Serial (podcast)

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Alex79
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Serial (podcast)

Post by Alex79 »

PLEASE, NO SPOILERS!

But has anyone listened to this? I've been meaning to catch up with it for ages after hearing nothing but good things about it on the Chat Very Good and Regular Features podcasts, and yeah - it's really good.

If you don't know, it's about a murder of a schoolgirl which took place in 1999, and the guy who was convicted. A reporter starts really re-investigating the case. I'm only two episodes in, so I don't know what the conclusion is/was, but from what I've heard so far it's totally compelling to listen to. Check it out if you haven't already.
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RoboticMonk3y
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Re: Serial (podcast)

Post by RoboticMonk3y »

Season 1?
yeah, it was good, don't google it though, now it's run it's course, it's very easy to stumble into some massive spoilers.

Season 2 is shaping up to be interesting as well.
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gallo_pinto
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Re: Serial (podcast)

Post by gallo_pinto »

Yeah, I also thought Season 1 was pretty great and I'm really enjoying Season 2 so far.
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Combine Hunter
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Re: Serial (podcast)

Post by Combine Hunter »

Season 1 is really, really great. Season 2 is very good so far, but the story isn't as fascinating.
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KissMammal
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Re: Serial (podcast)

Post by KissMammal »

I thought the first few episodes of Serial were absolutely gripping, but for me it very quickly went off the boil, especially when it devolved into interminable analysis of the placement of a potentially fictional phonebox(?), and my interest tailed off entirely as soon as it became very apparent to me that
Spoiler: show
Adnan was in fact guilty.
I know it's weird, even distasteful, to review a real life murder case as if its a piece of entertainment (though Serial is very much presented as such), but for me the problem was that the narrative simply wasn't very compelling, and though the initial episodes seem to - perhaps dishonestly -
Spoiler: show
tease some sort of wider conspiracy that would be revealed, it never transpires and the whole thing just fizzles out in a very inconsequential way.
I've recently been watching Netflix's Making a Murderer and I would level the exact same criticisms at that too - it's great filmmaking, but in service of what?
Spoiler: show
The guy is clearly guilty, and I'm left confused, even a little annoyed, at what exactly the motives of the filmmakers are.
I understand the argument that
Spoiler: show
neither is really intended to be a 'whodunnit?'
and the ultimate point of both Serial and Making A Murderer is that
Spoiler: show
police and prosecutors are often heavy-handed and incompetent and everyone, even guilty people, deserve a fair trial.
But simply put I just don't think that makes anywhere near as compelling a narrative as
Spoiler: show
'an innocent man wrongly convicted'.
I would strongly, strongly recommend everyone who enjoyed Serial of MaM to immediately watch the HBO documentary trilogy Paradise Lost. For me that's the gold standard when it comes to this sort of True Crime documentary. It's a gruelling watch, not for the faint of heart, and actually moved me to tears on several occasions, and unlike the aforementioned it actually delivers a sense of closure.

Errol Morris' classic, hugely influential doc The Thin Blue Line is also along similar lines, is fantastic, and is on Netflix I believe.
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Sean
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Re: Serial (podcast)

Post by Sean »

I am not feeling the new season *at all*.

I just don't find the Bowe Bergdahl story to be very interesting. Regardless of his intent, he's just a guy who did a stupid thing that cost multiple lives. That doesn't rate nearly as high for me as the interesting web of innocence/guilt/memory that was season 1.
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RoboticMonk3y
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Re: Serial (podcast)

Post by RoboticMonk3y »

Combine Hunter wrote:Season 1 is really, really great. Season 2 is very good so far, but the story isn't as fascinating.
I completely agree.
It's interesting to find out what happened to the guy, but if I skipped an episode, I don't really feel like I would have missed anything.
lessthantv

Re: Serial (podcast)

Post by lessthantv »

If you liked season 1 of Serial, it's worth checking out Undisclosed. It goes into quite a lot more depth, and turns up several things they missed on Serial.
I have to agree though, Serial Season 2 was nowhere near as interesting, I stopped listening part way through.
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Alex79
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Re: Serial (podcast)

Post by Alex79 »

Yeah I did start listening to that Undisclosed podcast, but I must admit I found it difficult to maintain interest once I'd finished listening to the main Serial series.
lessthantv

Re: Serial (podcast)

Post by lessthantv »

Some of the episodes were a bit tough going due to all the legal jargon, but it was pretty interesting overall.
They are apparently also starting on a second case, ala Serial season 2, but not sure what it is.
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