What. A. Flex.

S-Town, the last 1-seed still remaining in the Podcast Madness tournament, was in a good position not only to come out of the True Crime quadrant, but to win the entire tournament. Crime Writers On, however, had other intentions. They saw their formidable opponent and rallied the troops. Their campaigning resulted in a monumental beat down of the top contender.

The beating was so severe I’m almost tempted to take away my previous statement of crowning them this years Cinderella team. But … I won’t. Because they scare me.

Heading into the Final Four, we lost Pod Save America, We Have Concerns, and The Black Tapes in addition to S-Town. Pour some out. All their matches, however, were much more competitive than the triumph in true crime, the pounding of podcasts, the conquest in crime. The matchup I had my eyes on was in the Audio Drama quadrant. I mentioned in earlier recaps how Homecoming had been cruising through their bracket without breaking a sweat. The Black Tapes probably had a tougher route to the Elite Eight though, including a win over 1-seed Welcome to Night Vale. This was bound to be an audio drama attack, a drama duel, a … alright I’ll stop.

The matchup was close though. The lead flipped a few times throughout the week.

The other matchups, though not blow-outs like Crime Writers On over S-Town, weren’t what you’d call nail-biters. I’m hoping the Final Four gives us a little more excitement!

If you haven’t already, vote in the Final Four here. Voting will remain open until Sunday at 7pm ET.