Riveting and Deeply Moving, 'S-Town' Podcast Isn't Another 'Serial'

[Editor's note: This story contains slight spoilers about the new podcast "S-Town.]

In 2014, the true crime podcast "Serial" debuted, captivating the nation and unexpectedly piercing the zeitgeist. The podcast, from NPR's "This American Life," wasn't only an investigation of a decades-old murder case; it went much deeper. Exploring the criminal justice system, with an array of characters and twists and turns, "Serial" was a fascinating exercise in journalism and storytelling.

Though many fans were disappointed with the second season of "Serial," which did a deep dive into the Bow Bergdahl case, the new spinoff of "Serial" and "This American Life" is likely to find the same kind of fandom the podcast found with its first run.

"S-Town" is the new narrative podcast that was shared this week. Borrowing from the Netflix model, all seven chapters of "S-Town" were uploaded at once, allowing listeners to binge the story in one sitting. "S-Town," which stands for "Shit Town," presents itself as a true crime mystery, starting off with host and journalist Brian Reed, a longtime producer of "This American Life," explaining a tip he received from John B. McLemore.

McLemore, an eccentric man who restores antique clocks, wrote to Reed, claiming there were a murder and a cover-up in his small "shit town" of Woodstock, Ala. McLemore alleges a rich boy was bragging about killing someone and getting away with murder.

After speaking with McLemore, Reed agrees to investigate and travels to Woodstock from New York where he shares a fascinating slice of life rarely talked about or shown in media. Like a real-life Southern Gothic novel by William Faulkner, Reed's investigation into the alleged crime plays out in gripping ways.

For "Serial" fans who hope "S-Town" would be a new real life mystery for them to solve will be a bit disappointed. The murder in "S-Town" is a MacGuffin of sorts; a red herring that draws Reed, and listeners, into the world of Woodstock and the trials and tribulations of its citizens, shining a spotlight McLemore. "S-Town" finds the journalist getting to know McLemore more intimately: A peculiar but impressively intelligent man who is relentless in explaining the dangers of global warming. The conversations between Reed and McLemore are the heart of the podcast. They are so raw they feel scripted, but that couldn't be further from the case. With his Southern drawl to end all Southern drawls, McLemore's profanity-fueled rants about the end of days (from melting glaciers to the collapse of society) are mind-blowing.

As Reed gets deeper into the life of McLemore and the podcast opens up into something more transcendent than a whodunit. With a novelistic approach, "S-Town" becomes an emotional and psychological journey that takes place in one of the poorest and devastating counties in Alabama (Bibb County to be specific). The murder McLemore asks Reed to investigate is just the tipping point, and the reporter is sucked into one mystery after the next, which includes hidden treasure, and bumps up against a cast of nefarious small town characters. (These "characters" include a town lawyer named Boozer Downs, a man obsessed with "Brokeback Mountain," and Uncle Jimmy, who can only communicate through shouting because he has a bullet lodged in his brain.)

No matter where "S-Town" goes over its seven chapters, McLemore is the crux of the story; the emotional beat that keeps you hooked - you will likely find yourself consuming the podcast as you would a new Netflix show, that is, spending several hours listening to this story unfold. McLemore is a tragic person. He's an excellent speaker, but his past and situation are gut-wrenchingly sad.

Living in Shit Town his entire life, McLemore, who identifies as queer (there's nearly an entire episode about McLemore's complicated sexuality), has seen little of the world he knows so much about. For years, he's taken care of his elderly mother and dozens of stray dogs dumped by locals. As much as he hates where he lives, he has never moved and rarely considers moving. He apparently has the means to do so - according to friends and rumors, McLemore, a horologist, allegedly made a lot of money in the 90s from fixing and restoring old clocks, becoming one of the best in the nation. He acknowledges he should leave Woodstock, but he never does.

When Reed visits Woodstock, McLemore tells him of his many ongoing projects, including maintaining a huge garden maze on his property. He enlists help from handymen in the area for upkeep, including Tyler, the son of a family. Tyler, who has run-ins with the law and is undereducated, is also McLemore's project - covered in tattoos (something McLemore says he despises), Tyler embodies everything McLemore hates about Woodstock in a "convent package" and McLemore has taken it upon himself to change Tyler for what he sees as the better.

Like "Serial," "S-Town" is another captivating look at journalism and storytelling. "Serial" Season 1 was a strict true crime story that put host and journalist Sarah Koenig's thought process and her approach out in the open (Koenig gives editorial input in "S-Town").

Three years in the making, "S-Town" is a deeply moving narrative about a person and how his experiences are both universal and specific. Reed maps out his story before it was made available for consumption, which pays dividends - there's no limp ending here like in the first season of "Serial" and expect some unexpected left turns throughout. Reed doesn't end up tracking down a killer on the loose, but the emotional truths he gets at in "S-Town" are just as riveting.

"S-Town" can be downloaded for free on iTunes and Stitcher. Click here to stream episodes via the podcast's website.