#955: Value in the Process

[Polehaus53]

Here are some of my thoughts on this episode:

This episode was interesting. I'll need to listen to this episode again before making any final judgements. But it is safe to say that with the the issues in the last Morrie episode, "The Team", along all the controversy surrounding the Rydell Saga as a whole, my investment in the Rydell arc has dropped quite a bit.

Whit wanting Morrie and Suzu to have healthy friendships was good, I think. I’m having difficultly thinking of anything wrong with that intention. It wouldn’t be fair to say that Morrie and Suzu have lost the right to make friends, especially because I think we can see that they have changed since coming to stay with Whit.

We see both Morrie and Suzu make mistakes here (Morrie being extremely rude (“a jerk”, to quote his classmates) thinking he’s beyond the middle school class and Suzu plagiarizing) and how they genuinely come to the realization that what they were doing was wrong. I feel like the Morrie storyline was much more prominent than Suzu’s storyline. Perhaps because Suzu’s attitude wasn’t causing trouble like Morrie’s was. It was nice to see that Morrie realized his mistake with the way he treated Trey.

I didn't find any extremely serious major issues in this episode like in "The Team" (My opinions on “The Team” have changed greatly since I posted in the topic for it, so maybe I’ll post about that at some point.), but like I said, I need to hear this episode again.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

[Bob]

It is a shame it had to omit Emily to achieve this, but this episode didn't have the flaws that previous Rydell episodes have had.

Morrie is accurately described as a jerk throughout most of this episode, but strangely enough, that might actually be something of a good sign for his personal development. He is straightforward here in expressing his opinions, even though that generally makes him unlikable. That is in contrast with his previous 'mastermind' persona where he was an elusive, agreeable, chameleon-like figure who tried not to do anything he could be pinned down on and went into every social interaction with the intention of manipulating people.

Reviewers have commented in the past that Morrie and Suzu have seemed to be clueless in dealing with Emily after the end of their saga, and expressed bewilderment that this can be the case when they seem otherwise good at reading people. This episode shows that this failing is not an isolated incident in Morrie's case. He is capable of Holmesian (or perhaps Moriatrian) deduction, but is atrocious when it comes to empathizing with or understanding someone's feelings. That said, the fact that he shows some remorse here suggests that he is not a sociopath or a psychopath.

This is an aside, but it is interesting to compare Morrie's behavior with Emily's in certain episodes, particularly "A Predicament of Biblical Proportions". They both analyze people and announce their deductions; the difference is in their attitude and motivation. In Emily's case, it is partly a spontaneous overflow of her enthusiasm for her favorite pastime, but she also does it to show interest in someone and to build a bridge to connect with them. Morrie does it quite deliberately, for the opposite reasons: to express disinterest, show contempt, and to build a barrier to keep others away. His attitude is that something or someone that he can predict is not worth his time, or at least his respect.

In all of her stories so far, Suzu has been unfailingly polite and seemed rather naive (in spite of her habits and background), and this characterization continues to be exhibited here. Her story is the B-plot here, and reveals little about her that we didn't already know or suspect. It is more interesting in how it shows Zoe from a new angle.

This episode also gives us a first look at Andy, who was mentioned before but hasn't made any appearances until now. Although he uses people's first names most of the time, he addresses Morrie more formally as "Rydell", and continues throughout the episode. It isn't clear whether he had prior knowledge about Morrie, or just sensed something he didn't feel comfortable with about him from the get-go.

Incidentally, AIOWiki lacks information about this, but someone who has access to "The Lost One" can provide the answer: what is his last name? My recollection is that it sounded like "Rome", but I'm not sure if that is accurate, and I don't think it is ever stated here.

Anyway, this episode's overall moral and implementation seem sound overall. The acting, for the kid characters and otherwise, is good. Mr. Whittaker seems a bit chill after Morrie's falling out with Trey, but he was there in person and we were not, and he is in a better place to determine the proper response than we are. Given that it seemed to turn out well in the end, I suppose the decision to not take a harder tone was vindicated.

The main problem this episode has is that it is difficult for Morrie to be a likable main character. Even besides the baggage from previous episodes, Atticus Shaffer does a convincing job portraying him as a cold-blooded know-it-all, and also a convincingly poor job of pretending to be friendly. This is all intentional, so I wouldn't say that it is actually a fault, but an episode can be technically well-executed and still not be something that people enjoy listening to. To say that writers are going uphill in trying to make him a protagonist is an understatement. Suzu is likable, though, and since they're often together, that helps balance things out.

In summary, I feel this is at least an average episode. That may seem like an underwhelming assessment, but it is a positive sign after some of the previous Rydell outings. It isn't particularly fun or likely to be continually replayed, but it doesn't have to be. Some stability is a good thing after all of the previous drama.