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Saturday, December 4, 2010

The Disagreeable Reviewer

I actually really liked this episode. I was sort of expecting not to enjoy it very much, but while it did have a weak moral, it made me laugh all throughout.

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't yet heard the episode, you probably don't want to read on. : )

Mr. and Mrs. Parker stayed very true to their characters. I loved the ending scenes with all of the funny things that Mr. Parker says, and the things that Mrs. Parker had to correct him about laughing at. It was a fairly odd scheme that they came up with to test their children's trustworthiness. I wouldn't have thought to go to a college and find a drama student and ask her to act as a British (Cambridgian), Mary Poppins nanny so that I could find out how my kids would act with a pushover.

Olivia grew on me more in this episode. She stayed true to how her character has acted before, but she really is starting to sound more and more like the 11/12-year old she's supposed to be. I thought it was interesting though how sometimes she treated Matthew as the leader rather than putting herself in that position like she has in earlier episodes. I cringed during the banana fight because of the disgusting sound effects that added to the grossness that was already there just because of the bananas. (I abhor bananas.) When Matthew walked up in the middle of the fight, and the girls brought him into it, I was reminded of the hose scene in Our Best Vacation Ever. All throughout the episode I was reminded of the Barclays when the kids were bickering. I really think the Parkers will slowly start to become the central, well-loved family that the Barclays were. Who knows, maybe someday we fans will be able to say that they have just as special a part in our hearts as the Barclays and the Washingtons.

Matthew was great in this episode. Ever since The Inspiration Station, he has definitely been my favorite new kid character, and this show continued that. He always had some great idea to resolve the current dilemma, and it usually gets him in trouble. And he constantly threw in comments that made me laugh.

Camilla was a different story. Not that I didn't like her character in the story, but she was just so foolish! I mean, seriously, War of the Jurassic Aliens! Really?! Why would she even consider even wanting to watch that? Isn't she a girl? Well, I guess she is a girl who likes sports, a tomboy, but still! I thought it was great though that Whit knew exactly what movie she was talking about, and that that movie was so violent that the movie rating system had to be changed. ; D

Now to Maria/Charlotte. It struck me as weird from the start that she had a British accent, and seemed to be trying so hard to be British. Especially since I knew that the most recent Official Podcast had interviewed her about her experience as Gloria in Camp What-A-Nut. And she was trying to sound like Marry Poppins too: "Only a spoonful [of sugar]" and "Spit-spot". I was just waiting for her to say "supercalifragilisticexpealido-cious"! Until I discovered why she was acting so weird, I was wondering when she'd stop being such a pushover. And was it just me, or did she sound a lot like Dalton Kearne's guard from The Top Floor when she finally revealed herself as Charlotte?

This really was a great, very entertaining episode. The only problem was that it didn't seem to have a moral. It seemed like the writer just came up with this great idea, and then tried to throw in a lesson somewhere. It was kind of like the Novacom Saga, where most of the episode was just for entertainment, but they were concerned that someone might mention that there was no spiritual application, so there was a small something thrown in.

But aside from all that, I did really enjoy this episode, and I can't wait to hear another Parker family episode.

I give it a 7.5/10. Please comment (even if it has to be long ; D)!

19 comments:

  1. Hey Christian Love the background, and your review!! I really like this episode it kinda reminded me of the older Odysseys like one person on the Odyssey scoop It would have been better yet if CONNIE was the nanny!!!! And what do you mean you abhor Bananas??? I don't really like them but I like the part in the episode "we are really dirty" "yeah I know but he isn't" and they go after Matthew I really like Matthew he is kinda funny!!!1 So long for now Christian!!1 LOL Ps you said we could do long comments did you mean LLOONNGG LOL

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  2. Yes, I did mean LLOONNGG. You can do it as long as you want.

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  3. I wouldn't say that if I were you LOL

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  4. Who doesn't like bananas?!? That's just plain "bananas" to hear that! Are you just exaggerating about "loathing" them?

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  5. No, Anonymous, I really do hate them. Under almost no circumstances would I eat a banana. I don't like how they look, smell, taste, or feel (or how they sound when people chew them, so that covers all five senses). You probably couldn't name any tropical fruit I like.

    And I have met at least five people that I can think of off the top of my head who nearly share my absolute abhorrance of bananas.

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  6. At the risk of being off topic I will say that, I don't actually remember trying a banana but that's because they have a horrible disgusting texture and smell. But anyways I liked your review.

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  7. I don't like bananas either! I wouldn't say I abhor them though.

    Did anybody else think that the kids in this episode were acting really silly? I think Olivia and Matthew should have been slightly more responsible, especially since the nanny has every right to tell their parents what they did.

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  8. Wow how did we really get on the subjct of Bananas????? any way yeah the banana fight did sound pretty disusting!!!!

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  9. I actually like bananas! I am bananas over bananas! LOL Anyway, this episode was ok. I really liked how the kids could feel like they could tell Mr. Whitaker what happened to them. It gives Whit a more Grandfatherly "you can trust me" emotion that he has seemed to have lost over the past few seasons. I hope they do some more shows with that kind of format.

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  10. I'm glad that at least two of you agree with me. I don' t find many people who do. And for those of you who were concerned that this was off topic, I don't think this would count, because it's almost directly related to the episode. I don't think my dad would have a problem with us talking about what food we like.

    I think he just doesn't want me to get into talking about pop culture things like movies or music, like Brittini almost did a couple posts back. Thanks for your concern though! : D

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  11. I. Love. Bananas. Period. They're good. But yeah, the scene was a little gross...
    @Tim--you see it differently than I do, but that's okay. I found it more like they were just telling him a story, and he asked them what they learned.

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  12. Christian OK the subs BANANAS that's BANANAS!!!!!

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  13. @Marvin--I can see where you are coming from. I do agree that this sort of format shouldn't be used all the time but to me, it gives Whit more dimension. It gives him more of a chance to connect with the kids like he used to do in episodes like "Chores No More" and "That's Not Fair".

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  14. Really guys have you noticed that in most of the Episodes this album they don't even really mention the name JESUS???

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  15. To be honest, AIO very rarely mentions Jesus. That's probably why I know some Catholics who still enjoy it. The emphasis of the show is on morals rather than salvation. Shows like The Imagination Station and The Imagination Station Revisited do a pretty good job explaining what Christ has done for us, but no others come directly to mind.

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  16. What is the next Poll you'll do?

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  17. Oh, goodness. Thank you for pointing it out again. I totally forgot that I only had it for a week. I'll try to think of another one. Thanks. ;)

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  18. WOW polls arn't very important are they LOL

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  19. Great review. I agree with you on Olivia's voice. I think it is starting to sound more natural instead of an adult trying too hard to sound like a kid. However, I think that Olivia's voice would almost be better suited for a 13 yr old. And about Olivia treating Matthew as the leader, this a very good thing considering how Emily acts. Having two people with similar voices AND similar characters would ruin their functions in the story and take away from Matthew's character.

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