Episode
Reviewed: An
Agreeable Nanny
(676)
Writers: Bob Hoose, Paul McCusker
Director: Dave Arnold
Sound Designer:
Christopher Diehl
Music:
John Campbell
Scripture: Luke 16:10
Theme: Responsibility
Original
Airdate: 12/04/10
Review Written by:
Ben Warren, Staff Writer
Rating (out of 5):
Episode
Summary
The Parker family kids are convinced that they
are too grown-up for a babysitter. A parents' night out, a nanny named
Maria, and the neighbor's dog Bruno may be their opportunity to prove
themselves.
The Review
Perhaps it ended up being more of a curse than a blessing when
Adventures in Odyssey decided to introduce its most beloved family, the
Barclays, so early on in the show. All that we older listeners can do now is
compare each and every family to this perfect model. Unlike some fans, I've
never had a problem with doing this. Why? Because not only am I an Odyssey
purist, but a realist as well. The Barclays were extraordinary. Period. We do
not want cheap imitations or wannabes; we want a family we can love, relate to,
and invest in emotionally--a fictional family we can feel part of, and who can
be part of ours weekly. And it's a shame that we have to deconstruct and analyze
what makes up a good family-centric episode whenever a family, like the Parkers,
ask us for our time...but I will anyway.
Frankly, the Washington family left and I barely cared. Did you? They weren't
the show's most memorable addition. I'm sure the writer's would admit this
themselves. After all, the Barclays were given their own send-off episode,
compared to the Washingtons, who have seemingly dropped off the face of the
earth. The reasons for the Washington family's failure to connect with listeners
are obvious. The Washingtons demoted Xavier, its most compelling character, much
too early, and squandered many opportunities to tackle interesting and deep
family-related issues, in exchange for chaotic and so-called "comic relief"
storylines. Truth be told, Ed, Elaine, Marvin, and Tamika, often seemed to be
parodying a family and rarely felt like the real thing. The writers kept Ed
Washington in his fatherly role, and never gave him the opportunity to develop
into an intriguing character on his own, separate from his family. I
could continue on but I won't. I've done that enough
here. My point is that Adventures in Odyssey has an real
opportunity to not let the Parker family go the way the Washingtons did.
Fortunately, I already have a fair bit of confidence in this family to give
audiences unique, entertaining, and thought-provoking episodes. Already, Matthew
"Sam Johnson" Parker has forced his way into our hearts, even though some of us
may still be in denial about that. And everyone unanimously agrees that Mr.
Parker and Camilla are two excellent characters. And while the jury is still out
on Olivia, the writers can keep us happy by perhaps digitally lowering her
voice, or at least, placing her character into situations where she won't need
to whine so much. I suppose time will tell. However, is it just me, or did
An Agreeable Nanny
seem more like a Washington episode than a Barclay episode?
For some reason, when I think of the Washington family, I think of episodes that
are loud, somewhat fanciful, and borderline chaotic. Like last season's
Clutter,
An Agreeable Nanny
is an episode that doesn't have much in terms of plot. As I've recently
explained in my review of Fast As
I Can, shows like these barely pass as real stories, but are simply one idea
repeating itself several times in different ways; the episodes driving it home
again and again without much development. It would be the same as making an
episode, thematically, about lying and simply hearing a character tell lies for
the rest of the episode and expect that to hold our attention for 25
minutes.
So must every new and heavily promoted family star in an episode where kids go
nuts while the parents are away? The Barclays had
Two
Sides to Every Story; the Washington's had
The
Mailman Cometh; and now the Parker's have
An Agreeable Nanny.
I wonder if there was any another way to communicate that kids "aren't as grown
up as they think they are" without having to resort to listening to an entire
episode where its central characters make poor decision after poor decision for
twenty-five minutes. At least
Two Sides to Every Story
had a creative storyline; listeners played detective while getting to piece
together what was true about Donna and Jimmy's individual stories. No, I am not
saying this because some sort of biasness towards the Barclays.
Two
Sides to Every Story is simply better and
An Agreeable Nanny
simply lacks its cleverness.
In addition, Bob Hoose, when writing for these characters, seemed to have
ignored all the maturity, wisdom and common sense Olivia and Matthew have shown
in the past. Is this the same Matthew Parker who acted so calm and rational next
to Emily Jones for two seasons? I bet Bob Hoose noticed he only really had the
Parker family at hand, and as a result, ended up injecting these new hyperactive
personalities into the Parker kids, failing to realize that this doesn't jive
well with how we've seen them act in recent episodes. And although I'm glad the
show didn't choose the Jones family to be in this show, I almost think that the
personalities of Emily and Barrett would have suited the storyline better.
Almost.
And might I also officially call this the season of
"ridiculous-plot-twists-tacked-onto-the-end-of-episodes"?
Stage Fright felt the need to
surprise us by making Charlie Stolfitz into an undercover actor,
An Agreeable Nanny
felt the need to have an British undercover nanny; and
The Malted
Milkball Fountain decided to--wait, let's wait until
next week before tackling that one. While I don't think the "surprise" was
completely unbelievable, I had a difficult time coming up with a single reason
for why Mr. and Mrs. Parker felt the need to hire an actress-- instead of a
simply hiring a real nanny. Did she need to sound British? Not really.
But Mary Poppins did. And throwing in as many "Mary Poppins" or "The sound of
Music" references was probably an easy way of injecting more life into an
already dull story.
However, it would be unfair to review
An Agreeable Nanny
without pointing to a few of its better moments. I'll admit that there were
quite a few memorable lines: "We'll work out your punishments after Maria goes,
there's no point in having a witness--I mean--for her to witness..."
or "You're not Cambrish?". Today, the best actress award goes to the youngest
Parker, Camilla, who made me laugh several times throughout. While the scene in
which she watches a scary movie is a familiar one, she performs in it well, and
turns that particular scene into the highlight of the episode. I personally
would not have let the dog lick the dishes, nor, for that matter, would I have
cleaned them using a hose, but I probably would have waited until my
parents left to watch a movie I knew I wasn't supposed to watch.
The somewhat chaotic
An Agreeable Nanny
feels recycled and follows a stale formula. I'm somewhat disappointed that my
opinion differs so greatly from the numerous fans who've expressed their love
for this episode. I cannot, unfortunately, appreciate this one as much as they
did. The Parker family has a lot of potential and I eagerly look forward to when
the show creates more interesting storylines to showcase this family's chemistry
and solid performances. And while
An Agreeable Nanny
isn't exactly a bad episode, it still made me feel like I deserved
something better than this. In fact, we all did.
Rating
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