Onscreen Offscreen
Josh Dietrich and Konlin Gappmayer discuss their media consumption, new and old. They discuss the good, the bad, and the impact it has on their lives
Onscreen Offscreen
Mavka
Mavka
The Teacher, This is Us, Storm of the Century, Mavka
00:00 - The Teacher
20:00 - This is Us
45:38 - Storm of the Century
55:24 - Mavka
Hey everybody. It is onscreen offscreen with episode three. I'm excited you guys are back with us. We've got some interesting topics for you. Josh, let's get started with your first. I think it's a book.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:It is a book, you can tell because it says this book is extremely well written. Um, it's the teacher, uh, this book is extremely well written and narrated. The narrating duo. A guy and a girl, mostly the girl, the guy just reads the vocalized male parts. Um, everything else is is from the, the female who did it. She does a great job. I have never felt more apathetic to a murder Vic victim in my entire life.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:That doesn't sound great.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:I think it's a great thing. Um.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Okay.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:This book does something at the end of it that ruins everything in it, though.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:that sucks,
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:Uh, the point of view is from three characters. You have an English teacher, his wife, the math teacher, and a high school student, 16-year-old Addie.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Addie. All right.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:Uh, the teachers are super relatable, uh, in a bad relationship context, uh, though it. The book opens with like how the two teachers are kind of just in the flow and how they're kind of irritated with each other, but they kind of just accept things as the way that they are. Um, and it's extremely well written. Um, the story progresses with Addie being bullied. Um. The math teacher is having an affair, uh, because she's in this crappy relationship. Like at the very beginning, she talks about how like on the surface, everything should be perfect because I have the perfect house and the perfect husband, but she doesn't really feel connected anymore. She doesn't feel that spark. So she's having an affair.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Okay.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:Um, the English teacher. Takes an interest in Addie because he sees that she's isolated and it evolves into an affair between the two of them. So he's just a piece of shit. And this is the first time it's actually like confirmed right up until this point. He is the guy who says the right things. But from the, um, when you get the math teacher's points of view, it feels hollow. Um. But like this, the first thing that he does is like, outwardly like, yeah, this is a bad action. Um,'cause he is having an affair with his student who's 16 years old. Um, the book does it multiple times. It says that they're in, uh, wherever they are. So the age of consent is 16, so it's technically legal and it's stupid. Um. But again, that's how good the writing is, is like this, is that, that's the first time that like, it's confirmed that he's a piece of crap. And the way he he's portrayed in that instance is believable. That it's like the first time, you know, uh, the English teacher, um. Or sorry, the math teacher, uh, finds them and takes a picture and plans to blackmail them. She says she wants a divorce, she wants him to stop teaching. Um, she wants him to give her the house and the cars, and he needs to get lost. Right. Um, with her reasoning being that she doesn't want the backlash of being the person who was married to the pedophile, uh, she just wants him out. And, and gone. Um, Addie finds out, um, because one of the stipulations is they can't see each other anymore, uh, the English teacher and Addie, so she gets upset and then a very 16-year-old girl away. She's like, you're just taking our love away from us and you just don't understand, and all that kind of stuff, and ends up hitting the math teacher with a frying pan.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Okay.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:Uh, she thinks she killed the math teacher. Uh, the English teacher had been kicked out at this point, so she calls the English teacher and he comes back and he sends Addie out of the room for a minute and it's revealed that, uh, the teacher still alive. So he sees this as his opportunity to blame Addie and kill her and keep his job. Strangles her and then Addie comes back into the room and you get to see him kind of gaslight her into thinking she's hallucinating the hand marks on the neck and that those were already there and that she's definitely the killer. Um. They go to bury her in an old abandoned pumpkin patch. The English teacher ditches Addie there so that she gets caught in the area with the body. Um,
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Okay.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:uh, we go to part two where the, you get the police investigation. So then instead of the, the teacher, you get the point of view of the, uh, detective. Uh. And the, the brilliant writing gets better. Um, the small detail I forgot to mention was the English teacher guy loves poetry, particularly Edgar Allen pos the Raven. And he and Addie actually kind of bombed over this thing. And you have this brilliantly written, him experiencing Edgar Allen POed the Raven, because. Shoes. Uh, the, the math teacher loves shoes and like shoes show up in his shower, shoes are delivered to his front door. There's this tapping on the window and the door, but he can never see someone. Uh, a literal raven flies into his house and starts attacking some shoes only for him to find bits of pumpkin on it. It is hauntingly beautifully read, honestly. Uh, the match, the math teacher, uh, uh, it's trying to figure out who it is. Um, it, it's re it's then revealed that Addie was not the first student. At this point. You've kind of like, okay, he's probably done this kind of garbage before. But you find out that the student that it was is not the student you thought it was going to be. Um, basically there's this like emo chick in the poetry class and she kind of has these like moments where she reaches out to Addie to try and make friends. And so I kind of thought it was her. It turns out it was Addie's Bully Chick. She's the one. Um. Which was honestly a good surprise. Um, did not see it coming, but all the evidence was still there, and, and it was, it was very well done. Uh, it gets to the point where the English teacher decides that the math teacher was the only one who could be responsible for him being haunted. IE the shoes showing up, the, the pumpkin stuff, the raven, all of that, which obvious. It's, it's pretty obvious at that point. So he's, he decides to go verify she's actually dead. She wasn't. And in a hauntingly beautiful part, the math teacher buries the English teacher alive, like she had gone through. I. She goes through it, uh, she has a moment where her and the guy she was cheating with, um, kind of question whether or not to go through with it. They go through with it, uh, and kills the English teacher. And I had never felt more apathetic, like, go ahead and kill this guy. I don't even care. You don't even have to get in trouble for it. You can get away with murdering this guy. And I am okay.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Okay.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:It was perfect. Right, right. Conlan. That's all great. That's all right. Yeah,
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Uh, the ending sounds pretty good. Yeah.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:yeah. Wrong.'cause at the very end, literally the last sentence of the book, it is revealed that the, the math teacher was having an affair with Hudson, which is Addie's friend in high school,
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Okay.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:her only friend. So her high and mighty speech about him being wrong for dating a high school student, her morality compass that you're rooting for, the reason you don't care that she got away with it is because she was, while not the best person had her imperfections, uh, was still morally and ethically aligned. Right? And then they're like, yeah, no, nevermind. She was full of it. She was full of shit. She did not believe a single word of tho of that because she is doing the same exact thing that he was doing.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Pretty hypocritical
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:Yeah, yeah. And so my question is like, why do mystery writers do this? I.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:I don't know. It happens with whore too, where they have some interesting ideas and then they ruin it in the last five minutes.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:Yeah, like you could have just tied up the book. You could just cut out that last sentence and it would be fine. Uh, the couple next door. Another mystery thing, thriller book. That I was super into was absolutely loving, thought it was fantastic. And you know, and that one, the main girl, you're just following her point of view and she's trying to figure out whether or not she actually killed her own baby and just blocked it out. Right. And it's so well written and you're like, holy crap, this is so good. And then in the last chapter, they turn her into a killer. Anyway,
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:Yep. Stupid.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:it's the same exact thing. Why the crap do they do this stuff?
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:I don't know because they have to be edgy or something.
josh-dietrich_9_04-16-2025_152056:But you already did it. You already accomplished the edgy. You had great writing. You told a fantastic story with a great mystery one that we could follow along and figure out like beautifully written conlin. That's how I describe this hauntingly. Beautifully written. And would I recommend this book? Yes, I would because if you just cut out the last sentence, or probably the last page is probably more the last page, the last paragraph, this last little minute detail. It's amazing.
konlin-gappmayer_5_04-16-2025_192039:I am surprised, to be honest, like very surprised. This book sounds like the type of trash that you would avoid. I. With every aspect of your soul. Like, I'm shocked you kept reading this from what you just told me about the story, to be completely honest, like very, very surprised because you hate cheating and this sounds like just debauchery and garbage. Like this sounds very trashy. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Kind of sounds like it was this one too. They hate each other, so it's okay that she's cheating even though like if you take that Okay. Yeah, that does happen. So it's the cheating is okay. That makes you not like the cheating in stories.'cause it seems like that's a pretty common sentiment for you. Okay. I agree. And this one still dams. The, uh, not English teacher, the math teacher, because she's cheating. Okay, just avoid the question. Okay. Are there any characters you do like, it doesn't seem like anyone's likable at. Okay. Hudson is likable. Hmm. Okay. Okay. Okay. And do you think that, are they both despicable people in the end? Like is the math teacher a despicable human being even with like without the Hudson thing? Like you take out that last page, so you still a despicable human being? No. Okay. Okay. Okay. But you can understand. I'm okay with that. Okay. Interesting. Um, so what do you read or write This book. Okay. Okay, cool. I. What, if you take out the last page, what would you have rated the book, Nate? Okay. Yeah. That's great. Very cool. Very cool. I'm kind of, uh, hit and miss on the mystery novels, and this is not one I probably wanna read, but I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I'm sorry, the last page was not, not up to your standard. They, they should have just got rid of it. That's a dumb idea. Hudson thing was a dumb idea. That was, that was stupid. That was not a smart thing to do. It didn't. It didn't help the story in any way that I can see at all for being a pedophile also, that's too bad. All right. Uh, that is the teacher. Guys, if you are into that kind of book, obviously Josh loved, loved parts of it. Um, you should give it a shot. Absolutely. You should give it a shot. All right. My topic is gonna be, this is US season four. It is better than season three. It just is, um. Season three has the problem with Randall kind of being a whiny little bitch. And season four gets back to Randall being an interesting character and not being quite as whiny and having like goals and not just complaining about being black all the time. It's a, that's a major, major improvement. Um, you have Jack and he is meeting Rebecca's parents and he has this scene that's one of my favorite seasons, uh, in the, in the whole season where. He doesn't have the money to be able to buy a suit. And he meets. He meets, uh, what's his name? The best friend, the Hispanic best friend. What is his name? Oh, one second. Sorry guys. He meets Miguel for the first time, and Miguel is a, is a guy who works at a suit shop and Miguel says, you know how, how important is this girl that you're meeting her parents? She's like, man, I'm gonna marry this girl, this girl's, everything. And he says, you know, we don't count inventory until Monday. Tuck in the. The tag into the sleeve and bring it back on Monday. And he is like, oh, thank you brother. I appreciate you. And he has this meeting and they're basically making fun of him for being low class the entire time. And he is stumbling around and he is kind of nervous. And then he goes to the bathroom and he looks himself in the mirror and he just like see the fight with himself. And he goes back out and he talks about how he's loves his, loves the daughter and how, you know what? I went to war. And out there, you guys can joke about war, but war was really real to me. I suffered a lot. It took a lot out of me. But it taught me about humanity. It taught me about who I am, and it taught me how I can love your daughter. And it was just, it was a, it was a great scene, it great scene. Um, even with these moments of respect, her parents still just look at him as not being good enough. And they just keep breaking him down. And Jack has this moment of fighting for Rebecca, and in turn, Rebecca has to fight for Jack because her family is never going to accept them, but she loves him and she decides to fight for him, and it's a cool, it's a cool dynamic that they didn't inside of the show, very well written up there with like season one, season two, stuff like really, really good. You have. Uh, in the, in season three, you have some negatives that really just drag down the show and this one doesn't have the highs of season one and season two, but it didn't have some of the negatives that really just are annoying in season three. Um, so you're left with a better taste in your mouth overall. You see Randall and he is moving over to Philadelphia and he is dealing with some of the problems that come from Philadelphia.'cause he goes from this rich white neighborhood. Are pretty safe to an area where he is not safe. And Randall has these, these anxiety problems he's had since he was a kid, and somebody breaks into the house and he has to deal with that. Somebody literally gets into his room while he's sleeping with his wife, sleeping next to him, and steals jewelry from the room that they're sleeping in. When he has to deal with that, and instead of just isolating like he normally does, he goes to Kevin and says, you know what, Kevin, I'm not doing okay. I'm freaking out. He had a knife. We were asleep and he could have killed my wife, and he gets this security system. The security system is just alerting him and alerting him and alerting him. And the anxiety never turns off. But he doesn't come across as much as a victim as he does in season three. He feels like he's a guy who's struggling, but trying to hold it together and do the best that he can for his family. Um, it feels more like season one and season two you have. Kate and Kate is, she has such a good story in this season, but she loses her dad and it goes to the teenage version of Kate and she meets this guy, and for the first time in her life, she has somebody who loves her. And if you study psychology, a lot of times if women lose their fathers, they kind of connect to some other or male figure who loves them, who shows them kind of some kind of compassion. That's the storyline that can be hard to present really well. They do a good job with Kate. Yes. He, he's doing little abusive things to her over and over and over again, but she kind of just waves it off. She loves me. Um, the mom tries to talk to her about him. What are you talking about? Why won't you just leave me alone? You don't like him either. He loves me. She show, he shows up late. He doesn't respect her time. He loves me, and it goes into this. Final moment where he is just absolutely terrible to Kate, like horrible. And Kate's still trying to cover up for him, but the truth comes out and the mom who has lost her husband steps into a role of the parent that she probably wouldn't normally have to take the role of the protector and has to protect Kate from this guy that has been abusing her. And it's great. It's extremely well written and it really makes you feel for Kate. It makes you long to be able to help her and guide her when she's dealing with so much struggle. It's really good. Uh, there's just, there's a lot of aspects of Season four that I loved and they just, they tied together to build the characters where season three felt like it was spinning its wheels a little bit. There's a part where. Kevin goes and, and meets the uncle again, and he starts doing rehab with the uncle every single day. And he finds this woman who's going through a divorce and tries to help her, um, get the guy back. And she, he's trying to help everybody around him and including helping him himself. He gets his year patch. He hasn't drank for a year. Um, the ex that, that he lost who he loved since he was like. 10 years old, her mom dies. And instead of, I was kind of worried they were just gonna have them cheat and it was gonna be trash. It's not like that. It's respectful. It's a closing of a story. It's well written. There's this, um, there joke that they had this inside joke where they never finished the movie. Uh, which one was it? The one where. Man, it's really, it's a really good movie. The one where you have the genius kid and he goes to the therapist and, um, the therapist breaks him down and helps him realize that he doesn't have to be so protective all the time. It's very famous. Goodwill hunting, Goodwill hunting. They never finish goodwill hunting. They watched the movie the, the night that they found out that Jack had died and they. Kind of dealt with the pain by making an inside joke of figuring out different ways that that movie should have ended. And they've been doing this for years. At the end, the relationship, they finally watched the movie together. They watched the ending, and it shows a onscreen version of ending this relationship, of being able to move forward. It's great writing. Um, I am going to watch season five. I'll probably report on that next week, but as long as season five's not a train wreck, I would recommend watching season four. I highly recommend watching season four. It's very good. Yeah. Um, I don't, I didn't know that. I think season four is great. I disagree. I think season four is a spark up from season three. It's not as good as season one and season two they're still the best, but it, it's good. Season four is good. Like what they were at. So what they do is they go to that, that cabin, and they go to the party in the woods, right? And they're kinda like, eh, this party's not that great. You wanna watch a movie? And they start to watch the movie and they fall asleep. I. That's when Kate comes over and wakes them up. That's what happens in the show. Okay. I've heard five is the worst season and I've watched one episode. That one episode is rough. I'm not gonna lie. It's, it's pretty bad. But, uh, season four I thought was, I, I thought was better than season three, like, quite a bit better actually. Um, so what, what would you rate season one and season two? Okay. I. I would, I might even give season two, a nine maybe. Maybe. I really like season two. Um, season one's probably eight and a half this season. High sevens and season three was like a 7.3 right around there.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Season
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:think season
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:was a three
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:three. I didn't think it was that low.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:It absolutely was. At its best, it was boring. At its absolutely worst, they destroyed Jack as a character. They took a big old dookie on him. They took a big old Doon Randall. They took a big old Doon Kate, and they made Kevin slightly better.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I, uh, hat on it as you, obviously I could see an argument for like a 6.5, but I think it's still above average tv. Absolutely.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:I think you're only saying that because of how much you liked season one of two. Genuinely. What happened in season three? That was so good.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Uh, let me look at the episodes of season three real quick. I do like the Vietnam stuff, the fell of the, uh, that's my biggest problem is the felling of the brother because it should have been more extreme. Um. I liked the Toby and Kate trying to get pregnant thing.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:On the surface, on a grander scale, that was a. Well, uh, thought out thing. right? Like
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Yeah.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:them having to have to worry about the weight and how that impacts it and the cost of, uh, in vitro and if that's worth it, and what the odds are and their age. I agree with you, but in reality it was. Like I genuinely think if you isolated season three into its very own show, you'd be like, okay, so there's a black guy who won't shut up about being black and adopted and is just playing a victim this entire time, but he's very rich and has an awesome wife.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Yeah, Randall's the worst part of the show
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:And then you have Kate and you're like, okay, this is a great concept, but it turns into her just whining about her weight. And then you have a judgmental, terrible mother who's dating their dad's best friend. Uh, and you have Kevin, who was an actor who actually tries to be different. And you're like, Okay. that is the best part about this show. But it was like. One 12th of the time I've spent with the show, right. Without Kevin. It is a one out of 10.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay. I, yeah, I didn't have as big a problem with the Kate stuff as it sounds like you did. Um, I did like the Kevin stuff. I liked them going to college. I, even liked the Randall part of going to college. Randall complaining was the worst part of the show.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:But his complaining is the same as Kate. That's my point. Randall's is worse because it's not as valid, and we already saw him grow past that But
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:because we
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Kate's is the same victim whining approach to the problem.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:a black millionaire who has an awesome wife and an awesome family, but just can't get over the fact that he was adopted
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:to a great family who loves him
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Yeah. But they don't understand'cause they're not black like he is and they're not adopted like he is.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:deal with all that. I do think they should show, like if they're going to go with that rev or route, they should have shown something that makes Randall feel like he's ever really been oppressed. the only oppression that I can see from Randall is that he was an outsider.'cause he is a nerdy kid. Like there's the, I think it's in season three. I kind of liked the episode actually, where they go back to the pool and um. is talking to the other two black kids and starts rapping. Randall tries to pretend that he knows any of this stuff, but he just, he doesn't care. So he becomes this outsider. I think that's a great episode. That's kind of like, he's an outsider. He's not an outsider'cause he is black. He's an outsider because he's a smart guy who really cares about education. And you're a kid, a lot of kids don't. Very different thing.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Yeah, I agree. with you, but season three is a trash. Trash bucket. Like there are some good elements to it. There really are. Uh, the first part of the Vietnam stuff is very, very good.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:The latter half of it is terrible. I didn't like Kevin going to Vietnam part, uh, thought that was a giant waste of time for his character and for me as a viewer. Uh. It is not good genuinely like on its own. I only survived as long as I did in it
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Because of
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:of how much I loved season one and season two.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:and if I hadn't grown to know these characters and loved them, like season three would be an unwatchable hot mess, garbage, crapshoot. And that's being generous because I'm trying to say I didn't know these characters. Like I didn't know who Jack was, but they just crapped all over the character that he, he was, and, uh, I cannot stand it.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Alright. uh, don't watch season four. I do think it's better. I genuinely think it's better than season three, but if you hated season three that much, can just be done with the show. That's totally fine. That's
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Oh, I am done with the show. I'm not gonna watch season four. I don't even know if I'll ever watch season one and two again, honestly. But
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Because of how bad season three was for you.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:because of that, because Jack was ruined, right? It's the same thing as like Star Wars. You can't go back and watch a new hope the same way anymore. Because of what the Last Jedi did. But also it's just like, it's already a very serious show to watch. Like I have to pay attention to it.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Yeah.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:it's like I'm gonna have to set aside time with the, I think they're like 40 minute episodes to watch this thing, to just be thinking like, well, this doesn't matter because they undo this growth immediately. And they, they ruined this character who was principled and honest and respectful and had strong family VA map values. Oh wait, no, he doesn't. And so it's like, I can still acknowledge I love season one and two. I can't deny it. It's just the idea of going back to it like maybe. But as of right now where I'm sitting, it's like I don't have any motivation to go back and, and watch it.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay. That's fair, man. That's fair. I, uh. Yeah, I didn't hate season three as much as you do, but I get why you do, like what you're saying. Makes sense. And I, I enjoyed season four. I really did. I enjoyed season four.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:I am glad you did. I'm glad somebody did.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Me too.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Everything I've looked up is like season four is like the same as season three,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I, yeah, I
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:and
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:think it's better.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:there are people that love the show and say it's just as good as season three, but to me that means it's just as bad. Season three.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I, uh, I'm, I'm surprised that people say that.'cause to me it's like clearly better. Um, but it might fall off again. I don't know. I
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Okay. Well, Lauren, let me know if I'm miss remembering. Let me know. what your thoughts is, or in this case, I, I think I'll trust her perspective a little bit more than yours, but
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Rude. Why?
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:because she agrees with me about season three.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Uh, okay. Lauren, I would honestly like leave a comment. I'm genuinely curious if you thought it was worse, why you thought it was worse? I can't think of any reasons I. It would be, to be honest,
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Because it sounds like the same thing is happening again, where they're undoing the growth that already happened so that they can try and reshow the growth that they already did.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:that's, that's one of the things that I liked about is I felt like the growth was shown there. Like other seasons, Randall, when he started panicking, would literally just shut up and curl in a ball and not talk to anybody and
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Until the end of season two when he worked on it and he figured out he can do it.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Sometimes you go and you have these negative moments and you go back to those negative thought patterns again. But in this one, it's a very quick, like one episode later, he's talking to Kevin and being like, I'm not okay. I'm struggling. Can you help me out? That's a, that's growth. That is character growth.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Okay.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Yeah. Kate is a. She's struggling with something with her mom, like she can't remember what it was. And instead of not talking to her mom and like getting huffy and like crossing her arms, she talks to her mom. Go ahead.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Yeah. So this, uh, raises a question.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Yeah.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Why are you okay with this Is US characters reverting, but not Barney and how I met your mother.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Um. Barney went through the work already
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Oh, really? Randall didn't, Kate didn't,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:and showed literally no growth at all. None.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:uh, Randall didn't, and Kate didn't.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I don't know about season three with Randall. He didn't show growth in season three, and it bugs me. That's what I said, Kate, I don't know about, I'll think about it some more. I'm not sure. Uh,
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:But also I,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:that's part of the reason why it bugs me.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:if your perspective is they reverted and behaved poorly, but then later showed growth, for example, Randall, uh, uh, showing growth, uh, Barney does the same thing.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:It annoys me in season three. I just said that it
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:I know,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:me in.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:I know. I'm talking about season four. You're saying the growth is that Randall struggles and reverts again, but has the growth to the next day I talk to Kevin. That's what Barney does.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:No he doesn't.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Yeah, he does. The show ends with him growing and accepting that it was like.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:He goes through years of not talking to anybody and just reverting to who he was before years. This
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Yeah,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:this
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:so,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Those are
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:so what? The timeframe doesn't matter.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Absolutely. It does.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:No, it doesn't.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:It does. Yes.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:it doesn't.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I realize
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:doesn't.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I have this pattern and immediately I try to shift the pattern. It's very different than I realize I have this pattern. Nevermind. I'm just gonna ignore that and do what I've done before that. I've literally gone through a million different times and I have changed fundamentally as a person. also don't know, I don't, I don't think we've seen fundamental change even in season two with Randall. We saw him broken to a point where he had to talk'cause he was so broken. But I don't think we've seen fundamental change.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:That is ridiculous.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I don't think
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:The whole plot with his dad, the adopted girl. The relationship problems with his wife. They're all fundamental. I need to think differently.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:he doesn't ask for help. Kevin comes and helps him. That is a very different thing than a fundamental change where he knows I just need to ask for help. Those aren't the same things I.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Okay. Whatever.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:But it's okay. anyway, let's go to our, actually, it looks like you have one more topic. What is
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:I do.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Century?
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:This is, uh, based off of Stephen King. Uh, storm Ry is a three part made for TV movie.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Um, I have a love hate relationship with this show
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:movie. I don't know whether or not to call it a show or a movie,'cause each episode of it is like an hour and 15 minutes.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:So in total it's like three hours, which is a really long movie or two short movies, I don't know. Anyway, uh, it came out in 1999 and for it being made for TV and 1999, it is extremely well made. All those special effects and everything done in it is great. The acting is phenomenal.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:All
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:It is great, uh, basic premise. Uh, you have this island off the coast of Maine and there is an incoming Storm of the Century? where, uh, this island is cut off. It's gotta be completely isolated. You can't have boats going between the mainland and the island. Uh, when a. I am gonna call him Vampire'cause I think that will make you more interested. A vampire shows up and kills this lady and then intentionally gets caught. So he is in a jail cell and he's using his vampire magic voodoo powers to have people commit suicide
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:and they leave the message, give me what I want and I'll go away. Right. But he doesn't ever say what he wants.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:And we follow the perspective of the town constable, the sheriff of the town, um, as he's trying, as he's discovering All of these things happening, dealing with them and trying to figure out what the guy wants so that he can go away, or what are they gonna do? X, Y, Z, whatever, right. It is not the most horrifying thing ever. Like there's no like jump scares. There's no like dark, creepy horror things, but it builds up the suspense phenomenally. Like, to put this in perspective, I was sitting here enjoying it on my couch. I. I watched an episode and then I turned on the second episode and I thought, you know what? I'm actually really tired. I'm gonna go to bed and I'll finish this tomorrow. I got up, I went to bed. I then, things got really good and I stayed up and finished the whole thing. Uh, the suspense and like. What does he want? And uh, it gets to the point where the whole town has to vote on what he wants and whether or not to give it to him or not. And it gets to the point where everybody in town except the constable says, yes. So the constable is forced into giving him what this guy wants. Uh, the downside is they give him what he wants and he goes away. So it's not really like dealt with, we were talking about from earlier and how like we have to have enough information to kind of feel like it wouldn't proceed again. This is the opposite. This is definitely gonna happen again. And in fact, the very end of it is like implying that the constable, so the constable leaves the island, he's basically like, I can't live here anymore. I can't do this. I, I can't look at these people anymore after what just happened. So he leaves, he goes to Chicago and he is like, and I never saw them again until the windstorm arrived. And then it shows him seeing. Seeing the vampire again. Uh, so yeah, I, I, I love this show. It's so well made, but I'm not happy with the ending. Uh, there were some kind of slower parts. Like I said, I was like, Okay. I'll, I'll get up, I'll go to bed. But then it got really good. So it got really interesting. Again, I think the idea is very interesting. Where these people are stuck, isolated on this island, and they have to kind of collectively make this moral decision. Um, and they have ethical questions of like, can we live with this happening? If we give it to'em, can we, can we look at each other afterwards? Um, if we don't give him what he wants, he's going to kill us all. Do we actually believe. What he can do, and honestly, like before it revealed that he saw the vampire again, there's a scene where, uh, his wife is in a therapy session and she's asked, Hey, what? Walk me through what happened again. And she's telling the story like the vampire wasn't real. And I was sitting there like, This. is gonna be amazing because we're gonna finish this show and we're gonna have to ask ourselves the question of did what we see really happen? Or was That somebody stuck in a snowstorm dealing with a traumatic situation's response? Like, did, did the constable create the villain in his mind, or was he really there?
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:That sounds cool.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:And I was like, oh man, what an interesting way to, and then they just, they showed it and I was like, okay. So they confirmed it was real. I don't, I love that a lot, but I'm not like a, I don't hate that either. You know? I just, I don't know. Uh, this, uh. Was brought into my life like 10 years ago. I was dating somebody and her oldest sister found this show, and when, Okay. Her, her mom watched this show with their oldest daughter, like years before that and was so terrified by it that it was outlawed. Could not watch it.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:And then 10 years ago her sister found it again and was like, let's watch it. And like I did not participate in it.'cause I was not into horror at the time, but I remember them watching it and saying things like, oh, it's not as scary as I remember it being. And it's like, yeah, that kind of happens with horror MO movies with age and like, Yeah. you can tell That this is not a new show. I think if this was made today, it would be great.'cause I'm looking at shows like from and with the special effects that are like the opening scene of from you have the, the grandma in the window turning into the monster, right? Like if you had that quality of special effects when dealing with this vampire and when he shows his teeth and stuff. Great. Like there are, there's a scene where the power is going out, so the lights flicker and the vampire's in jail and this guy's tasked with watching him and he sees with the lights flickering, his eyes staying red. So you see flickering and like red eyes and it is so effective. And like the rest of the show, it's like, man, if only you had that quality there. Like, I could totally get behind this. Like I, I came outta this and I was thinking like the mountains of Utah in a snow tour storm with a little tweak, right? But the same basic premise, I could totally get behind
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:That would be
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:this premise. Like this could be so good. Um. I really enjoyed this one still. I think it's great. I think you should absolutely watch it. I think this is right up a conlin alley. Like I think he's a vampire. Uh, if you look it up, most people call him a wizard, but like he's got the teeth and stuff and like he is a vampire. Um. You love vampires, just think of him as a vampire and, and it's a thriller horror thing. You love thriller horror,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:and like I said, the acting is very good.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay. Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:You should absolutely watch it.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I'll watch it. That sounds, that sounds good to me. That sounds like a good movie. Like, I'll watch it. Cool. With that, guys, let's go to our last topic. Um, ma maka, do you say this?
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Maka?
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Maka? Yeah.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:to Russian.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I. Overall enjoyed this movie. I think it's an extremely pretty movie. I think the animation's quite good. It's definitely, definitely more for kids and it's not one of those movies that have adult themes, so you can really enjoy it as an adult. It is very much a kid's movie, but enjoyable enough as a kid's movie. I have some friends who have daughters and I would recommend this movie to them'cause I think it's good enough to recommend to them. girls who were like five to eight probably somewhere in there. the biggest thing I didn't like about the movie was the gay guy trope. I don't enjoy that trope where he is like, oh, there's underwear. Oh, it's just. It's just old clothes. It's terrible. There can't be old clothes. I, find it tiresome. I don't enjoy that at all. Um, other than that, everything else about it was pretty decent and I thought the animation was great. There's the other trope that I kind of just wrote off because it's in all of these movies that are aimed at very young girls of having the bad girl that everybody listens to, and she's the girl boss and she's just mean, and she's usually blonde. It's fine. It's part of the trope of those movies. It's okay. It's like, is it the best? No. Is it terrible? No. And it ends up with a decent enough movie about, uh. A Romeo and Juliet type story where humans don't like these woodland spiritual creatures and the spiritual creatures don't like the humans, and they both hate each other. And the main boy has the ability to play the flute. the flute very enticive to the main girl who is a dry head type creature who lives in the woods and the main boy goes out in the woods to fetch ya. To be able to save his uncle, I think it was his uncle, maybe dad. Um, and they run into each other and they instantly start liking each other and they instantly connect with each other'cause it's a movie. And that's what happens. Um, he plays music for her and the music gets added later into the story to be able to save her when she connects to some dark magic. It's all simple enough. It's all harmless enough. It's all enjoyable enough, not a bad movie. Overall
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:So what would you rate it on a scale of one to 10?
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:generous six
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Okay.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:is probably what I would do. I would watch this like I. Rachel, I, I love her kids. It's Sydney's best friend, and if one of her daughters really wanted to watch this with me, I would watch it and I'd be totally fine. But would I choose to watch this again? No.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Would you choose to watch it with them?
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Uh, may maybe I I, would actually lean towards, yes, actually.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Okay, so that would Probably, be more like a six and a half
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Probably,
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:my scale for you.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:probably. Yeah.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Okay.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:If they, if they wanted to watch it. It wasn't something where I'd be like, you really should watch this and we should really watch this together.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:No, but if they're like, Hey, what should we watch? You wouldn't be like, oh, have you seen this
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Um, yes, I would. But there's other things I would go to first.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Yeah.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:If that makes sense. Like would be an option. But like I'd go to the How to Train Your Dragon TV show on Netflix way before this. There's like, there's a lot of things that I would go before this,
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Yeah. Yeah,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:but if
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:on my scale, that would probably a six and a half for me.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:just wanna see this, I'd be like, okay, cool. Let's watch it.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Okay. All right. My thoughts, uh, there's no good reason I should know this, but the animation and writing reminds me of the Barbie movies. Like the way the characters walk, the way they're styled. Uh, the writing in general. I am not the target audience for the Barbie movies, so I should not know that. Uh, I think the animation is very good at times. Uh, I think it. If you pause the movie at any point in time, It's gorgeous. Uh, it kind of feels more like when you pay the animators and not the writers. To me, uh, I think the story is pretty weak and shallow. Um, I think when the act, when there's actual movement between the characters, that's where I struggled with the animation the most. Uh, I actually rolled my eyes when the guy said, the only magic humans have is love. Like, I was like, oh my gosh, really? You really just said that? Ugh. Um, given that. this was recommended to me via the same person who recommended from and like red shoes. I was surprised that it came with as highly recommended. Um, it's not the worst movie ever. The beginning of it reminded me of Sprite, fright, the blender animation, all attached, the description or the, the link in the description.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Yeah, I
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:And I got, I was very hopeful for where this goes. I think there's enough like inklings of. Adult themes to make it enjoyable for adults, but they never explore them, which is kind of frustrating. Uh, I think more time in the oven could have done a lot for this show. Um. Because I feel like the animation is there, the sound is there. I think the voice actors do a very good job. I just think the writing needed a little bit more work and the story to be a little bit more fleshed out, and it could have been way better. Um, but I'm glad. It also wasn't super long. I, but for me, I would only watch this under the right circumstances. So I give it a 5.5 outta 10.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay. Okay. What did, would you rec, like I. probably have nieces. I think you have nieces. Would you
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:I've got lots of nieces? Nope.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Oh, you wouldn't? Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:There is no circumstance that I would say, Hey, have you seen this?
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Really? You wouldn't. I would be like, if you're a five, six, 7-year-old girl, you'll probably really enjoy this movie.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Nope.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Oh,
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:There's way too many, too much stuff out there that I would recommend, and if they wanted to watch it or wanted to watch something, I would recommend rewashes of other stuff over this. And so like under the right circumstances are I have it on my plex and my nieces really, really wanna watch it.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:And even then. I. would probably be like, Okay. I'll turn it on and I'll be in the room. But like, I'm not gonna be paying active attention to this
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Show.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:show.'cause like it's very shallow, it's very surface. And like I said, the writing is very much not okay. Like I point out that one line'cause it actually made me roll my eyes. But there's plenty of like. Awful cheesy lines in this show. And like that gay guy and his whole motivation is that he is promised a fashion store.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Yep.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:I'm like, who is your market gonna be? You're in a town of farmers. Nobody's gonna buy your crap. Why do you want that? Why are you in this town for the first place? Like if I think about it, there's so many issues. I gotta just like start picking this thing apart for its plot And
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:they probably like, if we're gonna be realistic, these, these farmers would probably kill you
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:they wouldn't kill him.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:or severely, severely, uh, bully you
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:They would bully him and pick on him. Yeah.'cause he is, he's different, but like. Yeah, like it, it, it really needed some more work and I think this could have been a lot, lot, lot, lot better and like, I. honestly cannot praise the animators and artists in this enough.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I think they're incredible. I was surprised that I saw on your notes the, there was a problem in the transitions and the movements. I disagree. I think the animation is very good in this. I even tried like pausing it and moving it to try to see what you're seeing. I, I don't, I think the animation is really good.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Have you seen the animation in a Barbie movie? That's what I'm talking about.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:no, I haven't, I've never watched a Barbie movie.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Okay. It's not natural moving the hu The people don't move, like humans move.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:It's very stiff, like they're made out of plastic.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:It feels like I. is kind of what I felt like. It was like animated Claymation, which has a
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:not that at all. That's stylistic That's on purpose,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay. That's kind of
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:right?
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:this one too,
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:It's more like when a person moves, they bend their knee,
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Yeah.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:but the animators didn't bend the knee.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Okay.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:They like moved like a Barbie moves, right? Like, I cannot stress that enough. It's like, hey, if you watched a Barbie movie and you were like, oh man, this animation, this is even better. Uh, it's not, it's not terrible. It's not a big problem. It, it did not impact my score on it at all. Right? It's, it's more like when I paused this movie. I'm amazed at how gorgeous it is with the colors and the lines and the artistic style. And when I'm watching it, I'm thinking about how much it reminds me of the Barbie movie animation.'cause the people don't look move naturally. They don't feel like people, they feel like, like Barbie and Ken. I hope that makes sense.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:I think it makes sense. Yeah. I
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Okay. Yeah, just look up a clip of a Barbie movie and you'll, and then watch a clip of this, and you'll be like, Okay. he's got a point.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:can.
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Right. It doesn't, like I said, does not move it down on the scale for me. It, it, it also doesn't move it up for me. It's just kind of like lot of great things with this animation. Like, like I said, the colors and the, the still frames are fantastic, but when the characters are moving, it's, it's. It's not stylistic. It is just a little too plastic.
konlin-gappmayer_6_04-16-2025_195508:Fair enough. All right guys, that is gonna be our episode. We appreciate you watching, like, subscribe, all that good stuff. Comment what you want us to watch. Um, do you agree with us about Have you seen Storm of the Century Have you read the teacher if you haven't read it. And then most importantly of all is season four of, this is us better than season three. The answer is yes. We appreciate
josh-dietrich_10_04-16-2025_155525:Probably on a microscopic level. Bye.
