the form of, like, body horror in a dog. But, Christina, I'm curious to hear more about what you like, because again, me and Bach coming from this as people who have not had children.
- [07:52]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Yeah, for sure. So I want to say this mother character, Amy Adams character, had no business being a stay at home mom. She was not cut out for it. And being a stay at home mom is like being an accountant. Like, maybe you can balance your own checkbook, but many people would be miserable being accountants, Right? Like, it's not everyone's joy. And that doesn't make you bad at balancing your own checkbook, to push the metaphor. And so she was a person who should not have been a stay at home mom. It made her miserable. And there is still and has been for, you know, decades, this pressure for women to feel like, you should love this, it should be wonderful. You see the character having that being like, I should appreciate this time, and it's a privilege, but it makes her unhappy. Like, not just unfulfilled, but it drives her a little bit nuts. And I want to say, although my kids are through this stage, like I remember it, I was never a stay at home mom because I knew it was not for me. And that she doesn't know that. You see some of the pressures from her mother's example, and perhaps her husband's example, his mom as well. Like, she makes the wrong choice and her husband supports her in making the wrong choice instead of pushing her. And that's the conflict of the film. And I felt like there was something interesting in that. Like, yes, maybe we've seen it before, there is trouble. But how far they pushed it into the magical realism, the metaphor of the night bitch and how crazy it can make you when you're not suited for it felt strong to me. And then to the end, when she recuperates her humanity, one might say, you know, she's able to honor who she is holistically. And I actually, I Think why I perhaps liked the movie and you all didn't is that she was able to figure out a way to be a mom and a human, and she didn't have to be an animal. Right. She didn't have to forsake one for the other. And I think in older narratives, you had to pick, right. You had to either be a career woman or a mom. And that's no longer the case. And so I think the film pushed on that at the end and said, she's taking a risk, though, right? Like, is she gonna go back to that dog state? We don't know. So to me, the ending didn't feel quite so neat. It felt a little bit like, she's gonna try to have it all. But to me, there were still open questions at the end, and I think that's why it worked.
- [10:05]
Aisha Harris
Yeah.
- [10:06]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Yeah.
- [10:06]
Christina Escobar
I think I would have just wanted the animal part to have been one of the options. Right. Like, I. Again, like I said, I don't have children, but I know exhaustion. I know what a monster I can be. If I hadn't had my meal on time, I felt may not be in the same intensity, but, you know, I have felt like an animal sometimes. And I don't think I necessarily need to deny that animal to be a better human being, better woman, better journalist. You know what I mean? And I was thinking, Aisha, this film reminded me of this film Charlize Theron film called Tully.
- [10:43]
Aisha Harris
Oh, Tully. Yeah, that's a great movie.
- [10:46]
Christina Escobar
Yeah. Where she is exhausted. And I swear, that film. I love that film so much. And I think one of the reasons I still don't have children is that film. But jokes apart, you know, there is this fallacy that there is a community of mothers, that a mother understands another mother. And this is. There's something sacred about it. And I'm not saying there isn't. Of course, you know, there are all these mom groups and group chats. I had to question that sacred sanctified mom halo that this film sometimes paints.
- [11:24]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
That's interesting, because I read that differently. I read it like, you know how there's the trope where you're like, I'm different from other girls. That's how I thought the characters started off. I'm different from these other moms. I'm not going to talk to them because I'm all these other things. I'm, you know, an artist or whatever. And then she grows towards building a community. Community. And seeing some similarities and actually celebrating the moms at the end. To me, that part really worked because I actually think it's very hard to raise a child in isolation. And it's a very unique experience that is hard to translate and not talk to somebody who's going through it at the same time. Like, I have friends who are. Kids are at different stages. And you actually, like, need someone whose kid is, like, the exact same age as yours to be like, is throwing plates normal? Nobody wants to talk about that. And yet you need to have that community to talk about it. And so while I agree with you that the not all moms are bonded, there's not that sort of cross thing. But I do think there's something important to being able to say, I am like other moms. I am not different because I'm more intellectual or whatever, and I need a community if I'm going to succeed at this. And that's where I saw the film going.
- [12:38]
Aisha Harris
Yeah, I actually kind of saw it in the same way that, like, the film is more so trying to complicate it in the way that you see a Batatri. Like, it is trying to say it's not all roses in the end. I think it does sort of promote this idea that part of the reason why the Amy Adams character is struggling so much at the beginning is not just because her husband isn't doing nearly enough, is not paying attention to her, but also because she doesn't have her own community and she's, like, not willing to let them in. She's very much like, I'm not like those other moms. I'm a cool mom who, like, actually kind of hates my job. And once she starts to, like, let them in and sort of embrace who she is as a mother and then also accept that these women also, they don't necessarily all love being moms, even though that's what she thought that they were projecting. Like, it seems like she found that community in a way. So here is the part where I think we're just gonna get a little bit more into spoiler territory for the very last part of the movie. So if you haven't seen it yet or don't wanna be spoiled, you've been warned. Now, I had seen this not too long after I had read that infamous. If you were online in August at all, you might have seen, like, a New York Mag pie written by a mom who talked about basically, like, neglecting her cat for her. And the fact that this movie, I'd just seen it, obviously it wasn't influenced by that article. But the fact that this movie makes a joke about how motherhood can not just turn you into an animal, but can also make you neglect actual animals. Because I guess the mommy brain, they're calling it, but it makes a joke of it. And as someone who I'm not a mother, but I do have pets, it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way that this was kind of the conclusion that we have. And I didn't think of it as, like a subversive thing. It felt like this is just the way things are. Again, this is my own biases here. I'm not saying that children are. Aren't more important than pets. Like, I fully acknowledge that. But I also think, like, huh, Are we really gonna go there with this and say, like, oh, it's kind of funny that we've all, like, neglected or may have killed our own pets because we turned into mothers? I don't know. That rubbed me the wrong way.
- [14:50]
Christina Escobar
I also think the resolution or solution, whatever you call it, is just so simple. Like, you know, you have a good talk with your partner, and then things are better. And I'm like, if this was always an option, yeah, you're a miserable stay at home mom. And we get this idea they can't afford a sitter, which is obviously a very real problem a lot of families have in this country, but in the end, they get a sitter. So I'm like, well, if you could get a sitter.
- [15:22]
Aisha Harris
Yeah, there's no talk about, like, oh, I'm just gonna work more hours.
- [15:26]
Christina Escobar
Yeah. And then I'm like. And also the conversation she has with her partner is that you need to step up and be better. And I'm like, yeah, and why didn't you say this to him six months ago? Again, like, I pull that disclaimer again. Maybe these simple solutions just don't seem so simple when you're not getting a good night's sleep. But, yeah, the resolutions are just so simple that you almost ask that, oh, if this was an option, why didn't you do this before?
- [15:52]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Yeah, Yeah. I felt like the lack of talking about money was silly. Like, that was definitely a plot hole. Like, husband goes and gets his own apartment. It's like, well, how do they afford a second apartment if they couldn't afford a babysitter? Like, that doesn't make sense. But I didn't think the solutions were so simple because she has to kick him out, right? He has to be fully parenting by himself for a few weekends. And they don't exactly talk about it, but he has a job where he travels. So, like, maybe when he's in town, he has the baby, and then when he's out of town, she has the baby. Right. And if that's the case, he learns exactly how hard it is to be alone with a toddler. And it is very, very hard. And two is a pretty hard age. And so I felt like that time apart, like, she doesn't just have a conversation with him, she makes him leave. They have to co parent in a totally different way for a while before they can start to reconnect. And he has to recognize and value her professional life. To me, that felt like the right amount of steps, the right amount of work. Although I do agree the money thing was a plot hole for sure.
- [16:55]
Aisha Harris
Yeah. I can see both sides of it, because that is a drastic step. If someone is moving out of the house, that's disrupting the household even more than it's already been disrupted by the mother not feeling like herself or not feeling like she has the support she needs. I think what it comes down to for me is this final moment of the film where we see she's actually decided to have another kid. And this ending is different from the book, which was written by Rachel Yoder. I have not read the book, but Mario Heller, the director, has talked about how she deliberately changed the ending. In the book, she doesn't have a second child, and here she decides to have another one. And that was inspired by Heller's own decision to have another kid. Again, some people might claim that I do not have a right to. To speak on this. Look, I haven't had a kid. I have had a mother. I have had parents. And I think that decision, to me was just kind of baffling. After all she went through and to get that far and to make that decision, that, to me, was where it felt. Oh, yeah. I guess this is like how a lot of people think about it. It just felt like a safer ending than I wanted it to be. I don't know. It didn't wrestle with it in the way that I necessarily wanted it to end. But Christina, I'm curious. I thought it felt true.
- [18:11]
Christina Escobar
I like how Christina is a token mother in this conversation.
- [18:15]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
That's the thing, I guess that's for moms.
- [18:17]
Aisha Harris
Yeah. Yes. I'm sorry. I don't mean to put all of the pressure on you to be the soul.
- [18:21]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
It's okay, Hasan. I have two kids. It was wild to make that decision because it is hard to raise a baby. And I felt like it felt. The ending felt true to me because anytime you make a human you are taking a huge risk. You're taking a huge risk with your body, with your mental health, with your partnership, with your financial situation. Like, all of the things in your life change every time you make a human with your body, including your body itself. And yet people do it, right?
- [18:53]
Aisha Harris
People do it. Yes.
- [18:54]
Christina Escobar
No, for sure.
- [18:55]
Aisha Harris
I totally understand. It is true to so many people's experience. I just thought for myself while watching this movie, I was like, oh, I really wanted the fictional narrative to take, like, maybe a different turn.
- [19:06]
Christina Escobar
Even in that thinking you were not going all in animorphs like, I was. I'm like, stay that way. It's beautiful. More women should yell and shout.
- [19:17]
Aisha Harris
Yeah, I love it.
- [19:19]
Christina Escobar
And scratch people's eyes out or whatever. Like, I love that. I wish that was more.
- [19:25]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Yeah. Would you have felt better if she'd had a litter instead of a human baby?
- [19:30]
Aisha Harris
Well, she seemed happier as a dog.
- [19:32]
Christina Escobar
Yeah. Yes. And then when she looks at the other dogs and then she nods her head and says, no. Like, no, not today. And I'm like, no, go play with them. You were so happy when you played with them.
- [19:46]
Aisha Harris
Look, I've harped on this movie a lot, but I really did enjoy most of it. And we haven't talked about the performances, but I do think Amy Adams, like, oh, my God.
- [19:55]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Yeah, she kills.
- [19:56]
Aisha Harris
It is doing so good. Such amazing. She is fully committed while she turns into a dog, you know, mostly at night. Kind of like a werewolf turns at night. She does during the day. She is herself, but she's not herself. And I love seeing her making it into a game with her son and being like, there's a moment where she puts him in a dog bed and I'm just like.
- [20:18]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
And it works. It's a motherhood hack.
- [20:20]
Christina Escobar
She's sleeping. He's sleeping. It was beautiful. See what I mean?
- [20:24]
Aisha Harris
Yeah.
- [20:24]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Yeah.
- [20:25]
Christina Escobar
But also, that child, I don't think will ever have a protein deficiency in his life.
- [20:31]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
One thing I did think was a little strange was, like, the dog looked like it had just come from the groomer. Like, it was, like, flouncy and beautiful. And I was like, yes. Shouldn't there be some, like, mud on this dog? Like, this woman hasn't showered in four days. Like, why is this dog so, like, perfectly quaffed? You know, that was my one thing.
- [20:49]
Aisha Harris
Well, she was being her best self. And maybe her best self as a dog is immaculately groomed.
- [20:55]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Well, I felt like she should have been a little more wild. The dog itself should have been a little bit less, like, perfect. Pet and more like wild animal. That was my one artistic take.
- [21:05]
Christina Escobar
Fair.
- [21:05]
Aisha Harris
I think there's a lot to admire about it. And then, you know, some things that might just come down to how you feel about certain aspects of being a parent or being a child of a parent or. There's a lot to talk about here. Yeah, it's a different movie and it's called Night Bitch. Well, we want to know what you think about Night Bitch. Find us on Facebook@Facebook.com PCHH and on Letterboxd@Letterboxd.com NPR PopCulture. We'll have a link in our episode Description and up next, what's making us happy this week?
- [21:38]
Michael Fassbender
Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection hotels offering over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Hand selected for their inherent craft, each hotel tells its own unique story through distinctive design and immersive experiences. From medieval falconry to volcanic wine tasting, Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of over 30 hotel brands around the world. Find the unforgettable@autographcollection.com Support for the following message come from LinkedIn Ads. With LinkedIn Ads, you can reach professionals relevant to your business, target them by job title, industry company and more by launching your next campaign with a free $100 ad credit at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. Support for the following Message come from LinkedIn ads. With LinkedIn ads, you can reach professionals relevant to your business, target them by job title, industry company and more by launching your next campaign with a free $100 ad credit at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. This message comes from Capital One, offering commercial solutions you can bank on. Now more than ever, your business faces unique challenges and opportunities. That's why Capital One offers a comprehensive suite of financial services, all tailored to your short, long term goals. Backed by the strength and stability of a top 10 commercial bank, their dedicated experts work with you to build lasting success. Explore the possibilities@capitalone.com commercial a member FDIC.
- [23:18]
Aisha Harris
And now it's time for our favorite segment of this week and every week. What's making us Happy? Bdatri, let's start with you.
- [23:25]
Christina Escobar
What's making me happy is that Mississippi Masala? The classic film is streaming on Ma So Mississippi Masala was made by Meera Nair who later made A Monsoon Wedding and this stars Sarita Choudhury who plays Seema Patel in and Just like that and a very young and beautiful Denzel Washington. The film is set in the American south. And the main protagonists are an Indian family who moved to the US and it's a rare love story between a brown female protagonist and a young black man. Yeah. And I think it's beautifully shot in the American south and also kind of reclaims the narrative of the usual American south that we see in films. So that's Mississippi Masala, directed by Meera Nair. And it's streaming on Max and my holidays are assorted. That's all I can say.
- [24:20]
Aisha Harris
Love it. Thank you so much. Bharatri. Cristina, tell us what is making you happy this week?
- [24:24]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
What's making me happy right now is Como Agua para Chocolate or like Water for Chocolate on hbo. It's a Spanish language series. It is beautiful. It is all about family and food. It is sumptuously filmed. Every episode features a recipe that really dives into. So much so that I'm like watching the credits where they just do like close ups of the ingredients. Like it's so lovely. And I really recommend it. I feel like as a Spanish language show, it hasn't gotten as much attention as it should have here in the US and for those who are familiar with the book or the adaptation that was like 30 years ago, this update has meaningful stuff in it. It better explains what was happening in Mexic at the time. It talks about like the racial politics of the moment that continue to affect us to this day and does a more interesting job with the mother and daughter dynamic. So I highly recommend it.
- [25:15]
Aisha Harris
So that's like Water for Chocolate, the HBO adaptation. The series adaptation. Correct?
- [25:21]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Correct.
- [25:21]
Aisha Harris
Awesome. Thank you so much, Christina. Well, I finally caught up recently with Hasan Penajes, off with His Head, his latest net Netflix special. And I really, really loved it. Last year he came under fire a little bit for a New Yorker interview that he gave where he admitted that some of the stories he told in previous stand up routines had been embellished for comedic effect. And this led to him losing the gig to replace Trevor Noah as Daily show host. He wound up posting a 20ish minute rebuttal video. It was a little, it was a little dramatic. But in this special he is directly and also indirectly addressing the controversy. But he's also kind of taking a pricklier and more self reflective approach than in his previous comedy. And look, comedians, when they feel as though they've been under attack, sometimes they often come back meaner, angrier. And he does that here, but not in a way to me that feels as though like it's a chappelle or a, you know, a Louis CK Situation. Like, I think he's offering very pointed observations of progressivism and in group dynamics that to me at least like don't read as scoldy, but more just like blunt and honest. You know, he has some choice words for Ruth Bader Ginsburg that I think a lot of people might share some similar ideas about. He cracks jokes about the financial diversity of the audience in San Jose, California, where if you're in the Bay, you know what that means. So I really enjoyed it. I think he's doing some really interesting things here. And while that New Yorker article clearly sort of changed him, I don't think it changed him for the worse. Which, yeah, it's so refreshing. So that is Hasan Minhaj's off with his head. You can find it on Netflix. And that is what is making me happy this week. If you want links for what we recommended, plus some more recommendations, you should sign up for our newsletter@npr.org popculture newsletter that brings us to the end of our show. Christina Escobar Bhadatri D. Chaudhry, thank you so much for being here. It was fun part through this movie with you both.
- [27:23]
Christina Escobar
Very fun. I would do it with anyone else.
- [27:25]
Bhadatri D Chaudhry
Thank you.
- [27:28]
Aisha Harris
This episode was produced by Mike Katzeff and Leden Sherburn and edited by Jessica Reedy. Hello. Come in. Provides our theme music. Thanks so much for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. I'm Aisha Harris and we'll see you all next week.
- [27:46]
Michael Fassbender
Support for NPR and the following message come from Rosetta Stone, the perfect app to achieve your language learning goals. No matter how busy your schedule gets, it's designed to maximize study time with immersive 10 minute lessons and audio practice for your commute. Plus, tailor your learning plan for specific objectives like travel. Get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off and unlimited access to 25 language courses. Learn more at rosettastone.com NPR this message comes from NPR sponsor Merrill. Whatever your financial goals are, you want a straightforward path there. But the real world doesn't usually work that way. Merrill understands that. That's why with a dedicated Merrill advisor, you get a personalized plan and a clear path forward. Go to ML.combullish to learn more. Merrill, a Bank of America company. What would you like the power to do? Investing involves risk. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith Inc. Registered Broker Dealer Registered investment advisor.