I'm hostile because I like the bluegrass and country acts Garrison Keillor books, but then CANNOT STAND that he sings along with HIS TERRIBLE FUCKING TUNELESS VOICE! The NERVE! And of course letting him warble is the price for appearing. I can forgive Keillor for being of a different generation with a different comic…

Yeah that kidnapping plea is intriguing and I'm waiting to learn more. It clearly seems like some lawyerly maneuvering in the appeals process (if he was really ready to plea, why not to the whole thing?) I think you've hit on the real amazing part of "Serial": no matter which scenario is true, it requires a pretty…

These are fair points, and you're responding nicely despite my sarcasm. Obviously, I don't know what Adnan's thinking. While I think it's the far less likely scenario, I have to admit people are weird and mysterious and perhaps Adnan is a truly strange and twisted person.

McKinnon is a true Hader/Wiig/Hartman/Belushi level sketch talent. She's NEVER bad, and when she is truly on, holy shit. I wish the show wasn't so wildly uneven, because she is just an incredible performer who deserves a fully functioning writing room and ensemble to work with.

Thanks this is a really gracious reply to a lot of comment-section hate!

We've had this conversation already, and I maintain that these pious pearl-clutching criticisms you are lobbing at Sarah Koenig (and me) could be applied to nearly all non-fiction.

I know I was totally in that play, at least once, in high school,

Bobby has a goofy yet edgy sweetness like a silent film star.

True enough!

It's also truer to the way that Don Pardo used to be used in the early seasons. He announced a LOT of set-ups and was used as a kind of "Voice of Television God" straight man on a couple occasions.

The audience is facing the monologue, Weekend Update, and more than half the sketches. The sightlines aren't great. But yeah, it's just not a big enough studio to actually stage every scene fully within the audience's view. This does explain why the crowd energy seems to die on some later sketches as they are really…

Yeah, you really need to see 8H in person to understand this: the sets are all throughout the floor, with the studio audience in the balcony (those front seats for the monologue don't stay like that for the whole show). The audience sometimes can't see the scenes directly as some sets are up against the balcony so…

I agree it was pretty right-framed. But fuck it, it was also a pretty decent bit of comedy—the Executive Order smoking, the repeated falls, the effective use of Kenan. I'm not a Stalinist who insists that every thing I watch must also support my political views.

Yeah, aside from volume and a small range of characters, I don't see it either. Leslie Jones has this insane energy and fucking KILLER delivery—when she's not off on her lines. She makes surprising choices that can really make me laugh. Kenan has none of this. He might support a scene or keep it going, but I have…

Agreed! And in fact a Netflix half season might be even better, as the marathon of 22 episodes can wring the writing room dry. Better to have more natural, shorter, British-style seasons that really work.

What about a book club that reads true crime nonfiction? Or people who enjoy watching true crime cable, or current famous trials? Or for that matter, pretty much any nonfiction, which usually is about the suffering of real people? Or for that matter parties around elections? Or celebrations of past wars or battles?

So, Jay being consistent and stable for two days when any slip up could send him to prison = Adnan being consistent and stable for fifteen YEARS with nothing to gain from it? (While caving and admitting guilt or a crime of passion almost certainly would have gotten him something lighter than Murder 1?) You're sure of…

Hypothesizing an imaginary island of payphones (something no one has mentioned) seems like real grassy knoll territory. I think even a strong believer in the Adnan-did-it theory can allow that this call from the Best Buy was a fictitious or misremembered detail. Jay could still be telling the overall truth without it.

1) Nisha—thanks for catching that—I think that call could be explained by a number of things. Jay accidentally hits it trying to redial someone, accidentally calls Nisha, lets it ring for two minutes. Or he reaches her and has a random "who's this" wrong-number conversation that Nisha completely forgets. Because we…

Perhaps if you buy the state's case, like you do, there's nothing to see here. You are now free to read or listen to anything you want. If you're far less sure of Adnan's guilt, like me, and like Sarah Koenig, the stakes and suspense seem a lot higher. For those who feel so sure Adnan did it, I would like to know what…