Within the Wires Night Vale Presents

I’ve listed to “all” 9 seasons (that’s as many as there are currently), and this is my FAVORITE podcast. I like it even more than WTNV.

Now, not every season is as equally strong. In fact, some seasons need to be listened to more than once to fully appreciate them. The genres vary, and the seasons are not directly linked together, but listen closely and you will see how each is connected to the next. It’s an incredibly clever series!

That being said, season 8 is my least favorite. It is the only one that I find boring, and couldn’t really find any real connection to the series’s overarching narrative. But I think it was written at the same time they were writing the book, and the book is PHENOMENAL. To me, that’s the true season 8.

Season 9, the latest to date, is raw and beautiful. I think it’s my all time favorite of any podcast season (and one of my top 100 short stories EVER).

Listen to them in order, please be patient with season 8, and be ready for season 9 to take you on an unexpected journey of grief and hope.

So, I was an old listener of welcome to nightvale but stopped keeping up with it some years ago. I’m a romantic, so the buzz of night vale wore off when Cecil and Carlos officially got together. I’ve recently got back into it, and heard of Within the Wires from the intro to one of the newer episodes of night vale. “The ball is where the win is”. That was actually the first ep I listened to in quite some time and I was curious about what else nightvale presents has been up to in the time I’ve turned away from it. I tuned in to the first episode of the newest season of Within the Wires and my attention was immediately caught. I enjoyed listening to it and am playing it back season by season, exploring the depth of this alternate universe while comparing it to modern times. Anita’s moms (and what a chill I still get, being able to freely write that and talk about it and imagine it!) are such compelling characters who have such complexity to them. As the story progressed and the narrator continued to tell the story of their adventures, I couldn’t help but wonder what is going through Anita’s mind. Did she cry like I did during this episode, so close to the end? Is she scared to find out more about her birth family? Will she continue the trend and make her own tapes if she decides to become a mother herself? How does Anita feel about parenthood and what the world is? I’m so happy that such a podcast like this exists and that I can listen to it in a medium that is enjoyable to me, that I can listen without fear of appraisal or consideration as to how to pay for it. This is free and relevant and cynically exuberant. Thank you for giving me content like this, that is heartbreaking and overwhelmingly positive

I haven’t always loved every season, but I continue to come back for the unique storytelling and world building. Much of this series is rich with subtext and subtle details that reward the careful listener. The anthological nature of it doesn’t necessarily dictate listening to the seasons in a particular order, but I do recommend starting with the first. Below is a season by season review for those interested in what this random stranger has to say 🙃

The first season is creative, fascinating, meditative, at times silly, and has a slow build to a very impactful finish. I think it’s the strongest of the seasons, could stand on its own as a complete piece, and I recommend it to anyone. I’ve listened to it many times over. 5/5⭐️

The second season was pensive and calming. My background as an artist made this an absolute joy to take in; I listened to it multiple times while creating my own art. My second favorite, but I am a also biased painter. 5/5⭐️

The third season lacked the calming and comforting tone of the first two but was still intriguing, and I enjoyed the narrator choice immensely. I’d place it 4th on my recommended list. 4/5⭐️

The fourth season was not for me, but I appreciated the way it added to the underlying narrative. I found myself comparing it to the central plot of the second book in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam series. 2/5⭐️

For me, the fifth season was more rewarding to listen to in reverse. I listened to it as it was intended the first time, and by halfway through found myself feeling as though I’d already learned everything I cared to about the characters. Still enjoyed it a fair amount and will probably listen to again. 3/5⭐️ as is, 4/5⭐️ starting with episode 10 and working backward.

The sixth season was the spookiest of the bunch so far. It also felt like a return to the meditative vibe that I loved so much in the first two seasons. My 3rd favorite season. 4/5⭐️

Currently eagerly devouring the seventh season :) thank you to all involved for your hard work on one of my favorite podcasts.