The Devil in the details
Finding Satan review
Rating – 
It seems like ages since I reviewed a supernatural audio drama. This one has been half written in my docs folder for a long time, so I figured it’s time to get it finished. As you can see by my rating, it’s also a change from my recent run of 4 and 5 brain shows.
So, “Why the low score?” You may be asking yourself. Well read on, and I’ll do my best to explain why Finding Satan is in the rather exclusive two brain club.
So what’s it about?
Finding Satan follows university student Sarah Lyons, who is writing a paper on whether real evil actually exists. Not just evil though, Sarah wants to know if the Devil really exists. Impulsive, and yet somewhat daunted by the prospect of such a huge prospect, she is not quite sure where to start.
On the guidance of her thesis advisor Doctor Carlisle, she contacts a graduate student, Alan. Apparently he has created a detailed research plan that would suit Sarah’s needs perfectly.
Despite Alan’s scepticism, and warnings to try and keep things strictly academic, Sarah is soon investigating some very strange places indeed. This is where things start to turn, and soon Sarah is wondering whether she has started on a path that she can’t leave.
Is it any good?
The story itself is interesting, it’s a bit different from the run of the mill supernatural mysteries that everyone seems to make. Unfortunately, that’s the only positive I’ve got for this podcast.
There are some problems I have with the casting that I suspect is more budgetary than anything else, not just the overall standard of voice acting. Sarah is a university student, and her professor sounds younger than she does, albeit he is trying to sound old. In fact, the acting on the whole is not the best, and in parts of episode one, you can almost imagine the character just reading the lines off a sheet of paper.
I get the distinct impression that everything is recorded separately, and that when the actors record their parts, they don’t have anyone reading the other part. Because of this the dialogue seems disjointed and sewn together. Recording parts separately is something quite common nowadays, not just since COVID, and with the right talent, and good direction you really can’t tell.
The audio quality also lacks consistency. There are parts that need a pop shield desperately. Also there are parts with weird reverb, and phone conversations that sound like they are in the same room, and conversations in the same room that sound like they are on the phone.
And last but by no means least, why do we need a whole 3 minute song at the end of each episode? The episodes only last 25 mins, so to have a whole song at the end seems a bit overkill.
Final thoughts
As the episodes ticked down to my usual cutoff of 10, I wondered what would be in store. Would there be some groundbreaking revelation? Some aha! moment that would spin my opinion 180° and leave me desperate to download the next batch of episodes?
Ultimately no. I can’t stick with it. There are too many flaws to make it worth my while. This is a real shame, because with more resources and time, this could have been a story to rival Tanis. The story is pretty good, it’s an interesting take for sure, and if you can see past the faults then you’ll like this a lot.
You can get Finding Satan here:
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