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20th Century Science and History
Recently released from Footsteps Media LLC, the first 3 episodes of a biographical drama of a Katherine Routledge for the first expedition of Easter Island leaves the listener wanting more in some areas. At the same time, it also exceeds expectations in others.
The pilot does a good job of setting up Katherine Routledge’s character. One needs only to think like a historian and realize that our modern-day sensibilities don’t tell us about what people’s lives were more than a century ago. The clearest example is Routledge’s belief in seances and the supernatural. Something which should make her character less real, but makes her more grounded.
The seance scene is almost comical, but it achieves both characterization and setting that the plot contrivance is the lesser of the three basic elements that make up a story.
Bait and Switch, Memoir or Biography
Despite the historical and biographical background of Routledge and her claim to fame, the creative team has two entire episodes that have nothing to do with Easter Island. It’s all prep work and if it were interesting or added anything aside from, then maybe it could stay. With only 6 episodes in the first season, the other 3 episodes remaining must skip right to Easter Island. There have been plenty of audio dramas that have had a slow burn, but the story of Routledge’s preparation to begin the journey to Easter Island is paced too slow.
It’s not all bad in episodes 2 and 3 as mental illness plays a role in the backstory of Katherine Routledge which in turn informs her character. Look up Katherine Routledge on Wikipedia and you’ll find an entire section dedicated to her and her brother’s mental health.
For a stage play being performed and recorded, it sounds great. It’s like “1865” and “The Half-Life of Marie Curie” had a baby. Some of the foley sounds unrealistic in parts, but that could be a case of Hollywood’s impact on our sense of hearing. Overall the sound effects are good. They just sound out of place with the dialogue and acting being so good.
4/5 Stars