Hello, once again! Over the past year, I’ve had several post ideas pent up behind busyness, other projects, and, of course, college preparation. But of course, I couldn’t neglect AIO Writer’s Block during one of its most felicitous times of the year: anniversary time. So join me this week as I unpack my latest thoughts and revelations this week for AWB’s third anniversary. Without further adieu, let’s get into my review of Evan David’s latest mark on Odyssey.
I have to say that, in my opinion, the comics have been quite hit-or-miss. Most of them seem like fan service to me, unnecessarily drawing out ideas that, for the average fan, would be passing thoughts or fun thought experiments. I also don’t quite appreciate Elsewhere in Odyssey’s weight on the Adventures in Odyssey canon. Having major plots (such as The Acolyte series) completely club-exclusive feels wrong to someone who was a Clubless fan for so long. Gradually introducing characters is one thing, but hashing out entire plots is something different. All that being said, when I saw the latest EIO comic storyline was an imagining of “A Day in the Life,” the movie from the episode in 1991, I was slightly relieved. Granted, putting that much effort into creating a plot from a one-off episode seemed, again, unnecessary to me, but I’m not in charge of how Focus spends its resources, and if the actual AIO canon wasn’t affected and the fans were happy, who was I to judge?
That was until Sunday morning when the latest Adventures in Odyssey Club episode was released to the public. Not ten seconds into the episode did I realize, once again, that I was wrong about seemingly innocent intentions. This was a whole episode devoted to continuing that one 1990s episode. But setting my emotions aside for a minute, and only a minute, let’s review the episode on its merit alone.
Music
The music for this episode was slightly above average. I’ve noticed a few leitmotifs that go off every time Connie goes on one of her little rants and her usual asking-for-forgiveness scene afterward. I believe this highlights a more significant problem, but I’m getting ahead of myself; we’ll go over that later.
Making
I found this episode delivered quite well, especially in terms of acting. Hearing former actors in a new setting is always refreshing; Heather’s is no exception. It reminds me of when Jana’s actor reappeared on the scene several years ago or hearing a grown-up Monty in GRC and The Long End. Additionally, Shona and Andre did exceptionally well, capturing both the excitement of old fans as well as the humor of the episode. Whit balancing his expected reprimand of Jay while also being enamored with the sudden attention was an enjoyable touch. And the “Professor Walrus doll” scene was honestly one that got a chuckle out of me. However, the writing was a bit lacking, feeling a bit rushed. Although Evan David has writing experience (questionable as it may be), I have to cut him slack as he’s breaking into a new medium with this episode. This next section will tie into Plot. For a first-time episode writer, it really does alright, but the balance between exposition to re-introduce a plot from the ’90s to anyone new and creating a sense of nostalgia for those who have heard the episode seems really hard to pull off, and this episode… doesn’t do it. It has the backing of the recently released comic behind it, but as I keep trying to emphasize, the plot should not really need enhancement from such exclusive stories. Now, this is a Club episode, which annoyingly makes it harder to criticize. Ideally, the average Club member has already read the latest storyline, but to make the main medium of Adventures in Odyssey a story about what appeared to be a different one-off story is different levels of extra.
Moral
The message the episode tried to get across was good. The message it unintentionally delivered was a mistake. On several counts now, Connie has gone off on generally innocent people, generally without reprimand, as it’s now considered part of her character. However, the general lack of it is becoming concerningly excessive, as she has even called out in the past (i.e. Eggshells). Of course, Connie apologizes for her outburst at Heather and it’s all hunky-dory at the end (per the usual), but it’s still something to think about. Outside of that, the message the episode actually does convey is a good one, and perhaps it’s one Connie can take to heart.
Emotional Weight
This episode did lean a bit into the emotional side, without getting too feely, mostly following Connie’s process through all this. It was also a bit humourous and as I’ve mentioned, purposefully nostalgic, all elements that seemed to be put together with intentionality. But after getting those out of the way, allow me to describe the main focus of this review.
The Bottom Line: This episode, and everything that revolves around it, is fan service. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the occasional subtle versions of fan service, those tidbits that people passionate about Odyssey will appreciate. 28 Hours, hints at Jason and Jillian in the latest Averys, things to keep the fans guessing. But this seems overboard. In concept, it’s not even unbearably bad. I love the throwbacks and connections, and the comic is one of the better ones so far, it just all feels very… on the nose for me. Of course, if someone wants to be fully engrossed in this storyline, it’s easy, it’s all right there in the Club. However, the Club isn’t advertised as some high-level fan club, it’s supposed to be an AIO community for kids. A Day in the Life wasn’t supposed to be some kind of multi-avenue saga, it was a one-and-done episode. A classic, yes, but not one to drag out like this. In principle, it’s not the content of the episodes, or the comic storyline, but the intent behind them. Adventures in Odyssey is not to be substituted through a comic strip, and the Club is not a means to shell out unnecessary fan service. If this trend of drawn out storylines continues, AIO may have a worse of future than intended. So ultimately, I give this episode
because the episode itself was good, but the more profound implication was much worse. However, I do still recommend you give it a listen, and I’ll even say you should read the latest comic series because it is well-put together. For AIO Writer’s Block, I’m Donald Treply. Thank you!
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