The titular girls go through coming of age rites of passage both holy and profane, sneaking away to an escapade-laden concert in Belfast and navigating one wedding and a pot-scone-fueled wake. And yet, your hosts are split on these episodes and the series as a whole as one of them (guess who) concern trolls whether these are characters or props delivering jokes and shenanigans. Regan and John are united, however, in their interest in the travellers, gratefulness of The Cranberries drops, appreciation of Da Gerry, and having been too goody two-shoes as teens to pull off Derry girls-level deception and subterfuge. Plus, Sister Michael outside of school, twice!

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The second series of Derry Girls (second season for the Yanks) is here, and what if anything about the show has changed? 80s classic The Breakfast Club and Dead Poets Society help Regan and John frame their discussion of mission: ride some Prod lads and the questions about social separation the mission raises, and of the pedagogy (or lack thereof) of one Ms. De Brún. A real heyday for Sister Michael in these episodes sparks the segments, which also include your share of lad culture, music recommendations, and, of course, our guy the Child of Prague.

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These are the episodes where the girls truly do become children of the crossfire. A run-in with the Orange Order prompts a roadtrip gone wrong and a consideration of our new favorite (?) Provo, whale some classic school newspaper mechanics prompt a coming out for one of the main characters. Regan and John discuss how these episodes and particularly the cross-cutting final scene may fundamentally alter the show and consider an absent Madonna (the pop superstar this time), step aerobics, The Cranberries, Saint Anthony, and Le Tigre among many other subjects.

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Regan and John connect to podcasts past (Pope-verse, anyone?) as they explore the ways Catholicism is woven into the fabric of everyday life for the titular Derry girls as they confront the mysteries of the Virgin Mary, dead, resurrected, or absconded dogs, history exams, and visitors from Ukraine. After questioning whether Erin can become more than trope-ic comic relief, they dive into the segments to appreciate Sister Michael, recommend PJ Harvey (guess who), talk about Chernobyl Children International, and much more.

There’s even a hot priest!

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Regan Levitte is BACK for some more NQGB podcasting, this time initiating John into the world of Derry Girls. Exploring identity-making, the pair situate themselves in the world of Derry, Northern Ireland and of the five main characters, Erin, Clare, Michelle, Orla, and James. Which character does each of your trusty hosts most resemble (whether they like ir or not)? What new and alliterative segments have been devised for this jaunt to the serious and silly sitcom set amid The Troubles, circa 1990s? What theory season is it (spoiler: Sara Ahmed SZN…but this time The Cave contains more than just theory.) Does John like this show?

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Ooooh boy! Back after a brief hiatus, Jon Keller makes his triumphant return for another finale episode, joining Danielle and John to talk all The Americans Season 5 Episode 13, “Soviet Division.” Together, all three unpack the situation with Pasha and the Morozovs, including disentangling some of the complicated family dynamics between the Jennings and Tuan as well as the Morozovs. The family dynamic chat continues with a look at Paige and Henry, before turning their attention to the intense vibes between Philip and Elizabeth over their fates and futures. In the Dossier, we check in on Martha, add an alternative take on Renee, and John offers his own entry as well. Glas sees the return of Kimmy (some real throwbacks in this episode!), some more hot takes about Martha, a chat about camera work, and of course RACQUETBALL BACK, though this time with Renee supplanting Philip as MVP. Your hosts are happy that their third chair is here to guide them through actual - not borrowed - nostalgia, and even more excited for him to make the descent with them into the Cave for more Marx SZN. This time, they dig into Marx’s Critique of the Gotha Program to reflect on the state of affairs in The Americans at the close of Season 5.

Is there Reptile Talk? Fam, there is Reptile Talk.

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On their own this week, John and Danielle are ready to tackle The Americans Season 5 Episode 12 “The World Council of Churches.” Will Danielle’s dream of the end (of a sort) of Pastor Tim finally come true? It looks like it! Organizing their conversation around the concept of resignation, your hosts take up what Oleg, Stan and Aderholt, Paige, Philip and Elizabeth, and even Tuan are resigned to in their situations, missions, and lives more generally. They consider how Pastor Tim’s new assignment shines a light on what the different members of the Jennings family are resigned to, and how Henry complicates their potential options. Before moving on to the segments, they take up Tuan’s behavior and the cliffhanger end of the episode. In the Dossier, Danielle offers some thoughts on Pasha, the return to Russia, and Oleg before Glas sees a brief chat on Mischa, among some further thoughts on Henry as well as Pastor Tim (Danielle cannot wait for this to be done). In the Cave, John offers some solid takes on The Civil War in France, the latest entry for Marx SZN, and your hosts give you some solid TheoryShips. Come for (Danielle hopes) the last Pastor Tim sighting, stay for John’s stellar TheoryShips.

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Danielle and John are joined by friend of the pod Michaela Rife to discuss The Americans Season 5 Episode 11, “Dyatkovo” (a word Danielle is definitely great at pronouncing, and a word John is actually great at pronouncing). Michaela offers up homecoming and the relationship to home as a banger of a theme, and together your hosts consider Henry’s HOMEwork, Philip’s reveries of home, the question of defending a homeland, and what it really means to have a home to go back to - a recurring question for MANY of our characters. Danielle offers some Stan-centric tinfoil hat theories in the Dossier, and in Glas, your hosts give Michaela some runway to give her thoughts on the wedding from the previous episode, and to show off her art historian expertise at breaking down the tableaux of the dramatic final scene. They also check in on Tuan’s sad McDonalds scene and ask whether Henry’s "investigative" "journalism" "skills" are priming a future FBI career. After a few comments on different 80s ‘fits and Henry’s handwritten report, it’s time to descend back into the Cave for more Marx SZN - this time with (drumroll please) The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Come for the solid thematic discussion but stay for the Theoryships and another installment of everyone’s favorite, Marx SZN!

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