Pop Culture Pastor

The truth is finally out, and it goes about as well as you'd expect. Dave and Cody break down "Best Laid Plans," the seventh episode of From Season 4.

Boyd and Tabitha tell the town about the reincarnations. Henry, full of Sophia's blood, rejects all of it. Boyd's plan to test the totem spear on the creatures goes catastrophically sideways. And Elgin — sweet, one-eyed, busted-handed Elgin — grabs a totem spear and saves Colony House.

Plus a Fromspiracy connecting Abby's "it's all a dream" line back to season one, the second Roger RIP in three episodes, and Dave finally, fully, formally admitting that Cody was right about Elgin all along.

Dave & Cody bring back 80's kid, Lance Burnett, to review Masters of the Universe, the new live-action He-Man movie 39 years in the making.

The three of them split hard on this one. Dave had fun with it, Cody calls it a misfire, and Lance lands somewhere in between. They dig into the camp, the nostalgia, the sword swerve, Jared Leto's hard-to-understand Skeletor, and the thin handling of Prince Adam's missing years on Earth. Dave breaks down the full Mattel Cinematic Universe slate, all 16 projects, including an A24 Barney movie and M. Night Shyamalan directing a Magic 8 Ball series. The Pastor's Corner connects Prince Adam to the Beatitudes.

Plus Hot Take Cody on the Supergirl backlash, and a round of the Movie Game.

SPOILER WARNING: Full spoilers for Masters of the Universe after the news segment.

Movie reviewed: Masters of the Universe (2026) — Directed by Travis Knight. Starring Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Jared Leto, Idris Elba, Alison Brie, with Kristen Wiig as Roboto. In theaters now.

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The Memorial Day break is over and the band is getting back together.

Dave and Cody dig into "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" — the sixth episode of From Season 4. Jade and Boyd argue their way through the entire first act. Donna has a heart attack at the most suspicious possible moment. Sophia cuts open her own hand and slips her blood into Henry's drink. Ethan and Victor draw their monsters side by side. The team finally starts sharing information with each other (only took three and a half seasons). And in the closing minutes, Boyd grabs a sledgehammer and confirms that Jade's mushroom vision was real.

Plus a Fromspiracy on why everyone in Fromville keeps drinking the tap water without question.

By the power of Grayskull, we made a huge mistake.

This week on Be Kind Rewind, Dave, Cody, & Paul Walcher revisit 1987's Masters of the Universe — the flop that took down an entire movie studio. We dig into what holds up (Frank Langella performing Shakespeare under a skull mask, Dolph Lundgren as a walking action figure, James Tolkan from Back to the Future as a hardboiled detective who somehow ends up an honorary Master of the Universe), what doesn't (no Battle Cat, no Orko, no Prince Adam, no real Eternia), and the bonkers behind-the-scenes story including the studio running out of money three days before filming wrapped, a planned sequel that became Cyborg with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and a marketing pitch that simply said "make it Star Wars but He-Man."

We also Muppetize the movie, find one of the most surprising Pastor's Corner moments hiding in a bad movie ever, and pick our winners and losers.

Plus: the debut of Hot Take Cody as our new opener, a brand new Movie Game, and a bonus round on the top five highest-grossing toy movies of all time.

Dave & Cody bring in Star Wars superfan (and middle school choir teacher) Lance Burnett to review The Mandalorian & Grogu

Is it a real movie or just a really long episode of the show? Dave makes the case that it's the franchise's "Temple of Doom moment," Cody goes after the critics, and Lance drops deep-cut lore that'll make you want to watch it again.

Plus: the music, that Scorsese cameo, a Hutt voice that needed fixing, a Pastor's Corner on "The Way" and what a creed actually produces. Stick around for full Star Wars movie rankings.

In the news: the Toxic Mom Group saga returns.

SPOILER WARNING: Full spoilers for The Mandalorian & Grogu after the news segment.

Movie reviewed: The Mandalorian & Grogu (2026) — Directed by Jon Favreau. Starring Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White, with a cameo by Martin Scorsese. Now playing in theaters.

Strap in, because Jade is finally going on a trip.

Dave & Cody break down "What a Long Strange Trip It's Been," the fifth episode of From Season 4 and the one that finally starts handing over answers. Jade's vision quest takes him through his own past lives and into the tunnels under Fromville, and he comes back convinced he knows how to save the children. Tabitha taps into her ancestral memory to fight off a horde of nightmare Raggedy Ann dolls. Henry hits rock bottom at the Colony House organ.

Plus a Fromspiracy on why the monsters lose their power when nobody's afraid of them, a deep dive on the "is this all Ethan's divorce story" theory, and a heartfelt goodbye to Roger — a man we knew for exactly one episode.

"No, I am your father."

This week on the pod, its a Be Kind Rewind! Dave & Cody revisit The Empire Strikes Back (1980) — the movie that turns 46 this year and might still be the greatest sequel ever made. We dig into what holds up (everything — the tone, Yoda, the carbonite scene, Harrison Ford ad-libbing the most iconic line in film history), what doesn't (Leia kissing Luke is a problem, and we need to talk about it), and the sincerity in this movie that almost nothing made today can replicate.

Plus: Cody makes the boldest defense of "Last Jedi Luke" you'll ever hear, Dave argues that Lando Calrissian has been wrongly slandered for 46 years, and we explore the wild behind-the-scenes stories. We give a Pastor's Corner on "Do or do not, there is no try," and pick our winners and losers.

Bonus: the Q'orianka Kilcher / James Cameron Avatar lawsuit. Will Masters of the Universe be a box office disaster? And a Terrence Malick rant nobody asked for.

Dave is back from a week off and there is a LOT to catch up on. Dave & Cody do a speed-run recap of episode three "Merrily We Go," then dig into the season's biggest hour yet — episode four, "Of Myths and Monsters." Boyd and Jade continue their mission to find answers. Henry gets the worst news any father has ever received. Sophia trains Sara like a dog using a glass of water and a broken arm. Fatima starts building a clay golem with a one-eyed Elgin as her assistant. Julie storywalks her way into a confrontation with the Man in Yellow mid-meal. Ethan finds a lake that may or may not be the Lake of Tears, but something is down there either way. Plus a Fromspiracy on why thinking things into being might take time in Fromville, a Mr. Fish and Loaves callback that may or may not mean something biblical, and the saddest RIP segment yet — for whoever lives in the room directly under Fatima's mud Frankenstein.

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Six guys walk into an Airbnb in the mountains of Tennessee. Phones on airplane mode. Men who say they're with the U.S. government. A warning that what's coming will "shake the foundations of human civilization."

A week later, the government drops 162 files. And it's… a triangular smudge over the moon, a football-shaped blob near Japan, and a 1947 weather balloon.

Dave and Cody are joined by their first-ever guest scientist, Evan, for a free-flowing conversation about pastors, aliens, the loudest nothing-burger of 2026, and why we keep falling for it.

Plus: the Drake Equation, the Fermi paradox, Project Hail Mary callbacks, the X-Files comparisons that write themselves, and a Lobby segment full of alien sidekicks.

Episode 227. Welcome to Pop Culture Pastor.

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Bob Wiley wants you to know there are two kinds of people in this world. People who love Neil Diamond and people who don't.

This week on Pop Culture Pastor, Dave & Cody revisit Frank Oz's What About Bob? (1991) in a Be Kind Rewind. The Bill Murray comedy turns 35 this year and might be the most documented on-set nightmare in Hollywood history. We dig into what holds up (the pacing, Dreyfuss as one of the great comedy villains of the 90s, peak-era Bill Murray), what doesn't (the third act goes completely off the rails, modern mental health audiences would have notes), and the full story of the Murray-Dreyfuss feud — from a 1978 SNL appearance that started it all, to thrown ashtrays, crushed sunglasses, and producers tossed in lakes.

Plus: we Muppetize the movie, Cody breaks down why this film couldn't be remade today, and Dave makes the case that Dr. Leo Marvin is every dad who confused providing with being present.

Bonus: the Blair Witch Project reboot is happening, and we want to hear from anyone whose parents took them to see it in theaters as a child.

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