Simon and Jim get into J. J. Abrams’ feature directorial debut, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III, a nadir of the Mission: Impossible franchise. They discuss the ways in which this film is a time capsule of the mid-2000s complete with an ugly digital camera aesthetic and an unpleasantly jingoistic neoconservative worldview, the film’s distribution issues related to Scientology, how J. J. Abrams-y and Alex Kurtzman-y the whole film is including a dive into Abrams’ patented Mystery Box via the Rabbit’s Foot, and how this film, even if largely unsuccessful, sows a lot of seeds for the later shape of the franchise.

Content warnings: cult leadership and specific Church of Scientology beliefs; sexual coercion; interrogation and torture; the September 11th terrorist attacks; violent death including murder and assassination; US military interventions and illegal wars; US American slavery.

Our theme song is Star – X – Impossible Mission (Mission Impossible Theme PsyTrance Remix) by EDM Non-Stop (⁠https://soundcloud.com/edm-non-stop/star-x-impossible-mission⁠) licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license.

Full references for this episode available in Zotero at ⁠https://www.zotero.org/groups/5642177/take_one/collections/IPJMNCX2