A closer look at what the trifecta of 2023 productions reveal about the direction that Serial Productions has chosen: The Coldest Case In Laramie; The Retrievals and The Kids Of Rutherford County
Great to see your insightful appraisal, Samantha. I also was surprised by the relatively small/slow output - given the resources. (I counted 21 names listed for one episode of The Retrievals.) I really liked The Three of Us, for its lean writing, raw family dynamics and charismatic protagonist in Rachel. The Trojan Horse felt out of kilter - some episodes dragged, lost in the weeds of arcane school admin, and the series suffered from not getting key figures on tape. But the meta-story of Hamza and Brian's fractious relationship was super-interesting. I wrote a review of this one for the Sydney Morning Herald, here. https://shorturl.at/vDUV9 The Retrievals was powerful indeed, though Burton's narration felt too dense for me at times, especially ep 4, where I noted only one grab to relieve her voice over about 20mins. Interesting that she chose to eschew the now common trope of the subjective host. Laramie, I also liked Kim Barker's style and the interrogation tape was extraordinary. But the first eps felt indulgent and needing an edit, and I really wanted more sense of Laramie-the-place - as in ambient sound and scenes to bring the town to life. Rutherford County - loved the shambolic lawyer, Wes, and his passion to take on the system and save the kids. He was so central to it that I'd query that description of it being another podcast about women. Yes, the spine-chilling Judge Donna was key, and Lyn Dukes significant, but for me the kids and their defenders stole the show.
Wonder what’s next?? I’m hoping for something a bit more left field, in terms of topic and creative approach. Something that yanks you into a 3-D other world… maybe start with the hippos of Pablo Escobar and connect somehow to an art heist or a juicy family feud. And with a host that sounds… different. OK, maybe I’m losing it a bit here :) But there’s 1600 reporters at the NYT and millions of listeners to Serial Inc – they’ve got to have incredible stories coming at them!
Great to hear from you Siobhan...we are aligned in our thoughts about the Trojan Horse Affair...it was just a lot to get through. The details made me dizzy and I got lost. Agreed that their dynamic was charming, ,and thank you for pointing out to me why this worked in the series! Your article is spot on.
All-in, I would say that the Serial/NYTimes offerings for this year got me thinking about *how much* is too much narration...because it definitely leans heavily into that space. And then also about the use of bad tape. While I loved The Coldest Case, I listened to most of it on car speakers, and frankly the nuance of it just didn't translate. Some of it was so bad that I couldn't actually hear it--I went back later on headphone to figure out where there were long deadspaces...which was actually just poorly recorded source tape. It made me wonder why such long selections were used.
For The Kids, I do agree that the lawyers stole the show - they were the best part of it - but I guess I was honing in on what the point of it all was. These two women have steered the wheels of justice in a particular way, which I thought was notable, and worth mentioning.
Love your ideas for what's next - they have virtually an endless supply chain of story and talent to choose from. Hopefully they choose wisely! Best to you from Canada...
Great to see your insightful appraisal, Samantha. I also was surprised by the relatively small/slow output - given the resources. (I counted 21 names listed for one episode of The Retrievals.) I really liked The Three of Us, for its lean writing, raw family dynamics and charismatic protagonist in Rachel. The Trojan Horse felt out of kilter - some episodes dragged, lost in the weeds of arcane school admin, and the series suffered from not getting key figures on tape. But the meta-story of Hamza and Brian's fractious relationship was super-interesting. I wrote a review of this one for the Sydney Morning Herald, here. https://shorturl.at/vDUV9 The Retrievals was powerful indeed, though Burton's narration felt too dense for me at times, especially ep 4, where I noted only one grab to relieve her voice over about 20mins. Interesting that she chose to eschew the now common trope of the subjective host. Laramie, I also liked Kim Barker's style and the interrogation tape was extraordinary. But the first eps felt indulgent and needing an edit, and I really wanted more sense of Laramie-the-place - as in ambient sound and scenes to bring the town to life. Rutherford County - loved the shambolic lawyer, Wes, and his passion to take on the system and save the kids. He was so central to it that I'd query that description of it being another podcast about women. Yes, the spine-chilling Judge Donna was key, and Lyn Dukes significant, but for me the kids and their defenders stole the show.
Wonder what’s next?? I’m hoping for something a bit more left field, in terms of topic and creative approach. Something that yanks you into a 3-D other world… maybe start with the hippos of Pablo Escobar and connect somehow to an art heist or a juicy family feud. And with a host that sounds… different. OK, maybe I’m losing it a bit here :) But there’s 1600 reporters at the NYT and millions of listeners to Serial Inc – they’ve got to have incredible stories coming at them!
Best wishes from Australia,
Siobhan
Great to hear from you Siobhan...we are aligned in our thoughts about the Trojan Horse Affair...it was just a lot to get through. The details made me dizzy and I got lost. Agreed that their dynamic was charming, ,and thank you for pointing out to me why this worked in the series! Your article is spot on.
All-in, I would say that the Serial/NYTimes offerings for this year got me thinking about *how much* is too much narration...because it definitely leans heavily into that space. And then also about the use of bad tape. While I loved The Coldest Case, I listened to most of it on car speakers, and frankly the nuance of it just didn't translate. Some of it was so bad that I couldn't actually hear it--I went back later on headphone to figure out where there were long deadspaces...which was actually just poorly recorded source tape. It made me wonder why such long selections were used.
For The Kids, I do agree that the lawyers stole the show - they were the best part of it - but I guess I was honing in on what the point of it all was. These two women have steered the wheels of justice in a particular way, which I thought was notable, and worth mentioning.
Love your ideas for what's next - they have virtually an endless supply chain of story and talent to choose from. Hopefully they choose wisely! Best to you from Canada...