Reviews
for
"The Perfect Church"
[#715,
716]
*All
ratings are based on a 5 star scale unless otherwise noted.
Part One
Review by Christian
A.
Rating:
I loved this episode. But I loved it in a
different way than I've loved episodes that have come
before. In previous seasons, I've appreciated episodes
because of how they furthered character development, or how
they had entertaining story lines; but this episode was
incredible, because it took its general story from the
Bible! And, like all the Imagination Station adventures
we've come to know and love from Odyssey's past, it made the
stories that we read in the pages of Scripture, which may at
times seem dry and static, come to life! It was amazing to
see/hear so many different accounts that I've read and heard
over the years come together into a unified whole to tell
the story of the early church. It makes me wish that this
episode wasn't only two parts, but that it filled the whole
album and covered the entire Book of Acts!
See, I'm sort of a Bible geek. Before moving to the church
that my family are currently members of, I was known as the
"smart kid" because I knew so many facts about the Bible and
the accounts it contains. I did Bible quizzing for a number
of years, and for a couple of those years, the book we
studied fairly extensively was Acts. So I know a lot about
the characters and events of the early church. Therefore,
this episode was all the more meaningful to me. It was great
to see how different parts of the story found their ground
in major parts of the book, as well as to pick up on how
minor plots tied in with more generic parts. For example, I
thought it was very clever to have the main characters,
Seth's family, be the ones who bought the land of Ananias
and Sapphira and gave them the money, which, as most of you
will know, they dealt with dishonestly, and they later paid
the price for it. This aspect of the storytelling also makes
it nice, in that we don't have to wonder so much about
what's going to happen in the next episode. However, at the
same time, the writers took enough liberty in creating the
different story elements that we have a good amount to
speculate and wonder about--such as what's going to happen
to the church now that Saul is in the picture.
I'm also wondering how far ahead the next episode is going
to go, because in Acts 12, when Peter has escaped from
prison and he comes to the door of the house where members
of the church are praying for him, he encounters "a servant
girl named Rhoda." That was immediately who I thought of
when Rhoda appeared in this episode. I doubt it's a
coincidence that she has the same name as another character
of her age in the Book of Acts, so I think either the story
will jump ahead a little bit and give that account, or it
will at least be hinted at, so that we know that Rhoda
actually fits in in Scripture somewhere.
Well, all that said about the story, I'll go on to the
characters and the acting. I thought the acting was very
top-notch. Usually, with Odyssey, we're used to hearing the
same actors voice the same characters week in and week out.
But the great thing about Imagination Station adventures is
that we get to hear a variety of more general actors who we
don't hear nearly as often, and they always do an excellent
job voicing their individual characters, even though they
don't get much air time. I was particularly interested with
the lame man who was healed by Peter and John, because I
thought he sounded very much like a mix between Tigger from
Winnie the Pooh and King Lawrence from Darien's
Rise--meaning then that he could only have been voiced by
one person: Jim Cummings! It was cool to have him back,
albeit for a short amount of time. But that's what I'm
talking about. These actors are talented enough that they
bring a superb performance and life to their characters in
only the short amount of time they are given.
It was interesting to hear from the actor who played Sue in
"The Labyrinth" again. I thought she did a very nice job.
Obviously, I could tell it was her, but she pulled off the
American accent very well (unlike when she tried to
impersonate an American in the previously-mentioned episode
:P). I thought she had a very sweet-sounding voice, and the
chemistry between her and Matthew was pretty good. Though,
at times, she reminded me of Emily, so at those points I
wasn't appreciating her voice so much. ;)
I'll touch on this a bit more later, but I thought Eugene
was a very good narrator. I didn't find myself missing the
old, computerized "Mabel" voice at all. Will Ryan did a
great job, and I would hope to hear more from Eugene in this
role in the future. Then there's Whit. You all, I'm sure,
know how I feel about Andre Stojka doing the voice of this
timeless, beloved character. But actually he wasn't all that
bad in this episode. Granted, he only had a few lines at the
beginning (which I thought was for the better), but he
actually did pretty well with what he had. I didn't feel so
much like I was hearing Andre, but more like I was hearing
Mr. Whittaker. I surprised myself. We'll see how he does in
the coming episodes later on this season.
Moving on to the workings of the new Imagination Station: I
was impressed. Although there was a somewhat radical change
in the way things operated, I really liked it. The changes
felt more like an update to the machine, rather than a
fundamental adjustment. As I said before, I really liked
Eugene as narrator at the outset, and then as a general
commentator throughout. I laughed the first time he cut in,
with the definition for "Gentile," and throughout the
episode it was a believable way for Matthew to receive
necessary information on the culture and the era, rather
than being completely confused like some characters have
ended up in the past. In addition to Eugene's overall
narration, I specifically appreciated his reading of
Scripture at the beginning. I thought that was very
powerful, and I would definitely like to hear more of that
in the future. Oh, and then one more thing. I also liked how
the Imagination Station transferred Matthew from one setting
to the next. It reminded me of Kelly's adventure in "The
Imagination Station, Revisited" with the doors; but this was
even better. I chuckled every time Matthew was hurled about
through time and dropped into each particular environment.
Hopefully all of these modifications to the Imagination
Station will stick around through the rest of the season.
Well, I guess I should bring this review to a close, as it's
become quite lengthy. We hadn't heard an episode totally
devoted to an Imagination Station adventure since the close
of Album 50, and the only other episode it's been a part of
since the relaunch was "Fast As I Can," where many fans
complained that it just wasn't the same, that it was
operating differently that it always has over the years. It
has also been referenced briefly in a few episodes over the
more recent seasons, one of the more notable ones being
"Child's Play," but this is the first time we've really seen
it since Odyssey was "redesigned." And it was a very
refreshing reminder of the past. However, at the same time,
it wasn't stuck in the past. It was definitely an
improvement on adventures that were previously experienced
within the doors of the machine. The writing and dialogue
were excellent, and the correlation between the plot and the
accounts in the Bible, as I mentioned, were wonderful as
well. I was also very impressed with the variety of great
themes touched on in the episode. Among the things briefly
mentioned were the inexplicable blindness of the hearts of
the Jewish leaders, the inevitability of persecution of
Christians, the inclusion of the Gentiles, speaking in
tongues, Jesus taking God's wrath on the cross, and the
conundrum about Jewish traditions and the Law of Moses. All
of those things are very important, so it was great to see
the Odyssey writers incorporate those themes into the story.
Part Two
Review by Christian
A.
Rating:
Well, we come now to the conclusion of
Matthew's Imagination Station adventure. And I liked it just
as much, if not more than I liked the first installment. The
acting was, again, very well done, and the plot, though more
heavily reliant upon Scripture this time around, was just as
good. I'm taking a little bit of a different direction in my
approach to reviewing this week. I'm going to give
commentary after listening to each section of the episode,
rather than summarizing all my thoughts after I've listened
to the whole thing. It'll be similar to what my reviews were
like during the Green Ring Conspiracy, but not exactly the
same. Anyway, here it is:
I was confused by the first scene of the episode, because I
didn't remember the story about an angel of the Lord coming
and releasing the apostles from prison. But when I looked it
up in Acts, I saw that it was after the account of Ananias
and Sapphira in Chapter 5. Then I was more confused, since
the events regarding that couple hadn't transpired in the
episode yet. Obviously, that was quickly resolved with the
recap from Rhoda. And again, I was very impressed with how
closely the Odyssey team stuck to the accounts and the
chronology in Scripture.
I really enjoyed the argument that Seth had with the
Hellenist Jew. Everything they discussed was so historically
and culturally accurate and relevant. I really love how much
thought was put into the conversations and the struggles of
the characters in these episodes.
And then if those intricacies weren't enough, during the
feud, Peter and the other apostles return, giving account of
the beatings they received in Chapter 5:40-41, connecting
Chapter 6 very nicely to the previous events. As I said last
week, it's really opening up a whole new world for me to
have all these stories connected together in such an
incredible way. I'm learning along with Matthew that the
church back then was just as closely-knit and personal and
real as my church is now. I should never think of it as this
stoic, unemotional, passionless entity that God wrote about
and worked through, but that didn't really experience things
like we experience them today. These were real people, like
Seth, Deborah, and Rhoda, who had hopes, hurts, struggles,
and joys--just like we do today. It's a refreshing reminder
to know that we as Christians today are not alone; thousands
have walked the road before us; even those thousands of
years ago struggled with doctrines they didn't understand,
Providences that they didn't know how to take, and
persecutions that they felt like they couldn't endure.
The short conversation that Matthew had with Stephen was
excellent. It didn't feel like something read off of a
script. It felt to me like a re-telling of an actual
account, full of things Stephen really would have said. And
then that carried over beautifully into the words that Rhoda
spoke to Matthew concerning the sacrifice of Jesus in His
crucifixion on Golgotha. It was great to see early
Christians making connections in biblical doctrines before
Paul explained them in his epistles--even before he was
Paul!
And then, the climax of the episode, the discourse of
Stephen in the temple. At first, I was a little puzzled as
to why the writers would portray the entire speech, as, to
me, it always seemed a little disjointed and
all-over-the-place. I sort of sympathized with the Jews who
were asking him why he was telling them so many things they
already knew. But then, chills went down my spine as, for
the first time, I understood what connections Stephen was
trying to make about the temple and the dwelling of God and
idolatry. This was the first time in a long time that I felt
I truly learned something from an Odyssey episode that I
didn't realize before. The whole scene was superbly carried
out, and it flowed together logically so well. And yet it
all came from the pages of God's Word!
And the adventure ends in basically an exposition of Acts
8:1-4, a passage I recently memorized for the National Bible
Bee. All the points in these verses were covered in the
closing minutes:
"Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great
persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem;
and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried
Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every
house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to
prison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere
preaching the word."
And, what do you know, I actually found myself really
enjoying Mr. Whittaker's words to Matthew at the end. He
actually sounded like a wise old man, full of knowledge
gained through life's experiences. And through his words, we
receive the moral of the episode--and a very good one at
that. The church is just as full of problems today as it was
back in the first century; and yet, because the true,
universal church is made up of believers, it is just as much
important to and loved by God as was the church two thousand
years ago. Now, that's not to discount that there are
errors, and even heresies and false teachers in the church
(very many of them, in fact), and we are told by Paul to
"mark those who cause divisions and avoid them" and "contend
for the faith" and "take heed to the doctrine." So, in that
sense, we must always strive for truth. As Martin Luther
said, "Peace, if possible, but truth at any rate." We can
minimize the arguments over what type of music, what type of
baptism, what type of ministries and programs to have; but
when it comes to the Word of God, the everlasting truth, we
are to stand firm and fight to preserve the faith handed
down to us by those who have gone before us. The church is
"the temple of the living God, the pillar and ground of the
truth," and that is how we are to act. It's not primarily a
mission to save the lost, or to sing good songs, or even to
edify the saints--thought those things are definitely very
important. No, we are foremostly called to glorify God by
enjoying Him forever. We do that by defending His Word,
preaching it in season and out of season, exhorting others
to repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, who died
to save us from the wrath of a holy God. If our message
becomes anything more or anything less than that, we have
missed the mark of being a faithful and pure church.
Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. :P As you can tell, I
really liked this episode. I love the Bible, so I love
episodes that stick so closely to it and accurately teach
it. And it was so wonderful how these shows wove together
and connected key stories from the Book of Acts to so
effectively portray the life and times of the early church.
In fact, the only complaint I have against these episodes is
that they didn't last longer, that it wasn't a 4-, 8-, or
12-part episode. Actually, I was really hoping that it would
at least go to Acts 12, since that's where Rhoda is
mentioned. She's the servant girl who answers the door when
Peter comes to the house of Mary and John Mark after being
released from prison by an angel. I read that portion of
Scripture this morning, and I was surprised at how much I
could see the fictional character of this show in the
character of Scripture. They fit together so perfectly.
But anyway, I really hope that this isn't the last of the
great episodes this season. Episodes like this are why I
still listen to Odyssey. Amidst the legalistic moralism and
worldliness that creep into the episodes at times, I still
listen because I know that the Odyssey writers aren't
totally unable to write great episodes like this. When they
stick to Scripture like this, they can't go wrong. I hope
they go this route more often in the future.
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