Capital Reviews

 Tanis: Season 1 [podcast] YOU HAVE PROBABLY HEARD MY THEORY THAT THE REASON HP LOVECRAFT WORKS AS HORROR IS THAT HE IS KINDA AWFUL AT WRITING AND IT PUTS THIS AIR OF "WELL HE COULDN'T HAVE JUST MADE THIS UP SO IT MUST BE REAL" WHEN HE DESCRIBES SOMETHING. I FEEL LIKE THIS HAS THAT. IT HAS SUCH ABSURDLY BAD WRITING THEN MIXES IN ACTUAL REAL WORLD STUFF IN WITH FICTIONAL STUFF IN A WAY THAT HONESTLY ENDS UP BEING MORE EFFECTIVE THAN IF IT WAS WRITTEN WELL. GLYPH IN USE FOR TEN YEARS, YOU CAN SEARCH PDFS,  PS. I LEGITIMATELY LOVE THE FRAMING ON THE ELLIOT SMITH/KURT COBAIN EPISODE WHERE THEY WENT THROUGH THE WHOLE THING THEN WERE LIKE "NO, NONE OF THAT IS TRUE, THAT IS ALL REALLY OFFENSIVE AND YOU CAN'T SAY THAT" THEN MENTION IT AGAIN IN LATER EPISODES AS LIKE, A MISGUIDED FAN. 

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK ABOUT THIS. IT'S HALF WAY BETWEEN BEING EXTREMELY THEMATICALLY STRONG BY HAVING A BUNCH OF CHARACTERS IN END OF LIFE SITUATIONS THAT ARE ALL TOTALLY DIFFERENT BUT THEN ALSO IT'S A WICKED BAD "HERE IS SOME STUFF THAT HAPPENED' PLAY THAT IS JUST A BUNCH OF RANDOM STUFF THAT DOESN'T REALLY GO ANYWHERE. LIKE THE CENTRAL STORY ARC IS REALLY ABOUT HANK BUT LIKE, WHY? HE SORT OF JUST HAS HIS OWN THING AND NONE OF THE ACTUALLY STUFF THE PLAY WAS ABOUT REALLY IS ANYTHING ABOUT HIM.       PS. I GOT SO INTO THIS THING. I SAT IN MY CAR TO HEAR THE END. A LONG TIME AGO I USED TO DRIVE BACK FROM PORTLAND MOST SUNDAY NIGHTS AND HEAR THE RADIO DRAMAS AND I MISS THAT A LOT. I ALSO LISTENED TO A TERRIBLE THING WHERE A GUY MADE A TIME BOMB TO MURDER HIS WIFE AND THEN BURGLARS TIED HIM UP AND HE HAD TO COUNT DOWN THE LAST HOUR BUT IT TURNED OUT HIS WIFE HAD A SECRET CRIMINAL BROTHER INSTEAD OF A SECRET BOYFRIEND THEN SHE TOOK ALL THE FERTILIZER OUT ...

THIS WAS REALLY GOOD. IT WAS NIGHTVALE PEOPLE'S ATTEMPT AT A MORE SERIOUS HORROR STORY AND IT FELT LIKE SOMETHING STEVEN KING WOULD WRITE. WELL, SPECIFICALLY IT FELT LIKE SOMETHING STEVEN KING DID WRITE AS IT FELT LIKE THE HUNGRY MAN/THISTLE MAN WERE 100% EXACTLY IDENTICAL TO THE LOW MEN TO THE POINT IT SEEMED WEIRD. ALTHOUGH I GUESS THAT CONCEPT IN ITSELF IS NOT SUPER ORIGINAL. ALSO NIGHTVALE IS REAL SLIPPERY WITH IT'S FORMAT AND SOMETIMES IT FORGETS IT'S A RADIO SHOW AS A PREMISE AND MAN WAS THIS SO BAD AT REMEMBERING IT'S A CB THING SHE'S DOING. IT WAS FINE AND DIDN'T RUIN THE SHOW BUT 90% OF THE TIME IT SEEMS LIKE IT MADE NO SENSE. WHY WOULD SHE SAY ANY OF THAT STUFF ON A CB RADIO?   PS. THIS WAS REALLY GOOD BUT I FEEL ANGRY AND BETRAYED IT'S GETTING A SECOND SEASON. LIKE 9000% OF THE APPEAL WAS THE IDEA OF A SELF CONTAINED 10 EPISODE STORY AND I AM SO MAD THAT IT ENDED WITH A "HEY, DONATE TO OUR KICKSTARTER TO MAKE MORE EPISODES!"

HOLY CRAP WHY DID THIS HAVE SUCH A DEPRESSING ENDING AND WHY DID NO ONE IN THE ACTUAL CAST ACTUALLY NOTICE HOW UNHAPPY THE ENDING WAS AND HOW TERRIBLE THE SOLUTION WAS!? EVERYONE IS JUST TRAPPED IN A DREAMWORLD, HE DIDN'T SAVE ANYONE AT ALL! HE JUST TRAPPED THEM ALL FOREVER WITH THE BAD GUY!!! PS: THE VOICE OF THE BAD GUY WAS CLEARLY THE SLITHEEN DAD AND I WAS GETTING REALLY NERVOUS THAT IT WAS GOING TO TURN OUT TO BE A SLITHEEN THING BUT NAH.

I'M GAY