For the first time, it felt like we got inside of his head.
And once there, it was hard to know what to make of his thought process.
Swept up in some messianic quest to save his brothers in arms?
Credit: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images
Was he being a good soldier making a hard decision?
Or was he just lying about everything?
I think its been clear in my recaps this season that Ive had some serious issues withSerials sophomore effort.
First, its presented every week.
Then, every other week.
Sometimes it feels like theyre daring us to keep listening.
Was he in league with them?
Was going AWOL part of some traitorous plot?
But then, she doesnt bother to really follow up on it or its implications.
Others who knew him in Afghanistan suggest more mysterious possibilities for his disappearance.
One mentions that Bowe would look at the Afghan mountains and dreamily talk about just disappearing into them.
There was a stern father who meted out unpredictable discipline and homeschooling, which made him socially awkward.
He grew into a watchful, judgmental teen with an unarticulated code of lofty expectations for himself and others.
Maybe hed fit in better someplace else.
He was restless, seeking.
In 2006, at age 19, Bergdahl enlisted with the Coast Guard.
This was before he signed up with the Army.
And it didnt go well.
It was labeled as a panic attack and his cause for dismissal was adjustment disorder with depression.
Its hard to listen to stories like that one and not feel sorry for Bergdahl.
After all, it was surge time, and soldiers were scarce.
Bowe Bergdhal slipped through the cracks…
The second half of this weeks episode, Hindsight, Part 2, isnt as good.
Actually, I found it a little maddening.
I get thatSerialisnt supposed to be60 Minutes, but that doesnt mean it has to be snarky.
He liked Ayn RandsAtlas Shrugged.
Well, so do millions of other people whove read the book.
He studied the samurai Bushido code.
So do a lot of people who like Kurosawa films.
Where is the journalistic rigor?
Its an episode thats richer in editorializing than reporting.
As if we should really care what their views are.
Wait, what?!
Youre just an ahole.
I had to go back and listen to the exchange three or four times.
Each time I thought, How did this make it onto the air exactly?
tell this particular story, 2.)
win another Peabody Award, and 3.)
keep listeners who are already getting antsy to keep coming back.
If I wasnt recappingSerialthis season, this would have been the week I said Adios.
