Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 film. The time has come! Before our well-earned pre-Cursed Child break, we watched the final Harry Potter film, and we have so many questions. What worked? What didn't? What was changed? Why is Molly standing everywhere? Why did Voldemort bust when Ron and Hermione destroyed the cup of Ravenclaw? And did this mf really say ponsieve? All this and more in this feature-length episode--including our official Movie Rankings discussion to match last week's book list!

Also, a huge thanks to crocoshift on twitter for the incredible Cameo from Tom. holy shit

Episode 151: This MF Said Ponsieve

Cursed Child Part One Act One (first half of)

We're finally here! The play that has loomed over us for the entire run of the podcast is finally in our hands. After years of hearing about the Trolley Witch and reading complaints about Mary Sues... it's time for Cursed Child!

We went very long on this episode, so I've split it into two almost 2 hour episodes. This week we tackle the first quarter or so of the first play (this is technically two plays!), the first half of Act One. There's plenty to discuss here: the history of the play, how much involvement JKR had versus her collaborators, and the unrealistic expectations the publishers and JKR may have set for the fanbase that doomed this play before it ever had a chance... and that's before we get to the play itself, which involves time travel wife theft and bad parenting galore!

Episode 153: The Theatre

Part two of part one of act one... the next bit of the play. The first play. Of the two plays that make up the one play, The Cursed Child.
We very nearly didn't finish this one thanks to some nasty Audacity file corruption, but thanks to some heroics you get to hear this nearly-lost episode! We discuss the second chunk of our first reading, which includes the Trolley Witch scene, lots of Boring Adults standing around and talking about newspapers, and further developments in the time-travel sex mystery.
After that, we travel back in time ourselves to read the comments on the subreddit that were being posted as leaks and reactions from the initial play previews were hitting the web. There's a mix of understandable disappointment from people who bought the marketing hook line and sinker, outright histrionics, and one theory about Voldemort and Draco's time situation that shakes us to our cores...

Episode 154: (by who knows what means)

Cursed Child Part One Act Two Part One (I think I got that right...)

We're back with more play talk! This week at the theatre, we read a segment of the stage show that has some high highs and low lows. The weird Dark Dursleys scene? Low. Seeing Ludo Bagman again? High. The play's treatment of Padma? Very low. The mere concept of something called "Voldemort Day?" High. All this and much more; plus, a third segment so (appropriately) cursed it could only be topped by what I found for next episode's third segment...

(content warning, if you'd rather not hear the discussion about the show's strangely dark take on book 1's Privet Drive stuff, skip from 29 mins in to 38 mins in)

155: Page Potter

Cursed Child Part One Act Two Part Two...?

The final segment of the first part of the play--really, the first play--has some rocky moments, but it ends in such an incredible fashion it more than makes up for it. It's quite a roller coaster either way--a weird ghost, a lot of Bagman, and a fight scene written just for the Drarryheads in the audience. Plus: A third segment so unbelievably radioactive it even makes ME mad. Me! The person who chose it!! 

(side note: my audio is really hot this week so apologies for the crunchy quality in spots. I got a new audio interface recently and hadn't properly dialed things in before recording!)

Episode 156: The Three Worldviews

Cursed Child act IV!

This act was a bit faster-paced than the rest, so we ended up covering it all in one long go. The boys are back in time and there seems to be no other special time turners... what could possibly get our heroes out of this jam?! The answer might surprise you. We've got Blanket Plans, Smoke Rings, Demiguise Lore (!), Voldemort Styles, and much, much, MUCH more in this extra long finale episode covering the 8th Harry Potter story! Will we end up liking the play as a whole, or has the final act of this gargantuan stage production turned us into haters?

Next week we'll be doing a post mortem on the play itself, as well as some fun third segment stuff!

Episode 159: The (Second) Worst Halloween Ever!

Deathly Hallows chapter 22. We investigate the Wizarding World brand's Halloween plans for this year and end up stumbling into some incredible Christmas lore instead before discussing a chapter that finally honors the REAL heroes: podcasters. We also chat about the ever-unraveling state of the story's theology, worldbuilding and politics before taking an accidental deep dive into the world of official Harry Potter pin collecting... in 3D!

Episode 134: Ding Dong

Deathly Hallows chapter 23. We receive an update from an anonymous benefactor regarding the Harry Potter pin collecting scene before we check in on an unfortunate Yahoo op ed about whether or not it's okay to play the video g- sorry, whether it's okay to wear a halloween costume. Then we chat about the continuing Fantastic Beasts production drama before diving into a true Clusterfuck Chapter tour de force. That's right, we have the grandaddy of all Hagrid's Hut style chapters here that transcends space, time, and distance, and drops a bunch of new random lore to justify its ticking clock structure. And, of course... we say goodbye to that funny little guy we all love.

Episode 135: Throbbing

Deathly Hallows chapter 25. With both our lives making this week extremely busy, we almost didn't make it together to record this week--but here we are, because the news stops for no one! We discuss all of the massive Fantastic Beasts news that came out right after last week's episode was in the can, from Johnny Depp's exit from the franchise to JK Rowling's absence from easy US election-related content to the release of The Ickabog and more. Then we dive into... maybe the worst chapter in the series? Certainly one of the most galling. Buckle up, because if you thought the goblin stuff in previous books felt uncomfortable those moments have nothing on the absolute pile of antisemitic content rolled up into Griphook's character. Intentional? Probably not, but does it matter? (Incidentally if this doesn't sound fun, skip 1:22:00ish to 1:41:00ish) We also see the return of Theatrical Lupin, and the slow depressing march of every woman in the series to their final form as Molly Weasley. Finally, we speculate about how the third Fantastic Beasts film will handle its actor change!

Episode 138: Big Movies

Deathly Hallows chapter 26. After our double-length news blowout last week, we don't have too much to cover this episode, save for some updated Fantastic Beasts casting rumors and some speculation about the general future of the franchise. Our chapter this week is another heist, during which Harry casts an unforgivable curse like ten times without anyone so much as blinking and a theatrical Death Eater tags along to make things more complicated until JK Rowling decided she couldn't figure out how to utilize him so just had him go hide in a corner. No, I'm not making that up, that's actually what happens. We also witness the EVIL PLANS of Griphook, whose plan to double-cross Harry is worse than Harry's plan to double cross him, for some reason. We also read another shockingly out of touch article from Pottermore that comes this close to realizing what's messed up about the Goblin stuff but misses spectacularly. Finally, we log into Jack Sloper's account and return to the associated subreddits to find a grab bag of cursed and delightful content.

Content warning stuff: the whole news section is dedicated to ripping on JKR and Johnny Depp (and Marilyn Manson) and if you don't fancy listening to anything to do with them directly, the chapter discussion starts at 34:47.

Episode 139: Guess I'll Die!

Deathly Hallows chapter 32. The Brand has a new hero! We wonder aloud what, if anything, this changing of the guard could mean--and then suit up to drop into the Battle of Hogwarts for another chapter filled to the brim with war movie tropes. Once the flashbang wears off and the sound comes back, it's off to the titular Shrieking Shack for a big speech from Voldemort, a snake floating around in a bubble shield, and the passing of one beloved professor. Finally, we play a game trying to identify Fantastic Beast quotes from a list of Mugglenet's "most memorable" scenes from the film--some of which are Nothing, and some of which are kinda eyebrow raising!

Episode 145: Memory Gooped

Two lapsed Harry Potter fans on a journey back through the books they (used to) love so much. Updates every Friday!

Episode 153: The Theatre

The Shrieking Shack

Related tracks