Episode Description:
"Detective Polehaus investigates an unusual case involving a young boy and a small toy. The trail of clues leads him to Lilly Graham, Jason Whittaker, Wooton Bassett, and others. Meanwhile, Connie is surprised by the work habits of a new volunteer at Whit's End." - AIO
Episode Review:
Historically, Adventures in Odyssey has done a good job tackling moments of tragedy, as seen in many teary-eyed episodes, such as “Greater Love”, “Karen”, “A Lesson from Mike”, and, more recently, “Life Expectancy”. Adventures in Odyssey, despite being a show aimed for ages 8-12 has not shied away from dealing with tough subject matter. And these episodes don’t merely reference a tragic moment – they use the entirety of their 25+ minutes to fully explore these serious topics with earnestness and gravity. Every aspect of those episodes – the writing, tone, theme, and performances –work together to effectively shine light on painful realities.
“The Toy”, oddly enough, doesn’t seem to fully realize how tragic its inciting incident is. In a perplexing twist, the opening scene revealing that a child has died of cancer – a truly tragic reveal – acts as the jumping off point for some sort of playful mystery. Little that follows in this episode quite matches the severity of that opening revelation – the way the physician explains it without much emotion, the way Polehaus remains ambiguous and unmoved while listening to the physician’s explanation (was it to make the final “reveal” surprising?), the way the episode provides a “red herring” about how the toy itself might have carried a disease that contributed to the child’s death, the way each character is confusingly interrogated without context or information, the way the characters are gathered in a “fun” Poirot-like setting, the way that Polehaus dramatically pronounces to everyone, without prior context, “you are all involved in the death of a 5 year old boy!”.
Just because Adventures in Odyssey is a kid’s show does not mean that it should stay away altogether from difficult themes and realities, but that when it includes them, the story should veer towards the tragedy, explore it fully, with respect and reverence. “The Toy”, at times, felt too light and casual, and overall seemed more concerned with creating a “gotcha” mystery than fully exploring some of the intense issues it raises. As a result, when Polehaus finally expounds upon tragic details surrounding his nephew’s death, the heaviness of the information feels slightly out of place, and less impactful than it otherwise might have been. If “The Toy” really wanted to mirror the structure of the episode “Harlow Doyle Private Eye” then the inciting incident needs to be a little less tragic (for instance, the child, though ill, is still alive).
I didn’t hate the episode. I quite like episodes with large casts that have an element of mystery, and I like it when old characters return, too. I appreciated the fact that they re-introduced the character of Ed Washington to the show. I hope this wasn’t simply one-time fan service, but a permanent move. While Ed Washington wasn’t at the top of my list of characters I wanted to have return to the show, the best way the series can weather departing characters that make up the fabric of the show, such as Bernard, Jack and Tom, is to re-inject the show with older less prominent characters. This would undoubtedly help the newer episodes feel less disjointed from the older episodes, help the whole series feel like a singular entity, and keeps sad fans – who are unhappy that times are changing and that their favorite characters are gone – willing to keep listening to the show.
But, all throughout, I couldn’t escape that nagging feeling that some of these pieces – tonally – don’t quite belong together. As noted earlier, “The Toy” feels, at times, a little too light and casual than it ought to have been. Thankfully, because of the way the story connects various regular townsfolk, the return of Ed Washington, the re-introduction of Whit’s End Connellsville, the subplot with the new Whit’s End volunteer, and a good reminder that our menial actions sometimes have big consequences, “The Toy” remains good enough.
"Detective Polehaus investigates an unusual case involving a young boy and a small toy. The trail of clues leads him to Lilly Graham, Jason Whittaker, Wooton Bassett, and others. Meanwhile, Connie is surprised by the work habits of a new volunteer at Whit's End." - AIO
Episode Review:
Historically, Adventures in Odyssey has done a good job tackling moments of tragedy, as seen in many teary-eyed episodes, such as “Greater Love”, “Karen”, “A Lesson from Mike”, and, more recently, “Life Expectancy”. Adventures in Odyssey, despite being a show aimed for ages 8-12 has not shied away from dealing with tough subject matter. And these episodes don’t merely reference a tragic moment – they use the entirety of their 25+ minutes to fully explore these serious topics with earnestness and gravity. Every aspect of those episodes – the writing, tone, theme, and performances –work together to effectively shine light on painful realities.
“The Toy”, oddly enough, doesn’t seem to fully realize how tragic its inciting incident is. In a perplexing twist, the opening scene revealing that a child has died of cancer – a truly tragic reveal – acts as the jumping off point for some sort of playful mystery. Little that follows in this episode quite matches the severity of that opening revelation – the way the physician explains it without much emotion, the way Polehaus remains ambiguous and unmoved while listening to the physician’s explanation (was it to make the final “reveal” surprising?), the way the episode provides a “red herring” about how the toy itself might have carried a disease that contributed to the child’s death, the way each character is confusingly interrogated without context or information, the way the characters are gathered in a “fun” Poirot-like setting, the way that Polehaus dramatically pronounces to everyone, without prior context, “you are all involved in the death of a 5 year old boy!”.
Just because Adventures in Odyssey is a kid’s show does not mean that it should stay away altogether from difficult themes and realities, but that when it includes them, the story should veer towards the tragedy, explore it fully, with respect and reverence. “The Toy”, at times, felt too light and casual, and overall seemed more concerned with creating a “gotcha” mystery than fully exploring some of the intense issues it raises. As a result, when Polehaus finally expounds upon tragic details surrounding his nephew’s death, the heaviness of the information feels slightly out of place, and less impactful than it otherwise might have been. If “The Toy” really wanted to mirror the structure of the episode “Harlow Doyle Private Eye” then the inciting incident needs to be a little less tragic (for instance, the child, though ill, is still alive).
I didn’t hate the episode. I quite like episodes with large casts that have an element of mystery, and I like it when old characters return, too. I appreciated the fact that they re-introduced the character of Ed Washington to the show. I hope this wasn’t simply one-time fan service, but a permanent move. While Ed Washington wasn’t at the top of my list of characters I wanted to have return to the show, the best way the series can weather departing characters that make up the fabric of the show, such as Bernard, Jack and Tom, is to re-inject the show with older less prominent characters. This would undoubtedly help the newer episodes feel less disjointed from the older episodes, help the whole series feel like a singular entity, and keeps sad fans – who are unhappy that times are changing and that their favorite characters are gone – willing to keep listening to the show.
But, all throughout, I couldn’t escape that nagging feeling that some of these pieces – tonally – don’t quite belong together. As noted earlier, “The Toy” feels, at times, a little too light and casual than it ought to have been. Thankfully, because of the way the story connects various regular townsfolk, the return of Ed Washington, the re-introduction of Whit’s End Connellsville, the subplot with the new Whit’s End volunteer, and a good reminder that our menial actions sometimes have big consequences, “The Toy” remains good enough.
Writer: Phil Lollar
Director: Phil Lollar
Producer: Dave Arnold
Music: John Campbell
Original Air-date: 10-27-18
Review Date: 10-08-18