Forward this to five people and good things will happen

I don’t know about you, but I have limited patience for films and TV shows that pile mystery upon mystery, with a promise of resolution that never seems to be fulfilled. There are shows that walk the line really well, like Counterpart and the outstanding Severance. But no matter how many times someone tells me The Leftovers is amazing, I know I can’t trust their recommendation.

A good mystery keeps you hanging just enough to remain curious, then rewards you with a bit of a clue. It’s like a key turning in a lock that then leads to another lock. Get the timing right, and you can signal to the viewer, the reader, or in our case the listener, that you’re in safe hands – that you’ll have questions along the way, but they’ll all be answered to a reasonable degree of satisfaction.

This week’s minute comes to us courtesy of Petrified, a horror anthology podcast set in 1980s Ireland you can binge in a morning. If you’re the squeamish type, this particular episode from March 1st isn’t one that’ll scare you silly or anything. The minute I’m referring to starts at around 12:38 in my copy.

In this scene, we get our first turnkey moment. We’ve been following a young student, broke, and looking desperately for work. When a seemingly ever-lucky flatmate offers her a job in a strange, brightly-lit room, the tension built up by the episode’s little mysteries slackens just enough.

There’s a real Doctor Who quality about this story that I appreciate. I could see the Doctor sweeping in at the last minute, admonishing Catherine for taking advantage of her flatmate, and using her sonic screwdriver to keep the monster-of-the-week at bay.

And that, my friend, is your minute for this week. If you haven’t yet twigged the connection between the subject linen and this podcast, listen to the episode and you’ll get it. Or if in doubt, just encourage five of your mates to subscribe and good things will happen. On the other hand, I can’t vouch for what might happen if you don’t… 😉

Anyway, lulz aside, have a great week. Keep listening, and I’ll do the same.