Can love be manufactured, and if it can, is it still love? Today we’re diving into two classic Twilight Zone tales that ask whether desire, stripped of authenticity, is worth the price paid to get it.

It’s the fifth Monday of June, and that means it’s Monday Mailbag day! We have a full mailbag today, with contributions from Jeff, Bradley, Andrew and first time contributor Ollie. So let’s get started!

The season finale is here and every thread we’ve been following finally snaps tight and the characters stop thinking about clues and start thinking about survival. Darrell and Addi walk through how the group rallies to take the fight where it matters most, pushing past exhaustion and fear to stop the next phase of Horde Prime.

Join us in welcoming Isla to the show for the first time covering this incredibly emotional gutpunch of an episode of Fringe! The three of us agree that while the episode has its weak spots, there are two scenes in particular that are very memorable, one of which being the beautiful tearjerker of a final scene.

September 22, 2004 is a date will always live in infamy. It’s the day that set off a chain of events, a long, winding, beautifully unpredictable thread, that eventually led both you and me to this very moment right now. To this podcast. To this community. To each other. It was a day for which I will always be grateful.

A new piece of the puzzle lands in the Hawkins Investigators Club’s hands, and the team fractures into three directions with one goal in mind: find something that explains what is happening in Hawkins before the next escalation turns into a full disaster.