Personal Highlights
The Cryptonaturalist: Episode 45 – Hello Traveler. This show continues to be a bright light in the darkness of pandemic life. This episode was the best kind of soothing, comforting pep talk, on the role of each individual’s place in the world and the importance of self-love. I, personally, found it very timely and reassuring.
Forgive Amelia – A Triptych: Greggman’s Brand Hot Chocolate. The first in a three-part crossover miniseries between The Amelia Project and Forgive Me!. Elements from the two shows blend together so well, with the Interviewer’s confession turning into more of an Amelia style interview of Father Ben. As different as their lives may be, Father Ben and the Interviewer have a lot more in common than Father Ben initially realises, and I really enjoyed the parallels that were drawn between them as the Interviewer talked about his unusual job. There’s still a lot of mystery as to what exactly the Amelia crew are doing in Father Ben’s neck of the woods, and I’m looking forward to unravelling more of it.
We Fix Space Junk – Marilyn’s Diary: A Long Journey Home – E07. After Marilyn and Computer’s long journey through space, they finally reach Gontano. It’s been an interesting road trip through space for Marilyn, with new sights and new planets and people to meet; but here the mood changes completely, as she puts her fight for freedom from Automnicon into action on her home planet. It’s been a while since we’ve directly seen Gontano, and this is a much more detailed look at the planet and its society; and a much more critical perspective of how Automnicon and its lasting presence has changed it. Marilyn may be a princess, but I found a lot of the discussion about the weight of tradition and society’s expectations very relatable – especially one line in particular which cracked me up! This arrival has been a long time coming for Marilyn, but the bombshell revelation at the episode changes everything. With only one episode left of this miniseries, I’m very curious to see how this story wraps up.
Lost Terminal: 5.6 – We’ve had a breakthrough. There’s a small glimpse of how this world had adapted in the face of climate change at the beginning of the episode, as the forgotten piece of machinery is finally understood. I found it really interesting how Captain Yeshi was confiding in Seth, trusting him with her frustrations about the ship’s crew and the work they weren’t doing; and it seems that Yeshi is benefiting from Seth’s rational and calculated point of view. The tension in Antarctica’s storyline keeps building further, as she is put at risk by her environment – another reminder of how much this world has warmed. Seth poses an interesting and poignant question to end his transmission, showing that being around more humans has led him to consider new ways of thinking, and it left me thinking about the importance of the ‘legacy of acts’, as Seth so succinctly puts it.
Lost Terminal also publicly released the first of a Patreon-exclusive series, titled Heliophage, this week. This new podcast is set in the Lost Terminal universe, but features a different AI. Unlike Seth in season one, this AI starts their life on Earth, but there are some very interesting comparisons between the two. It’s a very different, and much darker, look at this futuristic Earth, as the AI examines a part of the planet which has been abandoned by humans and animals.
The Mountain’s Heart: An Open Letter. Instead of talking to her professor, here Felisa writes a letter to Maria Makiling, the goddess she met on the mountain. ‘What I mean is that you gave me a place to have a home, and now I need to make it one.’ is such a powerful line from her, after we’ve followed her on both a physical and emotional journey; she’s grown and started seeing her life and relationship with her family in a completely different way. Meeting Maria Makiling gave her the encouragement and hope that nobody else had been able to – and it doesn’t really come as much of a surprise when she tells us that her mother doesn’t understand this. It’s a beautiful and poignant episode, and the perfect ending to the story.
Windfall – The Windfall Monologues: Is Anybody Home? An episode from their Patron-exclusive miniseries, The Windfall Monolgues, as a thank you for the support their crowdfunding campaign has received. Set between season one and two, in the aftermath of the shocking events of Contact Day, we see the chaos of the city of Windfall through the eyes of Argus. It’s an interesting insight into the wider population of the city, and the contrast between such a large section of the population and those wanting to fight for freedom.
Midst: S2E02 – Ascendancy. It’s the other side of the coin, as the perspective shifts to another group of people who have been affected by the moon falling out of the sky. It’s a stark contrast to the season opener, as the members of the Trust had the privilege of being able to escape and return to the capital, and their priorities are clearly different to those who are still stuck in Midst. However, there is one constant element here which unites the two groups, and functions as kind of a thread connecting the two episodes – Finneas, and how he was the only member of the Trust to be left behind.
StarTripper!!: 015 – Drifting Like Spores. It’s interesting how Feston’s adventures have changed since he and Serena started travelling together. In season one he was looking for good times, the best times, and a seemingly abandoned ship floating in space definitely doesn’t pass his vibe check. Not only does the episode play with the show’s format, with Feston going into a dangerous situation that he knows to be dangerous, and still managing to have fun; but for a show which compares itself to Saturday morning cartoons, it also flips the trope of the brave adventurous hero seen in a lot of media aimed at children.
Debuts
Solar Postal Services – In the show’s first two episodes, we meet ship mechanic Jam, who has worked for the Solar Postal Services for a year. They also enjoy reading people’s post, it seems, looking for something interesting. It’s a universe where the SPS travels from planet to planet to deliver the mail, and there are interesting glimpses of the galaxy through Jam’s purchase of a new audio notepad, which they bought at a mercurian spaceport.
Trailers and Prologues
Moonbase Theta, Out released a preview of their upcoming miniseries, which is titled All Your Base, because MTO does love its ancient memes! Each of the eight episodes focuses on a different moonbase, providing some very different perspectives of the shutdown process each of them went through. The preview includes clips from each of the episodes, which feature some well-known voices from indie audio fiction. The miniseries is due to launch on August 29th.
Meteor City released a season two trailer to coincide with their Indiegogo campaign. Bianca’s narration serves as an introduction to the story and her desperate search for the truth, in the post-apocalypic Detroit, now known as Meteor City.
Returns
True Tales of the Illuminati is back with some ‘fresh new Illuminati nonsense’ to coincide with the launch of the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for its second season. This time, the Illuminatis are in the Library of Constantinople, on the hunt for secret occult Illuminati knowledge. The problem is, they have no idea where this knowledge is among all the scrolls the library contains, which leads them on somewhat of an unconventional search.
The Night Post is back for its second season. After the events of the end of season one, the pigeons of Station 103 have been separated, now working in different stations, but they’re trying to keep in touch – by post, naturally. It’s a catch-up to their current situation, a few months after the first season’s finale, and the couriers are all dealing with what happened to them in very different ways. As Val points out in her letter – what happens to them all next?
Casting calls
Sci-fi horror Dining in The Void is looking for a new writer to join its team, for its upcoming third season. Unpaid, deadline 11th September.
A Sky Full of Pods 