It's been almost five years since the groundbreaking podcast Serial debuted, bringing with it a true crime renaissance, the golden age of podcasting, and most vitally, a long-overdue reexamination of the 1999 murder of high school senior Hae Min Lee. Adnan Syed, Lee's ex-boyfriend, was convicted of her murder in February 2000 and has been serving a life sentence ever since. In 2016, a Maryland court overturned Syed's conviction, granting him the right to a new trial that has yet to materialize; the case remains in limbo as the State seeks to reinstate Syed's conviction.

HBOs new documentary series, The Case Against Adnan Syed, has been in production since 2015, and picks up where Serial left off, presenting new evidence, new interviews and ultimately, a new perspective on what may have really happened to Lee. "The goal of the series was always to get closer to the truth," director Amy Berg told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena on Friday, February 8, "and by the end of it, you'll be much closer to the truth about what did and didn’t happen in this case." Here are six things you need to know about the docuseries before it premieres on HBO March 10.

1) If Serial's ambiguous conclusion left you frustrated, you'll want to tune in.

Director Amy Berg, known for similarly-themed documentaries like , said that the series was born out of her own dissatisfaction with the case against Syed. "I wasn't satisfied with the case that was presented in 1999, and the outcome after listening to Serial," Berg said. "I felt very frustrated about that. So, I went into it trying to understand what actually happened and investigate the original investigation." Three and a half years on, Berg said she remains frustrated by how the investigation was handled, "that the police detectives didn't do their job in a thorough way. We probably wouldn't be sitting here today if there was more of an investigation done at the time."

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2) The series makes a concerted effort to give Hae Min Lee her voice back.

Hae's diary entries, excerpts of which were played in Serial, form a major part of the show and are used as a voiceover. Alongside audio from an extensive new interview with Syed, Lee's words offer a movingly detailed picture of the young woman who would—as the documentary notes—now be 35 years old had she lived. "My assistant editor tracked the letters for us, early on in the editing process," Berg explained, adding that her assistant recorded herself reading out the letters for reference purposes. "When I played those recordings for some of Hae's friends, we realized that she sounded exactly like her. We really wanted to maintain a sensitive touch, while bringing Hae to life."

3) The show's focus is on the failures of America's judicial system.

Rabia Chaudry, the attorney and Syed family friend whose advocacy for Syed over the years is what led to Serial's creation, said the mishandling of Adnan's case shook her faith in the American justice system. "What Serial did was turn the lens to the system itself," Chuadry noted, comparing the series to other true crime shows that had preceded it. "I was in law school when Adnan was arrested, and I had a lot of trust and faith in the system, in due process, in constitutional rights. Having sat through the trial, it deterred me from ever practicing criminal law. I realized how much was stacked against the defendants, and how much the victims' families were impacted. It had a real impact on my career and my faith in the system."

From left: Director Amy Berg, attorney Susan Simpson, key witness Asia McClain, and attorney Rabia Chaudry at the TCA panel for HBO docuseries The Case Against Adnan Syed Jeff Kravitz Getty Images

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4) Chaudry sees the public response to Adnan's case as a powerful landmark in the fight against Islamophobia in America.

"In the era of the Muslim ban, in the era of some of the highest anti-Muslim sentiment in this country ever, this is a story that has resonated across the hearts of this country and the world," Chaudry pointed out. "People don't care that he's a young American-Muslim guy. His religion suddenly didn't matter as much. After 9/11, lot of Muslim activists, me included, failed in trying to humanize Muslims, but Serial was able to do that. This documentary is gonna put a face to [Muslim] people, and as an advocate, that's a very important part of the story that has had a real impact across our community."



5) Jay, and his ever-changing story, will be explored further in the documentary.

Jay Wilds' testimony against Adnan was one of the most prominent and troubling elements of the case as presented in Serial, and Berg revealed that his part in the case is explored in the documentary through Nakisha, the mother of Wilds's son. "She has a child with Jay, and as this story became a bigger story, she wanted to know the truth about who her son's father was. She had a lot of questions and we decided to follow her on her journey, in that way." Berg added that the series will examine Wilds's ever-changing story and history.

6) There is cautious hope for Adnan's release.

Chaudry confirmed that Syed is kept up to date on the developments in his case and its cultural impact, and is feeling more hopeful now than he has in years. "He’s doing well. He has a lot of hope, finally, after many many years. About five years ago, he said he had come to terms with the fact that he would probably leave prison in a coffin. I believe he will be home in the next couple of years, I really do." Berg, though, suggested that a new trial is looking unlikely given how long the case has now been in limbo, which is part of the reason why she opted to end production on the documentary now. "It's a good time to end this story right now for the film, because we've been waiting forever for a new trial. We've been waiting over two years for a new trial, and it just doesn't seem like there will ever be a new trial. So, this film might be the trial that he will never receive."

Emma Dibdin Contributor Emma Dibdin writes about television, movies, and podcasts, with coverage including opinion essays, news posts, episodic reviews and in-depth interviews with creatives.

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