Small Talk

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Listener Email

FROM: Elbe V
SUBJECT: I didn’t say it was good, I said I liked it.

Hi Joel and Lou

I was listening to one of the recent episodes of the podcast and you said that you had just started watching The Haunting of Bly Manor. I watched both of The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor back to back one weekend while I was sick with a stomach flu.

I’m a horror buff with little to no standards when it comes to horror. I love clichés and tolerate plot holes. Five twenty-somethings going to a cabin in the middle of the woods hear a scream and they decide to split up with no flashlights? I eat that up!

You can probably feel the “but” that I’m about to say, so I’ll just say it. The Haunting of Bly Manor was not good. The acting gets a little better, but it’s still not great. I think the aupair is the worst at that. The dramatic “It’s you, it’s me, it’s us.” scene in the lake was supposed to be thrilling but I felt nothing. Cheap jump scares. The whole thing went on for too long, meaning there were needless filler in the episodes. All in all, not a great show from a company that has the means and money like Netflix does.

But – the second big but of this email – I liked it. I think it could be that the show was just what I needed to have on the TV while I was sick, and not that it was actually a great show. But I liked it. Also, I blasted the show for mediocre acting but I think the cook Owen and the housekeeper Hannah were definitely exceptions, those two were Amazing!

So. How did you like the show? Do you have any “I didn’t say it was good, I said that I liked it” kind of shows or other media? Love the podcast, here’s to the almost 400 episodes of great content! 

Signing off,

Elbe V

What We’re Watching

• The Mandalorian, Chapter 10 (Disney+)

• WestWorld, Season 3 (HBO)

• The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
  • The Queen’s Gambit (IMDB)

What We’re Reading

• Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovich (Goodreads)