Serial: S02 Episode 03: Escaping

December 24, 2015 11:01 AM

Bergdahl's first year in captivity starts with an escape and ends with an escape. In between, he learns necessary, twisted lessons of survival.
posted by Etrigan (9 comments total)

This episode did a great job making Bergdahl more sympathetic and that there is something to the argument that "enough is enough" and court martial is way overboard, as is jail time.

The way he was treated sounds horrific...and his escape attempts sound just as horrific.

I made the mistake of reading reddit and finding out how little sympathy exists for Bergdahl...I wonder if this episode will change anything.

Probably not.
posted by guster4lovers at 3:29 PM on December 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

Great storytelling and a lot less convoluted than season 1 (and I really enjoyed season 1).
posted by starman at 6:54 AM on December 26, 2015

I listened to this back-to-back with episode 2, so they're a bit jumbled in my mind. But also well paired. Koenig's narration does a great job of conveying what it felt like to be there. Berghdahl's ordeal, which is way more intimately portrayed than i'd read anywhere. But also the US soldiers looking for him, angry at having to find him and the risks they were taking. (That's episode 2). And then also even a bit inside the heads of the Taliban, how the men guarding Bergdahl must have felt. It's really great storytelling.
posted by Nelson at 6:25 PM on December 27, 2015

I like this season, even though it's less titillating and voyeuristic. I'm certainly learning a lot more about the world from this season than I did from season 1, which wasn't especially educational.
posted by painquale at 3:25 AM on December 29, 2015

I listened to 2 and 3 back to back, so I was particularly...struck?...by the contrast between Koenig discussing Bergdahl's Taliban guards who would entertain themselves by dreaming up things they'd do to Bergdahl to torture or get rid of him and Koenig describes them as 'young guys just shooting the shit' -- and the way she seems to take some joes completely seriously when they say they would've killed Bergdahl themselves if they'd found him during the initial aftermath of his disappearance.

It's interesting seeing the story progress when the two primary sources of information -- Bergdahl and the Taliban -- are not especially trustworthy.
posted by lullaby at 1:37 PM on December 29, 2015

Can I take a moment to say, this is a great, great show? Serial is the first audio show, since those first transformative episodes of This American Life, that has really transported me the way classic radio drama transported, the way a great book or movie transports. The show is exciting, funny, rhythmically varied, and subtly and artfully balances small-scale story-telling with a slowly-building big picture perspective. Hats off to Koenig and to everyone behind the scenes on Serial. I love this show.
posted by latkes at 6:14 PM on December 29, 2015 [5 favorites]

Not to ruffle any feathers but I have literally fallen asleep during each of the first three episodes of season 2. I'm still hanging on, but just by a thread. For me, season 1 was about the nature of memory and truth and uncertainty (among other things?) and so far for me season 2 is about...what is it really about?
posted by baseballpajamas at 9:48 PM on December 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

I still can't get over the Mountain Dew. THAT'S the drink of choice of the Taliban? Really?
posted by chainsofreedom at 7:59 AM on January 1, 2016

While I wouldn't be surprised if he gets convicted, I really hope he gets some kind of "time served" because really, can our jail be worse than the freaking Taliban?

Just think of the advertising for Mountain Dew: the choice drink of terrorists! (Also, it's delicious!)

baseballpajamas: it's about a dude who made an incredibly dumb mistake and then paid miserably for it for five years. (To be honest, it's not to my taste either, but SK is coming to my town in a few months and I figure I need to follow season 2 for that.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:53 PM on January 4, 2016