706: To Mend Or Repair

Archived reviews of Adventures in Odyssey episodes!

Episode rating?

5/5 Two milkshakes and a hug.
13
52%
4/5 Open heart, and maybe a tissue.
10
40%
3/5 Nonfiction boredom. :P
1
4%
2/5 I listened in dreamland. :snore:
0
No votes
1/5 Really? :roll: Take a chill pill.
1
4%
 
Total votes: 25

Samitude
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Post by Samitude »

Alot of foster children I have seen have been babies. I think it would be nice if Eugene and Katrina would be foster parents, take the classes, etc. I think a baby would be a nice addition. Since Eugene knows about the abortion his mother almost had I can see where he and Katrina would be even more open to foster care/adoption. I may be mistaken, but didn't Marshall Younger and his wife do foster care and adopt either a baby or a toddler? Since he's one of the writers I wouldn't be surprised if they went that route.

Jennifertwt, I do like the idea of Connie and Jason if we still think Jason is permanantly in his middle thirties and connie is in her late twenties. If Jason is supposed to be nearing sixty then no. I do think that the two of them need relationships. Suggestions for Connie: Richard Maxwell, Officer Stew Burke, or Billy McPherson. Richard needs to get saved though. Officer Stew Burke and Connie? Connie gets stopped for speeding, gets a ticket, etc. She keeps getting stopped and can't figure out why. Officer Burke is always teasing her. What about Billy McPherson? He's a big favorite of mine for Connie. He could be the new youth pastor at Odyssey Community Church. If not Connie and Jason then Jason and Alicia.
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jennifertwt
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Post by jennifertwt »

I also forgot to mention that this episode was hilarious because it allowed my swedish husband to hear about the pledge and morning announcements that I have been telling him happen every morning in school. (at least elementary, I honestly do not remember having a pledge or announcements in high school).
Jennifer Lundgren
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Post by The Top Crusader »

Like a lot of people, going in I knew the basic idea of the episode and was thinking it should've just been Eugene and Katrina without other HIJINKS going on... but the other stuff was decent. Jay is basically the only new character I like. Whit was acting more Whit-like as well which doesn't always happen these days, so that was good. Whit should create a baby-making machine. The end.
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Crazy 4 Pugs
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Post by Crazy 4 Pugs »

I thought the Eugene and Katrina storyline was excellent. Glad to see AIO addressing more serious/real-life issues again. The Barrett and Priscilla storyline was pretty silly in my opinion, but it probably kept the younger listeners engaged. I'm guessing the 8-12 yr old set (and probably even young teens) may not "get" Eugene and Katrina's story the way older listeners do.

I do have one concern about this storyline. I hope the writers don't just have Eugene and Katrina suddenly decide to foster parent or adopt four episodes later and suddenly everything is ok. Adoption and foster care are both great choices. Infertility is a struggle of its own, and adoption does not automatically fix the sense of loss that couples may feel. I think it would be great if Eugene and Katrina decided to adopt, but I hope they flesh out this storyline first.
Um, I guess this is where I'm supposed to say something funny or interesting.
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EUCC
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Post by EUCC »

Crazy 4 Pugs wrote: I do have one concern about this storyline. I hope the writers don't just have Eugene and Katrina suddenly decide to foster parent or adopt four episodes later and suddenly everything is ok. Adoption and foster care are both great choices. Infertility is a struggle of its own, and adoption does not automatically fix the sense of loss that couples may feel. I think it would be great if Eugene and Katrina decided to adopt, but I hope they flesh out this storyline first.
Yeah, I have a friend who is infertile and they have tried for yrs to get into foster care but that isn't always easy to take all the necessary classes. Nothing is easy about not being able to have children when you want them or having a child die.
whittaker96
Gold Member
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Post by whittaker96 »

JesusFreak777 wrote:(side question, why didn't they just keep the character as Edith Sutton since the voice is the same?)
Can you imagine the new Whit shaking off Edith Sutton?
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Christian A.
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Post by Christian A. »

Wow. I just finished listening to the episode, and that last scene is really touching. I dare to say that it's the first time we've gotten a real, real look at Eugene and Katrina's relationship with each other since "For Better or for Worse," or even "The Turning Point." It makes their marriage feel so much more genuine when you see them crying together. This was a really good episode. I didn't find any of the characters annoying (except maybe Mrs. Kramer xD), and even with the Barrett/Priscilla storyline, there wasn't any dialogue that made me cringe.

I thought that the two storylines wove together very, very well, and the combined force of the two aspects of helping others suffer leaves a big impact. Both stories were very easy to relate to, even though the Eugene/Katrina part would apply more to adults. Even though both were fairly sad, they left me with a good feeling; I guess it's just pleasing to see people with hearts help each other through hard times.

I'm almost at a loss for words about this episode. I liked it so much, and there's so much I could say, but it's hard to articulate everything. So forgive me if none of this is making much sense. I loved the episode; that's the jist of it. This episode definitely had more of a heart than The Labyrinth, and even though those episodes were action-packed and interesting, I can almost say that this episode was just as, if not more captivating than that three-parter. The characters were so real, and the issues dealt with were real, everyday issues that so many deal with.

There wasn't really a takeaway moral, other than that we should all learn to be sensitive and try to compassionately help others through any hurt they're experiencing. But this episode seemed to be directed toward helping us grow with the characters and having the characters grow on us. This episode and "Unbecoming Jay" have both softened my heart toward the Barrett and Priscilla relationship in a way that "When You're Right, You're Right" never could have. The writers are definitely getting better at writing for these characters as they go, and they are totally succeeding in making, me at least, feel for them.

On a lighter note, I liked Mrs. Kramer and Jay in this episode. Their humor wasn't sidesplittingly funny, but it was just enough to lighten the mood, and keep things moving along. I also liked Whit for the first time in a while. We only heard from him for a couple of minutes, but what I heard I liked. Oh, and Connie was really good in this episode. But I'm glad that Eugene was ultimately the one to comfort Katrina, rather than Connie. I was afraid it was going to turn into a girlfriend-comforts-girlfriend pity party, sort of like in the Eugene Returns episode, which is okay, but I like husband-comforts-wife way better. :)
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Post by Catspaw »

I just listened to this for the first time yesterday (my CDs came and I had a couple hours in my car yesterday) \:D/ and it was wonderful. A lot of people already summed up my thoughts, but I loved the way that AIO tackled a difficult topic in such a family-friendly way. When Eugene told Whit that he wasn't doing very well, I teared up. The emotion that Will Ryan put into that line was very moving.

The Barrett/Priscilla storyline was a nice addition to the episode. It kept things a little lighter but followed along the same theme, which might be more relatable to a number of listeners.
Lee wrote:When the librarian said she worked for the town of Odyssey, what do you think I thought of?
:lol: I was wondering if that was a little nod towards the wonderful members of this board! Whether it was intended to be or not, I enjoyed the line a lot. All we need now is a librarian! ;)
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