Year-End Roast: The Most And Least Terrible of 2025

Watch The Video Version Here.

Pop culture whiplash, a rained-out birthday, and a house-wide stomach bug shouldn’t add up to a meaningful year—but that contrast is exactly what made 2025 unforgettable for us. We kick off by calling out the year’s biggest letdowns, from the flat humor and hollow plotting of Electric State to the glossy veneer and logic gaps of Fantastic Four, including the now-infamous CGI baby that sank suspension of disbelief. We wrestle with TV fatigue, too—Abbott Elementary’s early spark faded into safe beats—and debate the hype machine around Pedro Pascal and The Last of Us without falling into the algorithm’s outrage trap.

Loss put everything in sharper focus. Ozzy Osbourne’s passing stirred real grief in our crew, not because the internet demanded it, but because his music scored our lives. We unpack the odd rituals of online mourning, the “first time listening” trend, and why performative grief feels empty next to genuine remembrance. Then the vibe shifts: we champion two underappreciated wins—an optimistic, well-judged Superman and a character-driven Thunderbolts that dared to trade empty spectacle for moral complexity. Sometimes the best superhero stories aren’t the loudest; they’re the ones that make you think.

Our biggest joys arrived off the algorithm. We finally discovered Harry Potter and fell for its long-arc storytelling, Alan Rickman’s layered Snape, and the way each film threads into a satisfying end. That new fandom made our Universal Studios trip feel brand new. We also dove deep into Breaking Bad together, savoring the slow-burn reversals, the prison montage, the desert showdowns, and the “I am the danger” moment that still rattles. Between con adventures at PopCon and Dragon Con, meeting heroes, a driver’s license earned, and a 20th anniversary celebrated, we found the antidote to a “terrible” year: choosing perspective, together.

If you like smart pop culture takes, honest family banter, and a mix of grief, humor, and hope, you’ll feel at home here. Hit follow, share with a friend who loves a good debate, and drop your most and least terrible moments of 2025—we’ll read the best on the show.

Fighting The Suck Since ©2026 Relatively Terrible

Transcript

Setting The Ground Rules For 2025

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Relatively Terrible. I'm Josh.

SPEAKER_04 0:02

I'm Rachel. I'm Calvin.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

I'm Jackson. I love you, but you're all terrible. Today we're gonna talk about the less.

SPEAKER_04 0:11

About what? The least We're gonna talk about the most terrible and the least terrible things of 2025. Oh true.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

What do we want to start with? I think we should start with the most terrible things. Terrible.

The Stomach Flu Saga And Bed Confessions

SPEAKER_04 0:24

Most terrible. Terrible. Who wants to start?

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Alright, let's start with beginning of this year. You, I'm pissed off at you still for this. You know, as a family, we're supposed to share things. Our love, our sympathies, our sicknesses. Yeah. You didn't get the stomach fluid. Oh no. Not forgetting it. All three of us got it, you didn't get it.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

That was on still on my list. Yes. That was on my list, getting sick and puking. But I don't, I don't, I don't have any animosity toward Calvin for not getting sick. I'm grateful.

SPEAKER_04 0:57

We were running out of bathrooms. So if all four of us had needed, it would have been a problem.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

You would have had to go on outside. It was rough. It was coming out of both ends.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

It was a rough 36 hours. I remember that day because I was live. Yes. I was live? He was live when you started puking. I was live when you started puking, yeah. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 1:18

So I think because he was like sequestered. Meanwhile, Dad and I were around you.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

It's funny because right when I started puking, I got super excited too because I found out Alice Cooper was coming to Memphis. So on top of the excitement, I felt this really bad feeling in my stomach, and I was like, that's just excitement. And then I went into the bathroom and I said, Oh boy, this is not just excitement.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

And sometimes I'm I hate being the great man that I am and uh helping you clean up the puke probably screwed me over because I was sleeping.

SPEAKER_04 1:51

We should have limited that to just one of us. But honestly, we sleep in the same bed. It was gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Well, actually, we sleep in separate beds now, but next to each other.

SPEAKER_04 1:59

Do we need to do we need to announce that? Is that something we want to share with people?

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Yeah, we both have old people beds. They might look at you, didn't we? We both have adjustable old people beds.

SPEAKER_04 2:08

Okay, they're connected though. I just want to make sure like people don't think we sleep like boys at summer camp, you know, where we have separate beds, like we're not Lucy and Ricky.

Electric State And Flat Comedy

SPEAKER_00 2:17

When we're having that kind of time, you know, we gotta pick one or the other. What? Oh my god. What? Okay. What's the next wor like most terrible thing of 2025? Can it be a movie?

SPEAKER_02 2:28

It can be anything you want. All right. The first, like, most terrible movie of this year, Electric State. Oh my god. That movie was terrible. It had such a big cast, the CGI was amazing, but the story was not there. And the comedy was just so flat and it was trash.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

That's the one movie where Chris Pratt Pratt. Did I say that right? Yeah. That sounds like. That sounds like a bad word. Yeah, it sounds Pratt. Pratt you're Pratt yourself.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

That's the one movie where Chris Pratt is not that funny. Nope. And I I hate to say this. No, this, there's no hate. No, no. I know people are gonna think there's hate. There's a little bit. But Millie Bobby Brown is a great actress in Stranger Things. Exactly. And and she's been in that movie that was like that Sherlock Holmes kind of Holmes, not very good. Electric State, not very good. I think what she needs is someone else to write a part for her, like Stranger Things. Absolutely. But for now, after Stranger Things is over, her career's not over, but it might be.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

Her career will be just like her child's name, unknown. Oh my god. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 3:44

That was hate right there.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

That was hate. Send emails to Jackson at relatively terrible.com.

SPEAKER_04 3:51

So you said first movie. Do you have other Fantastic Four.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

On my list!

SPEAKER_02 3:57

Fantastic Four. That was so much hype around it. And then when we saw the movie, I was like, what is this?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

And such a big cast as well for that one.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Listen, no need for a CGI baby. Oh God. That was so terrible. I actually watched a video on YouTube today about the behind the scenes of the visual effects. Yeah. There was over 800 C 800 like times they had to do a CGI baby, and they pointed out, these guys were able to put into words everything I was thinking while I was watching it. It was so fake. They said it was probably a deep fake face over an animatronic baby. Oh my god. Well, odd drop shadows around it.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Well, and there's just one giant flaw with this whole movie. So she's able to defeat Galactus. Okay. Big stretch there already. But then the baby is able to revive her. No. No. Galactus was so wasted in the I mean, for a character that is so revered in the comics, they totally wasted it.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Galactus did look amazing though. He did. The CGI was very welcome.

SPEAKER_04 5:04

The movie looked great. Except for the baby. Yeah, it was like that 60s style.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

That looked cool.

SPEAKER_04 5:09

The other thing, too, about 2025 was it was like the year of Pedro Pasqual. And listen, I'm a fan of Pedro Pasqual. But like he just, every time you turn around, he was in everything.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

And I just, I don't know, him and Fantastic for He's good as the Mandalorian, but that's not even him in the suit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

His voice is. John Wayne's grandson or something like that. Who? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I know everyone loves Pedro Pascal.

SPEAKER_04 5:37

But it's a little, it was a little overkill this year.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

But is he that good of an actor?

SPEAKER_04 5:41

I don't know.

Pedro Pascal, Zombies, And Last Of Us Debates

SPEAKER_00 5:42

He's D say. And also, uh that show, The Last of Us. Oh. I mean, it seemed like that's over now, I think. That's over now. That is one show that I won't give a chance. Spoiler alert, his character dies. Now listen, you guys should, we should sit down one day and watch the second season, the first episode. Okay. Just that episode. Yeah. Incredible. Incredible. Probably one of the best things I've ever seen as a television show. Season one. No. No. Dang. Wow. The only thing that was cool because these are zombies. So it's like, I'm so sick of zombies. Yeah. The only thing that's cool is like these zombies grow and get bigger. They can attach to each other and become. It's pretty interesting. I don't know. What about you, Rach? What's a terrible thing for you? Was there a bad book? There was. Okay, but don't say that because we want to keep our audience.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

I don't want to take another anti-body.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Plus, how are we going to talk about it? We don't read it.

SPEAKER_04 6:36

I mean, I yeah, there I did, I did have a very disappointing book this year, but I I guess I won't mention it.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

I almost thought she was gonna say something about me. Sorry, go on. I feel like a counselor at an AA meeting. I like I'm here to like address your problems, but I don't give a crap.

SPEAKER_00 6:53

Okay, go ahead. I'm sorry I interrupted you. I interrupted. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 6:57

Okay, I have two things. Okay. First thing, kind of sticking with the like the movies. Disappointing this year, Abbott Elementary. Oh man. I was a fan of the show to start.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

The beginning seasons were so unique and different. I looked forward to it. It was so much. I looked forward to it. The writing has just gotten so lazy.

SPEAKER_04 7:17

It's just gotten bad. And that's been real disappointing because there's not a lot of TV shows that I like already. And then to have what was started out as such like a solid comedy just sort of just slowly and it's only what? What season are we on?

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Five.

SPEAKER_04 7:32

Is it five already?

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:34

Holy crap. Okay, they need to call it. It's dead now.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

The whole episode with the phones was so stupid. Oh god.

SPEAKER_04 7:40

They're really grasping at straws, and I just over it. I agree.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

I'm with you on that one. I didn't have it written down, but I'm with you.

SPEAKER_04 7:48

Yeah. And then I think the other thing, and oh my god, go ahead and at me. I will fight you. I will fight anyone on this.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

At R E Cooper84.

SPEAKER_04 7:56

But I have had it up to Fing here with Taylor Swift. Oh I am done.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Hold on, hold on, hold on. F-word count. One.

SPEAKER_04 8:08

I'm I'm over it. I could not care less about Taylor Swift, her music, her boyfriend, the Chiefs, none of it.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Trash. Well, and see, that's why I will never date someone who's into Taylor Swift because it's almost as divisive as politics. Like, if you like Taylor Swift, that means you have to like the Chiefs. That means you have to like this and that. Everything Taylor likes, you have to like. Yeah. And that's where I'm like, I'm good.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

What? You love Taylor Swift. Heck no. Where did you hear that? Calvin, this is our podcast. It's supposed to be real stuff. Where did you hear the podcast?

SPEAKER_01 8:45

That's not a therapy session. Where did you hear that? All the posters you have in the room. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

I don't have any Taylor Swift posters. If I did, I'm going to go to a mental institute because there's something wrong with me if I have Taylor Swift posters on my wall.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

All that being said, remember, at RE Cooper84.

SPEAKER_04 9:04

Come at me. I really, I just don't care. If I have to see even one more thing about who she went out to dinner with.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

Oh my god. Who ranch? She had chicken with Seemingly Ranch.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

And why is why would her PR people let Seemingly Ranch out there? It makes her sound like an idiot. It's either Ranch or Blue Cheese. End it.

SPEAKER_03 9:24

Who cares?

SPEAKER_00 9:25

No, no, it's either Ranch Blue Cheese or Travis Kels.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Oh. Come on. Oh my God. Did you just get it?

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Or is it? Oh, it's either Ranch Blue Cheese or Travis Kelsey. However, you want to pronounce it. I've heard him talk about his last name. He even doesn't know. Yeah, he said, he said it's Kelsey, but everyone calls us Kelsey, so we just went with Kelsey. Oh my God. That's like going somewhere and ordering food and it comes out wrong, and you're like, okay, that's cool. Take it. Okay. Can I go? Yes. Go ahead. Can I go now? Yes, please. Please. He's gonna get mad at me.

Celebrity Deaths, Ozzy’s Legacy, And Media Hype

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Well, I don't care. Just say it.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Ozzie dying was pretty terrible.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

That's what I thought was gonna say next. That was look, I'm not upset that he passed, but I'm glad it and he ended on a good note. Like he passed on a good note. He had his last final concert. He was surrounded by family. Yeah. And he had been suffering with a lot of stuff for a long time. So at the same time, I'm like, okay. He was sick.

SPEAKER_04 10:29

You saw it coming. So it was sad, but not tragic in the same sense of like Malcolm Jamal Warner's was a little more tragic because that was completely unexpected.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Hulk Hogan.

SPEAKER_04 10:40

That was not really expected either.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

But see, Ozzy, like I'm 43, gonna be 44. And Ozzy has been a part of every, you know, every uh decade of my life.

SPEAKER_04 10:54

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

That so for him to pass away is very, very strange. And it was it was hard for me only because I knew it was hard for Jackson. So like he's out, he was out on a walk and working out, and like we heard about, and I'm like, oh my god, this is weird because Jackson's actually a fan. I was never, I knew Ozzy, I know how great he is at what he does, but I was never actually a fan, like like Jackson is. It was just really strange. And to be completely honest with you, and you can at me, which is at uploads of phones. Like, there's these years that go on, like 2024 when all these celebrities die, that I just don't give one crap about.

SPEAKER_04 11:37

We don't know them.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

No, you know, we don't know them. That's not true. I know who they are, and I'm like, I just don't give a shit. And this was like finally one well actually, Hulk Hogan, Malcolm Jamal Warner, and Ozzy were all ones where I was like, And they were all back to back in the same week. Hulk Hogan was so surprising. That was like that was surprising because they kept it from like the media.

SPEAKER_04 12:00

Yeah, he hadn't been well and no one knew it.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

And then you can go look online the last picture that he took, he looked really bad. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 12:07

He was unwell, but no one knew it. Whereas Malcolm Jamal Warner drowned in a tragic accident, so that was and I would say I I think, and I know Jackson probably wants to talk more about Ozzy.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

If you want to, that's fine. But I think one more thing for me is just politics slash social media has just social media social media has reared its ugly head as they're trying to rage bait you. They love rage, they love discord, they love not the app, they love actual discord, which is like you know, people fighting and going like this, they love that, and that's why they love the politics right now because everyone, you know, Trump could end world hunger right now, they'd still burn him at the stake. Oh first chance they got. So it's just I'm sick of it.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

So much happened when Ozzy died, like on my feed. It was getting really stupid because I get all these people like reacting to Ozzy for the first time, hearing Iron Man for the first time, and they're like, oh my gosh, this is so good. And these are like full ass adults. And I'm like, Yeah, no shit, it's good. No crap.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

This came out a long time ago. Probably during your generation. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

No, the it's before even these people's generation, but the fact that they hadn't heard it up to now and they're acting like they're these big fans of Ozzie because he's gone, that's another thing I hate. When someone dies, especially someone who's famous or is big, whatever, they either demonize them or they make them a saint. And for Ozzy, they didn't do really either. They but he got so much love from his fans. There's a bridge in Birmingham, the Black Sabbath Bridge, and they had to start taking away presents because it blocked the entire bridge with presents for Ozzy and his family. It was nuts. And if you saw any of the clips of his funeral, oh my gosh, yeah, that was nuts.

SPEAKER_04 14:05

Yeah, it was it was somewhat reminiscent of um Michael Jackson or do you remember when Princess died?

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:12

That was huge over there. And I did even see a couple people in Britain say there hadn't been as big of a funeral since Princess Diana.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Well, and Ozzie, like, he wasn't supposed to make it to 75.

SPEAKER_04 14:24

That's kind of shocking, isn't it?

Rage-Bait Algorithms And Performative Grief

SPEAKER_01 14:26

He the fact that Brian Barczek passed away before Ozzie did really messes with my head sometimes thinking about that. But uh, they've done tests on him and they've like found out there's just something in his DNA that was like almost designed for drinking. Like he could, like he makes sense. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 14:46

He sure didn't did enough of it in his own.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

But there it's funny to think how bad Ozzie was with that type of stuff, but then there were guys who were his age or younger or close to his age, whatever, that were still doing that stuff. Like Lemmy, like Lemmy, for example, when he died on his deathbed, he was still doing speed.

SPEAKER_03 15:05

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

That's just nuts. I love by the way, Ozzie has a great memoir. I love that, I love that book. Wait, you read his book, right? Last Rights? Yeah, I read it.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

Oh my god, Mom, calm down.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

That wasn't for school! Doink, doink, turkey's done. Oh my god, I can read.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Holy I need pictures.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

I can't read words.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

I need pictures. I need pictures.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

I need pictures. But there were so many interesting stories in there that I loved. It was just that book was for me. But uh on the same trail of like rock and roll, uh, one of the most disappointing things of this year was my 17th birthday. I know you guys look, Daddy, you did your absolute best, and I thank you for that. But this was the worst birthday of my life. I love you both dearly, but this was the worst birthday of my life. So for my 17th birthday.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Before you move on, I want to say that it's also one of the just all-time worst moments of my life. So I can't imagine how you feel because it was it was so bad. It was just bad. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 16:14

We need the 32nd or like the high level.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Yeah, give it a give it a quick overview.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Okay, so dad and mom for my 17th birthday got me tickets to go see Alice Cooper and Judas Priest, two of my favorite artists ever. I love them. And so it was about a three-hour drive to Franklin, Tennessee. We got there, we were standing in line, everything was going good, got merch, got a signed poster and Alice Cooper t-shirt. It was going great. And then we were about to go to our seats and it started to rain.

SPEAKER_04 16:42

And this is a theater, it was an amphitheater. Amphitheater. So outside.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

And we had to go back to our car. And thank God dad wrapped my poster in the t-shirt so it didn't get ruined. We were basically just like trudging along and like this.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Yeah, they told they told us that they could not make a decision whether the concert would go on or not until the whole amphitheater was cleared out. So Jackson and I are running to the car in mud and in the rain, in the windy. The rain is so much that it felt like we had jumped in a swimming pool and our clothes were literally falling off. It was crazy. And we went the first alcove of cars we went to wasn't ours. No, couldn't find our car. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

And so we finally get in the car. We grab a blanket from the back of the trunk just to like get some water to get soaked up, and we just sat there for another two to three hours waiting for them to say, Yeah, it's canceled. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

See, that's so weird because me and mom had a good day. Because we watched three movies and had chicken cutlets. So it was a good day for us.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Movies and chicken cutlets. That the morning after wasn't half bad. Uh, because we got breakfast, then we went to a really cool record shop. Yeah, and a good coffee shop, too. Good, really good coffee shop. And uh on the way home, we just listened to Judas Priest the whole way. So that was that was fun. Uh, but that whole week I just remember was like, oh, it just gave a whole bad feel to that week. And Wednesday, my actual birthday, was terrible. It was terrible because dad went to another concert of a band he loved, so I was a little bit jealous of him.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

It was inside hey, it was inside!

SPEAKER_01 18:26

No, look, yeah, that was fine, but I was also, it was just not a great day.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

That whole week sucked. The other part of it was we were able to the thing, thankfully, we were able to get our money back for the tickets, but also they offered to bring us back to the show, but when the the second show was happening, we were out of town. So, but that brings me to I think this is a good place to transition. I think we should go.

Unexpected Wins: Superman And Thunderbolts Defended

SPEAKER_04 18:53

I think the only other thing I was gonna mention is that I thought there were two really good movies that came out this year that got crapped on for no reason.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Wait, so you're talking about good things now? No, no, no.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

But good movies that got bad reviews that I think were completely unwarranted. Superman, people crapping all over. No, that was a good movie.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

That was an awesome movie, especially when it comes to that character. There isn't a better Superman movie.

SPEAKER_04 19:19

It was really good, and I just, you know, it was and I didn't think it had like an over an overt message that was being shoved down my.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

And to the Man of Steel fans, suck a fat one.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Yeah, for real. Henry Cavill is not a good Superman. Six seven.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

I mean, he looks exactly like Superman, but he doesn't play the role well.

SPEAKER_04 19:38

And then Thunderbolts. Thunderbolts might be my favorite Marvel movie. And it did so poorly, and I just I don't get it. Like, I really I have I've already rewatched it.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Like I rewatched it uh when we were traveling somewhere.

SPEAKER_04 19:54

I I really like it, and I it was really disappointing that it it underperformed so badly.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

To do a movie like Thunderbolts where it's a different tone and it's a good message and it makes you think a little bit because people do not want to think anymore. And that really sucks. And Marvel has, let's be honest, they've gone downhill, but Thunderbolts.

SPEAKER_04 20:14

But Thunderbolts was really good, and it really was like a new level of underdog.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

And um but they but that's why it didn't do as well because people were expecting it to be bad, so they lost a lot of the audience. Yeah. But it's really good before anyone would go see anything. Oh, Ant-Man Quantumanium, we're going to see it. Yeah. Trash. Absolutely. Oh, uh Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Mandatura, let's go see it.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

Trash. Like Well, and when you don't have a giant fight scene like in Thunderbolts.

SPEAKER_04 20:42

I mean, there were fight scenes, but not where not as Yeah, no, it was it was more, it was much more psychological. And it was a lot more focused on characters and character development and their journeys and everything. And I just thought it was actually so much more interesting. It felt more like some of the Marvel TV shows.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Well, because you have not these evil people, but these very troubled people real together.

SPEAKER_04 21:08

And that have done real things that they are regretting, that they wish they could change. Like just seen Thunderbolts. Yeah, you shouldn't. Give it a try. Yeah. It was a good movie.

Pivot To Joy: Harry Potter Discovered

SPEAKER_00 21:19

It is good. Okay. Speaking of franchises that are amazing, let's flip over to the least terrible things. So let's say the most awesome things of 2025. Can I start? I want to start. Because we're in the the franchise, we're talking about franchises. I finally this year discovered Harry Paul.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

I knew you guys were gonna bring that out.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Let's talk about a masterpiece. All it's eight movies total.

SPEAKER_04 21:43

We're like just 20 years behind everybody else.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

And I absolutely adore it. I love it. I cried so many times. Like the when we all watched it together, there were so many times I held back because I know they would make fun of me.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Toby thinks dad is a punk bitch.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Sorry, I just had to do it.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

You would not be part of the Weasley family. No, I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 22:04

I love the Weasley's though.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Weasley's man. I just can't believe it took me so long to get into Harry Potter. Another great thing that fits into the Harry Potter world was we got to go to Universal Studios again this year in Orlando, Florida, and it was such a great time. It's always a great time at Universal. It was really fun, and I love all the Harry Potter stuff there before, and now I love it even more, and I can't wait to get back.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

But I just can't believe it took me so long. I even have a Harry Potter coffee mug, and one more thing I want to talk about real quick slippers. Okay. I discovered slippers this year. Can we get back to the podcast? I need to add to the present pill. Oh my gosh. Well, that's this podcast. And I think that slippers are amazing. Doesn't make you old to wear slippers. It just ensures you're gonna have a nice, comfortable night of sleep because your feet are gonna be nice and toasty.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Now, do you have a favorite Harry Potter movie?

SPEAKER_00 22:58

I think it's gonna bring it back to it. Yeah, he just completely skips over the slip. Yes, I I have two. I'm gonna have to say uh six, the Half Blood Prince. No spoilers here. Well, okay. The movies are old enough. That's okay. Spoilers, spoilers, that's where Dumbledore dies. And then I will have to say the last movie because of how it wraps up. And Snape is my favorite character. He is the ultimate don't judge a book by its cover. And like I relate with him a lot because growing up, I just a lot of people treated me because of the way I look. Like I'm 100% evil, and you should keep your kids shouldn't be friends with me and all this bullshit, but here I am out here saving the world.

SPEAKER_04 23:44

So I'm just saying But I mean, also it was Alan Rickman, and I mean, come on, like who does not Alan Rickman for me is up there with James Earl Jones when it comes to the voice. Oh, I'm telling you, I should drag you all. They are going to be re-releasing in theaters the Sense and Sensibility movie with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslett and Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

What day is it?

SPEAKER_04 24:11

I don't know. Sometimes, yeah. I'm busy. I've never been. Alan Rickman and Sense and Sensibility when he is reading poetry. I don't like poetry, but I would have listened to Alan Rickman read the phone book.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

So maybe we need to give Diehard a chance.

SPEAKER_04 24:24

Maybe we do.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

Yeah, wait, isn't Alan Rickman and he's the bad guy.

SPEAKER_04 24:28

He's Hans Gruber.

SPEAKER_00 24:29

He's Hans Gruber.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Yeah, Diehard.

SPEAKER_04 24:32

Wow. So again, another movie that is so embedded in our culture that we've never seen.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

Well, because the problem is in our culture, when people love something, they'll shove it down your throat. So I think Harry Potter, I remember in like the second grade, everyone's like, Harry Potter's the best. I'm like, Star Wars is better, dumbass.

SPEAKER_04 24:49

But so now I also think, too, like for your dad and I, I think when the books started coming out, I was just a little bit older than the target audience, at least for that first book. So I knew it was going on. I remember all of the excitement around it. I just wasn't interested at the time.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

And plus then we did this thing called having kids.

SPEAKER_04 25:11

And when the movies came out, yeah, like we were in the midst of that. Was when we were getting married, you guys were being born.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

So we missed a lot of media.

SPEAKER_04 25:19

It was all going on around us, but we were not engaged.

Breaking Bad Awakening And Iconic Scenes

SPEAKER_00 25:21

You also miss Modern Family during that period. Modern Family. There's still a lot of things that we haven't, but I I will say, I mean, the cast and everything for Harry Potter was perfect. They kept the the way the movie just ramped up and they landed the plane perfectly. Star Wars, I will say, it has its merit. But those first three movies are great. When did the first three come out? Like in the 70s? 70s and 80s. So if they would have had the mindset like Harry Potter did, like, let's make sure we keep our hands on this the whole time, it would have been better.

SPEAKER_04 25:56

Well, and I think the thing you get with Harry Potter that you didn't get with Star Wars was just J.K. Rowling and the way she wrote those books. And she knew, I mean, I and I've never honestly I've never even watched a single interview with her, but she had to have known the story from start to finish. And so that, you know, so it's just, I think that's why just everything comes full circle. Um that's one thing and why the movies are so good because she wrote those books so well.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

That's one thing I'll definitely give to Harry Potter. The storytelling is better in Harry Potter than Star Wars. I'll give them that.

SPEAKER_03 26:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Because, like you guys said, uh, questions that you have from the get-go from the first movie aren't answered until the very last one.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Right. Yeah. The best way I've heard it put, wow, what you just said, the best way I heard it put is she throws a pass in the first book and it's not caught until the last book. And I'm like, that is so so true. I do think the sixth movie is my favorite. Yeah. When we were watching it again, though, I was like, each one became my favorite. But yeah, six and seven. No eight. Six and seven part two. Six, seven, part two. Okay, gotta go. Yeah, go.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

I think I would say discovering breaking bad.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 27:15

I mean, look, they tried to get me into it. And I was just like, nah, I'm good. I don't see what the hype is. Now I do. I'm like, we're down to the last four episodes, and season five is insane. Can we hurry up and finish this podcast? We need to go watch more. Like, I mean, it's just, it's insane. And as each season goes, it's like Harry Potter, it gets better. So I'm like, season five is my favorite as of right now, but if I re-watch it, it might be season four.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

I don't know. It's so awesome watching it with it was awesome watching it with Jackson, but watching it with both of them and seeing both, like remembering Jackson's reactions to similar certain things and Calvin, like in the first season when the bodies come through the floor, and he's just like, that was I was like, what I remember and also like the reactions to the thing that happened to all the guys in the prison, like you watch his face and he's like disturbed, and like rightfully so. Do you know what I'm saying? Like it's terrible. It was meant to be a disturbing scene. But he's realizing how great this show is, and the crazy thing is, Calvin, when it was on, they were trying to cancel it. I'm not shocked, even though it won award after award after award. It's the most decorated show ever. Yeah, no kidding. It's that good. And it has the only 10 out of 10 on IMDB. Oh, and we're gonna watch that episode. Oh, that's so cool. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_02 28:44

I think the most brutal moment was probably when Gus cut that dude's neck. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

That was like, whoa. Like Giancarlo Esposito in that one scene, that's how great of an actor is. He has one bit of dialogue in that at the very end of that scene. Yeah. But his facial expressions and his actions during that scene speak for themselves.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

And when we were watching it, I remember telling you that was the moment that I knew he was a great bad guy that I would fear. Just like in Harry Potter, I think it is in the half. No, it's the uh first Deathly Hollows, where Voldemort is torturing that woman above the table. It's the same thing, because there's no reason for it.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

Well, that's why uh Heath Ledger's Joker is still one of my favorite bad guys ever. Yeah. He's uh just a display. He's a dog chasing cars, as he says. Yeah. I wouldn't know what to do with it if I if I caught one. Those are good bad guys.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Yeah. I think something else I love about Breaking Bad is seeing the memes. And knowing the context. Like, my name is Tyler White Yo.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Well, and then it's I am the danger. Exactly. Well, and it's funny because when they finally meet again, Jesse and Skyler. Yeah. It hasn't been since that one scene in season one. And it's just funny. It's so funny.

SPEAKER_02 30:06

And an upcoming episode, just like on Netflix, like the screenshot of the episode, it's like Walter like in the desert somewhere, and that's another meme. But I I don't know what the context is.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

Yep. So there was even some parts where you said you knew it was gonna happen, but you didn't know the context, and when it happened, you still were shook. Like when Hank found out about Walt.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

You're like, oh my gosh. So like he was like Walter was right there under your nose, and you just were like, eh, oh no.

SPEAKER_01 30:37

Like, well, I mean, that would happen to anyone in that situation. Your family member, someone who you trust, is doing that, yeah, and you just turned a blind eye to it the entire time. That is, I think, one of the most realistic things in all of breaking bad. But that's such a big point of controversy on the internet about I mean, even Vince Gilligan has addressed this. Everyone's like, really? Hank figured out because Walter White just happened to have that book in his bathroom.

Con Life Highlights: PopCon And Dragon Con

SPEAKER_04 31:05

I think though, I think it was just he had all of the pieces to the puzzle, as you said. They were there in front of him. It was that was just finally the moment where they clicked into place.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

Well, um somebody said though, and I noticed this watching the fifth season again, somebody said he kept that book as a like a token of he had won. Oh, probably. And so he kept it around. And he even said when Skylar asked, How did it you get how did this happen? He said it was my fault. Yeah. So I don't think it's I don't think it's that much of a stretch. I think the biggest thing about breaking bad that is a flaw, and Vince Gilligan said this Jesse's teeth. They're completely white bleached, white, and he it they look like celebrity teeth, and he's a meth addict. Yeah, yeah. And he's like, that just doesn't make sense. I never pay attention though.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Well, now I do, and I never have paid attention to his teeth. And something Breaking Bad does great is character development. Oh like Jesse, when you first meet him, he's just like this meth head junkie, and now he's like trying to take down Walter. Yeah. Like he's literally working with the DEA, even though they were his like number one enemy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Well now he's like working with it. Well, it's funny because in season one, you hate Jesse but have sympathy for Walter. Now it's reversed. Yeah. It's the it's the best show of all time. If anyone wants to battle me on that, yeah, it I'm not gonna give you my Instagram.

SPEAKER_02 32:35

It might be my second favorite show of all time. What would be your first?

SPEAKER_00 32:39

Black Lover. Oh, God. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

Well, okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

I mean, hey, I can't I can't fault you on your favorite, but I wouldn't I don't know if I could like compare a cartoon to a real show. Yeah, that's true. Or like anime. So like that's your favorite anime ever. If Breaking Bad's your favorite show ever. And then I even struggle with comparing like Stranger Things to Breaking Bad. It's too high.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

There's just for me. Siver genre, Stranger Things, like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Stranger Things makes me Stranger Things is entertainment. For entertainment's sake, it's kind of funny. It's kind of you know, it's very well done, but like Breaking Bad makes you think.

unknown 33:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

Oh, because that's something that can actually happen.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

Yeah. Yeah. And that's why I thought when the first time I ever watched it all the way through, I never thought I would watch it again because of how dark it is and how real it is and how much that stuff actually happens.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

So this is my third time watching it through. And I could watch it through again, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

Well, and the most like revealing moment, I don't know, like shocking moment is like when he said, Where's the money? Like it was like, whoa, like it just got crazy. Like, you know, shit is about that. It's gonna be deep. It's gonna be crazy.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

That scene before it when Gus like is telling him he will kill his entire family. That performance right there is just yeah, oh, it gives you chills, but then it makes your heart drop. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

One of Calvin's highlights of 2025 was breaking bad. Calvin, do you got any more before we move on?

SPEAKER_02 34:07

Yes, but I think we should let Jackson go next.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Let's go. Jackson. We did a lot of traveling this year. We did. We traveled everywhere from Indiana, Atlanta to Knoxville. That was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

And then everywhere around Tennessee and Mississippi. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Those weren't as great.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Let's not talk about those.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

Yeah. But uh Indiana Pop Conn is always a highlight. I always love that con because downtown Indiana is fun. Yes. I don't, even though we don't go like anywhere too crazy. Uh, people in Indiana are probably like, you gotta go here, and we're we're like, we go to steak and shake, and we have we have a ball.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

I mean, also the hotel that we get to stay at is the. Oh, that's the best hotel we've ever been to, ever. I love that hotel. So, shout out to PopCon because we have such a great time, and this last year was no different because also we had you know, Peter Prankster was there, Calphobia. It was it was a lot of fun, and uh, we met a lot of fans. Uh, we sold a bunch of t-shirts, which was really cool.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

Um Calvin and I got to go like behind like the curtain and like meet other people we wanted to meet. I got all four signatures from the original Ninja Turtles. From the TV show. From the TV show, the cartoon, the original TV show, and then Ross Marquan, that was really cool. And we met Calvin even got to meet someone really cool from uh yeah.

Milestones: Licenses, 20 Years, And Perspective

SPEAKER_02 35:32

Uh I met the voice actor Shigaraki from Myer Academia. Uh, and I also met Ross Marquan for Charles Xavier and X-Men 97. What's that? Just kidding. I'm just gonna get a season two next year, and I'm very excited.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Ooh. Also, I I have to say, I still feel very humbled and blessed to be able to say that we got to be on the Walk of Fame at Dragon Con.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

Dragon Con, that's one of that's another great hotel as well. Oh, that oh yes. But there's only one problem with it. There's one problem, and that's we don't like heights.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

And we were on the 64 of a 67-floor hotel.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

The elevator.

SPEAKER_02 36:16

Oh, I hated that.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Why couldn't they have enclosed it? We don't need glass. I don't want to see what's going on on my height.

SPEAKER_00 36:24

I hate heights too, but I'm not as bad as they were. Oh man, walking to the room.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

Your ears popped! It was so high. But for me, it was walking to the room because you can just like look over and look down. It's like I was just like against the wall. Like, that was bad. I hope I don't fall.

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Oh, I hope I don't fall.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

My favorite day there, though, was actually the last day, that Monday before we left. Yeah. Because we got to go check out the vendor hall. I spent way too much money. Oh, I lost my bet. Yeah, you lost your You said you weren't gonna spend a dime there and you did it. I didn't knew we would. Uh because there are five freaking floors to this vendor hall. Each one better than the next. And I found assigned Alice Cooper this this awesome, cool, I guess, poster thing. We we didn't even make it to the third floor. After the second floor, we were out, and the most impressive thing about that entire vendor hall was how fast you got in there for such a gigantic line. The line was around the block two times. And we got in there in less than 15 minutes. That was super impressive. That was awesome. Dragon Con was a blast.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

I got to meet uh Christopher Lloyd and talk to him, which was I mean. Wait, who's that?

SPEAKER_02 37:41

Who's Christopher Lloyd?

SPEAKER_00 37:42

Yeah, right. Yeah, shut up, Calvin. I wouldn't say it's a lifelong dream, but I've loved Christopher Lloyd Lloyd and a lot of things. So it was super cool just to uh meet a person like that, and he was pretty chill.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

I didn't get to meet this person, but I did get an autograph from them. I sent a fan letter to uh Jonathan Banks, also known as Mike from Breaking Bad, and I got a response back, and I got a signed frickin' picture from him, which I've not stopped bringing up. Including right now, because it was like that was pretty random to bring up right there. If there was something at all if there was something out there, I would so say I would I would send one to him and be like, Can you sign I am the danger? Yes. I'm sure he never hears that. Oh, he hears that all the time. But he I've seen on I saw on like Rain Wilson's podcast him talking about it because Rain Wilson always gets known as Dwight from the office, and he and he obviously always gets known as Walter White, but he Rain Wilson kind of gets annoyed by it. Yeah. Where Brian Cranston loves it. He's like, yeah, cool. Yeah. I mean, it's what's he seems like a celebrity you'd want to meet.

SPEAKER_04 38:52

Yeah, yeah. He seems like a genuinely nice guy who's enjoyed his career, likes what he does, likes his fans, is happy that he's been in all of these projects.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

And it was just, oh, Rach, we need to hear from you. Some good things that happened this year. There had to be at least no books.

SPEAKER_04 39:10

There were.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

Wow, it's gonna be a running game.

SPEAKER_04 39:13

We're gonna have to have to have one whole episode that's just about books.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

If you want to talk about Ready Player One, we can do that.

SPEAKER_04 39:21

We can talk about books. But no, we had two rather large personal milestones this year. Um the first one was Jackson got his driver's license this year, which was a big deal. Very proud. Hands ten and two.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

Just kidding, nine and three.

SPEAKER_04 39:37

And then you and I had our 20th wedding, 20th anniversary.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Calvin didn't do shit. I'm kidding. That's that's that's mean.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

He shaved one time.

SPEAKER_02 39:48

You swear. I shaved multiple times.

SPEAKER_00 39:50

Like four, like two or four. Three. Let's go with the two.

SPEAKER_02 39:59

Did you just

SPEAKER_04 40:00

And that means you'll never say it again, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:02

No, it says six, seven. No, you won't. 20 years is pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_04 40:07

20 years is pretty good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:08

Especially when you're relatively terrible.

SPEAKER_04 40:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

Let's just hope dad doesn't start cooking meth.

SPEAKER_00 40:14

You never know. I might do it.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

You just don't look good. You would not look good with a bald head.

Looking Ahead To 2026 And Family Traditions

SPEAKER_00 40:19

That's why that would be dangerous. Listen, if I broke bad, it would probably be something in tech. It wouldn't be any kind of drugs.

SPEAKER_03 40:26

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

So Jackson's driver's license, 20th wedding anniversary. Anything else? Books.

SPEAKER_04 40:34

Um, books. I mean.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Overall, I think 2025 was a good year. I think uh having perspective helps every year. I mean, there could be, there's obviously things you go through and stuff like that, and there's horrible, horrible everything, everybody goes through different things, but I think having good perspective helps you um see the good in even in even a tough year. But I think this year was really good. And I I think I know a lot of people online are like every every year. I hate it when it's new year, every year. This was the worst year ever. My God. And it's just they do that because they know that that post will do good on social media because of those rage-bit algorithms.

SPEAKER_04 41:16

We live in a broken world, and so there's always brokenness around us, and we don't deny that it's real, and there's real pain and suffering that's happening. Um, but also there are good things. And one thing we didn't plan on talking about, but maybe we should, is what are we looking forward to in 2026?

SPEAKER_03 41:37

Oh, hmm.

SPEAKER_04 41:38

My biggest question is are you guys gonna actually read the Harry Potter books now?

SPEAKER_00 41:43

Me? No. Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_04 41:46

Only if it's illustrated?

SPEAKER_02 41:48

Yeah, but even then it's like Harry Potter comic book. I feel like it would ruin the movies for me. Because that's how everyone is. It's like, oh, the books are so much better. It's like they probably are, and it would ruin the movies for me.

SPEAKER_00 42:03

I think I'm looking forward to probably the the getting the stuff with the movie solidified and actually moving forward with that stuff. Uh there's been some really good progression happening lately. Um, and I think it could actually happen. I mean, movies come and go all the time, even with major production studios, so it's gonna have to be a God thing, just like anything else we do. Um I'm looking forward to to going to more cons this year again. Like, I wanna I wanna be more selective with the cons we go to, but we love meeting our fans and uploads of fun. I'm looking forward to see where this podcast takes us and where we go with this. I mean, this is um I sat here a couple times tonight just kind of in in awe of them talking.

SPEAKER_04 42:52

Yeah. I was gonna say, I think that's one of the things.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

We're cool. Like, I don't even have to do anything right now.

SPEAKER_04 42:57

Well, and it's pretty cool too. Like, we've reached this point in our lives where our kids are adults, basically. I like listening to you guys and what you think and your opinions. And again, we are all really opinionated, and I just think it's interesting. When you guys were little, it was great. You were cute, you were funny, you were funny.

SPEAKER_02 43:20

We're now we're grown men.

SPEAKER_04 43:22

But but like you're not supposed to stay that way. I think a lot of people, yes, it is kind of sad that this is Jackson's last Christmas as a kid, because he will be 18 next Christmas. But but that's what's supposed to happen. You're supposed to grow up. I've enjoyed you guys as you've grown up. I'm proud of who you are and the way you can think things through, and you're um empathetic and you're sympathetic and you're thoughtful the way you think things through. I think that's been a cool thing this year. I like listening to you guys like analyze Breaking Bad, and I think it's been fun watching Stranger Things together, and you know, just like how we we do more things together as opposed to us doing things for you, if that makes sense. Like we're actually doing things that like we all want to do as opposed to just like, hey, we're gonna do this for the I mean I think there's there's a couple ways that you see families normally operate.

SPEAKER_00 44:18

Like when the kids get older, they're just gone. Even when they're not 18, they're just parents don't want them in the house, they never do anything together, no one really likes each other. The goal is just to get those kids out of the house. And I I always had this goal and ambition of, you know, I want to still do things as a family, even when they when they go off and and get married and have kids.

SPEAKER_04 44:39

I was thinking about that today. You know, you hear about those families, they go on vacation with their adult kids. How awesome will it be for all of us to be going to Universal Studios? I want to keep doing that as you guys get older.

SPEAKER_02 44:55

You want to go in the green guts? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:58

First of all, 60 is not next year for us, okay? Well, I know you guys think that we're near death. And no, I wait in line, let me read my book.

SPEAKER_02 45:08

Listen, okay.

SPEAKER_04 45:09

I need I need some backup here. I'm gonna need people in c in the comments. DM me something. Like, I am not the only reader, right? Like, I'm on Bookstagram. There are other people that read books. It's just, it's you guys. It's like we're the weird ones.

Sign-Off Shenanigans And F-Word Tally

SPEAKER_00 45:27

All right, I wanna end it. I've got a question for you guys. If we gave you a nickname, what would it be? Hey, I'm Callin. I'm the whitest boy alive. With a creepy neck beard. I'm Jackson. I'm old man Jack.

SPEAKER_04 45:42

That's pretty good. I'm Rachel, the book nerd, the librarian.

SPEAKER_00 45:47

Did you take off your glasses and say those books were due on Tuesday? Oh my god. Josh, shut the f up about the slippers. How many times would mom have said the F for the world? I counted this time. Okay. So here we are with another segment of How many times would Rachel say the F word if her mom wasn't watching? Today is one. Just one?

SPEAKER_04 46:08

I mean.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

Yeah, do you remember when it happened? She said F in.

SPEAKER_04 46:11

Yeah, but I mean I would have said it a lot more, but yeah. Taylor Swift, I can get on it.

SPEAKER_00 46:16

Oh, you probably would have said like that for ten times, Derek. You know, I can always bleep it. You don't trust me to bleep it? No. You probably shouldn't because I'm relatively terrible.