Picking Nits

Minor complaints and logical inconsistencies.

Picking Nits has run in 152 episodes. The most recent 40 are listed below — open any episode at its timestamp to hear the segment.

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‘The Good Son’Bill Simmons

Wishes Henry hadn't died so they could've done sequels showing his escalating schemes (e.g., running a gambling ring in seventh grade); also nitpicks that the mom is the only 'not From Hell' character overlooking obvious warning signs, and jokes about the absurd cliffside ending as one of the great random endings.

‘The Good Son’Chris Ryan

Nitpick: we only see Uncle Wallace through Mark/Henry's perspective, so his portrayal is unreliable; also jokes Henry was 'the Tiger Woods of gaslighting' whose promising career ended too soon, and notes the kids' latchkey freedom (playing on cliffs, highways, train tracks) is unrealistic/dangerous parenting the movie glosses over.

‘The Good Son’Sean Fennessey

Points out the movie taps into unrealistic 90s-era unsupervised parenting, and nitpicks that every location the kids hang out in (cliffs, highway overpasses, train tracks) is absurdly dangerous, like a 'Final Destination' movie.

‘Borat’Bill Simmons

The elevator reaction shot is unrealistic — the people in the elevator underreacted; he'd be way more horrified if two naked guys got in an elevator with him, especially with women present.

‘Borat’Bill Simmons

On the frat guys' 'don't let a woman make you who you are' line: 'I can't decide if that was great advice or incoherent.'

‘Borat’Kyle Brandt

Why did they blur the nudity at all in some shots? It's a half measure — if they're going that far with the scene, just show it fully instead of blurring.

‘Ghostbusters’Bill Simmons

Nitpicks the eggs left cooking/cracked on the counter for two days without Dana cleaning them up.

‘Ghostbusters’Chris Ryan

Biggest nit in the movie: Dana buying a giant bag of marshmallows makes no sense for her character.

‘Ghostbusters’Van Lathan

Explains away the egg nitpick: she didn't clean them because she wanted the Ghostbusters to see them as evidence.

‘Sicario’Bill Simmons

Two main complaints: what's the plan after the strangling scene (how does he get away with killing an FBI agent), and why is Ted carrying around the cartel money band as his wallet instead of getting a different wallet

‘Sicario’Chris Ryan

Agrees with Bill's complaints about Ted's poor decision-making, noting that Ted striking out in slow pitch softball shows he's not a brain genius

‘Sicario’Sean Fennessey

Explains that Ted being a flawed hire by the cartel makes sense because he's not really in control of situations

Episode	Host	Answer
‘The Good Son’	Bill Simmons	Wishes Henry hadn't died so they could've done sequels showing his escalating schemes (e.g., running a gambling ring in seventh grade); also nitpicks that the mom is the only 'not From Hell' character overlooking obvious warning signs, and jokes about the absurd cliffside ending as one of the great random endings.
‘The Good Son’	Chris Ryan	Nitpick: we only see Uncle Wallace through Mark/Henry's perspective, so his portrayal is unreliable; also jokes Henry was 'the Tiger Woods of gaslighting' whose promising career ended too soon, and notes the kids' latchkey freedom (playing on cliffs, highways, train tracks) is unrealistic/dangerous parenting the movie glosses over.
‘The Good Son’	Sean Fennessey	Points out the movie taps into unrealistic 90s-era unsupervised parenting, and nitpicks that every location the kids hang out in (cliffs, highway overpasses, train tracks) is absurdly dangerous, like a 'Final Destination' movie.
‘Borat’	Bill Simmons	The elevator reaction shot is unrealistic — the people in the elevator underreacted; he'd be way more horrified if two naked guys got in an elevator with him, especially with women present.
‘Borat’	Bill Simmons	On the frat guys' 'don't let a woman make you who you are' line: 'I can't decide if that was great advice or incoherent.'
‘Borat’	Kyle Brandt	Why did they blur the nudity at all in some shots? It's a half measure — if they're going that far with the scene, just show it fully instead of blurring.
‘Ghostbusters’	Bill Simmons	Nitpicks the eggs left cooking/cracked on the counter for two days without Dana cleaning them up.
‘Ghostbusters’	Chris Ryan	Biggest nit in the movie: Dana buying a giant bag of marshmallows makes no sense for her character.
‘Ghostbusters’	Van Lathan	Explains away the egg nitpick: she didn't clean them because she wanted the Ghostbusters to see them as evidence.
‘Sicario’	Bill Simmons	Two main complaints: what's the plan after the strangling scene (how does he get away with killing an FBI agent), and why is Ted carrying around the cartel money band as his wallet instead of getting a different wallet
‘Sicario’	Chris Ryan	Agrees with Bill's complaints about Ted's poor decision-making, noting that Ted striking out in slow pitch softball shows he's not a brain genius
‘Sicario’	Sean Fennessey	Explains that Ted being a flawed hire by the cartel makes sense because he's not really in control of situations