901: For a Song

[Monica Stone]

Episode #901: For a Song was released today! It's the first episode written by Abigail Geiger and it's the first episode since "The Long End, Part 2" to feature an episode with Jules besides "Icky and Kat and Balty and Bones."

What did everyone think of this episode?

[ByeByeBrownie]

I loved everything about this episode! Such a refreshing change of pace from Revelations.

Kudos to Abigail Geiger on a fabulous first episode--she is a very talented writer!! She really nailed the dialogue here. Everything just flowed so naturally. And when Buck started telling the story about the prep school, I was just like

I really enjoyed the introduction of Devan's character. I hope he sticks around for a while. I just really enjoy seeing Buck interacting with his male peers.
(Side note: It was interesting to see Devan hitting on Jules, considering that apparently every girl ever ends up falling all over Buck. )

The music was excellent, as well. Even from the very first intro notes, I was like, yeah, this is good. Also, one of Jules' songs gave me major Mean Girls the Musical vibes, and I was really into it.

I'll leave you with my favorite line from this episode:

ACTUALLY, Jules and I are already on our way to Whit's End. And I'M buying her a milkshake.

YOU TELL HIM, BUCK.

[Monica Stone]

I loved this episode as well. It felt really fresh. The dialogue felt natural for teenagers. I don't think I've ever heard the word "dude" used in Odyssey before, so that was interesting. I thought the script was strong. Big kudos to Abigail Geiger

I really enjoyed Buck and Jules's interactions and I felt like I got an even better look at their friendship. I'm glad there wasn't any unnecessary melodramatic tension where Buck felt betrayed by Jules and miscommunications ensued. It was done nicely and realistically considering how close they are as friends. Also, they're basically dating but neither of them will acknowledge it. That's a great dynamic

Three new characters (Savannah, Madison, Devan) were introduced this episode and I'm curious to see if they'll stick around any longer. I wouldn't be opposed to hearing from them again. I wonder if they'll be mentioned or appear in "California Dreams."

Buck's story about Austin made me audibly gasp. I'm going to be honest, throughout the episode I was expecting Austin to become a part of the episode. I thought maybe Austin would hear online about the song Jules wrote about Buck's situation with him and he would come into play. That would have been interesting but would have made the episode go in an entirely different direction.

It's not the fault of this episode, but Valerie makes me sad. The direction they could have taken after "Take Every Thought Captive" had the potential to be really good. Alas, the next episode in which Valerie appears, she is bullying a 10-yr-old. But anyway, back to this episode. The theatrical, blackmailing Valerie is back! I got big "Friend or Foe" flashbacks. I really liked that.

The guitar and musical transitions throughout the episode were really fitting and lovely. Very unlike usual, but I appreciate that. The soundtracks for this album have been incredible.

And MR. ALTMAN GOT A MENTION?! He's still teaching history 873 episodes after his first and only appearance? The attention to detail! I'm impressed.

Also, I'm calling it now, the reason Jules's mom comes back in "California Dreams" is because she hears of Jules's growing fame and gets her a record deal if she returns to California.

[KODY 105]

This episode broadcast on 2022-02-03.
Episode summary
After seeing the popularity of Valerie’s homespun music, Jules decides to start writing her own songs about what’s going on at her school. Soon a musical battle heats up between the two girls, catching friends in the crossfire.
My thoughts

Man, it sounds rough to be a kid these days. All this so-called social media, and cyberbullying. While I use irc and forums such as this one, I don't use facebook or twitter or other similar websites.

A nitpick: if Buck was able to show that Valerie was plagiarizing music, why on earth did the insane algorithms that are using on such sites not catch that? I suppose if it's small-time musicians who haven't opted into the MPAA/RIAA-industrial complex whose music is being duplicated, then the algorithms wouldn't catch it. Ha. So much for "machine learning."

I know that theoretically the Internet never forgets something once it's said. I have definitely experienced the inability to find something again that I know I saw on the world wide web before. I suppose my type of information is hardly the same as childish gossip or personal details of people though.

So, does Valerie still possess all the secrets of Jules's followers? Where are the authority figures in this episode? Do teenagers count as kids, for the purposes of my tolerating this episode better?

I suppose this episode is very relevant for today's teenagers who are engaged in the world wide web in ever-increasing ways. It didn't speak to me personally, and unfortunately I'm just going to give it 2/5.

[Justine Baker]

My signature tells ya what I thought of the episode. It was eh besides that.