[00:00:23] Welcome to episode 602 of the Pittsburgh Nerd Podcast. I'm Sean. And I'm Ian and this is the only podcast that says... There is a house in New Orleans. They call The Rising Sun. It's been the ruin of many a poor boy. But dear God, I know I was one. Nice. There we go.
[00:00:52] I don't know if these lights were up the last time you were here. Nancy's gotten into this kick where she wants to have lights. I'm going to refer to them as Christmas lights. That's what they feel like to me. But they're not really Christmas lights. But like...
[00:01:14] Here in the kitchen where we're recording in my house, we have these pink reddish lights. She has lights going up the stairwell. We have lights around the dining room windows. And then she hung lights in the living room. And... I've been there the other day. I'm watching TV and I turned the overhead light on. Uh-huh. And she was like...
[00:01:43] Why do you have the light on? There's lights in here. I'm like... Because I don't want to watch TV at The House Of The Rising Sun. Nice. And she's like... I don't get it. I'm like... I feel like I'm sitting in a house of ill repute. You know? Yeah, yeah. This is what it reminds me of. I'm sorry. So... Oh... Nice. That's why I had that song in my head. Mm-hmm. So, how are you, sir?
[00:02:13] I'm good. Yeah. Yeah. I'm all right. Yeah. Nothing to really report. No. I watched Venom last night. The Last Stands or whatever. Yeah. Something. What was that one? We rented. Oh, okay. Yeah. It had finally come down to like 10 bucks. So... You gave a meh? Yeah. I didn't like it as much as the other two. Yeah.
[00:02:41] I especially didn't like it as much as the Carnage one. Yeah. Nah. It was good. It got good at the end. Right. Yeah. It just kind of drugged to the end. You know what I mean? No, I know what you mean. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, it was just... Yeah. What's the running time when I was up? Was that two hours? I think so. Yeah. Because, man, they... That Carnage one, I mean, that was an hour and a half. Yeah. And... There was not a moment that dragged in that movie. No.
[00:03:12] That pulled right along. And that... Like, it was like perfect at an hour and a half. Yeah. I mean, there were some funny parts in it. And there was like... It was decent. Yeah. It just wasn't... It wasn't as good as the first two. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah, it just wasn't as good. Was it more about... As it went on, they kind of like did this succession thing where Venom became more funny
[00:03:42] as it... As the movies went on. Yeah. And I get that. Right. But this was all Tom Hardy and Venom. Yeah. For three quarters of it. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, it wasn't like... It was the last quarter of the movie. It was crushing. Right. It was great. Yeah. Like, I actually sat up on my seat. I was like, oh my God, this is... Yeah. Why couldn't this movie just been like this the entire time? Right. But... Because the symbiotes came... I mean... Yeah.
[00:04:12] They all came out of that. Yeah. They were all there. And they were going on everybody. Right. You know what I mean? Like... Forming to the quote, good guys. Yeah. To help beat another... Whatever. You know what I mean? Yeah. And... That's why I was like, oh, it's on now. Yeah. Because each one had different types of abilities. And you know what I'm saying? Like, it was really good. Yeah. And different... They were... They colored them differently. Yeah. You know?
[00:04:41] And I just thought it was really good. Once that... Once it came out, I was like, please don't ruin this. Right. Like, please just have them fight. Right. And they did. Yeah. And it was just like... Oh. But he was great. I liked Venom more than I liked Tom Hardy. Yeah. In this one. Yeah. Tom Hardy was kind of weird. Yeah. I don't know if that makes sense, but... It was just kind of strange. I can't explain it. It's kind of weird. Weird. I don't know.
[00:05:11] It wasn't like he was... I don't know if he's there for the payday or what. Yeah. Because I... The acting was so much better in the first two. Right. In this one, he's kind of like... I don't know if he's going through the motions or more focusing on Venom. Maybe. Yeah. Who knows? Yeah. Yeah. But... But Venom was great. Yeah. I do. I like the character and I like... What Tom Hardy did with him. Right. Yeah.
[00:05:41] But anyway. Are you sad that that's come to an end? Uh, no. Yeah. No. I'm glad it's come to an end. Yeah. Yeah. It's time. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I was a little sad. Yeah. At the end of the movie. You know what I mean? Right. I mean, the story-wise, it brings you with... Because they're separated and whatnot. But I get that. But like, I just like... Overall, like...
[00:06:10] You've enjoyed the franchise for the most part. Yeah. I'm good with them not making another one. Yeah. Yeah. I think Carnage was... The high point. I do. Yeah. Carnage was a really good movie. Like, it was a bad guy that you can like... Whoa, that's... Woody Harrelson's just chewing scenery and... He is. But Carnage himself was... Yeah. ...amazing looking. And it was a good fight. You know what I mean? Oh, I agree.
[00:06:37] It's like kind of what you want from a bad guy type fight. You know? Not Ares and Wonder Woman. Yeah. Make sense? Yeah. Yeah. So, like, the fight was good. I didn't like the fight as much in the first one. I thought it was kind of weak sauce. Also, the fight in the first one was very difficult. It was difficult to follow because they were both the same color. Correct. But... But the way they digitally did Carnage was just... Oh, man.
[00:07:07] He looked amazing. He did. I agree. Like, I thought... I really liked Carnage. He just looked absolutely amazing. And Woody Harrelson, like, I thought, did real well. I mean, I thought he did well at the part. Yeah. I mean, that's all he needed to do. You know what I mean? Like... Right. I mean, he did chew up some screen, but at the same point... Like, he was, like, a good pick. That was a good cast pick for... To have him play Carnage. Right. You know what I mean?
[00:07:37] Right. Man, that was so bad. That was so good. Especially when that bell fell on her. I was like, fuck yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's a really... I think it's... Carnage is a high point of... Fucking blame. Yeah, you are. You're a mess. I know. Anyway, go ahead.
[00:07:59] Carnage is the high point of the Sony trying to do something with their Marvel properties. That's, like, their high point. Yeah. Which is a rough thing to say. I agree. Like, it's... Because Carnage is a good movie. Like, it's fun. Yeah. But it is far from a great movie. No, it's not great. But it entertained me, and I got to see Venom on screen the way Venom should be. Right. No, I understand that, but it's just...
[00:08:29] It's that thing of, like... I take that back. Not the way it should be, but the way I liked him. Right. I liked him in this role. Like, it's that funny thing of... Like, in this day and age of superhero movies, and the bar has been raised, especially, like, with, you know, Infinity War and Endgame. It's been raised very high. Like, you can tell high-end stories with superhero movies. Like, that is, like... We're sitting here, like... Yeah, that's the high point. Well, I...
[00:08:59] You know, there was a couple moments in this movie. There was... There was a Spider-Man reference. Yeah. Not... Most people, I don't think, would get it. Yeah. But... Venom held Brock upside down, and all you saw was Brock from here. Yeah. And he was upside down. Yeah. Like, talking. Right. And it was... That's a Spider-Man. Yeah. That's a Spider-Man. You know. Yeah. Not...
[00:09:25] And then the other thing, which excited me, and I'm like... At first, is they were in Mexico, and... That was a really good scene, too. But anyway, they were in Mexico, and the word got out that he killed this guy. Right. This guy, and he was involved, and Brock is... Yeah. ...a wanted man, and this is the news in Mexico. Yeah. But...
[00:09:54] And Venom's like, well, if they know it's here, then they... It's everywhere. You know? Yeah. Yeah, you know? Or something like that. And so, where... You know, I was like, where can we go and, like, blend in? You know? And they looked over, and there was a Statue of Liberty. They were gonna go to New York. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. To hide. Right. Or... Brock said he knew the mayor, or something like that. Yeah. He gave him a favor, or something like that. Or he had some shit on him, or something. Yeah.
[00:10:26] And... I was like, damn. And I was like, New York? I was like, oh, it's on. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, New York, he did the Spidey. Yeah. He did the Spidey nod. I'm like, oh, can it be? You know? Yeah. But they ended up at Area 51. So, anyway. Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah. The parts were funny. I mean, it was fun.
[00:10:54] And, like, they did some more things with Venom this time. Yeah. That I liked. I just... I couldn't get into Brock this time. Right. Like, in the first two, there was this kind of thing with Brock that... He kind of dug. You know what I mean? Like... Right. His downfall, his rise. Right. You know, him and... He loves them. He does. I mean, they did show that much. Right.
[00:11:23] That he does love him like a brother. Right. You know what I mean? But, I did like the parts where Venom was getting into the animal aspect. Yeah. He got... And you can see this in a previous... He got on the horse. Yeah. That was badass. Yeah. You know? And then, like, they were... They somehow ended up in a fucking river. You know what I mean? Yeah. And Venom... I'll just tell you.
[00:11:53] He was trapped in a net. Okay. Like, they had... The symbiote was trapped in a net. And a fish swam through the net. Yeah. And he leaped onto the fish. And the fish went out. Yeah. And then he went on to another fish. You know what I mean? He kept bouncing to get to Eddie. Right. And I liked that part of it. So, they were doing some really cool shit with Venom. Yeah. But the ending was brutally sad. And... Yeah. It was. It was awful. Yeah. It was awful.
[00:12:24] But... Not awful. But it just... It made sense. But... And the whole storyline was good. But, like, you know, Sony does. I mean, they fucking jacked the storyline up. And I'm like... Can you give me some more character development on what the fuck is going on? Yeah. Like, they gave me this brief thing of the... The guy who created the symbiotes. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Right. They created Venom and it's everyone. Right. And...
[00:12:54] You know, he created all these guys. Then he had these other guys and the symbiotes turned on him to trap him so he couldn't destroy the universe or something. Yeah. And then, like, when a symbiote is in a human and they die, they form what's called a... Some kind of... I don't know what it is. Yeah. Thing. Yeah. But the guy needed one of those in order to escape and destroy everything. So that's the play, right? Right.
[00:13:24] You can only do that if one of your... If one of the hosts dies. Right. So you knew it was common. Right. You know what I'm saying? Either Eddie's got to die or Venom's got to die. Right. In order for them not to get that. Because they're unstoppable. Right. They just keep coming. Right. And they have this, like... It's weird. They almost have this doctor. And the guy, the bad guy, looks human-esque. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Humanoid? Like white hair, Dark Lord.
[00:13:54] I don't know. Right. I don't even know the storyline. But he has a... He can... He can do the strange thing and teleport his creatures. Oh, okay. Through the teleports. Yeah. And so he sends all the creatures out in search of, hopefully, a symbiote that had... And then they found Eddie. Right. Yeah. So every time Venom comes out, it's like a homing beacon. Yeah. Does that make sense? Makes sense, yeah. Because it's in him. It's like in him.
[00:14:23] It's part of Venom. Right. So, yeah. It was crazy. But there's some really good shit in the movie. Like, it just wasn't as good. Yeah. You know what I mean? Karaoke him. It's so good. Yeah. So good. Yeah. But I thought they did him very well. I thought they drew him very well. I mean, like, digitally created Venom. I thought he was really good. Right. Yeah.
[00:14:53] And the way he moved, the way the... You know what I mean? Yeah. The way it... Like, he grabbed things and, you know, the way it was very elastic. Yeah. Imagine what that's... What stretch is going to be like. In a similar... Right. Yeah. But... I thought of... I just like how they did... I like how they did him. Even though they did a different twist on it. Right.
[00:15:21] You know, because he doesn't become an anti-hero for a while. I think. As memory serves. No. I mean, it wasn't well into the... Yeah. The late 90s, I think. Venom was like carnage. They got carnage into it as another step up from Venom. Yeah. Like, they started introducing, like, other forms of the symbiote. Yeah.
[00:15:47] But at the same time, like, it was like he was still like a Spider-Man villain. Yeah. It was just... Spider-Man was having like... Okay, I need your help with carnage. Can I trust you? No. Yeah. Yeah. You know, so... Yeah. It was... The anti-hero... The anti-hero came later. I mean, he was a dead-on villain at the beginning. Yeah. And they didn't do that with Venom on this. No. And then... How can you?
[00:16:16] Unless you made him a villain in a movie. They were also painted in the corner of... They don't have Spider-Man. Yeah. Like, you can't tell the origin story that way. Right. They had to create something completely different. Right. You know, I mean, I always said, like, in the first movie, the thing that looked weird was the fact that he didn't have the Spider logo on him. Right. Yeah, I know. You know. Yeah. Like, he looked good, but he was, like, missing that, like, that one little piece that, like... The white... Yeah, that made him Venom.
[00:16:46] Yeah. You know? And, you know, so you wonder, like, can Marvel do something with it now? Yeah, it's funny. In this one, in the latest one, I can safely say that Venom pulled it off. Yeah. But Eddie Brock did not. Yeah. It just couldn't... I... I didn't feel any depth from the character. Yeah. I know that sounds weird, but...
[00:17:13] When you go through the first two, and he seems like he's, like, hung over all the time. Yeah. It's so weird. Yeah. Very strange. Venom delivered. Yeah. Eddie Brock did not. Right. It's odd. It is odd. Yeah. I know he's... I know he does the voice and everything. Right. You know. But there were some good moments. Yeah.
[00:17:45] Some good stuff. And there was some head-eating. Of course. Did you watch the series finale of Skeleton Crew? No, I did not. Okay. I didn't make it there. Is it good? It is. Yeah. Is that it? I don't know. Like, they've kind of said, well, that's the finale for season one.
[00:18:16] So, like, I don't know if they're going to do a season two or not. Like, I hope they do, because there are some interesting questions that kind of get raised at the end of this. Okay. That, like, I would like answers to. Like, I don't mind how it ended, because it makes sense. Yeah. From, like, an Amblin movie standpoint. Yeah. Okay?
[00:18:40] Like, if this was, like, an old-school 80s Goonies, Gremlins, you know, whatever, that's how the movie would end. Yeah. However, because it's Star Wars, I have questions about, like, what's next. Yeah. Like, I guess that's the odd thing of, like, what this is, is, like, because as much fun
[00:19:05] as it was, and it was, I thought it was tremendous fun the entire journey, that at the end of it, it's like, okay, because it's in the Star Wars universe, there are a lot of ramifications of what happened. Okay. Oddly. Yeah, yeah. Like, you know what I mean? And what, and also just the fact of, like, you're at a point where, like, the people of
[00:19:34] At-At-Nan are so far behind. Right. Like, you know, they don't know the Empire happened. They don't know the, um, there's been a rebellion. They don't know that there's a new republic. Like, there's a lot of things that, like, they don't know that's happened in the universe because they've been so closed off. Right.
[00:20:01] So, to me, it's kind of an interesting, like, okay, I wonder how this affects everything else we know. Right, right. You know? But I, I mean, like, that standpoint aside, like, and that's a much bigger picture that, like, just, like, only a Star Wars nerd would think about. The show itself was fantastic.
[00:20:29] Like, I enjoyed the shit out of it. A lot of people were like, well, what, they're asking the question of, like, well, what did Skeleton crew bring that the Acolyte didn't? Like, why did you like this over that? And, like, my answer was because it was just fun. Yeah. Like, the Acolyte got stuck in the muck of being, of, like, teenage angst and, like, being a CW show. Yeah.
[00:20:57] Like, and it, like, it took pride in blurring the lines of the Jedi are wrong, maybe the Sith are right. Well, no, no. Like, you, there are times where there's areas of gray, I completely agree, but, like, like, the fact that, like, at the end of that show, it's like, well, you know, the Sith, they may be the good guys. Like, no! Yeah. No!
[00:21:27] That's not how Star Wars, you can talk about the flaws of the Jedi and, and everything else, but at the end of the day, like, the Sith are bad, the Jedi are good. You know? Yeah. Like, and, but, like, that's what that show did, where the skeleton crew, like, it was just a fun adventure. Yeah. You know?
[00:21:52] Like, that's the only way I could describe it, and, like, in, like, I'm not even going to say, like, people are all like, well, you're, you're just, you're anti this or you're anti that if you don't like the Acolyte, and that's not the case at all. I watched the entire show. I watched every single episode, and at the end of that show, I could care less if it came back or not. Yeah. Because, to me, the story that you told was not that interesting, and more importantly,
[00:22:20] I thought it got away from what Star Wars is. Yeah. Okay. And that's what they were trying to do. They were trying to get away from what Star Wars is. And, like, you can do serious Star Wars. That's what Andor is. You could, you could have done a serious mystery like this was trying to tell, but you can't flip Star Wars on its head. Yeah. Like, there are, there are rules, and those rules are there for a reason.
[00:22:50] Yeah. I, I kinda, I kinda felt like that. I know, this is gonna piss some people off, too. The two listeners that we have. No, but, I, I kinda get, I kinda got, like, not pissed, but I was like, mm-hmm. Like, when they, when they started, they said, oh, well, these are Force users. And they're not really Jedi's, but they're just Force users. And that took me a, that took me a while to swallow.
[00:23:15] Cause you're, all you're doing is, you know, I, I felt that you were introducing the, what do you call them? The, the blood, the Medichlorian or whatever. Medichlorians. Yeah. Yeah. I, I felt like you were introducing that back into the fold. And I'm like, yeah, there's, there's Jedis and there's not Jedis. Cause, you know, I, I understand where they're coming from, like, from a holistic standpoint. Right.
[00:23:45] Like, everybody has some kind of the Force in them. Okay, I get it. Right. And some people are Force users in the same way. But I just kinda like, when that was introduced, I was kinda like, mm-hmm. You know, it kinda took away for me, it kinda took away, like, you know, these are special beings. Do you know what I mean? Well, like, I feel like, okay, like the Jedi. This guy can move a broom. Okay. Yeah. But like, but here's the difference.
[00:24:14] Like, maybe this, the way I look at it might, might help you out. Like, the Jedi are, for lack of a better term, a religion. Yeah. Like, and they have a dogma, and they have, like, like, this is the rules of the Jedi. Yeah. And the fall of the Jedi ends up being their hubris, you know, because they think they're
[00:24:40] infallible, because they're, they're almost cult-like. Yeah. The Sith are the same way. The Sith are, they, like, they, whether you believe it or not, they have their rules, like the rule of two. Yeah. There's always two. There's a master and apprentice. No more, no less. Yeah. You know, like, so the Sith have their rules as well, that they are, in their own way, a religion or a cult, if you want to look at it that way. Yeah.
[00:25:09] But there are people who do, like, don't subscribe to, especially after the fall of the Jedi, after Order 66, who have no training, but have the ability to move a broom or, you know, like, they, even Rey, like, Rey had no training at first, but she had those abilities. Right. Because even, like, if you go away, Anakin was Force-sensitive, and then he subscribed to the Jedi ideology. Right.
[00:25:37] You know, so, it's a matter of ideology that you're choosing, but you can also be like Jode, who isn't a Sith, really, certainly not a Jedi. He just has the ability to use the Force. It's revealed in the final episode, he did get a little bit of training. So, and that's explained, it also helps explain why he became a pirate, in many ways.
[00:26:06] But it's, he's not, he's neither. You know, he's just somebody who is able to use the Force to manipulate things. Yeah. Now, later on down the line, you know, obviously, Skywalker's attempt to revitalize the Jedi, and there was probably going to be Rey's attempt to revitalize the Jedi, but how much do you change that ideology? Yeah.
[00:26:33] Like, are you using the Jedi just as a symbol of strength and goodness, or are you using it to go back to what the Jedi were? Right, right. You know, and I think, like, Luke even kind of admits, like, you know, the Jedi had a lot of problems. Yeah. You know, I found that out in my reading. Yeah. So, I don't mind that term Force user. Yeah.
[00:27:01] Because it means to me somebody who's neither and has no training, probably, but they have the ability... To manipulate. To manipulate the Force. Yeah. I mean, I get it. I just... And then they're a Grey Jedi. Yeah. Then you have the Ahsokas. Yeah.
[00:27:27] But she, like, the problem is, like, and it's that great scene in Rebels where, you know, she's confronting Vader in the Sith Temple. And Vader's like, you know, she's telling Vader, like, I thought I knew who you were, but there's no way you're Anakin Skywalker. My master would never be this evil. And he's like, you know, Anakin Skywalker was weak and pathetic and I destroyed him.
[00:27:56] Mm-hmm. And she goes, well, I will avenge my master. Revenge is not the Jedi way. And she ignites both her lightsabers and she's like, I'm the Jedi. Yeah. And it's like, oh, shit, it's a... I mean, like, I get goosebumps just thinking about that scene because, I mean, it meant so much. Yeah. And, like, there's a great moment at the end of that fight, she hits Vader and cracks his helmet with her lightsaber. Mm-hmm.
[00:28:24] And so, like, it's the right side of his face is exposed. And then she's like, sees Anakin and she's like, you know, and for a second he's Anakin and then he's like, like, his eye turns and he's like, you know, then you shall die. And, you know, you're like, oh, shit, here we go.
[00:28:42] And Obi-Wan, that last battle, like, Vader versus Obi-Wan 2 on that planet, when Obi-Wan strikes him, he hits the left side of the helmet. Okay. As he... The left side of his... So the two most important people in Vader's life, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, they've each cracked open the helmet, but one on each side. Because neither of them had the ability to fully reveal who Anakin Skywalker was.
[00:29:13] Only his son could, who took off the full helmet. What? What? It's a metaphor. Okay. And they created it after the fact, but it's still a metaphor. When Ahsoka fought Vader and she cracked open his helmet, she cracked open the right side of the helmet. Right. When Obi-Wan fought Vader the second time at the end of the Obi-Wan series. Yeah.
[00:29:39] And he cracks open the helmet, he cracks open the left side of the helmet. Because neither one of them, even though the two most important people in Anakin's life, they were not able to fully bring back Anakin Skywalker. By just cracking open the helmet, you're exposing Anakin Skywalker. Right. It wasn't until Luke was able to take the helmet off fully was Anakin Skywalker brought back. For redemption. For redemption, right. Yeah. Yeah, I get it. That's a pretty cool metaphor. Yeah, yeah.
[00:30:09] Like the way they played, like the way Dave Filoni did it. I'm like, oh shit, you are a fucking genius. That's why I love you, man. Yeah. That was. Really like a... That fight is so fucking badass. It is. It is.
[00:30:36] And then like when Obi-Wan is just like, yeah, my friend is truly lost. Yeah. And he walks away. You're like, oh shit. Yeah. He just leaves him. Yeah. Yeah. He has a chance to kill him. But he couldn't pull the trigger. Yeah. He still couldn't. Even though he's telling... Anakin's like... You know, Vader's telling him, I killed Anakin Skywalker. I killed him. Not you. Me. And Obi-Wan's like, I can't... I still can't fucking do it.
[00:31:06] I know. I love... You are my brother and I love you too much. Yeah. Like, it's like... And it sucks. It's like, dude, you take him out right then and there. Boy! A lot of problems are solved. Yeah. I mean, a lot of problems are solved. But... I think the Emperor would have had something. That's the key. Like, you know... So who would the Emperor have found? Like, now the Emperor is searching for Luke. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, Vader's searching for Obi-Wan.
[00:31:36] But the Emperor knows Luke is out there. Yeah. Like... And that's that thing of like... Oh, okay. Yeah. So... What would the Emperor have done to try to find Luke? How would he have scoured? Like, would he have gone... You know, straight to Owen and Beru's farm and been like, yeah. We're taking the kid. You know? Yeah. Or do you think they would have got Maul? No, that was before.
[00:32:07] Well... Oh, Maul was... In the cartoons, Maul comes back. Yeah, I know. Right. And then... With his mechanical legs. With the mechanical legs. But then... At one point... He's taking over Mandalore. He has the Darksaber. And he takes over Mandalore. Maul. Maul. And his brother Savage. Uh-huh. And... The Emperor comes, kills Savage. Savage. And is like... You work for me now, motherfucker. Yeah. You are not a Sith.
[00:32:37] Don't present yourself as a Sith. You will never be a Sith. But you work for me. Yeah. You know? And... That's why... That's why... Bo-Katan in the cartoon... Comes to Ahsoka... And asks her... For the Jedi to come to Mandalore to... Usurp... Um... Maul. Yeah. And the Jedi are like... Ah... We really can't. We've got a war we're fighting. But I'll...
[00:33:07] We'll send Ahsoka in the 500 first. Yeah. So Ahsoka goes... And... This is the end of the Clone Wars cartoon. Has a badass fight with Maul. Like this is something that they actually rotoscoped. Like they got Ray Park... Mm-hmm. And I can't remember what the girl... The woman's name was. But she was Ahsoka. And they choreographed the entire fight. And rotoscoped it into like the Clone Wars cartoon. Okay.
[00:33:35] So it's like completely badass. Yeah. So she has this amazing fight... With um... With Maul. Defeats him. And they're taking him back to uh... Um... Coruscant. To stand trial. Yeah. And on the way... That's when Order 66 takes place. Okay. So all the Clone Troopers... Are now trying to kill Ahsoka. Yeah. Because they're...
[00:34:04] They still view her as a Jedi. Even though she's not. She's walked away from the Jedi Order. Yeah. And... Um... She ends up surviving Order 66. Maul gets away. And she ends up surviving Order 66. And it's her and Captain Rex. And like at the end of it... Like the ship crash lands on this planet they were on. And... And...
[00:34:33] Her and Rex bury all the Clone Troopers. But like if they're helmets on like crosses and stuff. It's like it's this beautiful scene. And Ahsoka drops the lightsabers and walks away. And like it cuts. And it's like this like winter. And you see like these like TIE fighters in the air. And this uh... Imperial shuttle lands. And Vader gets off. And... Because it's like you know... Well we found the ship that Ahsoka was on. And like...
[00:35:02] Vader walks to where the... Remaining of the uh... Like the crosses are and stuff. And he finds her lightsaber. He ignites it. And he looks up. And like in the red... Is this... They're portraying with like the red lenses for the eyes. Yeah. And you can see behind the red lenses the eyes of Anakin Skywalker. Oh really? Like it's like so badass. And it's just like... It's those little moments that like Dave Filoni put together. In like these cartoons and these TV series. Like everything he did.
[00:35:32] Like with the fight between Ahsoka and Vader. And like everything he puts together. It's like... Fuck. This guy just fucking gets it. Like he does. Like it's like wow. You know? Yeah. It's like shit like that I love. Yeah. Vader. Vader. But um... So I watched that. I watched the Skellen Crew finale.
[00:36:02] Mm-hmm. Um... The season two finale of Silo I watched. Okay. And boy was that a mind fuck. Yeah? Yeah. Why? Well because like it's... Okay. So everything you've been told in this show... Okay. Like is... You know... For however many years ago...
[00:36:33] Something happened on Earth. And the Earth was no longer habitable. And these silos... The silo was built. Okay. And it holds 10,000 people. And you have to control the population. And... You know like... There's all this like... Everything that goes on... If you ask to go outside... You're sentencing yourself to death. Okay. Nobody can go outside. You go outside... You have to wear a special suit. Eventually the special suit fails you...
[00:37:03] Because the air is so toxic... And you fall over and die. And then... In season one... People are disputing that. There's a... There's a recording found... Of somebody who did go outside... And it's actually... Beautiful out. It's like... There's nothing wrong. What we're seeing on the view screen... Is wrong. Okay. It's not right. And... So... The main character, Juliet... Mm-hmm.
[00:37:32] She gets sent outside... And she thinks everything's gonna be fine... But it turns out it's not. Like... Whatever that recording is... Is a lie. Okay. And... She ends up... But she ends up surviving... And she walks away from the silo. Okay. In season two... Because she actually walked over the hill... And disappeared... Uh-huh. It causes chaos. Okay. And like...
[00:38:01] All hell's breaking up. So the entire time... This is all happening... Like you're in this... Like... Wow. This is... Things are bad. And then like... At the end of... The end of the last episode... It's like the season finale... You have this moment... Where you're like... Oh... Okay. That's... Ooh. That's... Okay. And it cuts. And now all of a sudden... You're in modern day Washington, D.C. Okay.
[00:38:30] And they're talking about... There was a dirty bomb... Like... Like... It... Whatever happened at the... Those last ten minutes... Threw me the fuck off... Because like... I'm guessing it's a flashback... But... Like... I don't understand why they did it... And it like completely just fucked with me. Okay. And I'm like... I don't understand why we're doing this... But...
[00:38:58] Now I have to wait for season three... Probably a year from now... And... I... Like... I'm gonna buy the books... That's just the end of it... I'm going to buy the fucking books... And read them. Okay. Because I have to know what the fuck is going on. Right. You know... And I saw like... I was looking on Twitter... I was like... Man, I hope somebody can explain this shit to me... And somebody on Twitter wrote... Watch the season... Watch the season two finale of Silo... As somebody who read the books... It was perfect. Perfect. I'm like... Oh, great. I gotta get the books now.
[00:39:28] I have to. Right, right. Like, you know... Okay. I'm in. But... I wasn't... I enjoyed the shit out of season two. Like... Yeah. I enjoyed it a lot. And... Like... I... I'm not gonna get on to say it's the best thing on TV... Because it probably isn't. But... It's really, really good. I enjoy it. I... I really, really enjoyed that show. Yeah. It's an Apple TV show. And I think Apple... I... I think Apple...
[00:39:56] If you're somebody who's like a big streaming service person... I would highly recommend subscribing to Apple... Because they have a lot of shows... That I think deserve more attention. Okay. Like this show does. Like... I... I think this... This show should be watched by more people. And like... I hate to be like a show like... But... You really should subscribe to Apple TV to watch this. You know... I mean... Everybody's heard about Ted Lasso and how good that was. Um... You have... Uh...
[00:40:26] The Morning Show... Which is a very... A very, very good show. Which has won awards. Uh... Foundation. I've really enjoyed Foundation as a... As a... A nerd. Um... I'm... I'm re-watching... Well, I'm not sure to say re-watching... Because I only watched a couple of episodes. But I'm watching Sea... Which stars Jason Momoa. Mm-hmm. And that's a show about the future where... Mankind is blind. Yeah. I've heard... I... Yeah. I mean... Everybody's blind in that show. You know... Mm-hmm. Except for...
[00:40:57] People who are considered witches. Like... It's... It's a really good show. Like... I... I got through Season 1... And I enjoyed the fuck out of Season 1. Mm-hmm. Like... You know... I'm... I'll... After you leave, I'm gonna go start watching Season 2. Right. You know... Like... It was just that good. Um... They have another show called Shrinkage with... With... Has... Harrison Ford. It's about... Psychology. It's like... Psychologists. Mm-hmm. That looks very good. I think that's won awards.
[00:41:28] Severance. Which just started Season 2. I need to watch that because it looks very good. Like... They have a lot of really, really good shows. Okay. And I feel like... That is a... A streaming service which... It's not as popular. But it should be because what they're putting out from a programming standpoint... The shows that they're creating... Mm-hmm. Are first rate. They look phenomenal. And they do... They're telling very interesting stories. Okay. And that... Like I...
[00:41:58] Again, I hate to shill for them. You know... Because I think... Apple doesn't need any more money. Right. But at the same time, for our followers, our listeners... If you don't have Apple TV... I recommend you get it because you will get your money's worth. Yeah. Like that... That's key to any streaming service. Especially if you're somebody who's cut the cord. Can you get your money's worth out of this? And my answer is yes. Yes. Because they put out enough good stuff...
[00:42:25] That you will definitely enjoy what you're watching. Yeah. That's good. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I haven't gotten it. No. And I'm not saying... I'm not blaming you for not getting it. But I... Like if you're somebody who is... You're looking for something. Yeah. Like man, I'm looking for something to do. I want to see something different. Something that's not on... You know... Yeah. Max or Netflix. Or whatever else. Mm-hmm. These shows on Apple TV...
[00:42:54] You're going to get your money's worth out of them. Okay. All like... They do put out some very, very good programming. It's very, very... Interesting what their strategy has been. And... I definitely think... You know... If you're somebody who's looking for something different... You'll get your money's worth out of these shows. Yeah. Okay. And I... I wish I was rooting for a little guy. You know what I mean? Like... Yeah. I wish I could say... Man, this is this time... Tiny little streaming service... But boy, do they got some good shit.
[00:43:23] No, it's Apple. Yeah. You know... A multi-kajillion dollar company. But... It's... It's... It's well worth the price of admission, in my opinion. Okay. Yeah. So... I guess we should give a memoriam... To... And I should eat some shit. From the Steeler game last week. You know... Boy, was I wrong! I don't know.
[00:43:56] They did not fucking show up. Didn't even look like they were playing football. I... I think the... The frustrating thing is... Like... And everybody was like... Oh, Lamar... You know... You bad mouth Lamar... And he did this and this and this. And I mean... He was able to do all that because they were keying on... Derrick Henry. Yeah. Like...
[00:44:22] If you watch any previous Steelers-Ravens game with Lamar Jackson... They do a great job of contain. Yeah. Like... They're not... Trying to create holes. They're trying to keep him in rush lanes. They're trying to keep him in the pocket... And collapse that pocket on him. Yeah. Like... Don't let him get outside. Don't let him... You know... Get away. Yeah. Keep him contained.
[00:44:50] Force him to make plays from the pocket... Which he doesn't do very well. Yeah. Well... Now that you have Derrick Henry who ran for 160-some yards... The last time you played him... Yeah. They were no longer keeping that contained. Yeah. Like... Like... The criticism was... Well, TJ Watt tackled a running back who didn't have the paw... How many times? Well, that's because that was his key. Crashed the line of scrimmage to stop the run.
[00:45:20] Yeah. And when they didn't... That's when Derrick Henry ran off... And he ran for like 200 fucking yards. Yeah. You know... Like... It was like... A damned if you do... D damned if you don't situation... Like... And... Don't get me wrong... I can point out... Nine other players who... Looked atrocious. Like... The only player I give a pass to is gonna be Cam Hayward. And even then... He didn't look that good either. Yeah.
[00:45:50] But you give him a pass because he's Cam Hayward. Yeah. Like... Superfan Thad writes in... He talks about like... It was 100 and some odd... 160 snaps... Like... Three... Four games where TJ Watt hasn't like... Got a snap... A single statistic. Yeah. And... Like... You're right. Like... Yeah. TJ hasn't played well the last few games. Like... I wouldn't trade away TJ Watt because of that. Right. Like... He had a bad streak of games. Yeah.
[00:46:20] Like... One of the best defensive players in the game still. You know... Yeah. One of the best edge rushers in the game. Just cause he had a bad stretch does not mean you get rid of him. Right. You know what I mean? Um... But like... He needs to play better. Um... Patrick Queen looked like trash. Yeah. And he's played very well in my opinion. Yeah. But that game... Looked like shit. Yeah. You know... Um...
[00:46:47] The guys just not giving effort. Like... That one play... Like they had this... I think it was a third and twenty. Micah got the guy who was trying to strip the ball and nobody ran to the ball. Like... Like... Micah's trying to strip the ball holding the guy up. He's still moving forward. Nobody converged to make a tackle. Right. Like... And it was like... That's not Steeler football. Right. That's not defensive football 101. Right. Like... If somebody's being held up, you run to hit them. Yeah.
[00:47:17] You know what I mean? Like... And nobody did that. Like... It... And then on the offensive side of the ball, like... They did nothing. Yeah. Like there was nothing there. Yeah. I know. Like they ran the ball for a total of 29 yards. Sick. You know... So... Like... Yeah. They looked horrible. And...
[00:47:46] Like for all the people who were like, oh, Mike Tallman's got to go. This is... I understand your point. Like... Eight... Eight years with no playoff win. You know... 0-6 in that time period. And then you look at also like... Like every single one of those games, blown the fuck out. Yeah. And there's a part of me that's like, man, yeah, maybe we do need a different voice in the room. Maybe you need something different.
[00:48:15] But then there's that part of me that's like, oh, okay. What's the next guy you hire is, you know... Tom Cable. Hmm. What's the next guy you hire is, you know... Chudzinski, who coached the Browns for a year. What's the next guy you hire is... You know... Adam Gase. Like, you know... Like... There... It's tough. Like... I understand people think, well, you can't live in fear. You have to... You try.
[00:48:45] But... Like, well, I want to win Super Bowls. Well, I want to go to the championships. Well, I... You know... I want to win playoff games. There's a part of me that's like... At least you're not the Browns. Right. At least you're not the Jets. Right. You know? Yeah. Those are two franchises that are perpetually... You know... Spitting. You know... There's never any... You know...
[00:49:17] The Browns' greatest success was they got a playoff victory over the Steelers. When they had Baker Mayfield. Right. You know? Like, it's stuff like that that I kind of... I look at and I go like... You know, I need Mike Tallman to change. I need Mike Tallman to kind of sit there and say... Okay, well we... We need a new defensive coordinator. Terrell Austin isn't getting it done. Right. You know? So you bring maybe a guy like Robert Sala.
[00:49:46] Who is a very good defensive mind. He got fired from the Jets as the head coach. But he's still... When he was in San Francisco and even his Jets defenses were still very, very good. Yeah. You bring in a guy like Robert Sala. Give him full control. Don't interfere. Don't try to be the de facto defensive coordinator. You let him run the defense. Yeah. You know? And then you go and you... Like...
[00:50:09] As much as I wanted Arthur Smith to succeed, that offense looked bad. Yeah. You know? You need to go find a smart... Like, who's the quarterback's coach in Detroit? Who's been studying under Ben Johnson? Let's bring that guy in. Yeah. You know? Go hire him to be your offensive coordinator. Maybe you lose him in two years. But guess what? I'll bet your offense improves. Yeah.
[00:50:38] And then finally, and the most important point, and many people have pointed this out, you need to solidify the quarterback position. Yeah. Like, I love... I was always indifferent to Russell Wilson. I thought maybe he was a bit of a goof. But I love Russell Wilson. Like, to... Much the same way I would run through a wall if Tim Tebow was my quarterback. Yeah. I would probably run through a wall for Russell Wilson if he was my quarterback. Yeah.
[00:51:07] The guy's a leader. Yeah. Like, you know, I love that about him. But he's washed. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like... And... Justin Fields, I still don't know. Like, he played good for six games. Yeah. Like, I can't deny that. He played much better than I thought I would. Than I thought he would. But still, it was Kenny Pinkett-esque. Yeah. You know? Yeah.
[00:51:37] Making just enough plays. Not throwing the big interception. Like, he... That's what Justin Fields gave you. The thing he had over Kenny Pinkett was there were a few plays he made with his legs where you're like, oh, okay, that's nice. Yeah. But I don't know if he is a professional NFL quarterback. Yeah. You know? And... But... There's nobody in free agency you're going to bring in who's going to solve that problem. Right.
[00:52:07] Like... I... Maybe you sign Fields to a two-year deal and you let this team tank. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you've got to... But at some point, you have to address the quarterback position. You have to get a quarterback of the future and you have to get that guy. Right. Like... And... I don't even know who that guy is right now. Right. You know?
[00:52:36] Even looking at the quarterbacks, like... You know, maybe it's the guy at Notre Dame. If he doesn't go back to... I think he's a junior. I think he can go back for one more year. Like, everybody's talking about Drew Aller from Penn State. But after watching him shit the bed against Notre Dame, I don't think I'd want him. Yeah. You know? I just... Like, I don't know. Like, this quarterback draft is not that good.
[00:53:03] Like, when Shador Sanders is like, you know, oh, he should be the number one overall pick in the draft. Like, he's not that good. Yeah. Yeah. You know? Like, the next couple of years of quarterback drafts, I don't look at and go, yeah, that's the future right there. Yeah. So, like, they are in a conundrum. Like, they are. They put themselves in that conundrum when they got both the quarterbacks out.
[00:53:33] But they also put themselves in that conundrum by finishing the way they do every year. Yeah. Like, it is hard to find the quarterback. And people will say, well, you can do it. Well, sure. Yeah. But how often does, like, that quarterback in the future last until pick 18, 19, 20, 21? Yeah. Like, they don't. So, now you're drafting a guy in the second round you're hoping can develop.
[00:54:00] Like, there's a reason why guys go in the second and third round and not the first. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, because nobody believes that that guy is the guy. Right. Like, you spend equity to get the guy. Yeah. There are exceptions to the rule. Russell Wilson's one. Yeah. Like, I think he was a third round draft pick. You know? Like, you can, yes, you can find that guy, but you've got to get lucky when you find that guy.
[00:54:32] Sure. And also, like, in a situation like that, you also have to have, you also have to have the pieces around them. Right. And right now, that wide receiver room is in shambles. Yeah. Like... There is nobody. There is nobody. And, like, I love, like, a superfan Thad's write-in. Let me pull this up here, because this made me laugh.
[00:55:08] I find it funny you do not agree with me about getting rid of Pickens, but when you read the news, media reports show that they are ready to move on. Shows I know more than you two bozos. Thad, you ignorant slut. Just last week, I said I agree with you. Ian agreed with you. He is a cancer. He is a problem. They need to let him go.
[00:55:37] Like, I wholeheartedly agree that George Pickens is a problem. He clearly doesn't have the... He stood there after the season, like, on pack-up day. And he's like, well, have you seen improvement in the office? He's like, yeah, I've seen some improvement. Like, do you have hope for the office? I'm like, no, not really. Like, okay. Let's show you the door. Yeah.
[00:56:04] Like, I agreed with you last week, but you're telling me that we didn't. So, I don't know if you listened to the show or not. Right. You know what I mean? Like, all the talent in the world, but he's a fucking head case. Yeah. And in all honesty, in all honesty, it makes me wish we had Juju Smith-Schuster back. Yeah. Like, sure, he liked dancing on TikTok, and that was annoying. But you know what? He wasn't a head case.
[00:56:34] Right. He just liked being... Just liked having fun. Yeah. Huge difference. Yeah. You know? Huge difference. Huge difference. I was bummed when we got rid of him. Like, I was. I hate the TikTok stuff. I wish, like, you wouldn't do it. Like, especially, like, dancing on the logo and shit. Like, that stuff was annoying. Like, don't do that. Yeah. No better.
[00:57:01] But at the same time, like, Juju Smith-Schuster is the man who laid on Vontaze Perfect. Yeah. And stood over him. Like, there's a lot to love about Juju. Was he a top... Was he a number one receiver? No. He needed a number one because he was a good number two. But still... Man, I miss that kid. Yeah. You know? I forgot about that Perfect thing. Oh. I'll never forget that. Like, when he laid on Perfect and stood over him, like, I was like, oh, shit.
[00:57:30] That's Heinz Ward-esque. Yeah. You know? So, I don't know what's going to happen with the Steelers. It's... You know, Mike Tomlin has his press conference. Like, you know, we're going to make wholesale changes at every level. Ain't shit been done. Yeah. Like, if you come out on a press conference on a Tuesday and say that, by Wednesday, people should have been fired. Yeah. Terrell Austin should have been fired. Yeah.
[00:57:58] The offensive line coach should have been fired because that offensive line got worse as the season went on. Yeah. Broderick Jones, who had a very, very good rookie season, regressed in season two. Yeah. Who was at the fault of the offensive line coach? Yeah. Like, how does that guy regress? Right. It makes no sense to me. Like, and people are like, oh, he stinks. He's like, well, he stinks this year. Yes, but as a rookie, he was phenomenal. Yeah.
[00:58:27] We all loved him as a rookie. Yeah, we did. We wanted to replace Dan. Like, how is Dan Moore Jr. your best offensive lineman? Like, really? Yeah. That's not possible. So, I mean... It's one of those things where, like, at the end of the day, like, I would be on the
[00:58:55] phone with Mike Munchak right now. Like, hey, I know you left us that. You had things to do in Denver with your family. That's all taken care of now. You're no longer working in Denver. Come home. Yeah. It's time to come home. You know? Yeah. Be our offensive line coach again. Yeah. You know, because when Mike Munchak was the offensive line coach, that offensive line was phenomenal. Yeah. You know? And you've got talent there. You've got Frazier at center.
[00:59:25] I mean, you've got the guard. He's actually had a very good rookie season. You've got the kid who was on IR all year. That's why. And brought... There's talent there. Like, you have the guys to put together a phenomenal offensive line. Yeah. It's just you've got to get somebody teaching them how to be offensive linemen. And that's Mike Munchak. Like, Mike Munchak would have that line just humming. Yeah.
[00:59:55] We'll see. I just... I don't think anything's going to change, though. Like, I think Mike... Mike Tallman is the fact of defensive coordinator. They've gone from...
[01:00:09] Once LeBeau left, they went from that zone coverage, like zone blitzing, to being a cover one, cover two man system. Yeah. Like, your big... One of the big complaints you had in the game was, late in the game, players... Like, receivers were open.
[01:00:39] That's because they were living in so much fear of the running game, they went to zone coverage. And so, like, Joey Porter Jr. was at one play. Joey Porter Jr. was, like, eight yards off the guy. But it was because he was in a specific zone and wasn't able to react until the ball was in the air. And that's going to create a completion. Like, and it's all because they went from being man-to-man to zone because they were living in so much fear of the running game at that point. Right.
[01:01:09] And that's what you do because now you want everybody's eyes in the backfield. Right. You know, like, when you're man-to-man, you're watching your man. Yeah. And so, if somebody breaks a run, you could miss it because you're covering somebody. Right. Where if you're zone, everybody's got their eyes in the backfield watching the quarterback and reacting to what the quarterback's doing. Yeah. You're not playing the man, you're playing the quarterback. Yeah.
[01:01:34] And that's what they had to go and do because they wanted to see, like, you know, okay, well, if they're going to run the ball, if here comes Derrick Henry, we want you to see it so you can step up and make a tackle. Yeah. So, in that situation, now you're no longer covering a man so he can run an eight-yard hook and be wide open because I'm watching a zone, not a man. Yeah.
[01:01:58] So, but they went away. Well, that's fine. Like, you can go to, like, a cover one, cover two, you know, man game. You can do that. I've got no problem with that. But you've got to do something with the front seven. Yeah. Because they're a problem. I know.
[01:02:26] You know, and, like, you went away from stuff like one of Dick LeBeau's signature blitzes was, and I don't think they ran it a single time this year. Dick LeBeau had the signature blitz with the two inside linebackers where they would both blitz and they would cross. Right.
[01:02:50] Like, and I can't tell you how many times you would see, like, the guy who got injured hurt his head hurt his neck. Oh. Oh. I know you. Yeah. But, like, even before that, like, that was a blitz that constantly caused pressure. It constantly caused problems for teams. They didn't run it a single time this year. Yeah. I guarantee you they didn't run it a single time.
[01:03:19] They were letting those linebackers sit back and play man. Yeah. And, I don't know, something's got to change. We'll see. Yeah. I don't know what is going to change. Nothing. Nothing is going to change. It's like that year, I can't remember who they lost to, but then Tomlin came out and said, you know, in December we're going to bring hell. And they lost three straight games.
[01:03:49] One of them I was at with you. Yeah, yeah. That Raider game. Yeah. Like I said, where's hell? I thought hell was coming. Yeah. You know, no. I got Gronkowski out there who played, like, Connecticut, I think. He's out there throwing dimes. Yeah, yeah. So I'm like, what the fuck? So.
[01:04:17] All right. Anything to add to the proceedings there, sir? No, that's it. I'm good. All right. Remember, there are a number of different ways you can reach out and touch us. You can send us an email, like Thad does each and every week. The email address is PittsburghNerd at Yahoo.com. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. Just search Pittsburgh Nerd. We're very, very easy to find. And we are on a number of podcasting networks. You can find us on the Tangent Bound Network, the Weed Be Geeks Network, and the Pod Breed Network.
[01:04:46] Just give them a Google search. You can find all the other great podcasts they have to offer. And lastly, as always, I want to thank you, dear listener, for taking the time to check us out each and every week. We can't thank you enough for your support. And on that note, the Dreamer has awakened. Peace.