Limetown

This is a two season podcast, and each season is very different in tone and style.

The first season is about Lia Haddock, an investigative reporter, who is trying to track down what happened to the people of Limetown ten years earlier. She meets several people who had been there, records her interviews with them, and we get to hear what happened the same time Lia does. In the Napoleon episode we learn how one survivor learned to communicate with a pig. It didn't end well, the result was horrific and gave me chills. In the final episode of the first season, Lia meets a survivor who finally starts to put the pieces together for her. But in a twist, the survivor sets a timer and gives her 12 minutes to ask questions before brutally ending the interview. It was a damn good end to the first season.

The second season involves two people discussing the events of Limetown and its aftermath. We haven't been introduced to these characters in season one, and it's difficult to say much about it without giving spoilers, but it's basically a cat-and-mouse game of deception. We get more answers, but the edge is gone, and in time, the discussions get tedious. By the time we got near the end, the show was dragging and if it had had a third season, I probably would have given up. The ending was... well it was an ending.

I gave this seven stars overall. Season one is a ten, season two is a four. Combined, that's a seven.

The first season was incredibly immersive due to its delivery: put together like an investigative journalist story right out of NPR. The characters were entertaining, the dialogue was good and the idea that it was a radio program helped form a unique investment in the story.

However, in second season, the radio show format was ditched and a new protagonist was introduced for a larger-scale story. While the characters and mystery still had some substance, I felt it was unsatisfying (especially the ending)