In S-Town host Brian Reed investigates an alleged murder and cover-up that occurred in Woodstock, Alabama. Reed learned about the murder from John B. McLemore, an eccentric resident of this “shit-town,” as he calls it. When Reed visits the town he learns, through McLemore, about the corruption and decay plaguing Woodstock, but also learns more about McLemore’s compelling character.
The episode opens with an intriguing hook that sets a tone of decay and loss for the series: a veiled metaphor about an antique clock. Reed mentions, cryptically, that when an antique clock breaks, it’s difficult to fix because its unique complexity. So clock restorers must follow “witness marks” left inside the clock—clues for how the clock was built—in order to fix it. Ostensibly, the analogy relates because McLemore, an antique clock restorer, told Reed about these marks. But the opening also hints to listeners a sense of uncovering something that’s lost. The metaphor becomes clearer later in the episode, as McLemore attempts to uncover the murder of Dylan Nicholls, only to learn it’s been covered up. No newspaper clippings, online or at the local library, and yet all the townspeople seem to know. John and the townspeople thus become the “witness marks” in this broken clock of a town.
Hold that thought about the clock metaphor. Because this episode seems, at first to be about a murder. But what drew me in more was McLemore’s compelling personality. Reed includes interviews with McLemore throughout the episode, and he’s a joy to listen to, a strong advantage of Reed’s audio recordings. McLemore often rambles about his wide-ranging interests—botany, chemistry, global warming, astronomy, and the list goes on. He talks also about his alienation in the decaying town, and once mentions, “I should’ve got out of this [expletive] town in my 20s. I should’ve done something useful with my life.” In two sentences, McLemore connects deeply with listeners. Because everyone’s had a dream they’ve lost one way or another. Reed is aware of this human connection, which is why he pays as much attention to developing the murder investigation as he does to developing McLemore’s character. That’s why Reed includes the conversations about McLemore’s past. He wants to connect listeners with the tragedy behind Woodstock’s decay through McLemore’s productive yet wasting life. Now we’re invested.
So despite the murder investigation, Reed doesn’t deal in suspense, he deals in themes. Reed is crafty with this—the clock metaphor I mentioned earlier relates also to McLemore’s character. He’s old, jaded, and broken like an antique clock. Pieces are missing—past dreams, perhaps—which Reed recovers bit-by-bit through anecdotes, first through phone calls and then as McLemore shows Reed through town.
Where does the murder come in? Reed drops details about the investigation between long conversations with McLemore. After the clock analogy, Reed describes McLemore’s email to him a few years prior, which describes Dylan Nicholls’ murder and cover-up. Listeners then experience Reed’s phone calls with McLemore, which describe a witness account but more heavily focus on Woodstock and McLemore himself. Reed thus introduces Woodstock and McLemore as characters in his narrative, mentioning the investigation just enough to drive along the plot. This continues when Reed visits McLemore, mostly chilling with McLemore and just briefly investigating the Nicholls at a library.
The last minute of the episode brings Reed’s narrative threads together. Townsperson Skyler Goodson corroborates McLemore’s account of the murder, and as Reed looks over at McLemore, he notes there’s “John is calm, matter of fact. Like, what’s the big surprise? It’s a shit-town. This is what I’ve been telling you all along.” There’s the man, the town, and the murder, all at once. Reed’s brilliantly concise closing leaves listeners with a strong impression of S-Town and a desire to hear more.
The last minute of the episode brings Reed’s narrative threads together. Townsperson Skyler Goodson corroborates McLemore’s account of the murder, and as Reed looks over at McLemore, he notes there’s “John is calm, matter of fact. Like, what’s the big surprise? It’s a shit-town. This is what I’ve been telling you all along.” There’s the man, the town, and the murder, all at once. Reed’s brilliantly concise closing leaves listeners with a strong impression of S-Town and a desire to hear more.
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S-Town sounds like a podcast that I could find myself getting hooked on, since I love stories involving mysteries and intrigue, and I’m also a sucker for character-driven stories. In your description of the first episode, you mention that Reed, the host, learns about the setting and the murder through one of the characters, McLemore, and it reminds me of the podcast I chose to listen to. I think telling the story of a mystery or unexplained event through the characters who witnessed or are close to that event makes for a more compelling narrative because it makes the listener feel more involved in the story – rather than hear about it from a third-party, the host, we feel like we’re actually doing the investigating and hearing what happened directly from the source. This was an aspect that I particularly liked about my podcast, and it makes me interested to listen to more episodes of S-Town as well.
On the other hand, telling a story purely through characters their testimonies/interviews might pose a challenge in terms of bias or not getting the whole story – the premise behind this podcast is that the host is being called to investigate a cover-up, so the characters may have biased or untrue interviews based on their connection with the murder, which could alter the listener’s interpretation of the story. I suppose it’s important to have a good balance between interviews and the host’s interpretation and research, and it seems like Reed in S-Town does a good job of noting down facts and observations about the characters he’s interviewing to give their anecdotes more context.
Speaking of context, I thought the antique clock metaphor at the beginning of the episode was a great hook because it left me curious about where the episode was going – it seems like such an arbitrary thing to start talking about, and by the time it eventually got tied back to McLemore and Woodstock, I was hooked on the story and eager to listen more. It also creates a recurring theme throughout the episode, of trying to find the “witness marks” or hidden clues in McLemore’s story, and this continuity throughout the episode makes it difficult to stop listening, and keeps me engaged in the story as it goes on.
S-Town sounds like a great podcast that consistently engages its listeners, and I’m excited to continue learning more about the characters and the town as I continue listening to the podcast. Thanks for introducing it to me with this post!
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