The Forbidden Episodes

[Petrichor]

I've been listening to a lot of AIO over the past few weeks, but this morning I caught myself skipping over certain episodes out of habit because... I wasn't allowed to listen to them? There may be others that I'm forgetting, but the main episodes I remember being required to skip are Castles & Cauldrons and The Twilife Zone (the weird one with the chicken). I realized that as a mature adult, I now have the freedom to listen to any AIO episodes I want, but I still haven't listened to these--mostly because I don't have any nostalgia associated with them, but also because they really don't look that great.

Does anyone else have episodes they weren't allowed to hear as kids that they still haven't gotten around to listening to?

[Monica Stone]

As a child, I was allowed to listen to every Odyssey episode. My mom grew up on the show, too, and trusted the content. Sometimes, if she knew I was planning to listen to an episode like "The Case of the Secret Room", she would warn me that the episode was creepy.

There was only one episode that completely terrified me to my core. It was "The Mysterious Stranger". After I heard it, I didn't revisit for years. I still tend to avoid it.

[Petrichor]

As a child, I was allowed to listen to every Odyssey episode. My mom grew up on the show, too, and trusted the content. Sometimes, if she knew I was planning to listen to an episode like "The Case of the Secret Room", she would warn me that the episode was creepy.

There was only one episode that completely terrified me to my core. It was "The Mysterious Stranger". After I heard it, I didn't revisit for years. I still tend to avoid it.

Looking back on it, I think the main reason my parents didn't want me listening to those episodes was more related to the poor way they handled their respective topics. Castles & Cauldrons is pretty notorious for the way it handled the D&D topic, and I'm not sure how effective the talking chicken is as a metaphor for saying no to drugs. I know it would have just gone over my head as a kid.

Yeah, The Mysterious Stranger was actually another one I thought of mentioning. My parents wouldn't let me listen to those episodes until I was 9 or 10 because they were pretty intense. I also think "Pamela Has a Problem" might have been age-restricted in my family.

Honorable mention: my mom eventually banned whatever episode is about Donna and Jimmy making Thanskgiving dinner because my siblings and I listened to it ad infinitum.

[MonkeyDude]

I don't think my parents ever restricted any Odyssey episodes, but they probably would have if they knew that there were episodes like "The Mysterious Stranger" (as listed above). But I definitely understand! I still feel very guilty when watching the scene in Narnia where they kill Aslan on the stone table.

[Catspaw]

There were never episodes that my parents didn't let me listen to, but there were episodes that I couldn't listen to much as a kid because I shared a room with my sister until I was eleven or twelve, and she both liked to go to bed a lot earlier than me and was a big fraidy-cat. One episode that I love now and consider a classic that I barely listened to when I was younger is "A Name, Not a Number" because it scared my sister.

A few of the episodes mentioned above are ones that I didn't listen to much because I did find them scary (especially listening at night, which is when I have traditionally done most of my AIO listening) but I was allowed to listen if I wanted to. "The Mysterious Stranger" is a great episode that I stil wouldn't listen to at night.

[Jonathan]

There may be others that I'm forgetting, but the main episodes I remember being required to skip are Castles & Cauldrons and The Twilife Zone (the weird one with the chicken). I realized that as a mature adult, I now have the freedom to listen to any AIO episodes I want, but I still haven't listened to these--mostly because I don't have any nostalgia associated with them, but also because they really don't look that great.

You can skip C&C. The Twilife Zone however is one of Lollar's classics. Really liked that one. It was the second episode I ever heard, which counts as a weird introduction to the show.

[Petrichor]

There were never episodes that my parents didn't let me listen to, but there were episodes that I couldn't listen to much as a kid because I shared a room with my sister until I was eleven or twelve, and she both liked to go to bed a lot earlier than me and was a big fraidy-cat. One episode that I love now and consider a classic that I barely listened to when I was younger is "A Name, Not a Number" because it scared my sister.

A few of the episodes mentioned above are ones that I didn't listen to much because I did find them scary (especially listening at night, which is when I have traditionally done most of my AIO listening) but I was allowed to listen if I wanted to. "The Mysterious Stranger" is a great episode that I stil wouldn't listen to at night.

Haha, I distinctly remember being locked out of the kitchen and inwardly raging against the injustice of it all when my older siblings listened to "The Mysterious Stranger" without me.

You can skip C&C. The Twilife Zone however is one of Lollar's classics. Really liked that one. It was the second episode I ever heard, which counts as a weird introduction to the show.

What if I don't really like any Twilife Zone episodes?