1 00:00:13,443 --> 00:00:15,356 Welcome everyone to 2 guys to the Dark 2 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:18,002 tower king Podcast podcasts red discuss the characters 3 00:00:18,002 --> 00:00:21,032 and connections in the ever expanding universe that 4 00:00:21,032 --> 00:00:23,983 revolves around Stephen King's Dark tower. I'm Jay 5 00:00:24,142 --> 00:00:24,461 Russo, 6 00:00:25,113 --> 00:00:25,668 and I'm Sean. 7 00:00:26,461 --> 00:00:28,286 You can email us at 2 guys dark 8 00:00:28,286 --> 00:00:30,586 tower at g dot com. Thank you to 9 00:00:30,586 --> 00:00:32,569 our patrons for your continued support of the 10 00:00:32,569 --> 00:00:35,714 show. In this bonus episode, we'll will cover 11 00:00:35,852 --> 00:00:38,805 Missus Todd's shortcut found in skeleton crew. 12 00:00:39,443 --> 00:00:40,400 Let's start the show. 13 00:00:42,012 --> 00:00:44,885 Within a framing story, a main caretaker tells 14 00:00:44,885 --> 00:00:46,401 us the story of an out of town 15 00:00:46,401 --> 00:00:49,035 woman who is obsessed with finding shortcuts. 16 00:00:49,847 --> 00:00:51,917 Because if you can save enough distance, you'll 17 00:00:51,917 --> 00:00:52,951 save time as well. 18 00:00:53,906 --> 00:00:55,657 When he finally takes her up on a 19 00:00:55,657 --> 00:00:56,851 ride using a shortcut, 20 00:00:57,344 --> 00:00:59,585 he encounters some very strange things. 21 00:01:00,465 --> 00:01:02,945 Some very strange things indeed, Sean. 22 00:01:03,744 --> 00:01:05,745 Your recap are getting more and more subtle. 23 00:01:06,879 --> 00:01:09,836 I dig it. Jay, Missus Todd's shortcut was 24 00:01:09,836 --> 00:01:12,952 first published in the magazine Red book in 25 00:01:13,032 --> 00:01:15,190 May of 19 84, and then the next 26 00:01:15,190 --> 00:01:18,401 year as part of the skeleton crew collection. 27 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:20,398 And as far as I could tell, there 28 00:01:20,398 --> 00:01:22,635 might be 1 dollar baby film of this. 29 00:01:23,445 --> 00:01:25,135 It's listed on the Dollar baby 30 00:01:25,508 --> 00:01:28,285 website as coming soon and the last update 31 00:01:28,285 --> 00:01:29,078 was 2015. 32 00:01:29,237 --> 00:01:30,427 So it may or may not have been 33 00:01:30,427 --> 00:01:30,982 finished, but 34 00:01:31,634 --> 00:01:33,071 I think that this is 1 that could 35 00:01:33,071 --> 00:01:35,146 have worked very well as a nice half 36 00:01:35,146 --> 00:01:37,061 hour movie in the vein of a twilight 37 00:01:37,061 --> 00:01:39,615 zone episode or an outer limits type of 38 00:01:39,615 --> 00:01:39,989 thing 39 00:01:40,505 --> 00:01:42,489 it it's set up very nicely with that 40 00:01:42,489 --> 00:01:44,632 for that sort of format. Yeah. I really 41 00:01:44,632 --> 00:01:46,005 like how compact 42 00:01:46,378 --> 00:01:49,330 and tight the story is. It just basically 43 00:01:49,330 --> 00:01:50,068 3 characters 44 00:01:50,521 --> 00:01:52,665 and 1 of them is doing more listening 45 00:01:52,665 --> 00:01:55,445 than anything. Yep. So it's really just 2 46 00:01:55,445 --> 00:01:58,066 characters and an adventure that they go on. 47 00:01:58,638 --> 00:02:00,871 Right It's it's great. It's just enough to 48 00:02:00,871 --> 00:02:04,400 make this thing fun, interesting and really engaging 49 00:02:04,698 --> 00:02:07,903 and no crust at all. Exactly. And King 50 00:02:07,903 --> 00:02:10,061 uses a familiar structure that we've talked about 51 00:02:10,061 --> 00:02:10,880 now on 52 00:02:11,259 --> 00:02:11,759 many 53 00:02:12,138 --> 00:02:14,615 occasions, and that's this framing story, and it's 54 00:02:14,615 --> 00:02:16,386 not only a single frame but a double 55 00:02:16,386 --> 00:02:17,525 frame. So we've got 56 00:02:17,903 --> 00:02:19,360 the narrator of the story 57 00:02:19,898 --> 00:02:22,053 on on the outside telling us about, 58 00:02:22,771 --> 00:02:23,271 homer 59 00:02:23,664 --> 00:02:25,335 and then homer are telling us the story 60 00:02:25,335 --> 00:02:28,383 on the inside of of what happened between 61 00:02:28,838 --> 00:02:31,067 him and missus Todd. So there's the the 62 00:02:31,067 --> 00:02:31,567 3 63 00:02:31,878 --> 00:02:33,229 3 levels of this story here, 64 00:02:33,945 --> 00:02:36,011 which also works very nicely. Right? Because we 65 00:02:36,011 --> 00:02:37,760 get a little piece of the story from 66 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:39,509 each 1 of those characters and each 1 67 00:02:39,509 --> 00:02:41,273 of those stories along the way. And I 68 00:02:41,273 --> 00:02:43,187 also wanted to talk about sort of this 69 00:02:43,187 --> 00:02:44,941 nostalgic feeling, like, both you and I enjoyed 70 00:02:44,941 --> 00:02:46,934 this story. Yeah. And how much 71 00:02:47,492 --> 00:02:49,485 it really brings back peak king for me. 72 00:02:50,217 --> 00:02:52,524 I think... Me too. Yeah. My first encounters 73 00:02:52,524 --> 00:02:55,149 with King were via his short story collections, 74 00:02:55,706 --> 00:02:58,093 and I really read those over and over 75 00:02:58,093 --> 00:03:01,534 again. So I can't remember reading this probably 76 00:03:01,534 --> 00:03:02,809 in 35 77 00:03:02,809 --> 00:03:05,280 plus years. So it was like reading it 78 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,923 new and yet I had that feeling throughout 79 00:03:07,923 --> 00:03:09,515 of, like, oh, yeah. This is what I 80 00:03:09,515 --> 00:03:12,062 love about, King. Mh. Yeah. I'm right there 81 00:03:12,062 --> 00:03:13,893 with you. I think I read this maybe 82 00:03:13,893 --> 00:03:14,393 twice 83 00:03:14,863 --> 00:03:17,089 but certainly not in the last 20 plus 84 00:03:17,089 --> 00:03:20,031 years. And it's interesting. Like, for me, certain 85 00:03:20,031 --> 00:03:22,416 short stories really stick with me and stand 86 00:03:22,416 --> 00:03:25,131 out But then there's like, another, like, step 87 00:03:25,131 --> 00:03:27,514 down in my memory banks, what I remember 88 00:03:27,514 --> 00:03:29,737 the titles. Mh. And this is 1 of 89 00:03:29,737 --> 00:03:32,378 those that I the title has always stuck 90 00:03:32,378 --> 00:03:35,427 with me. Something about the sort of 91 00:03:36,042 --> 00:03:37,715 esoteric nature of it. Like, what the heck 92 00:03:37,715 --> 00:03:40,520 is missus Todd shortcut. Right? But has always 93 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,071 stuck with me. And I'm so glad we 94 00:03:43,071 --> 00:03:45,224 reread this for the show because this story 95 00:03:45,224 --> 00:03:47,307 was awesome. I loved every minute of it, 96 00:03:47,466 --> 00:03:49,211 and I just kept it. Every time I 97 00:03:49,291 --> 00:03:50,798 I read a line that I enjoyed every 98 00:03:50,798 --> 00:03:52,623 time I saw a little bit of, you 99 00:03:52,623 --> 00:03:55,824 know, king just piling on and doubling down 100 00:03:55,824 --> 00:03:58,139 on the main stuff, and, you know, the 101 00:03:58,139 --> 00:04:01,012 the old con saying, like, Ey and stuff 102 00:04:01,012 --> 00:04:01,890 like that, like, 103 00:04:02,703 --> 00:04:04,698 Yeah. This is king. I love it. You 104 00:04:04,698 --> 00:04:07,172 know, and the story just on its own 105 00:04:07,172 --> 00:04:10,020 just for those reasons and the nostalgia of 106 00:04:10,300 --> 00:04:12,460 what I was experiencing in my life, the 107 00:04:12,460 --> 00:04:14,860 last time I read this and now and 108 00:04:14,860 --> 00:04:17,580 the connections that the story itself brings for 109 00:04:17,580 --> 00:04:20,392 me. Just made this all the more enjoyable. 110 00:04:20,951 --> 00:04:23,749 Yeah. And within the story, there's a nostalgia 111 00:04:23,749 --> 00:04:26,705 as well. So we... The the first framing 112 00:04:26,705 --> 00:04:29,136 story is the narrator telling us 113 00:04:29,593 --> 00:04:31,586 about a discussion he had with his friend 114 00:04:31,586 --> 00:04:34,615 homer, which was 2 years prior, and in 115 00:04:34,615 --> 00:04:36,050 that discussion 2 years prior, 116 00:04:36,543 --> 00:04:38,052 overt tells a story of what happened. 117 00:04:38,608 --> 00:04:40,277 I think it's at least 8 or 9 118 00:04:40,277 --> 00:04:42,263 years if not further back when he first 119 00:04:42,263 --> 00:04:44,249 met missus Todd and and learned about her 120 00:04:44,249 --> 00:04:46,963 shortcut. And within that story, there's this nostalgia 121 00:04:46,963 --> 00:04:47,463 for 122 00:04:47,836 --> 00:04:49,820 what things were like in Small town maine, 123 00:04:49,979 --> 00:04:52,042 Mh. With the out of town coming in 124 00:04:52,042 --> 00:04:54,919 and home being a caretaker and what their 125 00:04:54,919 --> 00:04:56,271 thoughts are on the out of town, how 126 00:04:56,271 --> 00:04:57,781 they're not as interesting as they think they 127 00:04:57,781 --> 00:04:59,531 might be and how they live a different 128 00:04:59,531 --> 00:05:01,439 type of life than the the small town 129 00:05:01,439 --> 00:05:04,072 folks of of Maine, but also sort of 130 00:05:04,072 --> 00:05:06,133 the pieces of that life. 131 00:05:07,005 --> 00:05:08,591 The 2 of them are sitting in a 132 00:05:08,591 --> 00:05:10,675 on the porch of a of a general 133 00:05:10,675 --> 00:05:12,834 store basically, Right? When the story takes place. 134 00:05:13,314 --> 00:05:15,555 But they're rem about the way cars used 135 00:05:15,555 --> 00:05:17,154 to be and the jobs they had when 136 00:05:17,154 --> 00:05:17,794 they were kids, 137 00:05:18,529 --> 00:05:19,029 and 138 00:05:19,488 --> 00:05:21,885 just sort of life in general. Mh. And 139 00:05:21,885 --> 00:05:24,622 just by the nature of the small town 140 00:05:24,762 --> 00:05:26,200 or how small the town is, 141 00:05:26,851 --> 00:05:29,632 everybody still kinda knows everybody. So everyone knows 142 00:05:29,632 --> 00:05:32,095 who misses Todd is. Everybody knows her husband. 143 00:05:32,492 --> 00:05:34,817 Everyone, you know, There's a level of being 144 00:05:34,817 --> 00:05:37,132 in each other's business that only really happened 145 00:05:37,132 --> 00:05:39,048 in small towns. We talked about this with 146 00:05:39,128 --> 00:05:41,602 Salem lot. Right. That was a bigger town 147 00:05:41,602 --> 00:05:44,034 than this seems to be but it's still 148 00:05:44,093 --> 00:05:46,011 1 where everyone knew everybody's business. 149 00:05:46,730 --> 00:05:48,249 So it it has a lot of those 150 00:05:48,249 --> 00:05:50,987 same elements. And I think that that dynamic 151 00:05:51,206 --> 00:05:52,185 between the locals 152 00:05:52,499 --> 00:05:54,575 and the people from out of town, the 153 00:05:54,575 --> 00:05:57,927 visitors, the summer folk that's something that King 154 00:05:57,927 --> 00:05:59,523 likes to talk about is something where he 155 00:05:59,523 --> 00:06:01,534 likes to spend some of his attention. And 156 00:06:01,693 --> 00:06:03,129 I think he does it really, really well 157 00:06:03,129 --> 00:06:05,362 and I enjoy it. Right. So it's... That 158 00:06:05,362 --> 00:06:07,754 part of the nostalgia kinda spends both elements 159 00:06:07,754 --> 00:06:09,669 that we've been talking about both within the 160 00:06:09,669 --> 00:06:10,626 story and our own. 161 00:06:11,278 --> 00:06:13,105 At least for me, that's part of the 162 00:06:13,105 --> 00:06:15,409 joy I get from meeting these stories. Yep. 163 00:06:15,807 --> 00:06:18,190 And to your point about how these small 164 00:06:18,190 --> 00:06:19,564 towns, everyone knows 165 00:06:20,270 --> 00:06:22,015 everyone. So, you know, they they know the 166 00:06:22,015 --> 00:06:24,077 current missus Todd and the the first missus 167 00:06:24,236 --> 00:06:27,012 Todd, and everyone knows a lot about everyone 168 00:06:27,012 --> 00:06:27,568 else's business. 169 00:06:28,139 --> 00:06:30,776 But even within that characters still have secrets. 170 00:06:31,415 --> 00:06:32,853 Even within the small town, I mean, that 171 00:06:32,853 --> 00:06:34,850 was a whole bunch of salem lot. Right? 172 00:06:35,010 --> 00:06:37,014 Like, Yeah. Even though on the surface, we 173 00:06:37,014 --> 00:06:38,547 knew 1 thing. There was a sort of 174 00:06:38,762 --> 00:06:41,384 underneath level. There's this underneath level 2 where 175 00:06:41,384 --> 00:06:44,105 the narrator says, like, Homer been itching to 176 00:06:44,105 --> 00:06:46,816 tell the story about missus Todd. The first 177 00:06:46,816 --> 00:06:48,969 missus Todd, and he just has to open 178 00:06:48,969 --> 00:06:50,723 up at at 1 point even says during 179 00:06:50,723 --> 00:06:52,727 the frame like He was afraid he said 180 00:06:52,727 --> 00:06:54,635 too much, and then Homer was gonna shut 181 00:06:54,635 --> 00:06:56,462 down. Mh. But then Homer got back to 182 00:06:56,462 --> 00:06:57,813 it and told the rest of the story. 183 00:06:58,131 --> 00:06:59,721 And he wants to hear this story because 184 00:06:59,721 --> 00:07:00,538 this is really 185 00:07:00,849 --> 00:07:03,082 the gist of it. Right? Like, missus Todd 186 00:07:03,082 --> 00:07:04,598 disappear and no 1 knows what happens. 187 00:07:05,236 --> 00:07:07,629 You know, I'm sure there's rumors galore, but 188 00:07:07,629 --> 00:07:09,942 come here knows the true story and wants 189 00:07:09,942 --> 00:07:11,706 to get to it. So I love that 190 00:07:11,706 --> 00:07:13,215 piece of it too how there's the secret 191 00:07:13,215 --> 00:07:16,152 even within the piece of everyone knowing each 192 00:07:16,152 --> 00:07:17,026 other's business. 193 00:07:17,502 --> 00:07:19,566 And the secret is between these 2 friends. 194 00:07:19,899 --> 00:07:21,808 Like, these are 2 men who are very 195 00:07:21,808 --> 00:07:24,194 close friends. It seems. They they they really 196 00:07:24,194 --> 00:07:26,501 like spending time with each other, and there's 197 00:07:26,501 --> 00:07:29,063 this between them that 1 of them has 198 00:07:29,063 --> 00:07:31,692 not yet shared. Yep. And the other senses 199 00:07:31,692 --> 00:07:34,241 he wants to, but he hasn't found the 200 00:07:34,241 --> 00:07:36,167 the right moment to do it. I guess 201 00:07:36,167 --> 00:07:37,678 he needed need to have another glass of 202 00:07:37,678 --> 00:07:39,985 mineral water and another hard boiled egg and 203 00:07:39,985 --> 00:07:41,656 then he'd be good to go. Right. 204 00:07:42,864 --> 00:07:45,020 So I'm starting to realize J y and 205 00:07:45,179 --> 00:07:47,335 I like this story so much and why 206 00:07:47,495 --> 00:07:49,011 I don't know if it had that much 207 00:07:49,011 --> 00:07:50,448 of an impression on me when I read 208 00:07:50,448 --> 00:07:52,045 it. The first time when I was younger, 209 00:07:52,459 --> 00:07:54,718 But now that we're 2 old men discussing 210 00:07:56,775 --> 00:07:59,652 the discussing the story of about nostalgia, I 211 00:07:59,652 --> 00:08:01,170 think it has maybe more of an impact 212 00:08:01,170 --> 00:08:02,623 than it would when I was 15 years 213 00:08:02,623 --> 00:08:02,783 old. 214 00:08:03,581 --> 00:08:04,060 Absolutely. 215 00:08:04,459 --> 00:08:06,933 Yeah. The key to this is homer story 216 00:08:06,933 --> 00:08:11,177 and homer story is really homer decision. He 217 00:08:11,177 --> 00:08:13,882 either made this decision and felt he needed 218 00:08:13,882 --> 00:08:17,145 to justify the decision to his friend by 219 00:08:17,145 --> 00:08:19,781 telling the story, or he needed to run 220 00:08:19,781 --> 00:08:22,241 this decision past his friend by telling the 221 00:08:22,241 --> 00:08:24,781 story. But either way, the act of telling 222 00:08:24,781 --> 00:08:26,551 the story is homer 223 00:08:27,099 --> 00:08:30,612 finalizing his decision to follow in the footsteps 224 00:08:30,612 --> 00:08:33,166 of missus Todd. And there's no way that 225 00:08:33,166 --> 00:08:36,221 we the audience or homer friend 226 00:08:36,613 --> 00:08:40,737 could fully understand and certainly not support his 227 00:08:40,737 --> 00:08:43,752 decision unless he shares the whole story, and 228 00:08:43,752 --> 00:08:46,390 we at least to some degree believe his 229 00:08:46,390 --> 00:08:49,015 story. Yeah. Because otherwise, it's it's nonsense. Otherwise, 230 00:08:49,095 --> 00:08:51,322 he's a man act. Right? So if what 231 00:08:51,322 --> 00:08:53,311 he tells us in this story really happened, 232 00:08:53,884 --> 00:08:55,397 and it is a path that he can 233 00:08:55,397 --> 00:08:57,467 follow. It is a shortcut he can take. 234 00:08:57,786 --> 00:09:01,131 Right? Then we understand now why he's made 235 00:09:01,131 --> 00:09:03,778 the choice he has and maybe to a 236 00:09:03,778 --> 00:09:06,654 large extent, we agree with his decision and 237 00:09:06,654 --> 00:09:07,553 think that 238 00:09:08,252 --> 00:09:11,220 it's crazy. It's risky, but it's still smart 239 00:09:11,220 --> 00:09:14,570 move. Yeah. So Homer friend, David is the 240 00:09:14,570 --> 00:09:14,969 narrator. 241 00:09:15,527 --> 00:09:18,158 And it would seem like they must trust 242 00:09:18,158 --> 00:09:20,482 each other implicitly for David to believe this 243 00:09:20,482 --> 00:09:23,025 story. Yeah. He gets just enough of it 244 00:09:23,025 --> 00:09:25,170 where he sees a car pull up at 245 00:09:25,170 --> 00:09:27,871 the end when he sees homer go away, 246 00:09:28,364 --> 00:09:30,274 and there is a woman who looked younger 247 00:09:30,274 --> 00:09:32,982 than she should have, and he realizes like, 248 00:09:33,061 --> 00:09:34,813 oh, yeah, all of this is true. And 249 00:09:34,813 --> 00:09:37,138 in that moment, you can tell, like, he's 250 00:09:37,138 --> 00:09:39,053 wondering if he's made the right decision. So 251 00:09:39,053 --> 00:09:41,208 the the story sort of for homer it 252 00:09:41,208 --> 00:09:42,564 ends on an up note. Right? He's going 253 00:09:42,564 --> 00:09:44,341 off with the woman he loves 254 00:09:44,734 --> 00:09:47,209 on this adventure. Mh. But for our near 255 00:09:47,209 --> 00:09:49,226 narrator, you know, he says how 256 00:09:49,604 --> 00:09:51,201 he ends with a a line along the 257 00:09:51,201 --> 00:09:53,117 lines of, like, how he wishes he hadn't 258 00:09:53,117 --> 00:09:53,755 given up smoking. 259 00:09:54,970 --> 00:09:57,210 Because he still has that tension or stress 260 00:09:57,210 --> 00:09:59,450 that he's feeling and, like, here I am 261 00:09:59,450 --> 00:10:01,769 stuck in the small town when homer going 262 00:10:01,769 --> 00:10:03,859 on this great adventure. Yeah. I don't think 263 00:10:03,859 --> 00:10:05,449 he feels like he's stuck. I think he's 264 00:10:05,449 --> 00:10:07,994 definitely a little en, but I think he 265 00:10:07,994 --> 00:10:10,857 realizes that the the boundaries to his life 266 00:10:10,857 --> 00:10:13,732 and the way he's lived it. And will 267 00:10:13,732 --> 00:10:16,216 live it for years to come. His boundaries 268 00:10:16,271 --> 00:10:18,809 art castle rock, Mh and that's as far 269 00:10:18,809 --> 00:10:20,811 as he's gonna go. Yeah. He's able to 270 00:10:20,811 --> 00:10:22,644 make a little bit more of leap, so 271 00:10:22,644 --> 00:10:25,274 he even says at some point that he's 272 00:10:25,274 --> 00:10:26,867 gonna tell people that he's gone off to 273 00:10:27,106 --> 00:10:29,357 Vermont. He said something along the lines of, 274 00:10:29,437 --> 00:10:31,595 you know, Vermont is as far as most 275 00:10:31,595 --> 00:10:33,752 of them can see inside their heads. Like, 276 00:10:33,912 --> 00:10:35,750 for most of the people living in castle 277 00:10:35,750 --> 00:10:37,365 rock. It might as well be another world. 278 00:10:37,524 --> 00:10:39,365 Right? Like, people won't even ask questions like, 279 00:10:39,764 --> 00:10:40,584 month. That's 280 00:10:40,964 --> 00:10:43,365 millions of miles away. So he he doesn't 281 00:10:43,365 --> 00:10:44,964 even feel like he's lying when he says 282 00:10:44,964 --> 00:10:45,044 that. 283 00:10:46,096 --> 00:10:46,335 Yeah. 284 00:10:47,928 --> 00:10:50,557 So, like, 1 of the really important parts 285 00:10:50,557 --> 00:10:53,584 of of the story is that every time 286 00:10:53,584 --> 00:10:54,402 missus Todd 287 00:10:54,713 --> 00:10:55,983 takes 1 of these shortcuts. 288 00:10:56,460 --> 00:10:57,492 When she gets back, 289 00:10:58,047 --> 00:11:00,667 she has, like, turned back the clock on 290 00:11:00,667 --> 00:11:01,144 her age. 291 00:11:01,779 --> 00:11:03,470 She's getting more and more youthful 292 00:11:03,858 --> 00:11:05,132 with each of these shortcuts. 293 00:11:05,610 --> 00:11:06,110 And 294 00:11:06,565 --> 00:11:08,555 that must be part of the magic of 295 00:11:08,555 --> 00:11:10,625 what's going on here because she talks about 296 00:11:10,625 --> 00:11:13,835 the power of a shortcut, the power of 297 00:11:13,835 --> 00:11:15,774 knowing the shortest distance 298 00:11:16,315 --> 00:11:19,115 between 2 points. And it seems like it's 299 00:11:19,115 --> 00:11:20,715 not just her. It's whoever is in the 300 00:11:20,715 --> 00:11:23,514 car with her. Because homer starts to d 301 00:11:23,514 --> 00:11:26,690 age too. Right. David says, the last time 302 00:11:26,849 --> 00:11:28,119 I saw, he must have been near 70, 303 00:11:28,278 --> 00:11:29,152 but he looks 60. 304 00:11:29,724 --> 00:11:31,080 It made me wonder, like, does he need 305 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:32,994 to take extra trips without her so that 306 00:11:32,994 --> 00:11:34,429 they can get to be close to the 307 00:11:34,429 --> 00:11:36,184 same age or... Yeah. And the fact that... 308 00:11:36,344 --> 00:11:37,620 Like, at the end of the story, she 309 00:11:37,620 --> 00:11:39,135 looks like she's not even old enough to 310 00:11:39,135 --> 00:11:40,503 have driver's license. Right. 311 00:11:41,297 --> 00:11:42,807 Unless they do something like that, He'll never 312 00:11:42,807 --> 00:11:44,397 catch up to her And if they keep 313 00:11:44,397 --> 00:11:46,702 taking new shortcuts, are they eventually just gonna 314 00:11:46,702 --> 00:11:48,212 turn into little kids and it's gonna be, 315 00:11:48,292 --> 00:11:50,459 like, you know, mu it babe he's driving 316 00:11:50,459 --> 00:11:53,330 this car around. Right. Yeah. And it almost 317 00:11:53,330 --> 00:11:55,004 seem like they don't care though. Right? Yeah. 318 00:11:55,323 --> 00:11:56,839 Like, that's not the point. The point is 319 00:11:56,839 --> 00:11:59,721 that they're together, and that's the attraction that 320 00:11:59,721 --> 00:12:01,074 the 2 of them have to each other, 321 00:12:01,949 --> 00:12:04,336 and what drives homer to make that decision 322 00:12:04,336 --> 00:12:06,644 because when he first takes the shortcut the 323 00:12:06,644 --> 00:12:08,967 first time, he seems scared out of his 324 00:12:08,967 --> 00:12:10,901 mind. Mh. Terrified, 325 00:12:11,356 --> 00:12:13,506 like, I don't wanna do that again, especially 326 00:12:13,506 --> 00:12:15,041 at night if we have to go back 327 00:12:15,258 --> 00:12:15,950 no way 328 00:12:16,546 --> 00:12:18,455 and he tries to talk her out of 329 00:12:18,455 --> 00:12:19,091 the shortcuts, 330 00:12:19,887 --> 00:12:22,273 even after she takes more and more after 331 00:12:22,273 --> 00:12:23,466 that ride. He's like, I don't know if 332 00:12:23,466 --> 00:12:25,309 you should be taking those. And yet he's 333 00:12:25,309 --> 00:12:27,533 willing to overcome that for her and to 334 00:12:27,533 --> 00:12:29,439 be with her. Yeah. I I think a 335 00:12:29,439 --> 00:12:31,901 lot of that is probably that attraction he 336 00:12:31,901 --> 00:12:33,348 has for her that he falling in love 337 00:12:33,348 --> 00:12:34,783 with it. And by the time we reached 338 00:12:34,783 --> 00:12:36,218 the end of the story, I strongly suspect 339 00:12:36,218 --> 00:12:37,574 that it's completely mutual. 340 00:12:38,291 --> 00:12:40,205 We should talk about that some more. But 341 00:12:40,205 --> 00:12:41,561 another thing that just occurred to me is 342 00:12:41,561 --> 00:12:45,331 that maybe the effect of the getting younger 343 00:12:45,331 --> 00:12:47,729 thing is sort of like a an eli, 344 00:12:47,888 --> 00:12:51,165 like a drug and that despite the horror 345 00:12:51,165 --> 00:12:53,100 scene that some of the the parts of 346 00:12:53,100 --> 00:12:55,180 the path take them through. When they're done 347 00:12:55,180 --> 00:12:57,740 with the trip, they feel so good because 348 00:12:57,740 --> 00:13:00,712 they've been imbued with this fresh youth. Like, 349 00:13:00,872 --> 00:13:02,701 you know, we get descriptions of her with 350 00:13:02,701 --> 00:13:05,327 like, a power ex exerting from her a 351 00:13:05,327 --> 00:13:07,714 light coming from her eyes that is fearsome 352 00:13:07,714 --> 00:13:10,435 some to behold. This is like getting your 353 00:13:10,435 --> 00:13:10,935 batteries 354 00:13:11,312 --> 00:13:13,861 recharged to the max and and like, that's 355 00:13:13,861 --> 00:13:16,172 a sensation that you'd wanna keep chasing. Right. 356 00:13:16,411 --> 00:13:18,650 Yeah. So I'm sure that that's part of 357 00:13:18,650 --> 00:13:20,873 it too. On that first trip, he was 358 00:13:20,873 --> 00:13:22,540 scared out of his mind because he didn't 359 00:13:22,540 --> 00:13:25,001 know that there were this other benefit. 360 00:13:26,447 --> 00:13:28,041 Oh, so if you said, hey, you know, 361 00:13:28,279 --> 00:13:30,430 you can maybe take a few years off 362 00:13:30,430 --> 00:13:33,457 of your current age, but it's really scary 363 00:13:33,457 --> 00:13:34,971 and you might get your head ripped off 364 00:13:34,971 --> 00:13:35,783 by a tree. 365 00:13:38,577 --> 00:13:40,333 That's bargain a lot of us might take. 366 00:13:40,493 --> 00:13:42,568 Right? Right? Dash sure. And he's willing to 367 00:13:42,568 --> 00:13:45,158 put that sense of adventure above that prudence 368 00:13:45,215 --> 00:13:47,047 like you said. Right? Like, Yeah. I'm willing 369 00:13:47,047 --> 00:13:49,197 to take that chance because it feels good 370 00:13:49,197 --> 00:13:50,710 and it's because with the person I love. 371 00:13:50,870 --> 00:13:53,154 And it's really quite apparent that 372 00:13:53,514 --> 00:13:54,949 homer has fallen in love with her. 373 00:13:55,906 --> 00:13:58,219 When he first is with her, and he's 374 00:13:58,219 --> 00:13:58,959 a caretaker. 375 00:13:59,495 --> 00:14:01,250 He makes it clear like, hey, you've got 376 00:14:01,250 --> 00:14:02,447 a husband, and I have to get home 377 00:14:02,447 --> 00:14:04,771 to my wife She's making pot roast. Mh. 378 00:14:05,010 --> 00:14:07,080 So she wasn't making pot roast, and it's 379 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:08,433 only when his wife's out of town that 380 00:14:08,433 --> 00:14:10,343 he's willing to take that shortcut for the 381 00:14:10,343 --> 00:14:13,294 first time. But then after that, missus Todd 382 00:14:13,294 --> 00:14:15,592 seems to be okay with the interest that 383 00:14:15,592 --> 00:14:18,208 he's showing her, her husband seemed somewhat distant. 384 00:14:18,939 --> 00:14:20,617 He seems like a good man. Not only 385 00:14:20,617 --> 00:14:22,055 does he wait the 7 years to declare 386 00:14:22,055 --> 00:14:23,893 her dad after she goes missing, but he's 387 00:14:23,893 --> 00:14:25,651 even willing to tack on 1 more before 388 00:14:25,651 --> 00:14:26,311 he rem 389 00:14:26,705 --> 00:14:29,825 to the second, missus Todd, but homer is 390 00:14:29,825 --> 00:14:31,825 falling in love with her, not just because 391 00:14:31,825 --> 00:14:33,745 of her beauty, but because of who she 392 00:14:33,745 --> 00:14:36,314 is, and that to your point, I think 393 00:14:36,314 --> 00:14:38,780 that sense of adventure that she can open 394 00:14:38,780 --> 00:14:40,769 up the doors for him too. Yeah. And 395 00:14:40,769 --> 00:14:42,414 and I suspect that a big part of 396 00:14:42,534 --> 00:14:44,282 the reason why she's falling in love with 397 00:14:44,282 --> 00:14:47,859 him is because unlike probably everybody else in 398 00:14:47,859 --> 00:14:49,766 her life, including her own husband, 399 00:14:50,259 --> 00:14:52,816 Homer is the only person that's truly engaged 400 00:14:52,816 --> 00:14:55,933 with her on her obsession with shortcuts. He 401 00:14:55,933 --> 00:14:58,670 has the intellectual capacity. He has the curiosity 402 00:14:59,224 --> 00:15:01,851 to really connect with her at her level. 403 00:15:02,090 --> 00:15:04,820 And he's curious enough and bold enough to 404 00:15:05,196 --> 00:15:07,107 actually go with her on 1 of these 405 00:15:07,107 --> 00:15:07,426 rides. 406 00:15:07,918 --> 00:15:09,742 And then they have the shared experience. So 407 00:15:09,742 --> 00:15:12,122 there's so much to build a relationship upon. 408 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:14,977 It's real stuff. I mean, what happens in 409 00:15:14,977 --> 00:15:17,454 the shortcut is well, not really real, but 410 00:15:17,454 --> 00:15:19,838 the real life analog to that. That's how 411 00:15:19,838 --> 00:15:22,461 friendships are formed. That's how relationships start. It's 412 00:15:22,461 --> 00:15:25,814 the common ground that mutual respect. So it's 413 00:15:25,814 --> 00:15:27,565 not hard for me to understand why she 414 00:15:27,565 --> 00:15:29,315 would fall in love with him even though 415 00:15:29,315 --> 00:15:32,154 he's a much older man and he's 416 00:15:32,512 --> 00:15:35,057 and they have different lives. Right. But they 417 00:15:35,057 --> 00:15:38,078 have this in common. And, you know, even 418 00:15:38,078 --> 00:15:39,748 like you said, Homer had to wait until 419 00:15:39,748 --> 00:15:41,338 his wife was out of town so that 420 00:15:41,338 --> 00:15:43,027 he could do this. But when he said, 421 00:15:43,346 --> 00:15:46,380 maybe another time, he meant it. Yes. Because 422 00:15:46,380 --> 00:15:49,733 as soon as that opportunity presented itself, he 423 00:15:49,733 --> 00:15:52,222 reminded her. He didn't just wait for her 424 00:15:52,222 --> 00:15:54,774 to ask again. He said, let's take that 425 00:15:54,774 --> 00:15:58,124 shortcut. Come on. And she's like, what? No 426 00:15:58,124 --> 00:15:59,958 one's ever wanted to come with me. Sure. 427 00:16:00,198 --> 00:16:02,763 Let's do it. Right. So, Jay, we've talked 428 00:16:02,763 --> 00:16:04,994 around the issue, but what is the shortcut? 429 00:16:05,233 --> 00:16:07,862 Like, they talk through the scientific piece of 430 00:16:07,862 --> 00:16:10,349 this and how long it is to get 431 00:16:10,349 --> 00:16:12,901 from Castle Rock to Bang and, you know, 432 00:16:13,299 --> 00:16:15,054 how the best roads to go, and she 433 00:16:15,054 --> 00:16:16,888 knows them all, and she's able to cut 434 00:16:16,888 --> 00:16:18,894 down that time even when it seems like 435 00:16:18,894 --> 00:16:21,677 she's backtracking in some instances, she's still getting 436 00:16:21,677 --> 00:16:24,540 there sooner. And eventually, she is making it 437 00:16:24,540 --> 00:16:27,263 where it's an impossible distance. Yeah. And an 438 00:16:27,263 --> 00:16:29,420 impossible time? So what is this shortcut? 439 00:16:29,979 --> 00:16:31,976 Well, it's gotta be at affinity. Right? I 440 00:16:32,136 --> 00:16:35,123 I mean, this isn't our dark tower Thin 441 00:16:35,180 --> 00:16:37,490 section where we're talking about connections between books 442 00:16:37,490 --> 00:16:39,958 and and stories and characters. This is like 443 00:16:39,958 --> 00:16:42,764 an actual thin in the story. Right. I 444 00:16:42,764 --> 00:16:45,565 believe that Missus Todd shortcut is actually her 445 00:16:45,565 --> 00:16:47,084 passing through a series of. 446 00:16:47,804 --> 00:16:49,245 Like, every time she makes 1 of these 447 00:16:49,245 --> 00:16:49,745 turns 448 00:16:50,057 --> 00:16:53,467 into another road and another side alley service 449 00:16:53,467 --> 00:16:56,718 road dirt track. She's actually crossing into a 450 00:16:56,718 --> 00:16:57,353 parallel earth. 451 00:16:58,321 --> 00:17:01,423 Another parallel dimension, that just like Call did 452 00:17:01,423 --> 00:17:04,525 just like Roland and and his C did, 453 00:17:04,684 --> 00:17:07,405 just like the walk ins. In Maine did 454 00:17:07,405 --> 00:17:09,795 in book was it 7 of the Dark 455 00:17:09,795 --> 00:17:12,184 tower? People are just cri crossing all the 456 00:17:12,184 --> 00:17:15,371 time, so why can't missus Todd have discovered? 457 00:17:15,943 --> 00:17:18,162 Or because of her passion and every time 458 00:17:18,162 --> 00:17:19,985 she does this, maybe it's easier for her 459 00:17:19,985 --> 00:17:22,442 to find more. I think that there's no 460 00:17:22,442 --> 00:17:25,477 question. It from a dark tower perspective, looking 461 00:17:25,477 --> 00:17:27,783 at this through that lens, these are thin. 462 00:17:28,022 --> 00:17:30,742 And that's why when homer says, It looked 463 00:17:30,742 --> 00:17:32,412 like sometimes we were in a place that 464 00:17:32,412 --> 00:17:34,719 was back in time. Well, of course, if 465 00:17:34,719 --> 00:17:36,548 you go to a parallel world that is, 466 00:17:36,707 --> 00:17:39,119 you know, 200 years prior to the 1 467 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:41,279 you just left. It's gonna seem like you 468 00:17:41,279 --> 00:17:42,480 went back in time. Yeah right? 469 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:44,740 And that's how they can cover 470 00:17:45,053 --> 00:17:48,097 a direct line distance in your miles 471 00:17:48,631 --> 00:17:52,471 because time and distance stop making perfect sense 472 00:17:52,527 --> 00:17:54,847 when you start cri crossing like this. Look 473 00:17:54,847 --> 00:17:56,196 at all the struggles that we had on 474 00:17:56,196 --> 00:17:57,862 the beach in book 2 of the dark 475 00:17:57,862 --> 00:17:59,608 tower. Right. Like we didn't even know which 476 00:17:59,608 --> 00:18:02,324 way was east half the time. Yep. Definitely 477 00:18:02,324 --> 00:18:04,159 playing with direction and space here and it's 478 00:18:04,159 --> 00:18:07,851 interesting that homer says at 1 point that 479 00:18:07,990 --> 00:18:09,745 when they're going through the shortcut, 480 00:18:10,399 --> 00:18:11,537 he says that 481 00:18:12,155 --> 00:18:13,672 I knew we had to be close to 482 00:18:13,672 --> 00:18:15,428 someplace place all the time. I mean, these 483 00:18:15,428 --> 00:18:17,663 days you always are. So he's like, even 484 00:18:17,663 --> 00:18:19,154 though we're on these roads, we didn't know 485 00:18:19,273 --> 00:18:20,700 felt like we are near someplace place. And 486 00:18:20,700 --> 00:18:22,285 that's probably because he was. It was just 487 00:18:22,285 --> 00:18:24,187 that inner cut dimension piece that he was 488 00:18:24,187 --> 00:18:26,327 near someplace place. It was just shifted over. 489 00:18:26,818 --> 00:18:29,068 Probably. Yeah. It's not that it was physically 490 00:18:29,284 --> 00:18:30,715 a half a mile that way. It's that 491 00:18:30,715 --> 00:18:33,021 it was a whole dimension over shifted in 492 00:18:33,021 --> 00:18:34,532 some way. So he felt close to some 493 00:18:34,532 --> 00:18:36,371 place but it wasn't the same someplace place 494 00:18:36,371 --> 00:18:38,827 you was now. Yeah. It's really cool when 495 00:18:38,827 --> 00:18:40,333 you think about it, like, if you're ever 496 00:18:40,333 --> 00:18:41,942 driving on a really 497 00:18:42,328 --> 00:18:44,733 you know, sit back in the country road 498 00:18:44,868 --> 00:18:46,217 or hiking in the woods, 499 00:18:47,090 --> 00:18:50,288 you can feel like you're not near anything. 500 00:18:51,074 --> 00:18:52,984 And then a car drives by in a 501 00:18:52,984 --> 00:18:54,576 road that you still can't see and you're 502 00:18:54,576 --> 00:18:57,544 like, oh, yeah, I'm still in audible distance 503 00:18:57,681 --> 00:19:00,161 to civilization. Right. Or you make a turn 504 00:19:00,161 --> 00:19:02,225 and suddenly, like, there's a city in front 505 00:19:02,225 --> 00:19:04,845 of you. Right? So it's possible for us 506 00:19:04,845 --> 00:19:06,854 in the real world to have these 507 00:19:07,484 --> 00:19:10,121 sensations and totally relate to what homer is 508 00:19:10,121 --> 00:19:11,958 describing, but we know that there's a little 509 00:19:11,958 --> 00:19:14,435 bit more going on here with their shortcuts. 510 00:19:14,675 --> 00:19:17,158 Yeah. And there's something about that space that 511 00:19:17,158 --> 00:19:18,748 as you said before when we were talking 512 00:19:18,748 --> 00:19:21,850 about them getting younger that makes missus Todd. 513 00:19:22,009 --> 00:19:23,734 She says, I tell you I'm different over 514 00:19:23,934 --> 00:19:25,451 I am all myself over there, 515 00:19:26,169 --> 00:19:27,845 and there's something about that space that makes 516 00:19:27,845 --> 00:19:29,760 her feel more alive and it is because 517 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:30,260 it's 518 00:19:30,638 --> 00:19:33,149 it's going into a different dimension that she 519 00:19:33,207 --> 00:19:35,920 becomes changed in some way. And so that 520 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,713 the the Thin has different powers than maybe 521 00:19:38,713 --> 00:19:40,965 the Thin we've seen in, it's got that 522 00:19:40,965 --> 00:19:42,884 additional power, we should say. In addition to 523 00:19:42,884 --> 00:19:45,125 to sort of cutting off space and and 524 00:19:45,125 --> 00:19:47,445 and moving through time. It also makes you 525 00:19:47,445 --> 00:19:50,417 younger. So it's almost an additional piece there. 526 00:19:50,976 --> 00:19:51,136 Yeah. 527 00:19:51,855 --> 00:19:53,054 It's the best kind of any. 528 00:19:54,652 --> 00:19:56,384 So we've talked about the 529 00:19:56,743 --> 00:19:58,257 actual thin that's in the story. Maybe we 530 00:19:58,257 --> 00:19:59,611 should talk about some of the dark tower 531 00:19:59,611 --> 00:20:00,966 and other things that exist. 532 00:20:01,603 --> 00:20:02,480 Yeah. Let's do it. 533 00:20:07,268 --> 00:20:08,086 Alright. So 534 00:20:08,541 --> 00:20:11,483 we've already talked about how this is a 535 00:20:11,483 --> 00:20:14,049 castle rock. Story. It's mentioned right in the 536 00:20:14,049 --> 00:20:15,963 first page of the story, I believe that 537 00:20:15,963 --> 00:20:17,898 that this is set in Castle rock because 538 00:20:18,116 --> 00:20:20,031 many of kings works were. Mh. And there's 539 00:20:20,031 --> 00:20:22,699 a direct reference to another castle rock story 540 00:20:22,838 --> 00:20:25,153 early on, and that's a reference to K. 541 00:20:25,552 --> 00:20:27,467 He say how folks are still not done 542 00:20:27,467 --> 00:20:30,101 talking about Joe Cam, who was maul by 543 00:20:30,101 --> 00:20:30,660 his dog. 544 00:20:31,872 --> 00:20:33,729 Yep. Yeah. It's nice little 545 00:20:34,106 --> 00:20:36,022 touch that king puts in the the mouths 546 00:20:36,022 --> 00:20:36,820 of his character. 547 00:20:37,857 --> 00:20:38,596 There was 548 00:20:39,388 --> 00:20:40,745 Description of 1 of the times that missus 549 00:20:40,905 --> 00:20:42,900 Todd comes back from a shortcut and there's 550 00:20:42,900 --> 00:20:45,853 a whole bunch of dead animal, parts and 551 00:20:45,853 --> 00:20:46,890 stuff stuck to a grill, 552 00:20:47,543 --> 00:20:49,774 And, you know, normal long drive, you come 553 00:20:49,774 --> 00:20:52,084 back and you got some dead bugs. Right 554 00:20:52,084 --> 00:20:54,554 on your grill. This time, she comes back 555 00:20:54,554 --> 00:20:56,680 and there's a moth, the size of a 556 00:20:56,879 --> 00:20:59,356 spa and its wings are still flap. Right? 557 00:20:59,836 --> 00:21:01,993 To me, this this sounds like the mist. 558 00:21:02,952 --> 00:21:05,404 There are so many creatures big and small 559 00:21:05,523 --> 00:21:08,561 but they all were sort of, like, cthulhu 560 00:21:08,775 --> 00:21:10,068 style p 561 00:21:10,678 --> 00:21:12,819 versions of some of the things we might 562 00:21:12,819 --> 00:21:16,822 recognize. From insects to dinosaurs to tent beasts. 563 00:21:17,062 --> 00:21:19,616 Right? So the fact that homer could see 564 00:21:19,616 --> 00:21:21,932 when he went on his ride, these very 565 00:21:21,932 --> 00:21:24,657 dangerous things happening, and they were, like, reaching 566 00:21:24,657 --> 00:21:26,728 for him and he saw this creature that, 567 00:21:26,888 --> 00:21:28,959 you know, just looked like, it would do 568 00:21:28,959 --> 00:21:30,552 some real damage if it got its hands 569 00:21:30,552 --> 00:21:32,359 on you kind of thing. And then this 570 00:21:32,558 --> 00:21:35,098 giant moth, the size of a bird? Like, 571 00:21:35,813 --> 00:21:38,353 you gotta really think about or or is 572 00:21:38,353 --> 00:21:40,044 this like in the mist? Is this 573 00:21:40,355 --> 00:21:42,355 When missus Todd is crossing it through these 574 00:21:42,355 --> 00:21:44,115 s, as she going through to dash space 575 00:21:44,115 --> 00:21:46,755 and picking up the road kill of To 576 00:21:46,755 --> 00:21:49,242 dash. Right. Anyway, Yam here. 577 00:21:53,298 --> 00:21:54,809 And it's not the only creature. Right? So 578 00:21:54,809 --> 00:21:57,694 there's another 1 that when she ends up 579 00:21:57,694 --> 00:22:00,335 getting home before homer does, and homer says 580 00:22:00,335 --> 00:22:02,494 that he sees something that it it looks 581 00:22:02,494 --> 00:22:03,990 like by the way that it's on the 582 00:22:04,349 --> 00:22:06,509 Mercedes grill that it must have jumped towards 583 00:22:06,509 --> 00:22:08,190 the cars if was gonna try to attack 584 00:22:08,190 --> 00:22:10,190 it. Mh. And he says it looked like 585 00:22:10,190 --> 00:22:12,349 something which come of a mating between a 586 00:22:12,349 --> 00:22:14,122 wood chuck and a we but there was 587 00:22:14,122 --> 00:22:15,715 other stuff thrown in that a body didn't 588 00:22:15,715 --> 00:22:17,388 even wanna look at. It hurt your eyes, 589 00:22:17,547 --> 00:22:20,016 Dave, worse than that it hurt your mind. 590 00:22:20,335 --> 00:22:22,326 Mh. It's felt was mad with blood and 591 00:22:22,326 --> 00:22:24,490 there was claws on its pad. It had 592 00:22:24,490 --> 00:22:27,356 big yellow eyes, only they were glaze, and 593 00:22:27,356 --> 00:22:30,221 this is close to sounding like some sort 594 00:22:30,221 --> 00:22:32,131 of evil d billy bum. 595 00:22:32,704 --> 00:22:34,698 Or could just been a regular billy bundle 596 00:22:34,698 --> 00:22:36,851 that was, like, oh, crap. I'm about to 597 00:22:36,851 --> 00:22:39,643 get run down by this, you know, glowing 598 00:22:39,643 --> 00:22:42,195 eyed beast of a Mercedes. I better fight 599 00:22:42,195 --> 00:22:44,367 back. Right? Yeah. It did it didn't seem 600 00:22:44,367 --> 00:22:46,923 as cute as oil though? No. And what's 601 00:22:46,923 --> 00:22:49,320 weird about this is that when he mentions 602 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,272 it to missus Todd. She's like, oh, yeah. 603 00:22:52,510 --> 00:22:55,153 It was just a Raccoon or something. And 604 00:22:55,209 --> 00:22:56,399 she doesn't even seem to think of it. 605 00:22:56,558 --> 00:22:58,715 It's almost as if that space has done 606 00:22:58,715 --> 00:23:00,062 something to her mind as well. 607 00:23:00,855 --> 00:23:02,860 Yeah. Or she's just unwilling to 608 00:23:03,549 --> 00:23:05,555 acknowledge the fact that there's more danger 609 00:23:05,865 --> 00:23:07,705 there than there is. That's true. It could 610 00:23:07,705 --> 00:23:08,345 be that as well. 611 00:23:09,144 --> 00:23:11,705 So another thing that I liked here is 612 00:23:11,705 --> 00:23:13,465 that there's a line here where homer says 613 00:23:13,465 --> 00:23:14,205 to David 614 00:23:14,598 --> 00:23:17,227 there is holes in the middle Dave, you 615 00:23:17,227 --> 00:23:19,378 know that. And, of course, when I heard 616 00:23:19,378 --> 00:23:21,211 about holes in the middle, I couldn't not 617 00:23:21,211 --> 00:23:23,894 think of the George S line about that 618 00:23:24,014 --> 00:23:25,448 the column of truth has a hole in 619 00:23:25,448 --> 00:23:25,926 it, which... 620 00:23:26,722 --> 00:23:28,474 Well, that's a whole big dark tower thing 621 00:23:28,474 --> 00:23:30,147 for us isn't it? Absolutely. 622 00:23:30,705 --> 00:23:32,377 I I noted the same thing and thought 623 00:23:32,377 --> 00:23:35,207 the same thing. Getting to the point of 624 00:23:35,746 --> 00:23:38,462 there's a reality beyond what we know, and 625 00:23:38,462 --> 00:23:39,980 there are pieces to it that we may 626 00:23:39,980 --> 00:23:41,669 never know. And I think that that's the 627 00:23:41,669 --> 00:23:43,737 point of that poem in that line and 628 00:23:43,737 --> 00:23:45,805 why king has drawn to it because we 629 00:23:45,805 --> 00:23:48,351 see 1 thing, but there's a piece underneath 630 00:23:48,351 --> 00:23:50,198 that we can't see. And that's why it 631 00:23:50,198 --> 00:23:52,353 came up in the dark tower and why 632 00:23:52,353 --> 00:23:53,869 it came up in Salem lot and when 633 00:23:53,869 --> 00:23:55,306 it... Why it's come up here again as 634 00:23:55,306 --> 00:23:58,513 well. Mh. And an analogy did scientific discovery 635 00:23:58,513 --> 00:24:01,225 in general. Right? Yeah. The whatever scale you 636 00:24:01,225 --> 00:24:03,698 get down to, there's gonna be just another 637 00:24:03,698 --> 00:24:06,011 level of mystery, but you keep looking in 638 00:24:06,011 --> 00:24:08,059 if you figure that level out, guess what 639 00:24:08,179 --> 00:24:11,129 new 1 underneath. Right? So that hole will 640 00:24:11,129 --> 00:24:12,962 always be there in the middle of a 641 00:24:12,962 --> 00:24:15,274 column, And that leads to my first fun 642 00:24:15,274 --> 00:24:18,494 stuff Jay, which is that they spend a 643 00:24:18,550 --> 00:24:19,583 decent amount of time, 644 00:24:20,377 --> 00:24:23,633 missus Todd and Homer discussing Roger Ban foreman 645 00:24:23,633 --> 00:24:24,269 minute mile. 646 00:24:24,904 --> 00:24:27,304 And how she says You know, I read 647 00:24:27,304 --> 00:24:29,931 this scientific article about that was written in 648 00:24:29,931 --> 00:24:30,590 the thirties 649 00:24:30,966 --> 00:24:32,876 that talked about the limits of the human 650 00:24:32,876 --> 00:24:35,994 body, and It was very scientific. We checked 651 00:24:35,994 --> 00:24:37,824 out all the math. It had to do 652 00:24:37,824 --> 00:24:39,278 1 based on Man's 653 00:24:39,733 --> 00:24:41,028 muscle length and 654 00:24:41,339 --> 00:24:43,736 how the physics of the body worked and 655 00:24:43,736 --> 00:24:45,573 the scientists said without a doubt there would 656 00:24:45,573 --> 00:24:47,331 never be a 4 minute mile because of 657 00:24:47,331 --> 00:24:49,502 this. And yet, it's happened. Right? And on 658 00:24:49,502 --> 00:24:52,056 your manager has done it. And so even 659 00:24:52,056 --> 00:24:54,052 with all that science that you know, there's 660 00:24:54,052 --> 00:24:56,766 that difference between theory and application between what's 661 00:24:56,766 --> 00:24:57,266 actually 662 00:24:57,579 --> 00:24:59,976 scientific and what can actually happen. And most 663 00:24:59,976 --> 00:25:02,053 of that is probably due to what we 664 00:25:02,053 --> 00:25:05,498 as humans just don't understand yet. There's a 665 00:25:05,498 --> 00:25:07,164 a piece of knowledge we don't know. And 666 00:25:07,243 --> 00:25:08,354 I like to think of that as the 667 00:25:08,354 --> 00:25:09,941 place that Stephen King loves to play in. 668 00:25:10,179 --> 00:25:12,419 Mh. Right? They... That's that gray area where 669 00:25:12,659 --> 00:25:13,618 I could take it right up to the 670 00:25:13,618 --> 00:25:15,056 limit, and then I'm gonna go beyond it. 671 00:25:15,296 --> 00:25:17,933 And it might seem like it's supernatural, but 672 00:25:17,933 --> 00:25:20,171 maybe it's just on the edge of what 673 00:25:20,171 --> 00:25:22,502 our reality is. And that seems to be 674 00:25:22,502 --> 00:25:24,498 what this Todd Shortcut is about in some 675 00:25:24,498 --> 00:25:27,212 ways. Yeah. If you take away the whole 676 00:25:27,212 --> 00:25:28,111 dark tower 677 00:25:28,569 --> 00:25:30,166 interpretation and you just let this stand on 678 00:25:30,166 --> 00:25:32,568 its own Maybe that's all that there really 679 00:25:32,568 --> 00:25:34,874 is. Right? She's not traveling to other worlds. 680 00:25:35,112 --> 00:25:38,133 She's not doing anything that's completely magical. She's 681 00:25:38,133 --> 00:25:40,844 just her obsession is allowing her to just 682 00:25:40,844 --> 00:25:42,905 kinda bend the rules a little bit. Right. 683 00:25:43,222 --> 00:25:43,380 Yeah. 684 00:25:44,252 --> 00:25:46,648 I really like the line about how maybe 685 00:25:46,648 --> 00:25:48,563 there are lots of roads all over that 686 00:25:48,563 --> 00:25:51,616 are just going begging. And this was homer 687 00:25:51,834 --> 00:25:54,005 sort of thinking about how there have gotta 688 00:25:54,005 --> 00:25:56,664 to be just roads all over the country 689 00:25:56,724 --> 00:25:59,204 that so few people ever have a reason 690 00:25:59,204 --> 00:26:01,617 to drive on, whether it's because There just 691 00:26:01,617 --> 00:26:03,607 aren't a lot of people there or some 692 00:26:03,607 --> 00:26:06,018 super highway has sort of made those roads 693 00:26:06,234 --> 00:26:07,052 redundant and 694 00:26:07,428 --> 00:26:09,736 inefficient, but they're all there still, and they 695 00:26:09,736 --> 00:26:12,059 don't go away. They just stop getting used 696 00:26:12,059 --> 00:26:15,718 very much. And they're begging for somebody to 697 00:26:15,718 --> 00:26:18,026 drive on them. Right? And that's part of 698 00:26:18,026 --> 00:26:20,589 the magic of missus Todd's obsession. Like, I 699 00:26:20,589 --> 00:26:23,146 don't care if the highway is faster. This 700 00:26:23,146 --> 00:26:25,304 is shorter and shorter is better. 701 00:26:25,943 --> 00:26:28,201 And there's like kind of 702 00:26:28,580 --> 00:26:29,080 implied 703 00:26:30,035 --> 00:26:32,914 anti highway sentiment going on here too. Like, 704 00:26:33,075 --> 00:26:35,714 the modernization of the transit system the the 705 00:26:35,714 --> 00:26:39,483 road system by by drawing these these straight 706 00:26:39,483 --> 00:26:42,985 lines between big places makes you skip all 707 00:26:42,985 --> 00:26:46,344 the little ones, and somebody like homer from 708 00:26:46,344 --> 00:26:49,061 a small town in Maine, maybe he resent 709 00:26:49,061 --> 00:26:50,659 that a little bit. Maybe he doesn't wanna 710 00:26:50,659 --> 00:26:52,737 get skipped over by the highway. Maybe he 711 00:26:52,737 --> 00:26:54,815 wants people to have to drive through Castle 712 00:26:54,895 --> 00:26:57,378 Rock. On their way to vermont. Right? Yep. 713 00:26:57,617 --> 00:26:59,367 And that has changed now because of the 714 00:26:59,367 --> 00:27:01,834 highways, But missus Todd's spec, and she's saying, 715 00:27:01,993 --> 00:27:04,595 no, let's let's embrace those words. Let's go 716 00:27:04,714 --> 00:27:06,792 down those roads. And another cool thing is 717 00:27:06,951 --> 00:27:09,748 Homer and king through homer goes into quite 718 00:27:09,748 --> 00:27:11,506 a lot of detail in his descriptions of 719 00:27:11,506 --> 00:27:13,197 what these roads look like. And a lot 720 00:27:13,197 --> 00:27:15,509 of them especially the ones with rock walls 721 00:27:15,509 --> 00:27:17,502 on both sides, sound a lot like the 722 00:27:17,502 --> 00:27:19,336 road that came was walking on when he 723 00:27:19,336 --> 00:27:20,532 was run down by van. 724 00:27:21,264 --> 00:27:22,775 And part of the reason why he got 725 00:27:22,775 --> 00:27:23,889 hurt his badly as he did to was 726 00:27:23,889 --> 00:27:25,162 because there is no place for him to 727 00:27:25,162 --> 00:27:26,673 jump out of the way. There is, like, 728 00:27:26,991 --> 00:27:29,635 the rock wall there. So a classic New 729 00:27:29,795 --> 00:27:32,187 England Road was part of his doom. Yeah. 730 00:27:32,427 --> 00:27:34,819 Your point about these roads that want people 731 00:27:34,819 --> 00:27:36,574 to drive on them in some way, reminds 732 00:27:36,574 --> 00:27:39,144 me of my father law. He would never 733 00:27:39,144 --> 00:27:41,464 take the same route home as you would 734 00:27:41,464 --> 00:27:43,224 to get someplace place. So when he would 735 00:27:43,224 --> 00:27:44,505 take my wife and Eye out to dinner, 736 00:27:44,904 --> 00:27:46,990 we'd go on direction and then come an 737 00:27:46,990 --> 00:27:49,451 entirely different direction home and, you know, he 738 00:27:49,451 --> 00:27:51,118 had lived in that town for his whole 739 00:27:51,118 --> 00:27:52,388 life and he would be able to point 740 00:27:52,388 --> 00:27:54,393 out, like, oh, yeah. Let's go by this 741 00:27:54,393 --> 00:27:55,909 way, and this is what happened here, and 742 00:27:55,909 --> 00:27:57,266 this is what happened there. It was always 743 00:27:57,266 --> 00:27:59,021 interesting. That's kinda cool. It is It is. 744 00:27:59,260 --> 00:28:00,856 A... It's a it's an interesting way of 745 00:28:00,856 --> 00:28:03,188 doing it, and I I see myself doing 746 00:28:03,188 --> 00:28:05,106 that sometimes. Where ride I drive around places 747 00:28:05,106 --> 00:28:06,384 and I'm sure my kids are bored with 748 00:28:06,384 --> 00:28:07,663 me because they hear the same story. I 749 00:28:07,663 --> 00:28:09,182 oh, yeah. That's where you had pizza dad. 750 00:28:11,433 --> 00:28:12,863 What other fun stuff do you have, Jay? 751 00:28:13,975 --> 00:28:16,041 I really like the line about cutting the 752 00:28:16,041 --> 00:28:18,186 air around her mouth, thought that was a 753 00:28:18,186 --> 00:28:21,143 really neat c for just, like, ji jab. 754 00:28:21,540 --> 00:28:23,211 You know, you could be more crew about 755 00:28:23,211 --> 00:28:24,643 it, you know, kind of diarrhea of the 756 00:28:24,643 --> 00:28:26,924 mouth or whatever. But what I like that 757 00:28:27,044 --> 00:28:29,588 cutting the air around her mouth. It's just 758 00:28:29,588 --> 00:28:31,496 words that are just coming out. They don't 759 00:28:31,496 --> 00:28:33,563 even mean anything anymore. It's just like a 760 00:28:33,563 --> 00:28:35,550 lot of other of words, and they're just 761 00:28:35,550 --> 00:28:37,317 cutting the air. That's a good 1. 762 00:28:38,035 --> 00:28:41,865 When homer and missus Tat discussing how the 763 00:28:41,865 --> 00:28:44,274 shortcuts might work, she talks about how folding 764 00:28:44,274 --> 00:28:45,714 the map might be a way that this 765 00:28:45,714 --> 00:28:47,875 is actually working. Right? Mh. And that's how 766 00:28:47,875 --> 00:28:49,315 they're able to cut. And that reminded me 767 00:28:49,315 --> 00:28:50,914 a lot of a wrinkle in time because 768 00:28:50,914 --> 00:28:53,083 that's how the space time piece worked in 769 00:28:53,083 --> 00:28:54,905 a wrinkle in time where they were able 770 00:28:54,905 --> 00:28:56,173 to take a string and say, hey, this 771 00:28:56,173 --> 00:28:57,203 is how you get from point a to 772 00:28:57,203 --> 00:28:59,263 point b, and then this is who I 773 00:28:59,263 --> 00:29:01,191 think. Put the pieces of the string together 774 00:29:01,191 --> 00:29:02,308 and said, this is how we do it. 775 00:29:02,468 --> 00:29:04,862 Right? And there's that wrinkle in time. And 776 00:29:05,182 --> 00:29:07,177 I like that idea folding the map to 777 00:29:07,177 --> 00:29:09,028 get to that same way. I was just 778 00:29:09,028 --> 00:29:11,346 kind of blown away by king falling back 779 00:29:11,346 --> 00:29:14,142 to this kind of scientific theory. Right. Of 780 00:29:14,142 --> 00:29:16,792 space and time travel, like, Einstein and Hawking, 781 00:29:17,111 --> 00:29:19,026 I think we're maybe more hawking. They've talked 782 00:29:19,026 --> 00:29:21,180 about this in their theories. Like, if you 783 00:29:21,180 --> 00:29:21,999 can bend 784 00:29:22,376 --> 00:29:22,695 space, 785 00:29:23,268 --> 00:29:24,325 then the distance 786 00:29:24,700 --> 00:29:27,087 produces. Right. That's what this whole story is 787 00:29:27,087 --> 00:29:28,519 about. Right? Absolutely. 788 00:29:29,633 --> 00:29:31,963 1 thing I really liked here was 789 00:29:32,353 --> 00:29:32,853 how 790 00:29:33,230 --> 00:29:33,730 enchanting 791 00:29:34,106 --> 00:29:36,894 missus Todd was. Mh. And whether it was 792 00:29:36,894 --> 00:29:39,523 because she was excited in the moment about 793 00:29:39,523 --> 00:29:41,730 the idea of a shortcut or she was 794 00:29:41,849 --> 00:29:44,246 currently driving on a shortcut. She had just 795 00:29:44,246 --> 00:29:46,883 gotten back from a shortcut. At various points 796 00:29:46,883 --> 00:29:50,194 in the story, she becomes this this person 797 00:29:50,253 --> 00:29:51,872 who home finds 798 00:29:52,251 --> 00:29:53,769 irresistible for many reasons. 799 00:29:54,328 --> 00:29:55,767 And I think a lot of it is 800 00:29:55,767 --> 00:29:58,974 just this innate energy. This the obsession with 801 00:29:58,974 --> 00:30:01,762 the shortcuts is making her very, very interesting 802 00:30:01,762 --> 00:30:04,391 to him. And as I mentioned before, 803 00:30:05,122 --> 00:30:06,869 I could see a lot of reasons for 804 00:30:06,869 --> 00:30:08,481 her to have mutual feelings 805 00:30:08,855 --> 00:30:11,078 for homer. You know, he's he's meeting her 806 00:30:11,078 --> 00:30:13,222 at her level. He's really interested in what 807 00:30:13,222 --> 00:30:15,388 she's interested in. And he's willing to take 808 00:30:15,388 --> 00:30:18,025 the risk of going on these these journeys 809 00:30:18,025 --> 00:30:20,022 with her. So as these characters, 810 00:30:20,661 --> 00:30:22,432 were getting to know each other and having 811 00:30:22,432 --> 00:30:24,502 these shared experiences, they were falling in love 812 00:30:24,502 --> 00:30:27,845 and, I always appreciate a story where when 813 00:30:27,845 --> 00:30:29,835 characters fall in love with each other that 814 00:30:29,835 --> 00:30:31,767 it's presented in a way that is 815 00:30:32,078 --> 00:30:35,020 so effective that I can't help, but fall 816 00:30:35,020 --> 00:30:36,371 in love with them a little bit too. 817 00:30:36,610 --> 00:30:39,336 Mh. To me, that is the storyteller doing 818 00:30:39,472 --> 00:30:43,222 the job very, very well. And that reminds 819 00:30:43,222 --> 00:30:45,922 me of Ba Le, Romeo and Juliet. Like, 820 00:30:46,399 --> 00:30:49,179 Leonardo D cap and Claire Danes, their characters 821 00:30:49,179 --> 00:30:50,529 fall in love with each other in that 822 00:30:50,529 --> 00:30:50,846 movie. 823 00:30:51,339 --> 00:30:51,839 And 824 00:30:52,215 --> 00:30:53,889 I fall in love with them every time 825 00:30:53,969 --> 00:30:56,120 I watch it. I know. It's probably on 826 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,591 being manipulated by the crazy set pieces and 827 00:30:58,591 --> 00:31:01,633 the wonderful music, but their performance are a 828 00:31:01,633 --> 00:31:04,421 big part of that too. And if I 829 00:31:04,421 --> 00:31:07,709 am sharing the similar emotion that the characters 830 00:31:07,766 --> 00:31:10,410 are having on screen or in the the 831 00:31:10,410 --> 00:31:13,460 story, like, this Tat shortcut. That's a storyteller 832 00:31:13,517 --> 00:31:14,872 doing some superb work. 833 00:31:15,589 --> 00:31:17,182 And I I was right there along for 834 00:31:17,182 --> 00:31:17,501 the ride. 835 00:31:18,230 --> 00:31:18,944 Yeah. Good stuff. 836 00:31:19,657 --> 00:31:22,272 Good stuff indeed. My last fun stuff is 837 00:31:22,272 --> 00:31:24,674 just a line I like that the narrator 838 00:31:24,809 --> 00:31:27,760 states after homer takes off and that is, 839 00:31:28,077 --> 00:31:29,982 October is a time when men think mostly 840 00:31:29,982 --> 00:31:32,046 about far places and the roads which might 841 00:31:32,046 --> 00:31:32,522 get them there. 842 00:31:33,570 --> 00:31:35,001 And it's just a nice sort of summary 843 00:31:35,001 --> 00:31:38,340 of why homer decides to leave and October 844 00:31:38,340 --> 00:31:39,692 seems to be such a special month for 845 00:31:39,772 --> 00:31:39,931 King. 846 00:31:41,139 --> 00:31:42,577 A lot of his stories that take place 847 00:31:42,577 --> 00:31:45,214 in October and I... Usually it's death and 848 00:31:45,214 --> 00:31:47,372 destruction and vampires. Yeah. This time it's nice. 849 00:31:47,531 --> 00:31:50,103 That nice nostalgia piece again. But king comes 850 00:31:50,103 --> 00:31:52,261 from a part of the world where winter 851 00:31:52,261 --> 00:31:54,258 really just kinda collapse down on things. 852 00:31:54,978 --> 00:31:57,295 It really puts a freeze on your life. 853 00:31:57,549 --> 00:31:59,140 And more than just a cold, you know, 854 00:31:59,299 --> 00:32:01,765 all the snow, all the ice, things become 855 00:32:01,765 --> 00:32:04,151 less mobile. People become less mobile. 856 00:32:04,801 --> 00:32:06,490 So that October 857 00:32:06,942 --> 00:32:09,479 period of time is when the weather's changing 858 00:32:09,479 --> 00:32:13,541 summer truly done, but it's not too late 859 00:32:13,541 --> 00:32:15,847 to bug out. Yep. If you want to. 860 00:32:16,483 --> 00:32:18,471 So there's kind of an instinct, 861 00:32:19,266 --> 00:32:22,167 this is my last chance to to leave 862 00:32:22,225 --> 00:32:24,613 this place where I am standing right now 863 00:32:24,613 --> 00:32:26,364 and go someplace place where I won't get 864 00:32:26,364 --> 00:32:28,849 frozen in place by the winner. Yep. And 865 00:32:28,849 --> 00:32:31,326 if you also think of the year as 866 00:32:31,326 --> 00:32:34,203 a metaphor for a person's life. Mh. October 867 00:32:34,203 --> 00:32:35,881 might be that 70 year old range. Right? 868 00:32:36,121 --> 00:32:37,974 Yep. This is your last chance. And it's 869 00:32:37,974 --> 00:32:41,170 home last chance. Yes. Absolutely. I had just 870 00:32:41,170 --> 00:32:43,487 1 more. It's another fun line that I 871 00:32:43,487 --> 00:32:46,319 liked or more as a fun analogy that 872 00:32:46,456 --> 00:32:49,163 arthritis is 1 bugger great old fishermen. 873 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,188 I just like the analogy to making arthritis 874 00:32:52,188 --> 00:32:53,882 a fishermen because 875 00:32:54,273 --> 00:32:56,585 extending the analogy is that, you know, arthritis 876 00:32:56,585 --> 00:32:58,818 is like fish hooks in your your knuckles 877 00:32:58,818 --> 00:33:01,449 and your joints. Yep. So it's the fisherman 878 00:33:01,449 --> 00:33:04,330 of just laying his fish hooks into your 879 00:33:04,330 --> 00:33:04,728 bones. 880 00:33:05,364 --> 00:33:09,182 Is I think very apt. Yes. Indeed. Well, 881 00:33:09,342 --> 00:33:09,714 I'm 882 00:33:10,151 --> 00:33:12,292 super happy that we had a chance to 883 00:33:12,292 --> 00:33:14,274 read the story and shared it on a 884 00:33:14,354 --> 00:33:17,367 Bonus episode. It was, well, written, just great 885 00:33:17,367 --> 00:33:18,258 character authorization, 886 00:33:18,976 --> 00:33:21,448 interesting story, and the fact that it had 887 00:33:21,448 --> 00:33:24,080 so many dark tower Thin and references was 888 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,553 just an added bonus. So hopefully, you enjoyed 889 00:33:26,553 --> 00:33:28,741 it as much as I did. I definitely 890 00:33:28,798 --> 00:33:31,106 did. So that'll be all for this episode 891 00:33:31,106 --> 00:33:32,618 of 2 guys to the dark tower came. 892 00:33:32,857 --> 00:33:35,658 Thanks, Jay. Thank you. Links all of our 893 00:33:35,658 --> 00:33:37,333 social media is available in the show notes 894 00:33:37,333 --> 00:33:38,848 if you like to show please rate us 895 00:33:38,848 --> 00:33:42,278 on apple podcasts. Look for more exclusive content 896 00:33:42,278 --> 00:33:44,830 at patreon dot com slash 2 guys dark 897 00:33:44,830 --> 00:33:45,070 tower. 898 00:33:45,641 --> 00:33:47,709 For Jay Russo, I'm Sean Mc. 899 00:33:48,265 --> 00:33:49,060 Thanks for listening. 900 00:34:02,684 --> 00:34:03,184 Cons 901 00:34:03,642 --> 00:34:04,999 professionalism. As always. 902 00:34:08,192 --> 00:34:09,223 You should have heard the point I made. 903 00:34:09,381 --> 00:34:09,619 It was... 904 00:34:11,047 --> 00:34:12,316 I'm sure it was superb.