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Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Green Ring Conspiracy Is...NOT Out Today

I had thought for sure that the new season was starting today. I mentioned last week that I'd be reviewing Part I of The Green Ring Conspiracy this week, but I went to Whitsend.org this morning, and that wasn't today's episode! I then went to the Odyssey Scoop and looked at the schedule for March, and saw that even though every single other year a new album has been aired in March, it started on the first Saturday, this year's season doesn't start until next week. :(

So it looks like maybe I'll have to do that review on Mitch that I told Brittini I'd do. Mind you, I haven't prepared for this in my brain at all, so if it isn't very good, don't blame me, blame the Odyssey people who changed the schedule!



The first thing ever said about Mitch, chronologically, is in the special letter included in the Novacom Saga from the Chairman of Andromeda to Mr. Charles. The chairman mentions that Arthur Dent has suggested "a young man he knew from Boston [who] might be perfect for the job and, in fact, has asked to be relocated to Odyssey." The job the Chairman refers to is the task of monitoring Mr. Whittaker at all times in order to gain his trust, so that it will be easier to steal the Imagination Station from him.

But the Chairman didn't take into consideration the fact that Mitch might develop relationships with people at Whit's End. Not only does he take a real liking to Mr. Whittaker, and therefore doesn't want to go along with Andromeda's evil plot, but he also falls in love with Connie. When we first meet him in Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips, we can tell that he and Connie are attracted to each other. Connie stumbles over her words whenever he asks her a question, and Mitch tells her that the sweater she's wearing looks good on her. But then, further into the same scene, she finds out he works for Novacom, and she isn't sure about him anymore. Later in the episode, she turns down Mitch's request to help him with a Sunday School class, thinking he's going to ask her out on a date. But the misunderstanding is quickly cleared up, and soon Mitch is sending her flowers.

Throughout the first half of the Novacom Saga, their relationship grows, and they start going out frequently to places like the bowling alley and Trickle Lake. We learn that Mitch can't cook to save his life, he enjoys horseback riding, he used to live in Maine and had a girlfriend named Justine, he doesn't like honey-roasted peanuts or water landings, and he loves macaroni and cheese. But then things start to get complicated. Connie starts to notice how many secrets Mitch has, and when she tries to ask him about them, he pretty much clams up. Then she finds a picture of a very attractive woman in his briefcase. But later in the same episode, as Connie peppers him with hard questions on Candid Conversations with Connie, Mitch blurts out that he thinks he's falling in love with her. That silences her, and she ends the show.

But then, a couple of episodes later, Mitch is suddenly taken by the Federal Witness Protection Program, and Connie is told that he's dead. And worse, she finds out that he was AREM--the computer hacker that seemed to be causing so many problems. She has a very hard time dealing with her grief, and after the funeral, she goes to Massachusetts to visit his sister, Rachel. While there, she mentions that she finally feels like she's finally getting used to Mitch being gone. But then she catches Rachel on the computer, and she hears "the AREM sound." She is dumbfounded when Rachel tells her that she needs to keep this a secret because it is very dangerous, but Mitch is alive.

So now Connie has to get used to him being alive. Mitch is now on the case with the FBI, trying to figure out what Novacom and Andromeda are up to. He ultimately helps to determine the "Launch Date" when the mind control will go global, and he also devises a plan with Nick to catch Mr. Charles. Ultimately, Novacom and Andromeda are put out of business, and all the villains except the Chairman are put in prison.

Since Novacom is shut down, Mitch looks for work for some time, but because he was involved with the company, he has a bad reputation, and he isn't hired anywhere. He eventually starts his own business fixing computer problems, but that isn't enough for him. He tries co-hosting a radio show with Connie as "Dr. Wise," but that doesn't satisfy him either. Next he gets caught up in a big mystery involving identity theft from Whit, and eventually the escape of Mr. Charles from prison. He starts out being a suspect in the theft, so the FBI doesn't allow him to help with the case, but he starts his own investigation with Whit. He ends up getting kidnapped by Mr. Charles, but he gets out of it. All this helps him to realize that he has a love for mysteries and crime-fighting. This seals his decision to go to Washington and train to join the FBI.

After about an album, Connie travels with Joanne Allen to visit him. While she's there, Mitch is accepted into a branch of the FBI that is going to take him to Budapest. He wants Connie to go with him, so he proposes to her, and she accepts! Connie's mom, Whit, and even George Barclay come into town for the wedding. After the rehearsal, Connie witnesses Mitch being "kidnapped," and she is terrified. She follows the kidnappers, but only to find out that it was just a few of Mitch's FBI friends giving him a unique bachelors' party. She realizes that she really isn't cut out for this kind of life, in constant fear for the life of her husband, and so she tells Mitch that she can't marry him. He "un-proposes" to her ("Connie, will you not marry me?" "I won't"), and they part ways.

That's the last we hear from Mitch, and it's always made me very sad. I always thought that he and Connie were really good for each other, and I'm always hoping that he'll get to come back someday. But as Odyssey writer Kathy Buchanan, the one who created Mitch's character, said in a 2007 Official Podcast, in order for Mitch to come back, "Ronald McDonald must become a vegetarian, cats need to become extinct, and Nathan Hoobler has to paint his toenails." According to Marshal Younger, the latter of those three has occured, but other than that, unfortunately, it's not going to happen. :(

But Mitch was a very well-loved character, and Steve Burns always did an amazing job voicing him, as well as Rodney Rathbone. He is definitely missed, and I never want anyone else, even Jason, to marry Connie. :)

Thank you for reading! Be sure to come back next week, when I, Lordwilling, will review Part I of The Green Ring Conspiracy. Please comment!

3 comments:

  1. Just one thing I wanted to clear up. You made it look like the only reason that Mitch didn't go along with Andromeda's plot was because he liked Mr. Whittaker. But Mitch was already working undercover against Andromeda after they killed Justine.

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  2. Its funny to see that somebody thinks that Dr. Dobson was convicted of murder. I wonder who thinks that.

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  3. @ Anon: Oh, I never thought about it that way. I wasn't trying to make it seem that Whit was the only reason (Connie was part of it too, obviously), but that is a good point.

    @ Tim: Yeah, I thought that was funny too. There were actually a lot more doctors from various episodes that I found on AIO Wiki (I typed in "Dr." in the Search box) that I could have put up there, but I figured that list was long enough. It looks like you know the right answer though.

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