The Way Home - S03E06 - Ain't No Sunshine (2025) ft. Ryan Pappolla

[00:00:00] I hate that for you. Hi, I'm Brad and I love The Way Home. I'm Ryan. I watch the show. I'm Dan. Those aren't my notes either.

[00:00:09] Deck The Hallmark gets this podcast. Hi everybody. Welcome. Let's get this out of the way. Have you found your notes?

[00:00:33] Yeah, no. I'm good. I'm good. I was... Note gate 25. That's right. No, they're there. I opened up my notes app, which isn't where my notes are. I was looking at my 90s con priority list. That's not what I need. Yeah, Mark Paul Gossler now has three days there. All right. Interesting. So you brought that up and so clearly you want to talk about it. Give us your 90s con priority list. It's kind of layered. Are you sure? Sure. Listen, are you kidding me? When has this ever not been layered? All right. So I met Mark Paul a few years ago, but I do need to meet him one more time.

[00:01:04] I'm going to have him sign. I'm going to make a baseball card from his character from pitch and have him sign. Are you going to do a make AI do that? Are you going to do it yourself? No, no, no. I'm going to use real. I have made AI images of Mark Paul on pitch, but they're not to my liking. So I'm going to use a real image. You are so sick. Actually, I can probably find that real quick. Hold on. You are so sick. Hold on. Hold on. I can find that real quick. I'm not bailing you out of anywhere. Yeah. Okay. Here we go. And you said it plural. Like you've made multiple.

[00:01:30] So here, here's, yeah. I mean, here's him holding the world series. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Um, so, but I was like, you know what? I'll just make the baseball card to be clear though. Like Alyssa hasn't left you, right? No, she's in the other, she's in the other room. Mark Paul meeting Ryan Popola, seeing that someone made him a baseball card from a TV show. He hasn't done in almost a decade. It was almost a decade. And please sign it. They did 10 episodes. Yeah. I don't know how any of anyone in that story sleeps at night.

[00:02:01] Uh, we really hit it off the last time. I'm sure it'll go swimmingly. He's going to remember you. Yeah. Yeah. No. Um, and so then I think that number one, that's one on the list. Uh, well, I mean, God, this has to be a separate point. That's pending baseball card creation though. Right. Well, Zazzle says they can take care of it. The only fear is that Zazzle says I can't use a real image of a real person, but I think it will be fine. Like I think it will be fine. Like we'll use the AI then. Yeah. Ooh, Brian, I like the way you're thinking.

[00:02:29] And your cute little sweater. Um, so then, uh, decom descendant fans, uh, will like this. I'm going to meet all three Lawrence brothers. Um, yeah. Um, well, here's the thing, Dan, you might not even know this. Here's the thing. Um, did you know that Joey Lawrence was the voice of Oliver and Oliver and company? I did actually know that. And Billy Joel wrote the song, which I love, but, uh, that is crazy. Are you going to bring him an AI image of a real dog?

[00:02:54] I have a Disney. I have no, that would be ridiculous. Although write that down for later. That's interesting. What can AI do with Oliver and company? That's interesting. I have a Disney store. Well, I bought one just recently, a Disney store lithograph of Oliver and company. Oh my God. Yeah. And so I, Oliver and company is one of my favorite Disney movies. I didn't know that he was the voice until a few years ago. That's very exciting.

[00:03:17] Every Ryan, when you're, when you are a hundred plus and you somehow pass away, God trying to live a long time. Yeah. Uh, and your kids and your children's children all find this information out. They're going to be so sad because you were a light to all that you were around, but they're going to be real disappointed to go to this wheel. Hey, I feel like, Hey, listen, like you joke and this is off topic, but that helmet's only going to appreciate and value. Like, you know, if nothing else,

[00:03:45] but can you imagine the grand kid that gets the Oliver and company? What was it again? Lithograph. Lithograph. Lithograph. Lithograph. From the Disney store. There's a brand. You'll like this. Tell me, I leave my Oliver and co-lithograph. There's a Disney store. Signed by Joey Lawrence against his will. There's a, I'm giving him 50 bucks. Like, you know, uh, like. He's going to need it for those alimony payments or whatever. They're back together. We got to, we got to, we got to, we got to force it off. Sorry.

[00:04:15] We got to run through this quick. People actually like the way home and they don't want to hear about my stupid toys. Right. They may not want to hear this episode. They may want to hear this more if they liked the way home. Uh, Andy Lawrence is going to sign a, uh, one Saturday morning activity book. Um, I can bring that up real quick actually. Uh, uh, hold on. Maybe I can't, uh, this, this new, uh, this new iPhone photo app is just the pits. It's the pits. Um, that's why I never, that's why I never update my phone brother. All right.

[00:04:44] If you're on Philo, I don't know how well you can, is the light getting it good? Perfect. You're good. Yeah. Whoa. That's pretty good. You're going to have, uh, for the middle. You're going to have TJ. So Matt is the, is the maybe, uh, what do you mean? Maybe like you don't want to talk to him or maybe he's not going to be there. I've met him before. Um, like, uh, stop being so cool, Ryan. Yeah. Um, so, uh, Matt was, this isn't going to go well.

[00:05:14] Matt was on a, uh, Matt was on a show called, uh, uh, uh, he's on a Power Ranger ripoff called superhuman samurai cyber squad. God almighty. God almighty. I don't. And I, so here's, this will be surprising. I didn't really watch the show. Um, but I do have three Gordy watches like, uh, of the, of the show of the, of the character. He was the main character servo. And one of them is one of the things where it's like, if you flip it, it's like you

[00:05:41] see Matt Lawrence's face and then you see the Power Ranger ripoff. And on the side of that watch, there's a really good slot for an autograph. And so I think some white paint pen right on the side there could really sing, but you're just thinking that that's not set in stone yet. That's not set in stone. Cause I might also meet Brian Austin green and have him sign a human torch figure. Brian Austin green is just a made up name, right? He's just a regular human. Who is that? From the 90210. Oh, the 90210. No, he was a human samurai cyber squad.

[00:06:11] Cyber spelt with an S. Yeah. What's up with that? So what did Brian Austin green do that you want to sign? What is he going to sign for you? He was the voice of the human torch in the nineties. Fantastic four cartoon. He also dated Tiffany Thieson in the nineties for anyone who's interested. So pretty cool guy. Is that the order? Is there anything else left? Oh, well, what we'll definitely do me and my old roommate, shout out to Sean. Sean, shout out. We, when we, you know, we, uh, I lived with him during the pandemic. We binged a lot of shows, including brotherly love starring the Lawrence.

[00:06:40] I watched one episode and was like, I would rather gouge my eyes out. Show was great. Great Christmas episode. Brand write that down. Uh, a Roman Christmas is the name of the episode. Roman Christmas. Yeah. Well, that's the Roman family. Coliseum. No, no, no. They're just, their last name is Roman. I got it. I got it. And so I have a, I have a, they worked at an auto body shop and I have a Roman customizing, a custom shirt, whatever the heck, you know, and I'm going to ask Sean to get the same thing. And then we, we take the group photo with the Lawrence brothers.

[00:07:09] Um, and right now that's it, but they did just announce Wilfred Dell and Ryder Strong. Whoa. Right now. I think both of them as well though, you know? So you're going to do it in quick, man. I mean, you're going to drop five, 600 bucks. Oh, a couple hundred. Easy. A couple hundred. So what, how does that, that's not, that's not eBay money, right? No. That doesn't count as eBay money. No, no. But that's, that's, that's the, uh, you know, you take it out in cash of the bank weeks ahead and then it doesn't even feel like you're spending. That's exactly right. That's how you do it. It's all about how you feel. Yeah.

[00:07:37] So I'll take, if that's in late March, I'll take that out in like early March, let it sit in the wallet for a couple of weeks. And then it's like, wow, I didn't lose a dime. Hey, I gotta be honest. Is Brotherly Loves a Roman Holiday? Is that on your, uh, watch list every year? Oh yeah. That was part of the a hundred. Yeah. What was that? October? No, no, no. That's, uh, all the big time Christmas episodes I watch basically like a week and a half. You would consider that a big time Christmas episode? I pair it with, uh, cause of the Matt Lawrence connection.

[00:08:04] I pair it with, uh, the boy meets and girl meets world, uh, Christmas episodes. So yeah. Wow. The Aaron Shay had the IMDb pulled up in season one. The Roman Holiday episode is the IMDb that I can see is the IMDb user worst rated aside from witchcraft. It's the worst rated IMDb user rated episode in the entire season at 7.4. Aside from witchcraft. It's right there with the sleepover show. It's not the passing grade, Dan.

[00:08:32] I mean, if, uh, if, uh, but like the rest of these are like giving me a 74, I nine, 8.2, 8.2. It's the second lowest of 23 episodes. I don't even have a rating. Yeah. A couple of them don't, but all of the, like this is wild at Roman holiday. It's your week of Christmas viewing. I'm going to, I know that I know this show. I do know this show. I remember when you watched one episode, I watched when it came out. You're such a fraud. Yeah. I'm such a what? A fraud?

[00:09:02] You're such a fraud. You know this show. Like, you know, brink, like, you know, all these things. I watched the premiere of this show. Fran and I like. When it aired. When it aired, Ryguy. I watched the premiere of this episode. I know it wasn't Oppenheimer. If I watch Roman holiday, am I going to enjoy it? Or not? I say here's what, listen, I don't have any say in the schedule for Bramble Fest, but I say we take it to the tape.

[00:09:30] Roman holiday D3, a little, uh, a little twofer and, uh, we'll see how it goes. Yeah. Roman holiday D3. Let's car, let's carve out two hours. Everyone's been asking. Let's carve out two hours in Bramble Fest to alienate everyone. That sounds like the next title of my autobiography. A double feature. Those may have come out in the same year. Like, uh, D3 was 96. So yeah. So that episode is 96. Is it? I think so. I think Roman holiday. How about we do it in 2026 and we call it the 30 year anniversary.

[00:10:00] Okay. That's beautiful. I love that. So Roman holiday, December of 95 D3. You think you could do this in your mind while I talk about the way home? D3. This is why I stick to AIR. Because I talk about my other interests and you guys just really like to poke. You like to poke. I don't poke. I think it's fascinating and you know that I love you and I'm, it's all in good fun. It's all in good fun. I mean, maybe for you. Yeah. Okay. Let's talk the way, the way home season three, episode six.

[00:10:29] It's called. For, uh, ain't no sunshine. I actually remember this. Ain't no sunshine. Uh, February 7th, 2025. A 70s song for a distinctly 70s episode of television. We spent a lot of time in that time period. In a win a little something like this. Try to keep up. Uh, it's Port Haven, 1965. 65. And some kids are running through the woods playing tag. Tag the white witch out by the pond. Uh, little Evelyn is there. Little Colton's there.

[00:10:58] Evelyn goes by the pond to talk to her fairies. Uh, she drops. That's what she, she has friends. They're called fairies. Uh, she drops her flashlight. Explain yourself. You're doing a synopsis. I know. I just, she, uh, drops her, uh, flashlight into the pond. And when trying to get it, uh, she falls into the water. Colton goes in after her and we see the water vine, if you will, grab her leg, grab his leg. Uh, cut to present day. And Elliot is talking to Emma again.

[00:11:27] She says it's great seeing him and Kat together and that she'll think that it's going to be forever. Uh, cut to the 1800s where Kat and Jacob are watching, uh, the Sarah, the people leaving the wedding. Remember? Yeah. Jacob sees his dad and can't stop himself from running and giving him a hug. Uh, Thomas has been watching the whole thing. Not his, not biological dad, 1800s dad. Yes. I wanted to, sorry, clarify it. Uh, goes right into him.

[00:11:55] And, uh, Thomas has been watching the whole thing, uh, as well. Uh, cut to the seventies where Del is, uh, drawing on Colton's guitar. She draws a fish because she says she's a fish out of water and Colton caught her, uh, mixing two different fish metaphors to make one. Uh, she says, uh, she hopes that he remembers her when she's gone, when she's gone. You're going to miss me when I go. You're going to miss her when she's gone.

[00:12:20] Uh, back to present day and, uh, Max is annoying Alice again outside of school. That's right. School. Elliot shows up because he still teaches, he still teaches and she still goes to school. Um, and, uh, he delivers bad news. She is going to be partnered up with Max in a class for class project. Um, and she's disappointed by that.

[00:12:40] Uh, back in the 1800s, Jacob and Kat get an update that Susanna finally gave into Cyrus's request for marriage because he saved, basically saved her life because people were going after her. Cause they thought that she was a witch. Just then queen Susanna, we will call her now that she's betrothed, uh, uh, shows up to see if her eyes betrayed her. They did not. Jacob is like, what, what, what gives little lady?

[00:13:10] Uh, and Susanna tells them both that they need to go back to where they came from. Uh, Nick is back in town a present day. Nick is back in town to give Elliot another one of his famous pep talks. Uh, we get a flashback of Nick giving Elliot a pep talk on his wedding day before, uh, getting married to Emma. He was having doubts that day. He gave a pep talk. Cut to, uh, back to the 1800s and Kat decides that instead of leaving, she's going to go to the wedding reception.

[00:13:38] They're having a little dance. So, uh, she begins dancing and, uh, ends up dancing with Thomas, uh, Jacob, who's also there. Uh, Jacob stays behind and in a fit of rage grabs a gun. He goes to the reception to, to, to shoot Cyrus, but his dad stops him and takes him outside. And just then, uh, like red stuff starts falling from the sky and they assume that it's blood. It's bad news. Cyrus sees Kat and is like, I know you, you witch.

[00:14:08] Uh, you're, you're the reason this is happening. She's a witch girl. Uh, Susanna says, she's not the witch. I'm the witch. I'm Spartacus. Uh, Kat is like, no, it's me. I'm the white witch. Now we're bringing that into the mix. Uh, they go to arrest her and arrest Thomas and the process. Um, and also Jacob. Luckily Thomas has a man on the inside that helps him escape, but that doesn't last long.

[00:14:34] They are now taken captive and Kat finds herself in Cyrus's office. He tells Kat that he thinks that having a witch on his side could be good for him. Maybe help control the situation. He asks how he can stop the sky from falling. She says, I know things, but I can't stop it. Uh, Cyrus says not good enough, man, and tells her that he's going to have to kill her, Thomas, and Jacob. Cut to present day.

[00:15:04] Emma shows up and asks Elliot why he didn't propose to her with the family ring. Good question. Del and Alice finally make up. Uh, so that's nice. Um, back in 1800s, it's hanging time, y'all. Uh, crowd time, uh, crowd forms. My man. A crowd. I got you. A crowd forms and they are loving. Hang time. Can it please? I just want to. Where did the moon go? Hang time.

[00:15:35] The crowd is ready to see some hanging. Uh, Kat remembers via a song that the solar eclipse is going to happen. And, uh, she says, I, I'm going to make the moon disappear. Cyrus is like, you're lying, but then it happens. So they free her and she forces Cyrus to free them all or else she'll do it again. Then Emma asks Elliot back in present day.

[00:16:00] Emma asks Elliot if he ever loved her and then she kisses him and, uh, he eventually pulls away. Uh, Kat and Susanna finally have a good conversation, uh, before Kat goes to leave. Uh, she goes to, uh, say goodbye to Thomas and that's a whole thing. Thomas is like, don't, don't go. And she's like, I'm leaving. Uh, uh, Jacob tells Kat that he thinks that he needs to stay and try to save his dad.

[00:16:30] Kat says, you can't save anyone with time travel. Just ask me. I know. And here's something also you need to know about what I did. I tried to save our dad. And in the process, I, uh, actually was responsible for his death. And, uh, Jacob gets mad and pushes her into the pond, which causes her to show up in 1965.

[00:16:53] And, uh, she overhears Evelyn, uh, begging for her life in the water, jumps in, saves her life and then swims down and untangles Colton's leg from the vine. She pops back up and Del is there for some reason. And Kat is freaking out. And she's like, I buzzed the way home. Season three. Episode six. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone.

[00:17:24] Okay. So you went to the back half and I went to the front. And that's fine. Sometimes we don't hit it. I know. I know. I know. Uh, let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll break this episode down here on Deck the Hallmark. Deck the Hallmark. Welcome back, everybody. We're talking about the way home season three, episode six. Hello. Uh, let's break this episode down. I think we're going to start with a hot take.

[00:17:53] We're going to share our thoughts on the episode and I'll kick it over to you. Uh, Ryan. This is why I showed up today. Right here. What'd you think about this one? All right. Before I start, I, I, and I mean this, this isn't a bit, I'm being truly, truly serious for anyone who's really enjoying this show. I apologize. And I mean, yeah, yeah, because I want to love the show. My role here is to be closer to brand than it is to Dan. I don't come into these deals trying to be super critical.

[00:18:20] I don't enjoy yucking other people's yum. I enjoyed the first season of this show. I enjoyed the first three episodes of this season, which was probably a little more than Dan did. Um, it's, I just thought that the show has been really bad the last two weeks. And I thought this episode was awful. Um, and like, and I, it doesn't give me pleasure to say that it really does not. I would say that especially the end of this episode, which is really revving up to like,

[00:18:50] it really wants someone probably brand to watch those last five minutes and go, we are back baby. Yeah. And like, I, I thought that the, the writing was comically bad other than Kyler Lee's performance, excuse me. And those very last 10 seconds, I thought all of it was just absurdist and like, it didn't land for me. Um, and I just don't know what we're doing anymore.

[00:19:15] And not like in the sense that the show was primarily a mystery and we're supposed to be asking all of these questions. Dan, you brought up lost either last week or the week before, and it's a show I love, but one of the biggest critiques on lost that is fair is that they brought up 150 cool mysteries throughout the six seasons. And they maybe gave us firm answers on 30 of those. Right. Yeah. Um, and so this show is probably already in the territory of, uh, and except, and I,

[00:19:44] again, I promise I'm not trying to be mean. The show is not as interesting as lost or those mysteries. Like, you know, it's like, so I'm just no mention of like, you know, that, uh, Papa, you know, Papa Landry, we found out he was probably a time travel two weeks ago in this episode. We very barely ever talk about where Casey is, even though that's supposed to be this driving plot line. Like, you know, we just keep, it's either a Ouija board last week where we're in the sixties for literally eight seconds this week.

[00:20:14] I don't know what I'm supposed to focus on. And then the things that we are focusing on, like the 1800s, just for me. And I think I can speak for all three of us aren't overwhelmingly interesting. How dare you? Let me speak for myself. They're right. Yeah. Like, uh, there's some positive. Sure. I like, uh, young Dell and, uh, young Colton. Those scenes are good. It feels like it accelerated very quickly, but whatever, they have good chemistry. Uh, I guess the white witch stuff was cool.

[00:20:42] And to be fair to contradict myself, uh, at least that's, you know, something they brought up seasons ago that they were exploring further. So kudos to them for that. Um, I don't have an issue with the Elliot and Emma kiss, but I just find it weird that we spent all this time building up, uh, Kat and Elliot. This is like a OC season two where they just like started changing things for the sake of changing. Granted, I'm happy with this. Cause I don't think Kat and Elliot have any chemistry.

[00:21:09] Um, I'm genuinely very glad people are enjoying the show. And I do not mean that facetiously, but I am not. I will say this, Ryan, we've had a lot of people that have commented or messaged us and said, we're happy that there is a podcast that is speaking something different on this television program, because there's a lot of people that actually do agree with us. And I'm actually with you on not wanting to yuck people's gems, even though that is not what anybody thinks about me.

[00:21:36] I'm 100% with you that it would be much easier if things were actually good. Um, so there, but there are people out there that are not only with us, but appreciate you, Ryan. And you need to hear that. And Brian, I'm sorry, that was long winded, but the only thing I'll say to that, Dan, like we talked about this last season for sure. It was a lot easier with a show like ride. We had fun. Everyone thought that show was bad. You know, we came in here. We weren't, we weren't peeving anybody off the way to the world on our shoulders. Yeah.

[00:22:01] It's like, you know, uh, I, I thought season one was a great product. I didn't think it was, I was optimistic. Like brand was for the first three weeks. These last three weeks have gotten progressively worse. If next week is great. I'll say it's great right now. Yeah. It's not a good product brand. Uh, yeah. I'm a little disappointed. That's going to sting worse than anything I say. Is it a coincidence that I'm disappointed on the week where we spent the most time in the 1800s?

[00:22:31] I don't think it's a coincidence. Um, the literally not a single second in the 1800s worked for me. And I just wanted to get out of it as quickly as possible. And this episode did a thing that I didn't think that it would ever do. And they went from, let's explore three different timelines to a fourth. They introduced a fourth time period here with 1965. And, uh, that concerns me.

[00:22:58] I think the concern is they've bitten off more than they can chew. And they expect us to be able to chew right along with it. And my mouth's not that big. And so, uh, I'm, I'm struggling. I'm struggling here. I think that there's still time. And, uh, I, hold on. I think that there's still, I think that there's still time and there are enough, clearly enough

[00:23:24] storylines, but there's enough storylines that if they just focus on some of them, uh, I will be back. I could be, I could be one back next week. We know that. But, um, this one didn't win me over. It lost me. And, uh, that's disappointing. Dan? Yeah. I think disappointing is the word I'm kind of past angry. I think all three of us are, I think it's just unfortunate. And I, I don't think anyone, even the people that are apologists for this television program.

[00:23:53] I mean, there are people that still like the last two seasons of West wing or season four of community or season two of Friday night lights. Like there are people out there that go, no, I don't care that the last half of Dexter isn't any good. I still love it. I'm fine with those people. Those are wonderful people. I love all things Dexter and I cannot defend half the seasons of Dexter. So I would say that people that love this show, even they, if you really had them on a polygraph would say, this is disappointing.

[00:24:22] I don't Ryan. I appreciate what you're doing and I don't ever want to yuck someone's yum for the, for the, for entertainment value. I don't, I know that that flies against what people might think over the last half decade or so of content, but not my desire. My desire is to be honest and tell you what I think of things and not be personally mean about it. And this is so unfortunate what's happening here because Brian, you mentioned lost and you're right. People hated that. I love the finale.

[00:24:50] People hated that finale because it didn't answer at least 75% of the questions that it or, or, or the mysteries that it posits. And that show goes wayward in the fourth season. Speaking of shows that go wayward. And some people say the fifth as well, but that show was pretty relentlessly entertaining and having you guess at the possibilities. And, and so this show right now, I believe I have no proof of this.

[00:25:17] I believe that there is going to be some sort of cataclysmic massive twist at the end of this season. And I believe that that twist, if we've not seen the last six episodes doesn't make any sense. And everyone would be able to point it out immediately if you did the twist all the way back at the beginning of the season. But I believe that all the stuff that we have going on is not leading to anything in particular

[00:25:41] aside for, from a cavalcade of convolution that is supposed to muddy the waters and make us forget what these characters are supposed to be doing, who they are, what they mean and what the, what the whole point of this show was. And so when we get this twist, we'll be so out of whack from whatever this is we're watching that we're going to just be relieved that the show is doing something that we remember.

[00:26:09] I believe that with 100% of my being that we're going to get a twist that harkens back to season one. Something is going to fundamentally change at the end of this. And the hope of the creators is, is that we've muddied the waters so much that that will reshuffle the deck. And I'm here to tell you, it's not gonna, it's not gonna, because this is really, really, really bad television.

[00:26:37] Um, no one, there is no conviction about where this is going. The 1800s that I said we were going back to that brand was hopeful. We weren't in episode one of this season that we spend the majority of the time in this week is more interesting than the seven, the 1970s. How is that possible? How was it that the things going on in the 1800s were a tick more interesting than what we did in the 1970s last week?

[00:27:05] I like that may be just my take, but that was crazy town. That was just insane. Uh, this, you know, cats ability to memorize songs and no exact weather patterns and when things are going to happen is absurd in, in the nth degree. I, I, you and I both know that Elliot and cat are, are going to be together at the end of this thing. They're in game. They're in game as the kids say, or as, or as the adults say.

[00:27:35] Uh, they're in game. They, they shouldn't be, they shouldn't be a cat has better chemistry with Thomas and Susanna. Uh, Elliot's has better chemistry with Amy by a mile and Emma, even Emma, both of them, I would say, but, but here's my thing is season one of this show, which is all about trying to fix things you can't fix and regret and generational trauma and all these unbelievable things that you talked about how great it was, Ryan.

[00:28:04] A season one storyline is Elliot realizing that him pining for a woman in the future made him miss the actual love of his life. That's good stuff. That's good stuff. I'm here for that storyline. So this is a side show. So you can get mad that Elliot and cat aren't together when in reality, it's kind of more authentic than anything else that this show has been doing for a long time. Now. Um, this is a mess. It's a mess.

[00:28:33] I don't think there's a way out of it. It's a mess. And I am not hopeful. I am more than happy to tell you if an episode is gripping and great, but you remember that episode in the middle of season one where they're looking for Jacob at the carnival in 1999. Holy cow. That episode of television was gripping for 43 straight minutes. We've not seen hide or hair of anything near that in seasons two or three. And I think both of you would agree with that statement. Unfortunately, unfortunately. It's, uh, it's, uh, it's, uh, it's time for a break. Whew. We didn't do all the feels.

[00:29:03] I actually have one. So, oh, it's time for all the feels. I saw the time. Yeah. Well, we did a tight 10 on the Lawrence brothers and Mark Paul. Hey, don't blame me for this. Don't you dare blame me because the way home is disappointing. Roman holiday. Roman holiday. And he feels here's the reality. Brano. I, I need to sink. Yeah. It's, it's something I'm trying out. Uh, I need to sink my teeth. Brano.

[00:29:31] I need to sink my teeth into something. Right. We're not like, we're not going to stop reviewing the program. Cause we don't like it. So do I really care about Tom cat as the kids or adults say? Not particularly, but team Thomas. Yeah. I need something. And you know what? When he was like, what did he say? He was like, did you miss me when they're starting to do the do-si-do? Oh, I was like, that's my guy. That's my guy. And like, oh, that's what I'm doing. Brano.

[00:30:01] Brano. Brano. Brano is a new flavor of like kids brand cereal. Man. Uh, no, you don't have anything. I'm. Brano has nothing. I'm disappointed. Yeah. I have disappointed feels. Dan. This is so great. Brano having feels is kind of the highlight. I have actual feels here. Uh, there's watching the show with me and seeing how sad I was. Kinda. It was one. I was right about the 1800s and you know, I love that.

[00:30:30] Uh, there's one scene in this, uh, episode that does ring true. Even with all we've been through. And it is Dell and Alice talking and Dell explaining to Alice why she cannot do this with her. She cannot relive the seventies with Alice going back there. And it is because those memories are all she has so powerful. I, there are so many things that we look, you know, all three of us to varying degrees with

[00:30:59] me being a five of 10 and Ryan being a 90 of 10 have a very strong nostalgia pull for the things of their childhood. We, we all do. There are things that we hold up on a pedestal. Like for me, rookie of the year guys, I watched with my kids. I had, I, it was a 10 of 10, just like it was back then. But if I'm being honest, it's not a 10 of 10, but as a kid, it's a 12 of 10. Right.

[00:31:22] Like, so like, like we all have things that we don't want ruined for us that are not movies or stupid things that are just like fun songs or whatever. We have real memories with real people in our lives and we hold those things in crystal. We have them the way we want them. We don't want that to change. And Dell explaining that to Alice was like amazing.

[00:31:50] I, I, I, I was like for a brief minute, a minute and a half, I was like, where has this been? It was wonderful. And, and, and I loved it. So feels we did it. Uh, let's take a break. We'll come back and we'll get to the way wide and the, uh, sink or swim here on the home mark. Welcome back everybody.

[00:32:19] We are talking about the way home. It's episode six. Uh, we're having a good time. Yeah, we are. Oh yeah. A beat. Let's get to the way. What? Before we talk about what in this episode, let's go away. What Ryan, my first one here, I just wrote an all caps fish burger question mark, exclamation mark. Have you ever had a fish burger? I have a shrimp burger regularly. A shrimp burger fish burger. I don't know about, but there's a restaurant in town, kitchen sink shout out, uh, that makes an amazing shrimp burger.

[00:32:49] It's whole lump shrimp put together in a patty. It's got some really good, like a, like a comeback sauce on it with some Parmesan crust. It's fantastic. I'll keep that in mind for July. All right. Shrimp burger. Shout out. Uh, one question answered. Uh, at one point before an act out, uh, cat goes and like, it's like really meant to be like an intense moment. She goes, I am going to that wedding reception. And I just laughed out loud. It was like, like, what are we doing here? I didn't like that. I didn't like that. Yeah.

[00:33:17] Um, to the point we talked about this last week, you know, uh, so Nick comes back in this episode and you know what this show doesn't do. We've talked about this every week. I don't want to keep, you know, uh, bringing up old stuff. Uh, but you know what every other show does when they bring back a, maybe a bit more obscure character, you know, in the previously on they'll just give you that character's name in their face. Yeah. Nick was in like two scenes before I remembered his face.

[00:33:47] I remembered who he was. You could have given me 20 guesses. I would not have said his name is Nick. Like, you know, and it's just like, help. We're the show is aired weekly. It's not aired back to back to back to back on Friday afternoon through Friday night. Like tell us who these people are just really annoys me. Um, no, you're 100% right there. I want to give that what it deserves before you quickly move on. The lack of due diligence there is crazy. If you're going to have more characters than when calls the heart, you want a hot take

[00:34:15] when calls the heart does better with their character stable than the way home is doing right now. And go listen to me talk about when calls the heart. If you have a character when when calls the heart will do this. Like when, when Caleb Wallace is coming back into town, the previously on will have something about her in it. This, why isn't this show doing that? Have you noticed that at all? Yes. So go back to you, right? Thanks. Thanks Dano. Uh, I'm going to retire Bran. Oh, I just don't think it was. It wasn't working.

[00:34:50] Brandon. Who's Brando? What's the deal? I say, I say Brando. Yeah. But you're special. Yeah. Last one for me. Is it really that offensive to not give someone your family wedding ring? Like I'm asking like, was she, was Emma or, uh, Ashley as Dan likes to call her, uh, Emily, Emily, come on, man. Put some respect on Emily. Let's run the tape. It's Amy. I believe it was Amy. Yeah. I think we're both wrong. It's not Amy. It's not Emily.

[00:35:20] It's not Ashley. It's Emma. We'll get that. Was she like justified to be that angry? White girls. Am I right? Yeah. I think her, her there is that he now suddenly cares about it because cats around. And so it's like, you didn't think that I was worth this ring that you're clearly planning to use for cats. If she knew, knew about it at the time they got engaged, then it would sting a lot.

[00:35:48] But if she didn't and now she cares, I think that's about cat. Fair. I mean, that's clearly just me not being emotionally intelligent. So that's on me. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you're crafting a baseball card for Mark Paul Kossler, Ryan. Don't tell me you're not emotionally intelligent. Well, he and I are, you know, on a very different, different level. Is that correct? Is that what it means? Yeah. That's what it means. Guys, I was shocked.

[00:36:18] And I mean, shocked to find out that Thomas was supposed to be in disguise. This is the best brain. And I couldn't stop. I couldn't believe it. This is the best. It's so great. I didn't, I didn't, I, he, he, he takes off his glasses and a hat and Cyrus is like, aren't you supposed to be dead? That was like a, Hey, like it was like a removal of a mission. If it wasn't for these meddling kids.

[00:36:47] It was impossible. My mission happened there. It was, I, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe. I just thought he was trying a new thing. Like he's at a, he's at a reception. I've got to put on my hat. He's a little older. It's been two years. He needs the glasses. No, but that was him in disguise. Oh my gosh. All right. Clark Kent, take it down a notch. I can't believe Thomas has been in the room the whole time. This is insane.

[00:37:16] This is insane. It frustrates me that Kat has somehow over the course of, I don't know how long it's been since she like found the song book last week, last week. She's memorized the ball. She has memorized all the songs and she's just like, she looks up at the sky and she starts spouting off versus like, she's, I don't know, a lyricist thing that I missed.

[00:37:45] I had, I should have had something prepared, but she's just, she's more prepared than I am. So she has the lyrics ready to go at just top of dome. Like it's closing time that we've all been singing for our entire lives. Last but not least this, I was already pretty fed up with the 1800s, but then Jacob fight,

[00:38:09] you know, a cat comes clean about being responsible for, you know, I tried to save my dad or our dad and I ended up being the one responsible for his death and he go and he says to her, I don't even know who I'm talking to. Do you know, like that line hits really, really, really hard when you actually know the person that you spent time with them. They barely know each other.

[00:38:40] So it's like, I don't even know who I'm talking to. Literally everything that you know about her should lead you to believe that she had something to do with it. Yeah. There's almost everything you know about her is that she cannot stop time traveling. She's an addict. She definitely had something to do with it. You shouldn't be surprised. So this whole like, I don't even know who I'm talking to anymore. It does say that to somebody that you literally barely do know who you're talking to.

[00:39:09] Who doesn't have quite the gravitas they are hoping for with a line like that. Dan, you guys remember when Jacob tried to shoot Cyrus Goodwin in broad daylight in a dance barn and everyone acts like they cannot see him. He held that gun out for so long. Calm it down. Jacob Wilkes Booth. You are in a room that is well lit and you are standing behind. I'm going to check my notes here. Nothing. You have a gun. And he wasn't even wearing a hat.

[00:39:38] Everyone would have known who he is. Glasses. No disguise. Nothing. You have a gun pulled in broad daylight looking down. And when I say broad daylight, nobody correct me. I know the dance is at night. There's only like 15 people in this room. You are standing out there and you're trying to shoot him. Nobody sees him. Nobody's like, hey, what's the deal with dude in the corner with gun brandished? No one has done that. At a certain point, it gets to be offensive.

[00:40:07] Like they don't think I have what it takes. That's right. They're just ignoring me altogether. I have a gun. I've held it out here for 25 seconds. And everyone's like, there he is again. Doesn't have what it takes. Brandon and I are watching this episode unfurl. And as they're building tension, I finally just go, can no one see him? Like, can no one in that room see the guy that's just there clearly? Like not even hidden at all? It was crazy.

[00:40:36] Not as crazy as Kat knowing this dance. She, she, she knows. She learned it in PE class. She knows. Rock guy, are you all right over there? Yeah, it was really. Brent's saying he's not even wearing a hat. It was really funny. It was really funny, Brent. There is no world where she just knows this dance. It is a complicated dance. She just knows it. She just knows the dance. Can you imagine us out there trying to act like we don't?

[00:41:05] Trying to just fit in with one of these and like spinning, being like trying to 1800s. I know how to 1800s. Don't try to 1800s me. And she feels a great episode. It's like Jacob showing up and trying to do the stanky leg or something. That's right. You're just like, you're like, what's going on, man? The stanky leg was pretty easy. How did you learn the pop a lot and drop it? He knows how to ducky? Can you believe that? Soulja boy.

[00:41:32] Also, Cat knows the exact second the moon's going to disappear. And she plays it like a fiddle. I mean, she, to perfection, times out when it's going to happen and when to take the handcuffs off to make it reappear. And she does all of that for what I can tell you is literally no reason at all. Because in two scenes earlier, Cyrus Goodwin is like, hey, I need a witch on my side.

[00:42:01] If you agree to be my witch, I'll spare everybody. And she says, I can't do that. But I do know some things. And he says, not good enough. What if you said, I've put a spell on the moon and unless you let everybody go, the moon is going to disappear and I'm going to keep it. If you just play along with him a little bit that you're a witch, I think he's going to buy it at this point.

[00:42:30] You've done enough to prove that he thinks you are witch. So, like, real missed opportunity there, Cat. I just, I don't know why you didn't take it. And then lastly, this one really bothered me. Nick, who we all know very well, Ryan knew his name immediately as soon as he saw him, is talking with Elliot. Elliot's like, you're not doing the boat thing anymore. And then Nick says this line, it's just kind of a gong show.

[00:42:56] And here's the thing, White Home Writers, is I think you forgot what decade you were writing in. Because that show came out in 1975 and would have been a great cultural reference for teenagers in 1975 to be like, I'm out of here, man. This is a real gong show. But in 2025, I mean, that's 50 years ago. Can you imagine? Can you imagine a 42, three-year-old person being like, it's a real gong show out there? No, no.

[00:43:26] I've never heard that in my life. Was that saying, like, it's a gong show, is that, like, because of the TV show? Yeah, the gong show is wild. Was it a saying before that, and that's why they call it gong show? No, no. I don't believe so. I'm pretty sure they call it that because of the show. It is just a, it's a saying that just, like, unless they're telling you. Sorry, Rick. No, wait, what? Hello there. You asked the spelling bee expert. I'm out on the catamaran right now. Yeah, sorry. Really, really quickly. Just casting a line. Okay.

[00:43:56] I know you're. You service me going in and out. Okay. Hey, right now, big hookers two for one at Fitzy's. Okay. Really quickly. Those are drinks, Ryan. Really quickly. You look too invested, Ryan. Come in, Rick. You're going to make me regret this. Really quickly. You have a history of being a spelling bee host. Correct. Gong show. Language of origin. Where did it come from? It's an American word. It can also, it can be used with a G or D. You can pronounce it gong or dong. You can pronounce it either way.

[00:44:27] Well, at least brand doesn't regret it. The dong show. Nobody knew that show, but it existed too. And that's a weird reference. Now that's just in the basement of Fitzy's every other week. I got it. I got a bite on the line. Be right back. It's a real dog. When the folks of the way home just thought we were professional wrestlers talking about their program. Those are better times.

[00:44:57] Yeah, it was. Oh, that's it for my weight. What's brand? Thanks for bringing rig in though. It's time for sink or something. So we're talking about things that are sinking or swimming. Go ahead. Yeah. Listen, so Kat and Elliot are definitely end game per like we, that's, that's, that's a, those are minus pretty much at this point. Yeah. Right. I mean, that's definitely, if this show is fortunate enough to go many seasons, that's

[00:45:25] where we'll end in the finale as they're playing the final coda. But, um, past Nick was right. Uh, not about the gong show or any other show, uh, but by the, by the construct that the show has created Kat and Elliot, and I've definitely said this before, I think last season Kat and Elliot are as toxic and tarot, not because we don't like their real life actors chemistry. They're there. They're there. They ignore each other.

[00:45:54] They've, they've been decades apart. They don't communicate. She yelled at him, but she said she had to babysit him a couple of weeks ago. She, they, they can't possibly ever just be in the same place at the same time. There was that whole incident about the milk. They don't like each other most of the time. And, and this Emma, Ashley, Emily, Amy, whatever. And it doesn't matter what her name is. Uh, they seem, she seems really delightful and they seem to like really boost each other up, Elliot and Emma.

[00:46:22] So Nick from, I don't know what timeline it was, but a long time ago, he said, Emma's the best thing that ever happened to you. He was right. Listen to Nick and classic, classic pep talk from Nick. Yep. Classic, classic. It's a classic. So my, like the thing that I can't figure out and you talk about the chemistry piece of it, I don't like, I'm not sure if like, if I, there's a chance that's how they, they're playing it that way.

[00:46:49] Because they know that Elliot and Kat are in game and they want to give you as much rope to make you think it's not, they're not. Yeah. Something like that. That's the only thing that could, cause they had great chemistry. In season one, they did. They had great chemistry. And now that they're together, they suddenly something feels off. And in the back of her mind, she's always thinking about Thomas and he's always being insecure and like trying to get milk. Kissing Emma, Amy and Ashley. Yes, exactly right. So I don't, I like, you know what?

[00:47:16] I'm going to swim and I'm going to say they're doing it on purpose. Okay. Does that make good television? Dan? We're back, baby. We're back, baby. We're back, baby. Um, I'm thinking purely because this, this episode television was so bad that there's a point where Nick, uh, and Elliot, uh, are talking and then Emma comes to the door and then he's like, we're about to leave. Let's all go out and have a drink. And then we cut away from that storyline and we cut back and they're walking back in the door. Like, oh, that was fun.

[00:47:43] And I was like, well, why didn't we see any, why did, why did we need that? Why didn't we see any of that night out? Like, why didn't we like, cause the sixties called and they were feeling left out. We had to show, show the sixties. That's where we are. Why even do it? If you're not going to show it, just be like, just have them come in and be like, sit down. I'll make you a cup of tea. And then we come back and I don't have to worry about like what we missed dialogue wise. They're just, we're there waiting on us to return as viewers. That scene was a real gong show.

[00:48:13] It's a real gong show out there. It's a real gong show out there. Uh, we did everybody. Congratulations to us. I want to be very clear. I think the gong show reference is on purpose. And Nick is either from 1975 or traveling back to that era. And I think it's on purpose. And I want to be very clear about that right now before I see any comments. I think it's, I think it's terrible and I think it's awful, but I think it's true. Why would else, why else would they say we got sidetracked with Rick? I was going to finish with that. Why else would they say that? There's no reason to write.

[00:48:41] It's a real gong show out there into the script. If you're not going to have it come back for something. I'm going to have to start making much more detailed notes to like, they're just, they're doing so you're probably right. Like this brand loves it. Yeah. Cause it's not like, it's not like they grew up in that time period. Correct. They grew up in 99. Right. There was no reason for when Alice had the hots for him in the nineties. It means he could 100%. Well, no, I don't know what it means for that.

[00:49:09] I mean, it could a hundred percent be traveling back to that time though. He could have been doing it all along. He, he could have traveled back in time and become obsessed with the show. And he goes to every taping and that's the rest of the gong show guy. He loves the gong show. He's a big gong show. They brought it back in the early 2000s. So I mean that honestly that as next season would be great. Just like Nick's like, you know, they bring it back with Mike Myers as the host briefly. And it was super duper racist and not okay at all. And I can't believe they did it. Oh, was that a thing? I think so.

[00:49:39] Oh my, maybe I'm, maybe I'm wrong, but he played. He played an Asian character. I think. Oh dear. What are you doing? Are you okay? I just can't believe it. Uh, what we did everybody was the popsicle twins. Isn't it? We'll look up on this later guys. Uh, we're done. We're done here. Uh, right. You got anything else for the people? No, I'll keep you updated. You want to see the human torch figure? I might have Brian Austin green sign. He did not play an Asian character. I just looked it up. I just want to be very clear. What were you thinking of Dan?

[00:50:08] I thought he got in trouble. He got in trouble for one of his portrayals in one of his movies. And I, I, but that's who he played. He played this guy. Ah, yeah. Oh, wow. Look at that. Very cool. That's pretty cool. That's cool. Get a baby blue paint pen on the window there. Oh boy. You really think through everything to the, to the pen color. I'm a thorough, I'm a thorough boy. You're a thorough boy. Um, all right, thorough boy. We'll be back next week with another one until then. Maybe the first to wish you a Merry Christmas.

[00:50:38] Deck the Hallmark's a Bramble Jam podcast is produced by Aaron Shea. What? For more information on Deck the Hallmark, you can go to deckthehallmark.com. For more information on the Deck the Hallmark family, you can go to bramblejamplus.com. Deck the Hallmark is presented by Philo TV. For a free trial of Philo, go to philo.tv slash DTH. You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio.

[00:51:08] Thanks for listening or don't listen. It's really up to you at this point. It's at the end of the show. I mean, you're listening to me. Hi. But here they come. I promise they're coming. Yep. Here they are. Happy day.