The part with Jay showing his videos of llama biting and spitting on him and then the actual video of gross roadkill and Zoe’s reaction was funny. I laughed quite a bit.
This episode features the return of Mrs. Randolf! Her last episode was “Fast As I Can” in Album 52: Cause and Effect, back in 2010. This episode features her return after a 13-year and 292-episode absence! Whew, that’s quite an absence! I am always in favor of characters returning!
And it wasn’t an unnecessary return; Mrs. Randolf plays a vital and meaningful role in this episode.I think the scene with Wayne Stanton from the Department of Transportation doing a safety inspection worked well because it gave the listeners a chance to understand specifically how Jay and Buddy built everything and what exactly was so large about the highway. I’m wondering how they got a statue of Horace McAlister there, though; they must’ve had some help from somebody.
Let’s talk about Jay Smouse. I have really been liking his interactions with Buddy in his recent episodes. Jay is a great character, one of my top favorites. For this episode, however, I was not a big fan of him. Someone on here has stated that in recent episodes Jay has become more of a comedy character who is mostly present for comic relief. I agree with this and think that this episode is a prime example. In the beginning of the episode, it is established that he was sentenced to 50 hours of community service by a judge. My reaction was, “wait, really? What happened?” However, soon after this was established, Jay goes into a silly explanation of how he thought a concert would count as community service. Those lines were there partially to give him a motive to help, but I feel like they were mostly there to set up a comedic moment. I think that there’s a story that could be told. Jay is a great character for comedy, I agree. However, I think that there is a deeper depth of Jay that the AIO Team can explore. He has a good side which is in conflict with him wanting to maintain his “reputation”, as has been displayed in episodes such as “Thirty Jays Hath September”, “Mistaken for Good”, and “Groundhog Jay” to name a few. Don’t get me wrong, Jay’s funny side is great to listen to, but I would like to see his character explored on a more deeper level.
The plot of Zoe adopting a highway and maintaining it to bring light back into the community after the storm was good. She was trying to bring the community back together. As Whit said, her intentions were good. But as the project got larger, her original purpose got lost. It resulted in controversy rather than building community. Zoe comes to the realization that perhaps she does not need to be trying to light the whole world at once. Whit says, “There are times when being a bright light for one person is better than being a dim light for a crowd of people.” Zoe realizes this and decides to reach out to one person who she knows she can be a light to: Mrs. Randolph, to whom restoring the highway had a special meaning because it was a memory of her late husband. By stepping back, Zoe was able to have a positive impact on Mrs. Randolf.
Overall, I think this episode was fine. A fun story, great return of Mrs. Randolph, and a good lesson. There are things that I think could have been better, but overall, I think Marshal Younger did a good job with this episode!
I’ll probably listen to it some more times in the future.