(written in 2021)

First contact

It's 11:15PM. It's always late when I write this kind of things. Usually, I write them when everything's still fresh on my mind. Not this time. The podcast ended a month ago, but i didn't binge it.

Let's start from the beginning. 2020, I see Tumblr posts about "jonmartin". My first thought is that those names suck. I'm not interested in podcasts, I sometimes think that I should cresume Welcome To Night Vale, but that's it. Towards the end of 2020, I see a drawing of Jon in the archives. For some reason, it convinces me to start it someday. But the spark that starts it all is actually an ad in a Trope Talk video (and also the fact that I have an exam two days later and I don't want to study).

I don't get hooked until a few episodes, but when it happens, I'm truly obsessed. I binge episodes until 9PM. Big mistake. The mix of cold, early winter nights, my general anxiety and being very good at being afraid even if nothing's happening create three weeks of constant stress and struggle to fall asleep without thinking about the Not!Them from MAG003 or Mr Spider. I stop listening after 4PM, but I still spend the whole day with only one thought in my head: TMA. I'm frightened both by individual episodes and by the overarching plot: what will happen to all those characters? I can feel the horror get closer, but I feel as lost as Jon.

Surprisingly, even after knowing the rules of the universe, I don't lose interest in the story as it often happens in these cases. Even though everything is explained about halfway through.That's a good surprise. Some mysteries aren't explained until the very end, and it stays somewhat open-ended.

My enthusiasm does not stay at a consistant level, however. For almost 4 seasons, my obsession level is on par with the one I had for Hannibal. Unfortunately, the fifth season doesn't get to that level. I think it'll have the same effect on me as Hannibal had, and make me listen to it over and over again. But no: there is a strong obsession at first, but it morphs into a constant background noise in my mind. Weirdly, TMA still impacts my imagination more than hannibal did. I think this can be explained by the length of both stories: Hannibal was prematurely cancelled after 39 episodes, while TMA has 200 episodes (and now a sequel).

First season

It's a strong start: a rough audio, with a cold narrator, Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London. In a few minutes, the basics are there: the previous archivist disappeared, the archives are in disarray, and some statements can't be digitalized. Most of the time, we only hear Jon and his skepticism. Mag011 is the first episode with another voice, and MAG012 is the first with a recurring character. Information on other employees