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736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:26 am
by Peachey Keen
You don't have to suffer anymore. The third and final part of Life Expectancy is out!

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 12:40 pm
by The Kings Daughter
It seemed kind of weird in the first scene that Whit just said something about how they'd need to go over the will and walked off. He's like her grandfather for goodness' sake. :- ((more hugs))

Eugene asking Connie what kind of suffering she meant. Not only was this a way for the writers to educate listeners in the various kinds, but also helped show that Eugene and Connie are still they're same old selves..clarification needed after all those wonderful hugs. ;)

"Promise me you won't suffer too much while I'm gone" made it sound like he loved her. o.O

And more commercials than usual. That was like, three in a row! ;) Hmm, 'Taken' ad.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥Eugene talking with Connie at her mom's house moment♥♥

"How's life as part of the food chain" seemed like an out of place question.

And after all that, 5/5. :P

Jeff should have been more cheerful about the chairs, however. Like, willing to do it, not like he was doing it 'cause he had to. ;P

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 1:43 pm
by Bren
Overall, does anyone think this episode needed a warning?

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 8:24 pm
by TigerintheShadows
@Bren: Any particular reason?

I liked this episode. It basically coated the prosperity gospel in kerosene and lit it on fire while gleefully watching it burn. I liked the ideas from all three men--Wooton, Eugene, and Whit. The things that they said were so very meaningful, but they were different enough from one another to see the issue from many standpoints, all of them Biblical. I also liked what Connie had to say--that she has begun to find much more about suffering than she thought she would. It's proof to me that the Christian life isn't as happy-clappy as people want to make it look like.

Eugene and Connie's scene together has inspired me to draw emotional fanart. I was waiting for Eugene to mention his and Katrina's infertility, but I didn't expect my heart to be so wrenched when he said it. The subtle emotion in his voice was incredible and moving. And Wooton was so very mature, but so Wooton-like. Whomever it was who wrote Wooton--I applaud you, and I hope he is written this way in his later episodes as well. It felt like Plan B, Part IV: Resistance all over again.

I do agree with TKD; the question about the food chain was a little jarring to me. I have a close friend who is a vocal atheist, but we rarely talk about our faith (or lack thereof, in his case). He knows what I think and I know what he thinks, but we have a relationship where we simply present our views and talk about it. Should he become a Christian someday, I believe that it would be more out of other Christians simply showing the love of Christ to him and not putting him under a condemnation microscope than being argued into it. I feel like that's applicable here--mentioning religion to an open non-Christian in an oh-so-subtle attempt to open a discussion about the faith isn't establishing a relationship with them as friends (or, in Connie's case, half-sisters); it's essentially treating them like a project, and no one likes to be treated that way.

However, one line did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the episode. I really have enjoyed seeing these characters grow and mature and return to their pre-hiatus selves, instead of the goofy wacky caricatures of people we used to love as they have been recently. This has been, overall, a phenomenal album--probably the best since the relaunch--and I'm really looking forward to "The Pilot, Parts I and II" later this month.

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 2:46 am
by Marvin D.
Tiger said all that needed to be said.

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 9:57 pm
by RileyTomTimothy
I've tried, but I don't think I can beat that review. Truly AMAZING! I thought about this all day long and I came up with a few ideas for an Album kind of like what they did for The Truth Chronicles. I have to think this was indirectly linked to that experience Connie had in that dream in TTC.

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:20 am
by Marvin D.
I had only two qualms with the whole episode:
1. There were no scenes with June, nor have there been for many years. It was harder to picture her as having died since we haven't heard from her in so long. Had I not listened to "A Little Credit, Please," I might not have felt much of anything for her.
2. Jules was only in one episode. That was really what disappointed me; I'd hoped we'd have heard a bit more of her. I don't know why they didn't have a scene with her at the end of the first episode, or keep her around for a bit in the third.
Other than that, I've got nothing else.

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 6:08 am
by jennifertwt
RileyTomTimothy wrote:I've tried, but I don't think I can beat that review. Truly AMAZING! I thought about this all day long and I came up with a few ideas for an Album kind of like what they did for The Truth Chronicles. I have to think this was indirectly linked to that experience Connie had in that dream in TTC.
hm----have to listen to that again.

-- 15 Oct 2013 01:10 pm --
Marvin D. wrote:I had only two qualms with the whole episode:
1. There were no scenes with June, nor have there been for many years. It was harder to picture her as having died since we haven't heard from her in so long. Had I not listened to "A Little Credit, Please," I might not have felt much of anything for her.
2. Jules was only in one episode. That was really what disappointed me; I'd hoped we'd have heard a bit more of her. I don't know why they didn't have a scene with her at the end of the first episode, or keep her around for a bit in the third.
Other than that, I've got nothing else.
I agree. We have been listening to the "June" eps listed on AIOWiki all week so, we really felt something. I was also surprised at how little Jules was in it considering all the hype. It will be interesting to see if she returns. All in all I think it was a good mix of seriousness, humor, and education.

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 3:00 pm
by Dallas R.
Overall, I really liked this three parter. It's nice to see the show hitting some very difficult issues. It was really great to hear some serious interactions with Connie between Eugene, Wooton, and even Penny. I thought Whit was a little standoffish until the very end, but that was good. Nice to see Connie interacting with friends her own age.
It was awesome to see the serious side of Wooton again. I feel like we haven't really gotten this since Grady was around. Strangely, lately I've blamed the writers for making Wooton light. But this time, it seemed like Jess Harnell's acting was off. Serious Wooton didn't seem as serious as he used to. But those are minor points. Still a good talk.

One final thought, this episode didn't have a lot of action. And I loved that. Mostly it was just Connie talking to different characters about suffering. I thought it worked really well. I mean, they certainly shouldn't do a lot of episodes this way, but it really helped drive home some good theological points on suffering. I did wonder how much of it went over kid's heads, but either way, I know they got something.

Also, am I missing Jason somewhere in this? In the shoutout, it said he'd be in this episode, he's listen in the cast on AIOWIKI, and even Whit mentions that Connie talks to him. Did his scene get deleted?

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:23 pm
by Skylerbuck
Yeah he is, at least on the download.

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:28 am
by LizzieG
Not a review per se, but here are my thoughts on “Life Expectancy” as related to how well these episodes handled the subject of suffering.

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:34 am
by Vic
(Wow. It's been a while since I was last on here. My goodness)

I really liked this 3 parter. I was pleased with it overall but there is something that I have to get off my chest. At the end of part three, I realized that Jason had not been in the episode at all yet he was credited at the end. I decided to investigate on AIOwiki and found in the summary that there was a whole big conversation between Connie and Jason about suffering and stuff. I then checked what the download time for the episode was and what the air time was and there were a COUPLE of minutes missing. I won't lie. I was a bit outraged but I'll probably just break down and buy the episode. Anybody else have a freakout like me?

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:53 am
by jennifertwt
There was alot missing from the radio version. I would recommend buying all three parts from iTunes if you are not going to buy the whole album.

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 6:46 am
by Reddo
They have to cut it down to 25:30 including advertisement time for all the radio stations that broadcast it, there's really nothing they can do about that, thousands of people build schedules around AIO having a time of 25:30. They also upload that one for free online for listening for people that can't listen on the radio.

This used to not be a problem for writers to write episodes in that time frame, but in the later episodes with more complex stories it's started to become sort of a wall that confines them, first they started to cut down on the intro time to make more room, but even that hasn't been enough so they've started to have 2 versions of the episodes, the free radio version and the album version.

Re: 736: Life Expectancy, Part 3

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 10:44 am
by jennifertwt
Skylerbuck wrote:Yeah he is, at least on the download.
I did not think he sounded like himself and was not sure it was Townsend Coleman until the end credits. :boohoo: