Will You Survive "The Long Walk"

Fifty boys, three miles per hour, and a country that turns suffering into spectacle. We sat down with Stephen King’s The Long Walk and followed the road past rules and warnings into the messy questions beneath: who we become under pressure, what we owe our friends, and whether victory means anything when the system owns the prize.

We start with the bones of the story—a near-future police state, televised cruelty, and a “voluntary” contest that looks a lot like a draft. From there, we compare the book’s ravenous crowds with the film’s desolate highways and surveillance lens, and the effect that choice has on tone. The early deaths strip away any pretense of sport, and our debate widens: is the pace a physical trial or a psychological siege? Can you outwalk pain, or only postpone sleep?

Characters carry the heart. We wrestle with Balkovich—antagonist, outcast, and a portrait of how isolation curdles into harm. Then there’s Pete, a quiet anchor whose empathy reframes the odds, treating each death as a loss rather than a step toward winning. Along the way we tackle the wish at the end of the Walk: what can money never buy, and why do the rules forbid the only changes that would matter? Our argument peaks on the ending—was the final sacrifice noble or selfish, protective love or a theft of agency—and what that implies about vengeance, healing, and the long shadow of war.

If you like moral dilemmas, survival strategy, and sharp book-to-film contrasts, this one goes deep. Tap play, then tell us: what would your wish be, and did the winner truly win? Subscribe, share with a friend who loves King, and leave a review with your take on the final scene—we’ll feature the best replies next week.

Transcript

Cold Open And Movie Reveal

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Hello, survivors, and welcome back to another episode of Will You Survive? And today I am TJ, and we are joined by our two guest stars that are never here. I'm Alex. Oh, and I'm Peglek Joe. And I'm gonna stop with that voice because it's hurting my throat. Uh we watched The Long Walk. Uh, it is a very good movie. Yeah, it's pretty much it. Uh, thank you all for the video. Well, great episode, guys. Yeah. Nice and concise. I like these episodes. It's a good movie. I would not survive. None of us would survive. And thank you for watching. Yeah. We watched The Long Walk. Stephen King uh made this. It is an analogy for the Vietnam War.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

What? It is. Okay. Can I can I say uh I want I do want to get to that because I don't see I I believe you, but I don't understand that.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

That's a direct quote by Stephen King.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

I well, oh, the whole volunteer thing, but like you're not actually volunteering.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

The d yeah, drafting.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah. It's like everybody volunteers, but it wasn't re you didn't really volunteer. If everybody volunteers and you didn't volunteer. Yeah. Uh so okay, I do get that.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

And in the book, it was a hundred people.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

This movie was holy crap. Um, I had a very stressful morning. Uh, I had a very long day. Uh, it was not a great day at work, and then I had a lot to do before this uh before I watched this movie. And then I sit down after a long ass day and I watch this movie, and I ball my eyes out like a baby. Because what the hell? You could have watched this. It's a rough movie, guys. Two weeks ago.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Yeah, I could I could have, but you really could have, and you didn't. That's not how we do this. We could have shared the trauma, but I had already been traumatized. I rewatched it today. I still felt something about it.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

See, that's not good because I'm seeing a girl, and I was thinking, she doesn't like horror, but I kind of told her about this movie, and I'm like, it's not really like a scary movie like that. I'm almost curious if she'd be interested in it. But I also don't want to cry like a baby in front of her this soon, so probably not.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

I feel like she wouldn't want to see a bunch of uh teenagers get shot in the face.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

I I think the worst part was the uh the tank running over the legs.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

I'm with you, TJ.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

So um if you guys have heard of the long walk, uh Alex is gonna give a synopsis.

Pace, Miles, And Could We Survive

SPEAKER_02 2:48

And first I'm gonna say spoiler alerts ahead. From Stephen King's official site, in the near future, where America has become a police state, 100 boys are selected to enter an annual contest where the winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life. The game is simple maintain a steady walking pace of at least three miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings, and you're out permanently.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

Yeah, so basically, hunger games. Um basically one teenager from every state, so much better. They all sign up, allegory for war, um, and then they just fucking walk. And if you go below three miles per hour, you get a warning. If you can't get back up, two warnings, and then you get your ticket.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

That is a brisk walking pace.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

That is in the book, it was four miles per hour.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

So you see how to hustling in the movie. Imagine like a light jog. Yeah, that is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

So, first of all, let's let's talk about the fact that in this movie they get up to like how many miles? Uh is it like 300?

SPEAKER_02 3:54

300 and was it 66?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

They got up to like almost 400. That is absolutely insane. How so TJ asked me this question earlier. How many miles do we think we could go?

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

I I by mile 10, I'm cooked. No, no, uh realistic.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Hang on, I was. I'm not going 24 hours. I'm not going 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Okay, see, that's that's what I think. That's what he said. I said by the time the nighttime hits, I die. Where whatever the mileage is there, it's not the distance. Yeah, so it's not the distance because I think it is a mental game. Yeah. I think after unless like your ankle's broken, there's like a certain point where it's just like, oh yeah, my feet hurt, but just keep walking. Right. You know, like you kind of just turn off that pain. The same thing with like cold, where you get, you know, you ever been so cold that you're just kind of like, all right, that's it. I'm I'm done being cold. Yes. And then you just kind of are like it that's such a like a high way of saying it, but you just kind of tune it out. I think you could do that with walking, but I can't do that with sleep.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

First death, dude, was under he was like, because you in the movie, it's 18. You're supposed to be 18 to do it. He uh was not, clearly. And uh the it's not fair, and then that's the first like thing you see, like the first death you see. That's that fucks you up a little bit.

First Death And Reality Setting In

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Well, I think that was the moment where they realized, like, oh, this isn't fun anymore. Like it got really real, really quick.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Yeah, like uh at one point he says, like, you know, I was expecting like them to pull the gun on us, and then they'll pull the trigger and like confetti and a piece of paper comes out that says bang. Yeah, you're right. It it was not like that.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

I I don't think I don't like I think they they went into it with like this this idea that that it wasn't what they said it was, and then it ended up being exactly what they said it was. Right. And the thing is like they knew because this has happened this happens what every year.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

It has happened for 19 years at this point.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

So they know they know it's not like they don't know, but like broadcasting, it's just it's it becomes so real so quick where they're like, oh, this isn't just something on TV and the other thing.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

In the book, this is people very real the whole time, like on the sidelines just to like Which that's awful. I don't think I can cheering them on, or like going in and grabbing like a fucking souvenir of somebody's like sneaker that fell off or like whatever. And that's that's what happens in the book. But I like what they did in the movie because the the desolateness of everything kind of makes it it feel it feels more lonely and they're kind of just like you know and the camera on the the camera on the vehicle, the the lens rather, the lens on the vehicle that you're like what do you say, what if I spit on it, would it go away?

Book vs Film: Crowds, Tone, And Camera

SPEAKER_02 6:47

There were there were several very impactful moments of this movie. The first death, of course, the aftermath of the fight between uh what was his n what was his name? Balkovich. Yeah, yeah, and oh god, he was he was awful, but his desperation at the end to like fit in.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

I've I felt so bad.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Like it was it was the humanization of such a a a monster, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Like what I I I when I say I feel bad, it's like I feel bad because it's something where it's like you put yourself in this situation, dude. Like you made yourself enemy number one, and now you're regretting your choices, and I don't even know if I can believe you. Like, do you actually need this camaraderie right now? Do you actually feel resentful or do you feel like this is just a way for you to survive?

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Like because you know you're not gonna survive without people right now.

SPEAKER_02 7:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Yeah, no, it his character is pretty much the same in the book, uh, where he just did not have any friends in school, and uh kind of just acts out to get attention because he thinks that's what's the best thing to do.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Like the stabbing himself in the throat in front of all of them. I'm like, why traumatize the dudes that you just called your friends? Why why do it do it to the soldiers behind you?

SPEAKER_01 8:06

What did he say when he did that? He was like, So I'm now now I'm gonna be with you bitches forever or something.

Balkovich: Villain, Desperation, And Trauma

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Something like that. Now I'm gonna be like, it it it is that is a perfect example of hurt people hurt people. Like he's hurt, he's uh he's been hurt in his past clearly, and he never coped with it, and now he just traumatizes them in a moment where if they're truly your friends, you don't want to do anything to to what what what is that? What am I trying to say? You don't want to do anything that's gonna make them lose their focus or or feel a certain way in this intense moment. Can we talk about how absolutely wise Pete was the entire time and how much I feel like I've learned about life from this fucking movie?

SPEAKER_02 8:45

I I I liked him. He I liked him a lot and like a perfect human. Yeah, no, he was hurt as hurt as he was, he had a positive outlook on everything. I mean, his parents dying, he gets raised by an abusive a-hole, he and then watches him die, and then watches him die, and then somebody tries to kill him, and then he's still in person.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

No, yeah, and he goes, It was me. I did it. I I'm the reason that they did that because I picked a fight with them. And I his whole outlook on life uh of just always trying to find that that light, it was awesome. I loved the way I lit by about halfway through the movie, I started looking to him as like, how should I be feeling in this moment towards this person? Like when Balkovich went to Garrety and was saying, like, I just need I just need like friends, you know, like I just need people. I I was less so thinking about what is Garretti doing, and I was thinking, what does Pete think about this? Because if Pete was like, fuck this guy, then I would have been like, then fuck this guy. But if Pete was like, hey man, let me help you, I'd be like, okay, then we need to help this guy. I started looking to him as like, Well, what should we be doing in this situation? What is the right thing to do here? Because you seem to know every step of the way you've done the right thing. Even when Gardy on in the first night told him off and basically called him a piece of shit, was like, You just want to see me die. And then it in a moment where I think so many people would have been like, Then fuck that guy, I'm trying to help him, and he's doing this to me. Like, fuck this guy. W when Garrety was struggling, Pete came up behind him and said, No, man, let's go. And he kept him going. And that moment where Garrety was like, I didn't mean that, man. You know I didn't mean that. And he goes, I know, I know you didn't mean that. And it's just that was just such a beautiful character all the way through.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

And when when uh Balkovich like is about to you know stab himself in the neck, um like he he Peter went from like I wanna see your brains on the concrete to like he cared when he was doing that. He was like, dude, don't do that, you know. Like he gave a shit. He he had like he still had a moral compass throughout all this, you know.

Pete’s Moral Compass And Quiet Heroism

SPEAKER_02 11:03

And he he kept like his beliefs he embodied a phrase, love your enemies. And he, you know, he took care of the ones who would have seen him, they would have been happy to see him go down the way the way Bakovich kept saying, uh uh the odds are in our favor, right? Every time someone else would die, but Peter would always look at it the other way, right? It was always a negative when we lost one more.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Yeah. I I I I loved his outlook on it, and I I think in a situation where it's so easy to to ostracize yourself and try to create distance to make it easier on yourself. I think he realized that this is impossible if you don't have someone you can lean on. There's just no chance you're ever gonna make it if you don't have someone to lean on.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

So Big Daddy Mo asks a great question for us, if you don't mind me asking this host. Uh what would you wish for?

SPEAKER_00 12:06

I was thinking about that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Uh I think so, like they they were talking about it in the movie where it's like, you know, why would you wish for something that you could just pay for? So you'd really just you'd have to think about like you know, what can't money buy?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

You know?

SPEAKER_00 12:24

And and that's kind of a hard one because all the things that I would immediately think of, like what can't money buy, would be things that I wouldn't want to just be given because it wouldn't mean anything if it was just given.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

I will say this though, they don't go into it in the movie and they actually bypass it when the um major was standing up there and saying, Um, we're not gonna go through the rule book one one by one, but one of the things that the book describes, and they allude to it later, they say it quickly, that you can't ask for anything that are uh blatantly political.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Yeah, yeah. I think that what was the what was the Asian guy's name? The one who was married, I think. Uh Hank. Hank. Uh Hank was uh saying that he was like, you can't wish for policy, man.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

And one of the one of the things about it is like, because I think this would go right down that line of policy, which would be my wish if I could, would be uh indefinite and absolute immunity.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Well you mean like from from the government, from the state. Oh, so that you could preach whatever you wanted to preach.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

But see, that's a policy.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Yeah, but see what would be hard with that is even if they allowed you to do that, that is going to get so many people killed. All right, for listening to me. For listening to you, even if they can't touch me. Even though, even if people rationalize it to you that no, you're doing the right thing. We want this, we want to stand with you. I'm willing to die for this. You're still going to feel like I am causing all these people to die by my actions.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Hear me out.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

And I think that's a tough thing to live with.

The Wish: What Money Can’t Buy

SPEAKER_01 13:58

I got it. I got I got what will ultimately take down the government and change everybody's views in in this universe. Imagine it. Eric dead behind me. I'm the last one walking, right? Major walks up to me. What do you want? You know what I want? I want you butt ass naked so I can blow your back out real quick in front of all the cameras from the whole world. I want it everybody seriously. You know, that's that's a good point because who would take this man seriously anymore?

SPEAKER_02 14:26

That's right. That's not a policy change. That would be a carnal desire that you could justify. That's not a policy change, but it would change policy. Two honey packs. Two blue chews.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Three honey packs, two blue chews, a whole bunch of electrolytes, and a nice blanket.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Because the the only thing that I could think like uh what money can't buy would either be, like I said, things that like don't mean anything if they're given to you. Like you can't say, I wish for a loving wife. Because you're not getting a loving wife. You're getting a woman who's paid to be your loving wife. Right. So like there's nothing like you can't bring someone back from the dead because they have to actually be able to do it. And it still has to be somewhat realistic. And then anything else that I could really think of is like, well, I could just buy that. Because like something I thought of was like, okay, what if I asked for what if I asked for like a a sanctuary for animals that is fully set up that I can run and have staff for? Uh, but it's like, well, I could do that with money.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

I I don't need the the wish for that. If I'm getting like a cajillion dollars, like they say. Yeah, it's like I feel like you know, there's just I can't think of any good wish that money just wouldn't buy, besides just like I guess more money.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

More wishes.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

I feel like there's gonna be a rule for that. I feel like the genie rules apply for this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Indefinite wishes. Do you think because somebody mentioned it? I think it was Peter actually, he was like, I'm gonna wish for there to be two to win the long walk.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

I like that. That's interesting.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

It does change policy.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

It is a policy change, that's right. It does change the change.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

I feel like that would cascade because then I think it would be like the pay it forward thing where someone would be like, Well, now I'm gonna make it so it's three. Right. And then it could actually technically exponentially go because if both people wish for an extra person to be able to win, then now it's four, now it's eight, now it's sixteen. And I don't they wouldn't let that happen.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

Oh I wonder if you could add something like you get uh or you get one more warning.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

I mean go to the moon is pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

Or what if what if the warnings are um 20 seconds long instead of 10? Mm-hmm. I I I wonder is that policy change? Exactly. It's not it's not policy in the context that they're talking about, but they're they're talking about governmental policy.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

We're talking about the game, but they don't want anything changed on the the walk either. Could you ask that's implied. That's very much implied.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

President?

SPEAKER_00 17:08

That sounds is that like a well I would assume that's policy.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

That would be I I feel like they would well, but I don't ask for the major's job.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

That's what I was just thinking, right this second.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Could you ask for the major's job?

SPEAKER_01 17:23

I feel like that would be a good one. I don't think that's any policy changing.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

My wish is that my wish is that the major has to go to a brothel for a week and he's on the receiving end.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

That's crazy. I I need I need 25 videos, all different people blowing up.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

It's for my new business idea.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Damn. You guys are even more mean than I thought.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

It's for my new series. Call it Major Blowbacks.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Congrats, that was really good.

unknown 18:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Oh, what was I gonna mention? You mean major blowbacks wasn't your magnum opus? I was gonna, is it's more like existential fucking list, we're like we're talking about the case.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Well, while you think about that, let me say uh Big Daddy Mo, thank you for that question. That was a great, a great piece right there as a conversation starter.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Oh, first off, Gardy is a complete shitbag in the books. He is.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Um he wasn't doing it for you, his dad did get taken away by the government, but he wasn't executed in. You have no idea.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Um, also like he has a girlfriend in the book.

SPEAKER_02 18:41

And it's his girlfriend that he sees in his city, not his mom.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Yeah, and he kind of like blackmails her into sleeping with him.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

Like, he's gonna join the long walk unless you oh right, right, right, right, right. Well, I I so I I get what you mean, and I think it's accurate to say that. I was gonna say it a little bit differently, but it it doesn't matter, it's the same thing. He guilts her, yeah, rather not blackmail, he guilt her yeah, into sleeping because he, I mean, it was deep because he was like, I'm I'm joining the long mile tomorrow. The the long walk, the long mile. Uh I'm going going into the green mile. Um, I'm I'm gonna start the long walk tomorrow, and I don't want to go without you, and this is a way that I can take you with me. And so it was like it was just uber guilting and manipulation. So he is a real dirtbag in the book.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Uh uh, but I do I like I like his character in the movie. Um, he says something when like I think this is after like this is a couple deaths in um where Peter says, Yeah, I'm like, I'm kind of hoping that gets easier, and Gardy's like, Yeah, I kind of hope it doesn't. Like, I I hope it doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 19:51

That's the that would be the problem.

Garraty In Book vs Film And Key Quotes

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Yeah, well, he says, Um, that's what I'm scared of. Yeah, that's it. Somebody said, I keep hoping that that that that'll get easier. And he goes, That's what I'm scared of. And I think that was very profound. Uh good writing in this. This is this is dude. The the quotes in this movie, I'm not even kidding. I feel like from a philosophical life perspective, you should watch this movie. Like there is a lot that I think really rings true. Like that it is, I think, true in a lot of situations where I think people in bad situations will sometimes like say, like, I, you know, I just wish it would get easier. And it's like, but then you lose your humanity. Right. It's not easy because you're human, because you are, you know, you call yourself at least a decent human that this is not easy for you to do to deal with. It shouldn't be easy to deal with. It would be scary if it was. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

So I and essentially, if you go with the um if you go with the mindset of Balkovich the whole time, you'll end up like him. To win, you're no different than the major.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Yeah. I I uh I I I so Balkovich was such a hard situation because I did feel that like that disdain towards him because it was just an evil spirit that whole time. But then at the end, just his desperation is just like, man, you you let this spirit take a hold of you so strongly, and now it's left you.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

And he said what it was his desire to fit in, and he never fit in anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yeah, so I I do you remember the movie Nefarious?

SPEAKER_02 21:28

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

It it made god damn cozy, he's ripping right now. God, geez. Um I had a little delay because I'm God, it's it's so gross.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

It made its way through.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Which is nothing great.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

It's that fucking sewer water.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

It's a sewer water making its way back out.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

But in Nefarious, it's um that movie. If for those who don't know, it's about a guy who commits a murder, or he commits like a string of murders, but he's possessed by a demon, and he says that he's possessed by a demon, and they send a priest in. Uh, is it a priest?

SPEAKER_02 22:07

Psychologist.

War, Humanity, And The Meaning Of “Easier”

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Psychologist in to determine if he really is possessed or if he's just crazy. And the psychologist ends up believing, no, this man is possessed. This is a demon. And he sees the uh the um the the demon, like the the guards come and ask him what his last what he wants for his last meal, and the demon takes over and is like, I don't want anything, get out of here. Like, leave me alone. I don't want anything you have to offer. And so the guards like, well then fuck you, dude. And they leave. And as they leave, the the actor switches, and you see the demon leaves him, and he's like, I like he just breaks down. He's like, I can't fucking have anything. Like, I just wanted this last all I wanted was a burger and a shake. And this demon took that from me too.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

Oh, it was it was even more devastating because he he actually told the guard, I want a bacon cheeseburger with French fries and an extra thick milkshake. And he's like, please make sure you get this right. This is very important to me. And the guard's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's walking away, and then the demon takes over and he goes, You know what? On second thought, scratch that. I don't want anything. You sure? It's your right. I don't want anything. Okay, suit yourself. And then when it came time, he was like, Wait, wait, wait. I haven't even had my meal. What about my meal?

SPEAKER_00 23:20

And he goes, You said you didn't want anything. Yeah, and so like the the demon would like step in, take away any little bit of joy that he could have, anything that could bring him some sort of happiness, and then leave him to deal with the consequences of it. Exactly. And that's what I felt was happening with Balkovich, where he got possessed by this evil spirit. Whether you want to call it like an actual demon possession, I don't I don't think that, but I think like this evil spirit overcame him.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

I thought it was Tourette's. Oh, because he kept he kept outbursting.

Bodily Limits, Gear, And Survival Tactics

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Fuck fuck! No, I think that was just a mental break. I think No, he did it the whole time. No, because well, because he was say he had something wrong, but I think that that really fucked him up because he knew he was responsible for that kid dying. He knew it deep down, even though all that means is that's that was his trigger. They kind of antagonized him by calling him killer, which I don't blame them for. They were just speaking the truth. He did that, and I like he said for three days it was just playing on loop in his mind, and he has no nobody to talk to because nobody liked him. And no sleep, no sleep, it's just replaying in his mind. He went crazy, it it drove him insane because he isolated himself, and that's where I say, like, I think this evil spirit took him over and left him with the aftermath of it uh in the end, where he he already made his grave and there was nothing he could do about it.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

With that, uh talking philosophical matters. Let me ask you guys what do you think the ending meant?

SPEAKER_00 24:50

Okay, I have some thoughts on this, but I want to hear you guys first.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Okay, either it's literal and he just like walked away, you know, and we like didn't see what happened after. Or he immediately got shot in the face. And that's all he's got.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

I think they would have already I think they would have already shot. Oh, oh, I see.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

That's an option.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

You know, I I think it was the latter. As soon as he pulled the trigger. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

There was people all around him, there would have been noise, there would have been like screaming, and there would have been you know, but it went completely silent. Hmm. That's interesting. One of my theories.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

And I think it's kind of a play on the book ending where the book ending is Garrety was chasing after that spirit, that shadowy figure.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Shadowy figure, and he runs.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

And everybody was standing there, like, what what are you doing? Where are you going? It was basically a way of saying that even when you win, you never get away.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Yeah. Which is like I think it's war.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

It is war.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

That's where that's what I imagine that like they ATSD, man. There's another I mean not the Hunger Games, but there's another movie that kind of follows that same premise where it's like winning is not winning. Winning is actually losing. Not making it is better than making it in some situations.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

What was that Korean movie you had us watch that was uh Hunger Games, Squid Games combined? Oh Battle Royale. Battle Royale. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

That's what that's why you did choose a good movie twice there.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Yeah. Like sometimes I I think there's worse things than death.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

And um Yeah, like shitting yourself and then immediately getting shot. Right. Dying with your pants down after you're diarring, dude. No. I'm just gonna do that. Yeah, that's that's pretty awful. Yeah, survival tip one, eat fiber. I am not a fast pooper. That if it's solid enough, you it could drop down your pant leg, you can roll it out.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

No kidding. Yeah, let it go.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

I mean, I do I think what I would do is uh take one warning to just take off my pants and underwear entirely and just walk butt ass naked and take a shit while I walk and then put my pants back on and take a second warning.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Like an extra get a little breeze, pair of like like basketball shorts or something, you know, in my pack, like an extra shirt, shorts, maybe even like a different pair of socks. I feel like you put socks on quicky quickly if you're like hopping.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Socks. Socks I would want to do because if my feet get wet, you know, that's it. If my feet get wet, I'm done.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

And home dudes walking walking in wet socks and you didn't have shoes.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Yeah, and um and well, they were already wet because they were bloody.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

That's enough to want to end it all right there, dude. Yeah, what's muddy socks?

SPEAKER_00 27:37

Uh uh. I I I've literally told my co-workers I I buy uh like every six months I buy a new pair of waterproof boots. It's imperative with my job. I can be so cold and wet and I will still work, but if my feet get wet, I'm a different person. I am a miserable human to be around if my feet are wet.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Yeah. Ooh, I got a question. Um what so basically in this world uh the long walk is it's chosen like a random state, um and it just so happened to be Gardi's. Uh what do you think would be the worst state to walk in?

SPEAKER_02 28:14

Colorado.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

Really? I was gonna say California.

SPEAKER_02 28:17

Colorado, mile high, low oxygen, you'd be suffering the entire time.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Hmm. That's a good point.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Walking through the Rockies, you're breathing super hard, getting no oxygen. People who aren't from the area would have altitude poisoning, just collapse.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

That means if you're from there, you would likely win. You might if you have good endurance. That's yeah, that's an advantage. Yeah, yeah. It's kind of like football players when they when they practice in the snow a lot, and then teams like Florida who come to play in the snow are like, what the fuck? Do you remember?

SPEAKER_02 28:49

Like, I did that would be did the book say was this always at the same set time every year?

SPEAKER_00 28:54

I don't remember. I would imagine, right?

SPEAKER_02 28:57

I would imagine it's like the the question would be is it always gonna be springtime, summertime? I think May 1st is always the same.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

May 1st.

Weather Hazards And Logistics

SPEAKER_00 29:06

In the in the very opening paragraph or opening, like where it explains like, oh, you've been accepted, you won by the lot by the lottery, it says report uh May 1st. May 1st at 8 a.m.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

Then yeah, I still think Colorado would be the worst, but I mean imagine like Nevada summer, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

So no summer or Arizona, but really hot places are gonna suck.

SPEAKER_02 29:30

Yeah, I feel like or or or Louisiana, the humidity.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

God would be off Georgia. You can't even breathe, you're just breathing water the whole time. Yeah, you don't even need to drink water. Kansas or just a really flat place. So what happens? So let's say you're in Kansas and a tornado starts forming nearby.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Better not run.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

But what do the guards stick around for it too?

SPEAKER_02 29:54

How cool if the tornado comes and just like wipes out all the guards and you're just left there.

SPEAKER_00 29:59

I mean, that'd be pretty that'd be sick.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

But uh what if somebody's like a sequel where it's even further in the future and the long block is going through some fucking like alien.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

They're in cars, they're they're in their cars, right? The cars get sucked up easily. People are told to get out of the car, go and lay down on the road.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

I mean, they are heavy as like military vehicles, though.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

But that but that's what I'm wondering. Like, tornadoes don't care. Would they just stick around and let the tornado take them, or would they drive off and just be like, well, good fucking luck, and hope that they don't that they either die or don't run away.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

All you gotta do is just lay down, and you that's your best chance of survival. Go into a ditch, lay down, and hope the tornado passes you over.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Washington, depending on which direction, would be okay. Uh like floor area, I think would be health. Fine. But if we're going from like west to west all the way like east to west, you gotta go over like mountains and shit. Like walking from a desert in May, so it's gonna be still hot. Yeah, so I feel like yeah, west to east would probably be better. That would suck. Yeah, no, that'd be probably once you hit the east side. You might end up on a fucking mountain at the end, which would kind of be but I feel like it wouldn't be that bad. Also, the ending of the rain, so I could do it.

Was The Ending Mercy Or Doom

SPEAKER_00 31:19

I I like I like this ending, although I have some opinions about it that I do feel pretty strongly about. I think that what Garrity did was selfish by sacrificing himself. And the reason I think that is because Pete made it very clear throughout the entire movie that he basically without saying it, he wanted Garrity to win. And he made it clear. He said mo he said in multiple different situations he gave tidbits of information, one of which he said, I have nothing to live for, I have no family, I don't have anything like that. You have your mother, like you gotta get home to her. He kept Garrity alive that whole time. He did not need to keep Garrity alive, but he did because he said the only thing he never had in his life was a brother, and he'd always wanted a brother, and so now he had a brother in Garrity, and he what the way that I saw it was that Pete in his mind believed that if Garrity won, Pete also won. So Pete would get his wish by Garrity winning.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

Yeah, he would die having a brother rather than win exactly, not having anybody.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Garrety essentially tricking him at the end and giving up his life instead so that Pete could survive, I think stripped away what Pete wanted to do. It made him lose a brother, so now he lost even more than he'd already lost in the past, and he was filled with so much vengeance at the end that he ended up killing the major, which was something that he had told uh Garrety earlier that vengeance was not the way to go, that you don't want your life to be filled with this. This is not what you want to do. Try to find the light, be be the light in this world. And but Garrity doing what he did essentially, like I give credit that Pete chose to do what he chose to do. Pete was Pete is his own man and he did what he chose to do. But it's foolish to think that Garrety's actions did not influence him to do that, and that turned him into what he didn't want to be. He didn't want that for Garrity. He wasn't that type of person. He'd said that killing a deer was the closest he ever wanted to come to killing a man, and that killing a man changes you and makes you into something else.

SPEAKER_02 33:38

I think it's wild to hear somebody say sacrificing his life so that the better man can live is selfish.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

I agree it's a wild statement, but I think not just wild.

Sacrifice vs Selfishness: The Big Argument

SPEAKER_02 33:48

I think you're making some like strong, it's foolish to think. No, dude. I think it's a very rational argument. No, it's not. He did the exact opposite thing of what he wanted to do. He wanted to take vengeance on the major. He gave up that wish. He gave it up. He, I don't need that. I need you to live. I need you, this man right here, who sees the good in everything, who can see the wrinkler.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

That's Garret's wish.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

Let me give up my life so you, the better person, can live. That's selfish. That's a ridiculous claim.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

Better person who has made the better decisions this entire time has made it very clear I get what I want by you continuing on. He saw the light in Garrity saying that you are the future. You can make this change. I want to make a change in the world. You can do it.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

But then you're telling me that Garrity seeing the major kill his dad, then seeing the major kill Pete, and he's gonna have the ability to walk away and see the good bullshit. I don't know. I I probably don't think so. That's nonsense to think that this guy would see two people who his daddy outright told Pete was his hero, then Pete is his hero. He has to witness the major kill both of those people, and yet he's gonna be okay with that and choose to do the better thing and not kill the major.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

But regardless, so regardless, even if he even if he did kill the major, let's say Garrety won and he killed the major, Garrety doesn't lose anything by doing that, right?

SPEAKER_02 35:38

Yes, he does. The uh the whole premise of the the killing the major is he's dead instantly.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 35:47

So there's no winner.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Yes, there's no point. He would have been happy doing that. He wanted to do that anyways, right?

SPEAKER_02 35:52

But there would have been no, there would have been no benefit. You have to realize that this system was set up in such a way the major being killed wasn't gonna end anything.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

I uh 100% understand that it's entirely a selfish way for him to try to feel some sort of catharsis that I don't think he would have actually gotten by killing the major, because I don't think that that Pete got it either. But I what I'm saying is Garrity, if Garrity had won, Pete would have gotten his wish by letting Garrity win. And Garrity would have done whatever Garretti had decided to do, and that would have been on Garrity. But Garrity instead gave his life uh for Pete against Pete's wishes, and that changed Pete into something he didn't want to be. I do.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

I think it would have been better that Pete died the man he wanted to be. I reject the argument that Pete did not wish to live. I reject that argument outright. How? That's nonsense.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

How he he what do you mean? He could have died at any point during it was so clear the entire movie that Pete was going to give his life for Garrety. I saw that coming. I knew by about a quarter of the way through the movie, I knew if those two are the last ones, Pete is going to sacrifice himself for Gary.

SPEAKER_02 37:08

Because he didn't read the book.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Yeah, but I'm look okay, but let's uh the the book was different, so let's talk about the movie. But yeah, but okay, watching the movie, I'm looking at this play out and I'm saying I can see already Pete is gonna sacrifice himself for Garrety. That is clearly his intentions. That's the way they wrote this character. He's so obviously going to sacrifice himself for Garrety. That's the way they changed this character, yes, but that's the character we saw in the movie. So that's what we're talking about. We're talking about the movie. Pretty much like a completely different.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

But the problem is, is when you're when you're going off of something like this, you say, I saw it from all the way back there. Okay, but you're not even anticipating, you're not taking into account what the writers were doing. But was I wrong? That's exactly what he did. Nobody, nobody has publicly said that Pete had always intended to die for Gardy.

SPEAKER_00 38:04

No, oh come on. You can watch what do you mean? That's so obvious.

Friendship, Influence, And Responsibility

SPEAKER_01 38:11

That either would do either. I I think that at the end of the day they formed this like unbreakable, traumatic bond of a friendship brotherhood. That either way, one's not walking in front of the other until the other dies. They're either one's gonna sacrifice for the other or vice versa. Okay, I agree.

SPEAKER_02 38:34

That's fair, but I will not agree to that point while claiming that Garretti was being selfish in that.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

That's not that's not a true, fair or I I feel like Garrett is inherently a selfish character, though.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

Yeah, I I think Garrety's actions were selfish. Exactly. I think he's selfish because of what he did to his mother, and then he could have survived and seen his mother, and he could have let Pete sacrifice himself when Pete said, I have no one to live for. You need to get to your mother.

SPEAKER_02 39:10

There is no way.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

No, it's not.

SPEAKER_02 39:14

You can't just say there's no influence. It doesn't matter. He's totally responsible for your actions.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

No, uh, don't go there.

SPEAKER_02 39:22

That's unrealistic.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

It's unrealistic and unhuman. Stop, let me finish the argument. Well, did you not watch the movie? He never once gave you any code that said he wasn't gonna do it. Because he didn't say, you know what? You're right, Pete. I'm not gonna do it. He didn't say that.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

Pete never gave you an idea that he was going to do that.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

Never.

SPEAKER_02 39:43

No, I think that's a stupid argument. And it can be ask any soldier who's had guns pointed at them and say you give your life or they give their life.

SPEAKER_01 40:06

Alex, who do you think should win?

SPEAKER_02 40:10

Of course, me.

SPEAKER_00 40:11

That's pretty selfish.

SPEAKER_01 40:12

And that's pretty fucking selfish. So, Eric, you are the winner for today's episode. Thank you all for watching. Of course, the boyfriends. A It's not my fault. I like your son. He's pretty handsome. Okay. I was gonna say, to be fair, he agreed with my argument, but to be fair, he married me and my wife. Uh so I did do that. Wow, that's an interesting dynamic.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

It's not a thruple, like sound.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

We're cozy is my son.

SPEAKER_00 40:44

Cozy now has two dads and two moms. That is crazy. Huh?

Levity, Season Points, And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_01 40:51

Yeah, two of them. That's completely off of the dice robot. I I'm not taking any sides here. I will say that you both made completely good points at points, but then you just started yelling at each other, and I was just sitting here laughing. Uh it's been a while since y'all got into an argument. It's always you. It's always you also. I felt like we needed it.

SPEAKER_02 41:15

We lack controversy on this podcast. Yeah, I do feel like this episode is gonna do well. We we definitely lack controversy sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 41:23

No, I get one season point from Josh. I mean, what's really funny about he says this was all my fault.

SPEAKER_02 41:30

Dude, we argue like this at the dinner table.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

Yeah, I was gonna say what's really funny about this is that after this, I'm gonna go smoke. He's gonna go do something on the computer, and then we're just gonna watch memes for a little bit and just laugh and forget this happened.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

It'd be like that. Also, Rhode Island would be the easiest one to rock across. But you would have to across whatever's next to it. I don't know any of that.

SPEAKER_02 41:51

You'd have to walk around the whole state several times.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

I was gonna say, would you even go into a new state or would you just do laps?

SPEAKER_01 41:57

Well, you just walk. I think that would just get boring because you'd be like stay confined into one state, or do they cross or do they just start in one state?

SPEAKER_02 42:06

I don't know. I I have no clue. I don't remember them mentioning.

SPEAKER_00 42:10

I would imagine that you would stay in one state.

SPEAKER_01 42:14

Well, we could have had this conversation a lot earlier in the podcast. Thank you all for listening. And until next time, stay alive.