Figure 8: A Vicious Twin Cycle of Depression

Similar in tone to “Prism Break”, “Figure 8” from the Zero Point Fiction podcast tackles depression by using the same plot as The Prince and the Pauper but told with the more modern lens of mental health.

A Tale of Two Twins with Depression?

The first chapter of this 8-episode story arc starts the story with some great metaphors, but a setup for the rest of the story that could be told much more efficiently. This constant struggle between showing and telling serves as a metaphor for living with depression. Everything you need to know about this chapter is brought to the forefront in the subsequent chapters. Long story short, an accident on the ice causes a near-death experience for two twins and they switch lives. Episode 2 is where the story gets more focused.

The first episode is a bit too vague with its twin metaphors that it became hard to decipher what genre. Maybe it’s all the sci-fi and fantasy reviewed on the blog in recent months, but a bit more grounding into the world would’ve been nice early on. Although by the next episode the story switches to a more character-focused story for the remainder of it. The purpose of the first episode is more to foreshadow the end and make it more cathartic. It’s creative writing 101, but if it works then why not?

The Unswampy Middle and Characterization

Figure 8 is well paced in the middle. We get slice of life stories combined with a fish out of water plot but played straight. It’s an interesting dynamic in terms of a consistent tone and the narrator pulls it off the page in true melancholic fashion. Where most stories of this sort — identical twins trading lives — you’re waiting for the other foot to drop. In this story however, you’re engrossed with the two main characters that when crap hits the proverbial fan, it’s unexpected and somewhat heartbreaking.

The main characters of Marcus and Chris are different enough on a character dossier level. Chris is the jock who hates being one because of his father forcing him into sports. Marcus is the twin overtly suffering from depression who attempted suicide at one point. Upon reading the sentence about Chris you may think his backstory is cliche and without a certain personality trait he would be a one-note character. The writer, Joe Kamm adds just enough Holden Caulfield form Catcher in the Rye to Chris’ character to make him more than just the sports guy with a heart of gold. The chapters of Marcus are the opposite. Where one expects unspoken thoughts and navel gazing from the twin with depression, what they’ll get is the borderline objectification of women by calling the two girlfriends of the twins variations of the word “hot.”

The writer, Joe Kamm is an active podcast fiction creator. At the time of this writing, he’s on season 27 of the podcast with multiple episodes in each season. Figure 8, while being released in 2018 is still relevant to today’s discussion of mental health.

8 out of 10 Stars

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