{"id":787,"date":"2020-11-16T16:52:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T00:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/?p=787"},"modified":"2020-11-16T16:52:32","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T00:52:32","slug":"serial-s02-episodes-2-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/2020\/11\/16\/serial-s02-episodes-2-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Serial S02 Episodes 2-4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Through episodes 2-4, host Sarah Koenig continues her development\nof the case of Beau Bergdahl as she furthers the explanation of her findings\nthrough Season 02 of Serial<\/em>. In these developing episodes, Koenig dives\ninto the perspectives of various others in terms of the explanation of the\nevents that took place when and after Bergdahl abandoned his base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I mentioned in my first blog, Serial <\/em>is still told by a single narrator. As the story has developed, the involvement of other perspectives is very prominent as it is used in order to provide the listener with a well-rounded interpretation of what exactly happened, not merely from one biased point of view. Episodes 2-4 focus primarily on Bergdahl’s capture and his imprisonment by the Taliban. In these episodes there is actual interview evidence that is used between Koenig and the Taliban. There is a translator used, however the listener is able to hear the actual recording which adds an aspect that is very interesting and effective. It made me, as a listener, question exactly how Koenig was able to acquire a full-on interview with the Taliban members pertaining to this issue, for that seems like a difficult task in itself. This also worked to lessen the bias. Throughout these episodes, it occasionally feels as though Koenig is defending Bergdahl, however the incorporation of these interviews reduces this bias and gives the listener the ability to make well thought out conclusions for them self.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these episodes, the listener hears, directly from Bergdahl,\nspecificities regarding the horrors that he went through while he was in\ncaptivity. It is explained that often he was left in a dark room for days,\nconstantly beaten with a cloth over his face to restrict his vision, and even\ntied to a bed frame for days without the ability to move. These are brutal,\ndisturbing details that are not comfortable to listen to. As a listener hearing\nall of this, it adds an intriguing aspect as it is reflecting real life\nexperiences that happen to prisoners of war. Hearing about the actual\nexperiences of Bergdahl causes the listener to step back and really engage in\nthe trauma that he went through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Not only does Koenig use interviews from the Taliban and\nBergdahl himself, but she also incorporates those of Beau\u2019s fellow soldiers and\nthose that he abandoned when he left his base. These, once again, provide the\nlistener with a well-rounded scope of the situation. As S02 of Serial <\/em>develops\nit is occasionally difficult to understand what Koenig is trying to express to\nthe listeners in terms of whether or not she is trying to prove Bergdahl\ninnocent or guilty. Sometimes it feels as though she is trying to get the\nlistener to sympathize with him, and other times it is just the opposite. This\ncauses the listener to think critically about the events and draw conclusions\nfrom that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u00a0Koenig uses background music, sound effects, and vivid imagery in order to paint the picture of the scene in the listener’s mind. The words she uses to describe the settings and capture the horrors of what Bergdahl went through makes Serial <\/em>just that much more compelling. The sound effects and music are often used in times of suspense in order to captivate the listener\u2019s attention and put them on edge. This is a very successful tactic when it comes to storytelling in podcast form. As S02 of Serial <\/em>progresses, the listener is drawn in more and more each episode, often previewing facts of future events. The excitement and tension heighten as new elements are introduced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Word Count: 599<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through episodes 2-4, host Sarah Koenig continues her development of the case of Beau Bergdahl as she furthers the explanation of her findings through Season 02 of Serial. In these developing episodes, Koenig dives into…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":789,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787\/revisions\/789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}