“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!
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.
And I still have more to say about this episode. But this will do for now. 
Just make it relatable to real country kids please. 
