Personal Highlights
Back Again, Back Again: S2 Episode 12
I’m always delighted when I can add an already-ongoing podcast to my Sunday posts, after getting caught up on the show. Back Again, Back Again, is a beautiful story by Abigail Eliza, and inspired by The Oh Hellos – and in particular, their song Solider, Poet, King. On the night of her seventeenth birthday, Ilyaas wakes up in a world much different to ours, in a place called Rhysea, where she must learn to navigate the pressures of a new and unfamiliar life. Five years later, she wakes up back in her old room, seventeen again; and this is where we meet her, as decides to make a record of her life in Rhysea. We’re now deep into the second season of the show, and the circumstances Ilyaas has been put in have become increasingly complicated and dangerous, as the all-important weight of the rex et poeta et soldat prophecy continues to shape her life. The season reaches an important turning point at the end of the episode, in an episode which highlights Ilyaas’ struggles with communicating in Rhysean – and how these struggles have been intentionally created by others – and how her very different world-view throughout the story is expressed by linguistic differences.
Moonbase Theta, Out: S4 Episode 12 – Volatile Elements
(Note: I play Reception Bot in Moonbase Theta, Out) It’s all fun and tardigrades until Ashwini drops a huge bombshell on the Science Bros, that I absolutely did not see coming! As this first scene demonstrates, there’s something of a power imbalance when it comes to the moonbases as a whole, and information takes some time to filter down from one place to the next – and with that in mind, it’s going to be very interesting to see the impact of this new revelation on groups outside of the Science Bros. And there are still very distinct groups and alliances on the moon, with this episode reminding us all too well that not everyone can be trusted. Michell’s monologue demonstrates the complexity of the concept of trust on the moon, with the placing of his scene only reminding us of how he used to be the Bad Guy on Base Theta, while also very clearly demonstrating how much he’s changed since then. The L’Anglois siblings’ relationship has been a key element of this season so far, and Michell’s scene adds so much to our understanding of their relationship and past together, creating a much bigger and more complex picture than Michell had given us earlier on in the story. I also thought it was interesting how this episode raised the question of the price that certain characters have paid for doing what they think or thought was right – there are Maria’s choices in the past, and the effect those have had on Michell and the decisions he’s made; and also the price that Roger and Alex are currently paying for Alex’s decision in risking his life to go to the moon. And speaking of that Roger and Alex scene, it wraps up the episode nicely, in true MTO style, while also providing a heartbreaking contrast with that opening scene. It wouldn’t be a Roger-talking-to-Alex scene without some poetry, of course.
Folxlore: S2E07 – Home
The concept of home is an important theme for Folxlore – dealing with what or where home is, and the importance of belonging and being a part of a community. With this second season of the show, there’s also the very obvious choice (highlighted most clearly in Echo, the fifth episode of this season) that characters must make between the new world that they now find themselves in this season, and the old world from which they were transported from – a metaphor, of course, for the queer experience many of us live in Western society. In this episode, Charlie presents his story, as he compares his life as a queer person in the world he used to live in, to the strange place he now finds himself in. As new and unfamiliar as his new surroundings are, one thing is clear, he belongs here. For him, the choice to stay is an obvious one, but that’s not the case for everyone we’ve met this season.
Debuts
I found Monotone Bunker thanks to Tumblr, and as a big fan of post-apocalyptic stories, I was intrigued by its concept. Monotone Bunker is described by its creator as a post-apocalyptic urban fantasy podcast, and in this first episode, we meet The Operator. Decades have passed since The End, and the anonymous Operator broadcasts from the bunker they call home. It’s an introduction to their life, and the world since the fall of society, with some very strange undertones.
Trailers
Flight 1971 is an upcoming thriller from London-based podcasting studio Drama in 10, which I found thanks to voice actor extraordinaire Karim Kronfli tweeting about it. The story follows the investigation into the crash of Flight 1971, which was en-route from Bangkok to London, when it was blown out of the sky in Iranian airspace. The 13-part series is due to launch on the 26th of May.
Returns
Something something we put a podcast in your podcast ancient meme reference. The tenth season of WOE.BEGONE starts with a very intriguing change of pace, as we’re introduced to Jamilla Gardner (played brilliantly by The Night Post’s Rae Lundburg) and their podcast, Outside Tier One. Jamilla isn’t directly involved (at least, not yet) in any of the story’s Time Travel Shenanigans, but they do work for O.V.E.R., and so have their own perspective on some characters and events we’re all too familiar with – amusingly so, for those of us who have followed the story so far. As far as Jamilla knows, Mike Walters disappeared without a trace on his first day at O.V.E.R., and they set out to find out who and where he really is.
A Sky Full of Pods 