#1024: Value of a Buck, Part 1
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2025 10:31 pm
by Bob
Notes through the listen:
* * *
This shows every sign of turning out to be a lovely follow-up to the previous episodes in this saga.
1. Jules is in close enough contact with Connie to voluntarily tell her on the phone everything about where she is and what she's doing.
2. Buck is now so opposed to churches and church groups that he refuses to be in the same restaurant as one. (The cognitive dissonance of the fact that he still spends so much time with people of Christian beliefs - his parents, Lexi, Jason, etc. - when it comes to things that are important - has yet to be explained or be resolved.)
3. It's a little odd that Buck decided to meet up alone with Jules, given that the last conversation they had that we know of, they broke up.
4. Jules, continuing from her initial difficulty in "Being Real", has a hard time telling people she knew about her conversion. As of the end of this episode, which technically is largely Buck recounting what's been going on, she still hasn't.
5. Buck is apparently 'going with' Lexi places, including to their school event. Either she doesn't think of this as being romantic, or perhaps it's some type of missionary dating?
6. From her voice, we can tell Jules is not thrilled about it.
7. Buck is still a successful high school football player, enough to be offensive player of the year at his school.
8. Buck notes that he is 'skeptical' of 'religious stuff' generally, and expects Jules is well aware of this.
9. Burundi is a real, albeit obscure, country.
10. The slogan 'blessings beget blessings', used by the founder of the charity organization, seems slightly evocative of the concept of 'seed faith' used in prosperity gospel teachings.
11. Buck, when teased about a relationship with Lexi, changes colours.
12. Buck is on first-name terms with Jason and is comfortable asking him to investigate random possible scam organizations.
13. Jason is happy to do so.
14. Buck thought that Mr. Skint, in the past, and probably up to the present, 'didn't think [Skint]'d done anything wrong'.
15. Buck referred to Mr. Skint as a 'horrible person', and initially decided not to see him, even though he was near death.
16. Buck notes that Mr. Skint raised him for 'like 15 years' - this is plausibly rounding up, since he's believed to be 14 in GRC.
17. Chloe sounds skeptical of the charity organization, like Buck.
18. Lexi is unconcerned to the point of nonchalance when reminded about Buck's criminal past.
19. Mr. Skint had a storage unit where he kept all of the things he got from scams and hadn't gotten around to using. Buck was aware of it, but for whatever reason didn't know or remember where it was.
20. Jason still has the ability and/or connections to probe organizations' financial records.
21. Mr. Skint listed Buck Oliver as 'next of kin', and does still seem to think of him as such.
22. The list of actors at the end suggests that David Selby wasn't available for this; a pity but understandable since he is quite old. The difference in Skint's voice is explained by the story context.
23. Skint only views things in the context of scams and can't think of how to interpret Buck's actions otherwise.
24. Skint still has some connection to Dirk Beggs and recommends Buck get in touch with him to continue a life of crime.
25. Buck refuses to even eat a cookie, when Skint proposes doing it as part of a con.
26. Skint died (of natural causes) in the process of trying to make another escape.
27. Skint claimed his storage unit was in Harlanville. His last writing was "Key other raves".
2. Buck is now so opposed to churches and church groups that he refuses to be in the same restaurant as one. (The cognitive dissonance of the fact that he still spends so much time with people of Christian beliefs - his parents, Lexi, Jason, etc. - when it comes to things that are important - has yet to be explained or be resolved.)
3. It's a little odd that Buck decided to meet up alone with Jules, given that the last conversation they had that we know of, they broke up.
4. Jules, continuing from her initial difficulty in "Being Real", has a hard time telling people she knew about her conversion. As of the end of this episode, which technically is largely Buck recounting what's been going on, she still hasn't.
5. Buck is apparently 'going with' Lexi places, including to their school event. Either she doesn't think of this as being romantic, or perhaps it's some type of missionary dating?
6. From her voice, we can tell Jules is not thrilled about it.
7. Buck is still a successful high school football player, enough to be offensive player of the year at his school.
8. Buck notes that he is 'skeptical' of 'religious stuff' generally, and expects Jules is well aware of this.
9. Burundi is a real, albeit obscure, country.
10. The slogan 'blessings beget blessings', used by the founder of the charity organization, seems slightly evocative of the concept of 'seed faith' used in prosperity gospel teachings.
11. Buck, when teased about a relationship with Lexi, changes colours.
12. Buck is on first-name terms with Jason and is comfortable asking him to investigate random possible scam organizations.
13. Jason is happy to do so.
14. Buck thought that Mr. Skint, in the past, and probably up to the present, 'didn't think [Skint]'d done anything wrong'.
15. Buck referred to Mr. Skint as a 'horrible person', and initially decided not to see him, even though he was near death.
16. Buck notes that Mr. Skint raised him for 'like 15 years' - this is plausibly rounding up, since he's believed to be 14 in GRC.
17. Chloe sounds skeptical of the charity organization, like Buck.
18. Lexi is unconcerned to the point of nonchalance when reminded about Buck's criminal past.
19. Mr. Skint had a storage unit where he kept all of the things he got from scams and hadn't gotten around to using. Buck was aware of it, but for whatever reason didn't know or remember where it was.
20. Jason still has the ability and/or connections to probe organizations' financial records.
21. Mr. Skint listed Buck Oliver as 'next of kin', and does still seem to think of him as such.
22. The list of actors at the end suggests that David Selby wasn't available for this; a pity but understandable since he is quite old. The difference in Skint's voice is explained by the story context.
23. Skint only views things in the context of scams and can't think of how to interpret Buck's actions otherwise.
24. Skint still has some connection to Dirk Beggs and recommends Buck get in touch with him to continue a life of crime.
25. Buck refuses to even eat a cookie, when Skint proposes doing it as part of a con.
26. Skint died (of natural causes) in the process of trying to make another escape.
27. Skint claimed his storage unit was in Harlanville. His last writing was "Key other raves".
This shows every sign of turning out to be a lovely follow-up to the previous episodes in this saga.