660: For the Birds

[KODY 105]

Whatever happened to "Mrs." Katrina "Meltsner"? Why didn't Eugene have her cut his hair?

[JesusFreak777]

Whatever happened to "Mrs." Katrina "Meltsner"? Why didn't Eugene have her cut his hair?

Amen!

[Dallas R.]

I know! I was listening to "Hear Me Hear Me" today on Album 48, and there's that really nice scene where Eugene makes Connie her special hot chocolate while she is washing his car. It's really awkward to listen to because it's like, "Wait... Eugene's married... Where's Katrina during all of this?" It really wouldn't be that hard to include her in more scripts. Just have her as a minor character who's there, even if she doesn't even have many lines, to at least help us remember that they're married. If someone was a new fan of the show and starting listening to the show this season, they wouldn't even know Eugene has a wife!

[Crazy 4 Pugs]

Yeah, I mean I completely understand a guy and girl (man and woman?) being friends after working together for a long time. But since Eugene's married now, I think they really need to have Connie and Katrina develop more of a friendship also- or have all 3 of them hang out together. Things can really go wrong when a man and woman are friends, and one or both are married but the spouse(s) aren't real involved with the friendship also.

[Trixie Belden]

That was a decent episode. Camilla is so cute, and I'm looking forward to hearing more from her. It was nice that it wasn't your predictable ending, where the bird lives, Camilla gets a dog, and everyone is perfect. It was nice that Whit did say that what they're talking about isn't a curse at all. I didn't have a problem with the fact that they were calling it that, but some people might.

I loved Wooton in this one! It's nice to see him back in his mailcarrier position, instead of always filling in somewhere.

I did NOT like Eugene's role in this one. It was just too over the top, unrealistic. Like KBT said, that's not Eugene. Eugene in the past would come up with something to repell the birds, even if it meant staying awake all night in the CCCC library. NOT just go out, say "Okay, I'm going to chop it all off!" And realistically, no bird would do that.

Where IS Katrina? Seriously, Eugene should have married Connie if they're going to behave this way. Eugene making Connie hot chocolate, or giving a hug might be taken the wrong way. Actually, you could really have another Love is in the Air hug scene/hot chocolate scene at this rate. It was fine in early episodes, before Katrina showed up, but now it's just getting weird. She's not even mentioned! I assume that they're getting along happily, but with them, you really can't tell. I was actually really surprised that Eugene had the sense (or lack thereof) to let Connie give him a shave. Katrina, maybe, but not Connie.

[31899]

Good episode. A few questions. Why was Eugene so impulsive about his hair and whats with the 7 year old praying about the bird? I never thought of Eugene as the impulsive type and for probably 2 minutes straight the girl is just saying things like "I'm going to go pray for the bird" and "God don't let it die" I thought that was unrealistic. Other than that a good episode.

3/5

31899

[DanP740]

They'd better at least mention Katrina in this album... if not...

[JesusFreak777]

Good episode. A few questions. Why was Eugene so impulsive about his hair and whats with the 7 year old praying about the bird? I never thought of Eugene as the impulsive type and for probably 2 minutes straight the girl is just saying things like "I'm going to go pray for the bird" and "God don't let it die" I thought that was unrealistic. Other than that a good episode.

3/5

31899

Er what was unrealistic about it? A lot of kids pray for their pets - and lots of adults do too. I'm confused...

[31899]

Oh, they do!? I guess I've spent to much time with my country bumpkin relatives and friends.

31899

[Jacob Isom]

You can read my review at http://www.odysseyscoop.com/reviews/660_ForTheBirds.htm

[LizzieG]

I liked the Parker story, but found the subplot with Eugene rather ridiculous. Camilla's acting was believable, and while this Parker story wasn't quite as strong as "Clutter" in my opinion, it was still good. The credits were also very enjoyable. The concept, however, of birds attacking people's hair, and it being an actual problem worthy of a subplot, is just silly.

This episode is perhaps the best example of a problem I've had with Eugene's character in recent years. He seems more like a caricature of his former self. My theory is that it's easier for Connie to remain "fresh" and three-dimensional because she's more of a transparent, outgoing and emotional person. But isn't there a way to make Eugene a bit more real in regular episodes? When Eugene first came on the show, he did sound very much like a computer. However, as time went on, he became a three-dimensional character: We saw him wrestle with spiritual, emotional and relational issues ways that were true to his very-intellectual self. Since his conversion to Christianity, however (and especially since his return in album 44), he has lost a lot of that dimension. Yes, there are still episodes where we see more of Eugene than his brainiac side (the arc with his father, for example), and, yes, he has matured in a lot of ways so that those old issues aren't really issues anymore. But there's still something missing. There must be something that can be done to revitalize his character that neither ignores his growth nor treats him as just a walking encyclopedia/comic relief/all-knowing imparter of wisdom. Katrina being a semi-regular character (and mentioned more regularly) would help; it's strange that she's more minor of a character than she ever was before they got married.

Eugene's my favorite character and I feel like I don't really "know" him anymore, so I hope he gets a bit more attention in the future.

EDIT: Just listened to the outtake with Chris on the album -- haha, that's great!

[Catspaw]

Wow, that's a really great assessment of the problem with Eugene! Thanks for sharing your insights, Lizzie. That definitely makes sense, and I hope that the AIO team figures out how to make things work so we can have Eugene "back" again!

[Christian A.]

Here's my review:

I liked this episode. Phil Walton and Paul McCusker did a good job of putting both storylines together. I want to review the episode by giving my thoughts on each character:

First of all, Whit, of course! I didn't like Andre's voice so much in this episode. It seems like he can do a good job in the inventive Whit area, and in the baseball commentator area. But so far in this season, when the writers have put him behind the counter as ice cream-maker and advice-giver Whit, as a friend of mine put it, he sounds fake. I'll hopefully get used to him soon enough but for now, he just doesn't cut it for me.

Connie didn't have too big a part in this episode, but when she was talking, I think she did a great job and I was glad to hear from her again. It seems like she's gotten over her obsession with the Inspiration Station. She just doesn't seem like Connie when she's that kind and patient and caring and sweet. It's been interesting that we haven't heard about the Inspiration Station at all since the first two episodes of the season. Hopefully there will be more episodes describing more of what it does in the near future. By the way, when did Connie learn to cut and style hair?

Eugene played a big part in this episode as expected. I found it weird that birds were drawn to only his hair. Doesn't Connie have practically the same color of hair? And more of it, for that matter? Why weren't the birds attracted to her? Also, Eugene seemed a bit out of character concerning his fear of the birds. I mean, I guess I'd be scared if birds were chasing me and trying to bite my head, but it's not like Eugene, as an adult, to scream like a little girl, especially around other adults. The first scene was especially weird. There isn't really any chemistry between Camilla and Eugene, or between Camilla and friend.

Wooton was definitely back to character today. He was back to his usual quirky self with funny, useless information. I love the scene where he describes to the Parker family why he named his moose Dexter and how nearly immediately after that he becomes sober with the fact that Dexter is barely moving. And then he offers to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but decides not to, for fear of blowing him up. I laughed out loud a couple times. I hope we get to hear more of Wooton in the upcoming episodes.

It seemed weird that Mr. and Mrs. Parker believed in the Parker Family Curse without really believing in it. They seemed to give past tragedies concerning pets as a reason for not allowing Camilla to have a pet. I greatly liked the relationship that David seemed to have with Camilla. He acted as the spiritual leader of the family, which is what fathers are supposed to be to their wife and children.

Olivia's voice keeps getting better. She now sounds more like a fifteen-year-old and that's how I picture her. I thought it was kind of funny that Mrs. Parker was the one who killed her pet. It would be just like my mom to sit on a small pet, paying no attention to the fact that it was there. My mom is the reason we don't have any pets in our house. She doesn't like them.

Matthew only had a few lines in this episode, adn one of his lines was something I didn't like about the episode: "They had a suicide pact." Referring to the dead goldfish. It was funny, but a little too mature for 8-12-year-olds. Also, a few other bloggers and I noticed that Matthew has been in every episode this season. I could use a little break from him.

I liked hearing a lot from Camilla, and her actress did a good job. I liked that the ending of the episode was unexpected and realistic: The bird died, which I definitely didn't expect, adn we don't hear of her getting a dog. So I guess the sound designers get out of having to record for a dog yet again. : )

Overall, this was a great episode. The ending with Chris was a little corny, but still enjoyable. I'll give this episode an 8.5/10.