I'm going to do things a little differently for this three-parter. I don't know if I'll do it the whole season, but I'll definitely do it for The Labyrinth. I'm going to review the episode as I listen to it, not necessarily line-by-line like I did with the GRC, just enough that all my responses come as I listen to each new part of the plot.
The first scene is very interesting. It doesn't sound much like Odyssey, apart from the music. I don't know if we've ever had a scene in Odyssey where the only speakers are British. It was a smart way to bring us up to date on the happenings with Jason--an experienced agent who's bringing a new, young agent up to date. It actually reminded me of Cars 2, with the two British agent cars in similar situations, if that makes any sense.
Next scene. I'm glad they brought the Stilletto voice back. It makes Jason sound tough and crime-lord-y, but still likeable, like he's on our side. I also really like Reggie Fingers's voice, similar to the voice of the jailer in the St. Valentine episode--very genuinely British. I was afraid that Jason would be too much like he was in the GRC, where he seemed too ignorant and Uncle Archie was suspicious. He actually did pretty well keeping his cover, but Reggie was still suspicious. I was suprised Jason didn't put up a fight when they took him away. But I guess it was better that way.
The next scene just depicts the capturing of the agents, I assume from their van. I don't think they should have been so quick to trust the guy at the door, but oh well. The music at the end of the scene was epic. :D Then comes a commercial about the live show in Dallas. Interestingly, it had "Twenty-two Trombones" from Stage Fright playing in the background.
Back to the show. I loved the exchange between Jason and Microft about Microft's last name. That was priceless. But I don't understand who the girl is. At first I thought she was the young agent from the first scene, but she sounds like she's way younger than that, since she called for her mom and dad. It was a nice touch that Jason lost the "Grinder" voice once he knocked out Thugg.
The next part of the scene was a downer. It stinks that they already know that Jason's an undercover agent, and the episode has barely even started. But I'm sure it'll work into the plot somehow. It surprised me that the girl was in on it too; she played the part pretty well. And...now I guess I can start calling her Sue...I mean...Sew, since it's short for Sewer Rat. ;) Looks like Jason has a partner now.
After the squeeze through the vent, Sew goes off to find out what happened to the agents. The exchange between her and the policeman was funny. It's always great to hear British people cracking jokes. :P I loved that Sew had a cell phone. You sometimes forget that people in other countries have the same commodities we do in America. *gasps in surprise* He called Whit! Is Whit going to come and help him out in London? I actually hope not. I can't imagine that Andre Stojka would do very well in that role...
Okay, so now Jason's meeting the Jacobs. I already knew that they were the returning characters (that sort of thing usually gets around pretty quick), but I didn't know how Jason would come across them. I wonder why they're in London. Oh, what a coincidence. Mr. Jacobs has a symposium at the exact same time as Jason's in London for the meeting with Reggie. Go figure. And since when is Mr. Jacobs the breaking-and-entering, adventurous type? I mean, we've kind of seen that side of him before, but he seems really excited to be doing this for Jason. And Sew's take at an American accent.... If she was trying to sound like Buck Oliver, she did great! :P
After the next scene, I'm wondering if the younger agent with Agent Billings is working for Mr. Grote. She's so quick to condemn Jason as having gotten "lost in the labyrinth" with the bad guys. I don't think she can be trusted.
Oh man. I'm still laughing about the beginning of the next scene. Sew's accent greatly improved, and she seems to have gotten smart fast. She and Mr. Jacobs work perfectly as father and daughter. It's hard to believe she's young enough to pass as a middle-schooler. She seems to have a past in shady dealings. I hope she's worthy of trust.
Based on the next scene, it looks like Mr. Jacobs is in for some trouble. Hopefully he's smart enough to get himself out of it.
Wow, not only is Sew young, but she's small enough to fit in a suitcase without making it look bad. And yet she knows enough about "life in London" to get away from the hotel security.
No!! The episode's done already! Well, I guess it was pretty long. They fit a lot into this first one. I can see why people were so excited about it. Unlike with the GRC, I'm actually very eager to hear next week's episode, and it will be very hard to wait.
Well, that's it for my review. Thanks for reading! Tell me in the comments whether you like this form of reviewing or not. And be sure to tell me your thoughts about the episode as well.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
New Season Starts Tomorrow!
I guess I got the date wrong in my last post. I thought the new album was going to start airing on March 10th, but I was at AIO Wiki yesterday and saw the countdown to the new season saying that we had just over a day to wait for The Labyrinth, Part I. I'm very excited to hear these opening episodes.
Since the last poll I posted consistently had positive results, and I had gotten 20 replies already, I decided to end it early so I could post a new one, seeing how all of you guys are going to listen to The Labyrinth. Make sure to vote in that poll as soon as you can!
In other news, the AIO podcast page is back on the web after a temporary account suspension, apparently. The newest video podcast was very informative and interesting. If you haven't seen it yet, but have questions about either the "Get in the Show" contest or the 25th anniversary live show in Dallas, TX, this podcast will tell you just about everything you need to know about both.
Also in the podcast, we finally find out why the Odyssey Scoop posted information about Christian recording artist Phil Joel. He was the one who wrote and recorded the "Get in the Show" theme song lip synced by Brock in the last podcast. I really like the song; it is a little kiddish in some parts, but I like Phil Joel's voice a lot, so has a pretty good sound.
That's all I have for this post. I'm not sure if I'll be posting a review of The Labyrinth after all three episodes, or if I'll be waiting until they've all aired, but be looking for one. Be sure to post your thoughts about the upcoming Labyrinth episodes in the comments. Do you have any guesses as to who the returning character(s) is/are? And what did you think of the latest podcast from Whitsend.org?
Thanks for reading!
Also in the podcast, we finally find out why the Odyssey Scoop posted information about Christian recording artist Phil Joel. He was the one who wrote and recorded the "Get in the Show" theme song lip synced by Brock in the last podcast. I really like the song; it is a little kiddish in some parts, but I like Phil Joel's voice a lot, so has a pretty good sound.
That's all I have for this post. I'm not sure if I'll be posting a review of The Labyrinth after all three episodes, or if I'll be waiting until they've all aired, but be looking for one. Be sure to post your thoughts about the upcoming Labyrinth episodes in the comments. Do you have any guesses as to who the returning character(s) is/are? And what did you think of the latest podcast from Whitsend.org?
Thanks for reading!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Finally! Album 55 Episode Summaries!
I'm a little late on posting these, but better late than never, so here are all of the summaries to the episodes of Album 55:
The Labyrinth
Jason's pursuit of Mr. Grote leads him to London, where he finds a plot even more ominous than the Green Ring Conspiracy. Jason must seek the help of some old friends to unravel Mr. Grote's schemes before it's too late.
To Mend or Repair
To distract her from some devastating personal news, Eugene tries to keep Katrina busy all the time. Meanwhile, Barrett gives Priscilla a special honor -- reading the pledge of allegiance on the morning announcements.
Mistaken for Good
Jay's visit to a nursing home takes an unexpected turn when an old woman mistakes him for her grandson -- and offers him money as a birthday present.
Sgt. York
Eugene Meltsner and Red Hollard tell the story of Sergeant Alvin York, a troublemaker from rural Tennessee who became a World War I hero.
Child's Play
Eugene and Katrina take on a crazy weekend when they agree to babysitting two kids: one with limitless energy and another who must know the answer to every question.
Something Old, Something New
Penny brainstorms ways to promote Connie's wedding planning business and one of her schemes dramatically backfires. Meanwhile, Matthew and Emily investigate a woman who may be trying to scam Jacques Henri.
Sounds like a very interesting season. I purposely did not read any other people's comments on the episodes so mine could be as original as they can be.
I'm looking forward to The Labyrinth most of all this season, because it sounds like it will be the most action-packed and mysterious. I really like hearing from Jason, and it's exciting to know that he's going to be in his "special agent" mode for the first time since...The Top Floor (not including The GRC)? Plus, having heard who the returning characters are, I'm interested to hear how they fit in with the plot.
I'm very interested to find out what the "devastating personal news" in To Mend or Repair is that Eugene tries to hide from Katrina. Could it be that her mother or his father or Everett died? Or maybe something happened to the Ashanti tribe? And then the Barrett/Priscilla storyline sounds ridiculous. 1. Why is it such a huge honor to read the Pledge of Allegiance? and 2. How did Barrett get the authority to give her that "honor"? I can't say I'm much looking forward to that part of the episode.
Mistaken for Good doesn't seem like it has that much of a backbone to the story, especially since there only seems to be one plot, rather than the usual two that weave together. But it is a Jay episode, so it can't be too bad. ;)
Sgt. York is my second-most anticipated episode. I'm slightly familiar with Sgt. York's story, but don't know much about it, so I'm interested to learn more about it through these episodes. I have some friends who don't typically listen to Odyssey who I'm sure would be interested to hear these episodes, so I'm excited to get to share them, as I'm sure they'll be pretty good. The only problem I see the episodes having is that Red Hollard is a narrator. His narration in Forgiving More...or Less is one of the reasons I didn't like the episode much. His voice just isn't nearly as good as someone's like, say, Bernard's, when it comes to storytelling.
Unlike the Jay episode, I think Child's Play definitely has some potential, even though it only has one main plot. It sounds very interesting to me to have the Meltsners in a situation where they have to babysit young kids. Then again, maybe the writers threw this episode in the mix to show us that Eugene and Katrina + kids=disaster, so that we'll never ask for it again. :D
Something Old, Something New sounds at least a little bit intriguing. Penny's in it, so I'm not too excited, but it doesn't look like Wooton will be that involved, so that could make it better. I'm pretty sure I heard that Penny's mix-up has something to do with the town thinking that Connie is getting married, so I think that should be fairly humorous. The Jacques Henri story sounds pretty interesting too, and although I don't like him as much as some others do, it'll be nice to hear from him again. I'm just concerned about Emily and Matthew being back together again. Eek.
Well that's it for this blog post. Apparently I'll be keeping this blog going, since I've gotten a very positive response to both my poll and blog post about whether or not to close it down. It would seem that no one is tired of my infrequency in posting, so I'll keep the blog going. But I better not hear any whining about how long it takes me to post! :P Not that I've heard any of that in the past. :)
Thanks for reading, everyone! I'd love to hear what you think about the upcoming season, or what you have to say about my comments about the episodes. Your feedback is always very appreciated.
The Labyrinth
Jason's pursuit of Mr. Grote leads him to London, where he finds a plot even more ominous than the Green Ring Conspiracy. Jason must seek the help of some old friends to unravel Mr. Grote's schemes before it's too late.
To Mend or Repair
To distract her from some devastating personal news, Eugene tries to keep Katrina busy all the time. Meanwhile, Barrett gives Priscilla a special honor -- reading the pledge of allegiance on the morning announcements.
Mistaken for Good
Jay's visit to a nursing home takes an unexpected turn when an old woman mistakes him for her grandson -- and offers him money as a birthday present.
Sgt. York
Eugene Meltsner and Red Hollard tell the story of Sergeant Alvin York, a troublemaker from rural Tennessee who became a World War I hero.
Child's Play
Eugene and Katrina take on a crazy weekend when they agree to babysitting two kids: one with limitless energy and another who must know the answer to every question.
Something Old, Something New
Penny brainstorms ways to promote Connie's wedding planning business and one of her schemes dramatically backfires. Meanwhile, Matthew and Emily investigate a woman who may be trying to scam Jacques Henri.
Sounds like a very interesting season. I purposely did not read any other people's comments on the episodes so mine could be as original as they can be.
I'm looking forward to The Labyrinth most of all this season, because it sounds like it will be the most action-packed and mysterious. I really like hearing from Jason, and it's exciting to know that he's going to be in his "special agent" mode for the first time since...The Top Floor (not including The GRC)? Plus, having heard who the returning characters are, I'm interested to hear how they fit in with the plot.
I'm very interested to find out what the "devastating personal news" in To Mend or Repair is that Eugene tries to hide from Katrina. Could it be that her mother or his father or Everett died? Or maybe something happened to the Ashanti tribe? And then the Barrett/Priscilla storyline sounds ridiculous. 1. Why is it such a huge honor to read the Pledge of Allegiance? and 2. How did Barrett get the authority to give her that "honor"? I can't say I'm much looking forward to that part of the episode.
Mistaken for Good doesn't seem like it has that much of a backbone to the story, especially since there only seems to be one plot, rather than the usual two that weave together. But it is a Jay episode, so it can't be too bad. ;)
Sgt. York is my second-most anticipated episode. I'm slightly familiar with Sgt. York's story, but don't know much about it, so I'm interested to learn more about it through these episodes. I have some friends who don't typically listen to Odyssey who I'm sure would be interested to hear these episodes, so I'm excited to get to share them, as I'm sure they'll be pretty good. The only problem I see the episodes having is that Red Hollard is a narrator. His narration in Forgiving More...or Less is one of the reasons I didn't like the episode much. His voice just isn't nearly as good as someone's like, say, Bernard's, when it comes to storytelling.
Unlike the Jay episode, I think Child's Play definitely has some potential, even though it only has one main plot. It sounds very interesting to me to have the Meltsners in a situation where they have to babysit young kids. Then again, maybe the writers threw this episode in the mix to show us that Eugene and Katrina + kids=disaster, so that we'll never ask for it again. :D
Something Old, Something New sounds at least a little bit intriguing. Penny's in it, so I'm not too excited, but it doesn't look like Wooton will be that involved, so that could make it better. I'm pretty sure I heard that Penny's mix-up has something to do with the town thinking that Connie is getting married, so I think that should be fairly humorous. The Jacques Henri story sounds pretty interesting too, and although I don't like him as much as some others do, it'll be nice to hear from him again. I'm just concerned about Emily and Matthew being back together again. Eek.
Well that's it for this blog post. Apparently I'll be keeping this blog going, since I've gotten a very positive response to both my poll and blog post about whether or not to close it down. It would seem that no one is tired of my infrequency in posting, so I'll keep the blog going. But I better not hear any whining about how long it takes me to post! :P Not that I've heard any of that in the past. :)
Thanks for reading, everyone! I'd love to hear what you think about the upcoming season, or what you have to say about my comments about the episodes. Your feedback is always very appreciated.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Something Old, Something New
Great news! We finally have all 12 episode titles for Album 55, just in time for the season to start airing next month! Something Old, Something New, Parts I and II are the final two episode titles to be released from AIO for The Deep End. Episodes from this new album begin airing on March 10th. Now all we have to wait for is episode summaries!
As you've probably noticed, I am really bad at keeping this thing regularly updated. Well, that's what you get when you have a 15-year-old in 11th grade trying to run a blog and do schoolwork, as well as many other things. The thought has entered my mind that I might stop this blog, because I can't imagine that I'll have time to review the new episodes when they begin airing next month, and I haven't even finished reviewing Album 54's episodes (I suspect I never will). So I'm posting a new poll, asking my readers whether I should totally end the blog or just continue posting on a monthly basis, as I have basically been doing.
I greatly value your input, so please vote in the poll if you get the chance. Thank you for reading!
As you've probably noticed, I am really bad at keeping this thing regularly updated. Well, that's what you get when you have a 15-year-old in 11th grade trying to run a blog and do schoolwork, as well as many other things. The thought has entered my mind that I might stop this blog, because I can't imagine that I'll have time to review the new episodes when they begin airing next month, and I haven't even finished reviewing Album 54's episodes (I suspect I never will). So I'm posting a new poll, asking my readers whether I should totally end the blog or just continue posting on a monthly basis, as I have basically been doing.
I greatly value your input, so please vote in the poll if you get the chance. Thank you for reading!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Happy New Year!
*sighs* Leave it to me to say I'm going to post on New Years' and forget to do it until more than halfway through the month. And the only reason I remembered is because there was some new news to let you guys know about. And now I can't even find the Wooton New Years' picture I was going to post. *curls up in shame*
But anyways, the AIO Wiki posted some new Gary Locke artwork today! We now have a picture of Penny Wise:
But anyways, the AIO Wiki posted some new Gary Locke artwork today! We now have a picture of Penny Wise:
What do you think of it? I think it's pretty accurate. It matches the voice pretty well. I imagined her a little more heavyset, shorter, and without glasses, but hey, Gary Locke and I obviously don't share a mind, so I think it's pretty good. It works.
In other news, the Avery Awards are open, so make sure to go vote in those A.S.A.P. if you haven't yet. I'm not going to take the time to post all of my picks and predictions like I did last year--mainly because I don't have time, but also because Ben Warren at The Changing Times already did that, and I agree with most of what he said.
The AIO Wiki also posted some new info on Album 56 today, including some episode titles, and a little about what will be in the episodes. We'll get to hear a Room of Consequence episode for the first time since Album 41, I believe. It will feature at least an older Barrett and an older Matthew, it seems, so that's definitely something to look forward to.
There's a new episode summary for the episode Mistaken for Good in Album 55. It's about as simple as a summary could get: "Jay Smouse is mistaken for being a good guy." That's all I got for the upcoming season, but I'm sure there'll be more to come soon. We still need the name of the final two-part episode of the much anticipated The Deep End album, so be on the lookout!
Thank you to all of my faithful readers who bear with me...even when I only post once a month. :P Hopefully I can post again soon. And maybe I'll find that picture of Wooton that I said I'd post. Anyway, your comments are greatly appreciated, so say something if you can! Thanks again!
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