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- [00:00]
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- [00:29]
Rob Mahoney
I sold my car in Carvana last night.
- [00:31]
Joanna Robinson
Well, that's cool.
- [00:32]
Rob Mahoney
No, you don't understand. It went perfectly. Real offer down to the penny. They're picking it up tomorrow. Nothing went wrong.
- [00:38]
Joanna Robinson
So what's the problem?
- [00:40]
Rob Mahoney
That is the problem. Nothing in my life goes as smoothly. I'm waiting for the catch.
- [00:43]
Joanna Robinson
Maybe there's no catch.
- [00:44]
Rob Mahoney
That's exactly what a catch would want me to think.
- [00:47]
Joanna Robinson
Wow. You need to relax.
- [00:48]
Rob Mahoney
I need to knock on wood. Do we have. What is this table wood?
- [00:51]
Joanna Robinson
I think it's laminate.
- [00:52]
Rob Mahoney
Okay. Yeah, that's good. That's close enough.
- [00:54]
Joanna Robinson
Car selling without a catch. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up. Fees may apply. Hello. Welcome back to the Prestige TV Park. I'm Joanna Robinson.
- [01:21]
Rob Mahoney
I'm Rob Mahoney.
- [01:22]
Joanna Robinson
And we are launching a brand new TV series for us, the two of us, to cover. Yeah, but one that has been around for many, many, many, many years. But somehow only on its third and final season, it's Euphoria, Season three. How are you feeling, Rob?
- [01:38]
Rob Mahoney
Do you think people have heard of this show?
- [01:40]
Joanna Robinson
I don't know.
- [01:41]
Rob Mahoney
Are they up on it?
- [01:41]
Joanna Robinson
There's a couple folks on it that people might have heard of. What do you think?
- [01:44]
Rob Mahoney
I could see that. I could see a little bit of splash here and there. I mean, look, anytime you get Sharon Stone to appear on television, it's going to bring some eyeballs. I'm glad that she can drag up and class up the joint.
- [01:55]
Joanna Robinson
Okay, so we're here to talk about Euphoria, season three, episode one, written and directed by Sam Levinson. And we should say the credits in the. In the sort of, like, email that HBO sent us. It's listed like this, created, written, directed and executive produced by Sam Levinson the whole season. So that is, we are in for 11 cent experience this year. Rob Mahoney, as of a few days ago, had not seen any of Euphoria. And now he has seen two whole seasons plus an episode of Euphoria. So we're going to get into sort of Rob's. Let's like refresh ourselves on Euphoria before we dig into the episode. It's something we plan to do today. Rob, are you. Well, after spending that much time in the Euphoria world, feel super great.
- [02:35]
Rob Mahoney
Super great about humanity, about the generations to come.
- [02:38]
Joanna Robinson
The kids are all right, right?
- [02:39]
Rob Mahoney
The kids are all right. My current mental state, absolutely wonderful. I am, yeah.
- [02:43]
Joanna Robinson
Peak.
- [02:44]
Rob Mahoney
Operating at the peak of my powers.
- [02:46]
Joanna Robinson
Let me just say quickly, before we get into sort of like, is Rob okay?
- [02:51]
Rob Mahoney
Just. Let's just check in every pod that way. You know, I think it would be helpful.
- [02:54]
Joanna Robinson
We love to do therapy on this pod, but, like, just a bigger picture, sort of. Some of the things we know about this season, this final season of Euphoria, you know, Zendaya has said, like, that, quote, unquote, closure is coming, that this is. You know, she feels this is definitely the final season of Euphoria. I think for at the very, very least, she is done. Sydney Sweeney is probably done. Jacob Elordi is probably done, et cetera, et cetera.
- [03:17]
Rob Mahoney
And so, well, Joe, whoever's responsible for scheduling all these actors is done. They're like, I simply cannot manage this spreadsheet anymore.
- [03:25]
Joanna Robinson
So if Euphoria were to continue after the season, it would be something else entirely, and I just don't think it's going to. But, like, never say never when you know you're Warner Brothers and you have it on your hand. This season as a whole was dedicated to the actor Angus Cloud, who died from an overdose in 2023. He played Fezco. I loved him on the show. I was really devastated that he died. He died of an overdose. And so Sam Levinson, in sort of, like, his letter that he sent out with screeners of this episode, talked about how rocked he was by Angus's death. And also that this season is centered around the third step of recovery, which is moving from recognizing a higher power, which is step two, to actively trusting that power with your life and decisions. So we get, you know, active conversation with Rue talking in this episode with Ali or with Lexi or with this family that she meets in Texas about the idea of faith. I'm gonna. I have some real strong thoughts on which recording of the Bible she has decided to listen to, but there's a big, like, Jesus saves sign on the. On the series art. So this is, like, this is what we're grappling with this season. It's a season of faith. And I think Sam, I was always like, I never necessarily thought that Rue's story was gonna end well, just because she's this avatar for Sam Levinson, this, like, self insert character for Sam Levinson's.
- [04:57]
Rob Mahoney
Own.
- [04:59]
Joanna Robinson
And he seems to have a very dim view of the possibility of recovery and all this sort of stuff like that. So I always thought that Rue's story would end badly, but he has given indications that he wants something a little lighter and a little more hopeful for his characters where he is now making this season. So I don't know that we're headed for devastation. We might be headed for something unexpectedly light for Euphoria.
- [05:27]
Rob Mahoney
One one can only hope. I think it does speak to where Sam Levinson is now, clearly, but also I think where a lot of people are now, where the environment socio, culturally, politically, just like out in the world that euphoria first dropped into entirely different from the world it inhabits now. And so that doesn't mean the show has to transform or has to change. But in this premiere, I mean, I would say, Joe, it feels tangible, the shift towards even a version of Rue that could believe in something like hope, that could reach for something like organic, actual faith. That is a wildly different premise for this show.
- [06:02]
Joanna Robinson
So this show start first started airing in 2019, which is really wild to contemplate. And then this season takes place. We get a helpful stamp on a passport that says it's May 2024. Sharon Stone is talking about the election. I am worried about how much the show wants to engage with the the past presidential election, but tune in to find out. We'll see. Rob, how was your experience binging euphoria and. And was it what you expected? I mean, I'm sure you had a lot of preconceived notions about what euphoria would be. What was your experience watching it?
- [06:36]
Rob Mahoney
I had, contrary to the subject matter, a great time watching this show. It'll surprise no one to hear who is familiar with it. It's just like incredibly well made television in a lot of different ways. The performances, and I would say season one especially, delivered on exactly what I thought this show was going to be with the style, with those performances, with the plot lines that are giving parents nightmares. Like that was Euphoria as it was described on the tin. Yeah, went through it, really enjoyed it. Season two, I don't know what season two is. It's a lot of things. And I feel like the show got really, really indulgent to the point where it is not just, I mean, Joe, the musical numbers. I mean the elaborately staged musical numbers that are strewn throughout the season.
- [07:22]
Joanna Robinson
The like, sorry, I love them.
- [07:24]
Rob Mahoney
Okay, we're gonna have to negotiate. There's. There's a lot. Some of them Work for me better than others. And the Family Guy slash Scrubs style like fantasy asides that are happening constantly with the show. It's just like a very strange experience in season two that I was interested in. I appreciate and I'm gonna say this like most charitably, it's ambition, but I think season two is just a whole mess.
- [07:48]
Joanna Robinson
Season two is very messy. What did you think of like the, the two part finale, the. The play that sort of bleeds into reality, back into theater.
- [07:56]
Rob Mahoney
Lexi's play, I like a lot of parts of it. You know, the memeable elements, the you know, homoerotic gym. Like there's a lot that really, really works. And yet it's just like it is dripping with a kind of theater kid energy that for me is a little bit overwhelming. And so to end two seasons in that kind of fashion and I can only imagine for the people who are along for the ride in real time to now have to wait with that as the lingering impression of what euphoria is and was. I don't think it's the best finale. I think it's a little strange. I think the meta aspects of season two were among like the least successful for me. And so it's. It's nice to have the in jokes and the bits, but it just got
- [08:37]
Joanna Robinson
to be a bit much as a theater kid myself, I loved the two part finale. Season two is hugely messy. I remain to this day completely confused as to what is happening with Cassie's storyline. Sydney Sweeney's entire like every single Sydney Sweeney choice in that season two confuses and perturbs me.
- [09:00]
Rob Mahoney
Well, let's talk about that. Is it the Sydney Sweeney choices or is it the Cassie as written choices?
- [09:05]
Joanna Robinson
Both. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I can't lay this entirely on Sydney Sweeney but like, because what I have to imagine, what I have to believe is true is that she gave some fairly normal takes and then Sam was like, now do it like you've lost every marble in your head, you know, and you're just like screaming and screeching and crying the entire season.
- [09:24]
Rob Mahoney
Well, that was just for his personal files. What did they do for the show?
- [09:27]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah, great question, great question. His weird thing with Sydney Sweeney remains, you know, to this very episode. You know, I understand that it's the entire world strange thing with Sydney Sweeney, but like Sam Levinson is patient zero for this particular phenomenon. And like it's the part of euphoria that like skews me out the most is. Is everything Cassie personally.
- [09:55]
Rob Mahoney
But yeah, I Mean, look, it's. The show is very leery of Sydney Sweeney at basically all times, including in the season three premiere. I'm fine with that as like, part of the texture of the show. And it's also like baked into the character. Right. Her appeal and what that does to her psychologically and how she uses it out in the world to her advantage or not all of that's fine. I think part of the problem with season two and one of my worries about season three is I'm not sure that Cassie the character holds up to the level of importance that she has in this show. And it felt like one of those things in watching it. I would need to double check the timeline of Sidney's own pop, but it felt like Sydney Sweeney is a huge star and we need to use her more. I just had a problem where, like, Cassie was always the fifth or sixth most interesting storyline in what was going on. And she was always very prominently placed in season two.
- [10:39]
Joanna Robinson
I really. I think that's true. We really over indexed on Cassie in season two at the expense of a character like Cat, who I really loved her whole story in season one. Yeah, she got completely like sidelined. And frankly, I think character assassinated in season two, which is why Barbie Ferrier was like, by undone, like rightly so, forced to leave. Euphoria was just sort of like Barbie was like, I'm out.
- [11:01]
Rob Mahoney
I'm done.
- [11:02]
Joanna Robinson
I have major beef with Sam Levinson. I'm out.
- [11:05]
Rob Mahoney
Justice for Kat, you know, let her stream in peace.
- [11:08]
Joanna Robinson
Exactly. The Cat stuff in season one was so good. And then Maddie gets sidelined a lot in season two for Cassie taking up a lot of oxygen in the room. Rue remains, of course, like the main character of the show. And the show doesn't lose focus on that because Zendaya is also a massive star. So it's not like Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney's rise to fame, like, completely overshadowed Zendaya because that. But I do think, like Jules also, you know, like Hunter Schaeffer's character also gets like a bit sidelined for Cassie. Just taking up a lot of energy in the room. I was curious what you thought about the visual style. Once again, I think the show is slightly trying to re. Definitely trying to reinvent itself in season three. And we'll talk about the why and the how and the where and the visuals of it, but the very distinctive experimental visual style. And especially I think in season two, again, like Sam Levinson a bit high on his own supply in season two and part of why, like they had to like the behind the scenes story of how they made season two and basically like shot kind of a whole season, then just like remade it is, you know, like someday someone needs to write a full book about everything that happened behind the scenes on Euphoria. But, you know, they shot it on. They had like Kodak, you know, make this film stock that wasn't even. Didn't even exist anymore. So they could shoot season two on this film stock. You've just got these like, really cool visual elements. Like in the first episode of season two at the party, seeing these like spotlight effects where the lights go out on people and it happens a couple times throughout the season. So what do you think? Like, you know, and in season one, that sort of like glittery eye makeup euphoria, sort of Instagram fluorescence, dreamy sort of visual became so iconic. How do the visuals work for you?
- [12:59]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, wonderfully, I think in particular that intersection of the makeup styling and the cinematography, like, they're almost inextricable to me in terms of the visual language of the show. And you know, the white eyeliner, all of those colors, like, it's really, really striking and really something to behold. It's also like, you know, probably heavily cribbed from Petra Collins and her work. So it's like there's, there's. That's a whole nother thing.
- [13:23]
Joanna Robinson
You can like, I think you can take the probably out of there and you can like remove. Heavily cribbed and just say, like blatantly stolen from absolute. Absolutely, yeah.
- [13:31]
Rob Mahoney
Let's call it what it is. But all of that said, I think Euphoria seasons one and two, not to get too deep into the weeds, are just like one of the best lit things I've ever seen on tv. It is those spotlight effects. It's the contrast. All that stuff really, really worked for me. And it's a huge part of the reason why, even if you're not completely bought in on one particular story or one particular character or one particular elaborate musical number, there's just always something on screen that is fascinating to watch and it really pulls you in. At the same time, the filmmaking on the show can be a little masturbatory. For sure.
- [14:07]
Joanna Robinson
The whole experience is masturbatory completely.
- [14:10]
Rob Mahoney
But, you know, like, there are worse things in the world and do what feels good, I guess.
- [14:15]
Joanna Robinson
I wanted to ask you about Zendaya. I was talking to a pal of mine the other day who, you know, does a job adjacent to our job. And her hot take was, she does not think Zendaya is a very good actress. And, you know, she was sort of listing, you know, in. In Dune, in Challengers, in this, that, and the other thing. I don't agree, but she was, like, making her case, and I was like, well, have you seen Euphoria? And she said no. And I was like, I actually think Zendaya is operating on a completely different stratosphere inside of Euphoria. Like, I think she's good in these other. Good to sometimes great in these other things, but I think what she does as Rue in Euphoria is just like a completely. On a different planet altogether. I think she is. I personally think she's extraordinary. She won a Covid Emmy for this. This role.
- [15:01]
Rob Mahoney
Is that like a daytime Emmy? It's a whole separate awards ceremony.
- [15:03]
Joanna Robinson
I still have memories of the COVID Oscars and the, you know, like, she accepted Over Zoom. You know what I mean? Like, that's. That's a strong memory, that in a gown, but, like, Over Zoom, I. I think she's just extraordinary. I think, like, Rue has to be. Ru is such a hard character to root for. And, you know, the. The show lampshades that a few times when she just says it in the voiceover of, you know, especially in, I think, season two, the slideshow that they run back in season two, she talks about it directly. But, you know, I've talked about this, like, when I talk about something like Marty supreme or Uncut Gems, the sort of Safdie verse where it's just like when I watch a character make bad decisions again and again and again and again, I have such a hard time hanging with them. That's not the case with Rue. I am, like, always with her. She's so charming, so emotionally raw. So, you know, like, even in. In the episode in season two, where it's basically just like her running around a desperate.
- [16:00]
Rob Mahoney
Which is basically a Safdie movie all its own.
- [16:02]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah, exactly. But I didn't have any of the same, like, feelings that I usually have with those kinds of characters and those kinds of plots. And I just think that. I just don't think you can underestimate how important Zendaya's performance inside of the show is. And, like, I don't think I am saying anything revolutionary to say. Zendaya's great. She's a huge star, but I just. I. I think what she does here is absolutely magical. What do you think?
- [16:26]
Rob Mahoney
She's really, really special as Rue.
- [16:28]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah.
- [16:28]
Rob Mahoney
And I'm sorry to say your friend is extremely wrong. But if you haven't seen Euphoria, and I hadn't too. I kind of got glimpses of it. And I think if you've seen some of those other properties you mentioned, Challengers, in particular, one of my favorites, you see, like, versions of what goes into Rue. But Rue is such a complete picture of everything that makes Zendaya, like, so effective as a performer.
- [16:48]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah.
- [16:48]
Rob Mahoney
And I think this is, like, one of the signature performances of this era of tv. Like, I think it's that good. It's that standout. Just the image of Rue riding around her neighborhood on her bike feels like instant iconography for me. It's like one of those instant recall things. When I think about what you can do with these characters, what you can do with this story, for some reason, it's just going to be, like, painted in my head. And I think part of the reason why Rue works as well as she does, as well as you explained, as far as what Zendaya is bringing to that character, like, she is so withdrawn. But Zendaya is really great at portraying people who have hyperactive brains. And you can see the gears turning. You can see this buzzing energy in her head. And to have someone who's that shut down and also that hyperactive mentally, you just want to get to know her better, and you want to spend time with that character. And for all of those bad decisions, you really want her to be okay. And I think the mental gymnastics the show puts you in where it's like, man, I, as a viewer, would love for Rue, the character, to stop doing drugs. At the same time, I would also love Jules to not find out that she's doing drugs, because I don't want them to have a huge fallout. And it's. It really puts you in so many interesting places. And she's the reason why all of that juggling works.
- [18:04]
Joanna Robinson
There's this look she gives to camera in season two when Dominic Feig's character is like, you want to do drugs? Or, like, I think we should do drugs. And she gives this, like, charming, like, smirk to camera look that I remember at the time, just, like, completely. I was just sort of like, she's about to make a terrible decision that we don't want this character to make. And then you're just sort of like. But she lets you in on it. She's like, should we do it? And it's just like. It's so delightful. And just, like, her biking around her neighborhood, there's something about, you know, the Converse, her dad's maroon hoodie, the tangle of hair. There's visual iconography to this character, and then there's just a fully rounded person inside of these visual elements. So I agree with you. There are certain TV characters where someone could just sort of show you a little bit of it, and you're like, oh, that's Rue. That's who that is. And I really agree. Putting Zendaya to the side, though, and we've already talked about Sydney Sweeney, the Sydney Sweeney of it all. Who was your MVP of the first two seasons, if not Sunday Joe.
- [19:09]
Rob Mahoney
This is the easiest call. It's Maddie.
- [19:11]
Joanna Robinson
It's Maddie.
- [19:12]
Rob Mahoney
It's Maddie. I'm a. I'm a Maddy's boy. At the end of the day, I think this is where I live.
- [19:16]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [19:18]
Rob Mahoney
I think it's. It's one of those things where there are so many versions of this kind of character that are a little too mean girl or, like, a little too queen bee. And there are times where the show feigns that Maddie could be that kind of person and then always pulls back or always swerves, always takes her into a different direction. I want to be very clear that Maddy is, like, probably a complete psycho, but also probably the smartest and most perceptive character on this show. And the way she has everyone, like, dead to rights at all times, I'm just, like, fully in the tank, and I'm very upset whenever she gets put to the side.
- [19:52]
Joanna Robinson
Dev, one of our great producers on the show, we were talking before you had done your watch, we were talking about the people who broke out, and we were agreeing that Alexa Demi, who plays Maddy, is like, I don't know why she hasn't hit what happened.
- [20:05]
Rob Mahoney
Like, how is she not a massive star?
- [20:07]
Joanna Robinson
I don't really know. Prestige TV and Spotify.com, if you have some theories on this. But, like, I. It's not too late for the world to catch up and make Alexa Demi. She should be, I think, on the level of the Elordis and Sweeneys and Zendayas and the Hunter Schaefer of the show, for me.
- [20:25]
Rob Mahoney
I just think if the moment when Maddie is running up on stage to beat Cassie's ass and in the process throws off her heels wasn't gonna make her a star. Like, I don't know what else I can show you, you know, like, that's really it for me.
- [20:37]
Joanna Robinson
There's a moment when the whole confrontation happens when, like, Rue outs Cassie, you know, at her house and Maddie's there, and she, like, gets up on Cassie and she clacks her Nails at her in a way that I'm just like. I could literally see Maddie just, like, slitting her throat open right now. I am, like, terrified of her. I love her. How did you feel about your pal, your personal friend, Minka Kelly showing up to be part of MADD in season two?
- [21:02]
Rob Mahoney
Wonderful. What a pleasant surprise. And I gotta say, as somebody who's well versed in the Friday Night Lights experience, I mean, she's doing great now. And I thought this was better than anything we ever got from Minka on fnl.
- [21:14]
Joanna Robinson
I agree. I agree. For me, I think Colman Domingo, and this is also Colman Domingo, had been on Fear of the Walking Dead and had had a long career before this. But this is. Won an Emmy for this. This is really the thing that launched him into another level. And I think even though he is an infrequent appearance on, I think he lends something so soulful and poetic to it. There's also something. Euphoria is such a tough hang sometimes that for me, it really matters that there are these moments of sweetness. So, like, Ali really trying with Rue or coming over and cooking dinner with the family and enlisting Gia to help and all that sort of stuff like that. Like, that really matters. The Lexi and Fez connection in season two really matters to me. The I love Austin Abrams, the Ethan, Cat stuff in season one, like, that. There is something kind of like something sweet and pure happening inside of all of this. I feel matters and is necessary. It doesn't have to go well. It didn't go well with Lexi and Fez, but that, like, people are trying.
- [22:22]
Rob Mahoney
Or for Ethan and Cat or for Ethan and Kat.
- [22:24]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah, fair enough.
- [22:25]
Rob Mahoney
That's part of the show, and I'm very curious to see how they manage that type of stuff if this is gonna be a more hopeful season three.
- [22:32]
Joanna Robinson
A question I pos. You know, I sent you over some questions beforehand. I don't know if you have a great answer to this. Are the kids all right? Rob, any. Any big picture thoughts on this?
- [22:39]
Rob Mahoney
Obviously not like, they've got suitcases full of drugs. Like, what are they supposed to be doing? They're threatening. Everyone is threatening everyone else with child pornography charges. This is a wild show.
- [22:50]
Joanna Robinson
Do you think it matters? Like, I was thinking about, you know, like, so much of Euphoria's edge in the first two seasons was like, okay, people are gonna be doing, like, sexual, you know, drugs, like, all this sort of stuff. And they're in high school, they're underage. The fact that we're now I'm not saying I would like to go back to the underage era, but do you think Euphoria is, like, now that we're telling. We're telling stories with, like, you know, we've in. In the season three premiere, we've got Cassie on her onlyfans journey or whatever the case may be. But, like, these are early 20 somethings. Like, does euphoria need that forbidden edge of these kids are underage? Or are you like, I don't need it. I'm fine. Thank you so much.
- [23:34]
Rob Mahoney
I don't know that it needs the forbidden edge, but I do feel like I really enjoyed the high school drama parts of Euphoria. And so I'm wondering how I'm gonna be missing that. I'm wondering how much these characters are gonna be interacting. Like, is this gonna be Ru on her journey? Jules, who we don't even see in this season three premiere. You know, like, obviously Cassian, Nate are doing their thing, but are people mostly siloed off? I would hope we get some intersections at some point. And that's where high school is just like an easy forum, right? Like when you need to get everyone together. You can do it at a. At a prom, at a bathroom, whatever. And I hope there are, like, mechanisms to do that. Cause I love seeing these actors bounce off each other.
- [24:11]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah, we do at least have, like, Ru stays with Lexi. Lexi and Maddie work in industries that are very closely connected. We'll see how Cassie ties back into all of that. And yeah, Jules is not even here. But there's also people missing, you know, like, Cat's not gonna be here because Angus Fez is not in the show, though. Alive and in prison in this universe. But, you know, the character's not gonna be able to show up.
- [24:37]
Rob Mahoney
Yeah, it did mean something to me. Just that, like, he and Lexi still have a relationship. Even if she's not calling him as much as either would like, he's not
- [24:45]
Joanna Robinson
calling him at all. I don't know that they do, you know, but even.
- [24:48]
Rob Mahoney
Even that there's a possibility warms my heart to a very small requisite euphoria degree.
- [24:56]
Joanna Robinson
I am really curious. You know, I liked this first episode. And we'll talk about it, of course, in a second. Honestly, we will get to the first episode of season three. But, yeah, we're not in high school anymore. Cat's not here. Fez isn't here. A lot of, like, you know, Mallory and I were talking about this a lot when we were doing our Buffy season four coverage. When you move out of high school into college or with Friday Night Lights, when you move characters out of the high school setting or whatever the case may be. Yeah, those organic, like, we're all hanging out in the library moments are harder to come by. The parents, you know, like, you know, Eric Dane, who is in this season but has since passed away, but he will be in this season. Paula Marshall is listed for this season, who plays Nate's mom, Alana Eubock, who I think is out, thank Christ, standing on this show.
- [25:42]
Rob Mahoney
Honestly, made a stealth run in mvp.
- [25:44]
Joanna Robinson
Like, I mean, season two is. Is very much her season.
- [25:47]
Rob Mahoney
Queen of the heavy, poor queen of the basket full of knives. Like, I love Soos.
- [25:53]
Joanna Robinson
Queen of the reaction shots in the audience of the play. You know, just like, having a great time. But, yeah, a lot of key characters are gone. We'll have new. Sharon Stone is here, as you mentioned. We'll have some new additions of the cast. But I'm very curious, like, how much this show still feels like Euphoria, or does all it need is, like, Rue and Zendaya's voiceover to make it feel like Euphoria? We'll find out together.
- [26:17]
Rob Mahoney
It does feel early on like this is going to be kind of a soft reboot. And I'm open to that, and I'm open to where these characters can go. And so long as you have some of these attachments. And as you said, RU is kind of a driving force of it. I think there's a lot of cool and interesting stuff Euphoria can do, but I suspect it's going to feel and look very different from what we know.
- [26:35]
Joanna Robinson
Final two retrospective questions for you before we get into this premiere. Was there a standout episode for you of your. Of your rewatch?
- [26:45]
Rob Mahoney
I think it's definitely the one crazy night Intervention episode that you described. Like, that feels like a cut above almost everything else that happens in Euphoria, which is already, as we've said, like, quite a good show. But when I think of Euphoria, I think what I'm gonna think of most is the carnival in season one. That feels like the most distilled version of what this show was, and we're gonna see what it becomes. But, like, that was a version of the show that really, really clicked for me.
- [27:11]
Joanna Robinson
They've told a lot of stories about how hellacious that shoot was. Like, can only imagine. It was like, you know, they had to build this whole thing. Took so long. Zendaya had to hit the inhaler a lot because there was a lot of Dust around. But, like, when you watch that episode, it is such a feat because it's like an episode of the Pit. Like, you're just following, like one storyline and, you know, so you have to like. There's one shot where I'm like, Jacob Elordi was just standing there on his cue, having to, like, wait until the camera got to him and then it's just go, you know, but it's just like a really long, like, sweep through the entire carnival. Like, not even a cheat, like, seemed oner, but just, like, really were moving around. I like, that was just like a meticulously choreographed. Again, like, Sam Levinson is such a fascinating character because, like, I'm so grossed out by so many things that he does. And then I cannot deny that a lot of what he accomplishes is incredibly impressive. So, you know, both of these things could be true.
- [28:07]
Rob Mahoney
He's got a lot of juice in terms of the way he puts this stuff together. Does he also need people in his life who will tell him no? For many reasons, I suspect.
- [28:14]
Joanna Robinson
So the Idol tells us yes. Okay, last but not least, what was the most that became a meme that hit the hardest during your watch?
- [28:21]
Rob Mahoney
Honestly, this one is also very easy for me. It's also Maddie centric. It's all of the girls convening in the bathroom trying to figure out why Cassie is dressed up like she's in Oklahoma. And the whole sequence is wonderful. I had already seen it going into the show. I knew what I was getting in for. It was even better in context. And the moment for me, that really seals it is the bitch. You better be joking.
- [28:43]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [28:44]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, Maddie is just on another level, consistently on, like, a line for line basis. Even in season two when she's, like, barely in it. She's so great.
- [28:52]
Joanna Robinson
My favorite moment from that scene is when. When Rue is like, has everyone but me read Oklahoma? Right?
- [29:00]
Rob Mahoney
You don't read Oklahoma.
- [29:01]
Joanna Robinson
It's not like Homer home play read. All right, so speaking of Oklahoma and the west, let's go into season three, episode one of Euphoria. The western vibe of the opening, including, like, the whip crack sound on the title card and the music reminded me a lot. This reminded me a lot of Poker Face. I don't know if it's just like the yellow font of the card, but, like, more. I think it was like the pastiche of a genre that we're engaging with. Something that we enjoyed in our coverage of Poker Face is just like Rian Johnson is just like, I'm making this kind of movie in this episode of Of Poker Face. To be fair, Sam Levinson has done that before. The season two opener is very much like a stylized, like, 70s sort of exploitation crime vibe. But this opening, which is both, like, engaging in the Western genre and very Breaking Bad coded with the, like, mishap hijinks, incredible visual in the desert of a car teetering on top of the border wall. What did you think of our introduction back to Euphoria?
- [30:05]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, the Tipping Car is so Breaking Bad in a really great way. Honestly, I feel like Euphoria takes a lot of those familiar elements, whether it's things it's paying homage to, whether it's riffs on existing ideas or, like, frameworks of stories, you know, and finds, like, new and exciting ways to make them both interesting and also terrible to experience and watch. Like, the anxiety of the Tipping Car as Ru is trying to extricate herself from it. That's just great tv. Like, it's such an awesome way to start us into something that feels as new as this.
- [30:36]
Joanna Robinson
We should mention some new people, creative people involved in this season. Hans Zimmer on the score. This one. This one I feel kind of mixed about because obviously Hans Zimmer, like, absolute genius. Do you think Zendaya was like, hey, Hans, we work together so well on Dune, come over and do Euphoria. But Labyrinth, the. Labyrinth's music is so iconic to the experience of Euphoria to me. And I just, like, listen to those tracks often. I just. I think they're incredible. And so in terms of, like, a soft reboot, having this Hans Zimmer score over. They were supposed to collaborate, but I don't know if you saw that Labyrinth put this, like, post up on Instagram like, a week ago that said, quote, I'm done with this industry. Fuck Columbia double fuck Euphoria. So I don't know the whole story there. If there was indeed a collaboration between Hans Zimmer and Labyrinth this season, or if it was just a Zimmer joint, I don't know. But I do miss the, like, very recognizable Euphoria musical sound. With love and respect, Hans Zimmer. Colleen Atwood is involved in the production, but I'm very confused. Legendary costume designer Colleen Atwood, but she's listed as a co producer. And there's a different costume designer, which is Natasha Newman Thompson Thomas, who worked on the Idol, which I will say the costumes of Euoria, again, so iconic. Like, especially Maddie's, like, looks that Cassie then copies and stuff like that. But I did think that like Rue's. What Rue is wearing in that opening, like, I'm, I'm, I'm missing the, the, the iconic maroon hoodie. And what she's wearing in the opening, even though she's got the Converse on, struck me as a little, a bit more costumey than I feel like. I feel like they did such a good job with Rue and even with Jules, even though Jules is like a much more fashion forward version of this. But like I could see, well, just
- [32:30]
Rob Mahoney
very performative in terms of the way she dresses.
- [32:33]
Joanna Robinson
But like I could see a high schooler, a very specific high schooler, but a high schooler wearing those things. And like, we're not in high school anymore. But like what Rue is wearing in the opening, I don't know, just like struck me as a little, A little different.
- [32:46]
Rob Mahoney
Well, what if the real costume, Joe, is adulthood? You know, what if we're all just children underneath putting on our dress up clothes?
- [32:53]
Joanna Robinson
Great question, great question, Rob. I think it's important and great that we start with like the rude charm offensive. Like right off the bat, she's made friends with these guys who are like helping her get the car started. Right. And then she's doing something physically dangerous by the way she's driving across the desert by the, like the car teetering is dangerous, but her navigating it, the way she, her head smashes into the back window. So you're like, this is funny and wacky and then there's just like real holy shit, Rue moment to it. And then like lying to and charming the farm family, getting a whole bust of chance. You chant usa like all of that is just like Rue navigating the world. And despite her self described anxiety, she just is an incredibly charming.
- [33:40]
Rob Mahoney
Yes.
- [33:41]
Joanna Robinson
And that's the lubricant that she uses to get lubricant will come up again later. But that's a lubricant.
- [33:46]
Rob Mahoney
She's in the world.
- [33:47]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah.
- [33:48]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, I just think you have to start with Ru for a bunch of different reasons. And I think you nailed that part of it, Joe. Honestly, she is the part of this show for me so far that just like slips right back in to familiar patterns. Right. It is that energy, it is that appeal. Like, this is a character who, even though she's not in the exact same place she was at the end of season two, I get the jump of how she would have gone through these steps and also hit the roadblocks that she's hit and also kind of been in this state of life where she is Scrambling to try to make good on the suitcase full of drugs that we can't just forget about. And apparently Sam Levinson can't just forget about. Part of me wishes maybe we could have just, like, left that in the past. But if you want a through line and a reckoning, this is the place to start and this is the character to start it with.
- [34:32]
Joanna Robinson
I have to say, though, I'm a Laurie fan, so Martha.
- [34:34]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, Laurie's great that part of it is showing up welcome.
- [34:37]
Joanna Robinson
The way that, like, I don't think that I had checked whether or not Martha Kelly was coming back this season. So the way when Rue, you know, walks up to this house in the middle of nowhere, and then you see the birds, and I'm like, oh, no, it's Lori's out. Are you fucking kidding me? And then we get the rewind. And that's the other thing about Euphoria is like, for all of its flaws or whatever, the way it zooms through time and just cuts back and forth while just respecting that the audience will keep up, I really appreciate. I love that about it.
- [35:12]
Rob Mahoney
Zooming through time, zooming through perspective. There's a lot of rashomoning of various secrets and who knows what it really does. Trust you to be along for the ride.
- [35:21]
Joanna Robinson
Our girl Faye is also back.
- [35:24]
Rob Mahoney
I was so happy about this.
- [35:25]
Joanna Robinson
I'm a big fan.
- [35:26]
Rob Mahoney
I did not know she would be returning for the show. And frankly, with Fez not being in the series for obvious reasons, I was curious if they were even gonna try to involve her. But showing up in the capacity she did. Joe. And the sequence of the two of them trying to choke down these balloons full of fentanyl is one of the funniest things and also one of the worst things I've seen all year on tv. Just. Just horrendous. And also amazing.
- [35:51]
Joanna Robinson
Really tough when. When Ruz, like, decided to bring a friend. And then it cuts to. To Faye to Chloe Cherry. That's one of the best, like, jokes. I actually think the best joke belongs to Lexi this episode. But, like, that's like, that cut to. Oh, of course. It's Faye is, like, extremely good. And then their whole crossing the border, try not to shit themselves sequence is also incredibly, incredibly good. Anything else you want to say about that?
- [36:17]
Rob Mahoney
Not good. But the strainer cut of using the strainer to sift the drugs into using the strainer for pasta, that is the work of a madman.
- [36:26]
Joanna Robinson
Can we. Is this a good time to float some ideas for bespoke emails for this show?
- [36:32]
Rob Mahoney
I would love, Nothing more. What do you have in mind?
- [36:34]
Joanna Robinson
I did wonder if Forbidden Strainer
- [36:39]
Rob Mahoney
I like Forbidden Strainer could be a possibility.
- [36:42]
Joanna Robinson
I also had fun. Failure to Clench was another option. Any thoughts that you have?
- [36:48]
Rob Mahoney
And just for those not as familiar with this part of our process, we're creating an original email address to have a conversation with all of you all season about Euphoria Season three. I gotta say Joe, I was kind of at a loss with this one. I mean I have some episode specific like justcreatingcontentmail.com in salute to our girl Cassie. Also, I don't know if I want to be on here every week singing, saying kingofpussymail.com, but it is a thing we could in theory Do I know
- [37:15]
Joanna Robinson
if Slice of Heaven wasn't probably clearly taken? I thought of that. Yeah. I don't know about kingofpussy.com, but I definitely did consider it. I don't know. A lot of the episode specific ones like Little Green Apples or Slice of Heaven or whatever are all obviously taken out there in the world. Um, should we ask our listeners that they have any suggestions?
- [37:39]
Rob Mahoney
I would love that. You can email us@prestigetvpotify.com for now if you have any ideas on what our email address should be. And I don't know about you Joe, I'm open to historical examples too, like if you want to pull from memes of season, pass, seasons past. Like I think that could be a great avenue too.
- [37:54]
Joanna Robinson
Is this fucking play about us?
- [37:57]
Rob Mahoney
Gmail.com never been happiermail.com I think there's options out there.
- [38:02]
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- [40:40]
Joanna Robinson
Here's the thing I didn't need to know about, which is how one beheads a chicken on a farm. I didn't need to.
- [40:45]
Rob Mahoney
I'm so glad you brought this up.
- [40:47]
Joanna Robinson
I'm upset that I know I looked this up.
- [40:50]
Rob Mahoney
Apparently called manual cervical dislocation, which is Somehow not what Dr. Langton did on the pit this week. How is this a real thing? How is this the method that we have devised to accomplish this particular task?
- [41:04]
Joanna Robinson
I mean, it seems very practical, like an apple core or something like that. I just didn't, I didn't need to see it. I don't, I don't like.
- [41:10]
Rob Mahoney
I don't want an apple core process to kill a chicken. I just don't want that.
- [41:15]
Joanna Robinson
Listen. Well, I mean I, I always thought you did it manually Like, I thought there was like, a whole sort of, like. Sorry, for vegetarians, you can skip ahead. But, like, I thought there was a whole, like, grab by the neck sort of swinging around sort of maneuver that I had seen.
- [41:29]
Rob Mahoney
Like a lasso.
- [41:30]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah. You, like, grab the chicken by the neck and then you sort of, like, swing it to break the neck. And then that's like a merciful way. It seems more merciful than the. The ripping off thing that we saw.
- [41:39]
Rob Mahoney
Yeah, I mean, I guess it's all the same, like, biological process in terms of, like, you're snapping this chicken's. There is something, though, that is violent and kind of crude about doing it through, like, this weird metal hook.
- [41:50]
Joanna Robinson
I was so. And it was, like, all rusted. I was so upset by it. And I was watching with a friend, and she's like, where the fuck do you think your rotisserie chicken comes from? And I was like, I don't want to confront that. Thank you so much. That's why I live in America. All right, Lexi and LA Knights. There's a real. We're in a real moment. And Chris and I were talking about this on the Watch last week. We were in a real moment of TV shows about Hollywood, right? We've got this Hacks is back. Reggie Jacobs, the studio, etcetera, Et cetera, et cetera. So, LA Knights, how did you feel about this? Lexi the storyteller is working in television. She's on the WB lot. Sharon Stone is here. Welcome to LA Knights. How do you feel?
- [42:31]
Rob Mahoney
Mostly getting coffees, which I think checks out for this stage of life. Where did you place LA Knights? What kind of show is it? Because I couldn't quite tell if it was pure soap or more teen drama.
- [42:43]
Joanna Robinson
I placed it in 1998. The font is crazy. This is like some Silk Stockings usa, Up all Night, like kind of stuff. Or like, it looks very like Melrose Placey 90210. Like, something like that. I don't think that show exists right now. So I think Sam Levinson is using a sort of. We're outside time and space. Because when you first see. The way you first see LA Knights is like fanny pack swag that's on Lexi's table as the camera pans past. And like that. Again, that font is very like Baywatch Nights. And so I was just sort of like, what are we? When are we. What are we doing here? But I'm excited.
- [43:23]
Rob Mahoney
No one knows.
- [43:24]
Joanna Robinson
I'm excited to find out.
- [43:26]
Rob Mahoney
It's a question I ask with this show all the time. Joe, in terms of, like, Cassie as a character, is, like, obsessed enough with true romance to dress up as Alabama for Halloween. Characters are constantly, like, singing and referencing things, and I'm like, I just don't believe that you like that thing.
- [43:41]
Joanna Robinson
Thank you so much. The Halloween episode of Euphoria. It's wild where Cassie is. I mean, the only one I can get on board with is Jules dressed as Claire Danes from Romeo and Juliet. That I'm like, I can't perfect.
- [43:54]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, look, I'm an easy mark for all of these things. Jules is a great character. Romeo and Juliet, one of my favorite movies of all time. Like, I'm here for it, but, like,
- [44:00]
Joanna Robinson
culturally, I get it. But like, Maddie, with love and respect, dressed as Jodie Foster from Taxidermy. Like, there's just, like, all of these costumes where I'm like, simply know. And this is. This is what I mean. And this is coming out after our pit episode this week, but we haven't recorded that yet. But we're going to talk about it again when we talk.
- [44:16]
Rob Mahoney
Oh, we sure are.
- [44:19]
Joanna Robinson
The way in which these, like, Gen X or older writers put their cultural references on the younger generation. That Halloween episode is insane in terms of what people are wearing. But, yeah, when are we? Is a great question. This is like kind of a Hollywood story now, though. Like, how do you feel about this? I guess we were in the California suburbs. I never thought too, like, long and deep about where Euphoria was set. Any town, Suburbia, where you could get to a city quite easily because Jules went there. But, like, we get Johnny Cash's Sunset and Vine. Like, we're driving around the Chinese Theater, Batman in an Uber. Like, how do you feel about this being a Hollywood story now? As a Hollywood boy yourself.
- [45:03]
Rob Mahoney
Well, and soon to be one yourself too, you know, we are going to be of this world doing some boots on the ground reporting. As far as the Hollywood experience, I think it works because Lexi and Maddie work in that world. You know, as far as, again, these transition jumps from season two, Maddie becoming an agent to, like, a very specific kind of, like, Instagram famous influencer actor. Like, that completely tracks for me. And obviously Lexi wanting something both creative but, like, creative working for people who also profess to care about things, that's about as Lexi as it gets.
- [45:37]
Joanna Robinson
What did you make of the Sharon Stonewriter's room moment where she gets not only, like, snaps in response from her from her younger writers, but also talking about how the stories we make on television impact the ballot box? Here's here I'll tell you, I'll give you my take, which is this Sam Levinson. Lexi Rue is Sam Levinson's like self insert. But Lexi in season two as the sort of the writer, the observer is also like and the like the Xander. Sometimes people have to get their feelings hurt. Art should be challenging. Art should make people upset. You know, all this sort of stuff like that. Like that's very self insert. Sam Levinson. This is what story should be. This is what art should be. He's making a television show about his own experience as an addict and what he did to his family. And so I'm sure he has family members or friends who recognize themselves and euphoria and are pissed and are like, is this fucking play about us? You know, like, I'm sure that happened to Sam Levinson. So like that was his sort of take on like why writing and art matters and should be confrontational in season two. In season three, I will give him the credit. He seems to have decided to poke fun at himself about how important TV writing is in 2024 or any other time. What did you think?
- [46:50]
Rob Mahoney
Especially the quick transition to like these are why all these things are important and that's why we have to break the plot on episode 12. It's a great moment. And the writers room in terms of composition does look like something like so meticulously curated in terms of representation and types of like it. It just is, I think, a really great snapshot of an entry point into this world.
- [47:12]
Joanna Robinson
Anything else you want to say about Maddie and her talent repping plotline?
- [47:16]
Rob Mahoney
Not a lot to it as of yet, although I will say if LA Knights is a thing that doesn't exist, an indie called if I may, I might. That's a thing that 100% exists and I've probably watched it on plane at some point.
- [47:27]
Joanna Robinson
Rebecca Pigeon is. Is here as Maddie's boss and this is an actress who I love. So I'm interested to see how they use her. And then that brings us to Cassie and TikTok in their right wing suburban bubble. I will say here's. Here's a couple things. I will say the fact that Nate Jacobs, one of the vilest people to ever exist on television. And here's the thing about Nate Jacobs horrible human being. I both hate him and am rooting for his absolute demise and downfall. And when Fezco beats his face to a pulp, I'm like, great, do it some more.
- [48:02]
Rob Mahoney
I'm sensing a but there's a way
- [48:05]
Joanna Robinson
in which, especially in season one, Nate is a psychological assassin of people. The way in which he psychologically devastates Jules and then later Rue. He's so smart. I'm not sure that's as present in season two. And it certainly doesn't seem as present here though he is, you know, running a real estate scam. Running, yeah. Maybe it's like smart for a high school jock, but maybe doesn't translate to the real world or not so easy to be your father or all these other things. But love that he drives a cybertruck. One of my most hated objects in the world. Perfect for Nate. And I don't. Do you know this thing about the shirt that he's wearing on the job site?
- [48:47]
Rob Mahoney
No.
- [48:48]
Joanna Robinson
This is one of my favorite facts. So Jacob Elordi has a contract with Bottega Veneta. So when you see Jacob Lordi mean.
- [48:56]
Rob Mahoney
Of course he does.
- [48:57]
Joanna Robinson
When you see Jacob Elordi with like a leather woven tote bag which he is always carrying, that's like a branded sort of thing. In the. In the work trailer and then later on the job site sort of scenes, he is wearing what looks like a flannel shirt, but is in fact a leather shirt that has. Is been crafted to look like a flannel shirt that is a Bottega Veneta, like the sort of star of their spring collection or something like that. So a friend sent me this GQ article about it the other day and I was like, but why? But genuinely why? No one watching the show can tell that that is a leather shirt made to look like a flannel shirt. It just looks like a flannel shirt. But this is like, so clearly, you know, in terms of like, how did we get all of this talent back? Clearly part of Jacob Elordi's contract is I have to be able to rep like Bottega Veneta as much as possible, which is just like I want to hear all of the writers and all of the strings and all of the contracts that got everyone back here. Any thoughts on this?
- [50:04]
Rob Mahoney
Well, and the gratuitous shot of the bag in particular, it's like in frame as a main character for a full beat. So clearly, yeah, this is contractual. I would say that exists only for this exact purpose. For like, I think Jake, the larger Nate conversation is not so dissimilar from the larger Sydney Sweeney conversation for me of the show. Clearly figured out over time what it had in Jacob Elordi and what it has right now is like a full on star, a full on like style icon and sex symbol. And there will be people Googling, what is this shirt that Nate is wearing? And they're gonna find out that it's a leather woven faux flannel shirt that costs more than their rent.
- [50:41]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah. I believe it is, like, $6,000.
- [50:44]
Rob Mahoney
For the finale, we will both be appearing in the leather flannel shirt expensed by Spotify. Thank you so much.
- [50:50]
Joanna Robinson
How excited do you. Well, should our Gmail be leather flannel shirtmail.com?
- [50:56]
Rob Mahoney
it's just a confusing garment in many different ways.
- [50:59]
Joanna Robinson
How do you think. How excited do you think they were to, like, slap the Academy Award nominee Jacob Elordi on the. On the ad campaign and Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo?
- [51:08]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, it's true.
- [51:09]
Joanna Robinson
Listen, it's a loaded cast.
- [51:11]
Rob Mahoney
It is what it is.
- [51:12]
Joanna Robinson
Anything you want to say about Cassie's introduction? How much is this? Is that doggy in the window? Their candle at dinner? Her wedding plans? Anything like that?
- [51:25]
Rob Mahoney
Yet again, I'm just, like, not super compelled by the Cassie stuff that's happening so far. Yeah. So I hope that it takes a turn. I hope we see some wrinkles in that character that show us something new. She seems, like, almost fundamentally dumber in this episode than she was in previous seasons. And I'm not saying, like, Cassie was ever, like, the most intellectual character, but I don't even know what this is or what it's supposed to be or what we're supposed to be taking from Cassie's, like, beginning of this particular journey or she gets some great lines I don't want to be arguing about. Ice luges is definitely something that really jumped out to me. And her larger premise of, like, I am willing to sell my body to pay for floral arrangements, I guess is certainly a premise you could use for a TV show. But between her not being that interesting and Nate being, I would say, like, straight up unrecognizable from the character that we know him to be. I just don't know what to make of any of this.
- [52:20]
Joanna Robinson
I don't have any confirmation on this, but I have heard some things about potentially part of Jacob Elordi's contract negotiation was like, I don't want to play as much of a psychopath anymore.
- [52:30]
Rob Mahoney
So, like, well, I got bad news, guy. Your character is a psychopath, but, like,
- [52:35]
Joanna Robinson
he's a softer, more reasonable Nate Jacobs. I don't know. Anyway, but still driving a cybertruck. Yeah. I'm wildly disinterested in the spotlight, though. I do enjoy, you know, they've got this huge house, the pool with the blowup, like all this sort of stuff like that. Even though they haven't been able to remodel everything, it's just so tacky. It's just like the tackiest shit you've ever seen. And that seems exactly right for Cassie. A Cassie led decision.
- [53:06]
Rob Mahoney
Maybe it was Elordi, like striding through the door too, but there's something very like Priscilla about some of the set design, like the very colored, like almost carpeted walls, the scheming. It's like. It is very like, when are we again? You know, exactly like of. Of a certain time that is certainly not this one. But creates a vivid world for euphoria all the same.
- [53:25]
Joanna Robinson
Let's go to a plotline I'm much more interested, which is Ali is here. I don't know how much Cole Mandamingo is gonna be in the season, if it'll just be like a couple diner scenes or something like that. But we get this, like just a great, fun conversation about faith and like thoughts throughout history of gay sex inside of the Bible. Worried the time for butt. Sexmail.com is also another potential that we could go for.
- [53:49]
Rob Mahoney
That's a great flag.
- [53:50]
Joanna Robinson
Here's what I want to say about the audiobook of the Bible that Rue is listening to. And the poor man in the backseat of her car is being subjected to immediately recognizing.
- [53:59]
Rob Mahoney
And his Chihuahua, we should say, and
- [54:01]
Joanna Robinson
his Chihuahua and his mesh shirt. Immediately recognizable dulcet tones of the actor Michael York narrating this. And I was like, huh? Did Michael York narrate an audiobook with a Bible? He did. This is called the World of Promise Audio Bible. It is a full cast recording narrated by Michael York. Jim Caviezel reprising his role as Jesus.
- [54:23]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, of course.
- [54:24]
Joanna Robinson
Richard Dreyfus as Moses, Gary Sinise as David, Jason Alexander as Joseph, Marisa Tomei as Mary Magdalene, Marissa Stacy Keech as Paul, Lewis Gossett Jr. As John, John Voight as Abraham and Malcolm McDowell as Solomon, among many other stars in the firmament.
- [54:42]
Rob Mahoney
Wow.
- [54:43]
Joanna Robinson
Is this an audiobook you're gonna be downloading and trying out for yourself, Rob?
- [54:48]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, if it's good enough for Rue, maybe it should be good enough for me. I think we're all looking for change in our lives. Maybe this is exactly what I need. Is Marisa Tomei voicing? Sorry, who was she playing?
- [54:56]
Joanna Robinson
Mary Magdalene.
- [54:57]
Rob Mahoney
I mean, naturally.
- [54:58]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [54:59]
Rob Mahoney
So maybe that is what I need.
- [55:00]
Joanna Robinson
But she's using her Mona Lisa voice from My Cousin Minnie as Mary Magdalene.
- [55:05]
Rob Mahoney
That's how Mary Magdalene Sounded. I don't know if you're up there.
- [55:08]
Joanna Robinson
And also, as you know, Joseph sounded like George from Seinfeld. Anyway, I'm fascinated by this project. I hope we get more audience. I really do hope we get a Marisa Tomei and I really want a Gary Sinise. Like, I love listening to Gary Sinise as David. Sure. Let's find out. Anything you want to say about this. Like the way in which this sort of faith theme is introduced, both in her sort of reaction to this family she meets in Texas and then talking to Ali about it and then listening to Michael York narrate Genesis.
- [55:39]
Rob Mahoney
I like this kind of chain of events of that it's something like ultimately very small, which is on one of her drug runs. And we should say Rue has turned out to be a great mule, just like top of her class. Really appreciate it. Our girl is showing some sense of ambition and accomplishment and we're here for her.
- [55:55]
Joanna Robinson
And she's clean, right?
- [55:57]
Rob Mahoney
She appears to be. I mean, she's on step three. She seems to be clean. We have every suggestion that she is, despite being so intertwined and involved in this world, but just this, like, one intersection with this, like, homesteading, homeschooling, culty Christian family, which, in their defense, I do think we'd probably all be happier if we weren't on the Internet. But here we are on the Internet talking to all of you, sharing this beautiful time together that. That could set her on a journey of like, I'm just going to choose to accept this as fact and faith because I'm making that conscious choice, not because, like, I've been pitched or sold, although kind of inadvertently she has, but just like, I need to believe in something and this step says I need to believe in. And I'm going to make the decision to do it wholeheartedly. I kind of like that turn for her character, to be honest.
- [56:44]
Joanna Robinson
I'm really. I'm really interested in the storyline. I two things I want to say about this. Number one, the eldest daughter who drives her to the bus station from the family. If this is like a culty sort of, we don't have the Internet. I have some questions about her eyebrow game and, like, her skincare routine.
- [57:00]
Rob Mahoney
This is her general style.
- [57:01]
Joanna Robinson
Say, real Instagram face for a culty sort of middle of nowhere young girl.
- [57:08]
Rob Mahoney
And then she is a trad wife influencer with like 500,000 followers.
- [57:13]
Joanna Robinson
And then Lexi's joke. And Maude Apatow, I should say. I think Maud Apatow's really good on the show. And I think I thought, like, the increased use of Lexi in season two was something that I really liked about season two. But when Rue was talking about Christianity and Lexi's like, I would never be friends with a Christian. And Maude Apatow's delivery of Cause they're judgmental was my joke of the episode. I think it was really funny.
- [57:36]
Rob Mahoney
It's a beautiful moment.
- [57:37]
Joanna Robinson
All right, we're here at the end, and we haven't even touched on the Alamo. So let's talk about Ru's entrance into this entire other world. We have a whole new cast of characters in this new world. Adewale Akinnoe Agbaje from Lost is here as Alamo.
- [57:55]
Rob Mahoney
Well, from Oz is here.
- [57:58]
Joanna Robinson
He's always Mr. Echo to me.
- [57:59]
Rob Mahoney
Sorry, he's always out of Beastie to me. Although Mr. Echo also great.
- [58:03]
Joanna Robinson
But he's here. I mean. Well, this reminds me of like. I mean, Breaking Bad or just like any of that era of show where it's like, here's your new flamboyantly something big bad of the season. You know, like textbook stuff. Yeah, exactly. This is very like FX of a certain era or whatever. But he shows up the hats here. You know, we meet him in the hot tub. He's got a bunch of hedge people played by actors we recognize. And also Marshawn lynch, that's an actor we recognize.
- [58:33]
Rob Mahoney
Beast Mode is an accomplished performer at this point. We respect bottoms on this podcast, Joe
- [58:38]
Joanna Robinson
and Ru's just like, very sort of like, look at all these half naked babes. Or I can help you fix your bikini. Or like, all of these moments for Rue, her dancing with all the girls on the dance floor. Great, great shit. And then we. And then we wind up with this shooting the apple off the head moment.
- [58:55]
Rob Mahoney
Yes.
- [58:56]
Joanna Robinson
What's interesting to me about Rue's whole face journey inside of this season is if you go back and watch the first two seasons, there's so many moments where Rue goes, please, God, let me survive this. Please God, let this not happen. And of course, all the church musical numbers that you hate and I love and stuff like that. So it's big.
- [59:18]
Rob Mahoney
Oh, you mean the one that was a fantasy sequence on top of a fantasy sequence in which she's having a double delusion. What are we doing?
- [59:25]
Joanna Robinson
Why are we doing just Inception delusion layers all the way down. I loved it. But yeah, tell me about your experience with the Alamo here.
- [59:33]
Rob Mahoney
A great introduction to this character. And yeah, like Adewale in particular. And if you've seen Oz, you are Very familiar with this. Honestly, if you've seen Loss, you're very familiar with this, where he has this, like, underlying menace on first glance, but also in a way that's completely captivating. And there is, like, a gravitational pull to him where you not only want to see him on screen, but you want, like, more characters dragged into his immediate orbit. I love this addition, especially in contrast to someone like Laurie. Right. Who is so cool, so calm. We could do with a little flamboyance by contrast. And we could do with somebody who, like, is going to put Ru in. In situations that she doesn't know how to deal with. And it seems like on first blush that the way she's going to deal with them is just by leaning even harder into her faith. And if you choose to believe in God, if you choose to believe in, like, predestination or a divine power, everything happens for a reason. Even if you're getting, like, taken out to a ditch to be William tell, William told.
- [60:30]
Joanna Robinson
Williamtoldmail.com
- [60:34]
Rob Mahoney
I don't know. Honestly, I don't know.
- [60:35]
Joanna Robinson
Fezco, as we already mentioned, gets mentioned. Jules gets mentioned. She's a. She's a sugar baby, allegedly. We'll see. And then Gia gets mentioned. Gia doing very well in school. I think Rue is lying about where she was, but not lying about the fact that Gia is doing well where Gia is.
- [60:54]
Rob Mahoney
Yeah.
- [60:55]
Joanna Robinson
Anything else that we didn't get to that you want to.
- [60:58]
Rob Mahoney
Well, no mention of Elliot so far in this show, but we've seen that he will appear at some time in the series. I'm eager for that. I actually really liked. I like that character, too. And of the musical moments that worked for me, his performance of the song for Rue.
- [61:12]
Joanna Robinson
Rob. No.
- [61:13]
Rob Mahoney
You don't like that song.
- [61:14]
Joanna Robinson
Little Star. Rob, you were not here and alive on. On in the Euphoria fandom when that happened, but that was, like, one of the most controversial things that happened in that finale, because we didn't know it was going to happen to Fez. We're on the, like, the edge of our seat. We're like, is Fez gonna be okay? And it's like, like, pause. You now have to listen to Elliot sing a song for Ru. Yeah, everyone hated it, but I'm glad you loved it.
- [61:36]
Rob Mahoney
I was moved. I loved it. I certainly loved it a lot more than, like, again, just prancing around your various homes, lip syncing to various songs that Sam Levinson likes. You know, I just think we could do differently, Honestly.
- [61:47]
Joanna Robinson
How dare you? I love all the prancing that Zendaya does.
- [61:52]
Rob Mahoney
But real talk, like, we're going to need a lot of Hunter Schaefer on this show. I think this was a problem with season two. We kind of talked around it, but season two felt like Hunter Schaefer is very popular and hard to schedule, and thus we're going to shoehorn her into, like, scenes with one person at a time. Arrested Development, season four style. But she was rarely, like, part of the action.
- [62:12]
Joanna Robinson
Yeah.
- [62:12]
Rob Mahoney
And I don't know how you get her into the mix with these other characters, but I love what she brings to this show. I love Jules. Like, there is a bracing vulnerability to what Hunter Schaefer does that makes that character so vivid and so interesting to watch in all these situations. So, like, I. Season two, I guess, is gonna need to be a Jules episode for me.
- [62:30]
Joanna Robinson
And I mean, as we talk about the legacy of Euphoria, it's impossible to talk about, like, to not talk about Jules as a character. 2019, this, like, trans girl who, like, yes, her transness is part of, you know, Nate's issue with her and all these other things. But, like, her main story is not really about her trans identity. It's this like. Like, it is and it isn't, but it's about this.
- [62:57]
Rob Mahoney
It informs these other aspects of her.
- [62:59]
Joanna Robinson
But it's like, in 2019, I think having a trans character where, like, that is not the only, you know, aspect of this person was a huge, huge deal at the time. And like Hunter Schaefer, who had been a model but not acted before, this is just like a huge moment for her. And so, yeah, I just. I love Jules. I was also sort of bummed not to see her, but I think, you know, what I anticipate is we'll get a very Jules centric episode. We'll dedicate a lot of time to her. I like all the things that Euphoria did in season one with showing the childhood and in season two of Cassie or Maddy or Nate or all this sort of. How did we get here? The Cal flashback episode of season two absolutely demolished me. Like, I thought that was an incredibly good episode. So I'm. I'm excited to see what we get for Jules this season. Anything else you want to mention?
- [63:58]
Rob Mahoney
I have one question for you, Joe. Do you think that I, like Alamo could pull off Scorpion boots?
- [64:08]
Joanna Robinson
Do you really want me to tell you the answer to that? Scorpion?
- [64:11]
Rob Mahoney
I want your honest opinion.
- [64:13]
Joanna Robinson
Robsscorpion bootsmail.com yeah, hit us up@prestige tvotify.com It's a very busy time on the feed right now. We've got wrapping up the Pit Euphoria launching and we're going to have a couple episodes on the Netflix binge Drop of Beef Season two. So stay tuned. There's a lot going on, but I hope you'll join us for this Euphoria run because I think no matter what, people are going to be talking about it and that's always fun. Thank you to both Devin Ronaldo and to Kai Grady for their work on the show today. And we'll see you soon.
- [64:44]
Rob Mahoney
Soon.
- [64:44]
Joanna Robinson
Bye.
- [64:56]
Rob Mahoney
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile. Com.
- [65:15]
Joanna Robinson
Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate, first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra fee, full terms@mintmobile.com.