New episode out now! He is vengeance. He is the night. He’s Batman! We have our first encounter with the Dark Knight in 1993’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and listeners, Mack is excited. Seriously, he’s like a Batman encyclopedia! We learn about the origins of the animated series that gave way to the film, discuss the iconic and game-changing animation style that only half of us noticed, and rave over the brilliant voice acting by Kevin Conroy and the Joker himself, Mark Hamill. We discuss different iterations of both Batman and the Joker and judge how the animated series stacked up. (Spoiler alert: Hamill may be the best one?) We also really enjoy how sassy Alfred is, think that Andrea calling out Bruce Wayne’s self-destructing tortured-man tendencies is very refreshing, critique Batman's detective work, and wonder why Gotham has so many dilapidated warehouses and amusement parks but somehow the municipal government has high rise offices. Katy shares a Girl Scout camp story, Carrie appreciates a good voice note recorder, Maddy comes up with a new tagline, and Mack just—really knows a lot about Batman. We also collectively share a surprising knowledge about various world’s fairs, learn that cartoon code for “we had sex” is one person wearing the other's shirt while thinking on a balcony, and we all try out a voice acting technique by imitating our favorite cartoon laughs. And don't worry - there’s also plenty of Batman impressions. Starting literally 60 seconds in. Enjoy! 

Show Corrections/Notes:

New episode out now! We took our first foray into the world of Midsomer Murders with the series three episode “Judgement Day”. We discuss the traditional high body count in Midsomer County murder cases, complain about the slightly confusing timeline, create actual suspect lists, try to psychoanalyze the murderer, and extensively discuss young Orlando Bloom. We get into the show’s dark humor and longevity, as well as the whitewashed portrayal of English country life. Katy complains about her coworker, Carrie gives relationship advice, Maddy gets lost in men’s names, and Mack shares his weird allergies. We also wonder if just everyone has racist dolls, tear apart late ’90s fashion, discuss how the attractiveness of actors can take away from the story, hate on the Charmin bears, share church festival memories, and reveal who among us loves the theremin. Enjoy!

TW: Racism, accidental disfigurement, the police, laboratory animal research

Show Notes:

New episode out now! We have our first podcast encounter with the famous teenage sleuth in 1938’s Nancy Drew...Detective. We discuss the literary origins and evolution of the character, how the film took liberties in order to fit into 1930s Hollywood, how annoying it is that practically nobody listens to women, and the surprisingly equal relationship between Nancy and her dad. Katy shares Wikipedia facts, Carrie resents Nancy’s perfection, Maddy hates the Mid-Atlantic accent, and Mack tells a truly terrible joke. We get into the logistics of carrier pigeons, have multiple tangents about medical history, argue about amateur photo developing, and try to decide if emotional manipulation is okay if you’re a victim of a patriarchal system. We also discuss 1980s diet culture, weird military tactics, Shrek, and 19th century lithotomy. Give it a listen!

TW: Animal cruelty, disturbing medical history

Show Links:

Nancy Drew...Detective Synopsis on TCM

New episode! We cover 2007’s Zodiac directed by David Fincher, which somehow ended up in the mystery tin even though it is depicting real people and events. But we watched it anyway because it is good! We discuss the excellent atmosphere of the film, created by the music, cars, costumes, props, colors, cinematography, styling, and constant, constant smoking. We also get into the amazing group of actors and how they don’t age, wonder how Graysmith’s evidence would hold up in court, discuss the depiction of mundanity in life and criminal investigation, and realize that it’s a whole movie of back and forth dialogue that was paced so well it held our attention the whole 162 minute run time. Katy annoys everyone by doing too much research for not being the host, Carrie misses being in an office, Maddy gets offended over Adventure Time, and Mack does a pretty good John Mulaney impression. We also get very disturbed by Palpatine imagery, are slightly annoyed about the Disney shareholder meeting announcements, spoil some Batman comic storylines, really wish that this case was solved, and wonder if the 1970s ruined everything from hitchhiking to picnics. And yes, we mention T*d Cr*z.

TW: Serial murder, animal abuse, child endangerment

Note: We did wonder how this got into the mystery tin as it is fully based on and depicting real crimes, people, and investigations; this is the first and most likely last time we will cover something depicting wholly true events.

Show Links:

Oh my glob it’s a new episode! We watched two episodes of Adventure Time, S2E19 “Mystery Train” and S3E12 “The Creeps” and it was mathematical! We discuss how the episodes play up the typical mystery tropes, the bizonkers-ness of Finn’s potential solutions, the influences of Agatha Christie and Clue, and how Finn should really deal with his trauma. We get into the whole series a little (so spoiler alert!), talk about the voice acting industry and some of the recent racial reckoning, discuss how we like the darker themes the show explores, and quote Lumpy Space Princess. Like, a LOT. Katy steals a joke from Bones, Carrie’s screech laugh makes an appearance, Maddy shares her favorite line from the entire show, and Mack calls out Chevy Chase. We also try out Boston accents (badly), make references to a number of '90s TV shows, discuss some very old shared family mp3s, try to come up with our own mystery party names, praise fart jokes, and yell into the microphones. (Sorry). It’s lumping fun! Algebraic!

TW: Racism

New episode out now! We watched the pilot episode of Riverdale, and wow did we have some problems with it! We discuss the CW’s penchant for adapting outside properties into “young, dark, and sexy” content and how that is often problematic, and how while two of us have watched more than one season we barely remember anything because it gets so convoluted. We do cover the awful inclusion of statutory rape, don’t like how the teens are unnecessarily sexualized, decide that the producers are not “woke” for calling themselves out on their cliché writing choices, and discuss who is actually writing this show and for what audience. We do admire the production design and talk about the Twin Peaks vibes it starts with, but ultimately land on the fact that it’s essentially just (bad) Archie fanfiction. Katy steals a joke and then owns up to it, Carrie gets triggered by the portrayal of the publishing industry, Maddy works on her voice acting, and Mack has a deep, deep well of rage inside himself. We aso wonder why Gen Z references Woody Allen movies, pitch a dark Teletubbies law drama, get confused by what MSG is, call out The Little Mermaid’s irresponsible behavior, reminisce about high school, and come to the conclusion that nobody’s really having a great time in Riverdale. Turns out teens doing sexy things makes us uncomfortable! Does that mean we’re old? Anyway, give it a listen! There’s something for everyone? 

SERIES SPOILERS

TW: Underage sex, statutory rape, incest

We’ve reached into the (open) vault to repost a classic episode! Our producer had a last minute hardware malfunction and a new episode is not available at this time, so we decided to share an older fun one! Recorded February 2018 and originally posted February 2020, it’ll take you back in time for sure. Barring any more complications we should be back in two weeks with a brand new episode for your listening pleasure!

REPOST: We talk about the original Hot Priest (ok vicar) as we cover the pilot episode of Grantchester. We do interchange ‘priest’ with ‘vicar’ and ‘reverend’ so be prepared for that; we can’t help our past indoctrination. We discuss swearing in front of our parents, pitch a new tv show (with great titles), speculate about what is in a Victoria sponge, and again, talk about how great dogs are. Katy is still pretending to know more about British TV than she does, Carrie longs to take a brisk chilly walk in an English field, Maddy hashtags in real life, and Mack gives a Skype performance for the ages. We also get confused by pronunciations, try to report crimes to Alexa, talk extensively about hot older people, debate if Amanda is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl and discuss the changing rate of crimes solved through the decades. Maddy tries a Tim Allen impression and Carrie owes Katy a quarter—it’s a fun one! Go live your best life Chris Evans!

TW: Suicide, sex workers and outdated terms, beheading

BAM! We’re back! New regular episode is out today! We watched S3E11 of the original Hawaii Five-O, “Over Fifty? Steal”, and mostly enjoyed it! We discussed how the theme song entered our consciousness as children, how this show probably influenced the modern procedural and “copaganda” shows, the surprisingly small amount of overt racism for it being 1970, and how we loved the cleverness of the thief and think he may have had the right idea? Katy just had to mention Jack Lord’s appearance in Bond, Carrie enjoyed the raw power of the rowers in the credits, Maddy lets us in on her retirement plan, and Mack busts out a card from Pirates of the Caribbean Monopoly. We realized Matilda taught us everything we know about odometers, think Benedict Cumberbatch may be an Animorph, share childhood toy box memories, and learned that Carrie is wrong sometimes? We also read Wikipedia information about DNA evidence, serial numbers, and royal palaces. Book ‘em, Danno! (Is that right?)

TW: American healthcare system, racism, copaganda

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! It’s the last of four brand new episodes along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Crack The Casemas!

Crack the Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993 where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. We’re finally putting our detective skills to the test!

Mack hosts week four, where we talk about Christmas werewolves, minimum wage, and The Little Mermaid. Katy snaps in excitement, Carrie points out something obvious on the cards, Maddy couldn’t stand living with us, and Mack remembers Encarta. We also sing a wonderful holiday interlude!

Give it a listen! Let us know if YOU solve it before we do!