The Town of Odyssey

The new episode has snuck up on us.

Some thoughts as the episode goes by...

I think Barrett's voice has changed, and I'm not sure I like it; he sounds a lot more like Ryan than the Barrett I remember from album #51 and #52. He also seems a lot more aggressive, whereas he didn't really seem to get too worked up about anything before.

Priscilla is totally crushing on him, and it's kind of sickening.
No complaints with Matthew or Jay; it strikes me that Jay might be a bit meaner here than he is in other episodes, but then I remembered that this album was produced before The Green Ring Conspiracy, which makes it fit a little better, chronologically. Anyway, I think he's still funny, and it's good character development to show that he does still have a darker side. It makes him a bit more real.

3.5/5, or 75/99.

I really enjoyed this episode. It was light-hearted and entertaining. The music references were fun, a lot of the terms reminded me of music pieces I've studied recently. The banter between Jay and Barrett was funny, I love Barrett's sarcasm. We haven't had a really sarcastic character since Bernard. The twist with the girl and the shoes was nice, it was too predictable up to that point.

The only thing I didn't like was Priscilla's overbearing crush on Barrett. It was a bit overdone I think. just my thoughts.

I think the crush part is one of the best parts. When I was young and in school there was always at least one girl that was extremely obvious! I do not know why though, I was a fat kid who kept to himself for the most part.

Now THAT is what I call a good ol' odyssey episode.

I love Barrett's new voice, it's even bearable!! Priscilla, I'll save thoughts on her for a different place. ;P Jay is awesome as he was last episode, Whit and Eugene seem like themselves...uh...

I like it. ^.^

I LOVE this episode! One of my favorites from the album. I myself really like Barrett's new voice, I like Priscilla, I love the shoe scene, and Jay was hilarious! 5 stars!

Excellent episode! Barret was bearable! Priscilla was cute and not overly annoying with her crush - perfectly executed! Jay rocks as usual.

Also my favorite line was in the montage of clues - did anyone else catch the "More Cowbell" line? Did AIO really just quote Saturday Night Live?! Hilarious - especially considering how unexpected that line was. heehee!

Also the scene with the little girl reminded me of the "Christmas Shoes" story.

First, a few observations:

• I liked the continuity with the Waterworld passes (they were also the prizes in "The Case of the Candid Camera"), and, of course, Hal's Diner.
• In the past, I've thought that Priscilla sounded too similar to Emily and Olivia. However, in this episode she sounded more distinctive, which helped me like her character more.
• Fun fact: The song playing in the background when Jay and Matthew are in the music store is "Rondo Alla Turka," which was also used as Whit's cell phone ringtone in "Sounds Like a Mystery." It's one of my favorite classical pieces, and is featured in the 5-hour version of Pride and Prejudice. Just FYI.
• Wouldn't there be a sales tax on the shoes (and the sheet music too, come to think of it)?

I kind of wish Barrett and Priscilla hadn't won the contest. In "Wooton Knows Best," Olivia didn't get chosen to be Wooton's camp assistant, but, after apologizing to Matthew and finally accepting the fact that she didn't get to go, she still got to meet Melissa. Here, Barrett did the right thing in using his contest money to buy shoes for the girl (though, incidentally, he hadn't read the final clue at that point), but still won the contest. Doing the right thing often means not getting exactly what you want. I'd rather that ending than everything working out for Barrett anyway.

In general, though, I liked this episode. Yes, the little girl did kinda come out of nowhere (though I did like the twist that she wasn't poor and didn't actually need those shoes), and as soon as she appeared, I knew what was going to happen. But despite that, and even though there's no way I could've figured out any of those trivia questions, I enjoyed the scavenger hunt premise and the kids' interactions (Jay and Barrett especially). Like "The Malted Milkball Falcon," they worked well as a group.

I thought this episode was cute but it did remind me of Have You no Selpurcs and the scavenger hunt Whit sent Curt and Lucy on. I was in band in the dark ages of my high school years and I actually knew alot of the clues! Yay for me!

I know it doesn't really matter all that much, but one thing that bothered me was that it was a little out dated. I mean, since when does a gumball cost a penny? And since when do shoes cost $3.00? And also the fact that there's no tax on the shoes or the sheet music. I know it's not all that important, but it kind of bothered me.

~JCGJ~ wrote:I know it doesn't really matter all that much, but one thing that bothered me was that it was a little out dated. I mean, since when does a gumball cost a penny? And since when do shoes cost $3.00? And also the fact that there's no tax on the shoes or the sheet music. I know it's not all that important, but it kind of bothered me.

Some places still have penny machines.

Many states (including Oregon) have no sales tax on anything.

It was a thrift shop, meaning second hand, which is always cheap.

Hope that helps un-bother you.

OH MY WORD. THIS WAS THE BEST EPISODE since Album 51 came out! This is extremely good! I love that they somehow changed Barret's voice! New actor/different intonations, but I DON"T CARE. They changed it! Jay is still his awesome self. Hal's Diner and the Waterworld tickets (as someone else mentioned) are re-visited from old episodes. I love the treasure hunt scenes.


Priscilla was forgettable in this episode. Her voice is kind of annoying anyway. Wait... Priscilla. Which one is that one? Parker? Younger than Olivia but older than Camilla?

Hey, I just noticed the link for the episode on Oneplace opens in a window titled 'The Amazing Looser'.

And can you really get gumballs for 1c? or... penny?

Hey, Smaug, make sure numlock is on (if you have a keypad) and then hold Alt then press 667

¢

I liked this show quite a bit. I've always been a fan of scavenger hunts--on the radio or in real life--so I enjoyed all of the clues and riddles. Of course, when you don't know the town of Odyssey like these kids do, it's near impossible to figure out the clues before they do, but it's still fun. The only other two Odyssey episodes that I can remember that are centered around a scavenger hunt are Have You No Selpurcs? and Treasure Hunt, both of which I always enjoy listening to--especially the former, because it has a very good moral.

I thought the moral in this episode was pretty good. It definitely fit "Love is not self seeking." I do wish it had been a little more apparent, like in Have You No Selpurcs? where Kurt and Lucy are supposed to show kindness all the way through the episode. So maybe Barrett could have had several opportunities throughout the hunt to show compassion, rather than just the little girl. But that part of the story was pretty powerful, so I think it did okay standing alone.

I noticed we got to hear Hal from Hal's Diner for the very first time! Is it just me, or does he sound very similar to Mr. Jenkins? Maybe he's Hal Jenkins, and he runs both Hal's Diner and Jenkins' Supermarket (or whatever it's called).

I'm glad they didn't overdo it on the lovey-dovey stuff between Barrett and Priscilla. What they did have wasn't really all that bad. One thing that's good about the couple is that they show commitment. They've been together for 4 albums now. ;D They made a good team, I thought. I'm warming up to Priscilla a little more.

Jay and Matthew were an unlikely team, but they seemed to do well together. Jay was aggressive and competitive, and Matthew was the brains. Jay's humor was great, as usual, and he kept the episode interesting.

I totally fell for the thing with the little girl and her shoes. I was sure that it was like in Have You No Selpurcs where the trick was to spend the money for the right things. And since Barrett was the only one to have compassion on the girl, he and Priscilla were going to win the game. I thought it was all set up by Mr. Whittaker, because he knew Jay wouldn't give the girl the time of day. But it did turn out well in the end.

The twist that "Hail to the Chief" not being the right song was a real surprise to me. I don't know anything about the presidents' musical habits and abilities (other than that Bill Clinton played the saxophone), so I had no idea who made that comment about "Dixie." But I predicted the outcome, without having to know anything about what Abraham Lincoln said, because I knew that Jay had spent his penny, but that Barrett had kept his, so I figured the penny was the missing object, since it featured a picture of President Lincoln.

So there isn't much to address in this episode. It was an entertaining listen, but it wasn't anything all that special. There wasn't anything not to like about it though, so I'll give it an 8.5/10.

Whitty Whit wrote:Hey, Smaug, make sure numlock is on (if you have a keypad) and then hold Alt then press 667

¢

¢ Cool. I don't know if '¢' is used with Euro currency. I think it's more American and Canadian...

~JCGJ~ wrote:I know it doesn't really matter all that much, but one thing that bothered me was that it was a little out dated. I mean, since when does a gumball cost a penny? And since when do shoes cost $3.00? And also the fact that there's no tax on the shoes or the sheet music. I know it's not all that important, but it kind of bothered me.

At the pool where I work there is tax included in the price to make it easier.

~JCGJ~ wrote:I know it doesn't really matter all that much, but one thing that bothered me was that it was a little out dated. I mean, since when does a gumball cost a penny? And since when do shoes cost $3.00? And also the fact that there's no tax on the shoes or the sheet music. I know it's not all that important, but it kind of bothered me.

It was a thrift store, everything is cheap at thrift stores I liked this episode, it brought some of that good old Odyssey charm back. Pricilla bothered me ath the beginning, so I stopped listening, but later I tried it again and I skipped the beginning, the teams were unusal, well Jay and Matthew, an unlikely pair but they provided some humor to the story. Pricilla and Barrett, it was the typical middle school kid crush, it wasn't overdone, but it added that little bit of old Odyssey charm to the story. Overall, it was a pretty good story, it showed winning isn't everything, but your action are what count, until you learn a little kid manipulated you. It was very Christmas Shoesish. I think album 54 will be very promising compared to what Focus has recently put out.

Our Goodwill here doesn't charge tax. If you buy a book that says 99 cents, you pay 99 cents, no more.

It depends what state you're in.