930: Judge Me Tender

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Peachey Keen
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930: Judge Me Tender

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What did you all think of the latest Perkins family episode?
  • I'm happy to hear the Perkins again after no appearance from them in Album 71.
  • I am so glad that Wyatt is going to church now. I wonder if he will be the first one to get saved or not?
  • I was concerned about Bridget being friends with Jules. She definitely isn't a good influence on Buck.
  • I hope we get to hear from Kristen again! It would be interesting to have a large family like hers on the show.
  • Shoutout to Christian audio drama! That made me smile.
I don't have a rating for it yet as these are just my initial thoughts. Overall, another solid entry in the Perkins family arc!
djchatswithu
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Well, here's my thoughts while listening to this episode
I think this is the first time Penny was referred to as Mrs Bassett.
the fact that those tv shows don't seem that far from what's on today is kind of scary.
Kristen: I don't listen to the radio that much except Christian audio dramas. Bridget: sounds kinda lame. "awkward pause" the way it was said kind of reminded of that meme of Whit.

I can see why Connie wouldn't approve of the Bridget/Jules friendship, though even Jules seemed to know where to draw the line at teasing Kristen. if anything, Jules seemed to have more of an influence on Bridget.
when Jules pulled out the necklace, was anyone else expecting Connie to come and tell her to return it?
as a non-Christian, I think we can see why Bridget thought what she did, though I'm glad it was sorted out in this episode, instead of dragging on into future episodes, unlike Kelly and Connie's book.
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PennyBassett
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I think I liked this episode overall, but it did feel very self-righteous at times, not to mention Chris' wrapup, which was hypocritical, to say the least. This idea that Christians are generally better people than everyone else is just not true, and if you believe that your religion is the true one and that everyone else who doesn't believe the same way you do lives in darkness, you are judging them. Sure, Bridget was wrong about Connie having direct ulterior motives, but it kind of makes sense that Bridget did think that way, right? People being warry of Christians because they have beliefs that fundamentally exclude people isn't persecution, it's reasonable. Chris' little pout at the end was so tone-deaf. Yes, not all Christians judge people for not believing what they do, yes, there are people who judge Christians and make fun of them beyond what they deserve. But the episode put all of the blame on Bridget when her perspective was really understandable. I think I just wish that the episode had at least admitted that some Christians judge people and cause harm with that judgment.
"Let me get this straight. I bet all those non-friends of yours try to embarrass you about your love for that stuff, right? So, you almost feel like you have to hide your treasures away and can only take them out in secret on rainy days when your mom goes to the store to get more liver and nobody is around to berate your sensitive spirit. Is that what you’re saying?" -Jay Smouse
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ASmouseInTheHouse
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I was surprised by several things in this episode.
First off, Wyatt. It's cool that he went to church. When he mentioned Wooton dropping him off, I was instantly reminded of Wooton's church bus in The Poor Rich Guy. And Grady, of course. :yes:
Anyway, it is interesting (as Bridget noted) how Wyatt was acting. Now I want an episode that showed what happened at church.

Next, Jules. At first, when she and Bridget started talking, I was afraid their friendship was going to go in a Friend or Foe sort of direction. I was genuinely surprised in a later scene when Jules was reluctant to play the game and reprimanded Bridget. I guess, as Jules admitted, she has changed from being in Odyssey.

Finally, Bridget. This episode definitely shows one of her worse sides. Prior to this episode, I never really did have a problem with Bridget; I was mainly annoyed with Wyatt. In this episode, it seems as if the tables have turned. Of course, no one is perfect, and this isn't going to make me permanently dislike Bridget. But still, sort of surprised at her actions.
Overall, I liked this episode for its new perspectives on these three characters. Curious to see where the Perkins and Jules go. :)
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Polehaus53
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Here are some of my thoughts:
“Judge Me Tender” is an episode I’ve been looking forward to since it was announced in July 2021. The meeting of Bridget and Jules is something I’ve thought about before, so I’m glad they made an episode about this.

I wonder what’s the story behind Wyatt going to Church. It’s interesting that it’s only him who went, and his mother and sister stayed behind. Perhaps Wooton invited him. I’d like to know what things the Sunday school teacher learned from him.

Wyatt’s voice seems to be changing. It does not sound like he’s ten years old. Or maybe he was turning eleven. But I have been noticing his voice is starting to sound deeper in recent episodes. Which is fine with me. I just really hope the AIO Team doesn’t change the actor.

The scene at the party was pretty good. Carla and Bridget discuss making friends and the subject of Bridget making friends, which was touched on in “Hurricane Perkins”, is once again brought up here. Anyway, upon Carla’s insistence, Bridget introduces herself to Jules. I think their conversation in that scene was good, I liked it. I initially thought that it sounded a little forced, but upon re-listening, I think it sounded good. Very well-written. Although I don’t know why the kid that they mentioned was eating the candles. Maybe Wyatt told him a fake fact about the nutritional values of eating wax. And now that I think of it, Jules or Bridget probably should have stopped him. Instead, they just laugh and head over to the library. It’s good to know that all these rooms in Whit’s End, including the library, are still around, even though it’s not very often when we hear from them.

As it has been mentioned here, Jules probably isn’t the greatest person to be friends with. However, I was surprised at Jules’ behavior in this episode. She actually acted like a good influence on Bridget! :o This shocks me, considering all the bad things she convinces Buck to do. I was shocked when she admitted that Connie makes her a better person. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that Jules has acknowledged this since her return to Odyssey in “Connie the Counselor”. It seems as though Jules really is learning things from the people in Odyssey and they are influencing her in a good way! Pardon me while I faint.

My question is, why didn’t Connie tell Jules that Kristen was coming over for dinner until the last second? Kristen said that they had been planning it for weeks, but it sounds like it was a last-second thing. When Connie announced it to Jules and Bridget she says, “her schedule opened up today”, making it sound like it had just then been arranged. I don’t know, maybe I’m just overthinking things. :? I liked that we got a reference to Connie being a bad cook. I think the last time we heard about Connie’s cooking (although I’m pretty sure it was brought up in later episodes that I can’t recall) was in “Changing Rodney”, back in Album 34: In Your Wildest Dreams. I assume that Connie had improved since then, since Bridget and Jules and Kristen ate it without complaining. (Or maybe they were just being polite.)

As I said before, I was shocked to hear Jules agree with Connie and scold Bridget for being rude to Kristen. I’m starting to wonder if Bridget has worse behavior than Jules. Hard to tell. We need an episode where Jules and Bridget hang out with Buck. I’d like to see how the three of them interact together.

I like the character of Kristen, so I’d be interested in having her appear again in future episodes, along with her family. I kind of got reminded of the Mulligan family when she said that she lives on a farm with her large family. What would be really interesting is a scene with all 17 of her siblings.

Overall, I think this episode was good. We’re hearing good development from the Perkins family. I look forward to their next episode.
Wow, that was a lot of thoughts. O.o And I still have more to say about this episode. But this will do for now. \:D/
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Patterson
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Here's my thoughts too.

I liked the concept of the episode, Bridget finding a friend in Jules, but not it's execution.

I strongly dislike the new character of Kristen because she feels like a parody of some of Odyssey's audience. I'm not saying their target demographic is necessarily the sheltered homeschooler from a large family who lives on a farm, but as a sheltered former homeschooler who grew up on a farm(of sorts) it's pretty cringe.17 siblings?!! What is this? A bad reality tv show? I have friends from large families sure, but having more than ten siblings is fairly uncommon. Not everyone from the country has a southern accent! This drives me nuts with AiO. It can be a regional thing sure, but it still gets on my nerves. The wink at christian radio drama was meant to be funny, but it takes you out of the episode even further.

There's also no way the worst thing Kristen ever did was lying about milking the cows once. I didn't grow up with cows but I've definitely done worse than lie about feeding all nine of our horses. How about swearing a blue streak because you've spent an hour running around trying to catch a loose horse(not wild, just two year old horses are a pain as they're pretty much teenagers)? How about beating up your sibling because he conveniently disappeared while you had to unload seven ton of hay bales by yourself? How about swinging a metal t-post at your aforementioned lazy younger brother, cause he won't stop complaining while you're doing all his work for him? I may have had anger issues as a teenager. :anxious: Just make it relatable to real country kids please.

While I'm on the tangent of Odyssey writers being city slickers, does anyone have any guess how many seasonal workers Tom Riley would have needed for 288 acres of apple orchards(Legacy Part One)? My grandpa farms about 200 acres of wheat, but he rotates it so he harvests about half every year. That's a fair chunk of land. Commercial apple picking is miserable job that nobody really wants to do and it's hard to mechanize. That's why big orchards tend to hire picking crews from Mexico, it's hard to find local labor willing to do that much work for low wages. It would have been interesting to have an episode focusing on Tom's fruit picking crew. Sorry, off topic.

The bright spot of this episode was Jules. We got to see her being more mature and she felt in-character the whole time. I look forward to seeing how Jules's character will change in the future.

Not a very good episode in my opinion. Bridget's sudden mean streak felt super forced and the whole moral came across as a bit self-righteous.
True, we shouldn't be paranoid that people are always judging us, but I think it would have been better if the episode was more about Bridget's unconscious judging of others. She was judging Wyatt because he realized that the tv show wasn't actually that good. She judged him again for choosing granola, commonly misconstrued as a health food, when it is actually loaded with sugar and carbs(I have mixed feelings about granola, it tastes amazing, but as a diabetic, it makes my blood sugar spike worse than just about anything else).
Bridget was judging Kristen for being seemingly perfect (I'll excuse that one, Kristen was a boring stereotyped character) and blew up about it.
If you ask me, Bridget doesn't need to worry about people judging her so much as her judging others is being unintentionally cruel to those around her.

I'm sorry for the ranting, this episode happened to have one of my big odyssey pet peeves.
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Bob
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A few comments on the other replies here.

* The episode doesn't say Kristen has 17 siblings; she's in a 'family of 17'. That count includes her and her parents, so she has 14 siblings, one of whom is adopted. That's still statistically abnormal, but not in the Guinness range.

* A southern accent could be explained by her family being 'imports'. Even if they're not, though, I'm not sure I'd jump too quickly into saying it doesn't fit at all. Google search results suggest that some people in southern Ohio do have southern-like accents.

* The implication I got, as far as it being last-minute, is that the agreement was something like, "As soon as Kristen's schedule opens up, she can come over", and this was agreed on weeks in advance. So while Connie may have only found out that Kristen's schedule opened up at the last-minute, at that point, she was only executing a plan she had previously decided on.

The thing that's actually a bit odd about this is that (correct me if I'm wrong) it seems Jules was not in on this planning, nor the purpose of Kristen's visit, nor was she even acquainted in any way with Kristen. Bridget chaffs at her mother about 'choosing her friends', but Mrs. Perkins just made a suggestion; Connie is apparently much more aggressive than that.

* As far as Jules and Bridget's behavior goes, it depends on what kind of bad behavior you have in mind. From a legal perspective, Jules has been involved in criminal activity (directly or indirectly), and Bridget hasn't (other than the incident mentioned in this episode), so Jules' behavior is worse in that sense. But that is a different thing from being rude, uncouth, or socially unacceptable. In that sense, Bridget has consistently been portrayed as rougher and edgier than Jules, and it isn't close. Generally, Jules works to avoid negative attention, while Bridget tends to do things that attract it.

I don't think anything Bridget does here is outside of the range of behavior we would expect, based on her previous appearances, although it's certainly on the worse end, which is a bit jarring when they've clearly been aiming at portraying her more sympathetically.
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