The Town of Odyssey

A Penny was saved, that must mean a Penny was earned. Let's find out.

I liked this one better than A Penny Saved. The moral was better for one thing. But this episode seemed like a mix of Love is in the Air, What are you going to do With Your Life, The Benefit of the Doubt, and Eugene's Dilemma. A little distracting listening to it.
3 1/2 stars

I also liked this one better than Penny Saved. The moral WAS more clear. This episode reminded me of "It Began With a Rabbit's Foot...and It Ended with a Handshake." Penny was looking for a job, except Whit wouldn't give her a job, but he found some guy with some kind of European accent who conveniently enough had a store that had work that Katrina or Penny could do. I really think Penny could be a great addition to the cast, but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, WRITERS, DO NOT HAVE HER MARRY WOOTON! Victoria could have become a Christian and made her way back to Odyssey...and I love Melissa Disney's voice, but anyways...NO WOOTON AND PENNY. PLEASE!!!! I love Penny whenever Wooton's not saying something about how much he secretly loves Penny. I love Wooton whenever he's not saying something about how much he secretly loves Penny or something goofy to lighten the mood. Wooton today seemed more like normal Wooton; the jokes were never too crazy, and I'm enjoying the new relationship he and Connie have helping Penny (which we've also seen in Plan B and Like Father, Like Wooton). Andre Stojka has been fantastic in Anger Mismanagement and now A Penny Earned. If he keeps having episodes like that, I'll get more used to him. The art gallery guy made me miss Kenneth Mars. Oh, so just wondering, Connie lives in an apartment now? Did she move out? Or does she still live with her mother? 'Cause what Odyssey needs is some June Kendall. And some story arcs. But anyways, I'm glad Penny stayed in Odyssey and we'll see how her gallery exhibit does in Childish Things. Looking forward to next week's Never for Nothing! I'm thinking that's one of the best Album 54 episodes...

83/100, B-

I thought, for a while at the end of the episode the Penny might actually be leaving! it was short lived excitement.... No, really, I liked this one alot more than A Penny Saved, like the posters above me said. It just seemed a little bit childish to me, a roman mural on the walls in the apartment? It seemed like she gave up really easily though, unless I missed something, this all took place in a matter of a few days? Oh yeah, is Penny really that gullible? I mean you're putting the grades in to the computer, and a student who's failing happens to walk in to the room, so you let him input the grades, AND you turn around because "it makes him nervous to be watched?" Maybe I was expecting to much from this episode, but then again, I've never really liked Penny that much. Over all, it was a decent episode, but not one of my favorites.

Man I was excited because I thought she was going to leave. I am ready to see her go. She still sounds too much like Connie and Katrina mixed. It's very difficult to listen to her talk. Please bring back Alicia from City Hall to be Connie's friend.

Okay, so I just realized that I hadn't listened to this episode yet. And it's almost been a week since it aired.

Anyway, I liked this episode. When I thought she was going to leave, part of me was like, "Oh, that's a little sad. I liked her." And another part of me was like, "YES! NO MORE PENNY AND WOOTON TOGETER!" So now that she's staying, my emotions are mixed. I like her character. I've even grown to like her voice, even though it annoyed me at first. She makes a great friend for Connie, I think. But I cringe almost every time her name comes out of Wooton's mouth. I don't think I'd mind if she and him were just friends (as long as they weren't super silly and annoying all the time), but I just can't stand the idea of the two of them as a couple. I'm extremely nervous about where the writers may be going with the two of them. Please, can we just have Victoria back?

Otherwise though, a good episode. Good writing, strong morals. I especially liked that Chris pointed out that things don't always happen the way we want. And that French guy needs to show up in future episodes. Like others have said, he reminds me of Fred Holstein. To me, he even sounded almost like he could have been played by Kenneth Mars.

I'm rating this episode 3.5/5 stars.

This one was definitely better. The theme was good, and though a bit predictable, I thought it showed good emotions from all of the actors. I don't know what to think about Penny. Connie needs this friend... But Wooton shouldn't have this friend...
She really is a great foil for Connie, which I appreciate. I don't know. When she was leaving, I was sort of okay with the idea. My only thought was that I wished they had addressed her Christianity before she left.

And that's another thing! Is she a Christian now or something? They aren't even acknowledging it that she isn't, and she talks about prayer in this episode, but they never address whether or not she has really become a Christian now. If she is, I guess I'm not as opposed to her and Wooton. I still can't believe they dropped the ball on that last episode title. "A Penny Saved" Ahh! How much more obvious could it have been. But nope. Not even mentioned at all.

Penny was never NOT a Christian. Just because she was deceived by Dr. Trask does not mean she is no a Christian. And for hose using the thing about her meditation or a crack in the window or something, that is not a reason for her to not be a Christian. Meditation (not the Buddhist type where you empty your mind of everything and keep it that way) is actually a Spiritual discipline that has been practiced by Christians for nearly 2000 years. David talks about it too. It is simply emptying your mind of worldly things and filling i with God. Finding God's glory in the small things and praising him for it is a perfectly acceptable and highly praised way of learning more about God.

The problem with Dr. Trask was that he made God in everything, (panentheism) and he asked them to focus on paintings and such that were very anti Christian - another problem. While God can be glorified in most things, there are some things it is better to stay away from when they are obviously anti Christianity etc.

Does that help clear up the Penny debate?

If not - Penny herself claimed to be a Christian in TGRC and Connie did not correct her, nor did she confront Penny's faith specifically, just some of the general ways Dr. Trask was deceiving them.

~ JF

JesusFreak777 wrote:Penny was never NOT a Christian. Just because she was deceived by Dr. Trask does not mean she is no a Christian. And for hose using the thing about her meditation or a crack in the window or something, that is not a reason for her to not be a Christian. Meditation (not the Buddhist type where you empty your mind of everything and keep it that way) is actually a Spiritual discipline that has been practiced by Christians for nearly 2000 years. David talks about it too. It is simply emptying your mind of worldly things and filling i with God. Finding God's glory in the small things and praising him for it is a perfectly acceptable and highly praised way of learning more about God.

The problem with Dr. Trask was that he made God in everything, (panentheism) and he asked them to focus on paintings and such that were very anti Christian - another problem. While God can be glorified in most things, there are some things it is better to stay away from when they are obviously anti Christianity etc.

Does that help clear up the Penny debate?

If not - Penny herself claimed to be a Christian in TGRC and Connie did not correct her, nor did she confront Penny's faith specifically, just some of the general ways Dr. Trask was deceiving them.

~ JF

Exactly. 100% QFT!

At the beginning, it seemed like Connie was pushing Eugene into being "too kind" to Penny. Hmmm. And Penny letting some random guy input the grades? Errr…. (Yep, called it).

I was that surprised Whit didn't offer Penny a job at Whit's End, considering how many times that's been done in the past for people who have trouble finding work (regardless of their skills). Connie's desperation to find a job for Penny reminded me of her similar desperation to find a job for Mitch back in the day. In that second-to-last scene, Jacques reminded me of Fred Holstein, particularly in the latter's first appearance: non-native English speaker saves the day by showing up at Whit's End with a job for the unemployed young woman.

A very nice, well-paced episode with good chemistry among all the actors. Penny and Wooton didn't annoy me at all. I'm glad they've mellowed out a bit since their cringeworthy GRC scenes. In fact, Wooton's sadness over Penny's departure was rather touching. I think I'm definitely growing to like Penny (in part, perhaps, because Connie and Katie like her so much ).