Episode
Reviewed: Teacher's
Pest (531)
Writer: Torry
Martin
Director: Marshal
Younger
Production
Engineer: Bob
Luttrell
Music
Composer: John
Campbell
Original
Airdate: 11/01/03
Rating
(out of 5 cones): 
Episode
Summary
Mandy is the perfect student. She always gets her work done perfectly and volunteers to stay in for recess to help the teacher. Max is...the opposite. He tries to get out of work whenever he can and blows up pickles for science projects. So, what will happen when Mrs. Sweeney tells them to work together on a project? It's not gonna be pretty...
The
Review
In
recent episodes, Mandy Straussberg hasn't been around. It seems to me as if
the Washington's swept into the town of Odyssey and showed no remorse for
the longer-lasting characters. The way in which they were introduced was
overdone, and it seems like AIO ignored Mandy for a little bit. That is why
I was so pleased to hear that Mandy's still around in Teacher's
Pest.
To
be honest, it hurts to be honest. I'd greatly enjoy my job as a reviewer if
I could give every single episode a positive review, but that's never the
case with reviewers. My job is to critique, not lie to the audience
involved. This episode is an alright slice-of-life Adventures in Odyssey
episode, but that's all it is. In the beginning of the episode I cringed as
I heard Max Hampton's cheesy taunting of Mandy's motivation. The beginning
of the episode didn't catch my attention as do other shows. I think the very
storyline itself has been tackled once or twice on AIO in other forms.
Hearing it again doesn't really do much for me. No way, José. It's not
working for me as Hooked on Phonics did.
Each
week of a new season, I anxiously wait for AIO's time slot to arrive,
anticipating how the show will turn out. Sometimes I am happy, sometimes I'm
displeased. With the introduction of Miss Sweeney, I was very displeased. Teacher's
Pest seems to take on a slow role, Mandy Straussberg as a main
character, not at all a pest, but instead the pest is her teacher. There's
just something obnoxious, cheesy, insipid, lifeless, dead, decaying,
ANNOYING about the voice of Mrs. Sweeney. Mrs. Sweeney talked really S-L-O-W
and it was bitter to my earlobes, something poetry isn't. She had a distinct
accent which bugged me every time she appeared on set, pulsating into my
eardrums. Thump. Thump. I'm making you two work together on the science
fair project. THUMP. THUMP.
So
typical it is to center a story around a science project. It's been done so
many times I have a grudge against science fairs. I hated participating in
the science fairs at school when I was younger. Why can't we just leave well
enough alone?
John
Avery Whittaker's character has taken a positive step in this episode, even
with all the negativity. It was nice to hear Whit give valuable
lessons (notice the emphasis there) and talk to the kids once again.
The
Rating
As
one of Torry Martin's early episode debuts, I'd say he did a pretty good
job. Some improvements could be made here and there, but hey. It's a good
listen, for the most part. I give Teacher's
Pest 3 out of 5 cones.
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