RFYL 264: The Purge: Election Year

You're listening to the Run for Your Lives Podcast.

Hey everyone, welcome to the show. I'm Daphne.

And I'm Pig.

And this is the Run for Your Lives Podcast.

This episode we are talking about the political action horror film The Purge Election Year, written and directed by James DeMonico and released July 1st, 2016. So over ten years ago at this point.

It's kind of crazy. And you know what? This is my favorite one. When I watched it tonight, I really love the second one too, but this one is my favorite, I think, out of the whole franchise. It's number three in the release order, and number four if you look chronologically as far as the timeline.

Yeah.

Um, not considering the TV series, of which there were two seasons. Um, yeah, it's my favorite. There's just, I think, a lot in it that especially hits home. I didn't realize how much it was gonna hit home until re-watching it now, and then remembering the timing of when it came out. It was just before the elections in 2016. And yeah.

It it hits in multiple places, like Yeah, and still today. Um it's very uh apropos. Um yeah, we usually don't do too I mean we you know, we we'll we'll we dabble. We play around with some political commentary, but it did say political action horror movies, so I think I mean you can't do this one justice without we'll get there a little bit more than we usually do on our episodes. So if you're not happy with that, then uh listen to next week.

Um if you if you can't see connections that we may or may not talk about, then maybe yeah, skip this episode this week. Next week we'll be back with a new episode. Maybe you'll enjoy that more. I agree with you. I don't think that we can really cover this movie without talking about some of the some similarities to some of the things that are going on. And it it's not even about naming names, it's really just about things that are actually happening and situations that you can't really ignore. So, you know, there are just similar themes along the way. And when I started watching this movie tonight, um, just before we recorded, uh it's like, yep, it's time to check in with our fan our friends at the NFFA um once again. And this is the fourth movie chronologically. There's only one more. There is a uh final sixth movie that may or may not happen. It Demonico really wants to do it. They've talked about it involving Leo Barnes, but there's no real um timeline or plan for it right now. So sometimes with the purge movies, it's very much a surprise where you just find out a month before, oh yeah, there's a new purge movie coming out on Halloween, or oh yeah, they're releasing a new one this summer, and okay. You know, it just it just happens, it materializes, and so I usually will go see them in the theater. I did not see the last one, the Forever Purge. I did not see that in the theater. That's the only one I didn't see in the theater. The rest I've seen, all of them there. Because this is a franchise that I really, really like. Yes. Um especially this movie because I feel like it doesn't hold back in punching you in the face with the things that are happening and the similarities, and I like that. I like that it's being honest about things and kind of foreshadowing stuff that I didn't I mean, it's kind of interesting. It was foretelling some things, so yeah.

Yeah, I've I've got a lot of good things to say about it, and some not uh get the stuff out of the way. No, because you're talking about because there are a lot of great things in these movies, especially this one. Political and social commentary is important and it's always done pretty well. Uh good acting is not a prerequisite or a guaranteed feature of these films, apparently. But that's um no. No.

No, but it did have a decent cast. I mean the cast was decent. It again, I know that it's not perfect, but I really love the purge series, and even if I don't always love everything about every movie, there are things that I really like about the fact that it does hit you in the face with stuff and it doesn't hold back, and I appreciate that because I feel like we're living in a time where people in general, some folks, not everyone, but some folks do try to stay away from the news or not really pay as much attention to what's going on, and I feel like you need to be hit in the face with some things to realize what's really happening for people out there. May not be happening to you, but shit's happening to people.

Yeah.

And it's only a matter of time before they deal with one subset of people at a time, and then it's it's gonna get to you. So and you can think that that's a bit wild, and oh, that will never happen. There have been things that have happened in the last probably 10 years that I never thought I would see in my lifetime that I have seen. And so I live in this mindset of you just never know what's gonna happen tomorrow. So let's, you know, appreciate what you have today and enjoy your life because you don't know what's gonna happen next. And these movies are meant to be an escape from things, but sometimes there are movies that are hitting close to home. So we'll do this the way we always do. It was filmed in Wound Socket and Providence, Rhode Island. It makes me now want to go down and find these places because I'm not that far from Rhode Island. I feel like a New England movie site trip is in order. Um between the TV shows and movies that have been filmed up here, there's a lot of places to go check out. So yeah, I feel like it would be cool. Maybe go check out some Jaws places too. Could be tons of fun. So, this, as I said, is the third film in the Purge franchise. It is the last one in the franchise that's directed by James DeMonico, and I want to say that is to me obvious between this one and the other two that came out after, which is the first purge and the forever purge. James DeMonico has a certain vibe in his films, and I think there's a difference between the ones he directed and the others. Um, the budget for this one, 10 million, which is still relatively small. The uh gross for this one is 118.6 million. So at this point, people are still loving the purge series because they keep going to the theater. It's 110 minutes long. That is how long the movie I'm going to see tomorrow night is because I'm going to see The End of Oak Street. It's 110 minutes long.

Yeah, and I'm seeing it in two days. Uh. And then we'll get together and not talk about it because we'll cover it sometime in the future.

So that's the hard part of doing a podcast, especially with someone that you love talking about movies with, because you can't really talk about it. We don't talk about a movie at all until we podcast.

Even the ones we've seen in theaters together.

Together.

We will finish it and we're like, okay, and then we just go find something else to do, and we don't discuss the movie. It's a little crazy.

It's what we do though. We talk about other movies, but not movies like this that we're gonna cover. We like to keep everything fresh.

Yeah.

And with that, Pate, could you bring us a synopsis on this one?

Senator Charlie Roan and her head of security, Leo Barnes, must survive an annual night of terror where all crime is legal, kind of like all the other purge movies.

Yep. Not much different. We do get the return of Leo Barnes, who wasn't known as Leo in the first movie, although I'm pretty sure when we recorded on it, I called him Leo the entire time.

Yeah, I think when we did The Purge, you kept referring to the stranger as Dante Bishop, even though he's not he's not named until this movie as well.

I know. I don't care. I love the series, I know who they are. I'm not gonna pretend I don't. Um I love that we got Dante Bishop back in this movie. Um, and he's powerful, probably driven by a lot of the experience that happened to him. Um he's fiercely against the purge and wants to shut it all down. So we get we get to see more of that. I I liked that. That was one of the highlights for me. Yeah. Um but this movie, would you say it's more of a Charlie movie or a Leo movie? Because I feel like it's Charlie and Leo.

Tried to separate them and then couldn't, and so now they are both in the same section. At least it's not at least I didn't just not touch my notes like I have been doing a lot lately with movies. Uh I did break it up, but it's like in pockets, it's in groups. As I did more group groupings, because I have Leo and Roan together. And then I have like Joe, Marcos, and Laney all into one. Dante gets his own section as he should. But it's also, I mean, but it you know, they're also his whole organization and his like people is his men that are with him is within that. And then honestly, as always, the one that I have the most notes in probably is just kind of NFFA and purgers and and things we see going on. Which I have a lot of thoughts about. Go go figure.

Yeah. They when we talk about the NFFA, I also have notes about them. Mostly about how they're characterized.

Yep. I have I have some notes that I took that um some of them might make it into the final edit of this podcast. We'll see. Uh uh.

Yeah. They might. I mean, it depends on how far we go, what tangent or rant we go on with it. So I mean things are fair game, really.

Yeah, so to answer your question of like which one should we start with, uh both, because they're both combined for me, because as head of security, he's by her side at all times, except for that like third act where she gets kidnapped and then he has to make his way back to her. But other than that, he is attached to the hip to Charlie Rowan the whole time anyway, and he's he kind of has to be.

Yeah. I want to start up by saying I really like the character of Charlie Rowan. I like that she didn't want to compromise her principles and beliefs, even though I'm sure it drove Leo crazy so many times. But she had a way that she wanted to do things and she wasn't afraid to speak up or butt heads with him about stuff. And I kind of like that because I think sometimes in these movies it can be directed in one way and there's no one really talking about the other side of it or trying to diffuse a situation. They're just kind of going along for whatever the person wants to do. And so I appreciate when someone is strong enough to um to be able to speak up. I also think she and Dante had this shared perspective of being victims in the purge.

Yeah. Interesting story to have like her background. I kind of wish they would have just told that versus showing it, because that opening of the movie is you know what happened to her the whole monologue is just awkward and cringy. Here's my purge playlist. I'm like, this is dumb. This is how we're starting, because I've not seen this one. I'd only seen the original purge before we started doing these. So I was like, oh god, what are we is this movie really bad? Is that what I'm about to get into? Luckily, no, it gets much better past that opening scene. But I was like, I just have to clear that one out of my brain and forget that happened, please, and then I can enjoy the rest of this movie. The editing is weird, the the filming was weird, the actor who played the guy who killed her family was awful.

Um Yeah, I don't know who played the part. I will say that he seemed so much like an over-the-top cartoon villain.

It's like I'm having skeletor flashbacks. Help!

There has to be one in every movie pick. Come on. Yeah, it was very over-the-top. And I've seen similar type scenes or dramatizations take place in m in the Saw franchise that were done much better.

Yeah.

Like families hostage situations, like I've seen that in other mo other saw movies, and it's and it's been done much better than what we saw in this one.

Yeah. There's always like a level of cheese of kitsch to these movies that that's kind of like I don't know, where it's like it's trying to be real dark and edgy and scary, and it's like, nah, it's just kind of silly. Like it's Yeah.

I mean, I could sense the the terror in the family that was sitting there, but it was also like, are you scared because he's gonna kill you or scared because you have to listen to the monologue? I don't know. Kind of, I don't know. It it's kind of too it's kind of too much, honestly. Um re-watching it today, I'm like, man. I remember when I saw it in the theater, and I've seen this movie a bunch of times. It never hit quite like it did today when I watched it, and I was just kind of like, this is really cringy.

It's not because you you're looking at it through this, you knew I was gonna say something. I knew you were gonna say something.

Yeah. There's another uh part that I'm sure we'll talk about, which is the folks coming in from outside the country to participate. And I I'm sure you probably have some things to say about that because I thought that was also very cringe. Um the murder tourists they called them. I'm like, oh man. And then we see them later. We see them later on in other things.

We see like these like South African guys in the airport, and then when it's the actual scene, they're all Russians.

Yeah, I I don't I don't know what that was about because I think it was mostly the same people, but I'm not a hundred percent sure. Like they all had masks on. Yeah. So it was very over the top, and you knew they were gonna make an appearance. Again, we really didn't get the opening like some of the other movies where we got like a flashback or a flash to different um purge nights in different places because that we were able to see, I know, in at least one of the other movies. I feel like it was in a few of them, but um, where they showed footage of stuff. That was not in this. I feel like this one did have a little bit different vibe from the first two, but I also feel like each one had a different vibe. But two and three I thought were more similar than what I actually think they are now, like after watching this one. It's like, yeah, no, I don't think they're as similar as I thought that they were. But yeah, our introduction to Charlie is a very cringy scene at the beginning where her family is getting murdered and only one of them survives.

Yeah, which they never talk about like what she carries from that, because in that monologue that I was forced to have to listen to, uh, he ends that with just like it's time for mommy, uh mother chooses, and it's like you get to choose which one lives. So obviously she chose herself and let the rest of her family die. So they don't talk about that part of her at all.

Um Well, mommy chooses, I think her mother chose, not her.

Would that be a child? Charlie Charlie didn't choose the daughter.

Yeah.

That makes a lot more sense. Yeah, because she because how long did it say that that like how much time had gone by?

Like I think twenty years. Okay. 18 to 20 years, yeah.

So I was I did check out a little bit because I was thinking it was. You did.

You were you were you you couldn't handle it. You were not in the body.

That makes a lot more sense. Okay.

Yeah.

Cause I was like, yeah, she didn't seem to be that much older. Yeah, so I'll go with that. Yeah. That makes a lot more sense than if it was her mother sacrificed herself and her father and her brother so that she lived, which that's also there's some guilt like you picked me over my brother. That's that's a little fucked up.

Uh it's a very selfie's choice. Yeah. Honestly.

It's it's how did you choose between your kids, Mom?

Um And they show you the photo of the family like multiple times, so you see they were a happy family together, and then it's just her.

Came down to like, well, as our job as parents, we have to be the ones to lay down our lives for our kids, but I can only pick one of you and Yeah.

Yeah.

Richie, Richie, you didn't clean your room, so you know. I don't know. I don't be Charlie. I don't know. I don't know. I told you last week and you didn't do it, so you know, sorry. Uh yeah.

I mean, we don't really know because the brother could have sacrificed himself anyway. Like, we don't really know how it played out because instead of showing us the agonizing part of it, we saw the monologue.

Which you saw the other agonizing part.

I didn't need the monologue. I didn't need it. The guy was cringe. And now, now, Pike, I have to go find out who actually played the part because I wonder if he's ever been in another thing.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was just like some random voiceover because the guy was wearing a mask, so you don't even There's just some guy who s filmed and then it was a dubbed-in voiceover from who knows who after.

Yeah. There's so many people that are like credited as drab suited man number one, drab suited man number two. Yeah, that makes sense. Honestly. Yeah. Uh oh yeah, they've got people in here. Uh South African male, enormous gang member. I mean I I Axe-headed man, masked man. I don't know if that's him.

It might be.

Yeah. Crazy man with a bullhorn. Demonic man. I think I wonder. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not it doesn't really say, so I'm not really sure who who it was. All I know is he probably wasn't in anything else that we've ever seen.

Probably not.

No. And if he was, he wasn't delivering a monologue like that. Do you suppose he watches this or he's seen it and thought, oh my god, this was horrible? I mean, maybe, maybe not. I don't know.

Or he's not really. To his family every holiday. Look at my star studded performance. Look, check this out. Look. I'm so pretty. Oh man. He's so proud of himself. Shows it to us every Thanksgiving. I don't know what to do.

Oh man. Um Charlie decides to dedicate herself to politics, to shutting down the purge. And she starts right away, like as after the incident, she dedicates her life to this. And so we see her later, 20 years later, and she is running for president. And she is giving the NFFA the what for and causing issues for them because the common working person is seeing that she's right. And they're tired of things. Because as dan Dante Bishop tells us at the beginning, the NFFA is lining its pockets with money and just getting tired of the Republic.

I mean an FFA party.

And they're It's interesting that you're calling it the re I would call it something else. And that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Uh-huh. Yeah, but yeah, so they're yeah, NFFA's got Minister Owens running, and uh, you know, these shows them debating and all this stuff, and it's like, yeah, he's just awful. And her words are sinking in, and and yeah, that she's gaining traction. She's got them afraid. We get like leader Caleb who's so upset about that. He's got a very familiar speech pattern. Um I can't quite place it who he was sounding a lot like. Hmm. If only I could grab it's I don't know, it's it's a very very big, very important the best and most important man in the whole most best and important so voice that he he sounded like that I know it, you know it, everyone knows it, but I can't remember what it is. I it you know Okay.

He definitely seems impacted by Charlie's growing popularity, and I don't know if it's because she's against the NFFA or because she's a woman.

Both.

Uh you're right though, they don't dive into how everything that happened to Charlie impacts her because they don't really talk about the actual things that happened or what the aftermath or what any of that. We just know that it did impact her. If this were a different movie, it could have been really interesting, like I mentioned her and Dante talking about their the trauma of going through being a purge victim and what that can do to you um mentally and emotionally. Because as we said, Dante Bishop is the stranger from the Purge one. His role in this is honestly what you would hope. I mean, he's I mean, I guess you would hope. I don't know, maybe that's a strong word, but vigilanteism, I don't, you know, he's trying to help people. Yes, he wants he has a mission, but he also is trying to help people, and we'll talk about that. But the NFFA determines that their best way to eliminate their enemies is to take away the level ten exemption from the purge.

Yeah. Which how that backfires, which I love. Uh so good. But yeah, but they they revoke this this protection for government officials, which you know, and they they say it's like it was out of fairness, you know, that we're all equal. And it's like, sure. No, it's so you can eliminate Senator Roan, because she's the biggest threat right now, and you need that excuse, you need that way to do that.

And it was all their enemies. Like they were looking at her, but they also were looking at Dante. They were they were looking at anyone who's been standing up against them in any way. They wanted to take them out, and they brought in white supremacists with that idea in mind. And they were gonna use government troops as well to eliminate everyone. But the biggest one on the on the table is Charlie.

Wait, you US government hiring actual Nazis to threaten and kill civilians to further their own gains? That's some crazy fiction. Wow, how absolutely unimaginable that is.

We live in a very strange time. That's all I'm gonna say.

Who the thing came up with such a crazy thing that could never happen. Anyway.

Yeah, so Charlie, um she's gotten way too close. She's polling very well, there's a chance she could win. You know that the root of the evil in a lot in these movies, one of the biggest roots of evil is basically money and people who have money using it to buy what they want. Like victims to kill in the purge, like they might pay someone, like we saw in the last movie where they paid the grandfather to be killed, and he gave the money to his daughter. So these are the types of things that we, you know, have seen. And so, of course, someone's gonna turn and be on the side of the NFFA, or they're gonna be a plant. Who knows? They don't really talk about it. But we start off 20 years later, Charlie is refusing to leave. She wants to stay in her home. Yeah, she doesn't want the public to see her as someone who runs and hides.

And Grillo's back. And Glillo's back. Leo Barnes. Uh yeah, I love that. Yeah, she wants to like send this message to the people that like I'm not gonna be like them and be the rich and powerful and hide away in some super super secret lockdown compound. I'm just gonna go.

Or a catering truck.

Yeah. I'm gonna stay at home in my house on Purge Night, and it's like Yeah, it's kind of this like little message of like I'm of the people with the people who are in this together. Which yeah, Barnes is not a great fan of that plan because he knows, and she probably knows as well, she's number one target. She's the biggest target of the night right now.

Absolutely. And it doesn't change her mind. She continues to this you know, she decides we're uh I'm staying here.

And so Leo does everything he can to keep her safe, including his backup plan, which no one knew about, which I I loved because I'm thinking she had a hole in her floor leading to the room downstairs and didn't ever notice it or know about it. No.

Evidently not. It was under a carpet, out of sight, out of mind, Peike.

Yeah, and then it went into like not into the closet, but in front of the closet in the room downstairs. It's like, did she not just go into that room and look up?

Yeah, I don't know. He put it in earlier that day, Peike.

Okay, sure. Uh-huh. I don't know. Maybe. I don't know.

I don't know. Um It's a movie, it's an escape. And literally it's an escape from the room they were in. Yeah.

Yes. But yeah, uh, which yeah, like hold holding her down in her own home as a safe house doesn't last long.

You didn't think it would, did you?

I mean, I figured something would go wrong, people would like force their way in. It actually did kind of catch me a surprise that uh Chief Cooper and Eric were the inside men for the NFFA. It was like, oh, the betrayal of that they had inside people working there with with Leo that he fell for it.

Fell for it, and then he did, but he didn't trust everyone 100% because he did have the escape hatch.

Yeah, he had the plan. Which I mean escape get out. He does get clipped, uh, but he's okay. He's okay, folks. Kinda, mostly-ish.

Can we just talk about Elizabeth Mitchell going down the escape hatch and it just made me think, oh yeah, she was on lost and she's going through an escape hatch, and there was a hatch in lost. Okay. It all started to tie together.

Yeah. He was okay, but then it wasn't a kill shot because that's the whole thing is they were tracking him. First, he thinks they're being tracked by this like drone following them around, um, which is just like other purgers, uh, which it also is tracking him, but it's like, yeah, this that's the lady trying to take the purge away from us. Like, of course they don't like her.

No, we don't want that because there are people who believe in the purge and they want to do it. There are people that come from out of the country to come into the US to purge. So why would they want the purge to be taken away? Of course they don't. But then there are people there are people who understand how wrong it is and want it to end. And those are the people that are growing in numbers year after year, and I think a lot of it was the impoverished who were the ones that things were being taken away from.

Yeah. Well, that's like the whole point, yeah, we've talked about in the uh previous movies, is like they can dress it up in whatever they want, but that's like the baseline is we're tired of paying money to take care of people. So the people who are poor and the minorities and the immigrants and the people that we should be investing in. What if we just make sure they all get killed and then we don't have to take care of them, we don't have to spend any money on them or worry about them anymore?

It's the mindset of the people in power in this movie. And take a look at them and draw your own conclusion, that's all I'm gonna say.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, they're out and about trying to survive now that they're out of the house. Uh come across just a bunch of clowns, literally. Uh what a bunch of clowns. They took them out, dispatched them pretty easily, but they were distraction enough that evil Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty got the jump on them. Uh, and then yeah, that's where we get just the bunch of Russians in kitschy American history costumes. Oh my god. Which then reveals that apparently Joe is John Wick.

So he is. He's John Wick. He just comes in blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

We got you. What? Where did that come from?

Um And you know what? If you recognize that actor, I I mean, I would hope that you've seen Forrest Gump.

Mm-hmm.

He was the uh mastermind behind Baba Gump Shrimp, I believe. Or involve yeah. Michael T. Williamson played the role of Joe. And yeah, he was in Forrest Gump.

Joe was great.

Yeah, I liked him. I liked most of the characters. There were some that were way over the top for me. That was one of the things I don't like about this movie, is some of the characters that were too over the top.

Yeah. There was some good casting. Uh so you mentioned like Joe where he came from, and then you even mentioned like Elizabeth Mitchell. Really the ones that I focused on that I was like, ah, was uh the EMS drivers, the our triage drivers. Uh of course, Laney uh is uh Betty Gabriel, and I was like, I know I know her from somewhere. And then it was like, of course, that is Georgina from Get Out.

Get Out.

Uh although this was before that, just a little bit before that.

It was.

Uh and then her EMS partner in the shotgun there, uh Dawn, who is played by uh Liza Colón Reyes, uh, who is Tina from The Bear, which I got very excited seeing her. And I was like, well now if Laney asked her to do something, I'm just gonna keep expecting her to say yes, Jeff. Uh and she didn't.

No. No, but you know what? They were out doing good things because even though the hospital was closed down, they were still out collecting people and helping take care of them. And it gave them some exclusion from being attacked. It's kind of an unwritten rule that people leave them alone because they're out there helping or saving people, even though I think that's the opposite of what people want to happen during the purge, but they do tend to leave them alone unless they have a senator in the vehicle and she's running for president and going to kick the ass of the NFFA, and then it all bets her off.

Yeah, so that so yeah, Joe comes guns blazing, John Wicksham uh saves them, brings them into the shop, and it's like, okay, cool. Now the senator's got a place to lay low, get Leo patched up from his gunshot wound. Everything's fine. Oh nope, Sparkle Squad is back. We gotta deal with them.

Oh man. Kimmy, Kimmy, Kimmy. The devil bride who wants her candy.

Mm-hmm.

Yep. Oh my god.

She's so over the top.

Very, yeah, very, very interesting. They're the the shoplifter girls from earlier in the movie. It's like, of course, they come back with some friends and a lit-up party car with their bedazzled weapons and pure insanity. She mentions she already killed her parents, and so now she wants to kill Joe and Marcos so she can get her Snickers bar that she tried to steal earlier. She seems like a totally normal, sweet girl, not unhinged in any way at all. Um, perfectly normal.

And partying to some weird version of party in the USA, which I don't believe was Miley Cyrus. I think it was a music version of it. I don't know. I mean, I could be wrong, but that's what it sounded like.

Yeah.

She goes away and comes back with a rather large saw and a teddy bear.

Mm-hmm. He's like a guy in a pig costume with a pacifier. I don't know.

It was weird.

A whole thing. Sparkle squad.

Uh I love that you call it the sparkle squad. I think it's great.

And uh, but I was like, if only those dummies knew who was in there, they're not ready for Leo Barnes. And then fortunately for them, I guess they'd never had to worry about him because they're not really much of an issue once Laney comes rolling through with the van.

Rolling. That was so good. I cheered. I cheered when she ran over Kimmy. That was fantastic.

It's like Laney was her hero. She told her that, but she didn't last long enough once she's against Pequenia Muerte. Uh Pequenua Piquenia I can't I can't say it. Pequenya Muerte. There it is. Try to say it too fast.

Yeah. Laney has a past. Also, Joe has a past. And we learn only tiny bits of their past. We don't really get a look into it any deeper than what is necessary to continue the story going forward.

Yeah. Ah, so they get. Yeah, all of that. Uh I've got I kind of if we're staying with Leo and and and Charlie, then I skip a lot of important stuff.

But Yeah, I think we stay with Leo and Charlie and we'll circle back.

We'll circle back just like Laney in the van. Uh yeah, because I mean, let's say, you know, they in the van, there's a lot of stuff that happens, but they meet Dante, they get to his base, and through that they they learn what Dante's plan is. This assassination, uh, you know, a plan. They found out where this purge mass with all of the NFFA, you know, top-ranking people is gonna be. And they're gonna go in and take out Minister Owens, and Charlie's not happy with that plan because she says, you know, I want to win this the right way. We're not gonna make him a martyr.

Which makes sense if you think about it, but also I feel like one of Dante's henchmen said they're not playing fair.

Yeah. Well, that's what the thing is, you know, it's like, you know, doesn't want to be m have him martyred, and then it's like, well then the you know, then the voters might s you know see that as like I had something to do with that, and then like actually I'm bad, and then like he's in the right, and then they're gonna vote. And Dante has this thing, it's just like, we're not gonna trust the voters to do the right thing, we're gonna handle it. And I was like, you know what? I have firsthand seen that he does have a good point that I've seen what voters are capable of. So he's not wrong.

No, he isn't wrong because you know what? People are human and sometimes they get it wrong. And they get it wrong because they think they're right. Everyone thinks they're right. But there are levels of right. And when people are suffering because of it, I don't know how right you're being or right you were when people are suffering. I mean, really.

Yeah, but with that plan, and then we know have more you know, uh Leo and and Charlie kind of heading out, because now she's got this idea like she needs to stop this. Is not okay with that part, which then leads to her being kidnapped by Nazis. Uh wonderful.

Because as was said, they're not playing fair. They don't play fair. And even though she's trying to do the right thing, they're not trying to do the right thing. They will do to her what Dante wants to do to the minister.

Yeah.

There's there's the difference. I mean, she's trying to do the right thing, but that's not how they're operating.

Yeah. But I do then like Leo catching up with Dante and his men before they go into the church tunnels with that, like, it's no longer an assassination, it's a rescue mission.

Yeah. Cause it is.

Yeah. I like the also another line that I really like is it's Angel, I think, is one of uh Dante's. When they're talking about the tunnels and stuff, whereas like these tunnels were built back by like George Washington Washington and and stuff, is like, and then you know, they've kind of got round, but we've reopened them, and like these guys don't even know that they're there. They don't know their history, and so it's like the original founding fathers are gonna help us fuck over the new founding fathers, which I think is really angel is the one who told her that they're not being fair, like they don't play fair.

We can't think that they're going to play fair, so we have to do something different. And that reminds me of some of the decisions that I think have come out, you know, during the last administration. You can't wait around thinking that everyone is gonna do what the right thing is. You have to look at it proactively and think about the future and protecting people and not be just expecting that everyone is gonna do the right thing because we've seen too many times that's not what's happening.

Right. Yeah. But in the end, Charlie does get through to Dante. You know, we have the whole thing at the church that they wait till the absolute last second to free her, which it's a movie. Like gotta be that way. Gotta do that. Oh, yeah. Um Yeah, it's kind of open season on the NFFA because they revoked the, you know, rules that they can't be harmed, so you know, haha, on them.

Yep.

Uh but they have Owens, but again, Charlie kind of gets through to him, and you know, killing Owens is makes him no better than than he is. And, you know, that makes him a martyr. And instead, we get to this place he gets to live while his deeds are brought to the surface, and she wants to win the election that way and the right way, to where people see, like, No, I brought justice to this situation, whereas he would have done the exact opposite. And it it works out. I don't know why they decided. To then have a presidential election in May, but you know, again I don't know why.

This is later. I think the timeline is like 2040, I want to say, is the year.

It was like two months later in May, and I was like, because I figured we would jump, I was like, I figured we're gonna jump to the election, and then it was like May. Two months later. I was like, oh no, they're gonna fill in a whole bunch of gaps, and then they're at the voting booths. And I was like, that's not the time that happens.

No, but again, this is dystopian America, so we don't really know. And I think the timeline for this movie, um again, this movie takes place in 2040 in the timeline. So maybe things had changed. I mean, who knows what's gonna be happening in 14 more years, fake. Who even knows?

We're gonna make it to that.

I don't know. One one year, one day at a time. Uh-huh.

Um But but yeah, that's kind of where we end this is her winning the election, and then the purge is done. There's no more than Yeah.

I thought that was a great way to end the whole series, and I think that was the idea. And then they did the first purge movie, which they thought which I thought, okay, this is good. We'll see, like kind of how it got started.

Yeah.

But then they did the Forever Purge.

Which I know nothing about, so I don't know how that what what sets that off and what happens, but but even without that, like, I do like that they ended it on like not the most positive note, because like she's elected, executive action, the purge is is eliminated, it is no more. And then immediately, like, they end the movie with like news reports of like and people are pissed off about that. Now there's rioting in the streets and all this stuff, because there's like, oh, we can't purge on a certain day, then we're just gonna do it now. And then it's like there was a lot of people who had their whole personality and life tied into that.

So Yeah, um reminds me of some other things that have happened in you know, the last five years, so I mean sometimes people react that way.

Purge is gone, but that doesn't mean peace.

Nope, it doesn't. And sometimes, you know, you get what you think you want and it causes a whole other can of worms. And you have to deal with that, and that can be really tricky. You know? When you have a part of the country that's angry about one thing, and then things actually change, you're still gonna have a part of the country on the other side of it that's mad about things and gonna rise up. Yeah, it's really difficult to manage the expectations of two groups that are so divided.

Yeah.

It's really difficult to manage two opposing sides that are so deeply entrenched in their beliefs and what they believe is true. And so we'll get to the Forever Purge. It's not a bad movie. It actually, honestly, Peike, if this one connects to things. Forever Purge.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Fantastic. Uh yeah, we'll we'll get to it. I mean, we'll we'll finish out the series. Why not? There's one left. Of course we're gonna do it.

I know, we're getting closer. I feel like we're getting closer and closer to finishing a couple of series, so we can start maybe some new ones. So probably before we do, before the end of the season, we might cover it just to finish up the whole series.

Kind of like we just speed run the last two insidious. Like, we'll get it wrapped up. We're done.

Yeah, we're wrapping it up, but we have another insidious that's coming. Like we're we're getting another one this month, I think. I think it's this month.

Yeah. So very soon.

It's coming. One thing I I want to mention about the church. When they were in the church rescuing her, and they shoot down all the the guys, and then this other group just comes up and gets behind the pews. It just gave me such video game vibes, like I don't know. It did. It gave me this the vibe of okay, we've taken care of one group, now here comes, you know, before the princess is in another castle. You've got basically, yes, the princess is in another castle. You've got to shoot down these people too. Yep. And whoever else that's that's around.

Yeah, so I think, yeah, we've got the kind of main characters out of the way, and they said some of our favorite side ones. We've talked about a little bit, Joe and Laney and Marcus a little bit, uh, which they were really highlighting Joe very early on. So I was like, well, obviously he's gonna be important. There's a storyline here. Uh he's the owner of the deli and the convenience store. His insurance gets like basically dropped because they're like, pay us way more, or we don't have any. And so he's just like terrified, he's like, I can't pay that, and now I'm gonna lose this place, and that's all I have. So that's what leads him to staying at the shop to be there when Charlie and Leo roll around. Uh and then of course he's tied in with Lainey as well. Uh just kind of she's been going to that store since she was a kid, so she knows him well, and then Marcos. Marcos talks about, you know, he was he's an immigrant from Mexico that has been living there and working there for eight years, legal now as a citizen for two. And so, and then the you know, the conversations that they have where it's like he kind of this will be your this will be yours one day. Um kind of pass and you know, found somebody to pass it on to, and then in the end he does, which was foreshadowing. Marco's kind of in inheriting the deli and he's fixing it all up at the end, which was nice. But yeah, so that's where we see them. Uh Laney again we get you know, no emergency services. We've known that about the purge since day one. Uh but she's part of this team, her and Don, and there's other people that do it, that they're like rogue EMS, basically. They it's very brave and very honorable, and Charlie has that conversation with us. Like, you don't have the the things that you do, it's incredible. Go out there and put yourself out into that.

Yeah, but she did say that it's kind of an unwritten rule that people leave them alone. She and Dawn take people to Dante's underground um medical facility where people have volunteered to come in and treat the wounded and injured.

Yeah.

And a lot of the people that are brought in are the homeless.

Yeah, even if they're not injured or anything, like the the homeless population of DC knows about this place because it is their safe haven. Because he says, like, those are the people that are in the most danger because they don't have a place to hide.

Exactly.

And it's not only they're the most dangerous, but that's the reason the purge exists, is that's the target that these that the NFFA is after is get rid of the homeless people, get rid of the people that are a scourge on society or whatever that they have to pay for and take care of. And so Dante is well, no, no, I'm giving them a place to ride it out.

I know. He's kind of in some ways Robin Hood, but not robbing the rich to pay the poor. He's just really protecting them.

Yeah, taking care of them, protecting them, and even fighting back on their behalf. I mean, they're like guerrilla soldiers, warfare out there taking out the the NFFA and you know, government people that get involved. Like, okay, you want to come out here, welcome to the game.

Uh well, and the NFFA has a history way back in the first purge where they either hire mercenaries or they the government gets involved and participates in eliminating the people that they want to eliminate. And so this is something that they have done this whole time. Like every movie so far that we've covered, it's been something that has taken place, except maybe in the purge, the original first movie. We don't really see a lot of that. It's mostly like a home invasion type situation. But in the other movies, we see more of what the NFFA does and how they think and operate and how they'll do whatever they have to to get things to be the way they want them, which is they have everything and everyone else has nothing. And it's one of the things that the guy, the lead guy in the NFFA says, where he says they, meaning people, want the impossible, they want everyone to have, some cannot have, not enough to go around.

Well, the problem is Well, not if you're hoarding literally everything. Exactly. Of course not. Yeah.

It's you have way more than you need, which is and you're hoarding it.

Exactly what we see now. And I don't think you know, it's it's incredibly political, but it's not even pointing fingers. I mean, I will 100% point fingers at Trump and his administration, but when the Democrats are in office, they do it too. Yeah. And where the people that benefit from things are are the friends and the other rich and powerful while the ones who actually need are overlooked. And it's like, well, I'm doing what's best for people, and by people I mean the people I know and give me money.

Exactly. They take from the people who don't have it to give to the people who have way more than they know what to do with, and then complain that they don't have enough.

Right.

Still. I don't know. I mean, there's so many roads I could go down. Last week I was at a funeral. You would not think that this would be the case, but I had so many sidebar conversations about people and taking care of each other and religion and common decency and common sense, and I left that situation feeling completely drained, but also like, oh wow, those were some really deep conversations that I'm glad that I was able to have. Because they were adult, smart, like factual conversations.

Yeah.

Instead of the same gloss it over stuff that I see.

But you know. You know.

Oh man.

What can you do? No. That's not how it works. Anyway, back to the movie. Let's talk about fiction and not real.

No, we don't want to talk about real life.

Oh, God. Yeah. Yeah, they're they're in the shop for a little bit. Some way of a place to to to stay, but yeah, not for too long. We've talked about what goes on there. Uh which then Joe doesn't want to leave it behind. But like Marcos kind of makes a good point. It's like you're say if you save the possible future president, then I'm sure she'll help you rebuild your shop. Like you're good. Let's go.

But I think it was better for him to say, I will help you rebuild this. He was invested in that with Joe. And I think given their relationship and how Joe has always been there for him, I think the reciprocal nature of him saying that back to him, where I will help you rebuild, we will rebuild this together, we will do this, I think it brought their relationship kind of full circle because Marcos was not even supposed to be there. He ended up there out of loyalty to Joe, because in the event that his premiums for insurance went up by thousands, Joe was there to defend his deli.

Yeah.

And Marcos came to back him up in it. And I think that too was a really big statement in their relationship.

Yeah.

Because there's a loyalty there. And Marcos is a hard worker. And the fact that Joe was looking to him as someone that could take over the deli when it's time for him to stop, that says a lot. Because I think he looked at him like a son. And it's a relationship that developed over time. And so I I think Marcos taking care of the deli after and rebuilding and doing all of the things that he was doing with it is exactly what Joe would have wanted. And Joe would have had pride in that, knowing that Marcos did that, continued that dream while Joe had the opportunity to help Marcos have an American dream.

Yeah.

At the same time. I wish people would be that way. Like, why can't we help our neighbors and be more supportive and be a community? Like, that's my question to our listeners. If you're still with us, um let's all try to be a better community for each other. Even though I'm pretty sure we're all doing everything we can. Let's let's just really keep that in our hearts.

Yeah, so we got they leave the shop, everybody's out, you know, on this kind of same mission. And then because of the tracker bullet in Leo that NFFA and their Nazis, literal Nazis, uh after them. I mean, he had the Nazi symbol on his neck that the lead guy, which I mean, yeah, all these tattoos, he's got the swastika on his neck and the SS on his face and more stuff, the Iron Cross and all that stuff.

You know, it was kind of a shock to my system to see uh Terry Serpico playing the part of Earl Dan Danziger because I saw him on Army Wives. Like he was one of the husbands on the Army Wives show, and this was like the complete opposite of his character on Army Wives. Um the crazy thing is the guy who played Marcos, uh Julia uh Joseph Julian Um Soria, he was also on Army Wives, too. So it's like, oh, this is this is interesting to have them both in this movie. But yeah, it was a lot. Um the character of Danziger didn't I mean we saw him enough, but the tattoos, I mean, again, as soon as he ripped them took the mask off.

Mm-hmm. Even before that, uh when they walked in, it was like it was like, oh, a bunch of dudes in uniforms and masks rolling up. He's got white power patch on the back of his. I was like, look, it's ice. Wait, no, it's no, these evil killers are at least actually capable and talented at their bad deeds that only benefit the rich and powerful at the expense of minorities and immigrants.

Oh my god.

Or something, you know. Um something. You know, or whatever. Um but yeah, so they find the van and track them down and shoot at that, which again has this kind of weird moment. This Jesus Christ, Rondo's dead. And I was like, wow, that was the most nonchalant dry delivery imaginable for that. You might as well have just said Rondo's dead, oh well.

I mean, and Rondo up at that point up until that point was talking about who are these people, what's going on. And she had handcuffed him because she didn't want him going out purging again. I'm like, yeah, but then he couldn't move, so he ended up dead.

Yeah. But the way she responded is like it was almost if she just went like, oh, they shot Rondo. Anyway.

And he's well, yeah, no big deal.

So we're wearing away.

They shot the red shirt.

Yeah. Uh, and then they pull up to the swords and axes fight club, which that's something. That was that was something.

That whole thing, oh my god.

It was like a fight club, fight to the death club.

Yeah. Uh, but Joe's able to kind of quell them with I guess he's got some gang past of his own, which Crims!

Interesting.

Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, he helps them and they help them with uh, you know, uh an injured gang member there in return for them cornering and taking out a couple of purge ice.

Yes.

Yeah.

They were there, and then they weren't.

Uh yeah. And then they get to Dante's, and yeah, we've talked uh a lot about Dante's stuff. And then after they get settled, and then it was just like Joe's like, well, I gotta go back to the shop, I'm walking, and Lady's like, I'll drive you. And I was like, Laney's gonna drive Joe and Marcos back to the deli while Nazis are hunting for their van. I don't like that. That's not good. I really hate that. No, please.

Not smart. Not a smart thing. Let's I don't think they abide by the not uh let's stay away from them, let's not hurt them. Let's the unwritten rule. I don't think they follow the unwritten rule of staying away from the medical people who are out helping.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

They have their own rules.

And then, yeah. And then, yeah, we've talked about, yeah, they do go out, but then they all wind up back together anyway, due to yeah, everything that happens. And they're all back at the church. Everything kind of goes down the way that it does. Uh, good night, blue cheese. I don't know where that line came from, but he really sure loved that catchphrase, Joe did.

He did.

I don't know. Never heard that in my life. Me, he had some interesting lines.

He did. He was the comic relief that we that we needed.

And then the church zombie, Harmon, shows up and R.I.P. Joe. Damn it.

Oh my god. He was what the heck? He did look like he was dead. His lips were all chapped.

He could not look more like a literal duel.

I don't know why. Like, why was it like that? Like, what was the point?

I don't know.

I don't get it.

But yeah, so that was the end of Joe. But then as we say, you know, Marcos does inherit the deli and is fixing it up at the end of the movie. And so there's hope there. It was good. Uh and then la yeah, lastly, Dante, we've talked a lot about and what he's doing. Um like you know, them coming in and yeah, taking out leader Caleb. That was very nice. I enjoyed that quite a bit.

He basically gave Marcos two seconds. He just says rifle, and and Marcos is just like boom. Yeah I mean, there's no time.

And then, yeah, even leaving the church, that should have been a happy ending, except Nazis, which classic. Uh so R.I.P. Dante, but also bye-bye Nazi trash. So that's good.

Yes, yes, Leo Barnes Strikes Again. Yes. I remember when I saw this in the movies, I was so mad that Dante died because he was a thread through the first three movies, so it was just it reminded me of another movie that I'm not gonna spoil here, even though it's 35 years old, and we haven't covered it yet, but we could. Because if we cover that franchise, I'm pretty sure we will not do the second movie, but we'll do the first and the third. And that's Nightmare in Elm Street. Because the second one was so bad that no, we're not covering it.

But yeah, so lastly, really, on the notes that I have is yeah, just like NFFA and Purgers stuff, which we've talked about a lot of it already. Uh thrown some stuff in. Yeah, the murder tourists we talked about. I do like the this movie, especially. There's a great job, and all of them do, like with just the random purge visuals while people are driving around, they just like to throw in like the scenes just to see things. You know, early on, because it's like, oh, motherfuckers got guillotines uh and people strapped to the hood of their car.

Yep.

Um, and and the masks are always pretty cool in different ways. We like get to see all kinds of different masks and and things in use.

Oh, yeah, because no one wants anyone to know. If there's video evidence of someone killing somebody, they don't want you to know that it was them, even though they're very proud out there wearing their mask doing it. They don't really want people to know that it was actually them.

Yeah. The uh Lincoln Memorial visual was actually pretty dope. I like that with purge on it.

Uh they do a great job with the visuals because it it shows you how brutal that everything is. And we got to see through Charlie's eyes all of these horrifying scenes as they're in the van riding around and she's looking out and seeing some of this stuff and realizing, yes, you knew it was bad, but it's even worse than what you thought it was.

Yeah. And then, of course, yeah, with her being kidnapped and taken to purge mass, which during the debate with Owens uh near the beginning of the m movie, she even talks about like the purge mass. That's where we'll be. And she's like, Oh, the place where you go and do human sacrifice. Like it's been known about what's going on. And so, of course, when she gets kidnapped, and then Leo is like, I know where they're taking her. It's like, well, yeah, she mentions in that debate about them sacrificing people, so she's gonna be the sacrifice this year because they're scared of her. Like, yeah, obviously.

And you saw how happy they were when he unveils her in front of them all. They were all salivating at the excitement of taking her out. And again, it's quite a scene of them sitting in the church with their big old medals on next to their wives. It's like, oh man. It's like a patriarchy celebration. I yeah, it was a bit much. I feel like this movie was ahead of its time in some ways, like with showing the lengths that people will go to when they believe they're right and what they're doing is the right thing. Uh, because I feel like things have been going in a really bad direction. Um I think the NFA didn't want anyone to dismantle the monarchy that they had built, which is they're in charge and they have everything, and no one else should be able to benefit from what they're doing, which is basically starving people and killing them. Um and they were willing to do whatever it took, and the differences between the two, with Charlie being, no, we need to rescue the minister because if he is murdered, we're no different than they are. And she's right. Um watching him beg Dante to shoot him and Dante not doing it was actually pretty cool because it it just goes to prove Charlie's point of now, you don't want to be like them. You don't want to do what they would do. So you can't kill him, even though I know you want to. Someone had referred to the purge being Halloween for adults. I think it was the guy outside the costume shop. I was like, oh man.

Um but Halloween is Halloween for adults.

It is. Oh my god.

There's so many adult Halloween things that happen that you can do.

Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah, I mean, uh the price of playing fair, it doesn't always work. And we talked about that already. Um and Charlie sticking to her guns and not being willing to compromise, even though Leo wants her to follow his lead, like right from the beginning, and she's just not willing to to go that far. Sometimes she speaks up and she's strong, like she's not gonna just be or do what everyone is telling her to do. She has convictions and morals, and there are lines that she's not willing to cross, and I think that's great, but it doesn't always work. In her case, it did in this movie. But I understand her wanting to do things the the way that she wants, the right way, fair and square. But the thing is, in politics, it doesn't always come out that way. Fair and square, it's so complicated, and it can be so um difficult that I just don't yeah, I don't I don't know. And again, this movie came out before we had the January 6th situation.

Well before.

So again, I feel like the there's a little foreshadowing in it. And people that are listening may not agree with me, but I feel like some of this it's like, man, I just I just yeah, it seems like too much. And to re-watch it now, I'm just it kind of hit me in a lot of ways. I think the last thing that I want to say is one thing I appreciate about these movies is that each one tackles a different type of situation and are tied to people and different parts of the why things happen this way, and also the focus on those who are less fortunate and on the front lines, plus a different side of the depravity of how far people go when things are like this. And you can say that, oh no, things don't happen that way. Well, no, not literally the same way. We don't have this exactly like this, but you can see some similarities from what we saw in this movie to different things you hear about happening all over the country.

Yeah.

And beyond. So yeah. It's this whole survival of the fittest mentality. Like if you're lucky enough to be wealthy and lucky enough to be healthy and not have any uh disadvantages, then you're the type of person that they want to survive. So and I'll get off my soapbox now.

No, that's good. I'm letting you go because I've got nothing else to say. I think I've tapped mine out.

You've got nothing else to say.

Nothing else. No, no, about nothing.

Not a single thing?

Mm-mm.

Nothing. Well, this is just another movie that expands the universe for the purge. You know, you have to think about it. The first one was about the house and what it's like when you're in that element of people are trying to get into your house to kill you or to kill someone you've rescued. And the second movie, we saw things out on the streets and how hard it is to survive when you're in that situation and what the NFFA and people will do to you in in that way, like kidnapping you off the streets, paying for you so that they can kill you in some weird, crazy UFC entertainment mess. Um, and then in this case, we got to see more of the government side of things and how the government plays more even more of a role in the purge activities. I think that's it.

We did it. We made it through.

I'm glad we did this one. I'm glad we did it now. I was kind of in the mindset for it, and I'm looking forward to next week's movie, which I haven't seen before, so we'll tell you about that later.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, and there's the feedback phone there, and uh, we will get to that and we'll listen to any of your thoughts, feedback, and hate mail. Hopefully not. Alright, we do have one bit of feedback this week, and I'll give anyone one chance to guess who it was. Of course, our reliable friend, Catherine. Always loved to see her coming through, so of course, yeah, we'll read uh I'll read that one. Um, she says, Murder tourism. Oof. It's been a few years since I've seen this purge, and it hit a whole lot harder with our current administration. It was really satisfying to see Kimmy get taken out before she could get to the candy bar, but that was one of the uh but that was one of the few happier moments.

Oh man.

While I enjoy the purge series, I think it has a lot of the same flaws as the Saw series and others that could be considered, quote, torture porn. Each sequel strives to have bigger deaths, crazier characters, and more twists. I'll still watch every sequel, but with lower expectations. It's worth it to see characters like Roan return.

Yes, agreed. Well, if you would like to submit feedback, you can find us on the Podcastica Discord server. We have a channel there devoted just to Run for Your Lives Podcast. You can send us feedback on Facebook or Instagram at Run for Your Lives Podcast, or you can email us at Runfor Lives Podcast at gmail.com. If you're enjoying the show, tell your friends we are available on all the podcast players, including Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and more. As always, you can go to Runfor Livespodcast.com for all the links that you're ever gonna need. And give us a review on Apple Podcasts. That is the best way to share the love and get us out there even more. We really appreciate it.

Absolutely we do. And of course, speaking of sharing the love, you know we've got to give those shout-outs to the things going on in the podcastical universe around us and beyond. Lots of great stuff for you to check out this week before our next episode. So, of course, the Walking Dead cast, Ben and Alex continuing to just go ahead and rock on through Walking Dead, Dead City, season three, so you can continue to check out their coverage over there, with episode five being the most recent one. So, yeah, if you're listening, awesome. If you're not easy to catch up, go check that out. Of course, uh, Penny and Kara over on Still Slaying have some great Buffyverse stuff as well. They are over on Angel, season two, episode six this week. So if you're an Angel fan, Buffy Van, and you haven't checked out Still Slaying yet, absolutely get on that because they are awesome and they're doing a great job over there. So if we give that a listen. Of course, our newest podcast on the network, Casting Light, covering the HBO series Lanterns, the uh DC lantern series. Uh Jason Kirk and Jim doing that over there. Season two is out, and we can go check out that coverage on Casting Light. Yellow Jackets, WTF. Uh, we talked about it a little bit last week, and then again, so we've still got a ways to go. We do have a date for the new season, the final season, all the way in November, I believe.

Yes, November 20th.

Yeah. Still some stuff going on over there to keep that feed going. Uh, so we have Jason, Kara, and Cassie covering the uh more recent Netflix Lord of the Flies mini-series. It's like four episodes. So if you haven't, check that out, and then go listen to their coverage over on the Yellow Jackets WTF feed for that one. And then uh outside of Podcastica, of course, our good friends over at Pirate Core Entertainment Podcast Network. If you go check out the Panels to Pixels podcast, it's a lot of peas over there. Uh Mark and Steve covering Spider Noir, going back and kind of re-looking at the first four episodes right now as a whole, and going to check those out and talk about those now that those have been out for a little while. So if you want to relive those, re-watch those, or get somebody's thoughts on those episodes, then go check that out over at Panels to Pixels. And then also on the comic book front, same with uh podcast. If you want more lanterns coverage, definitely go check out our friends at TV Podcast Industries, as they're covering that series over there as well. So you can go check out that. A lot of good stuff. And then if you want more of me and Daphne, of course, you can go listen to our Buffalo Buffalo podcast, our other podcast with our friends Jeff and Jerry, taking a break from the breaking down TV and movies and pop culture and all that stuff, and instead quizzing each other on how little we know about it in some regards. Uh with yeah, all kinds of games and quizzes and ridiculousness. Uh just trying to make each other laugh first and foremost. It's been a great time. We're just hanging out over there being silly boys and girls.

Yeah.

We're having a great time, most of the time. That reminds me, I have to get the game ready next week because it's my turn.

Mm-hmm.

What am I gonna torture you with this time? I've gotta come up with something. I'm sure I will.

I don't know. I finally found her kryptonite in a recent episode that isn't out yet, even by the time you hear this, but recent for us to record, it doesn't come out for a few weeks uh for you. But I think I found her kryptonite.

Oh man, don't tell anyone else. Rob and Joe don't need to know that that's my kryptonite.

But yeah, so if you want to go check that out, it's a good time. A lot of good stuff to listen to. But then, of course, next week, next Friday, you can come right back here to Run for Your Lives, and we'll have something fresh and fun and new for you to check out. Daphne, what are we doing next week?

Well, a skeptical paranormal podcaster caring for her dying mother begins investigating a series of mysterious audio recordings that appear to document a young couple's terrifying encounter with a demonic presence. We are discussing Ian Toisson's 2026 film Undertone. Podcasting and the paranormal. What could be better?

Exactly. Yeah, um, another newer one from this year that a lot of people have been talking about. So I know you guys love the newer movies. We love the newer movies when we get a chance to do them. So this one has been on the docket for a while, so we're excited to finally get to it. Undertone.

Yes. And with that, we've reached the end of another terrifying episode of Run for Your Lives. Thanks everyone for listening. I'm Daphne.

And I'm Pig.

And if you have to run, you better run for your lives.

Bye bye.