BOB: First of all, SPOILERS. If you haven't listened to the podcast yet, do. It's great. Now, I'll start off with my journey as I listened to the early part of the series. Like the protagonists, I fell in love unexpectedly, and somewhat unthinkingly, during the first episode. The specificity of the different characters at the facility, of the situation with the alien artifacts, and the grim, but bearable, near-future world, were all very intriguing without being over-explained. Then, we get to what I'll call the gear-shift, when it turns out we've been setting up a noir all along. We got the forbidden love between earnest people who aren't sure if they can trust each other (very much like the couple in Blood Simple), we've got the target who's rich, hateful, and protected by society, and we've got the means and motivation to break the law to get the target. I probably should have seen it coming, as all sorts of groundwork had been laid (including the title, and the early scene explaining the title), but I didn't. It rattled me for a bit, as I kind of longed for the story I thought I was listening to, but I was definitely still on-board and as the tension ratcheted up I was 100% hooked. Then we get to the last two episodes...but before I get into that, I'd like to hear your impression of the first 12, so we both know where we stand going into it. / ELY: I was pretty much expecting a noir set-up even before I listened, possibly because I had only just recently started listening to Mac Rogers' LifeAfter. I was ready for forbidden, burning love and law-breaking in the name of that love and all the dangerous barriers in the way. But like you, I fell in love utterly with the characters in that first episode, easy as pie. Of all things, I hated Grant way more than I hated Trip Haydon. I hated Trip in the way you hate a rich powerful figure you never interact with, who benefits from society and cares not at all about the peons. But I hated Grant the way I've hated real people I've actually met. I swore at walls and threw pillows when he put Dak into that bind at her house. Like an invasion. That's what struck me the most about those first 12 episodes. It was a constant invasion, from all sides, into what Dak wants to keep precious and hers (her love for Matt). And in those 12 episodes, I didn't just love, but I hated, and that's what kept me hooked. I wanted to see Dak and Matt overcome those insane odds in whatever shape that took. Boy, did Steal the Stars deliver. For me, anyway. / BOB: The delivery you mention will be one place where we disagree, though it won't be the crux of my problems with the last two episodes... / EDIT: You can read the rest of the discussion at... https://hamletseries.wordpress.com/2017/11/08/two-steal-our-stars-fans-discuss-the-last-episode/#podknife