From Rhonda Simpson
Rating: 4 stars
I love that the characters of Katrina and Eugene are back. Also the
blanks are being filled in about what happened during their absence.
From Brenden, age 10
Rating: 3 stars
It was a great ep. Except for the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Meltsner
are DEAD!
From Paul B
Rating: 4 stars
Eugenes quest to finds his parnts wisnt gowing well.Hes found out
there both dead.what will happen on the rest of eugene and katrinas adventures.
From RileyK
Rating: 4 stars
I have only heard 15 minutes so far but it is VERY exiting!
From Robert, age 13
Rating: 2 1/2 stars
It was good but I didn't enjoy the fact that The parents of Eugene
were dead... Hopefully #3 will be better.
From Bradford G, age 15
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
I enjoyed the episode, but I felt so bad for Eugene. But I don't think we've heard everything so I can't wait to hear Part 3!
From EugeneFan23, age 11
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
I like this episode. I still don't think that Eugene's father is dead. I guess we will see! It was a good episode.
From Matthew, age 16
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
I liked it alot. I can't wait till the next ep.
From Nathan Ehnis, age 17
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Getting better. Hard to follow, but that's what makes an Odyssey ep good!
From SManBeyond, age 20
Rating: 4 stars
After being pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the first part of this saga, I was once again amazed to find that "Prisoners of Fear" Part 2 hit the same "high" standard.
Now I must confess that I had my doubts because I knew that starting at this point, the episode could go horribly wrong. The temptation would have been to drag out the suspense as to whether Eugene's parents were alive or not throughout the remaining two parts with a final revelation towards the middle or end of Part 3. However, since we are hearing the episode in flashback, we know that Eugene could NOT have found his parents alive. Otherwise, once he had returned to Odyssey, he would have been relaying the tremendous news to Whit and all the other people he met.
Given all that, it was nice to hear that instead any "suspense" was not only tolerable, but ended by the end of this part.
The pacing of this episode was very good. In particular, Younger succeeded by having Eugene only directly speculate about his parents' fate long enough for it to be realistic in how Eugene would react, but short enough to the point that it did not insult our intelligence. He threw in enough adventure aspects (such as the bridge that triggered the rushing flood, the "snake", etc.) that it kept the story interesting.
Likewise, the explanation about what happened to Eugene's parents is what I expect of a "realistic" one: Simple once you discover it, yet believable. Given the unknown nature of this part of the African region, the rivalries from other archeologist, and the lack of better communication tools and devices back when Leonard and Thelma were presumably captured, I buy that no one was ever able to find them.
Another aspect I particularly liked was how Younger had Eugene be once again "too late", a theme that constantly happened with his grandfather, Whit, Katrina (after his conversion), Dean Joshua, etc.
Similarly, the dialogue was particularly strong. I must confess that I laughed both at a well-written line where Katrina expresses her doubts in Eugene's ability to fight of a snake with a knife, as well as the scene where Eugene attempts to scare off what he believes in the unseen snake by talking to it and actually pulling out his knife. Younger's experience for writing for all these characters as well as for creating small comic situations clearly shows.
Now, four final comments:
First, I am going to give up determining when Eugene COULD have returned to find his parents alive. "Two years ago" doesn't really seem to exist in AIO time, unless that was before 1996 when Connie was still 16.
Secondly, a minor and only possibly probable plot hole: The pilot from the first part of the episode said he believed in the curse. However, wouldn't he at least have noticed the dam while flying around the region? Wouldn't that have piqued his interest given that Eugene and Katrina were also similarly surprised by it? And wouldn't that have prompted him to investigate and find out the truth about the curse? But given that I do not know whether a dam would be visible from the height he'd be flying at, I only point it out for dicussion.
Thirdly, there is one issue that I hope that Younger will address in the next part: Eugene's parents were almost certainly non-Christians. Now that Eugene is a Christian, it would be unrealistic for this story to finish without having Eugene deal with the tremendous grief that he will NEVER see his earthly parents again, both in earth and in heaven. I am not taking off points for this in this part, as we only find out what happened to them at the very end of the episode and do not get adequate time for Eugene to really speculate on this.
Fourthly, what is left for Eugene and Katrina to do in Part 3? I honestly do not know where this episode is going to go, aside from the obvious details of showing people that the curse is not real (as well as showing that the bridge is booby-trapped). To have that happen is a tremendous thing, and I have full faith that Marshall Younger will bring a good end to the story.
In conclusion, a worthy addition to AIO continuity as well as to the classic AIO canon. 4 out of 4 stars.
