The Love Hypothesis Movie: Believe Olive! But Also? Fire Tom.

fly.

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Welcome to First Dates and

Soulmates, the romance podcast

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that believes somehow old broken

contacts mean a super cute meet cute.

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I'm your host, Nikki McKnight

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Meg: And I'm Meg Casebolt, and I have worn

contacts that do not make for a meet cute.

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They just make for really itchy eyes

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Nikki: It's true.

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It's true.

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Y'all, we are back from our,

I was gonna say summer abroad.

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We were most definitely not abroad.

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We were summer away.

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No, I'm gonna just tell everybody

the narrative that no, absolutely, I

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became Emily in Paris, and I definitely

lived abroad, and I, I did espressos,

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and I was gonna say croissants, but I

don't like croissants, on a trattoria

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or a patio somewhere in Europe.

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Let's just go with that as my lore.

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That is the narrative I wanna have

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Meg: you are international

to most of our listenership

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Nikki: Very true.

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Very true.

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Hello across the border in Canada.

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Welcome to the international, uh,

destination that is, um, Canada.

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All right.

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Meg, we're back.

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Meg: In the word neighbor, so that counts.

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That counts as being international

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Nikki: There you go.

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We're like the Brits in that way.

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Uh, hi Meg, we're back

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Meg: We're back.

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I missed you

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Nikki: How was your summer?

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Meg: I did actually leave the country.

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I went on a cruise, which is why we did

the love on vacation episode where you

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ranted about how much you hate cruises.

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That was part of it.

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Nikki: It's true

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Meg: so I did go to The Bahamas.

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So I, I did have a, an international jaunt

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Nikki: Did you drink Bahama Mamas

while you were in The Bahamas?

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Meg: I did not, but I drank

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Nikki: It's disappointing.

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Okay, that's fine.

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We can go there.

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It's just-

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Meg: I did a rum tasting.

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We did seven different types of, uh,

Caribbean rum-based drinks, which

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is when my mother-in-law discovered

that she didn't like rum, and I was

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like, "Maybe you should've known that

before I paid for your rum tasting."

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But, you know, this is

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Nikki: There is that.

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There is that.

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You know, j- a quick sidebar with this.

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So I love that you talk about

Bahamas and going to the Caribbean.

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There is a trend on TikTok right now that

I'm obsessed with, and it's essentially

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the fact that, hey, you know what?

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Newfoundland, for those of you not

in the know, is a Canadian province,

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but, like, Newfoundland is an island.

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So now there's a trend of people in

Newfoundland doing, like, uh, steel drum

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music, but it's like bagpipe tunes, or

they're dancing like they're at Caribana,

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but they're in, like, fishing galoshes

and they're, they're dancing around with

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the cod, you know, from Kiss the Cod.

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They're like, 'cause

Newfoundland is an island.

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It's my new favorite thing on

TikTok, that it's Newfoundlanders

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acting like they're from the Bahamas

and Jamaica or somewhere in the

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Caribbean, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

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Meg: Love this so much.

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Make sure to put it in

the show notes and maybe I

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Nikki: Yes

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Meg: know, I'm not getting

on TikTok for this though.

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Nikki: All right.

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Well, we are back, and the thing that has

brought us out of hiatus is it's currently

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the number two movie in Canada right now.

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It was number one when it came out,

and it is the film adaptation of Ali

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Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis, starring

and executive produced by Lily Reinhart,

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uh, as Olive and Tom Bateman as Dr.

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Adam Carlson.

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Meg, what were your overall

thoughts on this adaptation?

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Meg: There was so much to like

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Nikki: Mmm-hmm

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Meg: There were some, some choices that

they made that I did not appreciate,

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but on the whole, I think that

they did an excellent job with it.

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. Nikki: Would give it a nine out of 10.

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Um, there are some things that they

changed that I, you know, I kind of

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forgot about until I was kind of on

Threads afterwards, and I was like,

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"Oh, you know, I don't really care."

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There's only, like, one or two things

I wish they had kept like the book.

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But overall, I was like, Lily

Reinhart is fucking charming as hell.

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She's so pretty.

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To hear her talk about the work they

did on this film, you know that she

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loves it, and Tom Bateman as Dr.

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Adam Carlson, I thought was perfect.

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Um, Aunne, Rachel Marsh as

her best friend Aune, perfect.

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Uh, so overall, I'm giving it

a nine out of 10 as a film.

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As an adaptation, honestly, it'd

probably be like an eight out of 10,

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just because the things that they ch-

they changed, uh, that I didn't like,

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I felt were, were quite impactful.

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Meg: Very similar, where it's

like I enjoyed watching it.

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I enjoyed every minute of it.

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If I hadn't read the book, I

would have enjoyed it more.

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But, you know, as soon as you've read the

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Nikki: Mmm-hmm.

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Meg: to watch the movie, you're

automatically making those connections.

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And, you know, we just re-released

our book episode last week, so

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I was listening back to that

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. And, and because we re-released our book

episode and have the content, I was able

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to look at the keywords of the things

that we were showing up for and before

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I watched the movie, 'cause I saw a

spike in traffic, and I was like, "Oh,

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what other questions people have about

this that we're already answering?"

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But, um, I loved, uh, I loved the movie.

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I would have loved it more

if I didn't know the book

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Nikki: I, and I honestly, I think

that can be true of most adaptations,

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'cause if, if, especially if you liked

the original source material, I think

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regardless of how well the movie is made

or not, you're still gonna be sitting

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there with an imaginary scoreboard in

your head going, "Like that change.

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Don't like that change."

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, And that's why I didn't reread the book

and I didn't re-listen to the episode.

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I thought about it, 'cause I

really wanted to see like, oh,

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you know, what did they change?

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And d- was…

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'Cause I felt like the order

of some things was different.

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But I'm actually really happy I didn't

do that, to just ta- take it as much

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as possible on its own merit, and then

kinda go through some of the discourse

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and be like, "Okay, who's angry?

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What are people angry about?

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What are we doing?"

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And just kind of go through it that way.

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Meg: I didn't have

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Nikki: let's-

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Meg: questions until 50%.

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I was

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Nikki: Mmm-hmm

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Meg: were very faithful through

about 50%, and then they started

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to stray, and I, I kind of just

went, "Oh, that's interesting.

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Oh, that's interesting."

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But I did really appreciate how faithful

they were to the source material

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Nikki: Yes.

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All right, so let's, let's go through

the film because I think from the

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very first scene, I had a moment

of, "Oh, this should be kinda good."

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And it is two years before the main story.

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, We open on a blurry camera, like

someone smeared Vaseline on the lens,

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and I immediately went, "Contacts.

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The contacts are bad."

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And you've got Olive in the

bathroom, and all of a sudden, Dr.

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Adam Carlson comes in.

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He goes, "This is where

I dispose of things.

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You should not be in this bathroom."

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And they have a little bit of a back

and forth, but she never sees his face.

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And I thought this was pretty cute.

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This was a cute opener

that I did appreciate.

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Meg: I think they did a very good job

of Olive being competent but nervous,

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Nikki: Yes

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Meg: and never letting Olive feel…

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There's, there's some insecurity,

but there's also a level of, like,

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I do belong here, that I thought

was very smart to start her as such

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a competent heroine, even from a

moment of, "Oh, God, I'm sweaty, I'm

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nervous, I have this big interview."

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Nikki: I love the runner of Olive and

her sweating problem because, you know,

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she's like, "Yeah, it's, this is bad."

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And then, you know, later on when

she's at her talk she's like,

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"Yeah, I put maxi pads in the,

in the arm holes of my jacket."

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Or she's like, "Oh, I sweat."

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And they're like, "No you don't."

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She lifts her ha- her

arm and it's just damp.

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And they're like, "Oh,

yeah, you do sweat."

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Okay, so let's talk about Olive,

because Olive obviously is our heroine.

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Um, I really liked Lili

Reinhart in this movie.

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She's had a really

interesting acting career.

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Obviously she's most well-known for

Riverdale and being Betty, and the

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first season of that show was kind of

interesting in what they were doing, and

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then it just went fucking off the rails.

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And then there was time travel,

there was alternate dimensions.

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Shit got weird on Riverdale, y'all.

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And, like, some of her films

I haven't, like, loved a lot.

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She had, like, that bit part in

Hustlers, which was kinda fun.

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She had cameos in the horrible

new Charlie's Angels remake.

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But I really enjoyed

Lili Reinhart as Olive.

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I think she really tapped into Olive's

kind of just, like, innate niceness.

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Olive is, like, a nice person.

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She's not a, this, uh, not

quite the word I wanna use.

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She's not quite a problematic person.

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But she also didn't lose that combination

of Olive's awkwardness and, but at the

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same time, her spine, which I really,

really enjoyed, especially since she

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was an executive producer on the film

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Meg: Yeah, I li- I think that they were

actually made some decisions to strengthen

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the character of Olive, and part of that

is that in the book, it's single POV.

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It's only Olive's perception that

you get, and so you get all of her

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insecurities coming to the forefront.

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And when you take out any sort of

internal monologue, which I thought

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was a very smart decision, is to have

everything be spoken and not just have,

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like, voiceover, um, you have to have

that insecurity and that nervousness

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and that shyness show up in other ways.

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And so they made the choice to, like you

said, use the sweat use the nervousness,

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use the public speaking concerns, which a

lot of people have, and use An a character

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who draws her out and makes her more

comfortable and encourages her and says,

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like, "We're going to these parties.

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Look, they have pizza.

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You're gonna come out with me.

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You're gonna meet these people.

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That's good for you."

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Like, An is not really a crutch,

but, like, she's the one who keeps

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bringing Olive out and seeing Olive.

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Olive wants to shrink.

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Olive wants to spend her

Saturday nights in the lab.

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Olive doesn't want to go out on dates.

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She just wants to be with her mice, and

An is the one who keeps pulling her out.

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And having a character like

that, who is strong but, um,

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maybe shy, maybe introverted.

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But, you know, reading the

book, I remember thinking, "Is

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Olive on the autism spectrum?"

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I did

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Nikki: Mh.

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Meg: get that feeling from the movie

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Nikki: No, I agree.

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That, I don't, I don't

think that was there at all.

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And I, I love…

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One of my favorite things that Olive

does, and it's actually, like, right

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after that first scene, is when

she's walking through Stanford, and

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everybody's, like, chatting and talking.

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She's like, "Did I miss orientation?

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No.

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No, I didn't."

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But everybody's…

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Like, just recognizing around that, like,

everybody already feels comfortable.

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Um, people are already talking.

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This is why I had a business idea

that I called designated extroverted

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friend, that you could go to a

party, and it's almost like hiring

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an escort in a way of this person is

just gonna take you around to places.

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They're the ones who are gonna, like, walk

up to a group and start talking, say, "By

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the way, did you meet my friend Nikki?"

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Um, for me, this is my best friend Jen.

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Jen is my es- designated

extroverted friend.

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Um, and I just think that would be great.

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So I feel like that for Anne is great,

but I, I think sometimes when you have

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that extroverted best friend, it can

feel pushy and like you need to change,

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and I didn't get that at all from Anne,

which I love because it let Olive be

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awkward and let her be a little bit weird.

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And you know, when they first meet, Olive

is sitting in the back of this classroom,

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and she's like, "I'm just gonna sit here.

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Like, this is the easiest.

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I don't wanna walk through that crowd

of people talking to each other."

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And Anne is like, "Oh, hey," like,

"you can't see anything from back here.

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Let's go."

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And she, like, start pushing through.

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"Excuse me, women coming through.

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I know, women in the class, who knew?

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Look at you men everywhere."

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And Olive is just, like,

going a- along with her.

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And I like that Olive lets herself be

led in that way to contrast later than

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when she, you know, says no to things

or when she calls Adam on his shit.

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She gets to be all of these things,

which I, which I really enjoyed.

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I do wish she was a little

bit more awkward though.

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I was missing a little bit

more socially awkward Olive.

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Just a little bit.

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Just a little bit.

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Meg: More socially awkward and

maybe even a little bit more clumsy.

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I felt like that

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Nikki: Hmm

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Meg: across.

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And, and, um, you know, we saw that with

the contact lenses and the things falling

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on the floor, and then that thread sort

of went away, and it was fine that it

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went away, but it would have carried

a little bit farther as to like why

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Adam and Olive work together so well,

and why this girl who is beautiful and

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smart has been overlooked for so long.

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And it's not just being a

wallflower, and it's not just

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sitting at the back of the class.

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It's also, you know, she doesn't

always necessarily know how

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to navigate these situations.

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And they put that onto public

speaking, but they didn't put

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that onto one-to-one engagement.

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They did have a moment where, uh, Adam

says to her like, "How come you can talk

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to me and you can't talk to anyone else?"

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And she's like, "Because

you don't matter!"

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like, "The stakes are low with

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Nikki: Mmh.

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Meg: I'm not trying to impress you."

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And there's something there about that

social awareness of, like, other people,

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like, are developing an opinion of

me, and I know that I can't sway your

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opinion of me anyway, so why bother?

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Nikki: Clumsiness, I, is such a hard

thing to show on camera without it

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reading as over-the-top slapstick.

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'Cause I agree, d- we, we didn't

get to see her not necessarily be

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clumsy in that like, "Oh my God, I

fell over," like, "Ugh, what a girl."

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We didn't have that, which I didn't want,

because again, it looks, it reads bad

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on film, 'cause it's so over the top.

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Um, but I think it did let Olive,

like, maybe be more reactionary, not

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necessarily passive, but reactionary,

so that as she does these things and as

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she makes the decisions, yeah, like, she

does have to deal with a little bit of

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consequence to it, and they're not major,

but it's like, "Ooh, now I have to fix

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something," and fixing something in social

situations is extremely hard for Olive.

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So yeah, it, it's, it's such a

hard balance, 'cause I don't want

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her to be like that clumsy, "Oh,

me, I just tripped over air, and

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aren't I such a clumsy girl?"

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Like, nobody wants to see that, I

would hope, especially not in film.

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It's easier to do in a book.

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Um, but yeah, I thought it was

a, it was a pre- it was a pretty

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good balance between the sides.

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Meg: Yeah, and I think she could

have been, like, more stumbling over

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her words or struggling with how to

articulate things, but I do think that

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Lily as an actress put so much of that

into her face that you didn't always

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need the, like, scripted stumbles

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Nikki: Mm-hmm.

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Mm-hmm.

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Overall though, I'm quite happy

with Olive in terms of how…

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Uh, the one thing I did laugh though is

that there's a scene, I think it's right

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before they start fake da- I think it's

right before the kiss or right after.

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She's in the lab and

she's got her lab coat on.

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She's wearing shorts.

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Who wears shorts in a lab?

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Girl,

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Meg: wore that mini skirt a lot,

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Nikki: wear long

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Meg: of leg

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Nikki: pants and we wear

close-toed shoes in the lab.

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Like, that's just the

rules on how it works.

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Anyway, that was just my one little thing.

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I'm always like, the logistics of this.

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Incorrect uniform.

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Incorrect uniform.

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Um, let's talk about Adam for a sec.

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Dr.

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Adam Carlton, played by Tom Bateman,

who I only know as an actor, he's in the

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Kenneth Branagh Poirot movies as Bouc,

which is, um, Poirot's, like, uh, friend.

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Only thing I know him from when I

was going through his kind of IMDb,

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um, is only being in those movies.

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He's been in some other stuff.

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I don't really know him that well.

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God, he's good-looking, and he's so tall.

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I know Lily Reinhart is not, like,

the tallest human in the world.

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I actually don't know what the height

difference is between the two, but

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God, he's tall and good-looking

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. Meg: He's tall, he's good-looking, and

I think that they did a really good job

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of sticking to the character of, like,

everyone's attracted to him and everyone's

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intimidated by him, and that's why he sort

of like has this bubble around him where

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his standards are so high academically

that people ignore the fact that he's hot,

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or they look at him and they know that

he's hot, but they also don't talk to him.

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And so it works that, like,

Olive doesn't see him, so she

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can't be intimidated by him.

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The first two times she interacts with

him, the first time is, you know, the

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bathroom scene, and the second time

is the water fountain scene, where

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she's just like, "I need to kiss

somebody, and I don't know who it is.

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Yes, I need a body here."

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And then, you know, she's

just like, "Okay, sorry, bye."

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Um, and they start the Title

IX runner that they didn't

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keep with, which I was a little

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Nikki: I wish they had kept it.

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That was a funny one.

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Meg: Mm-hmm.

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That was a good running…

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That was a good runner,

and, like, her pumpkin spice

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lattes, I feel like it was…

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Again, these runners from the book

that carried longer that didn't

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always carry through, but, like,

they were on the page, which I

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Nikki: Mmh.

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Meg: or on the

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Nikki: Mmh.

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Meg: guess, from the page.

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Um, but Adam as a character, um, I

thought that they did an incredible

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job with setting him up as aloof

so that he can be that, like, hard

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stick of butter that softens under

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Nikki: Yeah.

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I really enjoyed his performance

because I don't, I, I don't know

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if I can describe this correctly.

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He thought himself as better

than everyone, but he also

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thought that wasn't a big deal.

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Like, it wasn't something

he had an ego about.

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It's just like, "Yeah, of course I am.

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Like, I just go about my day like this.

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I am vastly superior to all of you

because you guys are dumb fucks."

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But, like, not in, like,

a mean, antagonistic way.

371

It was just like, "This is how it is."

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Which I loved his lines

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Meg: wasn't, it wasn't

arrogance, it was just a fact.

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Arrogance would require a level

of pride and of like, "I am

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better than you," but it wasn't.

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It was just like, "Well, I would

never make that mistake, so how

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could you have made that mistake?"

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It was, it was competence, not arrogance,

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Nikki: Mmm-hmm.

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Meg: reads so differently of he can have

high expectations because he has already

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met or exceeded his own expectations,

and therefore it's not expecting

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people to do something unreasonable,

it is what he has already achieved

383

Nikki: and I, when we combine

that with the fact that he likes

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to play ultimate Frisbee and

looks amazing without a shirt on.

385

Like, congratulations, Daisy

Ridley, who's married to Tom

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Bateman . It's like, good job, girl.

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Uh, beautiful creature.

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Or the, like, his, he, the fact that

he's, like, pretty much always dressed in

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all black, really leaning into this Dr.

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Evil thing, but I look at that and

go, "No, he probably wears all black

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because then he doesn't have to make

decisions about what to wear that day."

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This is, like, a Steve Jobs thing.

393

It just so happens to play

into this idea of he is Dr.

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Evil.

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He is a ridiculously evil

human who fires people left and

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right, who has no human empathy.

397

But we do get to see some, I

wish there had been more, of

398

how he changes through there.

399

Like, you do get the moments of him

checking in with her after the faculty

400

party that goes badly, and she's made

to speak in front of everyone, and

401

he kinda, like, checks in on her.

402

He does help her practice

her presentation later on.

403

While she's studying, he takes away

her super fru-fru drink and gives her

404

a green juice, and he brings, is it

Malcolm she's working with at the time?

405

Meg: Malcolm,

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Nikki: him a coffee refill.

407

Like, he does, like, these

small things throughout.

408

You know, he g- he lets

her stay in the hotel room.

409

Like, he does all of these

cute things which I like.

410

I just wish it had been a little bit more

obvious, because this is where I'm gonna

411

bring in two of the changes from the

book, one of which I wish they had kept.

412

The other one, I don't mind that much.

413

Number one is he's been in love with

her the whole time was not necessarily

414

a factor in this story because we learn

in the book that pretty much from the

415

moment they meet in the bathroom when she

can't see him, he's been aware of her and

416

has kind of, like, kept an eye on her.

417

But it doesn't come up that he's

kind of been, like, low-key obsessed

418

with her since then, which I missed.

419

The second thing is Holden, which

I actually forgot about Holden's

420

character, um, so it didn't really

strike me while I was watching it that,

421

that, "Oh, there's this huge gap,"

but Holden was his best friend who…

422

Was it Malcolm was dating him?

423

Somebody was, somebody was dating him.

424

Um, and his role was kind of,

like, to, to use your words, soften

425

Adam, that he's not just a dick.

426

He can maintain friendships because he

doesn't really have friends in this movie.

427

Like, he's got Tom, but Tom's,

doesn't live there, and obviously

428

Tom is evil, as we come to discover.

429

But those are…

430

How do you feel about those two things,

the he's been in love with her the

431

whole time and his best friend, Holden,

not being present in the adaptation?

432

Meg: I missed Holden.

433

I was relieved that he wasn't

in love with her the whole time.

434

So the one that you wanted to

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Nikki: Mh mh.

436

Mh mh.

437

Meg: and letting him fall in love

with her over the course of the movie.

438

And the one that you're like, "Well,

I don't know if I needed Holden,"

439

that was what I missed, is Adam having

somebody to humanize him, to give

440

Nikki: Mmm-hmm.

441

Meg: beyond just, "Oh, we knew each other

at Harvard, and maybe we had the same

442

advisor, but we didn't actually come

out and say we had the same advisor."

443

Like, that was academic relationship,

but having Holden there with Malcolm, the

444

double date scene, you know, like, there

was so much that Holden did to, to not

445

only humanize Adam, but to give Adam more

depth to say like, "Oh, Tom's a dick."

446

You know, like, having a third

party say that before Tom shows

447

his cards was really helpful.

448

Um, and it gave, you know…

449

In this version, in the, in the

adaptation, Olive never goes to

450

Adam's house, and that was where

Holden was sort of, like, bringing

451

her into the fold, you know?

452

And instead they did that scene

where, like, it was basically,

453

like, not a frat party, but it was a

grad student party where they built

454

Nikki: Rube Goldberg machine.

455

I love that scene

456

Meg: uh, where the…

457

It was really

458

Nikki: Non

459

Meg: to see Adam soften up to

the grad students as a postdoc,

460

but it didn't give Adam depth.

461

It just gave Olive more depth, and it

was a fun scene to see him with the,

462

the lemonade, but like, it didn't

advance the plot in the way that a

463

Holden character would have advanced the

464

Nikki: Mmh.

465

Meg: to say, "Oh, you know, Adam

is a human outside of his role as a

466

professor and as a, a, an academic."

467

And that was never on…

468

There, he had nobody on the page

that didn't know him personally

469

Nikki: I, y- agreed.

470

I even think of, um, I loved him in

the drunk versus high science games.

471

I think my notes I wrote down,

"This is giving real theater

472

kid energy, but science kids."

473

'Cause if y'all have ever hung out

with theater kids, it's dangerous.

474

But I, so I love the scene where he's

kind of like, one of the, one of the

475

women, I think she's on, like, Team

High, she's, like, literally staring

476

at a cupboard, and he's, like, watching

her, and then he, like, gives her a hint.

477

And she's like, "Yeah."

478

He's like, "No, stop helping them.

479

Citric acid."

480

Meg: Citric acid.

481

Sodium

482

Nikki: Or we get that, we get the,

the he's afraid of needles scene, when

483

it's, like, it's time for flu shots.

484

Like, we get that small moment,

but to your point, I don't think

485

any of that is sufficient enough.

486

Like, when I … When characters like

this fall in love, I always look and then

487

go, "Okay, I get why people love her.

488

But why does she love him?"

489

The, the movie I always think about

with this is Ever After: A Cinderella

490

Story with, uh, Drew Barrymore and

Dougray Scott as, um, the prince,

491

the Prince of France or whatever.

492

I get why he loves Danielle,

Drew Barrymore's character,

493

'cause she's wonderful.

494

Why does she like him?

495

And that's w- I, I can

496

You know, suspension of

disbelief in a romantic movie,

497

I can do all day, every day.

498

But what is it about

Adam that Olive likes?

499

Yes, he's gorgeous.

500

Yes, he's helpful.

501

Yes, he's kind of funny in a snarky way.

502

But what about him as a human

makes her go, "I do actually

503

wanna spend time with him"?

504

And it's not just, like, a

friendship of, "Yeah, you scratch

505

my back, I'll scratch yours."

506

Like, this is, like, their

fake dating relationship.

507

What makes her fall in love?

508

I don't think there was

enough of him not being Dr.

509

Evil in a way that made sense watching it.

510

Like, the needle scene

by itself is not enough.

511

Engaging with her friends

is not quite enough.

512

So the more, the more we talk

about this, I'm like, "Yeah, that's

513

what we needed Holden for," to

be like, remind him he's a human.

514

Remind everybody that, like, he,

he's not just who he is at work.

515

'Cause even when they're

not at work, he's at work.

516

Meg: He doesn't have a social

life outside of work once you

517

lose the Holden character.

518

So he, he can't be anything

but a softened version of Dr.

519

Evil because he doesn't have a

role that isn't a that isn't an

520

Nikki: Mmh.

521

Meg: And even at the faculty

522

Nikki: mmh.

523

Meg: and even at the p- cocktail

party, the st- the things that are I

524

would say, like, his events, doesn't

matter because he's still working.

525

Nikki: Mmh mmh

526

Meg: So how can you fall in

love with a person that you're

527

only engaging with on campus?

528

And they also missed … I just realized

they missed the scene where she has

529

to sit on his lap at the lecture.

530

I love that scene

531

Nikki: Oof.

532

Okay, this is, I think this is a

good segue into talking about their

533

fake dating relationship in general.

534

We've talked about some of the elements.

535

Oh my God, there are so many cringe

moments that, again, they, it makes

536

sense for the storyline, but the

putting on sunblock and she leaves

537

it looking like angel wings on it

was funny, but everything leading

538

up to that was super cringe for me.

539

Um, when, um, making her talk out,

uh, making her talk at the party, not

540

necessarily him, but, like, everybody's

like, "Talk about your work," and

541

everybody's, like, shooting her down.

542

Like, oh my God, so cringe.

543

I could not watch.

544

There is one scene that I literally

l- was laughing so hard I had to pause

545

the movie, and it is their coffee date.

546

Couple things happened in this scene.

547

Obviously, first coffee date, and it's

like she's getting the, the so-and-so

548

with the sprinkles, and the this, and

the this, and the this, and the this.

549

And they're sitting down, and they

have, like, the department secretary

550

or something sh- taking photos, and

she's just pointing it out to Adam like,

551

"Yeah, that, she's not taking a selfie.

552

She's taking a photo of us."

553

Um, and then her friend, An and

Malcolm come in, and they're

554

like, "What the fuck is going…"

555

'Cause they saw the photo that the

secretary posted on social media.

556

But the thing that killed me is when

Adam leaves, there's a beat, and then

557

An and Malcolm, like, throw themselves

down at the table, and I just, I lost it.

558

I, that is what I would have done.

559

I would have been like, "Coast is clear.

560

We're good."

561

What the?

562

And thr- the, the, it's the

rattling noise, the noise of them.

563

I, I fucking lost it, and then, uh,

Olive turns to them and goes, "You

564

know what you did," or something

like that to the secretary.

565

Like, "Good job, Janice,"

whatever her name was.

566

I loved, I laughed so fucking

hard during that scene.

567

Meg: And that scene where he

did the forehead kiss where he

568

Nikki: Yeah.

569

Meg: like didn't know where

570

Nikki: Yeah

571

Meg: with her and there's so

many cringe moments throughout

572

the first like I would say the

573

Nikki: Mmm-hmm

574

Meg: of their fake dating where it's

like they go to hug and she, like even

575

when she's leaving his, um, office

for the first time and he holds the

576

door open and she like goes for a hug

and then backs off and like all of

577

the physical humor of the awkward,

cringey, two socially awkward people

578

trying to navigate a fake relationship.

579

But then in that moment where he knows

her friends are watching, and it's

580

the first time that he really knows

her friends are watching, engages with

581

it, and then he goes for the forehead

kiss after like a very awkward moment.

582

Whereas later when he knows our

friends are, her friends are

583

watching, he uses it to his benefit

to get a real kiss in there.

584

Mm

585

Nikki: Yes, he does.

586

I, and I love that they kept, like, that

negotiation aspect of their relationship.

587

Um, in, I don't remember how it happens

in the book, but in this one he calls

588

her out of a lecture to come to his

office, and it was like, "Hello.

589

We are about to have a conversation.

590

We're gonna do, we're gonna do this.

591

These are the parameters."

592

And she's like, "What

is happening right now?"

593

But then very quickly kinda

gets on board with it.

594

I didn't think her desi- like,

her driving force to, to do

595

this was quite strong enough.

596

I know she was doing it for An and Jeremy,

and I know they kind of changed in the

597

adaptation the An Jeremy why she's doing

this thing, which I, I don't really care.

598

The way it was in the film is fine.

599

I don't think it was that big of a

deal that they changed the, the MO

600

behind the start of the relationship.

601

But I love that he's, like, sitting

behind his desk like, "Thank

602

you for coming to this meeting.

603

Our agenda for today is this," and

is like, "Here are the boundaries."

604

I love that they kept, like,

that negotiation aspect of it

605

in it, which I really enjoyed.

606

It was very funny

607

Meg: that was the first part

of our faking it framework too.

608

We

609

Nikki: Mmm-hmm

610

Meg: to build the faking it framework

of, like, if the, the premise and the…

611

And so the A of faking it is agreement.

612

Like, if they don't have a strong

agreement, the entire thing falls apart.

613

And Ali Hazelwood nailed this part

of, like, we end on October 29th and

614

this is how many weeks we have, and

then they don't go through and do the

615

backstory or any of that stuff, so

they have the awkward moments later.

616

But that agreement of this is how it

benefits you, this is how it benefits me,

617

it has to be reciprocal, um, and we have

to come to some sort of verbal or very

618

rarely contractual written agreement.

619

Um, but there is that contract

that's happening of here's how

620

you benefit, here's how I benefit.

621

You know, we're not having sex.

622

We're gonna see each other

on campus this many times.

623

You know, are you coming

to this faculty event?

624

And then it…

625

the, the lines start to blur slowly,

which I love the way that they do that.

626

Uh, but starting from that

very stiff, very, like, sitting

627

across the desk from each other.

628

Adam's posture is perfectly upright.

629

His hands are gripping

the sides of his chair.

630

He's just so, like, controlled in

that moment, and we talked earlier

631

about how in our book analysis, the

question that we asked each other

632

was, like, is Olive coded autistic?

633

But in that moment where Adam is

sitting there negotiating, I went,

634

"Oh, are they coding Adam here?"

635

'Cause I didn't read Adam

as autistic in the book.

636

Nikki: Mmh.

637

Meg: calculating.

638

I didn't see him as autistic.

639

But once I saw him on screen,

I was like, "Oh, maybe he is."

640

And actually, that was a question

that people were googling,

641

that our book analysis showed

up for is, is Adam autistic?

642

They didn't ask about Olive at all, and so

643

Nikki: Yeah

644

Meg: a really interesting shift

and especially, you know, with

645

the person who is, is playing…

646

with, with Lily as the producer and the

primary actress and wanting and making

647

those shifts to make Olive a bit more, uh,

I don't wanna say strong, but a bit more

648

of a, like, protagonist you can cheer for.

649

You had to have Adam then become more

aloof and awkward, and he was already

650

aloof and awkward to begin with.

651

Um, so that was an interesting

choice too, is to…

652

especially in that particular scene

of him not being able to read the room

653

sometimes at first, Olive having to just

soften him through her own, like, grumpy

654

sunshine vibes, but also say to him, like,

"Maybe you could give people a second

655

Nikki: Maybe

656

Meg: Maybe you could talk to

them a little bit differently.

657

Maybe you don't have to make people cry.

658

Maybe if you make them cry, it's a

sign that you're doing it wrong."

659

Nikki: And I, that's, I think that was,

those were good demonstrations of why

660

she starts to like him a little bit more.

661

Again, I, I, I wanted more of it, but

think about when, I think it's right

662

before the faculty party, and he goes to

her house to pick her up, and, uh, one of

663

the women there is, like, a grad student

that he fired, and or ma- he, he made her

664

do something over again, and she's like,

she missed seeing her dog before she died.

665

And we get a callback to that moment

later where he's sitting with this

666

person at a coffee shop, and she's

just going through photos of her

667

dog, and she's just like, "Mm-hmm.

668

Yes.

669

Mm-hmm.

670

Dog."

671

Like, that is really funny to

me, that he's ma- doing that.

672

Or at the end, when he has a

grad student in his office crying

673

because she fucked up, and he said,

"Okay, next time don't do this."

674

And she kinda goes, "Next time?

675

I'm not getting fired."

676

And then she starts sobbing, and then he's

like, "Oh my God, why am I doing this?"

677

Like, I'm do- this is the what I…

678

This is nicer, but holy shit, I

have to deal with so many more

679

emotions when I'm being nice.

680

And I, I loved those changes.

681

Um, or even when she is speaking

at the event, and she makes a

682

comment early on that like, "Oh,

thank God my presentation's at the

683

same time as the keynote," uh, so

that means, like, nobody's gonna

684

come to mine, which is great.

685

Small audience.

686

Of course, we find out later he is

the keynote, but he shows up to catch

687

the end of her talk, and she sees his

badge and goes, "You were the keynote.

688

How did you get here?"

689

He goes, "I talked fast."

690

Like, to get here, and I just look at

that, I'm like, okay, I see, I see you are

691

giving me evidence of why she likes him.

692

I can see why she would wanna fuck him.

693

But loving him, this is the right track.

694

It needed more.

695

This needed to be longer, but you,

you have limited screen space.

696

You need cuts.

697

That's why we see, um, the two of them

sitting on a bench, and they kind of,

698

like, cuddle, and they wave to, uh,

the guy who has to give Adam money,

699

and then she's like, "Okay, thank you.

700

Bye," and, like, leaves to show

that they were just doing…

701

I wa- I, I always want more.

702

I always want more of this.

703

Meg: Yeah.

704

Nikki: We have limited real estate.

705

Meg: more of them at the,

the sushi restaurant in

706

Nikki: Mhm

707

Meg: where there're actually just

the two of them talking to each other

708

uninterrupted, and he's making fun of

her sushi choices because she loves

709

that, like, that the food is coming

out and ca- on the little, like,

710

trains, and I fucking love that, too.

711

I love that.

712

You know?

713

But, like, the grumpy sunshine of

it all works, but also, you know,

714

I, I agree with you that we could

have had a little bit more of Adam

715

backing her up, Adam supporting her.

716

Not just giving her coffee, not just,

like, doing the, like, homeostasis

717

relationship work of, like, you know,

"Okay, I'll make sure that you're going

718

to bed and sleeping," or whatever,

but, like, really to her and getting

719

to know her and supporting her,

not just her presentation skills.

720

Um, it came across in the sex

721

Nikki: Yeah

722

Meg: where he's like, "I don't

want you to regret this."

723

There was a

724

Nikki: Mmm-hmm

725

Meg: but I think there could've been so

much more reason to fall in love with

726

Adam and not just to, like, like him

727

Nikki: that's always hard when you have

to show, like, passage of time, and you

728

can't have too many moments that are just

showing them how they are because then

729

the plot and the film loses propulsion.

730

It loses forward momentum when you

linger too much in just showing here's

731

them being cute, here's them being nice.

732

So it's definitely a

challenge to display that.

733

Um, you know, I, I, I

always, I always want more.

734

Meg: work

735

Nikki: Yeah.

736

Meg: where you get Adam as a kid, you

get the stories of Adam growing up, you

737

understand why Adam is the way that he

is, which you get a little bit in the

738

sushi restaurant scene, but not enough.

739

You don't get enough of Adam sort of loose

740

Nikki: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

741

I do love, um, kind of g- going in for

the, the end of the movie when we have

742

a lot of stuff starting to happen.

743

Um, I love that they played with the only

one bed trope because … And then later

744

when, um, Olive confesses to Anh this

whole thing was fake, that she uses the

745

term fake dating, and I kind of just made

a note of, yes, because these characters

746

ostensibly live in the real world,

they know what romantic comedies are.

747

They know what romance tropes are.

748

So the fact that Olive was like, "Oh, my

God, this is gonna turn into an only one

749

bed situation," or, "We were fake dating,"

like, using that term specifically I

750

thought really … was, was really fun.

751

And Adam going, "No, I booked a double.

752

Like, there will be two beds."

753

And she's like, "No, no, no, no.

754

You do not … S- a pipe is gonna burst.

755

Something's gonna happen.

756

There's only gonna be one bed."

757

And then she walks in,

she goes, "There's two."

758

Meg: And in, during the agreement

scene, she says, "So we're fake dating?"

759

Like, she

760

Nikki: Mm-hmm.

761

Meg: trope, which I really love,

because he's the one laying out all

762

of the contractual agreements, and

here's when it ends, and here's how

763

often we're gonna see each other.

764

And she's like, "So this is fake dating?"

765

Like, she names the trope, which I love

766

Nikki: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

767

Okay, I wanna talk about

768

Meg: we talk about Tom?

769

Nikki: I was like, we

need to talk about Tom.

770

Not only Tom and the fact that he's

an evil, horrific being who does not

771

deserve happiness, but also this is the

thing I didn't like that they changed.

772

Okay, t- t- tell me your thoughts

773

Meg: The reason that I thought the book

worked really well, especially for what

774

we know about Olive, is that she, in the

book, she was recording her presentation

775

to send it back to her advisor, Dr.

776

Aslan, who is a named character, and

they easily could have done this.

777

And then she gets the recording of

Tom sexually harassing or assaulting

778

Nikki: Mmh.

779

Meg: Well, I guess not just harassing,

but, like, making this contract clear.

780

It's recorded.

781

And Olive, being Olive, and being

not a doormat necessarily, but not

782

somebody who, um, who is big on conflict

resolution or, or facing conflict, she

783

has the, the audio recording of the

sexual harassment happening, and then An

784

hears it, and Malcolm hears it, and…

785

Or maybe it was Jeremy.

786

I can't remember, but one of the guys.

787

And they're the ones who are like,

"You have to take this to Adam.

788

You have to take it to the dean.

789

You have to do something about this."

790

And there's evidence.

791

Nikki: Yeah

792

Meg: The way that they change it in

the, the adaptation, and I do think

793

that there's a benefit to this,

is that it then becomes Olive's

794

word against Tom's, and there's no

evidence of him actually saying this.

795

And the problem then just becomes,

well, Adam believes Olive, and

796

therefore Tom's career is ruined,

but there's no evidence of it.

797

And the benefit of that is that Olive

then doesn't rely on anybody else.

798

She goes directly to Dr.

799

Aslan and says, "I need to find

another source of funding."

800

But they set up the other source

of funding with the two named

801

characters who came up on the stage

and said, "We loved your work.

802

I'm from Yale.

803

He's from," I don't know, "Dartmouth,"

804

Nikki: Mh.

805

Meg: Like, they set up the opportunity to

make the reason in the book work, and then

806

they just, like, dropped that scene out of

it and did it in the hotel room instead,

807

which, like, what kind of advisor goes

to somebody's hotel room to begin with?

808

- I think the entire reason for the change

was then they have time where Adam

809

is distant because Tom has told Adam,

"I'm going to offer her this position.

810

She can't be, like, stuck in this

relationship with somebody in California."

811

So T- so Adam goes distant

'cause he thinks he's trying to

812

Nikki: Yeah, 'cause,

813

Meg: quote,

814

Nikki: Tom says to him,

"I need her full focus."

815

Meg: Yeah.

816

And I just think that it was a weak

decision, that the book did it better,

817

and having the, the audio recorded

evidence of malfeasance or misconduct

818

made Olive's case stronger, and she

could have then brought that to…

819

She could have still

been the main character.

820

She could have still

taken that tape to Dr.

821

Aslan or somebody else and said, "Here's

why I need the alternative funding.

822

Here's why I need something else.

823

Here's why I can't work in Tom's lab."

824

But they just sort of like sidestepped

that, and instead they just had her

825

like, "Oh, I heard people talking about

me in the bathroom," and then I have

826

no evidence of this sexual harassment,

and everyone has to go based on the

827

word of an, a, a grad student instead

of a post-doc, and that's not how

828

Nikki: Yeah, th- that's, I- it was also

just, like, the whole setup for the event.

829

In the book, Olive gets that speaking gig.

830

She gets it.

831

It's not because of Tom,

it's not because of Adam.

832

She already has this, she's already

been given this speaking spot.

833

And then, you know, she goes, she does it.

834

The f- here's the thing, y'all.

835

We live in the real world as women,

and I saw a lot of people saying,

836

"No, it was actually really good

that all Olive had to do was…"

837

And it really wasn't her.

838

An.

839

She told An, An told Adam what

had happened, and Adam just

840

believes her and goes after Tom.

841

Y- that's nice.

842

Believe women.

843

We also live in the real world where we

know nothing will fucking happen to Tom.

844

Adam's like, "I'm gonna ruin you."

845

Well, we haven't seen that Adam has any

pull outside, it, we have, bec- maybe

846

it's because we don't have Holden,

but he doesn't have friendships.

847

I, how is Adam gonna ruin Tom?

848

How?

849

How is he going to do it?

850

What is gonna happen when

it's Olive's word and that's

851

it, and there's no evidence?

852

Nothing's fucking going to happen.

853

That is how this works.

854

So I understand they were like,

"Oh, you know, he believes her."

855

I'm like, "Yeah, and

nobody's gonna give a shit."

856

Like, this is not going to work.

857

We need evidence.

858

We need irrefutable evidence.

859

And then honestly, probably some

shit's still not gonna happen.

860

Are you up on the news right now, Cornell?

861

Like, it's just, mm

862

Meg: meanwhile, I'm like, it- when

Tom's in her hotel room, I'm like, "Let

863

her have her phone on and have Adam

864

Nikki: Something

865

Meg: when, uh, there's a

moment where Olive goes to An,

866

and this pissed me off too.

867

Olive goes to An and says, "I

was sexually harassed by Tom.

868

I can't be there."

869

And b- right before that,

they kick out whatever the

870

Nikki: the, the little running

joke, just shut up, dude.

871

I remember his name, man

872

Meg: Yeah, exactly.

873

They kick him out, and he goes, "You can't

874

Nikki: McConnell?

875

Meg: I'm in the middle

of recording my data."

876

And I was like, please

let him be recording this.

877

Like, that could have been some

sort of, like, secondhand, even if

878

it's not, you know, it would still

be Olive's word and Olive's thing.

879

But then An just goes like,

"Oh, you're my best friend.

880

I knew you were lying."

881

Like, and just for probably two minutes

they talk about that instead of like,

882

"Hi, you were sexually harassed by a

superior, and you, like, don't have

883

a place to work, and now we're just

gonna talk about how I knew, and

884

you guys were awkward, and it was

885

Nikki: Yeah.

886

Meg: And I was like, this

887

Nikki: Who also, who also threatened

to steal her methodologies, and

888

her frameworks, and her research.

889

Um, so like this is

ruinous for, for Olive.

890

So I didn't, I didn't love that, how

they set it up, because o- one, I don't

891

believe anything would happen to Tom.

892

Two, the other change that they

made is the reason that Olive

893

had to go find funding is Dr.

894

Aslan's retiring, so

she was not an option.

895

So for her to just go back to Dr.

896

Aslan, I'm like, "Why wouldn't

you have gone there first?"

897

Like, I know you're at,

you're already at Stanford.

898

Like, I know you needed more money

and things, but j- it's, isn't it

899

like your safety school in a way?

900

Like, wouldn't you have put in an

application with her regardless of if you

901

wanted to go to Harvard or, or wherever?

902

I don't know.

903

I, I didn't love this.

904

B- and all it really gave the opportunity

was for Adam to go after Tom and have

905

that, "If you t- go near her, I'll fucking

kill you," and I was like, "Who cares?"

906

Like that, uh … And then they

immediately reconcile outside of

907

that when, because people in the

classroom start live streaming this,

908

but they didn't catch any of what the

accusation was, so still people don't

909

know that Tom is, uh, is the devil.

910

Um, they just see Adam going off on

Tom, and they're like, "Ooh, look at Dr.

911

Evil."

912

But they don't know why, 'cause

he doesn't say any of that.

913

He just says like, "I, Olive told me,"

or, "I heard what you did to Olive,"

914

and then people start recording, so

none of that is caught on camera.

915

The, the, the student body widely

doesn't know, but then Olive shows up

916

at the end in the hallway, and that's

their big reconciliation moment.

917

It just f- it felt really flat.

918

Like this section either made me

angry or it felt flat, and then

919

same thing with the flash forward.

920

It just kind of like, it felt like

we were building towards something,

921

and then it just kinda went

922

It really petered out.

923

Meg: petered out.

924

Nikki: Yeah.

925

Meg: And it

926

Nikki: I, okay

927

Meg: to peter out, I would say,

like, th- after the sushi scene.

928

Nikki: Yeah, and like,

929

Meg: sort of

930

Nikki: y-

931

Meg: lost its momentum

932

Nikki: yeah, and I don't love that,

like, An was the one that told Adam,

933

and she's like, "And, and, and,

and Olive told me not to tell you."

934

Um, the reconciliation is too quick.

935

Um, and it, I, she didn't even tell Dr.

936

Aslan.

937

Like, I know Dr.

938

Aslan has a line of like, w- uh, "We

have to be perfect, we have to do much,"

939

but it's like, why didn't she tell Dr.

940

Aslan and get Dr.

941

Aslan on her side?

942

Like, I don't know.

943

The, how this was handled, I just don't

have trust in the system, again, have

944

you seen what's happening at Cornell?

945

Um, that any of this would be

handled correctly, that there

946

would be any consequences for Tom.

947

Um, like, good for her,

she stays at Stanford.

948

She, you know, we flash-forward to,

I think it's two years later, where

949

she has her doctorate, and she's

teaching, and An is teaching, and

950

she and Adam are still together.

951

Like, it's cute, that little moment

of, like, they're, they touch each

952

other's hands as they walk by.

953

But it's like, Tom needed consequences.

954

Fuck Tom.

955

Meg: Yeah.

956

Yeah.

957

They didn't ha- they didn't ever

address like, "Oh, I'm so glad you

958

never went to Harvard 'cause that

lab got shut down once Tom was…"

959

Once…

960

And here's the…

961

This could've been once other people

came forward and said that that same

962

Nikki: Yeah

963

Meg: could've been a one-sentence

thing off the page that just like,

964

"I'm so glad that you're here

at Stanford because Harvard was

965

caught in that terrible, uh, you

966

Nikki: Sex scandal and like

to- uh, yeah, something.

967

Something.

968

Yeah, that would've been

a good way to do it.

969

Meg: But there

970

Nikki: Mm-hmm.

971

Meg: There was no conclusion to that.

972

It was just like, "Well, Adam and Tom

aren't friends anymore, and now Olive

973

Nikki: Mh.

974

Meg: and she finished,

and everything's great."

975

Um, and we don't know if

her research worked, or we

976

don't, we don't know anything.

977

We have no conclusion except,

"Oh, they said I love you,

978

so now everything's fine."

979

Nikki: Yeah, 'cause really from

980

Meg: like, five more minutes.

981

I…

982

And I think that the, the I love you

confession, I think they were trying

983

to do something about, like, oh, this

is a tier one mistake or a tier two

984

mistake, but that language had not been

introduced at any point before that.

985

Like, even if, even if, um, Adam had said

during that scene with the person who

986

messed up and put Mountain Dew on their

slides, he was like, "That was a tier

987

one mistake," he could have, like, he

could have dropped the language earlier

988

so that way later on when they pick

it up, it's not completely brand-new

989

territory that they're covering.

990

Because now they're just like, "Oh,

we're cute, awkward scientists talking

991

in science terminology to each other when

we're trying to say I love you," but,

992

like, there was nothing underneath that

993

Nikki: From Olive's perspective, they

had sex, she fell asleep, she woke

994

up, he was gone, and there was hearts

made out of M&M's next to her, and

995

then he never talked to her again.

996

And then she immediately got

sexual har- uh, sexually harassed

997

by, by Tom, and threatened, um,

with essentially sexual violence.

998

Um, not a great thing

from her perspective.

999

Um, and I know she sees him

afterwards, he goes, "Congratulations.

I heard it went well.

It's, I got my grant money today.

Thank you so much."

And

why are we forgiving him

for any of this shit?

Yeah.

Like again, you know, I love the movie.

This aspect of it, it didn't

completely turn me off from the

film, but when I stopped to think

about it, it really bothered me.

Meg: the solution was in the source

material, they chose that moment to

diverge, and that's where it fell apart

Nikki: Mm-hmm.,

There's just a couple other

moments that I had in my notes

that I thought were really fun.

How he picked her up coming back from

the sushi restaurant, like that one

arm swoop up and carry, oh, yes please.

I looked it up.

There, there's, there's on paper, 'cause

you know people fudge their height

a little bit, there's an eight-inch

height difference between the two.

It feels bigger than eight inches.

Mm-mm-mm-mm.

Uh, but that, that one, that

one arm swoop, I loved it.

Um, I-

Meg: I, I, that looks, felt about right.

Eight in- like, that's what

Ben and I have is, is eight

Nikki: Can he do a one-arm swoop on you?

Meg: 6'4".

No, but I'm also a bigger person than,

Nikki: Ben, get working on it.

Uh, flex those biceps.

Uh, I didn't love that Adam got the

mediocre white man line where Dr.

Aslan had that in the original,

but it was still kind of funny.

I, I wish the, her realizing it

was him in the bathroom had, like,

a little bit more oomph behind it.

Um, but this, it doesn't work

then if you don't have the he was

in love with her the whole time.

Meg: No, I would say the, the bathroom

scene, I was annoyed in the book

that it had as much weight as it did,

'cause I didn't think it was really

all that exciting or important.

I didn't think that it was as big of

a, like, formative moment in their

relationship as the book made it seem.

So I didn't mind that it came out

earlier and she was just like, "Oh,

you believed in me this whole time."

That was the entire point of

Nikki: Yeah, and if they don't have the

he's been in love with her the whole time,

then you don't really need that scene.

Um, and then, , I didn't like Malcolm.

He was a real dick in this movie.

I feel like they made him more

of, like a, like a, an antagonist

for the, up until we meet Tom.

Not a fan of how Malcolm was written.

He was a dick and he was mean.

He was mean to Olive.

Meg: Mhm

Nikki: thing is he's the one that

specifically says the word demisexual

early on in the film, and everybody's

like, "Oh, they actually said the

word demi, like, groundbreaking."

I was like, meh, it felt

awkward and tacked on, and

also way too early in the film.

Meg: Mhm

Nikki: yeah, I think that's, I

think that's the rest of my list

Meg: And I think part of the reason

that Malcolm didn't come across as

warm or likable in this adaptation as

he does in the book is missing Holden

Nikki: true.

We just see him as like a fuckboy

Meg: a and we were able to see that

tension of, oh, the, you know, my roommate

is dating my, dissertation advisor, and my

boyfriend is friends with my dissertation

advisor, and I don't like him, but I

like them, so I'll put up with him,

you kinda got more from Malcolm out of

Nikki: Mmm-hmm.

Meg: versus the adaptation version

is just like, "Well, I like to

party 'cause I don't really wanna be

Nikki: Yeah

Meg: your boyfriend's mean to

me, and you should have made

him stop being mean to me."

And he's just sort of like the,

promiscuous gay character versus,

like, having a relationship that

he can be in where you can see him

engaging with somebody who isn't Olive

Nikki: Agreed.

Agreed.

Overall, I'm a fan.

I would watch it again

Meg: So Nikki, what do you ship the

most about The Love Hypothesis movie?

Nikki: It's the casting of

Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman.

I think they both did a fantastic job.

I felt like they were really good

representations of the characters.

I thought they had n- really

nice on-screen chemistry that was

both grounded and a little silly.

This is fake dating.

It's gotta be a little silly.

Um, and it's funny when you think about

the Daisy Ridley-Tom Bateman connection.

For those of you who don't know or haven't

listened to the book, Love Hypothesis

started as Reylo, Rey and Kylo Ren fanfic.

Tom Bateman, who plays Adam,

is married to Daisy Ridley, who

is the actress who played Rey.

Um, and they maintain they had no

idea about it, and Lili Reinhart

has said, "Yeah, no, Daisy and

Tom had no idea this was a thing.

It's just chance."

Uh, but yeah, I'd say Lili

Reinhart and, um, Tom Bateman.

I really enjoyed the two of them.

What about you?

What did you ship the most?

Meg: I think I shipped

the character of Anh

Nikki: Hmm.

Meg: this whole thing wouldn't

work if she weren't so likable.

Like, Olive wanting Anh to be happy

and wanting to sort of, I don't wanna

say self-sacrifice 'cause that's not

it, but Olive subverting her own needs

in order to make Anh happy because

Anh had been the best friend that

she could imagine and she, you know,

that whole thing wouldn't have worked

if Anh weren't a great character.

And also just the actress who

played her was so perfect.

played everything so well where it

was, you know, the moments where she

had to be warm and friendly and best

friendy she could, but then there were

also the moments where she was, like,

pushing them towards the cringe 'cause

you, you knew as the watcher, even if

you hadn't read the book, that Anh knew

what was going on or else she wouldn't

have been like, "Ooh, sunscreen.

Your hot dog's gone.

You got, you gotta just

put on the sunscreen.

Go touch him.

Go touch him."

You know, like, Anh.

And then the protectiveness near the end

of it where Anh is the one who's, like,

going to Adam, even if I didn't agree

with that screenplay choice, the character

had a, an edge to her that I really

loved, and that actress, which I'm sure

you named her at some point in this and

I feel like an asshole for not knowing

Nikki: Rachel Marsh.

Meg: She was just incredible.

Nikki: Yeah, I agree.

I agree.

She was great.

Amazing.

All right, well, before we get into

the final question of what we are

shipping this week, a gentle reminder,

you know the number one thing you

can do for us, head on over to your

podcast provider of choice, leave

us a rating, leave us a review.

Be sure to subscribe, as it tells the

algorithmic gods that, you know, we're

cool and people should wanna hang out

with us, and I just wanna sit with

somebody at the cafeteria lunch table.

And what is podcasting if not

finding people to sit with you

at the cafeteria lunch table?

Uh, Meg, checking back in.

It's been a couple months.

What are you shipping this week?

Meg: Well, that's the problem.

It's been a couple months, and I

can't remember where I left off

in the books that I've read, and

I've read so many fucking books.

Okay, so I'm just going off the top of my

head, which is that, uh, there's a book

that you shipped, like a year ago, that

I finally got around to reading, and it

blew my mind, so it's a double shipper.

Nikki: Hit it

Meg: And I'm going to, uh, give you

some hints and see if you can figure out

Nikki: Oh, God.

Okay

Meg: childhood best friends to

Nikki: Mm-hmm.

Meg: bi awakening,

Nikki: I'm just not narrowing it down.

Meg: on vacation.

Bi awakening.

I know.

I'm, like,

Nikki: Honeymoon For One, Keira Andrews

, Meg: Plane crash

Nikki: Oh, oh, Briar Prescott.

The, the, uh, the Island.

Meg: by Maria

Nikki: Oh my God, stressful

fucking movie, or stressful fucking

book, but a great fucking book

Meg: Oh my God, it destroyed

Nikki: God

Meg: So I just, sidebar to everyone who,

I mean, I, you're probably not looking at

our website regularly even though I am, I

Nikki: Mmm-hmm

Meg: building out these templates for,

um, different books that we've read and

appreciated, and one of the things that

I did was give a scale from like this

is marshmallows, this is no angst, up to

like this is going to send you to therapy.

Nikki: Mmh.

Meg: The Island by Bryon

Prescott is like therapy fodder.

It

Nikki: Oh my God, yeah.

I needed a moment

Meg: is, oh my, it is so emotional , i

don't wanna give away too much, but the

entire thing is one of the most gorgeous,

and I understand why Nikki recommended it