Not Quite Great Books: a TV podcast

Loki the character and the show are both agents of chaos! John and Danielle tackle Episode 4, “The Nexus Event,” thinking together about timeline stability & the TVA, the meaning of home, and the role of friendship in the show. Danielle asks John how he feels about the episode’s variant reveal, and she drops a new meta-theory to help capture what accounts for her enthusiasm and John’s lack thereof for this show. They dig into the carceral-state status of the TVA and John continues his winning streak in the Easter Egg Hunt. They meet Aristotle in the cave to think more about friendship together.
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

John and Danielle welcome Producer Amy back on mic again for Season 2 Episode 3 of The Americans, “The Walk-In.” After responding to some listener mail (!), they dig into some of the major events of this ep: Paige’s visit to Aunt Helen, Elizabeth’s visit to Jared and the complicated feels this raises, and of course, Stan’s laundry-driven breakthrough. They have some fun amidst the darker themes of the episode, moving from discussions of loneliness to the unremembered 60s fashion and Kelli’s phenomenal hair. Amy helps John and Danielle welcome Simone Weil in the cave, and of course, they can’t wrap up without Amy teaching your hosts about the Gossip Girl extended universe.
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

After many (!) episodes, John and Danielle finally record from the same room together! Recorded live from the Innovation Garage, your hosts discuss Episode 3 of Loki, “Lamentis.” They consider what makes a Loki a Loki, take the episode and themselves a little too seriously, and also wonder if Sylvie is ACAB. Danielle Marvelsplains and John triumphs in this week’s Easter Egg Hunt. Plato makes his second appearance in the Cave, and Danielle smuggles in some bonus Cave-adjacent content through Euripides’ Trojan Women and what it might take to survive an apocalypse.
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Still reeling from the big swings of last week’s episode, Danielle and John take on Season 2 Episode 2 of The Americans, “Cardinal”. They discuss the various relationships they encounter in this episode - from Philip and Fred, to Nina and Arkadii, and of course, Elizabeth and her kids - thinking together about the episode’s role after last week’s intensity. They are joined by Foucault in the cave for a deeper dive into Elizabeth’s paranoia. But don’t worry, it’s not all serious: there is also a lot of 80s love this week!
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

John and Danielle are back for Episode 2 of Loki, “The Variant.” Danielle Marvelsplains what it means to hide in an apocalypse, and your hosts debate what counts as a joke and how/whether goats are funny, while also thinking a little about gender, temporality, and company towns. John offers an impressive gloss of Agamben in the Cave, and takes on a new round of Easter Egg Hunt. If The Americans is a show made for both of your hosts, Loki shows us where they diverge from one another, but that is part of the fun!
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

John and Danielle are back with a new set of takes on The Americans Season 2 Episode 1, “Comrades”. They confront the episode’s swing to brutality, the swift entry and exit of some friends from work, plus Paige’s heightened suspicions. They also dig into spycraft, deer imagery, and Philip’s glow-up. Season 2 quite literally kicks off with a bang.
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Summer is here and so is a new series deep dive on NQGB! John and Danielle shift gears, and tackle the Disney+ series, Loki. Danielle is in the driver’s seat this time around, with John riding shotgun as resident MCU-noob. After watching Episode 1, “Glorious Purpose,” they discuss who might be the audience for a show like this (is it John? Jury’s out) and introduce a few new segments: Marvelsplaining, Easter Egg Hunt, and Politics & the MCU, and bring back a few of their faves from their Americans run (Glas, Minor Char of the Week, and of course, the Cave). A palate cleanser as the summer gets into full swing.
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Danielle and John take a break from episode-by-episode reviews to indulge some metanarrative about their respective (and surprisingly divergent) tastes in TV and film. Taking off from John’s proposed grand unifying theory, they explore aesthetic excess, escapism in film and TV, spectacle, fandom, IP, “prestige TV,” and beautiful terror. Along the way, they touch on a number of shows/universes: in order, Devs, Severance, The Terror, The Young Pope, The Americans and spy fiction, Station Eleven, the MCU, Star Wars, Atlanta, and A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones. 
Links to items we discuss: 
Cut to Black, a podcast by Gretchen Felker-Martin and Sean T. Collins and John’s primary referent for TV criticism and aesthetics
“Black Panther Is Not the Movie We Deserve,” by Christopher Lebron
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Strap in, friends! John and Danielle have called on fellow Americans connoisseur Jon Keller to dissect the season 1 finale, “The Colonel.” Together, they discuss what to make of Philip and Elizabeth’s quarrel, Claudia, Nina, and shoddy spy tactics before Keller regales our hosts with some personal anecdotes about Lev Gorn’s (Arkady) gym habits. This wild ride should not be missed!
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

In the penultimate episode of Season 1 of The Americans, Danielle and John tackle the multiple oaths that take place in “The Oath”. They marvel at Clark and Martha’s nuptials and Nina’s heel turn (or was Stan the heel all along?), and chat about how oaths unite these two sets of events. Wig check returns, and your hosts meet Freud in the cave. Come for the spycraft, stay for the abundant 80s references!
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay