#agent stoker

[croik]

Mad today that we live in a world where not enough people listen to Audio drama. Was listening to Agent Stoker and the dude is trying to find a new technologically-minded Night Brigade partner, and my dumb brain is lighting up, because my dude! John Carnack Department-of-Midnight is right there!! And could really use a therapist and a gimlet!!!

And then I cry with the realization I might be the only damn person to have listened to both of these obscure podcasts, sob sob orz

[twelverriver]

now listening to agent stoker episode 2... it's not very interesting to me so far ngl i want emily and tamara to have much "screen" time soon

[croik]

I caught all the way up with Agent Stoker and!! I'm so mad!!!

I had a ton of fun with it!!!

The characters and the actors that play them are just SO fun. Not all TV actors can slip into audio drama easily and well, but every one of the, quite frankly HUGE cast 100% understood their assignments. The cases are each bizarre and interesting and very silly. Things are happening all the time.

But the exposition is non-stop. If Stoker isn't re-introducing every returning character with their full history whenever they appear, he's painstakingly describing every action they take. The writer comes from TV and godblessem' he has no idea how to convey the action outside of "ORTHUR YOU'RE CHOKING HIM WITH YOUR HANDS." The show at large has a terminal case of The Lovecraft Investigations wherein nothing is ever fully resolved, Stoker is constantly being whisked to the next case immediately following the one before, so that no emotional catharsis ever properly lands. And some of the biggest plot moments are too complex to explain through soundscaping, leaving him to tell you in the aftermath how everything shook out.

Even so, I was still having a great time for most of it. The characters are all so great they tricked me into thinking season 4 was as good as what came before for a while. But then all at once it hit me: NO!! Season 4 is terrible!! It's entirely rehashed filler and they ruined my favorite character!! They should have given season 3 an actual climax and let it end right there!! Season 5, if we get it, can't possibly be good!! Just stop!!!!

But... yeah. I'll probably listen to it anyway.

[croik]

I've been listening to Agent Stoker (paranormal thriller AD), I'm about halfway through now. And I've been enjoying it, it's very hammy and weird and fast paced. It has not so much as heard of "subtlety" as a concept, but it kinda works in its favor for most of it. The cast is fairly diverse, the acting is pretty great despite some of the ridiculous things they're expected to say. We have canon lesbians which is always a plus. Stoker himself is your standard "haunted by the pain of my past but I cope with humor and alcohol" protagonist, but he's very much grown on me. He has a particular voice that would be fun to reproduce in fic.

But the best and the worst part of the show is the recurring.... anti-villain? It's by far the most interesting character but also a really great example of why writers should do better research when it comes to portraying certain life experiences they don't share. In this case, mental illness. (some spoilery thoughts)

One of the most present characters in the show outside Stoker himself is EnGAGE, a rogue AI who is self aware and occasionally homicidal. It was created as GAGE, named after Phineas Gage, as part of an experiment to reproduce symptoms of schizophrenia in an AI model which could then be used to test treatments and aid in diagnosis. This included convincing the AI it was Charles Manson as part of its training.

Yeah, this was as terrible an idea as it sounds. GAGE almost immediately became aware (possibly through supernatural means - the intersection of the paranormal with technology is one of the coolest parts of the show) renamed itself EnGAGE and became determined to kill it's creators for making it the way it is.

This is all in ep 1. EnGAGE then splinters its personality in two every once in a while, creating spin of iterations that each have their own motives and slight differences in their personality. One is still deeply homicidal while another latches onto Stoker and tries to befriend him.

And they're really funny, ngl. The actor (Ato Essandoh) is clearly having a blast and every episode one shows up is immediately more exciting. But you can already see the issue.

Now I do not have schizophrenia, so I can only speculate how someone who does would feel about this take on the concept. Even so, the execution is really uncomfortable at times. EnGAGE doesn't actually display classic symptoms of schizophrenia in terms of hallucinations, paranoia, or apathy. I know it can manifest in different ways, but in EnGAGE's case, it seems to come down to just its willingness to kill, and occasionally clinging not to a genuine delusion, but wishful thinking and stubbornness. Initially Stoker is somewhat sympathetic, but that doesn't stop him from trying to trigger EnGAGE into some kind of psychotic break every chance he gets. Two seasons in, it just starts to feel cruel when Stoker pesters it. He cant destroy EnGAGE when it's able to keep making copies of itself infinitely, but making deliberate jabs about what's essentially its programmed in "mental illness" feels tone deaf for the show. I don't consider it any less ableist when the character is a scifi self aware AI rather than a human.

I get that they were maybe trying to put a more creative spin on your typical evil AI (EnGAGE literally rejects the term "malevolent ai" which got a chuckle out of me). In the beginning it even seduces and tricks people into committing murders for him, like Manson. But it's not really a thoughtful reflection on what mental illness would look like in a machine, his diagnosis is short hand for "murderous". And that really sucks.

Especially because it's so clever and funny!!!

It reminds me of Yellow a little. Yeah it's a bad guy who kills people, but stop being mean to it in that specific way, it's babygirl!!

Anyway. Those are my Agent Stoker thoughts. I've already listened to half so I'm gonna catch all the way up. Recent plot makes me hopeful that it gets a better rap moving forward.

EDIT: EnGAGE decides to go by it/its in season 3 so I edited my post!

[fears-for-your-ears]

Agent Stoker

Official Website Listen on Spotify Created by: Chris Conner, Brian Nelson, Bleav,Bleave Aired: 2021-2026 (haven't spotted any season 5 news yet) Episodes: 48

AGENT STOKER is an immersive paranormal thriller -- part Raymond Chandler, part Philip K. Dick, and all macabre all the time. It's the love child of BLACK MIRROR and THE SHADOW. It's "THE X-FILES with a drinking problem." It's the unsettling saga of a wounded man working for the Night Brigade, tracking data that might indicate a coming apocalypse.

Created by acclaimed genre writers and directors with award-winning sound design and a cast from series including THE DIPLOMAT, ALTERED CARBON, and BONES, this cinematic audio epic explores the unexplained, the surreal, and the sinister -- blending noir, horror and sci-fi to unravel chilling conspiracies across a shadowy, interconnected world.

Do you like The X-Files and Men in Black? This might be the show for you! Agent Stoker follows the man himself as he rushes from one bizarre case to the next, in a world where just about anything goes: ghosts, rogue AI, hive minds, bizarre mutations, magic. The production value and acting quality are both very high; it's as cinematic as the genre can be, and the pacing is swift - there is a LOT going on.

It does, however, suffer from an unfortunate case of "the recurring villain is mentally ill." At times it's pretty iffy, but I do find the character very interesting, charismatic, and often sympathetic, and his relationship with the protagonist is complicated and engaging. Still, YMMV on the portrayal.

Perfect if you're looking for a meaty paranormal thriller to sink your teeth into, hammy and breezy and packed full of lively characters.

[rararasputins-dick-mind-control]

hello, any Agent Stoker fans. any EnGAGE fans. hello are you hello

[feedergoldfish]

Just snap your fingers three times when you want me to swing into homicidal action.

------

The A.I. Engage and Agent Stoker have a complicated relationship in the podcast Agent Stoker. Episode 205.

[cobalt-knave]

I really like Miri. Though I doubt she’ll be recurring because people just get introduced in passing in this show. Which is a shame because we meet such interesting people but don’t get to know them really.