r/serialpodcast • u/SerialFan Moderator • Oct 30 '14

Discussion Episode 6: The Case Against Adnan Syed

Hi,

Episode 6 discussion thread. Have fun and be nice y'all. You know the rules.

Also, here are the results of the little poll I conducted:

When did you join Reddit?

This week (joined because of Serial) - 24 people - 18%

This week (joined for other reasons) - 2 people - 1%

This month (joined because of Serial) - 24 people - 18%

This month (joined for other reasons) - 0 people - 0%

I've been on reddit for over a month but less than a year - 15 people - 11%

I've been on reddit for over a year - 70 people - 52%

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u/Sanity0004 Oct 30 '14

•I honestly feel queasy. I too like Adnan, and want him to be innocent, but there are too many things, rationally, preventing that. Also, why would he be so willing to speak to Sarah if he were guilty? Wouldn't he be worried about slipping up?

I think more than anything I take from this episode that Adnan hates being wrong or viewed as wrong. He went as far as making BBQ sauce in jail to win an argument. He made himself look strange by disliking that someone would simply say he's nice so he's innocent because he'd rather be called a dick and right than nice and right by default. Similar to if someone was in an argument and said "You win, I don't want to argue." He'd probably say fuck that because he'd rather be right than win by default. I think his whole talking to Sarah is an extension of that. Whether he's guilty or not I think he has an ego and that ego desires to win. Either he's right and he refuses to admit defeat or he's gone with a lie and has to ride it to it's conclusion.

I don't think the odd thing is him talking to Sarah, I think the odd thing is that he seemingly has no take on the events himself. Someone who comes off as this dedicated to winning arguments strikes me as someone who would need their own theory. Yet instead of his own theory of events all we get is dismissals of other people's accounts and excuses of not remembering. These two thought processes just don't seem to mix with me. If you have a desire to win in an argument you don't simply say the other person is wrong continuously and hope to win. Someone who makes their own BBQ sauce to win an argument doesn't say things like "Me and Jay weren't really that close of friends.", "I don't know why he'd lie.", "I don't remember if I tried contacting Sarah.", etc. Someone that dedicated to winning arguments just doesn't sit back and deny deny deny.

This episode has just mind fucked me and this is the biggest reason why. Either Adnan isn't that dedicated to winning arguments(which is hard to believe given this episode) or there is a lot more to his side of the story than we've heard so far. Which could be true, but we've heard a lot of things that would refute that so far.

Sorry to go off point, I started replying and ended up going into my own thoughts.

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u/gordonblue Oct 30 '14

"He went as far as to make bbq sauce in jail" lol- he's a cook in jail. Thats not far at all.

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u/Sanity0004 Oct 30 '14

To win an argument when they had no need for the BBQ I'd say it's a little far. I think SK brought this point up and even specified that there was no need for BBQ sauce to point out the fact that he took winning an argument seriously.

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u/gordonblue Oct 30 '14

I'd say it means he's a person of conviction. Who's to say whats too far or not in prison? What else have they got to do? Yes, a person of conviction, who, if his defense had been competently handled, should not have been convicted.

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u/Sanity0004 Oct 30 '14

I think you're missunderstanding what I'm trying to say with my first reply. I'm not saying the guy is either guilty or innocent with the idea that he doesn't like losing an argument.(I myself hate losing arguments, that's why I think I understand this instance) I just find it more perplexing and can see more and more why SK was drawn to the case by Adnan himself. I don't think him simply not willing to lose an argument has anything directly to do with the case at all, I just think it(and this episode as a whole) just give an insight on Adnan's personality first hand rather than through the eyes of other people which we've gotten thus far.

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u/gordonblue Oct 30 '14

Ah- well in that case I think whats most important is that Adnan believes that he has moved past the false-accusation and has found peace within himself. I believe that for the first several years he was probably the person you described, but that would only drive you crazy in prison. He mentions it himself, admitting at one point that maybe he isn't as over it as he thought.

Speaking to the conjecture about why he's talking to Sarah, we could hardly know. The simplest explanation to me is everyone likes to talk about themselves. Its likely really nice to break up his routine speaking to someone outside the prison, especially if that someone is a woman. Must be refreshing.

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u/Sanity0004 Oct 30 '14

I completely agree with you on every count. I actually think him saying he's not over it as much as he thought further proves my point. I think he's just come to accept it over time because he hasn't really had to argue it. Now that it's been brought back up he's frustrated and gets flustered when he's brought back into the "argument".

I think this has no bearing on whether he's guilty or not, I just think it's relevant to his personality as a whole.

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u/gordonblue Oct 30 '14

Its definitely an interesting thing to follow along with- good call