This episode makes me wonder if the point of the podcast is not so much to solve this puzzle, to figure out what really happened, but more so to simply point out what is so strange about this case. Isn't this episode just very strange? Sure, we get a little insight into how the police that worked on the case functioned, and we get a little more context for why so many people think Adnan is innocent, but the events surrounding Mr. S are just odd. And, in the end, they seem pretty irrelevant to the actual case. So why mention it at all? Maybe it's a little more entertaining to know the quirks in the case,which certainly brings up the question of ethics again, or maybe it's a sinister way of bolstering the objective image. Or, perhaps Koenig isn't digging all this up for entertainment purposes only and there are stranger things to come.
Already the case has seen some strange aspects. Jay is a weird character. He remembers oddly specific details about what he claims Adnan did. But he gets big things mixed up. And the idea that such a nice, normal teenager would be able to hide murderous rage from his entire community both before and after Hae's murder seems a little off. Even Hae's friend, who isn't exactly Adnan's biggest fan, didn't call him harmful, only annoying. I understand the police perspective that he could be a suspect, but the idea that he could be convicted based on one witness and no physical evidence seems funny.
What seems strangest to me, however, is that not a single episode has had any resolution. It seems like Koenig is just reiterating the strangeness from the original investigation, which calls to question the ethics of this podcast yet again. If there's no resolution at all, be it in the validity of the facts or the case as a whole, what's the point in digging up this tragedy, instilling false hope in a potentially wrongfully-convicted man and repeating the pain for Hae's family?
I got a similar impression with this episode. All before this, it seems like every aspect discussed did have some relevance to the case, and it's an interesting decision on the part of Koenig to give Mr. S, someone who isn't even a real suspect, an entire episode to himself. When you mentioned Jay, it made me think that it's strange that he doesn't have his own episode - at least his weirdness seems directly relevant to the case. (although, I think I'll be eating my words because someone mentioned that Jay does get an episode)
ReplyDeleteFor me, I'm starting to think that Mr. S is a sort of tangent that adds some entertainment value. I mean, that story about him being that streaker was actually kind of funny (in a creepy way). And, really, even the police said that his previous record doesn't make him a murderer, so what does it add?
I'm going to guess that Mr. S leads to another, actual suspect. If not, I'd say it seems that episode 3 provides the least in terms of pushing the case along. Otherwise, I suppose it builds the world up, giving us a fuller picture of the "cast of characters" involved in this case. Ooo, it has an off putting vibe, thinking that this real life murder case can be reduced down to a "cast of characters."