What Can We Expect From 'Serial' Episode 5?

The mind-numbingly popular podcast Serial is in its second season, and we still can't get enough. This time, Sarah Koenig is tackling the nuanced case of Bowe Bergdahl's capture by the Taliban, a case that continues to be a source of controversy for the American public to this day. In the episodes to date, she has given us background on everything from Bergdahl's position in the army prior to the capture, the thoughts and motivations that led up to his decision to walk off his army base, and an overview of the years that he spent in captivity. In the most recent episode, Koenig added another layer of depth to the story by speaking to David Rohde, a former New York Times journalist who was also captured but who experienced far more leniency than Bergdahl and thus was able to give us a better overview of what was happening outside of the room Bergdahl was confined to. But what will Serial Season 2 Episode 5 be about? Every new episode adds a new depth to the story than we ever knew before.

According to Koenig, Episode 5 will explore yet another side to Bergdahl's story, the side that he didn't know until he was released: what the American military nd government was doing to get him home safely. One man is quoted as saying, "We had a bureaucracy that was broken and a feeling of 'well he's a traitor anyway,' so," which was cited as the hardest part of organizing any effort to locate or rescue Bergdahl. Not that there weren't attempts made, of course, as the preview for the episode features several different angles and several different voices all committed to one thing: how are we going to rescue Bergdahl, or ensure that attempts are actually being made to bring this American soldier home, traitor or no traitor?

Sure, some might consider this a part of the story that, theoretically, we should already know. After all, we were all present in America during Bergdahl's capture, and many of us were keeping on top of the story in newspapers and online. However, as is often the case with Serial, we might think we know the story, but Koenig is sure to swiftly prove that we don't know as much as we think we know about the story. We've learned so much about Bergdahl's tale that was previously unavailable to us — such as the account in his own words, and quotes from actual members of the Taliban — that I know I'm not the only one on the edge of the seat to find out how much more I didn't know that I didn't know about this grippling and controversial tale.

Leave it to Serial to come back from their hiatus with even more groundbreaking, unexpected nuances to their latest case, and leave it to Koenig to make me listen to her voice for most of a 40 minute episode and still want to hear more. We'll have to wait until next week for the next portion of the tale, but it's going to be a doozy, guys.

Image: Serial