Episode 301 – Chair Company, Bagonia & the Anxiety of Being Extremely Online

Matt and Bob are back “to pod” and this week they’re double-featuring two very different brands of unhinged: Tim Robinson’s The Chair Company on HBO and Yorgos Lanthimos’ new black comedy Bagonia. First up, they break down why Chair Company’s pilot might be an all-timer — deviled eggs, mall-restaurant discourse, wheelbarrow talk, and HR meetings about accidental upskirt eye contact — but why the season’s tone, length, and “Scrooge porn” detours make it a tougher hang than I Think You Should Leave or Friendship. There’s bouncer Mike, Wazy Wanes, giant wieners, and the eternal question: how many huge bits are too many huge bits?

Then they head into the basement with Bagonia, digging into Jesse Plemons’ beautifully weird performance, Emma Stone’s corporate-speak alien CEO, and a story that sits somewhere between Ari Aster dread and Wes Anderson precision. They unpack conspiracy-brain vs. Big Pharma, torture in a foil-lined basement, corporate “no PTO, but take all the time you need” doublespeak, and an ending that somehow manages to combine telekinesis, exploding heads, and puffy tribunal aliens in a way that’s both dark and oddly funny.

Along the way, the guys shout out Jim Downey’s late-career run, Will Tracy’s Onion/Succession DNA, and close with a few rapid-fire watches on their radar: Train Dreams, J. Kelly, Task, Hamnet, and the Safdies’ Christmas chaos ride Marty Supreme. If you’ve ever fallen down a conspiracy rabbit hole, worked in a soul-sucking office, or just love watching deeply weird men completely derail their lives, this one’s for you