I find it interesting that Jason is the one who is running this case throughout the episode. I guess it would make the most sense for him to be the one to recruit Buck, since Jillian can’t reveal to him that she’s an agent. Plus, he probably knows Buck better than Jillan does. No complaints here; I am in favor of Jason doing random government activities in Odyssey every once in a while!
So, this episode runs concurrently with “Right Notes, Wrong Key”. I like how the connection that was made here, with the conversations Buck and Jules have over the phones playing roles in the episodes’ plots. Very well-done, it reminds me of how the AIO Team did something similar earlier with the 4-part snow series episodes in Season 8 of the Adventures in Odyssey Club exclusive episodes.
I did not expect Gina McKellen to be the criminal. I thought that Buck actually had given Jason a sample that wasn’t Malcom’s. So, I was actually surprised that I had been focusing on the wrong character when the reveal came in part 2.
The conclusion of part 2 was pretty good. Very clever of Buck to use epoxy glue (established in part 1) to catch Gina. But my question is, what happened to Gina’s gun? She had it earlier when she sent Brayden and Malcom outside. I think that if she was holding the gun the whole time in the model room, she still could have still held Buck there. Hmm, unless her hands were stuck on the wall, too. That’s probably more likely what happened.
Buck is in a pretty sad state right now: Because he did the right thing, he is shunned by the whole school. But the fact is, that is a reality of the world and a cost for doing good. Reminds me of Proverbs 29:10 (which coincidentally enough, I read the day I listened to these episodes). I think that would have been relevant for Chris to mention in the wraps. However, I guess that wasn’t the focus of the episode. The emphasis of the wraps in the second part was that by having a relationship with God, one can make the right decisions.
Also, it looks like Buck will be visiting Odyssey! I’ll be interested in hearing how he works out his differing ideology with Jules about doing right. I guess there will be upcoming episodes in Album 77 about it.
Overall, I think “Making An Honest Buck, Parts 1-2” (I’m actually now confused why the episodes are titled this.
There’s probably something I’m missing.) was a fine episode. I’ll probably listen to it again.Anyone else have any thoughts? Let’s discuss!
