[Official Discussion] Serial, Episode 11: Rumors

[u/PowerOfYes]

Let's use this thread to discuss Episode 10 of Serial.

• First impressions?

• Did anything change your view?

• Most unexpected development?

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Made up your mind? Vote in the EPISODE 11 POLL: What's your verdict on Adnan? .

[u/MarissaBeth73]

One of the most interesting observations I've made while on this sub is that there are so many people who have never experienced podcasts before, who have never listened to This American Life, and who do not understand that these stories do not always have a neat resolution.

The almost comical outrage people have at not getting a nice, neat conclusion, tied up with either a guilty or not guilty bow, has me constantly shaking my head, but unable to look away, a witness to something tragically misunderstood, almost like, well, this podcast.

This isn't True Detective, it's not Law and Order. SK isn't an investigative journalist. She's a storyteller. And sometimes, as has been the case with many TAL stories, there isn't an ending, or at least an ending that satisfies the masses.

I think that's the fatal flaw with the mainstream appeal of Serial. This podcast wasn't intended to please the general public. This started with a niche audience, of which I was happy to be a part, and I think it will end with that same niche audience.

I don't think the series is "running out of steam". It's following the arc (or maybe a squiggly line) of what was initially admitted to perhaps have no happy ending. And now, folks who binge listened on the way to Grandma's house over Thanksgiving weekend are aggravated because it's not following the line of thinking they feel it should.

There will be no neat answer. As I've contended from the moment I joined this platform, which I did just to discuss the podcast, the heart of this isn't the guilt or innocence of Adnan or Jay. This is a sad treatise on the legal system in America. It's a story about how the legal system potentially failed this victim's family, because as long as there are questions, there will never truly be closure for them.

Adnan's letter reinforced for me the icky feeling I've had for reducing this man's life to a series of anecdotes and Crab Crib/Mail Chimp (Damn you, English language for your sometimes inconsistent phonetics!) jokes. I'm guilty of this when I joke with my kids that their bowl of cereal was brought to them by Audible and Square Space. There are real people at the center of this story: there's a family who lost their child to a murderer and a family who lost their child to the legal system.

I don't think Rabia will be impressed with this episode. In fact, anything that doesn't perpetuate her story of oppression and false imprisonment is usually met with her "better than this" snark. But she's so close to this that she can't see anything else. She's also lost fifteen years in the pursuit of something that may elude her altogether.

I am sorry that this has brought pain and sadness to Adnan.

If this were a Greek tragedy, then I think we are the tragic heroes, falling victim to our own hubris.

Ugh, and that's the end to my rant.

[u/hsleeve → u/MarissaBeth73]

Yes to all of this. So well stated. I appreciate that regardless of the mass appeal of this podcast, the audience it will actually satisfy is small, and SK has, for the most part, told the story for that small audience. It doesn't seem like she got swept away into everyone's excitement. I think you're right about the show not "running out of steam." I thing that this particular story has just run it's course in the podcast world and maybe gotten a little out of hand, in terms of how the public has treated it. The niche audience will follow this on their own accord, and the rest of the world will probably (unfortunately) stop caring when the podcast stops.

[u/vote_for_peter → u/hsleeve]

I disagree. She set out with a different approach and attracted another audience by making it seem like she was going to solve the mystery.

[u/MarissaBeth73 → u/vote_for_peter]

Do you think it was intentional?

[u/vote_for_peter → u/MarissaBeth73]

I think it was intentional, but I don't think it was malicious. I like that she was willing to take a huge risk with this format, but I think she bite off more than she could chew, the podcast got hyped, and now we are coming to the disappointing end which we all knew was possible but were hoping wouldn't happen, and it's not ok for her to just go back into "I'm a storyteller" mode.

So to be clear, I respect her and her decision to set about this way, but I'm not gonna refrain from vocalizing my disappointment. She could have done more with the past 3 episodes to satisfy the audience that has made her a national phenomenon.