Stuck Undersea and in the Past?

As one of the pioneers of the early audio drama movement, The Leviathan Chronicles is up there with shows and companies like “We’re Alive”, Pendant Productions and JC Hutchin’s techno-thriller about human cloning and political espionage in the 7th Son trilogy. At the time, nobody took podcasts seriously as an art form.

The undersea techno-thriller didn’t wow with its story in the first few chapters of season one. Instead, it focused on creating a believable soundscape for a world where immortal beings exist. This is was before podcast fiction exploded with a new wave of creators around 2010.

Now after a long hiatus, the third season is available on podcast feeds everywhere. You can tell Laputka and his team worked hard to make this season great, after such a long break between seasons 2 and 3.

Alternate History and Temporal Culture References

Because of the hiatus between the second and third seasons, a lot of references feel dated or out of place. Did Rick and Morty exist in 2014 or does the first scene take place in the future? How long has the virus attack been going on? Originally released as the first part of the Leviathan Chronicles season 2, any changes made to the story are a mystery. Director Nobi Nakanishi said in a Facebook live stream that a version of chapter 39 existed in 2014, but that it’s not the same as the one we got in 2020.

The structure and pacing of this season work, in a similar way, to “Star Wars: Clone Wars” episodes of a given season. That is, ones grouped together to form a story inside a larger serialized adventure. The most interesting story beat happens in chapter 44. Motivations are revealed and plots turn upside down in the second part of “The Buffer Station” chapter. After the revelation, the story shifts to the computer hacking plot thread established in the season’s opening chapters for a few chapters. There’s a slight ambiguity to the characters, making their actions morally grey in almost all cases. You aren’t sure who to trust.

Dips and Troughs

While the true nature of the Alien’s visit centuries ago is fascinating from a “secret history” genre perspective — Clurichaun, Lisette and Harlequin are tied with Tully, Oberlin and their group in terms of listener engagement. An entire episode dedicated to rescuing Oberlin from the Yakuza could’ve been cut or combined with another plotline to avoid the inherent comparisons to filler. It may have been, but not enough to make me forget “Fish Egg” Freddy.

In terms of plot, the underwater techno-thriller in its third season pulls no punches when they matter. The show bides its time for the opening chapters to introduce new characters rather than jump right back into the action of the already established cast of characters. It’s a risky move, but the amount of effort put into the ending makes it worth the time spent. You can feel the emotion with the acting, sound effects, and dialogue written on the page. The music is the icing on the cake and creates a truly cinematic moment for sound.

4/5 Stars

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