Run For Your Lives Podcast Episode 194: Teacup (TV Series)

In this episode, Pake and Daphne are joined by their friend Alma to discuss the 2024 TV series Teacup.

Website: http://www.runforyourlivespodcast.com
Email: runforyourlivespodcast@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runforyourlivespodcast
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/rfylpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runforyourlivespodcast
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@runforyourlivespodcast
RFYL Spotify Music Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71Bsx083ldVuGwSgJKKEwr?si=0yB3Zq4iTeaMU_cBk6yAlw

[00:00:00] Hmm? Ah! Hmm.

[00:00:04] Podcast to go!

[00:00:06] You're listening to the Run For Your Lives Podcast.

[00:00:10] Welcome to the show. I'm Daphne.

[00:00:35] And I'm Pake.

[00:00:36] And this is the Run For Your Lives Podcast.

[00:00:40] This week we are switching it up just a little bit and covering season one, at least as far as I know, there might be more. We'll talk about it.

[00:00:51] Of the new Peacock television series created by Ian McCullough, titled Teacup.

[00:01:00] And that was released again on Peacock October 10th, 2024 and released over the span of four weeks, culminating in two episodes as a Halloween night finale.

[00:01:13] And yeah, it was great. We're going to go ahead and cover the entire season in one go.

[00:01:17] And to help us with that, because it's a lot of stuff going on, we brought in a good friend of ours, also a loyal listener, feedbacker, wonderful, who's been part of this podcast in her own way for a while.

[00:01:30] Now in here in bigger, better version, Alma. Welcome to the show.

[00:01:35] Hi, everyone.

[00:01:38] We're happy to have you with us, Alma.

[00:01:40] Oh, thank you.

[00:01:42] There's such a, there's such a buzz about this show.

[00:01:46] I think.

[00:01:47] I wish more people would watch it.

[00:01:49] I hope it gets a season two.

[00:01:52] I just think there's so much potential for what they can do with it.

[00:01:57] But, you know, since it's Peacock, it does have a chance.

[00:02:01] Sometimes I get irritated because Netflix decides to pull the plug.

[00:02:05] The most inopportune time.

[00:02:07] Mm-hmm.

[00:02:10] Peck has gone on several rants about it from multiple shows.

[00:02:14] Yeah.

[00:02:14] So, yeah.

[00:02:16] Since it's Peacock, I'm hoping that we're going to get a season two.

[00:02:21] At least a season two.

[00:02:22] Yeah.

[00:02:24] Well, especially after the way that this one ended.

[00:02:27] Yeah.

[00:02:28] Very set up for like, well, we definitely need more.

[00:02:32] Yeah.

[00:02:32] Absolutely.

[00:02:33] So we'll get started the way we always do.

[00:02:36] I only have a couple of production notes.

[00:02:38] Basically, it was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia.

[00:02:41] What is it about Atlanta, Georgia and things that are filmed there?

[00:02:46] Because I feel like it's just a thing with people I know and people in this Zoom room that, you know, Walking Dead also.

[00:03:00] Mm-hmm.

[00:03:00] Stranger Things.

[00:03:01] Mm-hmm.

[00:03:01] Oh, yeah.

[00:03:02] Stranger Things.

[00:03:03] Yeah.

[00:03:04] Georgia's just a big...

[00:03:05] I mean, I'm sure the like...

[00:03:09] What is the logical money answer for that?

[00:03:14] There's like an economic answer to that question as far as like, Georgia has a lot of great, you know, taxes and systems in place for filming.

[00:03:24] Incentives and stuff.

[00:03:25] Yeah.

[00:03:26] But other than that, yeah, it's just...

[00:03:28] I know Atlanta because you can like, you've got cityscape stuff, but then right on the outside is a lot of this more rural and foresty areas that shows like this and The Walking Dead can make good use of.

[00:03:39] So yeah.

[00:03:39] Yeah.

[00:03:39] Oh, yeah.

[00:03:40] It was inspired though by the 1988 novel Stinger by Robert R. McCammon.

[00:03:49] So yeah.

[00:04:03] Yeah.

[00:04:05] Yeah.

[00:04:05] It's in audio form.

[00:04:07] Yeah.

[00:04:08] I don't...

[00:04:08] Yeah, I'm tempted to.

[00:04:09] I don't know how similar it will be to the book versus like, if they're just like based on loosely and they took some ideas because again, I haven't read the book.

[00:04:18] I had never heard of it until then, but I did look it up.

[00:04:21] And at least the cover that I saw has some kind of, hopefully this isn't a spoiler for the show, but who knows, some kind of giant underground monster.

[00:04:30] So it was like, I don't...

[00:04:34] Wow.

[00:04:35] So I don't know if they're going that route at some point or if, yeah, who knows?

[00:04:40] Well, the episodes each week, most of them were like 35 to 40 minutes.

[00:04:47] Yeah.

[00:04:47] I don't remember exactly.

[00:04:48] I think episode five might've gone past the 50 something minute mark.

[00:04:52] I think it was about an hour.

[00:04:54] Yeah.

[00:04:54] It's very cool though, because to get you in, I felt like I had to watch the first two episodes.

[00:05:01] Like that's what got me in.

[00:05:03] It wasn't the first episode.

[00:05:04] I was intrigued, but by the end of the second episode, I was like, yep, I want to know what happens to this family.

[00:05:11] Mm-hmm.

[00:05:12] Yes.

[00:05:12] Yeah.

[00:05:13] Same instance.

[00:05:14] So that was, I'm glad that they released them two at a time because it was that same thing when I decided to check it out.

[00:05:19] It's just the first two episodes out that first week.

[00:05:22] And yeah, it was like the first episode, I was like, I have no idea what's going on.

[00:05:25] This is weird, but I kind of like it.

[00:05:27] I'm, it's 30 something minutes.

[00:05:30] I'll check out the second episode.

[00:05:31] It's there.

[00:05:32] And then, yeah, it's, it's the end of the second episode with Claire's death.

[00:05:36] And then all of these things kind of building off of that, that then you're like, okay, no, I'm, I'm hooked and we've got to continue on and see what's going on here.

[00:05:44] Yeah.

[00:05:44] Because then I think that's when, well, uh, yeah, because that's really where McNabb like shows up mostly.

[00:05:51] Like when we see him at the very end of the first one, but then that's where his like interaction and stuff. So things really start falling into place.

[00:05:58] Yeah. So Peg, why don't you give us a synopsis on this series?

[00:06:04] All right. I spent seconds coming up with this one. And by coming up, I mean, copy and pasting from IMDB working so hard doing so, of course, as I always do.

[00:06:17] Uh, but yeah, trapped on a farm in rural Georgia, a group of neighbors must put aside their differences and unite in the face of a mysterious and deadly threat.

[00:06:26] Okay.

[00:06:27] Which that could be the synopsis to like 700 different movies and shows.

[00:06:33] Oh, that's pretty fair.

[00:06:37] Swap out farm in rural Georgia with gas station.

[00:06:42] Mall.

[00:06:43] Shopping mall.

[00:06:44] There's so many different other places.

[00:06:48] Yeah.

[00:06:48] Honestly, that it could be night of the living dead.

[00:06:52] Yeah.

[00:06:53] Yeah.

[00:06:55] That's the way.

[00:06:57] Yep.

[00:06:57] It could be that.

[00:06:59] So, yeah.

[00:07:00] So we have a guest on, which means we follow a different format.

[00:07:04] We are not going through our usual character analysis, but we're going to be doing a point system.

[00:07:17] And Alma, since you are our guests, we always let our guests go first.

[00:07:23] And by point system, she means like Buffalo, Buffalo, where if we like what you have to say about the show, you get a point.

[00:07:28] Whoever has the best things to say about it wins the game.

[00:07:30] No.

[00:07:34] No, but that's a good idea.

[00:07:36] Pick.

[00:07:37] Yeah.

[00:07:38] Okay.

[00:07:39] No. Yeah. Top three points about the show.

[00:07:41] Do I all three points or just just we'll rotate.

[00:07:45] Yeah.

[00:07:45] You do your first one.

[00:07:47] We'll rotate.

[00:07:48] I have like five full points that I can go to a plus so many other notes.

[00:07:53] I have too many notes, but you know, we'll, we'll get through everything.

[00:07:59] So if you got extra stuff afterwards, we'll get through it all.

[00:08:02] Well, how about I start off with the messiness of well, the men's messiness between relationships.

[00:08:10] Like we found out that James is having an affair with Ruben's wife and their neighbors.

[00:08:18] And I don't know, I kind of like that, like real life messiness in the midst of this horrible thing that nobody knows what's going on.

[00:08:28] I just, that intrigued me a little bit more.

[00:08:31] It added a little bit more depth to the story for me.

[00:08:34] I don't know about you guys, but the messiness just kind of, kind of stuck me in a little bit more than, than I was already hooked.

[00:08:45] Yeah.

[00:08:46] So I like the complexity of does Maggie know?

[00:08:51] And if she does, how much does she know?

[00:08:53] And does she know who it is?

[00:08:56] And does Ruben know?

[00:08:58] Like, because the families are friends.

[00:09:02] Yeah.

[00:09:02] I mean, that's the messiness.

[00:09:07] Yeah, no.

[00:09:08] And you know, that was one of the things that saddened me when Ruben did find out, cause he overheard a conversation.

[00:09:15] Uh, between James and Maggie and, you know, Maggie just blurted it all out.

[00:09:20] Yeah.

[00:09:21] Yeah.

[00:09:21] I have a note about that where she's like, does Ruben know?

[00:09:23] And it's like, well, he does now.

[00:09:25] Way to go.

[00:09:26] Uh, and I was sad, you know, I really liked that actor.

[00:09:31] Uh, the guy that plays Ruben was in, um, Twilight.

[00:09:34] Yeah.

[00:09:34] And I remember, you know, Twilight was what?

[00:09:38] 12 years ago is sure.

[00:09:41] Yeah.

[00:09:41] Maybe even more than.

[00:09:43] Yeah.

[00:09:43] Well, yeah.

[00:09:44] Well, I think the last one I think was in 2011, I think.

[00:09:49] Um, yeah.

[00:09:50] So, so I recognized him and I was like, you know, I really liked this actor.

[00:09:55] He just, he shows a lot of his emotions.

[00:09:57] And he showed those emotions.

[00:10:00] I thought pretty well, I felt really bad for him.

[00:10:03] Really bad.

[00:10:04] I was like, oh, he has a cheating wife.

[00:10:08] And everyone knows but him.

[00:10:10] Like, that's kind of like the thing is the other three, the two people in the affair, plus Maggie, but Ruben's in the dark until he finds this out.

[00:10:22] And they're in this constricted situation where they can't.

[00:10:25] I mean, where is he going to go to get away?

[00:10:28] Yeah.

[00:10:29] Really get away.

[00:10:30] He can't escape from or run away from the situation.

[00:10:34] Yeah.

[00:10:34] So it, it could seem like some kind of just unnecessary, messy drama, but, but because of the situation there and it adds to the tension.

[00:10:43] Because yeah, I didn't, you have these two very like masculine kind of like, I want to be the house, you know, the head of the house, you know, man of the house kind of personalities in Ruben and James.

[00:10:54] And now they've got this between themselves and they can't, they have no choice but to be trapped in the same location with each other and just let it stew.

[00:11:03] Mm hmm.

[00:11:05] Yeah.

[00:11:06] Yeah.

[00:11:06] It definitely stews and the pot gets stirred even more.

[00:11:09] Like there's so much that goes on.

[00:11:12] Yeah.

[00:11:12] I think that's a great first point because I think that dynamic really, while not like front and center for the entire show, it, it's like this bubbling thing that's going on.

[00:11:26] And it affects relationships, especially James and Maggie.

[00:11:31] And when Maggie figures out who it is, it makes it, you know, even more intense.

[00:11:41] Yeah.

[00:11:41] I had that as, so I'll just to follow up with it.

[00:11:44] Cause I had that as one of my backup points, which I titled your cheating heart.

[00:11:50] But yeah.

[00:11:51] I'm surprised that they didn't use that music for an episode title.

[00:11:55] Right.

[00:11:56] Uh huh.

[00:11:58] Yeah.

[00:11:59] This way I can just rip through some of my notes.

[00:12:01] But yeah.

[00:12:01] So just to kind of cover some of those thoughts is yeah, the James and they are cheating each other.

[00:12:05] And then the big thing is it happens pretty early on is like James really fucked up by telling Valeria this Meryl in the oven story.

[00:12:14] Because we find out then that it was very much like secret that like James and Maggie had decided to never tell anybody that was between them.

[00:12:21] And so that was how Maggie found out that it was Valeria because that's something that is super close to the chest.

[00:12:28] And so when they're like, when they're getting Arlo ready to put him in the bath and stuff after finding him and he's all scratched and scraped up and dirty.

[00:12:38] And, and Maggie makes reference to this oven story and, or Valeria does.

[00:12:43] And then just Maggie's face.

[00:12:44] You can tell immediately, like that's when the light bulb like turned on in her head.

[00:12:49] She's like, got it.

[00:12:50] I just put two and two together.

[00:12:52] Another big betrayal.

[00:12:52] I feel.

[00:12:53] Yeah.

[00:12:54] Yeah.

[00:12:55] And Maggie comes off as so cold, like at the beginning of the show and throughout the show really.

[00:13:01] And yeah, it's a big through line for her.

[00:13:04] Yeah.

[00:13:04] And I get it.

[00:13:05] Like as the story comes out, you get to see her in these situations and you start to understand why she's the way she is.

[00:13:19] Yeah.

[00:13:20] Yeah.

[00:13:20] And then there was a lot of like really great lines that were in this show because of that situation that I had to write down some of them just cause they made me go, Oh, like James and Maggie says, I love you.

[00:13:33] Cause it wouldn't hurt so much if you didn't James.

[00:13:36] Ah, that was a rough one.

[00:13:38] Uh, Ruben saying, you know, we'll get through this both of us.

[00:13:41] And I was like, I have a feeling he's not referring just to the trap.

[00:13:47] Uh, and then let's see.

[00:13:49] I didn't trust you before we found out one of us could be a killer.

[00:13:52] So how am I supposed to trust you now?

[00:13:53] Love that line.

[00:13:54] Yeah.

[00:13:55] Love that line.

[00:13:57] Yeah.

[00:13:59] But yeah.

[00:13:59] So, so that was good.

[00:14:00] And then, yeah, we get the Ruben and James going out together and I immediately knows like, well, that what kind of tension is this going to hold now that they're just by themselves on this adventure?

[00:14:10] And they do pretty well.

[00:14:11] You can see them jabbing at each other.

[00:14:12] And there's like little moments where they're close to the line where you're like, one of them's not going to be that rash and do something stupid.

[00:14:19] I was worried.

[00:14:20] But you wonder, you're like, it's there.

[00:14:23] Uh, but then it ends up that, you know, they get to the Navarro farm and find the trap tree as I call it.

[00:14:29] Uh, and then Ruben's like sucked into that and James saves him.

[00:14:33] But even after saving him, what he gets for it is a punch to the face.

[00:14:36] I mean, again, not for saving him.

[00:14:37] It's because the other stuff, but it's like that tension finally bubbles over.

[00:14:42] But I think at the end or near the end, not really at the end, um, James doesn't come out of this very happy at the end, but, uh, at least for a moment, they kind of patch things up.

[00:14:53] I said, you know, they have their very intense, but well needed conversation with each other there in the bedroom.

[00:14:59] And then they are finally working together again on the same page bonding in the act of drowning their daughter together.

[00:15:06] Man, man, man, man.

[00:15:10] I loved it when Maggie said to him, you don't want to go out with the husband of the woman you're fucking like so brashly and so almost bad ass.

[00:15:23] And I like, she's got zero fucks to give at all at that point.

[00:15:26] Mm-hmm.

[00:15:27] And I really liked that a lot.

[00:15:30] I think when you go through the process of things that disappoint or upset you, it's like a grieving process where you have to get upset, you have to let it out, and then you just get angry after.

[00:15:43] And so that's just another piece of it.

[00:15:46] And I feel like she's reached the anger part.

[00:15:51] And now she's able to, you know, let it out a little bit more.

[00:15:57] And I, and I, I feel for her.

[00:16:01] I feel like she's going through a lot.

[00:16:03] Yeah.

[00:16:03] Especially because they're right there in her face and nobody can get away.

[00:16:09] Nobody can leave.

[00:16:11] So you're stuck.

[00:16:12] No.

[00:16:12] Yeah.

[00:16:13] It's like, not only did I find out who you were cheating on me with, but now she's living in and sleeping in this house and I can't do anything about that.

[00:16:20] Yep.

[00:16:22] So she's faced with it.

[00:16:24] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:25] Daily, like a punch in the head, like punch in the face.

[00:16:28] Here you go.

[00:16:29] We're just gonna, you know, we're gonna kick you while you're down and make you have to see her too.

[00:16:34] Like, yeah.

[00:16:36] So my first point is actually Maggie, the character of Maggie, because I wasn't quite sure what to think about her at the beginning, because I'm so used to Serena Joy from The Handmaid's Tale.

[00:16:50] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:51] Yes.

[00:16:52] I know she was on Dexter.

[00:16:54] I remember her character on Dexter, except that it's been a while since I watched it.

[00:17:00] And while she was intense on that show, the intensity she brings on here is, it's very much reminds me of Serena Joy.

[00:17:10] Like...

[00:17:11] Having to make the hard decisions whether people agree with them or not, like putting on the stone cold face of like...

[00:17:17] Yep.

[00:17:17] Exactly.

[00:17:17] I mean, I don't even like it, but this is the way things are.

[00:17:20] Yeah.

[00:17:20] This is what I have to do.

[00:17:22] And I feel like most of the time what we saw from her character, except for towards like the last two episodes, what we saw was this stone-faced person, this hard and cold person that James had even told Valeria about.

[00:17:44] Like that she's so cold.

[00:17:47] Like that she's so cold.

[00:17:47] What we also saw when she was with the animals and when she was with her kids, we got a different side of her.

[00:17:56] Mm-hmm.

[00:17:56] There was compassion and love in her eyes and that facade dropped down because she connected with them.

[00:18:05] And you could tell that despite everything that was going on around her, you could tell the joy that she had from being around her kids.

[00:18:15] And as hard as she was working to try to save Ruben's horse, like you could tell she's a, she really cares about the animals she's trying to help and trying to make things better.

[00:18:29] Mm-hmm.

[00:18:30] Seeing that part of her, it was really great because it added more dimension.

[00:18:36] Mm-hmm.

[00:18:36] Because at the beginning, you just know that something's going on.

[00:18:40] You can tell right from the beginning that her and James, something's happened before they really reveal it.

[00:18:46] You can tell there's a strange relationship there.

[00:18:50] Yep.

[00:18:50] Plus his mother's living there.

[00:18:52] Mm-hmm.

[00:18:54] I mean.

[00:18:55] His mother knows.

[00:18:58] Mm-hmm.

[00:19:00] Yeah.

[00:19:01] Yeah.

[00:19:01] And so here's Maggie living in this world where my mother-in-law is living with me and she has a health issue.

[00:19:16] And not only do I have to keep everything together in front of my kids, I've also got to keep things together in front of her.

[00:19:24] And even though she wasn't at fault with the affair, you know that as a woman in that situation, you have to think that she's like, how do I live up to or build myself up or not?

[00:19:41] You know, what is this woman thinking of me?

[00:19:44] Is she looking at me like, well, it's your fault he had an affair?

[00:19:47] You know, because that's what goes through your head.

[00:19:51] Mm-hmm.

[00:19:53] Yeah.

[00:19:54] And we get to see her through the whole show really, like she's the level-headed one. She makes decisions. She tries to focus on the kids and protect the kids. And I think she was the first one who really believed what Arlo was telling her.

[00:20:17] Mm-hmm.

[00:20:18] Mm-hmm.

[00:20:19] Because, you know, she listened to him and she saw him kind of go in and out of it because you could kind of tell when he's going in and out of it. And I think, you know, she realized something was going on.

[00:20:29] And even if she didn't or wasn't 100% invested, I felt like she at least empathized and could at least think, well, it might not be what he says it is, but part of it might be true. And I need to figure out how to help my son. Like, what can I do to help my son?

[00:20:49] Yeah.

[00:20:51] Yeah.

[00:20:52] Though at first I wasn't quite sure what I thought of her. As the show went on, I really was just like, I'm on team Maggie, definitely.

[00:21:00] Yeah.

[00:21:00] She's tough. I like her. She's a very strong woman. In a career that is not easy as a veterinarian, there's a lot of pressure that goes along with it. And to be like a large animal vet, it's not an easy job.

[00:21:18] Mm-hmm.

[00:21:19] So I really liked her character a lot. So yeah, that is my first point.

[00:21:26] Nice.

[00:21:27] All right. My first one that I'll go with, kind of a twofer in the way that it's two characters that become one, which is our boy Arlo, but then also the alien entity come to know, you know, come to know.

[00:21:48] They're going to be known as Harbinger. And I just kind of combine them into one little character named Harlow.

[00:21:54] Uh.

[00:21:55] I like Harlow. That's great.

[00:21:58] Yeah.

[00:21:59] But yeah, we see early on in episode one, yeah, Arlo wanders off into the woods after a baby goat and nobody notices, which I'm like, that's probably normal out here.

[00:22:09] Like, that's honestly like the kid probably knows his way around for the most part, but just situations a little different. And then while he's gone, that's when the Shanleys arrive with their horse that had that big freak out and hurt itself there. So then that's another reason nobody's really paying attention to, to Arlo.

[00:22:27] So, and that's when he comes across Carmen Navarro in the woods. And then we learn is Harbinger. That's Harbinger's original vessel. And Carmen was in a pretty rough shape. So Harbinger needed a new vessel and chooses Arlo out there in the woods. It's just happenstance. Like, well, I guess this will, will do.

[00:22:49] Uh, and then, you know, we just have him kind of missing after. So it was, it was an interesting kind of like little moment. We were like, Oh my God, what just happened to this kid? And then they cut back to what's going on. Uh, you know, uh, Don and Claire's dog Duke had run off. And so they were out there looking for him. And then that's what brings everybody together on the farm. And then they want to start looking for Arlo. Oh, but then he just kind of comes back on his own. Um, and people have been warned about this black dog, which I thought was going to be a much bigger deal.

[00:23:19] In the show. And then it really wasn't, but, um, uh, funny thing about that dog. He just, uh, he crossed the line and had to be dealt with. Yeah. But yeah. So when Arlo comes back, he's, I mean, clearly different. He's there's this, you learn with Harbinger is like, can infiltrate people's memories and thoughts. So he's learning things about people or it, whatever this. And so it had just been in Carmen.

[00:23:46] And so you get this weird moment of Arlo coming back still in like broken English, trying to like, what are the English words I need to piece together? And he's speaking in Spanish because it's Harbinger has been in Carmen's brain. And so he's like, um, you know, I don't know what's going on. Trying to explain what's happening to people and only has a limited vocabulary. Like he's quick and he's got to, he's got to pick things up, but Harbinger is still trying to piece together how to exist as a human in some way.

[00:24:15] Uh, and then I just like, once that connection is made where Arlo, it's weird. This kid is like a willing host. He's like, once he knows what's going on, he's like, yeah, I'm cool with it. Like, that's fine. Um, Harbinger just can live up there and, and, and do what he needs to do. I'm, I'm on board with this mission. I'm on board with this plan. Uh, and I thought it was really cool. Like it was between episodes two and three.

[00:24:43] There's a moment in episode two where, where Meryl is trying to calm Arlo down and talking to him and he's asking, well, how do you know this? How do you know that? And she says, I'm your sister and I know things. So you have to trust me.

[00:24:55] And then in episode three, when Arlo was trying to explain Harbinger and what's going on to his sister, he says, I'm your brother. And now I'm the one who knows things. You need to listen to me. And I was like, that's, that's great.

[00:25:08] Uh, I love their connection. I, you can just tell that the two of them really rely on each other. I mean, if you're living at an isolated farm like that, I mean, siblings can be at each other's throats or they can also love each other. And sometimes a mix of both or everything all the time. Crazy.

[00:25:33] Yeah. For sure.

[00:25:35] I like the way that they wrote the, the two of them, Arlo and Meryl.

[00:25:40] I like the way that it's written.

[00:25:42] Yeah. And I like seeing Meryl especially, but even Maggie, as you mentioned, comes on board pretty quick.

[00:25:48] Listening to and trusting the little child in the show is like, because if this podcast has taught us anything, that's usually a really good idea.

[00:25:55] Yeah. Uh, so they, they follow with that, which is great. Um, but yeah, just a lot of great moments. Uh, you mentioned him going back and forth in and out and man, this kid, uh, I had to look at it. Yeah. Caleb Dolden.

[00:26:08] Who played Arlo. New to me, never seen this kid before this show, but like, holy crap, his performances where, you know, switching back and forth between like scared little boy Arlo to this frantic warning entity of Harbinger was fantastic.

[00:26:24] Like just to see him, like the switch, you could see without him saying a word, just his, in his eyes, you're like, I know what character he's playing right now. And that's for a young actor. I'm like, that's insane. That's incredible.

[00:26:38] Like, I'm not sitting there wondering, okay, who is he? It's visible, like physically visible who he is at that time.

[00:26:48] So I'm just like, I don't know who found this kid, but good job. Um, he's great. Uh, but yeah, it's very frantic at first. I was like, I mean, he pulls a like knife or, you know, I think it has like a little like a Swiss army knife or something out on his mom. I mean, it's Harbinger in that moment. It was like, he's not playing. He's like, I will cut a bitch to get this people saved. Like, I don't care. He's ready. Uh, and then it's kind of in and out. It's, it's a lot for him, but yeah, he's the one that says, you know, we're trapped.

[00:27:16] The man in my head says we're trapped and continues to go over that. We're trapped, hide or die, trapped, hide or die. And he's, it seems really scary at first, but then through Arlo being this like very soft soul, he has a really good way of explaining things to her. He's like, yeah, I'm possessed by an alien entity, but no, don't worry. He's a good guy. It's fine. And making it believable. You know,

[00:27:41] That's what I liked is the fact that he was able to have everyone pretty much trust what he was saying, even though he's a little young kid that trusted him and they went on board with keeping him safe. And that's what I, yeah, I liked that. I liked that. What's the other kid's name? Um, the boy, Nicholas Nicholas.

[00:28:03] Nicholas. And he was like, he was for sure. He's like, is nobody getting past me? You know, I, it's just, I liked that whole dynamic of the kids. Just, yeah. Okay. We're going to protect this kid.

[00:28:18] Alma, did you recognize the actor who plays Nicholas?

[00:28:21] Nicholas Nicholas. You know, at first I was like, I know him from somewhere, but he's changed because he's grown up so much.

[00:28:29] He has. Yeah.

[00:28:31] Yes. From, uh, yellow jackets.

[00:28:34] Yes. Yeah.

[00:28:35] He played Javi.

[00:28:38] Yeah.

[00:28:39] It took me a minute to, I'm like, what?

[00:28:42] And then I read it somewhere and I had to go back and actually look.

[00:28:46] Mm-hmm.

[00:28:47] And again, he's just grown up so much since we saw him.

[00:28:53] Just even last season.

[00:28:54] He's killing his part too.

[00:28:56] I, I, I, like how he likes, he has a little crush on Meryl and, you know, he's probably has, has had that crush on her for a while because, you know.

[00:29:06] Oh yeah.

[00:29:06] Beautiful.

[00:29:07] Yeah.

[00:29:07] You know, he's probably, he seems a little bit awkward and kind of, um, you know, like a nerdy kind of boy.

[00:29:15] But, um, yeah, I, I really like how he's playing his, that part.

[00:29:20] Absolutely.

[00:29:22] Yeah.

[00:29:22] There's a lot of great acting and stuff in here, but yeah, I'm trying to see if I had any more on like Arlo Harbinger.

[00:29:29] Uh, at least a little bit we get from him, you know, we get the, the reveal out in the woods that Harbinger, I mean, is an alien entity says he fell from, uh, from space and it's like, okay, we're getting that kind of sci-fi.

[00:29:39] Cool.

[00:29:39] And then immediately he's just like, so we're going to take this poison and we're going to drink it, but just enough.

[00:29:44] And it's like, we're really putting some trust into whatever this is right now.

[00:29:49] And, but they do, they, they go along with it.

[00:29:52] Uh, you know, when James and Ruben are over at the Navarros and you kind of see what happened there and it's like, well, it's a significantly worse situation over there.

[00:30:01] But then the next episode, you know, the big McNabb and Travis flashback episode where you see, like, it was this Harbinger and assassin situation had really kicked off and started there.

[00:30:13] And that's, that was kind of the ground zero for everything that's happening now.

[00:30:17] Uh, but yeah, just, just seeing him being protected, which it was because you're thinking, like, shouldn't he be able to, you know, protect himself better?

[00:30:27] Because assassin is absolutely ruthless.

[00:30:28] But then he makes that little point.

[00:30:31] I was like, I guess it's sound reasoning.

[00:30:32] He says it's better for Harbinger to inhabit a kid because a kid is easier to protect than an adult.

[00:30:38] And he needs protection more than being the one putting himself in the line of fire.

[00:30:43] Thank you.

[00:30:46] Yeah.

[00:30:47] It makes perfect sense.

[00:30:49] Yeah.

[00:30:50] But he's still trying to, while being protected and kind of being behind this wall of other people, still leading the charge and being like, here's what we need to do.

[00:30:58] Here's how we need to do it.

[00:30:59] We just, you need to drink the perfect amount of this toxin to, to cross the low.

[00:31:04] You know, too much?

[00:31:05] Die.

[00:31:06] Not enough?

[00:31:07] Die.

[00:31:07] Dead, dead, dead.

[00:31:08] There's no measuring cup.

[00:31:09] There's no measuring cup at all.

[00:31:12] So how do you really know?

[00:31:15] Mm-hmm.

[00:31:17] Yeah.

[00:31:18] And are we done with this point?

[00:31:20] Because that brings me to my...

[00:31:21] Yeah, yeah.

[00:31:22] Yeah, you can go ahead.

[00:31:22] Yeah, we're good.

[00:31:23] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:31:24] McNabb.

[00:31:25] McNabb is my second.

[00:31:26] Nice.

[00:31:27] You took...

[00:31:27] So your first two points were my backup ones, which is great.

[00:31:30] I love that.

[00:31:31] So I can...

[00:31:31] They get done.

[00:31:33] Yeah, so McNabb, because, you know, when he first shows up, it's so mysterious.

[00:31:37] You know, he has the mask and he's drawing this line and we know nothing.

[00:31:43] And then he shows up again.

[00:31:45] Oh, but when he tells them to trust nobody, well, how are we supposed to trust you?

[00:31:50] You're looking all creepy with a mask.

[00:31:53] Yeah.

[00:31:54] Trust no one, says the guy with the gas mask, the gun, and the whiteboard.

[00:31:58] Okay.

[00:32:00] So I think McNabb is a pretty interesting character.

[00:32:05] So I kind of, at first, was thrown off by that episode where they go back, you know, his backup story.

[00:32:16] And at first I was like, okay, well, I want to know what's going on at the farm.

[00:32:19] What are we doing right now?

[00:32:21] But I feel like it was necessary for us to understand where he's coming from.

[00:32:27] So he seems like a villain at first, but is he?

[00:32:32] No, he's not.

[00:32:33] He's actually a good guy who we probably would think he was crazy, you know, if, you know, we were at the bar hearing what he was having to say there, you know, this guy's crazy.

[00:32:45] Well, I think that Ruben and James did think he was crazy.

[00:32:50] Yeah.

[00:32:51] Yeah.

[00:32:51] I mean, I think anyone would think he was crazy.

[00:32:54] Yeah.

[00:32:54] He was an actor that was great for me to see.

[00:32:56] He was kind of that, like, again, a bunch of things.

[00:32:58] Like you said, with, like, you know, the kid that played Nicholas being like, oh, Javi.

[00:33:03] See, for me, like, McNabb takes his mask off.

[00:33:05] And my immediate thing is, like, I'm in Netflix world.

[00:33:08] I'm like, it's Turk from all the Netflix, like, Marvel things from Daredevil and Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

[00:33:13] I love him as Turk crossing over the Devenders stuff.

[00:33:16] And he's also Officer Powell in Stranger Things, which he recurs through that and stuff, too.

[00:33:22] So, oh, he's going to see Rob Morgan.

[00:33:24] Yeah.

[00:33:24] Okay, that's where I know him from because I'm –

[00:33:27] Yeah.

[00:33:28] There's so much to that Marvel world.

[00:33:30] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:33:31] I'm caught up.

[00:33:31] But from Stranger Things because I'm a big Stranger Things fan.

[00:33:36] So, that's where I know him from.

[00:33:38] Oh, my God.

[00:33:39] Yeah.

[00:33:39] Bothering me for all this time.

[00:33:41] There you go.

[00:33:42] I see him, I'm like, he is familiar and I still don't know from what.

[00:33:48] Too strange indeed.

[00:33:50] Shout out to my other podcast with Rima there.

[00:33:53] Kind of alumni in a way in this because with Rob Morgan there from Stranger Things and then also Lieutenant Olsen, the first kind of assassin version that we see, the cop that shows up, is Bill Heck who played Rendell Locke in Locke and Key.

[00:34:08] Their father that had passed away, which I don't think that's a big surprise because you find that out in the first episode.

[00:34:13] So, it's not a huge spoiler.

[00:34:16] Rob Morgan also played the prisoner, the guy in Smile who did survive the Smile virus or whatever they call it.

[00:34:25] Yeah, he was the prisoner.

[00:34:27] Interesting.

[00:34:28] But that's pretty much all I had for him.

[00:34:31] I feel like there's more to come from him.

[00:34:36] They've kept him.

[00:34:37] Yeah.

[00:34:39] I don't know.

[00:34:40] Because he knows more stuff that I think just hasn't come to play in the series.

[00:34:48] Yeah.

[00:34:48] So, see, I run through my notes real quick.

[00:34:49] Again, I said he was kind of a backup.

[00:34:52] Which is stuff that you've covered.

[00:34:55] But yeah, he knew immediately who Harbinger was by, not necessarily by name of Harbinger, but by essence.

[00:35:03] He sees Arlo and is like, you're that person.

[00:35:07] Doesn't call him Harbinger, but I know who you are.

[00:35:10] But then he crosses the line to get the jar from the kids.

[00:35:13] And then that's when he gets stabbed.

[00:35:14] I'm like, I don't, I'm still not sure why he would do that.

[00:35:19] Like, why does he say roll the jar to me?

[00:35:22] It's like, no, you should just let them cross over to you.

[00:35:25] I'm still not sure exactly what he was trying to do there.

[00:35:28] Well, he didn't want them to die because he obviously, they hadn't drank the stuff yet.

[00:35:35] So they would have died if they crossed over.

[00:35:37] Yeah, but I wonder if he would have been like, well, you know, Arlo or whatever is within him knows what you should do.

[00:35:43] So it's like, yeah, go ahead and drink some of it.

[00:35:44] And then come over here with me and I'll get you guys out.

[00:35:47] And then we can come back for everybody else who's here.

[00:35:50] So him just like running across the line to go after it.

[00:35:53] I was like, that was not a smart move.

[00:35:56] But I think he was very brash and impulsive.

[00:36:00] He, you know, shooting Don and like just getting very, it's like, I have to take Arlo with me.

[00:36:04] I have to take him and I have to like save this.

[00:36:06] If you want to save the world so bad, you really need to work on your people skills because they're not working together hand in hand right now.

[00:36:16] Yeah.

[00:36:17] Yeah.

[00:36:18] But I was questioning a lot of like, how does he actually know so much?

[00:36:22] And it's just, and then we get that backstory of like, what was his daughter that was inhabited by, by Harbinger or at least a good visitor.

[00:36:34] Or maybe not the same one, maybe not Harbinger that we see here, but one of these.

[00:36:39] And he saw what happened to her.

[00:36:42] And so immediately like he goes down that rabbit hole in that tunnel of finding out all that's going on.

[00:36:46] And it's, it is this like crazy, you know, dark web chat room, like conspiracy theorists.

[00:36:53] But everything is actually true, which is crazy.

[00:36:56] It's like they have this like group of like hunters that have, you know, devoted themselves to helping people who are caught up in these trap scenarios.

[00:37:05] Which is really interesting.

[00:37:07] Some help.

[00:37:09] Some are helpers.

[00:37:12] I don't think they always are.

[00:37:14] Yeah, but you don't know who is who.

[00:37:16] No, it's very hard to tell.

[00:37:19] Yeah.

[00:37:19] Cause I think that's like, but it's like, they've tried to find out who the assassin possessed people are and then, and then stop them before they, they hurt people and then set up a trap and they're kind of monitoring all these things.

[00:37:36] So it's yeah, this like task force that him and his friends, like Olsen and stuff had devised.

[00:37:41] Yeah.

[00:37:41] It was, it was really interesting.

[00:37:43] And then we see more of them at the end.

[00:37:45] So.

[00:37:45] Yeah.

[00:37:46] It was interesting.

[00:37:47] Well, I think hopefully we'll get that world built out a little bit, but yeah, he was, he was an interesting.

[00:37:52] I thought, you know, there's that point in like, is it the finale where, I mean, you just figure he's going to give up.

[00:37:57] He's about to just like cross the line.

[00:37:59] And then he remembers that necklace that he gave Travis that had the little bit of liquid from the whole situation with his daughter and stuff.

[00:38:06] And it was like, and that's where he kind of devises this plan with Ruben and everything, which we'll talk about more.

[00:38:11] I'm sure.

[00:38:13] Yeah.

[00:38:14] But that's, that's it for McNabb.

[00:38:19] Hey, that brings me to my point.

[00:38:22] And I want to talk about the assassin in general.

[00:38:26] That was perfect.

[00:38:27] Perfect.

[00:38:27] That's, that's actually my next one too.

[00:38:30] So that's great.

[00:38:30] So we should have a great discussion.

[00:38:32] I had my like Arlo Harbinger.

[00:38:34] So I was like, let's flip to the other side of it.

[00:38:36] So yeah, definitely.

[00:38:37] So we learn from Arlo, thankfully, who's kind of our narrator, or I feel like he's the one that's just explaining things.

[00:38:46] They have him do the talking to explain all the different parts sometimes.

[00:38:51] Um, so the assassin is trying to kill the Harbinger.

[00:39:00] That, you know, is the bottom line.

[00:39:02] Before Harbinger can be used as a key to flip some kind of switch that we still don't know what any of that is.

[00:39:09] No, we know where it might be.

[00:39:12] I call the tree that Ruben got entranced.

[00:39:17] I call it the sparkle tree because it looks like a tree and it's all like sparkly.

[00:39:23] I call it the rainbow tree.

[00:39:26] That's great too.

[00:39:28] Hey, looking at your background right now, I feel like it's something that could be a Meow Wolf, right?

[00:39:34] Yes.

[00:39:35] Yeah.

[00:39:36] Okay.

[00:39:39] So looking at the big picture, it reminds me a little bit of Critters, the movie Critters, which we haven't covered on here yet.

[00:39:49] However, yeah, it's been a long time.

[00:39:57] Or Terminator, where someone is sent to do something good and someone is sent to stop it.

[00:40:05] You know, that type of thing.

[00:40:07] Good versus evil.

[00:40:10] That sort of thing.

[00:40:11] The interesting thing with Assassin is he inhabits the bodies, but they don't always die.

[00:40:23] If he goes to another body, sometimes when he moves to a different body, he'll kill the person.

[00:40:33] And sometimes he doesn't.

[00:40:36] I think it's just a matter of if he has time to or not.

[00:40:41] And the situation.

[00:40:42] Sometimes he's panic switching to try a new approach by the end.

[00:40:47] Yeah.

[00:40:48] So when he went into Olsen, I mean, Olsen shows up at the farm.

[00:40:54] I, right from the beginning, thought something was going on that wasn't good.

[00:40:58] Like, okay, why are you in this truck?

[00:41:01] This seems a little off to me.

[00:41:06] But when he transferred to Ellen, Ellen shot him right away after.

[00:41:13] Like, boom, gone.

[00:41:15] And I think that's because, well, I can't, I have to kill you.

[00:41:21] Because you know too much.

[00:41:23] You know where I am, like, that I'm in Ellen.

[00:41:27] Like, he could have given it away.

[00:41:29] Yeah.

[00:41:29] And then Ellen gave it to Valeria.

[00:41:33] But Valeria didn't kill Ellen.

[00:41:36] Because we didn't see that transfer take place.

[00:41:38] We didn't see that, yeah.

[00:41:39] So we don't really know what the situation was.

[00:41:42] So Valeria goes to Nicholas.

[00:41:44] Mm-hmm.

[00:41:45] And he inadvertently, I don't know, pushes her off across the line.

[00:41:51] I didn't realize they were so close.

[00:41:52] I wouldn't say not inadvertently.

[00:41:54] It was very purposeful.

[00:41:55] Yeah.

[00:41:57] He wanted to kill her.

[00:41:58] Yeah.

[00:41:59] So he pushes her over the line.

[00:42:04] And kills her.

[00:42:05] And then moves on with the idea.

[00:42:10] Because I think they were trying to get to the closest that they could to get to Arlo.

[00:42:14] Yeah.

[00:42:15] Yeah.

[00:42:15] It's like when Assassin and Valeria realized Nicholas is not letting anybody through to get to Arlo.

[00:42:23] Okay, then let me get into Nicholas.

[00:42:25] Maybe Nicholas can get through.

[00:42:26] And then has the plan.

[00:42:28] Okay, Meryl's really the only one who's going in there with him.

[00:42:31] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:31] If I can get to Nicholas, I can get to Meryl.

[00:42:33] Yep.

[00:42:35] And Meryl hit Nicholas on the head.

[00:42:38] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:38] But didn't kill him.

[00:42:40] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:40] Yeah.

[00:42:41] It made me think, because we're following the path of Assassin, so I was going to go even back further than Olsen.

[00:42:46] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:47] Because the first person we see Assassin in is this unnamed game warden that was at the Navarro house.

[00:42:54] Oh, I think she did have a name.

[00:42:56] I think it was like Mary Alice.

[00:42:58] Yeah.

[00:42:59] Okay, yeah.

[00:42:59] Mm-hmm.

[00:43:00] Unnamed in my notes.

[00:43:01] I'll say, yeah.

[00:43:03] Yeah.

[00:43:04] But yeah, this game warden character, because that's who Olsen and McNabb and Travis were following as like, this is the bad visitor.

[00:43:12] We've figured out that that's who they're inhabiting.

[00:43:14] And they follow her to the Navarro house, and that's exactly what's going on.

[00:43:19] She's the one that's there to plant the trap, the tree, those things.

[00:43:23] And then it goes from her to Travis, because Travis decides to try to drown her and take it out.

[00:43:31] Mm-hmm.

[00:43:31] And then gets shot in the process.

[00:43:33] And then it's Travis, and then Travis is the one that then transfers it over to Olsen.

[00:43:38] And the reason I think Olsen didn't even try to kill Travis after the transfer is because he just got-

[00:43:43] He'd just taken two or three shots to the chest.

[00:43:44] Right.

[00:43:44] I think Olsen, or Assassin in Olsen was like, oh, this kid's going to die in a few minutes anyway, so just go.

[00:43:50] Yeah.

[00:43:52] He's not going to be able to tell anything.

[00:43:54] Yeah.

[00:43:54] Why am I going to keep him alive?

[00:43:57] But we also find out, too, that they knew that Carmen was Harbinger.

[00:44:03] Mm-hmm.

[00:44:03] Like, they could tell from that that she was there.

[00:44:05] Which is where the black dog comes in.

[00:44:07] The black dog did belong to the game warden.

[00:44:10] Yeah.

[00:44:10] And that was a way to-

[00:44:12] If Harbinger makes a run for it, you're there to stop her.

[00:44:17] Yeah.

[00:44:18] Which he did, or the dog did, but just after Harbinger had already transferred Arlo.

[00:44:25] Yep.

[00:44:26] How crazy was that scene where Travis grabbed James?

[00:44:30] I think it was the end of-

[00:44:32] Oh, yeah.

[00:44:32] Episode two?

[00:44:33] It was like the end of episode four.

[00:44:36] Oh, was it?

[00:44:36] No, end of three.

[00:44:38] End of three is when he gets pulled down the stairs and it ends there.

[00:44:41] Yeah.

[00:44:42] Yeah.

[00:44:43] Oh, my God.

[00:44:43] That was so scary.

[00:44:44] Somebody else is there.

[00:44:46] But that left-

[00:44:47] That gave us a lot of the backstory on McNabb and everything that's going on.

[00:44:54] Mm-hmm.

[00:44:54] Like, all of the research and work that they had done and the network of people and what they had built together.

[00:45:04] Yeah.

[00:45:05] And you knew that it was a bigger network.

[00:45:07] It was, you know, that made the world bigger.

[00:45:11] Mm-hmm.

[00:45:13] But I wondered with the tree, the rainbow tree, is that what makes the perimeter that they can't cross?

[00:45:22] Like, is it-

[00:45:23] I think so.

[00:45:23] Because it's within that.

[00:45:24] I think that's the center point.

[00:45:26] Because I went back to the whole Tempest in a teacup thing that Maggie was talking to Arlo about with the teacup and the wasp.

[00:45:46] Mm-hmm.

[00:45:47] He picked up the same number of people that were on the farm at that time.

[00:45:52] Mm-hmm.

[00:45:52] I thought that was kind of cool.

[00:45:54] I'm like, oh, okay.

[00:45:56] I totally didn't notice that.

[00:45:58] Mm-hmm.

[00:45:59] Yeah.

[00:46:00] And it seems very just nothing until that, like, last episode where he takes the red marble and says, that's assassin.

[00:46:06] Takes the others out and leaves assassin behind.

[00:46:09] Mm-hmm.

[00:46:10] Back under the cup.

[00:46:11] Yeah.

[00:46:13] Mm-hmm.

[00:46:14] That episode where it was revealed that Valeria was assassin, at the beginning of the episode, the way she looked when she was dropping something off at the door, I'm thinking, is she assassin now?

[00:46:29] But then Ruben was also acting really, I don't know.

[00:46:34] There were things that made me start to question, is he assassin?

[00:46:38] Mm-hmm.

[00:46:38] Yeah.

[00:46:38] Because they were just different things that were happening, and I was thinking, okay, he's moved.

[00:46:43] Especially because Ellen was saying, well, I don't think he's in me now because I know where I am.

[00:46:48] You know, I can, I'm here, I'm present.

[00:46:52] And-

[00:46:52] And they made sure to show Ellen's hands shaking again-

[00:46:55] Shaking again.

[00:46:55] ...any time she was talking.

[00:46:57] Because that was the difference.

[00:46:58] Because she, I think she has MS.

[00:47:01] Which is probably what she did with her son.

[00:47:03] Yes.

[00:47:04] Yeah.

[00:47:06] I know I wrote that down.

[00:47:07] Yes.

[00:47:07] And MS is a disease that, it's very unpredictable.

[00:47:11] Your hand could be fine one day, and the next day it's not.

[00:47:14] Like, muscles, it's like-

[00:47:16] Yeah.

[00:47:16] I saw an ad once that showed a person, and then one day their arms are changed, the next day the feet are changed.

[00:47:24] Like, your body just reacts differently.

[00:47:27] Mm-hmm.

[00:47:27] Every day you just don't know what you're going to be able to do.

[00:47:30] And-

[00:47:31] And so, yeah.

[00:47:34] So that was the giveaway there.

[00:47:36] So you knew that it had passed.

[00:47:39] I just, I wasn't sure who it was.

[00:47:41] And then it turned out that it was Valeria.

[00:47:46] When she wanted to take Nicholas outside, that's when I was like, yep, she is.

[00:47:52] She has to be assassin.

[00:47:53] Mm-hmm.

[00:47:54] I don't care that she says she knows who it is.

[00:47:57] No, she's it.

[00:47:58] And then she starts transferring it.

[00:47:59] I'm like, no, no, don't do that.

[00:48:15] Mm-hmm.

[00:48:16] Because I thought, now they'll probably kiss, and he'll pass it to her.

[00:48:20] So I kind of could see what was coming.

[00:48:22] What I didn't see coming was the drowning and the pieces that came after that.

[00:48:28] Yeah, that's what I was coming to ask you guys.

[00:48:32] What do you guys think about the drowning?

[00:48:34] I knew somebody was going to have to drown having the assassin.

[00:48:38] And when it ended up being Merle, I was like, well, I guess that's the only logical one for these two parents to come together and save her.

[00:48:49] You know, because basically when you drown, you're going to die.

[00:48:53] And Maggie would have to bring her back.

[00:48:56] And, you know, as they're sitting there doing that, I thought, well, where's the assassin going to go?

[00:49:00] Where's the assassin going to go once they drown this girl?

[00:49:04] And, of course, my question's answered a couple scenes later, but I was just like, so that's it?

[00:49:11] That's all you do when the assassin's gone?

[00:49:14] But, yeah.

[00:49:14] Yeah.

[00:49:15] If it would have gone smoothly, does assassin drown and is gone and can't inhabit somebody else?

[00:49:23] Like, I don't know how that works.

[00:49:25] How does assassin survive outside of a body and for how long can it?

[00:49:30] And, yeah, we don't have those answers.

[00:49:32] Maybe if we get another season, some of those things can be explored.

[00:49:36] I don't know.

[00:49:36] But, yeah, no, I think earlier in the episode when Maggie says something about, oh, I'm going to be the one that has to drown, whoever it is, because you think I'm cold enough to do that.

[00:49:49] And, honestly, that was kind of a giveaway.

[00:49:51] I don't know why.

[00:49:52] My brain kind of clicked when she said that.

[00:49:54] I was like, and it's going to have to be her own daughter.

[00:49:56] I just, like, I kind of felt it was going to happen that way.

[00:49:58] And then seeing the dominoes fall to lead to that, I was like, yeah.

[00:50:03] Do it.

[00:50:04] Yeah.

[00:50:05] I had a feeling, too.

[00:50:07] It's just, it's a lot.

[00:50:08] I mean, for her.

[00:50:10] And for a minute, I thought maybe they wouldn't have saved Meryl.

[00:50:13] And I thought, oh, my God, this is just going to go in a darker, darker way than what I was thinking.

[00:50:20] But it ended up Meryl came back.

[00:50:23] And Assassin took another person.

[00:50:26] Yeah.

[00:50:27] And James was fighting it, which was different from all the rest.

[00:50:31] The other that got taken over by Assassin, they had no choice.

[00:50:36] They just happened.

[00:50:38] It was like, get out.

[00:50:39] It was like, get out.

[00:50:40] You're a passenger in your own body.

[00:50:42] Yeah.

[00:50:43] My theory for why James was able to be fighting it the way he was is, I think, because of the drowning.

[00:50:50] I think Assassin had been weakened by that to where it gave James the opportunity to tell his family to run and fight it a little bit longer.

[00:50:58] Yeah.

[00:50:59] Yeah.

[00:51:01] And they listened.

[00:51:03] I mean, they listened.

[00:51:05] Mostly.

[00:51:05] Well, Meryl had a really hard time with it because it's dead.

[00:51:09] It's dead.

[00:51:11] And that reminded me of The Strain because I just rewatched the whole series of The Strain.

[00:51:16] And there were moments with a kid and his mother, like a kid trying to tell his father, but it's mom.

[00:51:24] And yeah, they're not your mother anymore.

[00:51:27] They're not your father anymore.

[00:51:29] Like it's it's not him.