Species

Horny sci-fi as studio entertainment

The hosts treat the film as a 90s example of high-concept, sex-driven genre filmmaking that used nudity and a hot alien to sell the premise.

Cool actor archetypes

The conversation becomes a meditation on what made Madsen special: he embodied a rare, effortless cool that the hosts feel is less common now.

Ensemble competence versus premise absurdity

They admire how seriously the movie is cast even though the plot is ridiculous.

Alien-as-outsider story

The hosts like the idea of an alien dropped into LA and trying to navigate everyday human life, especially when it’s a gorgeous woman.

1995 as a technological and cultural time capsule

The film is repeatedly used to evoke mid-90s media habits, devices, and production style.

Production note

The movie made about $113.3 million on a $35 million budget.

Production note

Natasha Henstridge was introduced here and had not acted before.

Production note

The alien effects consumed most of the film’s budget, so the cast skewed mid-market.

Production note

Ben Kingsley reportedly disliked his chair on set being touched.

Production note

The club set was built in the Pantages Theater.

Production note

The tongue-through-the-head kiss won Best Kiss at the 1996 MTV Movie Awards.

Production note

H.R. Giger reportedly thought the movie borrowed too much from other Alien films.

Production note

Alfred Molina said he had never been in a sex scene with a woman before this one.

True Romance

Used as Bill’s top Madsen performance comparison.

Reservoir Dogs

Referenced as Madsen’s most famous earlier role and part of the Tarantino orbit.

Donnie Brasco

Mentioned as part of Madsen’s late-90s peak and career arc.

The Doors

Used as an example of another Madsen role.

China Beach

Used for Marge Helgenberger’s earlier TV work and Bill’s nostalgia tangent.

CSI

Referenced as the TV path Helgenberger later took.

Thelma and Louise

Used as a shorthand for Madsen’s 1940s/50s-type screen presence.

Congo

Part of Chris’s 'scientist fiction' 90s genre grouping.

Outbreak

Part of the same 90s science-adventure grouping.

Sneakers

Part of the same 90s science-adventure grouping.

Sphere

Part of the same 90s science-adventure grouping.

Mimic

Part of the same 90s science-adventure grouping and later used as a double-feature idea.

Under the Skin

Suggested as a double feature with Species.

Alien

Referenced in relation to H.R. Giger and creature design comparisons.

The Golden Child

Dennis Feldman’s screenplay credits are discussed through this film.

Ben Kingsley in Species Award

A made-up category for performers who seem not to want to be in the movie.

White Girl Hall of Fame

A running joke about Henstridge’s icy, Nordic beauty and immediate canonization.

The empath bit

The hosts repeatedly joke about Whitaker as an empath and what that means as a job or skill.

Freelance solution to government problems

Madsen’s government-operative role is treated as the ideal cool-mercenary job description.

How to get out of alien seduction

Van explains how he would survive by agreeing to mate and co-parent with the alien.

Speaker not identified

“I'm Preston Lennox and if I'm here”

Speaker not identified

“More docile and controllable, huh?”

Speaker not identified

“You guys don't get out much.”

Speaker not identified

“Something bad happened here.”

Van Lathan

“You don't have to praying mantis this.”