Friday Beers’ Cold Cases
I have the Instagram feed of a homebody teenage girl – knitting content, skincare routines, “winter arc” recommendations – but the YouTube algorithm of a late-20s ex-frat bro. The latter led me to the Friday Beers series Cold Cases, which I’ve now been obsessed with for the last month and a half.
Each installment features Cayson Ehlinger, the series’ originator, and Rusty Featherstone, who you may know as the “drinking games that don’t exist” guy from your TikTok feed, as they co-host as semicompetent detectives. Master of chaos (and other “top 10 drinking games that don’t exist” guy) Will Donnellon gives them 12 clues to a famous cold case, from Amelia Earhart’s disappearance to the JFK assassination. The only catch: Cayson and Rusty each have to chug a beer to receive a clue. Well, technically, they don’t have to chug the beers, but as Rusty affirms each episode, “We’re guys.”
There’s a comfortable balance between predictability and surprise in every installment. Eventually, you know Rusty will delight in pinning blurry images to the bulletin board. You know Cayson will tap out of thinking halfway through and nod along to whatever Rusty’s talking about. You know Willy D, as he’s affectionately referred to, will insert himself and pose his own theory, despite not participating in the drinking. But what you won’t see coming are the theories themselves, which are genuinely inspired. An owl could be a murder suspect; Lee Harvey Oswald could be three different guys. Between the third and ninth beers, anything could happen. Though you may not buy into their theories, their enthusiasm keeps you hanging on every slurred word.
Have I ever chugged a beer? Absolutely not. But the highlight of my month is watching two guys do it 24 times in 40 or so minutes. With the Georgetown functions dwindling post-Halloween, it’s a good time to take a break from drinking and start laughing at other people drinking. And as the weather gets colder, the cases will, too.
Lorelei Schwarz is a sophomore in the College. You’ve never seen her and D.B. Cooper in the same room… just saying.
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