The power of the mind
Hysterical review
Production Company – Wondery/Pineapple Street Studios
Rating – 
***RELEASE DAY REVIEW***
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these hasn’t it? I was contacted with a heads up about a new podcast that as soon as I had read the blurb, really had me intrigued. I asked if there were any advance episodes available and they only went and sent me the whole show with the condition that I would keep the embargo until the release day, which is today! (unless of course you have Wondery+, in which case you lucky people got it on the 8th)
So here we are. Obviously I won’t have any spoilers, and I’ll try not to discuss anything past the first episode. I’m not sure how many episodes are released to the masses today, so I’d rather play it safe.
So what’s it about?
At the end of 2011 a 16 year old girl posted a video on YouTube. She’s been suffering with strange facial tics and twitches. She says that last August she had passed out at a gig after headbanging. The symptoms have progressed to almost Tourettes style movements. The video is a cry for help. She wants to know if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.
It soon turns out that other girls are experiencing the same thing. The number of girls affected starts to rise, and it’s always girls. The classrooms are seemingly rife with vocal outbursts and bodily tics.
Just what is affecting the girls of LeRoy New York though? This seven part series investigates what appears to be the most compelling case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials. Is it mass hysteria though? The series covers lots of possibilities, and some surprising cases that may be linked, but not in the way you’d think.
Is it any good?
Wondery consistently puts out great podcasts, and this is no exception. The story itself is intriguing, and it would be easy to treat these people almost as a freak show. I always feel that while showing people what a condition like Tourettes syndrome is like can only be a good thing, there is a danger that people treat it as comedy. There is none of that here though.
Throughout history there have been cases very similar to this, with proposed explanations from poisoning to demonic possession. As I mentioned earlier, there are other cases tied to this that you may not think about. In later episodes, this are no less intriguing than the main story, and in the case of one subject, possibly even more so, just because it turns what has now become “common knowledge” on its head.
The crux of the mystery though, is just what is the cause? As the episodes progress, there are certainly many possibilities. I can almost guarantee you won’t figure it out though.
Final thoughts
This was a great podcast, and there are many twists and turns before the final episode plays out. Obviously, I’m not going to expand on that just in case they don’t drop all the episodes at once.
That is the downside of reviewing a brand new show, particularly when I have heard the whole thing. I have to try and keep a balance between making it sound interesting enough for you to want to listen to it without spoiling any surprises in later episodes.
I would like to say a massive thank you to the promotions team who deal with Wondery for sending me the whole series in advance. It’s been tough to sit on this for nearly a month!
You can get Hysterical here:
For more great reviews, I recommend GreatPods