The Dark Knight - PWN 30

The Dark Knight - PWN 30
Basic Information
Release date	December 25, 2018
Runtime	34m 28s
Series	PWN
Cast and Crew
Written by:	Wesley Davies Ari Froehlich Nick Geoghegan
Edited by:	Nick Geoghegan
Starring:	Joey Cianfrani Wesley Davies Ari Froehlich Nick Geoghegan Lucan Stargiotti

The Dark Knight - PWN #30 is the thirtieth episode of PWN, uploaded to PaulWesNick on Christmas Day, 2018. It features Ari Froehlich, Wesley Davies, and Nick Geoghegan, as well as Joey Cianfrani and Lucan Alto Stargiotti as guest stars. The episode, PWN’s third Christmas Special, features an extensive discussion of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, a film referenced many times in PWN projects and videos. The episode also features cameo appearances by Jack Geoghegan and Stephen Weinstock.

As with the previous Christmas specials on the channel, the episode begins with a lengthy prologue. In it, Jack accidentally inspires a frustrated Nick to talk about The Dark Knight, as no Star Wars films were left to be discussed. He gathers the five featured members of PWN and they watch The Dark Knight. The episode is PWN’s longest to date, at thirty-four and a half minutes long. It is also equally notable for being the first PWN to feature two guest stars on the panel and the first PWN filmed at Location Four since The Great Recap of 2017: PWN 18 - Part One. Lucan had previously been on PWN for the 2017 Christmas Special, The Last Jedi Review - PWN 17.

Description

The episode opens as the other Christmas specials do, with a scripted or otherwise planned introduction to the topic of the video. Nick listens to the Deustchlandleid anthem as he attempts to compensate for the lack of Star Wars this Christmas by finding some other topic to discuss. His brother, Jack, finds him in his state of writer’s block, and only incites anger by questioning the release of Don of the Damned. as he leaves, he drops a copy of the blu-ray for The Dark Knight.

Suddenly inspired, Nick calls up Ari and tells him to assemble “the boys”. Ari calls up Wes, who calls Joey. Joey mistakenly calls Stephen, and then calls Lucan, who announces that he is already on his way. The group sits around as Nick announces that they will be watching The Dark Knight, which neither Ari nor Lucan has seen.

During the actual episode, much of the discussion is dedicated to Lucan’s protests towards the culmination of the Joker’s plans in “the Boat Scene”. Further discussion occurs around the characters of the Joker, Harvey Dent, Jim Gordon, Lau, Colman Reese, and of course, Batman himself. Wesley states that Christian Bale is his favorite portrayal of Batman. Both Lucan and Ari enjoyed the movie immensely, though Ari felt that a lot of the film’s more famous lines were tainted by their over saturation in PWN projects.

Background

At one point, The Dark Knight had been intended to be discussed in what would have been “The Dark Knight is Our Favorite Movie - PWN #26”, posted on the Friday following the ten year anniversary of the film’s release. The episode would not have features any guest stars, though it likely still would have been a particularly long episode. Evidently, that never happened, and the topic was put off for the Christmas episode.

Filming

Nick recorded the entire viewing of the film in a voice memo, which he intended to feature clips from in the video (similar to the clips used in Done With the Damned? - PWN 24), though he did not include them while editing in order to cut down on time.

Stephen’s single shot was recorded a day later at a Christmas party which he was hosting, hence the suit.

Films Referenced

The Prologue

The introduction alone features many intentional references to other films, both obvious and subtle.

• As Nick edits, several DVDs are stacked next to him, including Lawrence of Arabia, Gremlins, The Help, and a Mill Creek fifty-pack of Sci-Fi films.
• One of the discarded topics for PWN #30 on Nick’s list of ideas is Avengers: Infinity War, which has become an inside joke on PWN for Nicks multiple failed attempts to discuss the film.
• A C3PO canvas bag can be briefly seen in the background of the shot of the Christmas Tree.
• Jack and Stephen both mention Don of the Damned.
• Lucan’s line, “I’ll be there, man” refers to Joey’s love of Dazed and Confused.
• When Nick initially pulls a film from his bag, it is a copy of the animated kids film, Trolls.

Discussion

A greater number of films are referenced throughout the discussion segment of the episode:

Inside Jokes

In addition to long standing PWN inside jokes, there are multiple “in-universe” references to other PWN projects. Don of the Damned is mentioned directly at least three times in the video, and Lucan’s infamous reaction shot from A Hot Lead is replicated. Furthermore, a number of shots from Interstellar: PWN #1 are shown, including the original Batman! clip.

Music Used

The following tracks were used in the episode:

See Also

Preceded by Netflix Originals: PWN 29	Episodes of PWN December 25, 2018 With: Joey Cianfrani Ari Froehlich Wes Davies Nick Geoghegan Lucan Stargiotti	Succeeded by
Preceded by Netflix Originals: PWN 29	PWN Videos December 25, 2018	Succeeded by

Cast Members
Preceded by Netflix Originals: PWN 29	Joey Cianfrani The Dark Knight - PWN #30	Succeeded by Timmy Two Times
Preceded by The Untitled PWN	Ari Froehlich The Dark Knight - PWN #30	Succeeded by Timmy Two Times
Preceded by Netflix Originals: PWN 29	Wes Davies The Dark Knight - PWN #30	Succeeded by Timmy Two Times
Preceded by Netflix Originals: PWN 29	Nick Geoghegan The Dark Knight - PWN #30	Succeeded by Timmy Two Times
Preceded by The Odd Couple	Lucan Alto Stargiotti The Dark Knight - PWN #30	Succeeded by Timmy Two Times
Guest Stars
Preceded by Jeffersonian Democracy	Jack Geoghegan The Dark Knight - PWN #30	Succeeded by
Preceded by The First Annual PWNER Awards	Stephen Weinstock The Dark Knight - PWN #30	Succeeded by