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ASmouseInTheHouse
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This episode was released early on YouTube
https://youtu.be/afr3ec3fc0Y
Did anyone listen to it?
Here are my thoughts on it (the dog parts, mostly):
I am very happy that the writers made Sparky a major part of this episode. Despite a brief mention in Divided We Fall, Sparky has pretty much disappeared from the Meltsner family. That's the main reason I like this episode.

Me, being a huge dog fan and dog owner, was over-analyzing every scene with Sparky. The scene with Olivia and Zoe trying to train him was great. "Sit, Sparky." (uh, guys, the dog doesn't know English) "I think he's confused." "He's probably confused why we offer him something that smells like putrefying liver." (just the kind of thing a dog would like) "Uh, Sparky?" "Where is he?" "I don't know, I left him right here." (PFFFFF you LEFT him there?! You actually PUT DOWN a puppy's leash in an open space??) "He has legs, Olivia!" (Exactly, Zoe.) It was cool that you could hear Sparky run away while they were talking.
Lost your own pet? Stressful. Lost someone else's pet? Can't imagine that.

The scene where Sparky gets run over. That was intense.
I'm glad the sound designers spared the listeners the sounds of an animal in pain. I've had something similar to this happen, and the noise that was made scared everyone in the neighborhood.
Nice reappearance of Patricia Carter! I had heard A Forgiving Heart a few days before hearing this episode, so that was nice. I can also relate to the stress the owners of an injured pet can go through.
And now Sparky is a three-legged dog. I once met a three-legged dog, and I didn't even notice it had three legs until the owner pointed it out. So that should work out fine for Sparky.

(Sorry for all the dog stuff. Like I said, that was the main reason I enjoyed this episode)

As for other elements...
It would have been cool to see the dog in the artwork.
During the fishing scene, I was wondering if Olivia and Zoe would capsize the boat. That would have been funny.
I was actually surprised to find out the Marcys had sabotaged Olivia and Zoe. The whole time, I was waiting for them to be proved innocent. But I guess that would have been too predictable.
And now it's confirmed that Sparky is actually Buck's dog. Though I had imagined Eugene using weird and complicated training techniques on Sparky. Oh, well...
Rating out of five: 4
"Next up, Mark Morgan's message to all math maniacs in the middle school is meaningful if you mingle by the mezzanine for a momentous mix of methodological mayhem and a menagerie of multiplicative inversions. Ha ha ha! I bet I could say this backwards. Inversions multiplicative of menagerie a and mayhem methodological..."
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Polehaus53
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This episode was great! It was good to hear from Sparky again. :D
I liked that the episode released on YouTube. Everyone got to hear it early, and it was fun for the people who didn't have the club.
One of the scenes I liked was when Olivia and Zoe were struggling to decorate the cake. I can relate to that.
ASmouseInTheHouse wrote:
Sat Jul 11, 2020 9:25 pm
It was cool that you could hear Sparky run away while they were talking.
I agree. The sound design in this episode was amazing!

One small complaint I have is that in Official Podcast 305 https://www.adventuresinodyssey.com/pod ... pisode-12/, Dave Arnold said, "Sparky is a female dog." Apparently, that was false. In the episode, Sparky is male dog. Dave Arnold gave us false information! :x
Another thought I had was about the artwork for this episode.
Image
The image looks good, but I think it could have depicted a more interesting scene. Like the scene where Olivia and Zoe were walking Sparky, or when they were in the boat on Trickle Lake.
The part with Sparky getting run over was good. I actually predicted that he would get his leg amputated before it happened.
Overall, this is one of my favorite club episodes released this year. I rate it a 4 out of 5. \:D/
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Monica Stone
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I liked this episode!

I generally enjoy Zoe & Olivia's dynamic. They both have a flair for the dramatic (Olivia especially) but they contrast each other. Olivia is quick to jump to conclusions & panic but Zoe gives others the benefit of the doubt and is more sensible than Olivia (even when Olivia is at her best). I wish they'd keep Olivia's personality consistent, though. In some episodes, she is a like a pretty mature 14-yr-old while in others she seems like a flighty, irresponsible preteen. Odyssey eras sometimes have that one kid who they use for any plot or reason they desire and their personality shifts episode-to-episode. In the 80s and 90s, Robyn was pretty inconsistent. And while they kept Robyn inconsistent, Lucy & Curt (among others) had strong personalities and discernable traits. Olivia is the Robyn of this era; often inconsistent and all over the place. While other characters like Emily & Matthew are the Curt & Lucy's; strong characters with well-defined traits. I think Olivia is far more inconsistent than Robyn, but she's the character I could think of off the top of my head. Sorry, that was a bit of a rant there. But I did like Zoe & Olivia's dynamic here, even if I'm generally a little let down with Olivia as a character.

I loved Buck in this episode! \:D/ And Sparky! I actually thought Sparky would die so the sound designers wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. Thank goodness I was wrong. I thought Sparky would die or ultimately get "back to normal" but he lost a leg. That's serious. But what is it with Odyssey and dogs getting hit by cars? :noway:

I didn't like how the moral was incorporated into the episode. It gelled well with the episode until Sparky got hit by the car. When Olivia & Zoe are (rightfully) blaming themselves for Sparky's serious injury, Whit waves it off and says (not in these words), "Eh, God doesn't hold it against you. What's important is that your identity is in Him, not by your failures." Although it's fallacious to say, that is a slippery slope. Can any act of irresponsibility and wrongdoing by waved off like that? I agree, it's vital to have an identity in God and believe in Him. But....bad is bad, whether you're a Christian or not. And I don't think you can just be terrible as a Christian and justify yourself by your faith alone. I don't know if others here will agree with me, so let me know what you think.

This episode is probably a 3.5/5 or maybe a 4/5. Overall pretty good, but I have some qualms with the way this episode handled its moral.
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ASmouseInTheHouse
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Monica Stone wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 7:16 pm
When Olivia & Zoe are (rightfully) blaming themselves for Sparky's serious injury, Whit waves it off and says (not in these words), "Eh, God doesn't hold it against you. What's important is that your identity is in Him, not by your failures."
I did think that moral was a bit odd as well. All I can say is that Zoe and Olivia are lucky Buck wasn't angrier with them. If you think about, in all honesty, what caused the accident, it is a pretty ridiculous reason (which I talked about in my post). If it really was an accident (say Sparky yanked the leash out of Olivia's hand), that's a different story. But if someone lost my dog and it got run over, put down the leash or not,well...it wouldn't be pretty.
"Next up, Mark Morgan's message to all math maniacs in the middle school is meaningful if you mingle by the mezzanine for a momentous mix of methodological mayhem and a menagerie of multiplicative inversions. Ha ha ha! I bet I could say this backwards. Inversions multiplicative of menagerie a and mayhem methodological..."
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Polehaus53
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Monica Stone wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 7:16 pm
I wish they'd keep Olivia's personality consistent, though. In some episodes, she is a like a pretty mature 14-yr-old while in others she seems like a flighty, irresponsible preteen.
Yes! I've often noticed this with Olivia. She's so inconsistent; mature in one episode, then immature in another. It kinda bugs me. Speaking of which, there are several people who claim that Olivia is in high school. Sorry, but after hearing this episode, I don't believe it. :noway: Olivia falls into the category of "flighty, irresponsible preteen" here. I suppose the issue of her personality inconsistencies has something to do with whoever is writing the episodes.
Monica Stone wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 7:16 pm
Odyssey eras sometimes have that one kid who they use for any plot or reason they desire and their personality shifts episode-to-episode. In the 80s and 90s, Robyn was pretty inconsistent. And while they kept Robyn inconsistent, Lucy & Curt (among others) had strong personalities and discernable traits. Olivia is the Robyn of this era; often inconsistent and all over the place. While other characters like Emily & Matthew are the Curt & Lucy's; strong characters with well-defined traits. I think Olivia is far more inconsistent than Robyn
I've actually never noticed that before. But it makes sense. That does seem to be what they're doing with Olivia. Can't they just use different characters for the needed episode plots instead of changing the personality of one character? I feel like recently Olivia has starred in episodes that confuse her personality. Instead of further confusing her personality, it probably would've worked better if they had used someone else in those episodes. Or is Odyssey suffering a character shortage?

Don't get me wrong; I like the character of Olivia and I hope she stays on the show, but I think the Odyssey team has a ton of other characters they could use for needed plot points instead of bending the personality of a character one way or another.
*Hides in corner in case everybody disagrees with him*
-Signed, PolehausFifty-three

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“We have it translated in every language: (กฎของเอมิลี่, Emily es la mejor, 艾米莉规则, Emily Quy tắc!, エミリーは最高です, emilyyay ulesray!, Эмили Правила!, Emily é a melhor, एमिली नियम!, Emily est la meilleure!, إميلي هي الأفضل!, Emily Kuralları!, אמילי שולטת!, Emily Regeln!, 에밀리 담당!, Si Emily ang pinakamahusay!, എമിലി രാജ്ഞിയാണ്!, એમિલી નિયમો!) that Emily RULES!”~The E.R.K.
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Peachey Keen
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ASmouseInTheHouse wrote:
Sat Jul 11, 2020 9:25 pm
This episode was released early on YouTube
https://youtu.be/afr3ec3fc0Y
That's pretty cool they did that so non-Club members could listen to it. Unfortunately, when you go to the link now, it says it's a private video now. I wonder if the AIO team meant for it to be a public video in the first place or not.
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