The Alt-Hist File: The Phone Booth: Season 2

 Well, it looks like I'm going to be following up at lot of the shows I gave review to in the past. I've reviewed lots of season ones, now I get to review season twos. Usually, I'd add something more to open with, but I think we should just jump right into it. We're taking a look at season two of The Phone Booth.

First, a quick recap. The Phone Booth takes place in a world where ninety-nine percent of humanity has developed superpowers following an event in 2004 known as B-Day. The series follows investigative podcasters Joe Pollard as he travels across America to interview different people about how having superpowers has changed their lives. 

This season changes the format a bit. The Covid-19 Pandemic still happened in the world of The Phone Booth. As such, Joe can't travel around. Instead, he has people email their stories to him, and he reads them aloud, occasionally with some assistance. However, just because this season is a bit more barebones doesn't mean the stories pack any less of a punch.

The Phone Booth, like many audio dramas, was dealt a bad hand with regards to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Still, Keenan Ellis made it work to the best of his ability. He handled the narration for episodes with male protagonists, and he got Elizabeth Seely to narrate the episodes with female protagonists. The episodes from the first half of this season are purely narration, but the episodes from the second half include some sound effects. As previously mentioned, despite the limited working conditions, the stories pack quite a punch. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that they're easily on par with what we got in season one in terms of writing quality. Keenan certainly made the most of what he had to work with.

Okay, let's tackle the individual episodes. The episode numbering continues from last season, which ended on episode six. Our first episode is a two-parter. Episodes seven and eight are titled "Crossroads." Joe receives an email from Archibald Turn. He talks about the chaos immediately following B-Day. However, he also talks about how Nashville, Tennessee became the heart of a renewed music movement. The heart of this movement was a bar called Crossroads.

This season of The Phone Booth saw the introduction of two-part episodes. In fact, all but two episodes of this season are two-parters. Keenan has mentioned in the past that he had been writing the scripts of The Phone Booth for many years. I don't know how long this episode was planned. I bring this up because I thought that maybe music wasn't the best subject to start of the season given the reduced production capacity. In an ideal world, it would have been nice to hear some of the music, but I understand that Keenan was having to make the most of the hand he was dealt. Pretty sure none of us on the podcasting could have seen the pandemic coming. For what it's worth, I found the writing itself to be very compelling. I've mentioned in the past, Keenan is an excellent narrator. He was more than capable of carrying the episode on his own. Even without hearing the music, I had a very clear feeling of what it would sound like.

It was interesting to see how the entertainment industry was affected by B-Day. Though, on minor criticism I would have would be that I wouldn't have gone with Covid-19 happening in the world of The Phone Booth like it did in ours. I would have gone with something more fitting to the universe. Say, maybe some sort of new disease that mutated as a result of B-Day, or maybe someone with disease powers getting out of control. Still, that's just a fairly minor point.

Overall, the season starts out strong with a fairly good two-parter.

Episode nine is titled "Safe Space." Joe gets an email from a yoga instructor named Alice Kessler. When she was a child, she was happy and adventurous. Then she hit puberty and was struck by crippling anxiety and agoraphobia. She became a paranoid recluse and a shut-in as an adult. In fact, the highlight of her week was briefly chatting with the cute pizza delivery boy. Oh, but she got plenty of time to chat with him once B-Day happened.

The writing on this episode was very well-written, but it somewhat dismays me that I found the protagonist as relatable as I did. I've had my own dealing with anxiety and depression. The part where the pizza boy is the highlight of her week was also regrettably relatable. I liked how there's wasn't any trigger for Alice's anxiety, it just happened for no apparent reason. I found it interesting that Alice's power is to generate force field bubbles. There are several episodes of The Phone Booth where people's powers appeared to be luck of the draw more than anything. This episode seems to hint that people's personality plays at least some role in determining what powers they get. Alice wanted to retreat into her own little bubble, and B-Day gave her the power to literally do that.

On the other hand, perhaps it depends on what you happened to be doing when B-Day struck. Alice and pizza boy wound-up buried beneath the rubble of her apartment building, but survived because she created a force field in-time. Pizza boy got the ability to see in the dark, a fairly useful skill in such a situation. But there are other episodes, as we shall see, the suggest that powers really do just develop at random. In any event, it is nice to see that things worked out for Alice, and that's she's working on becoming a little more social.

All in all, another strong episode of The Phone Booth.

Episode ten is titled "Costume in the Closet." Joe gets an email from a man named Mason Demyer. He tells about what it what like to be a parent in the days following B-Day. He also discusses his short-lived stint as a superhero.

This was another very interesting episode. It showed that most people who got powers weren't in a rush become superheroes. Or if they did, they didn't stick to it very long. Let's use Mason as an example. He gained the ability to fly...and that's it. He's not any stronger or more durable than your average non-powered human. Sure, maybe he could drop somewhat heavy objects on people from above, but he really wouldn't be much use in a fight. Hey, at least Hawkman has a mace. There's also the fact that it can get pretty cold up in the sky, and a spandex suit probably won't provide you very much warmth. Mason found that out the hard way. It always amazes me, when I'm flying in an airplane, to think that the temperature outside the airplane in the negative degrees.

Then there's the fact that, though crime occurs regularly enough, you aren't going to come across a crime every time you go patrolling. In fact, most of the time patrolling would be rather boring. I worked student patrol my first year of college, so I speak from experience on this one. Still, Mason was able to find happiness even without being a superhero. And hey, his power is great for saving kites from trees.

An episode that has elements of deconstruction, but never gets too dark for its own good. Once again, an excellently crafted episode.

Episodes eleven and twelve are titled "Animals." Joe requests a message from a death row inmate named Jesse Dominski. By the time Joe got the letter, Jesse had been executed. She served as a field veterinarian in the Rocky Mountains in the years following B-Day. Her specialty was anitropes; people who mutated into human-animal hybrids following B-Day. Jesse recounts the story of uncovering an illegal anitrope poaching operation, and how this set off a series of events that landed her on death row.

I'd been hoping we'd get an episode about the human-animal hybrids, and now here we are. And it's a two-part episode at that. Throughout the episode there's a running question of just how human the anitropes are. Most people view them as just mindless animals without any shreds of humanity left. Jesse, however, maintained that they are still human, even if they have changed quite a bit. I'm inclined to agree, as there is evidence to support this view. My personal theory is that the anitropes retain their original memories and personalities, but have been reduced to animal-level in intelligence. Obviously, this means they can't form complex thoughts anymore, and often default to instincts. They're aggressive, but no worse than a wild animal would be if a human gets too close. I'd imagine most anitropes feel scared more than anything, and this, combined with their inability to form complex thoughts often leads them lash out and attack humans.

There is evidence within the episode that support's this. Jesse's sister became an anitrope following B-Day, and seems to have retained some of her memories and personality. Though, eventually she did get the urge to join an anitrope pack in the mountains. Apparently, anitropes are among the top ten most common powers following B-Day. Most character mention lots of people flying after B-Day, so we know flight is fairly common. I'd also imagine super strength is fairly common, as Jesse is the second character we've encountered with that power. I wonder what the other seven are. Also, I loved how Keenan included bits of ambient noise, particularly animal sounds, to help give a little something extra to this episode.

I sympathized with Jesse's perspective, but I could see where the other charters were coming from as well. Anitropes probably killed a lot of people following B-Day. It's also mentioned that there were a lot of executions of prisoners following B-Day. In some cases, it was because conventional prisons simply could not hold them, or because they might start a riot, which would be even worse given that most of the other prisoners also have powers. The point being, the post B-Day world was a harsh and unforgiving place, and that often meant having to make tough calls. Though, I'm still with Jesse. If a human kills an anitrope, and it isn't in self-defense, it ought to be considered murder. I thought that the reveal of the poacher's identity was well-done, though I had my suspicions as the reveal got closer. I also thought the poacher's power was pretty ingenious. It is certainly sad that Jesse was executed for killing the poacher, but perhaps someday, history will vindicate her.

This was an episode I was hoping we'd see, and it certainly did not disappoint.

Episodes thirteen and fourteen are titled "Champ." Bishop Cline is widely considered to be the founding father of the United States of New England. However, he doesn't consider himself a hero, just a man. In fact, the way he tells it, his cousin Charlie was the real brains behind the new nation. He recounts his childhood with Charlie, and their hunts for the elusive cryptid Champ. He also tells of how he and Charlie forged a great, if flawed, nation out of the ashes of B-Day.

First of all, I wanted to clarify that Bishop is the guy's first name. He's not a clergyman. I was wondering how Keenan was going to top the last two-parter. As it turns out, quite well indeed. Last season, it was mentioned that America split into five nations following B-Day. The way things were described made it sound like America reunited, but this episode seems to indicate that America is still Balkanized. Though we did get hints of that last episode, where it was mentioned that the Rockies are considered the broader of civilized America. Everything west of the Rockies is apparently the Wild West reborn. Well, except for Los Angles, which is dominated by the hive-mind entity known as The Union.

In my younger day, I too fantasized about securing for cryptids, before I wised up to all that. Still, they are fun part of what I consider to be the modern-day mythology of America. Champ is a Loch Ness Monster style cryptid claimed to live in Lake Champlain. Bishop power is that his bones turned to iron. This would give more evidence toward the idea that powers develop at random. He was out on the lake with Charlie at the time; the last place you want to be with heavy iron bones, especially when you can't breathe underwater. And it does appear that each person only gets one power, so thank goodness Charlie got the boat ashore in time. On a related note, this episode does give evidence towards my theory of anitrope psychology. Bishop recalls seeing anitropes waiting for crossing signals and holding the door open for each other. This suggest they do retain their personalities and memories, if only in a limited capacity.

I liked how this episode showed how society rebuilt following B-Day. Bishop and Charlie rallied together and formed a new army known as the Iron Core. The cities and towns of New England, like pretty much everywhere else, had basically become independent city-states following B-Day. The Iron Core untied the scattered towns and cities of New England into a new nation: The United States of New England. Bishop handled the military stuff, while Charlie handled the governing of the USNE. For a while all was well, but then Boston happened. Up until then, the USNE only expanded its territory to towns that couldn't survive on their own. Boston was self-sufficient and had no desire to join the USNE. Despite this, the USNE declared war on Boston.

I should here note that Boston's full name was the Principality of Boston. So, the cradle of the American Revolution reverted to monarchism? Hmm, maybe they deserved to get conquered, but I digress. Anyway, Charlie was opposed to this, but he lost support due to the people losing trust in a man without powers. So, he stepped down and Bishop took over, but then he too lost support after the economy turned bad.

I had wonder if people without powers faced discrimination. It appears, at least in this instance, the answer is yes. This is particularly sad as Charlie seems to have been a fairly competent leader. After being ousted from power, he moved to the Northeastern Kingdom, which is apparently a region in Northeastern Vermont, and not a nation like initially assumed. Still, the United States of New England is one of the most stable nations of the post B-Day world, so Charlie and Bishop's efforts weren't in vain. Granted, they occasionally had to indulge in questionable actions at times. We get hints that the towns the Iron Core "liberated" weren't as destitute as we have been told. Then there is the business with Boston.

A powerful end for season two of The Phone Booth.

And so that's all the episodes of season two of The Phone Booth. Keenan was dealt a tough hand by the pandemic, but he certainly made the most of what he had to work with. I am very much looking forward to season three. It's going to be a while until it comes out, as Keenan wants season three to be the best it can be. Obviously, that will be much easier once the pandemic clears. It also turns out that season three will be the final season of The Phone Booth. I know Keenan has other projects he's working on, such as his newly launched podcast The Endless Ocean, but I still can't believe season three will be the end. It feels like we've just scratched the surface of The Phone Booth, and the stories just keep getting better. Still, I'm aware that there's only so many hours in a day, and only so much time that can be devoted to producing audio dramas. I eagerly await season three, and I wish Keenan well in all his future endeavors.

But enough about all of that. If I haven't made it clear by now, you should really go listen to season two of The Phone Booth. Unless you haven't listened to season one, somehow, in which case listen to it, then listen to season two. It is a quality superhero audio drama, and I can't recommend it enough.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Alt-Hist File: The Phone Booth: Season 1

We're doing something a little different today. Usually, when I review a show, I prefer to have it complete or close to complete so I can take the whole experience into account. But we're shaking up the old formula. In fact, this new way of reviewing just might become a staple part of Th Alt-Hist File and The Audio File. We're taking the look at the first season of an exciting newcomer to the audio drama world. We're taking a look at season one of The Phone Booth. 

The Phone Booth takes place in a world where ninety-nine percent of humanity has developed superpowers. It all started on a seemingly unremarkable day in 2004. Then a teenage girl named Beca Orlofsky floated into the skies above New York City and exploded into pink dust. This day would forever be known as B-Day. The dust traveled across the world, and by the time it settled, almost the entire human race had developed superpowers of some sort. Fifteen years later, investigative podcaster Joe Pollard is traveling the world interviewing people about the ways B-Day has impacted their lives. For these people entered the phone booth as regular people, but they exited it as something more. 

I'll give some general thoughts before we get into the individual episodes. I became aware of The Phone Booth one I was scrolling though the Apple podcast app one day. It was one of those "people who listened to this show also listened to..." sort of things. Then I was over on the audio drama subreddit when I saw a post from The Phone Booth's creator, Keenan Ellis, asking if anyone would review his show. I said yes, but I had to take care of a few other projects first, but now here we are. 

I must say, I was very impressed with what I listened to. The Phone Booth can best be described as World War Z (book, not movie) with superheroes rather than zombies. This is no accident, as Keenan has admitted World War Z was a big inspiration. The Phone Booth was originally going to be a book, but then Keenan decided to turn it into an audio drama. How hard could it be? Well, a lot harder than he anticipated, but I'm glad he stuck with it and produced an amazing show. He even founded his own podcasting company called The Fool's Gallery. 

Besides being a great writer, Keenan is a great voice actor. In fact, all of the voice actors and actresses featured in the series do an outstanding job. It is top of the line voice acting, which I always appreciate that in an audio drama. The title refers to how Superman enters a phone booth as Clark Kent, but comes out as The Man of Steel. It's a metaphor for what happened on B-Day. 

So, with all of that out of the way, let's get into the individual episodes. 

There is an episode zero, but it sets up the premise, and we already talked about that. Well, one interesting thing we learned is that there were superheroes prior to B-Day. I hope that gets expanded on in future episodes, and we get to see how those heroes are adjusting to then post B-Day world. I will say that it kind of reminded me of the opening of the Wild Cards series, edited by George R.R. Martin. I wonder if that was an influence. 

Episode one is titled "Sunshine Girl." Fire chief Lynn Knox always dreamed about being a superhero when she was young. She even made her own costume and called herself Sunshine Girl. When B-Day happened, it seemed like a dream come true. But a dream come true was a bit more than she bargained for.

The first full episode of The Phone Booth starts out strong. At one point or another, we've all fantasized about getting superpowers, and what we might do with them. Of course, a bunch of people who suddenly find themselves with superpowers, and no idea how to control them, will mean a lot of collateral damage. Still, despite the chaos Knox rose to the occasion and helped save people. She even saved her father. He got the power to breathe underwater, but at the cost of being able to breath air. He's living in the Great Lakes now, but at least he's joined a nice school of fellow water-breathers. 

There's a strong theme of "well, now what?" throughout this episode. Indeed, that's a recurring theme throughout much of The Phone Booth. The Phone Booth is a story about ordinary people making their way through and extraordinary world. All in all, a solid first episode. 

Episode two is titled "h2o." It tells of a former anthropologist named Taylor Browning who is the leading voice of the anti-superpowers movement. She tells of what happened when she and her wife were on a remote island, studying and isolated tribe, during B-Day. 

This episode has two things I hope we see expanded upon in future episodes. It shows the effects of B-Day outside of America, and it is told from the perspective of a non-powered individual. Taylor and the tribe were part of the one percent of humanity that didn't get any superpowers. However, her wife got the power to turn into water, and more importantly, to produce water. This was pretty handy, given that the dust from B-Day screwed with the weather. However, the water she could produce was finite. That was a nice subversion of how elemental powers tend to be unlimited. A reasonably solid second episode. 

Episode three is titled "The Book of Beca." Joe interviews two brothers who have created a religion based around Beca Orlofsky. I know that's not much of a discretion, but there's more too it. 

The brothers grew up in an orphanage following B-Day. As you can imagine, there were a lot of orphans after B-Day. There were also plenty of kids abandoned by their parents, who couldn't care for them anymore. Oh, they promised to come back for them, but most didn't keep that promise. The older brother has the power of flight, and describes flying in almost religious terms. The little brother gained the power to play any musical instrument. I liked how he showed that not all of the superpowers are flashy or combat oriented. 

Towards the end of the interview, the masks slip, and the brothers hint that they're aware their religion is probably bunk. They're aware, but they also believe people need something to guide them and give them purpose and meaning in their brave new world. More importantly, they themselves need something to help keep going. If you've followed this blog for a while, you know I don't have much love for religion. Thus, it is a testament to Keenan's skill as a writer that I was able to sympathize with the brothers. That, and the voice actors did and exceptional job. The Phone Booth bowls a turkey for great episodes. 

Episode four is titled "Joe in Minor Key." Joe has booked a private performance with a musician named Rosalind Ria. She has the power to call-forth memories using her music. As in, the music creates visions of your past before you. As such, we get insights into Joe and his past. 

Well first off, this episode really shines thanks to special musical guest Audri Cole. The singing and guitar work were great. This episode confirmed something I'd suspected from the start: Joe doesn't have any superpowers. Or to put it another way, he's just an Average Joe. We also get to learn about his personal experiences with B-Day, and his relationship with his parents. I really enjoyed this episode; more podcasts and audio dramas need to start doing musical episodes. It's a great use of the medium. 

Episode five is titled "Amalgamation." Following B-Day, America fragmented into seven nations. They've all reunited by the present day. Well, all except for Los Angles, that is. Los Angles is home to a hive-mind entity known as The Union, and it has agreed to have an interview with Joe. 

This is easily one of my favorite episodes of the bunch. A hive-mind, as best I can explain it, is one mind split among many bodies. Think of it sort of like an ant colony or a bee hive. They're made of individual members who have their own functions, but they're also working towards a shared goal as though they were one organism. Hive-minds are incredibly difficult to write well, especially when given a sympathetic treatment. It is a testament to Keenan's writing abilities that he manages to make The Union sympathetic and relatable, but also feels not quite human. The Union was first awakened during B-Day when it emerged from the mind of a man named Robert. I can best explain it as a psychic subconscious we all have, but few truly awaken. 

It was ravenous, constantly needing to consume other minds and consciousnesses. It consumed just about everyone in Los Angles. Then, for reasons even The Union can't say, it stop short of devouring the minds. Instead, keeping the, within itself, and hearing them screaming to be free. So, slowly, but surely, it is returning the minds to their original bodies. This will, of course, not end well for The Union. It needs minds to sustain itself, and without them it will die. Still, for whatever reason, it is choosing to do good and free them. 

It was an interesting twist to make The Union sympathetic and even noble and benevolent. Usually, hive-minds are villainous, almost Lovecraftian monstrosities. And to make it so relatable as well; now that's some creative writing. When I finish this episode, I viewed it as The Phone Booth's best work yet. How could Keenan possibly top this one?

Episode six is titled "What I Know." Joe receives a phone call early in the morning. It's from a fourteen-year-old, named Cedric Appleton, who has just gotten his powers. Specifically, his power is omniscience, and he's calling to give an interview before he kills himself. 

Well, would you look at that, he was able to top the last episode. Truly omniscient characters are some of the hardest to write, but Keenan pulls it off. Apparently, fourteen is the age at which superpowers manifest for the children, including those born after B-Day. There doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason when it comes to powers. It's totally random, no relation to genetics or anything like that. Cedric knows everything, but that means life holds no surprises for him. This drives him into despair. We're all puppets, but he can see the strings...or can he? 

He claims that he saw himself and his crush getting married and having a happy life together, but given what happens at the end of the episode, that seems a bit unlikely. I think he actually see things that could be, not things that will be. Remember, we only have Cedric's word for how his powers work. So maybe it isn't that they will occur, but he gives into his supposed fate, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

It is often said that there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is accumulating information, but wisdom is knowing how to use that accumulated information. Even Cedric admits that he often knows, but doesn't understand until later. Plus, I'm hoping he turns out to be wrong that there is no life more advanced than bacteria on other planets. Hey, aliens could make for interesting story material. Then, at the end of the episode, a bombshell drops that changes everything. What is it? Well, you're gonna have to find that out for yourself. It does without say that this episodes earned its place as my other favorite of the bunch. 

Do I have any complaints or criticism? You mean apart from wishing I had more episodes to listen to, because these six were so good? I got nothing. I'm eagerly awaiting season two of The Phone Booth. There's so much potential for stories. There's lot of superpowers that could make for interesting stories.

What would I like to see in the next season? Well, it is mentioned that some people became human-animal hybrids, so learning more about that would be nice. Getting the perspective of people without powers would be good. Seeing how B-Day effected the world outside of America would be good. That said, there's still a lot of places in America to explore. For example, how might B-Day effect a Native American reservation, or the lives of people in the inner city? The Phone Booth is an alternate history, so how have historical events that happened between 2004 and now been effected? We've touched on religion, but how did pre-existing ones react to B-Day? Also, how did those pre-existing superheroes react, and how are they doing these days? What's it like to be someone who can breathe water, but not air? 

Mind you, I'm not demanding that any of these things have to be included in season two. The point I'm trying to make is that there is a ton of potential for new stories. From what I've seen in the first season, I have full confidence in Keenan's writing abilities, and I eagerly await to see what he comes up with. 

So there you have it. Season one of The Phone Booth is an anthology show, of sorts, about ordinary people finding their way in a world of superpowers. Check it out today, you'll be glad that you did. 

Well, I think that's enough from me for now. I will see you guys next time.