James Cameron’s legendary sequel holds special places in the hearts of Morgan Gire and Erik Childress who look deeper within its mastery at one of the friendships within. Even deeper than Erik anticipated. Is Corporal Dwayne Hicks indeed a feminist or is he merely a piece of a greater tapestry around the film’s timeless heroine? Does an agreed-upon backstory by the actors provide insight into two of the films baddest asses? And is Bill Paxton’s Pvt. Hudson in fact the greatest character that has ever graced the silver screen. Don’t be fooled that two admitted nerds who will not stop quoting his lines can’t look beyond the action, the terror and its endlessly watchable characters to answer these questions.

Remake is often a dirty word among cinema purists, but not only are Erik Childress and Morgan Gire discussing one of the best they have found a genuine friendship at the center. Donald Sutherland’s Matthew and Brooke Adams’ Elizabeth are work colleagues but clearly have become great friends. She tells him about her distant boyfriend and he takes shots at him in kind. Naturally anyone who knows this story is aware their bond is about to be put the stress test that may bring them closer together. Does Matthew harbor some secret feelings for her that she is not aware of? How does Leonard Nimoy’s Dr. Kibner stand up to psychiatric scrutiny? And are the pod people capable of learning genuine human emotion or are their feelings naturally suppressed? It’s all part of the discussion of the kind of unique love story that films rarely do anymore.

Penny Marshall was at the peak of her directorial career with her 1992 film about the first professional female baseball league. When she pushed back against the powers that be to take Dottie Hinson and Jimmy Dugan past a platonic level, she may have preserved just the kind of friendship that Morgan Gire and Erik Childress are searching for on this podcast. The center of this episode explores what makes the professional comradeship between a broken-down major leaguer and a star athlete whose heart may be elsewhere such a positive one. But there is also room for controversy involving Madonna and whether her casting distracts from the very thing her character is supposed to represent. Does its comedy or drama rise to the forefront? And is the film actually about baseball history at all? These questions and more surround maybe the best friendship they have found to date on the show.

Some Kind of Wonderful was John Hughes’ rebuttal to how Pretty In Pink played out, but who is doing the rebutting now as Erik Childress and Morgan Gire dig into the 1987 drama? Are Keith’s attempts at romantic gestures an insane overreach or are sometimes the simplest acts the most revealing? Is Watts an icon of the time or just a passive-aggressive thorn? Is Amanda just another unattainable beauty or something more beneath and surface and is Craig Sheffer really worth all the drama? Most importantly though, why is there not more Elias Koteas? All these questions and more are broached in a very lively discussion about whether this is a friendship or a relationship for a generation that wears its future well.

From looking at whether a friendship can persist without further relations to how outsiders can band together, Morgan’s first choice is Frank Oz’s 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives. Big city Nicole Kidman finds new friends in Connecticut with Bette Midler and Roger Bart in an all-too perfect little town. Morgan and Erik discuss if the move from science-fiction to satire was a wise one and how the perception of thinking one is progressive had not changed much in the 30 years since the original. Just how inconsistent is the science in this troubled production and is the movie as bad as its reputation. The movie only has so much time to explore the friendship of this trio, but Morgan and Erik put more thought into it than maybe even the filmmakers did.

The inaugural episode of The Friendship Dilemma looks back at the question Nora Ephron posed in 1989. Can men and women be friends without the sex part getting in the way? Erik & Morgan delve into the query and whether the film contradicts its own theory. Has the film contributed to a generation of romantic comedies where friendship is a consolation prize? Do true friends fake orgasms in front of one another? Are Harry and Sally people they would want to be friends with? These are just some of the discussions afoot for the inevitable choice to kick off this podcast.