{"id":1191,"date":"2025-05-16T11:38:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T18:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kolsky.info\/toydept\/?p=1191"},"modified":"2025-05-16T11:38:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T18:38:16","slug":"the-toy-department-episode-421","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kolsky.info\/toydept\/?p=1191","title":{"rendered":"The Toy Department &#8211; Episode 421"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Episode 421, Madden and Kolsky return after too long of a break to get into a wealth of pop culture, some of it very excellent, at least whatever they can remember of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The last few weeks of action on Top Chef: Destination Canada (2:55), where a top dog almost fell and the competition is fierce heading into the semi-finals&#8230;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The first of the week&#8217;s two mediocre action flicks, Havoc (16:25) and how it succeeds in little other than being extremely overly self-serious&#8230;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The second MAF, Viola Davis&#8217;s G20 (20:05) and how it at least understands what it is and wins within its limits&#8230;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Episodes 3 and 4 of the new Black Mirror season (24:00) and how they better fit the brief of the show than the first two did, much to Kolsky&#8217;s delight&#8230;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The second season of Andor (33:10), which places it among the best works in the entire Star Wars canon&#8230;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A check-in on The Last of Us (39:35), which has taken a couple of pretty dramatic turns over the course of the season&#8230;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The new season of Natasha Lyonne&#8217;s Poker Face (46:05) and what a joy it is to have her (and the guest stars) in our lives again&#8230;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The new Netflix series The Four Seasons (48:55) and how it made two aging men laugh and also think a lot about their lives and decisions&#8230;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Homework for next week (57:15), including: the semifinals on Top Chef: Destination Canada, the last two episodes of Black Mirror&#8217;s new season, the new JJ Abrams show Duster on (HBO) Max, the new Guy Ritchie movie Fountain of Youth on Apple TV+, the Steven Soderbergh film Black Bag on Peacock and the new Apple TV+ series Murderbot&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6295\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1191-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/319419\/kolsky.info\/toydept\/episodeData\/TDEpisode421.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/319419\/kolsky.info\/toydept\/episodeData\/TDEpisode421.mp3\">http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/319419\/kolsky.info\/toydept\/episodeData\/TDEpisode421.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a 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rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><!--powerpress_player-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Episode 421, Madden and Kolsky return after too long of a break to get into a wealth of pop culture, some of it very excellent, at least whatever they can remember of: http:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/319419\/kolsky.info\/toydept\/episodeData\/TDEpisode421.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | 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