RIDING THE HEATED RIVALRY TSUNAMI!

Welcome back to the pod! I’m Mike Dreyden Figueroa and this Unscripted and Unrehearsed, where I share my take on events of the day, things that I’ve seen, heard and experienced.

Reviewing the week: The 68th Annual 2026 Grammys, Bad Bunny Wins BIG! Brown shirts who killed Alex Pretti named, Jesus ‘Jesse’ Ochoa and Raymundo ‘Ray’ Gutierrez! Brown shirts ain’t gettin paid! Racist video of the Obamas! Cast of Schitt’s Creek Photo.

TOPIC 1: The Hollanov Effect! Watching their evolution. A master class lesson. The Love Story. Ilya and Shane’s evolution over ten years. Kip and Scott’s story as well. Having that passion in our lives.

TOPIC 2: The Tierney/Reid Effect! Jacob Tierney and Rachel Reid both inspired me in my vision and writing for LAST CALL. LGBTQ artists telling our stories. LAST CALL Reboot. Goldie Jones shout out!

TOPIC 3: Homophobes or Allies: No homophobic rants?! Haven’t seen negative rants? With how things go viral. Empty Netters! What Chaos Pod. Other Allies?

NOW YOU TELL ME: Have you watched and if so, how many times? How do you feel… how has the show affected you? Did you even like the show?! Do you even care… No judgements.

UNTIL NEXT TIME: If you made it this far… drop a a hockey player emoji in the comments. Black hair for Shane, Blond for Ilya or Brown for Scott! If you’re watching : remember like and subscribe. If you’re listening : feel free to rate but download is even better. It just helps grow the pod.

BONUS: Check out my take on the Empty Netters Controversy. 

—————— Mike Dreyden Figueroa on Social Media —————— 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:09

And you're never gonna get enough. Welcome back to the pod. I'm Mike Drayden Figueroa, and this is Unscripted and Unrehearsed, where I give you my take on recent events, things I've witnessed, experienced, and all that. Morning to you. Oh my god, it's so good. My favorite thing in the world, a fresh cup of coffee. Alright, so listen, remember last year when I talked about how heated rivalry, uh the the ask the production aspect of it uh moved me, got to me in all of that. Oh, by the way, shout out to um what's their name? Uh Eyes LOL's uh clip that was I stole it from that was given to me by a friend, so I thought I'd share. Um so I've watched the show ten times, y'all. Ten times! Ten times. And each time, well, the first time, obviously, it was just to you know get into the show. Then it was about uh the production aspect of you. Then I was looking at the lighting, then I was looking at the the everything, the body language, the the the micro expressions, all of that, and things brought to light from other people's posts on who are in the industry and and and uh noticed these things. And I'm like, yeah, absolutely. Um, that's where where I was. And I mean, fans are analyzing it, people in the industry are analyzing it, therapists and and content, every everybody, this show has changed the world. As far as as far as I can excuse me, I had a gas bubble. Anyway, we're gonna dive into this today, but first the 68th annual 2026 Grammy Awards, Bad Bunny wins, all is right with the world. But what's really cool about his win is the fact that he's a Latin artist who won the awards for for that category. It's never been done before. What and you know, I was happy he was winning the awards and all of that, but when he won, I think it was album of the year, he just sat at his table, like taking that in for a moment. And I felt I felt a little bit sad because I didn't see his family with him there. Maybe they couldn't be there. I mean, everybody was standing and applauding. Um uh although there look, I don't talk about people's private lives, and I don't care about your private lives. I care that you're a nice person when we meet and that you're not an asshole. Um, but they there's a picture of him walking through the uh, I guess the backstage area or how they do um with this really beautiful man. I don't know if it was his bodyguard or what, but it they should there was posts of them at the gym together, blah blah. I don't know. But that person was with him. But on, you know, having his, I think having his family, they would have really I think I don't think he would have been able to compose himself. But that minute he took was just telling because it was literally an entire minute. Um I love that his his acceptance pieces were uh in English and Spanish, but mostly in Spanish. And um I think I'm not preaching to the choir here because I mean everybody knows this, but for those who do not understand the difference between Hispanics and Latinos, Hispanics are people from Spain, Latinos are people from the Caribbean islands, South America, Mexico, etc. And there's a combination thereof. I am a combination of that. Um just needed to put that out there. Bad bunny is a probably his lineage is Taino, African uh slaves, um, Spaniards, all of that. All of us from the island, although I'm from here in New York, um, we come from a heritage that's very mixed. So um, I needed to put point that out because uh I saw a few comments about um the fact that he spoke in Spanish, and oh, I couldn't understand this, this is terrible. There was no subtitles. There didn't need to be, and you know what? If you're watching it on any device, you could probably activate your subtitles, or you could learn what one of the most ancient languages in the world because English is not the only language, if I'm not mistaken, English evolved too from something else, so um we all have our roots in Latin, by the way. The language that is. Uh, tonight's the Super Bowl. I'm conflicted, but I want I want the uh the Patriots to win because you know, East Coast. Um it's East Coast, West Coast. I just realized that. I side note, I've been uh uh but busting chops with people uh who've been coming to the theater, like wearing, you know, non-New York or not my team uh memorabilia merch or whatever. So there's been a few uh Seahawks people walking, and I'm like, really? Are you really you're walking New York streets with that? What? Do you have no friends? And a bunch of Patriots people coming in. I'm like, hey, this is an Eagles theater, just so you know, but you're allowed to wear that today. It's fun. Um, although my boss, I think she gets upset when I interact too much with the guests coming in. Listen, that's a whole other post. All right, so yeah, tonight's the Super Bowl. Um, I do want the Patriots to win. Um, but I'm really looking forward to that halftime show because I know it's going to be incredible. And it's not just gonna be about his his current album, the Vitirama Foto. Um, I think it's gonna be a combination of all of his greatest hits and maybe something extra. The surprise guests, I mean, look at what um this dude did last year. I mean, I shit myself, not really, but you know, when fucking Serena Williams came out, I was screaming. I was that was the best, and then she was doing it. That I so I'm looking forward to to that. Um, so the the Super Bowl starts about 6:30. That's New York time. Um uh I guess what 3.30-ish West Coast time. Uh the the halftime show starts anywhere between 8 and 8.30. So there's that. Listen, uh, the brown shirts ain't getting paid. Did we hear this? They ain't getting paid. I jumped ahead, but because I saw I have two notes here that say brown shirts. Let's start with that. They're not getting paid. So you're offered the chance to join the modern day Gestapo. We're gonna pay you all this money. The fine print reads something like out of a fucking joke. You you're not gonna get anything up front. Nobody read this. You're not getting anything up front. And once you do, you have if you don't stick through the term of the contract, you have to pay it all back. Uh, they're not getting their health insurance after so many days. All of it was a fucking scandal. And what did you think? I'm getting excited. What did people think was gonna happen? Nothing this man ever says is true. He doesn't follow through. There are records, and I've said this many times before. There are records where he's gone into contracts with people, where he's been sued for non-compliance, non-payment, um, uh early termination of contracts, all this shit, just not to pay. So, yeah, these people are not getting paid. People, some of them are quitting, which uh I'm proud of them, but I'm like, if you're not getting paid, how are you gonna pay back something you didn't get paid? So, you know what? Fuck them. Quit your quit the job. I mean, if you got to struggle and get on the struggle bus with a lot of us, fine. I mean, people are making do. And you've just ostracized yourself from your community, from your your your families, from your your anybody who would probably stick their neck out for you, they're not gonna right now. At least I don't think. Some people are forgiving. I am not so forgiving. Because history repeating and people not believing it the first time, and the conspiracy theories and all that nonsense. And just as a side note, and someone was mentioning this um in a recent post. Uh what who was that? Anyway. Oh, the official gay guy. I saw his recent post this morning. Waving the Confederate flag, flag, flag, the Confederate flag. Waving the Confederate flag is treason. It is treason. They lost the war, and the fact that the North did not stomp it out completely at the time allowed them to fester and do everything they did from Jim Crow to everything that's happening today. We're still fighting the stupid civil war, but differently. Had it been, and let's not do that again, I don't think we would be going through a lot of what we're going through now. I can you imagine the South would be a different place if that never happened? When people actually embraced others and built something new, I mean, that benefited everybody. Just because someone is doing better than you or getting something, it doesn't mean it's at your expense. It's they're doing something different. That's their path. Your path. Could it maybe, hey, can you tell me what you're doing? Because I'd like to, you know, change my life too, maybe, or grow my family. Share the knowledge? I'm sure they would because I mean I can't imagine anybody else. I mean, the number one cre uh uh I was gonna say credo, but I don't know if that's the right word. Uh, the number one thing we most people of color do is mind your business.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Mind your business. That's happening over there.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Cool. Mind your business. It's the number one rule when you visit New York, mind your business. Anywho, so back to the brown shirts. Uh, this is this I found really interesting though, because there's a there's a lot of reporting on uh bad behavior, terrible behavior, um, incomprehensible behavior by a lot of these uh brown shirts. Yet we're not hearing their names or they're not being outed, or their info is not being leaked to the media. However, Jesse Jesus Ochoa and um Ray Raimundo Gutierrez, who were the ones who shot uh Alex Petri, their info got leaked. Their names were leaked, their faces were leaked. So you're telling me that all these other people doing all kinds of fucked up shit. We don't know who they are because they're all wearing masks and their identity is being kept quiet, but these two Latino men, Mexican descent, they're they're now we all know who they are. Aside from that being fucked up, they should have known better. You're gonna call yourself Jesse? You're gonna call yourself Ray. You're not hiding. I don't even know what more to say about this, but the fact that that happened to them and then they're realizing this is what's going down for you. When all of this is over, there's no hiding behind I was following orders. It's it's just not gonna happen. Um I pray for them, not like, huh, but I I really hope that they get past everything that's about to land on them. It's a double-edged sword. You picked it up, you gotta fight now. Alright, so uh the races video that about the with the Obama, I'm like, when does that bullshit stop? You know, I'm it's all distraction, honestly. Don't don't let it fucking get twisted. It's all distraction. The Epstein files are still the Epstein files, they're releasing redacted stuff. And now it's announced that you know members of Congress can see unredacted. It's the Epstein files are still a thing. This is all distraction. And it is insulting and and um it's distraction. Don't let them fool you. But it was fucked up because I'm like, I think the worst it is the worst things that you can call people of color, mostly black people, is the n-word with a hard R and that imagery. I'm like, come the fuck on. I'm can you imagine what it would be like if it was if you know the the universe was reversed? I think there was a Twilight Zone episode where this one guy was because of his racism, something happened where he was experiencing life in the different kinds of people he was bigoted toward. And it's like he was killed because in that living that life, and then he just re uh reincarnated into another my uh marginalized minority person until the at the end, it oh, I think one was he found he woke him, he woke up in a concentration camp in World War II, then he woke up as a black person being hunted by the KKK and hung. Um, I really it's out there, but it was really powerful where it made me stop and think. Sometimes I'm like, oh, and I'm like, oh, that's a terrible thought. I should not have those thoughts, and I consciously don't do that. I I switch to they're having a bad day. I'm having a bad day. That's anyway. Um, can you imagine? I was appalled. I didn't watch the video, I saw uh a still, and I'm like, are you shitting me? Distraction. Uh and the last thing I'm gonna mention that that really struck me right in the right in the the the heart was um the cast of Shits Creek came together. It's a beautiful photo of you, it's right here for you to see. Um that look, I mean, all dressed holding the picture of of um oh god. I can't her name just left me. Anyway, the this just like I was expecting something like this or a tribute post where all of them came together, but this was more powerful than anything could be said, and um Catherine O'Hara. Um thank you guys at Shits Creek for doing that. Um yeah, so thank you. So now we're gonna talk about the Hollover Hollonov effect. Hollover, Hollover Beach.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

Why am I thinking about Hollover Beach?

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Because I'm a naked freak.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Shout out to Miami.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Uh listen, the Hollonov effect. Okay. So, like I said, I watched it 10 times, including the many, many clips that are being analyzed online. Um people going to where they filmed the show in Canada. Um the the different locations is really fun. What I've what's really cool is though, um uh the folks going to the tunnel where Ilya has that beautiful monologue uh in Russian. They're leaving people are graffitiing lines from the show on the wall. It's crazy. Um, I think it's sweet. Um it is a masterclass in acting, film production, uh, lighting, uh sound. Um and when I say sound, not only hearing them, but the the audio music and and background. Um you're you're you I found myself, first of all, the the the love story alone. I'm gonna jump around because it it all of it it makes sense to me, but I don't know if it's gonna make sense to you how it has affected me. And I think I've mentioned this before, but I just want to keep talking about it because it's just not ending, where I'm lost in thought in the story and then cr content creation and then my own projects. Um the okay, the the love story alone from when they first met from the cigarette lighting in at the the back door um at the the arena uh to the first time they they you know in the showers, and then when they first uh the hotel meeting, uh hotel room uh uh what do you call that? That wasn't really like they didn't get it on, get it on until many years later, according to the story. But um, you know, they messed around. Uh, but you can see there was something more there than them just getting off, especially for Ilya, because he's like, uh there's something about this kid I like. Um and then the Ilya's body language from like, oh, I want to get laid tonight, so coming onto him in the showers, is different from when they're alone together, and then he's you know, after the uh the award ceremony, uh, which I think was sometime, but they shot that that scene first. So they really didn't get to, I don't think, uh dive into these characters' relationship. Maybe they did, I don't know, because it takes a lot for them to go for that being the first thing they shot, to go to that level right away is powerful and it's uh scary and it's uh exciting all at the same time, I'm sure. I've been there. Um, especially when I've had to um I think the first Mike Draden project I filmed, we did the part first, and then we did all the other stuff, the meeting, the b-roll, all of that after. So I had to make it believable. My first play I did, um we had to come up with all of these decisions first because I think the first scene I did in that play was a kissing scene. It was supposed to be a flashback to our first kiss. Was that right? I can't remember now. So many years ago. Um a lot of that can can to be able to portray that right out of the gate is talent beyond talent. Um and then, of course, um Hudson Williams' uh shyness. I think his his insecurities, his, his uh uh, and so much as in his identity and discovering stuff and like, oh my god, this guy is beautiful. And then, holy shit, what are you doing? He's like, now I gotta pretend. Fuck off. And then he's like, Oh, he means it. Okay, not here, not not here. Um I find myself lost in trying to figure them out in their choices, and that's not that's not for me to to do. That's for them to do as the artists, and it the fact that they've got me doing that speaks to to their level of talent again. Um people who know me know me, uh, know that I'm a I'm a romantic. I mean, I really am a romantic. When I'm feeling it and it's coming at me and I'm expressing it, I'm a romantic. Um, I like the I like that like the beach scene where he's like found you, you know. I like that. Um the the moment in the in the bathroom where he's telling him, I don't see you for weeks and weeks, and what do you want from me? And then they get very close. He's like, If you want me to get that filthy best of frill, you know, that would I would melt. Um, I melted. Watching them do it. Their evolution over the years, where they get closer and closer, and their romance does not, it grows with them. It's very beautiful. But I want to see, I mean, I'm more of the the Kip and Scott romantic. Like that's how most people would meet, you know. I mean, I've met people who I dated, like, you know, when I was working at a gym, I'm not gonna say which one. Um, I was working at a gym behind the desk, and there was someone who we clicked, and we were seeing each other for a while, and you know, he was who he was. Uh, someone of note. Um, I don't know, maybe I think he was just trying to get free shit out of me. I don't know. But um, I got free shit out of him too. So uh yeah, stuff like that. I like, you know, the the goofiness and the and the the double entendre conversations and and all of that. But you know, love at first sight and and why am I feeling so exposed right now? Um I like that stuff. And I don't know, I think at an early age I found that I was romantic and I don't know, watching TV when there's a love scene and the kissing and you know the the words and all of that. I'm I'm getting an image of a Barbara Streisand something that I saw that really affected me. But I think I don't know if it was the star is born, but love scenes, you know, romance does it to me, especially. It plucks at my strings. Um, and we we I think having that kind of passion in your life is is essential. What's cool though, it's not what I wanted to say, but the reality is the hard, not hard work, but the work that comes after romance. I mean, real life is you know, negotiating, it's conversation, it's communication, you know, the ups and downs. Not everything is always, you know, suns sunsets and you know that. There's there's stuff you gotta deal with. Personalities, moods, you know, all that getting older, all of that. Which leads me to the Tierney Reed effect. Jacob Tierney and um Rachel Reed. Her writing, I I so being exposed to her writing through this show, you know, it's called, you know, hockey smut, I suppose. Um somebody said that somewhere. I I don't call it smut. It's like it's maybe that is the name for it. I just don't like it. Um, because I've read some, you know, sexually charged. I don't remember who wrote this, but this was like the first sexually charged book I've ever read. And it was called The Greatest Urge Downward. And that author had a whole bunch of other books. Um, and I remember hiding that under my mattress because I would read it at night and I'll keep it in my backpack, but at night I would put it under my mattress because my mother had the habit of going through my things constantly. I had no privacy. Um, and I did not want her to find that. Um, I used to uh carry my magazines around with me in my backpack, in my school bag, just to afford. Uh so yeah, they're they're writing. I lost track of the point I wanted to make, but they're okay. Telling these stories, waking up the creativity in a lot of us. Um, you can see it in the the posts that people are making with like uh the claymation posts, uh, the cartooning, um, the reenactments in goofy fun ways. Um it is sparked a phenomenon, and it's become even more global that now that the show in the books are being released on a wider scale. I think okay, the Brits just recently got it and they're losing their minds. I know the Australians got it a while ago, maybe a month ago. Um the fact that we got it when we did uh is is a miracle because of the the of the agreement that uh or whatever they did with uh HBO and and Crave. Um anyway, the the the people being exposed to these stories has just ignited a of a tsunami of creativity and in writing. So it what I wanted to say is that her reading her book, because I'm reading um Game Changer now, it's slow going, but um only because of my own procrastinations, whatever. Um it has helped change how I write scenes for last call and how I'm connecting because while it's all connected in here, it's not translating on the page. Like as I read it through, I'm like, why would someone understand what's happening in this scene based on what I already wrote? And there's no correlation um that is evident, unless you're so in how she wrote this, it's helping me to refine. So I've gone through like the fourth rewrites. Um, and I think it's fun. I'm working on the second season now, um, in writing, um, because I have a clear idea of where my story's going. So reading her, the how she writes and and connecting things, it's it's great. Watching how uh Jacob Jacob put the um the story together visually is helping me in the writing as well, and how that's coming out wrong. It's helping me formulate the writing to the visual medium. So this way it's telling the same story that's written on the page. I know that sounds like of course it would be the same. You'd you just shoot what you wrote. It may not work, um, but uh it's working. Um, so and it's you know, LGBTQ plus people, women, everyone uh just telling our stories. I think they've ignited a permission in all of us to just tell our stories. Um there's a shift in acceptance, I think, and as far as as far as um uh queers and sports. Um and I think the sky's the limit for for everybody who just wants to, you know, for a creative outlet, even if that's not what you want to make money at it, or if it's not your your calling, but it it has become that. So the reboot of of last call, I'm I came with I it I'm so excited for it to just be creating it right now on paper. The the I'm gonna lose my shit if we ever once we get to shooting it. Um the recreating it and rewriting it has been fulfilling because it's all I'm thinking about. The story, the reading, and the writing. Um so it which reminds me, I came across uh Goldie Jones, she's a filmmaker and director. Her Instagram where she's talking about uh these scenes, and and just like um uh Miss V, uh they uh Veronica V? Oh yeah, I forgot. Sorry, V Missy. Um, I love you both. Uh their take on stuff is very inspiring because it's helping me to understand how I want to tell last call and this iteration of it. Um I've been working on character development and and who we are and where we're coming from, but I'm also leaving enough room for the actors to find things in the character to bring them to life. Um I've expanded the the sex scenes, um, and not that it's gratuitous, but it makes sense for the story because my character is a ho. Um, but other people are experiencing life, so it's telling these stories. And um there's still room for for change. So I'm I'm open to that. Now the what I'm kind of surprised at, uh there have I have not seen, and I don't know if it's because of algorithm, but I have not seen a lot of homophobic rants. I've seen a lot of a lot of allies, but not a lot of homophobic rants on the show. Um, or even in a lot of the podcasts over these, you know, these bro podcasts like um Raw Talk or what have you. Um they I have not seen that, and it's been sort of um encouraging. Because what I have seen, a lot of straight guys who are like, oh, my girls told me to watch this, and you know, maybe they're not completely straight, they're not homophobic, but they're like, you know, let's let's see, and and they're like, oh wow, they are in the story. They're like, oh, like, oh, that's what they do, you know. Um they kind of figure, you know, the mechanics of it, of course, you know, like um that's how we do things. Um, but they not everything we do is that one thing, you know. But um, like, oh, but the story, it's it's it's affecting them, and you can see it's changing how they relate to their their girlfriends or significant others, which is kind of cool. Um and I and it's I don't know if like I said, I don't know if it's intent intentionally suppressed by the algorithm, but I have not seen any of it, and it's encouraging. Uh, but there is some controversy that has come up around uh empty netters. Um, so okay, I I saw the um I saw their post. I didn't know this was a thing until I saw their post, and they uh they defended themselves. Um they talked about because this is well, I want to talk about it later, but um they defended themselves. And I'm honestly surprised by them and how they were they got into this this um into the show. And I said in the in the last episode, I think, uh they their their initially they were like, oh, it's just another, you know, production, it's you know, the clickbait, it all that stuff. Their initial reaction after just seeing maybe one episode or just a few minutes of the of the first episode or what have you. But as they got into it, you can see their reactions are genuine. I I can't say that that's all acted or portrayed or you know, I don't know, fluffed up or whatever, but you could see in in, unless I'm that gullible, that they're like, oh, you know, they do not they reacted to everything the way all of us reacted to the certain moments, they're like, oh well, like for instance, Ilya's uh experience with his family, when you know, having to, you know, stand there and have his father tell him, you know, uh uh don't speak and you know, speak when spoken to, whatever. Um, dealing with his father in the moment of dementia, and and dealing with his brother after all of those things, the way we reacted to them, that's how these guys react. And that's why I found you know their their uh their reaction genuine. Um but I would like to know what their fans think of what what was uh outed about them, you know, the the initial things that they said. Maybe we were not so nice. I don't I don't know that it was that that deep, honestly. Um the the what chaos pod though, the these also like they they portray themselves or to call themselves down-to-earth millennials who are into hockey, and they're allies of the show, apparently. Um they're they're into it is just as much as empty netters. And of course, both of these uh podcasts have blown up because of their there there is a shift, and I think, and I know that this is very much um what's what's the term? Um nurture versus nature. Because I remember the many, many homophobic rants that my dad would just go off on. But I wasn't raised by my father, although he was in my life, so I'm not like that. I really believe that if someone is put off by LGBTQ people, okay, they would be put off, but reaction to them is taught, just like racism is taught and all these other things. That is taught, that is taught, and I think people find if you react to it a particular way, it's acceptable, which it's not. You know, I've had many fights on the schoolyard field. Didn't win them all, but I fought. They understood. I may be a faggot, but I kick your ass. Anyway. Um, and who are our other allies out there? It just seems to me like the world is two things the ridiculousness in our government and heated rivalry. That's all that exists now for me. I don't know. Right, so you guys tell me. Have you watched the show? What do you think? How many times have we watched it? I'm gonna watch it again. I just enjoy so many aspects of it. Um, do you even how did it affect you? How uh are you looking for love? Are you a romantic? Does it make you feel those feels? Um Yeah. What do you think? I really want to know what you think about it. Uh, do you even did you even watch the show? Do you even care? You think it's all bullshit? Say it. I want to know. Do you think no judgment? I judge not. So if you made it this far, drop a hockey player emoji. Uh black haired for Shane, blonde for Elia, brown hair for for uh Scott. Um if you're listening, you know, five stars thing. I'm asking because I'm asked just like him. I'm asking for what I want. I want you to love the show. I want you to show me the love. Show me the love. Five stars will help me keep you know growing. Um, share with everybody. Um, like, follow, share if you're watching. Um if you stick around for the bonus, we're gonna talk more about uh empty netters. There's a lot of links, but you gotta come back. All right, later, guys.