727: Your Servant is Listening, Part 1

[Bren]

Discuss the newest episode.

[American Eagle]

When the music began at the beginning, I subconsciously thought about how good it is to hear Odyssey again.

However, I tuned out for most of the episode. Eva and Lucia irritate me, and I lost all attachment to Camilla when they gave her a new, younger voice.

Plus, I'm not sure if there needed to be a baby crying in the background that whole time. I don't know if that or Lucia bothers me more...

Meh. I'm putting this in a spoiler because I don't want anyone to avoid this episode because of my negative opinions. It's probably a fine episode, but I just didn't care.

[Skylerbuck]

I can kind of relate to this episode... I sometimes don't read my bible when I should. I like this episode and don't normally like IS episodes, high expectations for part 2, great way to start off a new season.

[Leonard Meltsner]

Lots of thoughts, but I'll save them for the Oddcast. All I'll say now is that I enjoyed it, but not as much as A Perfect Church so far. Lucia is actually growing on me, surprisingly. Some really good points in here, theologically. That's always important.

[Christian A.]

I actually found myself really liking this episode. I probably won't have a final opinion on it until I hear the resolution next week, but overall I found this show to be to my liking. And it's funny, because this is the way I felt with "The Perfect Church" last season. It gave me new hope for Odyssey....and then I was let down by other episodes in the season. So I'm trying not to get my hopes too high after this one good episode. But I think it must be that I really like these biblical episodes. In "The Perfect Church," Matthew learned things directly from the Bible that applied to what he was experiencing in modern times. And it seems that Camilla is going to experience the same thing.

And I think that the issue that this episode explores is even more relevant than was the church conflict issue in the other one. In my own family I see several Camillas, who don't really get the point of reading their Bibles or praying consistently. And I thought Mrs. Parker had a very good point: They don't hear the voice of God in Scripture. They don't desire to spend time with God in His Word because they haven't yet come to truly know God. 1 Corinthians 2 says that the things of God are foolish and impossible to understand for those who don't have the Holy Spirit. Now, something tells me that the Odyssey writers aren't going to go so far as to say that Camilla isn't saved, but I still think that's an application we can derive.

But that's not the only lesson we learned in this episode. In a typical Odyssey episode, there's only one moral point that is trying to be brought across. But I was very impressed when I picked up on at least two other semi-related points. Not only did we begin to learn about the importance of reading our Bibles, but we learned about the nature and power of prayer, as well as the meaning of sacrifice in the Old and New Testaments. When the Parkers were noticing the animals around them in the marketplace, I thought to myself, "This would be a great opportunity for the writers to talk about Jesus!" And when Lucia went so far as to say that sacrifices were offered for the forgiveness of sins, I was pleased. But then she went the extra mile and described exactly what I was hoping for! That the sacrifices required under the Law of Moses were pointing to the ultimate sacrifice: Jesus! I was very happy to hear that explained in a way that kids could understand. I've found that not many people understand that connecting strand between the Old and New Testaments these days, so I'm thrilled that AIO took the opportunity to explain such a core Christian concept in the language of kids.

On the more superficial side of things, I know people have been complaining about Camilla's new voice....but I really didn't mind it at all. I think the former Camilla had a more annoying voice, personally. Plus, she was starting to sound too old for the part, so I thought it was a good decision. And the new actress sounds so similar to Sydney Shiotani that I think it would have taken me a good while to notice had I not heard about the interview with her on the Official Podcast.

I actually surprised myself and liked the part that Lucia played in this episode as well. At the beginning, she wasn't that great, but during the actual adventure I thought she was a great asset to the story. She added some elderly comic relief, as well as a good amount of wisdom. She almost felt to me like she was playing the part that Wooton used to play, once upon a time. She was funny, but that never came at the expense of her maturity and wisdom. If she can maintain this balance, I would not at all mind seeing her more often on the show.

And then Eva. I liked her just about as much as I usually do. She's not the greatest of characters, but her actress does a good job with her, so she didn't bother me. She's always seemed to me to be somewhat of a pushover when it comes to handling her children, and that showed through a little bit in this episode, but it wasn't too bad. And then I thought it was cool that she got to use her nursing skills (wasn't this the first time ever on the show?) to help deliver Samuel.

I think one of the best things about this episode for me was that Mr. Whittaker was not involved. I know that sounds wrong, but I think it was a good break to have a show where Whit was not the only delivering the moral in a short lecture at the end. Now, that could be coming in Part 2, but for now, I'm very happy with the way it is, without him.

[manfrednissley]

I have to laugh at:

Does it change diapers too?

This episode really did seem to bring forth the ghost of odyssey old.

[E II]

Yes I thought that was good even though I don't usually like IS stories very much. I think they wrote this very well and made so it taught a good lesson (so far) without being too long or uninteresting. I really liked that.

[Mrs Jason Whittaker]

Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. I loved having 3 generations in the imagination station together. We don't often see adults in the IS, and especially families together.

2. Lucia was fun. I loved the references to Matthew's hair and talking to Whit about what he puts in his programs.

3. Finally! The imagination station puts the participants in culturally appropriate clothing. No more discussions about foreign clothes or getting in costume before going on an adventure. And doesn't it make sense? The IS gives you the ability to imagine an entire environment. Imagining you're wearing the right clothes for that environment is not too much to ask.

4. I know we've speculated about whether or not Camilla gets saved in this episode, and I hope she does. AIO has given us wonderful episodes about children getting saved, usually "bad" kids, or from non-churchgoing families. I think it's entirely appropriate to address a good, Christian-family kid's need for salvation. Especially since those kids are their main audience.

5. So far the portrayal of the story is consistent with Scripture. Peniah acted exactly how I would imagine her: cruel, but not overly evil. Hannah is how I imagine her as well: really torn up over her childlessness. Even the reference to Eli's weight is accurate.

Now, anxiously waiting for part 2.

[Christian A.]

4. I know we've speculated about whether or not Camilla gets saved in this episode, and I hope she does. AIO has given us wonderful episodes about children getting saved, usually "bad" kids, or from non-churchgoing families. I think it's entirely appropriate to address a good, Christian-family kid's need for salvation. Especially since those kids are their main audience.

I wholeheartedly agree. Only, I have a feeling this will not be what happens. I'm afraid that Camilla will probably turn out like Penny did, where she seemed to be obviously unsaved, but the writers just made it out as if we were to assume that she was saved but had some issues. I think it's probably going to end up being that Camilla was just having a hard time staying consistent with her devotions and her prayer life, and now she's going to have a new inspiration to be faithful in those things.

5. So far the portrayal of the story is consistent with Scripture. Peniah acted exactly how I would imagine her: cruel, but not overly evil. Hannah is how I imagine her as well: really torn up over her childlessness. Even the reference to Eli's weight is accurate.

Yes! I forgot to mention this. The communication of the actual story found in the Bible was phenomenal! Every single character was spot on: Eli's size, Hannah's distress over what seemed to be God's rejecting her, Peninah's antagonism, Elkanah's kindheartedness, and Phineas' blasphemous handling of the sacrifices. I was very impressed with how well the characters were portrayed.

[Joy]

But the description for More Than a Feeling hints that Camilla will get saved in Your Servant is Listening.

Camilla is concerned that her newfound faith is wavering since she doesn't feel as excited about it anymore.

[Christian A.]

Wow, okay. I was unaware of that. Well, that would be fantastic! Not only would this mean that a character who grew up in a Christian home is going to have a salvation experience, but then it also looks like she's going to experience what nearly all new converts experience: getting down off the high that her conversion originally gave her. This could be a very powerful episode, because that's almost a universal feeling among Christians. Now I'm really looking forward to see what the writers do with that topic.

[Shennifer]

I'm liking the episode so far.

One thing I didn't like though is the new Imagination Station sound. It's not the same

[Samantha14]

Hmmmm. Let me see.

This episode is 50/50 for me so far. In a way, I love it. I guess I'll start with that first.

Three generations in the IS at once. That was great. I only recall one..? Other time that even two generations of the same family went in the IS at once. And that wasn't even fully intentional! I loved every second of it. Very very much so.

And as I've always loved Lucia, that was great. I happened to enjoy her more this time than ever before. ("That mop on his head..." xD ) Eva... Meh. Give or take. I've never really loved her, but I don't despise her either.

As for Camilla... I'm having mixed feelings. As for the character itself, it's amazing. So much character development in just one episode. (And then there's the second.) I loved every minute of it.

However, her voice... >_< I couldn't stand it. I. Could. Not. Stand. It. I mean, if she had been the original voice actress, that would be one thing. I have nothing against her, and she is incredibly talented. But as Camilla... Oi. It just didn't work. . .

Now, with the Bible characters, they were excellent. Exactly how I've always pictured them. We felt the hurt and anger and frustration that Hannah felt when Peniah acted so cruelly against her, and she could not conceive. All of them felt so accurate. That was wonderful.

My only complaint (Besides the voice) that really caused such a drastic change in my liking for this episode, was the scene where Samuel was born. I was talking to God's Girl on the ToO Chat as I was listening to it. Here's what we said:

13:28 <Sam>: I like it so far. But I found it odd that they created the scene with her actually giving birth... >_> <_<
13:30 <Doll|Away>: Yeah, I was surprised at that too.
13:31 <Sam>: Even when they had that one episode with Eugene getting his licence it wasn't as... Graphic? I guess as that. It was sort of a disappointment. Not that it's like "bad" or anything. But, I mean, if you think about all the little kids listening...
13:33 <Doll|Away>: Yeah, little kids thinking Mr. Whittaker would actually put that in an IS adventure too..
13:34 <Sam>: Yeah. What Lucia said about it.. I was thinking the same thing. I can't help but be somewhat disappointed in them. I mean.. Parents try so hard to keep that kind of content out of the things their kids watch and read... And now they have to worry about AIO having it to? It's a little disturbing....

I guess that pretty much sums it up for me. I don't know what happened, but I don't like it. I mean, sure, most younger kids (At least in a public school setting) already know those kinds of things. And, as I said, it's not like it's "bad"- It's a fact of life. But, that doesn't mean they had to actually portray the scene like they did. (I felt the same way in Back to Bethlehem... But that's another story. [And it wasn't as bad, if I remember correctly. >_>] )
I don't know. I was just disturbed somewhat by that episode. It feels like it would be a red flag for a lot of parents. Maybe even a mute button being involved. I'm just sad to say that... What happened to my Odyssey?

Now then. I give this episode (That's part one and two) 7/10. It was great, and it was disappointing. I loved the Biblical references, and how well everything worked out. But I'm also disappointed in the AIO team somewhat. I guess that's all I can say right now...

[The Old Judge]

Was the scene vulgar or anything? If it was just screaming, well, that's because she's in pain. Obviously. The main thing I'm going to rebutt is the fact that I don't think it would be that horrendous. It's audio, so the visual medium that would make the scene "Ew!" is not there. For instance, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs showed Ellie the mammoth giving birth, though partially obscured by a log. After watching that (an extremely weird experience, mind you. I'd hate to be the six year old watching it in theaters.), whatever AIO can do probably won't phase me.

[Christian A.]

Yeah... I don't really see a problem with this. I think it's pretty common knowledge among little kids that mommies go through pain when they give birth. The audio didn't give us a lesson in female anatomy. It was just some screaming. Now, I do agree that it's a whole different story when you're talking about kids in the IS actually witnessing it visually. But purely as a part of AIO, a radio drama, I had no problem with it whatsoever, and neither did my family...

[The Old Judge]

You know, Christian, since Camilla is at a young enough age to where she doesn't know all about the birthing process, the image may have remained blurred and indistinct, as the adventure is all in her mind and she wouldn't have a mental base to produce that.

Or, a sign could have popped up that read, "Due to the Young Age of Certain Participants, the Content of This Scene Has Been Censored."

[Christian A.]

Either of those sounds good to me!

[Leonard Meltsner]

Victoria's and my review of both parts are now up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KpHSqkfVtU

[Cbriggs45]

I loved this / these episodes.

i found myself asking what is my samuel.

i mean... maybe its because im changing so much of my life as i turn in towards my 30th birthday next year. i was convicted in a good sense of conviction. like a nudge. it was a great start. to this new album.