Reviews for
"A Penny Saved"
[#692]


*All ratings are based on a 5 star scale unless otherwise noted.

 

Review by Gracie

Rating: 

 

When I first heard "A Penny Saved" I really liked it, but when I read the reviews, a few things came to mind that kind of bothered me. (1) I don't think that Wooten should be getting so emotionally involved with Penny when at least I never got the message that she for sure is a Christian. I wish that he would make sure she's a Christian before he starts asking her out to movies. (2) It reminds me a lot of the episode where Liz's dad loses his job and Mandy and Jared go looking for her. I don't really like it when they "rewrite" episodes, but that's just me. :)) (3) For some reason, both Connie and Eugene have kind of been getting on my nerves lately, especially Connie. She just doesn't act "normal". It seems like she's gotten a lot more immature since Mitch left. (By the way, I was really disgusted that they missed the perfect opportunity to bring Mitch back in the Green Ring Conspiracy! :P). But other than those things I'm really enjoying this album so far!!!! I especially like "Wooten Knows Best"!!!!!

 

 

Review by jennifertwt (Town of Odyssey)

 

I thought it was a good episode, but see now I need to go back and listen to the Green Ring consipiracy again if they are going to pick up where it left off in this album. I like the I Corinthians 13 tie in but really wish they had titled the episodes out of that chapter like ON Earth as it is in Heaven, and yes, I will mention that at every opportunity.

 

 

Review by Gaius (Town of Odyssey)

Rating: 

(out of 10)

 

So we're in the post-GRC era, and Trask gets 20 years in prison, thanks largely in order to Penny, Connie, and Wooton (who only did it because he got locked up in a train, but got out anyways). I was disappointed we didn't get to hear anything from Trask, though. It feels good, however, to hear from Polehaus again, dry humor and all . It would have been fun, though, to see some of the devices from the Middle Ages used. I was reading about them a few months ago. . .let's just say they aren't pretty. At all =P

There's a celebration party at Whit's End, with all the "normals", and now Wooton starts to get just a little on my nerves with all his wisecracks. Connie finds out that Penny's not doing so well, and so she decides to go find out what's wrong. Of course, the next day, Wooton gets stood up (or more. . .sat down) when Penny doesn't show up at the theatre, and that does it for Connie, who's off to the college to find her with the word (Hurry!) At the college, Connie and Wooton goes to talk to Professor Bruce, who really strikes up on a bad note with me. It wouldn't surprise me if he were evil. Such a mean man, really. Wooton keeps butting in every time, and then Bruce makes rather rude remarks about Penny, and Connie defends her. And then it's made clear that Penny probably won't have a job anywhere at the campus.

At Penny's room, they try in no avail to find her (with Wooton continuously making corny remarks), and Connie talks to the "chipper young feller" who also believes Penny was on the wrong side (moral angst, as he calls it). Once the conversation is over, he rather audaciously asks Connie to go out with him sometime, but she says she doesn't like guys with moral angst. Moral ambiguity? Well. . .that depends. Yes, I'm ambiguous. What's it to you?

After another search for Penny (somewhat similar to Whit talking to that guy about Mitch in the Novacom saga), Connie kind of lays in on Wooton about his humor. . .which reveals that he's using his "frivoulous humor" to mask his concern for her. Oh, brother. (Oh, sister.) That doesn't explain the rest of the times he was annoying. But still, it's a nice little moment, and we do get a little hint that Penny and Wooton. . .well. . .*leaves it at that*

Penny, meanwhile, has to spend the night in the park (or tries to, after an officer comes to "help her"). After he leaves for awhile during their interesting conversation, she finds out how to open the trunk of her car. Someone mentioned how it kind of seemed that Penny was drunk here. To be honest, Penny did sound. . .different. This scene also reminded me of Living in the Gray, with Felicia (who sounds like Penny), and Jimmy's being homeless. And just like Felicia, Penny ends up in jail (after having her rights read).

The gang at Whit's End is busy discussing Penny's current plight, and strangely enough, Polehaus calls and explains the situation. Yep, none other like Penny would be having a party in jail. Of course, unless you're Wooton Basset. . .At the jail, they update more on the situation, and then go in on the party. For a second. . .I was afraid it would be something. . .seriously out of hand. It was so good to see Penny so happy about Connie, Wooton, and Whit. The good thing is, Penny is happy about getting to wear the orange jumpers she moped about in GRC.

Connie and Whit and Wooton set Penny straight and Connie takes Penny out, and Penny's touched. At least Penny was serious right there, even if she decides to tell Polehaus that vermillion curtains are in order. Oi vey. And Wooton tries to get arrested too. Jeez. LOCK 'IM UP!

At a picnic, the trio reminiscies over the past experiences, and the conversation is finally. . .serious, considering we have two of the weirdest characters together. We do see that Penny had a "father" relation with Trask, albeit it wasn't a true one, but it still will hurt in the days to come. And so the three toast with raspberry soda, even if Connie can't really drink it. Hey, cranberry juice is better. *Way* better.

To be honest, once looking over it, this episode was kind of. . .simple. Basically, it's like "Connie and Wooton search for a hurt Penny." And also, I didn't quite get the feel of what this show was supposed to be about. And Wooton's started to get more annoying. I do hope he doesn't get much worse. However, I suppose we'll see how Penny, Wooton, and Connie go on their adventures in the days to come.

 

 

Review by Lee (Town of Odyssey)

Rating: 

 

I thought this episode was rather amusing, (the parts with Penny made me laugh) but also quite shallow. I didn't really get much of a point out of it, so I'll give it a 3. It just seems like Wooton and Penny are good for the occasional laugh, but they're mostly goons.

 

 

Review by DanP740 (Town of Odyssey)

Rating: 

 

Penny's voice is even more annoying than the new Connie-yelling-voice. And they still sound too similar to each other. And yeah, like someone said, what the heck is wrong with Penny and her car?

Barely gets 3 out of 5...
 

And does anybody seriously just walk up to someone and say "hey, you're cute. Wanna date?"

 

 

Review by Steve (Town of Odyssey)

Rating: 

 

This episode only got two out of five because of the line about "moral angst."

Other than that, I really wanted to beat up all of the characters because they were so annoying. (And by the way, the title has next to nothing to do with the episode [except for the word "Penny"]. It's not a salvation story like it sounds like it should be.)

So yeah, pretty poor episode. Not one I'll be too excited to hear again.

 

 

Review by Sapphire (Town of Odyssey)

Rating: 

 

I enjoyed this episode. It dealt with a good topic. There are many people out there who feel guilty about testifying against a friend in court. I wish it was more of a serious episode, but I guess you can never have a serious episode when Wooton is in it. So, that's my only complaint about the episode. Not my favorite episode, but it's not my lease favorite. I give "A Penny Saved" three stars out of five.

 

 

Review by 31899 (Town of Odyssey)

Rating: 

 

I found this episode was better than the first episode of the season. It was more believable to an extent. The whole prison thing was rather odd.


One up from the last episode giving it 3 out of 5.

 

 

Review by Dallas R. (Town of Odyssey)

 

I guess I'm in a minority here, but I actually was pleasantly surprised by the episode. I wasn't expecting much since I don't really like Penny that much, and I really didn't like her and Wooten during the Green Ring Conspiracy, but I thought their chemistry was much better here. She's still not really a Christian though...

The story was pretty silly, and didn't develop very much, but I think that this is sort of necessary when continuing on storylines after a long saga. After so many episodes of serious, in depth story, it's nice to hear the characters in something light and fluffy again. They did the same thing after Darkness Before Dawn with "Welcome Home Mr. Blackgaard" and after Novacom, with "Between You and Me." I think Wooton and Penny worked much better in this type of episode.

I was glad to hear Wooton back to being a little more like his old self. He actually had a few lines where I thought he showed some maturity again. I loved where he says he's using witty humor to cover up his true feelings. I do that a lot, and it was nice to know that Wooton really was hurting in the whole situation, and not just frivoluously laughing it off as he was letting on.

Overall, it was a good, humorous episode that made me laugh multiple times. I think it was the right Post-saga approach.
 

 

Review by Christian A. (Town of Odyssey)

Rating: 

(out of 10)

 

My initial perception of the episode when I finished listening the first time, like Marvin's, was that it was very simple. I agree with Ben Warren (the Odyssey Scoop's reviewer) that this felt much like episodes after Darkness Before Dawn and The Novacom Saga that were merely transition episodes. Rather than having an original premise, it merely ties up loose ends that were left at the end of The Green Ring Conspiracy. The only problem with that is that not really any of the issues addressed in the episode were problems at the end of the GRC. Sure it was nice to know that Dr. Trask got what was coming to him, but we could have deduced that outcome for ourselves. He was captured and taken into custody, and there was loads of evidence stacked up against him, so who wouldn't have thought that he'd be found guilty on all charges? But I never would have guessed that Penny would be so depressed about it.

Honestly, I was not looking forward to another episode with Penny in it. In my opinion, apart from the part that she played in helping the folks from Whit's End get more information about Dr. Trask, she could have been taken out of the album, and I wouldn't have missed anything. I really disliked her character and the influence she had on Wooton, and she was just a flat character that didn't intrigue me in the least. Now in this episode, she became more round, because the episode revolved around her, but that didn't make me like her much more. I understand how she would have been really bummed to have to testify against a man who was a friend and a father to her, but I thought the extent of it was slightly unrealistic, and then her quick turnaround at the jail was even more so. I don't think this single episode gave the writers enough time to flesh out Penny's problem and then fully resolve it. Yes, there was a semi-satisfying explanation during the picnic scene, but even that was not much. I probably would have liked the episode more if it was maybe a two-parter that gave me more chance to be emotionally connected to what Penny was really feeling.

I was glad to hear from Detective Polehaus again. It seems like he might become the new Officer Burke or O'Ryan who shows up for any Odyssian crime. I liked that he seemed to be one of Whit's End's regular customers. I look forward to hearing more from him. His humor was pretty good, as usual, and his chemistry with the other characters remained great.

Wooton.... I had mixed feelings about him in this episode. On the downside of things, there were, as has been the writers' ongoing habit, many times where a serious subject was being addressed, and he threw in a punchline that was supposed to get me to laugh, but really just made me groan on the inside. I actually did think he and Connie made a good team though. It seems right for him to be sharing his feelings with her, rather than Penny, or even Whit. I dunno, but they just seem to go well together. I liked the little exchange about how he uses humor to cover up true feelings. Maybe that was Mr. McCusker's way of apologizing for all of the times in the GRC that Wooton killed the sobriety of the moment with a joke. If so, then it was an acceptable apology that made me think for a while. But I still wish he and other writers would hold back on the jokes just a bit. Wooton isn't merely loved for his jokes. In fact, I think since Jay has really taken up that position now, Wooton should primarily be loved for his openness and honesty, which we got to see in this episode. He was always great with kids and a good spiritual example to follow, but recently all he's been is the court jester who comes around to lighten the mood, but who ends up being a nuisance most of the time.

I liked how Connie was wanting to be a faithful friend to Penny throughout the episode. As others have mentioned, I think it's great that Connie finally has someone her age with whom she can socialize and connect emotionally. (I personally just wish that someone wasn't Penny.)

I thought the scene with Professor Bruce was a little weird. Why would he be so annoyed at people who put a counterfeiter behind bars? Sure he was a respected professor at the college, but all that time, he was ringleading a nationwide counterfeiting operation aimed at financially tearing down America from the inside! That's about as bad of a non-violent criminal you can get. But the scene with the college student was pretty funny, freeing my mind back up with some great humor. Some have asked why he was so quick to ask Connie out, and I wonder if those people have ever been around secular college kids. It was very realistic. I listen to a radio show where a guy goes and witnesses to kids on a college campus. And most of them are just like this guy was: morally ambiguous and postmodern--no respect for right and wrong, only caring about their personal views and opinions. (Note: I know that I have many readers who attend college so know that I'm not meaning this to be a generalization of all college kids, just the majority of America's young people.

The thing that I liked least about the episode was that it really didn't feel like it belonged in a collection about 1 Corinthians 13. I have to admit that I totally forgot that the episode was supposed to be describing an aspect of love, and I didn't realize that that was supposed to be the moral of the story until I read somebody else's review on the Town of Odyssey. To me, the episode felt like it was just a story meant for entertainment (though it did a poor job had that been the only purpose), like the rest of the GRC. I didn't notice that an aspect of love was being demonstrated at all. Now, of course, I see how that would have worked, with Connie and Wooton, relentlessly pursuing Penny to help her and understand her feelings, but I really didn't get it while I was listening. Maybe I was the only one who felt that way.

So I wasn't especially interested by this episode. It met my expectations as well as a Penny and Wooton episode could, so it wasn't all that great. Maybe my thoughts are just clouded because I'm tired, and I'm being overly negative, but I don't think this would be an episode I'd want to listen to over and over again. Unfortunately if and when I get the album, this show will most likely be on the same CD as Wooton Knows Best, so I'll sorta be forced to hear it multiple times. Oh well.
 

 

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