Motherhacker was my first foray into fictional audio drama podcasts and boy, was it an experience! I was so addicted that I immediately created my own playlist of other fictional dramas and am hearing one every night before sleep and loving 'em.
Motherhacker explores "the dark side of the web," and it marks an attempt by Gimlet and Spotify to popularize fiction podcasts. Scripted fiction podcasts - essentially, old-timey radio dramas - have been gaining ground over the past year and its an immersive ,non-visual way of storytelling which with the modern technologies can be enhanced even more. It's like watching a TV series without any visuals, and such an immersive audio that the visuals are conjured automatically within your minds.
The series starts off on a great note, setting the premise of the story immediately. Imagine, a woman calls your phone with a siren in the background, claiming your estranged husband, the father of your children, has been hurt in a terrible accident. The only way to save him is to wire $12,000 - your entire bank account, which you'd hoped would cover the overdue mortgage payments - to the treatment facility where he's going through rehab. Without thinking, you immediately do it. But then when you call the facility, he's fine: No one there called you. It was all a scam.
Starring the unbelievably talented Carrie Coon (Fargo, The Leftovers) as Bridget, a smooth-talking high school assistant principal and a mom who finds herself in such a position, the podcast explores what happens when an otherwise good person is put in such a compromising situation. As her life savings are stolen with one convincing phone call, Bridget needs that money to support her two kids - not to mention her ex-husband who's still in rehab - so she goes after the identity thieves herself, sliding into the dangerous world of the dark web to try to rescue her family. Bridget isn't given much of a choice - it's either join the team or face financial ruin. But what does it mean if she thrives? The plot follows Bridget's journey as she starts phone phishing as part of the identity theft ring.
While the first season focuses on Bridget's journey into the phone hacking world, it ends with (Spoiler Alert) her being caught and investigated by the FBI. It would be interesting to see her in a redemption arc in the next series and I look really forward to it.
Besides Carrie Coon, Motherhacker features other big names, including Alan Cumming (The Good Wife), Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones), Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea), Tavi Gevinson (Rookie Magazine founder) and more. It also has an original score by the indie-rock band Warpaint. The series is written by Sandi Farkas and executive produced and directed by Amanda Lipitz.
Each episode is around 8 to 15 minutes long, and the story is a gripping and wild ride from start to finish. You'll find yourself literally immersed in Bridget's world as her life begins to spiral, because the sound design team put a painstaking amount of detail into the show to make it feel as realistic as possible. Although its ads can get a little annoying, and its short length episodes do make you crave and want more, its still a great series especially if you're just starting out with fictional-drama audio podcasts. Also I find such short series to serve as good palette cleanser between longer shows.
Bridget as a main character does seem annoying especially at the beginning, but she shows right away that she is very crafty and has a skill which she starts utilizing to her advantage. As the series progresses, it doesn't take long for the listener to sympathize and connect with her especially when her moral code ("only rich straight white men") is revealed, making her seem more likeable and connectable.
Coon utilizes an incredible range of vocal abilities throughout the course of the show while Pedro Pascal conveys a beautiful depth of emotions in his scenes. As Coon explains, "Motherhacker" presents creative demands from its voice actors both technical and emotional, from using cell phones, megaphones, and even her own Apple Watch inside the booth, to making her solo dialogue sessions sound as natural as when she had scene partners with her in the room.
"They were doing some very interesting technical things," Coon said. "It's kind of an exploration of technology and how it's impacting our lives and creating threats where there never used to be threats, and also distance, but also perhaps connection."
Coon said the recording process followed those themes, too, choosing to use props whenever possible instead of after-effects or filters. She used her Apple Watch to record a scene where Bridget speaks into her own watch. She used a megaphone in-studio for another scene, and for most of the scenes where characters are talking on the phone, she was doing the same.
It's a very addictive, immersive and visual story and the plot is very new and creative. If you do listen to Motherhacker, make sure you have at least an hour and a half to kill, because you won't want to stop listening until the very end.
Motherhacker explores "the dark side of the web," and it marks an attempt by Gimlet and Spotify to popularize fiction podcasts. Scripted fiction podcasts - essentially, old-timey radio dramas - have been gaining ground over the past year and its an immersive ,non-visual way of storytelling which with the modern technologies can be enhanced even more. It's like watching a TV series without any visuals, and such an immersive audio that the visuals are conjured automatically within your minds.
The series starts off on a great note, setting the premise of the story immediately. Imagine, a woman calls your phone with a siren in the background, claiming your estranged husband, the father of your children, has been hurt in a terrible accident. The only way to save him is to wire $12,000 - your entire bank account, which you'd hoped would cover the overdue mortgage payments - to the treatment facility where he's going through rehab. Without thinking, you immediately do it. But then when you call the facility, he's fine: No one there called you. It was all a scam.
Starring the unbelievably talented Carrie Coon (Fargo, The Leftovers) as Bridget, a smooth-talking high school assistant principal and a mom who finds herself in such a position, the podcast explores what happens when an otherwise good person is put in such a compromising situation. As her life savings are stolen with one convincing phone call, Bridget needs that money to support her two kids - not to mention her ex-husband who's still in rehab - so she goes after the identity thieves herself, sliding into the dangerous world of the dark web to try to rescue her family. Bridget isn't given much of a choice - it's either join the team or face financial ruin. But what does it mean if she thrives? The plot follows Bridget's journey as she starts phone phishing as part of the identity theft ring.
While the first season focuses on Bridget's journey into the phone hacking world, it ends with (Spoiler Alert) her being caught and investigated by the FBI. It would be interesting to see her in a redemption arc in the next series and I look really forward to it.
Besides Carrie Coon, Motherhacker features other big names, including Alan Cumming (The Good Wife), Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones), Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea), Tavi Gevinson (Rookie Magazine founder) and more. It also has an original score by the indie-rock band Warpaint. The series is written by Sandi Farkas and executive produced and directed by Amanda Lipitz.
Each episode is around 8 to 15 minutes long, and the story is a gripping and wild ride from start to finish. You'll find yourself literally immersed in Bridget's world as her life begins to spiral, because the sound design team put a painstaking amount of detail into the show to make it feel as realistic as possible. Although its ads can get a little annoying, and its short length episodes do make you crave and want more, its still a great series especially if you're just starting out with fictional-drama audio podcasts. Also I find such short series to serve as good palette cleanser between longer shows.
Bridget as a main character does seem annoying especially at the beginning, but she shows right away that she is very crafty and has a skill which she starts utilizing to her advantage. As the series progresses, it doesn't take long for the listener to sympathize and connect with her especially when her moral code ("only rich straight white men") is revealed, making her seem more likeable and connectable.
Coon utilizes an incredible range of vocal abilities throughout the course of the show while Pedro Pascal conveys a beautiful depth of emotions in his scenes. As Coon explains, "Motherhacker" presents creative demands from its voice actors both technical and emotional, from using cell phones, megaphones, and even her own Apple Watch inside the booth, to making her solo dialogue sessions sound as natural as when she had scene partners with her in the room.
"They were doing some very interesting technical things," Coon said. "It's kind of an exploration of technology and how it's impacting our lives and creating threats where there never used to be threats, and also distance, but also perhaps connection."
Coon said the recording process followed those themes, too, choosing to use props whenever possible instead of after-effects or filters. She used her Apple Watch to record a scene where Bridget speaks into her own watch. She used a megaphone in-studio for another scene, and for most of the scenes where characters are talking on the phone, she was doing the same.
It's a very addictive, immersive and visual story and the plot is very new and creative. If you do listen to Motherhacker, make sure you have at least an hour and a half to kill, because you won't want to stop listening until the very end.
