But dont expect closure.
We knew there wouldnt be going in.
Thats the deal we signed up for.
Credit: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images
So all that can be asked at this point is, are you glad you tuned in?
Despite frequent bouts of hair-pulling exasperation, I am.
But its taken some time to realize that and a recalibration of what I expect from long-form investigative storytelling.
After all, it was a season that defied most of our conventional expectations of narrative.
It wasnt a story with a beginning, middle, and, most importantly, an end.
His fate, for now, is open-ended.
But I wonder how many of those listeners have felt… sated.
Why did Bowe Bergdahl walk off his base on June 30, 2009?
But theres a kind of honesty in that too.
Not all cases get solved.
Not every trial ends with a conviction.
The journeys more important than the destination.
Whats his fault and what isnt?
Its an excellent question.
And its frankly a little disappointing that its taken 11 episodes to ask it.
But here we are, and it turns out thatSerials reporters have done yeomans work.
It turns out six U.S. soldiers died during the period they were looking for Bergdahl.
Theres an important bit of wording in that last sentence.
That distinction may not matter to some.
Grief and anger are emotions that are desperate for scapegoats.
Again, just when things appear to be coming into focus, we dont know how to feel.
All of the unforeseen tragedies, all of the unpredictable mistakes, all of the Bowe Bergdahls.
And therewereother Bowe Bergdahls.
There were other soldiers who wandered off their bases or officially went AWOL (quite a few actually).
In other words, they werent news.
When you sign up for war as a society, you sign up for this, Edgar says.
You sign up for all of the things that attend war.
That sounds about right to me.
The second season ofSerialis done.
But for Bergdahl, well, his story is hardly over.
His court martial hearing is scheduled to start in August.
Until then, hes still a soldier on a base in San Antonio whos listed as Present for Duty.
Koenig poetically sums up that until then, he waits.
But waiting is something Bowe knows how to do.
