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2003-2004 Review Summaries
Reviews for: September - October 2003 | November 2003 | January - March 2004 | April - May 2004
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Reviews for: September - October 2003 | November 2003 | January - March 2004 | April - May 2004
The season premiere is getting a variety of reviews, but most of the reviews (positive or negative) agree on their criticism. Most did not like the Mandy/Liz storyline because it was "unrealistic" and showed both characters in a bad light. Also, no one thought that Seth should be the one Mandy and Liz liked. Many commented on their dislike for him as a character. The only praise of this storyline was that it was nice to have it continue for several episodes and not be resolved in 25 minutes.
On the positive side, almost everyone enjoyed seeing Jack and Joanne and the maturity of their relationship. Most liked the idea of Connie and Joanne going on a road trip.
Connie's part of the story got the most "uncertain" reaction. Many liked it and pointed to the Jack/Connie discussion about Mitch as an Odyssey classic. Others thought Connie was a bit whiny and annoying. A few also wondered where Whit was.
As usual on a season premiere, most are adopting a "wait and see" attitude for the rest of the season.
The thing I didn't like (besides Whit not being there) was Connie's line about they shouldn't be even THINKING about boys. It is just happens at that age. NO ONE can stop it. They can make them not say anything out loud but they can't make them stop thinking about it. Then there was Jack's thing about not going. It really reminded me of my household. And they portrayed it much like what happens in my house. EXECPT the ending. My mom NEVER goes if my dad says no. Joanne should have not insisted on going. It was a NOT a good way to introduce the road trip. I like the forgiveness part between Joanne and Jack. When I read the little thing about the ep before it comes out I knew who it was going to forgive first. No surprise there. Over all an okay ep.
I once almost married a girl who was otherwise a faithful Christian but got very jealous and read all sorts of things into everything I did, just like Connie is doing to Mitch.
The woman I finally did marry is also a mature Christian, and while she's much less jealous, she does do that on occasion as well. We have a good relationship, but, like Jack & Joanne, we do have our occasional misunderstandings.
Perhaps the problem with this episode is that it's more suitable for young adults than kids? (Of course, the folks who have followed Odyssey from the beginning are all now adults. :-)
I agree that in past episodes Seth has been rather overboard with his evangelistic zeal... but on the other hand, even he seems realistic as I was a bit like that when I first got saved at 13. Zeal without wisdom, you know? But properly nurtured, a boy like Seth can grow up to be a dynamic man of God. His heart's already in the right place... just add wisdom & tact :-)
However, one thing that is a little annoying is Connie's paranoia of Mitch. She's slowly drifting into "High Matenience" category. She's always been a little flighty, but she's a little too obsessed (give the Allens credit for listening to her over there for no apparent reason!). Also, her simply up and going with Joanne will be kind of neat, but It still gets me on how often people who work for Whit just leave with little notice.
I must be in the minority, but I actually liked the Liz/Mandy rift. The two girls are top actors, and did a great job...and for a second Seth was the rational person in the room! I also like that their friendship wasn't resolved at the end of the show, it gives it a little more credibility.
But, even with Connie getting flaky, it was a good opening to a season.
I want to preface everything by saying that it's a pleasure to finally see Jack Allen on the show again (and in a few weeks, the long-awaited return of Bart Rathbone, who has been absent far too long).
I was worried when I heard that much of the fall season would be consumed by Connie's road trip, but I shouldn't have pre-judged the concept until I heard the premise surrounding the trip. It's going to be nice having Joanne on the program more than just here and there. Janet Waldo is such a terrific voice actress and works so well with Katie Leigh that their road trip will no doubt be a delight for all fans. I'm hoping that their trip will be full of the surprises and twists that characterized Eugene and Bernard's now-classic road trip (although, I'm doubting that the conclusion of their trip will top the shocking conclusion to Eugene and Bernard's trip).
I thought that the subplot between Liz and Mandy was a necessary progression in the development of these characters. To see them fight for the affection of a boy was timely and very realistic. As he's proven time and again, Marshal Younger has an incredible finger on the pulse of the 8-12 age group. I'm looking forward to seeing this plot line develop throughout the season.
All in all, AIO has gotten off to a great start. I enjoy the more-serialized approach to storytelling, as it takes the show out of the 25-minute a week entrapment, and the upcoming episodes, as summarized at AIOHQ.com, look more than promising. They look original and clever.
May God continue to bless this wonderful program! I look forward to being on my side of the radio in the coming weeks.
(out of five)Connie's obnoxious, Mandy and Liz are boy-crazy, Seth's annoying...
This wasn't a very good start for the season...hopefully Connie will GROW UP over the course of the road trip! I have to confess, I've never really liked her character. She seems to be all emotions and no intellect. Oh well.
Jack and Joanne's "tiff" was okay...good to see that the only old(er) married couple in Odyssey aren't perfect.
(out of five)I have mixed feelings about this first episode.
I liked the lesson in this story. Swallowing pride and being the first to apologize is something that isn't always easy to do. Especially, in Joanne's case, she had no idea that Jack was going to let her go. She was willing to give up her brilliant idea for the sake of honoring her husband. I'm glad that we could hear more of Jack and Joanne even if Whit didn't have any role in this episode. Jack and/or Joanne before seemed like side characters before, but I'm glad they are revealing themselves more. This part about Joanne going to D.C. is going to be fun.
Connie was...just Connie. Honestly, I didn't expect her to act any differently in this show. Considering how she's been in the recient past, this attitude was kinda expected. I'm not clear on exactly WHY she HAS to go to appologize to Mitch in person. She had a fight with him... okay. The phone would be a handy invention to use in that case. It almost made it sound that she was so insecure with him that she has to go check up on him and "apologize." Not that I'm against it...but it seemed like it could have been developed a little more. But that is being really nitpicky. She's on the road now...and I do want a storyline to come out of this.
The Jack and Joanne part was the best (IMO), Connie... not horribly bad, but that thing about Seth/Mandy and Liz.... Ugh. I'm not a fan of romance anyway, and that crush stuff is pointless. I really cheered for Seth when he said "Neither one of you!!... The real question is how can you be thinking about THAT? This is evangelism class! We've got a world to save! I'm going to go get another partner." That ends that. If Mandy and Liz had to fight, I wish it could be over something a little more meaningful. But sadly, that is what is on a lot of teenage minds nowadays. I think this was the way that the writers tried to make it appeal to those having that type of problems. I could have done without it, personally, but anyway... To their credit, the girls who play both Liz and Mandy are excellent actresses. The actor of Seth is rather good as well, it's just his personality character that he has to play. But all in all, I'd have an character like Seth who can be in the minority of kids who really are on fire for God.
I'm looking forward to the continuation of this season.
Overall this was a very nice episode, with loving Jack and Joanne coming to the right conclusions, Connie overreacting (as usual),and the unsuspected road trip to come! What fun!
Some things that I hope to happen
in the upcoming shows:
- Joanne and Connie meet
Eugene and Katrina (or some people that we haven't seen in a long time)
- Mitch to quit the FBI and get married to Connie (we don't want their relationship
to drag out for years on end like Eugene and Katrina's)
- Fun happenings in small towns along the way (like the ones in "Wish
You Were Here!").
Jack had every right to make Joanne stay home. The man is the LEADER of the home, not the pushover. Joanne also showed extremely bad taste in allowing Connie to see their argument.
Liz and Mandy's argument over Seth in public was also not believable. I am all astonishment that Marshal Younger could have written this episode. Usually his shows demand four star ratings, but this was not good.
The cell phone is interesting. I guess that just reinforced the fact that AIO is a very modern radio show.
Would Liz not have already seen the stuff she put in the box to give back to Mandy? Should she not have said, "I don't want to go through this stuff again."? One last thing: Connie mentioned that Liz and Mandy had a "life-long" friendship. We knew Mandy long before we knew Liz. (Didn't we?)
I did enjoy Connie's banter, for once, and do hope that Mitch continues to save the world from meatless hamburgers (Doesn't that sound suspiciously like the War on Food?). And I always enjoy hearing Jack and Joanne. So I liked most of the episode, but would have preferred some better secondary plotline than the one provided.
In many ways, it reminded me of "Top This" or "Poor Loser," greatly enjoyable episode marred by run-of-the-mill, boring secondary plots. While listeners were wondering what precisely Brian Dern's thumb could do and how much they could shovel into their mouths with Jumbo Fork, they had to hear about two girls who were both being a little annoying in their silly rivalry. And while I imagine listeners relished the fact that Bernard's guys with the pointy heads were utterly destroying Eugene's attempts to pattern an attack off of a famous move in games of masters like Karpov but found little interest in the volleyball rivalry storyline.
This fits the pattern: a good dominant plot but a vaguely irritating secondary storyline that detracted from the best of the episode.
I now know who Seth is...hmmm...i don't really like him either...
Overall, I thought it was okay.
I can't wait to hear all about Connie and Joanne's roadtrip. I really don't think that Mitch has fallen for another girl, I think he's just gotten wrapped up in his case. Wouldn't it be awesome if his first case involved finding Eugene?
The Mitch/Connie and Jack/Joanna stuff was good. Joanne apologizing just showed a more...mature side of her that I don't remember seeing as much before.
(out of five)
On the plus side, it's very good to see Jack again, and the scene where Connie
was tormenting him about Mitch was so Connie. But that's another thing--Connie.
She was really whiny. I was hoping she wouldn't be, after the maturity she
showed at the end of the season finale. Moving on, the subplot with Mandy
and Liz was somewhat interesting, since crushes aren't something AIO does
often, but the storyline also dragged, and Seth is just plain annoying! However,
it was a good choice that Mandy and Liz's problem wasn't resolved at the end
of the show, and I think the scene with Liz and Connie was one of the best
in the episode.
Overall, a good show,
though not the best. I can't wait till next week, "Black Clouds"
sounds very exicting!
(out of five)
But in this epiosde we have quotes like Liz saying (in her annoying, whiny, sarcastic voice) "Oh, look, Mandy has her first crush. How cute!" Dumb and pointless.
The only redeeming quality about the episode was Joanne's appology... But even it was a bit lame. Whatever happened to the verses in the Bible about wives keeping under their husband's authority? It's pretty clear who is suposed to be the head in the marriage. I don't think this episode did a very good job of explaining all that.
To be honest, I'm having a hard time looking forward to Connie and Joanne's road trip. The idea has been used before. And why on earth is Connie going? To apologize to Mitch? That could have been done just as easy over the phone. It sounds like a lame attempt to create another story line.
I don't mean to be so down on the epiosde, but I had a very hard time finding good qualities in it. A very lame season kick-off.
The only thing I can do is pack my radio away, and pull out my old cassettes, and hope that the old Odyssey will eventually return. But I see little hope of it.
(out of five)
Seth is the worst AIO character since Danny Schmidt. He annoys me so much! He's a hypocritical, self-righteous annoying jerk! The best part about the ep was Connie's rambling and the "meatless hamburger" part. It would've been much, much better if Seth hadn't been in it.
Reaction to "Black Clouds" is leaning more negative than most recent Odyssey episodes, but it has a large portion of admirers as well. Many are talking about annoying characters and poorly used "Imaginary Station" scenes, while others are pointing to those same scenes as part of an excellent episode.
Fans are completely divided over the President-quoting Ethel. Many were charmed by her, but others disliked her intensely. The same is true for Lindy. Little praise is reserved for the foster mom.
The strong praise for the show is of Connie's maturity. Reviewers liked how Connie didn't act "ditsy" or make obvious mistakes like she did in some previous episodes. Most also liked how Connie proved to be a good role model in the show.
(out of five)...In my opinion, this episode had a very good plot and was beneficial to the series. ... True, this episode was one of the more slow-going episodes in recent days, but isn't that kind of what everyone was wanting? ... This episode pulled me back to the earlier days of Odyssey in which Whit could get away with five minute moral "lectures" and 30 second deals were unheard of. Only this time it was Connie doing the dishing of morals. ...
When I first heard Ethel's voice, I laughed. In my head at least. She has such a diner-sounding voice, so it was no surprise to hear a diner-sounding voice. Her repetitious references to former presidents added a witty comedy while remaining serious to get the message across. ...
A lot of people complained about the use of the story of Noah in the episode. Unlike them, I found the approach Connie took to be very satisfactory. Even though I've heard the story of Noah over and over, I don't have to get sick of it because it never gets old. I was pleased with the "Imagination Station" scenes in each of our characters' heads. That type of thing has never been attempted before on AIO... with the Imagination Station at least. ...
The only thing that nags me in this episode is the acting right before the first commercial break (Yes, I too have a complaint, though not as harsh as some of the complaints I've seen). When Ethel goes back to check on her box full of quarters to see if Lindy has a stealing streak in her, she shouts "The girl is gone!" That entire scene was a bit predictable, not to mention that the acting could have been better. ...
Overall, the acting was very well done, especially on the part of Connie. The sound effects done for the storm were wonderful and I got a surge of "Wow, a storm episode!" in my head. ...
So let's stop storming our brains to strike the biggest lightning. Just let the raindrops fall one at a time, otherwise we'll be in for a flood.
It's almost as if the Odyssey creative team is trying to rehash Bernard and Eugene's trip. As many longtime fans will recall, the second part of Eugene and Bernard's road trip was titled "Second Thoughts" and featured a similar plot setup (albeit, a completely different lesson) as "Black Clouds." I hope that future installments of Connie and Joanne's trip strive to distinguish it from Bernard and Eugene's.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the episode. Ethel was amusing most of the time. Admittedly, she did feel a little "thrown in," and by the episode's end, she had worn out her welcome. No wonder her late husband built a diner in the middle of nowhere!
It was nice to see Connie using your unique teaching abilities again, even if it did take a bizarre twist with the imaginative Imagination Station (for me, the jury's still out on that aspect of the episode). As this episode showed and as some of last season's episodes showed, Connie has taken great strides of maturity since her early days on the program.
Maybe this is one of the positives of Eugene's departure from Odyssey. Sometimes, the writers became so focused on developing his wonderful character that I felt Connie's development was sometimes ignored.
All in all, I liked this episode, but it could have been better and more creative. Hopefully, the creative aspects of this road trip will improve in the weeks to come.
All in all Black Clouds was a good episode (despite what everyone says). I
really like the point of the story. Who cares if the acting, etc. wasn't perfect?
So long as the point was good.
(out of five)Lindy's acting was just plain bad, and her lines were prety pathetic. Fortunately, it looks like we might not have to hear from her again.
Joanne was a little annoying, but then again she always is... Fortunately, her part was small.
Connie has gone from an annoying, overemotional, immature teenager (who acts about 10 years younger than her age) to a super Christian—over night. Now I wonder how that happened...
On the one hand, it was nice to see her acting like a mature Christian...And if I hadn't heard her last week throwing a fit over an unconfermed suspition, I would say her part was ok...But with last week's episode thrown in there...It makes me think somewhat differently.
It almost gives me the impression that she acts like an idiot when she's around friends and puts on a great front when in public.
The imaginary Imagination Station back to Noah's flood was not really in my tastes. First of all, the Imagination Station was okay when it was first made, and some of the adventures in it are amoung my favorites. However, the idea is getting old. And using it in this context, I think it was rather absurd. It would have been better if Connie simply sat down at a table, and told it to her. Or better yet, if she told a better story that is not so well known. We've had the story of noah on Odyssey three times, and each time they've been comical...almost too funny.
Anyway, not a very enjoyable episode..But there was a few funny lines, and IMO it beat last week's.
While it's true that the episode was somewhat formulatic (we all knew Lindy would be fine by the end), the real story was about Connie showing herself to be more mature than some may have expected. She has learned well.
Ethel was rather odd, but in a good way. Lindy sounds a little like Aubrey when she first showed up in Odyssey, and it's somewhat too bad she probably won't be back. I liked her (and she's named after a dance!).
So, for those wishing for early Odyssey: this is it...except with a little better acting and a better story.
This one was HILARIOUS because of Ethel. I love her! Her laugh is so contagious! ("Well Rutherford B. Hayes!") :-) This is soon to become one of my favorites...Calvin Coolidge! What fun. Thanks Odyssey.
(By the way, is this the first episode with all women actors?)
The girl's foster mom had a weird voice.
It was a pretty good episode. Glad Connie seemed more mature, and stopped
thinking about Mitch.
I thought the plot was extremely weak. I pretty much predicted everything
that happened.
Ethel's comment about the French was rather funny as well. But overall, not that great of an episode. The "in-her-imagination" Imagination Station sounds were out of place, in my opinion, and when Connie described Whit's End, it sounded like she was reading a poorly written blurb about the place and its idiosyncrasies. Besides, do you think Lindy cared about an ice cream shop a good ways away?
Nice to know that kids in the Odyssey world don't have any surprised reaction to a "time machine" anymore, though. A polite "uhuh" or a bored yawn is all its mention elicits nowadays.
And the fact that Lindy so quickly and fully responded to a very basic retelling of a Bible story she was of course already familiar with seemed highly contrived.
This episode had its high points, but more than its share of low points. I guess I just can't share the belief held by many here that this is a better episode than we heard last week. Despite the weak secondary plot-line of "Seeing Red," I preferred it over this week's episode.
(out of five)-- Connie: Connie has had the strangest growth process. As you can see in Jacob Isom's newest Extra!Extra! article, Connie came to Odyssey, matured a great deal, and now she seems to be immature again. I partly agree with the last part. Connie has been immature in some recent episodes, for example "Between You and Me," "Secrets," and most recently "Seeing Red." But in other recent episodes Connie has been very mature. The best example of this is the end of "Here Today, Gone Tommorow?" where she insists that Mitch do what's best for him, not her. "Under the Influence" also showed Connie at her best, being mature enough to help Aubrey during her toughest times. In today's episode, Connie takes on that role again while helping Lindy. This is how I like Connie. Acting her age.
--Lindy: Lindy was an interesting character, not unlike Wendy in "You Win Some, You Lose Some." In fact, when I first heard the teaser for this show I thought Lindy was Wendy. They both beleive that everything they do goes wrong. It was more severe in Lindy's case, however, and this is what I found interesting about her character. Her insistence that she's plaqued by bad luck was certainly out of the ordinary, and it was nice to hear Connie set her straight.
--Joanne: Though she didn't do much, she was a refreshing character, and offered some good advice to Lindy.
Alright, now on to what I didn't like:
--Ethel: Ethel existed for comic relief in this show, and that seemed to be the only reason she existed. These kinds of characters bug me (for example, Harlow Doyle). I thought I was going to have the same problem with Wooton too, but he was fleshed out in "Basset Hounds."
--The Imagination Station in the mind: This part was just too corny. It seemed like a crossover between "Return to the Bible Room" and "By Faith, Noah," but not nearly as funny. Plus, I didn't like Connie's description of the Imagination Station. It has been said in many episodes (and was made clear during the Novacom Saga) that the Imagination Station is not a time machine. Also, Lindy's response to Connie's description seemed too bland. Maybe if Connie had explained what the machine really did, it would have made sense for Lindy to have a bland reaction, but Connie's description certainly would have made any outsider interested. I certainly would have been.
This episode had it's very good parts, it's not so good parts, and no completely bad parts. It was definitely better then "Seeing Red." I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
(out of five)A few words come to mind when reviewing "Black Clouds", namely unremarkable, cliched, sluggish, obnoxious, run-of-the-mill, and the old standby: just plain bad. The "We can't go anywhere, so lets just stay here" part of the plot was vaguely reminesent of other episodes such as "Family Vacation," "Second Thoughts," and Jason's part in "Best Laid Plans" only without everything that made those so good.
What makes episodes that are good so good anyway, you ask? The most important thing is the plot. As others pointed out, the plot was extremely thin. It really, IMO, didn't even have a plot at all! It just sort of moseyed along at its own pace, at some points lightning quick...at other points about as slow as humanly possible. The message, which seems to be "God made you special and he loves you," would better fit a VeggieTales movie than an Odyssey ep. Just replace Connie with Bob the Tomato, Lindy with Junior Asparagus , add a few catchy songs and you have it.
It introduced two characters that would never survive being in a lot of episodes but are suitable for one-time. The female version of Bernard, Ethel, and Lindy, the girl with no self esteem. Ethel's character made for good comic relief and provided the ep with its most memorable moments, her quoting of the presidents and her Bernardism-esque "That makes as much sense as shag lenolium!" line. I think the writers tried to hard to give Lindy an emotional backstory, and she comes off a bit contrived.
Connie's 180 from "Seeing Red" was rather refreshing and Joanne was a welcome addition, though she had only a minor role.The thing that completely ruined this ep for me was the *shudder* imaginary Imagination Station. Don't get me wrong, the REAL Imagination Station is one of the coolest things in AIO history, but what they did here was absolutely horrid. When Connie said "We don't have the Imagination Station here, but we do have your imagination," I just cringed. The imagination is a great tool, but the entire "close your eyes and imagine" thing was annoying, cliched and totally silly.
The entire show could have been
summed up in seven lines:
Connie:"It's raining!
Lets stop here!"
Ethel: "Herbert Hoover! Come in!"
Connie: "Look! There's a girl!"
Lindy: "I've had bad luck all my life. My dad left, my mom's dead. God
must hate me."
Connie: "God doesn't hate you. Imagine you're Noah, he went through a
lot of troubles."
Foster Mom: "Lindy! I love you!!!"
Lindy:" Really! God must not hate me after all!"
THE END
This was not the SINGLE worst ep in AIO history by far, but it's much closer to that end of the scale then say, "The Time Has Come".
Let's hope things pick up the rest of the "Road Trip." Have some supporting characters with a little depth. With the exception of Ethel, the supporting characters in this show (Lindy and the Foster Mom) were no better than cardboard cutouts.
Reviews for the first "non-Connie" episode of the season are leaning heavily toward the postive, with a few "uncertain" reviews thrown in. Most reviewers liked the show and are pointing to different aspects as the strong points.
Probably the most mentioned "good" aspect is the presence of Bart and Edwin as a comedic duo. Many mentioned the positive similarity to such Bart/Edwin shows as "The Merchant of Odyssey." While some wished the Edwin's faithful assistant Shakespeare appeared in the show, they also enjoyed the new character of Malcolm Lear.
The Nick/Xavier subplot got mixed reviews, though more positive than negative. Also mixed is which of the two characters and actors the reviews think is stronger. Some prefer Nick, others Xavier.
Also getting kudos are the music and several humorous lines and exchanges. Also getting, um...anti-kudos are the quick pace of the show and some of the acting.
(out of five)
...When I heard Malcolm Lear talk for the first time as he entered the Electric Palace, I reacted negatively. I thought something like, "Oh no... two Edwin Blackgaard's in Odyssey," but as the episode built up, Malcolm was quite an astonishing character. He has a bit of an arguing streak, but that makes the episode all the more exciting. His never-ending arguments with Edwin Blackgaard were a real hoot, and it was fun to get to know Edwin's more selfish side.
Seeing a more human side of Bart Rathbone was a different approach as well. Bart isn't portrayed as the bad guy in this show and it's good to see that Bart can be normal at times. I mentioned earlier that we got to see a more rounded side of Nick Mulligan. He and Xavier made for a nice pairing as friends in this episode because I was getting the impression that Xavier would be one of the outcasts of Odyssey; in other words, the one who is just there, no friends to hang out with. Their renditions of Shakespeare's work and Whit's guidance made for a nice combination. At the end when he is at a last resort as he chooses Nick and Xavier to be his commercial voices, I chuckled at the thought of it. After all, they are sophisticated-like, aren't they?
The moral of this episode was rather basic, though an important one. I like the "Edwin-ized" music that John Campbell tends to use whenever Edwin shows up in an episode. It gives me the feeling that something humorous will happen and it's perfect for Harlequin Theatre listening.
I've been experiencing a decline in thoughts of negativity this season, and the episode I just heard invites me to recline and listen again. All in all, a very good episode.
(out of five)One gripe, Xavier is a TERRIBLE actor. Other than that, all the other actors were very nice. BTW, does anyone know who played Malcolm?
It was absolutly wonderful to be away from the Connie/Mitch storyline for one, entire episode! We didn't even have to think about it in the back of our heads.
Oh, and did anyone else catch the "switching to metric... in honor of .... the British"?!? Cracks me up SOO bad. But then I get cracked up over weird things like that.
(out of five)
(out of five)The subplot was okay. The boys seemed to be acting more like some of the little Odyssey girls though when they fought. But it was still a pretty idea for them to do a skit.
An interesting and enjoyable ep.
(out of five)Edwin, is, as always, hilarious, and he's even better when Bart is at his side. (Another great example of this is in "The Merchant of Odyssey.") The one character I missed from this show was Shakespere. It would have been very funny to hear him arguing with Bart over trivial matters. Malcom is a brilliant character, the same kind of pompous fool Edwin is, but in a not-so-nice way. The one thing I wish he would of said to Edwin is remind him that he had a criminal for a brother. After all, Dr. Blackgaard was a big-time terrorist, you think that would get around.
I enjoyed the Nick and Xavier subplot. Xavier's a good actor, although Nick isn't the best. Maybe I just don't like his character. The argument they had seemed somewhat too young for them—aren't they both in high school? The only thing I would change about this subplot is to replace Xavier with Tony, since he and Nick would be a better match and they're brothers of a sort.
All in all, another winner!
I wasn't that impressed, but it was sure better than last week.
Edwin and Malcom were good together. They performed wonderfully. I had trouble keeping up, that they were throwing so many comments down each other's throats.
Whit was brought back to his character as the, "Advising kids to do things a way to make things funner." or in other words, "Use your imagination." Now, I hadn't exactly thought of Nick and Xavier as the first two I'd think that he'd be telling them to do the thing that they did. (I'm re-reading that sentence and I have no clue how to change it so it could make anymore sence then it could. You try.) I liked how Whit handled things. Good job.
Now, on to my favorite part of the entire ep: Nick and Xavier. ... They were good friends in this episode. That pleased me a lot. Even down to Nick calling Xavier, "Xav" as a nickname.
Nick's character was a bit different. I actually thought that Xavier was a bit better actor then Nick. I guess it's just because Nick didn't have that same "sarcasm" that he had in other episodes. I still liked it. But another thing that bugged me was the fact that they actually tried to be funny. It wasn't natural. Nick's comedy was always funny before because he wasn't trying to do it on deliberate. In this case, it was something he was actually trying to make people laugh. Sure, it's just a small detail. But these types of details can ruin a character completely. I LOVE NICK. (sounds like I'm praising a Backstreet Boy.) He's a great addition to the Odyssey cast. But please don't mess up his character or make him too silly. Just have him throw random funny lines into his sentences. I was actually surprised that he featured in today's episode. He rarely shows up, and needs to be in more often as an "official/always there behind the counter" type of guy. Careful writers.
The music was very good. It was cool that it was all Shakespeare style.
The Edwin Blackgaard saga has really had some twists and turns. And it's funny how most of his episodes always end up with a guy making a fool of himself on the stage. Today, four people made a fool of themselves on the stage (well, I'm counting Bart, but that's just cause he looks funny).
The story itself seemed a bit too fast. Maybe it's because the sub-plot was added into it. (Don't get me wrong, I loved the sup-plot.) But maybe the sub-plot could've also been turned to an episode itself. But, oh well, I guess we'll never know.
Two more details before I finish off this review:
One: I didn't like the fact that Nick and Xaiver were into computer games. A small reason I liked Nick was that he wasn't into computers like the rest of the town. Have you noticed Odyssey lately? Every single kid has his head stuck inside a computer. Keep Nick to sports.
Two: I was wondering at the beginning where Shakespeare was, until I DIED LAUGHING when I heard that he was left to hitchhike the way home. It was good, I don't think he would've done well in this episode. Hilarious!
Best ep so far of the season.
(out of five)
When Edwin stated that there was only enough money for "one first class ticket" so Shakespeare had to hitchhike I was cracking up. I also loved the banter between Edwin and Malcom. Great episode!
Also—on a sidenote—I know a lot of people don't like Nick, and, although he wasn't my favorite when he was introduced, I have really liked his character since he started at Whit's End. So anyways I was glad to see him in an episode and I liked him and Xavier together. I agree with Charles though...keep them away from computers!