“Value of a Buck” Taught Us More About Moral Dilemmas Than Rydell and Renee Ever Did.

Spoiler Warning! Essentially, every part of this episode was littered with twists and turns, which means there is no way to cover it without mentioning a spoiler. If you don’t want the episode ruined for you, go listen and come back!

The Value of the Buck is a five-star episode. I’m just going to come out and say it. Here, I’ll put the widget below and make it official:

Allow me to say, this is a five-star episode, nominally. It easily hit every one of the essential categories we prioritize here. However, there are precisely two things our friends at Adventures in Odyssey could have done to make it a real five-out-of-five episode. We’ll get to that here in a moment. Let’s cut the fluff and casual remarks and get to my official review of The Value of a Buck.

This episode is a capstone on almost a decade and a half of progress for these characters, and it shows. One of the first things to mention is the notable shift in how Shona Rodman and Robby Bruce have portrayed Jules and Buck. They’ve aged since they were introduced, yes, but since their respective characters’ conversions, they’ve intentionally come across more assured and mature. It’s an easily missed detail that we get to see shine in this masterclass in storytelling.

That line at the opening, “there’s a huge church crowd in there right now”, has two very different connotations before and after going into this episode blind, as your author did. Now the reason is stately expressed at the end, and the intent by both Buck and the creators is eventually clear . But the enthusiasm you can hear in that initial exchange from Buck is one more catch-it-or-miss-it moment that just lends more artistic points its way. In fact, everything that makes Jules weary at the beginning is just so much more enjoyable after hearing Buck’s story.

One also has to appreciate the retelling of this story as a flashback. On top of saving valuable episode time needed to wrap up these arcs before the end of this season, it really gave Buck, Jules, and the listener a warm moment when both of their stories converged. So, of course, our Emotional Weight category earns its full marks.

The scenes with Mr. Skint were chilling. Your author had just come out of listening to the Long End on a road trip, in fact, forgetting that the episode release day would be in just 36 hours. So listening to this follow-up was quite the experience. “The clock is ticking my boy, tick-tock, tick-tock”, is an all-time favorite line of mine, so that little inclusion in the salvation flashback was extra special. Another note is that it’s great to see Jason as a mentor; it provides stability to the episodes in which Buck has to lean on him. His being one of the last people Buck hears before drifting into the salvation scene is a superb subtle mark. Let’s go over that flashback, too while we’re at it.

Obviously, it is bar-for-bar reflective of Eugene’s experience in the Imagination Station. One can either scoff at this or suspend their disbelief and lean into it, and any listener should do the latter for this story. It’s commendable that Kathy Buchanan, who wasn’t even around for the Eugene conversion arc, was able to mirror that critical moment so fluidly. That demonstrates immense respect for the fans, this material, children listening, as well as the late Will Ryan. The music is absolutely phenomenal. The inclusion of “Amazing Grace” is a beautiful editorial choice. The whole scene also shows how this arc has really become Buck’s own. This whole journey began in “To Mend or Repair” as Eugene grapples with childlessness. Now, it’s blossomed into all of this. If you’ll allow a moment of first-person notetaking: I could listen to this scene over and over again. It’s truly one of the greatest Adventures in Odyssey moments of all time. 

All of this earns the making of this episode five stars. We’ll return to that category in a moment. The more critical piece of this episode revolves around its moral. In salvation episodes, the moral is rarely “the listener should get saved”. Rather, each salvific storyline has an underlying series of events that shares a more specific lesson that can be grasped from the unique way that the character encountered Christ (not unlike in real life, by the way). Eugene had to lose everything comfortable before he could truly experience his need for salvation. That example may not resonate with everyone in that way, but for someone who grew up around church and whose faith has waned, it may be just what they need. This example with Buck is no different in style. What’s interesting, however, is that his journey involved a topic that AIO, but more specifically certain team members, very heavily tried to wring out relatively recently. That was the theme that ended up being the focus of the infamous Jones (Rydell) Saga as this decade opened. In the summer of 2020, as you’ll remember, vinegar was poured on the “moral dilemma” wound as Renee got her turn with the theme. The entire ordeal made for pretty lackluster stories, far below both characters’ potential.

That’s what is most revealing about this “moral dilemma” storyline. AIO has found its reputation in creating excellent stories effortlessly. It does its best when it isn’t forcing something. Rydell was wrung out fervently, trying to double down on a message that wasn’t that well-thought-out in the first place and only annoyed a large portion of its base. This time, AIO didn’t have to jump through convoluted hoops about Corrie Ten Boom or weird Imagination Station-generated creatures or escape rooms to explain the significance of choosing correct moral options when in a dilemma. All they had to do was let this story unfold. In doing this, they were able to tell multiple morals at once, as they’ve done so many times in the past. Buck’s journey into his morality and eventual salvation was natural.

The listener mustn’t forget that this episode is a direct sequel to the last episode, where Buck encountered what happens when Christians don’t abide by the morals they claim. Everything from that to the stolen car incident in “As Buck Would Have It” to having to turn in his friend’s mom later on built a solid foundation for the salvation moment we see here as well as tangible cases for moral dilemmas. The title,“Value of a Buck” Taught Us More About Moral Dilemmas Than Rydell and Renee Ever Did,” should really say more than they ever could, because this is far above what you can do when you strive to fill an agenda other than the purpose of the show. All it took was Meltsner seeing the difference between true and false Christianity and a one/liner by Lexi at the end to wrap that up. She even used the infamous “good in people” line properly. It didn’t feel half-baked in the slightest, and that is five-star moral writing.

Now to the two caveats. Number one, which will likely send the team member who suggested this reeling: The Value of a Buck would have been a little more effective as a three-part episode. Like I said, I’m aware of the time crunch the Odyssey team is under trying to fulfill this self-imposed deadline of “every currently running saga complete by Album 80”. Even so, some extra time thrown at the set-up of the conversion moment certainly wouldn’t have hurt it. Secondly, and sort of in a similar vein, it would’ve been good to see the development of the relationship between Buck and Lexi. It’s something the show keeps teasing us with, but it’s difficult to tell if they want to follow through with it. At least a follow-up regarding the Chase situation would’ve been nice. Another episode dedicated to it certainly wouldn’t have hurt at all. That would of course lead to a conflict invoking its own saga, cutting against the aforementioned team goal. Neither of these particularly cut against the episode quality and will not impact their review score.

Several months ago, the W.E. Podcast release a condemnation of sorts of the Adventures in Odyssey program, which we responded to. That response can be summed up in one sentence: “Too much good has come out of Odyssey to throw it out just yet.” While many things have happened since then to sway me in favor the negative opinions around, I still stand by this statement. I must agree with the W.E. on another bullet, cautiously. Their closing remarks made a point of praising the work Kathy Buchanan has done to be exceptional. And again, while that may not be a statement I can 100% stand behind, this episode justifies it exceedingly. Kathy is not the only good writer on AIO’s team at this moment. In fact, there is only one writer active that one could really qualify as “bad”, an assertion that is itself debatable (see Face the Unknown reaction). But a writer committed to the quality of their work, their fans, and the gospel, and who is decently talented, will churn out good content episod after episode. That’s what we’ve seen in this saga. Yes, the Value of a Buck, and yes, every episode involved in Buck’s salvation and adoption earns a resounding five stars. But there’s always room to go up. Let’s hope it stays that way. For now, I’m signing off. Have a good night.