Let’s keep this conversation going. I’m back to talk about and analyze the elements of the podcast “Bear Brook”. I listened to two more episodes of this podcast: A Smaller Haystack and Eunsoon Jun. They continued to build on the foundation that I had gained from earlier episodes. Again, Jason Moon jumps right into the action. The third podcast begins at a press conference in November 2015 where new information is being shared about the people discovered in the blue barrels in Bear Brook National Park. Moon mentions that this is the first time he was made aware of the case. This made me think about the chronological order of the podcast. Moon didn’t find out about the Bear Brook case until 2015 but you don’t find that out until the third episode. How would the podcast be different if it was in chronological order of Moon’s research rather than chronological order of the case facts themselves? The stylistic choice to have the podcast move in chronological order helps trigger the listener’s memory because past discoveries are mentioned when making references that move the case forward.
During the conference, the Senior Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice presents information on the case. The attorney general will talk for a little bit and then his voice will fade out while Moon’s commentary fades in. Moon continues to summarize and paraphrase what is being said by other people throughout the process. Piano music plays in the background increasing in pace as the conference draws closer to an end. Music seems to work in the same way throughout the episodes. It fades in and fades out; sometimes it plays while people are talking and sometimes it plays while people aren’t talking at all. Everytime music is used, though, the overall purpose is to increase eeriness, suspense, and mystery.
The third episode continues to detail how differences in isotopic signatures can indicate different regional levels and where isotopes are found on the body can indicate a timeline of events. These findings on the bodies are valuable to people interested in the case. Moon cuts back to himself at around this point, though, for emphasis. He says, “I’d like to pause for a minute to think about what this means.” He points out that the isotopic signatures have narrowed down the origins of the people to multiple states and, although this might seem like a needle in a haystack, these findings are crucial to moving the case forward. The case sat idle for so long and needed just about anything to move it forward. From the listeners’ perspective, it’d be easy to think less of this discovery because we’re not as invested in the case but Moon makes sure to emphasize the importance of content that should be paid attention to. He does this throughout the podcast but, in this instance, it really stood out to me.
As the conference ends, low, ominous, bass-heavy music plays in the background. Moon then introduces a case in California that, he says, ultimately connects back to New Hampshire. At this point, I started episode four, which was extremely different from any episode before it: a new bad guy, a new murder victim, a new detective, a completely new story. One thing I did know, though, was that it was connected to the events in New Hampshire in some way. This added an extra layer of suspense. By the end of the fourth episode, Roxanne, the detective, had put away the bad guy. Upon digging deeper into his past, she found that he had many different aliases. Some of these aliases had criminal records. In one case, “Curtis Kimball” was charged with abandoning his daughter at an RV park. Roxanne figured if he lied about his name, he’d also lie about his “daughter’s” name. She had a paternity test done and found that the two of them weren’t related. Ultimately, this little girl’s identity would bring Roxanne back to Bear Brook. My question is: why spend a whole episode detailing another criminal when the whole point is to bring it back to Bear Brook eventually? Is this all for dramatic effect? This episode could have been summarized in a few minutes. Why spend 40 minutes building up this story? In my opinion, this story takes away from the consistent identity of the other episodes. It seems like it builds away from Bear Brook only to come back to it. My hypothesis is that this is done to build suspense and drag real answers and discoveries out longer. I’d be curious to hear other explanations, though.
The mystery continues…
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