Anonymous wrote:Bowe is such a typical whiny self centered millenial.

Who put so many other lives at risk.

I work with some whiny self-centered millenials, and they would never be so stupid or destructive. Whiny is one thing, doing what he did is entirely another. And why was he even talking to reporters against the orders of his attorneys?

He deserves whatever he has coming to him.

Bowe is such a typical whiny self centered millenial.

Anonymous wrote:I think someone in the latest ep summed it up nicely when he said something to the effect of, "I understand why he did it now, but I still want to punch him in the face." That's exactly how I feel.

I think they're also establishing though that he did it because he is paranoid/delusional/whatever. Their discussions of how he was afraid he'd be sent into a suicide mission, how he slept with a knife clutched to his chest - those aren't the actions of a sane person. Even if Adnan DID kill Hae (I'm 50/50), he just seems so NORMAL, which makes his story fascinating. Bowe seems like a paranoid loon and I'm not sure anyone can get inside his head.

Anonymous wrote:I think someone in the latest ep summed it up nicely when he said something to the effect of, "I understand why he did it now, but I still want to punch him in the face." That's exactly how I feel.

same here! just listened to the last 2 eps and this is my exact conclusion. like most i like season 1 better but this held my attention until the every other week thing. that really does kill some of it.

Anonymous wrote:I think someone in the latest ep summed it up nicely when he said something to the effect of, "I understand why he did it now, but I still want to punch him in the face." That's exactly how I feel.

same here! just listened to the last 2 eps and this is my exact conclusion. like most i like season 1 better but this held my attention until the every other week thing. that really does kill some of it.

I think someone in the latest ep summed it up nicely when he said something to the effect of, "I understand why he did it now, but I still want to punch him in the face." That's exactly how I feel.

Anonymous wrote:It's not a did he or didnt he like in the first season – its why did he? And the answer is because he was delusional and paranoid. It's not compelling, and it's lost me.

It IS a 'did he or didn't he' - only the crime isn't murder, it's being a deserter/traitor whose actions put many lives in danger and wasted millions of dollars of taxpayer money. It's just another variation of exploring whether or not this person should be held responsible for a crime in the criminal justice system.

And the question of whether he was mentally ill ties into one of the biggest issues in our society right now - whether mental illness justifies criminal behavior.

It's interesting that she picked this story out of more than 2,000. I can see now why she chose it, and why a lot of people are not compelled by it as it is much more subjective - dealing with a lot of personal interviews and points of view rather than hard facts - and not as titillating as a grisly murder mystery.

Anonymous wrote:I am still struggling to understand what exactly it was that he felt was so wrong that it was urgently necessary to walk off. Yes, there were some issues, but nothing so urgent that it would justify what he decided to do.

He was paranoid. That's the whole point.

I just finished the most recent two episodes also and I still don't like it. I'm going to disagree with the poster who said he's not mentally ill. He obviously is. They discussed his mental illness in the most recent episodes to a degree. I'm just not getting why this entire series, not to mention the whole court-martial etc., is devoted to basically one question – why did an irrational person do an irrational thing?

Remember in the earlier episodes when his platoonmates said he slept with a knife on his chest and took off his mattress so he could sleep on the coils to have a more authentic military experience? Those are not the actions of a sane person. It doesn't have the mystery aspect of the first season, because no one can get inside his head. It's not a did he or didnt he like in the first season – its why did he? And the answer is because he was delusional and paranoid. It's not compelling, and it's lost me.

Anonymous wrote:I am still struggling to understand what exactly it was that he felt was so wrong that it was urgently necessary to walk off. Yes, there were some issues, but nothing so urgent that it would justify what he decided to do.

I think SK's final point in the latest episode was that Bowe believed, however incorrectly, it WAS that urgent based on his interpretation of the situation. Contributing to his erroneous interpretation are a lot of factors having to do with his upbringing, his belief system, obsession with the military and safety/self defense/protection, and this possible personality disorder that causes people to have irrational thought patterns.

I am still struggling to understand what exactly it was that he felt was so wrong that it was urgently necessary to walk off. Yes, there were some issues, but nothing so urgent that it would justify what he decided to do.

Bump.

I originally agreed, it was not that compelling. But now after the two latest episodes this week I think it's gotten much better. If nothing else, the deep look into the Army and the Afghanistan deployments is pretty interesting. And they are doing a nice job detailing what was going on in his mind, going back to his upbringing, home schooling, basically being neglected as a child and brainwashed by a crazy father. Fascinating!

They said on "Crimewriters on Serial" (which isn't that good really) that she chose this story out of 2500 pitches. I'm waiting to understand why.

Anyone still listening? I'm still not liking it. They alluded in this episode to people thinking that it was all his fault but didn't explain that away. The "why should we care about him?" of it. Frankly, there's not much mystery and BB is not an appealing character. Those were the two things that made the first season so great. The every other week thing doesn't help either.

It almost just seems like he is mentally ill.

The most recent episode declares that he is not mentally ill. A mentally ill person could not have withstood 5 years of what BB went through without losing their mind.

I think he was just a dumb, conceited 20-something dude that didn't understand much of anything around him. Unfortunately he was in a position where his actions caused losses of life, diplomatic fallout, and on and on.

I'm definitely not loving this season as much as season 1. But I read that SK was going to be working on seasons 2 and 3 simultaneously. I'm hoping whatever the story is for season 3 is consuming a lot more of her time/journalistic resources. Because relying on tapes that someone else made and not talking directly to the source isn't doing it for me.