Reviews
for
"Emily the Genius"
[#699]
*All
ratings are based on a 5 star scale unless otherwise noted.
Review by Jesus'
Princess (Town of Odyssey)
Rating:
 
Well, it was an okay episode,
I felt like there wasn't much to it though, and the whole
first Corinthians theme didn't tie in that well in my
opinion. I'd probably give it a 2.5 out of 5.
Review by Smaug the
Dragon (Town of Odyssey)
This episode could have been
written for me. I could identify with Emily so well. This is
my last year of Secondary School, and I've been struggling
with what path to choose in college. I've somtimes felt that
whatever I do, or whatever result I get in my Leaving Cert.,
might not be good enough for my parents and for God. This
episode really reminded me that those fears are groundless.
Thank you Odyssey team.
Review by
JesusFreak777
(Town of Odyssey)
I enjoyed this episode! Emily
was finally written in a way that made me like and identify
with her. Keep it up AIO!
Review by Bob
(Town of Odyssey)
Rating:
I have to say that I
expected a significantly different episode from what we got
here, and that the way this turned out was a pleasant
surprise, all things considered.
To put it succinctly, Em got
burned in this
story, and I can't help but sympathize with her. Basically,
the plot goes like this:
School Department: Hey Jones Family, your
daughter is brilliant!
Mrs. Jones: Wow!
Barrett: That's like, cool.
Mr. Jones: My dream has finally come to pass!
(later)
Schoolteacher: Hey, can I talk to you in private, Emily?
Emily: Sure.
Schoolteacher: You know that whole thing, where we said
you're a genius?
Emily: Yes?
Schoolteacher: LOL... well... we're JK. You're not
anything special, so lower your expectations, little
girl.
Emily: ... o_;
She did lie, in that she didn't go to any
special effort to admit the truth, but the point of the
episode isn't that she lied, and that lying is evil (as
everyone who's listening to the episode already knows), the
point is that she fell into a tragic circumstance that her
parents (initially) did nothing to help, all based on a
misunderstanding of her situation.
I have a feeling that most listeners wouldn't want to
readily admit it if they were in that kind of circumstance.
Denial is a natural part of the grieving process, and I know
that if someone told me that I didn't really have some
talent or ability I believed I possessed, my first instinct
would be to try to prove them wrong. I think that probably
played some role in Emily's decision, and I can't honestly
say that I would certainly handle it entirely differently
from her if I was in the same situation.
Finally, it's important to remember that forgiveness and
mercy are critical parts of this equation. The episode
should acknowledge and convict her wrongdoing, but not
condemn her as a person for making a bad decision. It
reminds me of "A Prodigal Jimmy" -- that episode doesn't
spend much time talking about why Jimmy was wrong, either.
Why not? Because there was no need to. Everyone knows he's
wrong. The story isn't just about his fall, it's about him
getting back up again from the fall. With all this in mind,
I don't think that taking five minutes to beat Em over the
head for her wrongdoing would have improved the episode.
I admit the verse at the end seems kind of tacked on, and
that the AIO team probably could have done a better job of
connecting the moral with the episode, but that doesn't
change the quality of the story itself. I rated it 4/5; I
don't think 83/99 would be a bad rating either.
Review by Laura
Ingalls
(Town of Odyssey)
I was expecting another Emily
episode that I cringed through the entire time, but I was
pleasantly surprised. This was a decent episode - I felt
sorry for Emily...getting her hopes up, only to be dashed. I
think the theme of love worked for her
parents,
unconditionally loving her no matter what her test scores
were. However, I didn't think love really fit what
she was doing. I
would say she was working hard out of fear of losing her
parents' approval, not necessarily out of love for them.
Just a small quibble.
Review by CD33
(Town of Odyssey)
I loved this episode
especially because Emily got bashed and put in her place.
Review by Catspaw
(Town of Odyssey)
I listened to this episode
today and has the same thoughts! Her parents definitely
could have done a better job of showing that their love and
approval is not conditional on her brilliance or the lack
thereof, but I guess that wouldn't have made much of an
episode. I thought the ending was weak because I did agree
with Laura that Emily was acting out of the fear of losing
her parents' love, which is not the same thing as acting out
of a genuine love for them. I guess the case could be made
otherwise, but I thought that part could have been better.
Overall, it was a decent episode. I liked Matthew's role in
the episode as the voice of reason.
Review by LizzieG
(Town of Odyssey)
Why would Mrs. Jones wonder if
it was Emily at the door when the doorbell rang? Why would
she be ringing the doorbell at her own house?
Anyway, on to my review:
Wow, this was actually a good episode! What a pleasant
surprise. It's nice to finally hear from Mrs. Jones (other
than her line or two in "Game for a Mystery") and have a
bona fide Jones family episode. It was also nice hearing a
humbler, more human side of Emily (which is kind of ironic,
given the episode title). Definitely my favorite Emily Jones
episode so far. I did really like Emily's talk with her dad
at the end (but why is it that there are so many more
touching father-child talks than mother-child talks in
Odyssey?), and I'm glad Emily still took the test -- I
would've always wondered if she hadn't.
When Emily talked about wanting to take the test anyway as a
gift for her parents, it reminded me of things I've done as
gifts for my parents. However, it sounded to me like she
crossed the line between doing something out of love, and
doing something to earn someone's love. Kind of like
Michaela in "Pink is Not My Color." While she may have been
partially motivated by her love for her parents, from what I
could tell her dominant motivation was to earn their
approval. That fact didn't come through as loud and clear as
it probably should've, particularly in Chris's wrap-up. We
don't want people emulating Emily's actions and mistakenly
thinking that they're doing the right thing (though I'm sure
there are some people who would do this kind of thing for
the right reasons; Emily just wasn't one of them). So I
agree with Laura Ingalls and Catspaw in this respect.
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