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- Bobby's Snacks Vol. 15: See the World in a Swirl of Hues
Bobby's Snacks Vol. 15: See the World in a Swirl of Hues
Bob Raymonda
April 28, 2024
Happy #AudioDramaSunday, Nerds!
This week has been another one of those weeks where it felt like it was over before it even started. I had my first ever little team retreat with all of Hapik USA, and while I’ve sat through more than a few of these in my day, it was a genuinely nice time. It was great to actually get to meet our CA and TX managers, and I’m a sucker for an escape room (even if we did shamelessly need quite a few more than the three allotted hints). After we wrapped that up, I got to see Gatsbys American Dream last night for the first time in almost 20 years, and they were just as good as they were the last time I saw them in 2006, if not better. I’ll be writing a whole lot more about that experience for you to read tomorrow, but seeing them again after all this time felt like a full circle moment for me, and I sincerely hope that it’s just the beginning of their return.
But, you came here for the podcasts, didn’t you? Good, because this week slapped.
So, while I’ve loved getting to follow along with the terrifying ascendance of Moc Weepe amongst the Upper Trust, getting to spend an episode with our heroes was extremely gratifying. Secrets were unveiled, plans for escape were enacted, shaky alliances strengthened, doubles were uncovered, and a found family was solidified. We’re entering the endgame, and the needle drop in the final moments of this episode only promises more to come, but the change of pace this week was a welcome one.
200 episodes. In less than a year. What a fucking triumph for Lauren Shippen over at Atypical Artists. To have such a prestigious creator go back to their roots this deep into their career is frankly, heartwarming. Shippen has been this guidepost for the rest of us working in this community for so long: achieving hard-won collaborations alongside some of the biggest names in the business, and to see that her passion for the medium is still going this strong after all this time gives me hope. And the work itself? Astounding stuff! We’ve got post-apocalyptic vibes that might actually be alternate pocket dimension reality vibes? And that reveal on Friday? That it was [SPOILER REDACTED] and that [SPOILER REDACTED] was actually [SPOILER REDACTED]? Incredible stuff.
A big week over here in the St. Patricks’s community. First up, we featured the pilot episode of Visionaries Audio Drama, an absolute personal favorite of mine these days. After that, I finished writing the first full script for season 4, which is tentatively titled The Figs of Magdalene and I am incredibly hyped for. THEN, EVEN STILL: we released our Arbor Day Special! It’s Turtles All the Way Down is a special episode for our team in a lot of ways: Meredith’s initial pet turtle, Shellbert, is named after a turtle that Jack Marone has had since he was a kid. She still lives at home with him to this day. Beyond that, we’ve added a bunch of easter eggs to our own childhoods in Upstate NY, and included a healthy dose of our own environmental hatred of golf courses as a concept entirely. We also cast Mary Benjamin, one of Sam’s coworkers who is a big fan of the show, and is just as obsessed with wrestling as her character. Coming soon, our first ever episode sequel predicated on a long running and stupid inside joke among our core team, and an entire summer of crossovers! I’m so happy to get to continue to do what I do.
This is my first time covering this show since I was able to get an early listen to their first three episodes before it officially premiered! And gosh, even after only four episodes, coming back to spend some time with Malik and Jamie felt like going home. Their friendship is so deeply developed, and we even got to pull the curtain back on their separation via acid-rain-drenched road trip odyssey, and the lingering frustrated feelings that they’ve both held onto. It was a treacherous journey for our friend, and while things were a bit calmer at her dad’s house once she got there, she’d make the trek all over again. Because being with her family in such an uncertain situation was important to her. And while Malik may have reacted poorly, in the middle of the night, when she first decided to go on that journey, he understands that need. And is just glad that they still get to spend the time together they do have, on the airwaves. Right where we need the both of them.
I can only imagine how difficult this show’s finale is going to be after an episode like this one. The team decides to celebrate Christmas, even though none of them are quite sure if the date’s are right, other than Gwaine who, Arthur always made to keep a calendar. Though Morgan suspects he may just be pandering to his own namesake’s myth. But for a little while, everything seems to be okay… that is, until Arthur and his merry little band of LARPers come looking to knock down their door. A tense confrontation that promises to give us a possibly explosive resolution in the coming weeks. But for now, I’ll just try and bask in their brief celebratory vibes, while I bite my nails in anticipation of their return.
Travis’ life kind of sucks. Any fan of this show already knew that. It was apparent in season one when he made blunt comments to Graham about trying to sleep with Morgan during their separation. But we see it in much starker contrast now, after Graham has become Graham/Joshua and moved fully into Red Camp, and Morgan has become a nomad, leaving Travis to go on bad online dates with women who he can only think to talk about his friends to. So we shouldn’t be at all surprised when we find out that Travis has [SPOILERS REDACTED], trying to grasp at some sort of vague semblance of his old life, but we should definitely be a little [SPOILERS REDACTED] about the whole situation.
Ted Fucking Danson. My god. The fact that they were able to pay off such a long running joke by casting the man himself in order to come calling for the Beef and Dairy Network’s longstanding grain debt was nothing short of a miracle. And while it shouldn’t be a surprise, the sitcom legend’s comedic timing fits in perfectly with such a wildly specific world. Hearing advertisements for his newest business venture, the Grain Bank of America, was hilarious, and having him be both kind of omniscient and vaguely threatening was a masterpiece. I’m so glad that this show still exists.
Working with kids can be a difficult prospect. You never quite know if you’re going to be able to pull the performance you need from them, unless you yourself can successfully find a way onto their level… and god damn, does the whole team nail it here. Every single member of the ensemble was given the chance to make their mark with this simultaneously intense and contemplative script across its tight 50 minutes. I also love that we can go back to this early in the timeline and already see some of the behaviors that make the infected of this world different than the run of the mill kind you find in most zombie media, and that’s gratifying as heck!
The chemistry between Cali and Hannah on this show is so palpable, even when they’re taking some much needed time apart. Despite the fact that they’re each doing something that drives the other up the wall at this point in the story, it’s so clear that there is a deep and abiding love between the two of them that absolutely cannot be broken. In another area of the Wasteland, things get both hot and tense between Morgan and Rictor over a hot tub confrontation post settlement raid (which was a little confounding at all, considering the fact that one of them was a zombie). It was a wild episode all around, but you really cannot convince me that there’s a performer in this medium with as much range as Leslie Gideon. She can go from innocent, caring kid to terrifying and heartless villain at the drop of a dime, and she deserves all the flowers in the world for that kind of well-earned talent.
BONUS SNACK
Radio Silence absolutely rules as a directing duo. I’ve known it since I stumbled across Ready or Not back in 2019, I knew it when they put out two fantastic Scream movies, and I knew it right away when I saw the trailer for this flick late last year. There’s an absolutely stacked cast, a fun premise, and explosive gore galore. Ultimately, there’s no better failure in the modern rush toward turning everything into a cinematic universe than Universal’s attempt at rebooting The Mummy, especially since they’ve since done a complete 180 and allowed different creators to craft new ideas in the genre without having to tie everything together. On top of that, it was great to see them still working with Melissa Barrera after Spyglass Entertainment fired her from Scream VII for voicing support for Palestine during its ongoing genocide by Israel. And while it may have been filmed before that happened, it was clear from their press tour that their support was mutual.