The Bright Sessions is a sci-fi podcast that follows a therapist, Dr. Bright, and her sessions with a group of therapy patients, each of which have a supernatural ability. The podcast is unique in that it is recorded like a therapy session would be for legal purposes. As the listener, you feel as if you are placed there in the session, sitting in between the therapist and the patient as an “eavesdropper”. This being the first episode of the podcast, from the first few seconds, it was easy to pick up on the cues such as “new patient”, “psychological counseling”, and “appointment” that hinted at the idea of it being a therapy session. Episode 1 only featured an interview style recording as opposed to a storytelling narration and this really helped to set the scene as just two people interacting with each other. This specific episode featured an anxious girl in her mid-20s who, as we find out around halfway through the podcast, can time travel and found Dr. Bright through a listing in the paper as “therapy for the strange and unusual”.
The Bright Sessions podcast has a simplistic format where sound effects are kept to a minimum and no music is played in the background. These features, or lack thereof, help to focus the listener’s attention on the two characters and what they are saying. But throughout the whole podcast, there is a faint ticking sound from a clock that further adds to the idea that the setting was a therapist’s office and that time in a session is limited. Additionally, this adds an element of suspense as if we are waiting for the ticking to stop and for something dramatic to happen. There are also a few times throughout the podcast where there was nothing but a scribbling/writing on paper sound effect. As a listener, this came as a sign that whatever the patient, Sam, had said previous to the sound effect probably had some importance to it. The other sound effects that were included were very subtle but helped to set the scene of the podcast. Knowing that the few sound effects that were played were a knock on the door, the door opening, Sam sitting, and the door closing helped create this image that between Sam going into the room and then out at the end, there was no movement of either of the two characters.
Throughout the podcast, the tone of both characters were very relaxed and calm, with no sense of urgency, but towards the end of the podcast, their volumes and pace of speech started to increase and they began to get my frantic. This helped to create a build-up and add a ~dramatic effect~ to have her disappear. At this point, we understand that the reason Sam time travels is because it is almost a defense mechanism against her moments of panic. The ending is very subtle in that Dr. Bright finishes by leaving herself a little memo about important details of the “case”. After listening to just the first episode, themes such as mental health and how certain people view themselves become apparent and the intimate and emotional aspects of the podcast set it apart as a simplistic drama.
Word Count: 540 words
