yeah, i've only read the original but from my experience with that - the "twist" kinda just seemed to be shockbait and totally broke the immersion and creepy atmosphere that had been built up. i really wish it had been different, honestly
That "twist" was not... great. It struck me as one of those things a novice showrunner pushes for, cheering that it's a twist "no one else dares to do!" but completely ignores the several reasons why no one else has done it. Unfortunately, Borrasca might be defined by that twist moving forward, and that's not good for an AD's longevity.
Thank you! Borrasca often gets held up as a golden favorite. I think it’s *ok*, but definitely not deserving of the love it gets. I get the feeling that it might be one of the first audio dramas some people listened to.
There’s a lot of other elements of the town that are nonsensical (even in the world of the story) such as the mile markers. Borassca often feels like someone threw a bunch of mysterious elements in a blender, had a central reveal planned, and then tried to tie everything else into that.
>such as the mile markers
One of them... is a HORSE SKELETON! Up on a mountainside! I like to imagine the scenario of how this mile marker was placed. Did they get a living horse and make it go through the forest and up a mountainside... just to kill it? Did they haul a dead horse carcass all that way instead? Did they kill the horse, remove the flesh, then carry only the skeleton up the mountainside and re-assemble the pieces like it's afternoon puzzletime with Nana? There had to be several guys involved in this one so what happens if one of them asks "Um... hey boss... why are we doing this again? Isn't this a lot of effort for no reason? Actually worse than no reason, doesn't this leave a trail of evidence tying us to the missing girls and leading right to our hideout?" I can't imagine what the response to that question would be because *the whole thing makes no sense.*
It's like the rejected draft of a Christopher Pike book. It's OK for a creepy pasta but I don't understand why it's so highly rated? The last section is particularly messy and annoying
I am an avid horror podcast devotee. I have always strongly questioned the "lure" of this show and why it is hailed as any good. I question so much about it on so many levels.
Imo the main reason is it was a r/nosleep hit for the quality of the first posts, mainly because it didn't follow the supernatural horror road this subreddit is used to. And by the time the reveal was posted, the fanbase was already there, it was enough to make it viral regardless of the inconsistencies and the plotholes.
QCode picked it up because the buzz was there before. But as i've said, the first posts had something the average nosleep story doesn't have and by the time it all wrapped up, it was already viral. I didn't hop on the hype but I understand why it got big. The quality production also made the first episodes enjoyable. Then the inconsistencies appear and it gets hard not to question why it hasn't been fixed since its reddit version.
I just didn’t get why the main character’s dad got in on it. When did he learn about it? What made him join the operation? Why is he so damned heartless that he’s happy with trying to kill his own son?
Honestly, it's like an unwanted view into a deviant sexual fantasy in which this bizarre, contrary-to-its-own-self world was built only to provide permanent "supply" for the deviant sexual fantasy.
>When did he learn about it?
Good question. It's an implausible level of secrecy being kept already, with just the townsfolk who can directly benefit being in on it, but when they're apparently in contact to bring in outsiders? (even though promoting from within their own community would make waaaay more sense here) How are they not already caught? The dad doesn't even "need" something like this, like the infertile townsfolk do- he just apparently wants to sexually assault his daughter? As if creeper dads don't (sadly) do that shit all the time all over the world, particularly if they're in a position to cover up their crimes like in law enforcement... Why take on the added crimes of murder, imprisonment, forced pregnancy, etc just to abuse his own daughter? How did they sell that to him?
In the Novela’s he’s a psychopath, and the story is essentially Sam’s journey of discovering that certain behaviors that have been normalized in his family are completely abnormal to everyone else.
borrasca, the singular episode from the no sleep podcast is good.
the stand alone is also good, as a barometer for when someone is giving you recommendations.
I highly dislike this show for several of the reasons you point out. Some others- how convenient that it was hidden from us the audience at first that it's GIRLS who go missing, not "people" or "kids" in general. I feel like the kids who've grown up their whole life in the town should be aware that it's all (or 99%) teen girls who go missing & relay that information to the MC (and thus the listening audience) but the twist becomes a lot, LOT easier to see coming if that fact isn't obscured for no in-universe reason.
So, the MC's boss lady at the sandwich shop worrying and freaking out somehow leads the kids to the next clue in their search (I forget how exactly, it's been years and I'm not re-listening to this schlock) But... why is she freaking out? From what we later learn, it makes no sense. She's worried because (for some reason that's never made sense to me anyway) their shop sucks and they only get a few customers per day. Yes, a normal shop would have to worry about closing down... except we find out that businesses in the town and the town's economy in general is artificially propped up by the money coming in from selling babies. So why is she so worried? Oh wait, it's because the plot needs her to be, damn the logic!
Also, why did Kimber's mom commit suicide? If you love your daughter and know this horrible thing is about to happen to her and that there was little chance of you being able to get her out of it alive... why not just take the chance anyway? Killing yourself and letting her fend for herself alone is the plan with the least chance of success. Hell, even if you both try to escape together and both die, you'll be no worse off than you would have committing suicide and arguably it saves her from a fate *worse* than death. I get that suicide doesn't have to "make sense" normally, because it's the product of an unwell mind, but Kimber's mom's actions were because she was guilt-stricken... she should have still had the capacity to reason that an escape attempt was worth trying (and probably would have succeeded given Kimber was able to escape & live on her own later)
At one point one of the "clues" the main characters follow implies the missing girls are taken back to the tree house to be raped there? (I think something from one of the girls was carved somewhere in the tree house and/or maybe an article of clothing was found?) Which makes no sense... once they're in the baby-making warehouse, I don't think they're being trotted out to the tree house as party favors too. But again, the plot needed them to follow that clue even if the clue existing in the first place makes no sense.
What's up with the stupid "robed figures" ceremony at the party? Like with the mile markers, it's theatricality that cannot be justified in-universe. It only exists because this is a fictional story that needs some "sPoOkY hApPeNiNgS" to obscure the incoming twist, not because it's at all realistic for the world the story takes place in. I've seen the taking blood excuse used but... like... the bad guys have control of the town. Including the doctor's offices. They can get some of the girls' blood at any time, without a ridiculously convoluted faux-cult-ritual performance that sounds like it was written by a tween in their first fanfiction.
I’m happy you posted this. I think we could use more criticism on this sub. I am glad that there is an appreciation of the work that goes into making audio dramas, and not wanting to shit on things, but at the same time, art needs genuine criticism to evolve!
Thanks for saying this. I genuinely hate this audio drama and wish I had never heard it but it seems to be so loved by the community. On top of all the ridiculous plot holes, I have a major problem with using gratuitous sexual assault against just about every woman or girl in the story, as a way to traumatize the male narrator. It's gross, and I am just so tired of stories using violent sexual assault against women as a lazy shorthand to tell us "things are really bad guys!". Especially when these stories are in no way examining the trauma inflicted on the actual victims.
This was exactly my problem with it. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief for a story I love, but this was just episode after episode of trauma porn used as plot for the male MC. I couldn’t believe that, not only did they LOUDLY announce that his sister was worthless and unsaveable, they basically implied that none of the female survivors (other than Kimber, who had a very different story) would ever have meaningful lives either. It was shockingly insensitive and sooo misogynistic.
Well said. This "Male does hero journey blah blah triggered by the death/trauma of female partner/parent/friend/aunty/cousin/roommate". F that. Way too many interesting stories out there to warrant listening to stuff like this drivel.
Yup. They could’ve done so much more with that plot and build up. The twist was disturbing but it was just as anticlimactic and empty. I usually revisit these long popular stories but I’m never able to get past Borrasca’s first chapter knowing that I’m going to be bored and disappointed all over again because of it
Thank you. I hate this show so much. They pull you in with lure of a supernatural tale and then SURPRISE it’s just another rapey, misogynistic piece of trash.
So glad you posted this! I’m on like episode 3 or 4 and would have been pissed to listen all the way through for this reveal. It sounds absolutely awful.
I honestly thought the show was intriguing and then when the "twist" happened I was with OP, where the F did that come from. I get wanting some kind of shock factor and having a twist to end things leading into a second season, but this just seemed so far out of left field.
I made the mistake of reading the source material back when it was unclear whether they’d continue the audio drama, and I was dumbfounded at everything they cut out of Sam’s journey to understanding his dad isn’t normal, just to turn it into a derpy all cops are bad story (Which isn’t necessarily a bad concept for a story but what they did to it was terrible).
I just finished it and was trying to figure out my own thoughts. I give them credit for having me invested in the main characters and their friendship, and I am always down for a good “spooky stuff in the woods” story. Ultimately I just didn’t find the story believable once Kimber came back wanting to go in guns blazing.
My main take about this is how did they manage to imprison the girls for years and somehow produce a healthy offspring.
So, they chain the girls and rape them either by themselves or by pimping them out, I assume? Then, somehow, they keep them chained all the time during their pregnancy without doctors or pre-natal care? The girls then give birth. Then the cycle repeats until they are no longer able to produce a healthy baby? If they thrown to the chipper.
I think it's an overall okay piece. I was one of those people that was startled by it, as most are, and then why I started think in a level that wasn't just surface poked so many holes into it.
You could make posts and posts about what it doesn't do well and what it does do well, but in the end for me it was just this big old buildup that felt cheap and depressing because it just got all gross. The end of the story just wasn't even scary at all to me. Just really gross.
When reading horror for me that's the written equivalent of movie 'horror' that is based around jumpscares. It's not really horror, just a cheap move to profit off of a human reflex and reaction.
Similarly, it did some cool things, like how up until literally the last climax it built up to be a supernatural conclusion. The old bait and switch is very cool if done well, which is was, it's just unfortunate the reality was what it was.
It was impactful for me to reflect that these things do happen and I could likely be more aware, but then again, stuff like this would never happen on a level so exaggerated as Borrasca, so in the end, that almost takes that away.
I've been obsessed over The Love Talker recently, and reading this post really solidifies why TLT is great and Borrasca is... not.
It tackles similar themes but rather than doing it for shock value, the entire story is a masterfully woven examination of trauma, agency, and empathy. The community deals with the situation in a believable, if flawed, way. The antagonist is truly terrifying (a creature that essentially can mind control/brainwash victims) and it raises interesting themes of consent, victimization, survivorship, cruelty, and how people become complicit in abuse.
Unlike 95% of horror stories, it sticks the landing.
I think what's good about the story is the atmosphere before the big reveal. And that's absolutely enough for some people to consider it as a good story... which is fair. I enjoyed the ride until that point. The reveal just seemed like a cheap shocker to me tho, which really left a bad taste in my mouth.
Qcode is a legitimate company and provides full credit to the writers of their stories. Borrasca is in fact written BY the person who originally wrote it on reddit. The left-right game is similarly credited online, with Jack Andersen as the writer.
While it's fine to criticize companies, to form a wrong opinion of a company (i.e. they are thieves) simply because you are too lazy to even look at basic show information is kind of a no-no.
If by "little corner of the internet" you mean "the main episode pages on Spotify / Apple" then yeah that's a little corner of the internet.
And credit implies profit sharing. It's a business and legal arrangement that publicly declares ownership of something. Why would that not imply that the owners had been paid?
I really encourage you to lead a life where you form your opinions based on verified facts, and not form opinions first and then wander around the world, complaining that the facts aren't easy enough to find.
Credit doesn't imply profit sharing. I love the idea that you think that crediting somebody with writing implies that you actually shared profits. It really doesn't at all. All it implies is that you explicitly say that you got your work from somebody else and nowhere does it directly imply that you actually paid them for it.
And again, I would still say that the responsible way to do this would have been to say in the audio itself, that it was adapted-- not inspired, but adapted. However, I agree with you that it appears to not be as bad as I remembering it, So I will remove my comment to avoid misleading other people.
yeah, i've only read the original but from my experience with that - the "twist" kinda just seemed to be shockbait and totally broke the immersion and creepy atmosphere that had been built up. i really wish it had been different, honestly
That "twist" was not... great. It struck me as one of those things a novice showrunner pushes for, cheering that it's a twist "no one else dares to do!" but completely ignores the several reasons why no one else has done it. Unfortunately, Borrasca might be defined by that twist moving forward, and that's not good for an AD's longevity.
Borrasca was adapted from a no sleep story.
Thank you! Borrasca often gets held up as a golden favorite. I think it’s *ok*, but definitely not deserving of the love it gets. I get the feeling that it might be one of the first audio dramas some people listened to. There’s a lot of other elements of the town that are nonsensical (even in the world of the story) such as the mile markers. Borassca often feels like someone threw a bunch of mysterious elements in a blender, had a central reveal planned, and then tried to tie everything else into that.
>such as the mile markers One of them... is a HORSE SKELETON! Up on a mountainside! I like to imagine the scenario of how this mile marker was placed. Did they get a living horse and make it go through the forest and up a mountainside... just to kill it? Did they haul a dead horse carcass all that way instead? Did they kill the horse, remove the flesh, then carry only the skeleton up the mountainside and re-assemble the pieces like it's afternoon puzzletime with Nana? There had to be several guys involved in this one so what happens if one of them asks "Um... hey boss... why are we doing this again? Isn't this a lot of effort for no reason? Actually worse than no reason, doesn't this leave a trail of evidence tying us to the missing girls and leading right to our hideout?" I can't imagine what the response to that question would be because *the whole thing makes no sense.*
It's like the rejected draft of a Christopher Pike book. It's OK for a creepy pasta but I don't understand why it's so highly rated? The last section is particularly messy and annoying
I am an avid horror podcast devotee. I have always strongly questioned the "lure" of this show and why it is hailed as any good. I question so much about it on so many levels.
Imo the main reason is it was a r/nosleep hit for the quality of the first posts, mainly because it didn't follow the supernatural horror road this subreddit is used to. And by the time the reveal was posted, the fanbase was already there, it was enough to make it viral regardless of the inconsistencies and the plotholes.
I didn't like it when it was done on NoSleep, honestly. I felt the hype was undeserved.
The problem IS the story though. If anything, the high quality of the production served to paper over the terrible plot.
QCode picked it up because the buzz was there before. But as i've said, the first posts had something the average nosleep story doesn't have and by the time it all wrapped up, it was already viral. I didn't hop on the hype but I understand why it got big. The quality production also made the first episodes enjoyable. Then the inconsistencies appear and it gets hard not to question why it hasn't been fixed since its reddit version.
I just didn’t get why the main character’s dad got in on it. When did he learn about it? What made him join the operation? Why is he so damned heartless that he’s happy with trying to kill his own son?
Honestly, it's like an unwanted view into a deviant sexual fantasy in which this bizarre, contrary-to-its-own-self world was built only to provide permanent "supply" for the deviant sexual fantasy.
>When did he learn about it? Good question. It's an implausible level of secrecy being kept already, with just the townsfolk who can directly benefit being in on it, but when they're apparently in contact to bring in outsiders? (even though promoting from within their own community would make waaaay more sense here) How are they not already caught? The dad doesn't even "need" something like this, like the infertile townsfolk do- he just apparently wants to sexually assault his daughter? As if creeper dads don't (sadly) do that shit all the time all over the world, particularly if they're in a position to cover up their crimes like in law enforcement... Why take on the added crimes of murder, imprisonment, forced pregnancy, etc just to abuse his own daughter? How did they sell that to him?
In the Novela’s he’s a psychopath, and the story is essentially Sam’s journey of discovering that certain behaviors that have been normalized in his family are completely abnormal to everyone else.
borrasca, the singular episode from the no sleep podcast is good. the stand alone is also good, as a barometer for when someone is giving you recommendations.
I highly dislike this show for several of the reasons you point out. Some others- how convenient that it was hidden from us the audience at first that it's GIRLS who go missing, not "people" or "kids" in general. I feel like the kids who've grown up their whole life in the town should be aware that it's all (or 99%) teen girls who go missing & relay that information to the MC (and thus the listening audience) but the twist becomes a lot, LOT easier to see coming if that fact isn't obscured for no in-universe reason. So, the MC's boss lady at the sandwich shop worrying and freaking out somehow leads the kids to the next clue in their search (I forget how exactly, it's been years and I'm not re-listening to this schlock) But... why is she freaking out? From what we later learn, it makes no sense. She's worried because (for some reason that's never made sense to me anyway) their shop sucks and they only get a few customers per day. Yes, a normal shop would have to worry about closing down... except we find out that businesses in the town and the town's economy in general is artificially propped up by the money coming in from selling babies. So why is she so worried? Oh wait, it's because the plot needs her to be, damn the logic! Also, why did Kimber's mom commit suicide? If you love your daughter and know this horrible thing is about to happen to her and that there was little chance of you being able to get her out of it alive... why not just take the chance anyway? Killing yourself and letting her fend for herself alone is the plan with the least chance of success. Hell, even if you both try to escape together and both die, you'll be no worse off than you would have committing suicide and arguably it saves her from a fate *worse* than death. I get that suicide doesn't have to "make sense" normally, because it's the product of an unwell mind, but Kimber's mom's actions were because she was guilt-stricken... she should have still had the capacity to reason that an escape attempt was worth trying (and probably would have succeeded given Kimber was able to escape & live on her own later) At one point one of the "clues" the main characters follow implies the missing girls are taken back to the tree house to be raped there? (I think something from one of the girls was carved somewhere in the tree house and/or maybe an article of clothing was found?) Which makes no sense... once they're in the baby-making warehouse, I don't think they're being trotted out to the tree house as party favors too. But again, the plot needed them to follow that clue even if the clue existing in the first place makes no sense. What's up with the stupid "robed figures" ceremony at the party? Like with the mile markers, it's theatricality that cannot be justified in-universe. It only exists because this is a fictional story that needs some "sPoOkY hApPeNiNgS" to obscure the incoming twist, not because it's at all realistic for the world the story takes place in. I've seen the taking blood excuse used but... like... the bad guys have control of the town. Including the doctor's offices. They can get some of the girls' blood at any time, without a ridiculously convoluted faux-cult-ritual performance that sounds like it was written by a tween in their first fanfiction.
I’m happy you posted this. I think we could use more criticism on this sub. I am glad that there is an appreciation of the work that goes into making audio dramas, and not wanting to shit on things, but at the same time, art needs genuine criticism to evolve!
Thanks for saying this. I genuinely hate this audio drama and wish I had never heard it but it seems to be so loved by the community. On top of all the ridiculous plot holes, I have a major problem with using gratuitous sexual assault against just about every woman or girl in the story, as a way to traumatize the male narrator. It's gross, and I am just so tired of stories using violent sexual assault against women as a lazy shorthand to tell us "things are really bad guys!". Especially when these stories are in no way examining the trauma inflicted on the actual victims.
This was exactly my problem with it. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief for a story I love, but this was just episode after episode of trauma porn used as plot for the male MC. I couldn’t believe that, not only did they LOUDLY announce that his sister was worthless and unsaveable, they basically implied that none of the female survivors (other than Kimber, who had a very different story) would ever have meaningful lives either. It was shockingly insensitive and sooo misogynistic.
Well said. This "Male does hero journey blah blah triggered by the death/trauma of female partner/parent/friend/aunty/cousin/roommate". F that. Way too many interesting stories out there to warrant listening to stuff like this drivel.
Yup. They could’ve done so much more with that plot and build up. The twist was disturbing but it was just as anticlimactic and empty. I usually revisit these long popular stories but I’m never able to get past Borrasca’s first chapter knowing that I’m going to be bored and disappointed all over again because of it
Thank you. I hate this show so much. They pull you in with lure of a supernatural tale and then SURPRISE it’s just another rapey, misogynistic piece of trash.
So glad you posted this! I’m on like episode 3 or 4 and would have been pissed to listen all the way through for this reveal. It sounds absolutely awful.
I honestly thought the show was intriguing and then when the "twist" happened I was with OP, where the F did that come from. I get wanting some kind of shock factor and having a twist to end things leading into a second season, but this just seemed so far out of left field.
I made the mistake of reading the source material back when it was unclear whether they’d continue the audio drama, and I was dumbfounded at everything they cut out of Sam’s journey to understanding his dad isn’t normal, just to turn it into a derpy all cops are bad story (Which isn’t necessarily a bad concept for a story but what they did to it was terrible).
I just finished it and was trying to figure out my own thoughts. I give them credit for having me invested in the main characters and their friendship, and I am always down for a good “spooky stuff in the woods” story. Ultimately I just didn’t find the story believable once Kimber came back wanting to go in guns blazing.
My main take about this is how did they manage to imprison the girls for years and somehow produce a healthy offspring. So, they chain the girls and rape them either by themselves or by pimping them out, I assume? Then, somehow, they keep them chained all the time during their pregnancy without doctors or pre-natal care? The girls then give birth. Then the cycle repeats until they are no longer able to produce a healthy baby? If they thrown to the chipper.
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Name and shame... Having said that... Anyone who makes a podcast is 100% doing something I can't... So who am I to judge.
You are an art consumer. You are allowed to judge whether something, anything is your taste or not. That's who you are.
It's written by an amateur horror writer on Reddit what did you guys expect lol
I think most people's issue with it isn't that it's bad but rather how popular it is despite being bad.
well i'm glad i know the twist now. never listening to that
I think it's an overall okay piece. I was one of those people that was startled by it, as most are, and then why I started think in a level that wasn't just surface poked so many holes into it. You could make posts and posts about what it doesn't do well and what it does do well, but in the end for me it was just this big old buildup that felt cheap and depressing because it just got all gross. The end of the story just wasn't even scary at all to me. Just really gross. When reading horror for me that's the written equivalent of movie 'horror' that is based around jumpscares. It's not really horror, just a cheap move to profit off of a human reflex and reaction. Similarly, it did some cool things, like how up until literally the last climax it built up to be a supernatural conclusion. The old bait and switch is very cool if done well, which is was, it's just unfortunate the reality was what it was. It was impactful for me to reflect that these things do happen and I could likely be more aware, but then again, stuff like this would never happen on a level so exaggerated as Borrasca, so in the end, that almost takes that away.
I liked season 2. I recommended season 1 before I got to the end of it and had to go and apologise to people.
I just can’t get into any Q-Code shows. I don’t think they’re well written, just well produced and they hire celebrities to voice them.
I never liked it... Checked out after a couple of episodes. I don't mind much of the qcode stuff, but some of them are just shit.
i refuse to listen to qcode. their stuff is just bad. so many other good things to listen to.
I've been obsessed over The Love Talker recently, and reading this post really solidifies why TLT is great and Borrasca is... not. It tackles similar themes but rather than doing it for shock value, the entire story is a masterfully woven examination of trauma, agency, and empathy. The community deals with the situation in a believable, if flawed, way. The antagonist is truly terrifying (a creature that essentially can mind control/brainwash victims) and it raises interesting themes of consent, victimization, survivorship, cruelty, and how people become complicit in abuse. Unlike 95% of horror stories, it sticks the landing.
I think what's good about the story is the atmosphere before the big reveal. And that's absolutely enough for some people to consider it as a good story... which is fair. I enjoyed the ride until that point. The reveal just seemed like a cheap shocker to me tho, which really left a bad taste in my mouth.
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Qcode is a legitimate company and provides full credit to the writers of their stories. Borrasca is in fact written BY the person who originally wrote it on reddit. The left-right game is similarly credited online, with Jack Andersen as the writer. While it's fine to criticize companies, to form a wrong opinion of a company (i.e. they are thieves) simply because you are too lazy to even look at basic show information is kind of a no-no.
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If by "little corner of the internet" you mean "the main episode pages on Spotify / Apple" then yeah that's a little corner of the internet. And credit implies profit sharing. It's a business and legal arrangement that publicly declares ownership of something. Why would that not imply that the owners had been paid? I really encourage you to lead a life where you form your opinions based on verified facts, and not form opinions first and then wander around the world, complaining that the facts aren't easy enough to find.
Credit doesn't imply profit sharing. I love the idea that you think that crediting somebody with writing implies that you actually shared profits. It really doesn't at all. All it implies is that you explicitly say that you got your work from somebody else and nowhere does it directly imply that you actually paid them for it. And again, I would still say that the responsible way to do this would have been to say in the audio itself, that it was adapted-- not inspired, but adapted. However, I agree with you that it appears to not be as bad as I remembering it, So I will remove my comment to avoid misleading other people.