Optophobia

In the Season 4 finale, co-hosts Lydia CoffeeMaté and Jeffrey Dalmer discuss what we've learned after a deep dive into the story behind the 1989 Judd Nelson serial killer film, "Relentless." In airing his theory about "Relentless" director William Lustig's connection to mind control program MK-Ultra, Dalmer puts himself in the CIA's crosshairs, with dire results. *** Credits: Erin Murray played Lydia CoffeeMaté. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Jamal Newman played Jeffrey Dalmer. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. Website artwork by Nicole Bennett.

With O'Boisies, Pizzarias, and Tato Skins, flavor architect Rosemary Caraway was winning awards in the 1980s for her work on the Keebler Company’s savory line of snacks. But when the company began favoring its sweet line instead, the “Relentless”-inspired Snack Aisle Strangler struck. *** Credits: Erica Johnson played Rosemary Caraway. Erica performs with Washington Improv Theater house ensemble Lena Dunham. Erin Murray played Lydia CoffeeMaté. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. Website artwork by Nicole Bennett.

Some "Relentless"-inspired would-be serial killers have been celebrities. When Marrissa Horn, a tea shop owner from L.A. began dating SisQó, she had no idea that a visit to Victoria's Secret together would inspire the R&B legend's greatest hit, nor that he might try to use the song as a murder weapon. *** Credits: Andrea Quach played Marrissa Horn. Andrea is a member of The Quitters and Washington Improv Theater ensemble team The Lineup. Follow her on Instagram @andy___q. Jamal Newman played Jeffrey Dalmer. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. Website artwork by Nicole Bennett.

Growing up on the road alongside her saleswoman mom, Jeri Jones believed she had a serene, peace-loving nature. But then, at 15, she watched "Relentless" and a something savage began stirring inside her. Armed with common household implements as agents of mischief and with a Rolodex she found while Dumpster diving as a guide, her rampage began. *** Credits: Jenny Koch played Jeri Jones. Jenny performs with Washington, D.C. improv teams The Quitters and The Lodge. Erin Murray played Lydia CoffeeMaté. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. Website artwork by Nicole Bennett.

Around the time Darrell Klep first saw "Relentless" in the late 1980s, he also began his career as a farmer. Eventually, he started working weekend farmer's markets, following his customers and sitting in his car outside their homes. Creepy? Yes. Coincidence? Probably not. *** Credits: Sean Paul Ellis played Darrell Klep. Sean performs with Washington Improv Theater ensemble team Nox! Check out his podcasts "Saturday Mourning Cartoons" where we reviews cartoons from your childhood with a critical adult lens. And "The Bureau," an improvised FBI podcast. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @seanpaulellis. Jamal Newman played Jeffrey Dalmer. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. Website artwork by Nicole Bennett.

Baskin-Robbins greeter Alicia Nicely was just minding her own business, trying on a fitted purple sweatshirt at Gap, when she was attacked by a "Relentless"-inspired wanna-be serial killer. As happens in these situations, the attacker — Sarah Pinch — couldn't close the deal. But might there be an army of Sarah Pinches out there, stalking America's retail dressing rooms? *** Credits: J.J. Jackson played Alicia Nicely. JJ performs with Press Play, Mystery Scarf and Washington Improv Theater ensemble team Poetic Resistance. She also runs a monthly improv jam for women called Bagelz & Jam. Erin Murray played Lydia CoffeeMaté. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. Website artwork by Nicole Bennett.

Buffalo, NY musician Brad Meglin was playing Black Sabbath covers with his band The Buffalo Soldiers in 1988, when William Lustig inexplicably got up on stage, mid-song, and asked Brad to compose music “that would make people want to kill” for his coming movie, “Relentless.” *** Credits: Bryan Jackson played Brad Meglin. Bryan produces “Pod Chef,” a podcast in which he and his co-hosts re-watch “Top Chef” and discuss it episode-by-episode. He also has a new series on the app Rizzle called “Obvious Twilight Zone” with his sketch team Total Smokeshow and is a writer for Pagliacci, part of the sketch comedy collective Boogiemanja. Follow him on Twitter at @notbryanjackson. Jamal Newman played Jeffrey Dalmer. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. Website artwork by Nicole Bennett.

Lance Bloomberg's father was a big influence on his son. There was the fascination with money and finance that Lance inherited, and there was also the violence. Beaten regularly as a child with an abacus, Lance would eventually teeter between a career in financial analysis and serial murder. Seeing "Relentless" nearly sealed the deal. *** Credits: Slli’m Williams played Lance Bloomberg. Slli’m hosts the Enigma Variety show for The Cookout Collective. He performs with Washington Improv Theater ensembles Madeline and Poetic Resistance, along with indie teams Revelry and Earth Wind and Tired. Follow him on Instagram @BigSllim. Erin Murray played Lydia CoffeeMaté. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. Website artwork by Nicole Bennett.

Dan Hammer, a community theater actor from upstate New York who told the harrowing tale of his fiancee Tracy's mysterious disappearance in Season 1, has decided to try and remake "Relentless" in a way that "feels more real" by filming it entirely in his mother's house, basement and backyard. *** Credits: Reaves McElveen played Dan Hammer. Reaves performs with his improv teams NIXON and Colossus at various improv theaters in DC. Jamal Newman played Jeffrey Dalmer. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. Website artwork by Nicole Bennett.

Meet our Season 4 cohosts: Lydia Coffeematé worked on the "Relentless" set as a personal assistant to one of its producers. Jeffrey Dalmer works at the last Hollywood Video where he slips "Relentless" DVDs into the bags of unsuspecting customers...at the behest of a mysterious "they." *** Credits: Erin Murray played Lydia CoffeeMaté. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Jamal Newman played Jeffrey Dalmer. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend Theme music by Bart Warshaw Cover art by Claire Smalley Website by Chance Griffin Website artwork by Nicole Bennett

The 1989 Judd Nelson movie “Relentless” seemed like just another bad slasher flick. But director William Lustig included subliminal messages intended to inspire real life, would-be serial killers to begin their sprees. *** Credits: Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin.

Gilda Graylore runs the Mystic Horse B&B in Corolla, NC. She's also pretty sure an unseen species, Homo inivisibilien, unleashed Covfefe-19 to rid the planet of its destructive human cousin, Homo sapiens. *** Credits: Kelsey Peters played Gilda Graylore. Kelsey performs with Washington Improv Theater teams Uncle Gorgeous and The Broken Bones, and Dojo Comedy house team Maple Sunday. She also co-hosts the “Heavy Flo with Puss and Kooch” podcast. Follow her on Instagram at @kelspeters. Erin Murray played Peachy Jennings. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin. https://vurbl.com/station/1MDNh9wkjmW/

In his work as a missile engineering studying manager, Master Carmichael Carmichaels made a startling discovery. The liquid that Mars is so famous for is actually a "nuclear desert sun dune," which NASA brought back to Earth in gas form and which has now leaked into the population, causing Covfefe-19. *** Credits: Darnell Eaton played Master Carmichael Carmichaels. Darnell performs with Washington Improv Theater ensemble team iMusical. Follow him on Instagram at @darnellde Jamal Newman played Ginno Rommero. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin.

Al Windjammer, owner of Windjammer Shoes, has a message that seems to contradict the family business: Don't wear shoes. While Windjammer shoes are made of animal byproducts from the family farm, most shoes are made from untraceable, mysterious chemicals that are harbingers for germs and viruses. And because most viruses enter the body through your feet, a shoe of unknown provenance is an invitation for Covfefe-19. *** Credits: Stacey Axler played Al Windjammer. Stacey performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and Maple Sunday, a Dojo Comedy house team. Check out her Facebook page at Stacey Axler Comedy. Erin Murray played Peachy Jennings. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin.

People are easier to control when they believe their group’s interests are at odds with another group’s. Suzy Johnson, professor of sociocultural anthropology at U.C. Berkeley, believes the U.S. government — nervous that Americans of all kinds have come together to speak as one against racism and racial injustice — is using Covfefe-19 to re-segregate the country. *** Credits: LAUX played Suzy Johnson. She the author of To All The Places I've Had Sex Before out on Amazon and Kobo. Follow her on Instagram at @lauxtheauthor or find her at lauxtheauthor.com. Jamal Newman played Ginno Rommero. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin.

Exterminator and Little League soccer ref Jammy Bristol has known hard times. As a young exterminator he lived among a community of mice he'd been hired to slaughter, and watched alongside the rest of the mouse family as the materfamilias was devoured by a red-tailed hawk. But nothing could prepare Bristol for the realization that Covfefe-19 was simply Google taking those of us who are replicants back to Mountain View, CA for routine maintenance. *** Credits: Ryan Brookshire played Jammy Bristol. Ryan teaches comedic songwriting and musical improv at Washington Improv Theater. He performs with WIT house ensemble iMusical and An Evening with Georgia Tennessee. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @correctbehavior. Erin Murray played Peachy Jennings. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin.

Famed sharpshooter Nate Drysdale was shopping for ammo at Walmart and summoning to mind scenes of Angela Lansbury fighting Nazis when it hit him: Disney had developed Covfefe-19 as a way to thin out brick-and-mortar retailers to give the company better access to our brainwaves...and our wallets. *** Credits: Alex Kazanas played Nate Drysdale. Alex can be heard each week on the Japanese pop culture podcast Toho Yaro, and the One Piece Podcast. Catch him various Saturdays doing live art at Super Art Fight on Twitch. Enjoy his improv follies with his teams TFA, The Sichuan Pepper Daddies, and IRL. Keep an eye out for a project he is co-directing for the Washington Improv Theater, called And Scene! Follow him on Twitter at @DudeExclamation. Jamal Newman played Ginno Rommero. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin.

Idaho floral artist Phoebe Shoemaker has seen super spreaders close up. Bees buzz around her store all day, drawing color, vibrancy — LIFE — from her flowers. The danger doesn't come from the bees' sting, but from their honey. Or more precisely, Big Honey executives who have infected the world with Covfefe-19 via their sweet, sticky product. *** Credits: Aubrey Peterson played Phoebe Shoemaker. Aubrey performs with Washington Improv Theater ensemble team, The Lineup. Follow her on Instagram at @aubs_olutely Erin Murray played Peachy Jennings. Erin performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble, and The Lodge. Follow her on Instagram at @eurniebmurray. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin.

He may have been fired as a top sales associate at Tesla, but Casper Geronimo didn't let that stop his adult film career. In fact, it only enhanced his popularity and gave him a deeper understanding of Elon Musk, who has unleashed Covfefe-19 on this planet as part of a plan to return to his own. *** Credits: Patrick Slevin played Casper Geronimo. Patrick performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble. Follow him on Instagram at @pfslevin. Jamal Newman played Ginno Rommero. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin.

In the season finale, Dylan Marshall tells co-hosts Muriel Woland and Clifford Hanger how "Optophobia" producers have been duped by listener Todd Snosh. *** Credits: Liz Sanders played Muriel Woland. Liz performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble. Jamal Newman played Clifford Hanger. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. Produced by Tim Townsend. Theme music by Bart Warshaw. Cover art by Claire Smalley. Website by Chance Griffin.