Episode Reviewed: For
the Fun of It (510)
Writer: Torry
Martin
Director: Marshal
Younger
Production
Engineer: Allen
Hurley
Original
Airdate: 3/01/03
Rating
(Out of 5 cones): 
|
For
the Fun of It
[Episode
Info]
Episode
Summary: Talia
decides to get back at her father by spending a week in Odyssey with
her uncle. But her uncle proves to be a big surprise.
Theme:
Don’t
try to grow up to fast, having fun
|
"You have a pet fish named ‘Fish’ and a pet cat
named ‘Cat?’ ... I can’t believe this. Horse is a dog?"
[Talia Bassett]
The
Review
Just
for the fun of it, I decided to listen to For
the Fun of It again before
reviewing it. And you know what? It was a lot of fun.
Ever since Welcoming
Wooton, I have been wondering what happened to Wooton when he was a
child. It was nice to be able to learn more about Wooton, especially since
we just found out he’s a twin! Does that mean Talia’s father looks
exactly like Wooton, or are they fraternal? I was expecting Wooton to have
grown up as a very neglected child that would spark bad memories later, but
I was pleasantly wrong. Instead I learned that Wooton was probably not
allowed to play with toys as a boy. Alas, we’ve now met Wooton’s
brother, who, incidentally, doesn’t like to (or has forgotten how to) have
fun. His daughter has the same problem.
Talia was a very good
character to bring to the AIO timeline. I feel that Talia may appear in
future episodes. Not necessarily a lot like Whit, Connie, and Eugene, but
may pop in every once in a while as Danny Schmidt did in the past (remember
him?). Bringing an elegant rich girl to the program has probably been a good
step for the program. She doesn’t live in a house… she lives in a manor
instead, and she doesn’t even know her butler’s real name. And I’m
rambling for the fun of it.
Talia’s character, I
must mention again, was a good addition to the show. The actress that plays
Talia did a superb job and I hope she shows up again soon. It’s just too
bad that AIO introduces characters and forgets to check up on them every
once in a while. That’s probably what happened to Danny Schmidt, not that
I was very fond of the brat or anything. I’d like to see Talia show up for
a few more visits, learn how to drop the stuck-up accent and behaviors, and
possibly move to Odyssey with her father. I’m interested in getting to
know all of Talia’s family, and not just her, as well.
Wooton and Mrs. Randolf
together make an interesting friendship. Anytime Wooton’s making his
rounds delivering mail, you can expect him to stay for a minute to talk to
Mrs. Randolf, who seems to lose her glasses a lot. I liked the creative
irony in the names of her pets. She has a pet fish named ‘Fish’ and a
pet cat named ‘Cat.’ However, due to the fact that she has two dogs, she
named one ‘Dog’ and the other ‘Horse.’ Very interesting. I almost
wish I would have been that creative in naming my animals.
As always, I do have
one complaint to throw out to you. In For
the Fun of It, Talia and Wooton take some photos of her having loads of
fun, all for the sole purpose of tricking her father into believing that
she’s been Wooton-ized. Truly, she did admit to her father later that she
was only joking, but what does that tell the audiences listening to Adventures
in Odyssey? Does that tell them it’s okay to play pranks by deceiving
people? Is it okay if we lie when we joke around for the fun of it? Am I
making myself perfectly clear, or do I sound as if I’m deceiving you?
The
storyline, music, and sound design were very well done, and the acting was
very well done as well.
The
Rating
In summary, I believe this has been one of the
better episodes of the 2003 Winter Season, even though the moral may have
been too basic (as in Why Don’t You
Grow Up?).
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