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This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work

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at MJMunoz.com. Welcome to Red Panda Report Special Episode 1 where I will be

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discussing Episode 1, the very first episode, all the way back from 1937 of

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The Shadow. So this episode is called, let me see, The Death House Rescue. It

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originally aired September 29th 1937. I cannot find a link to it on, I cannot

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find a link to who wrote it or directed it. So I like to give credits where I can.

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The only people I can give credits to are the actors and I don't have them listed

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right now. But there's a link to all the Shadow episodes in the show notes and

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you can find out who worked on what and when it aired, which is exactly what I

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did and I'm providing that link for you. Also if you have not had an opportunity

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to listen to The Death House Rescue and you'd like to, you can find it in the

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same podcast feed since it's not duty free. That's cigarettes at the airport.

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Since it's restriction free, copyright free, I went ahead and downloaded the

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episode from archive.org and I've put it into, I've uploaded it to my website and

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it's in the podcast feed for Red Panda Report and yeah you can find it there or

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if you go into the show notes you can find the link that's on my, or you can

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find the file to play it and listen to it is in the show notes of this very

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podcast episode. So you can hear it for yourself either before you listen to me

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talk about the episode or you can check it out after the fact if you like what I

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had to say about it and are curious to hear the full thing in context for

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yourself. So anyway why am I talking about The Shadow? Because Red Panda is

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very much inspired by The Shadow radio show and that's really it. I thought it

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would be fun to check out a few episodes of The Shadow radio show and I thought

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hey I'm doing this Red Panda thing anyway so I want to, why not just put

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them both together and do it like that. So anyway this is the first time you're

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gonna get this big preamble. I will do more episodes of The Red Panda Report

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specials where I am covering The Shadow and then and in not too long I'll just

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be covering The Red Panda Adventures by Greg Taylor distributed by

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decoderingtheatre.com. Oh is it your source for adventure? Anyway moving on

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I'm just gonna go ahead and get right into it. First of all I'm gonna start off

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with things that I thought were less than wonderful, things that were off in

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the episode and I really just have one thing which is that there were times

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when some of the dialogue felt needlessly drawn out almost like they

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were being told to slow down to hit commercial break at the right time or

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something like that because I believe the way that these were filmed or

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recorded rather was on live radio broadcasts you know they did it live

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they performed live and they just had to not mess up if they did you know that

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stayed in the record but I think because of that they would have had time

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themselves to have each segment last until a commercial break or sponsor at

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or what is it ad ad spot and then it would go on from there so I bet there

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were times when they either had to speed up what they were saying or slow it down

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so they could make time and I felt like I could hear some of that in the episode

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so that's not too great but overall it didn't affect too much of it because like

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I said there was just a few spots where that turned out that way. For the stuff

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that I really enjoyed in this episode I've got a couple things the Shadow has

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a fascinating duality to him as a character his help to the Gordon family

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is utterly humanitarian while his treatment of lefty and red is almost as

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cold and callous as how they treated Paul Gordon who they framed for murder he

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was their patsy Lamont and Margot ensure that the Gordon family gets the

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financial help they need and Paul gets his freedom his life back on the other

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hand it seems like the Shadow relishes driving these criminals into a frenzy

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that leads them to put themselves in the crosshairs literally of the police he

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gleefully turns their trap back on them his actions are overall heroic but

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there's a dark edge to it all that is part of what makes him so compelling

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next thing grace and Paul Gordon's dramatic struggle is a perfect start to

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the shadows adventures the scene with them at home before Paul gets in trouble

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feels so personal and intimate they're utterly sympathetic with their sick

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baby who could die without money for medical treatments Paul is earnest and

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desperate and not sure why grace married him when grace rebuffs Paul's self

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effacement and insists that things will be okay that she believes in her husband

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the family's doom is made certain and the stakes are set high it isn't the end

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of the world that will happen but it's the end of one family's world if the

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shadow can't overturn the death warrant placed on a simple down on his luck man

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the petty criminals aren't especially bright or competent but evil need not

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be to make the good suffer which that's exactly what's gonna happen that's what

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is going on and it's both like the dramatic stakes for this couple and just

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like the fly on the wall you know silent viewer I was they say voyeuristic but

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that's not the right phrase I'm looking for but just like you feel like you're

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there between a couple having this real conversation or at least I did listening

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to them and it's just it's very raw and very personal and close and like I don't

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know I could identify you know I'm married I have kids and to think what it

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would be like if I couldn't handle medical bills which you know if God

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forbid there were some sort of emergency I don't know what I would do despite the

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fact that I have insurance because most people who have extreme medical

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emergencies end up having ridiculously high bills that they can't take care of

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and even in 1937 this was something that the writers the team working on this

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decided would be a good hook to pull people into the shadows world and

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thought it would work out well and I mean it garnered sympathy for me even

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not a hundred years later but like 90 years later or 80 something years later

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so that's that's darn impressive I would say okay moving on there were a couple

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odd things there are five or six times when people ended dramatic statement with

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a phrase like it was only a shadow and the music it's you know it's a little

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hokey a little funny but it's also cool and fun at the same time you know that's

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the name of the show that's the name of the eponymous character yes it is it's

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just got like a funny ring to it but I mean ultimately it works and it does

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feel ominous but I don't know it makes a shadow feel ominous and powerful and

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ever-present because there are shadows all around you even in the day there

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are shadows that loom you know all around I'm out in the bright sunny day

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and there are shadows from trees and plants and cars and you know fences and

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things like that and I don't know ascribing this power or something to

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something so you pick it ubiquitous is kind of interesting kind of lightening

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up the imagination and causes it to be stirred I guess you could say and so one

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other odd thing grace Gordon lets Margo Lane in because she says she's a friend

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she thinks she's a reporter or something at first but when she realizes she's

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not and she Margo says she's a friend she's let her in and I find that kind of

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strange because she's got you know a ill baby at home who needs to be protected

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and her husband's not there and she just let some woman in and you know might be

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because it's 2023 and I'm a little cynical because I've seen so much happen

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in the world it just seems shocking that you would just so easily let a stranger

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in your home especially when you're living in the city and especially you

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know under the particular circumstances of her situation it just seemed kind of

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odd I there's some cool lore stuff that is discussed brought up in you know

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conversation between Lamont Cranston who is the shadow and Margo Lane and I'll

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tell you some of the stuff I found so the shadows been at work in the city

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for about five years it is unclear how long he and Margo Lane have been working

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together it is also unclear if they are a couple or not so if you want to know

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about that I have no nothing to tell you about it

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Lamont traveled around Europe in the ancient world to become the master of the

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mind he is now he refers to psychology natural magics that have been forgotten

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by modern man and unnatural magics as the tools of his trade he guards these

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secrets from falling into the wrong hands in part by being the shadow only

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in secret that's called security through obscurity that's both a tech joke and a

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I don't know etymology person joke and I will elaborate because it's I've lost

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the plot already and moving on and not only can the shadow cloud men's minds to

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make himself invisible to them but he can seemingly alter his appearance at

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will he disguised himself as one of the guards to get close enough to Gordon to

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see through his minds to see through his mind to find the clue that could save

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Paul Gordon okay one last thing I think the shadow can see other people's

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memories seeing through their eyes via some form of mind-to-mind connection

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which I think he refers to as a type of telepathy he chided Gordon several times

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to stay focused on the day of the robbery and on those memories because as

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Gordon's mind drifted to other things it became difficult for the shadow to see

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those pertinent memories which those end up being the key to get well yeah that

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ends up being the key to help the shadow find the clue that will free Gordon and

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ultimately doom lefty and red lefty and or right I can't remember which one of

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them gets killed but it's one enough to have I think it's lefty red was in the

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back seat and I think red was or lefty was in the front anyway yeah that's

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about all I have to say so I told you my general thoughts on the shadow things

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that I thought weren't so great things that I thought were really good some

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interesting things that I found and some observations about the lore and the

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world of the shadow that I made or found in listening to this and I suggest that

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you check it out at least these episodes with me that I'm going to be talking

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about because that's just a little bit more for us to talk about but don't worry

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after these half dozen or so special episodes are done I will be going right into

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red panda adventures and those will be coming out at a consistent pace my

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reviews of them to give you time to listen to them yourself and check out

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the reviews and have a conversation with me about it because I like the show and

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if you like you like the shadow you're certainly gonna like red panda

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adventures and if you like some of the other things that I'm into and that's

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how you found me then I think you'll like red panda adventures and want to

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talk about them with somebody because lots of cool stuff happens and they're a

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lot of fun it's a very well written series written all by one person with

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one creative vision which is really cool and really exciting so anyway with that

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I am going to head and get out of here and encourage you to go to my website

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and check out my other review material as well as my writing and other things

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that I have there until next time goodbye and good night I hope you

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enjoyed that go to MJMunoz,com to leave any questions comments or other

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feedback you might have there you can find all of my analysis art and fiction I

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cover books tokusatsu comic books anime and more look around you're sure to find

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something else that you'll enjoy as well this has been a story over everything

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production