This is your spoiler warning. You don’t want spoilers? Don’t go past the warning!
We’re back again this week with the second part of the second most influential episode in Odyssey history. I don’t need to go into the usual pre-review gobbldey-gook; for that, you can read last week’s episode review. That being said, let’s go ahead and jump right into my review of the Rydell Realizations, Part 2.
Music
After writing a few reviews now, I’m realizing that it tends to fall between especially moving and memorable to particularly average. Contrary to what is likely popular opinion, Jared DePasquale is by far my favorite Odyssey composer, and again, he delivers in this episode. Initially, I was going to award this category four and a half stars, but going over it again, I simply had to give it five stars again. Among the best moments were the Emily as a reporter scene and Morrie and his conscience scene.
Making
Like last week, the plot of this episode was well-structured and full of suspense. It’s interesting to note that the computer Whit opens in the opening has a Mac opening sound, and while this has recurred in other eras, this era of Odyssey has had the most Apple sounds by far. Cooper’s unfolding personality is another nice detail that added a bit of shock to the plot. It’s nice to see more to these characters than meets the eye; more on that below. Marian Hill (???) is another Chekhov’s Gun detail that ended up being crucial. The suspense all around made the quality superb, and Emily confronting Marvin Plotkin (???) will almost certainly earn my vote for the best scene in this season’s Averys. Therefore, I’ll award this category not five, but four and a half stars.
Emotional Weight
There wasn’t a lot of emotion in either the comical or heavy direction, but like last week, there was suspense and drama to make up for it. It did weigh a bit in the intense level when Morrie’s conscience questioned him, and when Cooper attacked Plotkin(???) when he thought Suzu was being attacked. I didn’t have a lot of notes outside of that, and for that reason, I only awarded four stars in the emotion category.
Moral
The rubber did not meet the road in the moral category, which is the category that makes this episode so essential. We have yet to see Morrie begin to ask for forgiveness from Emily or even apologize for his actions that, in the Odyssey universe, almost certainly transpired several months ago. My greatest depletions from the moral category almost always seem to come when the moral explicitly stated by Chris at the end misses the mark of what the story actually portrays. This is undoubtedly the case in this episode, where the moral is that God has given us all unique talents and abilities, something that I already said was good to see in the various characters. The more significant issue is that just as in The Team, Emily, Cooper, and Morrie all engage in actions that are, at the very least, questionable. This rash behavior is repeating itself constantly and is beginning to become a broader issue. It’s also apparent that these actions will jeopardize their operation later on, something we’ll have to see in part three. The only redeeming quality of this category is Morrie’s development of a conscience, cliche as it may be. We also get insight into how he’s likely dismissed his conscience over the Odyssey months that may be leading up to his not only succumbing to it, but it leading to his eventual apology to Emily for his actions in a way that will, finally, Call the Whole Thing Off. In the meantime, though, I’ll have to award this category a mere three stars.
The Bottom Line:
This episode clearly diminished the high hopes I had in last week’s review. The moral lesson is lacking in ways that drag the entire episode down, and outside of an excellent plot and beautiful music, everything else about the episode is only slightly above average. Next week’s episode will have to tie up several loose ends, which is nothing new to the Odyssey crew, so fortunately, I have hope. I have enjoyed posting weekly again, so with the promise of another review and the hope of a better episode next week, I bid you farewell.
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