Review of Adventures in Odyssey #75: The Best Is Yet to Come

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
And now Audio Theater Central. Hello, welcome to Audio Theater Central. This
is the show that explores family friendlyaudio drama through news, reviews and interviews.
I'm your host, JD. Sutter. This is episode two oh one.

(00:24):
In just a few minutes, I'llbe joined by ATC contributor Austin Peache
and we're going to be reviewing albumseventy five of Adventures and Odyssey. It's
going to be a ride, soget ready buckle up. Oh no,
wait, that was the last album. Anyway, We've got some feedback coming
up from Nato, Bethany Rose,and David. But before we get to

(00:46):
all of that, let's jump intosome audio drama updates. We interrupt this
program to bring you a special reportand in other news tonight, a brief
look at the headlines. Now theywant exciting, fast piece news that's and
entertaining like this. If you areinvolved in an audio drama production, please

(01:07):
do not forget about the ATC Newssubmission form. Please let us know about
what's going on, even if it'sjust a small update that you've posted a
cast list or something like that,new releases, whatever it might be,
Please let us know. There isa link right on our homepage at audio
Theatercentral dot com to send that information. I'm going to keep beating this drum

(01:29):
until people start using it. I'mtrying my best to stay on top of
the news, but it's just waytoo much. Back in the day,
when we were just pretty much followingadventures not a Sea and a Lamplider Theater
and maybe the Brinkmann Adventures, therewas just a few ongoing series that I
had to try to track down updateson. But now there's so much going

(01:53):
on, and I've said this beforethat is a great thing. I love
it, but it's just too muchfor me to try to race out and
track down every single update that's goingon before every episode. So please help
me to help you get the wordout about what you're doing by sending us
those updates through that form. Well, before we jump into upcoming releases and

(02:16):
new releases, there are a coupleof platforms that I'm really excited to tell
you about. First off is onecalled libro FM. Now you may have
already heard of this website, butit is essentially an audible competitor for audiobooks.

(02:36):
However, they do have quite abit of audio drama and the reason
why I'm talking about them is becausefor a very long time, there hasn't
been a really good way of gettingaudio dramas that have been produced by the
BBC. They would occasionally release someof them on different websites, and it

(03:00):
was never really easy to get copiesof them until recently. The easiest way
to obtain legal copies of BBC audiodramas was to search around on Amazon and
try to find the limited few thatthey have released on CD. And there
was not a huge number compared tohow many shows that they have produced,

(03:24):
so you know, you would haveto buy the CD copies and then if
you wanted digital ones, you'd haveto rip them and add them to your
own personal library. Then a fewyears ago they started releasing a big chunk
of their stuff on Audible. Nowthat's great if you are an Audible member
and you really enjoy that platform.However, you do not actually own those

(03:49):
audio dramas because those are Audible files, you know, and yes, even
if you stop being a member,you still have access. But if something
were to happen, something crazy,the Audible platform goes away or somehow those
titles got removed from the platform,you didn't actually have those files on your

(04:13):
computer, so you didn't really ownthem. Again, if you're okay with
that, if you're fine with thatrisk, then that's cool. Keep using
Audible because they do have a hugenumber of BBC audio dramas, and I'm
primarily talking about the classic literature adaptations, which are really my favorites that the
BBC has done. But with LibroFM, all those same titles are now

(04:38):
available on this platform, and theyoffer DRM free downloadable files, so you
actually have the MP three's. Thatis a huge benefit in my book.
Now, they still do have alower audio quality than I would prefer for
audio dramas, but at least youactually own the files. And again before

(05:03):
a lot of these titles were onlyavailable on CD, and some of them
are out of print in CD,and so they would cost a lot of
money. For instance, the Ithink around thirteen hours long Lord of the
Rings adaptation, it's all three parts. There was a beautiful box set with
maps and everything. I got iton Amazon several years ago, probably close

(05:30):
to ten years ago now, andI think I paid something around somewhere around
thirty five dollars something like that,and it was a used copy. But
the CDs were in great condition whenI looked at the price of that,
because it's out of print now.Not long ago, there were only a
couple of copies available on Amazon andthey were like one hundred some dollars.

(05:54):
It is a beautiful set. Ifyou've got the budget and you want to
get that CD set, it wouldbe a great addition to your collection.
But now you can get the digitalfiles. Like I said, Lord of
the Rings, David Copperfield, Pilgrim'sprogress been her all kinds of classical adaptations
Sherlock Holmes, So this is agreat platform. They do have an app

(06:15):
and you can stream those files throughtheir app if you want to. But
again I think the biggest selling propositionis that you can actually download and own
the files. They also have apretty good selection of some collections of old
time radio episodes, some of theGraphic Audio productions. I don't endorse everything
that Graphic Audio has produced, butthey do have some really great stuff.

(06:38):
Red Wall another series that is areally good one. So lots of great
audio drama on there. There arelinks in the show notes and if you
don't mind, please use my linksbecause these are affiliate links, which allows
Libro fm to give ATC a littlebit of a kickback if you use our
links. So Libro fm is agreat platform if you want to purchase some

(07:01):
great BBC Radio classic literature adaptations inaudio drama form. The other platform I'm
excited to tell you about is calledwindow Seat. Now. Window Seat is
a new app that will give yourchild access to a world of Christian audio
dramas, podcasts, and daily devotionals, all tailor made to ignite their imagination,

(07:26):
inspire their faith and cultivate their values. Now, this is a Christian
only audio platform that is aimed towardages five to sixteen. I have been
talking with this team now for afew months and this is going to be
launching very soon, sometime this summertwenty twenty four. It will be app

(07:48):
only at launch, but a webversion of their platform will be coming again.
This will be Christian only content.They will have shows such as base
Camp, Adventures, Your Story Hour, Pirateeers, Witnesses, Discovery, Mountain,
Nick Guy, Private Eye, TheHuman Eel, and many more to
come. This is shaping up tobe a really interesting platform if you're looking

(08:15):
for some quality Christian audio drama programming. They do plan to add other types
of programming like I mentioned podcasts anddevotionals and things like that, but they're
putting a huge focus on Christian audiodrama. So if you are interested,
either as a consumer or as aproducer, head over to windowseat dot Io.

(08:35):
There's also a link in the shownotes and there is a place to
join their waiting list, so youcan be notified the moment the app launches,
and if you are a producer,you can reach out and let them
know about your show. This againis shaping up to be a really interesting
platform. Now, this is differentfrom Drama Phi. Drama Phi is way

(08:56):
more open. They have all kindsof content and it is not exclusively Christian.
So these two different apps are aimingfor a much different demographic and consumer.
So I think there's a room inthis space for multiple different options.
But if you're looking for Christian onlycontent, this is an option that you

(09:20):
really want to consider. It's goingto be affordable, and the tech behind
what they're doing looks really, reallygood, So again you want to keep
an eye out for this Windowseat dotIo. Now, one final note before
we move into the new releases,and that is the Audio Drama Institute that

(09:41):
John Tharnoff has been putting together.I've referenced it in the past, but
there is a little bit more informationcoming and we hope to have a website
up very soon with all of thedetails. But Phil Lawler, Kathy Buchanan,
and John Tharnoff are launching an allnew Writers Recharge seminar. It will
be September fifteenth through the twenty first, and this is going to be top

(10:05):
tier instruction for writers with, asJohn puts it, a kick in the
pants, inspiration and a whole lotof fun. They will all be teaching
in person and meeting with writers oneon one on the campus of the new
South Georgia Studios in Valdosta, Georgia. So again, more details to come,

(10:26):
but if this sounds like something youwould be interested in, save the
date September fifteenth through the twenty first. More information in terms of cost and
everything else will be coming as soonas we have it, and we will
try to keep you informed on anydevelopments as they come for this audio drama
institute. All right, let's jumpinto new releases. Triple Chord Productions is

(10:50):
a brand new audio drama company andthey have officially launched just recently with their
first short form production called Appalachian TalesBonnie Kate. It is available to listen
to on their website, or youcan download it for free through their store.
They have plans for more full lengthand micro audio dramas in the works.

(11:11):
Triplecordproductions dot com is their website.They are on the socials as well.
Link is in the show notes ifyou want to check that out and
give a listen to their first production. Really excited to see another new entrant
into this space and really looking forwardto hearing what they come up with.
Also out now Brinkman Adventures Season ten, Redemptive Velocity. Now, I think

(11:35):
this might be the first time they'vedone this, but all six episodes are
the same title, so it's RedemptiveVelocity Parts one through six. The summary
is the Brinkman family has no ideawhat they're getting into after they enter a
high stakes reality show RV race acrossthe country. Redemptive Velocity is full of

(11:58):
exciting plot twists, turns, andhead spinning audio drama action. What starts
as a fun family race quickly becomesa threat to deeply held beliefs, values,
and even personal safety. Will theBrinkman's Finish the Great gueemy RV Race
victoriously or will the race finish them? These six new, apologetically themed episodes

(12:22):
deal with some challenging questions and issuesfacing Christians today. They will keep you
and your family listening and guessing untilthe rip roaring end. Wow, it
sounds like a wild ride. Let'sgive a listen to a little teaser four
part one. Hey there, Peter, what you're doing? Take you a

(12:50):
video for the Brinkman Channel? Whatyou're on TIEV now? No, it's
just an Internet channel. Amazing,isn't What's amazing? Your mom's phone has
more computing power than all the computersused to send our men to the moon.
Now they even have a mini moviestudio built in. Never thought much

(13:11):
about it. That phone has amicrophone camera, GPS tracking, twenty four
hour news applications, access to almostevery library in the world, more information
than the library in Alexandria, avirtual post office, and if you want,
you can even use it to speakto someone across the planet. Those
are all good things, right,Oh sure, But like all tools,

(13:33):
technology can be used for good andbad. It's up to the user.
What's that thing you got there?It helps me get around since my hip
surgery gets called a walker. Ilove that rote. Yeah, I'm monitor
to get back here so I canhelp this young lady with her flowers.
What you're doing, miss Berdi?Covering my roses back up? I always

(13:58):
get excited and uncover for them tooearly. It's supposed to freeze again tonight,
Wisconsin. Who weather? If youdon't like it, just wait five
minutes. Can you bring in somefirewood? Sure? Mom oh as always
sounds like a lot of fun withthe Brinkman's Redemptive Velocity is now available on

(14:18):
CD and digital download. Also outnow lamp Lader Theater's first audio drama in
Espanol, and it is one thatwe've heard of. It is The Boy
of Mount Regi in Spanish and Jovendel Monte Rigi. Pardon my terrible Spanish

(14:39):
accent, but if you are aSpanish speaker and you want to hear some
great, high quality audio drama inSpanish, there is a link in the
show notes to check that out,and it is only available as a digital
download. I don't believe CDs arebeing offered at this time, and looking

(15:00):
ahead to what is coming soon.Also from Lamplighter Theater. Tip Lewis and
his Lamp is available for pre ordernow. I believe this one was recorded
back in May and so it isin post production. But it was written
by Phil Lawler. And do wehave a couple of cast members. Jake
Phillips voices the character of mister Burrows. Gary Nation voices Minister Holbrook. Also

(15:28):
in the cast Craig Hart, NatoJacobson, and Luke David. So a
little bit about this one. Tipis a leader, but not the kind
you'd want in your Sunday school class. Not only is he full of sarcasm
and provocations, he is the naughtiestboy in school until he hears a story
that compels him to come face toface with who he is and who he

(15:50):
would like to become. As Isaid, this one was written by Phil
Lawler and it is available for preorder now. Link is in the show
notes and an update on The Callerfrom Audio Imagination seventy seven Productions. Production
has been completed on The Caller andpost production is underway. The release date

(16:11):
will be September thirtieth, twenty twentyfour. The cast includes Logan Warner,
Annie Di Martino, Craig Hart,Jonathan Cook, Live, Joe Hanson,
Austin Simmons, Casey Barry Anderson,and Alicia Hanson. Still in post production,
so we don't know the final runtime, but it's looking like it's going
to be somewhere around thirty five toforty minutes. And this script, which

(16:34):
was written by Matthew Warner, isbased on the urban legend of the Babysitter
and the Man Upstairs. Looking fora release this fall, and the artwork
has been posted on their socials ifyou want to check that out link in
the show notes. And finally,I am really excited about this one.

(16:55):
A new musical audio drama. I'vetalked about this before. This is something
I've wanted wanted to see high qualityaudio drama musicals for adults, because there's
been a lot of musical audio dramafor children over the years in the family
friendly space, but not much interms of content for adults. So a

(17:15):
name that you've heard on this showbefore, actor David Sanborn and Ellen Sanborn
have joined forces with John Fornoff tocreate a new musical audio drama that will
be released on radio. This motherand son duo have written and toured with
Stage musicals and different venues throughout theworld, and this new show will incorporate

(17:36):
their most successful musicals and introduce funnew material as well. Again, I'm
super excited about this. More informationwill be coming soon. As soon as
I hear, will try to getthat information out to you. This sounds
like it's going to be fantastic,so I'm really looking forward to this.
Well, I think it's time tobring Austin Peache on and let's talk about

(18:00):
Adventures in Odyssey. I remember herfrom that radio program what was it?
A Western musical melodrama? You helpedout with the kids radio program and you
were great, another important tool ofacting, the art of becoming Should we
alo or or something? For what? Well, once again it is time

(18:23):
to talk about Adventures in Odyssey.And this is gonna be a tough one.
It's gonna be a tough one becausethis is this is an album that
so many people have been looking forwardto, myself included, and I do
know that it's been out for alittle while now and lots of people have

(18:45):
been waiting for us to talk aboutit here on the show. Well,
the time has come to talk aboutAdventures in Odyssey album seventy five. The
Best is yet to come, releasedin October of twenty twenty three and begin
airing in early October through mid November. So yes, we're a little bit

(19:07):
late in getting to it. Butyou know what, this is a milestone
album, and this is a wellit's the end of an era. I
think even Eugene uses that line inthe last episode of this album. So
this one is it's a bittersweet.There are some beautiful moments in it,
and there are some ones that makeyou cry, and so yeah, it's

(19:34):
time to talk about it and let'sjust let's just get all the feelings off
our chest. So lost of FIGIis here joining me to talk about this
album. You ready to do this? I hope. So good to be
back. Okay, well, youknow, I don't think there's much needed
in the way of introduction here.As I said, you know, this

(19:56):
is the album that folks have beenlooking forward to for quite some time with
a mixture of anticipation and dread,I think, because everybody was aware that
this was going to be the sindofffor the character of Eugene, or at
least that's sort of what we werepretty much anticipating. You know, we
weren't one hundred percent sure how itwas going to play out, but we

(20:19):
knew there was going to be somesort of resolution with this character. So
that's what we get here. SoAustin, will you do us the honors
of given the folks a little bitof a refresher and sharing the summary.
I'd be happy to The race islong. Sometimes stumble helps me up.

(20:48):
It's time my fault now loose hope, he gives me courage, swap song,
give mind to run long, andcan wait to make it. The

(21:22):
Best is yet to Come, thepromise, even wait, the fallive.
Everything has led to this moment.A new technology created by Odyssey's own Eugene
Meltzer, could change medical science aswe know it. This new creation would
improve the lives of thousands, evenmillions, but Eugene is the only one

(21:45):
who can guide his work into thefuture. The four part adventure The Best
Is Yet to Come presents an incrediblydifficult decision for the Meltzner family, with
implications for their friends and the restof the world. Meanwhile, and two's
Company four as a crowd, ZuoRydell pulls Emily Jones into a mystery where
the clues contradict themselves, they finda way to work together and solve a

(22:06):
bizarre case, and finally, amysterious phone call gets Penny Bass an opportunity
to bring closure to a dark chapterfrom her past. The process comes with
its own painful revelations. Don't missas far as it depends on me.
Past, present and future collide ata critical turning point this summer, and
our friends in Odyssey will realize thatdespite difficult times, the best is yet

(22:30):
to come. So this album isjust over two and a half hours long
and two hours thirty five minutes ifyou include the two bonus tracks, which
are both songs this time. Interestingthat they didn't have any sort of extra
scenes or interviews or anything like that, but I guess it was sort of

(22:52):
appropriate that they were both songs relatingto that four part episode. And they
actually are nice little editions. Imean they sound great. Yeah, we
don't get acoustic version songs very often, that's true. That's true. Yeah,
just nice acoustic guitar, and aswe'll get to later on the singing

(23:15):
their voices Robbie, Bruce and Shonajust sound really great. So yeah,
I really enjoyed those extra bonus tracksthere, So you know, there are
two episodes before we get to theclimax of this album, which I'm not
sure that everybody is. I'm prettysure everybody is waiting for us to talk

(23:37):
about but we're gonna go in order. We'll talk about these first, you
know, and then we'll move intothe big topic that I know that that
people are interested in. So we'regonna start with episode nine sixty four,
as far as it depends on me, written by Abigail Geiger and directed by
Marshall Junger, with sound designed byZack Schneider and music by John Campbell,

(24:00):
who incidentally does the music for everyone of the episodes on this album.
Austin, I'm gonna let you kickthings off. Any initial thoughts on as
far as it depends on me?Yeah, I'm what if we're gonna have
one of those moments where we disagreevery much on the episode. I'm interested
to know what you thought about thisepisode. But kind of the introduction did

(24:21):
there a lot of people were thinkinglike, oh, we'll get to the
four parter and use these two.You know, this got kind of overlooked,
but really this episode was quite goodin my opinion. I really enjoyed
it. It was a not abig epic kind of story or wasn't like
a big comedy or anything like that. It was a very not necessarily cozy,

(24:45):
but it's a nice slice of lifeepisode that we don't get too often
in Odyssey, and bringing back elementsfrom the Greener Conspiracy, and also Woot
and a Penny both being written well, and the really good moral and Penny
the time that she can actually teachsomebody. I love those moments. So

(25:07):
yeah, I really enjoyed this episodea lot. So I didn't I didn't
hate this one, but I alsodidn't love it either. I did think
it was interesting to revisit this wholestoryline, Like, was anyone really clamoring
for a resolution of the Trask thing? I mean, it was sort of
an interesting idea, but it wasnot anything that I was expecting. I

(25:30):
don't think anybody really cared about that, you know, So it was an
interesting thing for them to bring thatback. But I will agree with your
assessment that in general, this wasan interesting storyline. It had some heartfelt
moments, and it was nice tosee Penny in a more serious mode.

(25:51):
You know, I've said this before, and I don't want to beat a
dead horse, but you know,I'm not a big fan of the character
of Penny, so this one whereshe is actually acting a little more mature.
For the most part, there aresome moments which still made me cringe
a little bit, but uh,for the most part, she was pretty
normal. And she even makes ajoke about that or or I think it

(26:12):
was it was the word normal thatthey used. You want to she said,
yeah, like, oh, we'renot normal or something like that.
Well, she said, it's itwould be nice. The daughter I'm blanking
on the name now, Elizabeth,she said it would be nice to talk
with somebody normal or something like that, and and Penny was like, and

(26:32):
She's like, what do you meanby normal or something like that. So,
yeah, we know that the Pennyis quirky. But yeah, overall,
I did like how she was portrayedin this one. But I did.
I did still have some some thingsabout this episode that I thought were
kind of corny, but overall Idid enjoy it. Now here's one of

(26:52):
the moments that I thought was alittle bit off. At the moment when
the mother via recognizes Penny and callsher riff Raff who framed her son and
that all that kind of stuff.She basically just like calls her out right
there, and that was obviously amoment that was meant to be a commercial
break or a break for the radioversion, because there was no need for

(27:14):
them to really cut that scene becauseit picks up immediately right at that moment
again, but it goes into amusic queue right there, which again was
for the radio broadcast to go tobreak there. But the music there felt
all comedic, which was a littlebit weird to me because this was a
dramatic moment. She's like, basically, Oh, I recognized you from the

(27:36):
trial. You were one of theones who framed my son, and we
have this kind of quirky, comedicsounding music que there, which I felt
was a little bit off. Iwould have liked to have had something a
little bit more dramatic, not overlyso, but I don't know, it
just felt a little bit odd.Yeah, I don't think I would have
noticed that until you said it,but I would have. Sometimes I love

(28:02):
Don Campbell's music, but sometimes forsome of stuff for Odyssey, sometimes things
go to like an extreme in onedirection where it should be like more subtle
in some ways, or like somethat it's over dramatic in some cases on
some episodes for certain moments, AndI think this is probably I'm turn think
back to the queue. I havea general idea of how it was in
there, but I think, yeah, that comedy with that is like it's

(28:22):
speosally kind of comedic. I thinkyou could have some comedic elements in that,
but it's kind of like I don'tthink you have to get you know,
very kind of you know, veryserious tone there, and you can
have me some elements of that init. But yeah, it just felt
a little bit too bouncy. Iguess I don't know how else to say
it. Yeah, yeah, whichI like to accent for for Verra,

(28:45):
like the actress for Vera, andalso you know Elizabeth. I I enjoyed
those characters quite a bit, likeyou know, this is you know,
one off characters you never heard fromthem before. Yeah, you know,
they're all related to you know,Benjamin Trask, which I know some people
mentioning and I think you mentioned earlierthat you thought it was like too far
past that point. I don't thinkso, because honestly brings back a lot

(29:06):
of old stuff things like Wonderworld orlike Tasha Forbes, like in the Radell
Revelations, or even more recently likeExtended Cut. It's kind of a sequel
kind of episode to an older episode. But I felt like this, I
felt like it was resolved to apoint there, like in a Penny Saved,
because we hear he goes to jail. It's not like he, you

(29:26):
know, escaped prison or something likethat, and we you know, mister
Skin has been caught in that kindof stuff, and of course Archie Hagler
is still in jail and mister growit's been captured. But I like how
this kind of focus is and ithas some distance from that, which kind
of plays into the moral of it, where sometimes you may think you have
moved on from a certain point andthen you reminded of that and maybe things

(29:47):
aren't as resolved or as settled asyou thought, and that can be a
good thing because that it's not likePenny is now officially done with this and
officially forgiven him even after these newthings happened that she realized that we was
doing. But I felt, hey, if you had an issue with this,
you should have an issue with anytimeshonesty brings things from like ten years
ago. Yeah, no, soI don't. I don't have a problem

(30:10):
with it being you know, theamount of time that it's been, so
yeah, I didn't say that thatit's been too long since and I'm just
saying it was just like, Imean, everybody wanted wants to hear more
from Tasha Forbes or or you know, mentions of cool things from the past
like Wonderworld and stuff, but thischaracter felt like it had already been resolved
trask, and so I would justlike, Okay, why why bring that

(30:33):
back? Was it was there reallywas any Was there really a need to
do that? But I already tractthe comment. I mean, other people
still made that comment, but yeah, like no, I get, I
get what you're saying there, butI think that's one thing that which i'd
go Geiger wrote this episode. Iknow you're not a big fan of her
writing, but I really like alot of her episodes, and in this

(30:55):
episode and the following one, Ithink in one of the official podcast episodes,
she likes writing stories about conflict likeinterpersonal communication and relationships, but she's
done a lot of episodes like thatin If I Never Told you, and
I'm blanking on some of the otherones. But she does such a great

(31:15):
job of creating realistic conflicts and showinghow to work through those problems in a
very unique way. And I thinkI said this maybe on the last review
I was with you. They're talkingabout legally Wutin, But Abigolu Giger I
think does the best writing for Wootinand Penny because usually when she writes for

(31:37):
them, they're at their best.Marsha Younger is probably like a second,
but I think at this point Abigaildoes a great job writing for those characters,
making them not just super goofy,but having a balance at their goofy
side, and they're kind of morewhy side pun not intended, But like

(32:00):
with wuten, he takes time totalk to her, to teach her,
and even Penny gets a point whereshe can finally see through her sadness and
things like that. And I won'tsay the name of the person, but
I know you and I were havinga conversation with somebody that we know who
she relates quite a bit with Penny, and even the Penny seems a little
bit unrealistic, this person actually relatesto her a lot, and yeah,

(32:23):
there may not be that many peoplethat relate to her, but the people
that can, I think works reallygreat for them. And I think it's
one thing that I really like aboutwhen Penny is written this way, like
in this one and for a PennyI'm trying to think, like in the
I think It's Into the Woods orOut of the Woods and album fifty nine,
when she's talking about her church experiencesand that kind of stuff, those

(32:46):
moments are really great. That makesPenny not just an air headed character.
And I love how this episode broughtthat across well. To your point about
writing the conflict, well, that'sfor sure because the whole mother daughter dynamic
there was really really well done,I think, And I'll get to that
in a moment, but before there'sa couple of wooden lines. Like I

(33:09):
said, there were some that Ithought were fun. There were some that
were or not so much to me, but I did like that. I
mean, this was such a wootenthing to say right towards the beginning there
when when Vera says something to Elizabethand like uses her full name and Woulden
says, ah, she called youby your middle name and everything, you
know, I was like, thatwas such a wooden thing, and I

(33:31):
thought that was kind of funny.But later when he's talking too Penny,
I did like that moment because he'strying to be serious and just you know,
share with her his perspective. Andhe starts talking about his brother and
everything, and we've a really deep, serious moment, and then he says
something about Wellington. He was alwaysshouting in his phone bye bye bye.

(33:54):
I thought that was a weird wayto say goodbye, and I didn't want
that, and I thought, oh, come on, like that is a
very awkward moment to insert a reallydumb joke, like Wudent's not an idiot.
I said this. I think inthe last review, Woudent's not stupid.
Yes, he might misunderstand some things, but come on, he's not
that dumb. He's a businessman himself. To that though, it's kind of

(34:15):
meaning of Yeah, he's being kindof fun. I don't think it was
too out a place, but it'skind of saying his saying about how he
saw his brother acting and he didn'twant to be like him. Yeah,
I get that. I get that, But the whole the bye bye bye
joke, I mean, it wasjust really dumb moment to insert that he's
trying to be serious, and Ijust felt very odd to drop a joke

(34:37):
right there. I would have muchpreferred him to just keep that serious tone
with her and just be heartfelt insteadof trying to be funny. Whether whether
that was the writer making the decisionto make a joke there that Rudin really
didn't understand what his brother was saying, or if it was just him trying
to be funny. Either way,that was not a good moment to insert

(34:58):
that in my opinion, agree todisagree, but continue. Well that's all
I have about that, but Ijust yeah, it just felt really really
odd, Like, yes, thereare moments when you want to diffuse tension
with humor, but there was notension there necessarily. He was just being
very heartfelt with his wife, andyeah, so it just felt weird.

(35:20):
But back to the mother daughter thing, after that blow up there with Elizabeth
and Viira, which again I thoughtwas very uh, that's felt very genuine
and those two actresses were fantastic.They did a great job with that,
sure, and then when Penny praisethere, that was a really really sweet
moment. I really liked that.Yeah, and this episode also because even

(35:45):
at the end of like greenw ConspiracyPart eleven, I think it is we
hear about Delta Trask being the realbad guy and him, you know,
making that comment about a thing aboutall these things when I'm counting my millions
or something like that. His voiceis very on a calming and yeah,
he was a villain and this bigvillain, but I think this episode kind

(36:06):
of made me dislike him even moreof what he was doing because you know,
stealing the artwork and like doing onhis own and keeping it and that
kind of stuff. Like, Okay, I can really understand why Penny would
have a harder time with this becauseshe had already gotten over him being this
you know, you have that kindof distance to a certain extent of them
doing this bad thing to other people. Yeah, he also like a kidnapped,

(36:28):
I mean these other people, butthis I think is at a more
personal level to a certain extent thatmaybe it even harder to take m Yeah.
Yeah, so yeah, overall,I thought it was a pretty decent
episode. I did like those sidecharacters. And it's weird because I don't
know, is it bad that Ifound that the best moments and the most
compelling part of this episode was theseside characters that will probably never hear from

(36:53):
again, and not the main characters. I mean, I felt more connected
to what was going on with themthan than Penny and Wooten's. But overall
it was a pretty decent episode.Well, I have to say this is
probably the best, if not oneof the best, just Wooten and Penny
episodes as like them as main characters. Yeah, Like, I'm not a

(37:15):
big Penny fan, and over theyears I haven't been that big of a
Wooten fan either, But yeah,like I said, Abigail does a great
job and usually Marshi Younger does aswell writing those characters as more grounded,
and I appreciate that when the writersdo that and bringing up, you know,
a little nostalgic because even with theGreen New Conspiracy, a lot of

(37:35):
people have a lot of fun memoriesof that and a lot of people like
that, so bringing that, Ithink just adds that little extra cherry on
top to this kind of episode,which it was kind of funny that well,
not funny, I guess, butI wish that Clubhouse Magazine did not
spoil me on this episode because inthe Clubhouse magazine, the Odyssey section about
things coming up or whatever they mentionedit's stopped through Trask in the Clubhouse magazine.

(38:00):
Like I didn't need to know that. I wanted that would have been
a great surprise and a great revealbecause even the album summary they don't mention
who it is, Like, wayto show your hand there, Odyssey.
Oh wow, I didn't realize that. Yeah. Overall, good episode,
you know, now that I thinkabout it. I think the the uh
episode teaser also mentions I think shesays her name in the too, so

(38:25):
it kind of spoils it there too. But yeah, that is an interesting
choice why they would have done that. I mean, I mean, I
guess it does happen right at thebeginning of the episode, so it's not
a huge, huge surprise, butit is still a spoiler to a certain
extent. Yeah, Like I thinkit may some people thought, or at
least me, I thought it's somethingmaybe like Penny's history, like back in
her childhood, like her our teacheror me her ex boyfriend or something like

(38:49):
that. Possibly, But I'm gladthey didn't go that route and went this
way. M Yeah, yeah,it worked, It definitely worked well.
That brings us to episode nine sixtyfive two's Company Four's a Crowd, also
written by Abigail Geiger, directed byPhil Lawler, with sound designed by Luke
Gano and music by John Campbell.Well, you know what, I said

(39:14):
that everybody had been waiting for thefour parter on this album, but I
know that a lot of people werewaiting for this moment too, the moment
where Emily confronts Wit, And I'mso glad that they did this. It
needed to happen, in my opinion, So I'm really really happy that they
did have that moment. I wishit had been a little bit deeper and

(39:37):
not quite as sandwiched in or smashedin with another plot on the episode,
because it's really only the first fewmoments of the beginning of the episode and
then again towards the end, andthe rest is more about what's happening with
Suzu. But regardless, I'm gladthat they did it. Yeah. So

(39:58):
I've said before every Roydell episoisode Icome to listen to, I try to
get my expectations very low, andI did that for value in the process,
and I actually kind of enjoyed thatepisode in album seventy four, and
I did the same thing with thisone too. I can't reme if I
saw before I heard the episode ornot that Abgo Geiger was writing it,
because I think Bob Who's and Ithink it's not Abigo Geiger. I think

(40:22):
I liked their episodes more writing forthe Rodel's more than other writers like Kathy
Kennan and Phil Lawler. But yeah, I'm glad they did it. It
took way too long for it toactually happen. And also, one thing
that makes me a little sad isthat in an official podcast episode, abiol

(40:44):
Geiger said that she wrote this episodenot knowing. I'm not gonna get into
spoilers at all here, JD,because I don't think you've heard album seventy
sixty. I have you no,Okay, so I'll I won't add any
spoilers. But basically, she wrotethis episode without knowing because I think the
Idell revelations I don't know realizations,and Album seventy six, I think those

(41:07):
are written or being written. Sothis is kind of a tangential story to
a certain extent. So like whathappens in this doesn't necessarily affect what happens
to that and vice versa. AndI think that's a mistake because that's kind
of what we had. Kind ofthe mess that we got into at the
beginning is because I have a unifiedvision of how the Redult cycle would go.

(41:29):
So when the Rodel revelations came around, Peel had to pick up all
these pieces from different writers and thatkind of stuff to create something that fit,
and unfortunately didn't all fit all thatgreat. But I'm assuming that's probably
the best that could be done fromthat. So on its own merit,
this episode I think does quite wellwith that. Like I'm glad she finally

(41:51):
had this conversation that she was honestabout it. I'm glad that Wit apologized
because I'm trying to think, Iknow, we've had lots of episodes of
like Young Wit, you know,Jim Custer with you know, doing a
lot of some bad decisions and thiskind of stuff. We don't hear Wit
saying a lot of apology, likeeven things like the Mortal Coil or some

(42:14):
of the stuff, like kind ofthe ones when he is in the wrong,
and for the longest time it wastreated as not a big deal.
And I'm hoping that enough fans andparents, you know, made enough noise
about the situation, and they finallydid do something about it. Again,
I think it's maybe too little,too late, because we still have to

(42:37):
live with the episodes that came beforethis. But I felt that it was
earned in the story like it.Like I said, it kind of comes
before all the main story, whichI don't think it wouldn't have fit because
Emily wasn't in value in the processand the team it would have worked either.

(42:57):
And I'm trying to think, yeah, the team was the last one
before in the process. So I'mglad we finally get this. I still
don't like Emily being part of theteam, but I like that we finally
got this resolution that Witt said Ihave. I think right here, I'm
sorry I was wrong and should havelike let you know, I didn't write
all but but basically he apologized fordoing this. And he also said,

(43:20):
like, you know, I knowmy apology won't make up for it,
which I'm glad. He also pointedthat out too. Just because you say
you apologize something doesn't take away theher. It doesn't always you know,
people don't always forget can't just alwaysforget about it. But I'm glad it
was vulnerable in that moment and thatEmily Funny spoke her mind about that,

(43:42):
and she was also respectful. That'sone thing that I think at this point,
like when she was talking to Moriand Suzu in the end of a
let's call the whole thing off,you know, she's blew up at them.
She was very angry. I wasvery great acting from Christina Pricelli there,
and I'm thinking that story why it'sprobably best. Again, I don't
think overall perceptions, you know,externally was good, but story wise,

(44:07):
letting her cool off to a certainextent, go through feelings more. I
still don't think her joined the teamwas a good thing. But after joining
the team and working with them fora little bit, getting to this point
and finally bringing this out kind oflike the last episode, these kind of
not quite as long standing, butthese feelings bourb beneath the surface, Funny
comes to the surface and finally getresolved. And it's not the best it

(44:31):
could be, but it's the bestthat we're probably gonna get. And I'm
at least slightly happy of how itturned out with this episode. But that
doesn't mean that in the future I'llkeep my expectations higher. I still go
into write now episodes with low expectationsbecause I still don't really care for her
Morey. I do actually like Susiat a little bit more than more I

(44:52):
think I'm that in the last review, So I'm glad this episode actually focuses
more on Susan and not Morey.But I've been talking way too long,
so you go ahead. Yeah,So, I mean I agree there.
It's just that Wit actually acknowledged thathe had done something wrong and asked for
forgiveness. I thought that was great, although he's still he's still not apologizing

(45:13):
for everything. He was just basicallyit seemed like to me he was apologizing
that he didn't let her in onwhat was going on sooner, I think,
is how he worded it, somethinglike that. So yeah, again,
as you said, you know,it's probably the best we're going to
get, But that that actually evenhappened was great. And you talk about
Christina Pochelli's performance, mean you weretalking about another episode, but in this

(45:36):
one too. I mean, shewas just fantastic, Like you could hear
that quaver in her voice as she'sreally just bearing her soul to him saying,
you know, I was angry.I didn't feel like I could trust
you. This is how I felt, and I didn't know how to bring
it up to you. And yeah, she just did a fantastic job.
And I really thought that moment wasreally nice. Now, since we're talking

(45:59):
about this whole issue, I'm goingto bounce to the end of the episode
and just address that real quickly andthen we'll go to the to the meat
of the story here. But sohe does apologize and ask her to forgive
him, and she says, youknow, I guess so, or something
like that, and you know,he doesn't push her again. That was
great, you know, just justletting her feel those feelings, and as

(46:22):
you said, she was very respectful. And then she goes on to tell
the story about what's going on withSuzu. But then when we get to
the end, she says, youknow what, I was wrong. I
need to just say yes, Ido forgive you completely, and then having
a wit make light of it whenshe asks him to forgive her. I

(46:44):
think that was the wrong move inmy opinion. Again, it's the like
in that last episode. This wasa very serious, deep moment, and
then having him insert that little jokewhere he kind of parrots back her I
guess so or maybe or whatever itwas, it felt off. I just
like, don't don't insert humor rightthere. This was a deep thing that
really mattered a lot to Emily,and doing that to her it just felt

(47:07):
like, you know, pouring saltin the wound, you know, even
though she's trying to move on.And she was very forthright with her feelings
there, and I know that theymoved on with it, and in the
story there she was totally fine withit. But it just I did not
like that. I felt like thatwas a wrong move by Wit there.
He should have just you know,kept it serious and thanked her, you

(47:31):
know, for because honestly, Idon't think she did all that much wrong.
To be perfectly candidate. She perhapsbecause he is an elder and she's
an adult, she's a kid,she should have been upfront sooner. But

(47:52):
I don't think the way that shewas feeling about it was wrong. And
I don't think she even really neededto apologize for how she was feeling.
But that's another issue. Yeah,I don't have as big a problem with
that. For some reason, itfelt Wit does have that kind of side
to him sometimes the humor side,which I think, like we have the
value in the process. I mean, the way he's treating Maury and Suzu

(48:14):
compared to other kids, like hiskind of parentine back, like you know,
his winding back up Maury or whatever. Yeah, for me, I
don't think it like it was justlike a slight blip, like I don't
know if it took me out thestory too much, like the humor kind
of did to a certain extent,But for me, it didn't feel unlike
Witch. But I can understand that, especially since this is like the last

(48:35):
last scene or next to last scene, because we had that kind of flashback
or whatever thing with it, Iwould probably say I would have a bigger
problem between this one and the oneabout the bye bye bye thing. I
think I probably have a little moreproblem with this one, even though I
have very little problem with either eitherone of them. But yeah, I
yeah, I'm waffling on that one. But I'm glad you did bring it

(48:59):
up. I'm sure there's probably somepeople that felt that way too, So
setting aside that again, I'm gladthat this whole apology thing happened. But
that's not even really what this episodeis about. So, as with the
last album, we had some reallyinteresting issues. The episode here is addressing
some of the things that young peoplethese days are really having to face their

(49:20):
peers. Always on social media.Everybody wants to be a social media personality,
and so streaming a prank on somebodyelse seems very plausible these days,
that somebody could very easily do somethinglike that, And there are bullies out
there and that's a real thing thatkids have to deal with. And so
I thought that whole aspect of thisepisode was pretty solid as well. Yeah,

(49:45):
like it's another set up mystery,Like we got a lot of those
with their Adell saga like Further fromthe Truth and the Secret of the Writer's
Ruse, but this one it's notnecessarily meant to be for fun or the
brand the good People or thing likethat. It's just meant to terment them
and try to make them look badto a certain extent. So I think

(50:07):
the angle of a fake mystery workedbetter with this because it was a little
more at the end of figuring outwhy and how, not just that it
was a fake mystery, which Ilike that aspect of it. Which this
is also really I think it's actuallypretty good mystery writing too, because it's
also one that I think makes iteasier i'd say easier, easy ish to

(50:29):
solve along with them, which nowall mysteries do that. So like the
things about her not having her phonelike wanted to use curious phone, that
was like a red flag in mymind, like, ooh, why she's
not using her phone? That soundskind of suspicious. And I think the
shoes, the drop by the windowor something like that, I think it's
probably like the the phone thing,it's like a red flag. Oh,

(50:50):
I think it's probably something's up here. So and when Emily, you know,
brings those things up, it makessense. So like the red flag
is there, and you can probablyput little other the pieces together. So
I think it was a I thinkit was a well constructed mystery in my
opinion. Yeah, yeah, Idon't have a whole lot of other thoughts
on this one. I would sayit's a pretty decent episode. Again,

(51:12):
you know, I didn't love it. It didn't you know, despise it.
It's it's it's an okay episode,but you know, as with you,
I do like Susu better than Maury, and I think This was a
good use of the character and herwanting to have friends. I mean,
that seems pretty plausible, and Ithink it made sense in all in all

(51:35):
of those aspects, so you know, it was a pretty decent episode.
Yeah. I think this episode mademe feel for Susu a lot more than
I have before, because both ofthem are very smart. But like Susu,
she already has, you know,kind of cute voice, and when
she's starting to cry and you know, tubell how she doesn't have any friends
and things like that, it mademe sympathize for her a lot more with

(51:58):
that, and I could see howher bias, you know, wanting to
make friends would cloud her judgment.And also you know, thinking Emily had
it out for her, which shekind of did to certain extent, and
she's kind of waffling back and forthon what to do what not to do.
Which that's the one thing that Emilywent above the minimum of what she
did. What she did. Shedid tell her, hey, something's going

(52:20):
wrong here. You need to becareful, and then she found out the
live stream later and she could havelet that go the very the bare minimum
of being a decent person. Iended up getting kind of the moral aspect
here the bare minimum was like,Hey, something's wrong here. You need
to watch yourself. I'm concerned aboutsomething that might happen to you. And
when she find out what that is, she could have let that go on.

(52:43):
And I'm not sure if she wouldbe totally not justified in doing that.
And yes, she like has shehad the bad feelings she had against
her, wouldn't have mom good,but she did like the bare minimum,
but that already but that Emily Onedidn't interrupt it, suposed it and saved
Susu's reputation and did the livesprem ofher own, which she talked about.

(53:06):
She doesn't quite know if that wasthe right thing to do or not,
which I don't think Wig gives herlike yes or no, which to me,
I think that's justified because it showsthe evidence because if okay, this
is a mystery, or taking thisto the you know, I guess more
court of public opinion, and alsorescuing her from being mismerched. So I
don't think that's a bad thing.Like I know, you get to legal

(53:29):
issues of like, you know,recording someone without them knowing, but you
know everybody does that nowadays. Whenyou're out in about you know, everyone
has a camera on their phone orwhatever. So I don't think Emily was
wrong in doing it because it didhelp save Suzu. And you know,
truth prevailed in that, and she'salready live streaming, like she cut it

(53:50):
off. It's not like she wasopposed to being live stream the concept of
it. She just didn't want,you know, her sins being uncovered.
So I think she was justified inthat, and it sounded like she did
it more for the right reasons,I think, so I don't think I
had a problem with that. Yeah. Yeah, And to your point about
sympathizing with Suzu, April Hong reallydid a fantastic job there. And you

(54:15):
know, when Suzu finally understands what'sactually going on and they start accusing her
of stealing the award and everything,you could hear the betrayal in her voice,
and she she just did a fantasticjob there. So yeah, I
mean Suzu is an interesting character.There's there's some cool things that they could
explore with that. So that thiswas just an episode about her, I

(54:37):
was I was pretty okay with Yeah, another solid episode, I believe.
Well, we have arrived episodes ninesixty six has come nine sixty nine.
The best is yet to come.Oh okay, well, this was written

(54:58):
by a team or Marshall Younger andKathy Buchanan all worked on the scripts for
this four part episode. And aninteresting thing which I don't know that I've
seen before, and that is wehave two different directors. And I'm guessing
that that must have just been becauseof the scheduling or something, and maybe

(55:19):
one of them took like the morningsession with some of the actors and then
another one took an afternoon session withthe rest of the cast or something like
that. But it was directed byboth Kathy Buchanan and Marshall Younger, with
sound design by Zack Schneider and LukeGano. So again we've got some teamwork
going on. Yeah. So herewe are to this, as I said

(55:42):
earlier, end of an Era,and we have Eugene doing the intro of
the episode, which was cool.I'm guessing that Townshend also did that as
well, because that didn't sound likea recycled one, but I may be
wrong about that. Yeah, it'san interesting open And before we get to
the story, can we just talkabout the use of AI for the voice
first. Yeah, that's a goodpoint because there might be somebody listening who

(56:05):
did not realize this. But ifyou haven't listened to the official podcast and
haven't been participating in any of thefan communities, you may have missed it.
But yeah, they did use anAI technology, which is a voice
cloning software. Not AI. Generatedvoice is a process where an actor performs
all of the Eugene lines and thenthey do a voice matching or voice cloning

(56:30):
process that overlays the sound of WillRyan's voice over the top of that actor's
performance, and in this case itwas Townsend Coleman. So an amazing interesting
technology and I honestly don't know howelse they could have done this sendoff for
the character of Eugene without relying ontechnology like this. It would have been

(56:52):
very unsatisfying to not I mean,if they had had to piece together snippets
of dialogue from old that episode odesthroughout the years, it would have been
really, really difficult, and itwould this I don't think the script would
have felt satisfying because they're gonna haveto shoehorn everything in using existing dialogue.
So it's an interesting solution for this, and I think it worked. Go

(57:16):
ahead if you want to add tothat for sure. Yeah. I was
very surprised when they announced something officialpodcasts about this, and by the time
they were done, I felt Ifelt pretty good about it, and it's
an idea. I never even thoughtof them doing, like I know,
when there was gonna be a fourparter, I was saying, wow,

(57:36):
I a lot of that episode isprobably going to be not Eugene focused with
a pro using old dialogue whatever.But that they were able to write the
script and then have the audio putto it made it easier. And I
think because I did it very ethically, which that's a conversation with a lot
of ais now it's like is itethical, how should it be used?
Copyrights? Things like that. Butone they got the permision of his widow,

(58:00):
Nancy, and they made sure itwas okay with the actors, the
people that knew him, you know, close friends, that kind of stuff.
In Townsend Coleman, you know,was a very close friend to Will.
I think it was executed very well. And the one thing that I
don't like is that people are I'vehad I've seen this conversation on some Honesty

(58:22):
fan pages and such like, ohif we do this, then we can
bring back other old actors back andthings like that, Like No, no,
that's not what this is for.This is to bring closure to a
character that we can't have closure towithout it in a satisfying way. It's
not a way of bringing people backfrom the dead to do this. That's
why you know, like Andre Stoika, whenever he's not able to do Wit

(58:45):
anymore, I don't want them doingAI to bring house Smith back, er
Polumber back, or even keep Andregoing as the voice of Wits and things
like that, because you want toget the authentic voice of the actor.
And that's why just a generative isnot gonna sound as good as a as
a human. Even with this technology. There's some limitations of the emotion and

(59:06):
things like that with it. It'sa unique circumstance. I think it's good
for this case, but it's nota it's a it's the exception, not
the rule that I think going forward. When you have a character that you
can't enclosure on, which as biga character as Eugene is, that's a
really big character. With a characterlike Tom Riley or Jack Allen or Bernard

(59:27):
or something like that, it's gonnabe not as big a deal that they
make that extra effort to make thishappen. But I think in this scenario
it works well. And actually recently, this kind of scenario and it kind
of a similar fashion happened with themusic industry. So Randy Travis, a
country singer, he lost his voiceseveral years ago and he's been unable to

(59:51):
sing for years. But recently,with his permission, they had someone do
kind of like this with the OldRyan. They had an actual singer sing
lyrics to a new song and theymatch it with Randy Travis's vocals from past
songs to create a new single ofRandy Travis. Quote Randy Travis singing and

(01:00:12):
here's the key with it. Andthen from when I heard he was brought
the tears like it was a wayfor him to sing again. He's physically
not able to sing anymore. Withthis technology, he's able to sing in
a way like I don't think Iwill I want people to do full albums
of you know, this kind ofthing, but for that use scenario,

(01:00:32):
that's great, But are gonna doit for you know, like Hank Williams
or being Crowsedy or something like that. No, let that alone. But
for that circumstance, for his case, it brought so much joy to him
to be able to sing in thatway they wasn't able to before. I
think that's probably even more unique scenariothan with this scenario in Odyssey. But

(01:00:53):
it's interesting how this technology is beingused and in unique ways and in ways
that are at the goal. Andthat makes sense. Yeah, and I
heard about this as well, andyou know, it's it's due to a
stroke that he had that that he'snot able to. It's very difficult for
him to even speak, though hecan speak a little bit, but to

(01:01:14):
sing is pretty much out of thequestion. And it is a similar situation
too, because the singer who didactually sing the vocals is a close friend
and he has traveled with Randy Travisover the years, and he did sort
of like a Randy Travis tribute andhe would sing Randy Travis's songs. And

(01:01:35):
so it's a similar thing to whathappened with Will and Townshend. They were
both friends. He had he hadheard Will so many times over the years
do this character, and so heknew how to try to match that inflection
and everything, and so yeah,that is a good. That is a
good comparison. And to the pointof using this sort of a technology to

(01:01:55):
bring back all these other characters,yeah, I think I would agree with
you. That's that's probably not thebest way to go, especially for somebody
who's been gone for many years,and you know, there are ethical concerns.
I mean, you can't just goand just start using somebody's voice just
because you want to. You know, it's that's that's not right. And

(01:02:15):
as you point out, you know, they they did consult with with Nancy,
and it is an interesting situation.I mean, personally, I was
hoping that they would recast the roleof Eugene Melsner because I love that character
and I would would love to seehim stay around. But because they made
the decision to have the family moveaway spoiler if you didn't know that the

(01:02:37):
Meltzner's leave, this was an interestingway for them to achieve that and have
it not feel forced and and tworushed. Although it was very quick,
we all sort of knew something likethis was coming. I'm just glad they
didn't kill off the character, becausewho knows, they may they may cast

(01:03:00):
down the road, they could stilldo that. So yeah, I think.
Yeah, they talked about how theydid have I think audition some people
for the role, and I thinkthey've pretty much closed the door on bring
the character back, either with arecast or using the AI thing. Again,
Like, it's not one hundred percent, it's like nine nine percent something

(01:03:22):
like that. I'd be okay withhim and recast in the future. However,
I know I'm getting ahead of myselfhere, but it's such a perfect
send off to a certain extent thatit feels so cheap after a while to
bring him back. And that's probablywhy they wrote it this way, because
they don't have any plans to bringhim back. But here's the question,
we'll hear Eugene back again recast orwe'll kind of get married ooh, which

(01:03:45):
will happen first exactly? Which one'smore plausible? Yeah. So, but
it's an interesting thing too that itdid feel like a natural progression because this
whole idea. Of course, Iknow that this idea of this medical treatment
and everything, this was not inthe plans until we lost Will, so

(01:04:11):
I know that this was an afterthe fact thing. But the way they
did it it really worked because weknow that Eugene has been working on brain
related research for years and years andyears, and so having him be involved
in developing this new treatment for andthey don't say it out right, but
I'm assuming it was for Alzheimer's orsome sort of memory loss sort of disease

(01:04:35):
like that, dementia or something likethat. But a three D printed hippocampus.
I mean that's crazy, and todaythat's not far off from reality because
like back in the Novocom saga days, like obviously it's kind of ahead of
its time, Like I was readingabout it's called neurlink or whatever of someone
able to, you know, controlthings with their minds, but then also

(01:04:55):
regressing kind of like Duncan mathis isinteresting too because we opened this a cold
open it don't get to me coldopens on Odyssey, But the music in
that was very novacomp slug esque ofmusic, like a lot like more electric
guitar and them were like cold kindof instrument kind of feeling there. That's
a good point. Yeah, yeah, Now this is something that I just
found out today as I was preppingfor this. The actors who played that

(01:05:19):
couple, the Hancocks, June Squibwho is the voice of Loretta Hancock.
Now if the Internet is to bebelieved. I know there are some errors
out there, so this might notbe one hundred percent accurate, but the
Internet says that she's ninety four yearsold, and Monte Markham, the voice
of Vernon Hancock, is eighty eight, So I was like, wow,

(01:05:39):
they got some old timers in toplay these parts. But they were both
fantastic, Yeah, for sure.And actually Monte Markham, he's been on
Odyssey before the thing. I recognizedhis voice when I heard him in the
first episode he played I can't rememberI can't remember the girl's name, but
at the friend of Camilla's and rewindingthe Big Picture or Camille's trying to cheer

(01:06:02):
her friend up, and then shetalks to her grandfather later that has dementia
or something like that, not ableto remember some certain things and that kind
of stuff, which is a similarsituation with this character. But his voice,
I loved his voice in that.I loved hearing him in this one
too. Yeah, that character wascalled George yea. Yeah, rewinding the

(01:06:23):
Big Picture, but yeah, itwas an interesting way to present this whole
research thing in the culmination of thissurgery. And then I did not expect
that turn for the patient to actuallydie. I was like, WHOA,
did not see that one coming?Yeah, for sure. I did recognize

(01:06:43):
pretty quickly that the nurse was playedwith Kathy Buchannan, and she makes another
cameo later as the stewardess in theairplane. Okay, yeah, I thought
that was her too. I waspretty sure that it wasn't credited on the
wiki, but I was pretty surethat was her and Evan. David picks
up a couple of small characters inthese four episodes as well, which I
thought was pretty cool. I didnot realize that until I was I was

(01:07:06):
looking at the cast list here thatyou have on the Google doc here,
because I know in part four thebus driver sounded a really familiar but I
couldn't place his voice. And Isaw that in part two he plays one
of the people that it's gonna beworking with Eugene, Like, oh,
that's really cool. I didn't.I didn't recognize either one of those,
and I've heard Evan's voice quite abit. Yeah, And the other employee

(01:07:30):
that they meet there was I thinkit was Dahlia. I don't think she
was a professional either. It soundedlike that might have been another Focus employee
or something. So that was kindof cool, yeah, because I do
know they do that on occasion,is bring in some Focus employees to play
a bit parts where there's only aline or two. But I don't know
who did that one, but thatwas that was that was cool. I

(01:07:50):
always like it when they do that, and I'm sure it makes the day
of those people that get to playa character. Add that to your resume.
That's pretty cool. Sure. Soyou know, we hear from Eugene
here talking to Buck. I'm guessingit was like a video call that he
was doing when he was away talkingto them and they're doing their game over

(01:08:13):
the phone there. But I prettymuch agree with Eugene about teens dating.
I think he was spot on there. Yeah, which we kind of have
this conversation with King of My Heartand Album seventy four with you know,
Katrina kind of being a little morelenient in Eugenia as much, which I
still agree with Eugene with that,especially the way how for lack of a

(01:08:39):
better term, volatle that Jewels andBuck are or they're constantly reverting back to
their old ways and doing selfish thingsand even to each other, not the
greatest thing. But I the storylinewith them, you know, trying to
hide their dating relationship, which youknow, picks up from album seventy four,
which is interesting that Buck says onlyCooper know, but I was saying

(01:09:00):
that Bridget would probably know since she'sJewel's best friend, or maybe this book
this meant the only person that knewthat he had told was Cooper. Oh
yeah, yeah, I didn't eveneven pick up on that. But that's
a good point. Yeah, Imean, I think I've made it clear
in the last review how I feelabout that, and you know, how
they're sneaking around behind everybody's back.I mean, that's not good. Not

(01:09:21):
a fan of that, and soI don't want to be labor that point
because I think we did cover thatpretty well that time. And then there's
another one here that again I alsowant to touch on briefly, but I
don't want to spend a whole lotof time on because there is a lot
to talk about and that's not themain point of these episodes, and I
don't want to lose a focus onthis Farewell to Eugene. But I was

(01:09:45):
not a fan of having the bookand Jules lead a song in an actual
worship service. I mean, Ijust don't think that's appropriate, having an
unbeliever on the platform in a churchservice. And also they outright lied to
Pastor Knox. Like Jules had justsaid that the song that she had been

(01:10:09):
talking about with Buck was inspired byhim and his the fireworks and that whole
thing. Yet when Pastor Knox comesout to start talking to them, she
tells him that the song she wastalking about was inspired by his message,
and she just outright lies to him, and that was never addressed. And
so I wasn't crazy about that.But again, I know that this is

(01:10:30):
people have very differing opinions on thosesorts of issues, so I don't want
to pound it too much, butI just did want to bring it up
briefly. But yeah, I havethoughts about this too. I'll try to
keep it brief. I know,back in California Dreams, I think Connie
or Buck talked about Pastor Knox,you know, wanting her to be on
the worship team or whatever, andthis one kind of talks about, you

(01:10:53):
know, being the choir. Yeah, I'm not so against the idea of
unbelievers, especially when it's kids.I mean, they're teenagers, they're you
know, they're not adults. Beinga part of church activities and being part
of that because I know from youknow, things like youth groups and things
like that, like not everybody isa Christian, but they get involved in

(01:11:14):
certain church activities and things like that. And singing too. I know there
is testimonies. I've heard people thatweren't Christians but were put into possessions that
they're playing the piano or singing orsomething like that, where some at some
point what they were saying finally brokethrough to them and they got saved as

(01:11:35):
a result. So like I'm notsaying it shouldn't be done, like you
one, to have more Christians andof course in the leadership roles of stuff
like that, to have Christians bethe leading of that. But getting young
people and kids involved in you know, singing, you know, like kids
choir or something like that, Idon't think is a bad thing. I

(01:11:57):
think it comes becomes an issue ifyou know, if they were if conjols
were adults and they had leadership rolesand stuff. Yes, I don't think
you know how they got into it, you know, with lying about stuff.
And I'm still unsure if Wilson soldthrough their lives or not. I
feel like he did, because Wilson'spretty tricky, like he's like, oh,
you can do this, and helike because they he knew that they

(01:12:19):
were kind of lying about the listeningto his message or whatever. I just
felt that it would be nice tohave just a mention if something about like
Wilson knowing He almost comes off asclueless to a certain extent, but I
can tell like the subtext of whathe's saying is like, yeah, I
think he's putting them on the spot, and he's really you know, bringing
it to them for not you know, paying attention and catching them in their

(01:12:43):
lie where they have to keep goingalong with it and then hope, hopefully
doing this they will eventually come toChrist or at least see the error of
their ways of being deceptive. Yeah, And to clarify, I'm not against
getting involved in activities and things likethat, especially you know, youth activities
and that kind of thing. It'sjust that this was a this was a
midweek actual church service, and sonobody's going to change my mind on this,

(01:13:08):
So I don't I don't think thatwas a great thing. But as
I said, I'm not gonna belabor that point. But there to your
point about him sometimes coming across asa little naive, he does a little
bit sometimes, Yet we do knowthere is a depth to him because of
the way he handled the whole Oliviathing, and that was really extremely interesting

(01:13:31):
and I and I really liked him, especially towards the end of that where
they're all in the church praying forher, and again, beautiful, beautiful
moments there. But yeah, Ithink you're You've got a good point that
it would have been nice for himto at least acknowledge it. And I
think in this case, he isseeing through what they're saying. So I
think he had a pretty good ideaof what they're doing, and I understand

(01:13:55):
his reasons for doing what he did. So yeah, I get all of
that. But was Wilson Wright let'sgo there, the whole thing with with
Buck and Jewels calling each other orcomparing themselves to Romeo and Juliet, and
I forget now who was I thinkit was Bucky said and that didn't turn

(01:14:15):
out very well or something like that. I thought that was a great line,
But the Bucky O that sounds cheesyand corny. But when he said
Jules yet, that cracked me up. I thought, that's that's a pretty
funny one. Yeah. Yeah,his dad may not like puns, but
he sure does. I guess that'snot quite a pun, but close.
And that whole scene with them whisperingup and down the pew, that was

(01:14:39):
hilarious. I liked that quite abit. Yes, that was so much
fun, like a game of telephonepassing the message all the way down the
road and the only person that gotit wrong was Conne. At the very
end, he's like he's interested insmelts or something like that, like that
was the only person that didn't hearit. Yeah, that was great.
That was really fun. And itwas beautiful. Like you mentioned earlier about

(01:14:59):
the the singing, them singing amazing, Grace is is really beautiful and just
more of a folks you kind ofyou know, just stripped down saw of
all the orchestration. That kind ofstuff was really nice. Yeah. I
love showing his voice. I thinkshe sounds really good. And then when
they switch into parts and start harmonizing, it just sounds really nice mm hmm.
Which you don't get too many scenesin Church on Odyssey too. Often

(01:15:24):
it's been it's been a while atleast, Like no, I shouldn't say
that. I think we've heard alittle bit about that in the Calhoun Family
episode where Trey embarrass himself, likethe Missions trip or something like that.
I think there was a scene inchurch in that we had that in the
Lost One argue. But hearing it, you know, more from the audience
and things happening in the audience orthe congregation and not just hearing what's being

(01:15:46):
said on the pulpit was interesting andseeing you know, them interact with each
other. Mm hmm. So thatactually happens in part two. But at
the beginning of part two, thatscene where Wit is giving Eugene advice,
and I was thinking, that isjust like Wit to be giving Eugene sound
advice, giving him truthful, goodwisdom from his experience, regardless of how

(01:16:14):
he might feel about it personally,because you know, they have a long
history together and this is hard onhim, you can tell that, but
he's he's setting that aside because he'sreally thinking about what is really best for
them, And that was just kindof neat, even though that's not overtly
shown there in that scene, Butthat was just what came to my mind.

(01:16:36):
Yeah, what was really great inthese episodes? For sure. Yeah,
now we reference to those potential employeesthat Eugene would be working with as
they were visiting back there in Baltimore, and I thought that was funny when
Buck said to Katrina, like,Dad's a rock star and she's like,
in this world he is. Yeah, that was interesting. I find of

(01:17:00):
interesting that you had four parts,but you have each episode's kind of focused
on one thing to a certain extent. It almost seemed like the turnaround of
them hiding their dating and then tellingabout it and then trying to get them
to not leave. It's like ithappened pretty quick, and I know it
had to happen within the four parts, but it's like each episode had a

(01:17:21):
certain focus. Like Part one had, you know, setting up relationship stuff,
trying to spend more time together,you know, bucking jewels and then
ew Gene, you know, withthis all this stuff happening with the research
and that kind of stuff. Andthen Part two is kind of going to
Baltimore, checking things out, breakingthe news to Connie, you know.
Part three is more of a committedgrips with that, and then Part four

(01:17:45):
is kind of more of the sendoff itself. So even though it's you
know, four parter, I thinkthe focus is pretty good in each episode
where things are still carried throughout.I think did a good job at being
self contained to a certain extent ineach party. That's a good point.
Yeah. Another thing that Buck hadsaid during that time, I think he
was I think it might have beenwhen he was talking to Jewels on the

(01:18:09):
phone, something about that telling aboutthe the apartment and everything and that they
were showing them in Baltimore. Buthe said something about I grew up swimming
in a drainage ditch or something likethat, and I'm like, that was
so funny to me because I'm like, I remember as a kid back in
the Midwest when we would have reallyheavy rains and the in the in the

(01:18:29):
small rural towns where I lived therewas the ditches would flood, and as
kids, we'd always go out andplay in that stuff. We had a
blast in that. I'm like,I'm right there with you, Bucks,
same same. Yeah. Thankfully youwere in a Connor artist when you were
a kid. That's true, that'strue. Yeah, And that that moment
at the funeral, though, withMissus Hancock. That was a beautiful moment

(01:18:51):
there. I really really liked that, and you can see that it's at
that moment that sort of the lightgoes on for Buck. And even then
I still didn't expect him to bethe first one to reach the conclusion that
they should leave. But you're right, it all did feel like it was

(01:19:13):
a little bit quick, but againyou kind of had to. They couldn't
drag this out for you know,multiple albums and things like that, so
I think within the amount of timethey had it did work. Mm hmm.
Yeah. That scene at the funeralbrought me to some tears a little
bit. I expected to cry listeningto these Part one. I didn't cry

(01:19:34):
or cheer up at all. Ithink in that one I was more focused
on this uniqueness and listen to likehow much I can tell if that's Townsend
or like Will and that kind ofstuff, Like I think there's enough disconnect
to a certain extent, like Ikind of guess, pray what would happened
later, But that writing and theacting, also the music for that scene
at the funeral just maybe tear upjust how beautiful and heartwarming and heartbreaking it

(01:20:00):
was there which is a really neatscene. M h. And then we
end with them all you know,Buck saying I think we need to leave
or whatever sort of towards the endthere of part two, and I'm like,
no, I don't want that toleave. Yes, yeah, I
think I tear it up around thatpoint too, But I think it was
a really neat scene there because themen in the backyard, like I camp

(01:20:24):
fire, we here recordings of wolvesukulele. There was a nice which is
a nice touch. They also haveyou know him in the treehouse, which
we have you know them building inthe past, and Eugene bringing up when
he lost I know, uh,Katrina bring it up about Eugene losing his
memories. That was a great callback, yes, and how hard it was
for her and how this technology couldhelp people like not have to go through

(01:20:45):
that things like that. That wasa great callback, Like it didn't feel
shoehorned in there. It was apermanent callback for those that know and worked
great for that situation. Also,the theme of memories that these shows were
going for one if it felt verynatural for her to bring that up right
then, Yeah, that was thatwas a really cool, cool thing for

(01:21:06):
them to do. And then weget to part three, and I knew
that Connie was going to have ahard time with this, and it makes
absolutely perfect sense that she would havea hard time with losing Eugene. And
you know, in the earlier partsof this episode, I was like,
oh, man, she's she seemslike she's she's not okay with it,

(01:21:28):
But she's not. She's not asemotional as I think as I thought she
would be. But then we gointo this a little weird thing where she
tries to sort of sabotage the wholething, not really sabotage it, but
she tries to get things changed sothat they don't have to leave, And
that felt a little bit weird.I mean, I totally get her not

(01:21:49):
wanting to them to leave. Thatthat makes sense, But for her to
actually go to the point where shecalls his potential employer and tries to get
him to change the entire program thatthey were working on and move everything to
Odyssey or whatever, that felt alittle bit like a little bit of a
stretch for Connie. But other thanthat, her not really being happy about

(01:22:15):
this whole thing, that made senseto me. Yeah, And with even
confiding in her that he was havinga tough time. I really liked that
moment too. Yeah, I knowpeople had some people were kind of divided
on how Connie acted. I broughtthis up in the past about like with
Millstones and like a thanks taken storyof how Connie seemed to be reverting back

(01:22:38):
to like her teenage years or whatever. And when I was really listening to
this for the review, I rememberit being a little bit more overboard when
like he drops the bombshell about it. I think it was very balanced at
that point, like her going totry to keep him in there. One,
it's better than trying to just notget them involved in any way,

(01:22:59):
like hey, like spreading lies abouthim or something like that. Yeah,
so that definitely have been good.Like I understand her reasoning for that.
Yes, she shouldn't have done it, and again I don't think it was
right for her to do it.But I think of any character, any
person in her life that she wouldgo above and beyond to try to keep
in her life, it would beEugene, if not with So I think

(01:23:21):
it's understandable and yes, she shouldn'thave done it, but I don't think
it was totally out of character forher. Now, if it was someone
for like Jillian or Penny or maybeJewles to a certain extent, since she's
like her sister, half sister,that kind of thing. But someone that's
had the most history with Connie,it makes the most sense for her to

(01:23:43):
do that. I'm not criticizing herfor having those emotions. Yes, she
should have done it to begin with, but I don't think it was the
worst thing that she could have done. No, I don't think it was
the worst thing. It did feela little bit overboard. I mean,
she was definitely overstepping her bounds.But that said, I think Eugene was
a bit harsh to her whenever hefound out that she was the one who

(01:24:04):
had actually called the doctor too.I felt like he was a little bit
too dismissive of her feelings considering thehistory that they have together. It was
a very brief moment, but yeah, it felt a little harsh to me.
Yeah, I think I agree withthat because I think some people talk
about that too, Like some peoplefelt like Wit was being a little bit

(01:24:26):
too callous about things. And Ithink with Eugene two, because I have
this in my notes. Because ofthe technology, it's not quite monotone.
But there's only so much range ofemotion that you could hear in the voice
with this technology, So I thinkit probably has something to do with it
of how it doesn't sound as naturalwhen he's either being emotional like you,
like sad or happy or angry orwhatever. I think that's partially to blame

(01:24:51):
to how he sounds in this.Again, the words are the same,
But yeah, I think he praywas but understandable from his side of something
that kind of his dream job andthat can help so many people like jeopardizing
that and that a close friend isdoing this, like he himself says Mets

(01:25:12):
later, that he's been too focusedon this to kind of grieve over not
being around anything like that. Hemissed that a certain extent later, like
he's nothing about Yes, he shouldbe concerned about his life and his family's
life, but yeah, I wouldsay went a little bit overboard. I
think they're both. I don't know. I think he was probably more justified
and what he did and how hesaid it than Connie was. I don't

(01:25:35):
think she was justified in her actions. I think her feelings were justified.
But I think that because they've hadthis kind of adversarial to a certain extent,
you know, big green brother andsister kind of thing where they step
on each other's toes sometimes and butyou know they always make up. Yeah.
Yeah. I have to also mentionShowan's performance there when she's talking with

(01:25:58):
Connie about Buck Leavey super super good, like like she was, just because
you know, I think I thinkyou and I have said and I know
that I've said and I think him. I've talked about this with perhaps Michael
Schrader in an AIO review. Butthey're not the greatest influence on each other.
Buck and Jewels all the time.You know that they often push each
other to do things that are notgreat. But you know, you talked

(01:26:23):
earlier about sort of feeling empathy forSuzu, and I kind of felt that
for Jewels in this moment too,because you know, we know that she
hasn't had a great life, andConnie's doing what she can to try to
get her on the straight and narrowthese days, but she still does have
a lot of hurt in her background, and that feeling of rejection and not

(01:26:45):
getting the love that she needed asa kid, and so feeling that Buck
is deserting her here in this momentwhen they had talked about this and she
thought they were on the same page. I mean, I totally felt like
she her feelings were understandable and shownare really shown in this moment. I

(01:27:05):
didn't think about how that was gonnasound, but Yeah, she did a
fantastic job and I really thought shewas great. Yeah, that was some
great act in there, and oneof the few times that Jeweles has opened
up that much about our feelings andemotions to Connie. Yeah, and it's
a breaking point for her. AndI think that's one thing because it's easier

(01:27:26):
to criticize a fictional character than is, you know, a real life person,
Like if someone like Jewels or Buck, we knew someone like that in
real life and they did the actionsthat they did, it'd be a lot
more understandable, and we probably bea lot more forgiving to a certain extent,
because of course they're real people.We should forget them because God tells
us to otherwise we won't be forgiven. But character wise, continuity wise,

(01:27:50):
in a show like this, it'sdifficult to take those moments when oh they
did this again. They keep gettingin trouble, they keep pulling each other
down. That's a real life thing, because that's how real life works with
a lot of people when they havebad relationships, bad home life, they
take that on and treat the samepeople around them like that. They may

(01:28:13):
not mean too, but it's eitherlike that's how they've known or they have
a hard time reconciling what is goodand what isn't. So I have been
pretty harsh about Jewels and buck toa certain extent. Again, their fictional
characters. We can criticize them allwe want and think how the show should
go writing wise, but if youlook at it a lens of if these

(01:28:33):
people are in real life, whichthere are people like these people in real
life, it should gives a lotmore sympathy for those people and also have
more empathy for them and pray forthose kind of people. Yeah. Yeah,
And when Connie comes to the doorafter Bucket pulled his little stunt with
the song and the fire works,that was kind of cool too, though

(01:28:56):
kind of a reference back to thewhole fireworks at the big ending of part
one. But when she said thatJewles had left and went to California,
I was not expecting that at all. I knew that since she hadn't come
out to see what was going onright away, that Jewles wasn't going to
be there, but I thought itwas just go be she wasn't home,
but that she had actually left.I did not see that coming. And

(01:29:18):
then that was a great, greatway for them to bring in Ted Humphries.
You know, I've said in thepast that I think Jay Smouse is
one of the best things to happento AIO since the reboot. And I
got to say that Ted Humphries isone of my favorite things that's happened in
recent years when they really started touse him a lot, and you know,
having episodes completely dedicated to him,even and very very small part in

(01:29:42):
these episodes, But I love thatcharacter, and he's so funny, and
it made perfect sense, you know, to have him be on the same
flight or something. So it wascool to hear from him. Yeah,
because it's the cliffhanger and you heara character that you know of like,
Okay, this person's gonna be important, but how with that? And again
it's Jules kind of California dreams toa certain extent, and also Connie herself

(01:30:06):
to a certain extent, run awayfrom her problems were only from God.
It's a different scenario with this here. But there's other parallels to older episodes
later in part four, but we'llget to those. But I know,
with Connie being emotional about Eugene leavingand things like that too, I was
getting a little bit more emotional.Like I said, each episode for me

(01:30:27):
was ramped up the emotion for me, Like each one, I was crying
and turning up more and more.But yeah, this was a good the
climax, I guess to a certainextent, not quite the climax, but
everything is all to a point where, Okay, they are leaving, Jeles
isn't going to be here for it, get the strained relationship with Eugene and

(01:30:48):
Connie, and they get the resolutionin the next episode. So everything's at
a fever pitch right now. Yeah, And Ted's telling her that he's going
to see his great aunt and youknow all those things about stories, and
he said, well, she's gonnabe telling him stories about her neighbor's dog
digging up her petunias and jewels,makes some sort of comment like you know

(01:31:09):
what, Just essentially he's brushing itoff, you know, like she's not
interested whatsoever. And he says,trust me, it's not as interesting as
it sounds. And I'm like,it just shows how it's so funny.
It's plague into that stereotype that he's, you know, tone deaf to what
people are thinking around him, andlike his being out of touch with the
with the the young crowd that we'vehad in other episodes. And I thought

(01:31:32):
that was a really fantastic way toillustrate that that quirk of his personality with
just that one line, and Iloved it. Yeah. Well, that
brings us to the final part,part four, and as you mentioned earlier,
that was Kathy as the flight attendantto Kathy Buchanan, which I thought
was pretty cool. And then speakingof callbacks and interesting mentions of things from

(01:31:58):
from back in the day on theshow, I loved that mention of Joe
Finnemon. I mean that was reallyreally cool. Yeah, And going back
to the Ted Humphreys thing here alittle bit. I like carrying him outside
of his news reporter role. Butyou don't get that often because not just
someone's defined by their job when yousee them outside of it, because he
does a certain extent with you know, seeing the the footage of you know,

(01:32:20):
the fireworks and that kind of stuff, the trees getting scorched and all
that stuff. But it's kind ofneat seeing characters that, if they're defined
by this characteristic or their occupation,to see them outside of that role a
little bit more is really nice.M h. I love the line that
he had that. Uh the commentthere is like, you know, I
don't know what what am I doing? It says taking up most of the

(01:32:42):
armrest or something like that. Shejust does not hear, and she realizes
that she's acting like her parents.She's continuing that cycle of leaving people when
they need you most. Yeah,that moment of self reflection was really nicely
done. Yeah. And then thenwe hear that Witt has named the library
after that, and so Katrina says, you've named it after us, So

(01:33:04):
I'm assuming you just called it theMeltzner Library or something, not Eugene specifically.
But then we hear that he hasput like quotes from Eugene around on
the walls or something, So that'llbe interesting. I wonder if they will
mention that or reference that again atsome point. Yeah, but they don't
say exactly, like you said,what kind name is it the Gene Melster
Library, does the Melster Library theMelster Family Library. I would say it's

(01:33:28):
always called the library, you know, like the train room and the Bible
Room and things like that. Sothe only one that gets the most interesting
probably is the little theater. It'snot just the theater. Yeah. And
then probably the biggest callback of all, and it's not even really a callback,
but getting to hear from Bernard,even though I know that that was

(01:33:49):
audio from an old episode that didn'tair, it was just super cool to
hear Bernard Walton and it's probably thelast time we'll ever hear from him unless
they recast, which they probably willnever do. But yeah, that was
that was a highlight for me.I loved that part of this episode.
I found it interesting that they putBernard on the cover because that was a

(01:34:11):
big deal for people when they sawthat, Like, that's another thing that
they could have kept under their hatand had as a surprise. Some peop
probably would have still me suspected it. But then they have Bernard on the
cover, like, oh, that'sprobably like a prey a marketing thing,
like oh hey, Bernard, he'sin this and I gotta buy this album
for the club to listen to this, but bring this up quickly. I

(01:34:32):
know Wooten is on the cover too. We don't hear him say a line
per se, but I hear,especially in headphones, I heard some background
talking of his and him his likeoh and you know, like his laughs
or something like that here and there. Ah, So it would have been
nice to hear hear from him.But I'm glad they didn't oversaturate with characters
in this, Like so the mentionslike oh, there's Cooper and things like

(01:34:56):
that, which also earlier Jules mentionsyou can see with the Calhouns or the
Washington that was interesting. Oh that'sright. Yeah, yeah, huh.
I totally missed it noting that down. Yeah, that's cool. That is
cool. But the one thing withthe with Bernard being there, this is
one time where the timeline, thechronology, the canon of Odyssey is different,

(01:35:16):
because before this episode we had Bernardchowp and the elsewhere in Odyssey comics,
and that just explained that he waslike doing more work in Connorsville or
something like that, and he cameback to Odyssey after a long period of
time or whatever, and then hehad interactions with Eugene and then he goes
on the h family trip with LeonardNever and the Melsters and that kind of
stuff, which I liked that wehad that interaction there. But with this

(01:35:38):
episode, it's like, Oh,he's been gone for a long time and
now he's back. But this comicsjust came out a year or two before
this episode came out, but itisn't a big deal. Like I'd rather
hear him in the audio episode wascool with the comics seeing him interact with
other characters more, and I thinka lot of people thought that they'd reuse
the audio from the Innoven era,which I'm really glad they did. But

(01:35:59):
it was nice hearing him, whichwe in official podcast years ago they shared
from the end of the era wherethis came from. There were some lines
that we didn't hear in that originalI don't think there were lines of older
episodes before that, so hearing thenew lines and then in this situation with
Bernard was very special. Yeah,And just to clarify, just in case

(01:36:20):
you're not aware, this was originallyintended to be a sind off for Eugene
years ago when the staff thought theywere going to lose will Ryan as Eugene
for various reasons, which we won'tgo into all of that, but they
thought that he wasn't going to beon the show anymore, so they had
written this episode and actually even recordedit, and then things changed and Will

(01:36:43):
stayed on the show. So theynever aired that episode, but they had
that audio and it was the perfecttime to bring that back and reuse that
so we could hear one more timefrom Bernard because you know, they had
it again. They had an interesting, unique relationship. That whole vacation arc
with Bernard and Eugene are just wonderfulclassic episodes that that fans love. I

(01:37:10):
mean, longtime fans point to thoseepisodes as some of their favorites a lot
of the time. And you knowwhat, the Four Corners episode and Hollywood
Earthquake and all of these things thatthey have gone through together. It's just
it would have felt a little bitodd to not have him somewhere involved,

(01:37:32):
or you know, even if theyhad just mentioned him, it was still
felt a little lacking. So I'mreally really glad that they went that route.
Yeah, and it worked out too. Like the only person they had
to change was you know, becauseTom originally read the poem with them and
this one Jason takes over, whichwas interesting. They have talents of playing
two characters, two major characters inthis one. But it's been a long

(01:37:55):
time that I've read the poem.It's the poem is an the official guy
like the words of it. Iheard the podcast years ago with the audio,
but hearing in this setting, afterhearing the build up to him leaving,
I think I started hearing up listeningto that one too, and I
just loved some of the lines,like you know, like a stubborn war
you grew on me and you know, you know, I wanted to shove

(01:38:16):
a cat down your throat and thingslike that. That was very Barnard,
something Bernard would very much say.Then any you know, will miss your
greetings and salutations, and like,oh my heart, yeah, yep,
that that moment, it was justkind of all smiles for me, just
because it was so cool to hearhear him at that moment. What got

(01:38:39):
me at the most at this pointwas when Eugene starts giving his little speech
and yeah, that was that wastough, and you know, he says
something like, you know, thefirst time I heard that bell ring above
the door, was the day mylife began. And I was just like,
oh, yeah, you think youthink back, Yeah, you can
think back. Good day, gentlemen. Yep. Ah. It was also

(01:39:00):
cool too because I think they talkedabout the pitch of podcast and I think
I suspected it, but during someof the poem reading they actually use wil
Ryan's lines from that episode, notyou know, the mix of Will and
Townsend's voice and that one there.So there's some elements of still of actual
just Will's voice using there. Andalso think I heard Luke and Zach's one

(01:39:23):
of them say about how to supplementThey had clips of you know, you
know Eugene's famous you know hmm,like oh like his you know, little
reactions they sprinkled out throughout which Ilistened to again, I picked up all
on a lot more of those.Yeah, that's a that's a really neat
touch for Yeah, I've said itbefore. The detail and the level of

(01:39:46):
thinking that goes into every little aspectof these episodes is just sometimes it just
blows me away at the things thatthey think of, and it's it's why
this show is is so good andit has lasted for so long. I
mean, these these people really careabout every aspect of it and it shows.
Yeah, and I think some ofus were talking about slacking the ada.

(01:40:10):
I think someone mentioned about how thequality of these episodes, like the
sound quality seem to be different,having a different tone or sound to it.
And then if it's a podcasts whereLuke and Zach talk about doing the
sound design, part of the reasonit was like that because to make this
audio sound to fit with everyone else, these basically like almost like a filter
of some sort to make it kindof like a set tape kind of quality

(01:40:31):
through for all this four parter,so the entire episode has maybe more this
analog warm kind of feeling to acertain extent. So I thought it was
really cool, like it was thatway to mask how you know, Eugene's
audio is different from everybody else's lines, you know, just people using their
authentic voices there. But that's anothercool, cool little uh thing they did

(01:40:54):
to make it work. And Idon't think most people probably would have picked
up on that. Yeah, Ididn't actually listen to these in headphones and
so I haven't. I have probablymissed a lot of the little nuances of
that parts of it. But yeah, I love that they pay attention to
those things. Now, speaking ofthe whole Connie and Eugene dynamic here,

(01:41:16):
I love how she says something abouthoping that he gets a Noble prize or
something like that, and then hecorrects her Nobel prize. You know,
It's like that was just a classicKanyie Eugene moment there. I'm glad this
happened. It seemed like it seemedvery Conne Eugene like. But I was
glad it wasn't the last scene withthem, but her giving him a toast
oven the Deluxe model, then sayinggoodbye, and you know, the hug

(01:41:41):
like I felt unsatisfying to a certainextent, but like, I'm glad they
didn't have that happen. And thenoh, I love with saying there when
he's saying goodbye to Eugene, alwaysremember I love you, I'm proud of
you, and the best yet tocome. Oh my goodness, I'm tearing
up already. That was just abeautiful moment there. And also we haven't

(01:42:05):
heard this for years, but youknow his keys whistling for his keys,
which I think is the same audiofrom that there, which if you think
too much about it, like thetechnology has increased quite a bit since then,
you pray wouldn't need that anymore.Yeah, there was more of an
easter egg for like the classic fans, like, don't think about it too
much, it's just a callback.Don't think about too much. Technology is

(01:42:26):
better than that now. But itwas like, oh, I was so
cool. Yep. I had thatin my notes too, and also that
that line from Wit and also whatyou said about them, that's sort that
sort of goodbye between Kanye and Jeannot being super satisfying. I had that
mentioned as well. I was like, man, that that can be the

(01:42:48):
way that it ends for them.You know, that's just not going to
work, you know. So Iwas so glad that they did that.
And oh, my word, Katiewas phenomenal. Katie. He wasn't acting.
I'm sure that was raw emotion.Oh it killed me. I remember
the first time I heard it.Oh, it just wrecked me. And

(01:43:09):
I I texted her. I waslike, Katie, oh my goodness,
I mean, that was a fantastic. I don't remember exactly what I said,
but I was just like I justhad to tell her like that,
you that scene was just fantastic,and and I know that they've talked about
it on the on the podcast andthings. This was a this was a

(01:43:30):
very difficult thing for the cast,this whole especially probably this fourth fourth part,
you know, just because for themthis is not just a character like
it is for us as a asa listener. This is a friend of
theirs and and uh so yeah itOh goodness, Yeah, I want to
jump back real quick about with Idon't know if you noticed this, but

(01:43:54):
when they leave, you know,he says goodbye with the way intonation,
there is not an awful law likeat the end of exit with the voicemail
that Eugene has you know, wellwherever you are with it's kind of the
notation there. It kind of mademe think of how that ended. It
wasn't the same exact words, butthe way the InfoNation was it sounded pretty
similar. Mmmm, that's a goodjob observation. But yeah, I think

(01:44:17):
with you know Katie, you know, talking there like she did such a
great job and life expectancy like whenConnie's mom dies, like it was that's
some of the Katie's best acting there. But I haven't listened to it back
to back or side by side orwhatever, but compared to that because as
created an actresses as Katy is gettingthat raw emotion there of her grieving the

(01:44:38):
loss of Will, her best friend, and as the character Connie losing her
best friend Eugene. Yeah, yeah, it was very emotional for me.
I started crying crying there as well. And it's I don't think it's urban
said on the show, but likeof Connie saying that Eugene is her friend,

(01:45:00):
I have to try to think aboutthat, like she might have said
Penny at some point, I'm notcertain about that, but to the point
that she finally says that, ohno, no, no, when Eugene
is gone in overcom she says he'sone of my closest or one of my
best friends or something something like that. But in this time she says,

(01:45:24):
you know, she cares about himso much, and all these emotions and
all that she's been through, likemost of her life, like I don't
know how old Kanye's at this point, but most of her life, like
every kind of like Eugene. Herlife began when she came to Odyssey,
and ninety nine percent of the timethat she'd been out, Eugene has been
there. I don't know if thatpercentage is correct, but yeah, it

(01:45:45):
was. It was great. Andalso Eugene being kind of the wise mentor
kind of like in life expectancy whenhe was companying her about her mother dying
and giving the advice that he hadlearned from her mom about grieving and things
like that. Talk about memories,I really like that about the importance of
memories. They help sustain us.They also help us to move on,
and it's a blessing from God.Yes, memories can be painful. Not

(01:46:08):
all memories are good, but thosegood ones, you know, even if
you have a very sad, badlife because of the circumstances beyond your control,
those good memories somehow. I can'tsay this because I've been very blessed,
not how to difficult childhood or anythinglike that, but I would think

(01:46:30):
that for some people, those goodmemories they stand up more sometimes more,
I mean, think about the badones more, where the good ones seem
to shine a little bit the brightestthere. And that's probably you know,
God's providence in doing that. Yeah, it was just a beautiful moment,
a wonderful bit of dialogue. Therecan't say for sure who wrote it,
since there were three writers credited here, but that moment was just beautiful,

(01:46:51):
and yeah, it all comes fullcircle. There's there's this thread that's been
running through all four of these partsabout memory, and first we're in a
medical context and then we have ithere as in these memories are these times
we've had together, and he says, the memories we've had together are blessings

(01:47:12):
and they'll be with us for therest of our lives. And it was
just in fact, let's go aheadand take a listen to that this moment.
I mean, it's one of thebest moments of this entire four partner.
Oh, Miss Kendall, I believeGod has given us a wonderful way
to help us in situations where weexperience loss. What I've spent years now

(01:47:35):
working to help people regain and retaintheir memories. Recently, I've gained a
renewed appreciation for the gift that theyare. The memories we have of the
people we love for not only reflectionsof reminiscence and thanksgiving. They sustain us
when we're sad, they help usmove on. The memories we've had together

(01:47:58):
our blessings will always have for therest of our lives. Yeah, we
do have some pretty good ones,don't we Many years of both mirth and
melancholy all worth keeping, worth treasuring. And even that that sih there,

(01:48:21):
that's great acting right there. Imean it's not just in the words that
you say and how you say it, but it's in the spaces and in
those just those little vocal efforts andit's reactions just so good, so good,
and and man that line, youknow, years of mirth and melancholy.

(01:48:46):
Life is a mixed bag. It'snot always roses. But notice what
he says there. They're all worthkeeping, worth treasuring because these are the
memories that we've made together. Andah, it's great, great stuff.
Yeah, things you can learn fromeven the bad stuff. It's hard to

(01:49:06):
be thankful when you're having those badthings happen, but looking back on them,
you can see God's hand in yourlife and the things how things could
have been worse, or things thatyou learn from that, and the times
that you know, this almost happenedor this did happen. I heard a
sermon by a pastor who talks aboutthis woman that was going through really rough

(01:49:29):
time or whatever, and I thinkhim or someone else had asked about like
how they can pray for her likethat, and she said, you know,
pray for me. They don't wastethis pain. In the midst of
that, she was wanting to usethat pain to use that time to either
like like grow deeper inner relationship withGod, learn something about it, to
help her improve her own life,and that kind of stuff. And that's

(01:49:54):
very hard to see in the middleof hard times like that. But looking
back on the rough times, youknow, lie, you know, as
Christians, we had the wonderful blessingthat no matter what happens in our life,
you know, verbins A twenty eight, God works all things out for
good. Now all things are good, that God works them together for good,
right right. And just a littlebit later, Eugene makes a comment

(01:50:16):
when he's talking to Wit I believe, and he says, you know,
life is filled with bittersweet moments,and so he's even still on that theme
there, and it kind of makesme think of that essay that I wrote
back in January, and I didan audio version of it, and it's
called Finding Value in Loss, AndI was not thinking about these episodes at
all when I wrote that. Iwas prompted by completely different things. But

(01:50:40):
it's just in this conversation that youand I are having right now, it
has come to my mind and it'smaking me think about that and I think
it fits really well. So linkis in the show notes if you want
to check that out. If youhaven't heard that, I know I've mentioned
it on the show recently, butif you haven't heard that, I would
consider it a favor if you wouldgo listen to that and let me know
what you think of it. Butit is so true that life is a

(01:51:03):
journey and there are all of thesemoments that come together that form the whole
of who we are, and wehave the choice of deciding how we're going
to react to the things that happento us, and how we're going to
respond and how we're going to usethese hard times to grow. And it's

(01:51:26):
so so valuable and important and thatthey're really bringing this home because we know
the target audience for this show arechildren, and so a lot of this
might be lost on them, butthey're still going to feel the weight of
what's happening in these moments, inthese scenes, and I think it's still
going to have an impact, Andof course it will have a greater impact

(01:51:47):
for those of us who are adultsand have lived a little bit of life.
But I love that, you know, they're using this moment of this
sind Off for this character to bringhome these life lessons. And it was
beautifully done for sure. And onecallback I thought of, you know,
when they're saying, you know,giving each other real hug, I was

(01:52:11):
thinking, I'm Katrina hug me yep, I thought of that too, and
I'm wondering here. We talked aboutthis the last and the two standload episodes
about humor ruining a moment. Whatdid you think about the vests and the
last word? Okay, so thisfelt very natural because this is the this
is how they've reacted and been witheach other the entire time, And it

(01:52:35):
felt like Connie was not trying tomake light of anything but her quip about
the vests. It felt like hertrying to lighten it for herself, like
she's about to lose it completely hereand so she's trying to diffuse it a
little bit not I don't know it. For some reason, this one really

(01:52:58):
worked. I thought it really feltYeah, I think so, it felt
like it belonged and you know,and then him coming back with you know,
you're you're picking on my wife andor you're picking on not just me
at but my wife as well.You know, I don't know it really
worked in this moment for me,And I also was thinking to hear me,
hear me where she wasn't She wassaying it spitefully talk about you know,

(01:53:21):
like the vests that makes them looklike amphibian and then she says later
on spiefully, you know you wenttruthfulness and a fronts or whatever. Look
you look like an armadillo and thatturtle vest, Like what that's downright cruel.
That's what I was also thinking tothe time she said, badger,
badger. Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. And it's a
nursing the last word it's only onceI think an Odyssey canon. In the

(01:53:44):
story itself, we have it's arap where Eugene talks about having the last
word or whatever, and he keepssaying that, oh yeah, well it
doesn't show this whatever, and thenLucy tried to, you know, move
away. Then he keeps coming withthe last word, like this one is
much more of a I guess kindof easter egg. Because rabid fans of
the show would know how that's o. Katie and Will are in the studio,

(01:54:05):
they're also trying to have the lastword in this kind of stuff.
In the scene they keep aud livingthat kind of stuff. So it was
one of those easter eggs there thatlong time fans of the show would know
between the two things, that thevest and the last word thing, the
last word one felt a little bitmore inserted, the other one felt much

(01:54:27):
more natural. But this one Ithought worked as well, and I understand
why, but it did not botherme. But yeah, I thought both
of them were really really nice,and the music all throughout these these final
scenes was just phenomenal. It reallyjust meshed well with the mood and it

(01:54:47):
helped enhance the emotion. And Ithought John Campbell did a fantastic job there.
And the worst part was towards theend there with Wit He's absolutely losing
it and that was that was theworst part for me. And he's he's
basically sobbing and he says to Conniehe's really gone, and that's what it

(01:55:11):
just really really hit home for me. But overall, I think the way
that everything was handled, considering allof the circumstances and all of the things
that they had to deal with withthe technology and all that stuff. I
thought it was handled really well.And then working in the entire thread of
well, what's what's going on withthis family, because they've just adopted Buck,

(01:55:36):
and you know, everybody was wonderingif they decided to kill off the
character of Eugene, how are theygoing to do that after you know,
they've they've just become a family that'snot gonna work. You know, we've
all we were all kind of speculatingon what could happen here, and then
working that into it. The waythey did with having them you know,
Buck, I think is because Iremember somebody to talk. I don't remember

(01:55:59):
who it was, but I rememberbeing in conversations with people who had brought
up the idea of having Bucks stayin Odyssey, or or that Eugene might
go away for some period of timeto work on something and Buck and Katrina
would stay in Odyssey. And butso there's all these different things, and
but the way they did it,it really seemed to work. And I

(01:56:19):
thought that Jewels had missed out,like I thought. I didn't think that
they were gonna cut back to them, and that that totally caught me by
surprise when when that actually happened.Yeah, it's actually similar to how Connie
and Eugene when Witt was leaving andcoming back to Odyssey, how they have
this mad dash, all these bad, bad things happening, like all these

(01:56:41):
obstacles will get to them, likeI missed it or I missing goodbye and
missed this party and that kind ofstuff, and then when it really matters,
they they meet. Yeah, andbringing in Marshall as as Officer Burke.
That was pretty fun. Yeah,that was that was a nice touch.
It was pretty pretty cool to havejust the poolehouse and and that just

(01:57:02):
sort of ext I know, it'sa very small role. So he played.
Wont to bring the act distion forthat one there, but yeah,
it was not hearing him and howhe kind of saved the day. I
like that, Yo, give mea ride and a ticket. Yeah,
I love how even before that,when they're trying the car, Eugene to
saying, you know, like Iwant to say, are you crying?

(01:57:23):
Says minimally like that's a very Eugenething to say, and then he's like,
you know, you know, thisis the road contact of how to
drive it's like eugen eat stop side. It's like, oh my goodness,
it's so funny with that. It'slike, oh, he was conduct like
go to a teacher, and they'dalso like call back to his accidents or
whatever, and a license to driveit was, and then they're fighting over
who needs a dry right, Yeah. Yeah. All in all, I

(01:57:45):
just think it was really extremely welldone. I mean, as I said,
my my personal preference, as Isort of came around to was that
I would I would have preferred themto recast and and the Melsteners to stay.
But considering that that's the way thatthey went, this is probably the
best way that they could have doneit. And even Chris at the end,

(01:58:09):
you know's she gets her sinned offfor Eugene too, you know,
thanks for the memories, Eugene,she says, And that was beautiful too.
So overall, I loved these episodesfor what they are and how it
all came together, and the performanceswere just phenomenal. The music was beautiful.

(01:58:30):
But I also don't like them becauseof what they mean for the characters.
But it is what it is,and I think it was extremely well
done. So I'm guessing you Prayweren't super happy that Buck and Choules will
continue their dating relationship. I thinkit was a sweet moment, but still
I'm not totally liking it, ButI understand for the characters to keep the

(01:58:53):
connection between Odyssey and Baltimore with Eugeneand them, I think I think it
works, and I think they're stilla good to be come out of that,
even though I'm not crazy about theidea in real life. Yeah,
I'm pretty much on the same pagethere as well. And I mean I
think it's even better because they're they'renot going to be in the same play
the same place together, so ithas to be long distance, so it's

(01:59:15):
you know, they're not like they'regoing to be getting into any trouble with
each other. So on one hand, that's that might be a better outcome.
Yeah. Well, I mentioned eachepisode to spring up progressively more emotional
for me, and part four.I've cried listened to Odyssey episodes listening to
them for the first time because youknow, like something like Unsinkable or One

(01:59:39):
More Name or some older episodes Ilistened to as an adult that hit me
differently. But at the party,you know, Bernard's poem Eugene's you know,
kind of speech to them by toConnie good By the Wit I was,
I don't know, I'm not ashamedto say I was. I was
crying throughout. And then we getto the last year with wit crying that

(02:00:00):
just broke me. I was.I was pretty much sobbing at that point.
And part of it was very multifacetedfor me, because not only was
I, you know, grieving thatwill Ryan had passed away, and that
this character of Eugene that I growingup listening to was going away. The

(02:00:20):
day Part four aired on The Club, a similar situation that so those characters
are going through I was experiencing atthe time. I think the week previous
something like that. I found outthat when my cousins that listened the same
time with me, I got tochurch with them, I see him usually
a few times a week or so, and I found out that he was

(02:00:41):
going out east to do schooling there, and I did not know it until
about a week before he left.And so it's kind of a gut punched
me to a certain extent. NotI'm not as close close to him as
I am. Like Eugene Connie arelike I'm still pretty close to him,
but going with idea like I'm notgoing to see him at church, I'm
not gonna be able to hang outwith them, things like that. And

(02:01:04):
the day that this aired in theclub was the day that him and it's
Fily left to go back east todrop him off. So all those emotions,
the reliability with it kind of againthat small taste of like what the
characters or something with that, itjust it was a bit overwhelming for me,

(02:01:25):
Like i I'm not, I'm not, I'm satisfied with how things turned
out with all these episodes. Ithink they were done very tastefully. I
think they did such great They didgreat fan service. They didn't give the
fans everything they wanted, but Ithink they gave him a lot of those
Easter eggs and callbacks and the thingsthat we wanted to hear before him leaving,

(02:01:47):
like things like with Bernard and thingslike that. And I appreciate it
also with you know Wit at thispoint, because I think again people think
of that what was being lovel toocallous and not shown his emotions, like
conymentions about you know, isn't yourwisdom ever take a day off like lazy
or angry or whatever. We don'tsee WIT's emotion that that much, like
we hear a little bit of thatand always home we talks about you know,

(02:02:09):
it's Tom's birthday and him missing him, and correct me if I'm wrong.
I can't remember a time that atthis age, not like young Wit
crying this much about something that wehear him doing that, and so just
you know, just kind of tearsin his voice, just quivering or something
like that, outright crying and sobbinglike that, Like, yeah, I

(02:02:30):
can't recall. Yeah, it waslike that's a new thing, I'm guessing.
And that's probably also one thing that'sso unexpected or so rare that it
hit me and stuff for other peopledoing that. And also I know a
lot of a lot of people pickon Andre and I I think a lot
some of it's unwarranted. Actually alot of it that I've I've accepted him

(02:02:50):
as Wit long ago and I've gottento meet him before, and Andre is
just one of the nicest people ever. But think about it too. Andre
has been on the show almost aslong as Paul Linger or House Smith,
and he's worked with wol Ryan almostas long. So his emotions and that

(02:03:12):
possibly might have been kind of rolledtoo to a certain extent as much as
Katie of course, but it feelsearned in that not just for the character
of Wit to do that, butalso for Andre with the history that he's
had with wol Ryan over the yearson the show as well. And a
great acting moment for Andre, andalso the writing for wits him bringing like

(02:03:34):
the Abrahamic moment and things like thatthat he told Connie and also with Eugenie
earlier, just some great, greatwriting for Wit, and again great acting
from Wit as well from Andre.For Wit. Absolutely absolutely, yeah,
I totally agree with that. Itwas a really raw moment and just yeah,

(02:03:58):
that was the part that got methe most, I think. And
that is a good point that youbring up that he did have a history
with will Ryan as well, andwe sometimes forget about that because us old
time fans, you know, weforget that he has been on the show
for that long. And I thinkthat's a good point to remind people about.

(02:04:23):
And you're right. I hear peoplebeing less than enthused about his voice,
as with a lot I hear peopleseeing stuff all the time, and
I understand a little bit because hisvoice is very different from both hal And
and Paul's. But this was avery beautiful moment. And to your point

(02:04:45):
about the writing, again, therewere just some wonderful lines there, and
yeah, I guess I'm repeating myselfnow, but I just think the whole
wrap up here was beautiful, extremelywell done. And I don't know if
if I if I can truthfully saythat I feel like the best is yet

(02:05:06):
to come, because you know,after having been listening to the show for
so many years and looking back fondlyat some of these great episodes from the
past and these moments, especially ofEugene, and knowing that we'll never have
any more of those, it's kindof hard to say the best is yet

(02:05:27):
to come. But you know,the show goes on, life goes on,
and I think they did a fantasticjob. And of course we do
need to shout out Nathan Hubler asthe producer of the show and executive producer
Dave Arnold. This was a hugeteam effort. This was not just a
couple of writers writing a couple ofscripts. This was not your average album.

(02:05:49):
This was everybody, all hands ondeck. Marshall Younger as showrunner,
everybody was involved in this. I'msure. I'm sure it was not easy
for them, not just the actors, but for you know, the focused
staff too, and you know,the Odyssey team. They've worked with Will
for decades, and so this wasa beautiful way to say goodbye to Eugene

(02:06:11):
Meltzner. Yeah, and I thinkI know you were as enthused with the
first two episodes. I think alot of people, because there's some looking
for the four parter and all thatstuff, they overlook the first two.
I think overall, this entire albumwas very good. I don't think it's
quite as good as Album seventy two. I think that one is probably the
best of the sixth part or thesix episode albums of Odyssey. But like

(02:06:33):
really, Odyssey has has some reallygreat albums, like most of like pretty
much all except for one, forlike seventy one. I think all of
seventy two, seventy three, andnow seventy five are I know, it's
it's some of the best Odyssey hasdone. And I'm really appreciative all the
effort the team went in to makeall these stories not just the best of

(02:06:54):
everything in this album, because allof them, to a certain extent,
are being some kind of close youror continuing storylines from the past about characters
that we care about and things weneed to think need to resolved in that
kind of stuff, and I thinkfor the most part, all those are
resolved in a very satisfying way,very emotional way, and especially with you

(02:07:15):
know, the four parter, again, not what everybody wanted. No matter
what decision they made, you're notgonna please everybody. Yeah, yeah,
I'm just glad they didn't take theextreme of you know, killing the character
himself. I'd prefer them recasting.But with this I appreciate at least the
diligence and time they took to givea good sign off for the character.
Thank you Odyssey team, and andthank you, thank you Will Ryan for

(02:07:39):
spending so much time on the showand giving us the character of Eugene.
And we love you, Will,We miss you absolutely, yeah, absolutely,
you know, there there were therewere some beautiful tributes on the podcast,
and you know they had a Nancyon there too, on the official
podcast as well. So you know, as somebody has said, I think

(02:08:00):
they may have said on the podcast, but I know I've heard it among
the fans. You know, we'llalways have these episodes to go back to
and listen to over and over again. So yeah, he embodied the character
of Eugene Meltzner so well. AndEugene was Will. Will was Eugene,
And I mean, that character isso iconic and I will always have those

(02:08:24):
memories and love those episodes. Andthat brings us to the end of album
seventy five. And isn't that kindof interesting too. The I don't know
if that was intentional on their part, but to have it happen on a
nice round and number like seventy five, and as Eugene says there in part
four, it is the end ofan era. Well, thank you,

(02:08:48):
Austin. Always good talking with youabout Adventures and Odyssey, and I appreciate
you lending your opinions and your expertiseon the show for us today. Well,
thank you, JD. It wasan honor to be on this podcast
and not necessarily the most easiest ormost fun review so the content, you

(02:09:09):
know, with the sadness of itand all that, but I always have
a fun time talking about Odyssey andtalking with you and being on ATC It's
always a pleasure. So what areyou think of the show? Please leave
your message after the shown. Hi, Audience Theater Central. Hey guys,
this is awesome hell about JD RoyAndrew Minum is Victoria Now. Yesterday I

(02:09:33):
received a letter from a big band. No time to Josh. I've got
an email list another package for metoday. No, it's actually just your
mail. Well, if you wouldlike to get in touch with us,
there are numerous ways to do that. You can email us feedback at audio
theatercentral dot com, comment on theshow notes, or send a text or
leave a voicemail to our feedback linewhich is six two three six eight eight

(02:09:58):
two seven seven zero. Oh,we've got some comments here on episode two
hundred, which was a marathon toproduce. Took a long long time to
get that episode recorded and edited andout to you, but I'm so thankful
that everybody seemed to really enjoy it. Got some great feedback here. Nato

(02:10:18):
Jacobson said, everyone in their grandmotherhas a podcast, and frankly, I
think most of them don't serve avaluable enough purpose to be worthy of attention
and investment. What I sincerely appreciateabout your work JD and that of your
team is that Audio Theater Central isof a rare breed which does not fall
into that category. I recently hada friend to reach out on behalf of

(02:10:39):
someone wanting to pursue voice acting,and I told her what I've told many
others. If you're interested in familyfriendly audio drama, go to ATC for
orientation. It's that simple. Mostpeople wouldn't even know that I work on
these shows if it wasn't for you, as there is generally very little recognition
of cast or crew in the space. It's a practical and meaningful resource for
a tiny end that is being helpedby nothing else like it. And we

(02:11:03):
have you to thank for that.Wow, Nato, thank you so much.
Those are very very kind words andvery high praise. I don't take
it lightly. I really really appreciatethat, and that means a lot to
me. That we are serving apurpose here and that's what we've been striving
to do here since twenty ten isshine a light on what is being done

(02:11:28):
in this amazing space called family friendlyaudio drama, get the word out,
bring in more listeners. That's whatit's all about, and of course,
foster some community with all of uswho are already fans. You know,
we've got to have some other nerdsto talk to, so thank you again.
Nato. Rose Beasley said, happytwo hundred JD. What an awesome

(02:11:50):
accomplishment in Milestone. I thoroughly enjoyedlistening to this entire episode. It was
packed to the max. Yes,the longest episode ever in the history of
the show. Thank you, Rose. David Hilder said, congratulations, just
finished listening. So great to hearthe voices of so many talented people in

(02:12:11):
the industry. Yes, absolutely,what a chock full lineup of amazingly talented
folks. Loved loved love getting totalk to all of those amazing folks.
Thank you, David. And lastly, Bethany Baldwin said, fantastic episode.
Congratulations on such an amazing accomplishment.Thank you so much. Bethany, really

(02:12:35):
appreciate it. Now I realize thatall of the feedback this time around was
very congratulatory, and hey, Idon't write it. I take it the
way it cubs, you know,So if you have a question or some
feedback on something we've discussed here onthe show, what Austin and I just
spent a nearly two hours talking aboutin album seventy five of Adventures in Odyssey

(02:12:58):
or anything else that we've talked abouthere on the show. Please reach out
love hearing from you well. Thesong at the top of the review segment
was the Best Is Yet to Comeby Scott Krapaine from his two thousand and
one album titled All of Me.Don't forget to join the ATC insiders,
where we'll email you about the coolstuff that we're up to that is linked

(02:13:20):
right on our homepage, and alwaysget in touch with us Audio Theatercentral dot
com slash contact. Show notes forthis episode are at audio theatercentral dot com
slash to zero one. I'll seeyou next time. Thank you so much
for listening. Audio Theater Central isa production of Portnite Family Media. Our

(02:13:45):
theme music was composed by Sam Avandanio. The show is produced and edited by
Yours Truly JD. Sutter, andour website is Audiotheatercentral dot com. Is
yet to come. Nothing can yourpad wants in storm? We we will

(02:14:13):
join the agels, singing Holy theLord, the bast to come the promise
him, wait the finest mill,say your face to face ball he sid

(02:14:35):
be free for all we had anywith my iPhone of the best is yet
to come oh yes, m H. Sports Light Family Media your source for

(02:15:16):
family centered content. Sportlightfamilymedia dot com

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