Limetown: The Boundaries of Building Babel

Airing now on Facebook Live, Limetown follows Lia Haddock (Jessica Biel), a journalist for American Public Radio (APR) who is exploring the mystery behind the disappearance of over 300 people at a neuroscience research facility. As she gets closer to the answers behind the failed experiment, Haddock?s journey becomes increasingly perilous as unseen forces attempt to keep their actions hidden at the expense of human lives.

Based on the podcast of the same name, Limetown is a complicated web of science-fiction, intrigue and suspense. Borrowing elements from a wide-variety of popular modern mythologies such as Lost, The Leftovers and famed podcast, Serial, Limetown manages to carve out its own unique space amongst them. Interestingly, while Biel leads each episode (and the mythology is clearly tied to Haddock?s history), neither does she (wisely) demand the spotlight, allowing the stories of each ?survivor? to drive the narrative. In doing so, the mystery of Limetown maintains a more ?first-hand? account of the drama, giving more impact to its intrigue.

Without giving away any spoilers, Limetown speaks to mankind?s desire to create a perfect world in their own image. Set up as a scientific community, Limetown itself existed as a place where people could come together and attempt at building a ?better world?. However, as the truths behind the existence of the facility begin to unfurl, the audience discovers the dark underbelly of human progress and the damage that can be left in its wake. In other words, as human life begins to lose its value in the name of building something ?better?, the concept of progress can quickly give way to the abuse of power.

Interestingly, early on, the series references the ?Library of Babel?, a mythological library that contains all of the answers in the universe, though they remain buried under an infinite layer of nonsense that must be waded through to find them. While the show uses the analogy to describe the difficulty to finding the truth about Limetown, it?s reference to the Biblical Tower of Babel also points to a story where man attempted to prove their worth as greater than God by building a society in their own image. While the reference is merely a throwaway, it also speaks heavily to the vision for Limetown itself as it recklessly places the value of mankind?s scientific ingenuity ahead of the soul of humanity. Although technological achievement is essential to the progress of any culture, it can also create unspeakable horror when the value of life is misplaced for the sake of human glory. To its credit, it is this question of boundaries that lies at the heart of Limetown as the lines between advancement and exploitation blur.

With two new episodes airing each week, Limetown is worthy mystery to explore. By incorporating the podcast format, the series excels as it unravels its mystery from the perspective of its survivors (or victims). As a result, the personal accounts of Limetown add greater weight to the questions of human achievement which, although incredible in their scientific revelations, also contain the potential to damage the human soul in the process.