Path of the Miriam

I want to go easy on this podcast because it's clearly an amateur production, which isn't always a bad thing but doesn't help it. I did give it one star, but pretend it's more of a 1.5 instead. However, I'm going to be honest: this podcast isn't great. The only acting I could stand was that of the computer--only because the person had a nice voice, and it didn't require any heavy lifting. The sound effects are there, I suppose, and they weren't the worst thing about this podcast, which isn't saying much. I'm shocked I even made it to the 10-minute mark with the first episode, because I didn't get past the first two minutes of the second. The sound is pretty awful, from cut off sound at the end of every monologue to sound effects that straight up don't match the words. An example of the latter would be that the captain is inside a spacesuit (which I don't buy from the effects on her voice, but anyway) and has been injured in several ways, including spraining her ankle...but the sound effect betrays no limping, and the acting itself does not show any sign of strain--and there's no given reason for her to hide her pain. Maybe she's some kind of tough super soldier, but there's also no indication of that either. Speaking of indications of anything, really, the writing isn't great. I found it added nothing to the characters or the world. The only thing it did was take up air. More on the audio: none of the actors' audio has any processing or effects, meaning that they all sound as if they recorded separately. None of them sound like they could be in the same room at times when they're meant to. The opening theme is cringey, even though cringe culture is dead. I genuinely felt put off by listening to it, whether it's the uninspired lyrics or the lackluster vocals. I wonder if it might have worked just fine just as an instrumental, but that's just a hypothetical. In terms of what is actually IN the show, the theme doesn't start it off on the right foot. No, it's not charming. And no, I don't consider any of this nitpicking. I have heard amateur audio dramas make do with bad audio. This isn't one of them. I will be fair and say one thing I liked: I think they tried. They certainly sat down and put something out there, which is better than many indie podcasts that end before they even begin. But I can't say for sure if the "trying" thing is factually accurate, only that it SOUNDS like they tried their best. Perhaps they've been beset by production issues, given that there was a several month gap between episodes 2 and 3, and there hasn't been any update since 3. That happens, but I feel that some communication is necessary from a production team to listeners, especially when a show has already come out. Again, I can only really speak to what I hear, and the only good thing I hear is effort. I completely understand that making an audio drama is difficult, but sometimes the work you do just doesn't pay off. I don't know how hard the creator worked to get this show out there, but whatever happened, it either wasn't enough, or they didn't know when to call it and say, "Let's go play video games instead." And I do hope the creator, or someone on the team, puts in enough effort to clean up the audio, make the words tighter, and maybe go out and find a better theme song. I think the premise is a great one, it's just a shame the execution really doesn't do it justice. (Note: Unrelated to the content of the show itself, I also am put off by the show description, which boasts that the cast "featuring a completely queer cast, and several POC voices." To my knowledge, only a few of the cast are actually POC, which isn't exactly several. And saying that your podcast features queer actors is like saying it has people speaking words. It's not exactly an anomaly within the indie podcasting community.)