Karrigan McClellan

EDT 180

Welcome to Night Vale (Part 2)

Episode 5: The Shape in Grove Park
1.) Structure:
Opening: “Close your eyes. Let my words wash over you. You are safe now.
Welcome, to Night Vale.”
• In every episode, Cecil Palmer (voiced by actor Cecil Baldwin) starts
with an ominous line, like the one above, that always ends with the
phrase “Welcome, to Night Vale”. The brief theme plays after the
introduction and he goes right into the radio show. The structure of this
show is different in the fact that he never introduces himself, until the end
of this episode. The audience just has listen and eventually they’ll piece
together who he is and what the show is about.
Meat: In this episode, Cecil discusses the removal of the menacing shape in grove
park “that no one acknowledges or speaks about”. While its a “Night Vale
landmark” throughout the episode its proven to be dangerous. In between
talking about the shape, Cecil mentions the local farmer’s market, reads an
ad about the hole in the vacant lot at the back of the Ralphs, has an
existential crisis about being alone in an empty universe, reads the auction
notice for Night Vale Community Theatre’s production of Once on This
Island, and witnesses the vaporizing of Leland the Intern via the Shape.
Every Night Vale radio intern ends up dying in someway throughout the
show.
Closing: “This is Cecil, generally, speaking to you, metaphorically, for Night
Vale Community radio. And I would like to say, in the most
nebulous terms possible, with no real world implications or
insinuations about objective meaning; goodnight, listeners.
Goodnight…”
• Much like the opening, the conclusion begins with a random line most
likely about the episode, some final musings from Cecil. After the line, he
always ended each episode with “Goodnight, listeners. Goodnight..”

2.) Relationship:
The relationship between the host and the guest (you) is that you’re listening to his
show and truly you are the sole purpose for this show. If no one listened to the
radio, why would there be cause to tell a weather forecast, or a traffic update?
 Karrigan McClellan
EDT 180
3.) Personal Digressions:
In every single episode Cecil goes off on a tangent about how he fell in love with
“perfect Carlos” and how he’s found a floating cat in the men’s bathroom and the
station and names it Khoshekh. The tangents and the personal information are
what progresses the story line and the plot for future episodes.
4.) Host Invitations:
Cecil invites his audience (you) to take part in PTA meetings, and vote for Mayor,
as you would do if you lives in the town of Night Vale and had duties as a citizen.
5.) Host’s Goal:
Seeing as there’s no real interview, the most I can say that he’s trying to
accomplish is to inform the listeners about whats going on in their town and how
they can help if needed.
6.) Tone:
The tone of the podcast fluctuates between spooky and fun. The music is a big part
of making that distinction. When the tone is light hearted or fun, there wont be any
background music or special effects, but when the mood gets creepy, eerie music
will play in the background and set the tone for the next couple minutes.
7.) Educational Aspect:
The podcast isn’t really all that educational. It’s meant to be a fun, fantasy type
world that you can get lost in for long periods of time. Much like a tv show or
movie.