We are morally founded in freedom as a society. A right to freedom of speech, to freedom of religion and action. A desire to be free of any restrictions that hold us (to reasonable limits) is somehow ingrained into our animal desires through the evolution we have grown from. Just how Bowe Bergdahl, the same man who in our previous blog posts, by his own free will decided to walk into Taliban controlled Afghanistan and was, unsurprisingly, captured, is now in the Serial Podcast season 2 episode 3 Escape attempts escape. I will be briefly summarizing the story recounted and then analytically discussing the narrative features of this episode using specific evidence.
The episode Escape begins with the first successful escape attempt of Bergdahl’s capture. Because he never caused much trouble for his captors, they kept him less restrictive conditions then they should have with a rope tied around his feet and chair around his hands in a room by himself. This allowed him to escape and runs for the trees where he would have made it further if an old woman hadn’t seen him and screamed. After this attempt, he was tied spread eagle on a bed with his legs and hands bound to the four corners of the bed frame for the next three months. This would miserable conditions including diarrhea, raw and sore spots of his body from the heat and sweat where it contacted the bed, and open wounds on his ankles. In between the recounts of the two escape attempts Mark Boal (the filmmaker who interviewed Bergdahl), Bergdahl, and our narrator Sarah Koenig analyze Bergdahl mental state, relay the interrogation and videos Bergdahl had to make, the United States Army and afghani reaction to the videos Bergdahl was forced to make. Following this is a recap of his second successful escape attempt where he this time managed to stay out in the Afghanistan wilderness for around 9 days sleeping in holes covered in foliage and eating grass before he was recaptured.
Throughout this season, recurring narrative features within the podcasts include audio clips from interviews followed by an explanation by Koenig, music mimicking the tempo of the story, and phone calls with individuals from the Army, Taliban, and even Bergdahl himself. The phone calls and audio clip and explanation pattern helped listeners understand the story while the music (like in movies) helped prompt the emotions of the listeners. Overall, they helped build a compelling story that helped keep listeners engaged and wanting to hear more.
A new narrative strategy that was unique to Episode 3 Escape of the Serial Podcasts was a much heavier storytelling narrative that had shorter segments from Bergdahl and Boal and much more depiction from our narrator. This strategy allows for the story to really take shape without the previously common interruption of either music, phone calls, or other interviews allowing for the listener to stay focused and hooked on such a horrific time of Bergdahl capture and escape from that capture. The podcast explains the escape from enemy capture during the war and how hopeless it is. How will the escapee know where to go, where to hide, what to eat, blend in with locals, and avoid torture and death upon likely recapture? This strengthens the misery depiction of Bergdahl’s incarceration, giving the listener a better idea of why it led him to decide to so desperately attempt to escape.
In the first two episodes of season 2 of the Serial Podcast, we are told about Bowe Bergdahl’s capture, the Militaries frantic search for him, and the Taliban’s strategy in keeping him captive. In Season 2 Episode 3 of the Serial Podcast, Escape, the story like is brought nearer full circle with the relay of what Bergdahl’s miserable experience being captive was like and his resilience against it through attempted escapes. It is not only made intriguing through commonly seen narrative features from this season such as music that follows the tone of the story but also it was made more sympathetic with the reader through vivid descriptions of the woeful conditions Bergdahl endured and decided to escape from.
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Hi Charles,
This episode sounds interesting! You did a good job summarizing what the episode was about, and I’m sure if I went back to episodes before it, I’d have a better understanding of some of the things you mention here. I would’ve liked to have read what you meant by his “mental state”, I could only imagine it to have been one of either delusion or composed? Composed since he was a solider, perhaps the military trained him for such scenarios (I realize that training for somethings versus actually being in that scenario never quite is the same thing but still). It’s interesting you point out that this episode opens up with his first successful attempt, which I picture as either some excerpt from the media alluding audiences to that fact, or maybe its Sarah herself, yet I compare this to an episode on the podcast I’m listening to called “Bear Brook”. The very first episode opens up with the discovery of a barrel that would later be found to contain the remains of two people, yet in a later episode, I believe 3, the episode opens up with a media excerpt audio clip which is the first time the narrator, Jason Moon, had ever heard of the cold case which he would later produce into this podcast. It was one of those things where as a listener it made you question what was the decision behind this? Why not start off the series this way, wouldn’t it have the same effect? So, I’m curious why you thought the producers of the episode decided to open up with his escape as opposed to leading up to it? I mean we can also relate this to our stories we’re reading in class right, where the story arch really doesn’t get all that exciting until the climax at the very end where Sherlock is on the brink of getting the perpetrator. How would our perception of these stories change, if say the next one we read, actually opened up with the result and the story was actually just constructing the already known result? It’s interesting to think about, personally I think it would be a refreshing where we are given the results and some evidence which would allow us to solve the mystery before Holmes himself! Usually we’re just kept in the dark until the very end. Anyhow, you bring up a lot of interesting points, especially when you describe minimizing interruptions in the podcast and just letting someone give you the facts, since too much auditory stimulation by the effects can be a bit annoying at times! Thank you for sharing!
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Genaro