More Misinformation

So, it turns out, I was wrong...again...in the information I thought I was relaying from the Odyssey Scoop. Those five album covers I posted the other day are not final; they were created by a fan. I personally think they look wonderful, and AIO should consider using them as the final products. But they aren't official.

Anyway, here's some breaking news: The Blackgaard Chronicles is out today! And there's a special Official Video Podcast to celebrate. It features a "pop-upisode"--A Name, Not a Number, Part I. If you don't remember from the Album 50 videos, a Pop-upisode is an Odyssey episode put to a video with a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes information running throughout it. It should be very interesting.

The word from Jacob Isom (and I'm pretty sure I can trust this information, since he has his own copy) is that The Blackgaard Chronicles features the thirty AIO episodes pertaining to Dr. Blackgaard over 13 hours of audio entertainment on 10 CDs. And just like the Novacom Saga, there's a bonus disc, but in this case, it's a DVD featuring a 30-minute interview with Paul McCusker and Phil Lollar about the creation of Regis Blackgaard. But Jacob argues that the best feature of the new collection may be the brand-new illustrations of Jack Allen, Jason Whittaker, Dr. Blackgaard, Richard Maxwell, and Phillip Glossman!! This alone makes me very badly want to get the set for myself. I so hope this new artwork is released somewhere sometime soon.

One other thing: Just before the pop-upisode starts in the newest video podcast, we see Brock opening the Blackgaard Chronicles package, and behind him there's a dry-erase board that has written on it: "55 Episodes Sgt York The Labyrinth" Could these be the titles of the two three-parters we've heard talk of?! Only time will tell. :D

Thanks for reading! Be sure to tell me what you're thinking about all this new stuff in the comments!

P.S. Here's the back cover for The Blackgaard Chronicles, if you were wondering what episodes are included:

EDIT: There's more breaking news, now that I've watched the Pop-Upisode!!! If you watch the whole thing, almost exactly halfway through, you'll notice that the title of Album 55 has been released! It will be called The Deep End. I was totally not expecting to learn this so soon! Some other special things included within the video were original drafts of The Blackgaard Chronicles' artwork, and original drawings of Dr. Blackgaard. And for those of you who like the Imagination Station series, at the end of the video, you get a peek at the newest book's cover. Also, we get to see new illustrations of Jack Allen and Jason, in addition to the ones already released on Album 23's new cover! This all made the time it took to watch the Pop-Upisode very worth it!

...And So It Approaches Its Termination...

This was another pretty good episode. It didn't seem as long as I would have liked it to be, but it did have quite a bit of new information, and things really are starting to come together. I'm going to take this review in the direction that Marvin usually does--going through each scene--because every part was important, and I want to make sure I don't forget to mention anything.

It's so good to have Jason back! He's one of my favorite characters, and Townsend Coleman does an amazing job with his voice. Just having Jason in an episode makes everything seem as if it was thrown into action/adventure/mystery mode. It's great to have someone on the inside whom Whit can talk to to get information about the counterfeiters.

If you haven't figured out that you shouldn't like Buck yet, this next scene should convince you. He is really bad at play-acting. "What's the password?" "I'm not going to tell you!" That's like the universally understood way to tell someone that you don't know the password. It's again like he's trying to make himself look as guilty as possible. And when Matthew and Eugene get too "nosy," he whines that he thought this town was all about "love and trust and friendship." He's really disappointed. :P But I love that the other guys finally start to see through it. Eugene came back at that with exactly what I wanted to say: "Love, trust, and friendship aren't the same as blind stupidity." :D But then the computer bleeps that it has found the password, and we finally get to see to whom it belongs! (Well, I guess we already know, but we can be excited for the characters who finally get to find out!)

Now we skip back to Jason and Whit for one of the most revealing scenes so far in the season. We learn that years ago, the real Stiletto was captured by the police, and the government decided to take advantage of the fact that no one knew who he was to turn it into an undercover operation. Jason discovered this while vacationing in Hong Kong, where he ran into a group of terrorists who wanted to destroy America through technological and financial attacks. He took the cover of the Stiletto, and used that cover to meet with the ringleader of that espionage group, Mr. Groat. Jason told him that he was bringing together a ring of counterfeiters across America and was going to distribute tons of fake money. He does that via Uncle Archie's Carnival, which travels all over the country, and on the last day in a city, it auctions off equipment, and then transports the money in the same trucks as the equipment.

Then we learn that Agent Tanner is trying to work on the inside, but she started late, doesn't know much, and just wants a piece of the fortune. However, Jason may think that she really is a rogue agent, but she might actually still be on the good side, but she's really good at faking it. Or she could be lying to Whit, and she really is just in for the money, and she's working against the good guys. But it turns out that both she and Monty were making Jason's job a lot harder, so he has put both of them out of the picture for now. Whit wonders how Jason keeps everything straight without getting "lost in this labyrinth of lies." But Jason argues that if he doesn't do it, who will? Whit says that they'll have to talk about that some other time. That made me smile. Whit is still Jason's dad, so he can tell him what to do. The chemistry between the two actors actually strikes me as pretty decent. I wouldn't have thought that Andre would have done that great of a job talking to Jason as his father, but he was actually pretty good. I look forward to seeing them together more in the episodes and seasons to come.

The next scene is one of the most disturbing of the season. First, Penny discusses meditation with Connie. She shows her how to look past things of an imperfect nature to the perfection beyond them (i.e. beyond the crack in the ceiling to the beautiful bird's nest outside). The subject of meditation is a touchy subject. While it's not necessarily wrong to meditate (a godly example is given to us in Psalm 19:17), it is usually associated with Eastern religions and mysticism such as Hinduism, Buddhism, or New Age. It is normally used to clear one's mind, to rid oneself of one's affections and/or desires in order to be filled with the spirit of whatever god you are thinking you want to be filled by, or to set your mind on whatever singular thing it needs to be set on. Yoga is the most common example of meditation that people use today. By definition, it is used to liberate oneself from the world and unite oneself with the supreme being. Meditation is a dangerous subject that is best not to be tampered with by Christians.

As if that wasn't bad enough however, Dr. Trask presents to his art class for exploration and meditation a work by Salvador Dali called La Muerte (which means "death" in Spanish). It is described as being an evocative series of paintings he did as part of his "Tarot" collection. Salvador Dali is described on Wikipedia as being best known for the "striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work." He had "an affinity for partaking in unusual and grandiose behavior." That doesn't seem like a guy whose paintings I'd explore and meditate upon in something like a Bible study. And then there's what Connie mentioned: Tarot--as in tarot cards. Tarot cards, again according to Wikipedia "are used throughout much of Europe to play card games. In English-speaking countries, where these games are largely unknown, tarot cards are now used primarily for divinatory purposes." But in the 18th and 19th century, the cards were adopted by the occult for use with mysticism and magic. Now, all this isn't to say that Dr. Trask is involved in Eastern religions or the occult, but he obviously easily tolerates them and the things they propagate, so he isn't someone I would put in the position of spiritual mentor. But he does say that God is in everything because He created everything. That is outright Pan-En-Theism. God is separate from His creation. And it doesn't help anything that Dr. Trask "appeals" to God only as "Oh Great Creator", and he says that God is "in us and through us and beyond us." If we are Christians, God is in us, He works through us, and He is far beyond us, but I doubt that's what Dr. Trask means.

Well, with that said, now we jump back to Whit, who's on the phone with Dr. Graham. He is somewhat frustrated that she won't let Monty out of the hospital, but she makes a good point that despite what movies seem to show us, a blow to the head that knocks someone out is very serious. She scolds him for making this mystery more important than the well-being of his grandson, and he secedes. I don't know about anyone else, but I really like the character of Lilly Graham. She has really good chemistry with other characters, especially Whit, and I just really like her voice. Hopefully she can become the new regular Odyssey doctor that Dr. Morton was.

Anyway, as soon as Whit's off the phone, Detective Polehaus barges in, and Whit gets to try to convince him of the disappearance of Agent Tanner like Jason told him to. I'll just go with an understatement and say that Whit doesn't do a good job. ("You haven't seen my sneer!") Whit tells him everything he knows (or knew before he met the Stiletto), and Polehaus tells him everything he and Eugene have found out about Buck. Then the detective tells Whit that he's off to another lead that he got saying that the main hideout of the counterfeiters is The Old Ross Compound near Trickle Lake. (Why have we never, ever heard of this place before?) Then Polehaus gets a call saying that a truck--"a big truck" has just pulled in to the compound. And he's off to catch the counterfeiters. But we know that since there are still three-and-a-half shows left, there's no way he's already going to be able to apprehend everybody.

Now we head back over to Whit's End where Katrina comes across Jay as he "watches the counter." He tells her that Buck is trying to get the phone from Eugene and Matthew in the basement, but that she shouldn't trust Buck any farther than Jay can throw him. But then Whit calls, and Katrina updates him. Whit therefore learns for the first time that Dirk Beggs's phone has been found, and then warns Katrina not to let Buck get anywhere with that phone.

Back down in the basement, Buck insists that they give him the AppleBerry. Eugene refuses because he won't tell them the password. Then Buck "admits" that he doesn't know it, but as soon as Matthew reports the computer's findings that it is "stiletto", he suddenly remembers that he named it that because of his knife collection. Sure, Buck, we believe you. (I would expect something more like a toothpick collection. When have we ever seen him with a knife?) I wonder how much Emily would like him if she knew he had a knife collection. :D Anyway, when Matthew has entered in the password, Buck tries to grab it from him. Just then, Katrina comes down to talk to him, but sees the fight. So she yells at the top of her lungs, stopping everyone in their tracks. I definitely would have stopped dead still because that didn't sound like Katrina to me at all. Connie sounded weird in Grandma's Christmas Visit with all her over-the-top yelling, but that was ridiculous! In any event, it stopped the commotion, and Katrina then tells Buck that she needs to make a citizen's arrest on him. Buck, who apparently has anger problems, throws the phone to the floor, making it shatter into several pieces. (Oh how badly I wish Emily was there to see that. She probably won't even believe Matthew when he tells her that Buck did that.) I totally wasn't expecting that, and it was a really good surprise. I guess we had already gotten enough information about Groat, Skint, Beggs, Tanner, and the Stiletto with Jason's help, so we didn't need it anymore and the writers decided to resolve it all that way.

Buck runs upstairs, and despite Jay's attempts to shoot him with an ice cream scoop, he makes a clean getaway...until he runs into Mr. Whittaker who doesn't let him go anywhere. Finally Buck gets what was coming to him, and Whit sends him to his office. I'm glad Emily wasn't at Whit's End at the time or she might have come to Buck's rescue and run away with him or something. Yeesh.

Back with the real counterfeiters, Mr. Skint and Mr. Dosh (who is, interestingly enough, played by Phil Lollar) have a short but sweet conversation about Martin, the policeman down the road watching. Mr. Dosh is concerned that he might compromise their operation. But Mr. Skint assures him that everything will be fine, and he'll send one of his guys to give him some "special coffee" because it's the neighborly thing to do. ;)

Then we get back to Connie and Penny. Penny tells Connie that she needs to ask her a question. Connie says she already knows what Penny's going to say, and then she goes off on a lengthy explanation for why she felt uncomfortable sitting through Dr. Trask's lecture that afternoon. And it was nearly exactly what I would have said! Yes, Connie actually did a good job for once! Well, not for once, but for the first time this season. Then Penny admits that all she wanted to know was if Connie wanted her french fries. Boy, she and Wooton really were made for each other--silliness in the midst of seriousness. I wouldn't be surprised if they are both diagnosed with ADHD someday. Then Penny assures Connie that they'll discuss these things tomorrow when they go on their hike. (I can't wait for that conversation!) And then the scene ends with Penny asking Connie if she's going to eat her pickles. *faceslap (to borrow Marvin's lingo)* Seriously!

Back at the compound, Polehaus takes a call from Whit informing him that Buck is in his office ready for questioning. He tells Whit to stay put until he can send someone over. After getting off the phone, he comes across Martin who has fallen prey to the effects of Mr. Skint's "special coffee." When Polehaus has shaken him awake, Martin tells what he knows about what's transpired so far. All he can really tell us is that a pickup truck drove in, and they gave him coffee. One of the guys from the compound came out and said that he knew how hard it is to stay awake on a stakeout, so he gave Martin some coffee, which Martin thought was a pretty nice thing to do. Honestly, Detective Polehaus, what kind of people do you have working for you?! Well, we can give him some credit; he took down the license plate number of the pickup, and after running it through headquarters, he found out that it belongs to Uncle Archie's Carnival. That does it for the detective, and he leaves to go have a talk with the people at the compound.

Meanwhile, at the edge of McAlister Park, Mr. Skint gets a call from Buck, who is wondering what he should do now that he's been caught and cornered in Whit's office. Skint tells him that "this is just like Detroit--just like it," that the people at Whit's End are trying to use Buck to lure him in. Therfore, he tells Buck goodbye and shuts the phone. We're left wondering what this means for Buck. Mr. Skint has abandoned him, so what can he do now? I can't see any other way he can go than to tell Whit the truth. What else can he say? But what will happen to him now that he no longer has a guardian? Hey, maybe Eugene and Katrina will eventually take him in! Now that's an interesting thought.

In the last scene, the Stiletto meets with Archie to "confirm the plan." I have to admit, Jason isn't going about this in a very convincing way. If he's the big boss that he's supposed to be, why does he need Archie to tell him the plan? Things have changed since Jason got the debrief from Mr. Groat. The benefactor (please tell me if you know who that's supposed to be) decided that the money will not be transported to the rigged winners of the auctioned equipment by truck, but Archie won't tell what the new plan is. The plan was changed because the benefactor caught wind of an undercover operation in Chicago--right in the Stiletto's area, and supposedly, Dirk Beggs was told the change of plans, and he was supposed to tell Jason. But he didn't. Nor did Jason know that Mr. Groat is actually in town. So Jason concludes that he's going to be in suspense until the next day, and he bids Uncle Archie goodnight. As soon as Jason leaves, Archie does exactly what I knew was going to happen--he calls somebody (probably the benefactor), and tells him that the Stiletto needs to be removed from the operation--no, better yet, removed altogether! Oh boy! So there's going to be an attempt at murder before the season is done? *rubs hands together in excitement and cackles*

Well that's my review. Sorry it got so long. I probably won't be doing that again. But I hope you read it. Please tell me anything you think about it, and let me know if you like my reviews better this way or the way I usually do them.

Thank you for taking the time to read the post! Come back next week as the events of Album 53 draw to a close!

...And So It Starts to Wind Down...

Well today's episode was again not available on the FOTF Media Player, so if you can't find Part 7 on YouTube (because I couldn't since FOTF has deleted almost all of them), then if you're really desperate like I was, you can go to FAIO's website here and have a listen. I know there was a controversy about them a while back, but think of it this way: you would have listened to it for free already today anyway, it's just that FOTF's version isn't working, so it's perfectly legal. Just make sure you don't download it or go ahead and listen to the rest of the saga that's posted there. Oh, and when you listen to the episode, there will be a list of comments that you can scroll down and see. Don't scroll down!! I can't stress that enough! I made the mistake of doing so before thinking, and saw a comment that someone was rude enough to post about who the Stilletto is, and now I know. Now they didn't specifically say it was the Stilletto, but this was the comment form: "I knew it was ********!" so I assume.... Anyway, with that said, here's my review:

This episode felt like the shortest one so far. We didn't really learn anything new. There was just a bunch of comparing notes among the three main storylines. But I was really glad that happened, because all this time Whit and Polehaus, Eugene and Katrina, and Wally and Jay. Whit finally gets a clue about Katrina's investigation about Buck, and Detective Polehaus finally agrees to work with Mr. Haggler. And both are focused on Buck, Mr. Skint and the fake address. Hopefully there'll be more action in the next episode.

If this title wasn't already taken, and if all of the episodes in this album weren't called The Green Ring Conspiracy, this episode could have been called Love is in the Air. I mean seriously! Can they shove any more mushiness and annoying "smitten"ness down our throats? Could Wooton be any more unintelligent? Since when does he get smitten so easily. And he's so predictable that Connie was able to tell him exactly how he was feeling! "It's like you're living in a refrigerator box in the Municipal Park of my mind!" He wasn't even this slap-happy with Victoria! And he nearly immediately went and asked her if she was saved. But Penny apparently is different enough to get past his brain and take hold of his heart. But I guess the heart is "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," so it makes sense. But isn't Wooton a Christian? Isn't his heart being conformed to the image of Christ by the Holy Spirit? I dunno anymore.

And then Emily and Buck. UGGH! I cringed and crossed my eyes with practically every line between the two of them. And I haven't even listened to it with the rest of my family yet! That's going to be interesting. I have a bunch of younger siblings. I can't believe Emily's throwing Matthew out the window for a suspicious kid who's obviously older than her who has an extremely annoying accent! But haven't I stressed that enough already? At least she tried to make up with Matthew at the end of the episode. I'm very interested to hear what occurs when Matthew and Buck officially meet up next week.

I appreciated that Agent Tanner was finally back in the mix. But it seemed that they were trying too hard to make Agent Tanner suspicious. Something's telling me that she may not be who we're making her out to be. But maybe the writers were just making her that way for the little kids who enjoy saying, "Oh, I can tell she's not telling the truth. She's the bad guy!" So I'm really not sure what to think. She doesn't seem to have a higher boss that she's reporting to. Back in the Novacom days, when Jason was with Monica/Paula, we would hear subsequent scenes where she reported to Mr. Charles about her progress. And in Darkness Before Dawn, we heard Bart and Phillip Glossman at times when they reported to Dr. Blackgaard (before we knew it was Dr. Blackgaard). Maybe we'll hear some of that soon. Or maybe Mr. Skint will say something about her at some point.

Buck's toothpick finally came into play! Now we know why it was so prevalent in these last couple episodes! The only thing is, how in the world did Detective Polehaus notice that on the ground so quickly? And how did he connect it so quickly with Buck? Couldn't an adult have been chewing on a toothpick in that area too? I mean, if practically all the men (and some of the women) who work at the carnival look like Mr. Skint, you'd figure there might be at least a few other people who chew on toothpicks. But I guess Polehaus has trained himself to trust no one and be suspicious of every one, so it kinda makes sense.

The thing that probably redeemed this episode all by itself was the scene with Jay and all of his hilarious lines. I'll give you some samples: "You heard me! Or do I need to say it again in Braille?!" "You're a regular Judas Benedict Arnold!" "I'll bet my case is bigger than your case!...Like, yours is probably just a little case with those clip-lock combination thingies, where my case is like a big trunk with lots of compartments and huge steel padlocks that are strong--Oh, I got lost in a metaphor for a second." And then later in that scene Emily tells Buck, "I couldn't have done it without you...or Jay, unfortunately." That made me laugh.

But there are still so many questions, including ones that were added as a result of events in this episode: "Will Buck get the AppleBerry from Matthew before someone can stop him? What information is on the phone that Buck and Mr. Skint are so concerned about? What will happen between Wooton and Penny? Will Emily ever come to her senses and let go of Buck? Will Buck ever stop lying through his teeth and tell anyone the truth? How will he do with his first day on the job at Whit's End? Will he end up causing any trouble? Can we trust Agent Tanner? Or will she ever be exposed? Will Polehaus be able to set aside his prejudice against the Hagglers long enough to see what Wally has discovered? Will Katrina continue to get "too personally involved" with Buck, and eventually uncover his secret? And will any of you listen to my warning not to scroll down the comments on the FAIO page and keep away from finding out who the Stilletto is? ;D

I guess we'll have to just keep listening. Thanks for reading my review! Tell me what your opinions are in the comments!

...And So It Endures...

Wow! Episode five was packed full! I think it's my favorite episode so far! We didn't exactly learn all that much new stuff, but it was a great episode! Here's my review of this week's episode combined with last week's.

I love how Connie continues to have no idea what's going on. How surprised she must have been when Whit and a detective came in to her and Penny and interrogated Penny like she was a criminal. And then she asks Whit in the style that Tom continued to do in the Novacom saga when she's going to find out what's going on! I'm interested to see what part she'll play in the drama as it continues to unfold. Maybe she'll get kidnapped and Mitch will come to rescue her again! Maybe he's the Stilletto!

Andre Stojka is growing on me more and more as these episodes continue. He does a pretty good job in mystery mode, although I do have to admit, I still think Hal Smith and Paul Herlinger did better. He still seems like a Winnie-the-Pooh to me, and doesn't really get all that involved in the mystery. But the chemistry between him and Monty is pretty good. Their voices fit together, and it sounded good when Monty was giving Whit the scoop about everything that had happened up to this point. Monty doesn't sound exactly like I would have hoped, but he's okay. The guy who plays him played the bully in Another Man's Shoes years ago, so I have that guy's personality stuck in my head when I hear his voice, which isn't such a good thing. It gives more of a possibility for him to actually be a rogue agent. But I think that's been cleared up now, and now I suspect Agent Tanner.

I kind of suspected her from the beginning, since she suggested that Monty was a bad guy. Plus, her voice just screams that she's up to no good. Just as Detective Polehaus pointed out, she had no agents with her, and she traveled from Springfield in impossible time. I think her head really was turned when a lot of money was offered to her. She was the one who called Dirk Beggs and convinced him to change flight plans and go to Atlanta. I think that when Matthew and Eugene finally figure out the password to Dirk's phone, they're going to find Agent Tanner's phone number in there.

I liked the presence of kids in this episode. I think that's what's kept the last couple of episodes from being more exciting these last few weeks. I'm liking Jay more and more, since he continues to try to help catch the bad guys, and he trusts his uncle despite what the detective has said. I'm interested to see what he and Wally find out about Mr. Skint and Buck in the next episode that we might not already know. By the way, speaking of those two, this is what I think Buck and Mr. Skint look like as a result of their descriptions:



That picture of the man on the left (the villain from The Spiderwick Chronicles movie) was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the description of Mr. Skint in episode four. And then hearing the description twice more at other times, combined with his southern accent, I think that face fits him almost perfectly. The one on the right is a picture of the boy who plays Buck. I think how he looks in the official podcast better fits Buck's voice, but this was the only picture I could find. Although his southern accent continues to sound fake to me, this is how I think he should look.

I think Audrey Wasalewski did a great job as Katrina in part four, and I look forward to hearing her response to Buck's suggestion that she meet Mr. Skint at the carnival. I hope she gets to play a major part in the rest of the season, because I want to hear her with Eugene more. They're husband and wife, and yet we hadn't heard mention of her in four seasons! So I want to hear more of them together. Maybe they can work together to catch the counterfeiters.

Moving on, I don't know what to think about Penny Wise and Dr. Trask. I was thinking that the fact that they were involved with the painting of the carnival poster would link them to the bad guys, but so far, it doesn't seem to. But the counterfeiters would need an artist to design the fake bills. Who else could it be but the suspicious "Christian" local artist teacher at the college? But as Chris always says, I guess I'll just have to keep listening to see what happens with them. :)

A bunch of questions were answered in these last couple episodes, but now a bunch more have been brought up: Are we going to hear anything more from Dirk Beggs? Will he try to do something to Monty to keep himself clear? What will Matthew and Eugene find on the cell phone if they figure out the password? Will Katrina's suspicion about Buck lead her on a search to the address Buck gave her? Will she be convinced about Mr. Skint if and when she meets him at the carnival? What significance do Uncle Archie and the carnival have in all this? What is the connection between Archie and Wally, and when will it come into play? Are Penny Wise and/or Benjamin Trask real Christians? Do they have any connection to the counterfeiting? What will Detective Polehaus think about the printing press at Haggler's Junkyard? Will Monty stay put at Whit's house? Or will he seek out Agent Tanner? Is she really on the bad side or are we just being made to think that? Is there maybe something that Detective Polehaus is hiding?

Boy, I don't know if I'm going to be able to wait seven more episodes until all these are answered! And then I hear that there are more questions after that anyway! Aaah! I can't wait for next week!

Thanks for reading my review! Please comment with any thoughts!

P.S. @ odysseyzone: If you haven't been there, there's an Odyssey website called The Odyssey Scoop, and each year the last two years, the webmaster there has had a contest called "Scoop Yourself" where fans send in pictures of their Odyssey collections. I got my title picture from that website, so no, unfortunately, it isn't my own handiwork. :) If you want to see some other ones, click here or here.

...And So It Persists...

These episodes are probably going to get harder and harder to review, so please bear with me as I try to do my best. It'll probably sound jumbled up and slightly unorganized, because I don't have much time to be righting this.

I don't think we got as many answers to questions this episode as we did last episode. We didn't here anything from Mr. Skint, Dirk Beggs, or Monty. But we did get at least a little information about Monty and Beggs in Agent Tanner's soliloquy about his involvement with the counterfeiters. As far as I can tell, the Secret Service was suspicious of Dirk Beggs, so they sent Monty in on a mission to get information. For a while, it seemed like it might be a waste of time, but then Dirk started giving Monty information. But then they both disappeared until they were discovered after the plane crash, and now the Secret Service assumes the worst and considers Monty a rogue agent. I definitely agree with Whit that Monty wasn't the type of kid who would get tempted by money. So I'm considering him innocent until proven guilty.

Connie at art classes at CCCC...weird. But I'm sure it has something significant to do with the ultimate plot. We'll just have to see how it plays out. The character of Penny is weird, but I'm sure she's supposed to be that way. I never knew Connie was interested in drawing, let alone that she has the ability to copy the Mona Lisa! But what is this obsession with fangs? And I don't know about you, but I'm suspicious about the "Christianity" of Penny and Dr. Trask. Something tells me it's going to turn out to be some kind of weird cult, as in Bad Company. Something about Dr. Benjamin Trask makes me suspicious of him. Maybe it's the fact that he sounds like he's played by the same actor as Detective Polehaus. Are they related? Then again, Penny sounds like she could be played by Katie Leigh, so there's probably nothing there.

I definitely agree with Marvin (I think it was Marvin) who says that this relationship between Buck and Emily is Richard Maxwell/Lucy Cunningham-Schultz-like. It's an oldish boy whom we know is working for the bad guys playing with the heart of a girl who's obviously much younger than him. And, as he told Mr. Skint on the phone, Buck's going to use her to accomplish his diabolical plan to find Matthew and the AppleBerry. I don't know why Emily is being so naive all of a sudden. You'd think that since she's a detective that she'd be on guard for villains. Especially when there's a counterfeit money scheme involved. But I guess girls will be girls. : )

I was expecting to hear from Jay, Matthew, and Nelson, or at least Jay since I was told by Marvin that we'd be hearing from him in every episode. But they were in the "Previously on Adventures in Odyssey" clip at the beginning, so maybe that's what Marvin meant. Hopefully he'll be in the next one.

Well there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered: What is the significance of Penny and Dr. Trask? Will their "Christianity" prove to be genuine? What will Buck do with Emily? Will she help him find Matthew? What is on the phone, since Mr. Skint wants it so badly? Will Emily maybe turn Buck around and get him on our side? Or will Buck end up nearly killing her like Richard did to Lucy? What's up with the Stiletto? Is he only a myth? And is Monty a rogue agent? Why was he in Whit's house? And is he going to be okay, since we couldn't hear him responding to Whit? What is Detective Polehaus going to do with the counterfeit money? Is he a bad guy? Will he link it to Buck because of the "Oliver" Twist book in the front pocket? Will there be a cliff-hanger involving Monty in every episode?

I can't wait to hear the fourth episode next week! Thanks for reading my review! Please comment!

...And So It Continues...

This part was even better than the last one! But they're getting harder to review. It's difficult to review an episode that's a part of a bigger story. That's why, in past seasons, I've always reviewed episodes as a whole when all the parts have aired. That's not really possible this season though, so I'm going to do my best. By the way, if you haven't been there, FreddyJay at The Campbell County Connection is reviewing the episodes in a very interesting way. He's comparing them with the episodes in Album 25: Darkness Before Dawn each week. The first review last week comparing The GRC Part I to A Little Credit Please was very interesting, and I expect this week's to be even more so, so go check it out!

I thought that the opening scene to this second episode was even better than last week's opening scene with Matthew and Emily. This time we got some answers to questions right off the bat, and I hope the same thing happens next week. I really like the characters of Mr. Skint and Buck, but already a bunch more questions have been brought up. I'm wondering if the fact that they both have southern accents will come into play later on. I would think Detective Polehaus should have been more suspicious of Buck upon hearing his strange accent. (I personally think it sounds fake--kind of like the Australian boy, Simon, in A Little Credit, Please.) Somehow they have a connection with Uncle Archie of the carnival, and I think that's going to matter later on.

Detective Polehaus keeps making a big deal about how bad of a family background Wally Haggler has, and I don't know if anyone else caught it, but Uncle Archie is his brother. (So does that mean he's Jay's dad?! Or just another uncle?) I think the detective must know something about Archie's involvement in something, or at least he's suspicious, or he wouldn't be harping upon Wally's background so much. I thought it was intriguing that the detective also knew immediately who the Stiletto is, and that he thought Wally was lying as soon as he was brought up. I looked up the word stiletto in the dictionary to see if that'd give me any clues, but it only means "a small dagger" or "a thin high heel on a woman's shoe". I still think it could be Mr. Charles or the Chairman. I don't think it's Mitch, Richard, or Jason, because each of them is a Christian, and wouldn't do something like that. Well I guess Richard isn't necessarily a Christian, but he's always been a good guy, and he understands forgiveness and repentance. I really have no clue who he could be though.

Monty works in the Secret Service? I never would have guessed that he'd go that direction from his earlier shows. I wonder if Jana knows anything about it. Maybe his dad got him into it. But I think it makes sense that he'd be investigating the counterfeit case. My theory is that he is a spy for the government, and Dirk Beggs, Mr. Skint whoever the other guy is think he's in on the plan. The only sign that he was an agent was the disc under his skin, so I don't see how any of them would know, or why he'd tell them. I can't see him being a double agent against the government, so I don't think he's actually working with them. But now he's right back out of the hospital, and he left us with another cliff-hanger!

Eugene seems to have his action/adventure cap on in these episodes. His attitude and tone remind me of the days when he was trying to find his father with Whit. The chemistry between him and Emily, in my opinion, is really, really good, and I think he'd make a more fitting partner for Emily in a detective agency than Matthew does. ;) And also, the music again really added to the show. John Campbell does a great job composing for mysteries. It hearkens back to the Novacom days. But I'm still waiting to hear from Katrina! I hope she comes in soon. And I hope Audrey Wasalewski starts doing a better job with her voice. In past episodes with her and Eugene, I agree with those who say that she isn't as good of a Katrina as Pamela Hayden was. But she hasn't been in mystery mode for a while, so maybe she can redeem herself.

The kids were really good in the episode again. I thought Matthew especially did a good job. He was right to say that he shouldn't go to meet a stranger, and then I thought it was great that he said he wanted to meet at the police station. I'm really itching to know what's on the AppleBerry phone, to find out why Mr. Skint is so concerned that it will fall into the wrong hands. Georgina Cordova continues to do a great job playing Nelson, and I'm continually amazed at how much she can make him sound like a boy. His argument with Jay about the plane crash made me laugh. Jay also did a good job in the episode. It seems that he's going to be a very important character in the episodes to come, since he links the bad guys to the good guys. I look forward to hearing more from him, since Marvin says that he's in every episode this season.

There are still so many questions, despite how many were answered in this episode: What is Dirk Beggs' secret? What's on the AppleBerry he dropped? What's Uncle Wally's part in all this? And what is the significance of his relation to Uncle Archie at the carnival? Who is Monty working for? Why and how did he escape from the hospital? What's going to happen with the counterfeit money? Is that the "knapsack or something" that dropped from the plane during the fight in the air? Why is Detective Polehaus so suspicious and hostile toward Uncle Wally? Does the detective have any secrets himself? Who is the Stiletto? And why do all the suspicious people know who he is? What part is Connie going to play as the episodes continue? Is her place at the college going to play a role? What's going to happen at Uncle Archie's carnival? And when will we ever learn if a duck's quack really echoes?!

I can't wait to hear the answers to all these questions as the season continues to unfold. I'm glad that this episode had a good moral presented by Chris at the end. Hopefully the rest of the episodes will end up following suit. Thank you for taking the time to read my review! Please comment!

P.S. I think this should be okay since the Official Podcast has released it, so here's the album art for Album 54!:



I have to admit that I don't like this one as much as I've liked the ones in the past. I feel pretty much the same about it as I did about Album 51's art when it first came out. It just doesn't seem like it'd look good on the front of an album. But maybe it will look better when it gets a border around it and actually goes on the album.

By the way, I think, based on the title as presented on the Official Podcast blog, that the title of Album 54 has been changed slightly from Clanging Cymbals and the Meaning of Love to Clanging Cymbals and the Meaning of God's Love.

New Characters

Or at least they're new to those of you who haven't yet heard Album 53. ;) The newest Official Podcast video episode features a short look at each of the new characters and their actors. We get to hear the names and voices of the new characters, and they even give us some lines from the shows. I'll list them here for those of you who don't have time to watch the podcast.

• Phil Proctor (formerly played Leonard Meltsner)--Detective Don Polehaus: "Too bad we don't allow preemptive arrests. (Jay: "What does that mean?") Ask your uncle--or anyone else he knows at Campbell County Prison!"


• Robby Bruce--Buck Oliver: "Dirk Beggs is in intensive care. They won't let anyone in to see him."


• ?--Dirk Beggs (talking on the phone): "Listen to me, it's Dirk Beggs. Look, I know you said not to call on this number again, but it's all gone wrong!"


• Lori Tritel--Dr. Lilly Graham: "We received a confidential directive from Homeland Security that they'd begun embedding identification chips under the arms of their agents."


• David Selby--Jebediah Skint: "Here you go, Buck, my boy. Let's hope you get that job at Whit's End."


• Keith Ferguson--Ted Humphries, news caster: "He's a good cop, but not very tolerant of little things like...social skills. I've met junkyard dogs with better personalities."

This isn't much new information, but we now know that Buck is possibly involved in a scheme with Mr. Skint, having to do with getting a job at Whit's End, Buck is also involved somehow with Dirk Beggs, and whatever Beggs is up to with the person he's talking to on the phone has gone completely wrong. Also, Jay's uncle (Wally Haggler) returns, and is presumably in prison for something.

It sounds like this is going to be a very, very interesting season, and I can't wait to hear it!

More Secrets Revealed

There is a new video podcast up at the Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast Blog, not to be confused with the Adventures in Odyssey Blog.





It features Brock telling us about a new video podcast for Mother's Day. I'm not sure of all the details because I was concetrating more on what was going on behind Brock. Look closely, and you will see something that Blodyssey has been dying to see ever since the fake album art for Album 52 got out.

Also, for anyone who is following it, the second edition of The Odyssey Scoopcast is up. It provides a recap of all the new information and surprises being revealed around Blodyssey in the past week or so. Kevin McCreary, creator of The Ceiling Fan Podcast is the host.

Finally, the second heartcast is out on The Heart of Odyssey. And the 24th episode of The Ceiling Fan is up as well. It's pretty funny. Their podcast has a reputation of exaggerating and doing hilarious interviews.

That's all the info for now. Keep on the lookout for more updates and secrets revealed in the near future.