Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are most of the way down the tracks on the riveting HBO Sunday night drama, Task. In this episode, the guys begin with non-spoiler thoughts on the show for anyone who may not have watched yet or gotten up-to-date. Then, they go through the key storylines through the first five episodes of the show, and offer thoughts on the final two episodes to come. 

SHOW RUNDOWN

:30 Intro
NON-SPOILER ZONE
3:00 Initial thoughts on Task as a whole so far
6:00 Showrunner Brad Ingelsby, comps to Mare of Easttown
10:00 An appreciation of the consequences of action in Task
2:00 Basic show set-up 16:00 Exploring the secondary characters
18:45 Chris’ thoughts on the portrayal of the biker gang Dark Hearts
22:00 Is Maeve the show’s emotional center?
SPOILER ZONE
26:30 Talking about episode five
27:45 Where the Heat-to-Task comparison fails
32:30 Discussion of the mole within the task force
37:00 the use of religion in Task
42:00 Is Task a little too writer-y, or just right for HBO Sunday night?
45:00 predictions for the final two episodes
51:00 Is the Sam storyline over with? 
52:45 What We’re Watching

Craig and Chris are again joined by Ken Gartin to go through the finale of Alien: Earth. Two of our three panelists were really let down by the finale, while one saw the promise for future seasons. What did you think? Email the show at [email protected]! 

SHOW NOTES

:30 Intro
3:00 Initial thoughts on the season one finale
10:30 The deathpool that wasn’t
14:45 how does a season finale wind up so static?
20:00 Is Sydney overpowered?
26:00 What is the extent of the Eyeball’s abilities?
31:30 Has Alien: Earth made the Xenomorph too tame?
39:30 Has the finale changed your opinion of the season as a whole?
51:30 What We’re Watching

Ken Gartin returns to join Craig and Chris and review the middle portion (episodes 3-6) of FX's Alien:Earth. The guys thought it would be a shorter episode, but nope! Too much fun breaking down all the plot twists and possibilities for the endgame. 

SHOW NOTES/TIME CODES

:30 Intro, show set-up
1:45 initial thoughts from everyone on where Alien:Earth stands right now
5:30 getting into episode 3
10:00 Sydney’s brand-new power of Alien language
15:00 The Eye is the smartest character on the show?
18:00 Episode 4, the Nibs situation—and the question of humanity
24:00 Episode 5, Noah Hawley’s take on the OG Alien movie
36:00 Episode 6, key plot points, who will the Eye jump into next?
40:00 the endgame of season one kicks off in episode 6’s final act
44:30 what is Kirsh up to and why is he letting things happen?
47:30 Is this Alien:Earth, or Alien:Island? There are too few people
54:30 Craig’s guess on how the show will end
1:08:30 What’s Ken Watching?

Craig and Chris have two episodes to bring you on the Crossing Streams feed this week! First up, a look at two comedies in full swing, Platonic (season two now on AppleTV+) and The Paper (all episodes streaming on Peacock). Chris appears on episode 6 of Platonic season two and tells the story of his day on set, plus much more! 

TIME CUES

:30 Intro
3:00 housekeeping/show set-up
5:30 Platonic—premise of the show
6:30 Opening thoughts on Platonic
13:30 season two storylines
19:00 Chris’ story of his day on Platonic (S2E6)
21:30 Did it make sense for Will to back out of his marriage to Jenna?
26:15 the very-funny Jeopardy arc, and great guest casting
31:30 The Paper, why dropped as a binge model?
34:00 Playing off & recycling the model of The Office
39:00 Do we like The Paper so far?
42:30 Thoughts on Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore
48:00 is the mockumentary format overplayed?
52:45 What We’re Watching

Ken Gartin makes his triumphant return to the Crossing Streams feed to lead our discussion of the brand-new FX series, "Alien: Earth". Chris Reed had NEVER watched any Alien content, so he's in for a spooky surprise! Later in the show, Craig and Chris go through the explosive finale of Smoke (on AppleTV+) and talk about how the show has gone under the radar of a lot of fans and reviewers. 

SHOW NOTES

• :30 Intro, welcome Ken Gartin
• 2:00 Chris is an Alien newbie, Ken’s seen it all
• 6:15 Broad thoughts on Alien Earth so far
• 12:30 Alien Earth plot overview as set-up
• 19:30 Noah Hawley puts his stamp on iconic IP, does it work? 
• 25:00 Performance of Sydney Chandler as Wendy
• 29:30 Quibbles: plot armor and a Xenomorph problem
• 37:00 Morrow is a badass, and the rest of main characters
• 41:30 Where do we see Alien Earth going the rest of the season
• 47:45 Smoke Finale opening thoughts: this show should be better-rated than it is
• 52:15 Jurnee Smollett’s performance as Detective Calderone
• 55:30 Calderone breaking bad
• 1:00:00 This was a REALLY satisfying season finale
• 1:09:45 What We’re Watching

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed review and compare a couple of summer mystery series: "Untamed" from Netflix, and "Smoke" on AppleTV+. The guys do non-spoiler reviews and recommendations before doing brief spoiler sections for both shows. They wrap up with "What We're Watching" with some more recommendations and a setup for episode #250

TIME CODES

:30  Intro
5:30 Untamed non-spoiler review
26:00 Untamed mini-spoiler section
40:00 Smoke non-spoiler review
49:00  Smoke mini-spoiler section (only spoiling through three episodes)
57:30 What We’re Watching, next episode preview

SHOW NOTES

:30--intro
2:00--housekeeping/listener e-mail
5:00--the decades-long history of The Eternaut in Argentina
10:00--The Eternaut NON-SPOILER review begins
18:00--the excellent Ricardo Darín in the lead role
26:45--SPOILER review

SHOW NOTES/TIME CODES

• :30--Intro
• 3:00--listener e-mails ([email protected])
• 9:20--Murderbot Season Finale talk (spoilers)
• 14:30--Poker Face Season 2 final overview
• 17:00--favorite episodes and guest stars
• 23:30--do we like putting Charlie back on the road?
• 27:30--welcome Raphie Cantor
• 29:00--getting involved with Poker Face, working with Rian Johnson
• 43:00--how does the writers room match senses of humor and style?
• 50:00--creating the Alex/Iguana arc
• 58:30--getting promoted to staff writer, creating the concepts for episode 10
• 1:04:15--Guest star interactions on set
• 1:08:00--What We're Watching

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are back with one of the longer episodes in show history, because they've got a LOT to say about Squid Game Season 3! 

SHOW NOTES

Welcome/housekeeping/email/5-star reviews

SQUID GAME 3

• Why is Squid Game the most popular IP in Netflix history? (8:30)
• From original to franchise to game/video game, Squid Game loses its meaning as a thing of horror
• What did we like about Squid Game 2/3?
• Was the final season (split in two) too long of a slog? (29:00)
• Specific show critiques of Season 3 (42:00)
• Setting up a US spin-off of Squid Game, do we need this? (56:30)

DUSTER CANCELED AFTER ONE SEASON (1:07:30)

• Finale thoughts
• Canceled by HBO Max…(it might have been for the best)

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

• A recommendation of Netflix's Argentinian sci-fi show The Eternaut (1:19:00)

Craig and Chris turn the stove all the way up for a complete Season 4 review of The Bear on FX! First, the guys do a non-spoiler look at the season and the series as a whole, including the news of a fifth season on order. Then (32:30), a spoiler-filled look at the fourth season, standout episodes and performances, whether or not we buy the conclusion as presented, and what the show could still do with a fifth season. 

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