This article is part of a series on Character Development.
Hello, and welcome to the big series that was supposed to be the highlight of the summer before our new Eras series took off! Now, I’ve been super excited to delve into writing these articles because the focus on one of the things Odyssey is best at: character development. With the recent (at the time of writing) release of “The Smouse Show”, and now the spotlight on him in “Making Nice” it’s only appropriate that we kick this off with Adventures in Odyssey’s recent apex showcase of their excellence in writing. (Even though Odyssey Obsessors just published a reaction and review for the episode, which I had to include since it came out literally in the middle of my writing this). But this isn’t a review of The Smouse Show. Rather, we’re going to look at the character of Jay throughout the years and take a look at how he’s grown. Ready? Let’s begin.
Let’s look at Jay in two portions, which is what we’re going to do with a lot of characters in this series. There are multiple phases to every character’s development, and this one is no exception. For Jay though, we can see changes happen before and after 2014. Believe it or not, this actually has nothing to do with The Ties That Bind, but no spoilers. We’re introduced to Jay Smouse after the reboot in Album 51 and it’s immediately clear with the two episodes Odyssey uses how he’s intended to be portrayed. First, he’s a sort of bully; a sidekick to Vance King. Second, he has a particular gripe with Barrett Jones. But that facade starts falling off pretty much immediately, as we see in the next few Jones and Parker Mysteries. It’s clear in “When You’re Right, You’re Right” that Barrett and Jay’s rivalry, while a nuisance to them both at times, is not seated in anything particularly vengeful or hateful. In fact, in Unbecoming Jay (which I listened to in the midst of writing this article), it’s an interesting note that Barrett has loaned money to Jay in the past (even if it’s just a dollar), which shows the rather superficial nature of their “beef”. Now, this is followed up by Stage Fright, where Jay’s execution of “Rue the Day” is to play two roles in the upcoming play instead of the one he was rejected for, as opposed to any serious attempt at revenge. And in “The Malted Milkball Falcon”, he says “I didn’t do anything wrong this time!” although by this point it’s at least somewhat apparent that he’s doesn’t necessarily do wrong all the time. The next album proves it. In the first six episodes of the Green Ring Conspiracy, we see Jay show a seemingly unusual amount of concern for his uncle Wally Haggler (at one point to Haggler’s detriment). In the second half, we see that he actually actively engages on the side of the protagonists. This is a huge turning point for him. So after this, we don’t see the Jay-Vance duo right away, but rather we see the examples of those “wrong things” Jay was cited doing earlier. Mostly, they’re the ultimately harmless tricks he pulls on the Odyssey kids throughout Album 54. In the episodes he shows up or is mentioned in, he’s really a driving plot force. Album 55 is a huge character level up point though.
We see this level up in Mistaken for Good, the biggest crossroad in his character development. Here, we see the Jay-Vance duo revive one last time. Jay is depicted initially as being a lesson who would rather do nothing than go to an elderly home. Again, not necessarily an malicious or egregious character point as much as a bit self-serving and lazy. But shortly thereafter, he encounters the first real moral challenge we’ve ever seen him face. It starts with him running into both Mrs. Wilson and his first real semblance of conflict in his then-two year span on as a character. You probably know how the episode goes, but what’s interesting is how Jay resolved the situation he found himself in. I always thought about this. Jay opts for self-sabotage in exposing both him and Vance, something he really didn’t need to do. In his case, he could have gotten off free without letting anyone know they’d been pilfering her. Until very recently, it always baffled me that in her wrap, Chris mentioned Jay doing “the right thing” because in my mind he was just unnecessarily exposing himself, without mentioning that just earlier he had told Mrs. Wilson that she should keep her money. As I was drafting this in my mind, I realized this is in fact a greater, more selfless display of his character, showing the stark difference between him and his supposed pair. Speaking of pairs, it’s after the introduction of the Club that I can say Jay’s development begins to fully shape up. In fact, Jay really ends up as one of few characters that has a duality of both Club and series album development, the likes of which we see in a character like Renee much later. We have three major events that point that phenomenon out. They are, in both order of significance and occurrence, his confrontation with Whit at the end of “30 Jays Hath September”, the introduction of his emotions toward Zoey in “Take It On Trust”, and his running into Wilson, Whit, and Jason in the four-parter “There and Back Again”. Let’s break down the significance of these Club episodes one by one.
In “30 Jays Hath September”, we see that other side of Jay resurfacing from “Mistaken for Good”, that is, the lazy side. Jay regularly takes the easy way out while his counterpart, Brian, senses in his conscience that it’s not right. He goes as far as returning to do the work properly, supposedly baffling Jay. It is then that Whit points out something very interesting: this concept he recognizes and refers to as Jay’s “facade”. It’s something seen in Mistaken for Good as well: Jay almost outright admitted to Olivia that he would rather give Mrs. Wilson the gift himself, but couldn’t bear the thought of embarrassment and ridicule he would receive from “the guys” (though we never effectively hear these “guys” throughout this iteration of the program, but can assume the phrase regards Vance’s gang). In any case, this is a sort of explanation for what we see (joke or not) from Jay as he tries to “man up” to impress Zoe in the subsequent Club season. It’s clear that Jay’s never had a firm grasp on what true masculinity is supposed to look like, which isn’t necessarily a fault of his own, seeing as he explained in the previous season album that his parents aren’t opposed to any particular genres of content. Nonetheless, these interactions with Zoe are fleeting and initially unharmful to either, which is the way those scenes are written and how Zoe perceives them. This is tied together by her explanation of her lack of communication in the pair’s most recent interaction. But Jay’s biggest leap forward is in There and Back Again, where he goes from being a clownish side character to securing the budding of a storyline.
I’ll have to review There and Back Again at some point because it’s just such a complex episode. I can say now that this is definitely a sequel to the Ties That Bind, but not just in the story-like, branching-out way we covered a few weeks ago. No, I believe this; the story of a girl who has been drawn away by the dangling keychain of new-age ideals away from her stable family relationship into destructive consequences is the substitute for Olivia’s Room of Consequences adventure. There’s an element of horror in it, even in the music. But again, that’s a story for another time. We’re focused on Jay, and some key plot points happen here. We meet Jay’s dad and run into an inferiority complex that Jay apparently seems to have in his parents’ shadow. We also see that even though it comes from a place of cynicism (if you can call it that), Jay actually comes at things with a pretty traditionalist mindset. Whit still rightfully worries about the influence of his cousin’s new group on him. This has the intentional purpose to crafting on top of Jay’s moral structure. The most important thing this episode does for Jay is one you wouldn’t expect, though. It’s the introduction of his multifaceted abilities and interests. We caught glimpses of this before 2018, such as with his being on the “Odyssey Owl Sports Network” or showing up at a music competition. but these are used, like most of Jay’s role before this point, as gags, not established character points. Odyssey runs with this immediately. The very next Club season, we see Jay as a fresh member of a Trail Life team. Jay’s real “reintroduction” is Sir Buddy’s Snowy Day, in a similar fashion as Whit after his first hiatus. In the subsequent album, Jay is putting his “film work” to use by flaunting it, first to Connie, then to get onto “Live with Olivia and Zoe”. Interestingly, his next appearance involves a career assessment, the result of which is never actually presented to the audience. He becomes character mascot Jay, proficient skier Jay, and Percival Montgomery. Now, yes, this is build up on his character development, but thus far, his presence is still relegated to gags and jokes. Thus comes the last important bridge of this journey, his assimilation into the new “gang at Whit’s End”.
From 2020 onwards, Jay’s character partner is securely Buddy. This switch is paramount. For the near four years after Vance’s detention, Jay was forced to be a comical insert because of this fact. This changes after his friendship (adversarial as it may be) with Buddy. The 2021 and 2022 Club seasons solidify this. The real development comes in the regular 2021 season, where Jay, Buddy, and Zoe form a then newly recurring trio with the same adversarial chemistry. Zoe actually mentions sitting with them rather than Olivia during her disputes with her. The three show up in Mile 151 again at the beginning of 2023, and in October, we get the pinnacle of this part of Jay’s story arc and multiple arcs that have been brewing at the end of this last era. Alibis inducted all the sort of “displaced” characters: the abruptly reintroduced Ryan Cummings, the moody Bridget, Jules, who recently lost physical contact with her boyfriend, Cooper, who just lost physical contact with one of his best friends (and doesn’t really have an established character arc), and, of course Jay, who is still doing a pendulum between this high school group and his formulated trio. In the context of Jay, it’s fundamental to see that he assumes the role of group leader during the course of this episode. This sets him up as someone who is more central to this group, rather than an outsider. The plot is a bit sticky (pun intended), but we still get a glimpse at a profound agreement between these five. They trust each other and are friends. Mr. Whittaker is the one who says this, but the others agree. Just in this statement, two of Jay’s major antagonistic qualities are justified and canceled: his perceived lack of moral acuity and his lack of true connection to the other characters. So there we have it, a character development brought to the present. Long journey, huh? It’s not finished yet.
Like a lot of characters, Jay met a turning point in this most recent album, that is, Album 77. I wanted to start with Jay in this new series for AIO Writer’s Block is because of the uncovered focus on his relationship with Zoe. But then this album ended up having the greatest Jay concentration since Album 54! Obviously, the album is only six episodes, but now, the album’s focus shifts to Jay, rather than him being inserted. So, in this last stretch, we see the refinement of three major elements. First, his moral character, with its shortcomings, then his adoption into the main cast and friendship among the characters, and finally, the resolution of his relationship with Zoe. That last one is the one that kicked off this post: The Smouse Show. I liked it because Adventures in Odyssey addressed a unique problem with a unique solution. The thing about having this former throw-away character rise to prominence is his larger influence on the still mostly young audience. As Zoe points out in the episode, the goofy flirtation was mostly harmless at first, but it reached concerning levels at some point, and the team had to address it at some point. I think this episode did it flawlessly while also teaching children a relevant moral lesson. So, that’s the cross-section between the moral element and his relationship with Zoe. In the next two Jay episodes, we see Jay shine in the character set forth in There and Back Again. These are all the talents he’s seen pursuing…seriously. This is a new gag, of course, but now it has a backstory and meaning. And that interlocks with the friendship aspect. The only continuity problem is Jules’ comment that Jay is “trouble,” immediately followed up by her permitting him to manage the band.
So, what did we learn today? Jay is now an essential part of the AIO main cast and he’s had a huge character arc in the works, probably under most of your noses. It’s setup for another huge shift, which is likely his salvation arc. I don’t think that’s the case for the foreseeable future, though. For now, especially as a part of this new era, I think the focus will be on Jay continuing to be introduced as an asset to whatever group he’s in, such as he was in this recent Club episode. We shall see what’s to come.
This article took several weeks to fully formulate, and I’m so glad it’s over! That being said, I really like the idea of these longer posts being a part of our brand here at AIO Writer’s Block. I hope a lot of discussion comes out from this, and you can help by continuing it in our comments, on Discord, or on Facebook! For now, I’m Donald Treply. Good night!
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