Episode Description:
"Olivia and Renee Carter face creative and personal challenges as they bring history to life." -AIO
Episode Review:
For many fans of the Star Wars universe, “Solo: a Star Wars Story” was wholly unnecessary. This was partially because it took away some of the mystery behind one of the franchises most beloved characters, a character whose anonymity was a large part of his charm. Many preferred filling in his backstory on their own – allowing his first appearance in the cantina as the lone cowboy, of sorts, to define who he is. Good storytelling, after all, isn’t so much what is added to the story, but what is left out – what’s allowed to be filled by the audience’s imagination. But for writers it’s so hard to resist eventually pulling back the curtain and revealing things.
In Adventures in Odyssey, mysteries left up the listeners’ imagination abound. Many of them have – we assume – gone purposefully unexplored. One “mystery”, for instance, is exactly how big Whit’s End is. Paul McCusker always envisioned it like Snoopy’s doghouse – “you almost never really knew what was in there and how far it went.” Another “mystery” involves the rather vague details of Universal Press Foundation – how it seems to provide an endless cash flow for Whit to maintain Whit’s End, travel the world, invent whatever he pleases, and throw money away into a trust Fund that Connie hardly seems to appreciate. And, of course, one of the greatest mysteries involves how the Imagination Station works – an invention whose technology has stumped geniuses like Barry Muntz, and a machine whose secret, up to this point, has been known only by Whit and, depending on the script, Eugene.
After thirty years, Adventures in Odyssey finally decides to give us a glimpse behind the scenes of what goes into programming the Imagination Station, instead of simply hearing Whit’s usual clickety-clack of computer keys and telling the user “hop on in!”. “Always Do Your Best-Ish” reveals more about the impressiveness of Whit – how, with every program, he molds every single character like a caring potter, giving each of them a personal backstory and likes-and-dislikes. The more we hear about Renee’s own inability to program the machine, the more impressed Whit becomes as we learn to what depths he carefully manages his craft. In “Rewinding the Big Picture” and “For Three Dollars More”, it’s implied that anyone can program The Room of Consequence, but it’s nice to be reminded that, at least when it comes to The Imagination Station, Whit’s ingenuity is unmatched. As you can see, in some cases, exploring and revealing mysteries can sometimes add to the show, rather than detract from it.
The scenes involving Renee’s struggle to program the Imagination Station are certainly the most interesting, while the scenes between Olivia, Zoe, and Valerie were slightly less strong. When together, their three voices sounded so remarkably similar to one another that I had trouble following their dialogue. It often took me a few words into each sentence and context clues to know who was talking. While Olivia, Zoe, and Valerie certainly sound distinct apart from one another, the show may wish to limit their interactions in the future.
I also didn’t know how I felt about the fact that the real-life story depicted with tremendous seriousness in “One More Name” was used as a backdrop for Olivia’s silly problem. As much as I enjoyed the fact that the episode unexpectedly continues two stories – adding a sense of continuity and bridging standalone episodes – it’s too bad that the two backdrops weren’t somehow reversed: that Olivia was writing a more fictitious play while Renee was programming a less fictitious story. As enjoyable as it is, Renee’s desire to create an Imagination Station adventure about Sperry McGerk doesn’t quite make sense. The Imagination Station, historically, has only been used to learn about real-life history (or, in some cases, for Dr. Blackgaard to control people’s minds). So why is Renee programming an imagination station program about a fictional character – especially since most of that particular story’s charm was in its creative telling?
Because of the confusing scenes featuring Olivia/Zoe/Valerie, and the show’s questionable use of history, “Always Do Your Best-Ish” isn’t as good as it could have been. That said, there’s certainly enough to like here. Due to its fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Imagination Station, which resulted in some terrifically creative and captivating sound design, it certainly wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to call this one good-ish.
"Olivia and Renee Carter face creative and personal challenges as they bring history to life." -AIO
Episode Review:
For many fans of the Star Wars universe, “Solo: a Star Wars Story” was wholly unnecessary. This was partially because it took away some of the mystery behind one of the franchises most beloved characters, a character whose anonymity was a large part of his charm. Many preferred filling in his backstory on their own – allowing his first appearance in the cantina as the lone cowboy, of sorts, to define who he is. Good storytelling, after all, isn’t so much what is added to the story, but what is left out – what’s allowed to be filled by the audience’s imagination. But for writers it’s so hard to resist eventually pulling back the curtain and revealing things.
In Adventures in Odyssey, mysteries left up the listeners’ imagination abound. Many of them have – we assume – gone purposefully unexplored. One “mystery”, for instance, is exactly how big Whit’s End is. Paul McCusker always envisioned it like Snoopy’s doghouse – “you almost never really knew what was in there and how far it went.” Another “mystery” involves the rather vague details of Universal Press Foundation – how it seems to provide an endless cash flow for Whit to maintain Whit’s End, travel the world, invent whatever he pleases, and throw money away into a trust Fund that Connie hardly seems to appreciate. And, of course, one of the greatest mysteries involves how the Imagination Station works – an invention whose technology has stumped geniuses like Barry Muntz, and a machine whose secret, up to this point, has been known only by Whit and, depending on the script, Eugene.
After thirty years, Adventures in Odyssey finally decides to give us a glimpse behind the scenes of what goes into programming the Imagination Station, instead of simply hearing Whit’s usual clickety-clack of computer keys and telling the user “hop on in!”. “Always Do Your Best-Ish” reveals more about the impressiveness of Whit – how, with every program, he molds every single character like a caring potter, giving each of them a personal backstory and likes-and-dislikes. The more we hear about Renee’s own inability to program the machine, the more impressed Whit becomes as we learn to what depths he carefully manages his craft. In “Rewinding the Big Picture” and “For Three Dollars More”, it’s implied that anyone can program The Room of Consequence, but it’s nice to be reminded that, at least when it comes to The Imagination Station, Whit’s ingenuity is unmatched. As you can see, in some cases, exploring and revealing mysteries can sometimes add to the show, rather than detract from it.
The scenes involving Renee’s struggle to program the Imagination Station are certainly the most interesting, while the scenes between Olivia, Zoe, and Valerie were slightly less strong. When together, their three voices sounded so remarkably similar to one another that I had trouble following their dialogue. It often took me a few words into each sentence and context clues to know who was talking. While Olivia, Zoe, and Valerie certainly sound distinct apart from one another, the show may wish to limit their interactions in the future.
I also didn’t know how I felt about the fact that the real-life story depicted with tremendous seriousness in “One More Name” was used as a backdrop for Olivia’s silly problem. As much as I enjoyed the fact that the episode unexpectedly continues two stories – adding a sense of continuity and bridging standalone episodes – it’s too bad that the two backdrops weren’t somehow reversed: that Olivia was writing a more fictitious play while Renee was programming a less fictitious story. As enjoyable as it is, Renee’s desire to create an Imagination Station adventure about Sperry McGerk doesn’t quite make sense. The Imagination Station, historically, has only been used to learn about real-life history (or, in some cases, for Dr. Blackgaard to control people’s minds). So why is Renee programming an imagination station program about a fictional character – especially since most of that particular story’s charm was in its creative telling?
Because of the confusing scenes featuring Olivia/Zoe/Valerie, and the show’s questionable use of history, “Always Do Your Best-Ish” isn’t as good as it could have been. That said, there’s certainly enough to like here. Due to its fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Imagination Station, which resulted in some terrifically creative and captivating sound design, it certainly wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to call this one good-ish.
Writer: Sam Suksiri Director: Nathan Hoobler Producer: Dave Arnold Sound Designer: Jonathan Crowe Music: John Campell Verse: Colossians 3: 23 Theme: Diligence Original Air-date: 06/01/18 Review Published: 07/01/18 |
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