I like how this episode is a continuation of “Please Adjust Your Frequency”, showing what Buddy, Jay, and Zoe do with their audio drama after recording it. Excellent continuity! And it was fun to hear from the Harlequin Theater again.
It has happened! We finally have a whole episode about Vincent Smouse: the background character who has been appearing ‘offscreen’ for several episodes now and has had no dialogue. This is the episode where we finally hear from him!
…except that he still doesn’t have any dialogue in this episode. We hear plenty of descriptions of him (how he looks physically), but we never hear from the character ‘onscreen.’ The whole episode is Buddy, Jay, and Zoe trying to find him so that they can fix their project, but they are never able to catch up with him. At the end of the episode, although he is “seen” in the distance, the listeners still don’t actually hear any dialogue from him.
And I think that’s beautifully done.
Vincent’s physical absence in this episode speaks more about his character than what an actual appearance would do. He never says a word the whole episode. However, through his silence we learn that he is one who works behind the scenes, helping anybody he can and never trying to take credit for it. The entire episode is about Jay, Buddy and Zoe trying to find him, but every time they get close, they discover he has just left the vicinity, having finished helping someone and is now off to help someone else. In this episode it is shown that he helped Connie, Joan, Katie, and probably a bunch of others. He demonstrated a servant’s heart in every place that he stopped. The fact that he cuts out his own name in the credits of the audio drama to keep the project in the qualifying time range shows his selflessness. When Buddy observes that Vincent never said anything about all the work he did, Zoe replies, “He never does. He just does things that need to be done and doesn’t expect to be noticed.” Now that’s something.
Chris says it well in the wraps: “He was always working invisibly, one step ahead. But in his wake, he left many who were grateful for his kindness.” Vincent is a living demonstration of Philippians 2:3. Service is an area I definitely wish to do better in and hearing this episode is honestly humbling and inspiring.
I have more to say, but I’ll stop there for now. Overall, this was a very well-done episode! My applause to Abigail Geiger!
I’ll definitely be listening to it many more times.Anyone else have any thoughts on this episode? Let’s discuss!