Serial

Like "brilliant" the word "riveting" has been so overused as to be rendered into cliche. But that is the only way I can describe the Podcast "Serial" about a Baltimore murder, or, as its narrator, Sarah Koenig, says, this story is about "love, death, truth and justice."

When I go biking, or walking my dog, my iPod scrolls through music and I did not think it possible that a narrative about the murder of a teenager in Baltimore could possibly tear me away from all those endorphins which start flowing whenever Bob Dylan, Eva Cassidy and the Doobie Brothers get going.

But I was wrong. 

I'm only 2 episodes in, but I'm in for the duration now.  It is astonishing on so many levels:  The work which so obviously went into it--each point is examined and nothing is simple; every event is seen from multiple viewpoints, often diametrically opposed. 

It won't be too much of a spoiler to outline some basics: At a Baltimore high school, a "magnet" program for talented students is a melange of ethnicities and the teenagers, many of whom have known each other since elementary school, flow in and out of each others lives.  Hae Min Lee, the daughter of Chinese immigrants is asked to the Junior prom by Adnan Syed, the son of Pakistani immigrants. He is forbidden to date girls because in his Muslim family you are either married or you are not married and if you are not married you do not spend time in company of women. He, of course, ignores this, and has the girl drop him off a block away so his parents will not see. 

Starship Enterprise

At the prom, Adnan's mother shows up and berates him for consorting with girls and upbraids Hae, asking her why she is doing such harm to Adnan's family.  This is recorded in Hae's diary, as is a narrative of her falling in love with Adnan:  "It's amazing. I think I'm the happiest I've ever been, and then I just get happier." 

But the confrontation with the mother at the prom shakes her and she rethinks Adnan's remark, "Oh, well, of course, you are the devil, leading me away from my religion." She had thought he was speaking ironically and he was laughing as he said it, but now it takes on a different meaning. As Koenig says, in every spin there is a tendril of truth.

Just Seventeen

Among the many astonishing things depicted is the nature of love, not just young love, but all love, as revealed through Hae's diary, her friends, who are remarkably articulate, insightful and expressive.  She falls in love with Adnan because he is so sweet.  As the prom prince, he is suppose to have the first dance with the prom princess, but he breaks the rule to dance with her and she rewards him with a kiss on the lips and writes in her diary, "How can you not fall in love with someone so sweet?"

Just Another High School Couple

They have sex everywhere, in locker rooms, friend's houses, motels.  How does a 17 year old couple get a motel room? Think about that.  And they have so much free time. When I went to high school, your day was strictly regulated by the tick of the clock, bells rang and you raced the length of the school to make it into your next classroom on time. After school, there were team practices, for which you had to be on time. After that, you had to be home on time and do homework until you dropped. These kids have so much free  time between classes, they go to malls or to motel rooms. 

But then Hae meets a twenty something at work, a blonde, blue eyed swain, and she falls in love with him at first sight.  Again, her diary registers rapture. So there is love. 

The Next Guy

And all through it is truth, the many sides of truth, and justice, which I have always suspected is a delusion.  Justice, now there's a concept for you. What, exactly, is justice?