Review: Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

It can be said that there are three sides to every story: side one, side two, and then the truth.

Truth, honesty, justice, and faith. These are all intangible things that we grapple with as humans. Our biggest conflicts - personal and otherwise- come down to differences in how we view these things. Readily available resources are divvied up in part according to how powers cozy up to each other. Those with resources help those who agree with them first.

Truth is based on perspective, but also in experience. How two people perceive the exact event is not the same. If there aren't enough people around or evidence to support one claim or another, experiences and truths are questioned, dismissed, and even ridiculed.

Yet what happens when a truth is wrapped up in lies? What if the lie is more sinister, and therefore, more interesting, than the truth? How do we deal with that on a personal and on a societal level?

This is the central question presented by the first season of Devil in the Deep Blue Sea. Produced by Christianity Today, this is a remarkable podcast exploring the satanic panic, with a perspective to nuance to details I have not heard before. It is an incredibly well-produced podcast. The story is clear, and the design supports every moment of this big philosophical tension this team tackles. Writer and host Mike Cosper brings the listener in through the familiar story of Josh Duggar of the 17 to 19 Kids and Counting Duggar family. They then take your hand and guide you through how early actions by the Duggars in their son's life could be explained by the satanic panic, and how other faith leaders handled the era.

The perspective of a Christian-based publication is evident. Listeners should be prepared for a slew of ads that have a religious bent one way or another. However, the nine-part series does not shy away from a powerful perspective that only decades of hindsight have given those close to these stories. The influence of the people in power during the 1980s reaches not just into homes and families, but into the heart of American politics. Episodes take their time, and the longest is over an hour long, but they are full of easy-to-follow detail.

Details that I don't always agree with how they are presented, however, the overall quality and message of the podcast is worth the moments of discomfort. For example, when discussing the West Memphis Three, I don't agree with IQ being used as an explanation for a young person's misunderstanding of the justice system and what was being presented to him. Even if there isn't an available diagnosis and the record of IQ is there, it still is uncomfortable to hear with a modern ear. The explanation tries to explain it clearly, but it may set some people on edge. Additionally, an expert defense witness for high-profile Me Too era cases is used towards the end of the podcast. While the field of study and the questions that are posed are important, and the team acknowledges the discomfort of questioning sexual assault survivors' memory, it may cause intolerable discomfort for some listeners. The narrative of the final episode slowly wraps up the point, listeners may stop before getting there because of this presentation.

With this in mind, I want to take a moment to mention that the nature of this podcast's subject matter is extremely dark. While we laugh at a lot of the assumptions of people during the satanic panic, the darkness was at least real in their minds. There are deeply disturbing things presented, and I want to commend the team for pre-roll and in-episode warnings related to the alleged abuse and darker descriptions from the hysteria of the 1980s. They were done well, and the recordings were used with purpose.

Likewise, despite the discomfort of Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, her interview and inclusion does have a purpose. Truth and memory have been proven to be malleable and fallible. This is why we corroborate memory through court proceedings as much as possible. We try to track down multiple witnesses, and physical evidence. It's not a perfect system, and it's hard to criminally convict someone of murder without a body for a reason. The thing that this podcast lays out so clearly, and so well, is that there was never any overwhelming evidence of satanic rituals to the degree that people were claiming. Devil and the Deep Blue Sea deftly takes eight episodes to lay out a story, and in the ninth strikes its audience with this idea of truth and evidence directly into the now.

Some may find nine episodes too much, but I question if that person would be the intended audience. I don't think I was the intended audience for this podcast, but I can see how effective it could be for another person. There are people that need eight detailed episodes lining up cause and effect to bring shadows of the past into the light. Maybe sometimes we need to be hit over the head with a point. People wanted to believe in Satan as a clear and well-defined evil because it was easy. While high profile, the West Memphis Three are just a few of the people horrifically impacted by these accusations. The satanic panic hid real abuse behind this idea of "true" and "complete" evil rather than the kind that makes us second guess our family members. This all was the kind of truth, belief, and evil that made it easy for Josh Duggar to be "forgiven" and get away with abuse until there was irrefutable physical evidence against him.

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea will not be a podcast for everyone and isn't one to marathon. However, this podcast calls for significant reflection from its audience. I have to believe that if one person can be reminded to take steps back from the truth of these 40-year-old stories - accounts of what happened to real people when too few of us were skeptical enough - maybe we'll be more prepared for the deceit of tomorrow.

Listen to Devil and the Deep Blue Sea below.

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