926: Set A Watchman

[Bren]

Episode Summary
Zoe hopes that a winter retreat at Camp What-A-Nut will be a good time to reconnect with Olivia, but plans for a time of fellowship and renewal are continually thwarted.

[Polehaus53]

Here are my thoughts:

I thought it was good. It was fun to see Camp What-A-Nut return in a mainstream album and not a Club-exclusive episode. Hopefully we have more camp episodes in the future.

It's interesting to see how Olivia has changed through questioning her faith. She says in the episode that she needs to work through it on her own. If this includes talking to her imaginary friend, like she did in "Triple-Decker Sundae", then I doubt that it's going to do her any good. I'm interested in seeing where her journey takes her.

I also found Connie's ongoing updates about Joe being bitten by badgers pretty funny. We now need an episode about Wildcat Joe and his badger incident!

It's interesting how they mentioned that Zoe has blood sugar problems. I suppose she is diabetic? If so, that's the first time we've had a diabetic character in Odyssey as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong ).

The final scene with Connie and Zoe was great. It's interesting that Connie once had a friend who walked away from their faith like Olivia. Why hasn't she been mentioned before? Also good use of the verse in Ezekiel.

[val1225]

Hey there! New to this form but a big fan of odyssey. So here are my thoughts on “Set a Watchman”:

The Camp What-a-Nut are some of the most charming and enjoyable episodes of early AIO, so it’s always a treat to hear about it again.

My heart goes out to Zoe. She really is a very good friend, even if she doesn’t always know what’s the best way to deal with this particular situation. I’m hoping that by the end of this story arc, Olivia realizes how truly blessed she is to have Zoe as a friend.

As for Olivia, I agree with the previous commenter that you can see the difference in her character ever since she’s began to doubt her faith. And it’s not just in how she feels about all things church. The show is actually clever to show how the questions brought up in the previous episode (Triple Decker Sundae) have started to shape her attitude. She’s less engaged about everything and is cynical in the way she talks to people. Dare I say even apathetic. She just doesn’t seem to care and that alone isn’t a good sign.

While I’m very certain that Olivia will once again regain her faith, I know that the journey there will not be easy. But some things I’m hoping from this story is hearing again from Ms. Adelaide. More so than Mr. Norton’s death, she’s the one who unintentionally began this downward spiral, and it would be fitting if it ended with Olivia talking to her again. I also want to Mr. Norton’s family to play a part in helping Olivia. A lot of her questions center on suffering, and I think hearing from the family in the center of these questions would be beneficial.

[KODY 105]

The episode aired this weekend, 2021-11-13, and I finally got time to sit and listen!

Sounds like a decent story about a girl who cares for her friend and doesn't want her to lose her faith. Definitely sounds within the realm of reality as far as how much a person will go to try to get a friend's attention. And what a relevant topic for today: the deconstruction of a person's faith.

Coming into the middle of this storyline, I have no idea who Zoe is, but this was a good independent story. I'm glad that even with the "Previously on AIO..." bit, it's still a separate episode.

I thought the little bits about the tracker guy who couldn't show up due to increasingly complex problems with a badger were kind of lame, but I guess it's cheaper than bringing in another random voice guy. I realize I haven't heard any AIO that has originally broadcast between March 2016 and now until this episode, so I don't really know why Connie is counseling at Camp What-a-Nut. I guess Connie is the center of the show now, which isn't a bad thing. But Connie gets around, doesn't she? worked at every respectable business in the tri-state area, it seems.

I tried looking up references for Linda, but didn't seem to come up with a lot. I guess that story with Connie didn't happen on the show. We've seen so much of her life, including her entire Christian walk, that I guess I was expecting this to be a callback to something we heard already. In a way it's a good thing that we hear about things that didn't necessarily happen on the show but within the timeframe of the show. These characters have lives outside of the vignettes we hear.

Bren: Zoe's a kid, right? Of course kids don't know all the boundaries or ramifications of actions; they're still learning everything. She sounded desperate to get a response, and she knows that fasting is one way to keep talking to God. It sounds like the character is diabetic, but really everybody should be careful with diet. A growing child should be even more careful! And I do think it was classy, separately from the other issues in this paragraph, that Zoe only brought up the fasting when it came up. The Bible talked about the Pharisees who would pray loudly and make it apparent if they've been fasting.

*thread merged*

This episode broadcast on 2022-02-22
Episode summary
Zoe hopes that a winter retreat at Camp What-A-Nut will be a good time to reconnect with Olivia, but plans for a time of fellowship and renewal are continually thwarted.

My thoughts

Olivia's struggling with her faith, and her friend Zoe is struggling to reach out to her. That sounds like a very hard thing indeed. I've had friends basically walk away from their faith, but they're remote friends now that I don't get to see very often, so I'm not really a part of the situation. It's very sad to think of my childhood friends who no longer believe in God. (Which brings up the whole discussion, if they don't believe now, does that mean that they're not saved, and therefore they were never saved, because the Bible teaches one cannot lose his salvation.)

The poor girl, Zoe, was apparently too distracted to eat and drink (or was fasting?) and had a medical episode. She barely even cares about that, because she's so concerned for her friend Olivia.

3/5

[Bren]

While I don't have a short novel worth of thoughts, I do have a few. Admittedly, any time Camp What-A-Nut pops up, I get nostalgic for the early days and it's nice to know it still exists. I also liked how there was a specific emphasis on it being more than a camp just for fun and games, but that church and God is a big part of it.

My favorite part of the whole episode is the fasting revelation. Some would argue that the way Zoe went about the fast was wrong and in terms of her health I might be inclined to agree. However, Zoe also feels desperate for an answer from God and maybe thats just how she felt to go about it. They did touch on the fact that health wise it was wrong and hopefully parents direct their children to other fasting methods if it applies to them. I also imagine that at first Zoe just didn't want anyone to know she was fasting since some might argue that is something between you and God. I also found the scene powerful in that, without outright saying it, they conveyed how important Olivia's soul is. It is equally powerful the way Zoe was willing to go to bat for Olivia. We all need that friend who will go to bat for us. In some cases to face the devil head on.

[KODY 105]

Jesus told the Pharisees that when fasting, don't scrunch up your face to show everyone that you've been sacrificing. It's private information that you're fasting. It's not a state secret or anything, but not something to draw attention to.

And yes, it shows the seriousness of Zoe to do that. She cares so much for her friend she wanted to do this extreme measure.

That being said, yeah, her parents probably wouldn't want her to fast. Jesus hadn't been talking to children about fasting; he was talking to the rich leaders. They weren't going to stunt their growth by skipping meals.