Home » Mac (and Bonnie’s): Steady Storytelling

Mac (and Bonnie’s): Steady Storytelling

Mac and Bonnie's Cover Art

Mac (and Bonnie’s) comes recommended by Ana Muso who calls it “well done, with a lot of heart.”

This audio drama series is a podcast where steady and somber are the keywords best used to describe the show. Both in terms of plot/structure and the performances. For a story about moving forward and looking back, it’s quite unique in almost every way.

Quiet Performances and Somber Pacing

The pacing feels slow due to the performances of the actors. The character of Mac with his melancholic delivery paired together with certain dialogue make for a different response from the listener. It’s oxymoronic in a way. The juxtaposition of a calm, soft-spoken cadence with lines such as “I’m gonna die if I hear one more story about Barney’s wife.” A line that’s meant to be a joke for the listener, but comes across as desperation from the character. It’s not bad, just different.

Despite the short duration of the first couple of episodes, it can feel like it drags on in places. The quiet performances of the actors make it more noticeable. An aspect that isn’t, at least for me, is the recap at the beginning of episodes. Podcasts such as this are more than likely going to be binged as the time commitment is so little. Having a two minute recap of what happened a few minutes ago for the average listener, seems like a waste of storytelling real estate.

Mac (and Bonnie’s): A Musical without the Song and Dance

At the time of this writing there are four episodes with the second one split into two parts. That last part of the second episode and the opening of episode three, aside from both having recaps, give a musical number vibe. The shift in the background music from piano to synths is so dramatic that you expect the “guests” to start breaking out into song. Or maybe that’s just me.

For a story about a bar owned by a man in his 60s, images of the TV show Cheers (1982-1993) might come to mind for some older millennials. Having not watched the show due to being less than 5 years old at the time it aired, I can’t say it resembles Mac (and Bonnie’s). Based on what I know, Cheers is more sitcom set in a bar. This audio drama is something else entirely. It tackles issues of race in a way that amps up the relatively somber tone of the show to something resembling horror.

While the audio drama is certainly fresh in its execution, the story told isn’t anything new. For sure, this is a character story with some big plot elements in certain episodes, but it’s in service of the characters Mac and Bonnie.

8/10 Stars

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