Tea in the Sahara
Kev – Fiction Podcast Critic
As January finally rolls into the rearview mirror (thank God) – and with a few more episodes under our belt I thought that I would revisit We’re Alive Descendants by Wayland Productions & Rusty Quill.
Check out my previous review of We’re Alive Descendants for more context about this ace audio drama.
Further series unpacking – following the Westport helicopter crash both old & new Westport characters converge on a Mad Max-style rogue town called Primm. A place luckily not listed on Tripadvisor where gambling is very much the way of life — book me in for a fortnight in late July, please!
Like all fictional off-the-grid rogue towns, Primm is run with an iron fist by a narcissist called the Boar, who brings punters in from far & wide to bet on contestants entering her arena. So guess where the kids of Westport have ended up?
At first, I hoped that the Boar’s character was building up to possibly be Scratch (Jenna McCombie), from the first series, but alas, sadly not.
Within this arena is where our 2nd-gen characters must battle their way out of the Boars game in order to earn their freedom. Think Alice In Borderland vibes, except full of infected!
Ah-ha moment — during arena chapters I began to appreciate how immersive the audio is within Descendants. The roar of the greeting crowd when entering the arena felt like I was also walking out onto the battlefield alongside our ragtag group of anti-heroes.
Additional episodes & chapters give latitude to the audience, and I am genuinely enjoying the overall direction the storyline is heading in. It feels as if the podcast is engineering its very own plotline Venn diagram — with each part inexplicably linked as it builds towards a series conclusion.
The further development of newer characters continues to be welcomed — with my boy Jataun Gilbert continuing to slay his role as Nicholas.
IMO, some newer characters are slightly beige, adding little to a scene as we wait for more exciting sequences to be teed up. Doubling down on this, I am also not a massive fan of the character Dot, who I assume will eventually string a full sentence together other than just the word “dot” over, and over.
I bang the drum about Easter eggs as I feel every scripted podcast should include at least one – Descendants more than delivers. The scene where Lisa & Vera camp out on top of a building harks back to the original series. I also clocked a retro popular-culture nod to the mud camouflage movie scene in Predator – straight fire!
Personal preference time – Descendants pacing has been okay-ish switching between badass action, and emotionally provoking intense scenes. Perhaps my own expectations are set high. Perhaps that is the writing vision, a steadily building plotline heading into the penultimate, and finale episodes? If that is the case, guys, could we switch up the pace just a touch, please? This impatient critic writer is dying to know how this iconic audio drama will begin to bring down its final curtain.
Thanks for taking the time to read my review of ‘We’re Alive Descendants’ which can be found on Spotify & Apple Podcast.
Exclusive reviews are what I do best – so if you would like your fictional podcast reviewed email me directly at tinthesaharah@gmail.com, or via my socials. Cheers, Kev.
Cast
Jataun Gilbert as Nicholas
Hajin Cho as Vera
Austin Trace as Alex
Hayes Dunlap as Dean
Jim Gleason as Michael
Elisa Eliot as Pegs
Constance Parng as CJ
Christy Carlson Romano as Gloria
Claire Dodin as Riley
Carol Kaufman as Mirra
Shannon Cudd as Ruth
Vanessa Born as Nakoma
Michael Ursu as Vincent
Bryarly Bishop as Dot
Sam Skolnik as Will
Gigi Guizado as The Boar
Josh Petersdorf as Walrus
William Leon as Jackal
Michael Swan as Narrator
Tea in the sahara 