HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - 310 – Mhysa

And just like that, we put HBO’s Game of Thrones season three into the Bald Move history books. Again. “Mhysa” is an excellent way to wrap up the season and set the table for season four, as we get great work out of all our star-crossed lovers; Tyrion, Shae, Sansa, Jon, and Ygritte. Arya has some fine work servicing the fan’s desire to see her be the terrifying little murder beast we know she can be while simultaneously making us feel really, really bad for her lot in life. Ramsay might be a total and complete bastard, but he does know how to work a pork sausage to get some laughs in an other wise pitch black scene. Finally, Dany attempts to end her season three arc on a note of triumph, but is hampered by the racial tone deafness of the show runners. Thanks for joining us on this ride! We’ll be back in November to discuss Martin’s new book on Targaryen history, Fire and Blood, as well as Anthony and I’s new book, Gods of Thrones. 

Beltalowda - A podcast for The Expanse - 310 – Dandelion Sky

SyFy’s The Expanse goes full on 2001: A Space Oddity on us, and we couldn’t love it more. “Dandelion Sky” covers a lot of territory even as it’s physically constrained to the inside of The Ring. “Miller’s” nature, the origins of the protomolecule, Holden embracing his role as reluctant hero, Amos having no fear, the struggle for the command of Behemoth. We discuss all this and much more. See you next week!

2-Bit Encryption - A Mr. Robot Podcast - 310 – eps3.9_shutdown -r

USA’s Mr. Robot wraps things up in a very unconventional and yet extremely satisfying way in the aptly named “shutdown -r”.  That’s the console command to reboot a system, in case you didn’t know, and that’s pretty much what we have here, a complete return to the beginning, with Eliot having not much to show for it other than hard won knowledge of his true enemy.  Will he be able to use it to effectively fight the Prices, White Roses, and Dark Armies of the world?  Or will he be forced to accept Ms. Rose’s advances?  Season three has been a delight from start to finish, and we can’t wait to see it come back.  In the meantime, stick around!  There’s lots more Bald Move to come in the new year. See you then!

Fargo - 310 – Somebody to Love

FX’s Fargo season three draws to a close, with the finale episode, “Somebody to Love”. In a dramatic twist, everyone who loved season two, which was everyone but Jim and I, absolutely hated this finale. And yet, the only two people in the known universe that didn’t see season two as a triumph, which, again, us two, loved and liked it respectively. What the darn tootin’ heck is going on here, anyway? We found this season of Fargo very much of the time, and appreciated the fact that it allowed us to decide how the plot would resolve, and what to believe, and therefore to look at the world optimistically or fatalistically. Plus, Wrench is just too frigging cool. We hope everyone who disliked the season will write in and help us understand your pain, and the so far silent admirers will come to our aid, as we have one more week to wrap up the show and our coverage for season three before we, like Varga, fade into the shadows.

Better Cast Saul - 310 – Lantern

Season three of AMC’s Better Call Saul is in the books with the finale episode, “Lantern”. The show is really on fire this season. As confirmed #F&%@Chuck supporters, we’re delighted to see Chuck get roasted, which left a warm and toasty feeling in our hearts. Some plot points and character details might seemed burnt out, but we think the Villigang is just blowing smoke our direction to distract us. We are all hot for what seems like an inevitable Nacho / Gus team up, maybe they can hash out the details at an ABQ BBQ to benefit local fire fighters? And while Kim and Jimmy’s chemistry isn’t as smoldering as we would like, Patrick Fabians performance is searing as Howard burns his bridges with Chuck who goes down in flames. If they keep turning up the heat, who knows how scorching this show can get?!

Breaking Good - 310 – The Fly

Jim and A.Ron look into a fairly polarizing episode of Breaking Bad, episode 310, “The Fly”. Some see it as a slow, ponderous, pointless exercise in budget cutting, while others see a beautiful, rich, thematic character study resting entirely on the performances of Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston. Listen in to find out which side of the divide we fall on!

Orange is the New Cast - 310 – “A Tittin’ and a Hairin'”

Amy from The Because Show joins A.Ron to discuss episode 310, “A Tittin’ and a Hairin'”.  Things get pretty real, raw, and dark for one Pennsatucky, and we don’t shy away from discussing our feelings about it.  Aside from THAT, there are a few moments of levity, such as Red’s rattaouie revelation, Black Cindy’s ongoing quest for Judaism, and Leanne’s not-so-subtle take over of the Cult of Norma.  All this and much more, coming your way.