Welcome to Pod meets Twirld, the podcast from two guys who had never seen an episode of Dancing with the Stars but took it on and walked away experts.

So now we turn to Traders, another show I've never seen, while will is convinced that he could win it.

We are Wilfredell and Ryder Strong, two best friends, one a TV expert, one a TV skeptic, both dance scholars, join us as we step into a castle full of lies, alliances, and over the top wardrobe choices.

This is Pod meets Twirld Trading Places.

How are you feeling about episode nine?

Will Well, First, I'd like to point to the elephant in the room.

No cloak today, the cloak I just I'm wearing it just for me, and that started to feel weird if I'm totally Hans with you.

Yeah, so no cloak pants, but no cloak.

So does this means you're no longer a trader, You're now a faithful No?

I think it just means that I don't want to wear the cloak anymore.

I'll always be a trader.

That's just the way it is, all right.

I think I loved episode nine.

By the way, I think it's my favorite episode yet.

I don't disagree my favorite.

Episode yet And here's why, because I love Eric as a bad trick.

He's my favorite.

Just dude, I would see what I were doing, the impression of him just trying trying to just walk like.

He's not guilty.

Yeah, it's like he's like suddenly going to be holding two mugs just to have something to do with his hands.

I I did not realize how entertaining that could be.

We were doing that all day.

But it's amazing because christ is the only one calling him out for it.

Now it's gonna happen though.

He's gonna bomb this so bad.

Just see what I was doing.

Things where he's like he's got like the fork and he's like there's no food on it and he's putting it, so what are what.

Are you in the k?

Hey?

Full spell?

Okay, that's happening today everybody.

It's so and he's just I can't do this, okay me exactly.

That's I'm seeing myself and all of his anxiety.

I love it so much.

And the best quote that starts the episode, I need a helmet and an adult diaper because I'm gonna ship myself and my head was going to elode.

I was like, dude, this guy is brilliant.

All of a sudden, he went from this quiet guy who were like, who kind of is this guy always a musician whatever?

To now he's my favorite character.

And so he is a musician, that's what he's known for.

Okay, God he's funny.

Geez.

I just love watching him.

So and and they make a perfect combination because Rob is such a pro and like when they're just like, we have to kill someone tonight, He's like, yeah, it's kind of our job and say, wait, tonight we got to do with them.

It's like this, it's like the odd couple have to be traders.

I love it.

Or it's like you you have to bring your little brother in.

He's like, all right, come on, put the cloak on.

I don't come on, put it all the way around.

I don't need it all the way over your eyes.

It's the best dynamic.

I did not know the show needed this, but I love it.

The only thing missing is him constantly calling him like Bud and Chief, like you can do a Chief.

Don't worry, you're doing great, You're doing great.

I feel like Rob is going to have to just kill Eric.

He's just gonna have to let him die, Like, do you think he's he either did the brilliant thing of picking them like just a rube who will go along because he's basically gonna Rob still running the show.

He's going to decide everything, but now he has a buffer against anything to where he can have somebody die before him.

He's playing it brilliantly.

Okay, maybe just misread Eric and thought Eric would be better at this, but maybe you're right.

I think he played it brilliant.

I don't know, but it is just agree.

I could not disagree.

I could not agree with you more.

This was so fun and just watching him, I was like, oh that's writer.

But they just made a trader yep, and oh god, it's great.

So the two of them are in the turret.

He's got his cloak fitted out for him, and the three names they throw out or are Derinda, Natalie, and Steven, and uh, you know.

Rob says that he picked Eric because he's intelligent and that he thinks logically, which is true.

I mean that Eric does seem to you know, I think more like you were thinking, like he knew that Eric might be bad.

At being a trader, and he just went for him to have a roube, like somebody to pull along and throw under the bus when he needs to.

I love it all Right, Breakfast, Kristen comes in with Mark and Rob immediately saying we need to talk.

We need to talk.

One of the other things I love about the show is every time anyone is with Rob, they're like, Okay, you're the only one I can trust one hundred percent.

I know.

It's like no one has an inkling.

Not an inkling.

It's not an inkling.

It's incredible how he's doing it.

But he's like, Okay, you're the only one of one hundred percent you're on.

It's Tara.

It's he's just got a low key like, you know, he's just got the right vibe, like he just doesn't seem villainous.

He doesn't seem like he conniving or you know, I don't know, like I mean, he said it out of one episode he's like, I just come across like a dumb Southern boy.

I think that's true.

I think he's just just doesn't read as much more than like a pretty guy.

And they're feeling for it.

Really nice and as somebody else said, they're like, he's great in the challenges.

You know, he's got the muscles to help us.

It's so awesome.

So it's pointed out.

I guess what Christian's pointing out is that Candace pushed Johnny for the shield, and since Candace Will turned out to be a trader, this is a good and reason to believe that Johnny is a trader, which is not a bad argument.

And again it's logic, it's based on evidence.

And because of all the paranoia, it adds a whole nother level of Oh god, whoever I'm friends with also matters, because if one of them turns out to be a trader, then I'm tainted too, right, And so here's Johnny, like, she's the lesson.

That this is that Tara and Johnny did not learn this lesson, gonna completely screw them because that's exactly what you basically watch happened in the course of this episode.

Yes, like you guys, don't.

You can't just do that.

You can't just cling to any because you're friends with them, all right.

So Eric comes in with Tara.

He can't.

Even when he's doing his his interview about walking him to breakfast, he says, it's my first breakfast.

Has ting is so nervous, this reluctant, killer good, automatically awkward.

Yes, yeah, it's just like it's Steve as Shemi with a baseball hat, right, like hey fellows high schoolers.

So just.

All right, Johnny enter Uh, Johnny has this great thing about talking about how he was he trusted Candace and he was like a blanket.

For her, and he's just true.

He's exactly ex right, and he should be aware now that you know, or he is, that it's coming.

It's turning on him.

But like, why do you you know you can't trust anybody, including terror.

I can't believe it's trusted.

But again, so here's the thing though, and because I was thinking about this, if you and I went onto the show together and we looked at each other beforehand, as we would, and we were like, no matter what happens, we're gonna be honest with each other, even if it means I have to.

It's like I'll give you a wink, I'll give you a nod.

We're gonna something.

We got to figure it and not trust it.

I would not trust it, no, because that's an even trust me.

I would totally trust you.

I would totally trust you.

Because you know me because I'm horrible at nine, not because because like I wouldn't judge you for lying to my face in the context of the game.

That's hard way to the game.

Oh, I get it, but it would be so old.

What are you going to do ruin the whole TV show that we're on and all the producers by saying that you know I'm actually a trader?

No, we would have, we would.

There's got to be I mean again, it would be so hard with these two people who are best friends for fifteen years or however long it's been twenty years for them not to be like, we're in this together till the end and then lie to one of their faces the entire time.

It'd be that's exactly what they would do.

Think about it, if if Johnny had been day, if either one of them had been picked by as a trader, which they probably partly wanted to because you know, being a traders that I think the more fun role in this game probably that then you would have to know that you're gonna have to lie to that person unless you both get picked as traders together, which is never gonna happen.

So to have that sort of packed going into this game is just stupid, I guess.

And it's pointed out to them at the round table when they say it, when they revealed their pack, everybody's like, well, we can't.

You can't trust that, Like that's anti the game.

So you can say that all you want, but that just means that you're either both faithfulls or both traders, or one of you is lying to you and like we're gonna it doesn't help, It's not doesn't bolster your argument, like I would know if he were a trader.

No, you wouldn't, I guess.

Also, keeping the secret is kind of what would would be ridiculous, like when they when they walked in and they're like, we're gonna not let anybody know that we're friends.

It's gonna be kind.

It's like that in itself is a detriment because the easiest part of being a faithful is you don't have to lie right about anything ever.

You don't have to remember what you said, you don't have to be careful about speaking, you don't have to misstep everything you say.

It's like I can just live my life and try to find So if you come in already with a lie, and now you're looking at the two of them going, well, wait a minute, you were best friends and you specifically tried to keep that from us.

Why why, what's the benefit?

Why would you have a lie like that?

The only thing is like backchannel information if one of them is suspected.

But like you said, if you're just an open book, just be an open book.

Yeah, just be like we're best friends and like, yeah.

Yeah, just letting you know we're best friends right now.

If you see us commiserating, we've been besties for fifteen years.

Yep.

We're going to trust one another and you all need to know that and take the information into account when we're trying to tell you that we're faithfuls or whatever.

I mean, that's like, it's where they ended up.

It's you know, where they've ended up.

They probably should have just started and started with, right, because now they look shady.

Yeah exactly.

Yeah.

Well, Natalie and Steven then entered breakfast, revealing that Dorinda has been murdered, and we get a turret flashback where Rob argues for Dorinda.

He is clearly just still making all the decisions.

Yep.

Eric goes, huh, that's a good idea.

Yeah, sure, boss, great idea of boss.

Hey you're doing great, Pal, you're doing great.

Okay.

Then Alan enters, this time looking like my grandmother's Christmas plates.

Very specifically, he looked like a chandelier.

But I think right, it's the pattern.

I actually think it was more like a Japanese sort of like drop painting, like one of those like uh.

But but for whatever reason, it's the right color for exactly the Christmas the plates I still have, because you know, my grandmother passed away and I have her Christmas place.

They are exactly this color.

Was his hair?

Was he going for red, white and blue?

It's pink, blue and white.

I mean, was it supposed to be about or was this just a random let's make it red, let's make it It might have been Scottish flags which were orange.

That's orange and blue?

Is that what it was?

Orange?

White and blue is a Scottish flag if I'm correct?

Yeah?

Orange?

ORANGEE do my head up?

Orange?

All right?

So after breakfast, Johnny and Tara powwow.

She tells him that everyone's talking about him.

Johnny has this little speech to camera.

He's like, we're not good at this game because we didn't play a game.

We went to the Olympics when we were kids, which is super interesting, kind of true, but I just love that he's like, Okay, we suck.

Like the two of them are just realizing they're really terrible.

And figure skaters and Olympians they start at like three, right, you know these people are on skates before they really knew how to walk.

So he's right, it's like we weren't playing games, we were Olympians.

Totally.

Yeah.

So Johnny says that he saw Stephen and Candace talking the day before, which is true, and I clocked that when it happened, I was like, because they literally kicked Johnny out of the room and I was like, it's a really bad move Candace.

Yeah, and then the fact that she did turn so good reason to suspect Steven.

That's why.

So how do you play that You're you're in the room and you're talking to somebody, and somebody else walks in and they go, hey, can we just have a minute.

I might be like, no, actually, why don't you.

Have them join us so we don't look like because if that person I'm sitting with turns out to be a trader.

I'm done right.

So it's like it almost seems to me like you don't want to be in that situation of kicking someone out of a room or hey, can you give us a minute, Like let's not do that.

Yeah, because there shouldn't be any secrets.

Yeah, I mean, what do you need to know?

Johnny should have known the second he was kicked on the room that either one of them is a trader, both of them are traders, or he's being suspected Johnny is, in which case, don't leave nothing.

He's coming from that.

No no, yeah, like there's no good Like you just shouldn't walk away from a room, just be like, no, I'm staying.

Ar'm invited everybody in here and we can all talk it out exactly, yeah, which is kind of what Michael was trying to do all the time.

I feel like Rapperport was all constantly like confronting and like bring everybody, which is annoying, but it's also kind of the only way to play because by by whispering and having sidebars with people, it doesn't seem to work.

I and I've said this, I said this last episode.

I'm saying it again.

It seems like eight months ago since he and Ron and even Jam Jam we're on the show.

I just it seems forever ago.

It is a complete do you realize in the in the sense of shooting Michael Rappaport was there three days ago or four days ago, was literally in the castle, And it just it's so funny.

Every day of house spoken, so their brains are just scrambled.

You're constantly like paranoid and second guessing yourself.

But then I loved this moment where Maura, Rob and Eric are talking and Eric is just describing Rob as an eagle worried about the game.

It's like he's just sitting on the couch.

It's like sleeveless arms, which by the way, have snakes on them.

Yeah, like as if it's like he's like, it's literally like he's a snake.

You know.

He reminds me of like a G.

I.

Joe character that's like actually Cobra, So he bought him as a G I.

Joe, Like, oh my god, and then he turns out to be bad like zar Can.

It's like, oh my god, he's yes.

I love the difference between the of them.

You can just tell Eric is like heart racing and just like cool cool looking at.

Eric, like waiting for him to screw it up.

It is just but him.

Eric, just he's such a deer in the headlights and it is so fun to watch.

And then Tara and Kristen have this moment where Tara tries to get her on the Stephen bandwagon and Kristen just looks at Terrences I think it's you, which is bad ass.

I was kind of every single cool man so awesome.

She's really yeah, she's cool and and she's just not afraid.

And you know, also she does the same thing to Eric at the end of this episode, which is pretty impressive.

And oh and just the way she covers herself too, where she's like, so if I'm not here tomorrow, if I get yss, it's Eric.

It's like, yes, oh you've.

Just saved You're so smart, Yes, you just saved yourself.

If you have an opinion, you tell it to the person you have it to, and you tell it to everybody else.

And that's just out in the open.

And then when you come up at roundtable, you're not being duplicitous, because that's the thing, like, if you're being duplicitous at all in this game, if you're saying one thing to somebody's face and doing something else, it's gonna come out at roundtable, and invariably that's going to backfire on you.

So I think you're right, man.

The best strategy is to just be us upfront with everybody all the time.

Deny.

You get people that deny things they said right, like, but you you're faithful.

And you're denying.

You said something like that, Just why yes, I said that?

That's so weird?

All right?

Then we get this mission with these boxes and questions.

Uh, this is his ericle that Eric has to sneak out of a box like the first time, Like, right, do you think they added the freaks?

And if it was creaking that loud you would even try?

You just feel like, no, I'm just letting not gonna.

Oh.

I was like, okay, they're foldying a lot of this or oh I thought this was probably the best challenge.

I mean, I loved the cabin challenges just for their set pieces and the like horror film stuff, but this one actually made some sense in that it reminded me a lot of the game Mafia when you play it at home, where everyone puts their head down.

I've never never played.

Okay, so the way you play Mafia or Werewolf is the other version.

Everybody closes their eyes and puts their head down, and then there's like a game master or whatever says will the killers open their eyes and so while your head isn't down on the table, if you're like an innocent victim, all the killers are looking at each other and signaling like so you have to do it basically, have to do it right in front of each other, just like this where they have to like get out of their box, walk into an area and talk.

I thought that was like it was kind of getting back to the roots of these kinds of games, which is you have to do it right in front of them.

Yeah, that's super fun, super fun.

But then it didn't really work because they could just make up their answers like it didn't like, well, yeah I didn't.

I kind of.

I thought it was kind of genius to just pick on one person essentially, right, because it's just just it completely destabilizes anybody's predictions.

It's super smart, and they sacrifice the money too, which was I think, whopping eighty three hundred se Well, but this is the.

Problem is that the money is not enough of an incentive these challenges incentive.

The only way the challenges have gotten exciting as far as rewards is the dagger and shield stuff.

Yeah, so they really should only be playing with that.

This whole idea of increasing the money when you're talking about celebrities who are probably all worth millions of dollars, Like, I just don't think it matters if they made eight thousand more dollars or whatever.

It's a and you think about it too, if you won some kind of clue to who the traders were, Yes, it would add another level because that's brilliant, man, because if you think about it, if the person who rushes there could be a trader who doesn't want the information out or could want the information to find out who the trader is, and you'd never know, right, So it's like, oh, you got the information, Okay, God Rob got there first because he's fastest, Well did he Is he doing that because he's a trader, or is he doing that because now he has the info?

And then if you're the only one who's allowed to look at the info and you're a trader, you can then lie about.

What the information is.

That's great, dude, to put it onto somebody else, be like it's you know, oh my god, all we know is that something high.

So there should be like a book with like like facts about the traders.

And if you get that, you get thirty seconds to glimpse at a page of it or something.

If you win.

Something and idea it's it's like it's it's something so easy, like high heels, and it's like, Okay, then I know it's a woman or something like that, or just that they're from the United States.

Yes, yes, of some sort.

Yeah, maybe you've got to try to figure out.

I mean, there's so so many ways to do it.

But that's right, great, it's a good idea.

There's a much better incentive than money.

Yes, you can find out something about the traders.

All right.

Well, they end up doing Tara for all of these, which was a kind of brilliant strategy on.

The rock spart once again it's all just rob and then we get this.

They get to short list four names for murder.

They they're trapped in their boxes for I guess like another ten minutes after.

Everyone leaves, right, so yeah, yeah, exactly, And those four are Johnny, Tara, and Natalie and Kristen.

Oh also, I forgot to mention Tara and Johnny didn't follow everyone voting for Tara.

No, when they said when everyone's like, oh for Tara, which is weird, it's just a really bad move on their part, like they're really acting like a couple of traders, which yeah, it's not.

It's why wouldn't you just vote for yourself?

You know what I mean.

It's like, Okay, they're obviously picking me every time, everybody, just vote for me.

It's going to be me again.

Just vote for me and then you win the money.

So yeah, it was weird that the only two.

But again, when you're micro looking at every little thing, every little thing to you that's normal is a misstep to somebody else, which is what's so brilliant about it, because now people are already thinking it's the two of them.

Now they voted against you.

Now as a.

Trader, you're like, oh, now I can focus right on them because they screwed up again.

So yeah, they're just not playing well, and you use that when you're a trader.

It's great.

So after the game, Natalie starts gunning for Steven.

Christian points out that she told Tara it was her and now Natalie ended up in the box, and Tara and Johnny decide to let it out that they're a team because they have nothing left.

She's just such a strange thing.

I know, I know.

So we gets to the roundtable and Tara and Johnny talk about their alignment and how they've been blind to everybody, which is just weird.

But then they're saying that they're faithful, and then they sort of turn on Steven, which you know, I mean, I guess there's some evidence for Steven, but for the most part, it seems like everyone's argument is just like that guy over there who's not me.

Except for Rob, who's now in a position to where I think about it.

In one move, Steven's gone, and it seems like Johnny and Tara are the next to go.

So he could have gotten three faithfuls out just by writing Stephen's name on the thing.

And now you just let nature take its course, keep it up with Johnny and Tara the way that it's going, and right there, three out boom, and then you're at the end, because I think.

There's only two round tables left.

Yeah, so then you've made the end.

You've already set up your next kills without having to do any thing, and it's like boom, you just there you go.

Yeah, Eric's gonna screw it up, though of course he is.

I was waiting for him to be like hey, like literally in the middle of everyone, be like, hey, Rob, maybe we should kill them next.

Oh oh, wasn't supposed to say sorry.

There's also this weird moment where Natalie, you know, she makes this argument for Stephen, and then when the dagger vote comes up, she sort of forces Rob to admit he has it, but no one heard it.

I don't think.

No, he says, he says I have it, but he whisperspered I have it, and nobody I don't think.

Because she said I'm this is why so I was we were going to jump ahead.

I think she's going to be the kill tonight.

Yeah, the killer was left at the cliffhanger.

I think she's going to be the kill because she said, I'm the last one who knows that you have the dagger.

And she's like, say you have the dagger, and he's like, I have the dag.

So is that true?

She really is the last one.

She was the last one of the group that was there to find out that he had the dagger, so he gets rid of her.

Nobody knows he's got two votes left.

God, I can't believe that.

She yeah, it's yeah.

I don't know how the whole dagger thing is going to play out.

But he says he doesn't mind if everybody knows.

He says he doesn't care.

But I don't think he said it.

I think they shot it in a strange way, but I think he whispered it.

I don't think.

I don't think everybody knows that he has the dagger, but I could be wrong.

They might not.

I feel like he admitted it, and no one really cared that much because it was just like, oh okay, because they knew it was one of those six people or whatever.

And again for us, we're like, who was that week's ago, But for them, it's like, oh, that was three days ago, right, so they'd remember it.

I really don't remember who was in that group.

I don't either.

I think it was Stephen, but then Stephen would yeah, oh yeah, that's right.

No, then I guess not.

Yeah, God, I don't remember.

See, I don't know if she's right.

I think she might have said that, but not been correct.

That's possible too well.

In any case, the votes go for Stephen, so I guess Tara and Johnny's gamble played off, but they made it.

They're marked, as Steven Siegall said in the eighties, you're marked for death.

Bro yep.

And Natalie apologizes to Rob and Eric, which is hysterical.

She's like, I'm so sorry I've gone for you know, and it's like, yeah, well you you just helped them perfectly apologizing to the traders.

His response is the best acting ever where he just looks at her.

He's like, no, no, it's fine, but that was that was a big one.

Like he was like, yeah, that was mean, sad man.

You like, I followed you because I trust you, but yikes, that just drawing her even more to his side.

Everything this guy does is beautifully calculated.

Yeah.

Uh.

And then Kristen turns on Eric in front of Mark smart Man, and then Rob walks in on it.

Yeah, she's very smart.

She's also accurate, Like she's calling out the fact that he has gotten quieter.

You know, I feel like he's always been a little like nervous and quiet, So I think she's coming on.

But she must have noticed like something extra because she's right and he is more nervous and he doesn't know what to do.

And I think, you know, based on the discussion in the turret, which is essentially like we we can't kill Kristen now because she literally told multiple people that if I die, Eric is the killer.

Yeah, so Eric's got to suck it up and perform as if he's a faithful and I just don't think he's going to pull it off, which I cannot wait to see.

I can't wait to see it.

And I also think there's a good chance this is maybe what Rob wanted.

Yeah, so yeah, because in this case, he's gonna let Eric take the fall for you know, being banished and still be completely under the radar himself, yes, be able to.

I mean he'll probably.

I think they'll murder Natalie tonight.

I think so too, and then too because but if you murder Natalie, who does that point to?

It makes it See, but now one's never going for Johnny and Tara.

The other option is you kill either Johnny or Tara to set the other one up, because like if you killed Tara, which is just bizarre, but it could make it make people think that Johnny was lying to her the whole time.

Yeah, that's impossible too.

Yeah, I mean it's it's it's constantly amazed the people that are always under the radar.

Nobody's ever said Mark, nobody's ever said Kristin.

And the only person of this said Rob was another trader who knew he was a trader.

Right, And Natalie hasn't really come up as a trader for a long time.

I feel like she did early in a couple.

But again, that's what I mean is even early on, no one was like, it's Mark or it's Kristin.

Like there's some people that have just the entire time, everyone's like, I know you're a faithful like really, including Rob.

Yes, it's so weird, it's so strange.

It's such a great kind of psychology of people.

Why do you instantly trust this person and instantly distrust this person?

Hmmm?

Crazy?

Uh?

And as uh, you're well aware not only am an expert on dance, but I'm also now an expert on famous traders throughout history.

Sure in a segment that I like to call.

For famous traders from where from history?

Still working on the song it's not my favorite that became that was totally like schoolhouse rocks.

It was Well, that's what I was trying to from where, from where?

From history?

I'm just a trader, just an ordinary trader.

Yeah.

This is Philippe Patain eighteen fifty six to nineteen fifty one.

Philip Patain went from being one of France's greatest heroes from World War One to a villafied figure who collaborated with the Nazis and headed France's v She government during World War Two.

Bataine earned the nickname the Lion of Verdun for winning one of the war's bloodiest battles.

That's what I said.

After France collapsed during the Nazi blick Skreak in nineteen forty, the French asked the eighty four year old Patained to form a government, but he chose to surrender and align the fascist Fishi government with Azi Germany.

When the war was over, he was charged with treason along with other members of the Vishi regime and sentenced to death, but the execution was stayed because of his past heroism, and he lived out the rest of his life in a fortress off France's Atlantic coast.

Wow, yeah, crazy right, I mean.

Living in that fortress by yourself, just knowing that like your country.

Hates you, everybody hates everybody hates you.

You probably should have been killed, but luckily you would be literally.

Just waiting for you to die in this fortress because we want to airbnb it and you're in the way.

Yeah, it was pretty much what's happening?

What was it like to be a family member of somebody like that?

Right, Like you're just like, well, like, I'm glad they're not getting killed.

But yeah, well, I mean I think Patsy was an actual Italian trader or something, and a lot of his family people change their names.

It's like you just don't want to I can have anybody.

When's the last time you met you know?

Hi, I'm Doug Hitler.

Right, No, it's never happened.

People, They just the first name is longer.

Now you change your name and you walk away.

Absolutely all right.

Well that's it for this episode of pod Mates Twirled.

Alliances were tested, trust misplaced, and once again we're left with a cliffhanger.

Join us next time as we continue our journey through season four of Traders, a show in which, as Shakespeare said in his Scottish play Fair, is foul and foul is fair.