Home Again Review

This episode was one of the episodes I bought when it first came out in August. It was the most anticipated episode for me. I found out several months ago that Jason was coming back to Odyssey. This was pretty much how I reacted: 

When I reviewed the Labyrinth, I said that I didn't think that Jason should come back. Well, when I heard that wasn't gonna be the case, I warmed up to the idea. I realized, after someone explained to me, that Jason was only considered dead to the NSA. Odyssey just thought that he had skipped town. This makes the whole situation a bit better. 

Note: the words in italics are some of my comments that I made while I was listening

The episodes starts out with an alarm going off in one of the tunnels. Whit goes to investigate but not before running into Joanne at the counter. She gives him several boxes of antique stuff and then mentions that she thought she saw Jason diving through town. What a good undercover agent. Whit dodges around her comment and then goes down to the tunnel to check. Jason slips out of some hidden corner and greets his father rather casually. Like he lives down the street and is just dropping by to borrow some half n half because he's too lazy to run to the store. Whit is happy to see his son and asks him what's going on. In short, Jason quit because he wants to gain some control of his life and reconnect with God. He's rented a cabin along Trickle Lake and is gonna stay there to do some thinking and praying. Would that be the same cabin where Eugene and Katrina hid out  in when Eugene was all amnesia-ey? Jason tells Whit to keep his appearance quiet. He doesn't want to be disturbed. We then hear Connie wander on down to the tunnel. Jason quickly hides and Connie said that she thought she heard Jason's voice. After some cagey responses from Whit and a few annoyed, Connie-esque outbursts, Whit makes Connie agree to respect Jason's privacy and not tell anyone. She is so gonna tell someone. She tells Eugene because she thinks he already knows. It's kind of understandable. Everybody always knows stuff before Connie. Eugene is stunned by the news and wonders if Jason is bringing trouble with him. Penny then arrives on the scene and finds out the news. Penny hasn't properly met Jason (she at first wonders if he's another one of Connie's ex-fiances) but urges Connie to go see him. Penny, you are not a very good influence. Connie tells Penny that she wants to listen to Whit and do what he wants. Penny isn't satisfied with this and tries to talk Wooton into helping her find Jason so Connie can see him. I'd never go to this much effort to help a friend find a friend that I had never met. Unless that friend of a friend was hot. Hmm. Methinks Penny has ulterior motives. Penny and Wooton quickly deduce that Jason is staying at a cabin by Trickle Lake and Penny decides that they're gonna go on a picnic to the lake. While at J&J Antiques, Eugene finds out that there might be a jewel scam going on in the area. Eugene automatically thinks that Jason must be here to arrest the men behind the scheme. Cut to Jason who's at the cabin and it not enjoying the solitude. He's bored and can't focus. I don't know what his problem is. I love being alone and doing nothing. Of course, if that cabin doesn't have wifi, I can understand where he's coming from. He decides to go for a walk. Eugene goes to have some diamonds appraised and the clerk (one of the conspirators in the scam) mistakes Eugene for his co-conspirator (apparently, Eugene bears a resemblance to the criminal). He locks up Eugene in the back of the store. Wow. Where is this sub-plot going? Back to the trio, they're at Trickle Lake and Penny "accidently" spills all the water. She suggests that they go up to one of the cabins (specifically, cabin #3) and ask for some. Nobody answers at cabin #3 and Penny is disappointed. Connie finally tires of the charade and asks them point blank if this has something to do with Jason. They confess and Connie tries to tell them that she doesn't want to go against Whit's request. As Connie is lecturing them and walking, she literally walks into Jason. You have to be joking. After a bit of awkwardness, they decide to hang out for a little while. They all ended up enjoying themselves and even went back to Connie and Penny's place to play games and order take out. Whit gets a concerned call from Katrina telling him that Eugene's missing and they found his car abandoned outside a jewelry store. Whit and Jason go to investigate and find the bad guy brothers. Jason recognizes them as a pair of criminal brothers and disarms them while Whit goes to fetch Eugene. That wrapped up quickly. The next day at Whit's End, everyone discusses all that went down. Did I forget to mention that Jason talked with Joanne briefly and offered to run the antiques shop? (This was after dinner with Connie, Penny, and Wooton but before rescuing Eugene) Well, Joanne has Jack on the phone and their discussing it. Jack says over speakerphone that he'd be glad to leave the shop to Jason. And that's pretty much how the episode ends. 

Let me give you my analysis on this episode.  

This episode was had several things that didn't make much sense. Penny was obsessive about getting Connie to see Jason, Connie was really eager to see Jason, Wooton was going along with Penny's wild plans (against Whit's wishes), and Eugene gets kidnapped by a pair of jewel thieves who only served the purpose of distracting us from the main story. 

Penny, I know that you are rather impulsive and don't think through your actions but come on. Connie says that Whit told her not go looking for Jason and you ignore that? I didn't think that you would completely disrespect Whit like that. 

Wooton, you may act like a kid sometimes but you've always showed maturity when it comes to important situations. I would have thought that you'd be the last person to disrespect Whit. 

Since this episode hasn't been released on the radio, there aren't many blogs or message boards talking about it. I have heard that a few people think that this episode alludes to a future romance between Jason and Connie. 

Don't you dare, Connie.

Just kidding. I actually have a bit of a soft spot for JasonxConnie. I think it'd be cute but they'd never work out. Their personalities would clash (they both need rational people to balance them out) and Connie would probably have a difficult time dealing with Jason's past. (If her relationship with Mitch is any indicator) I'm positive that the writers aren't gonna push them together. There's at least a 10 year age difference between them (If I was in my 20s, I'd have no problem dating a guy 10-20 years older) and I know that would stir up a lot of trouble among fans and parents. Jason and Connie fans are just gonna have to keep writing fanfiction because that pair is not gonna happen. Sorry to sink your ship. 

I'm just picking up on this but Townsend's voice has changed a bit. I know this can happen with age and cigarette usage so that's not the part that concerns me. What concerns me is how I haven't noticed until now! I think I'm too infatuated with him to notice these kinds of things. Maybe I have a problem. 

Hearing Jack over speaker phone at the end made me pretty happy. It was disappointing that he wasn't in the whole episode but I didn't expect to hear his voice at the end. At first, I didn't think it was Allen Young. The speakerphone made him sound a bit different so I wasn't sure if it was a different actor or if they did audio splicing like in the old days when Whit was off in the Middle East. I listened very carefully and came to the conclusion that it really was Allen Young. Thanks to him for doing that. I'm sure it was loved by the listeners. (I know I loved it)

What was the point of the jewel scam subplot? Honestly, I have no idea. Though that one guy, Rudolph, (who looked like Eugene) wins the award for the most flaming character I've ever heard on Adventures in Odyssey. 

I'm thinking they need to make this part of the Averys.

I'm really happy that Jason's back. I think it's an interesting twist that he's gonna be running the antique shop. Besides the irritating subplot and the out of character-ness of some main characters, I think it was a decent episode. What did you guys think? Honestly, that episode could have sucked and I still would have loved it simply because Jason's back. ^_^ 

Great Expectations Review

I couldn't wait for album 56 so I bought three episodes at the beginning of August. I bought "Great Expectations" and "Home Again 1&2".

"Great Expectations" really surprised me. I knew that it was gonna feature some stuff from Whit's past but I wasn't expecting much.

Here's how it starts out: Emily Jones' world has been upset because after a day of doing legal paperwork with her Dad, she realized that she doesn't want to follow in her dad's footsteps and be a judge. She mentions this to Whit because she's now quite confused. You see, she's always thought that she'd be a judge and now she has no idea of how her life's gonna go.

Why Emily Jones, I believe that you and I were/are in the proverbial boat.

                                       I call it the SS Don't Have a Clue                             

When I was 9 or so, I thought that it'd be a good idea to eventually become a lawyer. They make good money, they get to argue for a living, and they get to help innocent people. Then when I was about 14, I realized that there were a lot of downsides to being a lawyer. You had to go to college for several more years, you had to pass the bar, and I found that the majority of sucessful lawyers were unscrupulous. All of a sudden, I found myself in Emily's position. I was lost! I had no idea where my life was going! And my teachers made me feel like I had to have a career picked out before I graduated 8th grade.

I wish that this episode had been around during this crisis of mine.

To help Emily, Whit sends her on an Imagination Station program about his life. She first talks to ten year old John Avery who has a list of things he'd like to: do-fly fishing, flying lessons, writing for National Geographic, ect. Fast forward a few years and Whit is about 18. He tells Emily that he has an opprotunity to write for National Geographic and have an internship there. Then, the mailman comes to the door and serves Whit his draft notice. Whit's plans are goning to have to wait. A few more years pass. The war has ended and Emily is on the University of Southern California campus. Whit has written a screenplay for a movie and some people are interested in it. Whit puts the screenplay on hold when he finds out that he was accepted to USC. Skip a couple of years. Whit, newly married to Jenny, relays to Emily that he's planning on taking flying lessons and getting his pilot's licence. Jenny suddenly bursts into the apartment and excitedly tells Whit that she's pregnant. Whit is obviously overjoyed but his plans, yet again, are placed on the back burner. Skip ahead about 20 years (that's what I guessed at least), Emily meets up with Whit in McAllister Park. He had just resigned from the school. Emily asks him if it bothers him that he hasn't accomplished his original plans. Whit replies that he's only concerned with living his life how God called him to live.

I really liked the episode for a number of reasons. It flowed nicely, it featured things from Whit's past (I love those kinds of episodes), Emily Jones was an enjoyable character to listen to, and the sound effects for the Imagination Station were unusual but good. 

I love how Jim Custer has been the voice of young Whit since 1989. Let's just take a moment and appreciate how awesome that man is. He has been the distinct, young voice of the most important character on Adventures in Odyssey for 23 years.

                         

This man deserves an award

                                          

At first, I did NOT like Emily Jones. I thought she was pushy and irritating. A few episodes like "Green Ring Conspiracy" and "Emily the Genius" have redeemed Emily in my eyes. This episode further changed my opinion of her. Good work, writers. 

We hear from Joanne in this episodes but it's not for a good reason. She and Jack are retiring, closing down the antique shop, and going to be traveling.  

I have so many feelings right now

                                     

I don't know if I've said this before but Whit, Jason, and Jack are my favorite characters. To have Jack (and Joanne) leave the show is one of the saddest things to ever happen to Odyssey. This shouldn't come as a huge surprise since Janet Waldo is 88 and Allen Young is 93. The actors deserve a retirement. It is well deserved but still very sad. 

Getting back to the episode, the message is what I loved the most. In this day and age, kids in both middle school and high school are told that they gotta shape up and figure out what to do with their lives. Granted, it's not a bad idea to start thinking about that stuff but teenagers feel a certain pressure on them when it comes to college and careers. Whit said that our plans don't often work out because our circumstances change or because our relationship with God set our lives on different courses. 

I eventually relaxed about the idea of my future. It took my parents and Proverbs 16:9 "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" to calm me down. I hope that kids who are stressed about their futures can listen to this episode and realize that, to us, the future is unpredictable but God is the one who does the planning and it's always the best way.