The spoiler-driven audio drama anthology series, “Someone Dies in this Elevator” is the Twilight Zone or “Black Mirror” of horrific deaths in closed spaces. The stories range from “Saw” franchise levels of intensity to more anticipated reasons for someone to die in an elevator. This review will look at the three episodes the show’s press kit recommends: “Hot Wheels,” “Most Secure Vault” and “South of Palenque” and provide both an overall and individual rating using our system. I also listened to a couple more, but only added their rating to the overall score for the anthology.
Hot Wheels: Systemic Ableism
This 15-minute audio story has nothing to do with the miniature toy car brand and neither is it a funny play on words. Clever, yes. Funny? Well someone dies in an elevator, so amusing and other synonyms don’t really apply here. The premise of “Hot Wheels” isn’t something many people think about until it matters. Usually by then, it’s too late.
The most noticeable, but unobvious element of this story is Alice Wong as the character of Waverly. One of two people in a wheelchair. It’s noticeable because you can’t help but hear it, but it has nothing to do with poor sound design or an overreliance on audio filters. Most people probably won’t know that Wong is a disability rights activist and founder of the Disability Visibility Project (DVP).
There’s nothing disingenuous about Wong’s performance though the medium makes it hard to know this without research. It’s not like an able-bodied person pretending to be disabled for a movie or television show. The choices producers make can have a lasting impact on inaccurate and often harmful portrayals of disability in media. This audio short is a step in the right direction. If you can’t understand some lines of dialogue, a transcript is available online.
Most Secure Vault: Mysterious Character Motivation
The opposite of “Hot Wheels” in both thematic subject matter and sound design, this story hides too much and is obvious about what happens next. Normally knowing what’s going on isn’t always a negative. Jane Austen’s novels are a prime example of this type of story. The problem with “Most Secure Vault” is that it’s trying to twist the plot in such a way that many people who have seen this type of plot will expect the twist early on.
The sound design is once again done by Tal Minear (they also did “Hot Wheels” and “South of Palenque”) and the presumed near-future setting of this world is encapsulated well with the choices for the sound. The mix of Minear’s sound and the dialogue, written by Colin J. Kelly, creates a believable soundscape that rivals those of a big-budget production.
The one downside is the motivation of one of the characters, which happens so fast it took a second listen to grasp the why. Even after, I’m still not sure of the why behind the character’s intentions.
South of Palenque: Systemic Racism in Academia
This Indiana Jones meets “Cask of Amontillado” isn’t full of adventure, but it is full of revenge. Unlike the classic revenge story written by Edgar Allen Poe, “South of Palenque” switches the focus to a more intellectual discussion involving academia and the systemic racism found within various field in educational institutions.
Regardless of how you feel about what is taught in schools, often times the information provided by teachers and professionals isn’t the whole story. Usually, this comes in the form of omission. Whether for an easy pill to swallow or just racist rhetoric used then and now.
Someone Dies in this Elevator: Social Justice and Spoilers
For a listener who’s more interested in a mystery and cares more about the who, what, when, where, and why of stories in general—the story doesn’t go far enough in that direction. Hot Wheels tries to find a middle ground between clinical and emotional moments of discourse but ends up not being either one and comes across as round, but hollow. If you want to spark change through your stories, the best way to do that is through emotional responses not philosophical thought experiments.
The episodes mentioned above of “Someone Dies in this Elevator” all say something profound about systemic problems like lack of accessibility, structural racism, and the pitfalls of capitalism. That last one may be a bit of a stretch. Though the execution of ideas can be wanting in some, the vast majority of tales deal with some issue of social justice—that and people dying on elevators.
Ratings
Hot Wheels: 7/10 Stars
Most Secure Elevator: 7.5/10+ Stars
South of Palenque: 7.5/10 Stars
Overall: 7.5/10+ Stars