When Commonplace Books released its first episode of a bizarre, lovecraftian podcast nearly four years ago, it immediately garnered a massive cult following. Documenting the life of a strange, horrifying and absurd town in the desert, "Welcome to Night Vale" is frightening, funny, and genuinely touching. They’ve had some good runs, and produced a great quantity of fantastic episodes (plus an underwhelming novel.) Below, I’ve picked the 10 best.
If you're not caught up, beware the spoilers below!
Runner up: "The Old Oak Doors."
"Night Vale's" live episodes are always profoundly entertaining (I have been to several of them), and this one is no exception. Chronicling the aftermath of the events in “Renovations,” this episode sees friends and foes banding together to fight off the evil strexcorp and the malevolent Desert Bluffs, in order to save their equally malevolent town. It’s an exciting and occasionally heartwarming episode, but there are better ones in "Night Vale" ’s Oevre.
10. "Dana."
A mythology episode if ever there was one, this episode looks at the fate of intern Dana, banished to the desert otherworld after she entered the forbidden dog park in “Poetry Day.” It seems the desert otherworld holds more than a few surprises for our wayward intern in search of escape and college credit… as well as some terrible cell reception.
9. "Wheat and Wheat By-Products."
An early episode that puts a lot of running jokes in motion (The NRA, Eternal Scouts), “Wheat and Wheat By-Products” is perhaps best for its utterly absurd premise -- that wheat and wheat by-products have suddenly become sentient and now thirst for our blood. As if those gluten-free people needed another reason to be smug, this gut-buster kept the jokes pouring in throughout its 22-minute run.
8. "Registry of Middle School Crushes."
I’ve always thought that "Night Vale" has had a lot in common with “Lost,” in that it’s a character-based, sci-fi story, capable of being funny, sad, and exciting, and because it frequently messes with time, space, and the viewer’s expectations. I could go on for a very long time listing parallels between the two, but the most salient is the concept episodes they both used liberally and well. This episode sees Cecil enumerating and reporting on a heist his niece is pulling (over the public radio -- sounds like a brilliant plan, I know) so that she can enter city council chambers and steal the registry of all the middle school crushes. Why? For what purpose? Who can say. But it’s exciting, weird, and provides some much needed levity in a show which is often profoundly dark and unsettling. Plus, it’s nice to see that Cecil doing something nice for a member of the Carlsberg family, even if that means helping a relative of Steve’s.
7. "Pilot."
While "Night Vale" would go on to produce better episodes, its pilot does a great job of conveying the tone, story, ideas, and characters in a fun and breezy way, without ever overwhelming us. While other shows like "Seinfeld", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and even (to a lesser extent) the mighty "Breaking Bad" took a while to come into their own, "Night Vale" jumped right into its schtick, and hasn’t stopped since.
6. "Pyramid."
I really tried to put this one higher -- really, I did. The first 34 episodes of "Night Vale" were probably the series’ strongest ark outside of the strexcorp storyline, and this one is emblematic of everything the show did right. The off-color, Terry-Pratchett-esque sense of humor, the super goofy reveal at the end (the telepathic pyramid brainwashing everyone is part of an ad campaign by local cereal company, flaky-o’s) the grungy folk-rock song that was used in the weather segment, there’s so much to love about this. Thing is, while nearly everything about it is great, that’s all it is -- a great episode. Some of the others on this list manage to be nearly as great, but also reach new heights in storytelling or mythology. It’s tough, but I have to put this at number six.
5. "Triptych."
There are a lot of abhorrent characters in the "Night Vale" universe. Telly the barber. That racist Apache tracker. Steve Carlsberg (of course, that monster!) But, none of them are quite so repulsive and outright evil as Kevin, the Desert Bluff’s community radio host. His studio is covered in animal viscera. He cheerily endorses genocide and machine gunning innocent civilians, as well as the death of the innocent (relatively speaking) Koshik the cat! But how exactly did he get that way? This time-travelling episode tackles this question head on, through a series of rather poignant calls between Cecil and his arch-nemesis. By the end of the half hour, we’re left with a rather different opinion of the sinister smiling-god devotee.
4. "Renovations."
"Night Vale" has covered a wide range of emotions over its run, from sadness to joy to romance, but seldom was it awesome, at least in the way a lot of movies and TV programs are. “Renovations,” however, is undeniably awesome, capable of trading blows with any dystopian action novel you’d care to name. It begins with Kevin, still in charge of the Night Vale radio station, trying to make renovations to the building he recently acquired. These include firing station management, knocking down some walls, and killing several kittens. But, before he can go through with this, Cecil returns with Koshik the cat. What follows is an angry punk-rock weather segment, and what is implied to be a particularly bloody takeover of the station by Cecil and his feline friend. It ends with everyone’s favorite radio host plotting to liberate the rest of his beloved (if terrifying) hometown from Strexcorp’s sinister reign. Just a fine damn story, if nothing else.
3. "A Story About You."
When I first listened to this episode, I didn’t think much of it. It was one of many great episodes "Night Vale" produced when it was right out of the gate. It was only when a friend of mine started exhorting me to re-listen, and when the sequel, “A Story About Them” came out, that I paid it any mind. I’m really glad I did. This is one of the coolest things "Night Vale" has done, structurally, with any of its episodes, telling a story from our point of view, if we happened to be a blue collar employee who lifted boxes from one place to another. Then, one day, we get curious, and open one to see what’s inside. Packed with all the paranoia of a William S. Burroughs novel or a seventies political thriller, this episode melds beautiful writing with constant ominous overtones.
2. "One Year Later."
The 24th episode was their longest up to that point, and thus had plenty of time to wrap up a whole bunch of plot threads in the most satisfying way possible. Cecil and Carlos finally get together! The secret civilization under the pin retrieval area of the Desert Flower Arcade Fun Complex is revealed to actually just be a really tiny civilization! The Apache Tracker’s heroic (and slightly racist) sacrifice! I was thinking about putting tis at number one, but I finally decided on…
1. "Sandstorm (parts A and B)."
It really couldn’t be anything else. The first of several two part episodes, this episode was one of the rare instances where an intern survived the horrifying supernatural ordeal (or, at least, a version of her did.) But it was more than that. This was where we first went to Desert Bluffs, met the terrifying Kevin and the altruistic Dana. It featured the ironic and ultimately sad scenario of Cecil’s double being Kevin, whom he lets live. And, to top it all off, it is probably the best made episode of any podcast I’ve ever heard.
