A Better Paradise

I wanted to like this more, but Daisy talks like Nigel talks like …the other guy. Nick? How do they talk? Very rapid fire, flow-of-conscience, but also slightly stilted monologue. I kept wishing they each had their own style and voice like you would expect in the real world, but sadly they kept the are-they-on-the-verge-of-hyperventilation tempo. But the production quality was excellent. Just felt like the script could have been stronger in terms of tightening up the superfluous stuff, and developing the characters more.

Shout out to Dan Soder & Lazlo

I’m at Episode 12 so far, and while I do like this podcast series, I REALLY want to love it. The voice actors, characters, sound design, themes, ideas, and even humor is all great…but I feel like Lazlow picked the wrong storytelling format. At first, I really didn’t mind the Hamlet-like monologues, but overtime it got so tiring to hear the main character say over and over, “Oh, woe is me! I flew too close to the Sun like Icarus because I joined a startup company that turned into a cult!” The only character I feel it 100% works with is NigelDave, because not only does the monologuing fit his malevolent, bravado-like personality, but it kinda adds to the uncanny valley and reinforces his lack of humanity. With the other human characters, while it does let us know what’s going on in their heads, it doesn’t keep us engaged. They only tell us what’s happening between monologues/episodes. Honestly, I feel like the script for Vol. 1 should have gotten a significant rewrite. If they wanted to keep the monologuing, why not do what The Magnus Archives or The Bright Sessions did and have Kurt or the other present-day characters keep audio diaries? That’s not to say I don’t care for these characters and don’t wanna know what happens next. Especially after listening to Episode 12. I feel like “A Better Paradise” could be a spectacular podcast, but the passive characters (and a plot that relies on flashbacks) hurts our immersion into the story. Let’s hope Lazlow reads the comments section, because even with the podcast’s faults and clunky storytelling format, I’m still looking forward to new episodes.

Voice actors with grating voices endlessly drone on about how miserable they are, their jobs are, their bosses are, and on and on. The story is just a bunch of tired tropes, boring dystopian dribble, and is ridiculously repetitive. Sound design is ok, but a bit overdone. I barely made it thru 2 episodes, but couldn’t get thru the 3rd. Don’t waste your time.