The Town of Odyssey

Bob wrote: ↑Sat May 15, 2021 9:25 pm

Isaiah the Ox wrote: ↑Sat May 15, 2021 3:36 pm -Odyssey is better when it is slice-of-life and chill. Yes, there's been some good dramatic sagas and multi-parters, but my favorite episodes are those that seem to fit into anyone's normal life. Post album 51/55, there seems to be too frequent dramatic episodes about stolen objects or break-ins or wars or becoming world famous (?!?) and the unrealism and tension are unappealing to me. I want a normal Odyssey where someone cheats on a test, or vacations at home, or attempts to evangelize in all the worst possible ways. That speaks to me as a human and makes me want to try out new things or really learn with the cast, instead of just being entertained by impossibilities.

I agree that slice-of-life episodes are a boon. Echoing back to my old days as a curmudgeonly anti-critic, though, I don't think it's fair to make this a 'post-album-50' issue. In fact, we might have to go as far back as Hal Smith to the time when this was actually the norm.

That said, it is fair to say that newer albums can be a little more dramatic in material. Part of that is because of the Club; the writers thus feel the need to pack more of the dramatic episodes (which are generally the focal point of any album) into the regular albums, at the expense of regular things happening. The other part, I think we have to consider that the show has been around for a long time, and it's not easy to find material that isn't similar to something they've already done before. If they do do something that's similar, they'll get criticized for that and how 'stale and boring' the show is, so they're pretty much in for it no matter what they do.

Even if the circumstances aren't always the most 'realistic' (or at least, the most common or likely to happen in real life), what's arguably just as important is that the characters' responses are realistic*. It's to be expected that stories might be about uncommon situations happening, but what makes it obnoxious is when you can't relate to the characters in those situations. I feel that there have been many episodes in the last few years where the reactions have been relatable, even when the plots weren't probable.

* By "realistic" I don't mean in the sense that it is necessarily something that the average person would do in real life, but in the sense that it is something that we might feel or think about doing, although we might not 'pull the trigger' on it.

Peachey Keen wrote: ↑Thu May 13, 2021 3:31 pm- I don't want Buck and Jules as a couple

MinatoArisato wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 11:04 pm Odyssey just. . at least for me personally, dropped off HARD after Album 57. It doesn't help that 51-52 aren't great to begin with. .