Episode Description:
"An attempt to reach out to troubled kids and abused horses creates unexpected challenges for Whit and Renee." - AIO
Episode Review:
Back in 1987, during a test-run series called “Family Portraits”, an episode aired called “The New Kid in Town.” In it, John Avery Whittaker meets a new family whose daughter, named Shawn, is having trouble making friends at school. Later in the episode, Whit decides to “accidentally” bump into her on her way home from school with the purpose of beginning a conversation and, ultimately, boost her self-confidence. At the start of their conversation, Whit asks her if she knows the directions to a place named Whit’s End, and she proceeds to show him the way. And, throughout their journey, Whit pretends that he doesn’t know where Whit’s End is.
To modern day listeners, this depiction of Whit seems strange. Is Whit being dishonest? Perhaps. But it is in this episode that we are first introduced to an often-forgotten quality of Whit’s character: he’s a trickster. It’s a character trait that’s been largely abandoned as writers have entered and exited the show. Most of the time, new writers will plant him behind a counter as a sort of deus ex machina, quoting a bible verse that makes the kid instantly see the error of his ways. Easy Peezy. We forget that he’s once gone to some absurdly creative and deceptive means to reach people’s hearts. Remember “Emotional Baggage” when Whit tricks Connie into lugging around a load of bricks to prove a point about grudges?
I bring all of this up to highlight one particularly wonderful, instantly-classic scene in “Angels in Horsehair”. It occurs moments after Whit and Renee Carter arrive at the Becky Clemmons (previously Tom Riley) farm. Whit spots a kid named Aldo chopping down a tree with a hatchet and encourages him to go join the rest of the kids watching horses. Aldo refuses to, so Whit challenges him to try and hit a target. Aldo agrees, but misses the target. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he challenges Whit to try, but Whit – to the listener’s disappointment – misses as well. However, we soon discover that Whit missed the target intentionally, in order to trick Aldo into making a wager: “…well, if I don’t stick it this time,” he tells Aldo with a hint a mischievousness, “…then you can chop on this tree to your hearts content […] but if I do stick it then you don’t chop on this tree or any other one”.
It’s a scene that builds wonderfully, and by the end, Whit succeeds in getting Aldo to do chores around the farm. I thought it was amazing to hear Mr. Whittaker taunt him, call him “chicken” in a good natured-way. Not only that, it’s great to find a new bit of information about Whit: he can throw an axe at a target without even looking. The wonderfully fresh John Campbell score truly accentuates the playfulness of the moment.
The rest of the episode isn’t quite as engaging as this particular scene, but I enjoyed its overall tone and pacing; it reminded of a much older Adventures in Odyssey episode like the aforementioned “The New Kid in Town”. These old episodes didn’t contain much plot-wise, but they featured lengthy scenes with Whit connecting to people through meaningful conversation and helping them as though their internal problems are a sort of jigsaw puzzle needing to be solved: “I want to believe that there’s some way to reach him…but I don’t know how”, Whit says in today’s episode, referring to Aldo. Providing that these sorts of episodes don’t get boring – which, I admit, “Angels in Horsehair” might have lost my attention for a second or two – there’s certainly a place for more episodes with this kind of style and pacing.
Putting aside the question of whether the episode is engaging, we can’t deny it takes an unusual approach in communicating its main theme. At the beginning of the episode, the show seems to use horses to explain the heavy subject of physical abuse – a topic that the program has, until now, stayed away from. Just as Phoebe the horse was mistreated by its master, so Aldo was mistreated by his father. And because Aldo was physically abused, he grew up believing that he wasn’t worth being loved. Halfway through the episode, after receiving a kind nuzzle from a horse name Hanson, Aldo is reminded that it’s possible to be loved no matter who he is – teaching both himself and listeners about God’s unconditional love. This moment is a powerful one.
However, the episode continues after this message is clearly communicated, and I realized that it had more to say. No, this episode’s intention was not simply to teach about God’s unconditional love. It was pulling an “inception” on us – it was a theme within a theme. The story of Aldo and his need for unconditional love only served to illustrate the grander message of the episode: nature points to God. Just as Aldo learned about God’s character through how the horse interacted with him, so can we learn about God through observing and interacting with His creation.
Chris illustrates the message quite beautifully in her wrap-up: “From the mountains, to the skies, to animals like horses surrounds us and reminds us of his power, his majesty, and his love. The goodness of creation reflects the goodness of its maker: God. And it reminds us that we too are a good creation of God and worthy to be loved because God first loved us.” It’s a refreshing theme emphasizing the value of God’s creation, and for Adventures in Odyssey, it’s also an unusual one; the show hasn’t spent much time focusing on the value of creation since the environmentalism episode, “One Bad Apple”.
On a separate note, as great as it was to hear about Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch and its ministry, I almost wished the episode had downplayed its promotional angle and spent time committing to have this Youth Ranch become a permanent feature of Becky Clemmons/Tom Riley farm. It makes far more sense for Tom’s farm to change permanently into this sort of venue instead of what it seems to become in the polarizing “Legacy 1+2”, the living quarters for the Westcott singers. But, from my understanding, the setting of today’s episode was only temporary, which is unfortunate since the show is already perfectly installed with two animal connoisseurs, Becky and Renee, to head up this ministry. This setting certainly had potential for more interesting stories.
By the time I wrote this review, I could not decide whether “Angels in Horsehair” was trying to say too much within its simple story; with so many different biblical takeaways, did I consider the episode thematically convoluted or rich? It’s a debate certainly worth having. To some, this episode overturns the notion that Adventures in Odyssey episodes needs to have a clearly defined, singular message from beginning to end. But, regardless, at the end of the day, I think “Angels in Horsehair” succeeds mainly because of its gentle pacing, a terrific hatchet throwing scene, and Chris’s beautiful final reminder to turn our gaze towards creation.
"An attempt to reach out to troubled kids and abused horses creates unexpected challenges for Whit and Renee." - AIO
Episode Review:
Back in 1987, during a test-run series called “Family Portraits”, an episode aired called “The New Kid in Town.” In it, John Avery Whittaker meets a new family whose daughter, named Shawn, is having trouble making friends at school. Later in the episode, Whit decides to “accidentally” bump into her on her way home from school with the purpose of beginning a conversation and, ultimately, boost her self-confidence. At the start of their conversation, Whit asks her if she knows the directions to a place named Whit’s End, and she proceeds to show him the way. And, throughout their journey, Whit pretends that he doesn’t know where Whit’s End is.
To modern day listeners, this depiction of Whit seems strange. Is Whit being dishonest? Perhaps. But it is in this episode that we are first introduced to an often-forgotten quality of Whit’s character: he’s a trickster. It’s a character trait that’s been largely abandoned as writers have entered and exited the show. Most of the time, new writers will plant him behind a counter as a sort of deus ex machina, quoting a bible verse that makes the kid instantly see the error of his ways. Easy Peezy. We forget that he’s once gone to some absurdly creative and deceptive means to reach people’s hearts. Remember “Emotional Baggage” when Whit tricks Connie into lugging around a load of bricks to prove a point about grudges?
I bring all of this up to highlight one particularly wonderful, instantly-classic scene in “Angels in Horsehair”. It occurs moments after Whit and Renee Carter arrive at the Becky Clemmons (previously Tom Riley) farm. Whit spots a kid named Aldo chopping down a tree with a hatchet and encourages him to go join the rest of the kids watching horses. Aldo refuses to, so Whit challenges him to try and hit a target. Aldo agrees, but misses the target. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he challenges Whit to try, but Whit – to the listener’s disappointment – misses as well. However, we soon discover that Whit missed the target intentionally, in order to trick Aldo into making a wager: “…well, if I don’t stick it this time,” he tells Aldo with a hint a mischievousness, “…then you can chop on this tree to your hearts content […] but if I do stick it then you don’t chop on this tree or any other one”.
It’s a scene that builds wonderfully, and by the end, Whit succeeds in getting Aldo to do chores around the farm. I thought it was amazing to hear Mr. Whittaker taunt him, call him “chicken” in a good natured-way. Not only that, it’s great to find a new bit of information about Whit: he can throw an axe at a target without even looking. The wonderfully fresh John Campbell score truly accentuates the playfulness of the moment.
The rest of the episode isn’t quite as engaging as this particular scene, but I enjoyed its overall tone and pacing; it reminded of a much older Adventures in Odyssey episode like the aforementioned “The New Kid in Town”. These old episodes didn’t contain much plot-wise, but they featured lengthy scenes with Whit connecting to people through meaningful conversation and helping them as though their internal problems are a sort of jigsaw puzzle needing to be solved: “I want to believe that there’s some way to reach him…but I don’t know how”, Whit says in today’s episode, referring to Aldo. Providing that these sorts of episodes don’t get boring – which, I admit, “Angels in Horsehair” might have lost my attention for a second or two – there’s certainly a place for more episodes with this kind of style and pacing.
Putting aside the question of whether the episode is engaging, we can’t deny it takes an unusual approach in communicating its main theme. At the beginning of the episode, the show seems to use horses to explain the heavy subject of physical abuse – a topic that the program has, until now, stayed away from. Just as Phoebe the horse was mistreated by its master, so Aldo was mistreated by his father. And because Aldo was physically abused, he grew up believing that he wasn’t worth being loved. Halfway through the episode, after receiving a kind nuzzle from a horse name Hanson, Aldo is reminded that it’s possible to be loved no matter who he is – teaching both himself and listeners about God’s unconditional love. This moment is a powerful one.
However, the episode continues after this message is clearly communicated, and I realized that it had more to say. No, this episode’s intention was not simply to teach about God’s unconditional love. It was pulling an “inception” on us – it was a theme within a theme. The story of Aldo and his need for unconditional love only served to illustrate the grander message of the episode: nature points to God. Just as Aldo learned about God’s character through how the horse interacted with him, so can we learn about God through observing and interacting with His creation.
Chris illustrates the message quite beautifully in her wrap-up: “From the mountains, to the skies, to animals like horses surrounds us and reminds us of his power, his majesty, and his love. The goodness of creation reflects the goodness of its maker: God. And it reminds us that we too are a good creation of God and worthy to be loved because God first loved us.” It’s a refreshing theme emphasizing the value of God’s creation, and for Adventures in Odyssey, it’s also an unusual one; the show hasn’t spent much time focusing on the value of creation since the environmentalism episode, “One Bad Apple”.
On a separate note, as great as it was to hear about Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch and its ministry, I almost wished the episode had downplayed its promotional angle and spent time committing to have this Youth Ranch become a permanent feature of Becky Clemmons/Tom Riley farm. It makes far more sense for Tom’s farm to change permanently into this sort of venue instead of what it seems to become in the polarizing “Legacy 1+2”, the living quarters for the Westcott singers. But, from my understanding, the setting of today’s episode was only temporary, which is unfortunate since the show is already perfectly installed with two animal connoisseurs, Becky and Renee, to head up this ministry. This setting certainly had potential for more interesting stories.
By the time I wrote this review, I could not decide whether “Angels in Horsehair” was trying to say too much within its simple story; with so many different biblical takeaways, did I consider the episode thematically convoluted or rich? It’s a debate certainly worth having. To some, this episode overturns the notion that Adventures in Odyssey episodes needs to have a clearly defined, singular message from beginning to end. But, regardless, at the end of the day, I think “Angels in Horsehair” succeeds mainly because of its gentle pacing, a terrific hatchet throwing scene, and Chris’s beautiful final reminder to turn our gaze towards creation.
Writer: Phil Lollar
Director: Phil Lollar
Sound Designer: Nathan Jones
Music: John Campbell
Theme: Unconditional Love (or Value of Creation)
Original Air-date: 09/01/17