Episode 228 | Mystery Maniacs | The Brokenwood Mysteries | "As If Nothing Had Happened" | Gym Bag Batman & Edward Robin
Woah. Bloomington.
Mark:Woah. Woah.
Sarah:They got pickleball.
Mark:Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. Okay.
Sarah:Hey, maniacs.
Mark:Hey, maniacs. Welcome to Mystery Maniacs, a comedy recap podcast dedicated to mystery TV. Each week, we dig into an episode of the show including the murders, the mayhem, the loonies, and everything else we love. This week, Broken Woods Mysteries as if nothing had happened. Season 4 episode 4.
Mark:I'm Mark.
Sarah:I'm Sarah. Thanks for putting up with no episode last week. You'd think having triplets over 20 years ago, I wouldn't still be suffering. But I tell you what, hernias are real. Yep.
Sarah:I've had it repaired, what, 3 times?
Mark:Three times. Yeah.
Sarah:And when it's back, it's not it it hurts. It sucks. So sorry about that. We wanted to be here, but I really couldn't move very well. So
Mark:we're having a spoiler podcast here, so we give away who
Sarah:Who has a hernia? Me.
Mark:Who has a hernia?
Sarah:I spoiled that. No. We tell you who the killer is. If you haven't watched, don't listen.
Mark:If you let your kids go visit grandpa at the home and him tough questions.
Sarah:They can listen
Mark:to this episode. Listen to this episode. So we've been watching all creatures great and small, and I can't stop thinking about Timothy West and Simon West throughout the whole thing.
Sarah:Sam?
Mark:Yeah. Sam West.
Sarah:Yeah. Just think about his dad.
Mark:And he is a part Way
Sarah:to bring it down, man.
Mark:I don't I don't wanna spoil anything, but there's a part about fatherhood that Simon that Sam West is reading. He must have known his dad was ill at that
Sarah:point. A good show. Yeah. If you're not watching it, you should check it out.
Mark:A good show. And though the thing about that I do wanna spoil about all creatures great and small is is all happy. Yeah. It's it's during World War 2, so you're, like, waiting. You're waiting.
Sarah:Somebody's gonna die. Someone's gonna die.
Mark:The Nazis are gonna show up.
Sarah:Yeah. It doesn't happen yet.
Mark:Nope. Also this week, Acorn released what they're gonna show in February, and that includes season 18 of Murdoch, which is kinda crazy when you realize that Murdoch's been going 18 season.
Sarah:I keep seeing discussions about whether it's done or not.
Mark:Yeah. You know, we'll watch it because
Sarah:Of course, we will. We'll watch as long as they release it.
Mark:We we will watch everything. But like father Brown, they're they're kinda running their course.
Sarah:We recently watched a new episode of father Brown, and I was not impressed.
Mark:I I'm, excited to see Paul Sun Young Lee, who is from Kim's Convenience. He's a He's on Murdoch. Canadian actor. He's on Murdoch. So I'm eager to see the episodes with him in it.
Mark:And there's a new show starting on 17th February on Acorn called Remarkable Place to Die, which what they should call it is serious broken wood with a girl.
Sarah:Oh. That's what it is. A woman detective?
Mark:Woman detective who comes to a small town on the North Island of New Zealand from the big city and solve serious crimes. Sounds good. It looks like there are some lighter elements in the episodes, but there's also darker stuff that isn't dealt with on broken wood. So so we'll have broken wood and dark broken wood.
Sarah:Okay. Sounds good. Newsletter comes out this week?
Mark:It does indeed come out this week. And if you haven't signed up for the newsletter, you can go to our website and sign up for the newsletter or ask me on any of the, social medias of how to join the newsletter.
Sarah:Speaking of socials, we hit 250 members on our subreddit this week. Which is crazy. It's fun.
Mark:That's fantastic. We're almost surpassing the broken woods up.
Sarah:Yeah. We're, like what do we have? Like, 80 members?
Mark:Yeah. Less. 7,000 members on the Midsummer murders 1 now. Yeah. It's fantastic how that has come about, and we're gonna try to do some more interactive things on there that are less show oriented and more, like, community people.
Mark:Yeah. So let's do our people things.
Sarah:Let's be people together.
Mark:Yes. So this episode was originally aired on the 19th November 2017. Mark Breezely directed it, and it's written by Tim Baum. Though I've said in the past Tim Baum's getting better at writing detective stories. This one's a little rough.
Sarah:I don't think that the story is bad. The plot doesn't have holes in it or anything, but it is exceptional cruelty with an icing of funny over it. Yeah. Like, when we get to the actual murder and the people who did it, it is so much darker.
Mark:The last the last 15 minutes are very dark.
Sarah:Yeah. Yeah. But before we get there
Mark:There's lots of funny.
Sarah:We got Watterson's house. Yes. Did you notice the bird statues in his yard?
Mark:Wow. There are a lot of bird statues in his yard.
Sarah:I don't think there are many. I think there are 3. I just think you see them from different angles.
Mark:Okay.
Sarah:But did you notice what they are?
Mark:No. What are they?
Sarah:They're Maubirds, m a o. Maubirds. They're an extinct species of bird Oh. That were native to New Zealand that, basically, humans killed all of them before 1300 AD.
Mark:Okay. So they were killed off by Maori?
Sarah:Yeah. I could not find anywhere saying that that Maori birds and Maori are connected, but it seems to have the same etymology.
Mark:Seems to have similar roots.
Sarah:Yeah. But, yeah, they were great big birds. And the second biggest native bird, it's a kiwi.
Mark:That's the second Yeah.
Sarah:Little bit. At least at that time.
Mark:Oh my god.
Sarah:So when the last, Malbird died, the kiwi was like, I'm king of the roost now. I'm the big bird.
Mark:Look at my big beak. And the Maori are, like, holding them in their hands.
Sarah:If you if you've never seen an x-ray of a kiwi bird with an egg in it, pause now and look. It's amazing how much their body is taken up by an egg before they lay an egg. It's like 80% of their body.
Mark:I'll see if I can find one and put it in the show notes.
Sarah:There's tons of them out there because it's so crazy. Like, their organs are moved to the sides like when I was pregnant with triplets.
Mark:I can imagine.
Sarah:Like, half your body weight is an egg. Oh. Yeah. So he's got they're beautiful statues.
Mark:Well, he has a beautiful house, which he got from stealing money from people.
Sarah:Yeah.
Mark:It is kind of glossed over, but not kind of glossed over that he is in he's in this $1,000,000 house.
Sarah:Yeah. Totally bought by ill gotten gains when he's got tons of people he owes money to who all happen to live in the same nursing home.
Mark:Totally, like, give me your money. I'll give you a return. Oops. I lost all your money, but not really.
Sarah:But here I go buying this house.
Mark:Yeah. Like
Sarah:Would you buy a house that close to the nursing home where you ripped off all
Mark:the people? I would not. I'd be thinking about moving.
Sarah:Far away. Yeah. I mean, it's not like he wants to be close to his dad in the nursing home. He doesn't go to see him. No.
Sarah:And I don't know why he built right there.
Mark:I I don't know why he doesn't sell that asset.
Sarah:He bought the house after he ripped people off. Oh, that's it. With their money.
Mark:Well, thank
Sarah:you. To be, like, rubbing it in their face Yeah. By building it basically next door.
Mark:Thankfully, he gets a free lawn mower.
Sarah:Frodo is not a good businessman. Later on, when he has the coffee stand, he seems to be doing a little bit smarter, but first mow for free. I'm sorry. It's that may not be good. No.
Mark:I I think a a number of people offer that, but that's on a regular sized lawn. Yeah. This guy has acres of lawn.
Sarah:Yeah. Manicured lawn. Yes. With, like, bushes shaped, like, cylinders.
Mark:That's a whole day thing to get that house ready
Sarah:Mhmm.
Mark:Or at least half a day. Also, where is Frodo's truck?
Sarah:Oh, he didn't have a truck. He just drives his lawnmower around.
Mark:Where is his wagon that has his lawnmower on it?
Sarah:No. He just, you know, carries his weed whacker on his back and drives the lawnmower from place to place. I don't know.
Mark:He walks that lonely road alone?
Sarah:With this black eye that he pretends isn't there. What? Something wrong with my eye?
Sarah:What? What are you talking about?
Mark:Why would he, like, why would he not say
Sarah:Boxing.
Mark:I'm doing boxing now, and and I got jabbed.
Sarah:Because Frodo has this inability to tell the truth, especially when it would make him look less suspicious.
Mark:Well, luckily, he's prodding the dead body when the wife shows up.
Sarah:What would you have done? Would you just left him floating and called the police?
Mark:Okay. He has a knife in his back, and there's no blood in the water. And he's not moving. And he's not moving. He's obviously dead, and this is obviously a crime scene.
Sarah:You just called the police.
Mark:I'm just calling the police. No matter how much I love that person in the water, it's hard, but I want the person who killed that person caught, and my part in that is to not touch the scene.
Sarah:Okay. Now pretend your IQ is half of what it is and put yourself in Frodo's shoes. Oh. Get the pool.
Mark:I'm getting the pool, man. Poking him.
Sarah:And so not only do we have Frodo back, but we've got Jules back.
Mark:Yes. Jules She
Sarah:she of the former husband who had the missing hand. Right?
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:And missus Marlow and Buchanan.
Mark:Who is like and Jules Fahey has gone through a personality change. Because in the hand episode, she is the hottest detratist ever. Yeah. She's like, Mike, you need to stay over and comfort me in my bed with me comforting.
Sarah:I think after your second husband is murdered, you kinda can't play that game anymore.
Mark:But then she turns into being the hero at the end because she's gonna give as much of the money as she can get back to the people.
Sarah:Because she doesn't wanna be ostracized anymore.
Mark:Well, I also think that she doesn't wanna be, like, I'm now responsible for this criminal organization. Yeah. Yeah. There is. I'd have to probably do something
Sarah:there. I kinda feel like there's plenty, so it's not like she's gonna be totally broke. Like, I give money back to the people that I see every day.
Mark:Yeah. And I do love how incredibly fickle Dennis is. I hate her. She's the most horrible. Oh, I love her.
Sarah:Give her a second chance. He's this typical stereotypical skeezy lawyer. Right? So Watterson is getting threatening notes.
Mark:In in in gym bags. Is that how you
Sarah:Or wheelbarrows
Mark:Yeah.
Sarah:Or buckets or whatever you can fill with money, I guess.
Mark:After the first note shows up at my place in any sort of receptacle, I'm getting some cameras. Now these cameras are gonna pick up rotund Batman. It's what I'm gonna call him.
Sarah:Gym bag Batman.
Mark:Gym bag Batman. But at least they're gonna pick something up.
Sarah:I think we're supposed to assume that Watterson is too cheap to get cameras because he thinks that he can just fend off any attackers with his softball bat. I guess. He didn't he didn't wanna pave somebody else to mow his lawn because he was too cheap. That's what Jules says. So
Mark:Yeah. But that's, like again, he's a mister fancy man. He he's con like, okay. We have a reasonably sized yard. Mhmm.
Mark:It takes over an hour to mow the front and the back Mhmm. Plus trim. Mhmm. I'd say it's a 2 hour job considerably. This is maybe 5 times larger than that.
Mark:Yeah. He he's not gonna do that.
Sarah:Maybe he likes it.
Mark:He's gonna have Frodo do it.
Sarah:Just once. Just for free.
Mark:Speaking of people showing up and being crazy, Gina.
Sarah:Gina's in full effect in this episode. She is in full Russian conspiracy line.
Mark:Is, like, right into KGB assassination.
Sarah:And I have been listening to way too many history podcasts lately about the cold war. I'm like, you go, Gina. You're probably right. I just listened to, like, a 7 hour podcast about a tunnel under the Berlin Wall, and I'm like,
Sarah:that's exactly what they would do.
Mark:And then she just lists off a litany of weapons like it's a thesaurus.
Sarah:Why do Russians have so many kinds of special daggers? It's a shashka. It's a Klitsch. It's a kunjali. It's this.
Sarah:It's that. And she knows all of them apparently.
Mark:So the kunjali is a double edged dagger used in the Caucasus. Okay?
Sarah:It looks Asian to me. Have you ever been to Mongolia?
Mark:The Shamshir is a type of Persian or Iranian sword
Sarah:Mhmm.
Mark:That has a radical curve in it.
Sarah:That's the moon shaped, kinda crescent shaped.
Mark:And then a shashka is a kind of North Caucus sword saber. They all look relatively similar.
Sarah:So
Mark:And nothing like what's stuck in the shape.
Sarah:Is completely I mean, she can't see the blade, but, it's certainly not 3 feet long and curved.
Mark:No. It's a it's a dagger.
Sarah:It's a long dagger.
Mark:Frodo's design game is always on point. He's got a flyer. He's got his email address at the bottom.
Sarah:What's the name of his business now?
Mark:Frodo's lawn care, garden care. Frodo garden care.
Sarah:That's no fun. Yeah. It should be like Frodo's lawn of the shire or
Mark:something. Get your first mow for free from a black eyed freak. I hit a branch while I was mowing. How fast do you go on that thing? He's mowing fast.
Sarah:That's how he does it. That's how he does all the free lawn mowing with his lawnmower, his ride on, zoom zoom.
Mark:And the k nine unit has found a clue.
Sarah:I feel like if I were writing this, I would get to the point where I'm like, okay. We need to somehow definitively connect the crime scene to the nursing home. How are we gonna do that? I know. Crime scene dog.
Sarah:Yes. That'll do it. But then George, Batman
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:Jim Bad Batman is so huggy that he contaminates everybody at the nursing home. So they all they all smell surrender. Yeah. They all smell like the back. You're doing an awesome job.
Mark:You do.
Sarah:Yes. Right off the top, let's talk about dementia.
Mark:Okay.
Sarah:Let's decide right now whether or not this episode is making fun of people with dementia.
Mark:I don't think they're making fun of people with dementia, but they sure uses some plot armor.
Sarah:I don't think they're mocking dementia. I think they're having fun with it, And I don't know if that's okay or not.
Mark:Yeah. I don't think this show gets made now the way it is.
Sarah:I I think if I had a loved one who is suffering from dementia, I probably wouldn't find it funny because I'd be like, that's not what it's like. Yeah. And if it was like that, it'd be a lot easier. Yeah. It's not.
Sarah:So we're just getting it off the table right now.
Mark:Yep.
Sarah:We agree. You and I agree. It's kind of insensitive about dementia.
Mark:I agree.
Sarah:Okay. That being said, they're having fun with it.
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:And we're just gonna go with that. Yes. Okay.
Mark:Did you look at the weekly activity schedule? No. Monday is quiz time and, also sit and be fit.
Sarah:Mhmm.
Mark:Those are the activities on Monday. Tuesday, they do group outings. Thursday is craft time and rock rock painting.
Sarah:Okay.
Mark:Thursday, the whole day. Friday, the whole day, bingo.
Sarah:All day bingo.
Mark:I guess it's all day bingo. And Saturday, they have a dance night.
Sarah:Hey. That's not a bad week.
Mark:It's not a bad week. I could go
Sarah:for most of that stuff, to be honest. I mean, you and I are only 5 years away from being allowed to move into the assisted living here in Bloomington. Woah.
Sarah:Woah. They got pickleball.
Mark:Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. Okay.
Mark:We are a 1000000 years from that.
Sarah:No. They let yes. But they let you move in when you're 55.
Mark:Yeah. No.
Sarah:I don't wanna go there. I'm just saying. We could. They call it Sunset Manor. It's a trope in TV to call nursing homes things that sound like end of life.
Mark:Yes. It
Sarah:is. Like, withering life force manner or end of days rest home. The moral coil. That might be a little bit on the nose. One foot in the hole.
Sarah:Yeah. But sunset well, I'm
Mark:not The kicked bucket. Yeah. Welcome to the kicked bucket.
Sarah:That's no. That's a funeral home. Okay. Right? This is the about to be kicked bucket.
Sarah:The pre kicked bucket.
Mark:So it's it's all in the
Sarah:kick bucket. Twilight, sunset. Sunset.
Mark:Yeah. There's no there's no old folks home called shining dawn. Of course, that's a paramilitary organization from the seventies.
Sarah:But I'm so broken. You said doll, and I didn't know where that word was gonna end.
Sarah:I'm glad it was dawn. Like, that's a different kind of nursing home, the shining dong nursing home.
Mark:And they're on my brain because
Sarah:What is? Dongs? No. Okay.
Mark:Nursing homes. Nursing homes are on my brain because I'm reading Thursday Murder Club right now.
Sarah:Oh, Richard Osmond. It's such a good book.
Mark:It's such a good book. If you haven't read that book, you should pick it up right away.
Sarah:If you like the shows we cover, you'll love
Mark:it. Yep. You'll absolutely love it, and they're Christopher Columbus has made a movie from it, and I cannot wait to see it. And I'm, like, 50 pages into this book. Mhmm.
Mark:So Well, I've read
Sarah:I've read all of them, and I can say they're all good.
Mark:I gotta say 50 pages in, no one's dead yet.
Sarah:It happens. Don't worry about it.
Sarah:You're like, it's twilight, people. Come on. But it's set
Sarah:in a in a old folks home. That's why it's making you think of it. Yes. Watterson's dead with this dagger in his back Yes. Floating face down in the water, mere blocks away from the nursing home where his dad lives.
Mark:Yes. Whose name is Pummel, which is unfortunate.
Sarah:It's his nickname.
Mark:Bad nickname to have.
Sarah:He never takes off his boxing robe with Pummel on the back. Yep. I don't know. I think pummel's a pretty good Nick boxing nickname.
Mark:Oh, I'm not gonna change much when I'm older. I'm sorry. There might be a Leafs jersey in your future that stays on for a long time.
Sarah:No. It needs to be a Leaf's bathrobe that you have to wear every day, all day. They have so much fun with the characters in this nursing home. So there's you're doing an awesome job.
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:I love dogs. Yes. The gambler.
Mark:The the gambling lady who's like, where did Trudy go?
Sarah:I'm not saying a thing until Trudy comes back. It's gonna be a while. She's in prison.
Mark:She killed a guy
Sarah:in the last episode. I love Margaret. She just says yes to everything
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:And goes on that walker at 90 miles an hour. Yes.
Sarah:Now you're being Margaret. You keep saying it too.
Sarah:My grandmother was like that on her walker. She was so fast. She got her knees replaced, and she could go fast down the hallway of the nursing home.
Mark:So what what kind
Sarah:of saw that she just smiles and says, yes. Yes.
Mark:So what kind of nursing home attendant, nursing home resident do you think I'm gonna be like? Because I'm closer to this sunset twilight thing.
Sarah:So my theory is that when you get to a certain age, if your mental health is at a certain level, that your filters come off in a similar way to when you're kinda buzzed. Yep. So however you are when you're slightly drunk is probably how you'll be when you're old. If that's accurate, you will be super funny. You'll be really giggly and funny and way easy to get along with and really nice.
Mark:I hope so. I can't wait.
Sarah:You're not a grumpy drunk.
Mark:Man, I got so much stuff to do.
Sarah:And and how will I be?
Mark:You'll be quiet and make do lots of crafts. And tell me about how all the people down in the cafeteria are all so horrible. But you won't say that to their faces or anything
Sarah:like that. Me.
Mark:But but you will.
Sarah:That's what you think I'll be like.
Mark:But you'll be like, that person is just I don't like.
Sarah:I'm a gossip. Is that what you're saying?
Mark:No. You won't be a gossip. You won't be telling other people that.
Sarah:But Just you.
Mark:But you will be frustrated by them. And, like, your grandmother will call them the old people no matter how old they are in relation to you.
Sarah:But I won't I won't kill nearly as many as my grandma did.
Mark:And that's our true crime podcast.
Sarah:I think I mentioned it before.
Mark:I think we did.
Sarah:Edward, who we have seen a few times before, recurring character Yes. Missus Mallory's friend, is in the home, and he has really taken a turn between episodes. I don't know what happened between going to the car show and now, but But I do like he went downhill fast.
Mark:I do like that there is progression of the minor characters here.
Sarah:Yeah. It's just his is
Mark:Downhill fast.
Sarah:Really steep because he goes from, let's go to the car show to I probably I don't know.
Mark:Well, his synesthesia and forgetfulness is played as funny, and now it's a serious illness.
Sarah:Well, his siblings are looking out for him.
Mark:They are.
Sarah:Right? So Katherine Sort of.
Mark:And Wes,
Sarah:they're looking out for him.
Mark:Now okay. To this to this point, like, quite a quite a bit into the episode, I'm like, who who did it? I'm still
Sarah:I remembered who did it.
Mark:I I did not remember
Sarah:who did it. They show you pretty early on because the person who did it, the people who did it, are the only 2 who don't have dementia. Yes.
Mark:That's true.
Sarah:That's how you know.
Mark:Or I'm giving dementia.
Sarah:Because I don't consider Pummel to be the killer. No. Wes and Catherine are the killers.
Mark:Pummel is
Sarah:through conspiracy theories,
Mark:he is victimized into killing his son because he thinks it's someone else.
Sarah:But Edward well, first of all, they think missus Mallory is a money grubber.
Mark:Yeah. Like, have you met met?
Sarah:Have you met her? But he Edward tells Mike and Sims, like, right off the bat, I make a run for it every night. He does.
Mark:He absolutely does.
Sarah:But he has helped him and Batman go out every night. Like, he's telling the truth.
Mark:Jim Begg, Batman and him. I wonder in the name. That that is something. I know they're gonna have to be careful with me because I'm gonna be like, it's time to go wandering.
Sarah:I just went for a walk. Yeah. I I don't know where I am now when they say, oh, we lost Mark. No. He's not dead.
Sarah:We just lost him again. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Mark:My my dad was the kind of retired person who left the house in the morning and told my mom, I'm going to get a coffee, and he come home for dinner.
Sarah:Yeah. And she knew that's what he was gonna be like.
Mark:That that's what he was like.
Sarah:My dad
Mark:does it. Run into somebody
Sarah:he knew.
Sarah:My dad does it. He has his rounds. Yeah. You know? He goes to the dollar store.
Sarah:He goes to the McDonald's. He you know?
Mark:I am
Sarah:He's got his rounds that he makes.
Mark:I definitely have that old guy in me.
Sarah:Oh, I know. It comes out some days. So Edward's brother and sister is super protective of him. Telegraphs like like, Wes is nice, and he clearly has the lay of the land. And he kinda takes Mike aside a few times and, like, gives him the scoop on, you know, man to man.
Sarah:This is what's going on. And you like him, but you also know, having watched any number of these shows, that whoever is trying to ingratiate themselves with the cops, they did it. Yeah. They're staying close to the investigation because they did
Mark:it. Absolutely.
Sarah:So that's why I I didn't need I didn't have any trouble remembering who did it from the first time I watched it. But the first time they tell Pummel that his son is dead and he cries, it is heartbreaking.
Mark:Pummel is a good very good actor. So good. He does such a good job.
Sarah:He's played by Ian Mune. He's been in lots of other stuff that we don't know anything about. Yeah. But wow. When he starts crying, my Cassius.
Mark:Yep. It's super good.
Sarah:Heartbreaking. And then you're kind of relieved that he snaps out of it and doesn't remember. Yeah. Like, oh, okay. That's over.
Sarah:Because, wow, if he was that sad the whole episode, like, that'd be so painful to watch.
Mark:Yes. I have in my notes. This is so sad.
Sarah:And then you get George just hugging everybody. You're doing an amazing job.
Mark:So who is George?
Sarah:So George is Kahu's uncle.
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:And I think he's the relative that Kahu and Jared have in common.
Mark:Yes. I think so.
Sarah:Yeah. And played by an actor who is totally bald and shaves his head and has this weird side hair, like, stuck to his head to play this part. Yes.
Mark:It's very weird. And he says that everybody's doing a great job and hugs everybody.
Sarah:He's so sweet.
Mark:If I if I'm gonna fake dementia, that's the kind of dementia I'm gonna fake.
Sarah:What? Being nice?
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:I don't know. If I'm gonna fake dementia, it's gonna be to get away with stuff. I'd I'd What's what's in your purse, Sarah? I don't know. Why is all that candy in there?
Sarah:I don't know. I'm old. I don't remember.
Mark:I just kinda took it.
Sarah:It's mine.
Mark:I guess
Sarah:it's mine.
Mark:I
Sarah:mean, I'm gonna get away with stuff I wanna get away with.
Mark:I did not know how ahead of her time Gina was. She's closed her Facebook account.
Sarah:And told her mother not to call her anymore. Just in case. Oh my gosh. If there was actually a Russian agent in broken wood,
Sarah:Gina would be so excited.
Sarah:If there was real espionage going on, she would be so on it. I feel like she has a whole set of skills that we don't know about.
Mark:Yes. You
Sarah:know what I mean? Like, it would be Do you remember do you remember in the tick? Do do do There was that character, the sewer
Sarah:espionage
Mark:person. Up a desk drawer, and there are, like, 16 passports and a gun in there.
Sarah:Five different knives and secret phones and everything else.
Sarah:Yeah.
Sarah:Like, there's a backstory there that we don't know about. Maybe they'll reveal it at some point, but the fact that she knows all these daggers leads me to believe that she studied up on stuff.
Mark:So Wes owned a gym with Pummel. Mhmm. And his sister paints. Badly. Badly.
Mark:Like, the paintings they show later are much better.
Sarah:That tree is bad.
Mark:That's a that's a bad tree.
Sarah:I don't even care about the color. Yeah. Be expressionist with your colors. It doesn't it doesn't do a tree justice.
Mark:And we find out there's a class action suit against the dead guy
Sarah:Yeah.
Mark:Led by our friend, Dennis Buchanan.
Sarah:They go on and on about how secure the nursing home is. We know that it's not. Right?
Mark:No one it is the most unsecure thing ever.
Sarah:But they're talking to Lydia, who's the manager of the nursing home. Yes. The cops are about how many doors are locked and how they right? Then Kahu walks in the door to take his uncle out for a walk. Yep.
Sarah:And doesn't sign him up. Doesn't. Doesn't do anything. They just leave. Like, Lydia was just right there saying they have to sign out
Mark:Yeah.
Sarah:And sign back in, and then he doesn't.
Mark:And there appears to be no locks on any of the doors they think they are except for the storeroom.
Sarah:Yeah. Otherwise, just in and out anytime you want.
Mark:So how does Christopher Kramer get involved again? He lives. But does he call the cops?
Sarah:No. He, Breen is doing a door to door.
Mark:That's right.
Sarah:Breen is
Mark:doing a door to door.
Sarah:And comes up to Kramer's house. Now which completely blacked out.
Mark:We've had Wiggy. We've had Wigtown because remember, Breen said that somebody lived in Wigtown. Yeah. But now we're in planet Wiggy. This is a whole planet of Wiggy.
Sarah:If you're gonna block out your front door, your glass front door, and leave just, like, a little letter box where you can see. Why would you put it at waist height? I mean, I realized that's where letter boxes are because that makes it easy to put the letter through, but it's not a letter box. It's a peephole, and you should put it at eye height. Kramer looks like Timothee Chalamet.
Mark:He does. He is he's discount Timothee Chalamet. Absolutely. And we have discount Batman in this episode too. We have a lot of discount count.
Sarah:You've got dollar store Batman. You've got slight discount, Timothee Chalamet. If you don't know who Timothee Chalamet is, he is the main actor in the new Dune series. He played Willy Wonka in the new Charlie's Choco Factory movie.
Mark:Jay, he's Bob Dylan in the new Bob Dylan movie.
Sarah:And he was in, Wes Anderson couple of Wes Anderson movies. And yeah. He's a young, very handsome actor with a very square jaw.
Mark:Yes. The kids do love him right now. He's popular.
Sarah:If you're under 25, oh, Timothy Chalamet. We're too old for that. But Kramer, the guy who plays Kramer, his name is Milo Cawthorn. He looks a lot like Tim. He does.
Sarah:He could've showed up at that Timothy Chalamet look alike contest.
Mark:He could've. Did you notice how pale Breen is in this scene? He's like whitey white white.
Sarah:Okay. He's a redhead. He is pale. It's what he is.
Mark:Speak well and it's not the wind. Like, it's cold out again.
Sarah:Yeah. When when Sims and Kahu are at the park, you can see their breath. Yeah. The Ducks are doing an amazing job. He's, you know, he's faking it.
Sarah:He's doing a really good he's doing an amazing job. He's sticking with the bed. In.
Sarah:And then we find out about Klisnick.
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:Pummel is angry about Klisnick.
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:Bloody Klisnick. And we find out that he is somebody who broke Pummel's undefeated record.
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:And he was the last person that he ever boxed.
Mark:And stole his wife.
Sarah:And stole his wife. Well, he didn't steal her. She went with him. He's got a bit of a grudge against Kliznik.
Mark:He does. So that preps us. Mhmm. Then we go back to Batman. Because now we have video of Batman, and the biggest problem I have with this episode is they see the video of Batman.
Mark:Okay?
Sarah:Mhmm.
Mark:And they could I think it's Sims goes, that could be anybody at the old age home. I'm like, no. No. It couldn't. It's not Margaret.
Mark:It's not Margaret.
Sarah:Batman with a walker.
Mark:No. It's it's not, the missus m's friend. No. He doesn't have that building.
Sarah:It's not Edward. It's it's pummel or You can see the baldness of his head
Mark:Yeah.
Sarah:On the top.
Mark:Like, it's pretty easy to guess
Sarah:who he is. Down. Yeah. Yeah. It's George.
Sarah:George is is Jim Bag Batman.
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:Which is just so fun to say. Meanwhile
Mark:I have in my notes. No. It's pummel or George.
Sarah:Meanwhile, Edward is stuck in Pluto. Yes. I killed him with a rope in the library.
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:I killed him with a pipe in the kitchen.
Mark:There's a reference in that scene to strip jack.
Sarah:Yeah. The other old lady likes to play strip jack. The one who liked to play, with, Trudy.
Mark:So strip jack is a card game for kids, which other names include beggar my neighbor or beat your neighbor out of doors.
Sarah:Like, beat your neighbor outside?
Mark:I guess.
Sarah:Wait a minute. It's a strip game for kids?
Mark:Oh, okay. It's called strip jack, but that has nothing to do it's not like strip poker.
Sarah:Oh, okay. Okay. I was like, these are kids taking their clothes off outside, playing cards. This is wrong.
Mark:Conversely, strip poker always, for me, seemed like a complicated way to get people to get undressed.
Sarah:Yeah.
Mark:When this is a much easier game, it's a lot like war.
Sarah:Right? Okay.
Mark:You try to to flip cards over until there's a face card, and then they have to do a certain thing
Sarah:Take off their clothes. Card,
Mark:and whoever's left wins the game. Okay. Like, it would the game would finish quickly and has ample opportunity for clothing removal. If you're not kids.
Sarah:Or neighbors. It's beggar your neighbor. Right? Not bugger your
Mark:neighbor.
Sarah:No. It's beat your neighbor. Oh, beat your neighbor?
Mark:Yes. Or or beggar, my neighbor.
Sarah:I would say, you said beggar before. I am sure. I didn't invent that. I didn't turn beat into bugger.
Mark:I love how Christopher Kramer has a space blanket.
Sarah:You have a space blanket?
Sarah:I can go with you.
Mark:And then we find out that Breen believes in aliens.
Sarah:I believe in aliens.
Mark:I know. So do I.
Sarah:I don't think they visited us, but I think they must be out there.
Mark:I love how how Kramer's like, the aliens are back. Yeah. Breeze like, turn them on. Turn them on. Oh, yeah.
Mark:Turn them on. Turn them off again.
Sarah:Is he being controlled by aliens? Before that though, Gina shows up at the police station with her big theory and stabs Sims in the back with a ruler Yes. And says, if the victim was kneeling, it could have been done by a dwarf. She's got she's got a KGB file all ready to go.
Mark:The the funny thing is she's as crazy as Kramer.
Sarah:They should never meet.
Mark:No. Never. No. Definitely not. Breen has a an anniversary coming up also.
Mark:4 years with Roxy. And he's bought her a
Sarah:don't get to see.
Mark:No. He's bought her a
Sarah:If you go out for your anniversary, you arrive together. Yeah. They live together. Why don't they get to the restaurant together? I don't know.
Sarah:So we can't see her.
Mark:That's why. He's purchased her a gift.
Sarah:An Xbox.
Mark:That's what
Sarah:she wants.
Mark:It's what she wants because she loves the moral combat.
Sarah:Hey. At least it's not like stripper simulator or something.
Mark:No. I think it's I think it's a way for them to make fun of Breen that is that people that age would make fun of him make fun of him, but is it an actual, like He's buying her something he knows she wants. She wants that.
Sarah:Now the question is, what does she get him? Yeah. Does she get him something stupid
Mark:or something come back.
Sarah:Or something he actually wants? Yeah. We don't know.
Mark:We don't know.
Sarah:We don't know whether she's a good girlfriend or not.
Mark:We go to the brothers and sisters' place to get some clues. The clues are the paintings.
Sarah:You think the clue is the knife.
Mark:You think it is, but it's not that.
Sarah:Because you think it's not gonna be there. Yeah. But it is. But it's not
Mark:you're like, oh, well, then obviously
Sarah:I guess I was wrong about that.
Mark:Guess they didn't do it. So she has 3 portraits. She has Edmund Hillary, who's the New Zealander who climbed Everest first.
Sarah:Mhmm.
Mark:Which I even hate saying that. The 1st westerner
Sarah:Yeah.
Mark:To climb Everest.
Sarah:Right. Like, it's He had guides Yeah. Who had been there before.
Mark:Who had been there before. And then she has Helen Clark who's the 37th prime minister of New Zealand, the first women prime minister, Tola, and Katherine Shepherd, which she says is a relative of Mike's.
Sarah:She paints landscapes and up close portraits. Yes. Really up close portraits.
Mark:So Katherine Shepherd was a suffragette, and she moved from England basically to start a suffragette movement in a place that hadn't had one.
Sarah:Was that before or after women got to vote in Great Britain? Before. Oh, so they weren't making any traction in the UK, so she went to New Zealand to try it there.
Mark:Think so. I need to do more reading up on it. But but she is the coolest monument thing ever.
Sarah:Okay.
Mark:So there's a whole square for her named the shepherd square around the New Zealand parliament.
Sarah:Mhmm.
Mark:So it's it's got all these plants and monuments and all this stuff. But the 8 intersections around it, the walk sign in the little walk don't walk
Sarah:Mhmm.
Mark:Is a portrait of her like a silhouette of her walking.
Sarah:What's the don't walk? I don't know.
Mark:Oh. Probably says don't walk, hopefully.
Sarah:So she gives you permission to walk. But she's
Mark:she I'll I'll put a picture of it in
Sarah:the That's awesome.
Mark:Show notes. But I bet she's the only human that has that memorial to them.
Sarah:That has a walk sign figure Yeah. Based on them.
Mark:Yeah.
Sarah:Unless there's a really odd circle headed rectangle body person out there.
Mark:I don't know. Joe Schmoe.
Sarah:They could be based on somebody, and we just don't know it.
Mark:We could.
Sarah:They just I think if we saw them, we'd know. They're pretty weird looking. But Like,
Mark:that that has to be a super unique thing in the world.
Sarah:That's cool. Yeah. I I think that the coolest walk signs I've seen were ones where instead of just walking, the figure danced.
Mark:Yes. And I like those. But this
Sarah:But but not they didn't look like
Mark:this specific person. Cool.
Sarah:That's neat.
Mark:I I thought I I was going through a Wikipedia page, and I'm like, why is there
Sarah:a stoplight? Yeah.
Mark:And then I knew. I was like, oh, okay.
Sarah:Cool. So the knife that kills Watterson is a knife that Pummel got as a gift from a boxer that he beat called Yes. Hashimoto Jones. Yes. And Hashimoto also gave Wes, Pummel's coach, a knife too.
Mark:So there's 2 of these knives.
Sarah:I'm glad that they don't let Pummel have it in the sheath on
Mark:the wall in his room. Yeah.
Sarah:That's a good choice.
Mark:That's a good choice.
Sarah:I don't trust Pummel with a knife for obvious reasons.
Mark:And Pummel, like like, no one comes out and says it, but, basically, it's implied that a lifetime of boxing
Sarah:Yeah.
Mark:Has made you have dementia and violent episodes. He has he has a violent episode that's not related to anything.
Sarah:Well, does he? Because he keeps saying I killed Kliznik, and he thinks he did.
Mark:Yes.
Sarah:It is related.
Mark:It's it's obviously him trying to deal with it.
Sarah:But many older boxers I mean, Muhammad Ali developed Parkinson's from boxing. Right? Yeah. From the brain injuries. So
Mark:The the effects of repeated knocking on the brain are something that sports is only beginning to understand, not to get on a soapbox, but the NHL does not do enough about it. No. And they should do more. It's just it's plain and simple. You get your brain knocked around in the brain.
Sarah:Gonna do damage to it.
Mark:It's gonna do damage to it.
Sarah:Edward should have a Robin costume. Don't you think?
Mark:That would be the best.
Sarah:Because George is leaving. Yeah. He keep Edward keeps showing up to go with him.
Mark:It never says, why do you have a Batman costume?
Sarah:Never. It never says that. He's just like, okay. You want me to wait under this light? Okay.
Sarah:He should be standing there in a Robin costume.
Mark:That would be fantastic.
Sarah:That would be awesome. And it wouldn't give anything away. They would just be like, Edward's crazy. I don't know what he's talking about. I could kiss you, Gina.
Sarah:Why don't you? And he's he's gone before she even says it.
Mark:In an instant. Instant
Sarah:I'm surprised she doesn't close her eyes and stick her lips out.
Mark:And then we have the saddest 20 minutes of the episode.
Sarah:Oh my gosh. It is probably the cruelest murder we've ever covered. It's gotta be in the top 5. It's horrible. And yet and I don't fault them for it.
Sarah:The way they treat it in the episode does not confront that. If they did, it would clash so badly with the rest of the episode, so I don't blame them for doing it. But wow. When the writer thought, I know I'll have the brother and sister tell the most dementia overwhelmed patient
Mark:Who is the son of the murder victim.
Sarah:The father of the murder victim.
Mark:I'm sorry.
Sarah:Father. We will trick this poor dementia laden man into killing his own son. Yeah. Because we can. Because he won't remember.
Sarah:Because he won't know what he's doing.
Mark:Over money.
Sarah:Over money. Now they're not doing it out of greed. No. No. They've been betrayed.
Sarah:They deserve to be very angry. But to take advantage of a vulnerable person like that when you are perfectly fit and could stab him yourself.
Mark:I I'm gonna say they deserve to be angry, but they live in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. They still have a lot of their life.
Sarah:Yeah. They may be renting, but they're not homeless.
Mark:They're not homeless.
Sarah:One of them doesn't have cancer and can't afford treatment or something because of him. Like Investment involves risk.
Mark:Yep. So you say it's not greed, and I agree with that, but it's almost kinda greed.
Sarah:But they're not doing it to get money, I guess, is what I'm saying.
Mark:No. No.
Sarah:But I think what they're thinking is they're thinking of pummel like a weapon that they can use without any guilt. We didn't do it. Yeah. He did it. Yeah.
Sarah:And I think they think that if Watterson turned around and saw who was stabbing him, that he would see his dad, and he wouldn't fight him. Yeah. But they hate each other. But they're so It's so callous.
Mark:So callous and calculated. It's horrible.
Sarah:Wes is perfectly fit enough to stab Watterson in the back. Yep. They could have done it themselves. They did not need to involve him. No.
Sarah:It is absolutely cruel.
Mark:Yep. They they involved him
Sarah:Because they could.
Mark:To make it more cruel.
Sarah:Yeah. Yeah. And really cruel to somebody who had nothing to do with it. Yeah. Because Watterson never knew it was on his own dad stabbing him.
Sarah:He didn't know. But now Pummel has to live with it. And he may not remember it completely, but it clearly haunts him.
Mark:And then we have a weird montage of scenes at the end that are both heartwarming and incredibly sad. Yeah. So we have, what's her name, the wife, and Dennis say they're gonna release the funds. Mhmm. They're gonna find the funds and release them to the people.
Mark:So if they had waited 2 weeks, all this would have been done. Or no. No. No. Sorry.
Sarah:Because Watterson would have never done it. Right? Mhmm. But they if they had killed him, it would have happened. They didn't need to involve Pummel.
Mark:Then we have missus m reading to Edward, which is the sweetest thing ever.
Sarah:Yeah. Because they're all escape books. Yeah. But yeah. It they're clearly friends.
Mark:Like, it's so sweet. And then we have Breen with his giant Xbox waiting on Roxy.
Sarah:Is she gonna show?
Mark:I think so.
Sarah:Okay.
Mark:She's involved with him later on when he leaves.
Sarah:Given her the present at home He could've. After dinner or something.
Mark:He dresses up nice. He at least he sees it as an occasion.
Sarah:And Sims goes to play chess with Kahu in his bathroom.
Mark:With the with the subtle indication that maybe this is a door opening here.
Sarah:In his bathroom.
Mark:Into his bathroom.
Sarah:It's right inside the door. His shower is fricked there. It's weird. He's a put together guy, though.
Mark:He is.
Sarah:I like him.
Mark:I do too.
Sarah:Too bad he doesn't, like, come back or whatever.
Mark:No. He goes away. He goes away.
Sarah:Unexplained he goes away.
Mark:I well, we don't know if it's unexplained goes away.
Sarah:There's a little
Mark:extra time. Watching through these shows, I'm like, oh, yeah. I forgot that happened. Edward showing up, like, 5 times. I forgot about that.
Sarah:Wes and Catherine are in the cells. They had better due time.
Mark:Oh, yeah.
Sarah:Because they committed murder. They used Pummel as a weapon. They used a vulnerable person as a weapon.
Mark:And I think even Dennis, who is not the best lawyer, could argue that Pummel doesn't
Sarah:That he's he's innocent.
Mark:He's innocent.
Sarah:He has no idea what he did. Yeah. And would not have been there if it weren't for them and would not have done it if they hadn't tricked him and yeah. But then when Mike is sitting with Pummel in the gym Yeah. It's so sweet.
Mark:It is.
Sarah:Because, you know, if he was gonna arrest him, he'd be doing it. Yep. He's not gonna do that.
Mark:He's not gonna do that. And the last thing I have is Pummel is such a good actor. Yeah. That's why I have in my notes.
Sarah:Really, really good actor. It's a fun episode with a really sad end. It's just cruel is the only word I can think of. It just and sad because Katherine and Wes aren't like you said, they're not doing that bad. It's unfortunate that they're not having their retirement that they planned, but there are brother and sister sharing a house.
Sarah:She gets to paint all day. Yep. Neither of them is going and working at McDonald's or Walmart or something.
Mark:Even if they are, they're still alive and
Sarah:young and But now they're gonna go to prison
Mark:Yeah.
Sarah:At their age.
Mark:Now they're going
Sarah:to prison.
Mark:Gonna be fun. No.
Sarah:Not at all. Do you
Mark:think Wes is gonna run the gym in the prison? Probably. Yeah.
Sarah:Because he's kind of fundamentally a good guy. He's that guy. I'm actually
Mark:would have thought that he may be fed. Maybe we shouldn't do this.
Sarah:Maybe he'll throw her under the bus in court.
Mark:Maybe. I would have.
Sarah:My big sister made me do it. You're 70 years old. Yeah. So she's still my big sister. She bullied me.
Sarah:I don't know.
Mark:Well, big sisters can be like that.
Sarah:That is as if nothing had happened.
Mark:Which and I don't like the title either.
Sarah:Mhmm. Because something did happen. Yeah. Nobody's actually gonna forget it. We have ended on such a down note.
Mark:We have, but what we're talking
Sarah:about dongs and buggers, and now we're talking about cruelty of vulnerable people.
Mark:So the the newsletter comes out on the 5th February, and on 10th February, we will be starting season 5 episode 1, scared to death. Mhmm. It's got a carnival. It's got carnies. It's got a haunted house.
Mark:Baby, you're talking my language right there. Then February 17th, a week later, we get the bride episode. If you remember, that bride episode is bonkers.
Sarah:Every show like Midsummer and Brokenwood and Murdoch has a carnival episode and a wedding episode. Yep. You just have to do it. Yep. I'm all about it.
Sarah:So until then.
Mark:Bye, maniacs.
Sarah:Bye, maniacs.
Mark:Thanks for joining us on the Mystery Maniacs podcast. If you enjoyed our crazy podcast today, don't miss out on future episodes. Follow us on social media for updates, behind the scenes content, and exclusive sneak peeks. Subscribe, like, and share to spread the word. Bye, maniacs.
Mark:The next newsletter comes out on the 5th November.
Sarah:You mean February?
Mark:February. Why don't
Sarah:you try that again?
