If you are anything like me and enjoyed listening to The Message, then you’ll probably also really like the podcast Limetown. It’s fictional podcast following the investigation of what happened to a place called Limetown in 2004 and seems to be a mix of Serial, NPR, and the Twilight Zone. Although if you want to listen to it spoiler free (which I would), I recommend not reading this any further.
This show is suspenseful, terrifying, and leaves an intense sense of curiosity at each twist and turn. The mystery of what happened in Limetown both before, during, and after a massive town wide panic is slowly pulled apart by the main narrating voice of Lia Haddock as she interviews previously unknown and scattered survivors. The survivors tell her, and subsequently us, more about the town, what they were working on, and the panic filled three days that lead to the disappearance of more than 300 people. And the mystery unfolds even more when she’s threatened by a further unknown entity.
Limetown has only one season so far, with a book along the way and a probable second season (or so I hope). But the production and writing for this first season is amazing – the way in which this show is edited together adds to the suspense and story in a way that only can be heard. Plus, the way in which this show weaves the mundane in with the science fiction adds layers of doubt as to if this is fictional or real life. Pavowski states how amazing the production is in their review of just the first two episodes:
It’s masterfully crafted. It’s believably voiced. It’s beautifully soundtracked. It’s science fiction, thriller, suspense, human interest, all in one. And it has its hooks in me something fierce. It’s like This American Life meets Welcome to Night Vale. Serial meets The X-Files. Your local nightly news broadcast meets Fringe. If you like science fiction, if you like the unexplained and the inexplicable, you’ll love this.
This show has me spinning in how the story will unravel and digging through other fan theories as to how the future will play out for Lia and her investigation. I’ve been obsessing reading through various reviews and related things since finishing the first season yesterday. Caroline Framke puts it perfectly:
The kicker is that none of it makes sense, and none of it’s supposed to. A news clip will sound like any nightly report until some fractured, otherworldly detail comes screeching into focus, and all you can do is blink at it and go, “What the hell was that?” Like Lost before it, Limetown takes care to drop clues, and very specific ones at that, but there truly may be no solving the mystery until Limetown does it for you.
But until the mystery is solved or any other Limetown production comes our way, I’ll be listening to the first season again and I definitely recommend you do the same.