This post is about the podcast Alice Isn’t Dead, Part 1, Chapter 2: “Alice.”

Despite my regular statements about the art for season 2 of Serial, it occurs to me that I didn’t say anything in my most recent Alice post about its logo. The artist, Rob Wilson, seems to casually construct a combination of simplicity and depth that I could never hope to achieve as a designer. If I were a truck driver, I’d already be getting a tattoo of this.

On to Chapter 2. One of the things I really liked about the opening episode was the slow burn in the overall tone — starting out as more conversational, and escalating to pure horror. We heard a few little dips into the feeling of betrayal the narrator feels toward Alice, and that concept continues to develop in the second installment.

One big-picture theme really stood out to me this week, although it’s one that’s difficult to put into only a few words (so here come a lot of words). If someone isn’t around anymore because they died, it’s sad. If someone chose to leave, that’s a different kind of hurtfulness, made even worse if that person let you think she was dead and mourn. In a not-so-subtle fashion, a comparison is drawn to leaving a job and no one being surprised, because there’s an expectation of every relationship being temporary. Whatever the reason a person is gone, they leave a painful hole in your life, though the edges of that hole can be made of many different things.

If there was any question as to whether Alice is dead (which, there shouldn’t be, given that it’s right there in the title), that’s gone now. We also learned more about the narrator’s journey, following her trail after she’s seen on the news. Her hurtful transition from mourning to a distinct purpose is fueling an intense need to share her journey with Alice — that is, if Alice is indeed listening. Her anger and love toward Alice combine to keep her going, to either get her back or to get answers.

A high point for me was the narrator wondering whether Alice was the one forcing her to keep returning to the town of Charlatan, implied Jasika Nicole performed this well, in a borderline hysterical tone. I like that it implies that she already knows Alice has some kind of bizarre, supernatural ability. I think it’s maybe a sign from someone else, though, trying to tell her that Alice isn’t who she thinks she is and warn her against seeking her.

It looks like, with every episode, we’ll get all new reasons why the chicken crossed the road. I’m totally on board with this. It might be fun to memorize the answers and ask unsuspecting non-listeners why the chicken crossed the road and spout back the Alice answers, for the sole purpose of encouraging awkward interactions. Please do this and report back.

I love having another story to listen to for which I don’t feel the need to have all of the answers right away. Of course, there are blanks that slowly fill themselves in, but the sole purpose isn’t to find out what happens next. The anxiety I feel while listening isn’t waiting for a revelation, but instead waiting to see where things will go when the horror inevitably ramps up.