Excellent premise and story with a few minor shortcomings. The plot, writing, and world building are all excellent. There is enough variety of story and characters to keep things interesting, and the overall concept is fascinating. The main character can become a bit reductive at points, but there is plenty here to keep things fresh.

A classic fiction podcast that helped craft the medium. Great acting, sound deign, and a compelling story!

If it were just the first season, I would give Spines a 5 - supurbly acted, fantastically creepy, fascinating. Unfotunately it wore thin for me the longer it went on, shifting from horror to some kind of half-baked superhero story about a rag tag team vs equally rag-tag villains. Though I enjoyed some of the elements in the later seasons, the show gets less interesting over time instead of more. This is one time when I feel like the "worse" ending would have been a better choice. But season 1 is still really good and deserves a listen, particularly if you're into body horror.