The episode treats Internal Affairs as a one-of-one dirty-cop thriller: part LA crime movie, part sexually deranged power game. The hosts admire Richard Gere’s performance, the movie’s unhinged energy, and its escalating manipulation, while also noting how extreme, toxic, and hard to imagine in a modern studio context it is.
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01Richard Gere’s performance is treated as the engine of the movie and the hosts repeatedly marvel at his charisma and menace. Opening minutes
02The film’s escalating sexual manipulation and psychological warfare make it feel unlike standard cop movies. Opening minutes
03The Raymond/Peck scenes are packed with quotable, confrontational dialogue and escalating mind games. About 32 min
04The movie’s LA crime-movie setting and period detail are highly rewatchable, especially the pre-digital evidence era and 1990s city texture. About 24 min
05The movie keeps building into bigger betrayals, shootouts, and reveals, making the middle stretch especially strong. About 24 min · medium confidence
WHAT DID NOT WORK
Their main criticisms
majorThe movie’s attitude toward domestic violence and toxic masculinity is ugly and hard to defend. About 56 min
moderateThe plot and world are so extreme that some of the content feels almost unbelievable or too unhinged. Opening minutes
minorBilly Baldwin’s character and performance are seen as less compelling than Gere’s, and his role feels like a limited career window. About 8 min
minorThe original ending reportedly did not work and had to be changed after test audiences reacted badly. About 40 min · medium confidence
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
Standout moments
Favorite
Taco stand confrontation
Raymond confronts Dennis Peck about wives and Peck replies with an unsettling lecture about 'strange' and marital temptation.
About 32 min Favorite
Restaurant manipulation with the Arokas
Peck flirts with Tova under the table and psychologically dominates the couple while negotiating a murder contract.
About 32 min Favorite
Raymond’s wife reveal
A reveal shows Raymond’s wife writing Dennis Peck’s name, shocking the hosts.
About 32 min Favorite
Parking-lot shooting and van attack
The hit on Van Stretch and the ensuing violence are singled out as a strong action sequence.
About 40 min Favorite
Jealousy and elevator fight
Dennis humiliates Raymond in the elevator, escalating the psychological warfare into a physical confrontation.
About 40 min mixed
Courtship/family breakfast scene
The ex-wife and current wife interaction shows how bizarrely intimate and manipulative Dennis’s family life is.
Opening minutes · medium confidenceFavorite
City Hall fight
Raymond provokes Peck and the physical scuffle plays like a horror-movie beat.
About 32 min · medium confidence
WHERE THEY DISAGREED
The biggest debates
They agreed Opening minutes
Whether Internal Affairs is really a cop movie or something else
Bill Simmons
It is a dirty-cop movie mixed with a psychosexual thriller.
Chris Ryan
It is barely a cop movie at all; the police plot is secondary.
They left it as a friendly argument About 32 min
What the movie is saying about wives and infidelity
Bill Simmons
The film treats every wife as potentially looking for strange.
Chris Ryan
The movie uses that idea as a weaponized mindset to break men.
They partly agreed About 16 min
Whether dirty-cop movies can still work after modern policing scrutiny
Bill Simmons
The subgenre largely faded after Rodney King and changing cultural context.
Chris Ryan
The genre still exists in fragments, but not in the same popcorn form.
They partly agreed About 8 min
Was Andy Garcia big enough to become a larger star?
Bill Simmons
Garcia had the tools to lead many more movies and may have been limited by casting opportunities.
Van Lathan
He had the look and talent to play many leading roles.
15 People discussedActors, directors, writers, and producers
