Phantom Menace | EP 1 | The Confidante

[instrumental music] For five seasons, we've explored betrayal inside marriages.

We've shared stories about families of all kinds, and complex relationships with parents, kids, and colleagues.

But then we heard this story, and our interest was piqued.

So we decided to take a trip out near Chicago to Kenosha, Wisconsin.

It's home to one of the men at the center of this story, Carl Bryan.

[instrumental music] I was excited to meet him.

From our calls in the months leading up to the trip, I knew we had a lot in common.

We're both diehard sports fans.

The two of us spoke for hours about teams we ride hard for.

For Carl, that's the Cubs and the Packers.

For me, the Eagles.

And we're both '90s kids with an appreciation for metal music.

We spent an entire breakfast talking about Judas Priest and Ozzfest.

I'm sorry, I'm just really loving that we are working with someone that is around my same age.

Yeah, right? [laughs]

We also talk about ourselves in a similar way.

I'm a nerd.

[laughs] I'm such a nerd.

Beyond his teams and his bands, Carl has one fandom that always comes first.

I'm a walking encyclopedia of Star Wars knowledge.

I mean, you'll never find a better person to have on their trivia team for Star Wars.

That's just about as far as that knowledge will take me, unfortunately.

[laughs]

Hearing Carl's big laugh, you'd have no idea what he's been through.

He's a survivor.