Valerie Swanson

[Tea Ess]

"He (Jay) and Valerie make a strong, antagonistic pair."-Ben Warren, in his review for 'How to Sink a Sub'.

Ben Warren, I feel that you have great reviews. You come down hard on the issues within an episode, but you balance this with praise and appreciation where it is do. However, I must respectfully disagree with you on the character of Valerie.

I have two main reasons for my adamant dislike for Valarie. Firstly, we know nothing of her past, nothing of her home-life, and nothing of her inner reasons for causing strife and disorder! She is a half-baked, luke warm, unfinished character without rhyme or reason! However, the most disturbing thing about her is that she is a self-centered priggish monster, someone who is devoid of anything good.

I will address the former issue first. Essentially, AiO created Valerie to 'fill the random bad-guy role' in their episodes. Rather than slowly introducing us to a fully rounded character, they threw Valerie into the midst of Odyssey, having her be a despicable, prideful snob. The most painful fact is that she is used almost frequently, particularly so in the Kidsboro series. The intent the writers had was for Valerie to cause a problem, then let the main character take the spotlight and fix the problem. Being a standard basic plot, this should not be a dilemma. However, Valerie adds some unintended complications and dynamics. Valerie's character is so unnatural that she does not hand off well. The residue left by her actions last throughout the entire episode, and even beyond that, causing confusion and distraction from the main story plot, in addition to the protagonist. This is a point I want to highlight later. Adding more confusion, Valerie has not been a consistent person. In one episode, she is the cold class beauty, another she is a selfish brat, then the next she is an evil mastermind. Excuse me? You've lost us, Valerie! All in all, Valerie is, at best, an unneeded fill-in, and at worst, she is a distraction to us, and a strength-sapping parasite to AiO's normally well-equipped character set.

As for the next dilemma, I have a Bible verse to share.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
- Philippians 4:8

My simple question is: Does Valerie help us to do this? Now, many of you are thinking already, 'What about Rodney, Vance, or Jay? Aren't they 'bad' characters, too?' My answer to that is a definite 'no'. Although Rodney and Vance are certainly not admirable examples, instead of focusing us on how not to do things, their antics provide a base for someone else to show us how to do things. In other words, Rodney, Jay, and Vance were excellent people to cause a problem, they were always backgrounds for others to come in and show them the right way. They succeeded in getting our attention, and then directed it to the protagonist, so we could learn a just and pure way to solve the problem. Now, back to my point. Valerie is not a good person to hand off the spotlight. For one thing, no one can really give a reason for WHY she does things. Rodney and Jay had inner reasons and motivations for their trouble causing; Valerie has given us nothing. Even in Target of the Week, we learn enough about Vance so that we are not distracted by unanswered questions. Valerie leaves us with a complete mystery, and forever unsolved mysteries focus our attention away from the attributes above. My opinion is that while Rodney was always easily counterbalanced by a strong rebuttal, Valerie is never really contradicted, or her wrong doing is never fully addressed. There are points left uncompleted, and we are left with confusion. We are left with unanswered questions, and these detract from an episode's potential.


On a slightly more positive note, I would not have full justification for these arguments if I did not suggest a solution. I feel that there are a few courses of action that can be used to mend the wake of destruction left by Valerie.

1) Dump her character and instead use a wider selection of the kids at their school. For example, one person causes a problem, we learn just a little of their story, and then they hand the spotlight to a main character. However, a wider variety of 'bullies' could result in disorientation.

2) Complete Valerie's character. Finish the baking process. Give us some background, some reason for her motivation, and some of the consequences of her choices. Let us know why she acts the way she does, and wrap up the ending so we are left with a feeling of completion and satisfaction. In all, help her to give up the spotlight for the main character.

3) Fill in her role with Vance or possibly Jay. Let Vance take over the 'school troublemaker' role again. However, he would not interact with the girls as well, so there would still be a gap. The combination of Jay and Olivia could be used more at school.

4) Replace Valerie with another girl. This would be the most complicated solution. Maybe instead of using a pointless person, they could introduce a mellower girl who causes trouble occasionally, but without such a strong personality.

5) Do nothing about her. This would eventually lead to Valerie
a) Taking over the school (just kidding, she may get expelled)
b) Fizzling out
c) continuing to randomly cause trouble
Any one of these would be a source of confusion and distraction, and will only go downhill from there.

Over all, I feel that Valerie is a dark splotch on an otherwise clean board, but I still feel that she is not beyond resurrection. There is still hope, provided that there is change, SOON!

[Wretched Sinner]

Valerie is a snobby brat.

[Tea Ess]

My point exactly. I would not mind this as much if they gave us some sort of reason, but we are left without a clue as to her behavior. Something needs to happen. Maybe if she got carried away by a hot air balloon we wouldn't have to worry about it. Maybe instead she should move to Tahiti.

[Wretched Sinner]

My point exactly. I would not mind this as much if they gave us some sort of reason, but we are left without a clue as to her behavior. Something needs to happen. Maybe if she got carried away by a hot air balloon we wouldn't have to worry about it. Maybe instead she should move to Tahiti.

That would be awesome. I love your description on how useless Valerie is.

[Tea Ess]

Thank you. I've been wanting to do this for a long time.

[Wretched Sinner]

Thank you. I've been wanting to do this for a long time.

Yes. If there was one person I wouldn't want in the show it would be Valerie.

[Tea Ess]

Ya. All of the other characters are pretty good, if not excellently created, but Valerie is utterly pointless.

[Wretched Sinner]

Ya. All of the other characters are pretty good, if not excellently created, but Valerie is utterly pointless.

Yes. She kinda seems cartoonish.

[Tea Ess]

You're right! I never thought about that. She seems like one of those evil pointless characters in the cartoons! Thank you, that was brilliant!

[Wretched Sinner]

You're right! I never thought about that. She seems like one of those evil pointless characters in the cartoons! Thank you, that was brilliant!

I wouldn't exactly say she is evil, but more like a spoiled rotten brat.

[Tea Ess]

That may be over the top, you're right. But have you read the Kidsboro series? Valerie is one of the biggest masterminds in their town. She plans a takeover, but is foiled.

Oh, and by evil pointless character, I mean one of those not-too-smart people in cartoons, who are made to be funny, and not really evil.

[Wretched Sinner]

That may be over the top, you're right. But have you read the Kidsboro series? Valerie is one of the biggest masterminds in their town. She plans a takeover, but is foiled.

ya. I've read it. I guess she is kinda mean, a bully I guess, but I wouldn't say evil. I'd save that title for Dr. Blackgaard

[Tea Ess]

I added something to the post above. Valerie may not be pure evil like Dr. Blackgaard, but she is devious. Maybe she is more intelligent than we give her credit for. Maybe she will by Blackgaard, Mustafa, The Chairman, and Mr. Grote all in one.

[Wretched Sinner]

I added something to the post above. Valerie may not be pure evil like Dr. Blackgaard, but she is devious. Maybe she is more intelligent than we give her credit for. Maybe she will by Blackgaard, Mustafa, The Chairman, and Mr. Grote all in one.

ha ha. Maybe she is.

[Tea Ess]

That would be a great episode

"Valerie defeats the police force in her takeover of Oyssey"-episode 853

[Katrina Meltsner]

I don't like Valerie AT ALL. she's such a bully.

[Tea Ess]

She doesn't have a good side, like Jay, or a humorous personality like Rodney. Sometimes, she is just devious.

[HannahJ.]

Valerie is a snobby brat.

Agreed I could live w/o her!! There should be another girl who is kind hearted!

[Tea Ess]

Or at least one without such a controversial personality. Someone like Liz Horton might work. She started out as a fairly mean person, but not a devious one. Mostly, my concern does not stem from Valerie's deviousness, but her pointlessness. She seems to have no reason for why she does things.

[Wretched Sinner]

I also think Odyssey kinda overdid Valerie a bit. I don't know why though.