The Watch – November 17, 2025

Episode: ‘Landman’ is Back! Plus, ‘Pluribus’ Episode 3 and ‘Poker Face’ Searches for a New Home
Hosts: Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan

Episode Overview

Andy and Chris return to Los Angeles, fresh off a stint in London, to celebrate Chris’ birthday and break down three main TV topics:

1. The cancellation and potential resurrection of Rian Johnson’s Poker Face
2. The season two premiere of Taylor Sheridan’s Landman
3. Episode 3 of Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus
   The episode is filled with their characteristic wit, asides about food and video games, and meta-commentary on how TV is made and marketed.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Poker Face Leaves Peacock – What Next?

[08:12 – 19:39]

• Cancellation and Future Prospects:
  • Poker Face (Peacock, created by Rian Johnson, starring Natasha Lyonne) is canceled; Johnson reportedly wants Peter Dinklage to take the lead if the show is revived elsewhere, with a “Doctor Who”–style rotating lead.
  • This shift would mean a new actor plays the main detective “Charlie” every two seasons.

“I’m very skeptical that they will [find a new home], although I’ve often been very, very wrong about things like this.” — Andy (10:36)

• Ownership & Rights:

  • Poker Face is made by MRC (independent studio), so rights can transfer easily if another streamer is interested.

• Procedural TV in the Streaming Age:

  • Despite hype, the show couldn’t maintain a procedural pace (“crime of the week”) due to busy creators and industry delays.
  • Second season pivoted from procedural formats to “celeb of the week.”

“The show absolutely did not hit its mark…as a dependable week-to-week procedural because there were two or three years between seasons.” — Andy (12:17)

• Comparison to Rian Johnson and Edgar Wright’s Careers:
  • The hosts examine Johnson’s constant straddling of innovation and tradition, echoing similar struggles in Wright’s jump from indie to big franchise films.
  • Discuss the flexibility and traps of creators like Johnson working within the Hollywood/IP system.

“Do you think that he most wants to be an innovator or a traditionalist? … The things that he does are often more radical than what had come before.” — Andy (13:37)

• Will Netflix Pick Up Poker Face?
  • Chris is cautiously optimistic, noting Johnson’s good relationship with Netflix but acknowledges several uncertainties surrounding streaming strategy and library titles.

2. Video Games, Zelda, and the Vagaries of Adaptation

[21:36 – 27:14]

• Video Game Nostalgia:
  • Brief deviation into the nostalgia of 90s and early 00s video games (Zelda, Shinobi, Grand Theft Auto).
  • Chris jokes about his “video game achievements” and Andy’s cameo in GTA III.

“When I go to Japan, guys are like, ‘We heard about you… No one has brought the ethos of Joe Shinogli.’” — Chris (22:44)

• Live-Action Zelda Adaptation:
  • Hosts mock the seriousness with which studios adapt games, noting the thin narratives and stylistic signifiers in adaptations like Mario and the upcoming Zelda.

“The Zelda thing is so deep video game in a way that I don’t understand how they’re going to translate it…” — Andy (26:10)

3. Landman Season Two Premiere

[28:20 – 47:39]

• Cultural/Regional Analysis:
  • The show dives deep into West Texas oil country culture, with Andy and Chris discussing its embrace—and parody—of a certain brand of American masculinity and gender roles.

“There is something comforting about a show that really privileges the idea of a world…in which a man can just lecture a woman on anything at any time.” — Andy (28:49)

• Season Recap and New Leadership:

  • Season picks up after Jon Hamm’s Monty dies; Demi Moore’s Cammie takes charge of the company.
  • Chris and Andy joke about Taylor Sheridan’s casting logic (noting Sam Elliott, only 9 years older than Billy Bob Thornton, plays his father) and the show’s disregard for age realism.

• Cammie’s Rise and the Show’s View on Women:

  • Demi Moore’s expanded role is spotlighted as a possible “slow burn” introduction akin to The Wire’s Bunny Colvin.

“Is this the greatest slow planting of a major character since Bunny Colvin in season two of The Wire?” — Andy (32:42)

• Style, Dialogue, and Gender Bizarre:
  • The show features long, digressive set-piece scenes (“the dinner scene”—over 11 minutes, [38:03 – 44:02]) where masculinity and gender norms are hammered home and “explained.”
  • The hosts marvel at the creative freedom Sheridan exercises, creating scenes that defy conventional structure and taste.

“You could hate it… but admire the freedom, the creative freedom. The fact that he’s just like… You thought this was going to be a scene where father and son recognize that, and instead it’s about a woman having her menstrual cycle and making pasta for 11 minutes.” — Chris (44:07)

• Critical Takes and Accolades:
  • Both Andy and Chris single out Ally Larder’s performance as a stand-out amid questionable material.
  • Notable comic moments, like a college admissions monologue about eugenics, are discussed.

4. Pluribus Episode 3

[47:49 – 55:41]

• More Meditative/Experimental Installment:
  • The episode is described as a “chamber piece,” taking time to dwell on central characters and their relationships.
  • The opening flashback (Carol and Helen in Norway) is called “lost-ish backfilling”—part world-building, part character study.

“The only criticism I’ve heard about this show that has rung in any way legitimate…was a friend of mine…said the phoniest moment of the show was when the Norwegian bellhop accepted the tip.” — Andy (48:08)

• Vince Gilligan’s Storytelling:
  • The show juggles intimate human drama with a sci-fi, world-building premise.
  • The tension between the individual and collective action is analyzed, with Carol’s consumerist outbursts contrasting with the collectivized, post-apocalyptic world.

“Her obstinance is kind of like a virus to them, and they can’t solve for it. And her power is much more than…odds.” — Andy (53:53)

• Gilligan’s “X-Files” DNA and Legacy:
  • Chris and Andy see echoes of The X-Files: a battle between standalone creativity and overarching plot.
  • They note that Pluribus moves comfortably between big-picture world-building and micro character moments.

“The more relevant comp for Vince Gilligan’s career is the X Files. This is an episode where you started to feel…the unsolvable dilemma.” — Andy (51:46)

• Supporting Crew Shout-out:
  • The week’s episode was written and directed by Gordon Smith, a Gilligan collaborator from previous Albuquerque projects.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Poker Face’s Rotating Lead:

“He would like Peter Dinklage to take over the role of Charlie…each person playing Charlie, a la Doctor Who, would do two years and step away.” — Chris (09:58)

Sheridan’s TV Auteurism:

“One of my favorite things about the Taylor Sheridan experience is that, on some level, even he knows he doesn’t need all of the scenes that he writes…” — Andy (38:59)

“The content of the scenes is so, so unhinged that it can’t be…That is the spark of humanity—that is the ghost in the machine.” — Andy (47:28)

On Pluribus’s Meditative Energy:

“Perhaps like…this is a little bit more of a sketchbook for ideas about humanity and about life than it is always going to be a…like a little clock that Vince Gilligan has made a la Breaking Bad.” — Chris (49:46)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 08:12 – Poker Face news, explanation of show’s fate at Peacock
• 13:45 – Rian Johnson’s place in TV/film, compared to Edgar Wright
• 21:36 – Video game nostalgia, Zelda adaptation digression
• 28:20 – Landman Season 2 overview; West Texas culture, Demi Moore’s increased presence
• 38:03 – “The Dinner Scene” and gender/pasta/generational riffs
• 47:49 – Pluribus Episode 3 discussion
• 51:46 – The X-Files comparison for Vince Gilligan

Tone & Language

• Conversational, irreverent, pop-culture savvy: Andy and Chris riff with each other, self-deprecate, and enjoy tangents almost as much as main topics.
• Deep TV Knowledge: Both hosts consistently tie their discussion of new television to TV history, behind-the-scenes industry context, and auteur theory.
• Critical but affectionately engaged: Even as they poke fun at Sheridan’s writing or the unwieldy ambition of Poker Face, their fascination with TV’s oddities and risks is clear.

Summary

Andy and Chris guide listeners through the shifting terrain of prestige and mainstream TV—with extra love for creator-driven experiments, comedic misfires, and the complex fate of shows in the streaming era. Their takes on Poker Face, Landman, and Pluribus circle back to key questions of artistic intent, the machinery of TV production, and whether unlikable (or unhinged) content can still be artistically vital. For fans and the TV-curious alike, this episode is an engaging blend of critical insight, industry gossip, and affectionate banter.