Last year, the podcast “Serial” by Sarah Koenig captivated the country. Since the end of the first season, it was made explicit that a second season was in the works. Now, rumor and speculation have it that the second season will focus on the infamous case of Bowe Bergdahl, a solider who was accused of desertion in Afghanistan and brought home in a high-profile prisoner swap. Bergdahl is now on trial for his supposed crimes–and apparently “Serial” is right there with him.

This rumor about Bergdahl comes from a Maxim piece that attributes the news to anonymous sources. The piece stated:

Last week, a preliminary hearing for Bergdahl’s case was held at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, to determine if the former POW will be tried in a court-martial. According to someone present at the hearing, Serial host Sarah Koenig and at least one of the show’s producers were in spotted in the courtroom.

Also present was screenwriter Mark Boal, who wrote Zero Dark Thirty. Boal’s company, Page 1 Productions, has apparently been working on bringing Bergdahl’s story to the big screen ever since his release, and several anonymous sources familiar with the production tell Maxim that Boal has provided the Serial team with research material, including taped interviews with Bergdahl.

The piece mentioned that “Serial” had reportedly spoken to former members of Bergdahl’s unit as well.

Given these pieces of information–as juicy and gossipy as they may be–it seems pretty clear that “Serial” season 2 will focus on Bergdahl. But that makes for an interesting juxtaposition. The first season focused on case that, save those who have an excellent memory and resided in the greater Baltimore area in the late ’90s, no one really knew about. There was plenty of local media coverage, but prior to “Serial,” the names Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee were cloaked in a reasonable level of anonymity.

On the other hand, Bowe Bergdahl’s story made national and international news when he was brought back to the United States last summer. Bergdahl maintains that he was captured and held hostage by the Taliban, but some of his fellow soldiers claim that he walked away deliberately. His trial will explore who is telling the truth; if found guilty Bergdahl could be looking at a life sentence.

It will be interesting to see if the differences between the two cases affect the production and reception of the podcast. While many “Serial” listeners quickly developed their own theories about Syed’s guilt or innocence, for the most part the only information they had was disseminated through Koenig and the show. But in Bergdahl’s case, many will have already made up their minds, given the level of coverage it has already received. One thing is for sure, however: if it’s anything like “Serial” season 1, it will certainly keep listeners enthralled.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Rumor Has It: Second Season of Serial Will Focus on Bowe Bergdahl’s Case appeared first on Law Street.

Serial‘s first season has ended and if you’re feeling a little separation anxiety, here are the top five parodies to help fill that void.

1. SNL

Saturday Night Live’s holiday themed parody is spot on. Cecily Strong’s Sarah Koenig impression is amazingly accurate, and this one is even holiday themed!

 2. Funny or Die

Funny or Die created this hilarious parody in anticipation of the last episode of Serial–when seemingly no one, not even Sarah Koenig, knew exactly what was going to happen.

3. Paul Laudiero (series)

While this is only an audio parody, Paul Laudiero’s Serial inspired look into a Best Buy employee makes you feel like you’re actually listening to the real thing.

4. SubmissionsOnlyTV

This video version of Serial has a fake Sarah Koenig looking into a straightforward murder case–or was it so straightforward? There’s just no way to know.

5. Kyle Scheele (series)

This Serial parody is all about a mystery involving a different use of the word–breakfast cereal!

Enjoy!

Lexine DeLuca

Lexine DeLuca is the Marketing & Design Assistant at Law Street Media. Contact Lexine at ldeluca@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Five Parodies to Get You Through Serial Withdrawal appeared first on Law Street.

Major spoiler alert: this post is all about the Serial podcast finale. If you have not yet listened to Serial, go download it now, find a nice quiet place, and come back in approximately 12 hours.

All good to go?

Alright, so now that you’ve caught up on Serial, you know what happened in the finale that aired yesterday. It was pretty apparent that some people were upset with the way that the national phenomenon ended. I understand why–there wasn’t really an ending. Not in a classic sense, at least. Not in a way that we’ve been conditioned to believe there needs to be. We still don’t know who killed Hae Min Lee. We still don’t know whether or not Adnan Syed is guilty. We still don’t know that much at all.

America’s love affair with crime procedurals has a long history. Turn on the TV right now and you have a veritable slew from which to choose. Want to see a case go through the justice system from beginning to end? Check out “Law and Order.” Want to see unique cases regarding the Navy and the Marine Corps? Well, there’s “NCIS.” Are a genius forensic anthropologist and her hunky FBI partner more up your ally? I’d recommend “Bones.”

What do all of these shows have in common? At the end, with very exceptions, the bad guy gets caught. There may be conflicting evidence or different theories along the journey, but at the end of the episode the person who committed the crime ends up paying the price.

That’s fun when it comes to TV shows, but it is directly contrary to how things work in real life. Serial proves that.

Sarah Koenig went through the entire case of Adnan Syed piece by meticulous piece, and she still doesn’t have the answer. She put in way more time than the detectives on the case–not that I’m blaming them for that, it’s just the nature of two different professions. She put in way more time than the scientists and cops on my favorite procedurals who find one fingerprint and have their “Aha” moments. She literally took this thing apart with a fine-toothed comb, and she still wasn’t completely certain about what had happened to Hae on that fateful day in 1999.

Some people in the Twitterverse were upset not that there was no answer to who murdered Hae, but rather that the podcast was ending when it did. They were upset that Koenig didn’t continue digging. Again, I’m not, because that’s life. Answers are not guaranteed, and not everyone has the luxury of taking forever to find them. There are plenty of people who will never get their answers–parents who have lost their children, people who have lost their significant others, and innocent prisoners who were convicted for reasons they may never understand.

Those people may never get their answers. So why should we, fans of this podcast, get ours?

I would love to know who killed Hae Min Lee. I, like everyone else who got a little obsessed with this podcast, have my theories. But I think at the end of the day, what Koenig and her team accomplished wasn’t just a masterfully told story, but a living embodiment of the questions that our justice system has to deal with every single day. It’s easy to forget that, when you can just turn on the TV and see Agent Gibbs or Sergeant Benson or Agent Booth get the bad guy. Let Serial serve as a reminder that it’s almost never that simple.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Serial’s Ending Was Perfect: Here’s Why appeared first on Law Street.