Parenting Tips from “Only Murders in the Building” S4 E5, “Adaptation”

Welcome to the Parenting Roundabout podcast. I'm Terry Morrow and I'm Catherine Jileco. As parents and parenting writers, we can't help but see everything through a parenting lens. But as our kids have become adults, we find ourselves more interested in getting caught up on movies and streaming than I'm going over the same parenting topics over and over.

So since we're pretty sure we can find parenting wisdom anywhere, we're going to talk about what we're watching, what we thought about it, and maybe what we can learn from it, if only what not to do. Watch and listen along, and let's all make like we're doing something important for our families. Each Wednesday we bring you our thoughts on a newer entertainment property, and for this week of September sixteenth, we are discussing season four, episode five of Only Murders in the Building.

It is called Adaptation, and basically it just was like a giant circle because we started with someone holding a gun and it turned out to be nothing, and then yes, by the end of the episode, gunshots again, like another cliffhanger, exactly like the one we did had before.

Yes, indeed, I am feeling like such a grinch this season because I'm just not feeling this. Yeah, it just seems so self indulgent. I mean, I'm very happy for Eva Longoria that she wants to get out there and lampoon herself, but I don't really care. Yeah, I'll follow her that much. If I were a big fan of hers, I would probably be going, Whooo, look at that. But okay, it's just I don't know. I look at Twitter and people are just, oh my gosh, this is the best

Yeah, I'll keep watching it, but it's just, yeah, it just it just feels like we're not getting anywhere, you know.

Again.

I returned to the after party, which we enjoyed a lot, and it was like, yeah, you always knew that whoever you were focusing on in that episode didn't do it, yeah, because you know, then they would move on to someone else, but like, I don't know, this doesn't have the same zing or something.

It doesn't. It just it feels so self referential and self indulgent that it's not entertaining to me. I mean, it's fine, I'll watch it, and goodness, it's a half an hour. I can it's you know, everybody involved is very talented, they're very enjoyable to watch. But it just felt myself all the way through going really yeah, so, and that's not the way I want to feel when I watch this show, right, I want to be happy, not resigned.

Yeah.

I mean, it's it has its moments where you it makes you laugh, and you know, I still enjoy the the three of them together and the sort of parent child flipping back and forth relationship, even.

That seems to have gotten a little self referential too. It's just like, look at these old guys. Look at Were they always quite that idiotic? I don't think so. They just seem to have turned up the knob on that well.

And it's also like very inconsistent right out last week. How you know, Oliver can't figure out he doesn't know that Siri's name is Siri, and he yells at his iPad to turn off the brightness, but yet he knows to create a fake Instagram, right, And then this time it was like, oh he just we just sent him off to print out stuff from his phone, from Charles' phone, Yes, okay.

And then they came back as like photographs on glossy paper. How I don't know how to do that he has that kind of a printer or I mean, I suppose I could take my phone down to FedEx's office and say, can you make them look like photographs so I can put them on my murder board? But would Oliver write, Yeah, it is inconsistent. And hey John McEnroe wandering through playing a grouch?

Yeah, whoa.

That was It's just like thirty seconds of okay, fine.

I had to go on IMDBN say is that who I think that is? Oh yeah, well of course it is. Of course they can get him for a walkthrough.

Yeah, problem also lampooning himself, which is all he ever does.

Yes, absolutely, easily done, Yeah, and done many many times.

Right.

Yeah, It's just like there were so many bits of business. You know, we're just going to stop everything to do this little funny thing. And Paul runs back again, right, hey man, right, had a good time the first time through?

Did ya still missing that tooth?

I just I enjoyed last season. I didn't have this problem with it, although looking back I can see that theater wise it was probably similarly, you know, lampoo of part of it, I think maybe is that Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd weren't playing themselves.

Yeah, they were.

Playing characters, and the characters, especially Meryl Streep's character was not turned up that high, and Paul Rudds was, but he wasn't in it that much. There was that one thing with Matthew Broderick playing himself that I thought worked really well and was really funny, but it was one episode and one segment. It was not the entire This is like taking that and making it the centerpiece of

It, right, Right, that's the idea.

They're like such a grouch people, We're so happy. Why am I the enemy of fun? Catherine? I don't know. I mean they're having fun playing with zach alliphan Akis's name, who could not be there for mister anaphylax, so you know, it's I see what they're doing there and hmmm, yeah, yeah, I think the shoot not being sure that the gun, not thinking that the gun was loaded when she shot it was an Alec bald One reference. I thought it felt like it was oh gosh, maybe a little drive by.

Yeah, that's that's pretty pretty harsh.

Maybe I'm reading too much in, but it seems to be inviting us to read stuff in. Please read things in everywhere, right, we're putting it out.

There, well, especially just that character. Yeah, the producer, you know.

Like, oh she's being very hard Molly. I'm so sorry. Maybe a little less caffeine in the morning.

Yeah, but you know, the whole thing of like, oh what are your ideas? Oh well you don't really need an idea, you just need you know, of.

Wok.

Yeah, podcast what a racket, right.

And my ball being like surprised to be like, oh yeah, that's my job podcast produced.

See, like you can have all parenting podcasts, but it doesn't have to be about parenting. You can talk about TV shows three episodes a week.

Look at that?

Where is our check?

Where is our movie?

Again?

We say yes?

Over here, we're asking once it would be much more entertaining.

M Yeah, I don't know how many.

More episodes to it is Tannel don't know.

Let's see, let's just check that out really quick.

It's ten, so we're halfway through, yep, or not quite. This was the fifth.

This was the fifth, so it was the halfway point.

I'm thinking if Paul Rudd could come back as his stunt double, his character's stunt double, could sas like have a twin sister who just turns up and everybody's oh no, it's not it's it's bizzazz sister.

Bizzazz I love it.

Yeah, I mean you'd think that they wouldn't return to that well after they just did it with Paul Rudd, But I certainly wouldn't put it past them at this point.

Yeah. I think that this that only murders in the building is at this point. At the I wouldn't put them past them point. They will do whatever the bleep they want, right and you will like it, or otherwise you will be that grouch on the internet, so then they will make fun of you. Somebody wrote a bad tweet about us?

Yeah, so is it good? They're not listening to.

Nobody's listening to us, but bots, so we're pretty safe.

I okay.

And what are we to make of the writer who needs to wear a fake beard in order to.

I was wondering why he wasn't just growing himself his own beard he has. I guess that's a thing. He can't grow one, but he desperately needs to look like Charlie Kaufman to fit in with the title of this episode, bing adaptations, right, alrighty, then, I don't know. I got tired of him about two thirds of the way through and wished he would just shut up. So maybe somebody will wish you just shut up and pulled a bullet in him. Who knows? Just you know writers, I'm all right.

Yeah, well, and just like the eagerness and the earnestness, like I don't know.

We all know what writers are lying, right. I hope people like this episode. Just I just edited my substack fifty times.

I read the FuG Girls, the go FuG yourself Girls in their newsletter, in their subtact they are recapping only murders, but after we do.

Dang, so we can't steal from them.

Well but they mean no not I forget which one it was, but they said one of the same things you.

Then I love them.

This is not helpful. Let me see if I can quickly remember what that was.

Our podcast producer will cut that all out. Yeah, let's see, that's what I am. Me and Mabel it.

Must have been. I don't know.

It was something about maybe dude off or something.

The uh, the Westies.

So anyway, point being that they're enjoyable the their recaps because they don't hesitate.

To Oh good, they don't pull their punches if.

Something screenshot them and sent them to me because I stopped paying. It's like I have mixed I feel like I wanted to be somebody in the building or the one of the Westies or something. I wanted to be something in the New York world that winds up being the killer and not something to having to do without all all this movie stuff. But then if that's the case, I'm gonna be mad that we wasted so much time on all this movie stuff because it really was just, Hey,

Oh boy?

I mean that's what this episode was all about, right, all the mirrors, mirrors and suplicates and adaptations and yahda YadA.

Two people committing a crime in two parts.

So well, what parenting can we say about this? Well, we have Detective Williams returning to cast a stern eye upon her little charges and tell them to get it together.

Yeah, she's gonna be my my, my character in this just going You're just being ridiculous, right, stop what you're doing. She's like focus, focus, focus person.

She is definitely playing that.

She will be the mom. And you know, we can relate somewhat to Mabel's young adult aimlessness and you know, wanting to have a career but not really sure what it is she's even doing. Right, And even though she's doing it successfully enough to get a very large check and to have a Hollywood person saying, hey, come run your scam with us.

It'll be great.

But she's not satisfied with that. She wants to actually know who she is and what she is A difficult time, right, my kids, you know, at a much lower level, I suppose have gone through that, and I recall, you know, in my day as well, so parents wise, I feel for her, and I feel like saying, Mabel, you put that check down on the couch, did you pick it up before you look through? Don't put that in the

Sounds like she did.

She does not have a mature person guiding her.

No, she certainly doesn't, because Oliver and Charles are not about to play no.

Detective Williams what to do.

She needs to ask Detective Williams for sure.

As she just knows a real estate that's right, or a financial.

That made me. The check sitting on the couch made me very nervous. I would have liked to have seen her picking it up and putting it in her Does she have a bag I don't know in her pocket at least? And then on the way to whatever mischief they were getting into, stop at the bank deposited immediately. Probably too big a check to deposit with your phone. You probably have to bring it there personally. I'm glad I don't just leave it sitting in the couch in somebody's apartment.

Or in your checking account.

Yes, no, yeah, definitely not in your check you're not doing anything for you. Go open a nice CD, maybe a an IRA of some sort, maybe you know, an investment account.

Something I.

Suns me very nervous, and just the whole Is this the way? I guess they have to I guess have to pay the people off for their rights before they make the movie. But I would have liked to have known how much each of them?

How much?

How much do you get for selling your life?

Yeah?

They can just now use them as characters in anything, doing anything at any time, right, propsimbly?

Yeah, Well, I mean remember what this sage advice of Eva Angloria, which was, you know, like make it enough so that you can do what you want to do.

Right, That is true, even if it's you know, making commercials and guesting on TV shows where you make funny yourself. Sure you have enough. I've had about enough for this week, how about you.

Yeah, well we'll stop there, but next week we'll be back. We'll discuss the next episode called blow up, yeah, which I don't recall a movie of that title.

Yes, there was, Okay, there was a movie called Blowout that was about a sound person and I think they made no which came first. Look this up on IMDb because I don't remember which one was driven of the other one. One of them had John Travolta in It was a very long time ago. Okay, blow up was the first okay, And I think blowout is this incellency? Okay? Yes,

That is the name of next week's episode, numbers.

Charles was taking all those pictures. Yes, I wonder if it has anything to do.

With that, but also so worthy.

Boy, they took like five minutes on that gag, so it would be good if it worked out for something else. Yes, it was ponderous, even as he was doing it the wrong way and then he had to do it again at the right way.

Yes.

Anyway, we got a podcast to record.

Coright, and we will see you back here tomorrow for our weekly Roundabout roundup.

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