I've been catching up with a lot of audio dramas now that they have their second seasons out in full. There really isn't much more for me to add here, so let's jump right to the point. We're taking a look at season two of Timestorm.
Timestorm wowed me with an amazing first season, and I was eagerly awaiting season two. I must say, it more than delivered, and the show just keeps getting better. In fact, I'd say this season was even better than the first, which was already pretty great in its own right. Waiting a week between episode was a new experience, as last time I listened after the season was completed in its entirety. Still, it wasn't like it was a great burden or anything, and the consistent quality kept me eager for more.
Last season, the main theme was about women in Puerto Rican history, especially those who have been largely forgotten by history. This season, the main theme is about how Puerto Rican culture is the result of the mixing of African, European, and Indigenous culture. To this end, most of the time travel adventures this season take place outside of Puerto Rico. We get to see Senegal in 1810 and Spain in 1852. Africa tends to get ignored in time travel media; especially ones aimed at kids. As such, I was very happy that Alexa and Beni visited early 19th Century Senegal, and that we got to explore the richness of Senegalese culture. Although, when I saw that it was 1810, I got worried. The Transatlantic Slave Trade was in full swing in 1810, and I knew things were going to get back to Puerto Rico eventually. Would these new characters be captured as slaves? Well, everyone gets through the episode okay but...well, actually, let's put a pin in that for right now.
We didn't explore Spain as in-depth in the episode where Alexa and Beni visit it. Granted, we do get to meet Francisco Oller, a famous Puerto Rican painter who studied in Spain. We also meet Frederico Madrazo, a famous Spanish portrait artist, and Francisco's teacher. Still, we probably didn't explore Spanish culture as much because it would have been redundant. Spain, arguably, left the biggest impact on what would be Puerto Rican culture. Spanish is the dominate language in Puerto Rico, after all. Still, as this season makes clear, Africans and Tainos made fairly significant contributions to Puerto Rican culture of their own.
Speaking of which, remember last time when I said that I hoped we'd get an episode centered around the Taino people? Well, this season granted my wish to me. Not only that, but Alexa and Beni visit the Taino in 1488, a good five years before the Spanish arrived on the island. This means we get to see the Taino in their pre-contact prime. Taino are the native people of Puerto Rico. You might not have heard of the Taino, but you've probably used words from their language. The words hammock, canoe, and hurricane all have their roots in the Taino language. Hurricane is derived from an epitaph for the Taino goddess of storms. I found that interesting, because the Maya people of Central America have a storm god named Huracan. Though it is probably just coincidence, as the Taino storm goddess' proper name is Guabancex.
I also recently learned a new word: Boricua. It means a person of Puerto Rican ancestry, but who does not necessarily live in Puerto Rico. It derives from the word the Taino used to refer to the island, Borikén. So anyway, Alexa and Beni get to meet Aguay, who went on to become a great cacique, a type of chief. In fact, he was cacique when Spanish explorers first arrived in Puerto Rico in 1493. His real name was Agueybana, but he had a brother by the same name, who also appears in the episode. Timestorm got around this by splitting the name. Agueybana I is called simply Aguey, while his brother Agueybana II is called Bana. Aguey recounts the creation story from Taino Mythology to Alexa and Beni. I always love when less well-known mythologies get featured. This also meant we got mention of the supreme earth goddess Atabay, namesake of a certain snarky A.I.
We even get a short bonus episode set 1510. Bana is now the main cacique, and the Taino are uncertain about what the coming of the Spanish will bring. This is shortly after Ponce de Leon has visited the island. Yes, he who sought the fountain of youth. Ah, so is that where the city of Ponce got its name from? There's a disclaimer at the start that, though it involves real people, the events of the episode are fictional. I thought it was a nice touch, and very much appreciated.
We also get more development in the Ventura Twins' present day lives. For example, we learn that Datu, the owner of the Taino Comics & Games Store, is apparently Filipino. We know this because he meant that his grandma is from Manila. I always assumed he was Boricua like the rest of the cast, but I guess I was wrong. To be fair, Filipinos are often called, with varying degrees of seriousness, often call Latinos who got lost and wound up in Asia. About one out of five Tagalong words come from Spanish, they eat flan, they're devout Roman Catholics. I'm just saying, a case could be made, but I digress.
More importantly, we meet Josie. She is Datu's boss, even though I think he owns the store...the chain of command was a bit unclear. Whatever the exact pecking order, she is his superior. More importantly, she has a magical tapestry that can transport people to the other Taino Comics & Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There is a tapestry there connected to the store in Newark. How did Josie get this magical tapestry? Well, that's another thing we'll have to put a pin in for now.
We also learn the series is set in 2017. I always assumed there was no definitive date, but that works. That way, there series won't be impacted by any major world events, especially if the characters travel to the future at any point. Obviously, you don't want to make predictions, only to have them not turn out to happen. As of this writing, there is speculation about Puerto Rico finally becoming a state. Personally, I'm skeptical about this, given how many times it has been proposed, only for things to stay just as they have been, but you never know. Also, this explains why none of the characters make mention of things like wearing masks or social distancing.
We'll be getting into some potential spoilers in just a minute. For now, I'd like to talk about something I thought could have been done better. There's a mini episode where the twins are attending a music festival, which includes Afro-Puerto Rican music. So, Beni is playing on the drums and having a good time when some white guys walk up and say, basically, "that's sounds like slave music to me." And this really hurts Beni. Really now, that's the example of modern-day racism you're going to go with? Did the white boys perhaps return and call him doo-doo head while they were at it?
Every year at the high school I went to all the students had to watch a PSA video about stranger danger and how to not get molested on the Internet. It was a poorly made video from start to finish. It seemed to have been created under the assumption that kids of my generation has somehow never used the Internet before. Then there was the incredibly wooden acting, and the fact that they made the creepy adults so over the top they were basically saying "child molesters are so glaringly easy to spot you basically have to be trying to not notice them." Naturally, this elicited quite a few giggles from the students. The teachers naturally didn't take this well, and tried to shame everyone into behaving, to little effect. The point being, despite their good intentions, the crappy execution of the PSA video undermined the message.
It is a disservice to your listeners to tackle topics like racism without fully committing to it. Do or do not, there is no try. Maybe that means writing uncomfortable scenes, but you know what else is uncomfortable, actual racism. You wouldn't even have to use any naughty words. You could just have the white boys pretend to be friendly, only for them to then say "Well, if you like black music so much, why don't you go back to Africa?!" I know it's a minor point, but it still bothered me. Especially in light of the stuff we're going to talk about in the spoiler section. I've lived in Louisiana my entire life, so I'm well aware of what actual racism looks like. I could help but think "Damn it, Dania! Real racist aren't that nice!" And if the issue is the actors feeling uncomfortable reading such lines, well, I charge three dollars per hour of production. No not really; I'd work for free if Timestorm actually offered me a role. In all seriousness, racism isn't a topic you can handle with kid gloves if you wanted to seriously tackle it.
On a much minor note, every episode ends with a reminder that Timestorm is produced on the traditional land of the Leni Lenape people. It didn't bother me, but I feel there might be better ways to honor the native peoples of New Jersey. Perhaps have Alexa and Beni go back in time to visit the Lenape. The team has shown that they're more than capable of writing time travel episodes set outside of Puerto Rico. Our maybe have some Lenape characters in the present day. That would be good because it would show that Native Americans are a living breathing people and culture; not just a topic you read about in history books. I'm a big advocate of increased Native American representation in media.
Okay, now that we've got that out the way, it is time for the spoilers. If you don't want any of that, turn back now.
Last warning. You sure you want to continue?
Well okay, if everyone who wants off is gone, then let's dive into it.
Remember when I wondered if anyone the Ventura twins met in Senegal was going to get sold into slavery? Well, turns out I was right on the money with that one. Well, in one case anyway. Idrissa was captured and taken to Puerto Rico, where he was renamed Gabriel. Alexa and Beni meet him again in 1890. I don't think they said how old he was in 1810; my guess would be twenty-something, maybe late teens. If I'm right, then he'd be nearly 100 years old by 1890. Technically not impossible, but would still be rather unusual for a man who had to endure a life of hard physical labor. That would be especially true if he wound-up on a sugar plantation.
Sugar cane goes sour only one day after it is harvested. That means it has to be processed right away. The process of processing the sugar had a nasty tendency to result in hands getting chopped off. Oh, and it wasn't a question of maybe, this was a guarantee that someone would get maimed. As such, sugar plantation had large populations of slaves to supplement the workforce. That, and sugar was the oil of its day in terms of value. Sugar plantations were common across the Caribbean and Brazil. I bring this up because fourth-five percent of all slaves brought to the New World went to the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. Fifty percent went to Brazil, and the remaining five percent went to the Untied States and the rest of mainland Latin America.
Idrissa has become a broken man from his life in bondage. The horror of slavery wasn't just the threat of physical violence. It was also the psychological horror that you could be taken from your loved ones at any moment, and that you would never see them again. Or perhaps you lost your loved ones because you were captured, stuffed onto a ship, and taken to a land you'd never even heard of before. Then, upon arrival, your captors do everything in their power to stamp out your culture, and force you to adopt their strange and alien culture.
And yet, despite all of this, Idrissa survived and started a family. But not just any family. Alexa and Beni do some research in the present day, and wouldn't you know it, Idrissa is their several times great-grandfather. If nothing else, they know his life's story, and thanks to time travel, he was able to pass on some of his traditional African culture to them. So, this means that even though he lost touch with his African roots, his culture will live on in future generations thanks to Alexa and Beni. In the end, the slavers lost, and Idrissa's struggles were not in vein. Though spare a thought for all the Idrissas who didn't get to have their stories told.
Alexa and Beni discovered this all partially thanks to an Ancestry.com type genealogy service. Strange that it wasn't actually the real thing. I'm pretty sure Ancestry does sponsorships, and that might help offset production costs. But I know that Timestorm is partially sponsored by The Corporation For Public Broadcasting, so maybe there are rules about that. Hmm, I guess that makes Timestorm is the closest thing to if PBS Kids were to make an audio drama. Molly of Denali doesn't count; because it was based on a pre-existing property.
Speaking of family, now let's talk about Josie. Surprise! She's another long lost Ventura cousin. Also, Janelly finds out about what Alexa and Beni have been doing. Maybe this will means she and Datu will get to join the Venturas on future adventures. It would be nice to show that you don't have to be a blood relative of the Ventura family to have adventures. Now all we need is to get Sonya and Mr and Mrs. Ventura onboard, and the gang will all on the same page. Also, I now know what piraguas are. Sure, they sound like just a variation on snow cones/balls, but I'd still like to try them. Though, if I did have a magical tapestry that took me to San Juan and back again, I'd be making a beeline for the nearest mofongo restaurant. I haven't had any in years, and I still think about it often.
Well, I think that covers everything if importance. Season two of Timestorm builds upon the already excellent first season, and just keeps getting better. I can't wait to see what excitement and adventure future seasons bring. If you haven't listen to season one...you should probably do something about that, or else you'll be very confused. But if you have listened to season one, but have not listened to season two yet, do so today. You'll be glad that you did.
I think that's enough from me for now. I will see you
guys next time.
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