Crossing Streams

There's so much that goes into every production of film or TV, but never is captured for the screen. One of the people whose job is the "business of creativity" is Christi Sotomayor, a successful production coordinator in California for the past 20+ years. Christi met Chris Reed working on Sons of Anarchy for four seasons together, and joins the Crossing Streams podcast to talk about what her job...

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are back together to discuss a momentus finale to season four of Industry. Was this the guys' favorite episode of the season? No! But an ambitious show has taken another bold turn. They go character-by-character through the season's arcs, with a look ahead to what they imagine the fifth and final season could look like. 

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are back with their second podcast in your feed this week, catching up on the remarkable fourth season of Industry. In this episode, the boys look at the big themes from the past three episodes (5-through-7), the possible end of Eric Tao on the show, Tender's scrutiny, the duplicitousness of Whitney, and so much more! We'll be back next week to review the finale! 

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are back to discuss the entire first season of the new Game of Thrones spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. In the opening segment, the guys discuss the show generally, without spoilers, including the excellent casting decisions made. Then, they break down the plot of the show and look ahead to how they hope it will keep its tone in future seasons. 

Industry has long been one of Craig's favorite shows, but over the past three weeks, Chris binged the program from the start of season one until now! The guys start off by discussing the show as a whole and the themes of the first three seasons, then they get into the fourth season in detail (with spoilers). Dive in! 

The annual tradition is back! Drew Steck joins Craig Elsten and Chris Reed to go through the major streaming television platforms with a cost/value review. How have the prices changed since the first time we did this in 2021? Where is the value? How have streaming pro sports impacted the value of various platforms? Where's the best content? The guys do a draft format, picking round-by-round the pl...

After an unexpected holiday break, Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are back for their 2025 year-end show...who cares if it came out in the first week of 2026! First, Craig offers two favorite shows of the year that don't quite fit in the list. Then. Chris and Craig alternate moving up their list to deliver their top-10 shows of the year! Lastly, Craig has some honorable mentions. Enjoy a podcast we wo...

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are back with the penultimate podcast of 2025, as they take on the final three episodes of the first season of Pluribus, on AppleTV. This is one of the most thought-provoking series of the year, and Craig and Chris spend a large portion of the show analyzing the key themes we've learned about over the course of the season, especially as we learn more about The Others, h...

Craig and Chris are joined from New York by Amelia Campbell, who plays Amanda on The Chair Company. Chris and Amelia are old friends from a Shakespeare production in San Diego, and the podcast gets into her casting process for The Chair Company, working with Tim Robinson and much more! 

this is a rarity: Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are out of alignment on this episode of Crossing Streams! One host really likes one of the two shows covered and kind of tolerated the other, while the other host REALLY didn't like one of the two shows, and truly enjoyed the other. Who's who, and which is which? Listen and find out, as we cover HBO's The Chair Company, and Netflix's tentpole teen dram...

Vince Gilligan's new show Pluribus is looking like it might just be a masterpiece. On this episode of Crossing Streams, Craig Elsten and Chris Reed take a look at the big themes and moments from episodes 4-6 of the first season. The show contains spoilers for all six episodes of the series to date.  SHOW TIME CODES :30 Intro 4:00 quick housekeeping 5:30 Episodes 4-6 had a theme: discovery for Caro...

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed get together on the eve of Thanksgiving to go over Netflix's historical drama Death By Lightning. One of the hosts liked it a little bit more than the other, but there's a lot to unpack with an All-Star cast and a fascinating look at a less-known time in American history.  SHOW TIME CODES :30 Intro, giving thanks to our audience and co-host 5:00 Getting into Death By Li...

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed return for episode #260 of Crossing Streams, taking on perhaps the TV event of 2025 in Vince Gilligan's new series, Pluribus, for Apple TV. In the (short) non-spoiler zone the guys offer their general thoughts on the series and on Gilligan's talent. Then in the spoiler zone, a look at everything which has made the first three episodes of Pluribus so riveting, thought-pr...

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed get back together to talk about the finish of The Lowdown, a show that was beloved by both. The guys get into the storylines from the final three episodes, before welcoming on actor Eric Edelstein, who played Blackie on the show. Longtime friends with Chris, Eric gets into the magic of Sterlin Harjo's set, working in Tulsa, the process of getting the gig and much, much...

Craig Elsten is joined by one of the patrons from the Padres Hot Tub discord, Oliver the Baseball Nihilist, to discuss a series near and dear to both of their hearts, The Diplomat on Netflix. In the non-spoiler zone of the show, the hosts discuss why they like The Diplomat and what makes it such a compelling watch. In the spoiler zone, the guys go all the way in on the big moments of the third sea...

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are back to share their thoughts on the final two episodes of Task, where Brad Ingelsby has grown as a showrunner, the themes of redemption that ran through the series, and whether or not there should be a second season. What did YOU think about Task? Email the show at: crossingstreamstvpodcast@gmail.com and we'll read your replies on a future show!  SHOW NOTES/TIMES :3...

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed get together to discuss a show that each believes will be in their respective Top-10 lists by the end of the year, The Lowdown on FX (and Hulu/Disney+). The guys go through the incredible cast and performances, the overall vibe of the show and where they think the first season might wind up. Then, a look at how Platonic wrapped up its second season, what the creators ha...

In a bonus edition on this week's Crossing Streams feed, Craig Elsten is joined by Danny Deskjob to review season two of Peacemaker, on HBO Max. The guys start with a 15-minute non-spoiler zone, to generally discuss the show. Then they get into all the spoilers from season two, including some controversial decisions made in the season finale, and the announcement from James Gunn on Friday that Pea...

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed are most of the way down the tracks on the riveting HBO Sunday night drama, Task. In this episode, the guys begin with non-spoiler thoughts on the show for anyone who may not have watched yet or gotten up-to-date. Then, they go through the key storylines through the first five episodes of the show, and offer thoughts on the final two episodes to come.  SHOW RUNDOWN :30...

Craig and Chris are again joined by Ken Gartin to go through the finale of Alien: Earth. Two of our three panelists were really let down by the finale, while one saw the promise for future seasons. What did you think? Email the show at crossingstreamstvpodcast@gmail.com!  SHOW NOTES :30 Intro 3:00 Initial thoughts on the season one finale 10:30 The deathpool that wasn’t 14:45 how does a season fin...

Ken Gartin returns to join Craig and Chris and review the middle portion (episodes 3-6) of FX's Alien:Earth. The guys thought it would be a shorter episode, but nope! Too much fun breaking down all the plot twists and possibilities for the endgame.  SHOW NOTES/TIME CODES :30 Intro, show set-up 1:45 initial thoughts from everyone on where Alien:Earth stands right now 5:30 getting into episode 3 10:...

Craig and Chris have two episodes to bring you on the Crossing Streams feed this week! First up, a look at two comedies in full swing, Platonic (season two now on AppleTV+) and The Paper (all episodes streaming on Peacock). Chris appears on episode 6 of Platonic season two and tells the story of his day on set, plus much more!  TIME CUES :30 Intro 3:00 housekeeping/show set-up 5:30 Platonic—premis...

Ken Gartin makes his triumphant return to the Crossing Streams feed to lead our discussion of the brand-new FX series, "Alien: Earth". Chris Reed had NEVER watched any Alien content, so he's in for a spooky surprise! Later in the show, Craig and Chris go through the explosive finale of Smoke (on AppleTV+) and talk about how the show has gone under the radar of a lot of fans and reviewers.  SHOW NO...

Craig Elsten and Chris Reed review and compare a couple of summer mystery series: "Untamed" from Netflix, and "Smoke" on AppleTV+. The guys do non-spoiler reviews and recommendations before doing brief spoiler sections for both shows. They wrap up with "What We're Watching" with some more recommendations and a setup for episode #250 TIME CODES :30  Intro 5:30 Untamed non-spoiler review 26:00 Untam...

SHOW NOTES :30--intro 2:00--housekeeping/listener e-mail 5:00--the decades-long history of The Eternaut in Argentina 10:00--The Eternaut NON-SPOILER review begins 18:00--the excellent Ricardo Darín in the lead role 26:45--SPOILER review