Overview of The Watch
In this episode of The Watch, Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald open with weekend banter before moving into three main conversations: the future of Star Wars as a franchise, how classic novels could be adapted into modern TV, and a deep dive into Euphoria Season 3, Episode 4, “Kitty Likes to Dance.” They also briefly celebrate the Sixers’ Game 7 win over the Celtics, which Chris describes as a genuinely emotional sports moment.
Star Wars: Streaming Numbers and Franchise Futures
Key takeaways from the Nielsen/Disney data
- Andor is the most-streamed Star Wars title on Disney+ as of 2025.
- The sequel trilogy does not crack the top 10, which Chris and Andy see as evidence that those films are less rewatchable than the older entries.
- The numbers suggest that much of Star Wars’ current audience is either:
- casual subscribers with kids, or
- longtime fans who still engage with the brand despite uneven recent output.
The bigger concern: is Star Wars becoming “classic literature”?
- Chris argues that Star Wars risks becoming a museum piece: culturally recognizable, financially reliable, but less vital.
- He compares it to classic novels like Lord of the Flies—widely known, frequently revisited, but no longer the center of cultural urgency.
- Both hosts feel that Andor and, to a lesser extent, The Last Jedi succeeded because they took real creative risks rather than simply replicating familiar Star Wars formulas.
What this means for upcoming projects
- Mandalorian & Grogu and Starfighter are framed as crucial tests for the franchise.
- Chris and Andy question whether Disney’s tight control and caution have limited the franchise’s ability to feel fresh.
- They use the abandoned Ben Solo project as an example of how the studio may have backed away from bolder ideas.
Literary Classics as TV: A Pitch Session
Chris and Andy use the Modern Library’s 100 greatest novels list as a springboard for fantasy adaptation talk. Their core argument: if a classic is going to be adapted again, it needs a fresh reason to exist, not just a faithful remake.
Favorite adaptation pitches
- The Ambassadors — Chris imagines a Noah Baumbach series, set in the present, about an older American sent to Europe to retrieve his fiancée’s son:
- Billy Crudup as the lead
- Chris Briney as the younger man
- Léa Seydoux as Madame Vionnet
- Appointment in Samarra — suggested as a contemporary story about suburban status, alcoholism, and social collapse, potentially with Francesca Sloane steering it.
- The Magus — Chris wants a more atmospheric, dreamlike sensibility; Amy Seimetz is his pick.
- Day of the Locust — he imagines Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin as the right absurdist voice for Hollywood grotesquerie.
- The Secret Agent — Andy suggests Joe Barton; Chris also sees it as a natural fit for a modernized spy story.
- The Moviegoer — Andy picks Sterlin Harjo.
- House of Mirth — Andy floats Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with Sophie Turner as a possible collaborator or co-lead.
- Adventures of Augie March — Chris jokingly hands it to Tracy Letts and the Steppenwolf crowd for a Chicago-set version.
The larger point
- They both agree that many of these books only make sense as adaptations if they’re reimagined for the present.
- The conversation becomes a broader reflection on how legacy stories survive by being continually reinterpreted.
Euphoria Season 3, Episode 4: “Kitty Likes to Dance”
Chris and Andy are largely positive on this episode, with Chris calling it the best episode of the season so far.
Why it worked
- It felt more like a fully coherent episode of TV than some of the season’s more scattered installments.
- The cross-cutting between storylines felt more intentional and thematically aligned.
- The episode seemed to move the season toward a clearer endgame.
The Rue storyline is the standout
- Chris is especially impressed by Zendaya, calling her performance a masterclass in screen acting.
- He praises her ability to feel:
- vulnerable without being self-pitying,
- famous but still human,
- highly stylized while remaining emotionally accessible.
- The interrogation-room sequence with the DEA agents is singled out as one of the episode’s strongest scenes.
- Chris also notes that the show’s visual style around Rue is changing:
- less pure neon fantasy,
- more daylight,
- harsher, more realistic lighting,
- which signals that her world is getting darker and less dreamlike.
The Silver Slipper / criminal underworld plot
- The episode deepens the strip-club / drug / violence ecosystem around Rue.
- Alamo is presented as a much more threatening figure than a standard TV crime boss.
- Chris likes that the direction is using the camera to change how the audience feels, not just to look stylish.
Cassie and Maddie’s social-media heist
- Chris finds the Cassie/Maddie influencer plot more compelling than usual because it feels like a status-driven heist.
- He likes the way the show is engaging with:
- social media,
- attention economy logic,
- and how fame now works through phones, drugs, and public humiliation.
- Andy notes that the sequence may be commenting on old versus new paths to visibility.
Jules and Nate feel less integrated
- Both hosts are less invested in the Jules storyline, which feels disconnected from the rest of the show.
- Nate’s arc remains the most overtly tied to the series’ past baggage.
- Still, Andy thinks Nate’s storyline could eventually be important if it pushes him back into darker behavior.
Notable cultural observation
- Chris mentions that his daughter already knows major plot points through TikTok fan edits, which leads to a joke about how the show’s younger audience may be consuming the story more through clips and memes than through full episodes.
Sixers-Celtics: A Quick Sports Detour
Before signing off, Chris and Andy briefly celebrate the Sixers’ Game 7 win over the Celtics.
What stood out
- Chris calls it a genuinely moving sports moment.
- He’s especially struck by Joel Embiid’s physical toll and the fact that the team finally got over a major postseason hurdle.
- The hosts laugh about how quickly playoff rivals become friendly after a series ends.
- The mood is optimistic, even if the road ahead against the Knicks remains difficult.
Main Takeaways
- Star Wars is still enormously valuable, but its cultural center may be shrinking.
- Riskier projects like Andor show that the franchise can still feel alive when it takes creative swings.
- Classic literature adaptations only feel worthwhile if they offer a new lens, not just a preserved artifact.
- Euphoria Episode 4 is praised for being more cohesive, more emotionally charged, and more visually purposeful than much of the season.
- Zendaya remains the episode’s clear centerpiece, with the Rue storyline doing the most dramatic work.
- The Sixers’ win provides a strong emotional coda to an episode that’s otherwise focused on culture, legacy, and reinvention.