Better Cast Saul - 307 – Expenses

“Expenses”, the latest installment of AMC’s Better Call Saul, is a workman-like connective episode that really develops the themes of this season while delivering superior performances. We discuss Mike’s motivations to help the Cobbler / Nacho, Jimmy getting way too in to his mock scam of some dick who’s particular about his martinis, Kim’s difficulty in dealing with her help in tearing down a sick man, before delving into the depths of our Scotch ignorance in the mailbag.

Following The Leftovers - 306 – Certified

Jim and A.Ron talk about the latest episode of The Leftovers, “Certified”. A very dark, powerful episode that has us rethinking how much sunshine and good feelings the finale is going to allow us to have before everything is said and done. We discuss when Laurie decided on her final course of action, Nora’s beach ball metaphor, the inability of Kevin Sr. to properly judge whether he ends up saving the world, and our thoughts and expectations for the end now that we’re only 2 episodes away. Because happy ending or sad, we’re going to be forced to say goodbye to all these characters we’ve grown to love and care for, and I for one am not ready!

Fargo - 305 – The House of Special Purpose

FX’s Fargo comes out swinging this week on “The House of Special Purpose”, delivering top notch black comedy and savage inhuman beatings with equal aplomb. Seriously, somebody should get an Emmy nom just for the phrase “fornicating with the cookware!” We try to figure out exactly how powerful Varga is, speculate on the Storage Queen’s prospects as an escape hatch for the Stussey crew, start to get suspicious of “New Chief” Dammick, and consider some of our listener feedback in a packed podcast episode.

Bald Move Pulp - Alien: Covenant (2017)

Jim and A.Ron have seen Alien: Covenant, and declare it to be gorgeous, ambitious, and filled to the brim lofty ideas, but that it’s also really, really stupid. Which is a shame, since that’s a flaw that mired it’s predecessor, Prometheus. Ridley Scott still knows how to shoot a film, no doubt, but has he forgotten how to put smart, sharply defined characters in peril without them being the dumbest, pettiest humans alive?