The Podcast \u201cSerial\u201d by\nSara Koenig and Julie Snyder strives to display real experiences to its audience.\nIn Season 3, Serial relies heavily on a new realm of discussion that focuses on\nthe United States criminal justice system and its shortcomings. In this season,\nSerial aims to delve deep into critical cases and showcase the inefficiencies\nof the system \u2013 with simplicity, analysis and an unbiased point of view. This\nis demonstrated exceptionally by the instant hook that the audience experiences\nwith episode four \u201cA Bird In Jail Is Worth Two On the Street,\u201d where an\nindividual is wrongfully accused. Yet, the evidence says otherwise. Throughout\nthe episodes, the podcast has been able to easily capture the attention of the\naudience. However, in episode four the listener is immediately hooked due to\nthe unique analysis, indirect\/direct POVs\u2019 and plot twists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, the story is not started by Koenig, instead, it starts by Ronda Grey, a police officer. In what seems to be an interview, Grey discusses the murder of an infant, the experience she has gone through personally, with the family, and the crime involved. Grey states \u201cIt\u2019s time for the people to speak up, innocent children are being killed by this violence\u2026\u201d (Serial, Koenig). Immediately, the listener identifies a call-to-action, leaving them full of curiosity and hunger for the rest of the story. The meaning behind this is to give the justice system a good light, to make them seem proactive, efficient and pro-community \u2013 which all seems to be true but is simply a strategy. This development of the podcast hints at an improvement in the justice system and a possible elimination of irrational decisions and intense rulings. To the audience, the justice system simply wants to put an issue to rest, with the help and trust of the public. However, with the help received, old problems start to arise such an irrational decision making, lack of evidence, and hasty decisions. It\u2019s shocking to the listener, because at one point the system seems to be improving, but instantly everything falls apart when its revealed that the proper measures for investigation and deduction of the crime weren\u2019t taken. Koenig proves and builds on this when she interviews the wrongfully convicted Devon Holmes, who served prison time for a year. \u201cThey cuffed me up, I asked why I was being arrested and they didn\u2019t tell me\u201d (Serial, Koenig). There are several issues with this, first, Holmes didn\u2019t get to explain himself, nor did he know the reason of his arrest, and when he tried to proclaim innocence \u2013 his previous criminal history was used against him to label him as a criminal. Unjust, a 19-year-old arrested on minimal evidence, and a statement of a witness who the police officers had brainwashed by showing repetitive photos to. The government didn\u2019t want to solve this crime, they just wanted it to be shut away from the public eye \u2013 no one cared, no consequences were even thought about.\u00a0 The podcast is strategically done, the layout brings back a consistent pattern of strategies that have been used previously to highlight issues with the justice system. For example, previously Koenig has used victim interviews, government officials\u2019 interviews and personal opinions to showcase that, however, in this episode it\u2019s presented reversed (where the government seems to help, but reverts back to its old ways), but hits home with power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The structure is brilliant, the identity of Serial seems to have changed over the course of the episode. Instead of blaming the system for its inefficiencies, it portrays itself as pro-government. However, that\u2019s simply an allusion. The reason Koenig does this is to stray away from the repetitive nature of previous seasons and episodes, and simply introduce a fresh structure. Podcast simply dives in, and its refreshing. For example, Koenig talks to Charles, the father of an infant killed in street violence (Ava Wakefield). However, the catch is Charles wasn\u2019t present at the time of the incident, he doesn\u2019t have a clue to what happened but claims he knows exactly what occurred. Now, why would Koenig talk to someone who wasn\u2019t directly involved? What purpose would it serve? Well, it helps clarify for the reader who the actual killer was, and how the streets operated. See, many of the witnesses involved in the case weren\u2019t reliable like John (inmate), and a landscaper who had been brainwashed to think that Devon Holmes was the killer (simply due to the fact that he seemed familiar because police officers had shown Holmes\u2019s picture to him so many times) \u2013 and they weren\u2019t helpful. Much of the evidence that Devon Holmes was arrested on was insufficient, a reoccurring trend that the government does (arresting based off of little evidence), but one person seems to know best. In the podcast, Charles states that \u201cI know exactly who shot my daughter, everyone knows \u2026 I told the police, Tink was innocent,\u201d (Serial, Koenig) but why not let the actual person serve the sentence? Why not serve justice to Ava? There\u2019s no justification. I feel that this is done on purpose, this is where the listener has time to think about the possibilities, the violation of street code, and the consequences of arresting the actual culprit. Koenig does this to include interaction of the audience and keep them engaged \u2013 almost like a detective series like Sherlock Holmes, where the reader can solve as they go. Now, Charles does state that he tried many times to inform the police, but they simply wouldn\u2019t arrest the individual. This is concerning \u2013 the negligence of the justice system continues to grow, and it\u2019s not just in season three, it\u2019s an on-going trend and seems to be an endless cycle. It creates concern for the general public, what is the United States government thinking? Are citizens actually safe? Are they reliable? So many questions are posed that the audience is left with throughout this story. For example, initially, law enforcement agencies seem to care about the issue, they didn\u2019t care who was in jail. They simply wanted the case \u201csolved\u201d in the public\u2019s eyes. This is unjust, it goes against everything the justice system stands for, and Koenig shows that. No matter how much an individual tries some sort of motive promotes corruption in the system, and no one is willing to take responsibility for it. In Serial, corruption is new, episode four is a prime example. See, negligence has always been of concern, but Serial introduces a plot twist, an issue at the root of the justice system, something that isn\u2019t easily fixable. Showing why the public is scared of the justice system, it shows an issue that is internal and hard to battle \u2013 leaving the audience helpless and angry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Word Count: 1119<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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