Serial

[Webster]

Been underwhelmed with the updates so far. They have been too confusing and a little gossipy.

 

[sgreenwell]

Been underwhelmed with the updates so far. They have been too confusing and a little gossipy.

Way, way, wayyyyy too breathlessly excited on them, plus, it sounds like an amateur operation because they don't edit out the "geez I hope this phone call works!" stuff.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

I agree that this year has been a step backward, especially with the timing being off. That said, I thought this last episode was the strongest one I've heard in a while. Maybe I just like politics better than military, but I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one.
Also, does anyone else feel like her update of last years case just stopped without warning or closure?
Either way, I'm enjoying catching up on the radio lab archives. What a fantastic show.

 

[Moderator1]

Has there been resolution to the season 1 hearings? Was he granted a new trial?

 

[Webster]

Season 2 ended rather abruptly. I liked the part of the last episode dealing with whether the search Bergdahl leading to any US soldier deaths. Tying it into whatever overarching point they were trying to make seemed a little forced. I guess there was never going to be a neat resolution to the season but the fact that she didn't have direct access to him really hurt the season.

 

[TyWebb]

Season 2 ended rather abruptly. I liked the part of the last episode dealing with whether the search Bergdahl leading to any US soldier deaths. Tying it into whatever overarching point they were trying to make seemed a little forced. I guess there was never going to be a neat resolution to the season but the fact that she didn't have direct access to him really hurt the season.

The more I listened to it (haven't listened to the last episode yet), the more I thought that they just picked the wrong story/case for this format. With no direct access to Bergdahl, it was going to be tough to have any meaningful discoveries. The whole thing has felt like a rehashing of a story we've already heard. I have mostly listened to it as background noise when I'm doing something else, as opposed to the first season when I was hooked on every word.

 

[sgreenwell]

The more I listened to it (haven't listened to the last episode yet), the more I thought that they just picked the wrong story/case for this format. With no direct access to Bergdahl, it was going to be tough to have any meaningful discoveries. The whole thing has felt like a rehashing of a story we've already heard. I have mostly listened to it as background noise when I'm doing something else, as opposed to the first season when I was hooked on every word.

Definitely agree. I think the "who done it?" or mystery format works better for what they're doing. This whole season, it felt like they were biting off more than they could chew.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Glad he's getting a new trial. He deserved one.

Also, he did it.

 

[Moderator1]

You base that on what? I listened to the podcast and thought he may well have but I heard nothing that made it as clear as it should be for a conviction. And I'm not saying that in a NO YOU ARE WRONG manner. Just curious what makes it clear to you

 

[JRoyal]

I couldn't say definitively either way if he did it or not. It's pretty clear from everything that's come out on this and other podcasts and blogs, though, that the evidence wasn't there to convict him. There's definitely reasonable doubt.

 

[Amy]

You base that on what? I listened to the podcast and thought he may well have but I heard nothing that made it as clear as it should be for a conviction. And I'm not saying that in a NO YOU ARE WRONG manner. Just curious what makes it clear to you

I lean towards he did it than he didn't and I wanted to believe he didn't do it.

 

[poindexter]

Ol' Sarah really hooked me in the first five minutes of the first Serial: Can *you* remember what you were doing for 3 hours on this date, a couple of years ago?

The second Serial, to me, never had such a hook.

 

[Dyno]

My friends who think he did it think so because when Adnan found out Hae was missing, he didn't try to call her. I think Sarah asked him about it and his answer was unsatisfying.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

You base that on what? I listened to the podcast and thought he may well have but I heard nothing that made it as clear as it should be for a conviction. And I'm not saying that in a NO YOU ARE WRONG manner. Just curious what makes it clear to you

The short answer is, it makes far more sense to me than any other possible explanation. He was a jilted ex-boyfriend (a fact that Sarah pooh-poohed to a strange degree). His explanation for loaning his car was farcical. There were parts of his story I simply didn't believe, and they weren't outweighed by arguments over cell-phone tracking.

I don't know that there's enough to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt... but I think he did it.

 

[Moderator1]

Ol' Sarah really hooked me in the first five minutes of the first Serial: Can *you* remember what you were doing for 3 hours on this date, a couple of years ago?

The second Serial, to me, never had such a hook.

Yeah, I stopped listening to the second one after four or five segments.

Very curious to see how this second trial goes (and does he get freed while away trial, has his conviction technically now been overturned?) - I lean toward him having done it as well but I'm far from convinced

 

[sgreenwell]

The short answer is, it makes far more sense to me than any other possible explanation. He was a jilted ex-boyfriend (a fact that Sarah pooh-poohed to a strange degree). His explanation for loaning his car was farcical. There were parts of his story I simply didn't believe, and they weren't outweighed by arguments over cell-phone tracking.

I don't know that there's enough to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt... but I think he did it.

This is similar to my line of thinking. If I was on a jury, I don't think I could vote to convict him. But he's got a decent motive, and throughout the podcast even with Sarah putting him in the best possible light, he still seemed so evasive to me. There also isn't a credible alternative suspect - The Internet Slueths on Reddit usually focus on Jay (who has way less of a motive than Adnan) and a serial killer that was active in the area (but who's MO doesn't match this case).

 

[Moderator1]

What about the new dude? Can't remember his name. Any reason to think he could have been involved in any way? They may have discussed that and I'm blanking on it

 

[Dyno]

What about the new dude? Can't remember his name. Any reason to think he could have been involved in any way? They may have discussed that and I'm blanking on it

I felt like they didn't discuss it enough. After Serial was over, I heard or read that the new guy's (Don?) alibi - that he was at work - was corroborated by his manager...who happened to be his stepmother.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Yeah, they said early on that he had an alibi, and he was barely an afterthought after that.