Eugene Meltsner: Ultimate Catalyst of Drama

Whit's wiping down the counter, Connie's mopping the floor, and the kids are sipping on their milkshakes. If you want to talk about Adventures in Odyssey the radio drama, this is the spot to do just that!
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Leonard Meltsner
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Eugene Meltsner: Ultimate Catalyst of Drama

Post by Leonard Meltsner »

Yes. Forget Whit, because Eugene is at the heart of nearly all the drama we experience on Adventures in Odyssey.

Firstly, my favourite arc: Novacom. Despite the fact that he is gone for ALL of it (save for some repurposed clips at the end of Exit and the Eugene Returns! trilogy), the entire saga is about him. As Bourland said, there were two things that Andromeda wanted, and Eugene's research was abundantly more important than the Imagination Station, as the IS was only the medium through which the RWS was conveyed. The first hint of anything suspicious out of the episodes was in Red Herring, with Eugene's top secret project. The last post-arc episodes were about Eugene finally returning and regaining his memory after running around the world from Andromeda.

Second, everyone's other favourite: Darkness Before Dawn. While I confess that the Applesauce saga had little to do with Eugene (assuming that Blackgaard's plans then really didn't have anything to do with the mineral, which I highly doubt, considering he tried to buy the building 5 years earlier), DBD was Blackgaard's attempt to get one thing alone: the mineral under Whit's End which would allow him to mass produce TA-418 to create Rukuta and become the ultimate terrorist with his biochemical warfare (cause, you know, kids show 'n stuff). Who was it first discovered the mineral during the saga? Who created the search program that discovered that the mineral was "The Silent One"? That's right.

Thirdly, another one of my favourites, as well as my namesake: The Leonard Meltsner Arc. This one really doesn't get enough credit, because it's AMAZING, and I'm not even going to go into this one.

Fourthly, the most drawn-out, dramatic relationship saga in the history of AIO. NO! I'm not talking about Connie and Mitch. No! NO no no no NO! Sure people died and stuff, but it wasn't Eugene and Katrina. That was much longer and more tumultuous that Mitch's flip-floppy career choices.

That's about it.
Discuss.
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Eugene-"Well, the sequence of events occured with extreme rapidity, but I shall attempt to recall them. I was powering my two-wheeler along this concrete pathway, when your personnage suddenly appeared directly in front of me blocking my course. My reflexes immediately sprang to life in an attempt to navigate an evasive manouveur around you while still maintaining course and speed, but I evidently over-compensated, and my Schwinn careened off the hardened path, taking me with it, and up-ended us both in this shrub, a Rhododendron of the heath family I believe, deducing from the leathery evergreen leaves, as distinguished from the deciduous Azalea, which as we all know is..."
Isaac-"You mean, you crashed into this bush cause I got in your way."
Eugene-"Well, that of course is another way of expressing it." Isaac the Benevolent
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Mrs Jason Whittaker
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Post by Mrs Jason Whittaker »

Well stated!

I agree that the Eugene & Katrina relationship saga is the most drawn-out and dramatic one AIO has ever done. Well...except Connie & Jason...but that remains in the dreams of the fans for now.
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Post by Samitude »

I was just listening to some of this audio recording and think that this reader sounds a lot like Will Ryan's younger Eugene! LibriVox is for the general public to submit audio recordings of public domain books. The reader is someone named Mark Nelson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEr_1vnh7EA
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Post by Amethystic »

It's arguable that Jason, too, is one of the biggest drama-generators for the show--after all, he played significant roles in all of the storylines you just mentioned, and when it comes to all things secret agenty on the show, Jason is their go-to character. (Also, his ill-fated quasi-romance with Monica Stone was pretty awesome. Just saying.) Not only has he been central to most of the definitive story arcs, but he also has countless high-action/controversy-causing mini-arcs under his belt, like in The Search for Whit, as well as all those times during Whit's absence when Jason caused legal/ethical troubles galore for the Whit's End gang.

As a side note, this is the first AIO-related thread I've posted in for like, ever. :-
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Stop Wooton' Around
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Post by Stop Wooton' Around »

Amethystic wrote:It's arguable that Jason, too, is one of the biggest drama-generators for the show--after all, he played significant roles in all of the storylines you just mentioned, and when it comes to all things secret agenty on the show, Jason is their go-to character. (Also, his ill-fated quasi-romance with Monica Stone was pretty awesome. Just saying.) Not only has he been central to most of the definitive story arcs, but he also has countless high-action/controversy-causing mini-arcs under his belt, like in The Search for Whit, as well as all those times during Whit's absence when Jason caused legal/ethical troubles galore for the Whit's End gang.

As a side note, this is the first AIO-related thread I've posted in for like, ever. :-
Jason is arguable because of his career choice. Anytime, in a fictional setting that a character works for National Security or a Missions organization is bound to generate drama. This can also be linked a little bit back to Eugene working for Around the World Missions. Also, a key reason I think Jason and Eugene are such great drama producers is their personality. Jason is head-strong and wild, which is a lot more dramatic than calm and collected characters like Jack. As for Eugene, well... he's Eugene. :)
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