Special Episode 35: Wake Up Dead Man
On a very special special episode of Fansplaining…FLOURISH RETURNS!!! To—what else—discuss a film about a priest. Fresh off an in-theater viewing of the third Knives Out installment, Flourish and Elizabeth dive into Wake Up Dead Man, a film that offered beautiful resonance and representation for Flourish (a literal priest) and Elizabeth (a literal person from the Albany area). Topics discussed include the relationship between Father Jud and Benoit Blanc, Blanc’s investment in the idea of justice, and, you know, a bunch of priest stuff!! Plus: Flourish updates listeners on their life over the past 18 months, and Elizabeth gives a sneak preview of the big changes coming to Fansplaining in 2026.
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Show Notes
[00:00:00] As always, our intro music is “Awel” by stefsax, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.
[00:02:34] If any New Yorkers are unaware, Hell Gate is 10000% worth your subscription dollars!
[00:04:39] We, in fact, discussed Glass Onion just about three years ago, in early January 2023.
[00:05:36]
[00:06:52]
[00:09:12] “Based on a true story” from Planet Money—highly recommended to understand the (depressing) state of how things are developed in Hollywood today.
[00:16:58] In case you’d like a visual, this was Flourish’s outfit while we recorded. (Also: Elizabeth’s outfit!!)
[00:23:04] “Rian Johnson on miracles, mystery and his own faith story in ‘Wake Up Dead Man’”
[00:23:50] Specifically, it was Holy Innocents Church in Epping Forest.
[00:24:47] Father Flourish says “vibier”; Rian Johnson (via the article above) says his childhood Evangelical churches “all kind of looked like Pottery Barns.”
[00:32:32]
[00:39:38] This interview discusses a CATHOLIC PRIEST DINNER PARTY Rian Johnson held to write the screenplay, as well as the ways he called upon his youthful religiousness:
The filmmaker forced himself to adopt a faith-based headspace while writing O'Connor's character, who narrates a sizable chunk of the film. "I really had to put myself back to the place where I was seeing the world through the eyes that I had when I was a believer," he explains. "There's no way to honestly write Jud without genuinely putting myself back into a place of belief."
[00:44:08]
[00:50:53] Elizabeth did not send Flourish that article on Benoit Blanc’s commitment to justice (nor would it have been included in “The Rec Center”) because it was apparently published on Substack, which Flourish didn’t realize when they read it. (And will not be recommending as a result!)
[00:54:45] We didn’t just watch House together—we recorded a special episode on it!
[00:58:07] If you’re interested in learning more about how confession actually works, Flourish offers this article as well as this thread, the latter of which, in their words, “does the best job I have seen of explaining the tension between reporting future planned acts vs past ones.”
[01:05:12] Flourish’s child:
[01:12:12] “Anatomy of a Vampire’s Lair: Inside the exquisite production design of AMC's Interview with the Vampire”
[01:14:10] Our outro music is “Arise” by Podington Bear (via the Free Music Archive), also used under a CC BY 3.0 license.