The Boroughs
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Trump administration is backtracking on federal efforts to fight climate change. So city and state governments are stepping in. We think we are standing what can be the future of energy in Denver. On the Sunday Story, climate solutions on the local level. Listen now on the Up First podcast on the NPR app.
Something is definitely up in the new Netflix series The Burrows, which is about a seemingly idyllic mid-century modern retirement community in the middle of the desert. Is it monsters? Is it aliens? Well, it's something weird anyway.
Yep, that's the plot. But the real draw here is the cast. Alfred Molina, Gina Davis, Alfre Woodard, Dennis O'Hare, Clark Peters. It is fun to watch them get drawn into investigating these creepy goings-on, like a kind of septuagenarian Scooby gang. I'm Linda Holmes.
And I'm Glenn Weldon. Today we're talking about The Burrows on Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR.
This week on Sources and Methods, every White House has an official counterterrorism plan, a strategy document, basically. But President Trump's new 2026 plan shifts focus to left-wing extremism. We're unpacking what's in the document and who influenced it this week on Sources and Methods. You can listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Joining us today is film and culture critic Kate Young. Hey, Kate, welcome back.
Yeah, it's a pleasure to be back again.
Great to have you. In The Burrows, Alfred Molina plays Sam, a recent widower whose family moves him into a picture-perfect desert retirement community very much against his will. It takes a while, but he eventually falls in with his neighbors, Judy and Art, played by Alfre Woodard and Clark Peters. Rene, played by Geena Davis, and Wally, played by Dennis O'Hare. When Sam starts seeing things, the powers that be dismiss his concerns, but his fellow residents don't.
What is the premise of The Boroughs on Netflix?
Soon they're investigating the weird occurrences and mysterious deaths, which brings them to the attention of the young man who runs the boroughs, Mr. Shaw, played by Seth Numerick, who oozes charm and maybe some other stuff as well. The Burrows is streaming now on Netflix. Linda, what'd you think?
I really liked this. I thought it was really fun. You know, the Duffer Brothers who made Stranger Things are credited as executive producers. They didn't create it, but they're EPs. And I didn't really know whether it was going to feel like the things about Stranger Things that I liked or the things about Stranger Things that I didn't like. Mm-hmm. It does have a similar feel in a lot of ways. It is a group of people kind of getting together to fight forces they don't understand. But I really liked seeing that, first of all, executed with older people rather than kids. And second of all, with this incredibly appealing cast. Everybody in this main cast, this sort of Scooby gang, as we said in the intro, is...
Who are the main cast members of The Boroughs?
is somebody that I'm always happy to see. I'm always actively happy to see Geena Davis and Alfred Woodard and Alfred Molina and Clark Peters and Dennis O'Hare. It's really a terrific group of people. And as they kind of cohere into this group of friends... I think there is a really good combination of some, I think, compelling emotional material about what it's like for them at this stage of their lives, especially because you see Sam, played by Alfred Molina, moving into this place that, you know, the original plan was that he was going to come with his wife, but she has since died. But he is sort of in this contract to live in this place. So now he's moving there by himself.
What is the significance of the septuagenarian Scooby Gang in the show?
His daughter, played by Jenna Malone, kind of moves him into this place and she loves him, but she also moves him there. And I found kind of his interior life very moving a lot of the time. I think he's wonderful in it. I think the marriage of Alfre Woodard and Clark Peters is really well explored. This is not a show that believes that when you are... 70 or 72, the only things going on in your life are activities at the senior center. These people still have a marriage that still has its own complications that revolve around the same things that any marriage can have in it.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:59
2
What is the premise of The Boroughs on Netflix?
1:59–2:54
3
Who are the main cast members of The Boroughs?
2:54–3:35
4
What is the significance of the septuagenarian Scooby Gang in the show?
3:35–6:33
5
How does the character Sam's backstory influence the plot?
6:33–10:47
6
How does The Boroughs compare to other shows like Stranger Things?
10:47–14:37
7
What emotional themes are explored in The Boroughs?
14:37–21:45