#1016—1017 On The Edge

[MonkeyDude]

Right off the bat, I can't remember the last time I was so impressed by the voice acting in an Odyssey. The VAs for Gunner and Jules absolutely crushed this episode! I WAS NOT expecting the intensity and peril that this episode had to offer, but I was incredibly pleased and enraptured by part 1. Kathy and the team really knocked it out of the park in my opinion.

Gunner drives me NUTS—which a think is a testament to the skill of his VA (Paul Castro Jr.). I have to be honest, I think the highlight of the episode for me was when Gunner suggested that they pray. For me, it really sold the desperation and stakes of the episode. Kinda surprised that this one didn't come with a parental warning.

I personally haven't been super into the Jules arc (album 57–present), but this was definitely my favorite episode so far.

Excited to hear your thoughts!

[Polehaus53]

I need to listen again, but here are my thoughts on part 1:

First off, how is a band supposed to stay together if its members are always fighting? They need to do some team building activities.

Bridget's appearance in this episode at the drive through at Burger World through felt really random. It was like she was just put in. Ooh! Thought just occurred to me as I typed that sentence: Maybe she will play a part in helping Whit and Connie find Jules and Gunner. After all, she does interact with them while they are out and so she may be able to help track where they went.

I figured Gunner and Jules would start a relationship. However, Gunner is not good for Jules. He has anger issues. Also, it is completely his fault that he and Jules are even in this situation! I hope that he has a moment where he admits all his flaws and works to improve.

Right off the bat, I can't remember the last time I was so impressed by the voice acting in an Odyssey. The VAs for Gunner and Jules absolutely crushed this episode! I WAS NOT expecting the intensity and peril that this episode had to offer, but I was incredibly pleased and enraptured by part 1. Kathy and the team really knocked it out of the park in my opinion.

Agreed! The voice acting was excellent! My applause to the whole Odyssey Team on that!

I like that we have more background on why Jules came to Odyssey in the first place. Seriously, though, Jules recognizes that her parents have no love for her and desires their love, yet she always complains about how Connie gets involved in her life. You would think that Jules would have realized by now (And it's been 17 albums since Jules came back to Odyssey) that because Connie loves Jules is the reason why Connie gets involved. Jules can't seem to recognize that and I hope that she comes to do so in part 2.

In my posts for the episodes "Crossing the Line, Parts 1-2", I spoke about how I am not a fan of Jules, especially in her most recent episodes. If she has growth after this, maybe my opinion will change.

[MonkeyDude]

Good thoughts, Polehaus! I definitely agree with a lot of what you shared:

Gunner is obviously not good news for Jules, haha! I had a thought though—it would be really interesting if, after he and Jules are assumably saved from peril, if Gunner was the one who came to faith. It seemed as though he was more open to the idea of prayer when realizing the terrifying ramifications of their situation.

I'm really glad you brought up Bridget! I almost complete forgot about her haha! Let me just say, I love every appearance in version of Bridget that we get to see, however, I feel like the writing for her character is horrifically inconsistent. It's as if AIOClub Bridget and album Bridget are two different people. To an extent, I feel as though these inconsistencies are intentional—part of the charm about Bridget's character is her genuine devotion to her family. She is notably more kind and considerate when around her mother, Wyatt, or Ron. However, when Bridget is at burger world she is an absolute terror (in the best way possible lol). I think these two exhibitions of personality can exist in one person, but the contrast between Club Bridget and Album Bridget get even more stark. In Alibis—a club exclusive—Jules and Bridget seem to be close. Album Bridget is notably more hostile and gruff, while in club episodes, Bridget seems to be more mellow.

Edit:
Ok, I did some research and Alibis is canonically before Right Notes, Wrong Keys, where Bridget and Jules have a falling out. So, that's my bad lol

[Bob]

First off, how is a band supposed to stay together if its members are always fighting? They need to do some team building activities.

From my understanding of pop band dynamics, that's really not that unusual. You have at least one strong personality who thinks they're a creative genius, and they want to be in charge and get the credit for everything. If you have more than one person like that, they're going to clash. That's why a lot of the biggest ones end up breaking up. It just feels unusual in AIO because we're not using to having characters that are this secular and this unreasonable for this long a time period.

* * *

What's curious about the beginning of this episode is how normal the situation seems, even given that we know how dysfunctional it is from an intellectual and spiritual standpoint. Jules is not audibly, at least, some crazy person doing wild things. Valerie is not obviously taking advantage of the situation that we know of. There's no obvious reason, outside of yet another fight in the band, why things have to change right then. And yet we know in our hearts that the situation can't be sustainable and that it's going to fall apart very soon.

Once Jules agrees to get in the car with Gunner, something that's unusual begins to unfold. We know (as discussed in the previous topic) that she has always been a compliant person who is easy to compel to agree to something or another. In this episode, after several such agreements, there comes a point in time where Gunner decides to do something, and Jules disagrees. She is actually insistent that it is a bad idea and that she doesn't want to be a part of it. And yet he pays no attention, and does what he wants to do, and she is stuck. Before, she always technically had the choice to stop or to back out if she wanted to, but now, she has, in a sense, lost her agency, and she is forced to wait until the decisions play out to their bitter consequence before she gets it back. Sin has truly taken her 'further than she wanted to go'.

This is somewhat incidental, but this episode is an example of why rebound relationships are a bad idea. Jules may not have meant to actually say 'even Buck', but it's clearly what she felt.

After the wreck happens, Jules is much more calm, under tremendous pressure, than I expected. Of course, I suppose somebody has to be, considering how hysterical Gunner is! Buck never would have gotten her in that situation in the first place, but if they were in a wreck, I think it's much more likely she would fall apart - because she trusts him to take care of things.

To be fair to Gunner, he is more likeable after the wreck, and he comes up bigger than I expected. I was thinking that he might be useless, or even abandon Jules. But he does help save her life, and he does risk his own trying to get them out of their situation, even if reluctantly. Although he has made a lot of bad decisions, and it's mostly his fault that they're in the specific situation they're in, he's shown to not be an unalloyedly bad person. I was pleasantly surprised when he brought prayer up. I think his worldview is that none of the bad things he does are that big of a deal, but when they're in this position, that illusion is at least temporarily untenable.

The depth of Jules' anger and issues are starting to come to the forefront here. They're in the worst fix she's been in in her whole life, and she can't refrain from ranting. But even at that, not long after railing on Connie for some point she allegedly disagrees with her about, she does acknowledge that Connie has been the human person who has been bailing her out of her jams - and that she's the most likely one to do it again.

* * *

I didn't talk about Connie in the first draft of this post, but it occurred to me that I should have. She alternates between her own ranting about Jules' irresponsibility and malfeasance, and being very concerned about her activities and welfare, and I suspect the former behaviour is mostly because of the latter feelings. Given their father and Jules' mother, I have to say I'm not sure why she is so surprised. ;-) But I suppose she saw Jules for several months, or longer, and had developed hopes that things were going better.

It's remarkable what AIO characters' investigative skills are like. If I were ever kidnapped I would want them to be the ones on my trail. I don't think they've ever missed a perp.

[MonkeyDude]

With the second part of this pair of episodes airing today, I think that—in my opinion—this has been one of the best episodes we've received in the past 5 years or so.

Here are some miscellaneous notes:

• I have a hutch that Connie was watching the same movie she was listening to in "Eggshells" (Album 42), which, for perspective, aired over 20 years ago.
  
  Even in part one, I was not expecting Jules to come to Christ. I'm not sure if everyone will feel the same, but I feel like Kathy really delivered a satisfying conversion arc without it feeling contrived! I personally had a hard time envisioning Jules coming to the Lord in a way that didn't feel kinda phony, but the team really handled it well in my opinion. I also did not expect Jules to accept Jesus before Buck. I'm really excited to see how he handles the news. It will really shift their dynamic in a way I didn't anticipate.
  
  I'm interested to eventually hear how Gunner was impacted by this incident. I was expecting to hear from him again before the episode ended, but perhaps that is being saved for a future episode.
  
  And finally, it is so deeply satisfying to see Connie finally win for once. Like, I honestly can't think of the last time when something good happened to her lol. For example: the Mitch breakup was devastating, her mom died, Eugene moved, etc. Our girl really hasn't caught a break in the history of ever.

[Bob]

With the second part of this pair of episodes airing today, I think that—in my opinion—this has been one of the best episodes we've received in the past 5 years or so.

I completely agree.

Here are some miscellaneous notes:

• I have a hutch that Connie was watching the same movie she was listening to in "Eggshells" (Album 42), which, for perspective, aired over 20 years ago.

It's also mentioned in a more recent episode, one of the ones Jules is in - I think in the episode where she's jealous of Jillian, which dates it. It's apparently her go-to film in emotional or stressful situations. In this case, the line about 'always being there for someone' may helped given her a push to go out and try again.

Even in part one, I was not expecting Jules to come to Christ. I'm not sure if everyone will feel the same, but I feel like Kathy really delivered a satisfying conversion arc without it feeling contrived! I personally had a hard time envisioning Jules coming to the Lord in a way that didn't feel kinda phony, but the team really handled it well in my opinion.

Definitely. I think it's worth giving a shout-out to Bren for this; some years(!) ago now he made a topic about Jules' conversion, and it's fair to say that he nailed the premise, even if he didn't know the circumstances that brought it about.

As for the timeline, I think things moved quickly because the AIO team is trying to close out the age. While it isn't accurate to say that the end of non-Club episodes is the end of AIO, they must recognize that it will be for some people. When album 79 began, there was still a lot of unfinished business and story arcs. In a sense, they 'owe' these listeners a conclusion, so that if they never listen to a single episode in the Odyssey Club, they can still say that the CDs and downloaded recordings told a complete saga. This two-parter went a long way towards fulfilling that. I wouldn't expect to see much fluff in album 80 - it's probably going to be filled with episodes with about as much impact.

I also did not expect Jules to accept Jesus before Buck. I'm really excited to see how he handles the news. It will really shift their dynamic in a way I didn't anticipate.

Buck's arc so far is like Eugene's in that he has come to accept much of the moral code and practices of faith, but without the faith underneath it. It's a different angle, though: Eugene had no objection to the faith community, but for some reason he wasn't quite able to bring himself to commit to faith in God. At first impression, Buck seems more the opposite - I don't know if he is really opposed to the idea of God per se, right now, so much as with the church.

I'm interested to eventually hear how Gunner was impacted by this incident. I was expecting to hear from him again before the episode ended, but perhaps that is being saved for a future episode.

We have to hear about this at some point soon, because Jules has to resolve her relationships with everyone else. I don't expect her to be in the band any/much longer, but it's uncertain how that will happen.

This episode, after focusing on Jules' perspective last episode, is more oriented towards Connie's point of view this time (which is not to say that the scenes with Jules by herself are not powerful. I cried several times), as we see her wrestling with her thoughts that the situation is probably nothing she can help with, and the feeling that she needs to be doing more. As it turns out, the timing works out perfectly - she takes long enough that Jules does everything she needs to do to repent, and not much longer than that. The AIO team has always believed in providence, miracles and supernatural happenings, but it feels like they've been more active in expressing this belief in the last few years ("When One Door Closes" being an especial example). I completely agree with this theologically and have no problem with it.

This two-parter is a milestone in the Jules arc and possibly the greatest episodes centered around her character that have ever been released (notwithstanding that this wouldn't be possible without the previous ones).

[Bren]

I was shocked by the dialogue myself to be honest. Jules realizing they will die and talking about hunting season is deep. Just 2 bodies on a ledge. Part of a food chain as she once put it. Extremely heavy stuff. I honestly can't say enough how powerful this episode is. Definitely my favorite of this album. Albeit a different situation, some of Jules' dialogue really spoke to me.

[Polehaus53]

I need to listen again, but I have thoughts.

Jules had growth! Unbelievable! It was going to have to come to a near death experience for her to get here. I am very surprised. Although I would want to see how she acts in the future before making any judgements, consider my extremely low opinion of Jules slightly changed. It should be interesting to hear her develop as new believer from here on out.

Bridget's appearance in this episode at the drive through at Burger World through felt really random. It was like she was just put in. Ooh! Thought just occurred to me as I typed that sentence: Maybe she will play a part in helping Whit and Connie find Jules and Gunner. After all, she does interact with them while they are out and so she may be able to help track where they went.

I CALLED IT! Pardon me yelling, but it is not very often when my specific predictions turn out to be right. Along these lines, I will say that I was nearly going crazy with all the wrong places Whit and Connie were looking. I loved that Whit knew the owner of the gas station. I approve of the Odyssey team keeping that aspect of Whit being well connected active.

As for the timeline, I think things moved quickly because the AIO team is trying to close out the age. While it isn't accurate to say that the end of non-Club episodes is the end of AIO, they must recognize that it will be for some people. When album 79 began, there was still a lot of unfinished business and story arcs. In a sense, they 'owe' these listeners a conclusion, so that if they never listen to a single episode in the Odyssey Club, they can still say that the CDs and downloaded recordings told a complete saga. This two-parter went a long way towards fulfilling that. I wouldn't expect to see much fluff in album 80 - it's probably going to be filled with episodes with about as much impact.

Oh wow, I didn't even think about this! Very true and valid that they need to be able to wrap up their current ongoing stories. We have quite a few hanging right now, I must say. It'll be interesting to see how it goes. I am eagerly looking forward to what Album 80 will bring us!

Overall, until I get around to listening to these episodes again, I will just say for now that it is a good episode and development for Jules. I look forward to what is to come!