Episode Reviewed: The
American Revelation I & II (508, 509)
Writer: John
Fornof
Production
Engineer: Todd
Busteed
Original
Airdate: 2/15/03, 2/22/03
Rating
(Out of 5 cones): 
|
The
American Revelation
[Episode
Info]
Episode
Summary: Marvin
Washington hears an often untold story of the American Revolutionary
War.
Theme:
American
history: The Revolutionary War
(John 15:13)
|
"Gentlemen,
I have confidence. The men who built this fort are strong enough to defend
it. And yet our strength is not enough. Take off your hats, men, as we
beseech the favor of providence.
Almighty
God, teach us never to depend on the arm of flesh, but only upon Thee. Amen."
[Colonel Prescott]
The
Review
Sometimes
Adventures in Odyssey does things that I don’t like. A lot of
things went on in The
American Revelation
which I wouldn’t exactly call beloved or dearest.
For
example, the introduction of a new Imagination Station was a bad idea. For
years, Mr. Whittaker displayed the old version of the Station in the Bible
Room and it served its purpose and helped children to experience the Bible
and/or history. Now this episode introduced an extremely advanced techno-gizmo
that takes away from the classic, timely feel of Whit’s End. Whit’s
inventing has taken him too far. The Imagination Station may have been
unrealistic in the first place but I didn’t care. Now I care. Now that the
machine holds up to ten people, has turbo lifters, and compression struts, I
do not care to experience any more Bible stories or famous historical
encounters. The Imagination Station isn’t what it used to be, so I’m
going to protest. I guess the very unrealistic “Holographic Input Scanning
Sequence” scared me away most of all. Supposedly, it has the capabilities
of scanning certain objects (books, pictures, etc.) and fills in the rest of
the information so a traveler can experience a little adventure about it. I
hate that. It’s just like the Transmuter in that there’s scanning
hardware. Oh yeah, let’s not even start commenting on the unknown
woman‘s computer voice inside the machine. It’s very unfriendly, very
stern, and very bad for business.
Another
complaint I have about The
American Revelation
is Marvin Washington’s acting. Let’s just say that he needs a little
more practice. A little more sinking in to play his part. The entire
episode, I wasn’t interested in the storyline due to the fact that the
main character in the story overacted. It became so obnoxious, in fact, that
I dread listening to the episode again. And I must ask… why was with
Marvin’s incessant oinking? It made absolutely no sense.
Even
though Marvin could use some acting lessons, I can’t complain about the
other actors. The British actors in this episode did very well on their
parts and British accents on the show helped to give the history “feel”
to the episode. You know, the patriotic sensation.
The
music, written by Jared Depasquale, was very well done. As well as it may
have been, I don’t think it fits in with the Adventures in Odyssey
show. Music is important to an episode, and since they got too professional
with it, it blows all other AIO shows out of the water. I’m not saying I
didn’t like the music… I loved it! I’m saying that perhaps they
shouldn’t have gotten so extravagant with it. I’d rather that Focus on
the Family keep it on their Radio Theatre productions (which I like a
lot). The music in this episode did help to intensify the battle scenes,
however. I was very pleased in that aspect.
And
why was Marvin oinking, anyway? It was obnoxious and annoying!
The
Rating
In
conclusion, I must say that this hasn’t been the most captivating of
episodes, but I’m willing to listen when I get to that point in the
series. I give The
American Revelation
2 out of 5 cones.
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