No pressure, Sarah Koenig. No pressure at all.
The award-winning journalist has millions of people waiting with bated breath to crack the case presented in her record-breaking podcast, Serial, in which Koenig explores the tragic death of 18-year-old high school student, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. Adnan Syed was convicted of the murder by manual strangulation over 15 years ago, but many believe that shoddy police work or some kind of conspiracy put Syed behind bars.
Serial has become an obsession for tons of keyboard detectives as Koenig has tirelessly explored every angle of the case, but in the past couple episodes, it’s begun to look like Koenig might not be able to tell us who really killed Lee. The money shot her audience has been waiting for may not be delivered.
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We, as a culture, have become accustomed to instant gratification and we’re going crazy at the prospect of not knowing how this story ends. But this is real life and that’s not how real life works.
Still, Koenig must still be freaking out right now. Being an entertainer, she doesn’t want to disappoint her fans and she had no way of knowing Serial would morph into the phenomenon it has become.
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Here are some of the questions everyone is hoping will be answered.
1. Was there ever a phone booth at Best Buy?
Witness (suspect in many people’s eyes), Jay, says that Syed called him from a pay phone at Best Buy after he killed Lee, but Laura says she’s positive there weren’t any phones there because she used to steal from the store and was hypersensitive to her surroundings. Which is it?
2. Were Jay and Jenn hooking up behind Stephanie’s back?
Jenn Pusateri and Jay were very close, but just how close? Her testimony about the timeline seemed a bit fishy. If the two were hooking up, they had something to hide (outside of Lee’s murder) and it would explain both of their inconsistent stories and give them motive to kill Lee if she had found out about their dalliances.
3. What’s the deal with Jay?
Why did police cling to his testimony so tightly even after he admitted he lied? And why did they provide him with a lawyer? Most of all, what was his real level of involvement in Lee’s death?
4. Was Jenn there?
Her testimony seemed a little forced at times. What was she really covering up?
5. Why did Mr. S really walk so far back in the woods to take a pee?
He’s a streaker, for goodness sake. Why would he suddenly seek privacy while taking a leak in Leakin’ Park? Sorry, couldn’t help it.
6. Did Asia really see Syed in the library?
Or did she make it up to “be part of something exciting”?
7. What’s the deal with Don?
Sure, he didn’t want to be interviewed and he had an alibi for the supposed time of Lee’s death, but the timeline doesn’t match up and he was intimately involved with the victim. Why was he pressed for more details about his relationship with Lee?
8. Were they ever able to do forensics on evidence at the scene where Lee’s body was found?
This detail seems like it would make for an open and shut case.
9. Why are people so fascinated with the girl mispronouncing “MailChimp”?
Seriously, guys? T-shirts? Who cares!
10. What was the deal with Cristina Gutierrez?
We get that she was ill and shouldn’t have been practicing law for the duration of Syed’s case. However, what was going on with all the shady money business? It seems like she was skimming money from Syed’s family, as well as from the other family who had procured her as an attorney not long after. Was something deeper going on with Syed’s lawyer?
11. Is Adnan Syed a sociopath?
We learned in the podcast that odds are not in Koenig’s favor to get the “charming sociopath,” but that doesn’t mean it’s not impossible.
12. Who really killed Hae Min Lee?
This, obviously, is the biggie. Everyone asserts their own innocence. What if it’s someone who hasn’t even been investigated?
13. If there’s not a solid answer given, will she at least say who she would put behind bars if she had to?
Will Koenig give her final opinion on the case? In Episode 11, she almost seemed like she regretted opening the whole can of worms.
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Speaking of Koenig freaking out, check Michaela Watkins nailing it in this Serial finale parody on Funny or Die.
http://www.funnyordie.com/embed/6ab2d45a77
Image: Funny or Die
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