OAC Episode Discussion

Your membership into the Adventures in Odyssey Club grants you a special key! Here is the place to discuss all of the club exclusive episodes.
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MonkeyDude
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Swept Away was actually really good! It was definitely album worthy. (Which can sadly not be said about most the Oac episodes)

On a completely unrelated note, I think they should have pulled a Jimmy and not have changed Matthew's voice. He sounds like Diego.
*Finger guns aggressively*
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Kungfunaomi
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Well then I probably would have a crush on him if he had a deep voice and I am not prepared to like Matthew. :anxious: But yeah at some point they have to stop finding new actors for him.

-- Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:32 pm --

Yikes they are putting a boatload of new info on Facebook that I am reposting on my site...


Spoiler:
A new Drake episode for 2018, with Carol Mansell and Cristina Pucelli, along with a new nerd intern guy under Eugene named Horus for "Failing to the Finish Line"
I'm telling you, guys, they are experimenting with replacements for Eugene because they are being smart and trying to figure it out before Will Ryan passes away and leaves them in the lurch. First Renee, now Horus. :( It's sad but they are being smart about it at least.
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Kungfuniamo, I'd be really interested for you to explain more about your beliefs on miracles, testimonies, and more. I never heard Sola Scriptura taken to such an extreme but nothing surprises me anymore in protestantism. Almost all Protestant Christans I know and heard of are firm believers in the Testimony™, so I wouldn't call it extremely controversial, more like your beliefs are on the fringe side of Christianity, at least to Focus.

The Legend of Sperry McGurk was surprisingly interesting. The title is dumb, but I liked the episode. It was predictable, but enjoyable nontheless. I thought (forgot her name, Scottish Intern) was taking an imagination station adventure, but apparently she was just programming one. Since they still do that now? IDK, the IS is always confusing so I won't even bother trying to understand. =p Good episode for once, I just wonder if there was a real person like this in the CW or not.
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GJFH
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The day Will Ryan dies I know I'll be a sobbing wreck. Yes, he's been absent before, though it was expected he would return.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us - Romans 8:18

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Kungfunaomi wrote:I think that Odyssey just ought to stick to the topics we all agree on. :mad: It's like, why do I feel like I have to argue with Odyssey? That has happened on rare occasion, because usually they have something fundamental that we all can agree on.
I disagree. AIO is meant to be a teaching tool as much as it is entertainment. It's supposed to present the teachings of Scripture in an entertaining way, and because it's produced by humans rather than by the Almighty God, they're not always going to get it right, and even if they think they're right, they may do something that you disagree with. Get a room full of Christians together, even if they're all from the exact same sect from the exact same culture, and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting two people who disagree fundamentally on something.

That, and Odyssey historically hasn't stuck to the topics we all agree on—partially because they've tackled controversial topics before, partially because, well, Christians aren't a hive mind and we all disagree on things. Take "Castles and Cauldrons", a poor representation of RPGs and how D&D leads you to LARPing which leads you to the occult, because shut up we're not indulging in moral panic or anything. Or "The Living Nativity", which treats a request for the nativity scene to be removed from the front of a government building as oppression and persecution—even though the nativity was allowed to be constructed elsewhere—because we love American values but only when they cater to us, when the fact is that according to the Establishment Clause, that actually is a Constitutional violation, even if Bart did have ulterior motives for complaining. Or "The Graduate", in which Chris's wrap-up states that Connie did in fact have the legal right to pray, when according to the Establishment Clause and Supreme Court case law, she actually doesn't. Or everything about the way "The Ties That Bind" addressed LGBT issues.

And I think that this is a good thing. FotF isn't perfect, and shouldn't be held up as such. Programs like AIO should be used by parents not to give their children the perfect interpretation of Scripture, but rather as a teaching tool to engage with and ask questions about, as well as to entertain their kids with something they can largely trust will be both clean and respectful of their kids' intelligence. And if there is disagreement, it can be discussed and learned about in a nuanced way. There's an entire thread on here dedicated to the disagreements we've had with some of the episodes, so it's not exactly unusual.
Isaiah the Ox wrote:Kungfuniamo, I'd be really interested for you to explain more about your beliefs on miracles, testimonies, and more. I never heard Sola Scriptura taken to such an extreme but nothing surprises me anymore in protestantism. Almost all Protestant Christans I know and heard of are firm believers in the Testimony™, so I wouldn't call it extremely controversial, more like your beliefs are on the fringe side of Christianity, at least to Focus.
I mean, the debate on cessationism vs. continuationism has been a sticking point among Christians for a long time. Naomi, I don't know what your beliefs are on the topic, but I'm prone to cessationism myself, meaning that I don't believe that the spiritual gift of humans to heal and prophesy and perform other miracles continued manifesting after the Apostolic Age. I assume that is what you are referring to?

I assume the trademark on the word "testimony" refers less to your beliefs about the importance of a personal story and more to your annoyance at the disproportionate emphasis on one's story, which I kind of agree with. But I wouldn't call Naomi's viewpoint "fringe", mostly because by and large there isn't one monolithic viewpoint about a lot of things like this among Christians. To me, Naomi's perspective seems pretty normal, based on my experiences as one of those crazy Protestants who believes in the solas.
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Renee came back for this month's episode! I thought her role in this one was a massive improvement over the other episode(s?) that had her as a main character. Spoilers.
Her trauma with the horse made sense. For the character, anyway. No farms with horses, much less horse trainers, would let anyone with a motorcycle anywhere near them; most people with horses are very funny about everything. How on EARTH anyone got a motorcycle that close to the horses is just confusing, but that's nitpicking. It was really believable for her character, so I don't mind too much. I like how Becky came back. That was nice.

Despite all this praise, though, I didn't think this episode was kind of lackluster. Nothing horribly bad, but nothing terribly good. I thought Whit felt a little weird in this episode. He didn't sound like himself, and I didn't feel too invested in his B-plot with that kid. Like I said, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great.
What did everyone else think? I can be overly negative about this kind of thing so I'm sure people would like to hear a more positive opinion about it. ^^;
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TigerShadow wrote:
Kungfunaomi wrote:I think that Odyssey just ought to stick to the topics we all agree on. :mad: It's like, why do I feel like I have to argue with Odyssey? That has happened on rare occasion, because usually they have something fundamental that we all can agree on.
Isaiah the Ox wrote:Kungfuniamo, I'd be really interested for you to explain more about your beliefs on miracles, testimonies, and more. I never heard Sola Scriptura taken to such an extreme but nothing surprises me anymore in protestantism. Almost all Protestant Christans I know and heard of are firm believers in the Testimony™, so I wouldn't call it extremely controversial, more like your beliefs are on the fringe side of Christianity, at least to Focus.
I mean, the debate on cessationism vs. continuationism has been a sticking point among Christians for a long time. Naomi, I don't know what your beliefs are on the topic, but I'm prone to cessationism myself, meaning that I don't believe that the spiritual gift of humans to heal and prophesy and perform other miracles continued manifesting after the Apostolic Age. I assume that is what you are referring to?

I assume the trademark on the word "testimony" refers less to your beliefs about the importance of a personal story and more to your annoyance at the disproportionate emphasis on one's story, which I kind of agree with.
Exactly. (And let me be clear right here that I try to make it a point not to do internet debates with people because I am not very comfortable with it). So here is what I will say. I meant when saying "Topics we all agree on" I meant relating specifically to Cessationism vs. Continuationism because of the fact that we can't agree. And pushing one or the other is showing obvious bias. Other topics- such as homosexuals in the Ties That Bind- are found in Scripture, black and white, so they have a definite scriptural basis for making these episodes, and like it or not, scripture condemns homosexuality. So that's fine. And I'm not about to make the case for cessationism, but I believe that the gifts of prophecy and tongues ceased with the Apostles, and that the Apostles are no longer with us. People like my pastor have said that the case for cessationism is not as strong as we'd like it to be, and that's fine. I'm not making the case for or against it right now, but I am not comfortable with the continuationism doctrine being pushed, because there may be other things that I can't agree with based on Scripture down the road.
Testimony. Yes, testimonies are important, but in a much different way than A Perfect Testimony seems to want to bring to the table. The testimony of a Christian is meant to prove that the person giving the testimony is a Christian. Our church asks for your testimony before you are baptized or become a member to prove that you are in fact a Christian. But, the episode seems to want to make it so that your testimony convinces someone to become a Christian, which I don't believe, based on Scripture saying that God is the one who opens eyes and begins the saving process. At the church we left (because of doctrinal issues), they had a class where one could learn how to present their testimony in a compelling way to convince a person to become a Christian. I got the impression that this is the view the episode holds.

So, I'm being careful to try not to engage in an argument.
Autumnal wrote:Renee came back for this month's episode! I thought her role in this one was a massive improvement over the other episode(s?) that had her as a main character. Spoilers.
Her trauma with the horse made sense. For the character, anyway. No farms with horses, much less horse trainers, would let anyone with a motorcycle anywhere near them; most people with horses are very funny about everything. How on EARTH anyone got a motorcycle that close to the horses is just confusing, but that's nitpicking. It was really believable for her character, so I don't mind too much. I like how Becky came back. That was nice.

Despite all this praise, though, I didn't think this episode was kind of lackluster. Nothing horribly bad, but nothing terribly good. I thought Whit felt a little weird in this episode. He didn't sound like himself, and I didn't feel too invested in his B-plot with that kid. Like I said, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great.
What did everyone else think? I can be overly negative about this kind of thing so I'm sure people would like to hear a more positive opinion about it. ^^;
I personally have never been a horse person so I'm happy for the people who love horses. I don't hate horses, but I'm not a horse girl in a sense. Horses, cowboys, cows, sheep. Just part of the "farm" idea for me. However having the episode and documentary mention my hometown was the weirdest thing. I wish I still lived there when they aired the episode. Oh, well.
The Whit part of the episode was the part that really killed it for me. I was just like... I can't believe this. I was fine with him hitting the target and being able to do that, because that's "cool" Whit, but he was making bets with the kid, and that just felt like gangster Whit. It went too far.
Renee's horse drama was a little too overdramatic for me. Now that I think about it though, I used the analogy in my Odysseynerds review of when I got bit in the face by a pit bull, and I wasn't scared of dogs after that, but I was scared of bees after I got stung once. I forgot to mention that. So I guess Renee's fear is pretty plausible.
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I bet a perfect testimony was an April Fool's joke, it was released on April 1st after all!
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Oh pshaw! The albums are released on the first of every month, not just April.
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Agent.MontyWhittaker wrote:I bet a perfect testimony was an April Fool's joke, it was released on April 1st after all!
Jo March wrote:Oh pshaw! The albums are released on the first of every month, not just April.
That would have been fun though if they had made another April Fool's episode. I Slap Floor 2.0. Though I wouldn't want it to be just an AIOC exclusive episode if they did.
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YASSSS!!!! I TOTALLY AGREE!!!!!
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Okay, what does everyone think about this three-parter coming out soon? They seem to be making a pretty big deal about it.
"Let me get this straight. I bet all those non-friends of yours try to embarrass you about your love for that stuff, right? So, you almost feel like you have to hide your treasures away and can only take them out in secret on rainy days when your mom goes to the store to get more liver and nobody is around to berate your sensitive spirit. Is that what you’re saying?" -Jay Smouse
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Kungfunaomi wrote:
Agent.MontyWhittaker wrote:I bet a perfect testimony was an April Fool's joke, it was released on April 1st after all!
Jo March wrote:Oh pshaw! The albums are released on the first of every month, not just April.
That would have been fun though if they had made another April Fool's episode. I Slap Floor 2.0. Though I wouldn't want it to be just an AIOC exclusive episode if they did.
Ha that took me a bit to find the joke out in that episode! It was sooo funny it would be awesome if they did another
PennyBassett wrote:Okay, what does everyone think about this three-parter coming out soon? They seem to be making a pretty big deal about it.
um what 3 parter I kinda forgot.
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Katie10 wrote: um what 3 parter I kinda forgot.
There and Back Again, when Jason and Whit fly down to New Zealand to help a young woman in need. :) The whole New Zealand thing...did seem slightly weird to me at first. But they are Whittakers, they're sort of known for globe trotting, and this is the OAC. One of it's main purposes is to allow their characters to leave Odyssey, and any comfort zone behind. Even though New Zealand is a third world country, I don't think of it as being one enough.
Needless to say, I'm excited with the premise.


Penny, what big deal have you heard? I haven't been able to read too much about the three parter.
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I haven't heard anything about it.
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https://odysseynerds.wordpress.com/2017 ... ack-again/ I'm not super passionate about this episode either way. Like I say in the review, it's a scrapbook look at New Zealand, which makes the episode way more interesting. If it was set in Odyssey I wouldn't like this episode. Still time to develop this into a memorable three-parter, just needs some exciting stuff to happen in part 2. I'm not passing judgement too soon yet. Well, at least I think I'm not. :mrgreen:
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Honestly, I think my favourite part of this episode is Jay. And I like Wilson. And ya know, Jason. Whit needs to just die already, but he's fine. Um, yeah, New Zealand. I don't know much about that part of the world, so it was interesting. And yeah, it just feels like we're being taken along on the Whittaker-Knox (EPIC) adventure vacation thing. I think it's good because we get to know Wilson more. And Jay. Jay's there too. I love Jay. I also realized that Jay's probably like sixteen by now. (weird) If he can get those kinds of jobs. And it does make sense if he's Barrett's age. And Buck is Barrett's age. And Buck is sixteen...

Oh. And as far as them making a big deal out of it. Idk, they just had that video commercial thing, and in Clubhouse they called it a "special adventure." It's probably because Jay's coming back, but idk could be something more...
"Let me get this straight. I bet all those non-friends of yours try to embarrass you about your love for that stuff, right? So, you almost feel like you have to hide your treasures away and can only take them out in secret on rainy days when your mom goes to the store to get more liver and nobody is around to berate your sensitive spirit. Is that what you’re saying?" -Jay Smouse
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PennyBassett wrote:Oh. And as far as them making a big deal out of it. Idk, they just had that video commercial thing, and in Clubhouse they called it a "special adventure." It's probably because Jay's coming back, but idk could be something more...
It might have to do with what "Tarori" means (if that's how it's spelled). I looked it up and it appears that it means "to pass away quickly, disappear, vanish."
It's probably connected to what happened with "Megan" at the end of the episode.
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I just heard "Out of The Picture" last night because I'm behind, and only really listen to newer episodes when I remember.
There was a lot of interesting moments in this episode, and I'm still thinking it through.
Although, one thing in particular I wish they had done differently, was split the two plots into two episodes. The story of Buck's biological family, of where he came from, is too heavy and obviously needs to be handled carefully. Eugene's own resolve in helping him showed some serious love, and I'm glad the Melstners didn't try to deter Buck. And of course, Eugene was a foster kid himself, so it was more personal. Also, unrelated to that, I don't really think Jules belongs on his family tree.

I expected Wooton's half to end up differently, and I loved hearing how Bradford wanted so much for his friend to live in Odyssey, the explanation felt a little rushed, because it wasn't an episode by it's own. Wooton is one of the best characters on the show, and we know he didn't have a good childhood.
I'm not sure where else to go with this...what did you guys think?
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You should all get aioclub. it is great! :D
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