661: When You’re Right, You’re Right

[JesusFreak777]

Apparently I need to remind everyone about Bobby's Valentine and the remake with Jimmy and Jesse where they expressed their undying love for each other etc at the age of 11.... no one had a problem with it then. I'm not saying it is right, but I do think y'all need to relax a little. I had my first crush when I was 11. I didn't do anything about it, but that is about the time I started crushing and look at me - I turned out fine.

[The Top Crusader]

Yeah I had issues with the episode, but not on that topic. Adolescent crushes are a normal part of life, AIO would be disserving the listeners to act like they don't occur. Now, if Whit and the kids' parents were like... encouraging them to start dating at 10 that would be different. But if this season is "slice of life" then in that regard they are on the ball.

[Bennett]

This message board had always made a big deal about the kids in odyssey liking each other. I always found that odd--as if we are supposed to prevent kids from liking each other and it is a sin. It happens at that age. It's a part of growing up. I had a problem with connie encouraging Trent and Mandy to get together...but aside from that, for odyssey to depict kids liking each other isn't a problem with me. To call it a "Disney channel" phenomenon is a little strange. Disney did not invent crushes. (they did however, emphasize their importance and necessity in young adults) I mean, it's happened, what 5 times in a span of over 600 episodes...nothing to be too concerned about...yet.

If they start promoting kids having serious relationships and "courting", then yea, I'll have a problem then.

[31899]

It has been one of the better episodes in the season, but the entire time I was listening I felt like it was really similar to another AIO episode, but I couldn't remember which one. (That was very distracting) Other than that it was a fairly good episode. I felt that the one sister of the guy that plays the trombone was a little over the top, but that is just my opinion.

I have no major concerns or complaints about this episode so it receives a 3 of 3.

31899

[The Top Crusader]

If they start promoting kids having serious relationships and "courting", then yea, I'll have a problem then.

Well, yes, AIO has always promoted dating, I'd be disappointed if they went with courting suddenly.

[JesusFreak777]

Eh I think Emily is a typical ten year old girl - not old enough for a crush herself but wanting her brother to be happy with his crush(ok maybe the wanting the brother to be happy is a little far fetched as most siblings i know at that age that close dont get along too well, but that may just be me) Other than that, I think she was pretty normal. Take it from a former camp counselor and youth worker - 10 -14 year old girls (and older actually) LOVE to play matchmaker and will do so any time, any where, no matter what the embarrassment to the people they are trying to match make. heehee!

[Samitude]

These kids all sound alike. I'm still having trouble telling them apart. There's no distinction between their voices. When we hear Lucy, Donna, Jimmy, Curt, Oscar, Mandy, Liz, Jared etc., we know it's them. This is the same problem I had with Cal, Alex, Trent, etc. They all sounded alike.

This episode was OK, but so far this season I think the only episode that seemed normal was "Target of the Week". The rest of these are all kind of odd nature episodes. It's like they want the kids to play outside instead of being in front of a TV, computer, etc., but they don't make them do normal kid things outside. We're getting an overdose of birds, racoons, etc. What ever happened to riding bikes, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, roller-blading, camping out in a tent, sitting around outside saying "I'm bored. Let's go to Whit's End."

I agree with what one of you said that when I was a kid I liked the adult episodes best. Any adult or teen episode that involved a romance was even better.

The whole Emily detective thing is strange. It wouldn't be strange if she were using her imagination, like Lawrence Hodges, and doing pretend detective work. We've all done that sort of thing. It's just when she tries to do detective work in real life on odd things that don't have any sense of danger or fear along with them that it starts becoming strange. I don't think I know of anyone in real life who goes about doing things of that nature.

Hmm.........I sound very negative don't I? That's not good is it.

[Bennett]

Hmm.........I sound very negative don't I? That's not good is it.

Part of me fears that we are being negative and not really objectively looking at the episodes. Perhaps we all are having a difficult time trying to adjust to the new episodes, and therefore "we don't like them because they are not what it is used to" argument.

But I'm not so sure. I think the fact that we can all unanimously agree that we enjoyed "Target of the Week" shows that it isn't the new series, but the new episodes that have us concerned. And this is an important distinction.

[Mrs Jason Whittaker]

I loved Jay--like a new version of Rodney, but distinct in his bullying.

What's with the hype over crushes? The point of the episode was that Barret didn't have a crush.

[JoyElectric]

I'm another minority type here, I loved this episode. The edited Birthday card goes right up there with the "What is He Saying? Contest" for my favorite audio gag in the show's history. It doesn't hurt that I now have the image of Whit having a CD of Barry White laying around the Kids' Radio studio

Emily's fun, even if she works better with someone more willing to stand up to her. Headstrong girls can make great characters, and other than Connie it's been awhile since we've heard one.

As for the relationship thing, just smile and nod -- little kids have little crushes (even if they don't feel little at the time), and under the canvas of Odyssey things are pretty safe. Remember: this is the show that let Connie and Eugene make out to the disgust of everyone in the room. Yes, it was a joke, but so is this.

This message board had always made a big deal about the kids in odyssey liking each other.

I remember the old boards not liking the fact that Eugene and Katrina kissed after their engagement as well.

[ric]

I thought this episode was pretty good, but I think they should of had wrong in the title like,'When your right, your wrong' or something because this episode focused on Emily being wrong. Overall I thought this was a pretty good episode. People are always just negative before they adjust to something new and I think that's whats happening with vol. 51.

[LizzieG]

I moderately liked this episode. The adult-actors-playing-kids are still distracting and do more to detach me from the story than engage me in it, but the story wasn't half-bad, and I prefer it to "Game for a Mystery" (though neither are quite as good as "Clutter" and "Target of the Week"). As others have said, I also agree that we need stronger adult characters and storylines.

As far as their using adult actors for some of the kids ... I guess I just don't think that the positives outweigh the negatives. I always thought the rationale for using adult actors was to keep the same kids around for a longer period of time. However, it's the guys who are replaced more often due to their voices changing and them no longer sounding like kids. What's the point of having adults playing Olivia and Emily if their brothers, Matthew and Barrett, aren't going to be able to sound 10 or 12 years old for very long?

The first chili scene was a bit on the long side, but Mr. Jones has definitely improved since the first draft of this episode. He's less of the stereotypical bumbling parent, and I'm glad he was the one to "set Emily straight" at the end. I was also confused about Jay and Barrett. At first Jay sounds like a typical bully taunting Barrett, but the "see you tomorrow" bit suggests a more amicable relationship.

[TigerintheShadows]

Just wondering--those of you who complain about adult actors voicing kids/young teenagers do know that this has been happening for ages, right?

I actually liked the sensual greeting card as a plot device--mostly because the fact that they're too young to think about that sort of thing was pointed out/lampshaded by Matthew. Part of the point of that wasn't to encourage dating amongst the eleven-year-olds, it was to say that doing something like that would be a poor choice on your part.

Does anyone else think it's a bit odd how much of a gadgeteer genius Matthew is? I mean, I've heard of ten-year-olds taking stuff apart and putting it back together, but this is ridiculous.

And I especially liked Barrett's voice in this one. I didn't feel like I was at a one-man pep rally when he talked!

[Christian A.]

Here's my review:

I didn't like this episode very much at all. It got a little better near the end, but there were a lot of objectionable elements in it, at least for me. I'll address the episode by giving the positive and negative elements. Negative first:

There was a lot of disrespect toward parents, particularly Mr. Jones. As in the episode, "And That's the Truth", we need to be honest, and yet caring and respectful. There wasn't much of that, just a lot of needing to be painfully honest on Emily's part. I don't know who Kirby Atkins is, but he/she definitely has different views than Paul McCusker on telling the truth.

I didn't like that a kid who sounds like an 11-year-old had a girlfriend from school whom he meets with privately and accepts hugs from. And when did we find out that Barrett was older than Emily? She sounds way older than him.

I didn't like the namecalling or bickering between Emily, Barrett, and Jay. Jay is definitely more of a bully than Rodney Rathbone ever was. He is mean and he hits where it hurts. The kids in this episode sounded like any other kids of the world, not godly, Christian kids from a small town middle school.

They didn't really address that what Emily did was wrong. She shouldn't have been messing with her brother's love life (even if he shouldn't have one to begin with). The only good message in this episode was a slightly noticeable message to take advice, and long for wisdom and discernment.

Positive:

I was glad that Mr. Jones talked to Emily near the end, and that there was a message about asking for forgiveness again.

One thing that was kind of positive was that Matthew took action against Emily's wrongdoing. He told her that what she did was wrong and that she shouldn't do that to her brother.

The acting was good, I think Barrett's actor found the right voice because he sounded good. We heard from Matthew again, and I'm sure we did in "Grandma's Visit" too. Hopefully we get a break from him in "Finish What You..."

Not much to say on the positive side of things. This episode could have been any other radio drama of the world, and that's not what Adventures in Odyssey is. There was an okay message, but over all, I didn't like this episode. I give it a 3/10.

[TigerintheShadows]

I didn't like that a kid who sounds like an 11-year-old had a girlfriend from school whom he meets with privately and accepts hugs from. And when did we find out that Barrett was older than Emily? She sounds way older than him.

Um, the entire point of that was to point out that Barrett didn't have a girlfriend. Can these kids not be close friends anymore? Mandy interacted with Jared, Dwayne, Nathaniel, Pete, Rodney, Cody, Alex, Cal, Marvin, Max, and Trent. She was good friends with all of them, and while she will marry one, that's one out of the eleven listed. Lucy interacted with Jack, Jimmy, Curt, Oscar, Sam, Isaac, Zachary, Butch, Billy, Rodney, and Richard. Again, she married one out of the eleven boys she was seen with, and there are certainly others to interact with for both girls. A boy and a girl can be close friends--and yes, give each other hugs!--and not be "dating" or even crushing on each other.

I didn't like the namecalling or bickering between Emily, Barrett, and Jay. Jay is definitely more of a bully than Rodney Rathbone ever was. He is mean and he hits where it hurts. The kids in this episode sounded like any other kids of the world, not godly, Christian kids from a small town middle school.

Wow, apparently you don't remember elementary or middle school. Kids snark off at each other and sometimes it gets ugly. They're what, ten? Eleven? Doesn't make it right, but that happens, among Christians and non-Christians. The point of the episode wasn't to tell kids not to call names; the point was to demonstrate humility. It could have been addressed without including that, but really, in the great Odyssey scheme of things, it makes little difference.