Still serving out their probationary exile from the precinct, The Movie Gumshoes remain stuck manning the police impound lot, a punishment Jared and Jonathan have somehow interpreted as more of a loose suggestion than an actual job assignment. This week, they ditch their post long enough to sneak over to the DinoPlex for a screening of Buddy, the 2026 supernatural black-comedy horror film from director Casper Kelly. When they return, however, Dirty Deborahcasually insists she went with them and watched the entire movie by their side—something neither Gumshoe has any memory of happening. Jared becomes intrigued by Deborah’s story, which immediately sends Jonathan into a jealous spiral. Unwilling to let Dirty Deborah become Jared’s new favorite investigative partner, Jonathan decides the only reasonable response is to prove that he understands Buddy on a level Deborah never could. With absolutely no preparation and even less evidence, he launches into an increasingly elaborate conspiracy theory about who or what Buddy really is, using the movie’s major plot points as “proof” while desperately trying to impress Jared. What begins as petty jealousy soon becomes a full-blown paranoid case file in which every character is suspicious, every coincidence is deliberate, and Jonathan may accidentally uncover the true meaning of Buddy, or, much more likely, reveal that probation at the impound lot has finally broken his brain.

It’s a dark and stormy night at the police impound yard.

After getting kicked out of the precinct, The Movie Gumshoes, Jared and Jonathan have been reassigned to the graveyard shift at the department’s impound lot. Surrounded by wrecked cruisers, seized vehicles, and rows of twisted metal, they figure the worst thing they’ll have to survive tonight is boredom.

Then, through the pouring rain, an unexpected visitor arrives.

An Interpol special agent on a top-secret mission to stop an international human-trafficking operation has been sent to the impound yard to retrieve an unmarked loaner vehicle.

There’s just one problem.

The Gumshoes have absolutely no idea where it is.

Somewhere among hundreds of wrecks, confiscated cars, and questionable police paperwork is the agent’s ride and he needs it now.

Jared and Jonathan promise they’ll find it.

Eventually.

Because first, they have some unfinished business of their own: investigating Stephen King’s insane 1986 cult classic, Maximum Overdrive.

So while an increasingly impatient international agent waits for his car, the Gumshoes settle in for a night of killer trucks, homicidal machines, AC/DC, and one of the strangest movies ever committed to film.

The storm is getting worse. The agent is running out of time. And the Gumshoes still have a movie to finish.

Jared and Jonathan are assigned to the most thankless assignment at the precinct: impound duty. While inventorying the abandoned vehicles, they uncover a long-lost 1957 Ford Fairlane convertible. Inspired by their discovery and eager to ditch their responsibilities, the Gumshoes retreat to Jared’s dusty old stakeout van to watch The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, starring Andrew Dice Clay and directed by Renny Harlin. There’s just one problem: once the movie starts, they discover the van’s doors only open from the outside. Now they’re trapped with Ford Fairlane, Andrew Dice Clay, and each other until someone comes along to release the evidence.

In this episode of The Movie Gumshoes, Jared arrives at the precinct eager to crack open a brand-new case file on the overlooked, dialogue-light crime thriller Motor City, convinced it's the perfect mystery for the detectives to investigate. Unfortunately, Jonathan has bigger plans, not for the movie, but for himself. Declaring that every great detective needs a secret crime-fighting identity, he unveils The Biting Bee, a masked vigilante dedicated to stinging crime wherever it hides. Before Jared can object, Jonathan has already assigned him the humiliating sidekick name Boy Honey and even emptied the precinct's petty cash to install the all-new Bee Phone, a custom landline that emits an obnoxious buzzing sound every time a call comes in. While Jonathan anxiously waits for his first superhero emergency, Jared repeatedly tries to steer the conversation back to Motor City, growing increasingly frustrated as every movie discussion is interrupted by bee-themed gadgets, terrible catchphrases, and Jonathan's delusions of superhero grandeur. Only after the Bee Phone's first and deeply disappointing, call do the detectives finally put the costumes aside and open the official case file on Motor City.

When a string of bizarre disappearances and grisly discoveries leads the Gumshoes to investigate the events of Barbarian, Detective Jonathan becomes convinced he's cracked the case after reading only half the file. Despite his endless list of red flags, terrible instincts, reckless confidence, and an uncanny ability to make every situation worse, the Captain inexplicably leaves him in command of the precinct while attending his daughter's wedding. Detective Jared Ballistic Jackson is furious. After years of playing by the book, he's forced to answer to the one detective he trusts the least. As Jonathan's misguided leadership sends the investigation spiraling into chaos, Jared races to solve the mystery before his temporary boss destroys the evidence, the precinct, and possibly himself. In the end, the Gumshoes discover that the most dangerous monsters aren't always the ones hiding in the basement, they're often the ones everyone keeps making excuses for.

Assigned to give an anti-drug presentation to a class of impressionable third graders, rookie detective Jonathan "Sourdough" Manno makes the catastrophic mistake of preparing by watching Warriors of Virtue (1997), a fantasy film about a disabled boy who is transported to the mystical land of Tao and learns lessons about virtue, self-discipline, and resisting evil from a band of kung-fu kangaroos. Unfortunately, Jonathan also supplements his research with several hours of motivational videos and, under circumstances that remain under investigation, becomes convinced he has been chosen to lead the next generation of moral warriors. His presentation inspires the children far beyond its intended scope, resulting in dozens of elementary school crusaders marching through town to "purify Tao," picketing liquor stores, staging sit-ins at local dispensaries, and attempting to recruit citizens into the Virtue Patrol. As chaos erupts across Apache Junction, the Movie Gumshoes must determine whether Warriors of Virtue is an overlooked family fantasy, a gateway to motivational extremism, or simply the unfortunate catalyst for Jonathan's brief but disastrous reign as the self-proclaimed Kangaroo King of Temperance.

In this thrilling episode of Movie Gumshoes, the detectives crack the case file to investigate Prey, the explosive 2022 science-fiction action horror film directed by Dan Trachtenberg and written by Patrick Aison. Set in the Northern Great Plains in 1719, the film serves as a gripping prequel to Predator and follows Naru, a fierce young Comanche played by Amber Midthunder, as she hunts a deadly alien wandering the great plains. The Gumshoes are fired up from the jump, geeking out over the rich Comanche history, the brutal survival action, and the return of one of their favorite franchises. As they dig deeper into the case, the detectives can’t contain their excitement watching two elite warriors, one human, one extraterrestrial, collide in an intense showdown packed with suspense, heart, and savage combat.

In this episode of Movie Gumshoes, Jared and his overeager rookie partner Jonathan “Sourdough” Manno crack open the case file on The Black Phone, which Jonathan insists isn’t just a movie, but “evidence hiding in plain sight.” As they investigate the film, Jared lays out the facts: it’s a 2021 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson, co-written with C. Robert Cargill, and based on a short story by Joe Hill. The story follows Finney (Mason Thames), a kidnapped teen trapped by a masked child killer known as “the Grabber” (Ethan Hawke), who uses a mysterious disconnected phone to communicate with the killer’s past victims. Jonathan, of course, latches onto this immediately, convinced the Grabber’s patterns, psychological tactics, and even the idea of victims “reaching back” could connect to their real-life hunt for the Panty Face Killer back in Apache Junction. As Jared tries to keep things grounded by noting the film’s Blumhouse Productions backing and distribution by Universal Pictures, Jonathan is already building a conspiracy board linking fictional murders to real ones. By the end, Jared is forced to admit one unsettling truth: even if the ghosts aren’t real, the patterns might be, and that’s enough to keep their investigation dangerously alive.

In this episode of Movie Gumshoes, Jared and Jonathan investigate Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves starring Chris Pine, zeroing in on Edgin’s tragic mistake of stealing cursed gold from the Red Wizards, a decision that ultimately cost him his family. As they dig deeper, they’re sidetracked by the bizarre late-added cameo from Bradley Cooper, filmed after production wrapped, which Jared treats like a “patch job” not unlike the excuses cops make when they bend the rules. That spirals into a moral dilemma back at the precinct, where loose cash from drug busts tempts Jonathan to justify skimming a little off the top, only for Jared to draw a hard parallel: cursed gold or dirty money, it all carries consequences, and once you take it, it takes something from you in return.

In this episode of Movie Gumshoes, tensions flare when veteran detective Jared grows increasingly irritated with his rookie partner, Jonathan “Sourdough” Manno, who is more focused on perfecting his tap dancing routine for the precinct talent show than on their cases. The constant clatter of tap shoes echoing through the station pushes Jared to his limit, sparking a plan to regain Jonathan’s attention.

Determined to pull his partner back into detective work, Jared fabricates a case involving mysterious underground seismic activity, framing it as a real-life version of Tremors. He spins an elaborate theory that the so-called “monster movie” may actually be based on true events, hoping Jonathan’s curiosity, and sense of duty will outweigh his passion for dance.

As Jared builds the case, he backs it up with suspiciously accurate “evidence,” referencing real facts from the 1990 film: how it was directed by Ron Underwood, starred Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, and featured underground creatures, later dubbed “Graboids” that hunt by sensing vibrations through the ground. He even points out that the movie was filmed in the desert town of Lone Pine, using practical effects and puppetry to bring the creatures to life details that make his fabricated case feel just believable enough to hook Jonathan.

As Jonathan begins to take the bait, the line between fiction and reality blurs in classic Movie Gumshoes fashion, blending absurd investigative work with cinematic analysis. Meanwhile, Jared’s scheme risks spiraling out of control as the fake case gains momentum, especially as Jonathan starts applying real detective logic to the “Graboids,” all while still trying to squeeze in rehearsal time. In the end, the duo must decide what matters more: cracking a case that may not exist, or nailing a tap routine that definitely does.