Jake Muller Adventures: Undead
Summary
The Jake Muller Adventures: Undead is the third installment of Darby Kern’s supernatural thriller audio drama series. This episode takes the private security officer Jake Muller to the bayous of Louisiana, where a movie about his life is being filmed and produced. Unable to have a normal vacation to save his life, Jake is swiftly caught up in a conspiracy involving strange new drugs, human trafficking, and…zombies? The Jake Muller Adventure series once again brings the action, the adventure, and the faith to its audience, sparing neither the Biblical gut-punch nor the epic explosions.
Assessment
The Jake Muller Adventures returns with another stellar adventure in Undead. The overall quality of the production is on par with the previous adventures of Jake Muller — Unidentified and Blood — both in terms of acting and cinematic sound design. The sound effects were top-notch, working effortlessly to set the proper tone and backdrop for Jake and company’s Louisiana-style adventure. The only area the acting really suffered is with some of the thicker Louisiana accents. Most of the actors could do a passable job for some of the trickier lilts, but some of the lines were a little jarring.
Undead felt a slightly more disjointed from its theological message than the previous episodes. The Christian element was a little clunkier and more obtuse, however, it still made plenty of sense within the story and didn’t necessarily feel out of place. Undead did also bring up some more modern political references, including a few hot-button topics and debates (definitely standing in the conservative side of things). They do not majorly impact the story or the overall theological message.
In terms of cleanliness, the Undead is packed with action and some violence, but nothing that should be too disturbing for it’s intended audience (older kids/teens). The episode leans more towards spy thriller than zombie flick, so it isn’t too gross in that account, either. There is some romance, but clear lines are drawn — and discussed amongst the characters — to prevent any sinful situations, so there’s nothing more than some innocent kissing.
Light-o-Meter
Voice Acting: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Plot: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Worldbuilding: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Characters: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Age-Appropriateness: Appropriate for it’s intended audience (older kids, teens, and adults). A little violent/action-packed, but nothing too gory (even with the zombies).
Theological Message: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Overall: 5 out of 6 Little Lights
Talk
Three episodes in and I can easily admit the fact: I really love The Jake Muller Adventures. In terms of production quality, they are out of this world. In terms of acting, they are spectacular. In terms of writing and theological messaging, they tell really good stories with a wonderful Christian heart at the core of each one. They are just the right amount of realistic with a 1980s action TV show kind of explosions-and-gunfights flare that is beautiful. On top of that, there’s a fantastic supernatural element that actually makes sense and reveals a lot of truth about spiritual warfare and who our true enemies are as Christians. It’s an amazing series.
One thing that I really, really liked about Undead is Ari. I’ll be honest, Ari was driving me a little insane in the previous two installments. She seemed to have the classic “civilian girlfriend” syndrome that’s used in a lot of action adventure series to generate drama; always pushing back against the chaos that Jake finds himself in and accusing him of causing problems on purpose (well…she’s earned a little of that…he did sort of blow up her house…but aside from that). Without spoilers, this episode she proved herself to be more than the drama-causing stereotype she’d been falling into and I very much enjoyed that aspect of her growth.
I think my only nit-pick is that I was also not a huge fan of some of the modern political references they made. While they were on the conservative side of things, I’m really burnt out from hot-button topics creeping into my fiction regardless of who’s perspective it’s being discussed from. That being said, this is definitely a personal opinion and not something I would say takes away from the overall value of the episode.
Overall, The Jake Muller Adventures has proven itself to be one of the highest quality Christian stories available on the market today and I am looking forward to the next episode!
Where to Enjoy
Jake Muller Adventures: 3: Undead | The Jake Muller Adventures
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