“Hard Reset” is a weird, kind-of-bad episode. It’s obvious that it has great plot importance, and the few snippets of context we do get for “The Protocol” are interesting—but for the majority of the listening experience, it’s more befuddling than enjoyable.
“Solo Work” is a fantastic episode. The horror is weird and cosmic. The character work is great, and we get a lot of it—and there’s a cameo that made the ending all the better.
“Saved Copy” is a setup episode. It’s clearly about one plot point, and plants ideas for that plot point—and that’s the whole point of it. There are barely any asides that don’t deal with the concept.
To review “Anti-Social,” I need to make some assumptions. I need to assume our main character, Madam Electrum, is an accurate representation of a type of internet personality/celebrity.
“Well Run” is a chaotic, disjointed, flawed, but ultimately enjoyable episode of The Magnus Protocol. The main horror story is riffing on a classic concept that’s been explored in many other places but is still effective for a reason.
“Pet Project” is so short. I’m convinced that it exists to introduce one piece of lore and that’s about it. Time will tell, but this is likely the most succinct review of an episode I’ll maybe do for the whole series. What is there to say about this little vignette besides that it was, indeed, a horror story?
“Futures” is not only one of the most unique horror stories I’ve experienced, but it’s also a great one. From concept to execution, there are only a few hiccups along the way, and none of them glaring enough to even be considered a distraction.
“Getting Off” is an episode with a totally different vibe. Between this and “Saturday Night,” we have the same villain, Mr. Bonzo, but he’s handled totally differently.
I couldn’t help but be disappointed in “Marked.” The hiatus after “Saturday Night” made me assume we were getting a big, important episode next. But this one just feels like a bridge to other plot points. I’d almost call it filler.
“Saturday Night” is a victory. Simply awesome. It has, within such a tiny amount of time, everything a long-term fan could want.
“Rolling With It” is a throwback episode. It’s so much like a Magnus Archives episode on purpose. You can easily draw parallels to so many other statements in delivery and pacing.
“Running On Empty” was different from the beginning. I’d grown used to the usual pattern. We check in on Sam and Alice, and then we cut to a spooky story. But this time, we go right into things with yet another new story template.
