The Bright Sessions: Full Series
June 10, 2018 4:25 AM - Subscribe
Therapy for the strange and unusual.
The Bright Sessions is a science fiction podcast that follows a group of therapy patients. But these are not your typical patients - each has a unique supernatural ability. The show documents their struggles and discoveries as well as the motivations of their mysterious therapist, Dr. Bright.
The series concludes on 13 June. But bonus episodes and spinoff mini serieses are in the works. As well as YA novels and a TV show.
The Bright Sessions is a science fiction podcast that follows a group of therapy patients. But these are not your typical patients - each has a unique supernatural ability. The show documents their struggles and discoveries as well as the motivations of their mysterious therapist, Dr. Bright.
The series concludes on 13 June. But bonus episodes and spinoff mini serieses are in the works. As well as YA novels and a TV show.
I mainlined the whole thing in three days, not realising that the last episode hadn’t been published yet. I’m on tenterhooks.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 3:20 PM on June 11, 2018
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 3:20 PM on June 11, 2018
It’s out! Go listen to the series finale, y’all.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 3:50 AM on June 13, 2018
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 3:50 AM on June 13, 2018
The final episode, in and of itself, was... okay. Perfectly nice, well-executed, nothing that stretched things too much, nothing too surprising.
But the whole series (or at least, this part of it) was everything. From its start as an intriguing little series of "Hey, what if..." vignettes, to its growth into something darker, to its ultimate emergence into a textured, well-crafted story of a family (in some sense of the word), The Bright Sessions is everything an audio drama can be.
posted by Etrigan at 8:01 AM on June 13, 2018
But the whole series (or at least, this part of it) was everything. From its start as an intriguing little series of "Hey, what if..." vignettes, to its growth into something darker, to its ultimate emergence into a textured, well-crafted story of a family (in some sense of the word), The Bright Sessions is everything an audio drama can be.
posted by Etrigan at 8:01 AM on June 13, 2018
Okay, now that I've had a little time to process, my overall thoughts:
Lauren Shippen (creator, writer, Sam) is a major talent. She's going to be big. I knew this long before TBS was picked up for a TV deal, and I want credit for that.
Briggon Snow (Caleb) is also going to be a big star, and I'm glad that he'll be getting a spinoff podcast series, and I hope he gets first whack at the TV show too.
Damien is one of the best villains -- one of the best characters of the last several years, in any medium. Charlie Ian played him perfectly, and Shippen wrote him and his powers so well (yet refused to ever let him become any more sympathetic than he had to be) that I hope he's a major part of whatever is next.
Wadsworth was a little too evil, both in writing and acting. I notice that Alex Marshall-Brown is a stunt performer, and I wonder whether the character would work better as a more physical presence.
I love Julia Morizawa (Dr. Bright) in every other role I've ever heard her in, but she was the weak point of the whole show to me. Just a little too mannered and precise. It worked well when she was in therapist mode, but she couldn't break out of it when the plot called for it.
And, as I mentioned in the Steal the Stars discussion, the conceit of "This is all being recorded... well, mostly... and we'll have to come up with a dumb reason it's being recorded during a car chase... maybe?" hurt the show, but only a bit. There's a bit of a back-backlash going on in the indie audio drama world about "the framing device" at the moment, and I can definitely see the advantages (especially when it's a one- or two-person labor of love), but I would have appreciated Shippen not trying to cram stuff back onto a tape machine, as it were, especially in the later eps.
I'm gonna miss that black light bulb popping up on my podcatcher as often as it has the last couple of years.
posted by Etrigan at 11:43 AM on June 13, 2018
Lauren Shippen (creator, writer, Sam) is a major talent. She's going to be big. I knew this long before TBS was picked up for a TV deal, and I want credit for that.
Briggon Snow (Caleb) is also going to be a big star, and I'm glad that he'll be getting a spinoff podcast series, and I hope he gets first whack at the TV show too.
Damien is one of the best villains -- one of the best characters of the last several years, in any medium. Charlie Ian played him perfectly, and Shippen wrote him and his powers so well (yet refused to ever let him become any more sympathetic than he had to be) that I hope he's a major part of whatever is next.
Wadsworth was a little too evil, both in writing and acting. I notice that Alex Marshall-Brown is a stunt performer, and I wonder whether the character would work better as a more physical presence.
I love Julia Morizawa (Dr. Bright) in every other role I've ever heard her in, but she was the weak point of the whole show to me. Just a little too mannered and precise. It worked well when she was in therapist mode, but she couldn't break out of it when the plot called for it.
And, as I mentioned in the Steal the Stars discussion, the conceit of "This is all being recorded... well, mostly... and we'll have to come up with a dumb reason it's being recorded during a car chase... maybe?" hurt the show, but only a bit. There's a bit of a back-backlash going on in the indie audio drama world about "the framing device" at the moment, and I can definitely see the advantages (especially when it's a one- or two-person labor of love), but I would have appreciated Shippen not trying to cram stuff back onto a tape machine, as it were, especially in the later eps.
I'm gonna miss that black light bulb popping up on my podcatcher as often as it has the last couple of years.
posted by Etrigan at 11:43 AM on June 13, 2018
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by Etrigan at 11:24 AM on June 11, 2018 [1 favorite]