How to Die Alone – Me, Myself & I

Full transcript of How to Die Alone – Me, Myself & I.

0:00KT: It's another week in the For Your Reference household and it is another week of Black-led female shows, Oti. This actually, if I can spoil so nasty, is a great double pairing to Queenie, Oti.

0:15Oti: It is, isn't it?

0:17KT: Check it out on the podcast feed friends and lovers. Are you ready to Fly high the southern skies.

0:25Oti: Sky. That's right.

0:27KT: Are you ready to talk some jazz?

0:29Oti: I don't know about

0:30KT: We also have an aeroplane episode friends and lovers let's get on with the Hey friends and brother lover lovers. We don't have, uh, familial lovings, but we can have a theme or

0:51Oti: thing

0:52KT: Welcome back to the For Your Reference podcast. You got your hosts, KT.

0:55Oti: Oti.

0:56KT: Stay away from the family group chat and be brave through the turbulence of self doubt. Travel the world on someone else's dime with How to Die Alone this

1:09Oti: in

1:11KT: Woohoo! Can I get a chip, Oti?

1:16Oti: Mmm You can take the packet fam.

1:20KT: Wow! Romance is still alive, friends and lovers.

1:25Oti: And by chip you mean crisps, eh?

1:28KT: Wow, is that the Queen's English?

1:32Oti: It's the proper English. Oh, yuck.

1:35KT: Friends and lovers. There are colonial systems all over the world.

1:40Oti: Peep

1:40KT: game. Um, we are very excited. We have a lot to talk about today. There are many themes today. But just want to say, love and splooshes to Natasha Rothwell. if you would have heard there was a development deal with ABC Signature. Shout outs to her production company, Big Hattie Productions. In regards to writers. We have Natasha Rothwell, Vera Santamaria. This is on, uh, as don't, you would say eating out the box while I'm watching Hulu released in September of 2024. Natasha Rothwell, Conrad Ricamora, friends and lovers, Fire Island.

2:18KT: Go and check it out. I promise I wasn't biased, but I ended up not liking Rory's character, but that was independent of the Mr. Darcy's.

2:26Oti: Who would have thought?

2:27KT: Jocko Sims, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, and shout out to CP, man.

2:33Oti: CP? He be getting work.

2:37KT: There's so much like Friends and Lovers, you know, I am a spreadsheet wanker and it spreads all over the sheets, Friends and Lovers. And I actually wrote like where all the cast are and all of their credits, but we have a lot to talk about today. So hit me up on the DMs, Friends and Lovers, if you would like, to see that, but I am very excited. Can I get your non spoiler thoughts? Obviously, friends and lovers, buckle up, get a seat extension because we don't fat shame around here. Spoiler, spoiler, spoiler,

3:10KT: Uh, fraud, fraud, fraud.

3:13Oti: Oh. How to Die Alone masterfully tackles loneliness with a unique blend of humor and heart. Natasha Rothwell's captivating performance anchors the show. And while the tone occasionally wavers, its exploration of human connection ultimately leaves a lasting impression.

3:34Oti: it was Yeah, it was a ride.

3:43Oti: That would be a killer combination. Right? Mm hmm.

3:47Oti: Let's, let's put it out in the universe.

3:49KT: Rothwell leads with heart in the lived-in world of How to Die Alone, focusing on inevitable turbulence instead of a smooth landing would have elevated it.

4:07Oti: I know you're such a wanker. Hey. Wow. Actually, I've not even written my quote. Yeah. Thanks.

4:19KT: You know what, friends and lovers, Oti, you know, Denzel Washington is The Equalizer. And so is Oti because this show was full of beautiful, non toxic black men. And we have Oti, our beautiful, toxic black man, just balancing it out.

4:39Oti: spit it

4:40KT: Wow. You couldn't even just allow it to be my love,

4:43Oti: I have.

4:44KT: but let's get into general thoughts. I have a lot of themes that I want to go through. do you have any general thoughts before we get into them? Also? H. Jon Benjamin. Hello. Thank you. Please.

4:54Oti: Thank you. I love the show. Just like my quote said, it still had some tonal shifts that I took me aback. I took me out of the show. And I guess we'll get to that. But kudos to Natasha. Such a brilliant, show and something that a lot of us can connect to. And wow, wow, wow, wow.

5:18KT: I want to start talking about the lens because, and, and the best way that I can, uh, describe this is to not even describe it myself, friends and

5:32Oti: Wait, what lens are we talking? Get Out lens or Nope lens

5:36KT: I'm talking about the Daniel Kaluuya lens where he's next to Bugs Bunny and Paddington Bear. We're topical, friends and lovers. Come and sit on our Jupiter's cock. Natasha Rothwell has obviously done some press runs in regards to the release of How to Die Alone? On the bright side, which I believe is an iHeart, uh, radio production, uh, Natasha talked about her production company, Big Hattie, and how they didn't want to waste a page of real estate to explain why or how. Man.

6:10Oti: There are shows we've watched trying to explain how everyone got their scent.

6:14KT: It's like, I'm gross, but I don't love myself. And it's like, no,

6:20KT: that's your problem. And I, I think the way that the show operated from just the default, it was delicious friends and lovers. I think I need to disregard a particular episode of this show. and it wasn't even the Thanksgiving one, once we got to the end of it, um, but to have a show that doesn't, uh, traumatize bigger bodies. You, you don't even know that it's possible to treat others like normal fucking humans until you see it done on screen. Yeah.

6:57Oti: Yeah. And it's, it's not to pretend as if there's no stigma around it. They cover it very, I think very sensitively and it shows the struggle that she has to, she goes through. And like I said, one of my favorite episodes was, or even one of the favorite discussions we've had about the show. And I know we've argued a

7:24KT: where we tore down the household.

7:25Oti: Yeah. And I know we've argued a lot about where we stand with this, but even just having Mel, you know, push, push away everyone because she doesn't feel like she deserves it.

7:36KT: Let's, no, let's talk about it. We might as well get straight to it, friends and

7:40KT: Uh, you know, shout out to Natasha Rothwell. Obviously amazing love and lauded credits, including writer credits for SNL. Insecure is a big, uh, it, it, it takes a lot of, uh, heart, heart feelings in our heart chambers, right? and even our first review of season one of Insecure, of I think the first three seasons. We talked about, it was pretty much our relationship episode. Like the most relationship podcast you could ever get was our Insecure episode. And it was interesting seeing the way that relationships were played out in How to Die Alone compared to Insecure.

8:20Oti: Uh, there were so many lovely, gorgeous, delicious, handsome men in this show. this show

8:26KT: And there were so many options.

8:28Oti: Yeah.

8:30KT: I think tonally, this actually fits Bridget Jones more than Queenie,

8:34Oti: I guess I could see that definitely more with this than

8:42KT: but let's, let's come to the relationship part. This also comes into loneliness, friends and lovers. When we did Queenie, we did a ranking of black British shows. to me, I May Destroy You is always at the top of my mental piece. but if we're putting it into the rankings, I will add it there. but there was a particular character in I May Destroy You where the theme of loneliness was actually explored.

9:04Oti: Yeah.

9:05KT: And I don't think we had ever seen it done in that way. and obviously it's explored through Mel in How to Die Alone. this kind of goes to relationships as well, but I want to have the conversation that we were having that you wanted to bring onto the podcast We are talking about Alex because Alex is the one that got away. Alex is the one that's standing on the ice, waiting for you to fall on each other. I

9:35KT: want to come to that scene. And we've said spoilers, friends and lovers. And this might take probably a lot of the time that we have for this recording. But this is kind of where I want to be right I said that I feel like Alex, and I guess we can say it was three months. Was it like, it was a couple of months, right? That they were together.

9:59Oti: Yeah,

9:59KT: It was longer than Romeo and Juliet. Let's be honest. They were together for a few months. So I guess that can inform how you feel about what I'm about to but Alex was such a perceptive, loving and present partner, albeit for a few months when Mel said what she said, which definitely was the most hurtful thing she could say. I

10:28KT: just like, you just want to touch me and you just happen to be here. Oh, yes. Very hurtful. However, she's dealing with a lot of shit and I don't think she meant it. And I was saying that I feel like in that moment, Alex should have realized that she was speaking from fear and she was speaking from insecurity over to you, my

10:57Oti: and sticking with it when you know that your love is never gonna be reciprocated. What? She is not in that place to give love and it's not on Alex to anchor down when she made it quite clear she's not ready for that. Alex cannot stop his life. And make you stand still on the off chance that Mel will feel different in some few years or months Granted Mel feels different

11:32KT: that finger

11:32Oti: Mel feels different years later. We're not talking about months fam years For for for you to say that Alex should have stayed what for? Mel wasn't ready. Mel's never been ready. It's it's a fact

11:51KT: the Oti that wrote that quote?

11:54Oti: Mel's not ready for the first half of this show. Let's put it that way.

12:00KT: Okay.

12:02Oti: were demons that she had to face for herself.

12:06KT: Okay. Well, this is my question. Are we not deserving of love even when we still have work to do?

12:15Oti: You are.

12:17KT: And were they not in their big age? Were they not grown?

12:22Oti: They were.

12:23KT: Haven't they experienced hard shit in the world?

12:27Oti: They have.

12:29KT: How could we then not love on each other, is what I'm

12:34Oti: We can love on each other, but to be together in a space of, of fully being connected with each other, Alex was ready for them to move in She did not even see that as a possibility.

12:49KT: No, but she didn't see it as a possibility because she was some sort of player player. She didn't see it as a possibility because she didn't feel that worth within herself. You get me.

12:59Oti: I am only with you because you're the only one who'll touch me.

13:04KT: Yes. That's hurtful.

13:05Oti: get, I, that stuck with me throughout, like fam, I've not been able to think about, I don't know what you'd expect if someone told you that. And, and I've tried to, to see any other, your perspective of, Oh, Alex should have just stayed and anchored down. How can you, you cannot blame Alex for moving on when that's exactly what Mel wanted. But

13:32KT: he? Because if we come to the last episode, can I say the last two episodes were a wash? Love you, Natasha. Love everyone. I know it's very hard to get shows done. I know a lot of great black and brown shows are being canceled. So I am saying it wrapped in love of that. The last two episodes were a wash because it undone all the work from one to six, seven and eight. Right?

13:54KT: Because here's, here's something that we need to be very real about, right? And yes, you can say, Oti, RuPaul. You can say, ain't nobody gonna let you love yourself. You can say that, but, you know, we go through our own journeys of self love, right? We go through our own journeys where we don't even want to be the main character in our own lives, yeah? And we need people to show up for us. Why is that not, why,

14:26KT: if we're grown, I don't care that it's a few months. Cause once you get to an age, if we're going to get down, we're going to get down, right? We might as well do it, friends and lovers.

14:37Oti: I, I just don't agree with that sentiment at all. You, you

14:43KT: that wants to ride

14:46Oti: die. Mel wasn't!

14:47KT: nasty things that hurt. I know. But she wasn't saying it because she meant it. She was saying it because she felt the rejection coming.

14:58Oti: She still said it fam.

15:00KT: Do you not know that life is wrapped in nuanced barbed wire from the hardened struggle of life? Eh Exactly A barbed wire will still prick the hell out of you. And, and, is this a slam poetry off?

15:25Oti: We, like, just zooming out for a bit. Alex Never left Mel's life. Alex was still there as a

15:35KT: See, but then I could argue that he never fully moved on.

15:38Oti: He did.

15:39KT: say what you're going to say because I want to say something

15:41Oti: Alex was still part of Mel's life as a friend and as a boss.

15:47Oti: he made sure that Mel was trying to progress professionally because at the very least, because they're friends,

15:56KT: I'm calling HR.

15:59Oti: Mel had a chance within the last, what? Three, whatever years there

16:03KT: think it was five.

16:05Oti: to say something. anything.

16:08KT: So did he.

16:09Oti: I have feelings.

16:10KT: So did he.

16:11Oti: He, Mel knew where he stood for. And this is where

16:16KT: Wait, okay. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I was going to say something I'm going to hold it in my hot little pocket. I'm going to come to Insecure now. You had a problem with Issa not sticking with Lawrence. Lawrence was through a hard time in his life. Yeah. So what's the difference, man?

16:37Oti: I had a prob, I did not have a problem with Issa

16:40KT: Gray sweatpants cereal eating on the birthday barbed wire

16:43Oti: Hold up. Hold up. I did not have a problem with Issa leaving Lawrence. I had a problem with with the treatment of Lawrence. Everyone is, everyone can go through a downturn and fair. I was like, you know what Issa, you go get yours. But at the end of the day, we are looking at Lawrence managed to pull himself out. Same as you might claim Mel did, but what the difference with Mel is Mel just became messy. Episode seven.

17:23KT: excuse me, do you not remember the threesome that Lawrence had? And the pseudo race play that was going on? Come on, piss off, Oti. Piss off. Exactly. How embarrassing, how

17:41Oti: said, you said episode, you said the two last two episodes were a wash. To me, I loved last episode. Episode seven to me was everything that was wrong with this show and what I had my qualms in with Mel, because Mel moved like a person who the last 4, 4, 5, 6 episodes didn't happen. She, I would

18:02KT: say that's a writing thing.

18:03Oti: She decided she grew, she knew that she had to love herself, but in her attempt to reach that goal, she decided to be someone that doesn't care about anyone else than herself. And to move in a way that just didn't even like even have friends or like fam. This is messed up

18:24KT: Yeah, but I'm not even talking about that. We're focusing on romantic relationships and being there for the other person when they're in their downtime.

18:33Oti: Alex did what he could He was still a friend And you say he was just a friend, you know, you're still

18:40KT: He was still there. Was that Biz Markie or was that Mario?

18:42Oti: a watermelon, um,

18:46Oti: it's it's I cannot fault Alex one bit for anything he's done in this. Not at all.

18:55KT: Interesting. Because Alex wasn't the messy character but Lawrence was. Hmm. I wonder why you have a problem with Issa and Mel.

19:04Oti: Hmm,

19:05KT: I wonder what the definitive factors are between these characters. Because it wasn't a mess.

19:11Oti: I'm not ShxtsNGigs, you're not getting me fam.

19:14KT: Ha ha ha ha Friends and lovers, when I said there were recordings that went missing, they weren't. I have them ready for Oti. I got one, two, three, four, five, plus five. just, I guess we're just not going to agree, but I would say I would love to be in a relationship with me because I give a lot of grace.

19:38Oti: You you just need to zoom out a little bit And to understand that there was no way for Alex to stick around after the comments that were made.

19:47KT: Do you understand that toxicity can manifest in different ways?

19:51Oti: Can.

19:52KT: Do you understand that people can physically cheat as well as emotionally cheat and also just neglect

19:58Oti: How would Alex know that Mel loves her? You, like, Mel loves him.

20:02KT: He knew it and you could see it. don't,

20:05Oti: No fam, like.

20:06KT: don't disintegrate the writing that was there.

20:08Oti: He what, he saw it. He felt it. He said, Mel, why are you pushing me

20:14Oti: He did it. Exactly. Up until that comment where he was like, fam, you need to deal with this. Because if you're not ready to receive love, how am I supposed to know that you're there with me?

20:24KT: That's such a dumb thing to say personally, because you can get into the most perfect, happy, skibbity dibbity relationship, and then for whatever reason, down the line, you don't feel that way anymore. Whether it's feeling that way about yourself, whether it's feeling that way about your mans, whether it's feeling that way about the children that your mans says he doesn't have, right?

20:51KT: can change how you feel. It's growing pains. We deal with shit. And that

20:56Oti: that is more than growing pains

20:59KT: Bro, it wasn't as if the love wasn't there. She was just scared to love herself so she couldn't allow him to love her. Hoo! And the pussy friends and lovers, let it breathe! Hoo wee! Beep, beep, beep,

21:22Oti: You're just proving yourself, like, fam. You're literally No, maybe literally, but

21:31KT: I mean, literally, we have a Key & Peele friend episode, friends and lovers, go and check

21:36Oti: just don't get it. I really don't. I, to me, Alex did everything that he could to be there. He even said,

21:43KT: He didn't do everything he could, but he also didn't have to deal with that. Do you get that?

21:49Oti: I get that. But Alex did everything he could to me. Like, I just don't know what else you'd want from him in terms of. Trying to show Mel that he's there

22:00KT: Okay, so let's come back to what I wanted to say before we had the comparisons and apparently you can't tell that you're only standing for black men. But anyway, even when Mel kisses him, which come home, bro, like, come on anyway, people like drama. People like being messy. Right. Malcolm and Marie, you're not going to catch me defending those two. Right? People just like being messy, right? But whatever. She made a decision. She kissed him. It appeared at some point he got lost in the sauce and he was kissing her back.

22:35KT: Right? Go back, Oti, and watch it. He didn't say, Oh, I love my girl. Nah, bros. He said, How could you, How could you have me tear up this happy family? Is that the words of a man that has moved on? You Is that the words of a man that doesn't still love and pine over Mel?

22:56Oti: Love isn't a fucking faucet you can turn off fam.

23:00KT: Exactly.

23:02Oti: You can, there's capability to love more than one. I'm not trying to say any, there's.

23:10KT: so, so that's why you heard I was Mormon and you entered the chat,

23:13Oti: Hey? Oh, Big Love. You've got one big love. It's, it's all about the

23:20KT: I feel the triple horn, though.

23:23Oti: Uh, it's, and this, and this is where I'm like in this day and age, I'm not here for someone to try and swoop in on the wedding on the fucking eve of the wedding.

23:35KT: No,

23:37KT: I'm bringing it back.

23:40Oti: You cannot expect that. And for them, for Mel to kiss Alex that way. Alex is confused. So of course his tongue will wiggle a bit, you know, just out of instinct. And then as soon as he realized what the fuck he's like,

24:03KT: Bob,

24:04Oti: get off. Why are you doing this now? You had five years to do this.

24:09KT: Get Off.

24:11Oti: He can be Mr. Broccoli for all I care. He still had to

24:15KT: It was Kamasi with those horns. Okay. Well, there's other stuff that I want to talk about. Friends and lovers. This could have been a whole cut, uncut, uh, friends and lovers commentary. But, before we move on to other stuff, I want to talk about Terrence. I just, I think it was his voice.

24:37Oti: that made Mel not want to fall in love with him. go away

24:47KT: Where's the mess now?

24:48Oti: I'm just saying, he could not have done it. Like Mel looked at him and said he was her brother. What's up with this?

24:57Oti: Oh, actually. See, I hadn't even forgotten about

25:03KT: Give Terrence a little bit of love.

25:05Oti: All right, Terrence, core character, he, he, he's, he's realizing that he's falling in love with Mel slowly by slowly and Mel was the only person who could eat his crisps, You know? and, and to piece together everything and realize, Hey, I actually care for this person.

25:27Oti: I want, I want Mel in my life. I just felt a lot of that was underdeveloped rather than focusing more on Alex and the could have been. We should be getting some Terrence love all the way he was so and We could have gotten more scenes with Terrence and make this feel more adult and more Vibey than what we got. Yeah. Fuck Alex and his baby mamas. We don't care about that shit.

25:54KT: Wow.

25:56Oti: Give us some Terrence love. Hmm. You know, you see where I'm coming from? I just like it at the end of the day, we still get to see a point where Mel is realizing that, Oh, actually Terrence could be the one. And.

26:18KT: there was a lot of hijinks that they didn't need to focus on.

26:22Oti: Or like busting into song.

26:24KT: Yeah, is it Blindspotting?

26:26Oti: Yeah,

26:26KT: As well as, is it girlfriend's playlist or something?

26:32Oti: Uh, yeah.

26:33KT: Like, I personally, I'm not sure, you know, friends and lovers, unfortunately, I wasn't well enough for us to go and watch the Lady Gaga, Joker film, but we will watch it eventually. Like, I just, it's not really my thang, like musicals. I don't know, there was definitely a Is there a way to

26:56KT: have a discernment? Because I loved the warmth that was wrapped in the lens of this show. wasn't fatphobic. It wasn't anti Black. And it was so beautiful to be able to operate from that lens. But then it kind of became, nothing is allowed to hurt Mel ever. And that's also me saying that Alex should have given more grace to Like there was so many things that she was given so many graces for, and it's like, she should be accountable for some of this shit.

27:36Oti: she was fucking sexting her brother.

27:41KT: minutes.

27:41Oti: I would have I don't even know the level of The anger wasn't there to the level I expected it to be. I don't know how you How you how you sex with your brother all day every day because we got a cut scene. We got we got a fucking montage Of Mel texting the whole day away.

28:01Oti: She couldn't even care whether or not her best friend You know talking or not the whole day every day Fam and all we got was a scoff. Hmm. What do you mean you did this? You're cheating on like fam That was messed up shit,

28:22KT: But like, you stole his identity. Fair enough to pay off your hospital bill, but it's been made clear very times that, like, he's been there for you. I don't know. Friends and lovers, we've talked about this before. I don't rely on my family for nothing. Whether it's financial, whether it's emotional or whatever. So when I see people that rely on their family and talk shit to their family, it's very confusing to Because if you really meant it, why are you accepting help from them?

28:53Oti: Well when it comes

28:54KT: and expect it

28:56Oti: When it comes to matters of accountability, the show does end with Mel getting arrested. So there is some form of her that comeuppance because everything that she does in this show, whilst not on the upside, the things that, even the conversations with her brother, jeez

29:20KT: I be real real real real real based on the foundation that was built on this show I don't think it has the cojones to be able to follow through with her getting arrested And I'm not even talking about Mel and Madea Goes to Jail.

29:38KT: I'm not even talking about that. I'm just saying the fact that you're making her accountable for shit that she's done. I don't think the show is capable of that. friends and lovers, I be, I do be on IMDB, uh, Don Cheadle's algorithm. Someone wrote a review and they referred to Mel as a Peggy Sue. Or Mary Sue.

30:00KT: Whatever it is. And I looked it up and it's like, nothing, nothing bad can happen to this character. And I'm like, yeah.

30:08Oti: yeah Yeah, And this is where how learning and how growing was so pivotal and that's why I love the last episode so much because once she realized all she needed was to love

30:21KT: was it earned though?

30:24Oti: It got there wonkily, but it still got there

30:32Oti: I feel it was I feel it was I feel like episode seven was such a throw off for me that I felt I didn't understand where the direction of the show was going with that but once you go to the final episode and reeling everything back in and try now to operate like an actual fucking human then You could see that she's trying to better herself and even when admitting like oh I've actually stolen this card and this is what I'm doing and admitting some of the shitty stuff she's done up until that point that's something she would never have done in the first few bloody episodes because of just how she was moving so to me I felt that everything that transpired to her or happened to her pushed her to a state where she could confront this stuff head on And yes, it's shitty and still feel guilty about it And that's why when when she got arrested at the end, I was like

31:31Oti: In as much I can see the Mary Sue angle, I felt like that was needed what if there's ever a season two I'm not sure what the fuck that would be based off that because of course she gets out for whatever fucking reason but she She has so little care for anyone else other than her and to my amount like because I when I Just logged into IMDB to read the description of this show

32:00KT: log in even

32:07Oti: took me aback because I didn't see that show as what I read It wasn't me seeing Mel trying to be that bitch. It wasn't about that

32:16KT: No, she just was a bitch. Respectfully.

32:19Oti: right? Yeah. It wasn't, oh, I'm gonna be that

32:22KT: wasn't a reclamation thing.

32:23Oti: uh, I'm gonna claim like it wasn't claiming shit. No. So I was like, it was so completely different from what I watched that I was like, is this the official description for the show? Because it's nothing that way.

32:38KT: I, I get that. It's usually family, but I get that the people closest to you, you probably can be the most comfortable with, which probably means you can show more of your ugly side that you don't really show to the rest of the people. But the way that she spoke to her brother was so disgusting.

32:58KT: I'm not even talking about the sexual shit. I'm just saying like, you wanted him to feel so small. And in this world of telling black men it's okay to share your feelings, you are dunking on him for crying about Lion King.

33:14Oti: And you know, it's all rooted with the papa issues as well.

33:18KT: Yuck, man. Oh, yuck. But you know what, Oti? I'm a multi dimensional, full bodied

33:26Oti: woman.

33:27KT: belong to that part of the community in the description. I can feel this way, but also want her to experience love and to be loved, even if she doesn't know how to love herself. How about Based on

33:48Oti: that? Based on?

34:00KT: Can we talk about that diner scene? They were going really hard, really intense, really roar at each other, if you'll pardon the incestuous pun. And then they just started singing songs together and then they're all literally kumbaya now. Come on. They had the ability to be able to temper that a bit better.

34:18Oti: Yeah. and and that's one of the things, like everything about their relationship up to that point didn't pave way for that sort of thing to happen. Especially with everything that has gone on with the jealousy that Mel feels for the brother because of everything. The mom, you know, the mom holding the brother to a pedestal and all that shit. It just came way too easy

34:45Oti: That I felt like this never happens And for the cherry on top to be Mel outing the brother's relationship In the fucking speaker

34:55KT: because you know, he is always a hazard on speaker with the kids

34:58Oti: I'm like fam

35:00KT: yuck.

35:01Oti: You're saying you wanna be that bitch but Jesus fucking Christ man

35:05KT: You can't be that bitch if you're still a bitch. All right, let's do a speed round of the characters. You can still be a Yeah.

35:13Oti: but

35:15KT: He did. but I'm the one that has a problem being on Ebony Prince, but

35:20Oti: everybody's friends page, whatever. Alright,

35:22KT: All right, let's do a quick speed round. before we close up friends and lovers, we've talked about Mel. Rory can go in the bin, go away. You know, I feel like it's a normal dynamic that people have for relationships or friendships in particular where you have a friend that is probably a little bit too much self absorbed, but because you're trying to escape and not think about your own life, the dynamic works. Yeah. And so you realize you want better for yourself. Anything you want to say about Rory?

35:50Oti: He was never a friend. And for them to even have a scene at the end that they're trying I'm like, brah.

35:57KT: Yeah.

35:58Oti: This wasn't deserved and fucking Rory was crap.

36:01KT: Alex. We've talked about Terrence. We've talked about, Patty. She was kind of a caricature. Yeah. Yeah. She was a caricature. Shout out to the Sean and Sean. Love, love, love, love, love. Very funny. A lot of funny lines. Also, I want to say that this is my happy, sad show that I'm going to rewatch. Well, particular episodes anyway. I think that's it. Is there anything else? Oh, H. Jon Benjamin. How dare I?

36:24Oti: Yeah. Man, I miss Archer.

36:31KT: I would say we're due for a rewatch, but every year we're kind of

36:34Oti: to. Yeah, it's always in there. It's always, it's always in the, in the playlist.

36:39KT: Oti.

36:40Oti: Friends

36:42KT: Hoo, hoo, hoo. Thank you friends and lovers for joining us another week in the For Your Reference household. We're going to finish off in a segment we call For Your Reference. Oti, give us a shitty

36:54Oti: Strong black man, Lawrence, here we come. I'm going to reference Insecure for your everyday black man strength. If you want to see a black man's struggle and rise to the top like a fucking Phoenix up the ashes. Oh, that sounds a bit sexual. I

37:12KT: I thought you were going to say something else, not ashes, but okay.

37:15Oti: going

37:17KT: Where men could be men in the barracks!

37:33KT: Oh, could you imagine if Mel got with a white man? It would have been like a Queenie chat. maybe it was because it was British. Maybe it had a different commentary.

37:45Oti: we got to speak on a probably would have turned that shit off, but yeah, here we are.

37:55KT: But Anyway, I'm going to reference Queenie, Friends and Lovers.

38:00Oti: You sure?

38:01KT: Yes. because they were equally frustrating.

38:04Oti: I'd say one more

38:06KT: Well, no, one had more joy than the other, but they were both very frustrating, uh, in their particular parts. But thank you, friends and lovers for joining us another week in the For Your Reference household. We will be rubbing up on each other offline, next week. So we're very excited about that. Are you excited to have a little holiday away?

38:24Oti: Yeah, it's been ages.

38:26KT: Yeah, right. It's going to be so good. but we'll have more reviews for you. Friends and lovers. We're getting into the spooky

38:33Oti: I Wonder what we're gonna do. I thought we'd do Pet Sematary like a rewatch of everything, but we'll see

38:48KT: want to hit us up friends and lovers on Twitter, Instagram, Spill, Bluesky. We're @ForYourRefPod.

38:53Oti: us an email at hello@fyrpodcast.com.

38:57KT: We're also on Boo to Lawrence forever podcast, if you'd like to leave a rating and review and we'll see you guys next week.

39:05Oti: And we'll see you

39:06KT: black people. Okay. Mwah. Mwah.

39:11Oti: Mwah.