The Project Infinite Podcast
A Podcast Spanning The Ever Expanding Infinite Multiverse of Fandom. From movies, to TV, to comics, to the world of gaming, we have you covered at every corner with thoughts, opinions, commentary and a little bit of comedy too.
The Project Infinite Podcast
120 - "Shogun" Review & Recap
Send us a message that we can respond to at the end of every episode!
A ton of important news and notes paired with a must-have discussion about a generational TV show paves the way for our longest episode ever! A supercharged 3 hour conversation that spans the casting of Ralph Ineson as Galactus, the Superman suit, a Lord of the Rings Revival and so much more. Then we dive into FX’s “Shogun,” one of the best TV shows, not just of recent memory, but of all time. As a one and done, we felt we needed to give it its entire due, leading to a nearly 2 and half hour breakdown of the Japanese epic. Timecodes are provided if you want to skip around to your topic of choice! Thank you to everyone who continues to support and don’t forget to subscribe to download new episodes as they become available and don’t be afraid to share a rating!
0:00 Intro
02:35 Star Wars “The Acolyte” Trailer
07:02 “The Boys” Season 4 Trailer
12:23 Fantastic 4 Casting Triple Barrel: Ralph Ineson is Galactus
23:23 Giancarlo Esposito Cast in the MCU
26:57 The Superman Suit Reveal
33:13 Lord of the Rings Being Revived
38:35 “Shogun” Review & Recap
52:57 Episodes 1 & 2
01:19:20 Episodes 3 & 4
01:42:40 Episodes 5 & 6
01:58:53 Episodes 7 & 8
02:18:01 Episode 9 & Finale
02:49:30 Shogun Final Thoughts, Signing Off Til Next Week
Topic for Next Week: X-Men ‘97
Email the pod at projectinfinitepod@gmail.com
Tweet us/Follow at https://twitter.com/ProjectInf_Pod
Subscribe on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@projectinfinitepod
Follow on Facebook
Follow on Instagram at theprojectinfinitepod
Follow Court’s Film on Instagram @untilnexttimefilm
Twitter for Rob https://twitter.com/R_Peck0628
Twitter for Courtney https://twitter.com/courtkid123
In the wake of the tragic death of Power Ranger actor Jason David Frank, from this episode on, the number for the Suicide and Crisis Prevention Hotline will be displayed here: 9-8-8. It's that simple. Call or text that number to be instantly sourced to a crisis counselor. Speak with someone today if you feel alone and need help.
It's the Infinite.
Speaker 2:Podcast Go tell your friends it's the Infinite Podcast.
Speaker 1:My God, it never ends. It's the Infinite Podcast with Robin Kork the Cube yeah.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Project Infinite Podcast, the podcast covering the infinite and ever-expanding multiverse of fandom For movies, comics, tv shows, video games. We got you covered. I'm Rob. I'm here, as always, with Court and Court we're in our prestige TV bag this week.
Speaker 1:Yep, I can't wait. We're talking about.
Speaker 2:Daredevil Uh, no, not this time. Okay, next time, maybe, maybe, maybe we'll get to daredevil one one of these days, but it will not be this week. Um, because, yeah, we're gonna talk about shogun, a show that, um, we had been hearing about for a while, um, over the last couple months, and then we finally circled back to it and, uh, it did not disappoint, for, for lack of a better word, it was everything that people said it was, and then some. In my opinion, I think people undersold it. To be honest with you, this is one of the best TV shows I've seen ever.
Speaker 1:It's tough to be hyperbolic or not to sound hyperbolic. I should say, in situations like this, you know, recency bias, all those things that people want to say should say. In situations like this, you know, recency bias, all those things that people want to say. But you know, I feel like we're in a we're in a world now where, when you see something, you better just say what you think it is at this point, don't care what anybody thinks and I think you're, you had you hit the nail right on the head. This, this is prestige tv. This is memorable tv. This is one of the. I think this is just one of the greatest shows that's ever been made. It is incredible. It will just be one season, and rightfully so yeah, it's.
Speaker 2:I think it's going to go into like one of those like that like how watchman was, um, yeah, we've kind of like talked about watchman, like, as I like this thing, like this ethereal thing like we have we haven't circled back around to and like actually properly talked about, but like that was like a thing when it came out, um, and then it just kind of like evaporated into the ether, like, and now it's like this mythical like thing that you know, a lot of shows to this day still haven't, you know, eclipsed or reached, and I think shogun's gonna be like the same type of deal, like. I think people will be chasing this for a long, long time and I'm not sure how many will be able to replicate it, because it's a special experience, um. So we'll talk about that. That's going to be our main topic this week, but we do have quite a bit of news, um, I guess, starting with a couple of trailers that we got, first and foremost, uh, the acolyte, we got a finally first proper trailer for um on star wars day, may 4th, uh, past this week, um, and yeah, I mean I it invokes a lot of the same feelings that um, the teaser trailer invoked for me. Just it looks super interesting.
Speaker 2:Um, I love the uniqueness of the, of the choreography in particular. Um, I'm glad we're kind of doing more martial artsy stuff, um, in star wars, instead of just lightsaber fighting. I think that's pretty cool and pretty unique, like we're seeing a lot of, uh. Um, you know, I think obi-wan and ahsoka did this really well like just unique uses of the force that we're not used to. I think we're gonna get in this show too, and I'm, I'm, I'm intrigued. That's all I can say I'm very intrigued.
Speaker 1:The show looks very technically sound, I must say, and you know I had some issues with Ahsoka about how technically sound that show was. At times it felt borderline fake, for lack of a better word. And I know, I know, I know, I know what type of universe this is. I know what you're trying to do, but this one has a little bit more depth. You you're trying to do, but this one, this one, has a little bit more depth. You know, again, I don't want to those practical right, right, right, a lot of this stuff. They shot a lot of the things that they were going after and I and you can tell, I mean down to what I believe are some interesting lunch choices too, like this feels like something that's more real, some more thought out. You can tell that the studio probably said you know, we're going to give you a lot of leeway. Um, the creators of the show, we're going to give you a lot of leeway and a lot of budget for something like this. Make it count. And I mean, over the last couple of years I always talk about this it doesn't matter the thing you're doing, it matters who, the people that are doing it. And you know I don't care if you give me a $300 million budget or if you give me a $10 million budget. That $10 million movie, a lot of the times these days are million dollar movies, so you know, if that's what counts.
Speaker 1:Um, you get a show like and or one. You know the budget isn't isn't the same scale as something like ahsoka or obi-wan, but you know, the creators on that show were fully realizing an idea and I think that's what this show needs to play on is this story needs to be airtight? It needs to be, you know it needs to be airtight, but there could be a level of ambiguity. I think that's something that star wars uses to to its advantage. Um, I'm looking forward to this, just getting some Prime Jedi. You know we're going to get. You know, not the first Sith, obviously, but you know the Sith are back. You're the Sith from Star Wars, aren't you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's the reemergence of the Sith, like you know, the rise of really like the Shadow Legion are kind of like what the Sith are like historically, so we're going to see the rise of that.
Speaker 1:Surely they can't take over all these Jedi right.
Speaker 2:Right, it's a unique story. I hope you know my hope for this show and my fear for it is like are they going to give us that character right? Are they going to give us that character that we can attach to it and remember it for? Because you know, to be fair, like star Wars is really built upon their character right? Their characters right, um, throughout history of star.
Speaker 1:Wars 77 till right. This second that's. That's what drives people. Yeah, like good star Wars.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you know, the story could be as sound as as you want it to be, but if you don't have that memorable character, then it might not work.
Speaker 1:This is where you have to do it the most out of anything, because we're unfamiliar with this. That's why a story like the Jedi games all those Jedi games the two of them are so sought-after stories. I always say the best part about those games aren't any of the tech specs, it isn't the mechanics 's.
Speaker 2:Those both those stories are super, are super intriguing, and I think this is where a show like this can either falter or really flourish yeah, and it just goes also goes back to like our conversation that we had about fallout, where you know the world could have been as cool as you could have wanted it to, but the show wouldn't have worked without Maximus, without Lucy, without Cooper Howard, without those three, fallout probably doesn't work, and I think the Acolyte needs to do the same thing. It needs characters, and that was the one thing I feel like didn't jump out to me in this trailer quite as much. I feel like a lot of this trailer was aesthetics and a lot of it was visual, which is great, great, but I didn't really feel a character leap out to me and that's where I was just like I don't know. So we'll see. I'm definitely I mean, we're definitely going to check it out and watch it.
Speaker 1:so, um, looking forward to it and a jam-packed uh month of june that we're about to get and I can, goodness gracious into our next trailer. The boys, yes, the boys are back in town.
Speaker 2:The boys are back, season four, and I mean what more?
Speaker 1:can you say at this point about this show, about these characters?
Speaker 2:This is like Amazon Prime's flagship show for lack of In a stable that's becoming pretty vast, to be honest, Amazon.
Speaker 1:Prime and we were having this conversation a couple weeks ago off air. We were just talking about Amazon Prime's really becoming an absolute juggernaut. It's just because I don't know if you feel the same way. I just feel like their budget's so high where they can kind of like, but their budget's high, but like I don't care what you guys do, like do whatever you want. Like I feel you know, netflix is obviously they're the, they're the culprits the most, and netflix and disney are the two culprits of this, of being like we're gonna, you know, give what we can give and we're gonna take whatever we can take. Like I feel, like amazon's, like we can't be well in the fall trail, what it's what it's like from the studio that bought you two days shipping, like that's what we're worried about. Like we're gonna give you money, just do whatever you want.
Speaker 2:I feel like that's where amazon's really, really catching their stride and, to be fair, it's because the boys was like the first thing, and it's unhinged, it's insane, and they were like, well, that works, so we'll just let everyone do whatever they want, as long as it works and it's point proven invincible and fallout both.
Speaker 1:Yeah prove that. I'll throw in even a friend, even something. That's not a franchise, but it was ip at mr and mrs smith, like you, let somebody as talented as donald glover do what he like. Let them just let them do whatever they want and it's it's working.
Speaker 2:It keeps on working for them yeah, and then I mean gen v also, like we talked about gen v when it out, that's where you get those diamonds in the rough.
Speaker 1:I'll never forget the, I believe Invincible was coming out, or was there a Star Wars show that was coming out when Gen V was coming out? I think was it. Ahsoka right, I think it was the end of Ahsoka and I remember I was like I was getting up in the morning to watch and I was like I'm watching gen v first, like once it hit the third episode of that, I'm like I'm way more invested in gen v and we do see a couple gen v characters in this, in this, uh, in this trailer.
Speaker 2:Uh, kate and sam um are in this trailer. We knew that, obviously. You know, the showrunners have basically said that gen v is the boys, season 3.5, and it feels that way. But also we talked about a lot how the characters in that show worked so, so well. So I'm really curious to see how whoever translates over is going to be integrated into the season of the boys, right, um, I'd be remiss not to say that, um, they did come out and say that chance per domo's role won't be recast, which rightfully so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. Um, and I mean, you know, the plot of Boys Season 4 revolves a lot around Butcher getting the soup killer virus. He's got his hands on it. So that's it seems, you know, we got at the end of the Boys Season 3 that Butcher is officially on the clock, yeah, so is this the one, is this the season where he finally gets Homelander?
Speaker 1:Well, I don't think it's this season, I think it's next season and it will be the final season. The only reason I don't think this show has ended is because of how popular it is. I think that's the only reason this show isn't over.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's see. Yeah, it'd just be interesting. If Homelander does escape this season, how does he keep doing it? More or less, we'll see Jeffrey Dean Morgan's going to be in this season in still a role that we don't quite know what it is, even though we've seen him on screen, and then all your favorites are back, basically.
Speaker 1:Not only all your favorite characters, all your favorite themes are back too. Yeah, this one I mean, obviously this one is going to be election-related. This one is going to be election related. This one is this one's going to be uh, any, I can't wait for people to call this. This show woke, and I was like this show was built upon that fact. If that's what your, your thought process is yeah, yeah, um, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, and it seems like this direction, you know, for homelander is going to be like we're done being the the heroes, we're done. He's really taking that that monologue that he gave um was it was season three, right that monologue to when he oh, yeah, yeah when the the speech right where he's.
Speaker 1:Just like you know, I'm better done yeah I'm better than all of you like yeah right that, and it seems like he's enacting that with the seven, infecting it into the seven as well, which has two new members in the seven. Black noir is also back, which I have my theory on now and that's probably also just homelander, or it's soldier boy himself, or it's jensen ackles that would be kind of crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that'd, and that'd be a really kind of neat like uh, you know a neat bit of you know, twist, if it was soldier boy, given all the hell that he put original black noir through. So for him to, yeah, him to become that would be kind of, I think it would be a bit more poetic too, because you know spoilers for the comics.
Speaker 1:But the way the boys comic end is that black noir kills homelander and you find out that black noir is a clone of homelander which I thought was gonna and they still could do that. I think that's still a huge possibility. It's probably a a major thing they could do, but I do have a little inkling that they're not just gonna leave jensen ackles out of this no, and they shouldn't.
Speaker 2:I mean he was, you know, he arguably stole the stole the season in season three. So, um, we'll see, we'll see. For sure, um, man, fantastic four. So just, just, uh, just, a triple barrel of casting happened. We thought it was going to be a double barrel of casting and then they came over and they dunked over the top of us right before we hopped on. So we'll get the first two out of the way, because they are pretty important. So, paul Walter Hauser and John Malkovich, the John Malkovich, you're John Malkovich from Becoming John Malkovich. The John Malkovich, you're John Malkovich from Becoming John Malkovich. Yeah, there it is. They have both been casted in unknown roles, the conventional wisdom, which is a bit of typecasting, in my opinion is that people think Paul Walter Hauser is going to be Mole man, because he may or may not look like a Mole man.
Speaker 2:Here's my thing, right.
Speaker 1:Make him Doctor Doom, if you're really gonna, if you want to do that, make him dr doom um, I did.
Speaker 2:I think the mole man thing is probably a pretty good call um.
Speaker 1:All kidding aside, I just think it's a good first villain of the week, type of before they get to galactic, like yes, what it will do, too, is it'll kind of show like the fantastic four do this, like they do this for a living already. Yeah, we don't have to go about intros or origins. No, no, no, they do this First.
Speaker 2:Like ten minutes of the movie open and Mole Man's like running away and then he gets like stretchy armed Yep or he gets trapped in like an invisible bubble or something like that Introduction to, to the world as well this future, this retro, futuristic 1960s new york, apparently, is what it's supposed to be. Um, so that's probably what that'll be. John. The john malkovich one is a little more interesting I don't think it's interesting at all.
Speaker 1:I don't think he's playing anybody of no, I genuinely do not think he's playing anybody, I think that would be cool.
Speaker 2:I do that. I think he's playing the doorman.
Speaker 1:I think he's just gonna play the doorman at the baxter building. That's it it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that'd be really, really cool, yeah, I'd be all for that. And then and then and then, and then, before we hopped on, seconds, seconds before we hopped on to record this, like I said, marvel came over the top of us and it did feel it felt like weird, right, because like the John Malkovich thing was like announced by Deadline and this was like whoa, john Malkovich is in the Fantastic Four. And then Variety said hold my beer, we got the real Marvel scoop and that is Ralph Einison has been cast as Galactus, nice, great. You know what this invokes to me and it kind of invokes the idea of what the fantastic four should be for the mcu. It. It reminds me of those early days of marvel, of the mcu, where we talked about this, where it was like chris hemsworth is thor and you're like who, like what you know, and that's I. I've been dying for them to get back to that. Yeah, idea of of casting someone that you know ralph einstein's been To you. You know, ralph Innocent, oh yeah, ralph Innocent had a great year in my eyes as Sid in Final Fantasy XVI, but he's always been in his film career.
Speaker 2:He's been like that guy. Right when you're like that guy, I recognize that guy. I told you when I looked at the picture I said that guy looks kind of familiar. He's got a very, he's got a very recognizable voice, um, um, which you know. If he's going to play galactus, perfect. Um, he's got a great voice, um, and, like I said, he's just one of those guys who's you know kind of been like a, a b player and things, um, every night he was in, uh, the creator. He was in the creator as as the villainous, uh, general guy who I don't remember his name, um, but yeah, man, I think I think it's awesome, I think it's a great, great spot for him to be in. Um, yeah, and that's really all I gotta say about it. I think it's, I think it's a great choice. I know people had their. I know javier bardem was the, was the one for quite some time, um, with a lot, of, a lot of steam. So I wonder, I wonder if that was on the table at some point To your point.
Speaker 1:When Pedro Pascal got cast and then we got the subsequent casting of everybody, there was so much heat to each cast and rumor felt like it was absolutely real. For me, the one that was the most real was our trademarked, quote-unquote cinema version of the Fantastic Four. Which it would have been? It would have been adam driver, paul mescal, um, margot robbie, that fantastic four. And then, you know, then you put harvey or bardem in that one, you make killian murphy, dr doom, like there's a, there's a universe where that exists.
Speaker 2:Do I want to live there. Sure, apparently, the killing murphy thing is still still there, but there's another name that's there now. There's three, right, yeah, so who's?
Speaker 1:the other one. I can't remember what the other one is, the big one that people are talking about, which apparently has some steam, but now, with this that just happened, now I'm not going to give it any it does feel like marvel's getting a little trickier.
Speaker 2:Yeah to nail down.
Speaker 1:Yep, I'm not giving any credence to this, but apparently ben affleck's inleck's in a heated race to play Dr Doom and build-wise he's got it. Let's not beat around the bush on that. Build-wise, facial-wise he's got it. I just is Ben Affleck too Boston to do this.
Speaker 2:Yes, actually he is, All jokes aside, mads Mikkelsen is the other one.
Speaker 1:Um, I'd be cool, I mean, obviously, if it was Mads Mikkelsen. That would be a dream. He's, he's awesome. Um, yeah, it'd be sick. Um, obviously, I think, killian, if you cause the plan is going to be for for Doom to be around for for a while. Uh, I just don't know if Cillian Murphy would do something like that that's what it comes down to If it was Margot Robbie and Adam Driver, and Cillian Murphy could have looked at the call sheet and been like, oh, these are two Oscar-worthy actors Not that Pedro Pascal, vanessa Kirby aren't capable of this.
Speaker 1:But you look at Adam Driver and Margot Robbie and you're like, okay, we can tell they were testing the Panavision cameras. They were trying to do these things that try to invoke. No, we're going to do some movie. We're going to do some picture making. We're not just going to have this VFX screen in Batman 3. We're actually going to try something. Then I would have thought Cillian Murphy probably would have said yes, and then the sell probably would have been we're going to put everything in the past from the MCU. We're putting everything behind us. We're in a new age where we actually care about movies and cinema and all these things. And then he might have said yes, get me a good director too, and I'm in.
Speaker 2:I am still not ruling out the Matt Smith bait and switch.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That I think he was so closely attached to the Reed Richards stuff.
Speaker 1:Something about Matt Smith and Pedro Pascal worked for me too. The two of them together. I just picture in my head they're the two most that I. I don't necessarily see Ben Affleck and Pedro Pascal. Yeah, I know what you mean. I do see Killian Murphy and Pedro Pascal.
Speaker 2:Oh, for sure.
Speaker 1:I feel like Ben Affleck's too much of a unit to go against Pedro Pascal.
Speaker 2:And right. I just don't know if he can. I don't know if he can. I don't know Can he? I don't think he can shake the Boston thing. I don't know. I don't know if he can.
Speaker 1:Cillian Murphy would do. I mean, mads Mikkelsen would be good, mads Mikkelsen would be would be great. If I had to pick like yeah, no-transcript, sure, like I'm in, you know what I mean? I yeah, I don't think it's a sure of a thing for sure.
Speaker 1:Um, I mean, with all this stuff, I would not be surprised if we hear a doom thing in the next couple weeks, 100, yep, um, but, and here's, and here's the last thing I'll keep you with, because I know we want to move on. But yeah, um, the only other thing I'm thinking of is this isn't the 616 universe that we're talking about. For any of this, you know, things might change after secret wars, where I think what's going to happen is this fantastic four is just going to get retconned back into the 616 in the modern age, instead of the 60s, whatever universe they're in. So who knows if he's going to stay as Galactus. You know what I mean. Like, obviously, this whole thing with Lakeith Stanfield is could still like he still very much could end up playing Silver Surfer Norrin Rad, like he doesn't. He still could be Silver Surfer in the main 616.
Speaker 1:Like all those things could happen?
Speaker 2:yeah, 100, and you know we talked about it when we've talked about x-men 97 in the last couple weeks is they are with how good this show is and how good it's doing um they're.
Speaker 1:I think they're officially gonna start fast tracking x-men stuff live action wise oh, and even further to your point About you know you talked about Getting people that we don't know Too too much about. Like this is a good Point, like this is a good starting Point. It's just who's gonna do all these things? And I mean it goes back to my big point I always make about Star Wars. It's not about the what, it's about the who. So you know who you get. The name being thrown around is ryan coogler's, a big name being thrown around to like spearhead the x-men, which makes all the sense in the world I mean I've gone on record as saying he's arguably the best director in the stable yeah, I'll always say it as of right now that you know plausibly can come back, because I don't think the roosters would come back.
Speaker 1:Um, their top three directors that they probably have is Chloe Zhao, ryan Coogler and Sam Raimi are your best three directors that you have right now, if I'm thinking correctly. Yeah, you might be right. Yeah, because I think Taika Waititi's lost. I don't think he's ever doing a Marvel movie again.
Speaker 2:No, I don't know what happened with that guy. I don't know. I think he just got too.
Speaker 1:He got too self-indulgent on the, on the fact I think so, yeah, just got way, way too up on what it, what was going on. Yeah, so yeah, I, I think rag and cool is a great choice. I I just think, you know, next week we episode 9 came out yesterday and this show is. It leaves me speechless, sometimes like I can't even come up with the words, and this is an animated show, but the emotion that it captures, the real world implications that it captures, like again, what did Bo DeMaio do? I just want to know, I don't know, man, if this is a situation where he can be redeemed like James Gunn was a Ryan Coogler and Bo DeMaio-led section of the MCU If Ryan Coogler directs it and Bo DeMaio's the lead writer.
Speaker 1:That's a dangerous, that's a potent mix. That's a potent mix. Gives me the goosebumps. That would be. That would be just you know and you bring in who you can bring in. You start to and you know a lot of the people. I actually was just listening to some an interview that, um, the cinematographer for wakanda forever just did like that's the type of personnel you need. Like bring all those people with you that you've been working with bring the x-men 97 team in yep bring all those writers in.
Speaker 1:Bring your team in, like that can be a sector like, maybe even fight. He can take his like, take some some away and then put all that focus that made the MCU great. Put that back into the Avengers, into the Fantastic Four, and then let Ryan Coogler take the X-Men and just let him and Bo DeMaio do what they want.
Speaker 2:The MCU- Don't count him out. Yeah, you can't. And speaking of don't count him out, giancarlo Esposito is coming. Yeah, he is. He has confirmed this via Collider that he has been cast in the MCU and people were like people already started Birdman-esque rubbing their hands, they're like he's going to be Doctor Doom. And then they kept reading a little bit and he was like it's an exciting character, it's a new character, a new original character for the MCU. So that could be. I mean, we can't even guess it's a new character and in the vein of you know, we talked about Khori and what, if it's going to be a new character, that clearly they I don't know, I don't know what came like it's a chicken and the egg, like did they get Giancarlo Esposito first or did they create this character, concept this character, and be like this is Giancarlo Esposito.
Speaker 1:So I have a couple. I have a couple of theories. My number, my, my first theory is the Kang one that I think they got Giancarlo Esposito, and then the question was asked can we just make him an older Kang? And I think they're still trying to fit. I do think that Domingo Coleman still has a chance to be Kang.
Speaker 2:So you think this is a bait and switch, you think he's going to be an actual Marvel character?
Speaker 1:I don't know. Maybe he's lying. Maybe he's lying because the Professor X thing was a big one for him too.
Speaker 2:Well, he also did say that it wasn't a character that people had fan casted him as okay.
Speaker 1:So obviously it's not professor x, because that was a big swirling. Theory is that he was going to play professor x. But you know, for something like this, like you said, like kohori, from from what? If like, do you get him as like, maybe maybe it's like he. You know, I don't know what's going to happen with ross. Like I don't know what's going to happen with Ross. Like I don't know what's going to happen with him. You're not going to have Harrison Ford forever. Maybe he's like the vice president that becomes the president and then that has like, like maybe it's a role where it's it's not as big as we were making it out to be. Maybe it could be like that.
Speaker 2:That could be totally possible. He just got cast and he's like Cause he has said be a one-off, a one-shot in and people are like, or maybe he acts more like colson, like maybe it's like a, not colt, but you know what I mean like he just made me think of john carl esposito as colson, and then that's hilarious that would have been great with samuel jackson.
Speaker 1:I just don't think he would have taken like any of those orders from him, like it would have been like I don't know who you think you're talking to. But yeah, I do see a world where it's not as big as a character. Like I said it could be. It could be it could be just like he's a military guy or he's a political official, just something like that, and then he's just around in the MCU while things are going on and he's going to be great at whatever he does.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's one of the greatest actors that's ever lived and whatever he does.
Speaker 2:It's one of the greatest actors that's ever lived, so that's super exciting. Like I said, marvel between Deadpool, wolverine, all the Fantastic Four stuff Speaking of the Fantastic Four 2, kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is apparently really good and the lead writer on that is the lead writer of Fantastic Four, also the lead writer from Avatar, way of Water.
Speaker 1:Family, apparently, this whole thing. Yeah, well, one thing those those movies get right it's family. So, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm chomping at the bits to see this kingdom of the planet of the apes. I'm, I'm uh, I just finished dawn of the planet of the apes. So, man, matt reeves is, matt reeves is a psychopath. I it's like you know, that's one of those guys that like makes me just want to like pick up my camera and just make something. Like anytime I watch anything he does, I'm like geez, like this is. This is where Marvel, go, go, give him a call, tell him to do both. You can do, I could do both. Um, superman, yeah, yeah, let's talk about that. The suit that's been infinitely more controversial than I thought it was going to be.
Speaker 2:Or maybe I was being naive. You were being naive I think I was Because this was going to happen no matter what, right.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep. I told you. When I saw you I thought I was like people. The revisionist history has been oh man, I'm going to get some hate. The revisionist history has been nuts Because this love for cavill's suit has come out of. Where was this? When the suit first came out? Because everybody was hating that suit. They said that suit looked too weird, it looked too alien. People were like why can't we get christopher reeve suit? And I'm like. Now people are like this whatever happened to henry cavill's suit, that's the best suit. What are we? What are we talking about?
Speaker 2:yeah, so we got a first look at uh at, david corn sweat as superman in the suit um just minding his business.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, Like apparently, like something's going on and you could tell it's like all right time to go to work, Like this is like. I don't know if I'll save this point for last, but man, I don't hate it. I don't hate it at all. I think it looks fine, Exactly, and I also don't think this is the last suit. I was going to say that also. I don't think this is the last suit. I think that's the. My mom made me this suit.
Speaker 2:I agree, I agree 100%. I don't think this is the final suit at all. I think the final suit I mean, just look at James Gunn's track record with the costumes he gave us the Guardians costumes, both of them.
Speaker 1:He gave us the individual ones and he gave us the team suit. You don't think by the end of and then people were mad. People were like, oh, thank God, he gave us the team suit. And then now people are mad that this Superman suit is like I don't understand. He's going to have a blue. I see what you did there. He's going to.
Speaker 2:He is going to. He's going to have a more bluer suit by the time the movie over.
Speaker 1:I just think that a hundred, percent, a hundred. What if he's taking that suit off? He's not putting that suit on, maybe? Because that suit in that photo is like damaged yeah he's got the trunks, he's got the chunks red boots, red boots, trunks, trunks. It's the collar that I think people hate, but the new 52 superman had the collar so I just kind of liked him with the collar, to be honest, it looks more modern.
Speaker 1:I just look, if you're gonna do the, if you're gonna do the classic look, you gotta go with gary frank's look, because gary frank has the best iteration of bringing that, you know, that classic nature to the modern age. Yeah, um, I don't know, man. I I think people are hating this, just to hate it. I genuinely think that's what it is. Like this, I think it's kind of weird. Like I like jurastically bad is like looking at like ben affleck's 20 2003 suit you know what I mean like yeah, that's like that's like no good. Like you know like that's looking at what's another bad suit the captain america avengers suit, sure that?
Speaker 1:not. Not great, but it's not the worst thing in the world. You know what I mean. Like pretty bad, it's not. It's not. It's not the end of the world, no, but it's. It's not great Like the Catwoman suit from Halle Berry's movie. That's a horrible suit.
Speaker 2:The X-Men suits Sauceless.
Speaker 1:I'll give you that. The only reason I give those suits a little bit of leeway is because it's from Grant Morrison's new X-Men. That's the only reason I give those suits a little bit.
Speaker 2:The Clooney Batman suit Right Terrible.
Speaker 1:There's actual bad suits like. That's just not one of the bad suits, no, so I just think it was an over like and again, whatever came out of this piece, some people were just gonna be like whatever happened to the henry cowell. I'm like you guys hated henry cavill well, yeah, so you got that.
Speaker 2:You got those people, you got the snyder people that are just going to hate everything DC does unless Zack Snyder's involved, right?
Speaker 1:They're the ones that gave Rebel Moon the 13%. They got it up to 13%.
Speaker 2:So like there's a million things working against it, which is unfortunate because I think it's fine.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing I was going to say. I don't know if you get again. I keep. I talk about it every time we talk about this new DCU, this, and then you get the suit reveal. There's just something in the air. I can't put my finger on it. There's just something. There's something about him sitting there putting the suit on the lines of this wholesomeness, this familiarity almost of, like I said, truth, justice and a better tomorrow. There's just something about it, about this DCU, that feels very they're going to do the weird stuff because it's James Gunn. You're doing Swamp Thing in the first phase. Obviously you're going to do some crazy stuff. I just feel like at the core of this movie it's still going to get it right, Like there's just there's something right about it. I can't explain it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, you know, we'll see, we'll see. I do wish. I do wish they'd kind of gotten away. I do wish at least for the photo they got away from, like the, the darker aesthetic, just because it invokes a lot of like dc is the gritty one, you know what I mean. Like it invoked a lot of that and I was just like I could have used a little bit more of a, a little bit more of something that, let you know, like this thing is gonna be different and I think the, I think it is gonna be totally way different than what we've gotten. It's just that that image just invoked a lot of like real as like hyper realism, like kind of like the henry cavill superman, like maybe they could have like done something a little different with it.
Speaker 2:That maybe would have made me think like, oh yeah, here's the tone, you know what I mean. But also, that's not the point of this promo image the promo is just the suit.
Speaker 1:I think it's to even to even counter the point. I I feel like that that promo image is just the suit. I think it's to even to even counter the point. I feel like that that promo image is like a. It's literally pulling from an important scene in that movie. I genuinely think that's what that is like. I feel like that's going to be like a climactic piece in the movie. We're like no, that promo image isn't just like. Obviously it is supposed to act as a first look, but I think it's more than that. Like I. I do genuinely think it's like whatever that sky beam in the back, it's like, no, not, the sky beams are back from everything. I do think that's going to be an important thing that happens. Like I said, I think he's taking off the suit to put on the new suit, the actual Kryptonian suit, which he's been running from this whole time. That's why it's like that. It's more like narrative based than just like. The first look is dark and gritty, like I think it's further than that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. I just think James Gunn knows better, I just think he knows, I think so I agree. And then last bit of news I got again just came out today we're doing Lord of the Rings again. Yeah, so I don't know what this is. So Peter Jackson is involved. He's executive producing a series of films. I assume, so I assume so, and the first of which will be directed and starring Andy Serkis. Oh, I didn't know that Andy Serkis was going to direct this.
Speaker 1:Yes, he is directing and starring in the Lord of the Rings film that will be called the Hunt for.
Speaker 2:Gollum. Ooh, I wonder who he's going to play, which I don't know. I don't know what this is, I don't know. Is it a prequel, an in-between prequel? Because, spoiler alert at the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, gollum is hucked into a volcano and dies.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, theory can theory, but what if he didn't die? I?
Speaker 2:mean he looked pretty dead, yeah, cascading into that lava at the end of the movie.
Speaker 1:So maybe it is a prequel, maybe it is like because we did see Andy Serkis, as you know, pre-gollum in Return of the King, like we actually. Is this just a way to try and get and run andy circus, his oscar? Oh yeah, and, like I said, I've been watching these, these apes movies too, and I'm like and I'm looking at him like let's look, look academy. I know, I know you guys are weirded out by anything that has a little bit of cgi and a lack of drama and adam driver punching a wall on their story. I know those things bother you guys.
Speaker 1:But andy circus he's gonna get like a lifetime achievement award, though there's no shot if he doesn't get an if he doesn't get an oscar, like how he's progressed mocap in hollywood over the last 10. He revolutionized 20 years, he's the godfather of mocap, essentially I mean that's why he was in the apes movies, like that was. That was the whole inception of getting him was. Look what he did with golem. Like, if we're gonna do this, we need to make this feel real.
Speaker 2:So what he did with golem was. I mean, it's insane. Yeah, not just from a mocap lens but also from a performance lens right was remarkable and still is like we saw return of the king a couple years ago in theaters and like those golem scenes are amazing, like when he's doing the back and forth with himself and you're just captivated and unsettled by this character. So I mean I'm guessing it's going to be some sort of prequel, Probably Gollum. That brief stint that Gollum Smeagol has with the One Ring is what I'm guessing.
Speaker 1:That's what I think it's going to be. I think this whole movie could be. What was his name? Smeagol, yeah, smeagol.
Speaker 2:Like his descent into Gollum. Maybe that's what.
Speaker 1:I think this movie could be. I think this could actually be Andy Serkis. He doesn't have to do the thing yet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, could be. And then I mean I guess we'll see. I mean this was only a matter of time. Right, it was only a matter of time, these big IPs don't get left alone.
Speaker 1:Obviously, your superhero stuff, your Star Wars things like those are the ones that you know, but like something like this, like you hold out a little bit of hope that, like you know, they don't get touched yeah, and I mean the unfortunate thing, especially for Lord of the Rings, is what any type of reboot or reimagining or whatever the case is chasing is impossible.
Speaker 2:I mean, we've talked, we talked about returning the king and the sweep, the oscar sweep, the 13 for 13. Like that's what you're chasing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, with a reboot like good luck and you saw the reception that rings of power got and obviously a lot of unfair unfairness came with that. But you know, in terms of scale, you can try to reach the scale if you want. Obviously, technology is much better than it is and I mean to be fair if peter jackson's involved.
Speaker 2:Um well, I believe in it.
Speaker 1:You took my point right from under me. That's my, and I always say that if and if the person um, I, I was talking to somebody about this and they and they were trying to argue with me about the whole thing of, like, the reboot. See, listen, if the person that made the original thing is there, then I will always be on board. It was the gladiator. Gladiator, that was the one because you know, I told I can't remember. I told the person oh, they're coming out with a new gladiator movie, and they scoffed at the idea of a new gladiator and I said ridley scott's making the movie. And they said well, why did they need?
Speaker 1:I said if the person that made the thing is redoing the thing, then I'm fine, because obviously a piece of them doesn't feel like this story is finished. So that if it's somebody new, that's where you, the skepticisms, can come. I, I'll listen to some of the skepticism, but if it's the person, um, I'll be in. I'll see what they have to say. Yeah, yeah, I wish peter jackson. I just think I, if you were gonna get somebody.
Speaker 2:Andy circus makes a lot of sense, though yeah, yeah, I agree, I mean and also someone that's intimately familiar with with the material and not only the material with peter jackson.
Speaker 1:I think that's also a very important piece, especially for because I know andy circus directed something in the last couple of years he directed venom too. Sir, yeah, it was venom too. Yep, the best superhero movie over the last 20 years. What director can come up with not you, father? You father, who's doing that? The dichotomy between oh, is that why he did venom? Because the dichotomy between venom and and eddie, just like spiegel and gollum, oh my, there's levels to this actually.
Speaker 2:Um, we have to move on before I go into a rabbit hole about this it's the second week in a row we talked about vena too, by the way which is pretty good. It's so good, um shogun, yeah, man there's this little show you know what you say.
Speaker 2:That, but you're not wrong, um, because this show, well, not now right, but I mean holy moly, what a what a roller coaster this show has been on um. So this was announced in august of 2018. So six years ago. It was announced, um, that fx would be making an adaptation of the 1975 novel shogun by james clivelle. Um, and was given everything, given, given green light. And then it's so the show six years in the making. Six years in the making. I believe some of the scenes in the show with Sonata were filmed in 2018. Incredible, because they had to keep, keep filming, otherwise they were going to lose the rights to the, to the source material. Um, which is a thing we've talked about before in the past with, like, fantastic four. Like that's why they had to keep pumping out fantastic four things, because the rights would have reverted back to marvel.
Speaker 1:Things were happening because of that, because, yeah, um, that's the only reason some of those things were staying yeah, so I found it here.
Speaker 2:Sonata did a single day of filming in 2019 in order for FX to retain the rights to the property.
Speaker 1:Which scene do you think that was? I rephrase what's the funniest scene that it could have been?
Speaker 2:So it's got to be one, probably, where he's by himself, because I think he was the first actor attached to it. So it's got to be one where he's by himself.
Speaker 1:And he's an executive producer on this too.
Speaker 2:It's got to be one where he's by himself and he's an executive producer on this too. It's got to be one of like his, like standing in a standing on a cliff. Yeah, looking at, maybe it's, maybe it's the scene with one of him in the him the falcon. Yeah, he's just hanging out, he throws the falcon he throws it out.
Speaker 1:I know where to go like we'll keep it.
Speaker 2:We'll keep it. Now. Sonata did a scene with a bird.
Speaker 2:We're in he did multiple scenes with the bird he did multiple scenes with birds speaking of actor in the show, the bird speaking of hiroyuki sanada. Um just so happy for him that he gets this, that he got this show, because this guy has been in hollywood for Hollywood for a long, long time now. Um one of the premier Japanese actors that have made the transitions to the West Um and he in the last couple of years it feels like he's really emerged Um you know getting his due.
Speaker 2:Yes, a hundred percent. I mean, this guy's been making films since 1966. So now has been acting, he just does not look that old either, which is awesome.
Speaker 2:Let's see. I'm trying to see American films. His first American film that he did was the Last Samurai. Then he's been in Sunshine. He's been in Rush Hour, speed Racer, the Wolverine we talked about earlier. 47 Ronin John Wick John Wick, avengers, endgame racer. Um the wolverine we talked about earlier. Um 47 ronan john wick, avengers endgame. Um, and then in the last couple years he has um 20 from 2021 to now. Um, he's really gotten kind of the mainstream kind of appeal. Um, obviously, with mortal kombat he played uh hanzo asashi. He played scorpion, which I really liked. His scenes as scorpion. It's almost like it was too good to be true in a movie like that, because sonata's in. He's in like the first 10 minutes.
Speaker 1:It's like the best 10 minutes of the movie.
Speaker 2:Man I that opening doesn't belong in that type when they released that first 10 minutes and they're like here's the first 10 minutes of the movie and it's the theion Sub-Zero stuff in the past and they get that hand-to-hand fight and it's him and Sub-Zero and they're like yelling at each other and then they have that sick hand-to-hand fight.
Speaker 1:I told you I was like whoa, this movie surely isn't going to be good and then the movie tricked. It's really good.
Speaker 2:It gets good again, so he will be in Mortal Kombat 2 also as Scorpion.
Speaker 1:He's got like a G in John Wick 4 too. Oh my God, oh shit, that whole. What is it? What do they call it? Hotel Osaka? Yeah, in John Wick 4? Buddy, that opening and that movie, because that opening is like 30 minutes long, like that opening is a big chunk of that. That movie's long too. I think that movie's like 250 or something like that, uh, he was the elder in bullet train.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, he wasn't bullet train yeah, a movie that both of us quite liked as like a fun like, because sometimes you don't need to take this infinitely seriously, and I think bullet train's a good example of that and then and now this uh, he plays yoshi torunaga in shogun and just Phenomenally so Wow.
Speaker 2:What a performance. What a performance is something you're going to hear from us a lot talking about this show Speaking of next on the cast list, Cosmo Jarvis, Kind of a really unknown British actor.
Speaker 1:And I told you, when I watched the first couple scenes with him, I said oh he's. This is like he's gonna probably be a movie star after this. He's gonna probably start to get whatever he wants after this.
Speaker 2:And it's his freaking voice is a 10 out of 10, a very just. He's got one of those voices kind of like Ralph Einison in a way where you just like it's just identifiable right away.
Speaker 1:There's a boom, there's a gravitas, there's a grandeur to his voice where you can't help but listen when he talks. That's just what it is. So, like I said, I think he's going to get whatever he wants after this show.
Speaker 2:He plays John Blackthorn. Say his name right, private John Blackthorn the Anjin um. Say his name right, private john blackthorn the anjin the anjin um.
Speaker 1:Then we have one of our, one of our personal favorites in the show anna sawai as toto mariko, just man, oh man, just nuanced and and I told you like I I saw this thing um the other day where it's like what are some of the best, um, the best female performances that you've seen? And you know, obviously it was getting, you know, linda Hamilton was getting thrown around, which is my personal favorite because I have a lot of reverence for Terminator 2. I think it's one of the greatest action movies ever. Like, obviously, you're getting Linda Carter as Wonder Woman getting thrown around. You're getting, you know, obviously, the big one, sigourney weaver, um, as ripley, but you know, just thinking, thinking modern. This is one of the. I know this is television, but this is one of the more memorable performances that I've seen in television that character is so captivating and we'll talk about her.
Speaker 1:It's that it's so subtle, it's so sometimes. It's not the boom of the lightning, it's the, it's the it's the it's the subtle it's so sometimes it's not the boom of the lightning, it's the it's the it's the it's the calmness of the clouds that really gets you Um, and she's also See me spinning bars just because I watch this show.
Speaker 2:She's also um the lead role in Monarch, legacy of Monsters, which continues to get really great reviews, the Russell, and then, I guess, rounding out the main cast, tadanobu Asano as Yabushige-san. Can we just spoil who our favorite character is from the show? He's so good. Yabushige is the best and the worst. It's a testament to that guy and that performance and the writing of that character that he does overtly treacherous, treasonous things and I'm still like, and I'm just like, that's my guy yeah, I still love him.
Speaker 1:I still love him. He was the best guy around. What about the people he murdered? What he is? Oh shoot, he's also in mortal kombat he's raided, oh, he is raided in mortal combat. That's a hundred percent right.
Speaker 2:Oh my god, love that guy man now I wish they retroactively would have made cosmo jarvis johnny cage. Oh my god, imagine if he was johnny cage in that movie.
Speaker 1:It's carl urban, though I can't be mad I can't be mad that it's carl urban oh, cosmo jarvis probably would have been a really good. Like unknown johnny cage, I want to see him with an American accent. That's the next thing for him.
Speaker 2:Yes, very true.
Speaker 1:Do something American.
Speaker 2:But this show man, Holy moly.
Speaker 1:I know we say this a couple times about the really good stuff we watch, but sometimes you watch something and there's no way this is a real thing that we get to watch and experience.
Speaker 2:I mean, the thing that got my attention obviously was people were like Game of Thrones, right, they're like think season one, early season Game of Thrones, and I was like no shot. No shot Because that's you know when I was talking about before, like chasing the Return of the King, like that type of prestige, like when you're throwing around, like when you're throwing around like season one, season two, game of thrones, like you're charting into like special territory. So I was just like no shot, no shot. And then I watched episode one and I was like oh, oh, shoot, um. So I guess we should clear this up out of, get it out of the way. You also watch this with the subs, right, like just the japanese voices yeah, yeah, I didn't, yeah, I didn't because there is a dub where they do english voiceover.
Speaker 2:Dubbing of the japanese acting.
Speaker 1:I did not know that and I would never watch something like that.
Speaker 2:That just I feel like that would take away a layer to the show yeah, yeah, so we both watched the, the subtitled um subtitled performances of so yeah, I imagine that scene from episode two would just be so, so odd, I have. No, I kind of do want to check it out, just to see um, but because I'm assuming like sonata and um, they all you know, just said the english lines no, I think it's just English.
Speaker 2:Different voice actors that's weird. Dubbing over the Japanese lines that's weird. It works in anime. It doesn't work. It doesn't work in live action.
Speaker 1:I feel like that was more of a. That was more of like a studio courtesy thing, but apparently on some of the platforms.
Speaker 2:That's the default.
Speaker 1:Interesting.
Speaker 2:So I think on YouTube TV, I believe that's the default. That's weird to me. And then I saw it on because I watched it on Hulu. Yeah, same, I watched it on Disney Plus through Hulu and the default on Hulu is the subbed version. But I did scroll over and it was like English dubbed version. I'm just like no, no, no, no, not interested Because I agree, I think you would lose a lot of, especially from the Japanese, obviously from the Japanese cast.
Speaker 1:Oh, you wanted Blackthorn to be dubbed because he was too angry oh, they should have reverse dubbed it. Oh, they should have like turned out an American actor to do the, to do the English voice dub. No, do an American, do an get an English actor.
Speaker 2:English voice overs for the Japanese actors. Japanese voice actor for Blackthorn.
Speaker 1:I take what I said back about the scene we're going to talk about in a little bit.
Speaker 2:But no, yeah. So we both watched the subs and, I'll be honest, I did have to rewind quite a few times. That's because you weren't locked in. I wasn't. It's bad man. I don't realize how occasionally not locked in I am to watching things until I have to watch a thing that's being in that's in another language. That should tell you how good the show is, because like you can't shows.
Speaker 1:You might have been like it's whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, not this show every time I did that, like I you know, maybe I checked my phone for like 30 seconds and then I'm like I just feel like I missed like an important conversation because it's in Japanese and I have to actually be engaged.
Speaker 1:Maybe that's why this show performed so well and why people were so engaged. They were like, oh, we have to pay attention. And then, once people pay attention, they're like, oh, shoot.
Speaker 2:And also it does have that Game of Thrones thing where I'm like who is this? What is happening? Whose house does this person belong to? Whose clan are they in the clan? Not that clan? Okay, nice. But the show does a really nice job of kind of not hand holding you through that. But they spend enough time with, like, each main character because, like, the main characters are essentially Blackthorn, torunaga, mariko, and they get them together in pretty short order and then you can kind of cascade from there and you're like, alright, it took me a while to figure out what Yabushige's deal was. I'm like, who is he? Is he another warlord? What's going on? And then by episode 3, I was pretty much cleared up oh, he's like Torunaga's, one of Torunaga's lieutenants. Essentially I'm like, okay, I get that. The Council of. Essentially I'm like, okay, I get that, um, the council of regents. I kind of got the reeds. I got that pretty quickly, like, because the four other ones don't really matter. It's like a shido. A shido and the and the beatles.
Speaker 1:Essentially um, she does the top dog like he's the yeah, he's torinaga's rival, right main rival, um.
Speaker 2:So I got that pretty quickly. Took me a couple episodes to suss out who Buntaro was.
Speaker 1:Yeah retroactively speaking, what you get later into the season. I'm kind of glad they kept it the way it was because I feel like the immediate push for him, because the subversion that happens and the you know spoiler alert for what we think is when he's about to die, one of the coolest moments, which turns out to not be a great moment because, spoiler alert, he's not a great guy, yeah, but is he no? That's why this show is kind of good.
Speaker 2:Because we don't know for sure. So once I got it down I was like all right, so I got Torunaga, I got Hiramatsu, who's like his guy.
Speaker 1:You got Fuji.
Speaker 2:Fuji. It took me a while to suss out well, her deal too.
Speaker 1:I just thought she was gonna. It's weird, not that she wasn't or was a bigger deal that she was supposed to be. I thought it was gonna be. I thought she was gonna be more important to like the hierarchy piece of what they were doing. It took me a while to suss out, because it was very immediate when she tried to kill herself, and then her because she knew her baby was gonna die.
Speaker 2:When she shows back up as black thorn's consort. I was like, who is she? And then she talked about, I think, as Mariko said, her husband spoke out on behalf of Lord Tornok.
Speaker 1:I'm like, oh, that's her From the beginning of episode one yeah, the show's not hand-holdy, but it understands. We're going to give you the thing. It's just if you're going to pay attention to it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it took me a lot of suss out Fuji and then everyone else. I was pretty much until Lady Ochiba showed up.
Speaker 1:I'm like who is she? Yeah?
Speaker 2:that did yep. And then I was like, oh, she's the one that Toronaga held hostage in the beginning of the season. I'm like, oh, okay, Now I know who everyone is.
Speaker 1:It's almost like these writers know exactly what the principles of screenwriting are, and I've been one of the biggest ones. That would be Chekhov's gun Whether it be a real Chekhov's gun we'll get there.
Speaker 2:We do get a real Chekhov's gun. But, yeah, I mean this show just from. I told you, every episode of the show has a scene or a moment where you're just like or a couple of them, yeah, or a couple of them. Or where you're just like, oh, this is the cinema that they'd be talking about and like, oh, this is, this is, this is the cinema that they'd be talking about, um, and we get it right off, right off, rip um. They tell us I love a good, I love a good words, words on a screen, but it's setting the stage like a play. It's very play-like the way they set the stage.
Speaker 2:Uh, so we're set in the 1600, in the year 1600, actual 1600. Um, the taiko of Japan has died and a council of five regents has been appointed in his death he ain't dead yet, but he's going, he's on his way out and they protect the heir of the Taiko at Osaka Castle. These five regents yeah, protect is a loose term. Castle, these five regions yeah, protect is a loose term. And the fear, the fear of all japanese people, is that one day, one of these five regions will rise to power and become the shogun um, and that's where we start and then we end up in a ship full of british people who have been just going through it yeah, just these regular British people.
Speaker 1:They definitely are not pirates.
Speaker 2:No, and one of these very loud, obnoxious British folks is our John Blackthorn, who we don't know this yet. And they end up marooned in Ito Bay, captured by Yabushige and his crew in Izo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and great pieces, I'll just get it off, get it, get it out of the way. Now. This show, you know cinematography wise, is just man, just gorgeous, and the gorgeousness does not come out of it being, you know, tack sharp. I mean, you know the lens package that they use on this show. I knew they they were using kind of these. They were messing with the elements in the camera to get that very exaggerated bokeh on the around and it's like what that does is you know that really isolate your characters, because this is, you know, a big piece of a story like this is a character study. So you know, technically speaking, this is where the philosophy of what cinematography is any, any cinematographer that leads philosophically first and not technically first, I think are the best. It's like your technical side is you can learn that on any campus that you go to YouTube video, like whatever you got to learn it. Go on the Internet, you can learn it. Using that to your advantage is where this show truthfully shines.
Speaker 1:It's like the show is disgusting to look at sometimes and you know another piece that I think about that a lot the batman does that infinitely well. The batman is, is is a dirty, disgusting movie in the best possible way, like this is the same thing, like this movie isn't, or this the show is, does not? The show looks so horribly amazing, if that makes sense. I don't know if that makes sense like it does. Yeah, it may, it looks, it does not look it looks so incredible. But there's points where it does look absolutely beautiful and that's kind of like the shadows of Arrakis, like the shadows of Japan. That's where the show really shines too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Blackthorn and his crew are taken prisoner by the locals of Izo, the local samurai.
Speaker 1:I want my guns and I want my men and I want off this island.
Speaker 2:He can't even get those words out yet you savages. So a lot of the backdrop revolves around the Portuguese occupation of Japan, specifically the Portuguese Catholic occupation of Japan. So we see a few of these Japanese folks have already converted to Catholicism. Blackthorn's men are Protestant who are at the war with Catholics. It's a whole religious backdrop thing. So Blackthorn already sees these Catholic crosses. He's like Jesus.
Speaker 1:Christ, they got to you guys, didn't they?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the local, one of the local Jesuits, wants to have Blackthorn executed because they think he's a pirate. And Yabushige is like nah, I want his guns, I want his ship. Give it, you can keep Blackthorn alive, because he's kind of fun, I kind of like him.
Speaker 1:I think that's the point. It's funny. Yabushige's playful ignorance is kind of If we really want to get into it One of the main inciting incidents of this. Yabushige's personality is the only thing that keeps Blackthorn alive. It's just the fact that he's a bit of a scoundrel himself. He's like yeah, I think it'd be fun to watch this barbarian run around here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Yabushige. You're like, oh, he's kind of fun. And then he's quickly turned around and like, but boil that man alive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Because Yabushige has this obsession with death and this obsession with he thinks he's going to gain some insight into death by seeing people die, and he just does this in horrific ways. That's kind of his shtick. So good for him, great for him. Yeah, so that's all. We get out of Blackthorn at the moment where we go back to osaka castle, where the four of the the well, all five of the regions are there and they're very situationally placed, where four of them are all sitting in a row, and then there's one man, sanada-san, is sitting by himself, yoshi torenaga, and, uh, the other, his, his rival, ashido. Lord ashido is like.
Speaker 1:That actor I've seen in a bunch of stuff too.
Speaker 2:He's in a bunch of stuff, but yeah, he basically accuses Torunaga of kidnapping the wife of the Taiko and the heir and holding them hostage because it would give Torunaga leverage. And Torunaga's like how dare you, sir?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm going to play along because you're in charge.
Speaker 2:Or are you, or are you? So they are like Toronago. We are going to vote to impeach you. And in Japan, guess what happens when you get impeached? You die. Yeah, you die. Your lands are forfeit. Everyone who has ever pledged legions to you is also going to die. And then one one man. One man pipes up from the sideline. He's like you, don't treat toronaga that way.
Speaker 1:That's my, that's my glorious king. How dare you?
Speaker 2:that's my guy. You don't say that. You don't say that about Yoshi Torunaga.
Speaker 1:And then a hush went over the crowd.
Speaker 2:And then he just went ooh.
Speaker 1:Well, guess I gotta kill myself now.
Speaker 2:My bad, my bad, my bad, everybody, my bad on that. There was someone to run. There was someone to run. Yeah, so this poor, unfortunate soul disturbed the council regents.
Speaker 1:And then Torunaga turns around and says I'm sorry about him, I would never do anything about him, he should kill him, he should commit seppuku actually.
Speaker 2:Yeah, seppuku is a big theme in this show. It happens quite a bit. So, yeah, we come to this moment. They confront Fuji, this man's wife, and they're like look, in lieu of everyone in your family killing themselves and ending your family line, we will settle for your husband and your newborn child. That's Fuji. Is that okay? Fuji's like no, just a knife to her neck immediately. And then we are introduced to Lady Mariko.
Speaker 1:Yeah, In a calm breeze so calm breeze went over.
Speaker 2:The went over the show yes, uh, as soon as anna. So I steps on foot, steps on scene. There's this, this grace, just this presence, this silent power that she has over everybody. Feels like um, and you don't really know why, but she just commands it, um, and she goes to fuji and she just says you know, come on, like you don't want to die here, like you have a kind of a greater purpose than than dying here, um, and then fuji goes to like relinquish her, her child, and mariko says, no, let your hands be the last one to hold him, um, and then, off screen, we, we know that fuji, fuji loses her newborn and her husband, um, and that immediately establishes like holy moly, this people don't mess around. Like like you don't, don't do it.
Speaker 1:No, tradition is tradition tradition is tradition, honor is honor as well, and that whole, that whole thematic through line of honor comes to one of the greatest scenes in this show. That happens in episode 8 as well, and I can't even talk about that. It was a 7 or 8, I think it was 7. The end of 7. That happens in and then Torunaga.
Speaker 2:We see Torunaga later talking to Toda Hiramatsu, his most trusted advisor, and he's like did Yamushige come across a ship by chance? And hiromatsu's like yeah, I think. I think so. Toronago's like go check, go check that out for me. Um, because we find out that yabushige's village is infiltrated by some sort of spy on behest of toronago and we don't know who it is. Yabushige also very eager to know who it is, because he's like how is Hiromatsu already here? How could he possibly know about the barbarian ship? And you know Yabushige's puffing his chest out and he's like this is my ship, my guns, my cannons. This is great, I can rule Izo with this. And then Hiromatsu comes and he's like, actually with this. And then hiramatsu comes and he's like actually, oh, yabushige, great job, great job, securing the ship for your lord yoshi torunaga and yabushige is like yeah, I did do that, didn't I?
Speaker 2:um, I'm the best. And then he's also like by the way, torunaga wants the barbarian to come to osaka. And yabushige is like this is my pet, this was fun, I was having fun with this for a little while. So they're going to Osaka. They get on a ship. Blackthorn is confronted by Rodriguez. Not enough Rodriguez in this show for my taste, or just enough Rodriguez.
Speaker 1:I think it is just enough. Rodriguez, what did I tell you? He's the definition of the world's swashbuckling. That's exactly who Rodriguez is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's a Portuguese guy who's been spending some time in Japan. He trades aboard the Black Ship for the Portuguese, and him and Blackthorn establish a quick frenemy relationship. Just two pirates, pirates. He's just a pilot. Yeah, sure, he wants his guns and he wants his men. Rodriguez is very upfront with blackthorn. Like hey, you're british. Yeah, as soon as we get to osaka, I'm telling the portuguese that you're here. Um, I have your journals and I will shoot you in the head if you try and take them. Blackthorn's like all right, um, so I'll go but I don't want to yeah, so they go.
Speaker 2:There's a shipwreck, there's a storm, blackthorn immediately he's like I'm in charge of the ship now and people start listening, people start listening. Rodriguez goes overboard, yeah, um, but blackthorn throws him a like a uh, one of the one of the one of the hooks. No, the ropes. No, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1:The oars, there we go.
Speaker 2:I couldn't find it there. He throws Rodriguez an oar and he's like all right, we'll see him. When we see him, yabushige's like you crazy son of a bitch Blackthorn, gets them through the storm. And then he's like wait, we rodriguez. And yabushige is like fine, we'll find him, he's like he's a good pilot.
Speaker 2:You must see him, they find him, they find rodriguez. And then I love this bit where black thorn's still handcuffed and he's like I'll go get him. Um, and they're like, japanese are like, no like, and black thorn is basically like fine, you go get him then. Or? Or are you two chicken and Yabushige is like no, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm like, I'm cool, like that, and then Yabushige Immediately falls.
Speaker 2:He immediately falls. He gets to Rodriguez and then the waves start to take him. Oh, I love it. And this is that scene. Remember, I said, every episode has a scene. This is the scene and yabushige is like this this will be a fun game. As we go through this, like what's the scene right and some of it's easier in some than others. This is one where it's pretty easy. Um, yabushige immediately is like I'm not letting these waves kill me. Takes out his sword and black thorns like whoa, whoa, yeah. And then last second rope throw by the rope throwing guy, rope throwing general, whoever that is, give that man a raise. Yeah, yeah, he's, he's good at, he's good at his job. He hits yabushige right, right and right in the right in the chest with the rescue rope and yabushige is like whoo, I really didn't want to kill myself there. Yabushige also, hilariously, constantly, is writing his will yeah I wonder why.
Speaker 2:Yeah, uh, he saved um, and yabushige and blackthorn share a moment where they're like you're, you're all right, maybe. And then blackthorn gets taken to osaka castle where he confronts not confronts but he's brought before torunaga and mariko. And that was episode one, and I was like I'm in, I'm in, you got me. Um, I am immediately captured. All my, all my main characters are doing the main charactering where I'm like I immediately care about torinaga, I immediately care about mariko, blackthorn and yabushige in variety of ways.
Speaker 2:And um, episode two, basically we get a flashback to the taiko on his deathbed, privately telling torinaga the plan about the council of regents and then being like this is going to be, it's going to result in civil war. You guys will not be able to hold this together for long. Um, sorry, but but protect my son is the charge that Torinaga is given by the Taiko. Protect my heir. So it already colors that beginning piece where the council regents accused Torinaga of kidnapping the heir, because now we know, as a viewer, that Torinaga is actually fulfilling the last wishes of the Taiko. Or is he? Or is he Um? Yep, and then, and then, hilariously enough, rodriguez said I'm gonna give your turn, your journals over to the portuguese, and he does he did.
Speaker 2:If you get one thing about, or is he yeah but that's the thing, like everyone, like it's funny, there is subversion of expectation in the show, but then when you expect the subversion of expectations, they don't subvert. No. So you're like, oh, rodriguez and blackthorn are cool, like he's not gonna snitch on him and he just does. And he's just like, this man is dangerous, he's trying to, he's trying to instigate a war between england and portugal or japan and portugal, like he's here for bad things. And the portuguese are like, oh yeah, he's right, so we'll just.
Speaker 2:This is where we find out that the Portuguese have two Christian, two Catholics, on the council of regents, two converted Catholics on the council of regents. And they're like no, we need to execute Blackthorn, like he needs to die. And then, and then, and then. So we get the first meeting between Blackthorn and Torinaga, which involves Father Alito as the interpreter, and mariko is also there as a shadow interpreter for torinaga, because torinaga doesn't trust anybody in this room. Torinaga doesn't trust anybody ever in history of history. He doesn't even trust himself. He doesn't even trust himself. Um, and yeah, so alvito, we again. This show is so good at this, whether it's like surely Alvito is not as forthcoming as he says he is, and then he just is, yeah.
Speaker 1:He's much more honorable than I would ever give him credit for.
Speaker 2:Much more honorable also than Blackthorn would give him credit for. Yeah, because Blackthorn is like what are you going to twist my words? And he's like no'm gonna, I'll translate. I'll translate honestly and openly, like and then that's why torinaga has mariko there. And torinaga didn't even ask her like did the father translate everything perfectly? Mariko was like yeah, as far as I could tell. Yeah, but we also find out that mariko herself is a catholic convert as well, who has a deep friendship with father alito also, so that you've known each other since she was a child yeah.
Speaker 2:And then ashido walks in and he's like get, get him out, he needs to go. And torganaga is like he's my prisoner. Because ashido's like why do you, why do you care so much about this englishman torganaga? And torganaga's like I don't watch, watch me throw him in prison right now, don't skin off my back. So he throws Blackthorn to prison just to prove a point, which is hilarious. And then that's where Blackthorn meets Father Exposition, as I like to call him. And Father Exposition fills us in on all the backstory, including a secret Portuguese base on the island of Macau. Yeah, that is shepherded not by just the Portuguese, but Japanese Ronin.
Speaker 1:Wait a minute.
Speaker 2:Wait a minute. And now here we go. Torunaga, the puppet master here, is already at work Because we get to the Council of Regents and Ishido's like time to kill Torunaga, right, fellas, andian regents are like we can't, we can't not, while this englishman, cath or protestant, is running around. We can't deal with him first, and then we'll vote on toronaga and ashido's like I just want to kill him. Um, and then this is where yabushige here we go. Yabushige, playing both sides, meets with ashido, and you're like, no, yabushige. Here we go, yabushige, playing both sides, meets with Ashido, and you're like, no, yabushige, why would you do this? But he convinces Ashido that maybe Blackthorn could be useful. He's got guns. Guns are cool, right.
Speaker 1:We did see how cool guns got.
Speaker 2:Ashido's like guns are kind of cool, shido's like guns are kind of cool. So how about? Yabushige says, how about we stage attack and rescue Blackthorn? So Blackthorn, this is. I love this scene. Not this scene, but I love the scene afterwards with Torunaga and Yabushige. So Blackthorn's, being at the behest of the Christian regents, is being escorted for execution and then bandits attack.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, no, and then bandits attack.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh no, oh no bandits.
Speaker 1:Is that Yabushige's whole thing in this show? Because he does it. Listen, if I had a nickel for every time he did it I'd have a dime, but that's like one more than I thought I'd have, because he does it twice. This is the first one, and then he does it again in episode nine. He does it twice.
Speaker 2:He's just like, oh no, these people infiltrated so Yabushige's men show up and you realize he paid these bandits to attack the Catholic regents, only to be only to then subsequently backstab them. Bandits literally backstab them. So he takes Yabushige, or Yabushige takes Blackthorn back to Toronaga and then ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. This is the scene, episode two. This is the scene where this show just elevates to another level. Take it away with this master class of a scene between Torunaga, mariko and Blackthorn lord lord, lord lord.
Speaker 1:So obviously we talked about the translation going on, so it's just again, it's in. There's a couple things that go on. It's just Torunaga's got this, he's got this presence to him. It's just. It's just the it's in. There's a couple things that go on. It's just torinaga's got this, he's got this presence to him. It's just. It's just the way he sits. He demands answers without saying I need answers to this thing. He just sits there with expectation almost is what I'd say. Um, and then, like, like you said, you made a great point. Marco brings his grace over it as well. There's almost just like peace to things, like there needs to be peace in all this war that's going on. And you know, blackthorn only wants to be gone, like he's like, if I need to stay, it's going to be with purpose, because I need to be gone, like I need to be out of this.
Speaker 2:Well, he wants to enlist the Japanese to help him fight the Portuguese.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he said, if I he tries to tell him, like I'm not the, he says the word like, I'm not the enemy, like and that was the first Japanese First word he learns. Yeah, the first Japanese word he lays Like I'm not the enemy in this, like the Portuguese are the enemy and unfortunately the Portuguese have infiltrated you guys as much as you guys would not like to believe. And you, when Blackthorn tells Torinaga about the base in Macau and Torinaga goes base in Macau, yeah, he doesn't even say as much.
Speaker 2:He just kind of like raises the old eyebrow and he asks Blackthorn to draw him a map of the world as he knows it.
Speaker 1:I must say Atticus Ross' score in this show is just masterful as well. It's such an accompaniment, instead of like a, instead of it's own character, which I think is the right choice for something like this. This show operates in subtlety and, like to your point, it helps elevate and, you know, really prop up those big moments as big moments in other shows, where it would not be, it would be a little bit more streamlined. But this show operates in the. It has great bang moments, if that makes sense too.
Speaker 2:This is one of those moments, man, where Blackthorn is laying out the lay of the land and Blackthorn essentially says like the Portuguese are here to take you over, they already think Japan is theirs, based on a treaty that they made with Spain. And Mariko is getting kind of defensive about this because she has a good relationship with Father Alito and the Portuguese and she's translating, but she's also kind of omitting some things. But Torunaga's clearly interested in what Blackthorn has to say. And then you get that beautiful moment where she says to Torunaga he says Japan belongs to Portugal and Torunaga goes did he really say belongs? And she says yes, and Torunaga's like I need a detailed map of everything he knows. Basically, and that's the first brokerage of as much as Torunaga can trust a person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, A legion at that point that's the most like. The enemy of the enemy is my friend. Like I need you.
Speaker 2:Torunaga. It should be stated that his mission, his purpose is not to be Shogun, so he says. It is not absolute power, so he says, um, it is to bring peace, true peace to Japan, without conflict.
Speaker 1:So he says true peace to Japan without conflict. So he says you know, that's why in this story, like it doesn't. You know, a big fear of the show is the white savior complex. When you get Blackthorn and I think the show rightfully so, takes Blackthorn right out of that. Once you hit like episode four, it takes Blackthorn right away, like after the whole boat scene where you know the pilot does the pilot things, like it takes him, it takes him out like it's like now he's just a figurehead at that.
Speaker 1:At this point too, he has no real power. So, you know, we get this scene and margo, he's the wild card. That's what blackthorn is. He's like he was this, like and I think they say it in the show too that like blackthorn being here is almost like prophetic. Like he's like this we were, we were getting to war one way or another and they did. But like this is a piece that we none of us could have ever not like been fearful of hope to have, like you're telling me, somebody that's an enemy of the portuguese just landed on our doorstep with all this firepower and all this knowledge, just ready to go. Like this is why he needs to stay alive, for this too yeah.
Speaker 2:And then we get this, this moment where blackthorn says, um, you know well. Torinaga asks like is this really like happening? And blackthorn is like I assure you, their arrogance is unbelievable like this is what the portuguese are going to do. And marco, that's what marco pipes up. And she's like you're lying. And then he's like, with the most conviction we've seen out of blackthorn at this point, like he's been kind of like this loud, brash, kind of goof, but deadly serious. He goes no, like I'm not lying. And then she goes do you swear? Do you swear before your God? And Blackthorn, without any hesitation, goes yes, I do. Like this is this is true. Like everything I'm telling you is the truth. This is true, everything I'm telling you is the truth. And then Torunaga's like okay, you can stay. And Torunaga, again the games is like you will stay in my quarters, I will stay in your quarters because something's up I don't trust. But didn't he say to Yabushige before he's like Because Yabushige's like man.
Speaker 1:Torunaga. You wouldn't believe what happened. Bandits.
Speaker 2:What Bandits showed up. It was crazy. Luckily my guys were there, yeah.
Speaker 1:We killed those bandits. There was a lot of good people there that day A lot of good people on both sides. Yeah, it was incredible.
Speaker 2:You would have loved to see how we handled this situation and Tornado is like it's real weird that bandits always seem to be around when you do a thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yep, Yabushige. Yeah, he's like trouble always seems to follow you.
Speaker 2:And Yabushige's, like I know right, it's crazy.
Speaker 1:He's the best character in this whole show.
Speaker 2:He's like that is crazy.
Speaker 1:But I saved that engine, though I saved him. Yep, look at my white barbarian running around.
Speaker 2:I love that guy. Oh man, man, tornaga dude. It was crazy. It's so crazy that there were bandits on that road, the same road that the engine was on and then it was also crazy that we were also on that road, fully ready to fight. Yeah, yeah you, you don't gotta get ready if you stay ready, yeah you know crazy.
Speaker 1:What about last week, when you guys weren't ready? That was different, I learned.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so toronaga is like I'll stay in your quarters, you stay in my quarters just in case an assassin shows up. And then an assassin shows up. And then an assassin shows up and they're like everyone in the quarters is like they're after Torinaga and Torinaga's like no idiots After Torinaga very gracefully kills this assassin?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's one of the maids, I'm not gonna lie. She was putting in work, she was cooking.
Speaker 2:I also. I just love like he stabs her and then he just kinda pushes her off the door, where you're just like Torunaga's the best. And they're like Torunaga, that's crazy, they were here to kill you. And he's like, no, they were not. I switched rooms, they were here for him, yep. And you're like, oh, this guy, he knows a thing or two about a thing or two. I think, yep, you're like, oh, this guy, he, he knows a thing or two about a thing or two. I think, um, the master of trickery is what torinaga is dubbed as throughout this show. And yeah, that man, that scene, the map scene, oh, it's so good. And then, yeah, so then we get to episode three.
Speaker 2:Episode three is fantastic as well. Torinaga tells yabushige to we're moving, we're going back, we're going to Ajiro, we're going to move my wife out of here. He's got two wives Torunaga. He's got like a serious wife who's pregnant, and then he's got like a fun wife, the fun wife who always gives him shit, which I quite like. So this is Torunaga again master schemer, we do this whole thing. We're going to smuggle the women out. It's to smuggle him out.
Speaker 2:The regents are like Torunaga can't leave Osaka, he needs to stand, not trial, but he needs to face his impeachment. Torunaga's like no, I won't. Actually. He puts the wives in there. Then, predictably not predictably predictably to Torunaga Ishido shows up and he's like I just want to say goodbye to your wives, let me just make sure that they're in there. And he opens the thing and they're like, they're in there. He's like all right, just don't do anything sneaky while I'm gone. And then one of them fakes a pregnancy cramp.
Speaker 2:And then in the meantime, the fun wife gets out of their car and someone sneaks in and you're like and black thorn is like, black thorn like and mariko look at each other, like oh yeah, black thorn's like anyone else? See that shit, anyone, anyone, anyone, anyone. See the? See that was that tornanga that just jumped in there. What was that? That was crazy, um. So they leave, um. And then mariko's like, black thorn's like what's the worst thing that could happen if they figure out tornaga's in there? And mariko's like we'll all die? And black thorn's like and then one of the shido's men rocks up like halfway through and he's like I'm here to inspect the carriages. And they're like again. And he's like yeah, again. And black thorn's like that. This ain't weird, y'all?
Speaker 2:they're just gonna do this, they're just gonna let this happen like we're all gonna just die here and marco's like, maybe torinaga's in the carriage, like maybe I told you, like my, my favorite thing to do when you would text me and be like Torunaga's doing a thing, and then I would just send you the eye emojis.
Speaker 1:That's definitely Torunaga's favorite emoji right oh yeah, yeah. Maybe he did have a phone.
Speaker 2:Torunaga would definitely be sending the eye emojis Like are they going to find us, Torunaga? And he'd just be like eye emojis, who's to say? Um? But just before they get to the, the carriage of tornog is in blackthorn turns on. His british ignorance and just his british properness comes out.
Speaker 1:He just loses it. Yeah, because the they're checking all the caravans and then he they go in the one and they're just peeping on the women in there and he's just like he just starts losing it. He's just like do you have? You can't, you can't do this to women.
Speaker 2:He just starts yelling. Yeah, it's hilarious yeah because a you know, nobody can understand him, so he just looks like this belligerent maniac. Right, he's living up to the barbarian name at this point. They're like what is happening?
Speaker 1:it's not right to people and women. It's not proper it's not proper.
Speaker 2:Um, and then one of ashido's guys walks up and is like hey, hey, shut up. We already checked the carriages. Ashido checked it, let him through. Enough of this buffoonery. You just let this maniac just yell at you, let's go. And Mariko looks at Blackthorn like you crazy son of a bitch.
Speaker 1:And then she asked. She straight up asked him. She's just like do you guys really care about their country? He's like heck, no, we're the worst. Actually we're much worse than you.
Speaker 2:And then we get a raid in the forest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we do Good old forest raid. It's the.
Speaker 2:Catholics, the Catholic region sent their men to attack Yep. And then so Torunaga's like well, jig is up, I gotta strap in Battle mode. And they're like oh, shoot Torunaga's out there, that treacherous Torunaga.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one of the men looks and then he taps the other one in the shoulder. It's like very Stormtrooper-ish. He's like I know that ain't who. I think it is out there and then.
Speaker 2:so everyone's fighting, we get a little, mariko can fight. We find out, yeah, yeah, yeah, she picks up the Naginata, which is a famous Japanese weapon of women warriors.
Speaker 1:Oh wait, wait, before you get there, it's that great scene with Yabushige and Torunaga because he goes. You know, one of these days you're gonna tell me the plan before the plan happens and Torunaga's like nah, he goes yeah, yabushige is just like son of a. He did it again um, and then we got introduced to buntero. We get introduced to the last samurai marco's husband yeah, marco's husband buntero.
Speaker 2:Uh, he's torinaga's ace in the hole, essentially like this is this, he's him, he's I don't know if you he's very, he's very.
Speaker 1:Jamie lanner stood to me in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2:Okay, I can see that Golden child-esque. Well, he comes from a pretty noble family. He's the son of Hiromatsu. He's Hiromatsu's son who's Torunaga's right-hand man. So, like Buntaro, born and bred to be a samurai.
Speaker 1:He's him, he's him. He's like the guy, he's like the prototypical, he's like stereotypical samurai.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we're escaping Ajiro and so the whole plan is we're going to get on this little ship, these little ships, and then we're going to sail to the black ship, because the black ship is like home base. Which ship, the black ship? It's like home base? Yeah, because it's a Portuguese ship, portuguese trade ship. Like's like home base Because it's a Portuguese ship, portuguese trade ship no touchy, no touchy. The Japanese-Portuguese trade ship. So that's where we're going. Butaro gets left behind and the scene when you're just like Buddy, he could have committed seppuku.
Speaker 1:He could have been like I'm going, I know this is it for me.
Speaker 2:But he's actually like then he remembered he was him.
Speaker 1:And you know one thing, and that's why Blackthorn's a solid point of view character, because Blackthorn's like what are you? Can you guys go try to save him? Like he's right there and Torunaga's like, but he's like, eh, like we can just grab him.
Speaker 2:He's like and Torunaga's like no, I'm actually, we're actually. Everyone's gonna hang back. Yeah, before we, before everyone just attacks Buntaro, we're gonna hang back. We're gonna let him kind of say goodbye to Torunaga Like they have like a moment. Torunaga and Buntaro give each other like the the nod. Like the cinematic nod man you're the son I always wanted, because my nitwit son who will show up next episode, yeah oh, you already did.
Speaker 1:He showed up in episode two, blurted something out and tori, no, he's like kenya. Will you please?
Speaker 2:yeah, nagakoto good lord shut up stupid idiot son. So yeah, buntaro fights off a bunch of people, he gets chased into an alley and you're like well, it was a good run well, he kills the first two guys and I I'm like, oh, hold on. He's him. So yeah, Buntaro is killed presumably, which, again, it's a version of expectation. You're like oh yeah, of course Buntaro would die because we've got to kick off this romance between Mariko and Blackthorn, because that's obvious.
Speaker 1:Also, it was 50 against 1. There were 50 of them, them with torches and spears and blades, and I was like this is it for him.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So Torunaga gets onto the black ship because the Christian regent's men have blockaded the port. So Torunaga strikes a deal with the Portuguese. He says, well, can you take us out on the black ship? I will let you build a church, a catholic church, in ito, my seat of power, which, for those of you who don't know ito, is modern-day tokyo. So it's a big, freaking deal to get a church. And even father alito was like, oh and a church, you say, and the portuguese, okay, but Blackthorn can't come, aw, not even Toronago's, just like, sorry, this was fun, pal. What about my guns?
Speaker 1:and my ship and my men.
Speaker 2:Marco's like nothing I can do. So they dump Blackthorn off on one of the other ships and Blackthorn again is just like man, fuck this. I'm not going out like this. My destiny is not to die on this island, I'm going.
Speaker 1:He turns on his best Harrison Ford impression, greatest pilot in the galaxy Jumps on a ship and he's like, let's go.
Speaker 2:Whoa you, sons of bitches.
Speaker 1:And then he looks up.
Speaker 2:Rodriguez. I know that ain't who I think it is. Yeah, bitches, I think it looks like rodriguez. I know that ain't who I think it is. Yeah, rodriguez is piloting the black ship and they game of chicken emerges yeah because there's a like a cliff, and captain of the black ship is like rodriguez, ram them into the rocks and black thorns like do it do it, go ahead.
Speaker 1:You won't, you won't. And he looks at him. He's just like because rodriguez hurts his leg in the in the second episode he looks. He's like Rodriguez, how's your leg Fine, how's your mother Dead?
Speaker 2:Good, and Rodriguez chooses in that moment to pay Blackthorn back for saving his life Twice and that's a debt repaid. And Blackthorn squeezes on by and Tornado is like Wait a minute, he's him. That son of a bitch. That's a crazy ass, white boy.
Speaker 1:That white boy's got some swag to him, not bad.
Speaker 2:So Blackthorn rejoins Torunaga on Blackthorn's hijacked ship and Torunaga's like hey, funny man, funny, funny man, show me how you do the.
Speaker 1:How do you do the thing in the water where you go in? He's like oh, you mean diving?
Speaker 2:yeah, show me that. And Toronaga hilariously makes Blackthorn do this, what I assume would be like a hundred times. Yeah, at least. And Toronaga he goes to do it one more time, exhausted Blackthorn Toronaga's like no.
Speaker 1:I got it now and then Toronaga does a perfect dive because obviously he knew how well.
Speaker 2:Before he perfect dives, he tells marco to tell blackthorn I he wants to race to the shore again. Torna master strategist, wore blackthorn out before this race. And then, toraga is like before we race, I want you to teach my men Western tactics in warfare. Mind you, blackthorn has never fought a war day in his life.
Speaker 1:No, no, he talks about a war that was fought, and then Mariko points it out. He's just like wait a minute, you weren't born during that war. What are you talking about?
Speaker 2:I heard about it in books. I heard about it.
Speaker 1:My uncle was there and he's really annoying.
Speaker 2:And then Torunaga makes Blackthorn a Hatamoto Big deal.
Speaker 1:Big deal. You've been promoted. You're one of my elite employees. Did Blackthorn ask for this? No, no, what does he want?
Speaker 2:His ship, his men and his guns and Torunaga's, like I hear you. But what if I made you a haramoto?
Speaker 1:He's like I don't know what that means. I don't know what anybody's been saying. I want to go home.
Speaker 2:Not only are you not getting your ship back, you're actually in charge of my army. Now Teach them artillery. And then we go back to Osaka. Hiramatsu rolls up and he's like you can't fire Torunaga because he quits. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then Ushido's like ugh, he doesn't do that. That would've been funny. He's like ugh. Ushido's like ah great, you know who Ushido is. He's Red Skull in the middle of First Avenger, where Captain America's going on all these missions.
Speaker 2:And then Red Skull's like ugh. He's like, oh good, we can just kill him now. Then right, this is great. And the other regents are like well, actually, in order to do literally anything, we need five people on the council, even to impeach a member of the council. So, since he quit, we can't do anything until we get another person. And Ishido's like I'm going to lose. Who made these rules? Oh my God, this is the worst rule ever, and we get back to Episode four.
Speaker 1:we're at Yabushige's place. Yeah, we're back. I like to call it Club Yabushige. Honestly, this is like a frat house almost to me. That's how I view his place. It's pretty great, all the boys are there. They're like whoa yabushige, what's up, man, been a long time, that's the goat. And then they see torunaga. Oh, shoot the actual goat's here. Who cares about you, yabushige?
Speaker 2:the actual goat's here. That's my favorite part, yabushige's like come on, guys, it's me, we don't care, though he gets. He gets there and he's like yes, I'm back, I'm back, yo, and everyone's like. They do, like the yabashige. Oh, they do the whole chant. And then Torunaga rolls up, see, and he starts waving the fan around a lesser filmmaker but a funnier filmmaker would have looked at it.
Speaker 1:They would have been like one of the guys would have looked out.
Speaker 2:They would have been like. And then Torunaga gets up there and everyone falls silent and then he just starts giving some great speech about like the future of Japan and like you're, you're all the best. And then he starts waving. He pulls out his fan and he starts waving the fan around and they're like.
Speaker 1:Torunaga, tease him.
Speaker 2:Yamashiki's like ugh. I, I, toronaga, tease him. Yabushige's like ugh.
Speaker 1:I'm sauiceless once again, like no In my own land, in my own frat and then like Toronaga Sigma Alpha Yabushige is what I'm gonna call it and then Toronaga doesn't even say like he's leaving, he's just like leading this chant.
Speaker 2:but while he's leading the chant, he's just getting onto the boat and then the boat is sailing away and he's still like leading the chant, and then he's just gone and then you're like wait, whoa, where's he going? What's what's going on here? And then so blackthorn marco's, like blackthorn's, like all right, can I have my crew on my ship? My ship is right there.
Speaker 2:I can see it. My men are still on the ship and Marco's like no, they're back in Edo and your ship and your crew, much like you, now belong to Toronaga and Black Dorn's like what?
Speaker 1:What are you talking about?
Speaker 2:Marco's like but but. But here's like what, what? Here's a house, you get a good house.
Speaker 1:One of the best houses out there. You get a salary. Just had 4-3 on Airbnb, god damn. You get a salary what? You're making Japanese money, he's like this means nothing to me.
Speaker 2:And for a kicker we got you a consort, the most probably like traumatically induced consort we could find. But this is Fuji, she's great she comes from and she's recently singled.
Speaker 1:Oh geez, that's terrible.
Speaker 2:It's horrible, but yeah. And he's like Blackthorn's like what am I supposed to do with this? And Marco's like that's the best part, whatever you want. And Blackthorn and she's like typically consorts, like she'll take care of your house, she'll clean, she'll do everything, she'll listen to you and she will also pillow with you. And Black Dwarf is like no, no, no, no, I don't want to pillow anywhere on near around. No, not interested. And Mariko's like tough Nems, the brakes.
Speaker 2:Fuji is also Hiromatsu's granddaughter, which is nice, you will be training Yabushige's army for six months. Six months, so that's great. And then. So now we get Omi. Omi is not introduced, but reintroduced. He gets a name. This is Yabushige's nephew, who pissed on Blackthorn in the pilot, literally. And now he has a higher rank than him too, and he's like hey, uncle, unks, big unks, big yabs, torunaga's gone. Why don't you just give the weapons to Ishido?
Speaker 1:That'd be pretty great, and Yabushige's like mm-hmm, that's such a great plan I just came up with, right on the spot. Get out of my face.
Speaker 2:That is Yabushige's bag. Isn't it like someone would suggest something to him and he'd be like that is a great idea?
Speaker 1:I just came up with. His grunts are the funniest.
Speaker 2:There's like a compilation of all his grunts and then and then and now we're at cannon practice, yeah, and it's going pretty well, yeah, it is going pretty well.
Speaker 1:He said Yamashika's like no, no shot, these things have no range, they have no class. Go give me my best. Go give me my best, katana, I'm taking out 50 men by myself, just me all day, and then the cannon goes off, he's like not bad, not bad. He said cannon goes off, he's like not bad, not bad. He said wait a minute, that was kinda cool. He said do that again, swaggy white voice. Do that one more time.
Speaker 2:Blackthorn's like you guys. You guys only know about Portuguese cannons. You ain't never seen a British cannon. He sets up like targets like 100 yards away, and he's like fire those sons of bitches. Rips through the targets like non, no trouble. And yabu shiki's like everyone's like wow, he's on our side not bad, not bad.
Speaker 2:And then, and then, black thorn's like you thought that was cool, wait till I show y'all chain shot. Chain shot is wicked, excuse me. So he shows him chain shot and it's amazing. Um, and then, and then, guess what? Ashido's men shows up. Yeah, his, his right hand guy, jozen, shows up and he's like y'all better not be firing cannons over here, what? No, yeah, but she's like what? What if you hang out, stay the night? Yeah, just look.
Speaker 1:Cannons ain't bad. Stay the night. Who said the?
Speaker 2:West sucks. Stay the night. Tomorrow morning, come to cannon practice, I'll show you what these are. Is this a sports movie? I'll show you what this is about. If you like the cannons, I give the cannons to Ishido. We all win. Huh, huh, Jozen's like okay, all right, I'll see that. And then so the night fall. Night fall, omi is hanging out with Torunaga's idiot son Nagakoto.
Speaker 1:We're not going to refer to him as there's all these idiot sons. He's a bumbling idiot.
Speaker 2:And Omi's like they're drinking sake. They're drinking sake and he's like oh man, you know it'd be a hilarious prank. I like that we've reduced the super serious, super cinematic show into this, but this is what we do best. And he's like would be, you know, be awesome, like what, if? Like at canon practice tomorrow. I love that this is canon practice.
Speaker 1:This is making this so much funnier.
Speaker 2:You just ripped apart Ishido's guys and just established that you're Torunaga's son. You can't be trifled with Torunaga left and all of a sudden you don't matter. Yeah, and you're what's his name?
Speaker 1:Yabushige no.
Speaker 2:You're him, that'd be sick, and Nagakoto's like that would be sick, that would be sick, that would be sick. I'll, I'll sleep on it. And then we get Blackthorn dinner with Fuji and Mariko and it's awkward, but we're getting places yeah, we are getting places.
Speaker 1:Well, they won his guns, and then Fuji stands right tiptoe.
Speaker 2:We don't get there yet we don't get there. Yet. We do get a really nice moment, though, between Blackthorn and Fuji, where he gives her one of the guns as a gift, as a gift, and she gives him her father's swords, and Blackthorn's, like whoa, like a hush, falls over the house, like we're bonding right now, and then, you know, we say our goodnights, we say our goodbyes, and then a courtesan walks into Blackthorn's room and that ain't no courtesan I ever seen, it's Marco, and her and Blackthorn share a moment. They pillow, yeah, they pillow. Yeah, they pillow. That's a great word. I'm going to use that all the time. Yeah, they wake up the next morning and Very no-strings-attached-esque way to wake up, I love it Because they're just like.
Speaker 2:Marco's like how about that courtesan last night? And Blackthorn like oblivious to subtext it? Blackthorn, oblivious to subtext is just like Cortisone, but that was. And Marco's like it would be improper to talk about it in front of Fuji. She and I both thought you could use a thing. And Blackthorn's like I'm not an idiot. Yeah, cortisone was pretty great. So we're about to go to canon practice. Omi's like hey, hey, you can't come to cannon practice with your gun. Aww, blackthorn's like over my dead body, can you have my gun and my sword, my new sword?
Speaker 1:that I don't know how to use. He pulls up and Fuji just has the gun pulled. The most thug thing I've ever seen yeah, that's the thing is like.
Speaker 2:I love when Blackthorn goes double-barreled. He's just like you can have these guns when you pry them from my cold dead hands.
Speaker 1:Omi and Omi's like got me in a tough spot right here and Marco's like whoa, whoa.
Speaker 2:She's like why don't you give Fuji your guns? She'll defend them with her life. So he gives Fuji the guns and then Omi's like ah, finally a woman I can dominate. Give me the guns, woman.
Speaker 1:Immediately Fuji. I wish you would. I wish you would try to take these guns out of my hand. Fuji is down for the cause. Marco wasn't lying. One of the most loyal characters we've seen in anything we've watched.
Speaker 2:Mariko wasn't lying when she said that Fuji will stand on business.
Speaker 1:She did so.
Speaker 2:Omi's like Alright, fine, he can bring his guns, I guess. So we get to canon practice. Ishido's men are there, we should rename all the episode titles.
Speaker 1:This one's called canon practice.
Speaker 2:There's actually a really good motif behind episode 4. The 8 eightfold fence where we should talk about that for a second at least. Where marco, like explains the black form, the concept of the eightfold fence, where he's like don't you ever like get mad or like angry? And she's like eightfold fence, you gotta it's car, it's compartmentalization, it's 16th century compartmentalization. Where she's like you just stack it behind the eight fold fence, you fold it up and you just leave it there and then you see straight like, and Blackthorn's like I don't like it, it seems dumb, it seems real dumb. I wanna shoot something. Um, so we get to cannon practice. Ishido's men are there and they're like let's see what these cannons are all about. Yabushige is like you're gonna.
Speaker 2:This is gonna be great. This is the coolest thing maybe ever. I love this. I love this bit when they blow the cannons up Like watch, you guys are gonna be fucking amazed. And then Nagakoto rolls up on a horse yeah, and everyone's like what's he doing down there.
Speaker 2:And then he's just like fire the cannons and just obliterates Ashido's men. Jozen gets Decimated Decimated is the right word Yabashiki's like zoinks, Like yoink scoop. Not good that this kid just took this into his own hands. Like this, I don't like it, uh. And then episode five this is where things start to take a turn. Um man, so torunaga comes back with his whole army and you see, like oh, he is, he is him. He is actually as powerful as everyone says. He is. Like he is a warlord, like this is real, like you kind of get why everyone's kind of like afraid of him, because, like, if he did want to seize power, he probably could. And he gets back and he finds out what Nagakoto did and he's like, real, coldly, it's just like you're out, you're out, 're out, you're. Not only are you out, gabashige is also out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm putting omi in charge of canon practice now and everybody's like okay, not only is torinaga back gasp, he gads buntaro is alive, yeah yep, and then you know.
Speaker 1:Obviously, blackthorn asks who's that, and they're just like that's, that's my husband. And this is awkward, isn't it?
Speaker 2:yeah, because they're like hey, hey guys, tornaga's like, hey, great idea guys, buntaro is gonna stay with you guys because it's marco's husband, marco's blacked orange translator. It's gonna be great. You guys are gonna love this well, I can't pillow anymore.
Speaker 1:This, this place sucks. Yeah, like he, like everything. Blackthorn's translator. It's going to be great. You guys are going to love this. Blackthorn said well, I can't pillow anymore.
Speaker 2:This place sucks. Yeah, like he, like everything. Blackthorn was finally just settling in and like he was. Like him and Fuji were getting along. Him and Marco were like falling in love. He's starting to kind of like get the gist of down. He's like this is great. And then buntaro shows up and it's just awkward.
Speaker 1:Yeah and then the. What I love too, it's the, like I said I, there's a lot of jamie lannister and buntar. Like the veil gets taken down from him because again this show subverts this, averts expectation. Just exceptionally well, because the veil comes down and then buntaro is just a scumbag. Like he's just a horrible person. Like he's just he's just drinking sake. He says bring my arrows. He's mean to Marco, he's mean to Marco and Blackthorn said that's not proper. No, he doesn't say that.
Speaker 2:Also, marco is equal parts trying to defuse the situation, but also trying to annoy Buntaro when she's like well, blackthorn says you should treat your wife with respect and Buntaro's like well, blackthorn says you should treat your wife with respect and Buntaro's like oh he does, does he? Yeah, well, he slurps noodles like a barbarian.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Blackthorn's like look at this dumb animal.
Speaker 2:I do think it's kind of hilarious that Blackthorn's like trying to learn on the go and Buntaro's like aw, that's cute Sipping noodles, and Blackthorn's like well, I think your sake cup is small. I drink sake out of a bowl, Throws his noodles into the yard.
Speaker 1:Bring me all the sake.
Speaker 2:Fills the bowl with sake like the noodle bowl, drinks it. And Buntaro's like I can drink sake from a bowl too. So we get into a drinking contest between Buntaro and Blackthorn. I to be fair sorry, buntaro, I was not familiar with your game. Yeah, I thought blackthorn was just gonna drink you under the, under the bus. Yeah, british pirate, are you kidding me? Versus a samurai, but that that samurai can hold his liquor.
Speaker 2:Um, so they, they start telling stories and blackthorn's like buntaro, tell me how you survived that 101 onslaught on the pier. And buntaro, it goes silent. And mariko's like it's improper to like ask like a samurai about like a battle like that. And buntaro's like why don't you tell blackthorn who you really are, wife, what do you mean by that? So buntaro forces mariko to tell blackthorn that she is the daughter of a catchy gensai who murdered the predecessor of taiko. So she's kind of like her father is like kind of disgraced. And even though she comes from like noble blood, she was um, kind of disgraced until her father was forced to execute his entire family before killing himself.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, man. And then mariko was only allowed to atone by marrying buntaro. Yikes. And blackthorn is like you didn't have to tell me that you could have told me anything and buntaro wouldn't have known. And mariko was like it's eight full fence. Remember, remember that thing, remember the eight full fence. And then, buntaro, one last act of nonsense. Fetch me my bow, woman. And he's like pick a post, any post, and black the one's like what?
Speaker 1:and he's like a post Pick any of those eight posts out there. Buntara, there's four posts. Pick any of the twelve posts out there and we'll see who means business.
Speaker 2:And Blackthorn's like whatever Right post.
Speaker 1:Buntara's, like fantastic choice Fires an arrow right past a millimeter away from Mariko's face, through the door and then he does the same thing, mariko's face through the door.
Speaker 2:And then he does the same thing and black thorn's like I'm going to bed, everyone go to bed and then black thorns awoken by the horrid sounds of mariko being beaten by buntaro, and black thorns like absolutely not, he chases buntaro outside and then buntaro lays down his sword and he's like it was the my bad on that. It was the sake brother yeah yeah, my bad and Blackthorn's like are you serious? Big bad samurai warrior is blaming sake for beating his wife. And, to be clear, buntaro was not apologizing for beating his wife.
Speaker 1:No, he was apologizing for disrespecting another of the Hamamoto's household, my bad yikes and man that Apologize for disrespecting the Hamamoto's household, my bad Yikes and man that is just. You're the scum of the earth. You're not this big bad samurai that I thought you were. That was so cool and noble.
Speaker 2:Did you think he was waiting for Black Dorn to kill him in that moment?
Speaker 1:No, I think he's smarter than that. I don't think he's smarter than that, maybe. I just think, oh, maybe, Maybe it gives him a way out of all this mess. It gives him a way out not to deal with any of this crap. And maybe he knows he should have died that night anyway, Because I mean you're going to get to it in a second but obviously he made the devil deal to make sure he survived that night.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, yeah, that was a rough scene. It was a rough scene. And then Blackthorn goes to check on Mariko and she's like you shouldn't have intervened, like don't get involved in my business, essentially, like it's not your concern, like what happens to me, like it's my husband, like I'm just your translator, like that's it. So you get the next morning and Blackthorn is like Torunaga, can I go home please? Torunaga is thinking about it, and then an earthquake hits and then a landslide hits and it decimates Torunaga's army Rough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, rough is right. That sequence was harrowing, almost that slow-mo when they're running back into the town and Torunaga also almost dies.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. And who saves him? Blackthorn? Guess what that gets him.
Speaker 1:Another promotion.
Speaker 2:You've been promoted.
Speaker 1:Now clean up this mess.
Speaker 2:Oh shoot, before any of this happens. The Gardener subplot yeah, yep, Dude. So Toronago gifts Blackthorn this pheasant that he hunted, and Blackthorn's like this is great. I'm putting this outside, just how my father taught me.
Speaker 1:You're going to love this. Fuji's like. This is going to stink. He's like of course it is.
Speaker 2:If anyone touches this pheasant, they die. Clearly he didn't mean that Because he's British and loud. Come to find out. He wakes up the next day and he's like why is everyone so sad? And they're like your gardener friend. He took the pheasant and fuji ordered him to be executed and blackthorn's like are you people deranged like? But they're like you said touch pheasant, die.
Speaker 1:He's like it was, I was joshing, I was joshing around there's joshing. That wasn't real I was hyped.
Speaker 2:So this gardener is executed and they're like you know, but to be fair, like we all kind of talked about it and he was sick, he was old, like he kind of took one for the team, you know, and black the one's, like that doesn't make me feel any better. He's like I killed that man. Like he literally says like I killed that man, like I condemned that man, like what is wrong? Like you people have no respect for living, like all you people want to do is die, like why don't you people want to live and enjoy life and everybody want to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. Everybody wants to die in this case.
Speaker 2:And Torunaga, yeah, so after the landslide, hilariously, torunaga uses this. Not only uses the landslide, but uses this gardener to get the heat off of his spy that he has in Yabushige's camp, because Yabushige's like there's a spy. No way Torunaga could have known all of this stuff. There's that he has in yabushige's camp. And yabu, because yabushige is like there's a spy, like no way torunaga could have known all of this stuff. There's no shot, no way find the spy. And then the, the actual spy is like uh, the gardener, like look at all the stuff I found in his hut.
Speaker 1:Oh, he was the spy he was the spy.
Speaker 2:and yabushiki's like when is the gardener? And they're like the earthquake killed him, oh no. And Yabushiki's like Well, I did it yeah.
Speaker 1:I took him out. I'm three for three. Honestly, I'm the best character ever. I did it.
Speaker 2:I knew I'd get that spy sooner or later. Did I have to make the earthquake to do it.
Speaker 1:Maybe you told me a story about catfish making an earthquake. I'm the best man.
Speaker 2:And then in Osaka, the regents are like who are we going to put on the council? And then Lady Ochiba arrives and I'm like who's this? And then that's why I'm way back machine, it's the heir's mother and she's like I'm in charge, I'm the cat, look at me, I'm the cup to know. More or less she's like because she has a vendetta against one, yoshi Toronaga, and still waters run deep and that's where we get an episode six, we get the Marco backstory and it's a horrible backstory.
Speaker 2:Oh sorry backstory and it's a horrible backstory. Oh sorry, I mean the episode. It's a banger. The episode's a banger, but yeah, um. So we find out that ochiba and um marco are best friends. They grow up together, they they practice sisters. They were sisters more or less. Unfortunately for miss ochiba, her father was on the wrong side of a of an internal conflict that resulted in Her father, we find out, was the predecessor of the Taiko, who we know Maruko's father was complicit Not complicit in, did kill. But Ochiba believes that Maruko's father killed her father on behalf of Yoshi Torunaga, and that is where Ochiba's hatred for Torunaga stems. So she fully believes, even though Torunaga was doing the behest of the taiko and protecting his son, she believes that Torunaga was truly holding her hostage and using her for his own personal gain. Was he Eye emojis? And guess what? Guess what Blackthorn. You've been promoted. You've been promoted. Not only do you have all the stuff you have now you're getting your own fief, which is like land.
Speaker 2:Now you have land and you're an admiral. Congratulations. You're the admiral of a fleet that we don't even have. Great work, Can I go home? No? Blackthorn's like can I go to England please? And Torunaga's like no, no, you can't. And then Torunaga has a really nice moment with Mariko, where he's like look, your father wanted you to continue his mission and help me restore peace to Japan. I know like, obviously, what happened to your dad was terrible, Like he murdered not murdered but he was forced to execute. Your family left you an orphan, but you are here for a reason. Believe that, Believe that, Believe that. And then, at Osaka Castle, are we hostages? Question mark.
Speaker 1:Everybody starts looking around. They're like you guys can't leave right, and everybody's like no, can you. And they're like well, technically no. And everybody's like ooh, and Ishido's like nobody's a hostage.
Speaker 2:Can we go? No, no, because the air is in danger. Right, there's a plot to execute the air, so everyone has to stay here.
Speaker 1:I wish somebody would have stood up and been like I'm not that important to the plot, can I go? He's like no Everyone stays here, why?
Speaker 2:Hiramatsu is also there and he's like I'm going to head out. Yeah, i'llma head out. Yeah, y'all take it easy, I'm out. Hiromatsu, we also find out, is him, because he escapes, osaka gets. Just volleys of arrows are being fired at him and he gets out of there. He leaves everyone else behind, man. So Ochiba is watching this play of her. I struggled, even calling it an ascension. It's like her. It's almost a rape. But it's how she gave birth to the heir. You find out, tycho, not a great guy. He bedded. Hundreds of women, according to the stories, could not bear a child until lady ochiba was thrust upon him and she was drugged somehow, some way, and these drugs gave her the ability to bear the child. Great, great backstory. Um. So she sees this play, she's reliving all these memories, um, but they're not there. Just watch the play. They're there to talk to ito, the, the star of the show, and they're like hey, man, how would you like to replace yoshi torunaga on the council of regents? And he's like, yeah, I'm in.
Speaker 2:And then the catholic regents are like no again, they all have to agree unanimously and they're like we should not do this. Sorry, and she was like I just want to kill toronaga. Why is this so difficult?
Speaker 1:why is everyone making this difficult for me? You guys also want to do it and they're like, yeah, and then he's like can we kill him?
Speaker 2:they and they're like no, so the one holdover is like no, absolutely not. So he then attempts to flee Osaka and he is killed. Weird, weird is right. Ashido's like ah, what a tragedy. Yeah, dang it. Look, do you guys want to vote for Ito? And they're like yeah, I guess we'll vote for him. But guess what guys? Guess what fellas.
Speaker 1:Now we still only have four regents. We should add a scene where he goes into a room and you hear a whole bunch of stuff breaking. He's just like God, I can't do it.
Speaker 2:Whatever dude, all right Back at Toronaga's camp. He's like well, half my army is gone. There's only one option Crimson Sky. A hush falls over the crowd.
Speaker 1:And everyone's like that's a cute Delta maneuvers yeah.
Speaker 2:And everyone's like what's Crimson Sky and Toronaga's like? Everyone's like you know how he's like the master strategist plan guy, right, crimson Sky is we bum? Rush Osaka Castle and just kill as many people as possible, and they're like that doesn't sound like a real plan and Torunaga's like it's the best plan I got, he's like. But the only reason I don't want to use it is because it involves invading Osaka Castle, slaughtering the Council of Regents and installing me as sole leader of the thing.
Speaker 1:We can't fellas, we can't have that, we can't do that I don't want to do that I can't become the Shogun. It's wrong, or?
Speaker 2:is it? Or is it Because when they get, they find out that our new guy, our new Council of Regions guy, dies, tornong is like, well, if I'm gonna die anyway, I might as well go out Crimson Sky? It is, let's roll, fellas. But before we Crimson Sky, I need to talk to my brother Dun dun dun. Dun dun dun's right. So we get to Episode 7, we find Torunaga flashback.
Speaker 1:Buddy the boy warlord Buddy, episode 7, boss the boy.
Speaker 2:Warlord buddy, episode seven boss sheesh yeah so we get a flashback of the boy warlord. We find out toronago won his first battle when he was 12, further establishing that he is indeed him. Um, toronago meets his half-brother, saike, to strike up a deal like my what's left of my army, your army, that doesn't do anything ever. You've never done anything a day in your life. You just I call this guy the swag lord. The swag lord, rolled up with his all-white armor and his all-white samurai crew. He said who's rolling like this? And his big helmet?
Speaker 1:Yeah, he said who's rolling up like this?
Speaker 2:They should have had a rollout by ludicrous play in the background when he rolled up the swag, lord showed up and he's like look, we gotta just, we're just gonna partner up and get together. Psyche is like, psyche has has time to go to yabu Shige and be like remember how you sent your, your general, your one-eyed general, to talk to Ishido? Here's his head pal. Yabushige's like huh, yabushige's like you know what? Torunaga, not a bad guy.
Speaker 1:He really held it down for us, if we really want to think about it.
Speaker 2:I love Torunaga have I always loved him.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, because he's the best guys right.
Speaker 2:Torunaga. Oh man, yabushigeige man, this guy. And he's like well, all right, I guess I'm on toronaga side. Buntaro rolls up. This is a sad scene, but it's also kind of hilarious. Buntaro goes to toronaga and he's like I would like to kill blackthorn please. And toronaga is like no, yeah, why.
Speaker 1:You miss me with that, my favorite white boy. What are you talking about?
Speaker 2:But Torunaga's like. I think he likes my wife and Torunaga's like that seems like a personal problem. And Torunaga's like are you kidding? And he's like nah, I think he likes my wife. And Torunaga's like okay, well, if you want to kill Blackthorn for that, are you also accusing Mariko of that, because then you would also have to kill her? And Wuntaro's like no, I'm not accusing her of that. And then Torunaga's like then get lost.
Speaker 1:I wish it was like some door that Torunaga could have seen. He's like I got actual stuff to deal with. I'm talking about some real husbands of Hollywood. You're going to miss me with that.
Speaker 2:There's a couple instances in the next couple episodes where Blackthorn and Mariko's life drama comes before Torunaga and he's like oh, everyone, get it together. What is happening? But the scene with Buntaro was hilarious, where he's just like Torunaga-san, I humbly request that you let me kill the N-Gene, and Torunaga missed me with that. This is probably the perfect response. I just love how he's like what did Buntaro think was going to happen?
Speaker 1:yeah, oh, he thought he was going to be like yes, kill him, kill, you can kill the engine and you can become Jamie Lannister of Japan again. So then, Bunzaro leaves.
Speaker 2:And then Mariko was like Torunaga. I humbly request that you let me kill myself and Torunaga's like what is?
Speaker 1:what is wrong with everybody? We got the greatest plan in human history are about to happen and you guys are worried about some family drama. What's? Going on, I was like no, what I just gave you that whole, that whole speech about you being so important, you're gonna kill yourself I gotta go talk to my brother. This is ridiculous so we get my son's not around, I'll punch him in the face so we get to.
Speaker 2:We get to. Uh, um, nighttime, nighttime, nighttime, fun time and we're trading war stories. This is going great and psyche is like hyping up torinaga. He's like man, my, my brother, man, dude, you should have seen him when he was 12. Dude, cut a man's head off just clean. It was the best, bro. But did they also tell you about the time that my dad sold him off and he shit himself great. And everyone's like our glorious king tornaga's, like you shouldn't finish that story, don't do it, don't do it. And his brother's like Tell me, tell me, bro, what is this plan right? Like what are you going to give me? Like you're going to give me some land. I'd take this land, izo, yeah, you're going to get the big old Osaka. This is great. Izo is sick. Meanwhile, yabushige's like wait a minute, I own Izo. Huh, not my frat house.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Sigma.
Speaker 2:Alpha, no. And then Saikei's like I don't want Izo, dude, because I already got a much better offer A seat on the Council of Regents. What? And the crazy thing is, taga doesn't look surprised, no, he's just like we knew this was coming. Of course, coming, pete, of course. Sasaki is like look, you'll surrender to ushido, walk to osaka, get your head chopped off. It'll be great deal. Torinaga's like deal you got me, he surrenders, he surrenders. And then that night, that night, dude. So first, first off, we're at the hot spring. This is, I love this again, yabushige is the best. So saike's men are bathing in the hot springs and yabushige rolls up and he's like fellas, fellas, what's up? How we doing your boss, he's a snake, he is no good. And Saike just rolls up and he's like snake.
Speaker 1:Huh. He said your boss is ugly a snake, he's a traitor. Who called me ugly?
Speaker 2:And Yamashiba's like ugh. And Saike's like you are all going to die. Oh fun Toodles, I'm going to the whorehouse, um. So he goes, he goes there. And so here we go. Nagako, again, nagakato and omi shooting the shit before hatching a horrible plan, and omi's like dude, we're not even drunk this time, but you know what would be sick If you killed your uncle?
Speaker 1:Yeah, because, like that should be you right. You wish that was you right.
Speaker 2:Think about it, you would be the hero that saved Yoshi Torunaga from surrender. Like your dad's not going to surrender, that ain't real. No, your dad, him Capital, h, capital, I, I, capital, m no shot. And nagakato's like yeah, yeah you're right yeah, he's like you, you know.
Speaker 2:Uh kiku right. And omi's like yeah, nagakato's like let me get in that tea house and I'll show uncle saike what's up. So saike's chilling at the at the tea house and here comes nagakato and his crew attacking Saikei, and then they get outside. Saikei, you think he's like oh wait, nagakado's going to pull this off. He's going to save his father. He slips, he slips, cracks his head open on a rock and dies. That's it. Good, I'm glad he's dead.
Speaker 1:The bumbling idiot went out like a b and dies. That's it Good, I'm glad he's dead. The bumbling idiot went out like a bumbling idiot.
Speaker 2:Or did he? Because guess what happens when your family dies? In feudal Japan, you get 49 days of grieving period, of bereavement time, if you will. This is better than the American system, I'll give you that. So Torunaga's been gifted 49 days to do nothing. Give you that. So Torunaga's been gifted 49 days to do nothing. Because guess what Torunaga's not gonna do grieve his son for 49 days. No, he's hatching a plan.
Speaker 1:He said you guys give me 49 days to think and you know who's also thinking that.
Speaker 2:Ashido, it's like this is ridiculous idiots.
Speaker 1:This is 50 days. You know what could happen in 50 days?
Speaker 2:Customs. Why are we doing customs? And they're like we've always done customs. Ishido, I don't know what to tell you. And Ishido's like fine, he goes to Achiwa and he's like marry me please. And she's like I'll think about it. And yeah, is this? This is the episode where Torunaga sends Marco and Blackthorn to the tea house, right? Yes, great, because Torunaga's sick of it. Mm-hmm, he's also sick. Yeah, where did that come from? The travel they say Made him sick. That guy got sick. He caught the allergies all of a sudden. Yeah, him.
Speaker 1:getting allergies is crazy, but allergies in 1600 is like getting, is like having, you know, basically like getting shot.
Speaker 2:So Tornado is like I'm done with the drama. Marco, take Blackthorn to Kiku please. She'll set him straight. And then there's a real romantic tension thing going on with these three. It seems like, oh, I love the challengers. The vibe is that Kiku is telling Blackthorn like she's talking, she's like marriage counseling Blackthorn and Mariko. Right, that's the vibe. You got A little bit when she's like telling them kind of both like you, kind of you love each other, like kind of just let it happen. And then Blackthorn goes into the room with Kiku and we both don't think they did anything.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, absolutely not, absolutely not. Think they did anything? No, no, absolutely not, absolutely not. And it's a point I'm gonna make when we're kind of surmising everything and yes, the, it's the adaptation of blackthorn, as the show goes on to this, this calmness, he kind of. Not only does he adopt, like the, the culture and customs of japan, he adopts a lot of mariko's, you know nuance and subtleties, he adopts a lot of those things like he's not as brash, he's not as barbaric as he was. So I don't think he did like. You know that whole, you know the joking line. It's like that's not proper, like I think he actually starts to adopt some of those things as he goes.
Speaker 2:And in that respect he also really loves Mariko.
Speaker 1:He does scene too I believe I think it is in this episode or the episode before where he's talking about he has two kids. He already has two kids in england and he said I haven't met my daughter yet. I know my son, I've not met my daughter, which obviously tells us he doesn't. He might not really love that woman from you know, he might not really love that woman in england.
Speaker 2:That might just been, you know, you know cultural, like you have to have a wife and children, like marco, he actually loves this woman yeah, and it's also in one of these episodes seven or eight that we get that pivotal scene at the beach where torinaga is with his war council and he formally surrenders and blackthorn pipes up and he's like behold the great, what does he say? The great master of trickery, yoshi torinaga, the man who condemned his most loyal vassals to death. And that's a really powerful scene because Blackthorn has bought in you know what I mean to Torunaga and he's like even Blackthorn can't believe Torunaga's giving up without a fight. And it's a really interesting scene that bleeds into this episode because at Nagakato's funeral a bunch of Torunaga's generals wear their armor, which is a form of protest to the surrender, and this escalates. This episode is really heavy man. This is the episode. Buntaro invites Mariko to a tea ceremony. Yeah, man.
Speaker 1:This episode has two moments. This episode has two, absolutely this episode has a couple moments yeah um, yeah.
Speaker 2:So buntaro talks to mariko and he makes her tea, which is like a huge gesture of the husband making the the wife tea, and she compliments him and she's like great job, good pouring. And Buntaro's like I am sorry for being the worst and I totally understand if you want me to die, but if I'm going to die, if we're going to die, can it just be together, because that's all you've ever wanted, that's all I want. I just want us to be done. And Mariko's like you don't get, you don't get it, but you don't get my, my misery, you don't get your role in my misery. Like I would rather either die and you be stuck here without me fighting your, your samurai life, or I would rather live a thousand years without you than to be stuck either on earth or in the afterlife with you I don't want to be with around or near you, thank you for the tea.
Speaker 2:And she leaves and buntaro weeps and you're just like wow, like do I feel bad for him kind of, because like it's that scene that kind of tells you like he does kind of love her, like in his own way right, and she just ate, full fence, just is totally closed off to any of it. It's crazy. It's a crazy scene that unfolds Blackthorn finds his crew.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as well. And unfortunately for me, that was the mirror. Blackthorn finally got the mirror up to himself. Oh, I was this. When I got here, I was this person, drunk, belligerent, belligerent, disrespectful, dishonorable, like this is who I was, and I had to fight so hard to get out of this too. And that's, you know, classic hero's journey. He finally rejects the past, he rejects this, this past that he, he wants new, his men, that he wants new. And he, you know it's again it's. You know the hero gets given the false. That's like the, the Craig Mason way of thinking about screenwriting. Like the hero gets the false. Like they finally get the thing that they thought they wanted, and it was, it was, it was false. Like it was a fault, it was the monkey paw. Like no, this is not what you look you got, you got your men. They're scumbags, they're, they're, they're scoundrels like these are not the men that you need to you're better than this.
Speaker 2:You are better than this, you're better than this. Now he beats this guy up. He leaves part of his uh, his guard with him. He's like clean yourself up. Like you're filthy, like this is gross. He's like let's, let's get out of here. Like I'm going back to. You. Think he's going back to toronaga, but he's not. He's going to see big yabs. He's like look, bro, you're the only one I can count on, and that's saying a lot, yeah.
Speaker 1:And Yabushige is like. You're dang right, I am, he's like you know it, I know it.
Speaker 2:Torunaga ain't no chicken. You and me, we're teaming up Yep, and Yabushige is like heck yeah, brother.
Speaker 2:My man, I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded good, it sounded really cool. Let's go. We're out, where are we going? And Yabushige's like we're going to Osaka, baby, where else are we going to go? We're going to go talk to Ishido and we're going to be like hey, take my ship please. Blackthorn's like Great plan, great plan man.
Speaker 2:Well, initially yabushige refuses right, yabushige is like I'm loyal to torenaga, never. And then the scene happens boss, buddy, holy moly. So torenaga is sitting there with his generals hiromatsu is there, omi is there, yabushige is there, they're all there. And torenaga is like guys, crimson, skyson, sky, it was cool, it was a cool concept, but that ain't the way.
Speaker 2:I got to give up. I got to surrender Like I'm sick, my son is dead. My brother turned on me Like I know you guys want to believe I have a big plan, but the truth is, fellas, I have no plan. And all the generals are like we will not, we cannot do this. And toradog is like have you no loyalty? You fools to me. And the general's like it's because of our loyalty that we refuse to let you do this. And hiromatsu pops, that, pipes up, and he's like you've been my guy. I've been your guy for decades, I've watched you grow and I cannot. I cannot oblige this. I cannot. I'm sorry. I would rather die than see you surrender, and torunaga is like see you die. I will, then I friend Yep.
Speaker 1:And Hiramatsu's there and he's like bring me my swords, bring me my swords.
Speaker 2:my son Buntaro.
Speaker 1:Yep, he'll be my second.
Speaker 2:And Buntaro's like.
Speaker 1:Dad, what are you doing?
Speaker 2:I've been through enough today. Yeah, what are you doing, Dad? And Hiramatsu's like last chance, Yep, Like are you going to surrender, and Torunaga's like are you?
Speaker 1:The face that everybody says what he says. I'm going to, you know, I'll commit seppuku at once. Everybody's face is like no, no shot. Right, no shot. He's actually going to do this. Right, no shot, no shot, he's going to do this. Even Torunaga was like oh, I like this, I like this, I, I like this, I like this action.
Speaker 2:I love the game, I love the game you won't and Toronaga's like, so be it. Like, if that's how you feel, that's how you feel it's been an honor, my friend.
Speaker 1:And brutal scene where Hiramatsu commits to Puku and kills himself, and that score that starts to ramp up as it's going to.
Speaker 2:Close-up shot, carves himself. Buntaro chops his head off. You see the head rolled towards tornaga, and tornaga just cold, cold as ice sits there and man it's. It's a tough scene. And then we get torn eye emojis, mariko's like was that, what was that? Like you just sacrificed hiratsu. And Torunaga's like in order for my enemies to believe that I've actually surrendered, hiromatsu had to do what he did, because he's the only one that I could afford to lose, where people would believe that I'm actually out. So, yes, it is, that was it. And then Yabushige's like like holy shit, hiramatsu just killed himself. Blackthorn dude, we gotta go to osaka.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, that was great man. Did you see that man?
Speaker 2:you should have been there. I didn't actually think it would happen.
Speaker 2:Dude, that was wild he is like a frat guy yabushige he's like we gotta go, man, let's go, we gotta get out of here. Um, and then torinaga. And then mariko shows up on the boat and yabushige is like oh, and mariko's like torinaga has asked me to go with you to osaka, and that's that's how you know. That's how you know, because, torinaga, mariko, are you ready to do your part? And then he goes to the grave of his son and he goes. Thank you, son. You and Hiromatsu both gave me time and I will not waste it, and that's how you know.
Speaker 1:Like he is him, he is him after all Transition into an episode that is rated a 9.5 on imdb crimson sky, one of the highest rated episodes of television there has ever been buddy yep, crimson sky, blackthorn, mariko and yabushige arrive in osaka.
Speaker 2:they sit before ashido yabushige makes his pitch. I love this scene because yabushige is like look, look, look, look, I know. Look, we've had our differences. It's been tough, but me and Blackthorn, we can work for you. You can have the ships, the cannons, the guns, huh, huh, I can hang out. I could be in charge of Izo on your behalf.
Speaker 1:He said you already are in charge of Izo, but I would be under you now. So it's everything works out and Ishido's just like no, no.
Speaker 2:And Yabushige just goes, well, we tried. And Blackthorn's like what the hell was that? We, that's the plan, that was it. So they go, sit back down, back down. And then mariko walks in and she's like on behalf of yoshi torunaga, I formally request that his wives and myself be allowed to return to osaka to assist him in the grieving period, or return to ito in the grieving period, um? And ashido's like no, nope, torunaga's had enough time to grieve. I'm sick of it. Now I enough time to grieve. I'm sick of it. Now I'm supposed to grieve because his right hand killed himself. No, no, no one's leaving Osaka. And Mariko's like well, that's not tradition, that's not tradition. Are we hostages? And Ashido's like what?
Speaker 1:What did he say in Thor Ragnarok? He said the slaves. No, no, he's like what Hostages.
Speaker 2:No, mariko and Ochiba have a nice little moment where she's like you can stop this, ochiba, you can stop this. And Ochiba just remains silent. And she's like Mariko, remember those poetry competitions we used to have when I was a kid, when we were kids, and you would always win, like you were always the best. She's like we're gonna have one tonight, like why don't you stick around and we'll have a good old poetry contest? And mariko's like well, no, because if I am, if I'm to be forbidden from obeying the orders of my liege lord Torunaga, then I dishonored him, I've dishonored myself and I have to die. And if I die, you might have a revolt of all the high families of Japan on your hands, you know. And Shido's like no, no.
Speaker 1:But if I stay alive but I'm not allowed to leave, then everybody's gonna think they're hostages and then that's a problem. He's like I see the pickle you've put me in.
Speaker 2:And Torunaga's over in Edo just we got him.
Speaker 1:You think he's sitting on the chair. He's like you guys think my plan worked, yet he's like nah, give it a little time, I think my plan's working.
Speaker 2:And she's like I'm leaving, I'm leaving Osaka, or die trying. And she tells Blackthorn oh, she tried. And she tells Blackthorn beforehand. She's like look, whatever happens, do not intervene. That's foreboding. That's foreboding, the gates open. The next morning, mariko's possied up with Toronaga's wives. His newborn son is there.
Speaker 1:She's given birth offscreen and Mariko starts leaving and she's confronted by Ishido's men and she's like you guys know I'm leaving, right, and they're like but boss said you can't. So like we kind of can't. She's like sounds like you didn't listen to what I just said, like 10 seconds ago. So like I said I'm leaving and you guys can't stop me.
Speaker 2:And they try and she turns to her guard and she's like Please kill them, please kill these men and Buddy Massacre.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is where the reaction goes, but not in the way that you would think it would go. You would think like, oh, mariko's men are going to overpower them and that'll be that, but they just get hilariously outnumbered and outgunned and they're all cut down. Pretty much all of them die. Blackthorn and Yabushige are watching, like a bunch of people are watching. The Catholic regent is there, lord Kiyama is there, because her and Marco have the Catholicism thing going, and she's the last one standing and she puts her arm out, gets her blade and she's like well, I'm leaving. If you want something done, right, you got to do it yourself. But she can't, she's overpowered. She says these men are too strong, there's too many Like we have to turn back. And because we have to turn back, I have dishonored my lord and I will commit seppuku at sunset. And Ochiba is there and she witnesses this and she summons mariko and blackthorn. She summons blackthorn knowing that mariko was going to come and she quickly dismisses blackthorn. She's like I never wanted you here.
Speaker 1:Um, this is between me and mariko, and she's like I'm trying to learn my japanese, like can I stay.
Speaker 2:She's like can you, can you not kill yourself? And mariko's like you, you can stop this. Like I don't understand why you hate toronaga so much. And she's like you know why. Mariko's like dude, ashido, from my perspective, ashido is evil. And then you are lost, um. So yeah, they don. They don't get to a common ground, but you can kind of see it's starting to chip away at Ochibe a little bit. Her lifelong friend is so beholden to Torunaga that she's like maybe he's not the evil that I think that he is. And Torunaga has also been speaking with Father Alito. Father Alito's like hey, you should try a fordron alliance with ochiba. And tornaga's like no, it's not gonna happen. Like she hates my guts. And she's like alito's like you have mariko, though you do have mariko, um. And then we get to the scene, oh, the scene in the in the seppuku house. I don't know what's going on here. Is this like the room where that just happens?
Speaker 2:yeah, the deed is like, dedicate a room to it she leaves her last poem and she's like all right time to kill myself. Lord kiama, will you please step forward and be my Hello Testing Bueller? Shang-chi, shang-chi, lord Kiyama, no shows. Because Mariko's like, we're both Catholics and in Catholicism it's a sin to kill yourself, but you know where I'm going. So she asks Father Alito for confession beforehand. He gives it to her and she's like I don't even, I don't deserve it. Like I don't deserve confession. Like. And then Blackthorn steps up and he's like I'll do it, I'll be the second, and that is probably the most powerful moment in the show to this point Blackthorn stepping up to be Mariko second.
Speaker 1:Like knowing what's about to happen, like it's for him to do that, like knowing what's about to happen, like it's for him to do that, like, yeah, he traveled all this way to this land where he, you know, himself also felt hostage, you know, thrown into this this civil war, as this fish out of water and, you know, the only person he's taken to, he's, he's loved. Now he has to take their life and take her life, like that's, you know, just like poetry it rhymes and she's about to do it.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna do it and then ashita walks in and throws papers down on the ground. He's like, oh okay, stop being so dramatic, like, get up, leave, I don't even care anymore your papers. And then toronaga's wives are like hey, can we also leave? And he's like apply for your permits, you can all leave, just everyone annoying me. I just want to go to bed again in my head.
Speaker 1:I love the fact that Ashido's character is just like a. He's just over everything. At this point he's like, oh my god, I don't care about the throwing, I don't care about anything.
Speaker 2:I don't even want to kill Tornaga anymore, I just want a good night's sleep.
Speaker 1:That's what I want. Oh, my god people, I just want a good night's sleep. That's what I want. God, god people, why is?
Speaker 2:everybody so annoying. But before, before I go to bed, yabushige, come here, come here, let's talk, let's chat. Yabushige's like and Ishido's like look, can you, I will give you whatever you want. Just take Marco. Please, marco, please, don't kill her, because that'll just that'll be a problem. Just get in there, I don't care how, just let my guys in. I got guys, I got other guys, not like normal guys yeah, secret guys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, ones would call them ninjas. Ninjas, the shinobi are here and they don't mess around. See that guy, that guy's like six two, that guy's, he's a unit so the ninjas will go in.
Speaker 2:They'll kidnap mariko. They'll kill blackthorn. They'll kill blackthorn. We'll wrapped up, packed up like don't worry about it, sweetheart. We got you, we got this, and yabushige is like yes, I'm in, am I alive? Ishida's like yeah, sure, sure. And Yabushige's like great, I'm in. So nightfall happens. Blackthorn and Mariko profess their love for each other. It's a sweet scene. Yeah, it is. They pillow yeah, they do. And then Yabushige kills one of Torunaga's men and opens the back door.
Speaker 1:And then the shinobi start the ninjas show up ninja show up and I when I thought this show couldn't get any cooler ninjas, actual ninjas, in here they give me ninjas this show, and then the ninjas just start killing everybody. And then blackthorn wakes up and he's like blackthorn had like a vision of like of john wick and like they switched spots for a little bit and he was like blackthorn wakes up, diverts one of the knives from him, kicks the guy, pulls out the gun, point blank, broad daylight, baby boom.
Speaker 2:He's like I forgot I still had these blammers on me. Son Kablam On the screen shows up as he kills this. First ninja Chekhov Blackthorn finally got to use the blamers. You looking for this?
Speaker 1:We've been waiting all season. And not only does he use them, he's elite.
Speaker 2:The one thing he does well is use the guns, which makes sense Because he can't use a sword to save his life.
Speaker 1:Any type of artillery. Yeah, why didn't you guys say so God, I can just shoot these guys. I've been respectful this whole time. I could have killed mad people. I got the gats.
Speaker 2:Sheesh. Black Dorn starts popping off with the pistols. It's great. We've been waiting all season for those things to be used and he finally uses them, and it's awesome. They fight off the ninjas, but there's just too many ninjas. They lock themselves into a storeroom and then Mariko's like they're going to blow the door and kill us all. How I don't know. They had a Claymore Ninjas packing some C4. Black Thorn's like not on my watch, starts pushing a box and he's like Yabushige, help me.
Speaker 1:Yabushige's. Like I don't speak English.
Speaker 2:And everyone's like wait, did he double-cross us? Yabushige's like huh, I can't understand anything, what? And Mariko's like there's no time for this. She gets up against the door and she says I, toto, mariko, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, do condemn myself to death. This is it, and kablam. And that's the end of the episode. Buddy Dude, my reaction was priceless. The last 20 minutes, from that, like from her in the sepuku room to that, are patently insane. It's insane television. And then Episode 10 comes up and we open, not on the aftermath, on an elderly John Blackthorne, sometime presumably in the future, presumably back in England, his two grandsons, his two grandsons talking about how they're looking at.
Speaker 1:He has a whole bunch of you know, a whole bunch of memorabilia. I don't like to call it memorabilia, but he's got a whole bunch of stuff from Japan. He's got, I believe he still has the swords. He still has Fuji's, fuji's father, fuji's father's swords, cause you learned that those swords were Fuji was not being truthful or she wasn't told the truth. Those swords mean nothing. They were bought for, for absolutely nothing. They're not real. Um, man, man, oh man, um. I hear people call this finale boring. It's not. Nope, this might be one of the best finales that I've seen in something. It's the. It's an emotional tethering of everything that's happened. It ties every loose end that you can ask for, yep, but still leave some kind of kind of open. You want to tie the shoe, you can. If you don't, that's fine. Yabashige loses his mind. Not yet, though, but poor guy, poor guy, is he a poor guy?
Speaker 2:he's he's guilt ridden, he is, uh, shell-shocked from a massive explosion. And then ashido just shows his scumbagginess and he's just like, hey, yabushige, you look well, you well. And then Yabushige's like, yeah, he's like the earthquake man, the earthquake is crazy. Remember the earthquake, the big earthquake? It happened when the Taiko was going to go to war with Toronaga, remember. And then the earthquake happened and they, and they called, they sued for peace, the taiko and tornaga like it was crazy. And then tornaga said it was the catfish from the pond that caused the earthquake, that catfish right there. And then shido's like, oh, there's, oh, he's, he's gone.
Speaker 1:He's cooked, he's gone. Oh, my best, one of my best pal, he's pals. He's now cooked and gone. So the downfall one of the things that the writers said was Yabushige's character was based off of Adam Sandler's character in Uncut Gems and the more the show unfolds, you see it and you unfortunately have to see it in his demise in episode 10. That's where you truthfully get to see everything, that final scene that Adam Sandler's character has in Uncut Gems where the Celtics game happens and you know everything's going his way until you know it just doesn't. That's exactly what happens to it. It's really well done, it's extremely well done um, yeah, mariko is buried.
Speaker 2:Um, the council votes to declare war on tornaga. Luchito says we have the air like the air's army, the air's banners make sure that we're on the right side of the law, essentially, and the air, the rest of the regions are like I guess, yeah, but this is bad still. Um, blackthorn leaves osaka with yabushige and torn on its consorts because mariko made a deal with the portuguese um, in exchange for Blackthorn's life, he would leave. Essentially, he gets back to Ejiro and the Erasmus has been destroyed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, who could have done that?
Speaker 2:Those damn Catholics must have done this. Omi confronts Yabushige and he's like your swords, please Wouldn't want to make a mess in front of the Chancellor. Yabushige's like what do you mean? He's like Torunaga wants to talk to you and Yabushige's like oh boy, okay, sure. So Blackthorn's like what is going on here? This is crazy. And they're like well, your ship got destroyed, so someone had to have done this. So Torunaga's been executing villagers until we can find out who did this, sorry. So Torunaga confronts Yabushige one last time and he's like did you aid Ishido in killing Mariko? And Yabushige's like I. He's like did you aid ashido and killing mariko? And yabushige is like I did, I did, I did do that, sorry, boss. And tornaga's like fine, uh, you lose all your land no, not sigma alpha yabushige.
Speaker 1:No, we're gonna throw a rager tonight, man you. Tonight, man Dang it.
Speaker 2:Omi is taking over your stuff.
Speaker 1:Omi.
Speaker 2:He's my guy now. He's my new Yabushige and you will commit to seppuku at sunset and Yabushige's like seppuku. Really, Come on, it's kind of boring. You know my let's get nuts.
Speaker 1:You know my you know my, let's get nuts. You know my style. Yeah, you wanna get nuts, let's get nuts feed me to the dogs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, throw me off a cliff, that'd be sick. Let the cannon cannon practice. One last cannon practice for the fellas on old yabs. Blow me to bits. Yeah, that sounds pretty sick. Yeah, he's like no Tornog's, like I can't trust you with any of that, I'm getting too old for this crap. You will kill yourself at sunset, like I said. Who will be your second? He's like blackthorn, my guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that handsome white devil I've been here remember, remember, remember that day when I boiled your boy alive. We're friends, yeah. And tornaga's like no, no, blackthorn will not be your second. And he's like well, will you be my second? And Tornaga's like I shall. Yeah, yes, I will. Wasn't planning on it, but I got you. I'm good for it. Yeah, I beheaded some guy when I was 12.
Speaker 1:I'm not doing anything later. I don't think I'm him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm still in my bereave what an honor for you to be beheaded by me. Yeah, toronaga, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Whatever those guys said before. Um, blackthorn reunites with Fuji and what is my favorite scene of the entire show? It's so good Um, from a from, like a crafting lens. It's my favorite scene in the show when they're chatting. Um, they can barely understand each other. Um, they understand each other to to a degree. Um, they pan out wide to, and this is just a great use of empty space.
Speaker 2:Fuji, blackthorn, empty, third of where Mariko would be. And Blackthorn says in Japanese, no translator. And my heart broke Cause like this whole episode, especially on black thorn's part, you feel, you actually feel her absence, the whole episode. You feel mariko's absence. Um, through black thorn, like he is, you can just amazing facial acting out of cosmo, darvis here, Um, he wears the grief insanely well. Um, and he asked Fuji to stay and just kind of hang out. And she's like no, my service is done. Lord Tarnaga has given me permission to be a nun. Um, and that's what I'm going to do. And Blackthorn, you know, kind of playfully, like, exudes his Hatamoto power and he's like I kind of playfully exudes his Hatamoto power and he's like I command you to stay, not in a serious way, but he just doesn't want to lose anyone else and she's like I'm sorry but I'm going. He says Fuji best none. He says to her, and it's a really good scene that segues to them later going out onto the water, but I can talk about it now um, blackthorn packages up her, um the urns of her husband and late son, and they take it out into the water and he's like.
Speaker 2:She's like what are you like, what are you doing? He's like let me do this last thing for you, like you've done so much for me. Let me do this last thing for you, like you've done so much for me. Let me do this thing for you. Let me take you out onto the water. We'll, we'll give your son and husband like a burial, like give them back to the land, like, and to your point, this shows Blackthorn's growth that he's doing this. Um, they dumped the ashes into the water and he picks up Margo's rosary. And this is where the future timeline thing. Is it real? Is it a dream? This is where we find out. It's just a dream that he's having of what he thinks his life would be like if he went back to England. Because he takes Mariko's rosary and then Fuji grabs his hand and mirrors the words that Mariko said to her way back when Let your hands be the last ones that hold her and he dumps her rosary into the water what are we?
Speaker 2:cooking it's. It was a beautiful. You want to talk?
Speaker 1:about payoff, like the idea and the ideology of payoff. Much people, most people, think the ideology of payoff needs to be. You know, satisfaction in my opinion does not equate to feeling good. That satisfaction is is finality. That's what satisfaction is in my opinion. So it's the, it's the finality of of this whole, of this whole sequence. There's a incredible silhouette shot.
Speaker 1:When you know, when black door and he this is the last time, or is it is the last time? You know when Blackthorn this is the last time, or is it this is the last time? You know he's praying, he's meditating. Like who is this man? Like this is a character arc. This is one of the best character arcs that you will see and oftentimes we talk about it here. Sometimes it doesn't need to be complicated, it doesn't need to be some complex thing. Like you know layman's term speaking like it's simple, like it's predictable, sure, like that the you know the white barbarian comes to the land, learns the land, but like it's the level of grace that he adopts from marco. It's allegorical, it's like what he adopts from these screenwriters getting there and these these story crafters getting there, and it's also he's taking from what he took from marco all this grace that she had, she could have had every right and she was capable herself physically, to you know, handle herself.
Speaker 2:But it's not the way he didn't even just learn from marco. He also learned from, like father alito, yeah, like he learned to kind of?
Speaker 1:yeah, oh, we didn't even talk about that scene of them in the forest.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and he, he learns to just put aside the differences between them and he goes. You know, when I kind of I read, essentially read Mariko, her last rites, and I prayed. I prayed not to your God, not to my God, just to God and Father Rolito's like I think she would be happy to see us getting along like this.
Speaker 1:And he said unfortunately she never will and we never will.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's a really powerful scene and a sequence of powerful scenes, because before we talked about the Fuji stuff in sequence, but before that sequence, blackthorn goes back to Toronaga and he had Fuji help him prepare a statement in Japanese. And our old man is there, old man, samurai, the spy is there and he's like oh, torunaga might be. You know, this might be a difficult conversation for a simple, a simple, uh, farmer to to translate. And Torunaga's like you can, you can tell him. And he's like oh, thank god, all right, here's the deal. I am one of the Toronaga's most trusted samurai advisors. He sent me to be ingratiated into the Catholic Church for a long time to study the Portuguese. And huh, pretty good, pretty good ruse.
Speaker 2:And Blackthorn's like can't take any more ruses, I want to go home, but my ship is burnt. Any more ruses. I want to go home, but my ship is burnt. And now you're killing villagers to find that people who did it. Can you just stop? Stop killing the villagers. I betrayed you. Okay, tornaga, it was me, I'm the enemy. I've been feeding you nonsense since the day I stepped off that ship. It's me. So either spare these villagers or I will die. I will commit seppuku, right here, right in front of you and Torunaga's. Like you won't, I love this game. You won't I let Hiramatsu kill himself. You think I'm gonna let you kill yourself? You think I'm above this?
Speaker 1:And Blackthorn's like I'll do it, I'll do it, and then he starts doing it and torin is like whoa relax he punches blackthorn.
Speaker 2:He's like are you finished? Are you finished like feeling sorry for yourself or whatever this is? Build your ship make me a fleet and make me a fleet. Oh, let me get to uh, one last one, last hurrah for, for, for big yabs he talks to, oh man, he's like man, who'd have thought, yeah, who'd have thought it'd come to this.
Speaker 1:I'm going out like this man holy crap.
Speaker 2:And you, you, son of a gun. Yeah, my nephew, you're like the son I never had. I love you man. Yeah, look, before I give you my will is my last poem, my death poem, if you will. And omi reads it and it's like my death, my body. Don't bury me, feed me to the dogs and not just dogs, like, not my dogs Just leaving me in a field, random dogs killing me and Omi looks up at Yabushige. Yabushige is like not bad.
Speaker 1:Look, is this the first rap bar in human history? Maybe.
Speaker 2:I am a lyrical wordsmith, if I do say so myself.
Speaker 1:Listen, yabushige, that's a good name. I can get a label to pick me up after this.
Speaker 2:Not bad If I'm going out, I'm going out like this Dude that, and Omi's like this guy.
Speaker 1:He looks at me like six out of ten.
Speaker 2:And then Yabushige's like alright, my will though. Here. Look, I've been working on this. This is the one, Guys. 30 wills later, this is the one.
Speaker 1:This is the one read it it's good.
Speaker 2:And omi's, like you're giving me everything. And yamashiki's, like you didn't think you didn't me. And torinaga, master strategists, I wrote all those wills without any of them having you in it because you thought I wouldn't leave you anything turns out, I left you at all. Omi omi the homie, that's what I call them. So he rolls up on tornaga tornaga, sitting in like a lawn chair yeah, we'll get that.
Speaker 1:And yabushige is like look at us two bros hanging out, chilling out, Chilling out Max and relaxing All cool.
Speaker 2:Best friends, best buds, if you will.
Speaker 1:And Torunaga's like he pulls the Well. I'm definitely your best, you're definitely my best friend, but I'm not your best friend, torunaga's like kill yourself, please. Yamashiki's like whoa Dinner's in like 30 minutes. Can we 30 minutes? Can we Yamashige's?
Speaker 2:like, look, look, look, I'm gonna kill myself, right? Not a debate, not a debate. But can you just fill me in on like a couple details? What's the plan? Because you know some stuff. And Torunaga's like, look, I'm gonna keep it 100 with you. I burn Blackthorn's ship.
Speaker 2:Yamashige's like, oh, why. And Torunaga's like he needed to stay here, he needed to be given purpose in japan, like he had to stay here. And he's like mariko what was that about? He's like she also had to die because I've got a secret letter from lady ochiba that she has pulled her banners from support of ashido. And then we see, while torunaga's explaining this, we see what's presumably a flash forward of the war, and he's like we'll meet on the field of battle, ashido and I, but he will get a letter that day that says that the heir has lost faith and has pulled his troops, and Ashido will have no banners, no one to fight for, he will be alone, alone and he will lose and the regents will fall soon after him.
Speaker 2:And yabushige is like that would make you shogun. And torunaga is like I never wanted to be shogun, it was never my plan, but if it were, I would start by making itdo my seat of power. And then Tornaga just goes on this rant of everything he would do if he had absolute power, but he doesn't want it. Listen, I'm just spitting right now. I didn't ask for this Very Dexter-esque of him. It's been thrust upon me, you see, and Yabushige says you're no better than us in your secret heart.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was the line I was waiting for you to get to you know better than us in your secret heart.
Speaker 2:Like you just wanted to be all powerful, just like the rest of us and torinaga's like hey it is it is what it is and yabushige's like so what? What happens next? Like what happens after that. And torinaga unsheathes his sword, puts his yabushige's neck and says why tell a dead man in the future? And I was like damn, he is him he is him. What a line and yabushige is like uh, that was pretty good this actually is a cool way to die yeah, I should have.
Speaker 2:I should have said that in my death poem. That was pretty good. Can I? Can I get like 15 minutes? I gotta tell omi about this one Hold on.
Speaker 1:Can I just tell Omi that line. I won't tell him the play, I promise.
Speaker 2:And Tornaga's like no. And Yabushige's like well, boom, no ceremony, no, nothing. Yabushige just whips out the knife, stabs himself in the chest, cuts himself open. Tornaga chops, hisaga chops. Well, before he does that, the dead man line. Yabashige is like we were pretty good, weren't we? And tornaga gives him like a like, a smile, like yeah you are, we were fun but before that, before that, yabashige goes.
Speaker 2:And what's the deal with black thorn? What's that about? And Torunaga just says he makes me laugh. Yeah, he's a fun guy, I'm a fun guy, yeah, I'm a fun guy, he makes me laugh and he's nice to have around. I guess I'll probably have to burn his ship down a few more times. He'll build it again. I'll keep burning it down.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, he's going to build it again. I'll keep burning it down. Unfortunately, he's going to get bored, so he'll keep serving me while I do this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's pretty good. It's a pretty good life we live. He says one other thing too. Well, Yabushige says how does it feel to shape the wind to your will? And Torunaga's like that's not what this is. I study it. That's how I'm, presumably, however, many steps ahead you know who?
Speaker 1:Okay, and that's Shogun, greatest show ever.
Speaker 2:Well, Blackthorn pulls his ship out of the sea.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he does. And then Buntaro helps. Yeah, buntaro pulls up. He's like I got you bro.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know how Buntaro was the one that got the, because he's him.
Speaker 1:Didn't we go over that Buntaro is. He's like the Jamie Lanshan of Samurais, he's him.
Speaker 2:And then Blackthorn looks into the distance man Yabushige death scene was tough man. Pour one out for my guy Yabs, and the conviction Just boom Done. Why tell a dead man the future?
Speaker 1:Yabushige, that was a bar. I'm killing myself. I'm about killing myself.
Speaker 2:Torunaga beheads him and Torunaga's just like man, he was fun, yeah that was my guy.
Speaker 1:Omi just doesn't have that, doesn't have that juice to him, he doesn't have that sauce so, yeah, they pull the Erasmus and Blackthorn's, like I knew we could do it.
Speaker 2:Look at that ship, it's the best ship. He goes Donald Trump, pull Donald Trump, the best ship, the greatest ship. It's in a heap. You've never seen a ship like this. It's in a heap, but it's fine, it's the best ship. And then he looks up. He sees Torunaga's, just like, yeah, shogun shows up on the screen and that's it.
Speaker 1:That's it.
Speaker 2:We talked for almost three hours about this show.
Speaker 1:What was it? Oh, I was going to say that you know who Torunaga is. He's like like you said. He's like if Ned Stark was smart, but also if he was littlefinger. That's exactly who tarnag is.
Speaker 2:He's more like a he's a less like less new. He's like a less evil. Tywin lannister yeah, good point like he has the tywin lannister isms. He even does the tywin lannister like thing right where, like the whole, he's like he's.
Speaker 1:He's kind of like. He's kind of like a less drunk version of robert barheon, because at least Robert knew what had to be done when things had to be done.
Speaker 2:Well, tyrion in Game of Thrones confronts Tywin after the Red Wedding and he's like you slaughtered Robb Stark and Catelyn Stark and his family at a wedding or at a dinner. And Tywin Lannister's like what's more noble, killing 12 people at dinner or 1,000 people dying on the battlefield. Like I beat the Starks without the war. And that's exactly what Torunaga does. He sacrifices Mariko and Hiromatsu and Yabushige and his son and who knows who else, because he didn't A he couldn't beat Ishido in a war without if the heir was still loyal. But also his mission statement was bring true peace to Japan without the need for war. And he did that presumably I mean, we're never going to get a follow-up of what Torunaga's rule looks like, but presumably he ushers in a peace, an era of peace in Japan. So Say it Like he has a job done.
Speaker 2:He might be a liar and a manipulator and and hiding behind this, this shield of nobility, saying like I don't want to be Shogun, like I just want what's best for Japan, but in his mind, what's best for Japan is him being in charge. And that's what Yabushige says to him at the end You're no different than the rest of us in your secret heart, because Every man has three hearts. It's Torunaga's motif the heart in your mouth that you show the world. The heart in your chest that you show your closest allies. And your secret heart that you reveal to no one, and that's what Yabushige is getting at. You hid your true ambitions from all of us, even like Mariko and Hiromatsu.
Speaker 1:But I do get the feeling that Mariko knew, I think, sure, but I she wasn't opposed to it because she wanted to die, she was not opposed to anything that was going on.
Speaker 2:yeah but I think ultimately she knew torunaga's ultimate ambitions. I mean, she was literally there from day one, from when he essentially overthrew the, the previous leader of japan, you know just. And it ends without a big battle. I think everyone was expecting yeah the massive you know.
Speaker 1:Third act let's get this popping off like that's not what this show was.
Speaker 2:It never was no, there's torn torn agus mission statement was always peace this show showed incredible restraint as well.
Speaker 1:Most other filmmakers would have. The comedic moments would have been too much. The big battles would have been these big, grandiose battles at the stake of character.
Speaker 2:A lot of the quote-unquote big battle sequences are quiet assassinations and quick. The Shinobi assault is probably the biggest quote-unquote action sequence in the entire show. You got Nagakato's coup with the cannons. There's another big one, but it's over in a second or two, like a few seconds. You got the original assassination attempts on Blackthorn those are really your big action. There's the fight in the woodsthorn like those are really your big action. There's the fight in the woods, right, but again, that's not overly long. You got Buntaro's last stand, which you never really see, right. So yeah, just shows just so character-centric, so character-focused and those relationships and those machinations. It's outstanding and those machinations.
Speaker 1:It's outstanding.
Speaker 2:That was Shogun. I mean, I'll sum this We'll do an abridged version of the war. Just very briefly, what's your favorite episode? Episode?
Speaker 1:9 is just it's money, it's everything that this show. You know the action, the. You know filmmaking-wise. You know character-wise, emotional-wise emotions. You know filmmaking-wise, you know character-wise, emotional-wise emotions. You know everything that you want out of a penultimate episode. Like thinking about penultimate episodes this might be the strongest that I've seen Like setting up a finale where you know what it does for the finale. It takes the need for that action out of the finale and it replaces it with the overt need for I need the emotional resolution of this. I don't need a physical resolution to anything that's going on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think in terms of penultimate episodes it's going back to the Thrones comparison. It's up there with season one, episode nine, the Baylor episode, the execution of Ned Stark, I think it. I think it really stands up there with that episode, which, in my opinion, is the best penultimate episode of any show ever, because you weren't expecting it and again, I was not expecting Mariko to die like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because they do the fake-out with her seppuku attempts, where it culminates in this and then Ishido bails her out. So you think she's just going to go back to Osaka and that's going to be that. But no, they have one more trick up their sleeve and it's her death. I would say episode 8 for me, just so many moments Buntaro and Mariko's scene, the scene with, even the scene with what's her name, daiyo-in, when she has the stroke and she talks to Ochiwa and she's like don't, don't trust this, shido, and like please just end. End the suffering and then culminating in Hiramatsu's death.
Speaker 2:Right Was just like, oh my God, and the and the and then the subsequent revelation from Toronaga that that was all a plan, essentially, that Hiramatsu had to die for the plan to be enacted was just like man, this guy just and I think people get confused that like he was willing to throw Hiramatsu's life away. And that's not what it was, like he truly loved and valued Hiramatsu. It's just they were both so committed to this cause that they both kind of knew how it had to go. And people and you gotta like get and kind of try to get inside the mind of tornaga a little bit there, like the power that he exudes there to not completely like the power of not.
Speaker 1:It's an incredible example of like there's power and not acting to like letting. That's exactly like man, you know what it does to. It pays off. It pays off that line from Yabu Shige as well. He's like can you bend the wind to your will? Like I didn't have to lift a finger to exude how, how much power I have. Now I have complete control over everything and every single person in here, and you don't?
Speaker 2:I mean, there must have been every like what he did for Blackthorn in stopping his seppuku attempt. I gotta imagine every fiber of his being wanted to do that for Hiramatsu. Yeah, but they both knew that he couldn't, and that's probably the. It's funny. Like saying that, like saying this in lieu of like an earthquake that wiped out half of his forces, but like that moment where hiramatsu is about to die might have been the most powerless torunaga has ever felt, because he knew what it represented and he couldn't stop it because it would literally ruin everything. Right, and he's watching this man that literally watched him grow up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yep like they plant that seed, that like and it's also even to go further on the fact about this man that walked and watched him grow up. Who else is? Who else is also in that room? But his half brother too. So this person that can bend the truth a bit as siblings might do, versus like no, this is my true brother in here. Like it's crazy that if his half brother would have died, he probably would have felt nothing, but he felt everything. To watch, like again, like I'm committed to. Like, unfortunately, I'm committed to this. Like, unfortunately, I'm committed to this now. Like I'm full-send committed onto this plant. Like this is it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's why episode eight for me, that scene is just so powerful. And then you get Torunaga at the end vowing to not waste the time. That not just you know. It's to be determined whether, how much he truly loved Nagakoto, but it can't be denied that he did buy torenaga time and he was maybe even more grateful for nagakado and death than he was in life. Yeah, as sad as that is, but it's true, and in torenaga's eyes, like if you fulfill his purpose, like that means something to him. So in the end, nagakado might have been somewhat of a disappointment, but this last act of brashness actually turned the tide essentially. Yeah, um, yeah. So I love episode eight um favorite character um, unseriously torn.
Speaker 1:Uh, yabushige, like, obviously, um, I, I mean I I don't want to be the one to do it, but it's blackthorn, I mean it's performance wise, it's um arc, arc wise, like it's it's real world, me understanding, like we might be witnessing, like another great actor being incepted right now. I hope so. Um, I could just I see him being like this iconic actor that can come to years to come. I can see a lot of studios be chomping at the bits to get a voice like that with them. Uh, not only an actor like that too. And then performance wise, it's that subtlety, it's that adaptation to the world that he does. It's a. It's a simple arc, but it's an effective arc not your god, not my god, just god.
Speaker 2:Um, I think it's mariko for me. Yeah, yeah it was.
Speaker 1:It was tough not to pick her too um, just that character just was brilliant.
Speaker 2:Um, and her commitment again goes back to like the commitment piece with that character, like, even though she had literally lost everything, she so believed in torinaga's mission statement that she followed him to the ends of the little earth um to see it fulfilled. And she, I think when he tells her in episode was that episode seven when he tells her, are you ready to fulfill your purpose? Um, I think she knows what that means. Like, I don't think she ever thought she was getting out of osaka. Yeah, yep, one way or the other, I just don't whether it was a shido, whether that's a big piece of fate too.
Speaker 1:Like, you know, what does her fate bring and you know that's a big theme throughout the show is like I I got this ideology of fate that kept coming back to me, like, again, what an incredible line, and you know that I'm gonna actually replace that as my line of the show that. Do you also bend the the wind to your will like? Is this fate your will Like? Is this fate? Or is this? Or is this divine fate? Or is this? Is one man truly this powerful, like that? He really bent the entire you know nation of Japan to his will by inaction. Action within inaction, inaction within action. You know, and again, it's not the fact that he's bending the wind to his will. He's letting the wind be the wind. That's all he's doing. He's letting humans be humans. That's all he's doing.
Speaker 2:He's letting human nature dictate what's going to come out of this yeah, he says he says it to mariko after, after hiramatsu kills himself. He said he asked mariko, like yabushige went to blackthorn, didn't he? And marco was like he did. Like how could you know that? And he's like they're both predictable. Like I knew that seeing my most loyal person kill himself would scare yabushige into doing what he's about to do. And that's why I'm sending you with them, because I need you in osaka, because you need to fulfill your purpose. Like you are crimson sky. Like he doesn't tell her that but he tells yabushige like uh, what's the line where he says I sent, I sent a woman to do what no army could do? Like I sent a woman to osaka to fulfill what no army could, or something to that effect.
Speaker 2:Like he always knew, like crimson sky was Crimson sky to his men. Was this big, big battle bum rush, which nothing about Toronaga's character would you lead you to believe he would ever execute a plan like that. Like just a blind, blunt force, no man against man, too smart for that blood fight. Like his plan was always going to be manipulative and it was um, that's one of my favorite lines from the entire show is I sent an army to, or I sent a woman to do what no army ever could. Like that shows you. But my line of the show is is why tell? Why tell a dead man in the future? Like that just says it all. And it tells you a lot about Toronaga's character no trust.
Speaker 1:No trust. My secret heart is the only heart that I have. I don't have any of the other two.
Speaker 2:That everybody claims Toronaga's philosophy is truly. Why would I waste my breath telling anyone anything? If I have all the machinations and I truly understand people the way that I think I do it's only going to cloud whatever plan I have to fill someone in. I just gotta have to let the chess pieces play themselves, and that's ultimately what he does, and it's outstanding, and then I'll just leave it with this.
Speaker 1:Your favorite performance, man that's tough not to go with um Hiroyuki Sonata, it's just, it's. It's incredibly tough not to um man, I don't, I don't know if it's cause of his voice, but I want to say Cosmo Jarvis, so bad. But um who played Mariko Anna Sawai, yeah, I'm going to have to go there. I mean again, it's the complete command, and you know how difficult it is to probably play a character like that, where you're expecting some big bang, you're expecting her to take away from her. No, she never portrays it, she just supersedes it in moments, Even in death, even in death, even in death. Even in death, she is calm as calm can be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she just faces it. She faces it. Please kill them. Um, yeah, I mean, the only time she really has any type of outburst is in that moment where she falls to the ground and she says, she screams and she's like these men are too, are too powerful, like I. We have to turn back. Um, man, I think I am gonna say sonata just because it's the culmination of, you know, almost 50 years in this industry. For him, um, and this is the first time he's really got the spotlight in a western. It's not a western show, it's funny enough, it's it's really a eastern based show but to a western audience and he gets, finally gets this spotlight shown upon him for just the act, the, the wizard that he is, um on screen, um, much deserved and I think, you know, as he enters kind of the later stages of his career, um, you know he's 63. So he's definitely got 63.
Speaker 2:He's got you know, he's got probably 15, 15, maybe 20 more years in this industry.
Speaker 1:As long as he's healthy 20 plus man, I think he's going to and he's going to be somebody that people are going to go after for a lot of things. I mean we talked about it. I mean the next big thing that we know that's going to be Japanese based is going to be the Ghost of Tsushima movie and if there's somebody that should play Lord Shinra.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's parallels between shimmer and tornada as well. Yep, um, I think that would be great. Um, chad stahelski has already said that this movie is going to be in japanese, so I think that absolutely lends itself to sonata all I'm saying is you make him shimmer and then you make um the guy that played jinsaka, just have him play him in live action yeah, um, no, I think that's a great call.
Speaker 2:And I, and sonata is still a stuntman, like he still does. He did all the all the choreography for mortal combat as scorpion, like. So he's still very active, 60 years old, he's still very active. Um, I think that's a great call. I would absolutely. I'm feeling like what chad stahelski wants to do, what goes to shishima in terms of, like, paying homage and respecting the Japanese culture and wanting to do the movie in Japanese.
Speaker 2:I got to imagine Sonata is on his short list. Yeah, um, for something. Um, I would have to imagine. So just shout out to Haruki Sonata like much deserved after so many years in the industry. Um, shout out to Hiroyuki Sanada Much deserved after so many years in the industry, breaking through becoming one of the most notable Japanese actors in the world. This was his piece de resistance of his career so far. I'm so happy for him. The whole show, the whole cast, was stellar, the whole main cast, you know, like I said, asano as Yabushige, ana Sawai, cosmo, jarvis, sonata and crew and crew just incredible. And if I mean not if this is it, this is the only season of the show we're ever going to get and, like I said up, top, top it's going to be. I think it should be spoken in the same length as as watchman.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is like I mean you're holding in, not in 8.8 on imdb right now. One of it's one of the highest rated shows that there's ever been, and I mean the reception that it was getting. Like you know, a show like this, nine times out of ten, does not not get weekly reviewed by these YouTube reviews. This show was getting weekly reviewed by everybody. Everybody was like oh no, we need to talk about this show week in, week out.
Speaker 2:And it's not a mainstream IP, it's not a Marvel show or anything like that. It just was this show. That was a miniseries that was picked up based on this book that was written in 1975. And just through the strength of that first episode, when people saw it and they were like this is special we're in yep um and I was in the first episode I watched.
Speaker 2:I binge watched the series across like three days probably. Um and I was in. I was in um and I didn't care about the language barrier, I didn't care about the subs, anything, I didn't care about the subs, anything like that. I was just locked in for 10 hours of TV and it's crazy that the restraint of just the crew to recognize look, it's one and done. As special as this might be, we have no more story to tell.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it and I hope more shows start doing this. You don't need three, four, one season no, I mean movies.
Speaker 2:movies are, unless there's sequels, like to want their one-offs. You know that's what a movie is and this is a 10-hour film, essentially, um, that you can go back and watch anytime. Man, super special, super special show, and from one to the other, because next week we're going to talk X-Men. Finally, we've been chomping at the bits every time. We've watched these first two parts of Tolerance, of Extinction.
Speaker 1:We're like yeah, you don't understand the restraint that we've had to exercise not to even mention these episodes, because you know episode five. We couldn't not talk about episode five because we talked about one and two, and then I think we talked about three, four, five, yeah, um, just to talk about them, just to say like this show is stupid, it's got legs, yeah, but then you get to, like, you know, you get to episodes like episode five and then you get to episodes like eight and nine and you're like, no, this is like these people need to be in charge of something. That's how good this is. So, um, hopefully they get hired, hopefully they get to stick around for a while.
Speaker 2:Yeah, every time, every episode ends with like we gotta wait, we gotta wait, but next week we're we're finally unleashed. Thomas's extension will cover the whole three episode arc. We will cover the season on a whole feature of the X-Men, all that stuff. Um, I cannot wait. That being said, you can follow us on Twitter at projects Nope Project I have underscore pod. I almost forgot it. Um, yeah, project I have underscore pod. You can follow us on Facebook. You can follow us on Instagram at the Project Infinite pod.
Speaker 1:I did my job right, you did. It's like Yabushige did all the time did his job.
Speaker 2:Next week. X-men 97 can't wait. Tolerance extension full season review. All that good stuff from me, from the Yabushige of the podcast. Yeah, man, shogun, this is. This will go on record as our longest episode ever by far. 120 episodes in this is our longest. Just assessments to the show. Man, we had to, we had, I had to. We had to do this in full because you know what we'll never get to again. No, because the show will remain in the ether.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we, we need us to get everything out our five hour episode when we talk about x-men 97 next week um, yeah, man, shogun, I'm so happy.
Speaker 2:I'm so happy that I actually, because there's so many times and I don't want to go too long-winded, but there's so many times where, like someone will, or media will, suggest a show and I'll be like you know, I might check it out, and then I never do. Looking at you Jurassic World Dominion.
Speaker 1:We'll talk about it.
Speaker 2:But I'm so glad I managed to break through that and sit down and watch Shogun, because it was worth it. It was worth every bit of time and everything that everyone said about it was completely justified.
Speaker 1:Any other shows you're looking forward to?
Speaker 2:Like coming up.
Speaker 1:Coming up or that are out that you want to check out.
Speaker 2:I mean House of the Dragon. Obviously Keeping the Game of Thrones comparison House of the Dragon, I'm keen to check out Baby Reindeer.
Speaker 1:I've heard a lot of things about Baby Reindeer Is this my segue to talk about Baby Reindeer for 30 seconds. Sure, what a show. You've seen it, okay, you've watched it already. I did watch the whole thing. I watched it in one day, okay, wow, and the show emotionally destroyed me and gave me a bit of hope me, and gave me a bit of hope.
Speaker 1:You know, these are based off true events, apparently. So it's a um, richard gad, I believe his name is. This is something that actually happened to him. He was stalked by a woman, um, who was already a criminal, who already was charged with stalking, that was thrown in jail and he was trying to get his, his act, his you know, comedic and acting career off the ground. Um, and this show deals with a lot of heavy subjects. It his, his, his, you know, comedic and acting career off the ground, and the show deals with a lot of heavy subjects it deals with, you know, you know it deals with, you know, one sexuality and kind of, you know the spectrum that it can live on it deals with. It deals with sexual assault to men, which is something that you, truthfully, don't see enough of, because many believe that that's a thing that does not exist, when, in all reality, too many men have had to go through that and had to be silent. Too many people have had to go through that and be silent about it.
Speaker 1:His performance is just it's heartbreaking. He has a monologue that I will remember for the rest of my life. This monologue just absolutely destroyed me. But you know, when the show is good, it's great, and when the show is is good, it's great, and when the show is funny, it's hilarious. When the show is somber, it's, you know, it's, it's almost unbearable, but it's too good not to watch it. It's just it's. It really broke me, that's the best way I can put it. A show broke me. Um and it's something that you know, I you know with caution, everybody should check out um, there are, there is, a lot of triggering things in here, but it's some things that just need to come to light as well too. So what a show, what a performance.
Speaker 2:Huh, cool. Yeah, I'm definitely keen to check it out. I've been hearing a lot of things, so it's definitely on my radar and I would like to get it in before June, because June is going to be insane.
Speaker 1:Yes, June is jam-packed and that's my next show that I cannot wait to check out. And we just finally got the first teaser for season three and that's the Bear. Yes, the Bear is my soprano, this is my show, this is the show that I will die on the hill that this is one of my top three favorite shows. I've ever watched this show. You know, I don't know Like this show is, just like it has such a piece of me the bear does and Jeremy Allen White's work that he's doing with Carmen. I think when he's done with that character, that's going to be one of the most memorable characters in TV history. That's kind of the trajectory, in my opinion. He's on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's hard to disagree. We got the bear, the boys, house of the dragon. Um, june is going to be jam-packed. The acolyte, the acolyte, yes. So we'll have to. We'll have to fit in some fit in. We'll have to figure out june well, more so july, because a lot of these shows, most of these shows, are going to be finished. Yeah, I mean season wraps movies up coming up too.
Speaker 1:We got a bunch of movies coming out too. I mean, uh movie I'm particularly um, obviously I'm going to see, hopefully tomorrow is um kingdom of the plan of the apes. Uh, west ball, um, apparently has crafted this, you know, new iteration of the apes that are just that's. It's familiar, but it's it's. You know, a lot of people are calling this movie, you know, borderline, like transcended, like this movie is just, it's absolutely incredible. The world is incredible, but the, the character work as well is great.
Speaker 2:So I'm really looking forward to that man, yeah, there's a lot of good stuff coming up, man. A lot of good stuff. Um, can't wait for that, can't wait to talk about x-men next week. It's gonna be, it's gonna be really really great, um, so until then, we will see you next week, unless I win.
