Intro

SPEAKER_06 0:18

Welcome everybody to Steel Watching, the podcast for Remington Steel fans. I am Eric, and I had a mixed week this week. My wife made chili, which should be fantastic, but she gave half of it away. So my week was ruined. She gave it to my daughter and son-in-law, so my week's shot.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Does she have any for me? Because I'll take some.

SPEAKER_06 0:40

No, I hey. My rule on my wife's chili is mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

And I'm Sarah, and I'm apparently not getting any chili. So sad.

SPEAKER_06 0:53

Well, it would be hard to mail, you know.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

That's the true that would be awkward. And it's a rotating strike right now. So it might get here, but it might not be till Christmas, which would be bad.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Yeah, it would be not be a good thing.

SPEAKER_06 1:09

Anyway,

Premium Steel

SPEAKER_06 1:10

we are looking at season four, episode seven, Premium Steel.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Yay!

SPEAKER_06 1:16

You had said that this is one of your favorite episodes, possibly of all the series.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yeah, it's it's definitely up there, so I'm excited.

unknown 1:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:24

It first aired on December 3, 1985, was written by Gerald Sainoff. It's the first time we've had him. Yep. And directed by Gabrielle Beaumont, which is the second of her three episodes Illustrated Steel, this one, Premium Steel, and then also Steel in the Running coming up.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

She's kind of knocking it out of the park in terms of the two episodes that she's directed. They're both really good.

SPEAKER_06 1:45

So well, in all fairness, a lot of that is the script. I mean true, true. Granted, a good director can take a bad script and make it look better, but only so far. I mean, you know, you lipstick on a pig might might improve it somewhat, but a pig is still a pig. Well, but if you know she's had good episodes.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

If you think of Illustrated Steel, the transitions that she had between the comic panels and what was actually happening, that was really artistic and really clever. So you're I you're right. If it's a bad script, there's not much you can do, but she took a good script and made it quite really good.

SPEAKER_06 2:24

So yes. So anyway, um let's get on with the synopsis, which I have pulled from Judith's book, Steel Loved After All These Years. And I went with the TV guide listing, although the the the others are are good too, but I went with TV guide because that's kind of been our standard here. So it goes something like this. In fact, it goes exactly like this. The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated, or so claims garlic farmer Lester Shane when a phony obituary threatens to ruin his life.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

So um, I don't know if you looked into this. That phrase, that quote, do you know where it originated?

SPEAKER_06 3:08

Uh as soon as you say it, I'll know, but I I can't pull it to the top of my head. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

So it was Mark Twain, although it's Yes, yes. So it's one of those quotes that is frequently quoted wrong. You know, like Luke, I am your father, which isn't actually what they say in the film. In this case, the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated, is paraphrasing what Mark Twain actually said. Uh there was a death hoax, and it was similar to what has happened in this episode. Newspapers printed f falsely printed news of his death, and he said something like, The report of my death was an exaggeration. So it's a paraphrase, but yeah, it was Mark Twain.

SPEAKER_06 3:50

It works better this way, though.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

It does work. It really does.

Lester Shane discovers he has been declared dead

SPEAKER_06 3:55

Anyway, well, we start with an establishing shot of the Del Capri Hotel. The camera pans to the front door of the hotel, and we see a man walk out. He's dressed in a nice suit, so he's not a bum, but he looks a bit disheveled. His tie is not tied snug, he hasn't shaved, and he's stumbling, and he has a piece of paper in his hand. He makes his way to a news rack, buys a newspaper, then steps over to another newspaper rack, buys a different paper, and steps over to yet another newspaper rack and buys yet another and different paper.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Remember when those existed, those things where you can put money in and get newspapers out of them? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 4:36

Well, I remember that well, I don't I don't know if everybody had these, but uh something called the nickel ads, which was uh uh basically a freebie that was Oh, we used to call that the penny saver.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Is that the same thing?

SPEAKER_06 4:48

Okay, probably. Yeah, they they had a few maybe local interest items in them, but mostly it was advertisements like your your uh your classified ads.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:00

So they would be in the rack that they had their uh theirs were weren't as sophisticated, they were just basically a a wooden, like a small cabinet that had shelves on it, and they just stack them up there, and you just because because there was no money involved, you know, they didn't have to worry about the the door closing on the front and locking it to until somebody put a queen in. Oh no. There was a uh newspaper anybody from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Toronto local pol constabulary. Do not listen to this, do not listen. Please go take a short break.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

So, so Eric, it wouldn't it wouldn't be the RCMP or the Toronto police that would that would get me. It would be the either the Ontario Provincial Police or the London City Police. But either way, don't listen. Don't listen. Um but I have a confession to make. There used to be a um newspaper stand rack thingy outside the realize I'm not wearing my my clerical collar today. Outside the diner that my parents used to own, and this is before they owned it. But there was a um there was something wrong with it. It was we we found this out sort of accidentally that if you clicked it a certain way, it would just open. You could get the paper out without putting money in it. So we regularly stole the Toronto Star. No, it was a London Free Press. Sorry, it was a London Free Press, but we'd grab it because you could just go in there and get a paper and you had to like shake it a certain way, but it if you jimmied it, it would open.

SPEAKER_06 6:27

So well, you know, the thing is, for a long, long time, newspapers claimed that the subscription price or the the the price of the newspaper was was really meaningless because they made all their money from advertising, you know, classified ads and the newspaper ads. And it's like, okay, then why do you keep raising the rates of the Exactly?

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Anyway, that's my confession. You keep going. I've got I got that off my chest.

SPEAKER_06 6:55

Yes. I'm I'm uh let's see, what should be your penance? Uh anyway, yes, he he pulls one of the newspapers opens and starts tearing through the pages as he blindly walks down the sidewalk and into the street in front of a truck, which has to stop in a hurry. And of course, the driver honks his horn at the man. And blindly he continues across the street, almost like he didn't hear the horn, didn't know what's going on, didn't pay attention. And he's still tearing at the pages, and then into another lane of traffic, forcing yet another motorist to slam on their brakes to prevent hitting him, along with another blast of the horn.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

It's funny because he's looking for news of his death while potentially causing it. Well, yeah, that's just walked into traffic.

SPEAKER_06 7:40

Well, I mean, hey, if you're already dead, what is it matter, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:43

Exactly.

Steele becomes obsessed with his new VCR

SPEAKER_06 7:45

Well, next we are at the agency. Steele is at his desk, sitting in his chair, feet up on the desk, reading the manual for a brand new VCR, which is sitting on top of its box on his desk.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Okay, I have two questions.

SPEAKER_06 7:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

One I'll ask later, but one I'm gonna ask now.

SPEAKER_04 8:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

He has a VCR. Is this just because he wants it in his room as well as in the living room? Because we know he has a VCR. We've we've seen them what the when the Atomic Man episode, they're watching the tape in his living room.

SPEAKER_06 8:14

Uh unless they rented a machine for that particular instance.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

But yeah, it it's I I find it very hard to believe someone like him wouldn't have a VCR in his living room at this point.

SPEAKER_06 8:25

It's apparently because it does go into his bedroom, so obviously that's the purpose of it, then yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Okay. And I looked into the cost of these machines, and some of them would run anywhere between $200 and $400 equivalently now, which is kind of insane when you think about it, because I could go down to a actually uh probably more than that, because I think the first VCR I got from my parents, because I was working at a remember that that story I told you about, JAFCO, just another company.

SPEAKER_06 9:00

Um I I got a VCR for them, and it was a low-end model, and it was like a couple hundred dollars at least. And that was just a basic model. So I well I I some of them I think in the in that time were well over $500, depending on whether it was beta or VHS. Uh VHS was always cheaper.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:25

And then also the quality of the machine.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

And minus my second question will be to do with hooking this up because I think this episode is um making things more difficult than it needs to be. I have hooked many a VCR up in my day. And not necessarily.

SPEAKER_06 9:48

I'm sorry. It's just not 1980s. I think 1980s. There are some complications. So we'll get we'll get okay, fine, we'll get there. We'll get there. Anyway, uh, where were we? Yes, it's sitting on top of his desk. And although he is confused as he tries to decipher all the technobabel contained within the pages, which read 28 functioning remote with direct keypad tuning and built-in MTS, even though he's confused, he's clearly excited about the machine, calling it his little beauty.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah. Do you know what the built-in MTS is?

SPEAKER_06 10:22

I looked that up, and uh in VCR's MTS or multi-channel television sound is a system for encoding stereo audio along with a base mono signal, as well as a secondary audio program called SAP into an analog TV broadcast, which allows for a second audio language, often Spanish or French, or descriptive audio for the visually impaired. Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

I looked it up too. Yeah. Uh, because that was the only part of it. Because I, like I said, I was sitting here watching this episode thinking, I don't know how it's this complicated. It I remember what you had to do. In fact, I've got the instructions in front of me when we get there because I just yeah, I I I went down a Google rabbit hole for some of this episode. And yeah, so I I looked up. I'm like, okay, the MTS thing is the only is the only part of this that I don't recognize or that's not pinging any bells. But obviously it it it probably exists. Like I probab we probably had it on one of our machines, but just didn't um the other thing I I found

The VCR reshapes home entertainment

SPEAKER_01 11:26

when I was going down my rabbit hole um was that 1985 was sort of a um a pivotal year for for VCRs and video cassettes because this was the year that the sale of video cassettes for home viewing eclipsed the box office. And there was actually some concern that the that VCRs were gonna kill off uh theatrical movie going, that it would sort of destroy the theater experience. Because um this article that I found said as the VCR was adopted by households across North America, the film industry was watching nervously. In May 1986, the technology which allowed users to watch pre-recorded video cassettes or make home recordings of TV broadcasts was being adopted by an estimated one million households per month in North America. This virtual explosion of VCR sales has had some major effects. At CBC's, this is from the CBC. Um so this is Canadian, but still it it translated over into the US. Sure. Um Kalina visited The Set of Wisdom, a movie written, directed by, and starring Emilia Vestavez. It was aimed squarely at Hollywood's prime youth market, and according to recent research, almost half the market would be watching it on home video. And so the people who run Hollywood are looking to see is the VCR a friend or is it an enemy? Jack Valenti, head of Motion Picture Association of America, wasn't making any predictions. I don't think anybody could tell you whether or not the intrusion of the VCR will have a cataclysmic or a beneficent effect on the movie business. Four years earlier, he seemed to lean into the cataclysmic side when he compared the VCR to a serial killer in testimony before the U.S. Congress. One thing was certain, the video store business was booming, and people weren't just renting and buying Hollywood movies, but instructional videos. You can plunk in a cassette and work out with Jane Fonda, Mr. T, or even Mickey Mouse, said Colina as the camera scanned the shelves at a tower video store in LA. You can finally learn how to appreciate wine. So yeah, they were they were quite nervous about the VCR and its presence in in people's homes, which is kind of interesting because if you think about the comparison to now, uh streaming is sort of taking that place because now you got a lot of movies that are being made specifically for streaming and bypassing theaters entirely, or maybe going into theaters for a week so that they can be eligible for the Oscars. But beyond that, there's a market there that doesn't exist in theaters anymore. And I think that's going to have more of an impact than the VCR did.

SPEAKER_06 13:41

But oh, it already has.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Yeah. So I just thought that was interesting.

SPEAKER_06 13:45

In a lot of respects, not just in how they distribute movies, but it's also had a a very sharp and arguably detrimental impact on the uh rest of the industry, the actors, the the writers, uh ever everybody. But um thing about VCRs is that the given the quality of uh both the TVs and the VCRs at the time, uh the the image quality did not at all compare to what you would get in a theater experience. Oh definitely not. But uh as with audio cassettes, the television and movie industry was fighting against the d the technology, trying to get it first of all declared illegal to use. And failing that, they managed to get a bunch of taxes imposed so that every time you bought a machine or you bought a blank tape, you were actually paying a hidden tax. It wasn't it didn't show up on the on the list on on your receipt as you know, tax on VCR, tax on you know blank video cassette. But there was a tax in there added, and as far as I know, those taxes, all of those taxes on both the video cassettes, the machines, and on audio cassettes still are still in force.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

They are, but and it and in comparing the streaming, a lot of those residuals or rights percentages, what have you, are not going to filmmakers or or writers. So that's we had a right a writer strike recently for that reason, because uh that's just yeah, they're gonna have to fight for that as well as as an element.

SPEAKER_06 15:30

And bye-bye, you're gone. Yeah, you you get nothing further. And so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

What's especially frustrating about it is that at least with VCRs and video cassettes, if you bought the movie, it was yours, you owned it as a consumer, right? With streaming services, like I I just re Oh, it's so frustrating because we watched Hocus Pocus earlier today. Now Disney came out with a sequel to it. It's on Disney Plus. Is it on DVD? No, they released it only for Disney Plus, and so you in order to access it, you have to pay to keep Disney Plus forever and hope that they don't just pull it like they did with the TV series Willow that I never got to see. So it it it's it's less like you're allowed to own these things now and and more like you're renting them again, but they can take that rental away from you at any time, and it's very frustrating because I would like to own that movie. I don't want to just some someday find that it's gone and never be able to see it again. That's extremely annoying.

SPEAKER_06 16:27

So yeah, and and what's even more annoying uh or a more annoying aspect to that is that they can and do regularly change the content of the movies. And now if you're talking to somebody about a particular movie and you say, Well, remember that scene, and it's what are you talking about? That that wasn't in there, or when when they they pulled out this thing, you know. Exactly. Yeah, what are you talking about? That it wasn't this, it was they pulled out that. It's like, but you can't prove that you were right, even though you are right, because all it's it's like the uh memory hole in uh 1984, it's gone. Yeah, you have no way of proving what you know to be the truth because all evidence of it has been destroyed, and you don't have any kind of a physical copy, independent of the people who are putting it out, to say, no, see, this is actually what did happen. So, yeah, and Amazon has been doing that same thing, pulling books off of people's candles. They bought them, they thought, well, I own this. Nope. What happened to it? Well, we pulled the book. Well, why? Well, because the publisher decided they didn't want the book out there anymore.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Yeah. I don't have a Kindle, but I have a Kobo and that it which is a Canadian equivalent, but yeah, I couldn't that Barnes and Noble?

SPEAKER_06 17:53

I thought it was just a Canadian um because uh you I know it it's available as an app on multiple devices, so yeah. But I thought I thought it was uh either way, they can do the same thing there.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

They can take the books off and then suddenly there's your butt, you could do it right in the middle. You're writing halfway through the book, it's gone.

SPEAKER_06 18:15

Yeah, because you didn't actually buy it. What you did was you licensed the right to use it until the time that they decide you don't have the right to use it anymore.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Hey, if buying isn't owning, then piracy isn't stealing.

SPEAKER_06 18:25

Well, there's an argument for that. There is a very strong argument for that. And think about the fact that even in newer cars, a lot of the electronics in there functions for the electronics that you get, oh, it's got this feature, that feature, the yeah, that's all software, yeah, and it's all licensed, and they could pull that at any time.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

So bring back VCRs.

SPEAKER_06 18:48

That's been a real big uh hassle with Tesla owners. Uh Tesla owners buy a car with these features and then they sell resell it to somebody else, and the new owner bought a car that was originally purchased with these features. The features were bought and paid for, but they have to rebuy them because Tesla says, well, yeah. So I mean, but anyway, all right. Where were we? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Sorry, I took us down a VCR rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_06 19:16

Yes. Uh he's on the on the he's sitting on his chair, feet up on the desk, reading the manual. He's excited about his little beauty and the phone buzzes. And without even looking away from the manual, he reaches over, picks up the receiver, and immediately says, No interruptions, Mildred.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Yeah, he's very busy. Important.

SPEAKER_06 19:33

Yes. Important, important one. She tries to talk to him, but he won't have it, telling her, I need to concentrate. Thank you. And he not quite slams the phone down, still trying to understand what built-in MTS is. And as he continues mumbling at the content of the manual as he reads, Mildred, taking his no interruptions admonition not too seriously.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

Well, because she he's not the boss anymore. She could have to listen to him.

SPEAKER_06 20:01

Well, that's true. She's uh she steps in saying, sorry, boss, but I think you ought to. But of course, she doesn't finish. She spots the VCR on his desk and apparently not recognizing it, asks what it is. Steele pauses in his reading, looks at her, and pointing to the VCR, tells her, investigative tool. Could break a case someday.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:22

Mildred doesn't challenge him, although it's apparent that he's simply trying to justify his purchase of a toy, apparently having missed out on his chance to buy a boat.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Yeah, that's true, actually.

Steele tries to justify his VCR purchase

SPEAKER_06 20:34

Mildred tells Steele that there's a gentleman in reception who's really upset. And Steele tries to pawn the man off onto Laura with the excuse that she's the expert at dealing with distressed gentlemen. Mildred reminds him that she's finishing up the security contract. And besides, the man wants to see Steele specifically. Frustrated, Steele currently says, Please, Mildred, I'm right in the middle of but he's interrupted by Laura coming in from the middle office saying that she needs his signature on a number of documents. Steele, sensing his opportunity to rid himself of further interruption, tells her that he's glad she's there because they have a client outside. Okay. Then he turns back, waves his hands, dismissing the women, turning back to his manual. Mildred leaves and closes the door behind her. And with a chastising look and tone of voice, Laura tells Steele that she sincerely hopes that agency funds did not pay for this, as she indicates the VCR.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

And Steele, first of all, yes, of course they did. Of course they did. He was going to buy a freaking boat with agency funds. Does she honestly think he's not going to spring for a VCR with agency funds?

SPEAKER_06 21:45

She could have thought, well, we had that talk after he tried to buy the boat. Well, I mean, okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

But there are two two other things for this. Okay. One, somebody in the Facebook group suggested that Steele has ADHD. And I was sort of like jokingly, and I'm not here to psychoanalyze or diagnose a fictional character, but the minute that person said that, I thought, oh my god, yes, because his character has all the telltale sort of um classical ADHD symptoms, specifically for men, because men it presents differently in men and women. Uh and for men, more hyperactive and impulsive symptoms like interrupting others, restlessness, high-risk behaviors. I mean, the man is a con man, he's constantly doing high-risk stuff, um, poor organization, forgetfulness, emotional reactivity, acting without thinking. I mean, the dude almost bought me. Sorry. Hey, if it helps, I I I fit all the time.

SPEAKER_06 22:48

With the possible exception of the organized part, because I try to be really organized, but I'm about 95% unsuccessful.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

But I mean, I check all the boxes for ADHD and women, so it's fine. It's fine. But like if you look at that, this is steel. The man almost bought a boat on a whim. Now he's got uh somebody in the comments said if the shoe fits. Now you've got you'd walk off with it.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Not only has it does he have a VCR, but people often forget too that the ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactive. They focus on the hyperactive part and they forget about the the attention part, which yes, we're inattentive for some things, but for things we're really interested in, we hyper focus.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Exactly. There's a hyper focus. So steel is hyper focused on this VCR. And it's not until things get really serious in this episode that he kind of blinks out of that and starts to actually pay attention to the case. And this is him in pretty much every episode where he's got his sights focused on something else. It it really has to be something major to get him to shift that focus because right now he's into his manual, he just wants to read his manual. Like that's his special interest, leave him alone. And ADHD people, we also have special interests. Steele is obsessed with old movies. This is this is him. Like this is so yeah, I just found that really funny when I'm watching this. I'm like, yeah, he really does have ADHD. But also, any idea what brand this VCR is?

SPEAKER_06 24:16

Because I was trying to look closely at the box and I couldn't really Yeah, it's um it's a it's a fictitious brand.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 24:23

APL.

unknown 24:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 24:25

I wondered if it was an actual That's those three big letters at the top. It's not a record.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

An actual brand or if they were just making one up because I had a telefunken when we were have you ever heard of that brand telefunken?

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

Yeah. So I I looked it up because that thing last lasted forever, and I mean forever. This thing we I remember my parents bought it in the 80s, and I still had it well into my twenties. So this thing did not die. It was a German machine, and according to what I've got here, when I looked it up, it would have been roughly eight hundred and fifty dollars to thirteen hundred dollars in in hour money. Yeah, brand new. So my parents, I didn't realize they're spent some money on this thing because apparently this brand had some serious pedigree. Like there was it it was uh considered to be one of the higher quality brands of VCR. It said being a strong brand in high-end audio professional gear, it wasn't like top, top tier, but it was pretty pretty good. So I just thought that was kind of interesting. And I wondered.

SPEAKER_06 25:28

VHS, I presume.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

Yeah, VHS. We beta was the better system, but it was more expensive, and and there weren't as many movies that were released on beta. So that's kind of they they shot themselves in the foot a bit with that.

SPEAKER_06 25:42

Well, they really shot themselves in the foot when they sold VHS to uh Matsushita, who's the parent company Panasonic. Sony actually developed both systems and they sold off the VHS because it was a lower quality system, a lower quality mechanism, but it was cheaper to manufacture, therefore the end result of the machine was less expensive. And so people tended to buy that based on price.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 26:11

It also wasn't as high a quality of an image as the beta. In fact, commercial use, like news, that sort of thing, they all used a a a beta system.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

That's not surprising.

SPEAKER_06 26:23

So anyway, where were we? Back into the episode.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

ADHD rabbit holes. That's where we were. And Mr. Steele is the king because he definitely is yeah, he's got ADHD.

SPEAKER_06 26:34

Anyway, Steele, adopting the tactic of the best defense is a strong offense, tells Laura that it's an excellent investment, explaining that they get an immediate 10% tax investment credit, then that depreciates over a period of five years. And she picks up a smaller box sitting on the top of the larger box that hold the held the VCR. She holds that other box up and asks, Gone with the wind? And snatching the box from her, Steele excuses it as merely a means of ensuring that the machine is functioning properly.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Sure. Sure. Uh-huh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:08

Hey, whatever we can get away with. And as he's saying this, Mildred, of course, is bringing in their new client, the man we saw earlier on the street. And she's bringing him into Steele's office and introduces him as Lester Shane. Steele is putting on his suit jacket and coming out from behind his desk to greet their client. And then he introduces himself and Laura and states that Mildred had said that Lester was upset about something, and Steele and Laura are here to settle the matter. Then grinning, he asks Lester what the problem

A living man challenges his own obituary

SPEAKER_06 27:37

is. And shaking his head, Lester simply says, I'm dead. Steele drops his grin, and Laura gets wide-eyed at the obviously confounding statement.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

Yeah. It's a little confusing.

SPEAKER_06 27:49

Lester hands steel one of the newspapers and uh and and and pivoted and an obituary is circled. Thank you. Reading Late of Gilroy, survived by loving wife, Sharon Shane, son Robert and daughter Louise. Private ceremony, immediate family only. Laura, telling Lester that she doesn't mean to minimize his concern, begins to minimize his concerns. Yeah. It's just rather obvious that it's a mistake, isn't it? Well, that's what he thought, young lady, Lester explains. But the folks at the newspaper said they had a copy of his death certificate, so they wouldn't listen to his protestations to the contrary.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

Do newspapers get death certificates sent to them? I thought if you wanted to place an obit, you just well, now you probably just go online, but I thought back then you would have just called them up and said so-and-so died, here are the details. Can you print this? Pay them the money. I I didn't realize there was a uh that they actually needed a copy of a death certificate, or is that just a plot device?

SPEAKER_06 28:49

I think it's just a plot device. I I think normally death notices were just simply placed by the family.

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Yeah, like you're just taking it on on like a classified ad, you know. The honor system. You tell me this person's dead, I'm gonna put that in there. But the other thing that kind of made me think about for this episode is that it's surprising that it took this long for anybody to notice that something was really off about this whole scheme. Because have you ever seen that episode of MASH where Hawkeye is falsely reported dead?

SPEAKER_06 29:20

I probably have, but I don't remember it. It's been so long since I've watched Mesh.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

So in that episode, he like at first he takes it as a joke and he and he uh like he does. He sets up his own rake.

SPEAKER_05 29:30

And he doesn't get his pay.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

But he doesn't get his pay, and then his father is contacted, and then their death benefits are uh sent to his dad or something. And so it it obviously snowballs into something very serious, and by the end of it, there's this really emotional moment where he kind of gives up, he gets on the the ambulance or what have you and decides he's not gonna help, and then wounded come in and he gets up and goes back to work. So it just made me think like if this happened, for some people they might not even notice it. Who reads the obits every day? Not necessarily any, you know, not necessarily everybody, but others, maybe your your insurance, your actual insurance gets cancelled, or maybe your your work notices and and like this could have I'm just surprised it took this many people before somebody stumbled onto an actual issue with it.

SPEAKER_06 30:19

Yeah, I mean and of course the potential for the snowball is that your your credit cards could get canceled. Yeah, your credit cards have no bank accounts. You know, buying food or anything like that. But um I think it's probably was less of a likelihood or a lot less of a possibility back then than it is now from the standpoint that you know everything is done electronically these days.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 30:43

Whereas back then, I think you had to, you know, you had to actually go get physical copies of stuff and submit it to all these things. You had to submit it to the the in life insurance company, you had to submit it to the bank in order to get access to that money if your name wasn't on the account, but you were named as an executor or designated as an executor. Right. So there was a lot more complication involved, and so it probably wouldn't be. Although these days you you still have to do a lot of stuff on paper. My my wife has been fighting with the state of Oregon for years because there's a a vehicle title in my father-in-law and mother-in-law's name. My mother-in-law is now deceased, and my father-in-law is trying to sell this vehicle, and he needs to get the title, but he needs to get it in his name because he can't, you know, he can't sign as as his late wife. But every time they submit the paperwork to DMV in Oregon, they kick you back saying, Well, we need this person's signature. Well, we sent you a copy of the death certificate. And and they've always got some reason why they can't issue this despite that all the the fact that all their demands have been satisfied multiple times.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

That's extremely frustrating.

SPEAKER_06 31:53

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

They should get Mildred in there. Mildred would clear that up in a heartbeat.

SPEAKER_06 31:59

Uh so yeah, uh it's still, but yeah, with everything being electronic these days, um it's I would say it's more likely to happen without people uh immediately doing anything to to cause it to happen. But uh yeah. Oh, I had a thought. Brain fart. Where did it go? Come on.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

Oh, oh, he's looking for it. He's looking for it.

SPEAKER_06 32:22

Oh it's gone.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

The hamster was running, and then the hamster fell over.

SPEAKER_06 32:29

Oh, the wheel fell off.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Uh that's okay. It'll come back when it's no longer relevant.

SPEAKER_06 32:35

You know what's really frustrating is to be spending three or four or five minutes thinking about something, and you're right in the middle of a thought about that thing. It's just gone. Well, no, the thought's not gone. What you were thinking about is gone.

SPEAKER_02 32:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 32:49

No, seriously. I mean, I know I've been thinking about something for the last five minutes, but what was it? I have no clue. It's just gone. Anyway. AHD. Maybe I shouldn't admit that. Maybe that you know, some guys in the white coats will come pick me up. Anyway, uh, let's see. Yes, uh, folks at the pro uh newspaper had a copy, wouldn't listen. Steele admits that yes, it is a bit odd, and then asks, well, why not just let it pass since he's definitely not dead? Well, that's exactly what he thought, young man. But it ain't that simple. He's in town on business, but his appointments keep canceling on him. They seem to think he's dead now. He called his hometown, and it seems that somebody phoned them with the news, and everyone's crying and all. And if he drives back real fast, he might make it in time for his memorial service. Kind of a snowball effect, Laura observes. And ruefully, Lester admits that he's gotten to the point where he's wondering if maybe he really is dead, and that he's been pinching himself a lot to check. And uh, it's been quite a shock to his system, and he thinks he'd like them to figure out what's going on before it goes any further. And Laura gives a nod as Steele dismissively begins, saying that he's sure it's just the bureaucratic snafu. But Laura starts to get a he's done it to me again look, as Steele continues and says that Miss Holt will unravel this in short order. And then he concludes with under my watchful eye, of course. She turns her she turns her head at him and gives him a seriously, you're gonna do that look?

SPEAKER_00 34:18

Yeah.

The newspaper produces a forged death certificate

SPEAKER_06 34:20

Well, next they're at the newspaper office, and Steele and Laura approach a woman at a desk talking on the phone, and we can tell from her conversation that it is the obituary's desk. And as we exchanged notes earlier in the week about this, that is an atrocious sweater. It looks like somebody cut up little bits of fabric or or sweater material and just kind of stitched them on. It's just it's like uh it's ugly.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

It's like they knew of your sweater obsession and thought, let's make it bad. Let's torture Eric with the worst sweater and ruin sweater porn forever.

SPEAKER_05 34:57

Yes. Well, no, that that one that one would never even get made as a movie.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

Yeah, that's fair. This this this is a hideous sweater. This is truly, I don't know. I I I I'm trying to fathom the logic behind going into a store and seeing that on the rack and going, I'm gonna buy that and I'm gonna wear it.

SPEAKER_06 35:18

Hey, it was the 80s. People did strange things. Anyway, they bought strange things. Uh she a pet. I mean, uh a chia clay thing that you put pet rocks.

SPEAKER_05 35:35

Pet rocks, for goodness sake. That's true. You can go out to the river and find a rock.

SPEAKER_06 35:43

Anyway. Uh the the woman on the phone really isn't paying attention to Laura and Steele, but then she concludes her call and looks up and she's surprised asking Steele, don't I know you? And he flatly introduces himself and Laura. The woman ponders and then with recognition hollers, Steele, of course, I just did your obituary last week. That's awkward.

SPEAKER_05 36:08

Well, yeah. Yeah, Steele is quite taken aback.

SPEAKER_06 36:13

And he looks at Laura, who's rolling her eyes in disbelief, and addressing the woman, Miss Carter, as it turns out, he asks if she isn't being a bit hasty about that. And she waves her hand in the air and enthusiastically says, routine. We do a little bits on prominent people just in case they suddenly buy it. I remember you because I had one heck of a time digging up background info. She leans forward, leaning on her chin and on her fist, and conspiratorially asks, Why is that anyway? Come on, I can keep a secret.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

I bet this is probably even more grating on Laura if there because we often do obits on improminent people in case they suddenly buy it.

SPEAKER_06 36:54

Yeah, an unidentified woman.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

Yeah, no one's doing her O bit prematurely.

SPEAKER_06 37:01

Yeah. They they just pull out a generic one for her, yes. So Steele stands there with a stupid grin on his face. So Laura takes over, telling the woman that apparently she has listed an obituary for a man who isn't dead. His name is Lester Shane. Barely controlling her laughter. Well, Laura assures Miss Carter that Lester Shane is very much alive. Well, Miss Carter gives Laura a very annoyed eye roll. Yeah, she's irritated now. I mean, how dare you question me? I am a professional, and professionals are never wrong. And she opens up a file folder on her desk, pulls out a document, and hands it to Laura. Well, it's a death certificate for Lester Arthur Shane Jr.

SPEAKER_01 37:57

So according to the script, did you read the script for for this one?

SPEAKER_06 38:01

Uh yes, I did.

SPEAKER_01 38:03

Yeah, I found it interesting that well, it it just it's in the it's in the directions. It's so we might not have we didn't actually see what it says on the death certificate, but according to the script, it says complete with demographics including name, occupation, garlic farmer, and cause of death, natural causes. I I I always find it interesting when that's listed as the cause of death because that covers such a wide range. It doesn't actually say what you died of. There's lots of ways to die that are that are natural. And and and Lester being what 40s isn't exactly old enough to heal. I mean, yes, anyone could have a heart attack at any time, I suppose, but still it's kind of interesting that that's what they went with. And not heart attack or you know, something more specific.

SPEAKER_06 38:48

Yeah, you know, there's there's a lot of things that you can list on a death certificate that are technically correct, but technically incorrect.

SPEAKER_01 38:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 38:58

Died of blood loss. Yeah, well, that kind of happens when you get three bullets through the heart, you know. Yeah, what was it really the blood loss that did it?

SPEAKER_03 39:07

Well, you know, maybe not technically, but technically, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 39:11

You know.

SPEAKER_03 39:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_06 39:13

Anyway, so yes, it's a death certificate for Lester Arthur Shane Jr. issued by the Weill Mortuary at 1621 Comstock Boulevard. Well, she hands it to Steele and then asks Miss Carter, Weill Mortuary sent the information and asked her to place this obit? Yep. She responds immediately. Laura asks for a copy, but Miss Carter says, no. Company policy. Okay, wait a second. Death certificates, I think, are public records.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

I would think so. That's what I was that was one of my questions, because you can look them up, can you not?

SPEAKER_06 39:45

Yeah. I mean, you I think you have to pay for a copy because you know, they've got these rules about, well, we've got to be paid for our time and effort of pushing that button sends it to the printer. And that's that's you know, like $25 worth of effort on the well, who are you? George Jetson, you get paid to sit there and push a button. But but yeah, I think it's public records.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, I think we've already established that a newspaper wouldn't necessarily need a death certificate anyway. So this whole bit is kind of like we're we're just we're hand waving it because it yeah, we have to.

SPEAKER_06 40:20

And it's not like it's a confidential source, you know, where you you're deep throat and you're leaking out news and information about what's going on in the White House. And oh, we can't give that information away. That's a death certificate. Anyway, Steele.

unknown 40:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 40:33

Steele leans forward over her desk and in an intimate tone suggests that Wow.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

This he's I mean, talk about using what you've got for for good, you know? Yes, like just that whole it tells it goes to show that he knows that he's good looking, he knows he's got an effect on women, and he knows how to manipulate him. And he knows how to, yeah, he knows how to use it.

SPEAKER_06 41:01

Well, he suggests that inasmuch as her file on him is somewhat incomplete, what would she say to a discreet dinner sometime in exchange for the death certificate? And of course, Laura does another eye roll.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Her eyes roll so high that they pretty much go like right up to the ceiling and back, all the way back.

SPEAKER_06 41:22

Point, point, right up the back of her head, yes. Exactly. Well, smitten and giggling like a schoolgirl, Miss Carter readily agrees. And as they walk away, copy the death certificate in hand, Laura murmurs that he has to admit that it's a bit strange, and Steele concurs, albeit reluctantly. Well, Laura tells him to relax. Scarlet and red aren't going anywhere, but if it will make him happy, they can split up to try to resolve the case more quickly. And of course, Steele likes that plan. Just curiously, Laura asks, if he's really planning on taking that poor girl out to dinner. Steele stiffly puts his arm around Laura's shoulder and then bravely tells her they'll make it a threesome.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

Yeah. I mean, it it was more her, like, I don't even think it was a question. It was more that she kind of felt sorry for this poor girl. Because she she looks and she says, You're not really taking this poor girl out to dinner.

SPEAKER_06 42:14

Yeah, well, it was it was more rhetorical, yeah, but it was still kind of a question. But um, yeah. Uh I I won't comment on Steele's response, but um, I don't think that's what Laura had in mind either.

SPEAKER_00 42:31

No, it definitely not.

The coroner denies signing Lester's death certificate

SPEAKER_00 42:33

Definitely not.

SPEAKER_06 42:33

Next at the coroner's office, uh, a medical examiner is busy with a temporary residence. There's a loud tap from a large observation window behind him, and the man turns to see Steele standing on the other side of the glass. The man holds up his blood-covered hands, gloved fortunately, uh, says that his hands are full at the moment. Through the glass, we hear a muffled comment from Steele that it isn't imperative that they shake. He only needs a moment. The man stands, pulls off his gloves, gloves, pulls off his gloves, washes and dries his hands, and then steps out into the hallway to join Steele. Steele tells the man, a doctor Carl Rossfeld by name, that he appreciates his time, and Rossfeld asks what he can do for Steele. Steele pulls out a death certificate, Lester's, shows it to Rosfeld, and asks if he remembers signing it. Rosfeld seems to mull over the name, and then Steele prompts him that it would have been about two days earlier. And Rossfeld gives a slight shake of his head and informs Steele that there would be no way he could have signed it two days ago because he had been in a conference in North California.

SPEAKER_01 43:39

So we we know later on that that is his signature and that he was part of this cover up.

SPEAKER_06 43:43

So is he lying to Steele here and they just didn't check up on his on his alibi or I am imagining that he sent him a stack of and just okay, I'll just sign these I've got twenty minutes. I can sign a bunch of them right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:56

And that's why he's able to have an alibi for it. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_06 44:01

Well, puzzled, Steele asks if Rosfeld is saying that the certificate is a forgery. And the coroner says that he can't conceive of why, but yes, the signature isn't his. Then after a brief pause, asks what it's all about. Steele, his thoughts seemingly somewhere else, responds that he wishes he knew. Came back to me. Got it.

SPEAKER_02 44:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 44:24

You were talking about how long it would t uh how it took so long for people to notice.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 44:31

I should have looked this up, but I didn't think about it until you were you and I were talking just now, and you you said that there was a deal a number of years ago, I don't remember, it's probably decades now. A guy had noticed something in one of his accounts. I I don't remember if it was a like a phone bill or or what it was. And he noticed that there was like a one cent discrepancy that kept coming up, kept coming up, kept coming up. And it's just a penny. You know, what's the big deal? Well, he it annoyed him, and so he started pursuing it. And ultimately his investigation led to a multimillion dollar scam. Where people were skimming uh some business was skimming money off of of accounts by doing it uh either one or two cents at a time or maybe fractional values of a penny. So, you know, you go into a gas station and it says you know your fuel is two ninety-five point nine nine cents per gallon or per liter or whatever. Well, nine tenths of a you know, nine tenths of a cent? How how do you do that? You you can't do that. Well, what they were apparently doing was they were rounding that up to the full penny, right? Which basically disappears in in the midst of all this, but that fraction of a penny they were able to shuffle off and they were they were absconding with millions of dollars, and nobody and it had been going on for a long time, and nobody noticed it until this one guy noticed this very, very slight, slight discrepancy in his billing. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 46:10

That's crazy. That's cool.

SPEAKER_06 46:12

It is. Yeah,

Laura discovers the operation inside the abandoned mortuary

SPEAKER_06 46:13

back to the episode. Uh in the meantime, Laura arrives at what appears to be an abandoned building with the remnant markings of the wild mortuary on front. She gets out of the rabbit, walks up to the doors, and unsurprisingly finds them locked. She looks around, then trying to appear casual, walks to the end of the building and slips down the side. The small fenced-in area, which is filled with seemingly abandoned items, stacks of cardboard boxes, large bags of lawn debris, a wheelbarrow with some junk items piled into it, a couple of beat-up lured partitions and the like. As she's walking through that, she comes upon a window set fairly high in the wall. And there's apparently something there usable for her to stand on in order to reach the window. So she stands on it, looks inside, and as she's doing this, there are sounds of telephones ringing and muted voices coming from inside. And as she peers in through the dirty glass, she sees a large number of women, some sitting at desks, some standing in front of the desks, others moving to various positions. But behind them all is a bank of filing cabinets.

SPEAKER_01 47:18

This was an interesting choice to have it be entirely women. Not a single man working there, apparently. I'm not sure why. I I guess maybe because it's secretarial secretarial work, so therefore it's but I don't know. It was just an odd sort of well decision script-wise to have it before.

SPEAKER_06 47:41

At that time, and even even now, the majority of people in particular professions tends to skew one direction or another. I mean, there's some professions where it's it's not that way, but secretarial still tends to skew female.

SPEAKER_01 47:54

Yeah, no, I I I I agree with that. It was just an interesting thing that they because this is this is fraudulent. Do they do these women know they're working, they're processing false forms under a probably not, but it it's I don't know. And and also I know that the coroner's office isn't on it, so that that makes sense why they would process this from a uh mortuary that's no longer open. But wouldn't the paper think something was off about getting death notices from a mortuary that no longer operates?

SPEAKER_03 48:24

Who checked?

SPEAKER_01 48:26

Well, I don't know. Newspapers are supposed to check, I guess.

SPEAKER_06 48:31

No, I mean, especially now, but even back then, a lot of stuff it was just okay, got it, put it in. Oh, got that. Yeah, put it in. Oh, you what? Yeah, put it in.

SPEAKER_01 48:41

Or they run the risk of somebody who they can deny it.

SPEAKER_06 48:44

They hey, we just reprinted what somebody else told us.

SPEAKER_01 48:47

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_06 48:47

We were not responsible. Not our job. Okay. So, but yeah. Now, as far as the women um not not knowing that what they're doing is fraudulent, I mean there are people that that do stuff in companies all the time, and and what they're doing is illegal or fraudulent or whatnot, but they are not the ones that are committing the acts. They're just they're just you know processing papers. They're just you know your secretary, you type the letter. Never mind the fact that the letter is intended to commit a fraud, it's just all you know is you're typing the letter. That's that's why that myopic look of things um when when people say you don't need to know what's going on, you just need to know how to do your job, is it's kind of a fatal flaw in a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 49:35

Wild, the mortuary that gets stuff done.

SPEAKER_06 49:39

The mortuary that buries people that aren't dead. Um anyway, after a moment, Laura steps down and then she moves to a nearby door and gently touches the knob, trying to turn it. But suddenly the hand of a man slaps down on her shoulder, causing her to let out a startled squeal and then turn around. A blonde man in a suit, who shall henceforth be known as Mr. Hare, asks what she thinks he's doing.

SPEAKER_01 50:07

I had him in my notes just as blonde man because he he's named in the script. Rob O'Connell is his name in the script, but at no point do they ever actually say his name in the episode. So I just went with blonde man. Big blonde man.

SPEAKER_06 50:22

I went with Mr. Hare.

SPEAKER_01 50:24

Or actually, now I I just realized that my acronym is not a good one, Big Blonde Man, because it uh BBM also stands for something else. So okay, whoops. Um yeah, we'll go with yours. Mr.

SPEAKER_06 50:36

Hare is better than BBM because anyway, he asks what she thinks she's doing, and stumbling over her words slightly, Laura says she's looking for WILE Mortuary. The man, clearly suspicious, says that Mile Wild says that Wild Mortuary closed down two years ago. And Laura, feigning disappointment, says that her aunt Sophie had always had a liking for this place.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

Oh, seriously? That's what you gotta go with? Who has mortuary preferences? Does she have like a little?

SPEAKER_01 51:08

It's like a like, you know how people get like a wedding when they plan their wedding, they have their little planning book where it's like, I have this venue for inspiration. Does she have a mortuary or a funeral inspiration book?

SPEAKER_06 51:19

No, actually, she goes around to to funerals at mortuaries to to attend them and get the free goodies and taking notes. She's gone to all these different ones, and this is the one she likes the best because they've got the best food. Anyway, her Aunt Sophie had a always had a liking for this place. Bless her freshly departed soul. And then not quite knowing when to stop, she asks, Well, what's going on here now? The man says, Well, they process forms. And seemingly intent on further rousing the man's suspicion, Laura asks, Well, what kind of forms? And unhelpfully, the man says, all kinds.

SPEAKER_01 52:02

Yeah. To be fair, okay, if he wanted to just get rid of her, and obviously he doesn't know she's a private investigator, but if he if he wanted to make sure that she's not going to ask any more questions, he maybe should have made up something that sounded vaguely plausible. Like we we process uh document like uh official city documents, they're processed here, it's a general office, something like that. Something that sounds logical. That if Laura wasn't a private investigator, she'd be like, oh, oh, okay, I'm sorry. Have a good day.

SPEAKER_06 52:34

Yeah, because there are there are businesses that their function is to process paperwork for other businesses.

SPEAKER_01 52:41

Exactly. So instead, like, I mean, obviously, she's in a a private investigator, she's gonna investigate anyway, but this this this is gonna make her even more suspicious. We process forms. What kind of forms? All kinds of forms. Cool.

Steele struggles to connect the VCR

SPEAKER_06 52:58

Anyway, back at the office, Steele is seated at his desk again, holding a pair of wires while pondering the VCR and its indecipherable manual.

SPEAKER_01 53:07

It's not that hard.

SPEAKER_06 53:11

Meanwhile, uh Laura is pacing. She ponders, someone wants to create the illusion that Lester Shane is dead. Why? She then asks for Steele's thoughts on the matter, but Steele, not paying any attention to Laura, kind of offhandedly asks, if you were two extraneous wires, where would you want to be connected?

SPEAKER_01 53:32

First of all, why is he worrying about this now? There's no nothing to connect it to. He he's nowhere near his TV.

SPEAKER_06 53:39

Well, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 53:40

I mean, and and I don't know if they were trying on purpose to make it seem like this was some really complicated thing. But you've got you're talking about a total of three wires, maybe, to do this. It's it's not that complicated.

SPEAKER_06 53:57

Well, it wasn't it wasn't even like that, as I recall. Most of them Well I have a I have a list of instructions.

SPEAKER_01 54:07

You want me to do it? Can I do it?

SPEAKER_06 54:08

No, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm I'm just let me say this first, would you please? Um usually there were uh two different ways that you could hook those things up. One was through a coax.

SPEAKER_01 54:19

Yep.

SPEAKER_06 54:19

Which screw is just a round cable, it screws in one side and then theoretically screws into the other. Although for some older TVs, they did not have a coax connection. All they had was the two-wire connection for your uh either your pull antenna that you would just you know turn up and pull up off the case of the TV, or uh large overhead antenna that was mounted to the top of the house and came down with a couple wires and you connected them that way. So you would need a converter. It was it was something that the coax uh cable screwed into, and it would convert the the cable signal, basically what it was at that point, to a signal that the TV could pick up through those connections because it it converted it. And then the other option was using RCA cables. You had typically one for video and then two for the audio, one for the left channel, one for the right channel.

SPEAKER_01 55:11

So I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at the comment here. Laura could connect a VCR in 30 seconds, but she'd never do it for him.

SPEAKER_06 55:17

That's probably true. That's probably true. Um, so I'm envisioning Steele looking at these and trying to figure out how to make all of them work simultaneously.

unknown 55:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 55:27

And he's running into a conflict because where he's trying to connect one thing, he's already got something connected. And it's like, okay, well, now what do I do with these then?

SPEAKER_01 55:36

But they're but they're on his desk and there's no TV, so he does nothing. He can do nothing with them right now.

SPEAKER_06 55:41

He's planning it out in advance so that when he gets to the point of actually doing it, he knows and it's just wham bam, thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_01 55:51

ADHD. But in all seriousness, you just ruined my whole list of instructions here because um because what I had to go through a little day was uh here's how people typically hooked up a VCR in 1985. What you'll need the VCR and its power cord, TV. Many TVs then had only had an antenna slash coax input, and some late 80s sets had RCA phonojacks, coaxial cable, usually the TV antenna lead, optional RCA patch cables, yellow equals video, white equals uh white and red equals audio. A VCR instruction manual is helpful but not required. So basic method number one. Uh this works when the TV only has an antenna input. Unplug the TV and VCR, safe habit. Connect the antenna slash cable to the VCR's antenna in or VHF slash UHF in. Uh if the antenna was previously plugged into the TV, unplug it and plug it into the VCR. Connect a coax from the VCR's RF output to TV or to TV, uh to the TV's antenna input. Turn everything on. Set the VCR's output channel to channel three or four. There's usually a switch or tiny selector on the VCR. On the TV, tune into channel three or four. The channel will now show whatever the VCR is playing. To record live TV, you put the VCR and record. That's it. We're done. Better quality if your TV has RCA inputs, okay? Some TVs in mid to late 80s had RCA jacks, or you might have had a separate RF modulator. This was ours. This is what ours had, because this is how I remember doing it. Uh locate the VCR's video output and audio output jacks, usually grouped color-coded, yellow, video, white, audio left, red, red, audio, right. Connect these to the TV's corresponding RCA inputs, video in yellow, audio input, white or red. On the TV, select the AV input mode if it has one, or tune to the TV's input that corresponds. Some older TVs still required you to use the channel three or four unless the TV had a labeled auxiliary video output. Play a tape. You'll get a much clearer picture than the RF coax. So yeah. And then quick troubleshooting, no picture. Check the TV is on the correct input or channel three or four if using RF. Snow or static, poor antenna connection or wrong input. Sound, but no picture, which we know happens later on. Uh check the RCA plugs and correct color jacks. Make sure the VCR is actually in play. Only fuzzy image, try switching VCR output from channel three or four, or vice versa, or use composite if possible. And then if cable TV box is present, pre-digital era, cable box, VCR and anterior ant in, VCR RF out. And then extra bits of 1985 flavor. Many VCRs still had mechanical channel selectors or simple electronic tuners. Stereo VCRs were just starting to appear. Many were mono audio, one with white jack only. So I just solved his problem in like a minute. It's not that hard steel. I don't know why this takes an entire episode and Lester is back there fiddling around with the four-foot screen. I just don't get it.

SPEAKER_06 58:36

I've got a comment about Lester. I didn't put it in my notes, but I I remember it. And I I thought at the time that that I thought of it, it might be a little bit somebody might take exception to it. But when we get there, I'll I'll comment on that because it has to do with him having issues. Steele, you know, he's not really necessarily all that technically. No, I don't know. Although he's he's broken into electronic alarm systems.

SPEAKER_01 59:04

So I guess maybe it's just something he knows, right? And and the I think the commenter is right here. Laura probably could take two seconds to look at that manual and be like, oh yeah, boom, boom, boom, it goes here.

unknown 59:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:14

She's not going to do it because he's taking it off.

SPEAKER_06 59:17

Anyway, Laura is annoyed at his lack of concentration and focus. Yeah. And she runs to the desk and declares that she promises to buy him the entire MGM library on video cassette. If he would please put the manual down and concentrate on the matter at hand.

SPEAKER_00 59:36

That's gonna cost more than the boat. Okay, that is gonna cost more than the boat.

SPEAKER_06 59:43

Well, uh Steele loves to hear that, so he bolts upright, tosses the manual onto the desk, closes the tape carriage on the machine, says deal.

SPEAKER_00 59:52

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 59:52

Laura sits on the edge of the desk and both are silent for a moment until Steele suddenly declares, DOA, Edmund O'Brien, Luther Adler, United Artists, 1949. Then he summarizes the plot. O'Brien plays a businessman who comes to the police at the beginning of the picture to report a murder, his own. Somehow he's been poisoned and doesn't understand why. And the connection with Lester, Laura prompts, unable to make the connection herself.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:17

Steele isn't really able to make the connection either, claiming a bit fuzzy. However, DOA is available on video cassette. They can always buy a copy, have a look at it, run it, see where it leads them.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:29

I he never knows when to give up because she basically, when she she said she's gonna buy in the MGM library, that's basically like offering a kid candy for breakfast if they do their homework. And instead of just accepting that, he's pushing it that one step further.

unknown 1:00:48

Yeah, really.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:51

So anyway, um Laura sighs impatiently, stands and resumes

Laura connects the false death to life insurance

SPEAKER_06 1:00:56

her pacing, and after a moment she says, Life insurance. Steals attention, having been momentarily drawn back to the VCR, responds yes, in a way that suggests that he really didn't hear what she said. He's just kind of automatically making an unexpected response. And Laura, not really paying attention to the fact that he's not paying attention, says somebody is trying to collect on Lester's policy. She turns to go to the outside office door, and Steele is again pondering the VCR and the errant wires. Laura opens the door and asks Lester to come into the office with them. He enters, she closes the door, and she puts her hand on his shoulder and explains that this is very important. Does he have a life insurance policy? Nope. But at one time he thought about getting one. Steele, again holding the VCR manual, asks Mr. Shane if he's wealthy. Comfortable, says. Steele tosses the manual away. Happily married, he asks. Happy as anyone can be after 22 years.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:00

Sorry, not really relevant, but doesn't matter. I could you're right, 22. I my brain was how did it where did I get 27?

SPEAKER_06 1:02:08

I don't know. I I Okay. Maybe it's a funnier number. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:13

Maybe it was in the script.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:15

Yeah, it might have been.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:16

Yeah, he says 27 in the script. Yeah, that's it. I just looked.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:20

Weird.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:21

Anyway, Steele gives a kind of sardonic chuckle and then says, gaslight. Laura and Lester look blankly at Steele, prompting him to clarify. Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, MGM 1944. Boyer attempts to drive Ingrid crazy so he can have her committed and finally gain her estate. Oh, it's also available on video set. Well, she's gonna buy him the whole MGM library. That was kind of unnecessary.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:45

And Laura gives him a really look at that last bit. Well, Lester dismisses that theory saying that his wife doesn't have to drive him nuts. She's already got everything in her name.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:56

I love the way he says this, though. It's so just a matter.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:59

She didn't have to drive me nuts.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:01

It's already in her name.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:05

Well, Steele is disappointed to hear that. Laura is frustrated, wishing they could somehow get into the wild mortuary when it's empty. Steele picks up the VCR and the gone with the wind collection off his desk and begins to put it all back into the box. Lester takes notice and comments that Steele's got himself one heck of a fine VCR there. And to clarify the details, asks, Is that the one with the built-in MTS? And Steele, somewhat taken aback, says he didn't realize that Lester was familiar with that sort of equipment. Lester says that he used to be an electrical engineer in Uncle Sam's army before he went into agriculture. So what? That's got nothing to do with VCRs. And also Twenty different types of electronics.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:43

And also, I used to be a kid in the 80s and I could figure this out. So I don't think that your credentials are all that necessary.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:51

Yeah, and and besides which, they're not necessarily applicable to this. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:55

No, no. But this is what I call man over hood syndrome. It is a verifiable phenomenon that when a man over hood syndrome or underhood syndrome. Basically, you get a man open the hood of a car, and all of a sudden they just come. Like it just draws them from all points of the neighborhood, and they all end up under the hood going, oh yeah, that's a converter, that's a Cadillac convert, that's a this and that's a that. And most of them have no clue what they're talking about, but there's there's machinery under a hood. So this is man under hood syndrome, but with a VCR.

unknown 1:04:30

Sorry.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:31

I was offensive, wasn't it? Tell me I'm wrong, Lil. Tell me I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:40

We have such weird conversations here. Anyway, as Laura continues to pace, Steele slyly asks Lester if he happens to know the proper method of hooking up one of these wonder videos to one of those large four foot screens. And he gives a cautious glance over his shoulder at Laura as he says this last because apparently he wants to keep that large four foot screen a secret from her because she doesn't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:03

Also bought with agency funds. That's probably why.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:06

Undoubtedly, yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:07

Although, although we get the impression later on that oh no, no, no. He did purchase it from Monroe, but Monroe replaces it. Never mind. Ignore what I was just about to say.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:17

Lester says that he he did it for his nephew the previous weekend and says that it will only take him two shakes of a lamb's tail. I looked that up.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:26

Oh, the expression?

SPEAKER_06 1:05:27

Yes. Oh, okay. Uh the meaning is very soon or very quickly. The origin is comes from the observation that lambs' tails can shake very fast, particularly when suckling. It's an Americanism that dates back to the early 1800s and was popularized in the UK during World War One.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:45

Interesting.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:45

And it can be shortened to two shakes or I'll be there in two shakes.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:50

Yeah, I've heard that too. I just yeah, that's fine. Cool.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:54

We invented it, the Brits made it popular. Anyway. Steele hands Lester the case containing Gone with the Wind and picks up the box with the VCR telling Lester, Let's go. Well Laura, who has apparently not been paying attention, notices them leaving, but uh since she didn't hear what was being exchanged between the two men, asks inquisitively, Mr. Steele, wondering what he's doing. As he reaches the door, he tells Laura to keep pacing. He's sure that she'll come up with something. In the meantime, he says he's going to take Lester into protective custody.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:28

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:29

Pointing out that one can never be too careful with a man's life. And grinning, he adds, even if he is officially dead. Yeah. And hands on hip, Laura stares at them, a look of annoyance on her face. Well, outside, walking down the sidewalk, Steele is still carrying the box with the VCR, and the two men are talking. Well, why aren't they in the limo? I don't know. Uh Fred's day off, maybe they cut back because they didn't get all the money back from the pigs. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:57

Are they walking to his to his like does he live that close to the I guess he must?

SPEAKER_06 1:07:02

I don't know. Uh I didn't think so, but anyway, they're they're walking and they're talking. And Lester is saying that he's from Gilroy, California, garlic capital of the U.S. of A, and that he knows more about garlic than a man should.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:16

Well, there's how much should one know about garlic?

SPEAKER_06 1:07:20

Just enough to use it in the kitchen. Or how to open the little bottle and shake it out. Anyway, uh during the course of their conversation, they come to an intersection where they begin

An attack raises the stakes

SPEAKER_06 1:07:30

to cross the street. And Steele observes the car speeding toward them, making no sign of slowing down. Steele hollers at Lester to look out. He throws the box with the VCR at the car, simultaneously turning to shove Lester back and to move back himself to avoid getting hit.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:47

Can I just interrupt you for just a second? I just did a quick Google because I had to know if it this was a real place. And Gilroy, USA, is a real place. It is actually famous for its garlic. It is called the garlic capital of the world. Apparently, it is a major center for garlic processing, and it's iconic Gilroy Garlic Festival has become a major event in the city's history. You can smell garlic in Gilroy, apparently anywhere you go, because the processing plant is located there, even though other areas have surpassed it in terms of garlic production volume. There is the Gilroy Garlic Festival, which is a well-known food festival centered on garlic. I mean, you gotta think that like nobody is getting any if they go to that festival, you know? Like they're gonna come home and their wives or or partners are gonna be like, Yeah, honey, you stink. Go away. Anyway, um, it was it uh it was apparently paused, but after a three-year hiatus, it returned in 2025. It is home to businesses that sell various garlic products, including fresh garlic, pickled garlic, and apparently something called black garlic. And it also has a garlic-themed ride at Gilroy Gardens family theme park called the garlic twirl. So that's something that we now all know.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:02

Yeah, I think we now know too much about well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:07

Apparently, there's there's there you can you can know too much about garlic, and he knows more than a man should. So now I we all know what is black garlic? Now I have to know that.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:17

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:18

Black garlic is apparently regular garlic that has been aged uh using low heat and high humidity, which turns the clothes back black and gives them a sweet balsamic and umami flavor with a soft chewy tie. Ew. Okay, anyway, I didn't need to know that. Cool. Uh somebody else said no vampires in Gilroy. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:38

Be safe. Anyway, as I said, uh Steele throws the box at the car while he's trying to avoid and help Lester avoid being hit by the car.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:51

But it's it's I'm sorry, it's purely Hollywood moment. That when the box hits the windshield of the car, it causes it to shatter. I don't I don't think it would work that way.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:59

But no, it would bounce off.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:01

Yeah, the the the box would kind of crumble and yeah, just kind of roll off. Anyway, the two men end up on their backs in the street, and Steele is clearly very, very concerned about the VCR.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:13

About the VCR, yeah. The VCR is totaled.

unknown 1:10:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:16

I mean, he doesn't even bother to look at the car to try to get the license plate to observe any distinguishing features about it. Instead, as this car speeds off, he gets up, stumbles over to the mangled box, VCR inside, wires hanging out of it, picks it up, and with the distraught look on his face, cradles it like a sick child.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:33

Oh, I know, poor guy.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:38

In the office, Laura is on the phone with Steele. She informs him that it's impossible to trace a car with only two letters from the license plate, and she does this in a tone of voice that suggests that he should know better than to even ask such a stupid question.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:53

To be fair, did they not have the same back and forth when she was shot at in uh Steel of Approval and she was down in the mud and didn't get the like he could totally use that to his benefit, is all I'm saying.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:06

That's true. That is true.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:08

He could be like, Well, you didn't get the license plate, so ha.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:12

But she's a trained detective, would be his his response.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:16

That is also true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:18

Anyway, Steele, who is on the phone in the limo, he's finally in the limo, with Lester next to him, snaps back. Fine, next time I'll let them hit Lester, but I'll get the entire plate. Okay. And Lester gives Steele a look like, what?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:33

I know he's like, hey, wait, wait, wait, wait. I didn't sign up for this.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:37

Well, Laura finally gets around to asking how Lester's doing. I mean, you know, women always criticize men. Well, you didn't ask how I was doing. All you did was ask about how the car is. Anyway, uh patting Lester on the arm, apparently intent to reassure him that he really won't let him get run over. Steele tells Laura that Lester's okay and that Steele's going to stash him at the apartment for safekeeping. As he hangs up, Lester is confused, wondering, uh, no offense, but is this your neighborhood? Steele hesitantly says, uh, no, slight detour. And he directs the Fred of the day to a warehouse. There are several

Steele turns to Monroe for help

SPEAKER_06 1:12:14

bay doors open, and boxes inside are stacked high, and a forklift is out there moving pallets of product. Uh, Steele gets out, taking the battered VCR box and deck with him, telling Lester that he won't be but a minute. Wandering inside, he tells one of the workers that he's looking for Monroe. Following the instructions, he moves through to an office near the back where Monroe, sitting at a desk, is telling someone on the phone that no, next week is not acceptable, my equivocating friend. And he notices Steel. I I love the way Monroe talks. I mean, this is fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:47

This is this is where my rabbit hole went. Okay. Remember, I messaged you and I said that I went down a rabbit hole and my mind is blown about this actor. Okay. Because I have been what like I have been watching this show since I was a teenager, and and he's a fan favorite. Monroe is a fan favorite among Steel Watchers. If you, you know, you go to the uh Facebook group, he he's he's a he's often featured in a lot of fan fictions he's brought back. He's he's a cool character that we all want to know more about. And I I I should have looked at the script first, but I'm kind of grateful I didn't until after, because then I wouldn't have gone down this rabbit hole. Because he has in the script it says he has a British accent. His accent is not British. It it's it's vaguely British, but if he's try if if if Richard Lawson's attempting to do a British accent here, it's not a very good one. Because it's it's kind of like he sounds sort of British, pseudo-British, but it just sounds more like he's upper class rather than uh British specifically. So I wondered if that was his actual accent or if he was putting on an accent, and so I started to look at his look at him as an actor, like who is this guy? Because I hadn't done that before. I'd seen him in a few things, but it was one of those things where I I didn't really I mind blown, okay, because not only is he Beyoncé's stepdad, apparently like pop star Beyonce, like massive. Uh if you like it, you should have put a ring on it. Like the yeah, he apparently married her mother after her and her actual dad split up. So he's Beyonce's stepdad, but he's also Bianca Lawson's actual father. And Bianca Lawson, I I like I couldn't, I had yeah, I I couldn't, I didn't believe I yeah, the connection. Okay, so Bianca Lawson is is is somebody who has been in like a billion teen shows, and she's sort of famous for playing a teenager well into her 30s because um she started out on Save by the Bell, the New Class in 1993. She was in My So-Called Life, she was in Sister Sister, she was in The Parenthood, and she played a major character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, even though she only appeared for two three episodes in the series. It was a really pivotal role. Uh, she was in Dawson's Creek, she was in Pretty Little Liars. She did it one episode of Bones, Secret Life of the American Teen American Teenager Vampire Diaries, etc. Her last turn as a teenager was in Pretty Little Liars, I believe, in which she was at that point uh 30 between the ages of 31 and 38, still playing a teenager. So like she, very youthful looking person. Uh, but there's sort of a bad episode or a bad accent connection too, because when she appears on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Kendra, she is supposed to be Jamaican, but that accent is brutal. It is not good. So I just I had no idea that the two were connected, that he's Beyonce's stepdad and Bianca Lawson's father, and she had gone on to this very prolific career. Like she's in in all of these teen things that I have seen over the course of the years, but he's not British. He's in no way British. That accent was something he was attempting to make sound British, it didn't work.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:04

British ish.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:05

British-ish. So I went down the Richard Lawson rabbit hole and found Beyoncé and Bianca Lawson and had no idea that there was a connection between any of them. And now I know all of this stuff, and now you do too. So you're welcome.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:17

And did I really want to know? Yeah, did I really want to?

SPEAKER_01 1:16:20

But a few people that I'm that listen to us are probably going, Oh, I know who Bianca Lawson is because she's in so many things, and just I didn't realize they were connected. So yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:32

Anyway, uh, as he's on the phone, he knows.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:34

I do love the way he talks.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:36

Yes. Yeah. He notices Steele and motions him in. And then he sternly tells the person on the other end of the phone, by Saturday or no sale. He hangs up, sighs, and then comments to Steele. And we thought it was tough in the old days, Mick. It's a real jungle out there. He leans back, putting his hands behind his head, and asks Steele what he thinks of his investment so far. Did he invest agency money into this business?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:03

I he I mean he paid agency money for sure. So I mean, he he I'm does Mildred know about this?

SPEAKER_05 1:17:12

Is this an addition to the uh the hogs?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:14

I mean, Mildred doesn't have a leg to stand on here with her whole investing in the pig situation. So my guess is that that's his fallback if he's get cornered on it.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:23

But that's because she had ham this morning.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:25

I think I think that's no leg to stand on. Yeah. I think that Monroe means more about an investment in that he has shown that he's willing to help Monroe get his business off the ground by investing, i.e., buying something. I don't think he actually invested in the company per se.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:42

I have to disagree.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:44

It's kind of how I took it, but I have to disagree. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:48

I think he's actually talking about an actual financial investment in the business. Anyway, Steel is wrong, but still tell us who's right and it's and it's and how it's me. Anyway, grinning and chuckling, Steele says that he wouldn't have believed it. Surprised that Monroe was really serious about this. Folume discounts and personal service, Monroe pontificates, though with a touch of humor, give the public what they want is my newfound credo. Yeah, as opposed to thanking the public for what you want, Steele reminds him. Uh seriously, Monroe affirms that the chapter of that chapter of his life is closed, Mick. Like he told Steele, he's tired of running. And then when with a tinge of hurt in his voice, he asks, You didn't think I'd take your money and split, did you? See, all these things here kind of imply that Steele has invested in the business.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:43

See, I I again I took it as just the VCR isn't cheap. So he just Yeah, you didn't think I took the money and just taken off. Like you'd want a warranty and technical support. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 1:18:57

I'd anyway, Steele says it wouldn't have surprised him. Let's put it that way.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:02

And uh then putting a hand on his chest Monroe laughs and mock offense. Oh, you wounds me, my friend. And Steele likes. When you came to me, I saw an old mate who was down on his luck, needing a pat on the back and a few quid in his pocket. I hardly expected this. See, that line right there says steel invested in the business.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:22

Anyway, okay. I I I'm willing to admit defeat if if if I am Yay, I won! I have to do that. I never said that. However, if anyone wants to comment and and defend me, or you know, whatever, feel free.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:38

Um probably standing to walk around the desk, Monroe expounds. Reinvestment of profits, lines of credit, arbitrage arbitrage, arbitrary. I don't even know what that is. Arbitrage. Arbitrage. Uh let's look it up. Arbitrage. I'm not sure. Uh simultaneous binding, buying, and selling of securities, currencies, or commodities in different markets or in derivative forms in order to take advantage of differing prices for the same asset.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:04

I understood none of that, but okay. It just sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher. Wah.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:14

And he says it's a lot easier being a pirate on this side of the law than the one other side.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:18

This is the point there. Have you ever seen the movie Um uh Austin Powers?

SPEAKER_06 1:20:22

I've got it, haven't watched it yet.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:24

Okay, so it's it's a parody spoof of James Bond.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:27

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:28

And there's a uh scene where like the bad guy, who's basically supposed to be Blofeld, is defeated in the 60s and they freeze him cryogenically and they unfreeze him back in the 90s, and he's got all his minions around him, and one of his minions basically has gone legit in the time since he was frozen to now. And so when he starts talking about starting the evil business up again, his number one, who is literally called number one or number two, I think it might be number two, because that's you know, who is number two, but he basically says something like uh when he when he does his ransom thing, he's like, I will ransom it for one million dollars. And he's like, Um, we make that in a week. He's like, uh he goes like it's actually much more profitable to be a legitimate businessman at this point. So um, so yeah, like I think Monroe has a bit of a point here in the sense that sometimes these companies are pretty especially if it's anything like Sam's Club or or Costco or or the Price Club. We had the price club. I don't know if that was a thing in the US, but very uh it eventually became Costco in our areas, those price clubs were converted to Costco's. And they were kind of like the same thing where you got these like volume, uh, you could buy tons of stuff for for wholesale price, which I'm assuming is what Monroe is doing. At least that's kind of what I got from it. But if he's selling it to department stores and stuff, that could be the best.

SPEAKER_06 1:21:58

But anyway, yeah, yeah, I I still need to watch the Austin Power movies. I've got all three of them. One of the things that really piqued my interest about that was to learn that there is a reference in one of the movies to the Alan Parsons Project, which is a band I love.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:13

Yeah, yeah. It's they're very juvenile and childish, so you have to kind of like have the mind of an eight-year-old when you watch it. But other than that, you mean kind of like the Bond movies.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:22

Oh I'm I mean, I mean I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. That just slipped out. Uh anyway. Turning to the matter at hand, Monroe says that he suspects that what's really brought Steele down there has more to do with what's in the box than checking up on his humble servant.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:36

What gave him that idea? He's standing there with a box that has like wires and broken bits sticking out of it. Like it literally looks like Steele took a sledgehammer to it and then brought it back. Can I have another one?

SPEAKER_02 1:22:48

This one's broken.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:51

I dropped my ice cream cone. Can I have a fresh one? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:55

Anyway, Steele acknowledges a slight problem. Well, in the script, Monroe asks if his men delivered defective merchandise, to which Steele says, I certainly don't hold them accountable. Perhaps just a good break on a replacement. Well, then Monroe turns, picks up his phone, punches a couple buttons, and then says, Oscar, bring an APL 475S to my office, please. Hangs up, telling Steele, it's done. And my four-foot screen? Ensconced in your brain as we speak, Monroe assures him. I love this. Steele hesitantly says, I don't remember giving you the keys to my flat. And Monroe chuckles and pats Steele on the shoulder. You're a busy man now, Mick. No need to bother you with mundane details.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:42

I'm hoping he doesn't give this level of service to all his customers because that could uh that could get him in some real trouble, you know. I just thought this. How is it in my living room already?

SPEAKER_06 1:23:52

Well, Steele grins appreciatively and commends Monroe that it's reassuring to see that he hasn't given up their old ways entirely.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:01

Back at Steele's apartment, Steele is sitting on the foot of the bed holding the package for Gone with the Wind, looking over the enclosed booklet, and half humming, not quite singing a tune, which he interrupts to call out to Lester, How long before Atlanta burns again, Lester? Across the room is the large TV for that era.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:23

And behind that we can see the shadow of Lester on the wall. Lester stands, frown on his face, and announces that they've got a slight compatibility problem.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:31

I don't think they do. I think they just have a slight moron problem because it's not possible to have this much from the Well, I mean, it it could be if they needed the RF converter to connect it up to the two screws on the back and they didn't have that.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:47

But that's it. I mean, and that's that's like a ten dollar accessory down at Radio Shack at the time. You know, so anyway, uh the front door buzzer sounds. Steele looks out of the room toward the front door, then back to Lester, encouraging him to persevere, mate.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:03

This next line is one of my favorite lines in the series. I don't know why, but it's just I chuckle every time.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:09

Steele walks to the front door, opens it to be greeted by a sullen looking Laura wearing her crime clothes and a flashlight tucked under her arm. Bit stark, don't you think? Steele casually asks. She advises him that it will be getting dark in an hour, causing Steele to grin and attempt to diffuse her attitude by humorously observing, nothing gets by you, Laura.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:30

I don't know why, but that line kills me. And way back in the day when I first started watching this show, and fans had uploaded like little big like clips to uh I think it was the Steel Watching website, actually, and you could download them. I yeah, I don't know if you ever did this, but did you ever do it where you like you turned on your computer and it said something, or you had it set up so you had a sound clip play when your computer turns on? Or was that just me? Okay, so I did this. That was just you frequently change it because you could do this with you could set it to different sound clips as you turn it on. So at one point, when I turned my computer on, it said, It'll be dark in an hour, nothing gets by you, Laura. And when I turned it off, it would say, and don't do anything in the meantime. I might, just to annoy you. So yeah, and at one point it was David Bowie from Labyrinth when you turned off the computer saying, Fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave. So maybe this was just a me thing, but that particular quote, for some reason, I just love it. Nothing gets by you.

SPEAKER_06 1:26:39

Well, Laura responds that this case is no longer a joking matter, Mr. Steele. I don't have time for your nonsense, is basically what she's saying.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:47

Pretty much, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:26:48

She says, our client almost got killed today, and a forged death certificate was submitted by a mortuary which doesn't exist. It's time we started getting some answers, beginning with what's going on at the former Weill Mortuary.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:01

Pretty much he asks, unhappy at the prospect of the small child that's being come on.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:09

We gotta go to Grandma Grafa's house. No, I was wanting to um play with Bobby. Do I have to?

SPEAKER_06 1:27:18

Anyway, yeah, he's unhappy at the prospect of having to screen Gone with the Wind at some later date, postponed even farther than it already has been. Yeah. And from the bedroom, Lester calls to Steele that he thinks he's located the problem. And where's that tape of Gone with the Wind? Laura shakes her head in disgust at Steele's obsession with the movie and lack of focus and attention to the case. Steele tries to excuse losing Lester for his own purposes by suggesting that by keeping Lester busy, setting up the video system, Steele is really helping keep Lester's mind off the case, you know?

SPEAKER_03 1:27:50

Idle hands, that sort of thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:27:53

And Laura nods her head in silent sarcasm. Yeah, kind of. Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah, sure. And frowning at his failure to lighten Laura's mood and deflect her impatience at him, he acquiesces, telling her that fine, he'll go slip into something more appropriate, whistling as he pulls off his tie and walks toward the bedroom. Back at the former Weill Mortuary, it's dark. Laura and Steele round the building toward the window and the door that she had spotted on the side earlier. They find the door locked, so they turn their attention to the window. In the script, Laura, in response to finding the door locked, says, It appears Weill Mortuary has taken a sudden interest in security. As Steele is prying open the window, he tells Laura, I've broken into my share of buildings, Laura, but a mortuary? Stick with me, Mr. Steele, she tells him. I've got a lot of things left to show you.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:43

This is cute. And I know it was probably cut for time.

SPEAKER_06 1:28:46

Last line, that's so full of double entendre's. I have a lot of things left to show you, Mr. Steele.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:53

It was probably cut for time, and it's a shame because it is a cute little exchange. It would have been nice.

SPEAKER_06 1:28:58

Anyway, Steele uses a pry bar to pop the window open, and Laura props it open with this large stick, then they climb in. They are apparently in a smaller storage room initially, so Laura directs them to the door that leads into the larger room through which she saw the women earlier. But when they go through the door into that other room, it's totally empty. When Steele questions her memory, she insists that, or maybe her vision, uh he she insists that this morning the office was full of tables and filing cabinets and women up to their necks and paperwork. Steele grunts, looking at his watch, then suggests with great reluctance, haha, that they call it an evening. Go back to his apartment, clear their minds with a screening of not just yet. Of course not.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:43

Does not give up. Does not give up.

SPEAKER_06 1:29:46

Laura thoughtfully tells him that they still have one more card to play. And resigned, Steele raises his arm in a forward gesture and says, onwards. It's still night, and we are at a somewhat impressive front door. We hear a door chime, the door opens, and we are greeted by Dr. Rossfeld. And we see past the door that we are at his home. Laura's hair is pulled back under a baseball cap with a patch that reads Federal Delivery Service, wearing a white shirt with the same patch, and she is also wearing a pair of her favorite famous doomy glasses.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:20

These are the this is it, right? I'm right. Give us the glasses. Yeah. Doomy glasses, yes.

SPEAKER_05 1:30:26

She also has a package.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:28

We have added glasses porn to sweater porn. Is that it?

SPEAKER_06 1:30:30

Sure. Yeah, why not? Uh she also has a package under her arm. After the preliminaries, Laura hands Rossfeld a clipboard, directing him to sign. He looks at his watch, slightly annoyed, asking, Isn't it a little late for a delivery? And Laura shrugs and makes the excuse that, yeah, you know our motto on time every time, all the time.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:50

She teaches I really enjoy her impression of a completely disinterested federal employee. She just doesn't, you know our motto on time every time, all the time. Sign here. This is it's it's automaton. Just doing my job, company policy.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:09

Your FedEx UPS employee, yep, post office employee, especially post office employee.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:13

I had oh don't get me started on a post office right now.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:17

I've had problems with all those delivery services uh in various forms. And I would there was one time where we had two packages coming through the post office on the same day. So same carrier would have brought them, one delivered, one did not, and the excuse for the one that didn't deliver was the door was inaccessible. It was accessible for the first package.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:39

What can that doesn't make any sense? Meanwhile, somehow the Amazon guy gets into our apartment every flipping time without even buzzing us. Like last night, I I had a package delivered, and I they never buzz me. Somehow they just get in. Whereas UPS, the others, none of them ever do. I don't know. Do they have like a magical do they just teleport? How do they do it? Maybe Monroe sends, hey, maybe Monroe is actually said it's not Jeff Bezos. He created Amazon because all his people are getting in.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:13

Anyway.

SPEAKER_06 1:32:14

Anyway, Rosfeld signs, commenting that he has no idea what it could be since he was not expecting anything. He hands the clipboard back to Laura, who hands him the package. Then, after looking at the clipboard, and as Rossfeld is starting to step back into the house, ready to close the door, she says, Uh, excuse me, Dr. Rosfeld, I'm afraid I need your full signature. You just initialed this. She hands the clipboard back to him and he snatches the board and pen back up, angrily commenting that he's never heard of anything so silly in his entire life. Which right there with you. Not true, because I think every time you get a package delivered that requires a signature, it requires a signature, not initials.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:53

True, but still it would be irritating if it was like 11 o'clock, which we're sort of given down.

SPEAKER_06 1:32:58

Yeah, that's true. Anyway, Laura gives him an apologetic sorry, company policy. Taking back the clipboard, she thanks him, tells him sorry for the inconvenience. And as Laura leaves, Rossfeld closes the door and opens the package. It contains a book entitled The Complete Your VCR Buying Guide.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:17

I'm wondering if she grabbed this off of Steele's, like if it was on his um counter or something, and she was because they needed to send him something. Just like here, we'll send him this. That way you can't buy any more VCRs.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:32

Well, I mean, he's already bought a VCR. He doesn't need the buying guide anymore. That's true.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:36

He has actually bought a VCR.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:38

Well, Rossfeld flips through the pages of the book, confused, then drops it on the end table. Back at Steele's apartment, Laura and Steele enter, and there are voices from the bedroom. It's Lester and Mildred. Okay, you try it. You got it. Oh, darn. Laura calls out to Mildred, and Mildred and Lester enter the living room. Mildred talking as she enters, telling Steele, whoever sold you that thing gave you the wrong manual.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:02

I'm gonna call bull crap though, in that Mildred, Mildred knows her computers. Mildred could, again, like Laura, Mildred could probably set this thing up in 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:11

So And the method of connecting them is universal. There's differences in the features of the machine and how those different features are accessed and operate. But yeah, just connecting up the wires from the back of that to the TV, it's all the same. Only the pictures are different. Anyway, uh Mildred turns, uh, oh, Steele hands uh Mildred hands Steel the manual as Lester affirms her statement. And then Steele utters, no. Mildred turns to Laura, hands her a file folder, and says that she's got all that information on Dr. Rossfeld. Took some doing, had to go to the Hall of Records. Really? At night?

SPEAKER_01 1:34:54

Maybe she's finally figured out that lock picking thing.

unknown 1:34:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:57

And then she had to go to Rosfeld's bank where she did the other lock picking, you know, based based on her experience back out there in uh small town Iowa, uh, where a friend of hers helped her out because, and then Laura cuts her off, not interested in the side trip. Well, Mildred finally jumps to the highlights saying Rossfeld owns property in Reno, Tahoe, and the Virgin Islands, and cash accounts like you wouldn't believe.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:22

If he's part of this scam, he's not really doing a very good job at hiding it.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:28

Well, it's all in the paperwork.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:33

Yeah, but like Mildred says a second later, because Steele says that he seems to be in someone's front pocket, and then she says either that or the coroner's office is one of the great undiscovered career opportunities.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:44

Well, but you know, if you do the paperwork right, you can hide the fact that you're gaining all this money from illegal means.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:50

You can you can oh sure, but just the fact that you have all these properties and cash accounts is gonna raise some eyebrows when you were a coroner.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:58

Well, yeah, but maybe maybe that's just his hobby. He's actually independently wealthy because he's had rich uncles die and leave him something.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:06

Yeah, okay. Although I do like the fact like Mildred making this joke about the coroner's office being one of the undiscovered career opportunities. She's good at quipping. She doesn't always get to be the usually it's Steele or Laura that do the fun little quips, but this is a cute little joke, and she delivers it really well. Uh and Doris Roberts is hilarious.

SPEAKER_06 1:36:26

So well, as you said, Steele surmises that Rosfeld must be in someone's pocket, and as you said, uh Mildred reports that it's either that or the coroner's office is one of the great undiscovered career opportunities. Well, Laura, who's been comparing Rosfeld's signature on both the death certificate and the fake delivery form that he signed, concludes that in her opinion, the signature on the death certificate was not forged. Steele, who's looking through the VCR manual, offhandedly says that Dr. Rossfeld has a bit of explaining to do. And when prompted by Laura, Mildred adds that the Weil Mortuary building is currently owned by a company called Perennial Corporation. Pacing? Laura begins to hand out assignments. Tomorrow, Mr. Steele will hit Rossfeld for some answers. She will explore Perennial Corporation. Mildred and Lester will go to the OBIT department at the newspaper and look up the name of Weil Mortuary in any listings over the previous two years. Any Obit that has that name has got to be phony. If there are any phony listings, let's find out if the subjects are still alive, and if they are, she's betting that there's a common link with Lester. The sound of the opening theme from Gone Will interrupts her monologue, prompting her to turn around and discover that she's alone. No one is left listening. They've all gone in. She waves her arm in frustration and stomps into the bedroom to find Steele and Mildred are staring at a screen full of video snow, while Lester continues to fiddle with the connections at the back. Exasperated, Laura asks if any of them heard her. She just made a major breakthrough. So did we, says Lester. We got sound.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:03

And I bring us back to uh my troubleshooting notes from earlier. If you have sound but no picture, check RCA plugs and correct color jacks. Make sure the VCR is actually in play. There, Lester, I fixed it for you. Sorry.

SPEAKER_06 1:38:18

Back at the warehouse, presumably the next day, because I doubt that they're open 24 hours. Uh Steele exits the limo and goes off in search of Monroe. Monroe asks Steele what he's doing there. Angry, Steele says he's got a bone to pick with Monroe. Monroe assumes that the large screen isn't to Steele's liking, but no, Steele says it's lovely. Although a picture would be even lovelier, as would be the correct instruction manual.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:43

Okay, Steele, you need to take a step back. You don't have a picture because you're not hooking it up properly. And that is not Monroe's fault. And also, you're being a bit rude to the guy who gave you gave you a free replacement VCR and installed the TV in your bedroom. So just chill.

SPEAKER_06 1:38:59

Anyway, Monroe seems to go into CYA mode, saying that he's going to have words with that manufacturer. Steele is the second customer that this has happened to. It's good merchandise, but they're quality control. And Steele cuts him off. Not interested in Monroe's bovine excrement. The instruction manual. I'm going to do you one better, he says. I'm going to send my best man out straight away to make your video heaven a reality. Steele says he doesn't care about his video becoming a heavenly reality. All he wants is a picture. And I got to think Monroe is just kind of blowing smoke because very few people have direct contact with the actual manufacturers. And even if they do, it's only with some low-level customer service person.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:39:44

Who, I mean, they don't have contact with the important people inside the company and they work for the company. And frankly, they probably aren't paid enough to care.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:52

That and Monroe's probably like, we don't know. This is one of those things where had the show gone on longer, it would have been really nice to bring some of these characters back to find out what happened in their past. Because we don't know what adventures they've been on, but we get the impression that there were a few. And Monroe seems to know him well enough to know that Steele is hopeless with anything electronic. So when he says he's going to send his best man, who does he send? An 18-year-old kid.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:18

Which I mean, well, think about it.

SPEAKER_06 1:40:21

Think about it. Think about it. If if you're having a problem with your computer, who are you going to call?

SPEAKER_01 1:40:27

Well, actually, a millennial at this point. I'm just saying, I'm telling, I am having to teach Gen Z how to do basic, basic computer stuff.

SPEAKER_06 1:40:38

Because they just are they older than you or younger than you?

SPEAKER_01 1:40:40

Younger. That's younger. Okay. Like my students, I'm having to tell them how to do like the most basic of things because they've grown up with the technology, but they don't necessarily know how to use it. And if you think about like and yes, in this case, an 18-year-old kid coming of age as the technology did probably would be your better bet. But Mildred knows a heck of a lot about stuff too.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:01

That's true.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:02

And she's she but she's got an interest in it. I'm just saying Monroe probably knows he's hopeless and he's like, yeah, I'll just send the kid over. Well, he'll do it.

SPEAKER_06 1:41:09

And the other reason I think Monroe is just blowing smoke is that a lot of off-brand products are really made either in some nameless factory somewhere and bought by some you know Joe Schmo who puts a meaningless brand name on the product and cares even less about the products than the so-called customer service people they employ, or they are made by the big name manufacturer and it has the Joe Schmoe on it. And Joe Schmo becomes responsible for the customer service and support, but they don't really know anything about the product because they didn't make it.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:41

Yeah,

Laura traces the mortuary to Perennial Corporation

SPEAKER_02 1:41:42

exactly.

SPEAKER_06 1:41:42

Anyway, uh next we are at the offices of Norman Maxwell, broker and financial advisor. We see Norman Maxwell at his desk on his phone saying, Not only can you escort Miss Holt in, but you can haul all my calls till she departs. Maxwell's got a thing for Laura.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:01

And Maxwell gets up and what script hints that they were that they were an item uh later on, because there's a bit cut out when he finds her at her uh loft, he makes a comment about how the he he let her go four years ago. But I I'm she has I'm just saying she has a lot of men in her past here, okay, that keep cropping up. Uh an awful lot of men that seem to have not only known her but have held a flame for her. You've got Clay, you know, guy in the closet clay. You've got Norm. We've got Preston from the previous episode.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:35

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:36

Like she's leaving a trail of a trail of broken hearts in her wake here. And I'm really wondering, he says four years ago, which is about the same time she'd have been with Wilson. Well, I'm guessing he was maybe a rebound after Wilson. Maybe it was uh she she broke up with Wilson and then got together with Norm and then broke his heart and then same same industry, I mean financial industry, so it could be that's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_06 1:43:00

She met him at a mixer, and there's a hey Laura, if you ever get rid of this guy, give me a call. Here's my number. Oh, maybe the three of us can get together and uh anyway. Uh Maxwell gets up, walks across the uh an immense room. It's an immense office to the doors. It's like, why does anybody need an office that big? I mean, what's the point? Just to intimidate people?

SPEAKER_01 1:43:22

I mean, literally.

SPEAKER_06 1:43:24

If you've got to intimidate people in order to succeed or prove your importance, uh, you're a loser. Uh anyway, uh sorry with that parsh.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:32

Yeah, a little bit. Poor Norman.

SPEAKER_06 1:43:37

Anyway, he opens the doors even before Laura knocks, ushers her into the room, then closes the door and quips, So you've finally come to your senses and realize that I'm the only man for you. And she responds with, Well, you certainly are the only broker for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:43:51

Ouch!

SPEAKER_06 1:43:53

They hug and Laura says, It's good to see you, Norman. He reciprocates and then asks where she's been hiding lately. Oh, don't tell me, he says, You're playing hard to get. Well, it's working. And Laura says that she's been patting the pavement as usual. Gonna say that outfit on her nice. It's unfortunate that the side effect is that it highlights just how too skinny she is. I mean, I like a little meat with my potatoes. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:21

I do think it gives her, though, it has like sort of an elegance to it. Oh, yeah, it's is nice on her, and it's got like a very uh it's professional without looking old, which is uh sometimes where they leaned in in in the case of a lot of her dresses. This is obviously business wear, but I think it is look nice. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:44:38

Yeah. Simple, clean, styling, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:44:42

Anyway, Norman sighs and says he has a sinking feeling that this is not a social call. He directs her to sit and then asks how he can win her heart back. And she asks what he knows about perennial corporation. Well, it turns out he knows quite a bit about them. He calls them one of the glamour companies of the 80s as he recites a few of their assets. Uh, fast food chain, life insurance company, about 12 other businesses that are doing exceedingly well. He's got plenty of his clients in perennial, and as a matter of fact, he, Mr. Conservative, has invested rather heavily in their stock. Then he asks what her interest in perennial is. She says she's interested in a building they purchased two years previously. Maxwell comments that that's kind of an unusual request. Especially, I would say, since he's a financial advisor and not a real estate specialist or an expert in real estate law. You know, it's like, why are you coming to him?

SPEAKER_01 1:45:33

Anyway, uh when he asks I think she was maybe looking for uh like some inside information that he might know about the company.

SPEAKER_06 1:45:41

The company's operations, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:43

And then it turns out that he has a connection to Perennial, which maybe she was hoping, but not sure if he would have one.

SPEAKER_06 1:45:51

Anyway, when he asks why she's interested in the information, she sidesteps the question simply stating that she's on a case. Well, trying to hide his disappointment at her lack of information or lack of willingness to uh come back to him. Yeah, he backhanded compliments her by saying that she's always the professional. He then suggests, if she's interested, that he can set up a meeting with perennials president Phil Leiden. He and Maxwell went to business school together. Morris says, Yeah, that would be great. So Maxwell, trying to press his advantage, tries to create an obligation to himself, saying that he'll find some way for her to return the favor.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:28

Yeah, I mean he's I I find that that the actor does this well in the sense that if you look at the words at face value, he's he comes it they the words come across as sleazy because, as you said, trying to create an obligation. I'll find some way for you to replay me.

SPEAKER_06 1:46:48

The actor does a good job in a gentle way.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:50

Yeah, the actor does a good job of making it seem lighthearted, uh flirty without being too forward, too aggressive. The actor keeps it from c from crossing over that line, which it certainly could have. So yeah, I think he does a good job.

SPEAKER_06 1:47:06

Yeah, for sure. But but still the you know, the the whole idea is still there. Creating that obligation. You owe me for this. Let's have dinner.

SPEAKER_01 1:47:16

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_06 1:47:17

Well, next steel is back at the coroner's office. He walks into the medical examination area, which is apparently unlocked, despite no one being in there. Just let's anybody wander around anywhere. Sure, go ahead. At least no one was living, no one who's living that was there. Uh, there does, however, seem to be a body under a sheet on the examination table, which is, I guess, why you would just leave it open for anybody to walk to especially around Halloween, you know? Um, he began he begins poking through cabinets, which sure, why not?

SPEAKER_05 1:47:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:47:57

Only to be interrupted by a young man who apparently saw Steele sneak in. Steele smiles, introduces himself as the the man introduces himself as Benton Whiteley, London Coroner's Oh no, Steele introduces himself to the other. Yeah, okay. Steele smiles introducing himself as Benton Whiteley, London Coroner's office. Here to compare notes with Dr. Rossfeld. Spoke to him this morning on the telephone.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:21

I have to know. Does he come up with these names just off the top of his head, or does he have a list?

SPEAKER_06 1:48:25

He's probably got a list, I'm sure. I mean the the the choice of the names and maybe the combinations are improved, but but I imagine he's got a bunch of names that he's remembered over the years. I there may actually be a Benton Whitely somewhere that he knows.

unknown 1:48:41

Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 1:48:42

I think it's Benson with an S.

SPEAKER_06 1:48:44

Did you make a typo on my No, no?

SPEAKER_01 1:48:47

I was just looking, I'm looking at the script.

SPEAKER_06 1:48:50

Oh, okay. Well, somebody made a typo uh in my notes. And I if I find out who that was, they're gonna be in trouble.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:58

Yes, I snuck into your house and made a typo.

SPEAKER_06 1:49:01

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:02

Somehow.

SPEAKER_06 1:49:03

Anyway, he says he's there to compare notes with Dr. Rossfeld. Spoke to him on the phone this morning. Man says he doubts that. Steel apologizes. Still concept of time, jet lag and all that. Must have been last night. The young man who has entered and walked over to the examination table says that Rossfeld got there a little early for his meeting. He throws back the sheet off the body on the examination

The conspiracy claims its first victim

SPEAKER_06 1:49:23

table, and it's Rossfeld. Hit and runny states. Steele sighs in resignation as he looks at the body, then asks the young man if he's a gambling man. The other man says why. Steele looks intently at him and tells him, eight to five, you're looking for a black Ford. Steele pulls back the sheet over Rosfeld's face and then leaves. Steele then strides back into the office at the Century Towers. Mildred is at her desk and without preamble, he demands to know where Laura is at. I think he would have known that if he had been listening.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:56

Anyway Yeah, he was too focused on his VCR.

SPEAKER_06 1:50:00

Yeah. Mildred says, at Perennial Corp. What about Rossfeld? Making a final tour of the morgue is his cryptic response. Well, an older woman enters the office. Steele greets her and asks what he can do for her. She introduces herself as Claire Johnson, adding, You wanted to see me? Confused, Steele asks, I did? Mildred explains, the first of the dead people. Steele, not wanting to appear to have no clue, says, Ah, Miss Johnson, sit down, make yourself comfortable. Mildred stage whispers to Steele, seven to go. Just then a young man walks into the office and asks, Remington Steele? Steele looks at Mildred and says, Six. And points the young man to sit alongside Miss Johnson. Next, Laura enters the office of Phil Leiden, president of Perennial Corporation. They exchange introductions. Laura expresses her appreciation of him seeing her on short notice. And Leiden implies that he's pleased to see her, even on short notice, saying that he's never heard Norman Maxwell speak so glowingly of anyone in his life. At Leiden's invitation, Laura sits down, with Leiden taking a seat opposite, and he offers her a drink, which she declines. And then she plunges in, admiring that it may, or admitting, boy, somebody I gotta talk to you about all the typos you made on my notes. Admitting that it may be sounding a little bit strange, but she wants to find out why his company bought the Wild Mortuary building a few years back. He laughs awkwardly, asking, is that why you're here? Saying that he's had all sorts of horrible delusions. After all, Norman told him that she's a private investigator. Well, Laura laughs, explaining that she just has some personal business to take care of it while and when she got there, she was told that it had been sold two years ago. Again, Laura has improvised when Laura has to improvise without proper uh without preparation, she can come up uh come off as being pretty natural and sincere. Although her confrontation at the mortuary with Mr. Hare, uh, that didn't go so well. No, it didn't. But um Lyden rhetorically asks, has it been two years already?

SPEAKER_01 1:52:07

Yeah, he's bad at this. He's clearly trying to sidetrack her from answering the question, and he's not very has it been two years off the days. Like you wouldn't reminisce about buying a decrepit building. That's kind of silly.

SPEAKER_03 1:52:21

Yes, sweetie. I remember when we bought that, your your grandfather and I were going down to the baby's first mortuary.

SPEAKER_01 1:52:31

What?

SPEAKER_06 1:52:33

Leaning forward, Laura informs him that while she was there, she was ushered away by a man who was very evasive when she asked what it was that was going on in the building. That is odd, Leiden says. Then he pauses as if trying to recall something. Then he says, We bought that building along with two others on that block as simple real estate investments. You know, I as um as I was reading that line just now, it made me wonder why would you buy a building and leave it abandoned for happens all the time. Yeah, and I I just as I was saying saying that line, I thought, we've got a mall here in town that it had died, it basically died. They had a few businesses left in it. One was a big grocery store in the area, and then a few other businesses, and they kicked everybody out of the business about five years ago, maybe, maybe even longer than that. And the thing has just been sitting there empty.

SPEAKER_04 1:53:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:53:34

Nothing happening. And only recently, within the last couple of years, did they start actually seemingly doing anything with it and reef refurbishing the building and getting ready to get businesses back in there. And so far they've only got one business back in there. It's a it's a big auto parts uh store. But I mean, they they throw and and not only do they have all these spaces that are still not yet occupied, and and I don't know how much refurbishing they've done on the inside, but they took out the entire center section of the mall. So it was all like a long strip mall, and they cut a section out of like the middle third right out of the middle of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:54:11

It's just like what yeah, but it's been said, yeah, someone commented and said tax write-off. And this is a this is actually a source of huge controversy in my city because there's a developer named Samuel Farhey, and Farhee Holdings, they own like this has been a big ongoing thing that appears in the news every few years or every whatever, because they own numerous empty and vacant buildings in London, which have been a source, and I'm just reading from the thing here, a source of controversy and public attention for years. Notable examples include the former public library on Queen's Avenue, which is this beautiful old building that when they moved the central library into our um into the mall, uh down, there's a downtown mall, they just left that building. The market tower, the former RBC building downtown. Far he has cited factors like development costs and parking challenges for the delays, while the city is now working with the company on new projects like converting some vacant offices to housing, though a previous affordable housing proposal did not receive takers. So there's there's like tons he has he'll buy these empty buildings and just leave them there. And yeah, tax write-offs, or you know, he'll claim, oh, you know, I I I wanted this building for this, but it's costing too much money for this, this, and this, and and ask the money or ask the city for money to to develop or whatever. So it's it's it's a bit ridiculous.

SPEAKER_06 1:55:35

And in the meantime, they're having to pay insurance on on that because you you at least want to protect the value of the building, so you got to buy the insurance on the building. You gotta buy liability insurance in case somebody gets in there and gets hurt. I mean, it just it just seems like a money money pit for a company to to buy a building and then just let it sit empty.

SPEAKER_01 1:55:54

Yeah, yeah. Like the market tower was this huge tower with a clock on it, it it's a 14-story building, and it it like 28,000 square feet of building space that we're that's sitting unused in the heart of our downtown core, just for, you know, for nothing, for being empty. So yeah, this happens a lot.

SPEAKER_06 1:56:15

Well, anyway, after he says something about buying the buildings for just simple investment purposes, Laura acknowledges that that doesn't seem mysterious. And then she asks if he happens to know what the women were doing in the building. And rather than being surprised at the reference to women working inside the building, as any normal innocent person would in such a case.

SPEAKER_01 1:56:35

This would have been a smart move. What women?

SPEAKER_06 1:56:37

Yes, he overlooks the revelation, claiming that he has no idea, but if it's important, he'll have somebody check on it. It's like, okay, you've got a building supposedly empty and unoccupied, and you've got a business running out of there, and you don't know what's going on, and this doesn't surprise you in any way.

SPEAKER_01 1:56:54

Yeah, he needed to he needed to play that a bit a little bit more. Wait a minute, what w what women?

SPEAKER_06 1:56:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:57:00

There's that that building's empty. You know, it's like total denial. That's what he needed to do.

SPEAKER_06 1:57:05

But yeah, well, Laura, I'm sure,'s caught that, but she thanks him and then gets up to leave. And Lyden asks what the questions are all about. Laura admits that she doesn't know, but as soon as she finds out, she'll let him know.

SPEAKER_00 1:57:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:57:18

Well, after she leaves, Leiden steps over to a table, picks up a bottle of something, bourbon, maybe, pours himself a drink, and as he's doing that, a side door to the office opens and Mr. Hare enters. Yep. Hare. Uh Cal Sills did a great version of Hare from uh the musical. Anyway, um, there was uh another musical reference I almost made earlier, but I remembered last time you scolded me, so I didn't do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:57:47

I did? I love musicals.

SPEAKER_06 1:57:49

No, uh the all my references. Oh anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:57:52

No, go for it.

SPEAKER_06 1:57:53

References are great. I don't remember what it was now. I mean, we're past it, so forget it. I'm not gonna do it now. Uh anyway, Mr. Hare tells Leiden that that woman, meaning Laura, has become a liability they can't afford. Next, the agency's office is full of people, all makes and models. Steele asks Lester and Miss Johnson if they're sure they've never met. Nope, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:17

Mildred asks to look at how they're referred to in the script.

SPEAKER_06 1:58:22

At this point, no, I did not.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:24

It says the eight people, Claire Johnson, the preppy guy, middle executive types. Uh, sorry, there's middle-aged man, black man, career woman, Hispanic man, farmer executive. I just found that kind of funny how they didn't even give them names.

SPEAKER_00 1:58:40

They were just like middle-aged man, black man, Hispanic man, career man.

SPEAKER_06 1:58:45

They're not that important. So why why why give them names just for uh Mildred asks two men, both in similar suits wearing nearly identical ties, if they're sure that there's no connection between the two of them, since they seem to dress alike. Nope, one is a salesman from Sacramento, the other an attorney from Irvine. The young man who we saw enter previously asks another man, Say, weren't you in a Stanford production of Oklahoma six years ago? Sorry, I went to Yale. Laura enters, comes up short, stares at all the people who are out of the offices, and Miller says, Hey, don't blame me. You told me to look into the obituaries and locate anybody listed with the Wild Mortuary. Yeah, locate, not corral them into the office. Mildred, maybe not quite realizing what she's doing, throws steel under the bus saying, Well, the boss had her bring them in from all over, chartered airplanes, limousines, and Laura. That's exactly what she's doing.

SPEAKER_00 1:59:43

She's she's ducking and covering.

SPEAKER_05 1:59:45

You think so?

SPEAKER_00 1:59:46

Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:59:48

Anyway, Laura's shocked, almost speechless. Well, Mildred continues her rampage, her rampage of destruction, saying that Steele has them booked into the hotel into a hotel and wears a well shirt until they can figure out what they all have in common.

SPEAKER_01 2:00:01

Oh yeah, she's using him as a human shield at this point.

SPEAKER_06 2:00:06

Steele is in so much trouble. Oh, yeah. Laura stalks over to him and prostitute tells him that she'd like it a whole lot better if he wasn't interested in the case, and then drags him into the office and begins uh giving him a well-dressed, a well-deserved dressing down. Have you not heard of a conference call? Do you know how much money? Steele reaches out and grabs her shoulders and in an irritating and condescendingly calm manner tells her to trust him, that they're very close. Each person in that reception area had their obituary placed in the newspaper by Wil Mortuary. All they have to do now is figure out why. And why the sudden urgency, he says. Well, Steele's tone turned serious. Deputy Coroner Rossfeld is no longer an employee at the morgue. He's now a paying customer. And Laura is shocked. And uh Steele compounds her shock by telling her that it was a hit and run. Tough coincidence, eh? Shocked, Steele asks, or Laura asks what they've stumbled into. Steele replies, the list of Adrian Messenger, George C. Scott, Kirk Douglas, Universal, 1963. Fine film, incidentally. Available on video cassette.

SPEAKER_00 2:01:27

Oh, Lord.

SPEAKER_06 2:01:32

Although I do have to admit, he says the last part about it being available in video cassette without the previous enthusiasm that he's had when referencing movies on video. Uh Laura asks Steele to skip the sales pitch and just hit her with a plot. A number of names appear on a list with no apparent connection. Scott finds the connection, stops the killer, and there you go. Steele supplies. What's the connection? They were all in a World War II prison camp together. Oh, great. But Steele admits that, okay, he's already eliminated that as a possibility in the current case. But, you know, regardless of the fact that the prisoners in a World War II camp isn't the common thread here, he tells her that the eight people out there all share something in common. Something worth murdering for. It's out there somewhere, Laura. But what? She says, frustrated. Well, Steele doesn't have an answer except that they can only keep asking. Steele and Lester are in an elevator at the Rossmore apartments. Lester says that he's tired of answering questions and he's sure he's going to drop right off to sleep tonight. Steele tells him not to worry. They'll hit it fresh in the morning, reinforcing the idea that there has to be a connection somewhere between all of their not so dead dead

A bomb turns the investigation deadly

SPEAKER_06 2:02:44

people. As they get off the elevator, they see a young man, Rudy by name, preparing to pick the lock on the door to Steele's apartment. Steele hollers at him, and the young man looks up and says, Hey, lighten up, man. Monroe sent me. The young man turns back to the doorknob and inserts a lockpick tool into the knob lock.

SPEAKER_01 2:03:03

Now, I realize it wouldn't have saved him. Or maybe it would have, I don't know. But why Steele is there? Why is he continuing to pick the lock?

SPEAKER_06 2:03:11

Because it's there.

SPEAKER_01 2:03:15

Like not, man. Monroe sent me. He could just step back and wait for Steele to open the door, which I realize would would kill Steele.

SPEAKER_06 2:03:22

Maybe he's he's practice.

SPEAKER_01 2:03:24

I'm wondering either if it's if it's him inserting the lock pick into the lock that does it, or if the bomb is simply on a timer. Because if if the bomb is on a timer, then Rudy would be dead regardless. But if it was the lock pick, the lock pick insertion that killed him, then kid, you didn't have to do that. I mean, then steel would be dead, but you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_06 2:03:45

Like well, I would think that it's the lockpick insertion that did it, although that raises the question of how did they manage to trick out a doorknob so that inserting something into the key slot causes it to set off because knobs are typically all metal construction anyway. Right. And so if there was a an electrical connection that you needed to make, you would have to break it first before you made it in order to set off the bomb. And with all the metal components in there touching each other, you've got a complete circuit already. So I I don't know. Unless there was some sort of a device that measured a change in capacitance or a change in voltage or something like that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 2:04:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:04:29

Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 2:04:30

Sorry, I jumped, I jumped ahead. I apologize.

unknown 2:04:32

Yeah. Slap you.

SPEAKER_06 2:04:34

Uh anyway, uh, as he puts in the lockpick tool into the knob, there's an explosion that rips through the door, knocking Steele and Lester back into the elevator. After a moment, together his senses, Steele looks out of the elevator car to see the young man laying on the floor of the hallway. Debris lays all around the now deceased young man.

SPEAKER_01 2:04:54

This is a lot more brutal than we normally see. Um we've gotten it a few times because usually the blood isn't real, but like they deliberately got. Well, the explosions are, but also the fact that this was not just somebody that Monroe sent, but a kid.

SPEAKER_06 2:05:11

A kid, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:05:12

Right? I mean, yes, legally an adult, but a kid. This is a teenager that he sent over to install this thing for him and wrong place, wrong time. Yeah, looked up with a big wide smile, lighten up, man. Monroe sent me like probably a kid with a a lot going for him, as Monroe says later, and then you just see his body laying there, and it's really quite stark because we normally don't get that kind of like I don't know, that that depth of reality in in the deaths that occur on the show. And and this we do, we obviously we do, because then we get this that's kind of what kind of drives this to the next level where Laura and Steele are both realizing, hey, wait a minute, this isn't just any other case, this is really serious. There's some pretty scary stuff going on.

SPEAKER_06 2:06:03

And it's not just a case of financial fraud and paperwork fraud. It's now a case of people are dying. They're not just dying, they're being murdered. Which is what this is. It's it's murder. So yeah, that takes it to the whole next level. Anyway, we are outside of Laura's apartment, uh or her loft, rather. Laura approaches her door and prepares to slip her key into the padlock, which is securing the apartment front door. But she stops when she hears a voice say, Hold it right there, Holt. And she turns to face the voice. It's Norman Maxwell. She asks what he's doing there, and he replies, You didn't think I was gonna let you run in and out of my life so fast, did you? How was your meeting with Phil Leiden? Unavengeful, she says. I'm not surprised, he admits. Then what do you say if I if you let me try to win you uh well what do you say if you try to let me what do you say if you let me try to win back your heart over a cup of coffee? Laura cautiously says that she'd feel a lot better about it if she didn't think he was half serious. Well, he admits that he would have thought that after four years he would have had her completely out of his system, but no, guess not. So they're so they they they ended their relationship four years ago. That doesn't say anything about when it started. So she could have been with while Wilson and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:07:31

So there's there's a line in the script that they cut out, which I kind of wish they had kept in because even when he says, after four years, I thought I'd have you entirely out of my system, it could also just imply that that they were friends and he had a thing for her and and it nothing ever happened between them. But uh and and I had that as one of my questions in my notes. And then when I read the script, the line before it, she says, Norm, I didn't know seeing you this morning would make things uncomfortable for us. I never would have called. That line definitely says, Yeah, that there was they had something, whether it's a full-on relationship or a fling, who knows? But they're they were involved. And I think it gives a little bit more context to the next line that he says where where he says, you know, I thought after four years I'd have you out of my system. I guess not. Because in my note I had written, did they ever date or was it an unrequited attraction on his part? And then I went and read the script and I was like, Oh yeah, no, it seems like they dated, but obviously he was more invested than she was.

SPEAKER_06 2:08:32

So yeah. Uh well, after that uh additional exchange there that you you summarized, uh Laura simply says she's committed. Which is I've got, wow, what an admission by Laura. It's too bad she hasn't told Steele that.

SPEAKER_01 2:08:51

And and you you can see it's hard for her to even say it. She kind of goes, I'm committed. Which I don't mean that because she's ashamed of it or anything, but I think it's for her a difficult thing for her, yeah, for her to say that she's vulnerable to anyone.

SPEAKER_06 2:09:10

Well, and maybe it's because it's the first time she's actually consciously recognized that.

SPEAKER_01 2:09:23

Yeah. Could be.

SPEAKER_06 2:09:25

You know, and and s saying it out loud even makes it more real because it's not just, okay, consciously now I'm having to accept that and acknowledge it, but now I'm I have to say that to explain this to wow. I I really come a lot farther on this thing than I thought I had. You know, I I thought we were just it was casual and we're having fun and and you know, things like that. No, it's it's it's serious. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:09:55

So and it's it's unfortunate that this is this is one of those things where um for women it becomes kind of an awkward, like it's obvious that she's not interested in him, regardless of whether or not Steele was in the picture. It's obvious that she what whatever the whatever reason caused them to end it, she was clearly content with that reason. But as most of us have had to do at some point or another, she ha feels the need to basically say, I'm sorry, but I'm with someone, in order to get him to back off. That's literally the only thing that that basically causes him to go, oh yeah, my bad. Which kind of sucks because it should just be enough to say, I'm sorry, but I'm not interested. Well, except that and to be fair, she didn't actually say that.

SPEAKER_06 2:10:41

Yeah, she she kept sidestepping the issue and oh yeah, I wouldn't, you know, if if you just weren't so serious about that, I mean that could be interpreted as kind of a hard-to-get ploy.

SPEAKER_01 2:10:55

Oh, I think up until she said that line about I'd feel a lot better if I didn't think you were half serious. I think she thought they were just lightly flirting. I don't think she actually thought he was being serious until he made that comment. She realized, oh crap, he really does still have a thing for me. And she probably should have just said, I'm sorry, but I'm not interested. But a lot of women have to give that, I'm sorry, but I'm with someone. Because and not Norman, to be fair, he he seems pretty respectful of her once she puts it out there that she's it's not gonna happen. But yeah, it just I I have had that situation. I remember there was one time I was in a bar and we were leaving. My husband was with me. He just went to get our coats, and some drunk guy came up to me and made some sort of comment. I think I was wearing a kilt or something at the time. It was a dance place or whatever. And he, are you Scottish? And I said, No, but my husband is. Intentionally putting that right in the sentence. Uh oh, is he here? And I said, Yes. And then, are you happily married?

SPEAKER_02 2:11:57

What are you serious right now?

SPEAKER_00 2:12:00

My friend?

SPEAKER_01 2:12:04

Thankfully, at that point, because my husband was literally just off getting our quotes. Another friend of ours who was who was there with his partner saw this exchange and came and put his harm arm around me and was like, Come on, honey. And we walked off, which was probably really weird to the drunk guy who was probably going, Wait, he's not Scottish.

SPEAKER_00 2:12:21

Like it was just are happily like what? Anyway.

SPEAKER_06 2:12:33

You know, you talk talking about how women would say, you know, I'm with somebody or I'm I'm I'm going with somebody, I'm whatever, as a way of avoiding having to tell the the person, you know, I'm not into you, go away. And I understand why they would do that, but it's kind of especially if it's somebody they know, it's kind of unfair because it gives the impression that, well, if things change.

SPEAKER_01 2:13:02

Yeah, I realize that that could could come across as a well, if if I wasn't married, sure.

SPEAKER_06 2:13:07

Yeah. But yeah. Um and so it's it's kind of dishonest on the girl's part, but I mean, I like I said, I didn't I wasn't talking about that portion of what you said. I was talking back earlier in the conversation.

SPEAKER_01 2:13:23

Sometimes, sometimes though, when a when some when a woman does make up a fake boyfriend, it's often because they suspect that telling them they're not interested won't deter them. Well, that could be true. Yeah. Um so in this, but in this case, Laura, that's not what Laura's doing. She's being honest. She's I'm committed.

SPEAKER_06 2:13:40

Well, that doesn't make Maxwell happy, but he realizes that they are in fact destined to be nothing more than good friends. Right? So she says gently.

SPEAKER_01 2:13:50

I like his little damn it. That's really cute. I actually kind of like Norman. Um I I I know that he's like we we said earlier some of his statements were a little bit in the office, but this is it's But you know, I in respect in retrospect though, it kind of, you know, given what you said about the um presentation of them and such, yeah, it could be it could be that we look at that and say, okay, based on this exchange and the types of things he's saying and the way he's saying them, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:14:27

They had a relationship in the past that was kind of this lighthearted, oh, you owe me for that.

SPEAKER_01 2:14:33

You know, yeah, it could be. It could be, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:14:37

Anyway, sorry, I interrupted while you were saying something.

SPEAKER_01 2:14:40

No, no, no, no. You're right. It could be that that was how they sort of bantered back and forth in that way. I I let I just like the fact that she turns him down and instead of getting bitter about it or angry or whatever, he just he's he kind of he's he's disappointed, obviously. We're destined to be good friends, damn it. But then she says, I'm afraid so, and he basically then just switches gears and says, Can I buy can I buy you a cup of coffee? Can we be friends? Which is really sweet. And I just I like Norman Maxwell. I think he's he's a nice guy that it just wasn't meant in the cards for the two of them, and I feel bad for the guy, you know.

SPEAKER_06 2:15:20

Well, before she says that uh, or after she says Freight So, she turns back toward the the door, getting ready to unlock the padlock. And she pauses, doesn't get it done when Maxwell uh asks that comment, as she said, about taking her out for a cup of coffee, and she smiles and says, sure. And then they begin to walk away, presumably headed to the coffee shop down the street. It's got to be a Starbucks, right? No, it's not the uh Coladi brothers. Uh but Laura stops a few feet.

SPEAKER_01 2:15:49

Canada's it was probably a Duncan Donuts.

SPEAKER_06 2:15:51

Well, that's true.

unknown 2:15:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:15:53

I I'm trying to remember when Caladi started up here, but I don't remember.

SPEAKER_01 2:15:57

Did you guys have Robin's donuts or was that a Canadian? Okay, it's probably a Canadian.

SPEAKER_06 2:16:02

At least not anywhere where I lived. Fair enough. Anyway, they begin to walk away. Um, but Laura stops after a few steps and says, Ah, come on, let me make you some coffee. So they walk back, Laura slips the key into the padlock, and I've got a question about this based on what I said earlier. She unlocks it, slides the door open, and is stunned to see a disheveled and seemingly exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Yeah. Remington Steele kneeling on the floor.

SPEAKER_01 2:16:28

She steps in and asks People need to stop blowing up or setting fire to her homes. Like they need to stop rigging bombs to her door. This is good lord. I mean, it doesn't work. Oh, somebody said in the comments, windshels, is that a coffee piece?

SPEAKER_06 2:16:44

Yes, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:16:45

Okay, I've never heard of it.

SPEAKER_06 2:16:46

Winds donuts, yes. I remember them. Uh, a yellow triangular sign had a donut on it. I I don't know what the donut has to do with a donut shop, but they had a donut on the Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:16:58

Whoa, that's craziness. I've never heard of them, but I'll take your word for it.

SPEAKER_06 2:17:03

Anyway, she steps in and asks, What happened to you? He says, the same thing that would have happened to you if I hadn't been able to jimmy your window open. He lifts the device with a number of wires hanging off of it. And Laura seems to recognize the significance of the exhibit and then asks if Luster is okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:17:19

He can disarm a bomb, but he can't hook up a VCR.

SPEAKER_06 2:17:22

VCR, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:17:24

Something is not making sense here.

SPEAKER_06 2:17:27

Well, and earlier I said when when we were talking about how the bomb was set off, I said, well, probably something stuck in there. And I'm gonna change that now based on on this.

SPEAKER_01 2:17:36

Yeah, because she had a padlock.

SPEAKER_06 2:17:38

Yes, that's right. Just the padlock wouldn't have been wired to anything unless you saw the wires hanging off of it. So it could be that on Steele's door it was set to go off once it was opened, and Rudy got it open just enough that moved far enough that it uh sat off the bomb. Anyway, after she asks how Lester's doing, Steele looks up. Well, no, he doesn't even look up. He's just says that Lester's fine. Then he raises his head and looks at her as he continues, telling her that there's an 18-year-old kid who wasn't nearly so lucky, that he was blown apart in the hallway outside of Steele's apartment.

SPEAKER_01 2:18:16

You can tell this is is serious for a number of reasons. Like the fact that he hasn't even he's barely looked at her. He's covered in soot and grime, he looks terrible, but also the fact that Laura just walked in late at night with a man.

SPEAKER_06 2:18:32

And he didn't get all crazy.

SPEAKER_01 2:18:33

He didn't get crazy or jealous. He he barely even registers that that Maxwell's there. He it it's like it's not even in him emotionally to get worked up about that, which tells you a lot because usually he flies into hysterical mel drama queen nonsense over the silliest thing. But in this case, he just he's spent, he's he's just exhausted.

SPEAKER_06 2:19:00

Although he may not have seen uh Maxwell in part because Maxwell did not come into the apartment immediately.

SPEAKER_01 2:19:08

True.

SPEAKER_06 2:19:09

But when he does Yeah, but when he does, yes, you're right. And it's at this point that Maxwell steps in and wonders what's going on and asks if everything is okay. Or introduces Maxwell and Steele, and then Maxwell asks Steele what happened. And Steele, with a little bit of flippancy, but not a harsh flippancy, tells Maxwell that someone doesn't like the way they do business. Then he tells Laura that they are no longer dealing with bogus death certificates and obituaries and that the stakes have gone up considerably. Yep. When Laura ponders that none of this makes sense, Maxwell challenges her to give up the case. Laura shakes her head, telling him that she can't help but think that perennial is somehow involved. And Maxwell shakes his head and says, no. I mean, he's emphatic about it. They're not. And his excuse is Phil Leiden's a friend. And I'm thinking loyalty's fine, but that's not a defense.

SPEAKER_01 2:20:04

Yeah, that's you know it's easy to say, I guess so-and-so's a friend. I I I it's probably just that he's assuming that because he's a friend, he doesn't think he's capable of doing something like this, which makes sense. I wouldn't assume my friends are capable of blowing up 18-year-old kids either.

SPEAKER_06 2:20:19

And also presumably because you think your friends aren't going to lie to you.

SPEAKER_02 2:20:24

True.

SPEAKER_06 2:20:24

Which is is basically what Leiden has done because he's gotten him to invest in his business that's built uh on fraud.

SPEAKER_00 2:20:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:20:35

But anyway, Steele starts walking slowly toward the door, and when she asks where he's going, he doesn't answer. Instead, he tells her that he's booked them into a room in a motel and gives her the location.

SPEAKER_01 2:20:48

Is that a good idea to say that in front of Maxwell? I mean, he doesn't know how involved Maxwell is. Maxwell knows Leiden. He's friends with Leiden, so maybe not a great. But I think at this point he's not thinking clearly. He's just so upset that he's just on autopilot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:21:06

So when she again asks what he's going to do, he simply says that he's got to make a stop. So next we are at Monroe's

Steele and Monroe mourn Rudy

SPEAKER_06 2:21:15

apartment. He's relaxed, reading in a magazine, and then there's a knock on the door. He gets up, walks to the door, peeks through the peephole, and seeing who's on the other side, opens the door to Steele, greeting him with the observation that 11 30 in the evening is a bit late for business. Steele quietly asks if it's too late for a nightcap. Literal meaning. The earliest meaning of nightcap dating from the late 14th century referred to a hat worn in bed to keep one's head warm.

SPEAKER_00 2:21:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:21:43

And figurative term, the term was adopted for an alcoholic drink or nightcap because it was consumed before bedtime, much like a literal nightcap was put on. This figurative use began around 1818. And the purpose was the connection is based on the idea that both the cap and the drink warm the body and help one relax for sleep. Anyway, looking steel over, Monroe considers that, well, perhaps Steele needs a little bit more than just a nightcap.

SPEAKER_02 2:22:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:22:12

Steele walks in, sullen and dejected, and Monroe asks him, What's up? Steele begins, his voice shaky and pained. The young man you sent over. He stops. And after a moment, Monroe supplies the name, Rudy. Steele looks at Monroe for several seconds, unable to continue, and then finally manages to get the words out. He's dead, Monroe. And Monroe's eyes drop. And I mean it's it's clear this hits him personally. For whatever reason, whatever his relationship is between himself and Rudy, there was a relationship there that this hurts him. And I don't think it's just because he's an employee, I sent him over to take care of it. He's one of my best employees. It's more than that.

SPEAKER_01 2:22:59

You kind of wonder if he's taking this kid under his wing in a similar way that Daniel did with Steele. Or only in this case, maybe more about on the legitimate side, because we know that Monroe has attempted to go legitimate. So maybe Rudy, in my head, the way I pictured it was that Rudy was maybe a kid who was going down a wrong path, but was a good kid at heart that Monroe had uh employed and and mentored and was helping kind of figure out what he was good at. And so you're right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:23:31

The big brother program.

SPEAKER_01 2:23:32

It's a really good, like this episode is is this is a huge tonal shift in the episode. And sometimes that feels jarring or off considering that most of the episode is very lighthearted. It's about you know steel running around trying to get its VCR working, but it doesn't feel unearned. It feels very, very logical and very it makes total sense. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:23:56

It's not like, well, we gotta figure out a way to kill somebody. Okay. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:24:00

I mean the VCR plot is obviously a uh a tactic to get this kid in his hallway, and and we need a a victim that makes the stakes go higher. But it also gives us this moment between Monroe and Steele that elaborate on whatever their relationship is and their friendship and how far they go back and all of this stuff. And it does it in the space of what, two minutes, not even, which is really, really beautifully done.

SPEAKER_06 2:24:24

So I I just And not only is it well written, but it's well acted.

SPEAKER_01 2:24:29

Oh yes, like Brosnan is so good at being funny in this show. He doesn't get a lot of moments where he gets to really show range, like depth, emotional range. And this scene is a really good scene because he does it very subtly. Again, it's not why God, oh my gosh, he's dead. It's it's very there's a catch in his breath when he says he's dead. And it it sounds like a normal person would sound if they're trying not to break down and cry, and they're trying to be just like, here's this information that I think you need to know. And he does a really good job of it. And so does so does Richard Lawson, who is like you said, when his eyes kind of go downward and he digests the news, there's a whole range of emotions that play across his face that tell us as the viewer that, like you said, this is a kid he knew and was it was more of an employee. Right.

SPEAKER_06 2:25:20

So well, Steele explains what happened. Someone rigged a bomb to his front door and Rudy was working the lock and and he and he kind of stumbles and and pauses and then says, Does Rudy have any relatives that we should and Monroe waves Steele off saying he'll handle it?

SPEAKER_01 2:25:38

I'm gonna guess no.

SPEAKER_06 2:25:40

Probably not, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:25:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:25:42

Monroe takes a few stumbling steps, turns to look at Steele, and with obvious affection says, He was a good kid, Mick. Full of sass, just like we used to be. And Steele apologized to apologizes to Monroe, saying, There was no warning. Monroe tells Steele that it doesn't make much sense. Steele sits down on the arm of the couch, almost as if he no longer has the strength to stand.

SPEAKER_00 2:26:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:26:09

And m Monroe anguishes all the chances we took, all the things we pulled. It should have been one of us, Mick, not Rudy, not an innocent kid. It should have been one of us.

SPEAKER_01 2:26:21

This is a really powerful moment, not just for for what happened to Rudy, but for Steele and just like kind of reminding us as viewers that these guys have done a lot of risky stuff and have come out of it unscathed every time. And there's that feeling you sometimes get of being immortal when you are are able to cheat death or cheat fate so many times that this is that reminder that not everybody is able to do that, and that we all have that moment where we have to kind of look at reality for a moment, and that's survivor's guilt, because that's what this is. This is Monroe sort of thinking, why should I be here after everything I've done? And this 18-year-old kid who had his whole life ahead of him, it gets snuffed out. That's not you know, it's it's not fair.

SPEAKER_06 2:27:11

Well, not only that, but it tells us or it implies a whole lot about Steele's background, more than what we have ever been told or shown, because most of the stuff that we've seen that he's been involved in, they it's been robberies, it's been scams.

SPEAKER_01 2:27:25

Heists, yeah, heists, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:27:27

We've got all these things that he's been involved in that were they were risky in the in the sense that they could have gotten caught. And sometimes they were risky in the sense that they were dealing with people who were not exactly unwilling to be violent. But this line here, all the chances we took, all the things we pulled, it should have been one of us. I I mean, that implies things that are so far beyond what we've seen and been told about steel that it it just adds a whole lot to the to the story in our minds.

SPEAKER_01 2:28:09

Especially when Steele references the Frenchman that patched them up in Barbados. Because why would why would you need to be patched up? What happened? What were you doing?

SPEAKER_06 2:28:18

Well, not only that, but as and and that's the next line here, but not just the Frenchman who had to patch them up. It's what Steele says in his reminiscence. I've got bad news for you missing me. You'll live.

SPEAKER_01 2:28:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:28:34

I mean, I mean, that's you I what a poignant thing to say. Monroe said, you know, says uh Steele says Monroe couldn't start stop laughing. He tore some of his stitches out, and Steele didn't crack a smile. And it's the next thing because I saw another side of what he was saying. Yeah. I knew we were lucky, I mean, really lucky, dealt a few more aces than most people, but it's a mixed blessing because sometimes those we want to hold closest to us don't always have the same hand, and there's nothing we can do about it.

SPEAKER_01 2:29:04

This is you get chills when you hear him say it because this kind of gives us the whole his whole um character arc, his whole I don't want I don't want to go back to more French, but raison d'etre, like the whole reason why he's so hesitant to stay in one place or to commit to anyone or to be vulnerable or to get close or to it's too risky. Because it's too risky. He's seen too many people, he's lost too many people, and he's had too many people just up and leave him. And in his mind, it it even if he's lucky, even if he's got a a a good hand at card, you know, with the cards metaphor, uh the that means everyone else around the table doesn't. So it's it's really a beautiful moment where you see how Steele has viewed the world as a game of chance, and if he's the one skating by, then he can't rely on anyone else to be able to be there with him because there's no there's no guarantee with gambling. There's no guarantee with taking these sorts of chances. And the fact that he would take you'll live as a not a negative, but a a reminder that you can't rely on anything ever is something impressive. Yeah. Writing-wise, it's a good, it's a good piece of writing.

SPEAKER_06 2:30:27

And well, after Steele says that, Monroe summarizes saying that we don't control the deck and admits that he felt that way too. He stands, walk towards walks towards Steele, and then continues. But there are ways we can even the score. Do you know who did this? Steele is silent for a moment, then shakes his head, admitting, no, not yet. Monroe tells Steele that he wants to be there when he finds out. Steele looks at Monroe, and after a moment, he raises his hand, holds it out. Then Monroe reaches out and takes Steele's hand in his.

SPEAKER_01 2:31:05

God, I wish they could brought him back. Yeah. He he he's just such an interesting character.

SPEAKER_06 2:31:11

Yeah. And it it would it would have been interesting to have them together again to find out more about some of the things that Yeah, I want to know what they did in Barbados.

SPEAKER_00 2:31:21

I want to know what they you know. I just uh I want to know more about Monroe.

SPEAKER_06 2:31:26

Well, next we're at the Downtowner Motor Inn.

SPEAKER_01 2:31:29

Oh, this is a terrible hotel. You can tell things are bad. This is how you know Steele is taking it seriously when he's booked them into a place like this.

SPEAKER_02 2:31:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:31:40

You know, no luxuries, no fancy. I mean, to be fair, he did book them into the same room. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

SPEAKER_06 2:31:45

No lights, no motor car, not a single luxury.

SPEAKER_01 2:31:49

Um and this also could lend credence to the theory that they're sleeping. Yeah, I got it. Like Robinson Caruso, it's as primitive as could be. Yeah. Um, but this also could lend credence to the the fan theory that they're sleeping together because they're booked into the same room.

SPEAKER_06 2:32:07

And neither one of them all you have to do is hang a sheet between one side of the bed and the other side. And it's just real simple. Sure. Uh anyway, she's sitting, unmoving, alone in the room, and then there's a knock at the door. She gets up, walks to the door, and asks, Yeah? It's me, Steele replies from the other side. She opens the door and lets him in. And Steele walks to the bed as Laura locks the door, and he tells her that she he just left Lester, who is sound asleep. Laura comes to join him on the foot of the bed. And after a moment, he gets up. And Laura, sounding just a bit as if she's in a panic, asks, where he's going.

SPEAKER_01 2:32:46

They're both doing this really good job of portraying this fear, this like settled-in anxiety. Like Laura sitting on that bed, like just stock still, rigid, waiting for him. And when he shows up, just the way that he sits down, the way they're afraid to even look at each other. I do like the fact that he gets up to adjust the air because those motels are always so freaking cold. Am I the only one that like you go in there and it's like an Arctic freezer?

SPEAKER_06 2:33:13

Oh, no, not all of them. My wife and I, my son-in-law, son-in-law and daughter gave us a uh stay up at the Alyesca ski resort here in uh well, down the road in Girdwood. And that room was so hot, and nothing we did to the controls made any difference. It was sucks. Oh, I was dying. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:33:39

Every hotel I've ever checked into, it's always so cold. And I'm always like, can we just turn the AC off? Because it's not necessary. It's February, you know.

SPEAKER_06 2:33:48

Well, you know, it's like when I was in high school, or I probably even in grade school. They ran the air conditioner in the winter, and as it was approaching summer and coming out of summer, they ran the heater. Like, why? Well, somebody tried to say, Well, they're testing it. Well, they don't have to test it for six weeks at a time.

SPEAKER_01 2:34:07

Hey, at least you didn't check into a hotel room and start hearing voices. Uh, that happened to us once. So we checked into this hotel. We took our daughter to Canada's Wonderland in Toronto, which is like this um a theme park. And we checked into the hotel right across the street. And this was a nice hotel. This wasn't, you know, your your rundown motel that they're in. We get into the room and we we're unpacking and whatever else, and then we start hearing talking and it uh people talking in the room. Like they're in the room with us. In the room with you. In the room with us. The TV's not on, though. And I'm like, what's going on here? So we start looking around, and I I thought, well, we were at the end of the room, and there was a door right beside it that was not a room. So I thought maybe it there's like a communication center behind it, or like the some sort of office, and and it's somehow bleeding through. I don't know. So we we searched around, we we put our head against the wall, we tried to listen, it went away, and then it started again, and it was again people talking to each other, like back and forth. And we're still like, okay. So I pick up the phone and I called the front desk and I'm like, this is gonna sound really weird, but we're hearing voices in our room. And like, and they're like, okay. And you know, we hung up and and because they were like, I don't know what to tell you. And then a few minutes later, it happens again. So I call back to the front desk. I'm like, seriously, we're hearing voices and they're in the room. They're not beside the room or outside, they're in the room. And so they send somebody up. And at this point, we're like, are we crazy? What is happening right now? And the guy comes in and we're searching around and he leans down and looks under the bed, and someone had left their walkie-talkie when they cleaned it earlier. They left their walkie-talkie and they had been looking for it apparently, and it was there. So we were hearing all the communications between them. We're like, okay, we're not crazy. We were hearing voices. Thankfully, there's an explanation. So no, just saying, at least they're not hearing voices in their hotel room. Um, sorry, rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_06 2:36:09

Well, anyway, after he adjusts adjusts the air conditioning settings, he comes back to the foot of the bed and Laura apologizes, admitting that she's a bit jumpy.

SPEAKER_02 2:36:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:36:19

Nervously, she starts to stand, but Steele urges her to sit back down. In response to her admission of being jumpy, Steele admits to being scared. And she's surprised. Steele tells her that given that they're dealing with murder, county officials on the take, falsified documents, he would be more concerned about himself if he wasn't scared.

SPEAKER_01 2:36:41

I mean, yes, but also I think he he offered that admission to her because he knew she needed it.

SPEAKER_02 2:36:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:36:48

I mean, I I he's scared. He's obviously scared. You can see it on his face. But I think in in a lot of other cases he might not have said it to her, but he can see because she's usually so composed, she's usually so in control. She doesn't normally allow anybody to see that she's frightened either. And in this case, that vulnerability is shining through loud and clear for both of them. So he's she gives a little bit of herself and he gives a little bit back, and it's a really nice exchange because when she looks up and she says, You are like there's this moment where it's like he's allowing her to see beyond the wall, and same vice versa. And it's a really it's a tiny exchange, but it it really works because then he kind of says the line that you said, like I'd be a lot more concerned if I wasn't.

SPEAKER_06 2:37:36

Well, and then in a couple of missing lines here, Steele tells her that you've got to embrace your fear, Laura. It can keep you alive. And Laura says, Don't worry, we've become intimate friends in the last few hours.

SPEAKER_01 2:37:48

I'm kind of glad they cut that out because I think it would have I think it would have come off as him being melodramatic and silly and and or trying to like hit on her in an in an in an moment where they really could. I I'm glad they cut that line out. That one did not work for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:38:07

Uh Laura says that it would help if they knew what they were up against. Steele agrees, then expresses amazement that who would have guessed that a sweet little old garlic farmer like Lester would take the lid off of Pandora's box. Laura sighs, Steele looks at her for a moment, then reaches over and takes her hand in his and pets with the other one reassuringly. Laura looks at him a moment and then says, Thanks. For what? He wonders. For saving my life this afternoon, for being there, for being you.

SPEAKER_01 2:38:40

For being you.

SPEAKER_06 2:38:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:38:43

That's as close to an I love you as we've ever gotten from her.

SPEAKER_06 2:38:47

Yeah. And and he notices it too, and he because he grins and lets out with a slight chuckle and says, I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.

SPEAKER_01 2:38:56

It it it's yeah, because she's she's all the times where she's been frustrated. Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Literally this time, thank you for being who you are.

SPEAKER_06 2:39:10

No matter who you are.

SPEAKER_01 2:39:11

Yeah, like just thank you for being there, for being here, and for being the person that you are. That's that's that is a really, really powerful statement coming from her. On most people, it might not be if I should okay. But from her, yeah, that's really sweet.

SPEAKER_06 2:39:33

Well, he scoots over to her, puts his arm around her, and then she leans into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

SPEAKER_01 2:39:40

And also, this is really sweet, this is just like it could have it could have gone, they could have gone for a kiss, but this is similar to Red Holt Steel, where I think the writers acknowledge that this is more of a comfort moment, and to show that they're they're on the same page. She needs comfort, he needs comfort, and they're just you get the impression that they probably just fell asleep with clothes on.

SPEAKER_06 2:40:08

And they they're not confusing comfort with sex.

SPEAKER_01 2:40:12

No, no, they're they're both scared and they're both just needing something and they're giving it freely, but with there's no expectations or innuendo. I'm glad they cut that line because it probably would have added a layer to the scene that didn't need to be there.

The fake insurance policies reveal the common link

SPEAKER_06 2:40:25

Well, back at the office, Steele and Laura, along with Mildred, have gathered the not-so dead dead people and they've been quizzing them, trying to find some common ground between them all that could give the trio a lead onto what's going on and who's behind it. Finally, the attorney from Irvine says, Can't we call it quits? Let's face it, there is no common denominator. Mildred warns, the natives are getting restless. And we're running out of questions, Laura admits. Then she asks if they all have life insurance. Steele points out that Laura's grasping at straws, especially given that they already know that Lester doesn't. She raises her hand at him to signify that he just hush. The responses are mixed, some affirming they do, others indicating they don't. So much for double indemnity, Steele comments. Frustrated, Laura leans her head back, complaining that she was so sure all had something to do with perennial. Well, one of their guests perks up at the reference and asks, if that perennial's the same as perennial life insurance? And Mildred responds in the affirmative, clarifying that the perennial corporation owns perennial life. Laura eagerly asks the man, who had previously indicated that he had life insurance, if that's the company his insurance is with. And he says, No. Naturally, Steele interjects. But the man continues, saying that he almost went with them once, even gone so far as to make out the application with him. But it was ten pages long, and then he moved out of the city and decided he wanted to be with a company that was more, you know, in my area. And Lester thoughtfully recalls that he'd filled out an application for insurance with that company, but the premiums would have been too big. And the light begins to glimmer. Yeah. Laura asks the gathered throng, How many of you at some point in your life filled out an application for life insurance with a company by the name of perennial life insurance? And almost immediately everybody's hands goes up. Laura claps her hands, turns to Steele, and shares her suspicions that whatever those women were doing at Wild Mortuary has something to do with those applications. She'd bet on it. Steele doesn't disagree with her conclusions, but asks what it means. I mean, after all, none of the people here have been cheated out of any money. Mildred adds that they weren't insured by perennials, so they never paid a single premium. Laura turns her head to the side, gives the matter a quick thought, and then with animation says, We're close. We're close. We're getting very close. We just have to get a little closer. And Steele and Mildred look at each other, worried looks on their face. Next, we see Phil Leiden at his desk, looking through papers. His phone buzzes and he answers, addressing his secretary. And after a pause, he asks, Who? Another pause, followed by, You're kidding. And yet another pause, and then I'll be right out. He walks out to the receptionary where Steele is standing alongside with Monroe. The two men are handcuffed together, and a large tan messenger bag lies on the secretary's desk.

SPEAKER_01 2:43:42

The um script has Munro shabbily dressed, clearly portraying a burned-out, drugged-out thief. And then it says Monroe is handcuffed and his British accent has turned into stereotypical jive talk.

SPEAKER_06 2:43:53

Well, I I didn't put that part in because to me, he's not dressed poorly. He's he's he actually looks pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 2:44:00

I found that kind of funny because I'm like, if that's their interpretation of a if that's their interpretation of a of a shabby, drugged out thief, I I guess maybe that's the LA version of it. Because that's not what I would say.

SPEAKER_06 2:44:14

No, that's the Hollywood version of it.

SPEAKER_00 2:44:16

Yeah, yeah, that's definitely the Hollywood version.

SPEAKER_06 2:44:19

Yeah, it's like there was an old Jack Benny skit where his maxwell had gotten stolen and he has to go down to the police station and and he had trouble finding them because they've got an unlisted phone number. You go in and it's a big chandelier place, and uh, you know, it's just all fancy and swanky, and their police dogs are like giant poodles.

SPEAKER_01 2:44:40

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:44:41

It's the most ridiculous thing. Uh anyway, Steele addresses Leiden, flips out a wallet with a police badge and ID, and introduces himself to Detective Saunders, then asks Leiden if he owns a Black Mercedes licensed PC one. Now, I gotta I've got my notes later on.

SPEAKER_01 2:44:58

Perennial Corporation one, I'm assuming.

SPEAKER_06 2:45:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:45:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:45:02

Why does Steele have a round band-aid on his neck through this entire sequence? It's right here on the left side.

SPEAKER_01 2:45:10

I wondered that. I I wonder if something happened to Brosnan.

SPEAKER_06 2:45:13

But it's only during the sequence, and it's in the office and it's outside by the car. So it's not like they were probably shot on the same day or anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 2:45:21

I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 2:45:23

There's gotta be there's maybe there was I didn't see anything in the script, but it's something specific to that sequence.

SPEAKER_01 2:45:31

If anybody knows, I know there's a lot of people that know sort of behind the scenes stuff, please let us know. Because yeah, I wondered that too. I I could have just been as simple as he cut himself shaving that more. I don't know, but you're right.

SPEAKER_06 2:45:43

It might I don't know, maybe the makeup went wonky for that scene, or they except that they had to it whatever was the cause, if it was it was if it was something that happened that they had to put something on there to to cover it up, then they had to shoot all of those scenes from that sequence, even if they're not on the same day, replicating that.

SPEAKER_00 2:46:06

Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. It's a good question.

SPEAKER_06 2:46:09

And you would have thought they could have shot it from a different direction or something like that. But anyway, yeah. Leiden acknowledges that, yeah, that sounds like his car and then asks what it's all about. Steele grabs the bag and begins shaking out cassette tapes. He tells Leiden that he found this gentleman inside your vehicle. And if you'd like to accompany us downstairs, you can assess what else is missing. Monroe, playing his part in the scam, says, Say, dang it, man, there must be some kind of misunderstanding. There was another dude down there.

SPEAKER_00 2:46:36

You understand what I'm saying? Monroe, he's good.

SPEAKER_06 2:46:43

Biden tells Steele, let's go, and starts toward the elevator. Steele grabs Monroe by his vest and starts to pull him toward the elevator. Well, the elevator doors open, and this is this is somebody added this. Somebody added this because a blonde comes out of the elevator, and in a moment of apparent improvisation, Monroe turns his head, checks out the woman's backside, and then reaches back and grabs a handful.

SPEAKER_00 2:47:14

It's not in the script. It is not in the script.

SPEAKER_01 2:47:17

That is Monroe in character taking uh taking advantage, taking even the blonde is not in the script.

SPEAKER_06 2:47:28

No, she she was apparently just set decker uh, you know, an an extra thrown in there to give it some the the scene, some body and some space. And yeah, he just reaches out and grabs a handful.

SPEAKER_01 2:47:40

It's funny. It's quite funny because you can see the look on her face. What? She walks by.

SPEAKER_06 2:47:47

Well, Steele puts his hand on Monroe's back and shoves him into the elevator. As the camera follows the blonde, as she first turns and reacts to being groped, then walks down the hallway. She passes Laura, who is carrying a large watering pitcher, and dressed in a hippie outfit, blue jeans, smock top, long beaded necklace, a choker, headband around some very unkempt hair with a small braided bead down each uh beaded braid down each side, large dangling earrings, and of course the hippie version of her doomy glasses.

SPEAKER_00 2:48:27

My question is she just go ahead. She just does such a great job of appearing like she's stoned out of her mind. And yeah, she's got the flu.

SPEAKER_06 2:48:40

My question is, how did she get to that floor? I mean, most buildings have a central elevator cluster. You know, and they would have gone up or down in that. And we just saw Steele and Monroe and Leiden enter that, and Laura didn't come out of it. She came out of a hallway off to the side.

SPEAKER_01 2:48:57

I guess maybe the implication is there's more offices down that way, and she came up first to kind of like, I don't know, make it look like they're not together. I literally my only guess and that that it's not a very good guess, but yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:49:12

Well, she walks up to the secretary's desk and says, Hello. The secretary questions her, asking where Sylvia is. Laura airily says, Well, she's got the flu. May I um she just randomly waves her hand around?

SPEAKER_04 2:49:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:49:30

The secretary tells her, Go ahead. Well, Laura stumbles kind of out of it into Leiden's office and then closes the door behind her, and immediately she's Laura again. She heads over to the computer behind the desk, sets her watering can on the desk, and begins working the computer. Well, outside in the parking lot, Leiden is walking around his car. The front passenger window we can see is shattered, and he's inspecting the rest as Monroe is into his role and ranting.

SPEAKER_05 2:49:59

So I see this suspicious-looking dude toying with the windows here. And I says, Hey man, what are you doing? He's dishonest.

SPEAKER_01 2:50:08

And to be fair, he sounds exactly like a thief who has been caught in the act would sound when he's trying to make up a story that is completely unbelievable and ridiculous. That's dishonest. I'm not a, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:50:23

Uh Steele asks Leiden if he's sure that there was nothing else taken from his car, and he affirms that nothing else is seemingly out of sorts. Steele tells Leiden that Monroe's character would have taken the radio in another minute or two. And of course, Monroe protests No, you got me all wrong, Jack.

SPEAKER_03 2:50:40

I was trying to stop the dude from taking the dude.

SPEAKER_06 2:50:45

Steele interrupts, telling Leiden that he thinks they better go back upstairs to his office and pick up the evidence as he begins pulling Monroe again by his vest. And Monroe insists, this is all wrong. After all, he's got his professional reputation to think about. His image.

SPEAKER_00 2:51:01

I love Monroe. I really wish we had seen more of him.

SPEAKER_06 2:51:06

Well, back up in the office, Laura is still struggling with the computer, but suddenly the screen displays information that has her snapping her fingers in celebration.

SPEAKER_01 2:51:17

This is probably the only thing that is um technologically accurate. The amount of time it would take to print out that dot matrix sheet of paper that she's trying to print out.

SPEAKER_06 2:51:28

Well, the sound of the doorknob being turned startles her. So she turns off the monitor, turns and grabs her watering can, and as the door opens, she sees the secretary come in saying that she has a question about her ficus at home. I thought maybe Laura could tell her what's wrong. She says that the leaves are all sticky. Laura repeats.

SPEAKER_04 2:51:49

Sticky leaves.

SPEAKER_06 2:51:51

Secretary continues saying that it's getting all over. And she thought it was sap or something, but a friend of hers says it's scales. Well, it's either a pet infestation, scale insects, mealy bugs, uh aphids, spider mites, or something called glutenation, where the plant sweats or pushes out the excess moisture and sugars from the leaf pores that can happen when the plant is overwatered, or if there are changes in humidity, and it is often a sign that the plant is absorbing more water than it can use.

SPEAKER_01 2:52:23

Well, to get rid of the botany lesson for the day.

SPEAKER_04 2:52:27

To get rid of the secretary as quickly as possible, and because she doesn't have an answer, Laura tells her that as soon as she's finished, she'll write down some stuff, instructions for you to do.

SPEAKER_06 2:52:40

And the secretary is happy and leaves, and Laura rushes back to the computer. She enters the command to print out whatever it is that she's found. But as she's standing there in front of the printer, there's suddenly a voice saying, Hello.

SPEAKER_01 2:52:52

It's did not know about the side door.

SPEAKER_06 2:52:58

So she turns and looks at him. Well, outside at the secretary's desk, Steele is placing the tapes back into the messenger bag, telling Leiden that he's going to have to go down to the station to swear out a complaint. Leiden asks, Why they can't just do it here and get it over with? Steele tells him, Sorry, he doesn't make the rules. Steele starts pulling Monroe back toward the elevator, and as they're going, Monroe turns and yells at Leiden, You're gonna be hearing from my attorney, man. This is police brutality, sucker.

SPEAKER_00 2:53:30

And again, the the prowess of Richard Lawson, he's just so funny in this scene.

SPEAKER_01 2:53:38

He switches from just this character earlier of being this very sophisticated ex-con or ex-thief, what have you, to the you're gonna hear this is police brutality, sucker.

SPEAKER_00 2:53:49

It's just funny. It's really good.

SPEAKER_06 2:53:51

Well, Leiden turns to enter his office and getting into the elevator, Steele starts to take the handcuffs off, telling Monroe that he's glad to see he hasn't lost his touch. Except he's doing it before the doors are closed.

SPEAKER_05 2:54:03

Right? Why? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

SPEAKER_06 2:54:08

Uh, anyway, before the doors begin to close, Steele looks back toward the secretary's desk and to his horror, spots Laura's basket on the floor in front of the desk. And in a panic, he tells Monroe that Laura's still in there. And the two of them take off, running toward Leiden's office, dropping the messenger bag with the cassette tapes along the way. Well, next we see from inside the office that Steele and Monroe bust through the doors with the secretary following behind. Monroe tackles Leiden. Steele tackles Mr. Hare. The two pair of men fight and struggle, throwing each other around as almost no punches are being thrown, but repeatedly banging into Laura as she waits for the printouts to complete. When the printer has finally completed the job, Laura rips off the pages and heads toward the door. As Steele and Monroe, who have finally gotten the upper hand with Leiden and Hare, continue struggling with them, Steele asks Laura what they should do with the two men. And Laura flippantly tells him, You're the playing the cop. Arrest them. Monroe and Steele finally throw punches, vanquishing their foes. Having finally subdued their opponents, Monroe throws his arm over Steele's shoulder and tells him, I see you haven't lost your touch either.

SPEAKER_00 2:55:20

Yeah.

Perennial's insurance fraud is exposed

SPEAKER_06 2:55:21

Well, we are now back at Maxwell's office. He's sitting at his desk, looking through the pages that Laura has brought him as she looks over his shoulder. When he tells her that this is unbelievable, she asks if he understands what the perennial did, saying that all she got from the records was that they made up fake policies on those eight people after they moved out of Los Angeles. Maxwell tells her that that was only the tip of the iceberg. After creating fake policies, perennial then sold the policies, the fake policies, to other companies, explaining that this is common practice, like banks do with mortgages. Laura, trying to understand, thinks, threw it out loud. So Perennial made up Bogus policies, sold them, then killed off the policyholders by using forged documents. The other insurance company then pays the death benefits to perennial, expecting them to pass them along to proper beneficiaries, but perennial just pocketed the money for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 2:56:16

So I have a question because this this confused me. Because is it this okay? Because if you've sold if you've sold it You're out of it. Yeah, why would they be paying death benefits back to perennial if they've sold off Okay. So I wasn't it wasn't me just being an idiot when it comes to like insurance stuff. I I because I thought, why would you why would you sell it and then have them pay back the death benefits? That doesn't Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:56:45

Um you wouldn't do that. My my wife's life insurance policy has passed through the hands of like four or five different companies in the time that we've had it. And you know, company A sells it to company B, and they send us a little note saying, hey, this company is now handling your insurance policy. And then we never hear from insurance company A again.

SPEAKER_00 2:57:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:57:06

Because the policy was sold as is, with the beneficiaries listed as is. Nothing changes.

SPEAKER_00 2:57:13

Yeah. That's all.

SPEAKER_06 2:57:15

And the first company's out of it. And then if the second company sells it to somebody else, the second company's out of it. I mean, it it it just doesn't work that way unless there was something else going on that we're not aware of in in the in the uh insurance business where they would list themselves as a beneficiary because they still had some legal tie to the the policy or something. But I I can't imagine how that would that would be the case or how it would work. But I mean, I'm I'm not gonna say it's a hundred percent guaranteed that it doesn't work that way, but I have never heard of anything working like that, whether it be no property mortgages or life insurance or anything.

SPEAKER_01 2:57:52

Well, to be honest, I haven't, I mean, I I don't own homes, so the mortgage thing I don't know anything about. In terms of life insurance, I we have life insurance, but again, I've never heard of companies selling the insurance, your your policy to another company. I'm sure it does happen. Like you said, it's happened to you, but it's never happened to us. So that was kind of and I know that in the states they're like student loans often get sold. Like because that's not the case here. Here, student loans are owned by the federal or provincial government and the only the federal and provincial government. So your student loan is always going to be with unless you're getting a line of credit or something from a bank, if you're getting a an official student loan, it there's two parts to it. There's the provincial part and the federal part. And that provincial part changes depending on what province you're in, but the federal portion is always the same amount and it doesn't change, it doesn't get sold, it doesn't what have you. So when I first heard about this, because I've got friends in the states who are still paying off student loans, and I'm like, what really? And they they tell me that sometimes their loans will get sold and that they'll jack up in the the the in interest or something like that. And it just baffled me because I didn't realize you could sell it.

SPEAKER_06 2:59:05

That I don't think they can do. I don't think they can jack up the insurance the uh the interest rate because they're compounded or something in a way that ours isn't. Well, there's there's compound interest calculated, but it shouldn't change the base interest rate and the way it's calculated because when company B buys it from company A, they're buying the policy as is. Right. And I don't think that on student loans, because the um they're through quote private companies, but their government, the government is involved in in regulating it or establishing uh the criteria on which these loans are are issued somehow. And I don't think they're allowed to just change the interest rate just because comp you know company B bought it from company A. I think it has to stay intact, they're not allowed to change those kinds of terms unless maybe they're not unless the student agrees to some sort of different payment plan and have it re like refinance, that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_01 3:00:06

So I I might be wrong about that, but what I I I know that like I and I just did a quick Google search here, and the the main issue, like the main things for us, like I said, there's federal and provincial. Um, and then we they're based on financial need, not credit history here in Canada. And then when it comes to the interest and repayment, there's no interest on federal student loans. There hasn't been since 2023. And for the provincial portion, different, it depends on the province. But in Ontario, there was a grace period of six months after graduation, and then you didn't have to start paying unless you met a specific financial threshold. So you had to be making a certain amount of money before you'd actually have to start paying it back. And then there's also some loan forgiveness. So, for example, like if you're applying for uh repayment assistance so many times in a row because you can't make the payments and you're not meeting that financial threshold, the government would match it and pay it off for you. Um, so I had a good chunk of my student loan paid off by the government until I was able to start paying it myself. And then it says here for the US that the main programs are federal and, like you said, private. There's no private loans here, at least not student, specifically student loans. Like I said, you could get a student line of credit, but it's not the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 3:01:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:01:19

Uh and then interest starts accruing immediately. Standard repayment begins six months after graduation, usually on a 10-year term. It's income-driven repayment. So several versions exist. Uh insurance rates are roughly 5 to 8%. So it does say fixed, but then it says like private loans are widely used and often with higher interest, no income-based repayment and no forgiveness. So I'm guessing that those private ones are the ones that are either selling off their and doing what I don't, they may not be changing the interest, but they're compounded in a different way that ours is, because ours is not necessarily like compounding it every every month. It's it's like it's a fixed, this is how much interest you're paying every month. So anyway, that's not relevant to this at all. I just got confused about the whole selling it off and then paying the death benefits to perennial. It was like, what? I don't know anyway.

SPEAKER_06 3:02:07

Well, as Maxwell's looking through these papers, he angrily tells Laura that they're talking fraud here on a scale of tens of millions of dollars, and nobody had a clue until Laura says Lester Shane visited Los Angeles on the wrong day. Maxwell stands and begins pacing. Laura, recognizing his stress, asks what's wrong. My my good friend, Phil Leiden, and that's all he says, but it's obvious that he feels betrayed, just if even from that one line. And Laura tells Maxwell that Leiden's high flying days are over. And regretfully, Maxwell says, Well, so are his. And she doesn't understand. He says, I told you, Laura, I put all my money in perennial. I put all my clients heavily into perennial. When this item breaks, that stock is going to be worthless. It'll ruin all of us. Now, in the script, there's some more things here that they they left out. And I'm glad they did because it it's Oh, I'm I'm completely the opposite.

SPEAKER_01 3:03:06

I think they I wish they had left it in.

SPEAKER_06 3:03:08

Part of it, yes, but the problem is it puts lore in a bad light. Yeah. Okay, well go for it and we'll uh and even though we know that in the past she's kind of bent the law a little bit, this is outright uh snapping it into she committed uh immigration fraud. Yes. So but here we're talking about some serious financial fraud. Laura, then we'll wait, give you time to sell out. Norman, weary smile. I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. Laura, why not? Who would know? Norman, the SEC for one. Laura, then we won't tell the SEC right away. Norman, it doesn't matter. Laura, what do you mean? My God, your entire career. Norman, you're talking about your entire career. You can't take this line down. It's Leiden's fault, not yours. There's got to be something we can do. Norman, once this story gets out, the SEC will investigate anyone who sold any amount of perennial stock in the last year, let alone in the last few days. Laura, spirits flagging. Isn't there some way? Norman, shaking his head. One thing you can do for me, Laura, name it. Norman, give me a couple of hours to prepare my clients before you go to the authorities. Laura nods, wishing there was more she could do. She puts a hand on his shoulder, he covers it with his own. I I do like the part about the explanation about why they can't do it, but the fact that Laura is basically encouraging him to because somebody's gonna get cheated. Because if they sell these stocks, the people they sell them to are gonna get screwed. So basically what she's doing is saying, well, let's break the law and let's screw somebody else over so you don't get screwed. I think that she's that's not a good look.

SPEAKER_01 3:04:57

I don't okay. Yes, but I actually think for her, she's maybe not even thinking about that. She just sees that her friend is about to lose everything he's ever worked for. And in her mind, she just sees it as being unfair and unjust, and it is. It's not fair to Maxwell or anybody that bought stock in perennial that they should lose everything they've ever worked for because the company was corrupt. And for her, she's got this strong sense of right and wrong, of fair and not fair, and she's she's I don't know, she she's used to like the system wasn't fair, so she went around it and created a fake boss. The system wasn't fair to to you know bar him from entering the country, so she she committed immigration fraud. And yes, neither of those two things hurt anybody else, but I don't think she realizes what she's saying in the moment she's saying it. She's just trying to find a way out for her friend.

SPEAKER_06 3:05:55

Except that he already told her. Says when this item breaks, the stock is going to be worthless. Okay, so then before it's worthless, let's sell it to somebody else, and it's their problem. That's not a person that has a sense of fairness.

SPEAKER_01 3:06:09

I don't think she's she's like when you I think she just wants him to get out of this. Like I don't I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 3:06:19

I understand that, but you you can't get out of a bad situation by dragging somebody else into it.

SPEAKER_01 3:06:25

Well, I was under the impression that when you sell stocks, you're just selling them back to the company, are you not?

SPEAKER_06 3:06:30

No. You sell them to somebody else, some mother sucker.

SPEAKER_01 3:06:33

Okay. Maybe Laura doesn't know that either because I'm uh she's a private investigator.

SPEAKER_06 3:06:38

They've investigated financial frauds before. I think she probably has a clue, uh at least a little bit of a clue.

SPEAKER_01 3:06:45

I don't know. I just feel like she's not the consequences are of what's gonna happen to someone else aren't necessarily at the forefront of her mind, which isn't necessarily uh a good thing, or or but I just she sees this this happening, his world is crumbling, and she's thinking of maybe how she would feel because she says that to Steel later. And she just wants like when she says, Well wait, we'll give you time, and then he's he said says it doesn't work like that, who would know? She I don't know, I just yeah, I wish they had care to me.

SPEAKER_06 3:07:21

It just it it puts Laura in a negative light simply because she's willing to let other people take the fall so that her friend doesn't get hurt. And she has the information that tells her that that would be the case, that other people would would basically be screwed in the process. And it also kind of makes it seem like she's not really necessarily good at her job because this is as a private investigator, something that she should have knowledge of. That's all I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 3:07:51

Yeah, I don't know. I just it I I wish they had kept it in because I feel like it gives more weight to what happens on the balcony, um, with her thinking about how she would feel if things fell apart for her like that, as well as it it shows that like it just shows that there's a real connection between her and Maxwell, that she cares about what happens to him, that she's seeing that there are consequences to doing the right thing. Sometimes people get caught in the crossfire, and I think she maybe feels a bit of guilt.

SPEAKER_06 3:08:25

I think his line though covers all that when he says when Sidon breaks, it's gonna be worthless and it'll ruin all of us. I think that covers all of that right there.

SPEAKER_01 3:08:34

For him, but I think for her, she's she's dealing with some guilt here. It was her investigation that did this, her investigation that revealed the fraud that is gonna destroy her friend. And maybe she's maybe that's why she's scrambling to fix it for him. Even if maybe deep down she knows he's not gonna take those avenues, she's trying to assuage her own guilt by pointing out, well, you could wait, you could do this, you could sell it.

SPEAKER_06 3:08:58

It just seems out of character to me.

SPEAKER_01 3:09:00

So I get that. I just I I liked I I don't know, I liked it.

SPEAKER_06 3:09:04

I thought it was if they could have if they could have rewritten it in a way that didn't make Laura look like she was trying to that she was willing to cheat other people in order to save her friend, you know.

SPEAKER_01 3:09:17

I think maybe they were relying on people like myself not knowing enough about stocks to assume because when she says give you time to sell out, I just assumed that meant selling it back to the company.

SPEAKER_06 3:09:27

Well, the company wouldn't buy it back. I mean they first of all they know it's worthless, and then second of all, uh they know that they've got this information and they're gonna go to the public with or go to the law enforcement with it. And even if they could even if they could sell stock to someone else and make money off of it, they're not gonna buy it back because they know that by the time it gets all through and said and done, it it they won't have the money to pay for it. Uh anyway, uh let's get back into

Steele and Laura face the cost of survival

SPEAKER_06 3:09:54

the episode. Uh, we're on the uh outside of the balcony, outside of Steele's apartment. She looks gorgeous here.

SPEAKER_01 3:10:02

She looks gorgeous here.

SPEAKER_06 3:10:04

And Laura standing alone, yeah, looking out over the city. Uh the city of lights are fading in and out across the stone wall of the apartment deck, or yeah, whatever that is. Balconio balcony. Thank you. I I knew I knew there was a word in there somewhere.

unknown 3:10:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:10:23

Steele comes walking slowly out of the almost out of the apartment as if to join her on the balcony, but he pauses at the door for a moment to watch her. And then he finally does step over to her and puts his arm around her waist. And he snuggles his cheek up against the side of her face, and she responds by raising her face so that her lips are next to his cheek.

SPEAKER_01 3:10:43

This is just a gorgeous visual.

SPEAKER_06 3:10:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:10:46

It's it's maybe not the most when you think about it, maybe not the most comfortable way to stand. But it just well, I guess it makes sense given their height difference, because if it were two people that were the same height, it would be kind of it would be awkward, but you'd be bumping up against her nose. But like she just this whole and this is again, maybe the director going back to like just her that blouse that she's wearing. Normally I'm not a huge fan of her hair being done up so so much as it is here, but like it just looks it looks like it's just windswept. And she's standing there and it's she's the lighting is soft, and she it just she looks beautiful. And the way he puts his arm around her, the way he pulls her close, it's very intimate without being again, intimate without being sexual, it's comfort, closeness. Yeah, it's perfect. Like just the visual of it is is gorgeous.

SPEAKER_06 3:11:40

Yeah. So Steele asks her if she's thinking about her friend Maxwell. And somewhat breathlessly, she says that she doesn't know what she would do if her world suddenly fell apart like that. And Steele gently tells her that she'd go on, because that's the only choice any of us really ever have. And as they hold each other, lips nearly touching, the theme from Gone with the Wind suddenly comes from inside the apartment, followed by Lester's victorious proclamation, We've got picture, followed by Mildred's equally victorious announcement, and sound.

SPEAKER_01 3:12:19

So, two things. Steele's comment to her, you'd go on, because that's the only choice any of us ever have, might sound anticlimactic unless you consider that it's calling back to his conversation with Monroe and how he and Monroe express this frustration that we don't always have a choice of who we get to hold close to us and how lucky we are and how unlucky someone else is. It's the same dichotomy of what happened to Rudy versus Steele and Monroe getting away with all their stuff in their past and Laura having her successful business and her life, whereas her friend Maxwell has lost everything. And Steele reminding her and maybe himself that we don't always have a choice about what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond to it, and all we can do is just get back up and keep moving. And it's a really nice little coda for us as the audience that he says this, and then the humorous amount of like we've got picture and sound. Do they end up sitting? Do do Lester and Mildred end up sitting on Steele's bed watching the movie together?

SPEAKER_05 3:13:27

Because uh I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 3:13:30

I mean, because Laura and Steele decide they don't care anymore.

SPEAKER_06 3:13:35

Yeah, because Laura quietly says to Steele, they've got picture and sound. And Steele raises his free arm to pull Laura around to face him and he quotes, Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. They kiss and they freeze.

SPEAKER_01 3:13:52

So yeah, I want to know do Mildred and do Steele and Laura spend the bulk of the evening out on the balcony together, you know, kissing or whatever.

SPEAKER_06 3:14:01

I'm gonna guess I'm gonna guess that after a couple of minutes, what Mildred probably, or possibly Lester, but probably Mildred, comes out and interrupts them. Aren't you gonna come in and totally oblivious? Aren't you mad? Video and sound. Are you gonna come in and watch? And then at that point they just give up and say, okay, fine, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 3:14:23

Then Steele goes into the kitchen, makes some popcorn for all of them, and all four of them are sitting in his bedroom watching Elliott.

SPEAKER_02 3:14:29

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 3:14:29

That's definitely what happens after the coda. Yeah, there's there it is, folks. We just wrote a fan fiction on this on the spot, on the fly. But yeah, when he turns her around and kisses her again, this visual, the height difference, that yeah, it's just gorgeous.

SPEAKER_06 3:14:46

It's gorgeous. Anything else? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:14:49

No, I one of my favorite episodes, like I said, probably because the side like the case is nothing really super exciting. It's life insurance, but the side plots, Monroe, Maxwell, the the way that the episode goes from lighthearted to serious and kind of threads that needle without it coming across as jarring when it shifts tones. It just kind of beautifully navigates that. Yeah. Laura's outfits, whether it's the hippie outfit or the outfit on the balcony, she just looks fabulous in this. And the whole thing just is put together really well. It's a great episode. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:15:27

All right. Well, if that's it, we'll remind everybody about the website, www.steelwatching.com. You'll find show notes, uh, ways that you can send us emails or contact us uh directly. Find Amazon links to movies like Gone with the Wind, DOA, Sun Slight, the list of Adrian Messenger and Double Indemnity. Six uh five movies. Uh there's a lot in this one.

SPEAKER_01 3:15:54

Yeah. And then links to other resources such as the Facebook page, the uh Instagram page, the Twitter page, as well as uh the uh officially unofficial Remington Steel Facebook group. We are not affiliated with it officially, but we play one on TV.

SPEAKER_06 3:16:11

That doesn't clone ourselves so that we look like a group.

SPEAKER_01 3:16:19

Join the group, come come to the group and and tell Eric he's wrong and I'm right, you know, the usual back and forth.

unknown 3:16:26

I'm kidding.

SPEAKER_06 3:16:27

Yeah, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:16:28

Join us, join us.

SPEAKER_06 3:16:29

Yes, and then join us also for the next episode. Coffee, tea, or steal.

SPEAKER_01 3:16:34

This is another good one.

unknown 3:16:35

Yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_06 3:16:37

Well, take care, everybody. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_01 3:16:39

Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_06 3:16:41

Hey everybody, Eric and Sarah here. Just a quick announcement to let you know that yes, we do appreciate everyone who listens, participates, and supports the podcast in whatever way you do. But we wanted to give an extra thank you to those who are so graciously giving to be monthly financial supporters.

SPEAKER_01 3:17:03

We are making live streams of our recording sessions available to anyone who is a monthly financial supporter. So not only can you watch us live as we record our podcast episodes, you will be getting access to the raw behind-the-scenes unedited version of episodes before they get officially released.

SPEAKER_06 3:17:19

And Sarah, does that include our mistakes and screw ups and our humiliating every single one of them. Every single one of them, yes. So again, this is just an extra thank you to those who are going above and beyond. But whether you choose to become a monthly financial supporter or not, we still love you. We want to say we thank you for your support, your encouragement, and your feedback.

SPEAKER_01 3:17:41

If you want to become a monthly financial supporter, please visit our website at www.steelwatching.com to sign up.