Daemon reviews Drop Dead Confidential

'What's this? A review of an online web radio series? But I thought you were a machinima critic!'

I am, and there's a very good reason for why I'm reviewing this when it's not necessarily in my area of expertise. When I can think up said reason, I'll be sure to let you all know.

It was the middle of the night. I was pulling an all-nighter, as I am wont to do, thanks to finals month and Legacy, when I decided to go listen to Drop Dead Confidential. I'd stumbled across the site a few times, and frankly the idea of an online radio show was actually pretty intriguing to me.

Growing up as a kid I used to listen to a lot of my grandparent's radio dramas on cassette tapes. That previous sentence just made me realize how old I'm actually getting. My two favorite serials to follow were The Shadow and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I'd always listen to them before going to sleep, and when I found out that you could find some of these broadcasts online, I was ecstatic. Not to sound melodramatic, but these radio dramas were a pretty large part of my childhood, so I was really glad to see that Nadia had made her own radio drama. I was even happier when I started listening to it and found that it was addicting as cocaine and about as enjoyable...not that I'd know anything about that or anything.

I really like Drop Dead Confidential. I devoured the four-episode series and the two spin-off episodes that have been made so far, and at the end all I could say was 'I want more'.

The plot is your usual story of a rabies-like rage virus causing a zombie apocalypse, but unlike Flesh Candy it makes the right decision by focusing entirely on its characters. Remy Ross (voiced by Nadia Rodriguez), a Boston police officer, is suspended after she kills a murder suspect named Linda for making unnatural noises when she should be dead. Linda, it turns out, is the first of a horde of rage virus-infected zombies, and as Boston is overrun Remy must fight her way through the city to reunite with her five-year-old daughter (played eerily well by Jenn Michelle) who is in the care of her lawyer ex-husband, Heath Ross (played by Tori Kamal. Yes, that Tori Kamal). That's pretty much the gist of the series so far, and I gotta tell ya, it's been an absolute blast.

First off, the technical aspects of the show are great. The soundtrack is very effective, the sound effects and music all work great (though the firearm audio gets a bit repetitive and could use more variety). The voice actors all do a great job with their roles, which are really fun and likable. The highlight for me was in episode four when we're introduced to a crazy lady who does nothing but quote movies. I absolutely loved the scene to death and, while I won't give away exactly what happens, I will say that I was sad when it became clear she wasn't going to be a recurring character. I'm sorry, I can't help it if my ideal zombie apocalypse scenario involves partnering up with someone who will help me blow away zombies with a mounted machine gun on top of an old jeep while quoting lines from old movies. The only other scenario I'd prefer would be teaming up against the zombies with Batman on a T-Rex.

Like I said, the series so far is four episodes in total, with a spin-off series called 'Drop Dead Diaries' that expands the universe of the series by giving us more information that, while not directly necessary to understand the plot, does help to further our understanding of the characters.

If you're a fan of radio dramas or zombie stories, I'd say give it a listen.

You can find all the entries at the Drop Dead Confidential blog. I'd recommend starting off with the pilot episode.

By the time you get to the end, you'll definitely want more. Trust me. The Shadow knows.