REDACTED: Much More Creative Than It Seems

REDACTED Narrowly Avoids Being Easy To Forget

REDACTED is an audio fiction podcast that takes a very well-worn concept and adds just enough twists on the formula to make it interesting again.

How well-worn, you may be asking? Well, how about a secret organization that deals with supernatural threats? You know, the premise of hundreds of books, movies, shows, and—more than likely—other podcasts. Even modifying the tone to have a heavy focus on comedy isn’t very unique. I happen to like these kinds of stories, but even I was almost annoyed at the clichés.

However, what starts off as seeming like a “broke everyman with a tragic backstory (dead mom) discovers secret world” story, gets flipped when a false identity plot smashes into it. Because, you see, our failing actor of a main character, Jacob, is a twin. And his twin brother just died under mysterious, series-long-plotline circumstances while talking about some job he had. So—in a scheme that I literally don’t know anyone would actually try in real life—he impersonates his brother and then discovers the secret world.

So, the points of tension are obvious. Now Jacob has to handle an incredibly dangerous job with no training, barely any knowledge, and all while keeping up appearances around a cast of quirky coworkers.

The Opening Plotlines Give Enough To Listen More

But the core three questions for this REDACTED review haven’t even been posed. Is it scary? Is it funny? And is it entertaining? And I’ll grant it a medium on all three.

On the subject of horror, REDACTED has a suitably disturbing monster concept for its first episode, but it becomes way too easy to guess what the monster is, and the sound design and scenario don’t evoke any dread. The series becomes nothing but sound effects and yelling for a short period while it’s around.

REDACTED’s comedy, on the other hand, is medium because it’s extremely off and on. The show’s main intention—clearly—is to give you silly gimmick characters, and for you to find their hijinks amusing, and I really didn’t find them amusing. I was mostly annoyed. The frozen yogurt joke goes on for way too long, and the series really, actually resorted to a poop joke. Come on now. I love macabre humor, and REDACTED has so much potential for it, but the opening three-parter I listened to does not utilize its potential well.

REDACTED Doesn’t Fit Too Well Into Its Subgenres

Finally, though, is the broader idea of being entertaining. And here I can be a lot nicer to REDACTED. Sure, the writing is predictable, and it suffers from characters having to verbally explain what they see, but if there’s one thing you need to nail in an all-audio medium, it’s the sound, and I’m so happy to say the production value for REDACTED is amazing. The dialog is crisp. The soundscaping so well done. And the music? The music for this podcast is wonderful. The intro song was a joy each time I got to listen to it, and if you can’t show a violent scene, then using music and rhythm to get across the events happening is a trick I’ve not really seen outside musical theater—but it should be utilized much more. I could see the monster getting hit by fire in my mind’s eye. I’d happily listen to an album made by this creative team.  

So, yeah, REDACTED has its issues, but it does have space to grow, and it’s got some solid fundamentals to expand on, if it so wants. The thing about a series with this big a cast—all based around easily understandable gimmicks/tropes—is that, if you expand on them correctly, people will love them. You can gain lifelong fans. But I can’t say for certain if this series will manage it. I don’t have the highest confidence. But as it stands, if you like prominent tropes, if you like fast-paced, easy to get into stories, REDACTED has all that and short episodes. So, it’s worth a shot.

Possibly Related Posts:

• The Gorge Manages To Have Some Great Scenes
• The First Snow of Fraggle Rock Is Weird But Cute
• Friday Fiction: It’s Starting to Snow (Part 2)
• The Sisters Grimm: An Adorable Fairy Tale Show
• WondLa And How To Make Sci-Fi Kids Shows