At My Whit’s End: Connie Comes to Hell
(Photo: Generic Image of Whit for Clubhouse magazine by Bruce Day, Focus on the Family. Image courtesy of The Odyssey Scoop. Deep fried by yours truly.)
Odyssey USA’s in trouble and it’s only been three episodes. The first two were nothing special and the third a colossal disaster. It needs something to kick it into gear. Throw the characters off balance. Test their belief in the Lord, our God.
A villain.
But who would fit those requirements? From the shadows, Dobson chuckled.
“A teenage female.”*
*He didn’t say that. Probably.
Episode 4: Connie Comes to Town
Godless Connie Kendall reluctantly accepts a job at Whit’s End to afford bus fare to LA but when a young boy decides to follow her, Whit teaches her about responsibility.
As divine retribution for unleashing “Communicate!” on the children of Odssey, Whit’s overwhelmed with work. Serving ice cream, answering phone calls, and dealing with kids arguing over the “Bible Bowl” trivia contest all on his own. Looks like that one employee from Family Portraits quit.
Excellent job, comrade, you escaped before the storm.
Whit complains he hasn’t been able to find help. I mean, if working at Whit’s End is anything like working at Focus on the Family, no wonder.
But, as written in Philippians 4:19, “God will fully satisfy every need of yours.”¹ So he sends Whit a fun little surprise. Connie Kendall, a teen from a broken home. Ripe for manipulation. And it’s not even Whit’s birthday!
Connie’s looking for directions to a local “fashion center” to interview for job, one she hopes will get her enough money to move back to LA and live with her single father. Whit could never allow anyone to fall into the liberal tendrils of the left coast and, over her clear disinterest, offers her a job at Whit’s End. Connie’s caught off guard.
Connie: “You're offering me a job? I haven't even filled out an application.”
Whit: “I don't know what else I'd ask you. I already know where you're from. A little about your family, what kind of work you've done, what experience you've had. Is there something I missed?”
Connie: “No… And I get the feeling there isn't much of anything you do miss.”
Whit: “I’ll take that as a compliment.”²
Connie’s bemused at the all the attention she gets from the kids at Whit’s End; they’re all starstruck at the idea of living in LA. Especially twelve-year-old Bobby who’s fed up with life in Odyssey where the biggest thing a kid can look forward to are Bible Bowls.
Connie: “Bible Bowls? What’s that?”
Bobby: “It’s this game where Mr. Whittaker asks questions out of the Bible and two teams try to answer.”
Connie: “You mean Mr. Whittaker’s into religion?”
Bobby: “Well, he's a Christian, if that's what you mean.”
Connie: “Oh, brother. Now, I know I got to get back to LA.”³
Connie’s origin in a broken home was the set-up, but not being into RELIGION? AIO villain status: Confirmed. Put her in Jesus jail this instant!
The exasperated reaction she has to Whit’s beliefs continues the condescending writing of “Lights Out at Whit’s End.” Connie’s supposed to come off as this stuck up liberal, instantly judging someone solely for a belief in God. A not so subtle suggestion this is how non-believers will always treat you, child listener. Maybe someone, somewhere, had this over-the-top reaction, but in my experience? As a teenager who proudly “accepted Jesus into his heart” around 2008 but was also president of the anime club (a known repository of the diverse neurodivergent gays) no one talked shit about my beliefs to my face. Though I admit they were probably more confused at the… Mixed signals of the shirt I wore to signify those beliefs.
(About a year later I realized I was one of the gays. See ya, God! Worship music can’t compete with 2000’s anime JRock.)
But Odyssey USA needs a villain and Connie’s going to fill that role by any means necessary. AKA Whit’s newest move taught by God, the ol’ Gaslight, Gatekeep, GirlsGoToHell. But first, Whit invokes the demonic anime power of THE TIME SKIP.
Out of nowhere in the middle of the episode several weeks, if not months, go by. Connie’s become a mainstay at Whit’s End and we’re told all the kids love her. It’s a baffling choice by the writers. At least half a dozen stories could have filled that gap in time, really selling Connie’s reluctant warming to the town. Instead the pacing is shot to hell so Whit can get to lecturing her.
He guilts her about still wanting to go back to LA, thus abandoning the kids of Whit’s End. He, completely inappropriately, asks what her mom thinks about her moving to LA. This is supposed to be a massive own by Whit but… Does he even know her mom? I mean, it’s Whit, he probably introduced himself the second she moved in in order to extract valuable manipulation information to use against Connie, but come on! While it’s sort of implied Connie’s dad was the one to break off the marriage, for all we know Connie’s mom was the one at fault! Maybe all Connie wants is to get back LA and be with the friends and parent she loves. But no, Whit knows better. Connie should stay in Odyssey LONGER. Who cares she’s made enough money to pay her own back home? Let him have more time to build up his Gaslight Blast. He says he’s concerned but Connie nopes out of there, breaking his hold… For now.
Would it shock all of you as much as it did me that the lesson of the episode is supposed to be about being content? WHAT?! The intent is that Connie’s supposed to realize LA won’t instantly make her life better and that no matter where you are? You can make it as exciting and fun as you want it to be. So why think about being somewhere else when you can just enjoy where you are? This doesn’t work for Connie because she’s lived in LA her whole life and knows it’s better than here. The better idea would have been to focus this story entirely on Bobby, the young boy who buys a bus ticket to follow Connie, assuming a move to LA will fix the boredom he feels in Odyssey. Captivated with Connie’s rose tinted yearnings for LA, Bobby would assume Connie’s life was perfect there but over the course of the episode learns the real reasons why she left. Bobby’s pestering would force Connie, who up to this point as only focused on the good parts of her LA life, to finally start processing the negative of living there. She wouldn’t make a full 180 about moving back to LA, but it would plant a seed.
Instead the actual climax of the episode has Whit shaming Connie for making Bobby want to move. When the young boy told Whit he was going to LA with Connie, Whit doesn’t question if Connie really said that to him, he automatically assumes Connie encouraged it! Connie did no such thing at any point but a puny little thing like reality won’t stop Whit and he unleashes the full force of the Gaslighting.
Whit: “So you didn’t say he shouldn’t go.”
BAM. Connie’s life points are hit but keeps up her defenses. She didn’t say anything encouraging or discouraging Bobby. She’s just an employee here, it’s not her responsibility.
Whit: “Didn’t you know he had a crush on you?”
KABAM. Connie’s knocked off balance at this wild accusation of being a temptress. Whit eases up on the Gaslight. Just a bit. That part isn’t her fault… But she still needs to fix this problem she caused.
Whit: “Bobby (will) make one of the biggest mistakes of his life because you've got him all starry-eyed about California!”
KABOOOOM. The flames have reached their peak. They encircle the temptress female demon. Connie struggles to fight back. Whit shoots her down. She’s playing on his field of battle now. The Dobson Field, which raises the Attack Points of all Evangelical Monsters on the field while lowering the Defense Points of all Female Monsters, Spells, and Traps.
Whit spews nonsense at her about how everyone we come in contact with is impacted by our actions and thus we’re responsible for them. Which sounds like the kind of comment you’d see on Reddit about why the deli meat slicer at Safeway is obligated to go on a date with you because she smiled at you once. Connie rightfully fires back.
Connie: “What does that mean? Every time I pass somebody on the street, I'm responsible for the rest of their life?!”
A valiant attempt but Whit activates his Spell Card “Ignore Women!” and Field Spell Card: “Bible World.” By paying 1000 life points, Whit can invoke the word of God to win any argument!
Whit: “God made each and every one of us dependent on other people, and he wants us to feel some responsibility for one another.”
Connie: “Look, I'm not really into God, so it doesn't make much difference to me what he wants.”
Whit: “All right, so you're not a believer, but think about what I said. It's common sense. What kind of world are we going to have if nobody cares about anybody else?”⁴
What in the name of Exodia the Forbidden One is this crap? Isn’t this episode supposed to be about contentment? Chris, the narrator at the start of the episode, talked all about it!
Chris: “There's an old saying that goes, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side.’ But is it really? Most of the time, things that sound too good to be true usually are. Unfortunately, we still want those things. Well, we're going to find out why it's better to stick with the things you have than chase after the things you just want.”⁵
Why is Whit hammering Connie about responsibility? Shouldn’t he instead be having a heart-to-heart with Bobby about contentment? Connie did nothing wrong! She’s a sixteen-year-old working a customer-facing service job, she has NO CHOICE but to be friendly with Bobby and thus “encourage him.” But no, Connie’s the villain so everything’s her fault.
I hate this. It’s such a cheap way to try and get the audience on Whit’s side when nothing’s been done to properly set it up. Whit tries to justify this nonsense as “common sense” which is right out of the Dobson playbook. Yes, the world would be terrible if nobody cared about anybody else, but that isn’t what’s happening here. This is just Whit’s Trap Card and, understandably, Connie falls right into it.
Connie: “But who's going to care about me? I mean, where do I fit into all this? If I'm not looking out for number one, I can't expect anybody else to do it.”
Whit: “Well why not? You've got people all around you who can't wait to care about you. But I'll give you this. Caring is risky business. Sometimes the people you care about really let you down. Bobby’s going to have to learn that lesson now, thanks to you.”⁶
WHAT IS GOING ON?! When did Connie demonstrate she needed people to care about her? Doesn’t she have those in LA? Shouldn’t Whit, if he actually cared and wasn’t just using her for a power trip, be concerned with WHY Connie (seemingly) feels like no one cares about her? Just like he should be way more concerned with why Bobby wants to run away from home?! The kid’s not just doing it because a teenager mentioned being an extra in a movie once. Kids from normal stable homes don’t tend to WANT to run away! Be concerned about THAT, Whit!
But no, he doesn’t have anyone to clean out the Whit’s End freezer and since no one else in Odyssey DARES work for him, he’s gotta manipulate Connie into staying. That’s obviously not the intent of the episode but, GOD, the disconnect between that intention and what’s actually portrayed is maddening.
I’d call it bad writing (and the pacing of the episode is extremely poor) but deep in my heart? I know this was the point. For anyone who didn’t grow up in Evangelical spaces, this is how women are treated. As Talia Lavin, author of Wild Faith, lays out in her assessment of the Evangelical website, “Botkin Sisters: Thoughts on Womanhood, Christianity, & Culture,”
“Women who are victims of abuse are not sufficiently soaked in the Word of God. It is this lack of divine marination that makes them stumble and fail.” According to these Evangelical women, Connie would already be at fault because she “failed to confront (Bobby) over-stepping at the beginning.” Since Connie (quite understandably) didn’t consider the possibility of Bobby’s crush and how he’d be swayed by her offhanded mentions of LA, everything that follows is her fault. She was too “flattered by a man’s attention” and thus didn’t say “no” (to a question that wasn’t even asked.)⁷ Ergo, it’s all her her responsibility. Just like Whit said. This can all be applied to the argument between Whit and Connie just as easily. She didn’t say “no” to Whit’s accusations hard enough, so she must be guilty. If only she knew Jesus!
Right, because the Bible perfectly lays out how to deal with the intricacies and horrors of being gaslit by an older man. Devout followers of Christ are very well known for believing women over men. They’d never turn their back on someone like Connie if she came to them for help. They totally wouldn’t shrug their shoulders and say, “but I know Whit! He’s such a wise man who gives so much money to the Church. He could never! You probably just put that Bobby boy under a spell with your Harpie Lady monster card.”
Connie, desperate to end this nightmare, wonders how to fix the problem she never caused. Whit ominously offers a solution but, “it’s gonna cost you something.”
Bobby returns to Whit’s End, all packed for his LA trip, but Connie… Is hosting the Bible Bowl?! What better torture for a wicked sinner? She bumbles through the questions, unable to pronounce Bible character names. The kids mockingly jeer. This harlot fool! Connie calls Bobby up to help her and thus both miss the bus. All according to Whit’s plan.
After Connie’s public humiliation (which she earned for she is a Godless female), Bobby struggles to understand why, after weeks of talking about LA, she chose to stay in Odyssey. It then hits him in the most unintended yet on point performance in this franchise yet.
Bobby: “I don’t get it. You wanted to leave more than I did… I know, Mr. Whittaker got to you, didn't he?”⁸
I know a lot of you reading don’t listen to the audio clips, but I beg you, listen to this very short one. The way Dave Griffin delivers that line, the emphasis he puts on “didn’t he?” had me dying from laughter. Dave, I don’t know how you did it, but your acting managed to summon Time Wizard to the field, piercing the fabric of the universe, and brilliantly summing up my feelings about this episode.
Bobby knows. It’s why he was so reluctant to participate in the Bible Bowl from the start. He knows it’s just a tactic to ensnare children into the Evangelical Cult. He’s been a victim of it and so have his friends. He’s seen those “heartwarming” talks Mr. Whittaker has. But Bobby knows the truth. Given enough time, Whit will get to everyone. Brain Control card always ready to be played.
Connie, already under Whit’s power, tells a perplexed Bobby, “the reason I wanted to go to California is because I have friends there, and I had fun, and people liked me. But look around. Here I am in Odyssey, and I have friends here. And I had fun and people like me.”
...The only “friends” we’ve heard Connie interact with in Odyssey are Gaslighting Despot Whit and children. THOSE ARE YOU FRIENDS?! We’ve already gone over why Whit’s a monster… But the kids? Those are people she SERVES at WORK. They are not her friends! And the “fun” she had was being forced into hosting the Bible Bowl!
CONNIE. YOU. IN. DANGER. GIRL.
Bobby still wants to move to California but Connie protests. He’d leave and force her to learn her way around Odyssey alone?! Whit must have been watching this exchange, chuckling. His plan complete. The “solution” he offered up so Connie could fix the problem she never caused? Makes her do exactly what he accused her of, ensnaring a young boy. The heart of the Gaslight Cards never fails.
This is all meant to stomp out ANY thoughts Evangelical listeners have of leaving their isolated religious community. If you, teenager discovering you identity, ever THINK you want to move away? No you don’t. Why would you? Everyone loves you here. Why aren’t you content here? Why do you want anything? Your selfish thoughts are gonna influence the little ones in your life. They’ll leave and ANYTHING bad that happens to them is YOUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY. You only think life is better out there, but, as Connie explains to Bobby,
Connie: “Well, any place you live, even California, it's what you make it. Exciting, boring, fun, depressing, it's really up to you. And what you don't have always seems to look better than what you do have. Maybe if you went to California, you’d just find out things were better here.”
Bobby: “Is that what you think?”
Connie: “I don't know, maybe, but I'm going to check it out and see.”⁹
…
So. Whit’s End’s a cult compound. Connie’s fallen under the sway of charismatic leader Whit. Already doing his bidding. Saying things that underhandedly strip away her agency. That whole “it’s what you make it” speech seems like inoffensive advice. Until you realize that same kind of logic can be used to keep people in abusive situations. Silly buffoon, nowhere is better than here. You just aren’t trying hard enough to enjoy it. You aren’t trying hard enough to not be abused. NOW CLEAN OUT THE FREEZER FOR THE NONBELIEVERS.
The episode ends with the most wish fulfillment moment for Evangelicals possible. A moment that made me violently cringe.
Connie: “Look, I'll make you a deal.”
Bobby: “What?”
Connie: “I'll tell you how to get a refund for your ticket...”
Bobby: “Yeah?”
Connie: “If you'll tell me why people in the Bible had such funny names. Melchizedek?! Where did you learn how to pronounce this stuff?”¹⁰
Yeah, the Bible is so full of hard to pronounce names. Matthew. Mark. Luke. John. Real tongue twisters, those.
Remember the vaguely decent portrayal of a non-believer in Family Portraits’ “In Memory of Herman”? Nice while it lasted. No one talks like this, yet it’s the kind of easy layup they teach in Youth Group to expect when your secular friends bring up Jesus. If they don’t bring up the Lord, no worries, you’ll be able to turn any conversation to this topic and everyone will want to listen, right? When this fails to ever happen to anyone ever, you’re forced to slink back, in tears, wondering what went wrong. Why wasn’t witnessing to foolish nonbelievers as easy as Odyssey USA promised? You’ll be told it’s all your fault, you didn’t believe hard enough. Now get into face-down mode and beg for forgiveness as the Youth Pastor croons a “clean” acoustic version of OutKast’s “Hey Ya!”
My Lordy don’t mess around
Because He loves me so
This I know fo sho!But does He really wanna
But can’t stand to see me turn away from HimDon’t try to fight His words
If you do you’re gonna go to hell.Thank you, for loving us
Even though we sin
Like we don’t know how!Praiissseeeese Goodddd
Praise God!
So far in this research project there’s been a few episodes I remembered from my youth. “A Member of the Family” and “Lights Out at Whit’s End” in particular. They weren’t good but they didn’t have any negative long-term negative impacts on me. I just listened, enjoyed them, and thankfully didn’t internalize their intended morals. “Connie Comes to Town” though?
Look, I can only remember so much of what I thought as a child. I don’t have perfect recall. Aside from a few core memories the best I have are impressions. But as I relistened to Whit shaming Connie for not taking responsibility about something she wasn’t responsible for? CLICK. A connection was made between it and a mental defense mechanism I developed at a young age to protect myself from abuse.
You must be “good” at all times. Do nothing to make anyone possibly think you’re “bad.” Live in constant fear of what someone could be thinking about you, it’s the only way to protect yourself. Be what they want you to be. If you anger them, take responsibility. You should have known better. Why didn’t you know better? Why aren’t you “good”?
These kinds of thoughts still echo in my life. “Connie Comes to Town” didn’t cause them, but it didn’t help. This could have been a story that reached out and comforted me, reminding me it wasn’t my fault. That I shouldn’t be content where I was. But no, it was just another reminder that “taking responsibility” was “good” but standing up for yourself was “bad.”
Whit being portrayed as totally in the right doesn’t help. Much like with the portrayal of non-believers, there’s no ambiguity to be found here like there was in episodes like “A Member of the Family.” No possible way to read this episode in a positive light. Not a single glimmer of hope. It’s clear what it wants its audience to believe, right in line with Evangelical teaching. As Out of Focus writer Cantorna-Wylde remembered from her own upbringing as a daughter of Focus on the Family (and AIO) staff member Dave Arnold,
“I picked up on the idea that my own wants and needs should always take a backseat to other people's. It created a slow death of my own longing that took place over a period of years. It happened in a way that was subtle and subconscious, covered up with smiles and making others feel good. I didn't even know it was happening until I realized as an adult how hard it was to ask for what I needed emotionally or to take up emotional space in a relationship "Don't want. Don't need," the voice in my head says to me. "Make yourself small. Don't be too much. Don't ask for that. Don't complicate things. Don't create conflict. Don't be a burden." These hardwired ideas about how to move through the world have proven difficult to deprogram.”¹¹
When I started this blog I wondered what parts of AIO had stuck with with me. Were they all bad? I can’t say yet if they’re ALL bad but I do know this episode reinforced a dangerous defense mechanism I struggle with every day. One where my negative self-talk sounds more like Whit in this episode than I’d ever realized.
That and it’s just badly written and can’t decide on an actual theme. Or, as fansite AIOUpdate hilariously put it,
“The theme of Connie Comes to Town is about being content with what you have. Funnily enough, Whit’s End is crowded with customers and Whit isn’t content with not having any regular employees.”
Even that four-star super fan review knows Whit was full of shit.
Next Time: Whit continues to be full of shit.
(Thanks to everyone who’s supported me on Patreon or just signed up (for free!) to get updates about new blog entries. I’ve been posting bonus content to paid supporters over there, including further musings about “A Member of the Family.”)
Sources:
“The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version” Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990.
(1) Page 199
Connie Comes to Town: Written and Directed by Phil Lollar and Steve Harris, Production Engineer Bob Luttrell, Focus on the Family, 1987.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(8)
(9)
(10)
“Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America” by Talia Lavin, Legacy Lit, 2024.
(7) Page 184
“Out of Focus: My Story of Sexuality, Shame, and Toxic Evangelicalism” by Amber Cantorna-Wylde, Westminster John Knox Press, 2023.
(11) Page 23