Over opinionated with Josh Scott
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- Josh Scott, Host of Over Opinionated.
Over opinionated with Josh Scott
Stranger Things, review and family Chat. (Faith Scott) #102
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Ten years of monsters and mayhem set the stage, but what stuck to our ribs was the way these characters kept choosing each other. We bring Faith on as our first solo female guest and dive straight into the finale’s big swings: why that feature-length ending felt earned, how comedy threads through panic (all hail Delightful Derek), and where Homily’s fear-to-boldness arc quietly steals scenes. If you’ve been begging for more Upside Down, we make the case that Stranger Things thrives when it puts people first—and show how season five does exactly that.
We wrestle with the big debate: is Eleven alive or gone, and is ambiguity a clever flourish or a storytelling dodge? We lay out the leading theories, compare it to The Dark Knight Rises clarification moment, and push back on the “it was all a game” take with receipts—emotional continuity, literal scars, and a closing D&D scene that reads as legacy, not retcon. From there, we give Vecna and Henry their due without granting absolution; not every villain needs redemption, especially when the story has taught us to value consequence. And yes, Nancy Wheeler gets her flowers for fearless leadership that echoes season three’s desperate stand, while Steve and Dustin remain the show’s beating heart of unlikely friendship.
We also talk tone: eerie over gory, suspense over shock. That balance let us stay invested even as non-horror fans, and it’s part of why the finale drew Endgame comparisons for us—more than scale, it was the choice to spend time on aftermath, relationships, and hope. Along the way, we weave in real-life moments—graduations, small-town culture, faith, and finding your voice—because Hawkins works best as a mirror for how communities hold together when things fall apart.
Hit play to hear our hottest takes, our softest spots, and our best defense of character-first storytelling. If this resonated, tap follow, share with a friend.
Hello everyone. Welcome back to Overopinionated. I am sick. So I will be coughing and sneezing. But it's been actually been a while since I actually recorded an episode. Normally at the beginning of the year, I get my beginning of the year rant. I can't talk a ton. So I have brought on a special guest that I've known for a few years now. She will be just a few. She will be the first female interviewee on the show.
SPEAKER_02Let's go.
SPEAKER_05So you're the first one in three years. Rachel did come on the show a little bit and she's been she's made a few comments, but it wasn't an interview. Oh, no, I guess that's true. Okay, so you would be the first solo interviewee. Not okay, that's true. I forgot about me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I really enjoyed that episode.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. It took me a long time to talk Pa into doing it, and he was always she had to help me convince him.
SPEAKER_01Oh. But you still didn't tell him who I am?
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah, that's true. Um this is this is my sister, Faith, Courtney Faith Scott.
SPEAKER_03Um not the government name.
SPEAKER_05She she is um she barely made it to be a nineties baby. So she was born in the the nineteen hundreds.
SPEAKER_01This is true, I was. And I teach, and when I tell my students, 'cause they'll always ask how old am I, and they want to know my birthday, and I tell 'em I was born in ninety-nine and they're like, Oh my gosh, you're forty I'm like, No, not quite.
SPEAKER_05Oh, well you know though, it won't be long until everyone we got a few more years, but it'll eventually be um everyone um born in the nineties are no longer in their twenties.
SPEAKER_01I know, yeah, because I'm born in ninety-nine and my birthday's July 31st, so the later por portion of ninety-nine and I am twenty-six, so this upcoming July I'll be twenty-seven.
SPEAKER_05I got three more months in my twenties, and uh, I don't expect they'll be much different than the rest of my twenties were.
SPEAKER_02Knocking on thirties do.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's it's sad. But I I've now entered the stage of what I used to consider was old when I was little.
Generational Laughs And Netflix Banter
SPEAKER_01See, I thought thirties were old when I was young too, but nowadays it just feels like thirties are like your twenties was your trial. Thirties is your you're paying for the full subscription of life and you've like, you know, that's when I feel like you gotta figure some stuff out. Well, I don't you know, like you're you're settled in.
SPEAKER_05Well, I don't like the full subscription of life. I would much rather I don't either. I would much rather borrow a password. Speaking of speaking of password borrowing. Uh used to be very big with Netflix company before they cracked down on it. Um you can still get by with it a little bit. Um, you know. That's why As you did. Well I was Wave. I was gonna say as I've heard.
SPEAKER_01So um but I thought you were leading into our topic of today with saying as I did on my lovely sister's Netflix account.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, this is true. And uh my profile picture was delightful Derek for a little bit and then I changed it to Hopper.
SPEAKER_01So Justice for Derek and his family. Are they still locked up? I need to know where they are.
Favorite New Characters: Derek And Homily
SPEAKER_05We'll get into that. We'll get into that. But I think I am gonna make this an exclusive show just because there might be a few words because we're talking about stranger things. Um but it will not be very dirty. Um so, um but so has your favorite character this year been Delightful Derek?
SPEAKER_01Man, he is up there. He really is, and unfortunately for me, I tend to gravitate towards the characters that die. Um, so like Eddie was my favorite out of season four, and then you know, he didn't get much screen time because he was in hiding and then he passed away. So I do have to say that Homily and Derek are tied for first. I really like Homily's character development through fear to being filled with courage and you know, just taking her leap of faith and helping her friends. And then Derek, I love his humor. He is just so funny and he's so stinking cute. Like, I want to take him home and adopt him if his family's still locked up. I would be interested in that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Well, I I think the actor, the actor's family would probably not be happy with that, but Well, that's fine.
SPEAKER_02They'll get over on it.
SPEAKER_05So it's like, who are you? An evil child kidnapper?
SPEAKER_01No, he literally could ask me that. He could be like, Are you really trying to kidnap me right now? And I'd say, Yes, Derek, I am.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, then he'd probably tell you to suck his fat one.
SPEAKER_01And I'd be like, Nope, we're not doing that. No, sir.
SPEAKER_05So Yeah, I watched a complication of him being hilarious, and it's so childish, but I was like, a bunch of evil monsters will come and eat you. Ha ha!
SPEAKER_01Ha ha ha ha ha so and it's like Vecna literally who is powerful and will harm you and does harm you, is on top of him, you know, threatening his life, showing him horrible images, and he's like, Cure mom!
SPEAKER_05That was great. So when he's threatening him, and it only he I think he did kind of give in one time, but only once. But then but it was great, though just he his life is endangered. He's like, I'm gonna be a foul mouth kid until the end. And uh Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_03It it's his true color.
SPEAKER_05Like you can he's like, Who gave you this map? Your mom. So what'd you think?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I think that Derek's personality was a great comic relief for intense portions of the show. And I just really enjoyed him in general. He's just really funny. Um, another scene that I really appreciated was when they did have him in the barn and he woke up first and then he's running away, and Will tackles him. I watched a behind the scenes thing, and it was like after that Will apologized because he was like, I'm so sorry, like I tackled you too hard. And then poor Derek had skinned up knees. Poor guy.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, but he said it was okay because he was like Tom Cruise and did his stunts.
SPEAKER_01That's true. He's so funny.
Comic Relief Under Pressure
SPEAKER_05But we keep talking about the previous episode. That's okay. We got a little while. Um Um Yeah, I I thought this season was great. Some people were complained. I to me I just it's a character driven series. I like the supernatural elements. And I they're still extremely present, but it just frustrates me when someone's like, Why aren't they doing more with the supernatural and the upside down and why are they focusing so much on character development? Because that's what we care about. Why I I I don't know. I don't understand people who care more about the situation than the characters. So Right.
Season Five: Pacing And Payoff
SPEAKER_01And these are people that like this show's been out for ten years, and so we've really watched these people grow. Like Millie Bobby Brown started when she was eleven and is now twenty one, and she's a wife and a mother, and it's just you have to have character development when you have that many years invested. Um and I really enjoyed this season now. I do think that it wasn't as intense as previous seasons, just my opinion.
SPEAKER_05I think it had intense moments, but I think that last episode was pretty intense.
SPEAKER_01I do too, I do too. But I'm talking about season five as a whole. Like I feel like I don't know, I really think season three and four are very intense. Three's my favorite season. Yeah, I re-watched each finale, well, except for season one finale, but they all kind of connect to one another, and it's just interesting to see the storyline build.
SPEAKER_05Why didn't you why didn't you watch the season one finale?
SPEAKER_01So I did it totally backwards. Looking back, I wouldn't have done this, but it's okay. Um, I had recently watched season four, so I didn't even start there. I wanted to refresh my memory on season three because it had been a while. So I watched it with the mall scene. That was epic. And the Russians and the underground, you know, that situation. And then season two was the possession where Will is still possessed, and basically, like, Vecna tells him, like, you know, I don't like the heat. So then they poor kids, they like strap him to the bed and they turn up all their heat sources to get Vecnum out of him. Um, so I thought that was really intense because Jonathan has a moment where he's really afraid for Will's life. And he's like, Mom, you're going to kill him. And she's like, I'm not killing him, I'm killing it. And I really like how that kind of tied into Joyce giving to actually physically kill Vecna. I like that. Um and then I didn't watch season one ending. I don't know why I didn't. I think I ran out of time, but I would like to go back and watch them all in order and just compare them all.
Finale Intensity And Film Comparisons
SPEAKER_05Yeah, well, me and Rachel had went she'd watch start watching season five with me. And I was like, Well, you you're not gonna understand it, it's okay. And she gets caught up into it. And then so we went back and we started watching it from season one all the way now. We're in season three now. And when we watched uh finale. She's gonna catch up with me. We're gonna I think we're on season three, episode five, and then we're gonna start um and then finish it again. And then uh I I I enjoyed the series. I felt like last night night's episode's the best piece of art um from cinema or TV that we have had since um well it's definitely it's the best we have had, definitely since Spider-Man No Way Home in 2021. Um I don't know if it's better than Spider-Man Their Way Home. It uh it comes it's very close, but if not, then it's then it goes back to 2019 with Endgame. And Adventures Endgame f and this felt very similar.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. I can agree with that. Because help me out.
SPEAKER_05It's very it focuses heavily on the characters. It doesn't shy away from the situation. It focuses heavily on the characters. We had forty-five minutes left after the final fight.
SPEAKER_01I know, that's when I knew we were cooked. I was like, gosh, it could have happily ended there, but we had forty-five minutes left and then we knew something was coming, something big.
Eleven’s Fate And Ambiguous Endings
SPEAKER_05Well, and um I thought they I don't like the anonymous ending. So let's just talk about it at um at the very uh end and then we'll fill in f we'll go back and fill in. Does eleven make it at the end or not? Um It's up to it's up to the viewer unless the brothers say anything. They will definitely be asked and whatever I always you know, I go off what the author and the artist says 'cause they're the minds that create it. I believe that they're right. That doesn't mean I always think they make the right decisions. But if they make the final say so then that's if they leave it up to the fans, it's up to the fans. But if they don't, if they say something, then that is their story. They have the right to set that in stone. But what I don't like, I don't like enough um ambiguous. I can't talk right now, I'm very sick. I don't like ambiguity um endings because authors will do this. Um in books, TV movies, they do this and they say um it's up to you. And it's normally because the sp the fan base is very passionate. They love it, but they're split on what will happen. So the author will give them a way both to believe what they want to believe, but also have some have some moments that are both strong and weak in their arguments, and they'll say, It's up to you. To me, I don't like when they do that. It seems like a cop-out, and it leaves everyone unhappy. Um, so um I hope that the brothers just come out and confirm that she's alive or that she's not alive, and this is Will trying to cope with a hard situation.
SPEAKER_01You mean Mike?
SPEAKER_05Yes, sorry, Mike.
Game Theory vs Real Stakes
SPEAKER_01No, you're fine. Um yeah, it's a hard topic because I feel like either way, like, so I feel like there were three routes they could have taken. I think that they could have showed the whole Cali theory in which M was not L, she was a holographic image, and then L comes back to life, and then M returns to Hawkins. I feel like that was one route they could have taken. The second route I think they could have taken is Kelly does the same thing. Um, but M, you know, just decides because she had already made her decision. We didn't know the decision, but Elle, what if M decided to just eliminate herself as Kelly was kind of talking her up to do? I feel like that was the second route they could have went. And then I mean there's so many routes, but in my mind, in the simplest form, is one, El lives goes back to Hawkins, two, M eliminates herself, and then the third being what we received. And it's it's hard because I almost feel like the Dumper brothers were like, you know, let's just leave it up to them.
SPEAKER_05Um but that's what they do with an anonymous endings.
SPEAKER_01Um Right, right. And like you said, a lot of people don't love that. Um I don't know. My theory, I just I'm still hung up on Kylie was injured very badly. I don't know what all we can say, so I'm trying to be careful. Kelly was injured very badly, and with that injury she sustained, she would not have been able to live long enough to put a spell on L unless they did this without showing it in the show. You know what I'm saying?
Character Over Spectacle: Why It Works
SPEAKER_05And that's the strongest argument to say that this is Will's coping mechanism, but that's the strongest argument. She's losing a lot of blood. Um, and that's hard for that's what I'm pondering right now. But when they sh actually show her, I don't know if that when they actually show her, I don't know, kinda seems like that's her, you know. But this and this is something I want to address. Uh my wife was really big on this theory. I hate it. I hate it from a storytelling thing. Uh if you like it, that's okay. I just disagree with you. I don't think that this was just a campaign or a DD. I just don't. Um I know that they showed at the very end a game set that said uh Stranger Things, uh Dice playing roleplay. But I think I really think that that's just because the the brothers I forget their names, the authors of this. I think that they just like D D and I they incorporated it in there, and they wanted to show it as a game. I don't think it's actually just a game within this fictional universe.
SPEAKER_01Um I agree with that. I don't think it is either. I think it was a nice way to wrap it all up because the series starts with them playing, and so it ends with them playing, and it also not only so it it finishes with Mike and them playing. They put up their books and then you can see it's a very emotional transition for them walking to the shelf to up the basement stairs. I think that kind of symbolizes like a bittersweet moment of life moving on. But then as Mike is at the top of the stairs, Holly and all her friends are busting down the doors and they're eager and excited. So I I really like that they ended it on that note because it feels like the heart of Stranger Things continues on. Like, although Mike and his friends' story is over, like it continues through Dungeon and Dragon. So I think it's a I don't think that the whole show was a game. I just think that that's the heart of the show.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I agree. And and it's cute. It's not I just wish that they would have confirmed it's not, but it gives those people that want it to be just a D game. I don't know. I feel like that I don't know why you exactly want it to be that unless you just really like D, and I guess you like that artistic license, but to me it feels cheaper if it didn't really happen.
SPEAKER_01And I think my argument being that it is not just a game, I think looking at the characters, like looking at Max, she was crying, and then as it goes around to Lucas and Mike and Dustin and Will, they're all very emotional. So like would they be that emotional had it only been a game?
SPEAKER_05Like, you know, okay, but I think yes, I agree. And also why would why would Karen Wheeler have the demigorgon scars on her?
SPEAKER_00Um That's a yeah, that's a good point.
Vecna, Henry, And The Limits Of Redemption
SPEAKER_05But I also thought about this. Within everything, I f you could also make the argument within everything, Will, Karen Wheeler, all of these people That was the game. Everything is the game. All characters, everything, that's a game. So it's all inside this fictional universe is another fictional universe because it was all a game. We never see anybody playing it. We just see the game itself. Could be a totally different group of people that were just playing the game. I don't buy it. I I just I mean, to spend ten whole years and great I mean, this is some of the most fantastic storytelling and TV writing I've ever seen. I mean, it really ri it's on the same par of when The Walking Dead was good. Really when the w when The Walking Dead was in its heyday, I'd say the first I don't know. Up until uh after Negan. Um you know, I thought The Walking Dead was great at then uh after they put Lock Negan up, it slowed down. I still thought it was okay. I don't think it was as bad as people say, but it definitely slowed down. Um but um I think it's on par with The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, um you know, Avengers Endgame. This to me this felt exactly like Avengers Endgame. And it was uh to me the last episode was a movie. It w more than an episode. It might be it might be categorized as T V 'cause it's a show. But it was two wait, no, it's two hours and what, twenty-five minutes long? That's a movie, man.
SPEAKER_01Um and they were they even showed it in theaters.
SPEAKER_05I know, they sh they were showing it here close to us in Bristol, and I wanted to go, but I just feel awful. I'm sick, I'm I'm tired of being sick. And my wife had to work, so the next day. So I just didn't. But if it if I was by myself or I had someone that wanted to go with me and I wasn't sick, and uh I didn't and uh uh you know, Rachel was okay with it, I wanted to went with somebody.
SPEAKER_01But the part of me wanted to, but then I'm glad I watched it at home because I was able to have like I cooked some food, we had some dinner, like just snack party food, and then I was able to verbally process what was going on. Now there were moments that like were dead silent. Um, but there were some moments where I was freaking out and you know, I don't know.
SPEAKER_05I wanna ask you, so like I hate horror movies. I don't do horror movies.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah, me too. Me too.
SPEAKER_05They like they legitimately scare me. And I've been I mean Yeah, but and my dad has made fun of me for it. You're twenty nine years old, you can't Well I mean, dad dad like legitimately bullies me for it. I don't care. I don't like it. I think it gets demonic and like legitimately really demonic. Don't want to be around it.
SPEAKER_02Right.
Nancy Wheeler’s Strength
SPEAKER_05I'm not saying I've never felt I never felt eerie when watching it. Stranger Things never bothered me. It was never really No no, it never like it was never like it just bothers me so much that I can't sleep or I'm you know, there were some eerie feelings in the show, but it never like it's not gonna bother me like a uh exorcist movie would, you know. And I think part of that I think part of that is because the spirit behind it. And uh I don't you know, I can't prove that there's no demonic activity on this cast of Stranger Things. And I can't really prove that there's real demonic entities on a lot of these horror movies. But they definitely and a lot of them will just tell you um with a lot of these exorcist movies that they're based on real events. I really and yeah, we're getting into some spiritual Christianity stuff, but and um Yeah, I don't I don't want to ever see a demon in real life. And I don't ever want to uh so why would I want to simulate that in something that's very real? Like you know, so uh it never scared me. And it wasn't too gory for me. I don't like a lot of gore. And I guess that some spots it could be rough, but it wasn't it was never too gory for me. It was I think the Walking Dead gets way worse than Stranger Things ever did, so Yeah, I agree with that.
SPEAKER_01I really, really don't like horror, but in general, I'm just like a more anxious and scared person.
SPEAKER_05So You probably do you probably do get more scared than I do in life.
SPEAKER_01So Yeah, I I didn't start watching Stranger Things until the pandemic, and even then I was hesitant because I just get scared and I have to really talk to myself and be like, okay, is there a real life, huge ugly victim? No. The things about scary movies and stranger things that do get to me is like, okay, well possessions are real, and that is something to be fearful of. Um but I think it's just a difference in my mind between situational scary, like the first time I saw Vegana, that's that was a situation that scared me. As if like demonic scary, that's not necessarily situational, that's more so.
SPEAKER_05I will say there's a difference in me being like s scared that it's bothering me so much that I can't uh I'm having a harder time functioning versus versus I was creeped out. I did get creeped out. I definitely got creeped out watching Stranger Things, which is a little different.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and like I think it just is all about the setting as well. Like there's a lot of parts in Stranger Things that the music gets eerie, the lighting goes down, and then there's like some jokes there were the the the season that creeped me out the most was season one. Um Yeah, that one was scary. That one was dark.
SPEAKER_05Well, and I felt horrible for Joyce in season one. She's trying to find her son that calls her on the phone, can talks to her, and Joyce is a a genius. I mean, everyone thought she's going crazy. Her idea with the lights and spelling out the alphabet, it genius, genius. And um, if you want a mom, you get you a mom like Joyce Byers.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um, she is bad to the bone.
SPEAKER_01There's parts from season one that like I feel like really paved the way for the rest of the show. Like Oh yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Well they made a ton of calm callbacks to season one on purpose.
Who Might Have Died And Why It Matters
SPEAKER_01Um Right, right. And I really appreciated that because like I said, when I rewatched things, it was really nice to have that memory for an hour.
SPEAKER_05There was forty-four episodes in Stranger Things, uh, counting the last uh episode that was basically a movie. It I and uh and um there's only one episode I didn't really like. Um but but it wasn't horrible, I just didn't really like it. Only one.
SPEAKER_02What was that?
SPEAKER_05Um i I it's I think it's season two. Um it does have some tie-in to what we're talking about now, but it's when Elle goes and meets her sister.
SPEAKER_02Oh, okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I think it's called Sisters. That one was yeah. And it was rated until very recently, and it I still think it is rated the worst episode on the show. So I'm not alone in that opinion. It's still watchable. It's not the worst episode in TV. Um but okay, but if you have a show for ten years that's an hour long, so these aren't thirty minute episodes, an hour long or more. Finales are normally more. And you only get one that was kind of a dud, you did a good job.
SPEAKER_01For sure, for sure. I would like to see more creations from the Duffer Brothers if they're out there on the.
SPEAKER_05This will not be the last time I think we will get to visit Hawkins. Um not at all. Um, because uh they're doing I know they're doing an animated prequel. And um, hopefully maybe we can see some more stuff from Holly and and uh Delightful Derek.
SPEAKER_01That would be really neat. I would really like that. And I'm glad you had mentioned a prequel because I would like to know. I was really interested in Henry's storyline. Um, and honestly, towards the end when he went to the cave and he faced his fears. Now I'm I'm not saying that I felt so bad that I liked him because I never once really liked him. But I did feel very bad for Henry.
Horror Vibes, Faith, And Boundaries
SPEAKER_05They set up a a very they set up a very plausible reason for someone to become evil. Um I'll I'll be honest, the whole time before the episode, before the last episode, I was really worried that because I heard people joking and I was really worried that they were gonna redeem Vetna and he was gonna turn against the mind slayer. But with everything Vetna did, and there was a chance for him to be redeemed, and he chose not to take it. He did. He chose not to. He chose the darkness because he liked the darkness rather than the light. And man, I I came very close to closing a Bible verse there. But um and he just uh so I'm glad because okay, if he if they have a big therapy session and Will gives him a hug and Will saves him from Joyce and everyone wanting to kill him. Don't you feel a little bit cheap that this is the guy that kidnapped Will that and tortured them, kidnapped twelve children, the reason that Eddie died, the reason that uh shoot who is the girl in the f Britney, the girl in the first season, second episode that was killed?
SPEAKER_03You know, she Oh, I know who you're talking about.
SPEAKER_05I'm bad with names. Is I think is w I think it's Brittany. It's either Britney or Bri Brianna or something, starting with a B. And uh Yeah, she died very early on and had a huge impact all the way to the end of the series. That's uh that's just a it's telling how good of writing that these brothers had and how good of a character she did just acting in general. I don't know if there's a bad actor on the show.
SPEAKER_02Her name was Barb.
SPEAKER_05Barb. I knew it'd start off with B.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And uh and the way she died was the way she died was horrible. Um very dramatic. Vetna's also horrible. I mean, um he also is the reason that Bob died. Will was abducted, Holly was abducted. I just I'm all for redemption, but I didn't want to see it in the movie. I wanted to see because we have had so many movies and TVs redeem the main villain. Nah, I I understand that the Mind Slayer was the main culprit, but he wouldn't have been able to do it without Vecna, and I'm totally fine with Vecna getting the bullet. But what's interesting to me is so Henry is w which was Vecna's real name before he became Vecna. He was a classmate of all the parents in Stranger Things. Joyce, Hopper, uh Karen, and uh uh Mr. Wheeler. Who what's Mr. Wheeler's first name? I don't remember.
SPEAKER_03Is it Tom?
SPEAKER_05Maybe Tom and um it might be, but Mr. Wheeler and uh he was a classmate of all of them, you know? Um true.
SPEAKER_01So maybe Here's my thing. If Henry and Vecna could exist separately, which I don't think they can because Vecna pretty much possessed Henry, and then he like Vecna takes over Henry's body. If they could exist separately, then I wanted Henry to not necessarily have a redemption mark, but I wanted him to choose good, and I wanted him to be able to fight Vecna, and I feel like for me that would have symbolized him fighting all his fear, all his rage, all his anger. Um that's just that's not how it played out. And I'm I'm fine with how it played out. And then, you know, but do I think that Henry versus Vecna is something I wanted to see? Absolutely, because it Henry had to have a.
SPEAKER_05Do you wanted a a you wanted a separation between the two?
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes. So, like when Henry goes to the cave and faces his fears and sees young Henry and how he how young Henry becomes Vecna with the briefcase, I almost wish that in that moment of him facing his fear that he could have faced it, and that was like the key to unlocking Vecna away from him. Um but I feel like Vecna is a possession person. So, like Vecna doesn't exist without Henry. But I wanted Henry to exist without Vecna. And that way Henry could face Vecna and be like, why have you made me this evil human? It didn't play out like that, and I'm okay with it. Um, unfortunately, I just think that Vecna and Henry are intertwined because you're right, Henry had a chance to redeem himself and be good, but he chose not to, and the consequence of his action was Joyce Myers.
Season One Callbacks And Joyce’s Genius
SPEAKER_05Mm-hmm. Well, and and uh Joyce and Eleven. Um and uh I mean Joyce couldn't have done it without Eleven. Eleven is gotta be one of the strongest uh fictional characters of all time. Um and uh 100%. And great actor and and Nancy Wheeler. I know some people might and I think it's ridiculous, some people might not like how they portrayed her being such a bad butt, uh, because she's a girl, and you know, um I have a friend in particular that would say that that's that's not a good one. I just think that's crazy. I thought it was awesome. I loved it.
SPEAKER_01Nancy is epic. Nancy's character development, like she's always been a really interesting character, but she has portrayed so much strength and it's just it's awesome.
SPEAKER_05Even in one way too. Have you ever watched the Rambo movies?
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes, she looks very similar.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and I don't know if you've heard anyone compare her to that, but just I don't know if they're talking about that right now, but it she she looked and acted very similar to a female version of Rambo.
SPEAKER_01Um I will say there was a parallel for me when I was re-watching season three, um that is the season with the Mom and the Russians and Billy.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01I was watching that finale and Billy is outside in the car, Revan is engines. Pretty much she's like, I'm going to hit Nancy's car because she gets discarded, her car's not working, somebody cut the engine cable. Well, she was like, Jonathan, you work on the car, I'm standing on car. Um, so she's standing, she's actively shooting Billy's car, trying to pop his cars, trying to distract him to get him away from them so they can fix her car. She is like offering herself as a sacrifice. Billy starts revving the engine to hit her. She doesn't even move out of the way. Steve and her robin and the other crew ram Billy with Steve's car. And it's very unexpected because at this time we're just like Steve's on his own mission. I think that parallel was really similar to season five when she's like, everybody just leave, just leave, I'll handle it. Now, Billy is not the Montler, and the Mont Flair is much more stronger and capable of harming her, but we see Nancy go up to bat for everybody so often, and I just really enjoy her character. I was really worried that that was gonna be her ending, and I didn't want it to be, but I was really worried.
Best And Worst Episodes
SPEAKER_05Yeah, the only deaths we got in the episode was Eleven's sister and uh maybe Eleven. And uh, you know, some people really root for a death. I thought if anyone was going to die it would be Hopper. He just he was he was ready. He's beside so I actually do think Hopper gets the the most so they wrote it very well, but I was very concerned Hopper was gonna have the worst ending. Not because he died, but because he had to live with another daughter dying. Oh they but they wrote it in a way where he's accepted and he's moved on and and he's uh and uh building a new life. And you know, I mean he was a great dad, the eleven, and that just makes me And if if she's still around she's waiting until the military backs off to get a be in a relationship with Will and the rest of the crew and Hopper. Um she will not be Well if she's still alive, I think she will she's not gonna be like Luke Skywalker when they in the sequel series when they just made him a hermit and it was a horrible character development, everyone hated it.
SPEAKER_01Well, but think about it, because once L goes, um, and then it the Stranger Things song not the Stranger Things song, sorry, I'm speaking a lot. Um, no, it helps me.
SPEAKER_05It really helps me because it's just rough on me right now.
SPEAKER_01Once L passes a luminate and they start planning Lance Lum, it says 18 months later, and Mobbin is narrating from the radio area, and she even says, like, there's no soldiers, there's no military. So I mean, maybe L is just waiting a little bit longer, but might just a lot of this. And I've not read or watched anything that I just happen to think in in my mind. Um what if Mel has passed away? What if she's literally in Heaven, like her form of heaven. Um maybe.
Future Of Hawkins: Spinoffs And Prequels
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that could that could be true. So there was a theory. Have you ever watched a Dark Knight trilogy um with Batman?
SPEAKER_01They um it was that the woman there was one Batman that I vividly remember, and um sobbed, I was so scared, I did not want to go to school. It was this whole thing.
SPEAKER_05Apparently there was a map, that's the same trilogy.
SPEAKER_01So go ahead, you can on the map on the map it had said narrows, and I didn't even go to Narrows, but I was a student at Giles High School.
SPEAKER_05And I remember a little background. So that is the last movie in the uh Dark Knight trilogy with Christian Bell as Batman. So and this is kind of unique to us people in Giles County. There was a map, and if you zoom in on the map, and it's a fictional map, there is a town called Narrows. Now in Giles County, there's a town called Narrows, part of Giles County, part of the Giles County school system, uh, with Narrows Elementary, Middle, and High. And then you have Macy, McClarty, um, Giles High, and Eastern. I think that's all the county schools. And uh then we um and but on the other part of the map was a town that um that in the movie was hit very hard with terrorism, I think. And uh they were afraid someone blew up the map, took a picture of it, and uh the internet did its thing and people were afraid that there was a terrorist attack. And they were f they were really just they were afraid of a school shooting that was going to occur on a certain date. So they canceled school for on that day, and then the next day, you know, we came back to school. Um, it was nothing. It was a huge coincidence with a fictional map, and uh people were freaking out. A lot of people didn't told their kids not to go back to school. I remember mom called me the day we went to school and uh she was freaking out about she just said, I Josh, I just want you to know I love you. If anything happens, I love you. I was like, Mom, I mean anything can happen ever, but of all days for this to happen, it would be a horrible day because it's the first day back after people are paranoid that there's gonna be a school shooting. Um, thankfully, it was just all internet hoax, you know.
SPEAKER_02Um Yes, I wasn't this even public news.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, it was on channel seven, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Because I remember like everybody was posting on social media, everybody had seen it on the news. I remember giving Dad a huge hug and like begging him. I was sobbing. And this goes back to like me just being fearful. And I was like, Dad, don't make me go, don't make me go, don't make me go. And he was like, Faith, you have to go to school. It is going to be okay.
Dark Knight Parallels And Open Endings
SPEAKER_05Well they but they didn't they increased they increased the police presence at the school for a while. Yeah, that I mean that's a unique story. Um I um didn't want to get sidetracked, but that's okay, it doesn't matter. Um I'm not fussing on you at all. Um, but yeah, and uh to me I just got up and I just went to school that day. It didn't bother me at all. I and I thought that everyone was being absolutely ridiculous. And don't get me wrong, school shootings is something that terrified me in high school. Um I went especially my senior year when I was dealing with depression in 2015, and this is when ISIS was on the rise in the Middle East. Now they weren't in America, but I I really I was in a bad head space mentally with depression, anxiety, and um my my senior year of high school I could say is might have been m one of my worst actually. Shouldn't have been, but uh kinda was, and um I just remember um you know, I would fa I not I would well fantasize is the wrong word because that makes it sound like I wanted it to happen. I didn't. I guess I would visualize this happening to me at school, happening to my friends, what I would do. I would I would look and I still do this and they teach you to do this in self-defense classes, to look around your surroundings in case something bad happens. Where's the where's the clearest exit? Where's the best place to hide? Oh you know, just being observant of your surroundings. I would do that and and it bothered me. I definitely think about I grew up in a time and you did too, where this could happen at any moment. It's a scary fault. But that is not um but during that I was not afraid that that was gonna happen because of a fictional map and the last Dark Knight Batman movie.
SPEAKER_01So what were we going to say to tie that last man movie into it?
SPEAKER_05We took a really dark turn there. Well, I mean it Yeah But no, um well what I was gonna say to tie that back into Stranger Things is um in the last Dark Knight movie, and it was that one in particular, I think it's called The Dark Knight Rises. Um, it's with Bain. There is a scene in the movie, at the very last scene Batman drives off in his uh bat I guess um bat helicopter. Well it's not a helicopter, it's a jet, bat jet. He takes the bomb, takes it far away from the city, uh far enough from Gotham. But most people thought that he died saving himself in the explosion. But then he shows up and he's at a coffee shop and he sees out for his butler and he, you know, he gives him a little wave and he doesn't put back on the cape or anything, he actually gives it to this detective called Robin, who was going to fulfill his shoes and gives him all the equipment and stuff. But um people speculated that he actually did die w w while saving Gotham. And it was debated was he really alive or did he really die? Was the last scene just a a picture in Alfred's mind that he made? That's a very similar situation to Eleven.
SPEAKER_02Interesting.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, and and man, uh people went crazy about I do think Christopher Nolan, the director, cleared it up though. I think he spoke on it and said that uh Bruce Wayne slash Batman did live. So I I'm pretty sure that he put that answer to bed. Um and this it could be a couple years before they confirm anything. Because right now they want everyone to keep talking about it. You know.
SPEAKER_01For sure. You know what I would love to see happen? I would love to see Stranger Things written as a book, whether that be a comic book series or just like books for like honestly, they were in the kids' section at Target, and I think it's geared towards young readers, which I mean I'm reading them right now. I'm actually reading the morning. So I would enjoy reading it. Um I would like it more so as like a thriller sci-fi book. Like I would love it just the way it is on TV.
SPEAKER_05You bought me a prequel book that I really enjoyed about Riverdale. Um I'm looking at it right now, and I actually wanted to bring up Riverdale. Um, so uh here it is. It's in my library. We're very fortunate that I could find it. You bought me this book and I absolutely loved it. It is it's um it's a young adult. It me a kid could read it, but it's Riverdale the day before. And it has a silhouette of Archie. Um and it goes over the vents of Riverdale the day before.
SPEAKER_02Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_05Now I loved the first three seasons of Riverdale, and but the show is ended, and I have yet to watch the rest of it. They go into a dark supernatural. I'll be honest, I felt w worse about watching Riverdale when it got dark than I did about Stranger Things. And I think I need to try to catch up. Have you did you give up on Riverdale when it got dark?
SPEAKER_01So it's interesting that you brought Riverdale up because Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Well you but you brought up the prequel and I'm holding the hands in my I'm holding the hands. No, I'm holding oh my gosh. I dated the book.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's cool. When'd you get it?
SPEAKER_05I dated the book when you gave it to me. Well, oh man, okay, no, it's not the day you gave it to me. It's the day I read it. But it'd be very close because I put a check mark next to it in the day. When do you think it is?
SPEAKER_01Oh gosh, I'm gonna say I don't know like month and day, but I mean I'm year wise, I'm gonna say 2019.
SPEAKER_05You got it right, yeah. It was the day I read it, 223.19 check mark.
SPEAKER_01Nice.
SPEAKER_05I'm kinda glad I did that. Because I'm pretty sure you bought me this book.
SPEAKER_01I think I did because you used to buy me the Archie comic books and I still have some of them.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I bought you the Archie comic books it was based off of. And man, the first season, the first three seasons of Riverdale, fantastic, before they go dark into the supernatural, and then I just I was like, I can't, I don't know, this is getting bad. And uh yeah, I but I really loved it, and I think that it w the first three seasons of Riverdale is very comparable to Stranger Things.
Riverdale Detour And Teen TV DNA
SPEAKER_01I agree, I agree with that, and it's interesting that you bring it up because I have not told you this yet, but Remo's umor sister, she is just now starting Stranger Things. So she's like early on. Um and she looked at me and she said, Fate, this reminds me of Riverdale, and she was like, Have you launched them? And I told her it's a minimum watching the first three seasons, but I've not picked them up. Then she was like, Oh my mama, she's like, I've watched them all of it, but you're right, the first three are the best. Wait, so that's the one.
SPEAKER_05Rose is watching all of Riverdale now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, she has.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_01Because she was comparing the first one.
SPEAKER_05I was wondering I was wondering because Riverdale uh uh but she was little. When it first came out, she would come in and we would put it on Netflix. We all lived together then, and it terrified her. We had to quit watching it in front of her. We had to watch it by ourselves.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I remember that.
SPEAKER_05But she was pretty little. She was pretty little. I mean, um she's seventeen now, so how how old would she have been in twenty nineteen or um the show well I think the show probably came out in twenty eighteen, so um Yeah, I think she was like I think she was eleven because Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Eleven ten or eleven because Sophie I know we watched it before Sophie was born. Yeah, you weren't married.
SPEAKER_05You weren't married yet.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And then I got married and Sophie was born, and then I don't even think I watched it when Sophie was born. So it's been a really long time.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I'm gonna look it up. I'm gonna look up when Riverdale came out.
SPEAKER_01Um I wanna say maybe it came out in twenty seventeen.
SPEAKER_05And I need to maybe maybe I go back and I start from the beginning and finish Riverdale. Riverdale, I will say this. Stranger Things is much okay, it came out in 2013, there are seven seasons.
SPEAKER_02Um 2013? Wow.
SPEAKER_05Even the f no, no, not 2013, 2017. I probably said 2013.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, that sounds more accurate.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Um okay, the actor that played I know we're getting off topic, Stranger Things. The actor that pay played uh Betty Cooper is my age. She is twenty-nine.
SPEAKER_01Oh, isn't her name like Lily something?
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know you're talking about.
SPEAKER_05And um anyway, let's we'll get back to uh Stranger Things. And uh I was so did you have any problems with any of the and except for the anonymous stuff and uh i is it a game or not? I don't know. I feel like the is it a game thing. I don't know. The more I think about it, the more weak it becomes. I don't I just don't think it's I think if for you to see it as a game, I feel like you kinda gotta make it one. Uh in your mind.
SPEAKER_02I understand.
SPEAKER_05I think the harder question is is Eleven alive? And I think you can go either way on that. I I think she I think she's probably alive. But I could go back and forth on that. And if she's not alive then I'm fine with her sacrifice. And it doesn't b it doesn't bother me. The most it bothers me for is Will. Because we have we didn't get he didn't get any comfort. I thought that was gonna be I thought that was gonna be Hopper, but it wasn't as Will.
SPEAKER_01Um so W I will say Will didn't get as much as a warning as Hopper did because Hopper had kind of known, and L and Hopper were able to discuss it. Now Mike. Sorry, I said Will. I meant Mike.
SPEAKER_05Mike You have been coming to Will too on accident. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So Mike and L had their moment literally in her last moment. So I think that that was just really heart wrenching to watch.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Yeah. It was. And when he is in her mind, you know, it's Yes, yes. I feel I feel pretty rough for him, but um and but you know, I mean I I don't know I w we'll probably wait a few years, but if we live to see it, um I think we'll see some I'm not saying they're gonna reboot the the franchise. I'm not saying that I think we'll get more answers. I think the brothers will talk more as the years go on. Not right now. They're they are loving this because I'm not saying this to be bad. They're make they're definitely making money off of us talking about that. That's fine, they deserved that they earned it. And not only that, because it's not all about the money, people who get into this stuff, people think that it's all about money. Those guys were filming stuff on an old camera when they were little. It's cause you love the art. Alright. It's 'cause you love the art. Um people are talking about their creation. So in a few years people will go, people will see 'em at Comic Cons, people will ask 'em questions. Um the only conflicting thing is if they said two different things. Then that would be hard because they both created it. But if they come out and say it together, you know, I'd be fine. Um there there'll be verbal answers. And then you know, we got the prequels coming. There might be a series. I I don't know if it's true. There might be a series with Holly and Dustin and uh I mean not Dustin, but uh Derek. Derek. Um also I love Dustin. Dustin's a great great character.
SPEAKER_02So I do too.
Graduation Scenes, Real-Life Stories
SPEAKER_05He was made fun of. He was made fun of so bad early on and bullied. He was even bullied this season. Yeah, and he I go ahead.
SPEAKER_01I hated I hated how sad he was this season. But I love his character and his character development. It just broke my heart to see him grieve and have such a hard time with that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it it was bad. But you know, he just he gets his final hurrah, he goes to a big university, he probably went to an ivy league, becomes the um Valivictorian and gives a very rebellious speech grabs his diploma and flips off the principal.
SPEAKER_01And then Tom Wheeler says language.
SPEAKER_05Hey, I will say this, and I'm not trying to talk bad about my former principal, and uh you don't have to say anything because you s have the same employer as him. But um the way I graduated, it wasn't that dramatic. But my principal was not very happy at me after I grabbed my diploma. I'll I'll just say that. Um and I actually liked the guy, but um I just had it planned out. I want it to go out the way I want to go out. I put a lot I put five years in Giles High School. I love that place. And uh I want to have a little fun, even though fun was heavily discouraged by the school. Um they they hated the idea we'd bring beach balls at our graduation and confetti cannons, but we did it anyway. I just think it makes it fun. And every all my family and everything said we've had to set through so many horrible and long graduations. Not that it's horrible, they're graduating, just boring. Like, y'all guys made it fun. I was like, yeah. And uh everyone gets dressed up, they're wearing a tie and slacks under their uh um under their robe. I remember Chantry Pennington, he's like, Josh, you can dress up nice, why don't you dress up nice? I wore a Superman t-shirt and uh blue jeans or something like that. And I was like, Well we're we're wearing robes. They can only see the top of your ties anyway. So you know I I never understood why we're wearing uh ties to our graduations when you're wearing a robe but they they can't hardly see it under.
SPEAKER_02But uh that's that's a good point.
SPEAKER_05They might I guess they see it when you unzip your robe and have your pictures taken, but Yeah, yeah. I wore a Superman t-shirt and I you probably remember. They gave me my diploma, I looked at the crowd, and I ripped my I didn't really rip it, it was a zip, but it I just I made the Superman motion of ripping a suit, had the big Superman shirt underneath it, and they so I thought was fun. I got a pretty big cool picture of it, but um I can relate to Dustin's principal not being happy with him af after he got his diploma.
SPEAKER_02Um Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_05I didn't flip off my principal.
SPEAKER_01Um I wasn't gonna do that, but I didn't do anything publicly heroic on my graduation day, but I w I will say I was a behind the scenes heroic. And they were like big heels and they were not thin. I mean, not things, they were thin. And then she was like, what kind of shoes do you wear to make? And like some of the mate. She was like, Can I place some of your shoes? I take my shoes and I give them to her. And she lumped across some of them. She lumped across the side of them and got her to put them in my shoes. And she came back and we swamped.
SPEAKER_05That's sweet.
SPEAKER_01You didn't wear Well, I didn't want her I didn't want her to break her neck and she's kind of graduate. Like that would have been really sad.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it w uh I get that. I I I was n I it never I understand there's certain times you want to dress up a little bit. When you're graduating and you already have a robe over top of you, you know.
SPEAKER_01Um I think the thing is just because it's I guess a formal event and like all your family's there.
SPEAKER_05I get it. And they and um the principals definitely put a big no matter uh I I mean you had a different principal year last year than me, I guess, but the principals put they get a lot of pressure put on them by the school board and the parents and they just turn kind of hateful about it. So I mean um and uh so um going back to Hawkins, I guess that that principal of Hawkins High School had the same feeling and Dustin just said, Screw this, man So and uh and you know Mike almost didn't go to his graduation, you know, and that's that's actually kind of real. There's a lot of people for whatever reason, um, it's not the majority, there's some people it's like, I got my diploma, why am I why am I gonna walk? Either out of depression or frustration. I I felt that. And so when Hopper is sitting down and he's talking to to uh to Mike, not Will, I feel that, man. I felt that in high school.
SPEAKER_01My that was my my senior year was rough and sometimes You know, it's interesting you say that 'cause my senior year was one it was my worst year and well I can't I can't speak for others, but I've heard that it's a common theme.
SPEAKER_05It's almost like maybe it is 'cause because and maybe it is a common theme because I wouldn't have thought about it because you think it should be your best year. My best year was my junior year, no doubt.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think my best year was tied between sophomore and junior. I had a really good time those years.
SPEAKER_05Well, but but okay, your sophomore year, my junior year is when we once date, and the atmosphere in the school was outstanding, and I just loved it. I I mean, those people appreciated us. Sometimes w looking back on it, I think that they've they might have uh made us a little arrogant because of how good they treated us.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'll never forget that.
SPEAKER_05And you said that to me too. You said that to me too. You said I was being being arrogant because uh I was on the football team and we were proud state champions. You said I became arrogant.
SPEAKER_03Well, okay, I do think and you all And it's okay.
SPEAKER_05It's okay if you said I became arrogant twelve years ago, by the way. I'm not mad.
SPEAKER_01Well, here, just hear me out. All right, I'll hear you. You all deserved you deserve the credit, you earned it, you deserve the prize, y'all had your moment. But that's like all I heard. And I was actually in ninth grade when this happened. Okay. And so for the rest of and I was a cheerleader, so I mean I was big into my culture. For the rest of my years, it was there will never be a team to compare to you all. And that's a good thing, but that's all we heard. And so we I don't know, I can't speak collectively for everybody, but for me, I was like, you know, like I hear it at school and then I hear it at home.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's fair. Sometimes, yeah, sometimes I feel like God didn't give us another state championship because of the arrogancy, but and he might have. You never know.
Values, Voice, And Local Podcast Dreams
SPEAKER_01Um but do you remember that first day back at school after the state championship when they played We Are the Champions over the intercom?
SPEAKER_05I never forget, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That was kind of the moment for me where I was like, this is really cool, and you could tell that the spirit and the morale was like a few.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and there's a fine there's a fine line between the school coming together, and it really brought the community and the school together, which was great. There's a fine line between that and a genuine appreciation versus we're gonna worship the football team. Alright. But why'd you think I was arrogant though? I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_01Well, Josh, you would literally like you would which I probab I don't know, I wasn't in your shoes, but you would put your ring on and you would put it in my face and be like, kiss it.
SPEAKER_05Did not do that.
SPEAKER_02I'm pretty sure you would.
SPEAKER_05I did fling my ring around a lot, but I don't think I told you to kiss it. Like I was a royalty.
SPEAKER_01I like I am either ninety percent sure it was to me, or like ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent sure it was to our younger sisters.
SPEAKER_05Now that sounds more plausible. I probably did it to Razor Lily. Um Yeah. Yeah, I probably did it. No, it does make it a little better because I'd get 'em to do all kinds of stuff just 'cause it was funny. Um I remember one time I I don't know. I was with Richie Miller. We would go walking. It'd aggravate 'em because every time we'd pass the w the the rock that they put up for us, I'd be like, Hey Richie, that's my rock. So but back to Hawkins. Um, I don't know. Any closing we kind of jumped around a lot, and that's fine. I enjoyed having you on. I'll have you on more. If y'all ever want to have a siblings episode, that'd be fine. I I know you talked about having a podcast, but it could be you could do it. It could be a lot it's a lot of work, uh, especially if you commit to doing how would you want to do it? Would you uh would you think one episode a month or something?
SPEAKER_01I see, I don't really know. And I don't know like what I would want it to be on.
SPEAKER_05Part of me just like I think Rose, we could do it with Rose if you wanted to. She's seventeen, she's almost eighteen, so Joy gave him permission, but Lily's still young. She's still in high school. We might want to be careful with that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Well I mean I guess Rose is still technically in high school, but she's almost out.
SPEAKER_01Right. I think if I were to start my own podcast, I just would have to find a theme that I would like it to be around. Like yours is on being overly opinionated, and you know, you've got your groove. Um, but and this is gonna sound cheesy and tacky, but it would fit my audience. Like, I think I would want mine to be like on spirit to a melody and motherhood and no one is that one isn't it bad? I mean, well, I don't think it's bad. I just think I don't know. Sometimes when anxiety gets to me and it's like oh, so you're like all the other one million creators on the app. I don't know.
SPEAKER_05Then be like the other creators, who cares? I mean But there's nothing more important than being a mother or father in this world, and if you can share other experiences with people that then you know, you can go for it.
SPEAKER_01Well, I got a lot going on. I mean, like my spirituality and I try to keep first and foremost, and then I'm a mother and I'm a teacher and I'm a dance teacher. Like I've got a lot to bring to a microphone.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. I mean, and you should you can get stuff I got a microphone, I'll give it to you.
SPEAKER_01I have an extra Well even Brennan's got the perfect setup for streaming because he was once doing that. So I mean, I don't know, it's something to think about and look into. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And it doesn't have to be sibling screech, it could be anything you want, and you could do one episode a month if you want to talk about whatever you want. That's the best thing about this podcast. Uh uh, it's mostly a heavily biblically based podcast, but I can do anything. I got the code on here. Um, the last interview was my old friend Dakota Schrader. We talked about the state championship team. Um, you know, we can talk about anything we want to. I I talk I did an episode about Deadpool and Wolverine. I really want to start getting the more nerdy stuff. It's just it's hard, but but you know, I said Faith has watched the end of Stranger Things and uh you know, normally I do an end of the year I do a beginning of the year twenty twenty five rant. I'll probably do one still at before the week's over. Um this is the spot I would normally do it at. But before the week's over, I'll do a twenty twenty-six rant. 'Cause it seems like my audience generally likes that. Um but that that that will mean that we'll go a few episodes without a life of David episode, but that you know what? That's fine. I'm not doing this for money. Um I'm doing this um for me, I'm doing it for l um for the love of podcasting. It's just uh it's a radio, it's internet radio, it's all podcasting is. It's how you can really describe it to older people that don't understand. It's internet radio.
SPEAKER_00And I love all sorts of different podcasts.
SPEAKER_05Like I love internet, it's internet radio without FCC guy uh guidelines. It's really what it is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like New Heights is such a good podcast. Put Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey aside. I love that podcast.
SPEAKER_05That's a sports podcast, ain't it?
SPEAKER_01It is, it is, but it's just the way that they banter and they talk as siblings. I really enjoyed that.
SPEAKER_05Well, and listen, I fought very seriously. Now people might not have liked it, and people within the political party that I know that there would be some that would hate it. If I wouldn't have left Giles, I was thinking very seriously about doing a county podcast. Because I I Oh that would have been cool. Yeah, I mean I could talk about sports, school, current events in the county. Every county really could have a good podcast. People some people would like it and some people would hate it. Especially if I started going I f I was thinking very seriously about um I'm going to, you know, uh shoot the board uh board meetings, county board meetings and stuff and talking about what was going on and uh and not that I was going to run for something. Um that I I just don't I don't know if God has that and at one time I thought maybe I'd want to run for public office, but I don't know if that's what God wants me to do. There's a lot of people that uh think they should run and um they probably shouldn't. And but there's a lot of people that uh can make a mu much bigger impact through their words. I mean, I think of Charlie Kirk, he has uh, you know, um God rest his soul, he had a much bigger impact than your average congressman. He really did. Um and uh and everyone you don't not everyone has to be a Charlie Kirk. Uh you can be uh you can be within your own county, start at your county borders. Start at your town's borders. Um and uh you know, uh I don't know as much about Smith County. I'm starting to learn. I've been here for years. If I ever move back to Giles, if we ever move back as a couple, as a family, then I would consider it. Um you have to be careful though, because you know, I've definitely faced because of my opinions, because of my words, not even though that not hateful, I've had you know, I've had people in job interviews say, Well, what about this? And I'll just tell them what I do in my own time as my own, but when I go to work, I go to work. And they ha they just have a hard time believing it. But I when I'm at work, I don't talk about politics or religion, not really, unless they bring it up.
SPEAKER_03Right.
Art, Belief, And Loving People Well
SPEAKER_05Or unless or unless I'm very good friends with someone at that work site. I I I try to treat everyone the same. You you know, um I've been a housekeeper for several years at different places. Um in in university settings. I disagree with a lot of professors on those things. They get the same treatment out of me as anyone else. Well, I'm I'm gonna clean your room exactly the same, or if I'm a security guard or whatever I am, I'm not going, just because you disagree with me, to to not help you as much. Uh people locking themselves out of the rooms and you know, like you're or no no matter what job it is, I'm not gonna say you disagree with me. I'm going to treat you worse. I'm just that that's not the person I am. That's not the person I think Jesus wants us to be. But there's always consequences. I've always went I'm gonna go with my conscience, be the best person I can. And I think once people know me, um then uh they um they accept that. Most of the time. Th there's always gonna be some people that I don't ever I can never accept your belief on this about um homosexuality, you think it's a sin. I'm never gonna treat you as a friend well, you know. That's fine. But I'm that doesn't mean I'm gonna be mean to you. And if you don't wanna be my friend because of my religious belief, then that's on you. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna fret over it, you know. Um and I've been for that. So uh, you know, it is what it is. You just you gotta make your priorities and set them in the stone and and maybe that affects you financially, but man, I couldn't I couldn't imagine just selling my conscience out to make more money. Right. And part part of it's circumstances too. Uh the the way life has thrown stuff at you. And you know, I I'm a big you know, a lot of conservatives aren't. I'm a big believer that some people are more privileged than others. Now I don't think that that's uh always because of race, some people do. I think most of the time it's because um how the parents you were that brought you up and your financial settings. And and your setting, you know, where we grew up in Appalachia and the Bible belt, the South in Appalachia, we have a lot different problems and a lot different uh pleasures and privileges that people in San Francisco have never even thought of.
SPEAKER_02That's true. That's true.
SPEAKER_05But um, you know, and but that's that's just life. Gotta live it and try to try to love people to Christ and uh make some friends along the ways, have some fun. Um you know, I don't think once you get saved that you stop caring about fantasy and art because man, how do you reach people if you won't engage in the culture, you know? Um so I'm big on art, I'm big on stuff. It doesn't mean you have to like everything 'cause you can't like everything, right. Right. Um but you're big into art. You're big into literature. You've read a ton of books this year. Um so I mean and you're a big I mean you're you're you've you know and sometimes we like the same art, sometimes we don't. Stranger things is something we've we've bonded over here recently and I'm I'm glad we've had that, you know.
SPEAKER_01For sure, for sure. Um, I just like I like meeting all sorts of new people and even people that have been in my life forever like you, and I like talking to them, I like picking their brain, and I'm always a person that's down for conversation and down to learn more and so I think I think that's a really cool thing.
SPEAKER_05I think it I don't think it surprises people as much now because I'm much more open about it. But it really surprised some people that even I've been friends and family with that I've talked to, how much of a nerd I really am. A lot of people just didn't get that from me, even in high school, especially after I graduated high school, I didn't have football anymore, so I needed something to plug that void. I plugged it with comic books, movies, really nerdy stuff. Marvel, DC, uh stuff like Stranger Things, and uh The Walking Dead. I remember I talked to our cousin Sarah, and she was a big Walking Dead fan at the time. I don't know if she's kept up with it till now. And I started engaging in conversations and we were caught up. She's like, that really surprises me. I thought you'd think it's stupid. I was like, I love this stuff. I think it really surprises me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_05I don't know. Do you think it surprises people that I'm as bitch as much as a nerd or it used to?
SPEAKER_01Probably not now because you've kind of rooted yourself in some of that, but back then, yes. And then it's funny you say that because I remember in high school, like some people like like I said, I talked to anybody and everybody. Um but some people would look at me and I'd be talking to them, and I've had people say, like, I thought you were going to be really mean, like, I thought you were going to be like a a not nice popular girl. And I was like, that's never been me. That's never been on my agenda.
Steve, Dustin, And Unlikely Friendships
SPEAKER_05That was never that was never me either. And um that that was all that's always this that's one thing about movies and stuff that bothers me is the football team and the jocks are always the jerks. There's some truth to that, but they overplay that, and that always bothered me. Like the football team's not in the incarnation of evil. And um Yeah. And my senior year, everyone thought it was weird. I I think I don't know. Um, so my junior year I sat with a Dakota uh I sat with a table with Dakota, Hunter April, and all them. But I got put in a different lunch for some reason. I think I had third lunch my senior year for some reason. I which is weird, but there's something about my schedule. And so I didn't have the same lunch as my friends. So guess where I sat it? I sat with the the quote unquote weird table the whole year. And they were all gay. Most of them were gay. And I had conversations with them. I I I was friendly with them. My senior year I had a pretty good friendship with a lesbian girl that knew my stances. Now I tried my best. to get her to come to church, I just cut and and sometimes I wonder how's that girl doing. I was never I was never able to I I haven't seen her since I I might have seen her once. I think I seen her once at Grant's after I graduated. Never again. Um that happens but I hope she's okay. I'm not going to say her name on the show. But um No, no, no I'm just saying after I think I I think I eventually did find her on Facebook, but it's been a while ago and I don't want to bombard her and um but um you know um I think that'd probably surprise people that I would you know do that. But I'm not bragging on myself. I I really did I uh and maybe that was difference between me and the rest of the football team I would talk to anyone. And you know I think I think a lot of the team would talk to anyone they just didn't take as much initiative as I did.
SPEAKER_01So yeah. And I think I think as we grow as people and in our age like we definitely start to lose that like fear and worry of oh what is so and so gonna think and it just we realize that life is a lot more than that and I just I try to talk to or love anybody that I can and anybody that I come in contact with I just want them to at least feel like they are cared for. And even if I agree or disagree with you like I just want you your bottom line to know that you do have someone in your corner. And that's always what I try to go into relationships with.
SPEAKER_05That's why Stranger Things is such a great show I mean Steve I you know I was telling you Steve's a jerk in season one. He's a jerk man and then he becomes better and better and better until the the character we love now is Steve. Um but um and he's fr and this former jock that's a real jerk in the show. And he's a womanizer, he's a jock in season one becomes best friends with Dustin. So um you know I I like stuff like that. It's I mean it might not always happen in real life but sometimes shows don't have to show exactly what's happening in real life but how we want to try to make the world for sure I agree with that stance.
SPEAKER_01Yeah yeah and and sometimes you know I I will say this though um if uh I I I am very concerned that your daughter might tell someone to suck a fat woman after she's mad because of the show though that I am called listen listen I tried my best to be like go to bed and she was like I just want to play Fortnite so I put her headphones on and she honestly did very good about not peeking and not listening but it is I fear me that is the problem because I will tell Brennan to suck my fount one when he is inconveniencing me and I won't stop so yeah yeah it it is kind of funny.
SPEAKER_05Faith I'm not trying to be mean or Faith has a much fouler tongue than I do.
SPEAKER_01We'll just say that and uh she's much a deep okay even dad and Julia and Rose and Lily and you especially family yeah especially you because you bought it up and all like oh well cussing and I'm like y'all think that I'm a sale like if I'm still my colour yes I'm gonna cuss but I don't just cussing casual conversation my cussing has to have a motivation I will say Lily has engraved fake cuss words in my brain so now I'm gonna say so like instead of you know the cuss word for butt I would say ah and so now I've got to stop that because Sophie will say shake ah and I'm like you cannot say that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah so well it happens I guess and there's you know you gotta try your best. I yeah that happens to me sometimes.
SPEAKER_01It's not a lot but I don't um God forbid you cuss as much as faith does but uh well it is kind of funny when I'm around you if you get mad or just flustered and he'll say something and then I'll look at Brennan and he'll go, gosh Brennan's like this is an everyday occurrence.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. So and um and you know well if you're not saying the F word all the time or something, you know I mean I don't like it but I've you know everyone slips up a little bit most of the time. I will say it kind you know with the stranger things tie in. With Mr Wheeler he's just always saying language. Language and and we'll and I'll end the podcast with this. I won't hang up with you but I'll end the podcast with this. So Mr Wheeler reminds me of our grandma knee Evelyn because so the demigor's attacking and he reaches for a golf club and it might seem funny but I it's pretty brave that he was just willing to fight the demigorgon with a golf club. It doesn't work I mean he had it he had it he might as well it doesn't work out for him and then just how knee hates it's not a normal we shouldn't cuss this isn't good. She has an absolute hatred of cuss words I know I have to be careful.
SPEAKER_01It kinda reminds me of Mr Wheeler yeah oh no a little worried a little worried if she listens to this podcast all the way through she's like face we're gonna have to have a phone call I don't I don't think you have to worry about me listening to the this podcast.
Language, Laughter, And Delightful Derek
SPEAKER_05Oh good I'll just I'll just tell her I'll just tell her but anyway do not listen to this one why she well she but this is Nee's problem or grandma's oh my gosh we're not gonna get into this on the pod no I'm gonna do it though she get It's okay I'll tell this to her face I'm not mad I love her she's a great grandma I I'm not mad I love her she's a great grandma she gets mad at at at quote unquote cuss words that aren't cuss words like heart oh gosh yeah don't say that when you're five years old don't say the F word not the F bad F word but that fart for my audience I was me and Faith were sitting in the back car back seated car pa just preached a sermon at night time we're getting ready to go home and I don't know why but I just said fart. I don't know why but I did and she said oh my gosh Don my grandpa's name's Don Josh just said the F word and Pa Pa's like freaking out he's and he spells the word I have no idea what they're saying because they're spelling it. I would still Yeah poor dyslexic Josh is like I know I didn't say that No I just didn't know why they were freaking out and then I heard she go No Don the F-A-R-T word and I f Pa even I think Pa even thought she was a little ridiculous she just he didn't say it. He just starts laughing and he says Uh just that's not a good word Josh don't just don't use that word um which is funny but uh but yeah he he reminds my grandma reminds me well no Mr. Wheeler reminds me of my grandma. And they wore okay and yeah she does it now but in the eighties they wore the same type of glasses. You you look at a picture of me and her glasses and Mr Wheeler same glasses. So my um mist m our grandma would not be okay with uh the actions or languages of delightful Derek You know one more thing about Derek and then we can hang it up.
SPEAKER_01Okay yeah let's show some appreciation for the scene where they're all in the bus leaving the upside down.
Sign-Off And Next Steps
SPEAKER_05And he waves at he waves at Mike He waved at Mike and Mike was like what the heck and then he just keeps staring at him Delightful Derek you know he's got a potty mouth and he's a little rough but he he really within this short season he he he makes a a turn for the better too so he does and uh he he I just feel very maternal towards him. No it was great that he's talking on the phone with Joyce and he said remember what we said it's not dipshit Derek he's like it's right it's delightful Derek and then he hangs up and then he's then he corrects Holly when they're in the Vecna's mind he corrects Holly and she's like it's dipshit Derek and he said it's delightful Derek That should be turned into like a mixtape to get a football team hype I did find a complication of Derek being hilarious. Well if we all changed our name on social media to delightful then our name That would be so funny. Alright guys we're gonna let you go. Thank you for coming with our rant I'll be welcoming you back in the next episode.
