Based upon the podcast of the same name, Archive 81 is a riveting descent into conspiracy, madness and eldritch horror. This series does an excellent job at layering occult conspiracy with the protagonist’s growing mental instability, featuring a wonderfully developed cult threat, high production values, brutalist settings and wonderfully esoteric art design (thank you Troll Cunning Forge). Arguably a stealth adaptation of Delta Green's scenario: The Night Floors (the creators of the podcast nigh admit it), the series shifts between dual timelines with the framing device of a footage restoration project. The secrets behind a decades-long ritual undertaking is somewhere in this footage, somehow connected to the protagonist’s personal history. The setup and hooks grab the viewer from the first episode and do not relent through the suitably epic conclusion. The pacing is thoroughly gripping, each episode provides hooks and revelations that make the series ludicrously binge-worthy. As the series proceeds, horror elements interchange with science-fiction concepts into a unified whole that manages to make sense, even if some of the concepts are outlandish. While there is closure to the main story, lamentably, there will not be a season 2 and the characters are left on quite the cliffhanger. Despite this, the series is absolutely worth visiting, and the viewer will find all manner of hidden clues and easter eggs upon future revisits to the archive.