SFU Out, Out, Brief Candle

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Hello everyone. My name is Lisa, and I'd like to welcome you to the Whatever Happened podcast. My goal is to use the podcast platform to help people find what they're searching for. This could be a loved one who is missing, or maybe something important was stolen or lost. Please join us on this journey and help bring more eyes and ears to people's stories. New episodes are coming this fall. Please subscribe so you never miss an episode or an opportunity to help. And please reach out to me if you are the one who needs help. Hi, and welcome to this episode of Sassin Sips. Today we're gonna talk about Six Feet Under Season 2, Episode 2, Out Out, Brief Candle. We're your hosts, I'm Lisa.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

I'm Britney.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

And yes, you are listening to Sassin Sips. But did you hear that at the beginning? We threw that in there.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

I thought it was a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

So that's my new project that I've been working on. And please, anyone who has a story to tell, get in touch. I will put the contact info for the Whatever Happened podcast in the show notes, or when in doubt, just reach out to us here, and obviously you can find me here as well. What are you drinking tonight?

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Oh, I actually I made some concoction. I was finishing my shitty bottle of wine during our pre-show where I called myself Lisa instead of Brittany. That's my highlight. And um, and now I'm working through some ice coffee that has a little bit of vegan Bailey's in it, which is disgusting to say out loud.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Oh, I was gonna say that sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Yeah, I just feel like uh I don't know. I just don't like saying that I like Baileys.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Yeah, I don't know. I just feel so like juvenile saying that. I feel like there should be like a better adult cream laquin than that I can tolerate.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Okay. Um I just have some red wine. So I had um last night. Do you remember when I had the color party and you brought your basket was black and you brought me the little mini 19 crimes? Yes. So I went to Denise's house for dinner and I brought two of them. Oh I was like, you know, it's just whatever. Yeah, and so then I text Alex and I was like, Oh my god, we drank two bottles of wine with dinner, and then I sent him a photo of the two bottles, and he's just like, you idiot. And Ameris is like Amaris is like, these are like the kind of bottles that you see in like the play kitchens. Are we gonna be like push a price for toddler alcoholics? And she's like, Yeah, basically, alcoholic toddlers, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Donate them to your local preschool for dramatic play. Dramatic play, mom drinks a bottle of wine, so do I. It's horrible.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

I know. Oh, if my kids still had a play kitchen, you better believe I'd be saving those bottles for them.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Because imagine the girls, imagine a Maya doing pretend play, just being like, and I'm mom, and I'm getting drunk with my friends. On the internet.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

All right, so today we're talking about Out Out Brief Candle, which is like a very neat focused episode.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

It is, it actually really is, and so it's just silly, like not silly, it's just different because like normally, just like season one, we have a whole episode that focuses around like David and his internal monologues. And this one is kind of like it flipped the switch, and Nate's kind of taking more of like a David position. But starting from the beginning, um, we see these two boys. We actually see these two boys and a bunch of other boys, and they're like adult kids, I like to call them. Like between the eight, yeah, like young adults, like like 18 and 23. They're they're definitely adults. We see these two guys running with a bunch of other guys on the field, and immediately you know, like football try-ups. Sam and Josh prepare for a hot, sunny football practice under the hot, hot sun, and they keep stressing that this is hot. They keep showing the sun, they keep showing the sun, subtle, subtle, very subtle. Yeah, Josh is well built and self-assured, but Sam is wiring, he doesn't look or feel like a sure thing, and they run and they run and they run and they run. We keep getting more shots of like this the hot sun and all the sunny hotness. And Sam stresses how he really needs to make the team, and as viewers, we end up focusing on him, and he kind of looks like Nate. For a second, I was like, Is that Nate?

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Yes, I thought so too. And then I thought that you know, you you're led to believe that he's the the one who's gonna die, and I was like, Oh my god, and Nate is gonna go through this, he's gonna see this kid who looks like him, and it's gonna but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

That's why I said it kind of makes sense that like he'll be dying in this episode. Like, oh wait, I gotta backtrack. I'm sorry. Um, Sam stresses how he really needed to make the team, and as we refocus on him, and again, yeah, because he looks like Nate. So when Sam faints from heat exhaustion, it kind of makes sense that he'll be the one dying this episode. As the coach and other players gather around recovering Sam, we see Josh in the distance holding his head in collapse, which we later learn is from his brain being fried, as Nate phrases it. As the title card for Josh displays, we hear the coach David phrases it. No, Nate phrased it.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

No, didn't David say basically his brain fried when he was. Oh, I could have sworn it was I could have sworn that was Nate. I could have sworn. I don't know, maybe it was. Okay, I thought you know what you're probably somebody said his brain fried.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

I thought I thought it was like Nate's reaction to the news and just being like typical Nate, but yeah, no, I thought it was David because because I remember feeling like oh damn, like that's insensitive, except that he doesn't know. Yeah, you're probably right. I literally watched the episode like an hour ago and I don't know. But anyway, one of the brothers calls like his brain being fried, and as the title card displays for Josh, we hear the coach proclaim about Sam saying, This is the spirit of a real football player here. Sam's getting up, and as Josh is dead on the floor.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

We find this was tough. Like, and I know that this is it aired in 2002, it aired in March of 2002, so we're just we're just briefly like post-9-11 world there, but looking at it from 2023 eyes and and so much shit in in this world from the last like 10 plus years to see you know, just this black kid lay down and die, and no one gives a fuck. They're all just basically walking, yeah. Like they're just walking right past him to the white kid because it's all about the white kid, even though the other kid is the one who was being the supportive one, being the one like, no, no, no, don't worry, like, follow me, you got this, and nobody gives a shit. And I don't know if that was an intentional um cinemat cinematic choice for them to have him in the foreground while everyone else was just in the background. But it was it it it it just really hit closer, I guess, because of everything that's come to light over the past, you know, however many years.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Yeah, I was gonna say, like that, I feel like that scene really speaks volumes more than how maybe people originally interpreted it. But it all depends on who watched it, and so I don't know that that's that scene does speak a lot, and we can go even deeper into that, but that actually would have been great for the pre-show. Maybe the next pre-show, we should talk about this, yeah. Mental note. Anyway, our friend who unfortunately passed away was only 21 years old, and his full name is Joshua Peter Langmead Langmeade, but we're just gonna call him Josh. So, anyway, going to the Fisher kitchen, we see David and Nate, and as actually, as Nate's wolfing down his breakfast, David informs Nate that Fisher and Sons will be handling Josh's funeral. Uh, Nate hasn't really been following the news. Uh, he finds that the news is too stressful and sad. And so David starts him in on like the whole story with Josh. And it actually really hits Nate. Um, you know, Nate's Nate's relatively young, he's fit, he eats like healthy foods. I think they made like a joke towards like almond milk in the beginning of yeah, first episode, they made a joke at almond milk. Yeah, I think yeah, Ruth was like freaking out in the first episode about trying to find it. And as she was on the phone with Nate Satan, yeah, that was like his title card.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

There was even like another scene, something with blueberries or blackberries or strawberries or yeah, he's like fun of him for like trying to be healthy.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Not that almond milk's necessarily healthy, but you know what I mean. Right, right. But he's AVM afflicted, and we can't forget that he's going through this health crisis right now, where as Nate even says towards the end of this episode to somebody, and we'll get to that. Um, with AVM, you can have a stroke at any minute, and he has a feeling he's gonna die from this. So he takes he takes the extra minute to absorb that, you know, like possibly David said, the kid's brain was being fried. Nate has tried for much of his life to live a detached existence, uh, to act almost above human life. And and now he faces the limited nature of his existence. In the previous episode, this was framed as a need for Nate to get in the game, and that was literally like a whole theme of the episode. But now, in an intake meeting with Josh's parents, he confronts a kid who played the game with ferocity and still lost.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

And Nate, and Nate now can do the intakes by himself because he's actually funeral director.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Yeah, he's a big boy now.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

He's a big boy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Big boy Nate. Yeah, he's going through this episode. Um, he keeps having visions of Josh throughout the whole episode. And we kind of referenced this, or I kind of referenced this in the beginning when we were comparing Nate to what David usually experiences, especially at the end of the first season. Don't forget about Mark. And most of like these visions that Nate's having of Josh, Josh is sobbing and speaking to his inner fears that Nate would like to defer. Um, Josh keeps saying, I'm scared, what's gonna happen to me now? And he's like sobbing when he's saying it, but Nate keeps snapping at him, which is really just Nate snapping at himself. And he keeps saying, like, that's not my problem. But as we know, it is his problem. Um, and that's why he's so annoyed. Nate also yells something like, Do you think you were immune to this? And it's just so weird to watch Nate yell at this kid, knowing that he's just pretty much talking to himself. To yell at himself and to say, like, do you think you were immune to this? just shows how he's handling, you know, possibly going through with death. Or yeah, he's he's starting to process death before it confronts him.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Yeah, I had a little bit of I had some notes on the Nate Josh dynamic, but um we'll leave that for the end because it's more like an overall theme.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Okay, so Josh cries and he keeps like sobbing and saying, like, why me? And Nate then just erupts, he barks, he's like, Everybody dies. What makes you so fucking special? But Nate's problem is that he's going to die, like I just said, and like the reality shared across the billions. How like he's focused on his lonely self, like Nate is just going through it. Nate's just yelling at himself. But there's like an alluring like rationality to that approach, but logic isn't gonna solve Nate's problems right now. Eventually, Josh has to force the issue, and towards actually the end of the whole episode, but since we're just talking about like Nate right now, we're gonna talk about it now. Towards the end of the episode, Nate's back is faced towards Josh as he's sitting on top of like a washer and dryer. I don't know exactly where in the Fisher house they are, but this is the perspective. It kind of I couldn't remember if they were in the guest house or not.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

No, it kind of looked like the living room because you know that there's like that table, because then when they kind of turn the scene, don't you see them sitting at the table? It was like that living room area. Yeah, I just couldn't like where the couch and the TV is. I I thought it was there.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

I couldn't place it at first, and I just remember like seeing Josh sitting on like the washer and dryer, like way behind like Nate, like probably like I don't know, like 30 feet, 40 feet away from him. Yeah, it looks far away. And Josh is just crying, saying, Look at me, and Nate like I want you to see me. Yeah, he goes, I want you to see me. And we get like a pan of Nate's hands actually going down towards his running sneakers to tie his shoes because he's going for one of his runs. He was intending on doing it, and all of a sudden, in between Nate's feet, you see a black cleat, and we know it's Josh, the football player, or the aspiring football player, and that's when Nate really truly faces his fears. Um, we're gonna go into actually right now how the episode ended because this flows right into it.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

But no, let's let's let's skip this for now.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

You sure?

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Yeah, because we'll talk about like everyone else and then we'll just end on that scene.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Okay. So moving along from Nate, um, but actually still including Nate, we're no longer obsessing over Billy anymore. We see Brenda preparing for, or rather like obsessing over, a dinner party with Trevor, that boyfriend that Billy was mentioning while he was like low-key trying to kill Nate, um, or putting on an exhibition of Nate's death. So um we see Brenda preparing for the party or the dinner, and Nate's there. Trevor's over because I don't know, I guess he was in town for something, and he brings his wife and kids, and Nate asks if he should be jealous of Trevor. And Brenda gives a typical Brenda response, yeah, saying, Oh yeah, like he deflowered me, and now I have to compare every single man that I sleep with to him. And like, aren't you jealous?

SPEAKER_02 16:24

And Nate's like the man who ushered me.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Yeah, he's like, she's like the man who ushered me into womanhood, like yes, that was the the Brenda like phrase, and actually, Brenda kind of Brenda gets deep about herself, she she analyzes herself, but that's her just being her yeah. Brenda's gonna put that seated, narcissistic, slightly self. She's definitely slightly narcissistic, and that's probably because of her upbringing and how like self-focused it was. I mean, she had a book written about her, so and so her like psyching herself out to Nate um is more of a casual conversation for Brenda at this point. But anyway, Brenda's just being Brenda. She doesn't even bother to introduce Nate when the guests show up. He just stands there like a mope until finally reaches past Brenda to shake his hand. Like they they have a big hug, like a big hug. Brenda's wife and kid. Speaking of which, that kid makes me want to quit education.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

But anyway, that kid was awful. Oh my god.

unknown 17:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:39

All you want to have unprotected sex, look at what could happen to you. Spend 10 minutes with this asshole and then see if you don't want to wear a condom.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

You know, at one point in this whole scene, like the Trevor's wife, like the kid's mom, literally like fucking like scoops him up and brings him outside.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

It's like it was spontaneously revealed.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Yeah, it was that was just yeah, as name frustrates after, like, might as well just start saving up for therapy now. But the whole reason why Trevor's over is pretty much because Brenda's just trying to get some grip on life, and she thinks that you know Trevor being over may lend her some insight to her life. And as she tells Nate after dinner when they're alone and she's crashing from like the whole high, like she said, I spent my childhood performing for clinicians and like they say that word right? Mm-hmm. Clinician, clinician, it feels wrong.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

I don't know. All right, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Clinician is the right word. I just, you know, I did this today with the word couch. I was doing like a grammar exercise with my kids and um my my school kids, I don't have kids, and and um we were looking at the word couch, and I was like, guys, is this spelled wrong? And they're like, no, and I was like, yeah, and then I literally had to Google it, and I was like, guys, it makes more sense in Google than it does on the paper. Anyway, I'm having a day. Um, she was saying, I spent my childhood performing the like for clinicians and like adults and people in medicine, and for the rest of my life, like I've been either taking care of my trainwork brother. So between all of that, like I just have no clue who I am.

unknown 19:25

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

It was weird. She went to go like smoke and she started like rolling her joint, and then she just threw it all. And I'm like, Brenda, why do you have to be so dramatic? Like, yeah, we don't know who you are.

SPEAKER_02 19:35

Like, I mean, I give her a lot of credit, right? Because I mean, her the show, they mentioned Trevor a few episodes ago, and then now we get to meet him, and it's almost like a letdown, which is welcomed that into her life.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

He didn't like hit her up because we would have known that. He didn't like call her up and be like, Hey, I'm in town, can I have dinner? Because that wasn't given to us, and that probably would have been well.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

I don't know how did they get together? I don't even think that that was spoken of. It was just like he's coming to dinner.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

I think that's why I said like he was probably in town or something, because I figured there needed to be some commonality unless she just literally reached out to him. But I'm surprised that they didn't write that part in unless they wanted us to think really hard about like, well, how did Trevor doesn't matter?

SPEAKER_02 20:23

Maybe it doesn't matter, just like I think he was there as a way for her to judge Nate against, judge herself against the wife who was Dawn, because this is the life that she left behind, right? So she would have had Trevor, the marriage, the kid, the kids in that. I mean, the wife is fine, you know. I thought that they got along really well. Yeah, but but I think that she realized that maybe she made the right decision because she wasn't really like into it, you know, and then he like shit all over her when she was talking about how she was doing the shiatsu and how she takes it serious, and he's just like, hmm, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Afterwards, when she was like, you know, like either coming down off of like that high of having people over, like just debriefing with Nate, she was even like mocking him, which just and then he's and then she was like, What a dork or what a loser. She called him something like that. Yeah, me something. But but as we learn, even though Brenda seemed to have like a negative relationship towards Trevor, she really fucked with Trevor's wife. Um, Trevor's wife's name is Dawn, and so she admits that like in they were like in the kitchen drinking wine, Brenda was prepping for dinner, and they were talking about Charlotte Light and Dark because Dawn brings it up. She was like, I've read Charlotte Light and Dark. And she said she read it in college, and it was like some dumb fucking professors. And she said that she sees the book as like a metaphor almost for like borderline personality disorder, but then she was going against borderline personality disorder, just saying that like it's misogynistic and it's just it's always ascribed to females, exactly. And so Brenda warms to the notion of herself as a standard bearer for the quanto feminist bell. But I mean, the it's just really Really funny how afterwards Brenda says, like, I don't know who I am. And then, you know, earlier on, like, it makes you think that she was really taking into consideration what Don said, being that she brought up borderline personality. And so maybe Brenda's starting to get like this idea in her head. Actually, she actually mentions in that scene that like she remembers like when they were writing the book, and like she remembers when they said borderline personality, like the psychiatrist said that to her as a kid, and she said she went to the library and she actually looked up symptoms so that she can like act it out for the doctors. And Dawn was like, How old were you? And Brenda goes like nine or ten.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

What is it seemed like Dawn was really actually impressed with Brenda, and Brenda was it, it was it was kind of mutual. But I think that I think that she I stand by she was let down with Trevor. Trevor was just like a let down. Yeah. So but I think that overall that's where she kind of I don't remember what Trevor does for a living, but somebody had asked Nate what he did, and he said that he was the funeral director. It was like I was born into it, kind of like the mafia.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

I thought that was so funny.

SPEAKER_02 23:46

Like at first, you think she's like rolling her eyes, like, oh my god, I can't believe he said that, but it seemed more like, oh, Nate, you know.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

I thought she was more doing that towards the couple's really cringy reaction to it. Oh, maybe she was just like, Oh, I'm over these people, I'm gonna go home with your screaming child. And actually, during this dinner, um, we keep saying screaming child because Nate's having like this vision of Josh away from like behind Brenda. Brenda was sitting across from Nate, and so he like sees Josh like way behind Brenda, and he starts like zoning out, and when he zones back in, like Trevor's kid is just literally like standing, it's almost like he's standing on the chair next to Nate, looking down at him, just screaming. And Nate has no reaction to it, and that's when Don fucking scoops up the kid and throws him out.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

Yeah, that whole dinner was like a little bit of a shit show, but it was really weird.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

But anyway, um, that was pretty much it with Brenda this episode. And during their debrief, during like the time where Brenda was making fun of Trevor and how he was saying things and how he shit on Shiatsu, um like massage therapy. Nate actually zones out and he imagines himself telling Brenda that he has ABM. And then all of a sudden, like he zones back in, and that's when Brenda was talking about how she doesn't really know who she is. So she was trying to talk to Nate about her problems, and he was thinking about his, which is obviously like great, and like great as in like grand. It's like a big problem. It's a great problem. And so I feel like I'm using the wrong word great as in huge, you know what I mean, guys. Yeah, so it like he's trying to like hold on to her conversation. He's like, Yeah, like you said, like volunteer, like do something for our souls, whatever, like so that's why we could be better people. And she's just like, because I don't know who I am, and so this is the first time in this episode where Nate tries or imagines himself telling somebody about his ABM, and he's coming closer and closer to actually confronting it fully, which we know at the end of the episode he does when he's you know, Josh is right in front of him, puts his cleat between his feet, just like I said before. Right. Um, and so that that's pretty much for Brenda's story this episode. And we we just know that she's kind of distraught. Speaking of distraught, we actually get a peek into what's going on with Gabe and his whole like moo situation, if you know what I mean. Claire and Gabe went to like this house party. You know what?

SPEAKER_02 26:30

No, no, I don't know what happened. Either go watch the show or go back an episode. We don't have time for this.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

You're right, and so Claire's just like bullshitting with Parker. Love you guys, yeah. No, seriously, honestly, go back. It's only two episodes ago, and I'm pretty sure that's when we started getting making them shorter. So you guys can endure anyway. Claire's like bullshitting with Parker at school, and they see like this like fucking whack job named Andy. Um, he starts like honestly, I thought he had like a mental disorder. I didn't realize necessarily who the character was. It turns out it's one of like Gabe's friends, and um one of Gabe's friends that's otherwise normal, but I really just thought it was like somebody going through an extreme mental health crisis, and people were just like, Oh, he's fucked up. But he was actually fucked up. Um, he starts like convulsing almost in the hallway, and when he collapses and Claire's like screaming, I don't know what to do. Um, and Gabe comes running, and Gabe screams at Claire to go get the nurse, and Claire later on learns that Andy was doing fry. She learns this from Parker, and we learn that fry is like a joint dipped in embalming fluid. Yeah, which Claire has an amazing reaction. She goes, That shit stinks. Like I've smelled it before. That's probably what her basement smells like, probably sleeps up into the house. And I remember biology with the fetal pig. I remember going home and stripping like everything. It's horrible. And so, you know, kids in California are dipping their joints into this shit and smoking it, and they're like, Ew. Um, so anyway, we were like as a viewer for a second, I was like, where the fuck would Andy get embalming fluid from? Like, that's not something that like people really have access to. And Claire flashes back to when they were in her basement and she sees Gabe standing in front of one of the the almost like a like a medicine cabinet in the basement where they keep like their supplies. And do you remember now seeing the embalming fluid missing and Claire just thinking nothing of it and us thinking nothing of it? Yeah, yep, this is what it was the whole time. Fucking Gabe stole the embalming fluid, and we find out from Parker that like either the joints dipped in the fluid, I think she meant the the joints dipped in the fluid, or either the fluid itself can be sold for $50 a pop. It's definitely the joints dipped in the fluid, can be sold for $50 a pop. Yeah, that sounds more and immediately we're like Gabe's fucking scheming. Like Gabe's been through a lot, don't get me wrong. He was a shitty person before, like he was kind of responsible for his baby brother killing himself. But like this was fucking weird, and you can already tell Claire feels used, and so she confronts him.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

And she should because she's literally the only one who's been nice to him, been looking out for him. Like, not even his mother has showed this much interest in his life, not at all, and this is the way he pays her back by stealing from her.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

It's it's unreal, and so when Claire confronts Gabe about all this, she's like she starts crying. She goes, Who are you? and he actually well he tells because he also tells her about the robbery, which you can actually learn more about two episodes ago. So I'm not going on and on about it, but yeah, Claire's horrified from everything, everything that especially happened in season one, episode 13. Go listen. Anyway, that was pretty much it with Claire and Gabe this episode. And I feel like Claire made a really good decision by saying, like, everyone was right about you, and she walks away from him as he's sobbing and saying, You're the only good thing I have left. Don't give up on me. Like, no. This is the time, Claire, where you pick up your fucking bags and you walk away. And hopefully she does, but I don't want to go on about what happens next. You could hear that in the next episode. That's all for Claire's story, and we move into Root's story, which was honestly so fucking predictable. I don't know if you felt like that as a first-time watcher, Lisa. Yeah, um, I didn't vulnerable, she doesn't have a husband anymore. Her kids don't really want to talk to her. So what do you do? Join a fucking cult.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

Well, I don't know. Did she join it?

SPEAKER_00 31:00

She was very much convinced, and she actually, you know, as we're gonna talk about, like I mean, and okay, I haven't seen past this episode.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

There's no evidence in this episode that she joined it.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Not that she joined it, but that it had an influence on her, it had an influence for sure, but that's what's saying excuse me.

SPEAKER_02 31:22

Um yeah, it definitely had an influence, but there's no evidence that she joined it.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

So no, but I'm sorry, typical Ruth. You listen to a cult's videos and you're like, Yeah, they have really good ideas. That's red flag.

SPEAKER_02 31:36

I mean, okay, but we also don't know if this place is a cult. For all we know, they're actually doing good, at least in insofar as this episode. And Ruth, like you said, typical Ruth behavior, she sees one thing, and you know, she just takes it and runs with it.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Exactly. And so it actually starts off nice root scenes with Robbie making like a really nice flower arrangement, and Ruth's like, Oh, what is that? And Robbie snaps at her.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

It's a scalene arrangement or something, like, isn't scaling a triangle?

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Yeah, it's like um a triangle with all different sides, size sides. No, whatever. Yeah, isosceles has two equal sides, equilateral has three equal sides. I may be teaching math, I should be fucking reviewing this anyway. That that was on the pre-show. Um but yeah, so Robbie snaps at her, it's really funny. They have their little like, I I honestly like I kind of forgot the scene. So when I was watching again, I was like, Yes, the banter. But then he apologizes, and it took me by surprise again because I forgot this scene, and so it took me by surprise. And Robbie's like, I'm sorry, and like, you know what? Why don't you have this flower arrangement? And I'll accept your future apology.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

And she's like, What yeah, I went in my notes, it's like he gives her a flower arrangement with a side of forgiveness that she didn't ask for.

SPEAKER_00 33:07

Yeah, like what she's like, she was pretty much like what? And he's like, you know, for like disrupting like the normality of like life, like I wasn't expected to do shit. Yeah, he was like, he was like, I didn't fucking do shit and I got paid for it, and you came here, opened up your mouth, and I gotta do shit for it. So I'm saying I forgive you. Yeah, she's like, No, she and then she has the fucking audacity to be like, I've only had professionalism, I've only been for a professional here, and I'm like, Bitch, really?

SPEAKER_02 33:43

Not so much.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

Uh-uh. No, sleeping with the boss is not professional.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

I'm sorry, sleeping with the boss at work, and telling Robbie your masturbation story. Yes, not quite professional, but yes, he did not ask for it at all.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

He did not give an inkling towards wanting to know that and discussed how she didn't know how to pleasure herself to completion anyway.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

Um, we find out that Robbie's like apologizing because he's part of the shit called the plan, the cult, but whatever, we don't know. Which may be a cult, which may be a cult, and uh, he's actually graduating the cult today, and he wants Ruth to go to his graduation. And so when we pan into the scene of that, like the graduation, it almost looks like a convention, and you have to get like um yeah, it looks like you know, one of those conference rooms, banquet rooms at like yeah, Power Johnson. Yes, exactly that. And like you get a meal voucher, it looks like one of those places, and she gets her name tag, she needs some strange lady, and she was like, Oh, like, you know, I'm not part of this, but because Ruth and Media is like, I don't want to buy your cookies. And the the random lady is like, No, like I'm not part of this, my friend is, and I only came because of how happy my friends become.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

And that was her daughter, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Yeah, yeah. I didn't realize. I know she's in like Natalie or something, but I didn't realize if it was her friend or her daughter, I forgot. And so sitting there at the graduation, Ruth is just listening to people's stories about how, like, you know, they didn't really have self-confidence and now they do, and it's because of the plan. And so when Robbie speaks, it seems to really resonate with Ruth. And later on, actually, like I was saying, we find out that it really resonates with her and that she can identify with the plan because she yells at the boys, she yells at her sons. She's like, I am speaking fiercely from the eye. Do you mind?

unknown 35:41

All right.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

It was just like unprompted. Like, she asked the boys a question about why. Actually, this goes into David's story.

SPEAKER_02 35:49

Um, David, she wanted she just wanted like an accounting summary of of the business part of it.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

Yeah, David's spending money this episode, and so Ruth sees it and she's like, I invested $92,000 into this business. Like, I deserve an expense report. And the boys are like, um, okay. And she's like, I am speaking firstly from the eye. Do you mind? Yeah, and so I I I guess this is Ruth's new idea of how to get through to her children and form positive relationships with them by yelling at them. So claps for you, Ruth. Yep. Speaking of winners, um, Rico's only digging his hole. He's my grave digger of the week. He literally, like, okay, summarizing this, he walks downstairs up to David and Nate, and he's like, Hey, like Vanessa and I like found this house we really like. It's got enough bedrooms for the boys, a yard for them to play in. I need $11,000 for the down payment. By tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 36:49

I mean, he's willing to pay them interest, you know. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

Yeah, better than the bank. He's like 7% interest over whatever months.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

18 months, okay, Rico. But by tomorrow, these are your employers, not your friends, your parents, and like, you know what? I'm like all for them getting the house. Like, Vanessa obviously loved it, and I, you know, I know the feeling like you want to buy a house for you, your family, your kids, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, you know, list all the reasons. I don't feel that bad for you. I had to wait for a fucking pandemic in order to be able to afford a house. Oh my god. There was nobody to help me. There was nobody who who could lend me eleven thousand dollars. And and I'm talking about eleven thousand two thousand twenty two thousand twenty money, not eleven thousand two thousand two money.

SPEAKER_00 37:47

So I was gonna say so easily like 80 grand.

SPEAKER_02 37:50

But yeah, you know shit, Rico. Like, damn. All right, anyway.

SPEAKER_00 37:56

It was very ballsy of him, and I wasn't even like, oh, that's ballsy, like character growth. I was just like, what the fuck? Are you spiraling? Yeah, is this like Rico's downfall? Like, he was he wasn't like my favorite character or the best character, but he definitely was like at peak normality, yeah, at the beginning of the first season. And then, like, as as he leaves to go with um Croner, like you just see him fucking spiral, and this is definitely the worst of it. Asking his employers for $11,000, and he literally says it's for a house, it's not like he's trying to like like there are new supplies that would be better, and like I'm gonna order them, like nothing for the business, it's for his personal gain. And that's Rico's whole thing, just personal gain.

SPEAKER_02 38:41

Yeah, um I can't like I said, I can't fool him for wanting a house to you know to give that to his family, but like you can be disappointed all you want that they don't give you money or they don't talk about it because that's what they do, they'll tell you they'll think about it, but then they never do. But at the end of the day, these are your employers, and they can do whatever the fuck they want. And you being a little bitch about it is not helpful.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

Speaking of being a little yeah, no, honestly, and speaking of a little bitch, his cousin Ramon, who's like there when like him and Vanessa are touring the house because Ramon's a construction worker, and like honestly, life hack. If you know anybody in construction, take them with you when you're touring a new house. That was actually something that I learned. Anyway, his cousin calls him a little fucking candy ass bitch ever since she got married, and I love that. That is my quote of the week, but anyway. Um, Rico's story is pretty much that he acts for money, and then this feeds into David's story. David decides that it would be a really great idea for them to get like a casket sampling wall that's about $20,000. And so Rico gets angry when he sees the the construction of the wall inside the Fisher home and confronts Nate about it. And Nate, like Rico's like, Let me ask you this. Did you install the wall or did you decide to install the wall before after I asked you for the $11,000 for my down payment? And Nate, thankfully, literally yells at Rico and is like, We're not your personal fucking loan bank.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

Right, right. He's like one of your employers.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

Yeah, I don't know why Nate apologized. I feel like he didn't have to in that situation.

SPEAKER_02 40:25

I think I think he just apologized for yelling because you like it's never good look when you yell.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

That's true, but he's been yelling all the time, though. I was used to it.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

Yeah. You know, and and and again, I can understand why Rico might be disappointed, right? Like if this was his um like his last hope to get the house to give his wife, you know, what she wants. You know, when when you love people, you want to give them what they want, but sometimes it's just not in the cards.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

Yeah, I think the worst part about Rico's story, just to end this, on like to end talking about Rico, because he's honestly so so just like sorry, I'm distracted by noise going on in my background. Um he's just not important anymore.

SPEAKER_02 41:14

Um well um the way the way his story ends in the show is that he he obviously he's not gonna get the money from the from the fishers, and Vanessa shows up and tells him that the house is theirs. And he's like, but what, you know, and she's like, Okay, but don't be mad, and she asks her sister for the money. Now he's pissed, and then she calls him out and she's just like, Don't bring any of that machismo bullshit. And he's like, What did you just say to me? And then the first time I watched it, I was like, You fucking damn right tell him because that's all that I was thinking of the past few episodes. Like, Rico, save your machismo bullshit because nobody wants to hear about it. But then I I thought about it, and I'm just like Vanessa was right to call him out of his shit, but I think that her asking whether she asked or she borrowed eleven thousand dollars was a lot. It's not a good lot to do without telling him. And so I think that she shouldn't have done that. And then she because he was like, I'm gonna call and cancel that check. And then he doesn't because she asks him not to, and obviously he just like when it comes to her, all he wanted to do is make her happy, and I can respect that part. And so that's why I think that she was wrong because I think that she's a little bit playing on that aspect of of his love for her.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

Yeah, you could definitely tell that um she is a little bit more demanding and persistent, and he he tends to fall for it. Um which I guess is how one may interpret him as a candy ass bitch. Yeah. And he's even trying to like prove to Nate why he should give him the eleven thousand dollars by saying, I dedicated my life for this and everything. And pretty much Rico was just pulling at straws and he just dug a deeper hole for himself. But that leaves us at David and to just go into David's story a little bit, and it won't be long because honestly, he didn't really make many appearances in this episode. Um, he sees a wall, he wants it really bad because that like Nate fucked up with the catalog in the beginning, promising Josh's parents a casket that isn't being sold anymore.

SPEAKER_02 43:46

Right. And so I mean it was an honest mistake.

SPEAKER_00 43:50

It really was.

SPEAKER_02 43:51

Yeah, Nate didn't do it on purpose.

SPEAKER_00 43:54

Yeah, and so it comes down to the fact that like they're they have outdated practices.

SPEAKER_02 43:59

Right, and I also feel like that just goes to show how how Nate has even detached himself from the business aspect because David is like, but I told you this, and he's like, you know, like whatever. Yeah, like he's if he had paid attention, he would have known. Or if he cared as much as David did about the business, he would have known.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

Yeah, and even the fucking like catalog lady on the phone like tells Nate when he like calls up about if the um When he goes to order the casket and the woman on the phone's like, it's we don't sell it.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

She was like, Don't you have the spring 2002 catalog? And he's like, I don't fucking do this fucking bullshit. And she's like, Uh sir, like it just goes, like, he's just tapped out. And honestly, if when you're facing death and you work in death, I'm sure I'm sure it's difficult. And but I mean, like, as the viewer, we really are watching Nate, you know, confront his ending consistently. That's his business, it's his life. He was born into it, like the mafia. Anyway, um, David in this episode, he okay, he'd be showing up to like Keith's family's house.

SPEAKER_02 45:12

So him and him and Keith were playing racquetball, and they make a joke that all this time that they were quote unquote racquetball partners, this is the first time that they play. Here's the cliff's notes. David sucks. Yep. And he wants Keith to teach him. Uh-huh. And and Keith is like, yeah, maybe. And then he's like, Oh, yeah, because um Eddie, Eddie is on shift, but do you want to go with me to like my niece's birthday party? And David's like, sure. Because like, this is everything that I wanted, right? Was to hang out with you without Eddie, even though you told me absolutely not. But now you're like, hey, and I have errands to run, and I'm like, cool, I'll go with you. This is not the first time that I noticed Keith giving a little bit of mixed message because remember, there was that episode where they like started to make out, and then Keith pushed him away and was like, now, now, now. And it's like you were just full on making out with him. But anyway, yeah. They go to Keith's sister's house. I think that's his sister, right? Yes, to see the niece for the birthday party. There's no birthday party, instead, there's a sad little girl with a sad entoman's cake in a sad house.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

Sad messing house, like messing with the apartment. Like you can still like it's not being kept.

SPEAKER_02 46:33

No, and the little girl is just watching. I don't know what she was watching, but I was like, is that like Jeffrey Dahmer? Because I don't know what the fuck she was watching on TV, but it looked like some serial killer shit. If it was Jeffrey Dahmer, I wouldn't be surprised. Um, and so they bring they go in, they give her the gift, it's an easy bake oven, and she's like very excited about it. And then he's asking about the mom, and she tells him, Oh, she's she's in the room sleeping. Keith confronts her, asks if she's using, and she's like, Oh no, I'm just tired, and blah blah blah. They end up arguing, yelling at each other, cursing at each other. The whole time this is going on, because Keith is calling her out on like being a shit parent. It's like her birthday, and she was supposed to have a party, and you're in here fucking sleeping. While that's going on, the girl I can't remember her name at this moment. Taylor, thank you, is talking with David, and he's telling her the story about how he tried to make a pizza and melted the whole thing, but he was 17.

SPEAKER_00 47:38

And yeah, like he's like, he put in like the wrong like wattage bowl, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:41

He put a 300-watt bulb so it could cook faster or some shit. But so they they're cute, and the little girl is asking him if he has a big house and if he has a dad, and and it's like just breaking your fucking heart for this kid, like you know, and here we have you know that little asshole Will, who's running amok screaming for no fucking reason, and his parents are just you know being there for him, and then you have this little girl who it's her fucking birthday, and and nobody fucking gives a shit, not even her mother, except for Uncle Kay. And yet she's seemingly well adjusted and respectful, and and it just breaks your heart. Like, this poor fucking kid, she's the one who deserves to scream for no reason.

SPEAKER_00 48:35

Yeah, it it really broke my heart when like David and Taylor were having like the conversation about the easy big oven laughing, and then Keith came out of the bedroom and told Taylor, like he'll be back tomorrow with like harding, like he was really having a hard time making his face.

SPEAKER_02 48:52

Yeah, you could see he was really upset, like uh on the verge of tears.

SPEAKER_00 48:57

Keith with the straightest face on, like he was trying so hard. He was like, I'll come by and I'll see you tomorrow. And as Keith and David were leaving, you just get a shot of like the girl's face, and you see them, like Tyler's face, and you see them walking out behind her, and she is trying her hardest not to cry. She's like biting her lip. You can tell like the child's really fucking upset, and like she gets what's going on.

SPEAKER_02 49:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:18

And speaking of really fucking upset, um, this is pretty much around the time where the episode ends. Um, one of the last scenes is when Ruth was having like her moment, and she was like, I'm I'm ferociously speaking with the eye. Do you mind? And after that whole thing, Nate tells David, because now they're alone in like the new casket sampling room, which Claire makes fun of.

SPEAKER_02 49:41

Um, it's right before that the viewing is supposed to start. Yes, and we're in an empty viewing room, right? Nate was supposed to go for his run, but didn't. And David is like, Oh, you you went already? He's like, No, he's like, I don't need it, but I have something to tell you. So they sit and you don't quite hear all the words because Nate is is crying, like he's sobbing as he's telling David about his AVM and he doesn't know what he's gonna do, and all that. And and the camera just kind of pulls back on them, and that's how the episode ends is Nate confessing his diagnosis. I don't know if confessing is the right word, but like disclosing his diagnosis to David, yeah. Just finally letting someone in about it.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

And as the scene is fading out, before the scene fades out, you see the camera moving back more, and their conversation is kind of getting like uh my words. I'm sorry, like you you can't really hear them talking as the camera's backing away, but you do hear Nate crying to David, like I'm sick, I don't know what to do. And I kind of mentioned this in the beginning of the episode, and I mentioned this in the pre-show for sure, but I was really excited to talk about this one scene specifically because of where Nate was sitting. Um, like we said, they were in an empty viewing room, and right where the casket would be is where Nate was sitting when he was talking to David. Yeah, it was like right in the middle of like the three-pane window. Yeah, I mean they were sitting in like a window seat, but that's usually where a casket is, and that's where it's been like it's it was like the middle of the room, like the center of the room. That's where the casket was. And so I was just thinking, like, you know, not originally when I watched this, like years ago, but when I re-watched it just about an hour and a half ago now, that maybe that's kind of like a metaphor for what Nate's going through and what we know as viewers, because as viewers, like we know that this could kill him. And so as he's confessing this to David, he's saying it in a spot where dead bodies go.

SPEAKER_03 52:02

Yeah, yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

So let's quickly talk about what wasn't mentioned so far in this episode. There was something really important that happened, but literally it happens like this. It's crazy how fast it happens.

SPEAKER_02 52:15

Yeah, so throughout the episode, you get little bits and pieces of more Mitzi Dalton Huntley. I feel like every person in this show with three names is a fucking wack-a-doo, but the show opens like after the title card, it opens on her arriving at work. She parks her car like an asshole, and she fires the Gillardi guy. Um halfway through the episode, she shows up at the Fisher house. And I don't know if you do you remember those Ralph's Ices trucks that used to drive by, and then they're like, they play the music, and then they're like, hello. And it would be like the most you know what I'm talking about, right? Woof, woof, hello. I don't know, but all I remember is hello. That's what she sounded like.

SPEAKER_00 53:04

Yeah, I remember the face.

SPEAKER_02 53:05

And I was like, oh my god, did she record that? Because that's all that I could think of when I heard her. Um, she approaches the boys about like the whole business thing, and they basically tell her that the coffee may or may not have poison in a drinking and find out, which I thought was great. Um, and she's like, no, no, no, don't worry, like blah blah blah, and your coffee tastes like shit. And then we come to find out that she owns the company who sells the caskets, and they actually didn't have to pay for because they think that she paid for it, but instead it's just her company, so it's on her. So who knows what this bitch is up to? But we see her more this episode, so who knows? Um notes I had for this episode is you know, that just a lot of the whole Nate thing, um, his internal dialogue. This is the first time that he has a ghost that's not senior, and I feel like they they lined it up really well with that whole comment that Ruth made a few episodes ago about how Nate was a really fussy baby and he was he cried a lot, and the ghost cried a lot, and it was his way of being seen because Nate is like so busy feeling sorry for himself that he couldn't be bothered. I don't know to guess to get out of that headspace, but then finally it's like by the end of the episode he quote unquote sees Josh and then realizes that he has to face his own mortality. And I thought it was really well done the way they used that ghost. You know, I mean he doesn't look like Nate.

SPEAKER_00 55:04

That heat exhaustion, that was it.

SPEAKER_02 55:05

Yeah, yeah. A freak, you know, accident really. What about you?

SPEAKER_00 55:12

What do you mean? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

No, did you have any like other thoughts or whatever about the episode?

SPEAKER_00 55:18

No, honestly, that was it. I'm trying not to say too much. Okay, yeah, because it's coming back to me because I haven't seen like the next episode in a while. Um, it's coming back to me like what else happens in this season, and I'm really trying not to say too much.

SPEAKER_02 55:33

Okay, I I I can get that.

SPEAKER_00 55:36

Yeah, I was also like messaging my building about what happened and also texting Jeff about it. So um, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:44

Okay, and then mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 55:47

We have we actually announced last episode, which was the beginning of our fourth season of Sasses, that we want to shout out small businesses and things that are local for you guys, our listeners. And so this actually really kicks off. Besides talking about four little pause, which was close to my heart. Um, this is something that's close to our podcast. This is something that may even be close to you guys, and this is something that we definitely want to highlight. We want to highlight a small business called Sweet Bakes. And who is Sweet Bakes run by?

SPEAKER_02 56:23

Sweet Bakes is run by our friend Agnes.

SPEAKER_00 56:26

And if you listen to The Lost Seasons, yeah, you know who Agnes is.

SPEAKER_02 56:32

Yeah, so she she bakes. Um, she's a phenomenal baker, she does like really pretty cakes, cake pops, cookies. Um, I'm gonna put her info in the show notes, and she does ship also. So even if you're not local, you can you can still you know order if if it so suits you. I'm sorry, I have a hair and I can see it, but I can't get it.

SPEAKER_00 56:58

That's okay. I hate from the happen.

SPEAKER_02 57:00

Um I probably look like some weird ass fucking like idiot. Um, and we also asked her if she could recommend a charity or nonprofit. She has asked me to mention Halo organization. And um, yeah, so Halo Inc. is in Racine, Wisconsin, and it's homeless assistance leadership organization. And so I will also put a link there, and this way you guys can check that out as well, and feel free to make a donation or help them out. Um, but yeah, and like I said, I will put all the info in the show notes. Next episode, we will be talking about the plan. And I think that's it, right? You know, assassinsips.com. All of our info is in the show notes. As always, don't drink and drive.

SPEAKER_00 58:01

If you want their buck that you're not going to put towards any of the organizations and companies that we had mentioned, it would be nice if you drop it towards us. Please buy us a cup of coffee or in our world a glass of wine.

SPEAKER_02 58:12

Mm-hmm. And also, we do the pre-show and we publish those to Patreon, but we may be doing a subscription just in the regular podcast feed, and we may just be able to put those episodes there in case you just you, you know, you'd like to support us, you'd like to get the bonus content, but you don't want to mess with Patreon. So we may be doing that in the next few weeks. So please stay tuned and look out for that. Let us know your thoughts and comments. Please leave a review, it helps us so much. And until next time, I'm Lisa.

SPEAKER_00 58:44

I'm Brittany.

SPEAKER_02 58:46

And we're out of here.

SPEAKER_00 58:48

See you guys for the plan.