700: How to Sink a Sub

[Bren]

AIO has now aired 700 episodes.

[TigerintheShadows]

I think this was more of a "don't jump to conclusions" ep than a "love" ep, but I suppose it does work.

I loved Olivia in this episode. She really did learn quite a bit. I think she's shaping up to be a lot like new!Liz--a good speaker and leader, and a well-developed character at that. Jay was hilarious, and Valerie was...well, Valerie. She and Olivia do sound a bit too similar, though, even though I love Olivia's new voice--less nasally.

Eugene's pet names win forever.

[Bob]

The relaunch's new cast of characters shines brighter and brighter with each new episode released.

I'm not going to say that Album 54 is perfect -- some episodes have a somewhat iffy connection to the moral provided at the end of the story. However, considering that I don't listen to what Chris has to say most of the time anyway, I don't think this should drag any of the episodes' ratings down too much.

The fact is that with the last few episodes, this one included, the Odyssey team has gotten plenty of bang for their buck. Reusing the same characters in most episodes is paying off for them in spades, with increased character development and interactions, and I think their writing has improved since the low hit in #50. Sure, there were a few rough patches in the relaunch, but I've found that I've warmed up to some of those episodes (like "A Thankstaking Story"), and I'm overall satisfied with the course they're on right now. Sure, it could be better, but I think they're more or less going in the right direction, and besides: it could be much, much worse.

There was a "sneak peek" recently released on the Odyssey Scoop about album 55, and I think it should please just about everyone, maybe even some of the relaunch detractors. I don't think my family's bought an Odyssey album since "Signed, Sealed, and Committed", but I'm putting a little bit of thought into putting money where my mouth is and maybe buying some of the relaunch episodes this Christmas.

I'm not going to comment too much on the story, but instead on the characters in the story, as I've become accustomed to doing. Jay, as usual, was very well-written in this episode; while I was afraid the writers would make him an outright villain in this episode, he has a more balanced role and still comes out very likable by the end of it. Olivia has a nice bit of character conflict and Valerie gets to do what she does best, stir up trouble. I also think Principal Vogler is a pretty good new character.

The one writing decision that's kind of interesting is how the scenes with Eugene and Katrina are placed between each of the classroom scenes. This has the effect of humanizing her character: if we just had the classroom scenes alone, up until the end, I think the audience might think Katrina was being a little bit cold at times, but because we get to see the full picture, I think people are inclined to give her a more positive evaluation.

That greatly contrasts with how they handled Dr. Hawthorne (who was probably the most fleshed-out teacher character in the series, besides, of course, Mrs. Hodges). We never saw him in any context except for school, where he appeared to be a harsh, astringent man. He probably is not much like that in "real life", but the listeners never get to see that side of him, because he's always dealing with problems in the episodes he's in. I think it's interesting how seeing the teacher's perspective changes the episode and the listener's feelings about their character.

The whole thing does play into a theme, although, like Tiger mentioned, I think that theme is more like "don't jump to conclusions about people" than necessarily love.

4/5, 84/99.

[Leonard Meltsner]

We sort-of saw some of Dr. Hawthorne's outside life with his roses.

[Sapphire]

It wasn't the greatest episode, but it was still a good one. It was wonderful to have Katrina back. It was also kind of cute how Eugene was trying to be romantic with the pet names. So, I will give this episode 3.5 stars out of five.

[Jesus' Princess]

This episode was okay, it wasn't my favorite or anything, but it wasn't bad. I'd rate it 4/5 stars.

[Graces4you]

I really liked this episode, I can totally see middle school kids playing pranks on their substitute teacher and how Olivia drew conclusions on why Katrina gave her bad grade. It was similar to All Star Witness, with Ashley Jenkins and Tom pushing her harder so she would become a better player. I think less was emphasized on 1st Cor. 13 parts on love, but more on verses like this

If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing

or like

it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

I think I would give this a 5/5 stars, because it was generally amusing and it showed a sort of realistic situation.

[TigerintheShadows]

You know, Graces, those verses do seem more fitting to the episode. Ah, well.

[Shennifer]

I enjoyed this episode because it was realistic and funny. It was great to hear from Katrina, and to see her teaching. (it brought to mind the fact that Eugene has been a substitute teacher too. They could teach together (since apparently hand-up no longer exists).
Anyway, I'm glad that it ended happy and it was funny to think of the students all rushing to the (principal's?) house to petition for Katrina's return

[Catspaw]

I've thought about this episode quite a bit since I've listened to it, but I haven't posted yet. I got a little mentally bogged down by wondering if American schools really fill maternity leave positions when the baby is born, as opposed to a month or so ahead of time, and how the contract situation would have worked with Katrina quitting so soon when (at least in the situations that I am familiar with) she would have a signed contract stating the amount of time she is obligated to work at the school. I know several good principals, and I was trying to decide whether I think any of them would ask a student about a teacher the way that Olivia gets asked. I liked what he had to say at the end of the class, but I'm not sure that asking a student would necessarily be appropriate, at least not in a direct way where she could tell he was trying to find out if there were serious issues. That could be an opinion thing. I know I need to let all that stuff go because the story works better with things the way they are, but it took away from feeling like this could really happen, in my opinion. Having said that, I don't know what the education system is like in whatever state Odyssey's schools are in, so maybe this is normal for them.

I did really enjoy the episode overall. I liked Eugene and Katrina's interactions, as others have mentioned. I will save myself time by saying that I liked Bob's review, and leaving it at that.

[TheFangedRabbit]

One of the Better Episodes of 2011
This episode was funny, especially the part when everyone screams when Katrina says "class". As you know, this is the first episode to have Principal Vogler in it. He was mentioned in "The Owlnapping"...did anyone catch that? So both Katrina and Eugene have been subsitute teachers now! Overall, it was good, and Jay was brilliant with his excuses for "learning something". 4/5 stars.