Pour The Wine, It's Rom-Com Time

Hallmark's True Justice: Eye for an Eye

Garry & Amy

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In this episode of Pour The Wine, It’s Rom-Com Time, Garry and Amy put on their detective hats to unpack True Justice: Eye for an Eye. In the second installment of the series, a frozen body turns up in the woods, an innocent woman is wrongly convicted, and the Justice Warriors are thrown into the cutthroat world of parent politics. Garry and Amy dive into what makes the mystery so engaging, from the sharp pacing and carefully layered clues to the standout chemistry among the Justice Warriors. This spoiler-light episode gives you just enough to make diving into the mystery impossible to resist.

Pour yourself a glass, get cozy, and press play! Cheers!

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SPEAKER_00

Welcome

Welcome And How To Support

SPEAKER_00

to Pour the Wine It's Romcom Time, where we'll sip some wine and review all things romcom on the Hallmark channel. I'm Amy.

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And I'm Gary.

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And you can send us an email to pour the wine at RomcomTime at gmail.com and let us know your thoughts about our podcast or anything Hallmark related. We would love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_01

We sure would. And if you wouldn't mind helping other Hallmark fans find us, you can leave us a five-star rating at Apple or on Spotify. And if you like watching us, you can hop on over at YouTube at PoorTheWine is RomCon Time. Click that like button, click the subscribe button so you don't miss any of our episodes.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Do you want to get right to it?

SPEAKER_01

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00

Let's do it.

Movie Setup Cast Spoiler Policy

SPEAKER_00

Today we're going to be reviewing True Justice Eye for an Eye. It originally aired on the Homework Channel on Saturday, May 23rd, 2026, and stars the Returning Justice Warriors, Catherine McNamara as Casey, Markian Tarasiuk as Eli, Marissa McIntyre as Sarah, and Alexander Nunez as Liam. Nikki Deloach and Benjamin Ayers also return as Professor Ambrose and DA Quinn in that order. And I don't think we need to say too much about Nikki or Benjamin. Nope. Do we?

SPEAKER_01

They are two big guns.

SPEAKER_00

Nikki, we last saw her in a grand old Opry Christmas, and we lost last saw Benjamin Ayers in Hope Valley 1874.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Two good shows.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. So one movie, one show.

SPEAKER_01

One movie, one show. And the the show just finished up.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, it just wrapped. Yep. I almost said series finale, season finale.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Um, this was directed by Lisa Soper. This is her Hallmark debut, so kudos to her. She has also directed the next installment of True Justice, Lost Love, set to be released sometime this year. Now, Nikki Deloach and Megan McNulty are the writers. This duo has written six movies together, including the first True Justice, and now the third one. So very cool. Let's drop this synopsis.

SPEAKER_00

Amateur sluice tackle a fresh challenge at a local school diving into the fierce world of parent politics. And aren't parent politics fun?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, they are.

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Their investigation uncovers hidden agendas and unexpected alliances as they navigate the complex web within the community.

SPEAKER_01

And there you have it. And this is the part of the podcast where we let you know that we'll probably drop some spoilers. So if you haven't seen this yet, please pause us, go watch the movie, come back and let us know, or just listen all the way through our podcast, then go watch the movie and let us know. There you go.

SPEAKER_00

And we're we're not gonna give away who did it. No, we're not in this who done it. We'll try not to give away, you know, too much. We'll try to talk around things if we can, but we might accidentally say some nugget. Yes, you know, because it's a mystery and we want people to watch it and enjoy it.

First Impressions And Mystery Vibe

unknown

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01

So what did you think?

SPEAKER_00

What's your let's I want you to go first. What did you think about True Justice Eye for an eye? What's your first take?

SPEAKER_01

I loved it. I actually we've actually watched the first one um a couple days ago because we didn't even know about this.

SPEAKER_00

Well, it was like a week or two ago. It was a couple days ago.

SPEAKER_01

And uh I I I loved that one. So I was excited about watching this one. I enjoy that there's these college students who are in law school and they each have their own individual talents, and they come together to help right the wrong.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And who doesn't love a mystery and who doesn't love a suspect murder board?

SPEAKER_00

A murder board. I know we love a murder board. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

I love the way it's shot. I love the way when the tr justice warriors are kind of narrating the scenes, how they're there, but they're not there. Um and overall, I just I really enjoyed it. It had me from get-go. So what about you?

SPEAKER_00

I think now we don't we haven't seen too many of the hallmark mysteries, right? We have we don't really watch the mystery channel that much. Not that we're opposed to it, we just haven't, right? Like the crossword puzzle mysteries and I can't even think Aurora T Gar. Like we haven't seen any of those. Now we we've been watching the Sign Seal Delivered, and those are considered mysteries.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_00

Um, but in terms of mysteries like this, we haven't really watched. I mean, it's probably like our fourth one, maybe. Right. Three Hannah Swanson, maybe fifth one. Um mistletoe murders we watched, we really love, but that's a Christmas Easter.

SPEAKER_01

Nellie knows mysteries or something.

SPEAKER_00

Nelly knows, yeah, we've seen those. But um I really like you, I agree with everything that you said. I really, really enjoyed this. I mean, we we liked the first one, but I think this one is almost better than the first one. Yeah, this one was You know, because the yeah, the first one you're getting to know the characters and everything, and it was good, but and that one was actually filmed in 2024. And um, well, I'll get into that in a little bit, but um, you know, think Scooby-Doo meets Mission Impossible.

SPEAKER_01

Scooby-Doo.

SPEAKER_00

You know, because you have the the Scooby-Doo of it all with the van, and they each there's you know, four of them, and right they each uh they need a dog, I guess. But um, you know, they each have their own talent and the mission impossible part, like when they have their ear pieces and somewhat disguises, not really disguise, but you know, and then you have the the PTA twist, although here it's called the PSC, right? I guess not PTA. And if you know anything about PTAs, I've been there, done that, yeah, treasurer of PTA, only I didn't embezzle any money. And um hence why you're still here. Yes, why I did not go to jail, right? But it's just a smart, entertaining mystery. The dialogue and the pacing kept things moving really well throughout the whole movie. Right. You know, the justice crew themselves, which you talked about, it's spot on casting-wise. I think they're each just perfect for their roles. And I really wasn't all that familiar with the actors who play each of the justice warriors, right? But I really like them. And then the mystery itself, I thought was just really cleverly unraveled throughout the whole movie. So I I I enjoyed it a lot. I thought it was really well done.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I thought they did a great job in not revealing too much too soon.

SPEAKER_00

Right, right. Did you guess at the beginning?

SPEAKER_01

I mean, you know, like most mysteries, they have that upfront person who you just think it is.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And then nine times out of ten it's not. So I I didn't guess who it actually was, but let's just say I got half of it right.

SPEAKER_00

You got half okay, okay. Well, for me, I never know. So they always have me guessing.

SPEAKER_01

Right, right. But yeah, I mean, I I I just you know, I just thought I I I'm glad this is a new mystery series.

SPEAKER_00

Series for them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, because we are getting the third one sometime later this year. You mentioned that, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yep, yep.

Filming Facts And Crossovers

SPEAKER_00

So they filmed, I did I listened to um the Hallmarkeys podcast, and they interviewed both Catherine and Markian. And it's a really good interview. You should go check it out if you haven't listened. It's not that too terribly long, I think maybe 20 minutes. But they were saying that they filmed the first one in 2024, and then they filmed the second and third movies. Um, the third one is what'd you say, Lost in Love? Right. I think they filmed those back to back. And then Markian, which we'll talk about in a little bit. There's a Nellie Knows Mysteries crossover. So when they were done filming the third movie, the second one back to back, um he went and filmed the Nelly Nose mystery, his role in that. And he said that was just like a day shoot for him. He just went in and filmed it. And I thought that that was kind of cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So I'm wondering why they waited so long to release it. Especially since when was Nellie Knows Mysteries Manners of Murder? That was was that this year? That was this year. That was this year, yeah. Right, yeah, yeah. So just a really fun crossover between the two. But I thought that was interesting, and they said it they filmed for 12 days for each movie.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

12 days.

SPEAKER_01

That's not a lot of time.

SPEAKER_00

That's not a lot of time.

SPEAKER_01

And my brain doesn't function like that.

SPEAKER_00

No, no. I mean, good for them. Good for them.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you really gotta be good at your job.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, really, really for real.

The Crime And Suspect List

SPEAKER_01

So you want to talk about the crime? You wanna go ahead and lay it out?

SPEAKER_00

Lay it out there. There's not really too much to tell, except so the crime is we find it. They oh oh a hunter, a female hunter, finds a body in the woods, and the body is frozen. So it's frozen in the snow, and the body is of Catherine Harris, and she was the president of the PSC, the parent school coalition.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, you got it.

SPEAKER_00

The parent schools coalition. I know I have PTA in my brain, so so she is dead ski. She's dead, someone killed her. We don't know who.

SPEAKER_01

Not yet.

SPEAKER_00

Not yet, anyway. Well, we know who. We're not gonna tell you who it is, but we know who it is, right? So then they have um, since she was part of this PSC board, um, there are quite a few suspects.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

So you want to go over the suspects in this one?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so there's 10 members in in the PSC, but this movie only focuses on a handful of them, like three or four.

SPEAKER_00

Um, so we have Well, because the other ones all had what alibis or weren't really or their spouses. So or their spouse. Right.

SPEAKER_01

Here we go. So Sharon, who is the one that was convicted of the murder, her daughter, Lily, was being bullied by Kimber's daughter.

SPEAKER_00

Uh Kimber or Catherine's daughter?

SPEAKER_01

Or I'm sorry, Catherine's daughter. It was Catherine's daughter's daughter.

unknown

Right.

SPEAKER_01

Um, so she gets charged with the murder. The next person is Sharon's husband, Dave. All right. Well, he's not part of the PSE, he's just a spouse, but he gets questioned. The next one is Cheryl or Sherelle Anderson. She was the treasurer, but she she got kicked out from being the treasurer because money was missing. Hmm. So we have that little mystery going on. Then there's Kimber.

SPEAKER_00

It's funny how the math wasn't mathing.

SPEAKER_01

You never get away with it, people. I don't understand why you do it. Then we have Kimber who thinks she's the ringleader of the PSC and wants to now be the president. So she's a suspect, because there's motive there. And then you have Kenneth Randolph, who is Kimber's uh spouse or husband.

SPEAKER_00

Um yeah, Kenneth. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01

But he's not part of the PSC. He's well, I don't think he is, but anyways, and then you have Tariq. Um I can never pronounce that. Patroysen. I don't know why I cannot pronounce that. And he wants to be the president now, and him is a member of the PSC, and he's a member, and he wants to, and him and Sherelle kind of join forces in this whole movie. So, you know, there's suspects there. And then we have the last but not least, Austin Harris.

SPEAKER_00

So which is Catherine's husband.

SPEAKER_01

Catherine's husband.

SPEAKER_00

And the spouse is always a suspect.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, always. And there are your subject uh suspects in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_00

Well, it's quite the list, and you have uh, you know, like you said, the PSC members, and then you have some spouses, and Sharon, I guess Sharon was so Sharon's been convicted of the crime already.

The Justice Warriors Jump In

SPEAKER_00

And by the time the Justice Warriors get involved, she is in jail already, right? So the Justice Warriors, Casey, Eli, Sarah, and Liam are all hanging out at Casey's place, and that is Casey's place, right?

SPEAKER_02

Where they end up with the right.

SPEAKER_00

So they're all hanging out, and Liam is getting information about a murder, and the person who is serving the time might not actually be the killer. Right. And he's kind of intrigued by that. So he proceeds to tell the other three they're getting ready to to watch a movie and they have popcorn, they're kind of chilling on the couch, and and he's basically like, Hold on, hold on, hold on. And they're kind of annoyed with him until he says he might have another case for them. And they're like, Yeah, we're ready, we're cool, we're cool. I thought that that was really cute.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, they did that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So um, so and this is what you talked about at the beginning. He starts to discuss the case as they know it so far. And as he's narrating it, they're showing the scene itself. So they're they're like put in the scene of the murder. Right. Well, the murder isn't happening, it's already happened, but they're kind of going, and the way that is done is so good. Really, really good. The storytelling there is the the way they tell the story is so good.

SPEAKER_01

I know.

SPEAKER_00

So he's talking and they're kind of, you know, they're in the snow, they're walking around, they're looking at the body, only they're not really looking at the body because it's already happened, but they're visualizing what's going on and they're piecing together where her body was found. And and so it's just, I thought that that was really good. And then that same type of narration and scene is uh comes through at the end.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Again, when they're revealing what actually happened.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And so I just I I really enjoy that. So you get it at the beginning and then you get it at the end again. I don't think you get it in the middle, do you?

SPEAKER_01

No.

SPEAKER_00

No, I think it's just the beginning, yeah. It kind of book bookmarks the the movie, and it was just really well done.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, it was. And I really enjoyed those two scenes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah. The way it was shot and everything. So so that's kind of where we are. So they decide they're gonna go, they're gonna go talk to Sharon, who's sitting in jail, and they're also gonna talk to her husband, did guys are gonna go talk to her husband, and they're gonna determine whether or not they're gonna take the case. Spoiler alert, they do.

SPEAKER_01

They do, and they find out some interesting things.

SPEAKER_00

Right. After their after their discussions, yeah. So yeah, so all right.

SPEAKER_01

So do you wanna can we just talk about the murder board real quick?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, the murder board. We love a good murder board. Oh my gosh. I know I say this every time we talk about murders or murder board, but we play Hunt a Killer, the game. If you haven't played it and you like mysteries, play it.

SPEAKER_01

It's just it's fun. Especially if you have, you know, like five, four or five people.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's really fun. So yeah, it's fun. It's also fun with just you and I when we just play it too. But we have a murder board. You know, it's a lot of reading, it's a lot of digesting, it's a lot of note-taking, but it is fun and encryptions, you know. I can never figure it out. You usually do, but it's fun. So we have a murder board.

SPEAKER_01

We love a murder board. And and what does Sarah say? Uh this was that was funny.

SPEAKER_00

Um we're gonna need a bigger oh, she does say that at one point. Was there something else you wanted to say about the murder board though, before we get to that?

SPEAKER_01

No, I just love how throughout the the movie more it gets filled up more and more and more with pictures and writings and sticky notes, and and it's just so cool.

SPEAKER_00

It was cool how they did that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So yeah. But yeah, so that's the murder board.

SPEAKER_00

Hence, hence the murder board. Um, but yes, there is a I don't know if I want to save those lines to the end, the scenes. We can we can save them if you can. That's Sarah. Yeah, I'll get back to that in a little bit. But um the first shot I do want to talk about. Um, I know we're gonna get into some favorites, some more favorite scenes, but there's a shot at the beginning. Now, Nikki Deloach plays Professor Ambrose, and she's got a whiteboard, and she's writing on the whiteboard, and right they're talking about an eye for an eye. Yeah, get it, name of the movie. Um, so and she's writing eye for an eye, and they're discussing what it means and what what its origin is. And I love there's a shot that they go, they shoot Nikki from behind um the board, the the whiteboard, and it's clear, and you can, you know, you can see through it and everything, and you can see her writing. But then when you when it pans around to her her back writing, it's it's just the whiteboard, you know. It's not, and I thought that that was really disgusting.

SPEAKER_01

That was a really good transition.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, I liked that a lot.

SPEAKER_01

And that's the other that's the other thing I like about this, is they start off with that's how the movie starts. So they were talking about retaliation law, which is an eye for an eye, and that's what this case was about. So I thought that was pretty cool. Yeah, they start in class, and whatever subject they're learning is actually what the title of the book is.

SPEAKER_00

Is relatable to what they're what they're doing. What they're getting ready to do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

All

Undercover Scenes And Favorite Moments

SPEAKER_01

right. So you want to get into some favorite scenes?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, let's talk about some uh really quickly because we don't want to give away, I guess, too much of it. One of my favorite scenes, so the the crew um they have to go undercover. It's decided that Eli and Casey are gonna go undercover as prospective parents to the school where the P P S C is, right? And just the fact that I this is where I love Casey and Eli. Now they have they're not together together, right? Right. But it's sort of like this slow burn, they're kind of flirtatious and everything, and they have to go and pretend they're this couple who has a kid that's coming to the school, and they're in disguises. Now, she's wearing a wig, right? It's a black wig, and Eli is wearing a mustache. Now, how much of a disguise that is, I'm not really sure. I'm not really sure, which he had said he was not gonna wear, by the way. He's not gonna wear it. He'll never wear a mustache.

SPEAKER_01

Never wear a mustache.

SPEAKER_00

Alas, he's wearing the mustache, right? And so I just, and I have to say, and this is an aside from the actual script. When Catherine McNamara, who plays Casey, she's in this black wig and she looks so much like Shannon Doherty.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, she did.

SPEAKER_00

She, it was like, oh my gosh, you know, it just reminded me so much of her in 90210. But anyway, I just I said it out loud when we were watching it, and because we normally don't talk about things, but anyhow, so Eli and Casey go to the school, you know, and um Liam and and um Sarah are in the van. So that's where like the mission impossible part, the Scooby-Doo-ish part, right? And they're I think they have earpieces in.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, they do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, Eli and Casey have earpieces in, and they're trying to, you know, and and Eli also is wearing this ascot, which is this like scarf around his neck, which I thought was hysterical, even though people live Monet.

SPEAKER_01

It was so funny.

SPEAKER_00

So I just I really enjoyed that. And they pick up some clues while we're there. Um uh Casey overhears what the PSC meeting is going on, right? And so it so I just I thought that scene was really cute and worked.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and it was funny how um uh Eli was trying to he he was at Lib and he's not really good at it. And right I love that in the van watching all this is Liam and Sarah, and Liam and Sarah kind of just Jones and on him like, oh, such a rookie, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, rookie, yeah. It was it's really good.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, that was a funny.

SPEAKER_00

The writing is so good, the writing, yay!

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, um, one of my favorite scenes was when uh Liam and Eli go to Kimber's house to try to find some clues. And Kimber had left, she she went somewhere, so they go to break in the house, and you know, Eli wants to do things by the book, and Liam's kind of like, you know, yeah, let's just try the door handle. And actually, the door was unlocked, and but Kimber's son was in there, and he's he's got some uh virtual glasses on, and he's got a sword, so he's playing this game, and Eli's like, We can't go in there, but then the kid says something like enter if you dare, and Liam goes. Goes, oh, I think we just got invited in. And I wonder if that would work in court, right?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So the whole scene is they're trying to get in, you know, find clues and everything, and they actually find something on her laptop. But in between trying to find things, they're kind of weaving and dodging the kid playing this game because he can't hear them. But he can see them. So they're talking and moving in between this kid as he's swinging a sword. And I just thought the way they shot that was it was so good.

SPEAKER_00

It was really good.

SPEAKER_01

It was good and it was fun.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Although when they get back in the van, he has the kid's soda and he drinks out of it, and that's just nasty. Sorry. I just had to say that.

SPEAKER_00

That's just nasty. Oh, so Kimber's son had a soda on the counter.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was like a Slurpee or something.

SPEAKER_00

Eli. Yeah, maybe it was a Slurpee. And Eli and who picks it up? Liam?

SPEAKER_01

Liam.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Liam picks it up, right? And that's what they take out, and then they end up drinking from it. He does. Leo does.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm like, oh nasty.

SPEAKER_00

I forgot about that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that was so funny.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh. Now, was that so when you're talking about oh, I'm trying to get a little that was a different time. Okay, I'm I'm thinking ahead to the party.

unknown

No.

SPEAKER_00

That's kind of where my brain was. This was before the party.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

They went to Kimber's house.

SPEAKER_01

No, actually it was, I think it was after the party. I kind of jumped ahead. Because they were going to use the excuse that they had left something because they were the caterers. They had left something if she was actually home.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But she wasn't home, so they made out. So what was another one of yours?

SPEAKER_00

Um, just the crossover with the Nellie Nose mysteries. Yeah. You know, because Eli is, and this is a spoiler if you haven't seen it yet, but Eli is reading the paper.

SPEAKER_02

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00

And um, I think it's Sarah who's like, What are you, you know, what are you reading there? Who actually reads the paper anymore? And he's kind of like, uh, you know, my grandma sends me this column. And I just thought that was such a great way to incorporate it and reference it. And then the fact that he actually is in the Nelly Knows Mysteries Manners of Murder with his grandma, right? He goes there and he's so I I just I love the crossover. I hope we get more of that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that that was good. You caught that. I didn't even catch that.

SPEAKER_00

I wasn't even expecting it. Yeah, you caught that. And we're so like duh. We watched True Justice Um family Ties, and I didn't even then I didn't connect that he is the grandson that goes, you know, because we love Manners of Murder.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And because we hadn't seen True Justice two years ago, we didn't we didn't make the connection. But then when we were watching this and he had the article, I was like, Oh my gosh, that's Eli, the Eli that was in there. Oh, I'm so dumb. You know. That was such a good moment for me anyway. But yeah, I like that. I really like the scene where you know they go undercover. They um again, this is very Mission Impossible, they go undercover as a catering crew to a party at um Catherine's, yes. Kimber's Kimber's house. I'm sorry, yeah, Catherine's the dead woman. Um at Kimber's house, they go undercover and they are trying to get more DNA samples from suspects that are there.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And I just thought the way they played it out, I won't go into all the details, but it is just a really great scene. You have Liam in the van, you have the three others in the actual party serving, finding out information. They have the earpieces in, Liam is guiding them around from the van. I just thought that was so cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, because they were wearing cameras so he could see what was going on.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Oh, yeah. And they're all they all have cameras. So you get yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that was a that was a really good and really well shot scene.

SPEAKER_00

Right. And there's some clues that come up there that Casey's able to get, and they do get their DNA that they need.

SPEAKER_01

So every every last one of them, yeah. Um, so let's move on to like the clues.

Best Clues Alibis And Reveal

SPEAKER_01

You want to talk about the clues?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I don't do you want to give specifics? I think I want to do we just want to do favorite clue.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, let's just do a favorite clue.

SPEAKER_00

All right. So, mine, if I had to pick one of my favorite clues, and I won't say what it is, but it ends up being the murder weapon.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

I liked how they came around to figuring it out and finding it. Yes. And I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to spoil it, but I thought that the way and the scene where they do actually get it was really well played, also. Well played. Well, see what I did there, see what I did there. What about you? What should I do?

SPEAKER_01

Clue for a clue. No, that was mine too.

SPEAKER_00

Are we playing blues clues?

SPEAKER_01

I know, right? We gotta get our little pads, yeah. You just figured out blues clues.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_01

Um, but no, it was so again, I hate saying it was so well done, but it was so well done. And it it's just the you know, for being the second movie, their chemistry, they they really all worked well together.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, they fed off of one each other. And I liked how each one of them kind of had their own thing. Like Liam is known for his photographic memory, which he he does.

SPEAKER_00

Which Sarah finds annoying.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Sarah, she's the forensic expert, you know.

SPEAKER_00

She she's like, I like it, but it's annoying. The photographic.

SPEAKER_01

And then yeah, she's the forensic. And then you have um uh Liam. Liam, who is of course the hacker, the computer game is and you have PJ, who wasn't physically in this one. She was like uh FaceTiming. Um, she's the one that's got a guy. I got a guy. I got a guy, yeah. She knows somebody. She knows somebody. She knows somebody. And and I hope she's in the next one because I I really like her character. And yeah, you you have Casey who's kind of like the leader, and she's kind of like a little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_00

So well, she leads with her heart, she gets the information, she's you know, protective of her brother, yes. Um, and her family life, and she is about setting things right for families because you know, she is they're missing their parents, and I I think that's what she really sees in um, you know, Professor Ambrose is that I think she confides in her a lot, right? And she goes to her for advice and maybe sees her as a mother figure-ish a little bit. Maybe because she bounces stuff off of her. So yeah, I think she's sort of the the compass of the group. Yeah. Keeps them on track and in the right direction.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And I I love how D.A Quinn, who they're all for some reason afraid of, but he's the one that kind of gets them through all the red tape when they when they actually need something legally done.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

He's the one that cuts through the tape for them.

SPEAKER_00

He really and it's so great because he and um Benjamin Ayers and Nikki Deloach aren't in it uh, you know, a ton, but they're in it just enough, sprinkled throughout. It's perfect. And I don't it's just perfect balance for the justice crew.

SPEAKER_01

And I love how they're actually together, like they're dating.

SPEAKER_00

They're a couple, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And they and the kids, or I call them kids, but um, Casey and uh Eli, they're they they can't get over, they can't get it out of their mind. Yeah, the picture's stuck there, right? Picture is stuck there, and they kiss, they're like, oh, I still can't get used to that. But yeah, yeah, I'd like to.

SPEAKER_00

Did you um did you say what your favorite clue was?

SPEAKER_01

No, mine was your what you had said. Uh the murder weapon, the murder weapon.

SPEAKER_00

Or the yeah, what ended up them finding the murder weapon.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

I just wanted to make sure I was like, wait a minute, did he maybe I'm drinking too much wine tonight? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, there was a lot of clues um that led to that point.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

But that was that was my favorite.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So all right, so let's go on to best alibi. Who had the or should we say, we'll say what why don't we say what the best alibi is, but we won't say who it's attributed to.

SPEAKER_01

All right, so mine was the Botox.

SPEAKER_00

Has to be. Has to be. Hands down, has to be Botox.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Okay. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

All right, so we're on the same page because that's we're not gonna say who, we're not gonna say who, but someone has an alibi.

SPEAKER_01

I I love that. That had to have been so funny when they picked that because that was like out of left field. But but it in reality, it's something that people do all the time.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So I can see. Oh man. So that's good. I'm glad we were both on that. There was another one, but I'll say that that people can watch it and find out what they were. All right.

SPEAKER_00

What did you think about the final reveal? Again, we're not gonna say who it is, we'll just talk in general about um when they confront everybody. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I thought it was again, this is where they use that. They're not there when they're talking about who did it and why they did it. I thought that was really good. And how they had these PowerPoint displa uh, you know, things and and because it then they end up doing it in a classroom, and I just thought it was really well, really well done. So yeah, I mean, thumbs up to that.

SPEAKER_00

I agree. So the Justice Warriors are the ones who kind of walk through what actually happens, and as they're narrating it, you're seeing the scenes. Yeah. And they're kind of in the scenes, and it's just such a cool way to tell the story.

SPEAKER_01

To wrap it up, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, to wrap it up. I thought it was I thought it was really, really great.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Really great.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And you know, throughout, throughout the movie, you know, we have the you have relationships starting to brew. You have Liam and Sarah kind of a little bit. Liam has this crush on Sarah, right? And it's kind of brewing a little bit, and she doesn't really realize it at first, but she's gonna get, you know, she's gonna get it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And then I think maybe she does come around. And then you have the the Casey and Eli. That's kind of brewing a little bit. There's a little bit of a they get into a little argument, but you know, that's resolved pretty quickly, I think. And yeah, so they handle that part really well. There's some funny lines in it, yeah. You know, so yeah,

Cheers Jeers And Final Ratings

SPEAKER_00

all right. So let's get into some cheers and jeers. What are some cheers for you? Which we've covered a lot, I know.

SPEAKER_01

Again, it's the way they describe the scenes, um, both in the beginning and at the end.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

How these kids came together to write a wrong, and how their teacher is a mentor. Um, I just, you know, there's a lot, lot going on, but they did a really good job of telling the story.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So what about you, Miss One of your Jesus?

SPEAKER_00

Um, I agree. I think the storytelling is so great. I think the I actually think the directing was great. The, you know, I said the storytelling, which implies the writers. They wrote such a good mystery, I feel like. And like I said, we're not mystery gurus. So, you know, but but we I really didn't know who it was. I thought the the way everything was laid out and revealed throughout the movie was great. Yep. I thought, you know, and there's some like you think it's one person, then it's not. You think it's this weapon, but it's not, you know, like there's all kinds of little layers to it. And then in addition, you have the personal stuff going on. I just thought it was really good storytelling, a really good, um, just a really good mystery.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I agree.

SPEAKER_00

And the way it was delivered. I thought, and like you said, the chemistry between the justice crew, I I keep saying crew, the Justice Warriors is so good. It's like they've been working together forever. And like you said, I can't wait to see the next one.

SPEAKER_01

I know. I'm already excited.

SPEAKER_00

I don't even know when it's dropping, but I'm I'm excited. And I really hope there are more in the future. Maybe they're on to something, you know, with this, with this cast. Well, they definitely have a hit. So maybe Nikki and uh and Megan, that's her name right. Megan McNulty.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

The other writer. Um, hopefully they have some stuff in the can or maybe they've already written, you know, a few. Maybe we'll get a Christmas mystery.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Oh, that'd be great. Wouldn't that be great? I bet you we do. I bet you we do.

SPEAKER_00

And then I have to mention there are two lines. You talked about it earlier.

SPEAKER_02

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

This is a cheer from me. So there's one scene where Sarah, she's uh when they're looking at the murder board, which we love so much, she says, I think we're gonna need a bigger board. Yes, she does. Has to be a shout out to Jaws. And if it's not Nikki Deloche or Megan McNulty, please let me know. Yes, in the comments down below. In the comments. I would love to know because we're gonna need a bigger boat. You know, nobody knows that from Jaws. You know, if you're if you're a movie guru, you you know that. And then I mean, I kind of was like, oh, that's gotta be a shout-out. Maybe it's not. Well, then later, I gotta find the quote. Again, it's Sarah, so she must be the movie person. Yeah, right. Because she's in her lab and she's talking to she's in her lab and they're like FaceTiming her talking or whatever.

SPEAKER_02

They're talking on the phone, yep.

SPEAKER_00

On the phone to the rest of the Justice Warriors. And she says, I love the smell of a sterile lab in the morning. And I immediately was like, Oh my gosh, that's number two. Maybe there were more. And that is, of course, a shout out to Apocalypse Now and the famous line, I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Yeah, which was said by the late great Robert Duval. I don't even want to get into him because oh my gosh, loved him so much. And he passed away in February. Yeah, but um, but I I just really I wonder if there were more, you know, and we just missed them, but those were two for sure that stood out to me.

SPEAKER_01

Really obvious for you. I gotta cheers to that.

SPEAKER_00

I got I love the little nuggets. I love little nuggets like that, and I don't always pick them up, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you're like, hold on a second, rewind that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. So cool, so cool. So shout out.

SPEAKER_01

And then you asked me, do you know what that's what I'm like? I'm gonna know.

SPEAKER_00

And you said, Yeah, no, that's a no.

SPEAKER_01

I definitely but you do, you always know. So you're good at those movie trivias. I'm good at solving the mysteries.

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's the more important part.

SPEAKER_01

All right. Do you want to talk about jers, like one jir?

SPEAKER_00

I really didn't have any. We kind of talked about this being the come on, Hallmark.

SPEAKER_01

What are you doing?

SPEAKER_00

We had this, like, what are you doing, Hallmark? All right, do you have a couple? I didn't really have any.

SPEAKER_01

I had one, okay, the wigs. All right. So yes. So she's, I mean, I I okay, so Casey, the first time she wears a wig, it's black, right? And we're going up the stairs, and they meet the foot. I guess he's the football coach or athletic coach.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And he's looking right at her and he's having a conversation. And then later on in the movie, she goes to talk to him because his statement was redacted like a lot. So she wanted to know exactly what he had said. And now she's wearing a blonde wig. And at first she has glasses on, but then she takes them off and he doesn't recognize her. Come on. I know, I know there uh there's a good wig, I guess. I don't know, but she's got the same face.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know. He sees a lot of kids, he sees a lot of people. But it was only like Well, again, would you do you think you'd be more like, gosh, you look familiar? Like it would have been funnier if you would have said something like that, but maybe not known where he could place her.

SPEAKER_01

Right. So that that was kind of my my jeer. I didn't really there were some other ones that were, you know, would they really do that in real life? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

But that one kind of got me because I was like, Well, no, there's always some suspension of, you know, right, right. Disbelief yet.

SPEAKER_01

But you know, other than that, no. I I loved, I enjoyed it. No big yeah.

SPEAKER_00

All right. So the quality of the mystery itself from start to finish, what did you think? I guess we're gonna do this on a scale of one to ten. How how strong of a mystery did you think this was?

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna give this one probably an eight and a half. Um, yeah, it was I I think the way they released the clues throughout the movie was good.

SPEAKER_00

Well, did you did you know right away? No.

SPEAKER_01

No, you know, I mean, I I didn't know. I mean, I had uh I had a feeling, but it didn't pan out all the way. So I'll just leave it at that. What about you? What did you read it?

SPEAKER_00

I would say an eight, a solid eight. I mean, I thought it was I thought it was a really good mystery. Um, you know, we don't watch too many of them, so I don't really have a lot to you know base it off of, but I really enjoyed it. I mean, I and the fact that I'm looking forward to the next one. I mean, I know there was a mystery we watched recently, and I I won't say which one it was, but you were like, you knew who it was right away.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

You know, and it was kind of a bummer because it was like, oh, it was so obvious, right? Like who the who the murderer was. So yeah. Um, but I would give this one an eight because you really don't know. You're like, well, is it that person? It could be that person. It's always that person. They did a really good telling us what we want to know, or do we not know? Are they trying to trick us? Is it too obvious? You know, like I felt like that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So all right. So all right. Is that uh is that a wrap?

SPEAKER_00

Well, are we gonna out of five corks? We did the mystery quality.

SPEAKER_01

So out of five corks, what would you give this one?

SPEAKER_00

Overall, the movie, I I would give it a four and a half.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_00

I thought it was really, really good. I would recommend people watch it. I think you're really gonna enjoy it. You do not have to have seen the first one to enjoy this one. You know, it there are some reference points, of course, you know, that you might be like, what happened? But it's not, it's I think you can watch this and not have seen the first one.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

You know, and be totally fine with it.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I agree. So what about you? How many corks would you give it?

SPEAKER_01

No, I'm gonna give it a four and a half.

SPEAKER_00

Overall, four and a half. Yep.

SPEAKER_01

Yep. So I really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00

All right.

SPEAKER_01

All right, so is that a wrap?

SPEAKER_00

That's a wrap.

SPEAKER_01

All

Wrap-Up And Listener Requests

SPEAKER_01

right. Well, thanks for listening. And again, if you want to help other Halmart fans find our podcast, we'd appreciate it if you give us that five-star rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify. And if you enjoy watching our podcast, hop on over to YouTube at Poe the Wine It's RomCom Time, hit that like button, hit the submit or subscribe button. Subscribe. And uh never miss an episode ever, ever, ever again. And guess what? We reached our goal of 200 subscribers. We're actually at 206 now. Yes, 206. Cheers to that for a second. Cheers, cheers. Now our next goal by the end of the year is 300. So tell your friends, subscribe, and uh enjoy our podcast.

SPEAKER_00

Make sure you follow us on Instagram and TikTok. Those are the two social media platforms we are focused on.

SPEAKER_02

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

Right now, we, you know, and let us know what you think about everything. You can send us an email to pour the wine isromcomtime at gmail.com. And just make sure you follow us wherever you podcast so you don't miss a thing. Until next time. Cheers.