733: Big Trouble Under the Big Top

Archived reviews of Adventures in Odyssey episodes!

Was it worth the price of admission?

5 stars: The greatest show on earth!
1
6%
4 stars: An entertaining performance.
4
24%
3 stars: A three ring circus, nothing more.
3
18%
2 stars: I've seen better.
6
35%
1 star: Never coming back again!
3
18%
 
Total votes: 17

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Peachey Keen
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733: Big Trouble Under the Big Top

Post by Peachey Keen »


Step right up folks, step right up! You're about to hear one of the most amazing shows ever! You'll be amazed by the dangerous stunts, the spectacular music, the wild animals, and more! Get your tickets now!

Don't forget your popcorn!
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The Kings Daughter
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Post by The Kings Daughter »

Uncle Max. Really? o.o And it's weird for Agent Polehouse to play Max (or was it someone else? I thought it sounded like him). xD And the circus people are very forgiving for a saboteur. But it's a kids show:) 2/5
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Post by jennifertwt »

can anyone else hear the episode? I cannot play it from Whit´s End.org and this one only plays the first 7 second. :-(
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Post by E II »

I can here it from here. Ya not bad except the end.
I am confused
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Marvin D.
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Post by Marvin D. »

Ew. Ew. Ew.

1.5/5

I knew that it was Nina. Emily grated on my nerves. How was Esteban Noodles? Mr. Pockets sounded terrible. The ending was so terribly cliche. And I. Hate. Clowns.

Goodness.
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Post by E II »

What clowns are awesome
I am confused
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TigerintheShadows
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

One of my favorite and least favorite parts at the same time was Emily proving herself capable of analytical thought. It was cool, because it was true to her character and it was some clever reasoning. It was irritating because she's not even a teenager yet; neurotypical kids don't typically recognize stuff like that. It's a bit more acceptable now, though, because she has a history and it's been a learning curve, but it's still a little vexing.

The rest of the story was decent. I guessed that Nina was responsible the minute I heard her being so enthusiastic about new acts. That it took awhile for the rest of the circus to accept Emily and Matthew was good; I love it when adults are skeptical of the child protagonists. Also, Matthew's voice is changing, which is awesome and I love it. To me, though, it almost felt like the lesson was a bit tacked on at the end, and when it was, it felt a bit too happy-go-lucky.

And Matthew and Emily have stopped arguing about the Jones and Parker vs. Parker and Jones thing, which can only be considered a plus at this point.
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Post by Marvin D. »

I need to say something about the lesson. I honestly didn't guess that *that* would be the moral. There didn't even seem to be much of one at first; if anything, I thought it was going to be about how everybody's one big family, like the Body of Christ, but still.
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Post by Peachey Keen »

This episode was terrible. Perfectly cliche and very predictable. I was hoping for something original with the circus aspect, but I guess that's asking too much from a Jones & Parker mystery.

1.5/5 stars

Oh, and can you believe that this is the only episode in this album with Matthew?
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Post by Mrs Jason Whittaker »

I couldn't help thinking back to Like Father, Like Wooton. A mystery involving clowns.

I liked hearing the circus terminology, learned some things I didn't know before. And I liked the setting--a circus--something fun and different. And the mystery was fun.

The ending was terrible. People nearly died and they were willing to just welcome the sabateuor back with open arms? But, it is a kids show.
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Post by jennifertwt »

I had forgotten about LIke Father, Like Wooten, Must listen now! Mostly this episode just made me want to watch Big Top Scooby Doo and Scooby Doo and the Circus Monsters.
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Post by Monty »

I could be wrong, but wasn't this the episode written by a fan that won a script contest awhile back?
It's been awhile, hasn't it?
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

It was.
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"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" "So he can sneak up on people. Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking..."
"And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."
"It unscrews the other way."
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Post by Bren »

She didn't win. She was one of the finalists. I will say I found it hard to tell the voices apart at times.
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Post by E II »

I had no problems with the voices. Who were you getting confused on? I personally just hated the ending
I am confused
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Post by jennifertwt »

jennifertwt wrote:I had forgotten about LIke Father, Like Wooten, Must listen now! Mostly this episode just made me want to watch Big Top Scooby Doo and Scooby Doo and the Circus Monsters.
And weren´t there clowns at the end of the Green Ring Conspiracy?

-- 02 Oct 2013 07:19 am --
Bren wrote:She didn't win. She was one of the finalists. I will say I found it hard to tell the voices apart at times.
I have had that problem since the relaunch. They all sound alike to me. I cannot say that any of the kids have a distinct personality that sticks with me. Not like Alex, Oscar,Trent or Mandy of the previous era. I cannot always tell which Parker "girl" is speaking in a family setting.
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Post by The Old Judge »

I don't know about Michaela Dean, but I thought Sydney Shiotani did a fine job with Camilla, and Jay has a personality unbeknownst to Odyssey before his time...
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

Yes. Jay is very distinct in personality from the others. His character development has been remarkable, though this is largely because no one else seems to have distinctly developed much beyond a few personality traits or talents. The closest-to-development child character is Emily Jones due to her short arc last album, when she was--for the first time since we've known her--unsure about what she wanted to do. The others used to be pretty undefined, but it seems that they're coming into their own.

To me, Matthew used to be a lot like Mandy or Lucy--a child character who appeared frequently in a variety of roles. The difference was that if you replaced Mandy or Lucy with Liz, Alex, Trent, Marvin, Jack, Curt, Jimmy, or Oscar, the role would play out very differently. If you replaced Matthew with an equally intelligent character (aside from Emily), would the story really have been different? Perhaps, but not by such a margin. Same goes for his siblings. A character and their use in a story should not be defined by their abilities, but by who they are as people. Fortunately, however, Matthew's character is becoming much better defined--his personality is finally starting to show itself, at least to me, as being unique from those around him.

Olivia, Priscilla, Camilla, and Barrett are also beginning to come into their own as characters. They're becoming more defined by actual personalities instead of a series of likes and dislikes and hobbies. Would I prefer it if we had a wider range of child characters with a varying age range, or perhaps multiple consecutive episodes with no mention of child characters, or including only one whose name was not Matthew Parker? Perhaps. But the characters are on a good track now. I just hope Emily gets a slice or two of humble pie in the coming seasons.

Also: where is Life Expectancy Part II? :x
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"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" "So he can sneak up on people. Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking..."
"And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."
"It unscrews the other way."
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Post by JesusFreak777 »

The Kings Daughter wrote:Uncle Max. Really? o.o And it's weird for Agent Polehouse to play Max (or was it someone else? I thought it sounded like him). xD And the circus people are very forgiving for a saboteur. But it's a kids show:) 2/5
It wasn't Polehaus, it was Dirk Beggs. :) er - at least his voice was in there too - maybe as Pockets? I didn't get Polehause as Max...
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Post by Wakko »

The plot felt very predictable and the moral just didn't go with the rest of the show.
1.5/5 Stars.
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