A Milkshaked-Maltball Hawk

(I know the title's cheesy, but do you have something better? [If so, tell me in the comments! :D])

This episode was very entertaining. Definitely one of the best of the season. There was great humor all the way through, and it was without a doubt the best, and most intriguing Jones and Parker mystery yet. But again, one of the only downfalls was that it didn't have a strong moral.

Whit played a great role in this episode. He wasn't too involved, but enought that it felt like Odyssey, not another show with a little Mr. Whittaker thrown in. I suspected the Broken Window twist from the beginning, but doubted it as the story went along. I couldn't figure out why he would take them. I couldn't imagine that he would have eaten all of them for any reason. I wouldn't have; I don't really like them much. Milkshaked-maltballs sound much better, imo. Anyway, that aspect of the story made him feel like the old Whit, and I continue to get used to his voice. But I cringed when he yelled to quiet the kids down when the episode started. Andre doesn't do it even close to the way Paul Herlinger used to do it. *sniffs*

I continue to really like Barrett's new voice. I'm glad that we got to hear from him and see that he was able to tear away from Club Kidchat for this fundraiser. And he was even able to take over a paper route for a friend! His character changes a lot.

I'm also glad that we got to hear from Priscilla again. I agree with Marvin in being glad that she doesn't seem to be a character that the writers will do away with soon. I found it very weird how much she needed to use the bathroom. I totally agree with Matthew in saying that she "needed to go to the bathroom more than a hyperactive puppy!" :P Apparently the relationship between her and Barrett is still going, since he was the first person to whom she thought to give the malted milkball. I guess I can deal with that, but I don't like it. What happened to the old days when boys and girls could be together a lot and not be boyfriend and girlfriend. I guess that still happens with Emily and Matthew, but even that's been speculated upon.

Nelson came back! Well, I guess we heard from him in Square One, but that wasn't very much. Other than that, though, this is his first real appearance, and I loved it. He didn't seem to be as geeky in this episode though, other than the fact that he read a book while listening to music to stay awake. (But I would have done the exact same thing.) It was interesting that he was the one to think to bring a bunch of movies. But all of the movies he picked sounded totally boring, like pretty much any other movie that's ever been mentioned in Odyssey. They all always sound like movies full of meaningless violence that don't have even a decent storyline. Georgina Cordova continues to do an excellent job with his voice, and I hope we continue getting to hear from her/him for many albums to come.

Jay was absolutely hilarious! Practically everything he said made me laugh out loud. As I told Marvin, I think he has officially stolen Rodney Rathbone's place in my heart. Though at times, he is way nicer than Rodney ever was. He learned to tell the truth in this episode just as Rodney did in No, Honestly (which happens to be one of my favorite episodes). But I loved how he was always the first to press into whoever was Emily's current suspect. ; )

Matthew was a little weird in this episode, though I can totally sympathize with his wanting to go home to bed because of the long night. It was just weird to have him constantly trying to get out of solving the mystery. But I guess it's pretty much the same as all of his other mystery episodes where Emily has to pull him into it. He continues to get close to being as well-loved in my heart as Trent and Marvin and Grady were at one time.

I was afraid at the beginning of the episode that Emily was going to narrate again, but then it just turned out to be a flash-back like in...well I can't think of any right now, but I know there have been episodes like that. Her rock-a-thon idea was pretty cool, and I think that sounds really fun. I think I'd totally be able to do it if I had action-adventure movies, music, mystery books, and sugar. ; D

Overall, it was a very engaging mystery that had me guessing most of the time. It was very funny and entertaining, but again, it seemed like the writers just came up with the story, and then tried to throw a moral in.

I give the episode a 9/10 which, I guess, makes it the best of the season, and that's pretty much true. Please comment!

Oh, BTW, everyone, I told these two bloggers I'd mention their blogs in my next post, so here they are: The Odyssey Vision and The Changing Times. The former just got started by commenter Tim B. the other day, and looks very promising. The latter has apparently been going for a long time, but I just discovered it. It is run by Ben, who has excellent insight into all of the new episodes. He has very in-depth reviews, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.