‘Pluribus’ Penultimate Episode and ‘Landman’ Episode 5

Summary

The Watch – Episode Summary

Podcast: The Watch (The Ringer)

Episode: ‘Pluribus’ Penultimate Episode and ‘Landman’ Episode 5
Date: December 19, 2025
Hosts: Chris Ryan & Andy Greenwald

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Andy and Chris break down the penultimate episode of "Pluribus" and the fifth episode ("Pirate Dinner") of "Landman," offering their usual blend of incisive TV analysis, irreverent banter, and personal tangents. They also look ahead to the surprisingly crowded January TV calendar and touch on the state of Marvel, the phenomenon of overhyped online trailers, and the pleasures and quirks of recent prestige & popular television.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Upcoming TV in January: An Unusually Busy Month

Timestamps: [05:05–10:07]

• Chris marvels at how busy January will be with major show returns and premieres.
• Shows discussed:
  • "The Pit" S2, "Industry" S4, "His and Hers," "Crazy Riot Women," "Gangs of London" S3, "Ponies," "Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," "Shrinking," "Night Manager" S2 (10 years later).
• Chris notes: “I don't think I've ever seen a January like it…” [05:06]
• Andy is especially excited for back-to-back releases of "Industry" and "The Pit": “That’s incredibly exciting.” [07:31]

2. "Pluribus" Penultimate Episode: Emotional Honesty & Loneliness

Timestamps: [26:10–39:01]

The Show’s Unique Approach

• Chris and Andy admire the show’s willingness to linger on emotional minutiae rather than plot mechanics:
  • Chris: “I just don’t really see TV that is delving into these kinds of emotional realities, even if the reality of the show is almost science fictional.” [27:22]
• Focus on Carol’s loneliness, longing, and struggle to accept kindness or companionship.
• Andy: “You can look at it in the macro … but then also the emotional minutia of what’s happening with Carol…” [28:52]

The Diner Scene

• Chris highlights a pivotal scene where Carol finds happiness and then is immediately unsettled by it:
  • “That’s the happiest we’ve ever seen Carol… and then immediately she becomes incredibly alarmed.” [28:51]
• The show’s depiction of kindness as both "so kind, but also so creepy" is praised.

Character Dynamics and Questions

• Discussion of Carol’s dynamic with Zoesha; is her behavior motivated by pure loneliness or genuine change?
• Chris: “It can be both things, right? … Everything I’ve ever wanted is at my fingertips, but I can’t enjoy it if I’m doing it alone.” [33:05]
• Andy notes the subtle evolution of “the others” from monolithic to more playful or manipulative in their interactions.

Show’s Themes & Depth

• Reflection on the weight of isolation, the limits of self-indulgence, and the cost of emotional vulnerability in a strange new world.
• Memorable quote:
  • Andy: “That’s just good telly.” [35:45] (on the show's classic TV storytelling)

Lighthearted Sidebar: Nostalgia Revival

• What shuttered businesses would the others recreate for you? Referencing Kim’s Video, Great Lakes, Hi Fi Bar, etc. [38:08]

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3. "Landman" Episode 5 (“Pirate Dinner”): From Wild to 'Normal'

Timestamps: [41:09–54:13]

Shifting Tones and Styles

• Andy observes this season is more “normal,” comparing the show’s stylistic shift to the evolution from Sorkin’s "West Wing" to John Wells-era ("less poetic, more practical"):
  • “My feeling about the show is not spiking like Aaron Sorkin’s EKG … I’m fine with it more. I don’t know if that’s healthier or not.” [42:05]
• Chris notes repeated scenes (“I sort of felt the non-traditional pacing of the season and how many times we've done the same scene basically over and over…” [42:46])

Character & Plot Quibbles

• Andy and Chris puzzle over financial plots (what was Cooper doing with the wells and money? What is Tommy’s actual business stance?).
• Andy: “The amount of work to get here is so extreme. So in season one, Cooper is an iconoclastic, individualistic genius … Now they've retconned in he had financing for this…” [45:30]
• Thematic loops: Driving culture as both plot and existential condition — “Landman is the most strident argument I’ve ever seen on a mass media platform for high speed rail.” [48:26]

Signature Landman Absurdities

• Sam Elliott’s character, sex toy parties, Tommy's inability to taste or smell are all noted as quirks that keep the show peculiar.
• They joke about the abundance of driving instead of flying; Patch vs. JD’s Burgers as dueling establishments in the Landman universe. (Lighthearted restaurant discussion at [50:09])

Andy on Show's Internal Logic

• “The show is a closed loop. The show is an argument only for itself. The only reason why we need to drill for this much oil is to fuel the gasoline in the trucks of the characters who work in the oil industry. That's it.” [48:02]

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4. Pop Culture Sidebar: Marvel, Trailers & The Online Hunger for Hype

Timestamps: [21:07–26:12]

• Chris laments the bizarre, AI-driven, and endless Marvel/Avengers “Doomsday” trailer content flooding his social media, often blending fantasy and misinformation.
• Andy: “It does feel like it’s all disinfo campaign… I just get fed a steady stream of slop on Facebook.” [22:51]
• Both riff on the fatigue of the MCU and how studios might try to revive interest (sometimes with desperation).
• Andy, cynically: “Maybe Avatar is helping them.” [25:56]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the TV schedule glut:
  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a January like it…”
  — Chris Ryan, [05:06]

• On "Pluribus" and its approach:
  “The depiction of loneliness and the depiction of longing and the depiction of needing companionship is so incredible…”
  — Chris Ryan, [27:22]

• On the show’s emotional build:
  “Every time you listen to the voicemail message, every time you’ve watched her do something domestic, is piling up. So that breakthrough moments like the diner scene…”
  — Chris Ryan, [28:44]

• On "Landman"'s internal logic:
  “The only reason why we need to drill for this much oil is to fuel the gasoline in the trucks of the characters who work in the oil industry. That’s it.”
  — Andy Greenwald, [48:02]

• On Marvel’s content machine:
  “It does feel like it’s all disinfo campaign… I just get fed a steady stream of slop on Facebook.”
  — Andy Greenwald, [22:51]

• On Landman's driving culture:
  “Tommy even says it… ‘my day is I gotta get in a car, drive three hours to have a two minute conversation, drive another three hours…’”
  — Chris Ryan recounting Tommy, [47:40]

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Segment Timestamps for Key Discussions

• Intro & TV Calendar Preview: [01:11–10:07]
• Marvel, Trailers, and Online Fandom: [21:07–26:12]
• "Pluribus" Episode 8 Deep Dive: [26:10–39:01]
• "Landman" Episode 5 Recap & Roasting: [41:09–54:13]
• Endcap & Looking Ahead: [54:45–End]

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Tone & Style

The episode showcases the classic Watch dynamic: insightful, pop culture-literate TV analysis, laid-back conversational detours, inside jokes, and a unique blend of earnestness and low-level mockery. The hosts lean into their own biases and confusion, especially with Landman’s plot intricacies and the feints of “normalcy,” and are candid about the gaps in their own viewing habits.

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Summary for New Listeners

If you haven’t heard this episode, you’ll come away with:

• An understanding of why "Pluribus" is such a uniquely emotional, meditative show.
• Clarity (and confusion) about "Landman," its shifting premise, and narrative quirks.
• A preview of the jam-packed January TV landscape (and what Andy & Chris are most hyped for).
• A healthy dose of skepticism (and weary amusement) directed at Marvel/Disney’s endless franchise content and the weirdness of current fan discourse online.
• Classic Watch repartee and a lot of laughs at both the highbrow and lowbrow ends of TV culture.

Transcript

[Chris Ryan]

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[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

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[Chris Ryan]

I need support staff to clear the room.

[Andy Green]

Stand up and walk now.

[Chris Ryan]

Hello and welcome to the Watch. My name is Chris Ryan. I am an [e-mail] and joining me in the studio, the guest of honor at Sam Elliott's pirate dinner, it's Andy Green.

[Andy Green]

Whoa. You ever attended a pirate dinner?

[Chris Ryan]

No, man. I can't wait to though. I would. If Ally Larder asked me to go to a pirate dinner, I would. I would dress up wherever she wanted me to go.

[Andy Green]

Would you dress up? You're not really traditionally a big dressing up guy.

[Chris Ryan]

I'd be like the homie and master and commander only has one one hand.

[Andy Green]

Yo. You didn't say a master and commander themed dinner.

[Chris Ryan]

That would be amazing.

[Andy Green]

All the fellows show up for a master Commander themed dinner.

[Chris Ryan]

Greenwall, great to see you today on the Show Pluribus Episode 8 Landman. I think it's episode 6 but it was Sunday's episode called Pirate dinner. We will get into some news at the top, some programming reminders today obviously our show. Then Monday we're gonna do a special year end mailbag which I'm very excited about. Then later next week we will be releasing an episode timed to the Pluribus finale. That's some special guests.

[Andy Green]

That's cool.

[Chris Ryan]

So we're very excited about that and that will be some Xmas listening for folks.

[Andy Green]

What's cool is we didn't get access to any of the creative team but anybody can be an other from that show.

[Chris Ryan]

That's right.

[Andy Green]

So we just grabbed some folks from.

[Chris Ryan]

The lob and then we're gonna be off for that week in between kind of the after Christmas before or after New Year's and we'll be back on like the second or fourth, I believe it is.

[Andy Green]

How are you feeling about. You know, we, we released our top 10 our year end episode into the Wild. How are you feeling about how it's been received? Are you feel like. Do you feel like you've been heard? Do you feel like.

[Chris Ryan]

So I don't know if you did. Probably didn't have a chance to tune into the sure Thing rewatchables, which went live last night. Rob Reiner. Bill opened the show by discussing watching us in bed while his wife played a video game on her phone.

[Andy Green]

I'm gonna unpack that. We were in bed.

[Chris Ryan]

No, he was watching the watch on his big screen television in bed and thought that we had too much opening banter but had really like some good ideas.

[Andy Green]

But that's been the note for the last 13 or 14 years.

[Chris Ryan]

He was like, you guys, I needed to get to honorable mentions faster.

[Andy Green]

That's baked in at this point.

[Chris Ryan]

I know.

[Andy Green]

I mean, look, do we have to re record?

[Chris Ryan]

No. I enjoyed our best of the year. I think it was warmly received.

[Andy Green]

I want to know how you feel about this because I don't know how many more ways we can explain that Sam Esmail is our friend and no longer wants to appear on these podcasts and that those things are both true.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes.

[Andy Green]

But maybe it's better to print the legend because we. I read texts from Sam at the beginning of the podcast.

[Chris Ryan]

Oh, like I think we should just put his face up there with a Ghostbuster, like slash through it.

[Andy Green]

Because there's still comments like on our stuff being like, you are hiding from Sam or you or you fired him because he disagreed with you.

[Chris Ryan]

I need you to accept the fact that a lot of the people who comment about work that we do do not actually engage with the work.

[Andy Green]

That's humbling to think about. That's work. You don't wait.

[Chris Ryan]

It's sort of like your relationship to television and sports.

[Andy Green]

And sports and the entire, like the entire NBA season. Yeah. I'm not sure if it's been played or not.

[Chris Ryan]

They're gamecasting our pod. You know, they just want to see the results. They don't really care about the process.

[Andy Green]

So they're looking at next gen stats and they're seeing that we vamped like we're doing right now for like 20 minutes before we get into the content.

[Chris Ryan]

The reason why I'm vamping with you right now. The reason why, first of all, it's Funky Thursdays It's Fun Thursdays.

[Andy Green]

We still don't have the right name.

[Chris Ryan]

For that, but, yeah, Casual Thursdays. Chaos Menu. I don't know what to call it. Uh, the reason why I'm doing it is because we're not gonna have the luxury of doing this in January, because January, weirdly, strangely, is gonna be among the busier months of our podcasting careers. Now, look, I, I, how we cover this is yet to be determined, but I just mean in terms of sheer volume of shows that we are really interested in and could be interested in.

[Andy Green]

Okay.

[Chris Ryan]

I, I don't think I've ever seen a January like it, and I don't understand it. I don't usually, like, you get, like, a rush of shows kind of in the spring to get under the Emmy wire. Right. Like, we had, like, Crazy April Maze, but I don't remember coming out of a holiday season into January. And here's just a list of some of the shows that are premiering in.

[Andy Green]

January within the first two weeks. Right.

[Chris Ryan]

And we're going to talk about some of these in detail. The Pit Season 2, Season 2, Industry Season 4.

[Andy Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

His and hers on Netflix, which is a Jon Bernthal, Tessa Thompson thriller. Crazy Riot Women, which is the new show from Sally Wainwright, incredible British writer who did Happy Valley, Gangs of London season three.

[Andy Green]

Okay, so it's ebbing a little bit.

[Chris Ryan]

I'll give you a download on what happened on the first two seasons.

[Andy Green]

Thanks.

[Chris Ryan]

Ponies, which is a new show on Peacock that I was kind of intrigued by.

[Andy Green]

It looks good. Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

Which is like a spy comedy.

[Andy Green]

It's a period spy comedy with Haley Lou Rich and Emilia Clarke.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

And Ponies is stands for Persons of no interest.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes.

[Andy Green]

And I'm not one of them. I'm interested.

[Chris Ryan]

I'm interested. I'm anti pony for Ponies. Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

[Andy Green]

God damn it. What?

[Chris Ryan]

Shrinking is Back, which we have not engaged with in the past, but is a notable Big Apple release to just be like, let's slide this in there.

[Andy Green]

I just feel like I spend most of my life either in therapy or in Pasadena, and I don't need a show about both of those things.

[Chris Ryan]

Honestly, that's probably the most. That's the best possible answer you could possibly give for why we don't engage with Stream.

[Andy Green]

I'm trying to be honest about things, you know, like, when the rehearsal came up on Monday and I was like, I can't get over the fact that someone took a picture of me thinking I was him. That's why I don't Watch it. Like, simpler. Simpler. Simpler.

[Chris Ryan]

Just be honest.

[Andy Green]

Yeah, it's cringe and all that, but, like, really.

[Chris Ryan]

And then finally, season two, ten years after season one of the Night Manager, which is Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman. What's crazy to me is extended Le Carrie Universe piece about your vigil paid off.

[Andy Green]

That candle has been flickering on your mantle for 10 years.

[Chris Ryan]

I now think we are no longer allowed to make fun of severance for taking too long. Oh, we kind of checkmated ourselves there.

[Andy Green]

Because we're excited about this.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes.

[Andy Green]

Well, it was a long night to manage.

[Chris Ryan]

What of that group of shows, do you think you're most excited to have that back?

[Andy Green]

Well, I mean, the fact that industry in the Pit, which are two of our favorite shows, Full Stop. Are coming back within a week of each other is diabolical. That's incredibly exciting.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah. And both weekly releases.

[Andy Green]

And both weekly releases, which is good.

[Chris Ryan]

The Pit Season 2 full trailer was released. I would say my main observation is it has more swagger than the first season trailer, than the way that the show was presented, which I think I can't even really remember, but I do remember it being like, oh, this is kind of weird. Kind of betwixt in between a HBO show and a Max show. And is it going to be just like a. Like a straight procedural or what? Wasn't prepared for the. You know, the. The emotions it would stir, and also just the excitement it would stir. This one has a little bit of, like, they did the gritty in the end zone. You know what I mean?

[Andy Green]

Yeah, the coach didn't like that. Coach o', Connell, he's not happy about that.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah, he didn't.

[Andy Green]

Do you think that you would swagger a little bit if you had a. Like, an undisputed touchdown? Would you have the. The presence of mind?

[Chris Ryan]

I'd be like Dan Lanning. I would be like, if I would, like. I would want all my guys to party and celebrate.

[Andy Green]

Oh. So, you know, I would run through the back of the end. I'd run through the tape. You know what I mean? Like, then you just hand the ball to the ref. No showboating.

[Chris Ryan]

That's classic white wide receiver shit right there.

[Andy Green]

That's some real McCaffrey shit.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah. Just like, here you go, sir.

[Andy Green]

Thank you for the opportunity.

[Chris Ryan]

It's expected that I score. That's what I'm paid to do.

[Andy Green]

It's what my father told me every night before I fell asleep. Yeah. I mean, well, the Pit season one had to sell audiences on a lot, including just Like a vibe. Like, you guys remember a show that litigiously. We're not. Legally, we're not going to mention. Maybe we could give you some more of that. And the fun of returning for a second season with the kind of success that it's had is, remember these six people that you love, they're back. Right. And you get to look at them more. And that's a winning strategy for a TV show. Speaking of, like, the severance delay or the night manager delay, like, not just that we got the season two trailer. Not just that we got the season two trailer. Two weeks, two and a half weeks before it returns. There was something in my brain that was like, are they giving away too much? They actually have all of this filmed. Like, I'm not used to such a full plate.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

I thought they would just give a little, like, beep, beep, beep. Robbie's face.

[Chris Ryan]

That was the teaser that they did, like, a couple weeks ago and everything.

[Andy Green]

Now they're like, oh, no, they shot this.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

There's no mystery here.

[Chris Ryan]

It's done.

[Andy Green]

Yeah. They're not like burning the midnight oil over at.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah. I mean, it's kind of fascinating. This show, I think, will be one of the most anticipated releases of the year, I would imagine, both critically and sort of like on that TV addict way. But also I think on a general, like, I watch four shows a year.

[Andy Green]

Level, this is one of them.

[Chris Ryan]

And, you know, this returning cast, we see a little bit of Langdon, we see Mel, we see all of our faves. I wonder, you know, how much turnover there will be on this cast, because they're going to obviously push the limits in terms of story about, like, what Dana and Robbie and these people can take. You've got people fan casting the pit night shift, you know, like the hadasy version.

[Andy Green]

Yeah. Which I think people want. And the biggest tragedy for me is that Dr. Collins still has her phone on Do Not Disturb.

[Chris Ryan]

I know. I mean, she must be living a blissful life.

[Andy Green]

Can I ask you something about putting your phone on Do Not Disturb? Because I do it and calls just blast through.

[Chris Ryan]

I don't really get it. Maybe Kaya can help us on this. Like, I know lots of people who have their phone on Do Not Disturb and still have, like, a full texting life. What is the upside?

[Andy Green]

Well, you can program it so some people can break through. Right. Let's talk to our youth correspondent. So the trick with Do Not Disturb.

[Chris Ryan]

Is that if you call twice in a row, it breaks through. All right.

[Andy Green]

Is that real?

[Chris Ryan]

Indeed.

[Andy Green]

Oh, My God. Okay, well, who breaks through?

[Chris Ryan]

Your kids?

[Andy Green]

No, it's set to. They can always reach me.

[Chris Ryan]

What about me?

[Andy Green]

My kids can always reach me. One fun thing that my parents relationship with telephones and all technology is still pretty Jurassic. So they do call multiple times and sometimes forget that they've just called or they're not aware that it's. So one call from them normally involves three distinct ringing episodes. So that's probably why I can't, in the spirit of the holidays, block them out completely. Right, I see. Okay.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

Well, I'm always. Because, you know, it got in my head a little bit that there was a time when you would awake to a number of spirited messages from me alerting you to the events or trailers that drop between 1 and 6am but now I'm a little bit, you know, I don't know your waking schedule, but I also don't wanna. Cause you don't put it on. Do not disturb.

[Chris Ryan]

I believe I don't. I often will leave it outside of my room because now I kind of mechanically wake up at the same time every day. So I don't need an alarm. But I do get disoriented if I don't see what time it is.

[Andy Green]

I don't wanna rush you.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah, you used to send me a lot of shit in the morning. Just like, well, let's look at the trades. And I'm like, okay, I haven't had coffee yet.

[Andy Green]

And also you pay Richard Rushfeld to do that and Matt Bellany to give you the updates.

[Chris Ryan]

I do.

[Andy Green]

I thought that I was providing a bespoke service. Okay. Yeah. But anyway, like, what else you got from this? Like, what are your. What, what's your power listing? What's your power rankings of interest level?

[Chris Ryan]

You know, I'm looking, I'm, I'm. I'm excited for this mixture of returning and new. So ponies and his and hers and riot women. I'm very curious about.

[Andy Green]

I mean, this is a Bernthal television show. Yeah. This is made for you maybe.

[Chris Ryan]

Well, they all are. All those Bernthal shows are. Did you see. Did I send you the video? I've talked about this before. Of Bernthal. There's a clip going around. Cause it's from an old podcast that you do with Shia where Shia's like, I want to work at Home Depot. And Bernthal's just like, you think you can work in Home Depot? Do you really think you can do that? Do you go to Home Depot? And Shia's like, that's my church, bro. That's where I go. I have mad projects.

[Andy Green]

Whoa. It's so funny. That is. First of all, that is a similar tone to what you take with Home.

[Chris Ryan]

Depot is like, you think you can work in Home Depot? That's something that you think you can do.

[Andy Green]

One of my favorite things about this is Jon Bernthal, like, us went to a Quaker school.

[Chris Ryan]

Like, I think he saw a different.

[Andy Green]

Side of Quakerism, though, with the rough and tumble side.

[Chris Ryan]

Well, I just don't know how. Like. Like, he's just too authentic.

[Andy Green]

I'm not saying he's phony. He wouldn't. It wouldn't work for him to play these parts. That said, he is a suburban Jew who went to a Quaker school. It would be awesome to have a.

[Chris Ryan]

Podcast with John Bernthal called Another side of Quakerism. And it's all about violence. The shit we got into while we were in Quaker school.

[Andy Green]

Sometimes that light within can burn Disrupting meeting for worship. Were you big stand up and meeting for worship guy?

[Chris Ryan]

I don't think I ever did it. I don't think I ever did it. I mean, I also was of a generation that I don't think really prioritized meeting for worship, like, in the way that it should be. Like, it would often be, yeah, this is a cool free period if we can get out of meeting early, like, you know what I mean? Like, once meeting ends, there's like a little bit of playtime. So when people would stand up and start talking about their dead turtle, we.

[Andy Green]

Would be like, fuck yeah. I mean, so for people who don't know, the hallmark of a Quaker education is once a week you have a meeting for worship where you sit in quiet reflection in the traditions of the Quaker religious ceremony. And then if you feel moved to speak, you could speak. But in retrospect, when you're little, kids would stand up and be like, meeting is the time to think about God. Because they thought you were supposed to say that. Yeah, it's like the kindergarten move. But then.

[Chris Ryan]

Did you do that in kindergarten?

[Andy Green]

I didn't. Okay. No, but. Cause I was like, question everything.

[Chris Ryan]

What if Rancho man, Randy Savage fought Optimus prime in a neutral site?

[Andy Green]

That's what I'm thinking about. I'm just wondering if your school. Because we didn't know each other then, we went to rival Quaker schools. It's kind of like our version of Quakerism and John Bernthal's version of Quakerism.

[Chris Ryan]

You went to a place in the suburbs.

[Andy Green]

Why you gotta say it like that?

[Chris Ryan]

I'm just saying that's where it Was located.

[Andy Green]

Okay, it physically was located in the suburbs.

[Chris Ryan]

I was on the parkway.

[Andy Green]

You were right in the shit.

[Chris Ryan]

Right by Love park, you know, me and Harmony Green, just skiing, talking about transformers, talking about gummo.

[Andy Green]

But did it get like. I just feel like the rules were bent a little bit because I remember in middle school when like Earth Day became a thing, we would have like themed meetings where someone would be like, we're going to begin meeting for worship with a song about how the environment belongs to all of us. And they play like an Edie Brickell song. And we'd all sit in silence, be like, what the fuck are we listening to? And then I guess think about the whales for 40 minutes and that feels a little directional, you know what I mean? Like, what if I didn't want to.

[Chris Ryan]

Do you like to have an action you like to have? Like.

[Andy Green]

No, I didn't.

[Chris Ryan]

Oh, you don't. You want to have it. Just be like, I'm thinking about Randall Cunningham right now.

[Andy Green]

Yes. Or, you know, will the city ever appreciate Scott Roland or whatever was relevant at that era?

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah, I mean, I kind of miss it though.

[Andy Green]

It was kind of nice.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

There's a period every week where you do it.

[Chris Ryan]

It's therapy, but you don't have to talk.

[Andy Green]

Wow. So you'd fit right in with Shia at Home Depot.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah, I think. I think I'm very excited. I was curious what your temp check on Night of the Seven Kingdoms is.

[Andy Green]

Just because, I mean, you haven't dealt. You haven't dipped into any of these screeners. Right. You're not.

[Chris Ryan]

I don't even know if we're even allowed to mention that we have them.

[Andy Green]

Yes, I'll mention it.

[Chris Ryan]

Okay.

[Andy Green]

I don't care anymore. Yeah, clip this, Kaya. I don't care. I got screeners and I haven't watched them yet. Too busy. It's fine. Got nothing to hide. Uh, well, I guess I'm open minded about it because the entire pitch of the show as we understand it as non book readers and non House of our. We don't live in the house of our. But we, we. We're fans. Uh, is that this is.

[Chris Ryan]

I summer there.

[Andy Green]

Do you. Yeah. The summer you turn pretty. That, that this is. This is not the same tone.

[Chris Ryan]

It's a series of novellas that he wrote that I think are a little bit less high stakes is. Is my understanding, but also quite good. And some of the best work he's done writing wise.

[Andy Green]

This is. This is George R.R.

[Chris Ryan]

Marr Martin. Yes. And that these episodes I believe are only a half an hour long.

[Andy Green]

Why don't quote you on that. I didn't know that.

[Chris Ryan]

I'm fairly certain that they're like. It's like six 30 minute episodes. It's almost a little bit more British style.

[Andy Green]

Sounds great.

[Chris Ryan]

I think.

[Andy Green]

Okay.

[Chris Ryan]

I could be wrong. I'm very much looking forward to it.

[Andy Green]

That sounds nice.

[Chris Ryan]

This is a series that actually didn't get strip mined in the great streaming wars of the early part of this decade where people were taking Star wars and Marvel and DC and just being like we gotta get. Gotta get as much stuff as possible up on the services like Game of Thrones versus whatever you think about the ending of Game of Thrones and whatever you think of House of the Dragon has been relatively modest. Modest. And I think that the HBO team has been good stewards of making sure that whatever goes up is gonna honor what they've accomplished so far.

[Andy Green]

Okay. Yeah. I'm eager to see that. Do you have any thoughts you'd like to share about The Industry Season 4 poster that was just released?

[Chris Ryan]

I'm just ready.

[Andy Green]

Yeah. No, we're ready. We don't need trailers. We are on board. But I do really enjoy the real time retconning of what the show that's.

[Chris Ryan]

About Yasmin and Harper.

[Andy Green]

Well. Which is awesome. But I am a fan of the fact that the show took a very non linear path to maybe uncovering what it quote unquote has always been. And also that your man Kit Harrington is just in the poster.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

Because he's a pretty big draw when he's on an HBO show.

[Chris Ryan]

We could get to Pluribus first. We could get to Landman first. Is there anything else?

[Andy Green]

Did you want to talk Night Manager trailer? You wanted me to watch it.

[Chris Ryan]

I thought it was quite good. I think that there are going to be many people. Some may be like, what a great excuse to revisit Night Manager. Which I thought was an excellent series if I remember correctly from 2015. But that is a lifetime ago. It's hundreds of television shows ago. It's multiple vacations.

[Andy Green]

Must be nice. Wow. When a list of your top three.

[Chris Ryan]

Croatia.

[Andy Green]

Wow.

[Chris Ryan]

15. Portugal. 17.

[Andy Green]

And you're ahead of the crowds on that one.

[Chris Ryan]

I did. I. You know, I didn't get a golden passport there.

[Andy Green]

But you're not Sephardic.

[Chris Ryan]

Is that a big thing over there?

[Andy Green]

I believe Portuguese government was offering citizenship to people to Jews of Sephardic descent due to their treatment during the Inquisition period.

[Chris Ryan]

What that half was?

[Andy Green]

Nah, nah. You're shtetl. Like me. Come on. You're not like, why are you turning.

[Chris Ryan]

Into Mel Brooks all of a sudden?

[Andy Green]

Because that's what happens to all of us, inevitably.

[Chris Ryan]

I just don't remember what happened on the Night Manager. I know that Hugh Laurie's Dickie Roper is an arms dealer, and I, I don't remember his fate. I'm fairly certain he's not with us, but he's in the second season trailer of Night Manager.

[Andy Green]

Here's my slant on this. Does it matter? Like, 10 years ago, it was a completely different show and a completely different television ecosystem. And moment, it was on a completely different network. Totally different for Chessboard, the show is for AMC now. It's an Amazon prime series. And I just don't get the sense from the trailer, which looks beautiful, it's full of many delightful British actors who we've seen in many other delightful things. And the first season, even for those who didn't watch it, know that it was primarily a show about linens and blousy suit jets and hot temperatures. You still, you remember and yeah, I remember how the way those shirts were fitting, My guy, Loki DeBecky looked great. And, and our guy DeBecky, she's amazing. I don't think it matters. I think that what Amazon bought here and resurrected here is this is a Marvel star looking cool in a action espionage show. And so let's go. So I, I don't think there's a big barrier to entry here.

[Chris Ryan]

Hey, speaking of trailers, have you spent any time on your for you tab on Twitter recently?

[Andy Green]

I. I don't. I don't frequent Twitter anymore.

[Chris Ryan]

You say that, but you do send me tweets.

[Andy Green]

Only on game day. Okay.

[Chris Ryan]

There's like a thing going on right now where everybody is like, oh, my God, the Doomsday trailer or whatever, like all the Avengers trailers.

[Andy Green]

Because something's coming and it's all like.

[Chris Ryan]

Either AI or it's like vague posting where they're like, you're never going to believe this. And then it's like, nobody can understand it. They're putting out. Are they really putting out four trailers in the. Over the course of the next couple of weeks with Avatar? Is that true?

[Andy Green]

We don't know. I mean, I do think.

[Chris Ryan]

Does Avatar need that much help?

[Andy Green]

Well, you're the guy that should.

[Chris Ryan]

I'm just, I'm concerned. Trolling Avatar.

[Andy Green]

Did you see that Big Jim Cameron responded to you?

[Chris Ryan]

He didn't respond to me. He responded to a sentiment that I think some of his fans share. He also.

[Andy Green]

Okay, passive Voice guy. You are literally the face of the. You're like the Qanon shaman being like, you know, there was a gathering of ideas.

[Chris Ryan]

There was. He perhaps is the figurehead of that gathering. There certainly were more than just one guy at the January 6th.

[Andy Green]

Right. He just happened to be the one wearing the fucking animal pelts. And that's you on Pandora. Being like, this sucks. Shut it down. I, I, first of all, everything needs all the help it can get. Other than the Zootopia franchise, apparently. And by the way, you're not ready for my takes on that.

[Chris Ryan]

Have you seen it?

[Andy Green]

Of course. Opening weekend two. Yes. Zootopia.

[Chris Ryan]

I am not ready for your takes on that.

[Andy Green]

It sucked.

[Chris Ryan]

Okay.

[Andy Green]

Sorry. To all of China, who's apparently boosting it with their collective wealth. Did you see that movie? Made a billion dollars in like six days.

[Chris Ryan]

I did.

[Andy Green]

Anyway, Avengers thing is, it does feel like it's all disinfo campaign because it's not just. I mean, you responsibly source your information from the for you tab on X, whereas I just get fed a steady stream of slop on Facebook. And by the way, one thing that I don't think you're aware of, but definitely like your one uncle with the email account is aware of is how the slop is fed to us now on Facebook, which is not just like, you know, fake news. It's, I'm sure AI generated content that takes like a moment, which is just like, I don't know what's an example of like Taran Killam leaving Saturday Night Live. And they were like, it's like, quote, Guys, I'm done. The room, the room at Studio 8G was chilled by Taran Killam's announcement. But they knew the show they loved would no longer be the same. That's what it does for like the most banal, really celebrity information.

[Chris Ryan]

Oh, because they're like make this the most like sticky.

[Andy Green]

Kind of storify this as like some. And one of the things I'm getting is it's just like beat by beat breakdowns of completely invented trailers for a movie.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes. Yeah, so I saw, I watched one that was, it was like multiple people from Avengers, but then also Sigourney Weavers, Ripley and a Predator.

[Andy Green]

You wrote this like you're more interested.

[Chris Ryan]

Totally. The Disney team is coming together.

[Andy Green]

Totally. Like, what do you feel like? Avengers Doomsday is a distressed asset right now.

[Chris Ryan]

I think it's in the Zootopia zone. I think it's.

[Andy Green]

So it's going to be big in China.

[Chris Ryan]

I Think it's going to be big, but I think it's going to be. I think they need to end this. And I think that they. I think that this is like steering into the skid, where they're like, you know what? This. The whole Kang thing didn't work out. Let's actually put good money on top of bad money.

[Andy Green]

Sure.

[Chris Ryan]

And this get. Get back in people's faces with, like, these characters and some of these other things.

[Andy Green]

If I.

[Chris Ryan]

But I honestly, I don't really know what's happening. You know what I mean? Like, I don't really know what's happening with it. I assume they're going to be building towards secret wars. And.

[Andy Green]

Yeah, I think the problem.

[Chris Ryan]

It's going to be weird if people are like, Rebecca Romaine, like, is that what we do?

[Andy Green]

That's what I mean. There's no story here. So these movies have to do so many things and potentially impossible things, but one of which is make a case for its own existence and story momentum, because it's not really building on anything. Like, even the most optimistic among us, like me, who you are very optimistic about this. I liked Thunderbolts and I liked Fantastic Four.

[Chris Ryan]

You are kind of weird that way.

[Andy Green]

I believe I'm in the minority. And so you see these set images, and it's just like, I'm Andy Groom.

[Chris Ryan]

I just love Reed Richards and J. Kelly. That's who I am.

[Andy Green]

What's wrong with that? But it's just like Shang Chi and Evan Moss Bacharach. One's a character, one's an actor. Sorry. And Ben Grimm palling around in London. And I'm like, I. I see the Vision.

[Chris Ryan]

Sure.

[Andy Green]

But I don't know if I see the. So. So maybe Avatar is helping them. I don't know.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah, no, that actually. That's a good.

[Andy Green]

Zach, do you like that take?

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah, it's actually the navi are helping the Avengers.

[Andy Green]

Let's do Pluribus first before Landman. Okay.

[Chris Ryan]

We can do whichever one you want.

[Andy Green]

All right, let's do. Let's do Pluribus.

[Chris Ryan]

I really think I have more to say about Landman.

[Andy Green]

Okay, me too.

[Chris Ryan]

But I've also. I've also, like, with Pluribus, I think, in the last couple of weeks, like, I certainly. Obviously, I think it's one of the best shows of the year. I think the second half of the season has been remarkable.

[Andy Green]

To talk about this episode. Episode eight. Eight. You have been. And I love the show as well. You have been much more patient, I would say, and dialed in to the particular rhythms of this show. Yeah, maybe even more so than I. And I'm a big advocate of J. Kelly and other slow food entertainments.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

So this episode, which really, as it often does, like, with a fine filigree, articulates Carol's changing relationship with the situation, with the collective, with the others, with Zoesha specifically. What was it about this journey with her in this episode that grabbed you? And I'm not trying to be, like, concern trolling. Like, I really enjoyed this episode and. But I'm curious where you are with it.

[Chris Ryan]

I just don't really see TV that is delving into these kinds of emotional realities, even if the reality of the show is almost science fictional. And so the depiction of loneliness and the depiction of longing and the depiction of needing companionship is so incredible. And I think that sometimes there are shows that are challenging, and I'm like, well, you just don't get it. I know that this is challenging, and I know that there is a kind of time lapse thing going on here and a focus on things that most TV shows and most movies even would be like, this happens in between the cuts, you know, like. Or this is what would happen as we transition from interior to exterior, or from this to two days later when something else important happens. And instead, this is very carefully choosing certain days in this woman's life and showing almost all of it. And I think the cumulative effect that I am feeling is that all of that stuff, all that work, every time you listen to the voicemail message, every time you've watched her do something domestic, inside of her house is like, piling up. So that breakthrough moments, like the diner scene, which I think is amazing. The idea that somebody would do something so kind, but also so creepy.

[Andy Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

And that she would feel both of those things at the same time and that it would mean so much to her. That's the happiest we've ever seen Carol.

[Andy Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

And then immediately she becomes incredibly alarmed at that. You know.

[Andy Green]

Yeah. There's something. The show works on so many levels, and one of the things that I think makes it ultimately successful is that you can look at it in the macro of what's happened to the world and what are these massive swings in our society, or specifically that have happened to us recently that we're using as mirrors to reflect what's happening in the show. But then also the emotional minutia of what's happening with Carol and the diner scene reminded me of a moment also in the episode when she's like, would you like me to after she slept over in the hockey arena or whatever that is. And she's like, would you like me to make you breakfast? And she's like, no, no, you don't have to do that. It's okay. And there's this idea of asking people for things, which for some of us is hard to do. And then the extra level of it where it's literally nothing to them, whether it's power washing her street, whether it's making her breakfast, whether it's having sex with her, or whether it's spending untold weeks to completely creepily recreate a long shuttered, long burned business. Clearly, there are people who don't have that kind of moral quandary, like diabate. And then Carol is somewhere in the middle of it, and it's interesting to watch someone who has issues, but then also some sense of, like, she doesn't actually want that kind of labor done for her, but she also doesn't think she deserves it. And so it's a psychological story at the same time that it is a societal story.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah. And I think I always looked at Minusos character as this weather system coming in and changing things, but I keep going back to that introduction of his character. Or when his character leaves Paraguay for the first time and pushes his car out of the garage and his mother shows up and he's like, you're not my mother. My mother was a bitch. You know? You know, the pain that he carries with him from the before times is similar to whatever psychological scar tissue makes it so that Carol can't just be in her own skin and enjoy things when they're being brought to her, like, anything in the world to make you happy. And she's like, no, I am the unhappiest person. And knowing that these two people are on this collision course and what's gonna happen is really compelling to me.

[Andy Green]

Where are you on the. Again, one of the reasons we like the show is because of the room for spirited debate about the intentions behind things we were talking about in the previous episode. Like Minusos waving. Is he waving in surrender? Is he waving for help? Carol's softening towards Zosia and then ultimately, like, giving in to Zosia. How much of that do you think is. Well, what. What do you think her reasoning is? Is it. How much of it? Is the loneliness of the 40 days of isolation just reaching a breaking point and she'll take whatever companionship she can get? Or is it she's feeling something new that she didn't feel before and there's no right answer. I'm just curious where you think. Because one of the fun things about watching Carol S osch's scenes are what else is happening behind the scenes?

[Chris Ryan]

Right. And we don't really necessarily see that other than Minuth's plot. Like, you know, all the, like, kind of exposition that we've gotten has usually come from like diabate or something. Like, because it's only been recently that I think Carol has started to take the easy road to finding things out. Like, you know, she's done, you know, she's basically done medical procedures on people and flown across the globe. But, you know, she's just asking. I think, I think that, you know, because it's in seven is when she's kind of like she's treating herself right. Like, that's the one where she's kind of gone on the spa day.

[Andy Green]

That's when she's solo. But it starts, it starts hopeful and then it ends pretty bleakly because you.

[Chris Ryan]

You can only really do that for so long. Like there's the. The lie that we tell ourselves that if I just had time to myself, I would do all this stuff.

[Andy Green]

Are you thinking about my phone calls from my week seven of me in London recently?

[Chris Ryan]

Well, no, but I'm just thinking about like. I mean, I think I talked about this, but like when my wife has been out of town like this past year and I'm like, I'm going to fucking watch every spaghetti western. And then it's like, oh, God, like after five nights of this.

[Andy Green]

It's a lot.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah, it's a lot. And you really want to start having human contact again. And so I think that there's something kind of profound about the. The arc of her. It can be both things, right? Like, she can be like, I've taken to life where everything I've ever wanted is right at my fingertips, but I can't enjoy it if I'm doing it alone.

[Andy Green]

Yeah. And I think it's interesting to note that the others are changing slightly. They're learning too the croquet scene. They make a joke. They dunk on her a little bit. That seems new from the monolithic voice, completely credulous voice that they spoke with earlier in the season. Do we think that that is a benevolent evolution or do we think that that is like everything, a kind of long term manipulation?

[Chris Ryan]

Sure.

[Andy Green]

Of being a little more old school human for Carol to open up herself to whatever's gonna come next.

[Chris Ryan]

Do you feel like you're like 6 degrees cooler on this whole thing than I am.

[Andy Green]

No, it's weird. I think that that's how I'm presenting it and it's. But I think that what I am. I guess the answer is that I am. But I think that I have, like I said last week, like, I've done this before where there was an entire season of Better Call Saul that I was pretty mid on.

[Chris Ryan]

Me too.

[Andy Green]

And in the fullness of time and in the fullness of what they were moving towards, I was grateful for the time spent in the experience. And it would have been lesser without it. So I think I'm just trying to stay.

[Chris Ryan]

I also think our brains are different now than they were when Better Call Saul was on.

[Andy Green]

Sure. I'm learning a lot about the SNL cast exodus on my Facebook feed and how dramatic, how dramatic it was.

[Chris Ryan]

Xenomorphism, doomsday.

[Andy Green]

So it's incredible that honestly, this show is getting this much of our attention. But. Yeah, but there's also some of the joys of the show to me, still remain in the like, man, if it ain't broke. This good old fashioned TV machine can still really deliver. When you, for example, Carol sends out the message of we have to defeat these things when she is in one state of mind. And then 50 plus days pass, during which time she has a complete breakdown and claws herself back together and opens her heart to, if not love, then the status quo. And that's when the message is answered. Like, that's just. As my friend in the writers room in London would say, that's just good telly.

[Chris Ryan]

Well, and I love the little flashes of like, yeah, we're kind of better at doing this than every, like, Zosia saying, you're gonna have a visitor. Yeah, it's just like, I think I'm gonna remember that line for a really long time, you know, like, and just that moment and that end of their sort of reverie and their moment of kind of honeymoon period being over.

[Andy Green]

I wish you could program postmates to alert you.

[Chris Ryan]

That way you're gonna have a visitor.

[Andy Green]

But the visitor's got soup. It still is very, very funny to me that for all the ways we talk about the show and all the discourse surrounding the show, the fact that Vince Gilligan has made a show about a writer who is forced to generate some crap that she doesn't necessarily believe in and carries not just one whiteboard, but a nonsense whiteboard, then a secret better version. Whiteboard is very, very on the nose and funny. And I just, I just really enjoy the visual of, like, she's actually kind of working on both, but it's unclear which has her heart.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

And as this episode goes on, like, do you think that she's adding to the truth about them board for any.

[Chris Ryan]

You know, I think that's how she understands the world, is to document it. Document the rules, to lay out the structure of it. That's how she does. Yeah. To break story.

[Andy Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

I mean, that in the diner keeps coming. I keep coming back to it because.

[Andy Green]

This.

[Chris Ryan]

This season and this show, there. There's been very. There's been several examples of invasion. You know, there's the invasion in the beginning that feels like invasions of body snatchers. There is the invasive technique that they would use to harvest her stem cells and that they. They say they cannot do without her consent.

[Andy Green]

Right.

[Chris Ryan]

And then there is the invasion of her memory that takes place and the fact that they can recreate this down to the waitress coming back and Carol's questions being like, where was she? And, like, what did you do to her? You know? And it's like, well, yeah, she was in Miami. She was a cosmetologist. And she's like, but you've just, like, moved her out here for this cosplay diorama of my past. But also, I love living in this. And, yeah. So I. I find that this show is just so thought provoking in a really cool way.

[Andy Green]

Where, if given the opportunity. What now shuttered businesses, Would you like the others to lovingly recreate for you? Because that cafe you liked in Back bay is still there, right? The breakfast place.

[Chris Ryan]

I don't. Charlie's is still there. I. I mean, some of the records. I mean, I. I would like them to reopen Kim's in, like, perfect, you know, like, three floors, vinyl, dvd, video.

[Andy Green]

Has Alex Ross Perry not done that?

[Chris Ryan]

No. I mean, he's like. He's got, like. He had to make the documentary about all the inventory. But I think Kim's in New York would be mine. What would be yours?

[Andy Green]

I mean, Great Lakes.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

Would be nice. Hi Fi Bar. Like the bars of our youth, you know, where our sobriety is etched.

[Chris Ryan]

All of those are. All of those are gone, huh?

[Andy Green]

Yeah. Wow. How do you feel about that?

[Chris Ryan]

Well, I felt it's a bummer. I don't want to live in Brooklyn, but, like, I mean, I feel bad. Yeah.

[Andy Green]

Okay.

[Chris Ryan]

All right. Should we move on to lambing?

[Andy Green]

We should.

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[Andy Green]

Oh yeah.

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[Chris Ryan]

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[Andy Green]

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[Chris Ryan]

Grab it today in fragrance free or with SPF 30. Available at your local Walmart. Funky little episode of Landman. You know, the precision of Pluribus is always in the back of my mind while I watch the free painting session that is Landman. And I appreciate both. You know, I think you can appreciate both styles of art, both styles of tv. Sure. What'd you think of this episode?

[Andy Green]

I found. Okay, I have a lot of specific things to discuss in the episode, but I did note and I look, this is maybe I'M a victim of my own success here because there's no question that the show is more normal this year. Yes, there's no question. And. And I have over the course of our conversation over Watch the scene where.

[Chris Ryan]

Ali Larder celebrates her own birthday even though it's not her birthday at the.

[Andy Green]

Old person receives only sex toys.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes, I did. Super normal. I did.

[Andy Green]

It's still in the Landman universe. Okay, like it is still within that. But like, and it's. Here's a comparison. It's a little bit like the difference between the Sorkin West Wing and the John Welles West Wing. You know, where like some of the I wrote this entire season while on a crackbender poetry has been turned into more practically more prosaic. So my feeling about the show is not spiking like Aaron Sorkin's EKG while writing season one of the West Wing. I'm fine with it more. I don't know if that's healthier or not.

[Chris Ryan]

Well, the highs maybe not are as high, but the lows are certainly not as low. For sure. I think the last two episodes I sort of felt the non traditional pacing of the season and how many times we've done the same scene basically over and over again before. Like, yeah, and it was really only at the end of this episode or towards the end of this episode that I feel like there was actually like, okay, now the dynamic between Cammie and Tommy has changed or the dynamic between Cammie and Danny and Tommy has changed, or Rebecca is now operating within the context of the company rather than having scenes separate from the entire cast.

[Andy Green]

So much real estate has been given over to trying to normalize things so it runs on time. Right. This entire the pacing of this show is so odd. Like this entire season could have been a webisode and then it could have started. To your point, sometimes being kind of reasonable doesn't suit the nature of the show. For example, there's an AB of two legal scenes involving Rebecca. One involves Nate, which was cute because I haven't seen him outside of the house. I think in the entire run of.

[Chris Ryan]

The show has been Midland only.

[Andy Green]

And the first version of the scene, Rebecca comes in and absolutely eviscerates a table full of dopes.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes.

[Andy Green]

The same scene happens with really no.

[Chris Ryan]

And we've been trained as an audience to be like, oh, Rebecca's about to hand these guys their asses.

[Andy Green]

But now when Nate Neil shows up, suddenly these guys find their mojo and it's the same scene, only now the guys are like, actually we're gonna tell you how it goes.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Yeah.

[Andy Green]

Which I don't think that's how Law works. If that's how law works, Better Call Saul would have been a limited series.

[Chris Ryan]

What do you think you understand more?

[Andy Green]

Oh, I like this question.

[Chris Ryan]

What Monty was doing with $400 million.

[Andy Green]

Right. Sure. Moving it around. Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

What Cooper was doing with the six wells that all struck it rich, but somehow he doesn't have any money to pay anyone for. And now Tommy has just taken over his wells, but to protect him from the cartel.

[Andy Green]

But he's also getting into business with the cartel. So Tommy is like, I will. Emtech will buy your cartel owned and operated wells, but I draw the line at the cartel funding any other. Well, yes, that's a. That's a difficult moral position to say.

[Chris Ryan]

But, like, I don't even understand in terms of, like, the deal, like the sunrise, the. Danny. Danny's company. Sorry. Just gave Cooper a loan that he never checked for or, like, never never cashed the check or there is $40 million in an account somewhere that just.

[Andy Green]

That's very problematic because what. Again, the show is. It seems like it is set to really begin with season three because the amount of work to get here is so extreme. So in season one, Cooper is an iconoclastic, individualistic genius who sees the game board in a way no one else does.

[Chris Ryan]

He sees Widows where no one else does.

[Andy Green]

He sure does. He's like. He Billy Beans the whole thing and is like, this is the underutilized asset. And he, with his charming personal skills, strikes oil and becomes incredibly rich instantly. Not only is he told you don't actually have any money, but there was no paperwork and no agreement, but there was nothing in the first season to suggest that he needed to be staked to do any of this. It's just they put the thing in the ground and the oil comes out.

[Chris Ryan]

It seemed like he had basically found a cheap way to look for oil and hit it, like, harder than anyone thought anyone could do. Yes.

[Andy Green]

And now.

[Chris Ryan]

Now they've retconned in. He had financing for this and that.

[Andy Green]

He's a. Who doesn't read the fine print.

[Chris Ryan]

Well, I. Here's my. Here's my thing with that is this is kind of like also ties into the Ariana part, where it almost is like. It's not like they focus group it or test it, but it's almost like, what if they broke up? Yeah. I like those two kids together, you know, and so they bring. And now we kind of had.

[Andy Green]

Not only let's bring them back together. Let's have her say I don't believe in divorce and we will never ever break up. So buckle up.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes, yes, it did lead to a.

[Andy Green]

Really fantastic girldad scene. It's just been a banner year for them across the board. One battle after another. J. Kelly and the time when Cooper drives. I did the math. Eight and a half hours to Corpus Christi to have a Michelob Ultra with a man who says, I don't really care what she does and you don't seem like a violent man, but if you touch her, I will rip you limb from limb.

[Chris Ryan]

You know what?

[Andy Green]

And then, by the way, the bed's made. Stay the night.

[Chris Ryan]

One of the hallmarks of season two is that people are driving when they used to fly.

[Andy Green]

Here's my thank you for this.

[Chris Ryan]

This is my Tommy even says it in this episode where I feel bad that we're so much more articulate about Landman maybe than Pluribus. But Tommy even says it in this episode where he's like well my day is I gotta get in a car, drive three hours to have a two minute conversation, drive another three hours to have like another conversation and then get home in time for a pirate dinner.

[Andy Green]

The show is a closed loop. The show is an argument only for itself. The only reason why we need to drill for this much oil is to fuel the gasoline in the trucks of the characters who work in the oil industry. That's it. No one else drives this much. Low key. Landman is the most strident argument I've ever seen on a mass media platform for high speed rail.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes, like or private planes.

[Andy Green]

There is a strong argument to be made that with the proper investment in infrastructure all of their lives would be better.

[Chris Ryan]

Tommy's like, you guys fly back to Midland and I'll see you at dinner. But I'm going to drive my truck because this, this emtech's pickup couldn't possibly be left in Dallas and maybe driven.

[Andy Green]

Down by like flown back to get it again or whatever. Yeah, also I like to have some time to myself. Also I will do a five hour drive in 3:15 leaving myself enough time to stop for a couple cold ones.

[Chris Ryan]

And a very special kind of cold one because we've now got some competition in the Michelob Ultra competition Olympics. Troy Aikman's ate beer, which we are informed Tommy can neither taste nor smell.

[Andy Green]

This is a new wrinkle that we've learned this many episodes.

[Chris Ryan]

Feels like Aikman's beer. Yeah, either Aikman and Taylor Sheridan are friends And Taylor Sheriff's like, we're gonna prop up your brewery.

[Andy Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

Or Taylor Sheridan hates this beer. So he's like, I will feature it, but my main character. This is the first time we've ever heard that he can't smell or taste. Correct.

[Andy Green]

Does help me understand his response to the truffle dinner.

[Chris Ryan]

And also the fact that he just smokes inside with his windows rolled up all the time.

[Andy Green]

And that for breakfast, as a 70 year old stressed man, he orders four eggs, fried eggs and a side of sausage, and then eats none of it.

[Chris Ryan]

Okay, this brings me to the most important question I had for you on this entire podcast. Thank you. Okay, in this episode, I noticed for the first time that across the street from the patch, our beloved 24 hour hangout bar grill, that there is another.

[Andy Green]

Ref'S restaurant, Marjorie's or something.

[Chris Ryan]

JD's burgers.

[Andy Green]

Oh, what was Marjorie's?

[Chris Ryan]

Oh, maybe. Maybe there's Marjorie's too.

[Andy Green]

I think that's probably a wine bar. Small plates.

[Chris Ryan]

First of all, what do you think it's like for the restaurant across the street from the Patch? Because the Patch seems like it's like, it's like Max and Helen's. They've got like a two and a half hour wait. It's like, it's just crazy. But if you're just like, hey, but you guys, we have a seat right now.

[Andy Green]

I mean, there's not. There's a proud tradition of this. Right. There's always the, like, the tourists might get tired one block too soon.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes.

[Andy Green]

And wander in here.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Yes.

[Andy Green]

I don't know. It's also possible that it's kind of like a. What's it called? JD's.

[Chris Ryan]

I think it's JD's Hamburgers. Yeah.

[Andy Green]

So maybe JD is like, you know, he's like the Una Pizza Napolitana guy. Right. Like, he's just like, every day I make 50 burgers and there's no other nonsense here. And don't come in here asking for a full bar. Don't come in here asking for a chicken fried anything. Don't come in here.

[Chris Ryan]

I have a burger. There's a burger. There's the cheeseburger too.

[Andy Green]

And you'll fucking like it. Yeah. And I'm interested in that. Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

And these guys want more of a Cheesecake Factory. Like, you can get breakfast for dinner. You can get dinner for breakfast. And we know you work 24 hours a day. I do think Top Jaw, Permian Basin would be. Would do.

[Andy Green]

Well, I think it would be brief. I think it would be brief. What did you make of Sam Elliott's scene? Work with. With Audrey McGraw, daughter of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Pretty weird. Kind of weird, but I think it's.

[Chris Ryan]

Just like he just wanted to have a conversation.

[Andy Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

But they're trying to have it both ways. With Sam Elliott. Still a very attractive man, but mentions that he's 80 in the show. I think I kind of wanted Tommy to just pick him up and bring him along with him all day. Like, I'd seem like that would be the most obvious thing. I do actually wonder whether Sam Elliott.

[Andy Green]

Is like, I don't want to be in a car all day.

[Chris Ryan]

I have to be. I can sit or I can get up twice.

[Andy Green]

Or do you think it's an insurance issue where they're like, we cannot underwrite a show in which a 70 year old man is driving an 80 year old man. All respect. I'm just saying, like, we got to.

[Chris Ryan]

Deal with pretty close to it. Yeah. We're closer to being 70 and 80 than we are being 20 and 30.

[Andy Green]

Why do you have to say this? Kai is right here. Like, come on, who wins when you say that? What is the upside?

[Chris Ryan]

Taylor Sheridan does.

[Andy Green]

I mean, we're still talking about his show.

[Chris Ryan]

We can wrap it up there.

[Andy Green]

Do you think you'd do well with this kind of driving culture?

[Chris Ryan]

I'd like to think so, but I think I would do okay if it was flat roads and not a lot of traffic. I noted with interest that Tommy drives into four, the Dallas Fort Worth area.

[Andy Green]

Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

With literally not another car on the road.

[Andy Green]

Yeah. Which it's very pluribus. As was Cooper driving. Listening to language tapes. I was getting that TV drift where I'm like, oh, this is very minusos right now.

[Chris Ryan]

I just think these guys got to make some phone calls. You know, you do not have to drive to court.

[Andy Green]

We shouldn't mock this because.

[Chris Ryan]

And it was also like, Ariana was like, he's like, yeah, she doesn't have to ask me for permission. And she knows that and she just wanted to see if you would do it. I'd be pretty pissed.

[Andy Green]

I would be so pissed. I'm pissed if someone, like, if I have to pick up something at the dry cleaner, let alone drive 8 hours to talk to a guy with a killer dog who doesn't want to talk to me.

[Chris Ryan]

Right.

[Andy Green]

That said, we should be respectful because if anyone like this is out there, like living like this, podcasts must be as important as gasoline.

[Chris Ryan]

I would hope so.

[Andy Green]

That is a. That's a lot. And they don't even have air conditioning in these trucks. You notice that they're all sweating.

[Chris Ryan]

Well, it's because I think it's supposed to be summer in Texas. Because otherwise, why isn't Ainsley ever at school?

[Andy Green]

Well, she's too old.

[Chris Ryan]

I saw an interview on Instagram with Michelle Randolph, who plays Ainsley, and they were like, what are you hoping for for Ainsley in the future? And she was like, I'd love it if she grew up a little bit. She said she was just like, I'd love to.

[Andy Green]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's not old enough to see the presents her mom got at the sex toy party.

[Chris Ryan]

Oh, God.

[Andy Green]

You know what? I feel like I enjoyed this episode more than you did.

[Chris Ryan]

I did enjoy it. I also enjoyed Andy Garcia draining five straight putts in his office.

[Andy Green]

Were those challenging putts to make?

[Chris Ryan]

No, I mean, just. It's steady nerves. You just have to really concentrate. You know, if Billy Bob Thornton was yelling at me, I don't think I would. I would be so, so in the cup like that.

[Andy Green]

It's just. It's honestly exhausting where it's just like, this episode, they're friends. This episode, Tommy's like, I don't want your money. Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

And then next episode, friends, but not us. I don't know why. I just did Will Ferrell from Eastbound.

[Andy Green]

I know why you did. We wish we were talking about that instead.

[Chris Ryan]

Let's wrap it up.

[Andy Green]

All right.

[Chris Ryan]

Long day of potting for us. So we'll have some really cool stuff on Pluribus for you guys next week, as well as a mailbag on Monday.

[Andy Green]

Did you know that you can't be Landman and a president? That was the one piece of information we got this episode.

[Chris Ryan]

Why not?

[Andy Green]

That's what Nate says To him, it reminded me of, like, oh, but do.

[Chris Ryan]

You mean emotionally or. You can't actually have both sides.

[Andy Green]

It just reminded me of, like, the Tracy Jordan movies from 30 Rock. It's like black cop, white cop, like, Landman, president. How could one man be both?

[Chris Ryan]

All right, we can. Thanks to Kaya, thanks to Kai, and we will be back on Monday with our mailbag.