Peacock's Hysteria! got one season before it was cancelled. On episode 5 of 'Til Plot Do Us Part, two Gen-Xers who grew up in the satanic panic of the 80s break down what the show got right, where it fell apart, and why that finale didn't work for us. Spoilers throughout.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold open: "I hated the entire last episode"

0:13 Welcome to the show

1:25 Growing up in the satanic panic

4:04 What worked: the 80s feel and Bruce Campbell

5:55 The premise

10:15 Did it match what we lived through?

12:24 Satanic panic comic books from the church gift shop

14:14 Where the show lost us

20:08 That finale and the "parable"

22:33 The deer in the tree25:14 Unexplained demons and rashes

30:45 Beaumont Hicks and the missing motivations

33:11 Judith, and a show with an identity crisis

39:54 The exorcism

44:23 How fear spreads

47:31 "I just want to be seen"

52:01 Would we recommend it?

55:10 Where to find us

Team Sean or Team Cindy? Tell us in the comments, and send us shows you want us to watch.

Find 'Til Plot Do Us Part on Substack, YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

We’re diving into Mike Flanagan’s reimagining of Carrie, and we’ve got thoughts.

Sean brings his lifelong love of Stephen King and Mike Flanagan. Cindy brings absolutely no prior knowledge of Carrie, an alarming ability to predict plot twists, and some strong opinions about teenage cruelty.

We get into religious fanaticism, bullying in the age of social media, complicated mother-daughter relationships, and why the scariest monsters aren’t necessarily the ones with supernatural powers.

Plus, Sean discovers a possible connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cindy refuses to accept his version of a decades-old family story, and a séance is proposed to settle the argument.

Marriage is beautiful.

Spoiler warning: We start spoiler-free before diving into the full series, including major plot twists and the ending.

Find us: Subscribe to Till Plot Do Us Part wherever you listen, and join the conversation on Substack.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a rating and review on Apple and Spotify. It helps more than you know!

In this episode:

* Carrie book vs. series vs. the 1976 De Palma movie

* What a show bible is and how Flanagan pitched King

* Carrie and her mother: religion, social media, and the prayer closet

* The Emmeline twist (and who called it)

* Is Carrie a darker Mean Girls?

* Rita, the necklaces, and season 2 theories

Next week: Hysteria (Peacock) and the Satanic Panic of the ’80s, from two people who lived it. One of us was raised on anti-Satanic comic books the other one’s parents evidently didn’t even notice what was going on.

Chapters

00:00 Cold open: the Exorcist baby

00:22 Mike Flanagan’s Carrie on Prime Video (spoiler-free)

02:03 Was Sean’s sister almost named after Carrie?

03:25 First impressions: a character drama in horror clothing

04:02 The Infamous Walking Dead quiz (poor Andrea, poor Sean)

05:11 SPOILERS: Carrie book vs. series

08:04 Stephen King approved the changes + what’s a show bible?

09:34 Carrie’s mother: religion, social media & the prayer closet

13:29 The Emmeline twist (and who called it)

16:24 Books in the bird feeder & the guidance counselor

17:54 The Shine: building a Stephen King universe

18:32 Was Carrie’s dad’s death really an accident?

19:48 Rita, the necklaces & season 2 theories

21:58 Tommy, Sue & the prom

23:34 Pig’s blood, the Carrie Red account & why Chris wears green

24:58 Is Carrie a darker Mean Girls?

26:01 Fan complaints: Carrie’s agency & the ending

28:42 The town burns: De Palma Easter egg & someone gets shot

30:18 Carrie and her mother: book vs. series ending

31:10 The mom who wants telekinetic kids dead

33:30 Harold, the teachers’ bar & exposing a predator

36:04 Chris and her father

37:14 Wrap-up & next week: Hysteria

Is the Apple TV series Widow’s Bay horror or comedy (or both)? A Cape Cod TV creator and her horror screenwriter husband talk about what Katie Dippold nailed about real coastal towns and why so much of it had them laughing at things that aren’t funny at all.

Created by Katie Dippold and starring Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay was billed as horror and won a record 14 Emmys in comedy.

We rewatched the full first season to settle the debate, and we found a theme most reviews missed: the thing that sustains a town is also what kills it. For real seaside communities that depend on tourism, that’s not a metaphor. It’s the business model.

We compare Tom Loftis to Mayor Vaughn in Jaws, break down the curse and the founder’s deal, and talk about washashores vs. natives, the coastal-vacation fantasy vs. what year-round island life really looks like—and why one bad summer can mean a brutal, potentially unsurvivable winter.

We also cover the real horror of the Ti West-directed origin episode, Patricia’s party, Wyck’s Quint-style monologue, the hidden background details, the gaping plot holes we somehow forgave, and the season 1 finale’s cliffhanger heading into season 2.

Spoiler-free until 12:56. Full spoilers after.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

02:43 Spoiler-free review

04:15 The childhood scare that keeps Cindy from watching horror

08:44 Horror or comedy? The Emmys debate

12:56 Spoilers: the thing that sustains you also destroys you

17:00 Washashores vs. locals on Cape Cod

21:55 Tourist towns vs. real life

26:15 Patricia’s party and the Boogeyman

27:15 Plot holes and criticism

29:40 The season 1 finale and the season 2 cliffhanger

36:00 Wyck’s Quint moment and Jaws

36:50 Hidden details and Easter eggs

39:30 Next episode: Mike Flanagan’s Carrie

Next episode: Mike Flanagan’s Carrie on Prime Video.

Is Widow’s Bay horror, comedy, or both? Vote in the polls found on Substack and Spotify, then join the conversation.

Summary

In this episode, Sean and Cindy discuss season four of Reacher, exploring character development, plot intricacies, and their personal impressions. They also delve into the show’s graphic content, character choices, and the impact of critics’ reviews.

Long version

This week, we get into what worked better this time around, why Reacher may be more interesting precisely because he barely changes, and why every season apparently requires him to have sex with somebody even though romance and Reacher go together about as naturally as a 1964 sex-ed film.

Also discussed: Alan Ritchson’s increasingly Hulk-like proportions, Cindy’s realization that she is attracted to the fictional stoic brick wall and not necessarily the cheerful man playing him, the season’s stronger supporting-character arcs, some unexpectedly brutal violence, New England clam chowder crimes, Pancake the cat, and one very unfortunate ear.

Then it’s time for some critical thinking, as we look at a review that criticized the season’s plot while also taking a swipe at the people who watch Reacher. Criticizing a show is fair game. Assuming something about the intelligence of its audience because of the genre? We have thoughts.

Finally, we talk about Reacher’s fallibility, the Mortal Kombat energy of the final fight, and modern streaming television’s increasingly aggressive habit of stopping every ten minutes to explain the plot back to us.

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Rate us! Our favorite LWOP listener has given us a rating of 5 spicy ramens 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜 although I don’t think Apple Podcasts or Spotify recognizes that as an actual rating (damn shame, though) and they’re spreading the good word through prison wall graffiti. (Although we’re pretty sure that last part’s not true.)

In the meantime, five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ will have to do.

Chapters

00:00 – Welcome Back Banter (Vacation, Pets & Podcast Life)

01:00 – Reacher Season 4: Spoiler-Free Impressions

03:13 – What Changed This Season?

04:39 – Spoilers Begin

06:47 – Reacher Gets Things Wrong

07:00 – Does Reacher Really Need a Romance?

08:50 – Reacher vs. Alan Ritchson

10:32 – Critical Thinking: Reviewing the Review

14:34 – Reacher Is the Sun: Character Arcs

16:49 – This Season Got REALLY Graphic

18:34 – Reacher Eats His Way Across America

22:05 – Pancake the Cat Steals the Show

23:34 – Russell, the Journalist & the Hard Drive

24:24 – The Bioweapon Plot and Sampson

26:16 – The Finale Goes Full Mortal Kombat

28:34 – The CIA, Exposition & Streaming TV’s Bad Habit

30:36 – Next Up: Widow’s Bay

Coming up on episode 3 ‘Til Plot Do Us Part:

Spooky season begins with Widow’s Bay and a movie that everyone now seems to be changing their minds about because now Kate Dippold is a genius instead of trampling on a classic—Ghostbusters 2016 Lady Version.

Keywords

Reacher season 4 review, Alan Ritchson, Reacher podcast, Amazon Prime Video, Lila Reacher villain, TV criticism, married couple podcast