King of My Heart

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ASmouseInTheHouse
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King of My Heart

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I'm not sure if I've ever posted my thoughts on Buck and Jules here before, so I'll just reiterate the standing I had before this episode:
Buck and Jules being friends was...okay. But I was getting unhappy with all the hints at hype about them becoming a couple. First off, I find it interesting that Odyssey is even dealing with teen stories like this. In the past when Odyssey kids got older, they were phased out of show or else the writers added a younger kid to the family (Barclays and Washingtons), for the sole reason of the teen stories not being able to relate to their audience. So yeah, that's one thing I noted.
My second former thought was this: okay, so there's nothing wrong with Buck and Jules as friends, even with all their flaws, but if the Odyssey team made them official, that would be more of a problem. Because kids love these characters and look up to them. And they would be two non-Christian characters getting into a serious relationship. Would that be the best role model for the listeners? I literally have read a Club comment that said something along the lines of, "I use buck and jules as an example for my own relationship." Needless to say, I was concerned coming into King of My Heart.

*heard King of My Heart*

I do appreciate that Connie and Katrina (and Chris, sort of) addressed the same concerns that I had. But I'm not very pleased with 'Buckles,' not because I don't like Buck and Jules together, but because of the implications to the audience. I know that when I was around the ages of 8-12, I was not allowed to even hear episodes that talked about dating, I'm guessing because it was a more mature theme. Yes, there's been dating on the show before, but Buck and Jules is unique because of their age and situation. I know the team will probably handle the issues I've mentioned well, but I think it is slightly risky for the team to have the only teen dating arc on the show to date to be between two non-Christians.
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Bob
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ASmouseInTheHouse wrote:
Sat Jan 21, 2023 5:29 pm
Would that be the best role model for the listeners? I literally have read a Club comment that said something along the lines of, "I use buck and jules as an example for my own relationship."
I haven't had the opportunity to hear this episode yet (perhaps I'll make a review post at a later time), but I thought I'd offer some commentary on this point.

The main practical trouble with the Buck-Jules relationship is that in many of the episodes we've seen, it isn't a healthy dynamic. Going from my memory, these episodes tend to fit broadly into one of these three groups:

Scenario A)
1. Jules wants to do something wrong.
2. Buck is against it.
3. Jules picks at him until he gives in.
4. Both of them get in trouble.

Scenario B)
1. Jules is in trouble.
2. Buck wants to get her out of it.
3. He does, with a 50% chance of doing something wrong along the way (whether he explicitly gets into trouble/is called out for it, or not)

Scenario C)
1. Jules is in trouble and wants to do something wrong to get out of it.
2. Buck is against it, but wants to get her out of her problem.
3. Jules picks at him until he gives in.
4. He may or may not get her out of her initial problem, but even if he does, they both get into trouble anyway because of how he did it.

I've criticized other teen/preteen romances before in AIO, often because I don't think it's right for people who are so young to be romantically involved. That may not be applicable in this case. However, all the relationships we've seen or even had hints of (like Jack/Donna) up to this point have generally been healthier and had fewer problems than this one. I criticized Barrett and Priscilla's mutual preteen/early teen crush and interactions at the time, but that seemed like a model relationship in comparison.

A good relationship should be about bringing out the best in each other, whereas in many of the episodes we've seen Buck and Jules in, we end up seeing the worst. From another post I read (from Monica Stone), Suzu Rydell noticed and commented on this; it goes without saying that this is not exactly a glowing endorsement.

I will say that it isn't consistently this bad; there are some times when Jules has a positive influence on Buck (or vice versa), even if they're otherwise doing wrong. For example, my impression is that Jules is typically supportive and helpful when it comes to things that concern Buck's family life and relationship with Eugene and Katrina. That's a good thing and shouldn't be discounted. However, you should still pick a better role model than this.

The best and healthiest boy-girl relationship in recent-ish episodes is probably Matthew and Emily (maybe not always in the beginning, when she was rather manipulative). I expect fans overlook this because they primarily work in mysteries and it is never hinted as being romantic.
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MonkeyDude
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So so good to hear from Ryan again. While it is a little disappointing to have a different VA, I think he did a really good job and by the end of the episode, I wasn't really noticing. Really glad they maintained his integrity rather than besmudge it in favor of U.S.S BULES.
Bob wrote:
Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:39 pm
A good relationship should be about bringing out the best in each other, whereas in many of the episodes we've seen Buck and Jules in, we end up seeing the worst. From another post I read (from Monica Stone), Suzu Rydell noticed and commented on this; it goes without saying that this is not exactly a glowing endorsement.
Yup, yup. Really good synopsis. To be honest, the whole Bules thing just...doesn't appeal to me, I guess? Feels very rom-com-y. But hey, I do give the Odyssey team massive kudos for:
actually jumping into the deep, deep waters of a teen relationship. I was lowkey expecting them to play "will they/won't they" forever. So that, is a tinsy bit exciting, I suppose.
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