Started Serial during a long car trip a couple weeks ago, not sure if I'm ever going to finish it. It's one of the most manipulative pieces of quasi-journalism I've ever come across. really don't understand everybody's obsession.
This is the thing. I loved serial. I also love those hour long murder mystery shows that could have been done in 10 minutes if they stopped fucking recapping it. I like the journey, I like the story, I like seeing people's motivations for murder and I love calling out the storytellers for their failing as a being a trustworthy journalist. It's a weird set of mental gymnastics I do in order to enjoy them while also being frustrated with them but oh well. I realize it's not 100% true, it's one sided, it's manipulative, it's all of that. But I still like hearing the story and trying to figure out what the police saw, what they didn't see, what characters are going to come out, etc. I also like calling out plot twists far in advance. Maybe I'm weird.
I finished it, and really thought it was meh at best, then I started seeing people super hyped on it on some sites and twitter/IG, and that just didn't make any sense at all. It was not really that good, and just felt more like the interior monologue of some death row fetishist after a while. Granted, I don't think the producer was really that naive or anything, but she sure as shit was doing everything wrong when it comes to examining due process.