Episode Description:
"Jason and Wilson tell Zoe the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the author of a famous Christmas carol. It’s a story filled with joy, tragedy, and ultimately truth about God’s role in difficult circumstances." -AIO
Episode Review:
Like many of you, I spent a considerable amount of time this Christmas listening to Adventures in Odyssey. My playlist included classic episodes like “Peace On Earth”, “Back to Bethlehem” and “Unto Us a Child is Born”, but, admittedly, didn’t include more recent episodes such as “All By Myself”, “Grandma’s Christmas Visit” or “Untech the Halls. Judging by the number of listening parties that also featured almost exclusively older episodes, I assume this may have been the case for other fans as well. I wonder: could the reason why we keep returning to old classics be the same reason we return to old movies like “Miracle on 34th Street” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” -- they give us that feeling of nostalgia that we so heavily crave during the holiday season? Or is the reason we don’t seek out those newer AIO Christmas episodes during the holiday season because...well...they just aren’t as good?
When I speak to fans who listened to AIO decades ago, they always cite Christmas episodes as being the best. Christmas episodes, for a while, were never not good. But in recent years, it seems as if the show hasn’t felt as committed to crafting Christmas stories dedicated to capturing that magical feeling of the holiday, but rather, use the holiday as a backdrop for a story that could be told at any time of the year. In fact, a few of the ones produced in recent years only really end up qualifying for a Christmas episode because a character said “Christmas” once and John Campbell jingled a few bells during the transition music. But, today’s episode, “The Christmas Bells” feels like a return to form for Odyssey -- or at least a very strong step in the right direction.
With respect to the solid “Beyond Repair”, “The Christmas Bells” is easily my favourite Christmas episode of the last 15 years (since “Silent Night”, at least). It will certainly be included in my playlist next year. Though it’s unclear if the events at Triple J’s even occur around Christmas, “The Christmas Bells” has everything that I like in a Christmas episode: it has the distinct Christmas-y tone, where much of the pacing is gentle and tranquil. It has a classic hymn you can’t help humming once the episode is over. It has both a bit of romance, and more than a bit of tragedy -- and it has a story that, by the end, makes you hug your loved ones and thank God for your many blessings.
There are, of course, plenty of similarities between “The Christmas Bells''’ and the classic episode “It is Well” -- but faulting it for its similarity to that episode would be silly! Yes, both episodes are written by longtime Odyssey writer Phil Lollar. And yes, both are about hymn writers. And yes, both have been divided into three primary sections depicting three main tragedies -- the son dying, the house-fire, and the shipwreck for Spafford...and the miscarriage, the death of his wives, and the near-death of his son for Longfellow. But are we really going to fault episodes because they depict the real-life tragedies of real people that have inspired their writings? If so, then Odyssey should stop dramatizing the lives of writers altogether. No, I say we hear more stories of how God used tragedies for good, not fewer.
But, as similar as they may be, “It is Well” and “The Christmas Bells” approach their literary subject matter in significant ways. While “It is Well” uses the events of Spafford’s life to explain what led to the creation of the hymn, “The Christmas Bells” uses the hymn to explain the events of Longfellow’s life. The result is twofold -- a condensed summary of Longfellow’s life and a rather educational 25 minute exploration of a single poem. As a former English major, I appreciated how the episode managed to not only take the time to recite the entirety of the poem, but to analyze its meaning stanza by stanza, then connect it to other Longfellow poetry. Most all all, I was amazed by how they made it all sound engaging. This episode could have been a boring mess, but the way the script juggles Wilson’s singing, Longfellow’s other pieces of poetry, and the multiple flashback scenes, is impressively done.
But not only is the writer at his best here, every other team member shines too. The way the sound designers made Longfellow’s voice feel “closer” to the audience during his writings, how they made the nighttime “visit” from Mary Potter feel so haunting, or how they made that heart-stopping match scene feel so horrifying. And what performances! The fact that Gregory Jbara played both Wilson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is remarkable. (I always assumed that for a voice actor to make two roles in an episode sound distinct enough, he would need to make one of them overly cartoonish.) And what about the fact that Monica Stone actress Melissa Disney played both Mary Potter and Fanny Longfollow? I’m not sure if I should congratulate the actors for their vocal talents or Focus on the Family for being so economical.
The fact that “The Christmas Bells'' is such a strong, self-contained story makes it a little disappointing that it includes an ending that feels so unnecessary. While I do wish there was more cohesion between episodes, there are episodes like this one, that need to be their own thing. Let’s not turn AIO into Marvel studios that regularly tacks on unrelated scenes to whet one’s appetite for future stories. I’ve seen some fans point to “Unto Us a Child is Born'' as an example of a Christmas episode that also advances larger storylines, but the difference is that those characters played part of the events of the episode -- two of the characters mentioned at the end “The Christmas Bells” have absolutely nothing to do with the events of the episode. And that simple detail makes this episode much less shareable to casual or non-Odyssey listeners.
And although I’ve already gotten used to the presence of this disjointed cliffhanger, I’m still not sure what to think about the contents of the scene. If Pastor Knox had simply had “an overwhelming feeling” from God that something bad would happen to one of the three girls, I wouldn’t have found anything strange. But the fact that God used the phrase “one of three will fall” doesn’t sit well with me. Now I don’t pretend to know exactly what God would and wouldn’t say -- and He may say anything anyway He pleases! -- but the line “One of Three will Fall” sounded more like a line that might exit the mouth of a wizard or a palm reader than from the creator of the universe. Sure, Jesus spoke in parables and Joseph’s dreams were, by today’s standards, somewhat goofy puzzles, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that those words felt slightly out of place.
But, if I were to be honest, I think I only reacted negatively to this scene because of what, in my mind I assumed -- or feared -- these lines imply for the future of the series. If these lines are tied to the Rydell Saga (I assume this because of the inclusion of Emily Jones) then I’m somewhat disappointed because I think that saga has overstayed its welcome. If this has to do with the rumor that a main character will lose their faith, then I’m disappointed too because I would expect that storyline to be much more realistic and poignant if a grownup character had lost their faith. I think my hope, at the moment, would be a third option -- that this “one of three’ will fall'' is referring to something else entirely. Whatever it’s referring to, I just hope it’s good.
But it certainly isn’t fair to negatively grade an episode based on what I only think the ending implies for the future of the series. Christmas Bells is so much more than its ending. There are so many great scenes. So many great performances. And so many great choices. I’ve listened to this episode 6 times already, and I think this is one of my favorite episodes in quite some time. It deserves every Seneca Award nomination it will undoubtedly get.
"Jason and Wilson tell Zoe the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the author of a famous Christmas carol. It’s a story filled with joy, tragedy, and ultimately truth about God’s role in difficult circumstances." -AIO
Episode Review:
Like many of you, I spent a considerable amount of time this Christmas listening to Adventures in Odyssey. My playlist included classic episodes like “Peace On Earth”, “Back to Bethlehem” and “Unto Us a Child is Born”, but, admittedly, didn’t include more recent episodes such as “All By Myself”, “Grandma’s Christmas Visit” or “Untech the Halls. Judging by the number of listening parties that also featured almost exclusively older episodes, I assume this may have been the case for other fans as well. I wonder: could the reason why we keep returning to old classics be the same reason we return to old movies like “Miracle on 34th Street” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” -- they give us that feeling of nostalgia that we so heavily crave during the holiday season? Or is the reason we don’t seek out those newer AIO Christmas episodes during the holiday season because...well...they just aren’t as good?
When I speak to fans who listened to AIO decades ago, they always cite Christmas episodes as being the best. Christmas episodes, for a while, were never not good. But in recent years, it seems as if the show hasn’t felt as committed to crafting Christmas stories dedicated to capturing that magical feeling of the holiday, but rather, use the holiday as a backdrop for a story that could be told at any time of the year. In fact, a few of the ones produced in recent years only really end up qualifying for a Christmas episode because a character said “Christmas” once and John Campbell jingled a few bells during the transition music. But, today’s episode, “The Christmas Bells” feels like a return to form for Odyssey -- or at least a very strong step in the right direction.
With respect to the solid “Beyond Repair”, “The Christmas Bells” is easily my favourite Christmas episode of the last 15 years (since “Silent Night”, at least). It will certainly be included in my playlist next year. Though it’s unclear if the events at Triple J’s even occur around Christmas, “The Christmas Bells” has everything that I like in a Christmas episode: it has the distinct Christmas-y tone, where much of the pacing is gentle and tranquil. It has a classic hymn you can’t help humming once the episode is over. It has both a bit of romance, and more than a bit of tragedy -- and it has a story that, by the end, makes you hug your loved ones and thank God for your many blessings.
There are, of course, plenty of similarities between “The Christmas Bells''’ and the classic episode “It is Well” -- but faulting it for its similarity to that episode would be silly! Yes, both episodes are written by longtime Odyssey writer Phil Lollar. And yes, both are about hymn writers. And yes, both have been divided into three primary sections depicting three main tragedies -- the son dying, the house-fire, and the shipwreck for Spafford...and the miscarriage, the death of his wives, and the near-death of his son for Longfellow. But are we really going to fault episodes because they depict the real-life tragedies of real people that have inspired their writings? If so, then Odyssey should stop dramatizing the lives of writers altogether. No, I say we hear more stories of how God used tragedies for good, not fewer.
But, as similar as they may be, “It is Well” and “The Christmas Bells” approach their literary subject matter in significant ways. While “It is Well” uses the events of Spafford’s life to explain what led to the creation of the hymn, “The Christmas Bells” uses the hymn to explain the events of Longfellow’s life. The result is twofold -- a condensed summary of Longfellow’s life and a rather educational 25 minute exploration of a single poem. As a former English major, I appreciated how the episode managed to not only take the time to recite the entirety of the poem, but to analyze its meaning stanza by stanza, then connect it to other Longfellow poetry. Most all all, I was amazed by how they made it all sound engaging. This episode could have been a boring mess, but the way the script juggles Wilson’s singing, Longfellow’s other pieces of poetry, and the multiple flashback scenes, is impressively done.
But not only is the writer at his best here, every other team member shines too. The way the sound designers made Longfellow’s voice feel “closer” to the audience during his writings, how they made the nighttime “visit” from Mary Potter feel so haunting, or how they made that heart-stopping match scene feel so horrifying. And what performances! The fact that Gregory Jbara played both Wilson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is remarkable. (I always assumed that for a voice actor to make two roles in an episode sound distinct enough, he would need to make one of them overly cartoonish.) And what about the fact that Monica Stone actress Melissa Disney played both Mary Potter and Fanny Longfollow? I’m not sure if I should congratulate the actors for their vocal talents or Focus on the Family for being so economical.
The fact that “The Christmas Bells'' is such a strong, self-contained story makes it a little disappointing that it includes an ending that feels so unnecessary. While I do wish there was more cohesion between episodes, there are episodes like this one, that need to be their own thing. Let’s not turn AIO into Marvel studios that regularly tacks on unrelated scenes to whet one’s appetite for future stories. I’ve seen some fans point to “Unto Us a Child is Born'' as an example of a Christmas episode that also advances larger storylines, but the difference is that those characters played part of the events of the episode -- two of the characters mentioned at the end “The Christmas Bells” have absolutely nothing to do with the events of the episode. And that simple detail makes this episode much less shareable to casual or non-Odyssey listeners.
And although I’ve already gotten used to the presence of this disjointed cliffhanger, I’m still not sure what to think about the contents of the scene. If Pastor Knox had simply had “an overwhelming feeling” from God that something bad would happen to one of the three girls, I wouldn’t have found anything strange. But the fact that God used the phrase “one of three will fall” doesn’t sit well with me. Now I don’t pretend to know exactly what God would and wouldn’t say -- and He may say anything anyway He pleases! -- but the line “One of Three will Fall” sounded more like a line that might exit the mouth of a wizard or a palm reader than from the creator of the universe. Sure, Jesus spoke in parables and Joseph’s dreams were, by today’s standards, somewhat goofy puzzles, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that those words felt slightly out of place.
But, if I were to be honest, I think I only reacted negatively to this scene because of what, in my mind I assumed -- or feared -- these lines imply for the future of the series. If these lines are tied to the Rydell Saga (I assume this because of the inclusion of Emily Jones) then I’m somewhat disappointed because I think that saga has overstayed its welcome. If this has to do with the rumor that a main character will lose their faith, then I’m disappointed too because I would expect that storyline to be much more realistic and poignant if a grownup character had lost their faith. I think my hope, at the moment, would be a third option -- that this “one of three’ will fall'' is referring to something else entirely. Whatever it’s referring to, I just hope it’s good.
But it certainly isn’t fair to negatively grade an episode based on what I only think the ending implies for the future of the series. Christmas Bells is so much more than its ending. There are so many great scenes. So many great performances. And so many great choices. I’ve listened to this episode 6 times already, and I think this is one of my favorite episodes in quite some time. It deserves every Seneca Award nomination it will undoubtedly get.
Writer: Phil Lollar
Director: Phil Lollar
Producer: Nathan Hoobler
Executive Producer: Dave Arnold
Music: John Campbell
Post-Production: Nathan Jones/Christopher Diehl
Original Club Release Date: 12.22.2020
Date Reviewed: 01.09.2021