583: "The Champ of the Camp"
**SPOILERS**
583: "The Champ of the Camp"
This will be unlocked on Saturday, then post your reviews^_^
Last edited by Jonathan on Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thank you Chandler! I've been waiting for two hours for someone to say something so I wouldn't be quilty of a double post.
And now, my review:
I want to start out by saying that this episode will put to ease any fan’s mind that was wondering if the AIO team would stay true to the continuity promise they gave us in regards to several storylines.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way...
This episode continued AIO’s track record of expertly using flashbacks. The cuts in between camp and Connie typing was perfect. As was the young voice of Connie. Not the best kid versus adult voice, but it was good.
In a way listening to it was odd; she seemed grouchy. But she did say she was different, and we know this to be true. Speaking of which, their attention to detail was good too. Marcy, her parents, etc was all impressive.
Seeing as how this was a Kathy ep, I have to comment on the goofiness factor, especially this time. A part of me has come to expect Kathy eps to be somewhat unbelievable; wacky to the max. But this one had the perfect blend of realism and wackiness for it to be believable. For example, the prank war. A little hard to believe at times, but we were given a motivation for it that helped make it believable. This also reminded me of the beginning of The Parent Trap, which was another bright spot in the ep.
But the fact that the music wasn’t overly wacky and the flow was, well, on our pace (and not a four year olds) this also helped. And something I appreciated.
I also liked the adult/kid interactions during the course of the episode. It was good and sounded natural. This is an element that hasn’t been too prevelant in recent years, so I appreciated this.
For a while I thought that Googles sounded familiar, and was in a way pleased that it was Eugene. It’s a small world after all. It also made the conclusion very pleasing.
Now I expect some people not to like this, calling it corny. But I think the way they did this worked. The reason being we found this out with the characters. That way is a whole lot more believable then if the ep started with Eugene and Connie talking about when they met all those years ago.
One last note on another reason I liked this ep. Over the course of my growing up I spent a lot of time in some church camps and one or two trips with my school. Those trips are chock-full with very fond and precious memories in my mind, and this episode helped rekindle those memories in so many ways that other AIO camp episodes have failed. Not that they weren’t good, they just didn’t make me reminecse about my camp experiences. It made this episode heart-warming to me.
Overall, a solid episode, and one that, much to my pleasure, continues the trend of great episodes we’ve been hearing since April; it‘s safe to say that this will be another Golden Age. Once again great job AIO team^_^
4/5 Stars.
And now, my review:
I want to start out by saying that this episode will put to ease any fan’s mind that was wondering if the AIO team would stay true to the continuity promise they gave us in regards to several storylines.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way...
This episode continued AIO’s track record of expertly using flashbacks. The cuts in between camp and Connie typing was perfect. As was the young voice of Connie. Not the best kid versus adult voice, but it was good.
In a way listening to it was odd; she seemed grouchy. But she did say she was different, and we know this to be true. Speaking of which, their attention to detail was good too. Marcy, her parents, etc was all impressive.
Seeing as how this was a Kathy ep, I have to comment on the goofiness factor, especially this time. A part of me has come to expect Kathy eps to be somewhat unbelievable; wacky to the max. But this one had the perfect blend of realism and wackiness for it to be believable. For example, the prank war. A little hard to believe at times, but we were given a motivation for it that helped make it believable. This also reminded me of the beginning of The Parent Trap, which was another bright spot in the ep.
But the fact that the music wasn’t overly wacky and the flow was, well, on our pace (and not a four year olds) this also helped. And something I appreciated.
I also liked the adult/kid interactions during the course of the episode. It was good and sounded natural. This is an element that hasn’t been too prevelant in recent years, so I appreciated this.
For a while I thought that Googles sounded familiar, and was in a way pleased that it was Eugene. It’s a small world after all. It also made the conclusion very pleasing.
Now I expect some people not to like this, calling it corny. But I think the way they did this worked. The reason being we found this out with the characters. That way is a whole lot more believable then if the ep started with Eugene and Connie talking about when they met all those years ago.
One last note on another reason I liked this ep. Over the course of my growing up I spent a lot of time in some church camps and one or two trips with my school. Those trips are chock-full with very fond and precious memories in my mind, and this episode helped rekindle those memories in so many ways that other AIO camp episodes have failed. Not that they weren’t good, they just didn’t make me reminecse about my camp experiences. It made this episode heart-warming to me.
Overall, a solid episode, and one that, much to my pleasure, continues the trend of great episodes we’ve been hearing since April; it‘s safe to say that this will be another Golden Age. Once again great job AIO team^_^
4/5 Stars.
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Wow, I really enjoyed this episode. It flowed nicely, was realistic and kept me in suspence quite well. I just realized now that like Jonathan, I was thinking that something about Goggles was familar, and I think his voice was a good match to Eugene, like the young Connies voice was. Anyway, an all around great start to the season.
...I hate marquees.
You can find my review here! http://www.aiosf.com
Chandler....you took the words right out of my mouth!
I LOVED it too!!
I guessed from the begining that Goggles was Eugene....but it was great to hear it at the end. I don't have time to post anything big, but I thought that this reminded me of the 'old odyssey' and it was a WONDERFUL, AMAZING, GREAT start for the 2006 episodes!!
I LOVED it too!!
I guessed from the begining that Goggles was Eugene....but it was great to hear it at the end. I don't have time to post anything big, but I thought that this reminded me of the 'old odyssey' and it was a WONDERFUL, AMAZING, GREAT start for the 2006 episodes!!
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- Mandy Straussberg
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I voted 5 stars, but I would give it 4 1/2. I loved it. I thought the plot was awesome, the acting was superb, and it was just a good story in general, despite the fact that as soon as Eugene mentioned the name of the camp, it was quite obvious he was Goggles.
The only drawback for me (stealing the last 1/2 star) was the crush scene at the end. It really wasn't necessary to pull that into it. With the whole Mandy/Liz whoever crush thing that went on not too long ago, it kind of annoyed me. But beyond that, I loved the episode, and listened to it twice right off the bat.
Mandy
The only drawback for me (stealing the last 1/2 star) was the crush scene at the end. It really wasn't necessary to pull that into it. With the whole Mandy/Liz whoever crush thing that went on not too long ago, it kind of annoyed me. But beyond that, I loved the episode, and listened to it twice right off the bat.
Mandy
Music is my life. God's given me gifts, and I like to use them.
Spirit now lead me, take me where You will
I long to adore You, reveal Yourself to me
My cry is to please You, so have Your way in me
Completely to bring glory to Your Name
Spirit now lead me, take me where You will
I long to adore You, reveal Yourself to me
My cry is to please You, so have Your way in me
Completely to bring glory to Your Name
The story is a stretch and was predictable. I guess when you start dabbling with the history of AIO it cheats fans out of the experience. Now anything can happen. Is it possible that Whit and Eugene were once penpals, too?
When the story began, I thought it was a great angle, but tying Eugene into it made it unbelieveable [small world or not, the chances are all but impossible] and as has been mentioned the crush part at the end was silly.
Great story idea, but I don't like tampering with the already laid out time line of AIO....sorry, just one's own thoughts...
When the story began, I thought it was a great angle, but tying Eugene into it made it unbelieveable [small world or not, the chances are all but impossible] and as has been mentioned the crush part at the end was silly.
Great story idea, but I don't like tampering with the already laid out time line of AIO....sorry, just one's own thoughts...
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lol... Although this episode was indeed rather goofy, predictable, and almost corny, I thought it was great! How cool is it that they actually knew each other? (Well, kinda, at least...) And the way they were talking at the end... It was almost like in the "olden days" of AIO. I gave it 4 stars!
May Zarkouni Live Forever!
Well, Washington has been gratuitously compensated like forever by the credit companies.
Well, Washington has been gratuitously compensated like forever by the credit companies.
I really liked it. It was quite a good episodes to start off the new season. You can read my review here.
Dave
Dave
I gave “The Champ of the Camp” 5/5, though it is subject to the test of time. I recently realized I undervalued all three parts of “Prisoners of Fear” as I went to vote at the End of Season Awards not too long ago; I was unnecessarily stingy in that rating.
Let’s start with the bad: there’s only one negative in my mind, and that is the characters’ voices. Young Connie and her two friends’ voices were sometimes difficult to distinguish. Nonetheless, I could tell who was who by the dialogue content, so I didn’t gyp the rating for this.
Okay, so maybe there were two negatives. I wouldn’t have had Eugene run off at the end to tell Whit about his newfound “dirt” on Connie; that seemed out of character. Then again, he did want to charge Tom an outlandish amount of money at the end of “All-Star Witness”, which some others thought was out of character as well.
Naming, naming, naming! The episode lived up to its name. I often hold too high expectations on an episode with an especially intriguing name only to be disappointed (“Tales of a Small-Town Thug”). This was not the case for “The Champ of the Camp”, however, as it fulfilled and even exceeded my expectations.
Pranks…pranks are fun. How fitting at a camp setting! How fitting between Connie and Eugene!
This episode delved into the past much like “Silent Night”, and that is a huge reason why I believe both will stand the test of time and be cherished for a long while. Fans like character development, and retroactive character development is especially a treat.
The episode dealt with Connie and the divorce issue well. Furthermore, I was touched by Eugene’s sacrifice of his camp tenure.
Finally, this episode in a way proved to me that I’m not falling out of touch with some of Odyssey’s episodes geared toward younger kids; I didn’t enjoy “Called on in Class” (controversial) or “The Power of One”. Since I thoroughly enjoyed an episode about summer camp, I can rest assured that AIO has not unintentionally lowered its place in my heart and mind (or at least it hasn’t slipped too much).
Let’s start with the bad: there’s only one negative in my mind, and that is the characters’ voices. Young Connie and her two friends’ voices were sometimes difficult to distinguish. Nonetheless, I could tell who was who by the dialogue content, so I didn’t gyp the rating for this.
Okay, so maybe there were two negatives. I wouldn’t have had Eugene run off at the end to tell Whit about his newfound “dirt” on Connie; that seemed out of character. Then again, he did want to charge Tom an outlandish amount of money at the end of “All-Star Witness”, which some others thought was out of character as well.
Naming, naming, naming! The episode lived up to its name. I often hold too high expectations on an episode with an especially intriguing name only to be disappointed (“Tales of a Small-Town Thug”). This was not the case for “The Champ of the Camp”, however, as it fulfilled and even exceeded my expectations.
Pranks…pranks are fun. How fitting at a camp setting! How fitting between Connie and Eugene!
This episode delved into the past much like “Silent Night”, and that is a huge reason why I believe both will stand the test of time and be cherished for a long while. Fans like character development, and retroactive character development is especially a treat.
The episode dealt with Connie and the divorce issue well. Furthermore, I was touched by Eugene’s sacrifice of his camp tenure.
Finally, this episode in a way proved to me that I’m not falling out of touch with some of Odyssey’s episodes geared toward younger kids; I didn’t enjoy “Called on in Class” (controversial) or “The Power of One”. Since I thoroughly enjoyed an episode about summer camp, I can rest assured that AIO has not unintentionally lowered its place in my heart and mind (or at least it hasn’t slipped too much).
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WOW, I didnt have a CLUE Goggles was Eugene until he came in the room at end. I loved this episode. I always thought Eugene was at least 3-4 years older, how far apart in age are they ??
If Connie had explained she was pullling a prank before director talked to her, and they had stopped it together, would she have still been in trouble ?
WONDERFUL EPISODE.
If Connie had explained she was pullling a prank before director talked to her, and they had stopped it together, would she have still been in trouble ?
WONDERFUL EPISODE.
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