At My Whit’s End: Nemesis Genesis (Blackgaard Saga Part 3)
(Photo: Why does it lowkey look like Whit wants to get into some Old Man Yaoi with Blackgaard? Art, regretfully, by Gary Locke, Focus on the Family.)
We continue with The Blackgaard Saga, Adventures in Odyssey’s first major story arc, picking up in the wake of Connie and Eugene’s firing from Whit’s End after inadvertently activating Whit’s secret computer program. The previous two episodes covered Connie’s emotional fallout from these events, along with inflicting some Whit-style justice on Lucy.
We now follow what happened to Eugene.
Episode 76: Eugene’s Dilemma
Eugene’s new job at the community college goes awry when he uncovers a grade-changing scheme seemingly headed by a child genius.
There’s not as much to dig into here as we had with Connie’s post-Whit’s End job so we’ll just hit the basics. As implied by my episode summary, child genius Nicholas isn’t the on heading the grade-changing scheme. It’s his college counselor, Richard Maxwell, who forced him into it. Eugene’s roped in as well, threatened that if he reveals what they’re doing? Richard will get Nicholas kicked out of college and sent back to an orphanage. The scheme’s soon uncovered by the college but Eugene refuses to snitch on Nicholas. When brought before the college’s board of trustees Eugene’s greeted with a surprise. Whit’s on the board!
Helps to run the community college, director of the summer camp, sits on the town council, owns Whit’s End, teaches at the church, and probably more. This man runs the town. No wonder he gets away with so much shady shit. You can’t touch him. Dude had a literal skeleton in his building and the cops went “lol, oh Whit.”
I’m just saying, when the Whittaker Files are finally released un-redacted? Don’t be surprised what you find.
Whit, in a move that is somehow not illegal, gets the other board members to leave while he grills Eugene on what really happened. He’s not capable of a scheme like this, right? Bro, he’s been in barely half a dozen episodes since his debut. You don’t know this man! Oh wait, he’s a man. Never mind, he’s all good.
Eugene stands firm until Nicholas rushes in and confesses to everything. Richard’s fired, Nicholas gets to stay at the college, and Whit offers Eugene his job back. Why? According to Whit, because Eugene lied to keep Nicholas safe? That’s “sacrificial” and thus commendable. Of course, if you’re willing to fall on the sword for someone else that’s holy… Uh, unless you’re Jill in the last episode?! Who tried to explain Lucy wasn’t at fault and offered herself up to Connie’s wrath?! No, wait, Eugene’s intentions were good (and he’s not a filthy homosexual) so even though he lied he gets a pass.
What about Connie with Applesauce? Her intentions were good! She was genuinely trying to fix a problem at Whit’s End. Why didn’t she get this treatment? Oh wait, she had a bad thought for five seconds. To Hell you go, female! But wait, were Nicholas’ intentions good? Is trying to stop yourself from getting sent back to a shitty orphanage a good enough intention? Lucy had good intentions when she told Jill she wouldn’t keep seeing her, but NOPE she broke the rules so to hell with her. Yet Nicholas commits a god damn CRIME and he gets let off the hook?
Oh, of course. He’s not a female, so no harm done. Got it.
It’s a messy resolution to a decent-ish episode (the dynamic between Eugene and Nicholas, both geniuses, is cute) but the most important part? An ominous warning from Richard at the end.
Whit: “Congratulations to you both. Now, maybe things can get back to normal. I hope anyway!”
Richard: -to himself- “I wouldn't count on it, Mr. Whittaker. I wouldn't count on it.”¹
Don’t get comfortable, kids. Something’s coming.
(Photo: See, isn’t this original cassette box art much better than Gary Locke’s sludge? Art by Bruce Day, Focus on the Family. Image courtesy of eBay user sh-69025.)
Episodes 77 & 78: The Nemesis Parts 1 and 2
A sinister evil schemes to infiltrate Odyssey, tempting Connie to darkness as Whit struggles to decide if she deserves her job back.
Back during AIO’s three-week development phase, the team realized Whit needed an antagonist. Someone to act as his foil and, “challenge him about his Christian beliefs.”² With Connie now firmly curb-stomped into compliance, the show needed, “new ways to present opposing points of view.”³ This took the form of a more traditional villain who’d serve as Whit’s nemesis or, “an anti-Whit.”⁴
How would AIO establish this polar opposite of Whit? Introduce himself as an atheist? Proclaim children should never be beaten? Play D&D? Watch television?! Try and argue Big Bad Beetleborgs is better than VR Troopers?!?!?! Which, like, I’d see where he’s coming from but the slapdash elements of little kid superheroes, wacky horror movie monsters, and the Juukou B-Fighter footage don’t congeal into what I consider quality entertainm-
Oops, there I go sinning again. Silly me, TV is of the devil. Better get started on singing those Bible verses if I even want a chance at purgatory. #JustEvangelicalThings #Sinner #FallenGirlie #OopsIStumbledAgain
But no, AIO has far deadlier ways to establish sinister intentions.
The hot topic for discussion at an Odyssey city council meeting concerns an application for a business license from Dr. Regis Blackgaard. (Hey, that’s the name of the saga.) Tom Riley’s dead-set against Blackgaard’s “amusement house for kids” but Phillip Glossman, first heard all the way back in Recollections where he tried to buy the building that became Whit’s End, is for it. Blackgaard’s business is similar enough to Whit’s End, right? That isn’t good enough for Tom who demands it be more like Whit’s End. Blackgaard interrupts.
Blackgaard: “Excuse me, Councilman Riley, but my name is Doctor Regis Blackgaard. Please remember that.”
Tom: “Oh. I'm sorry. Uh, Doctor.”
Glossman: “That's something that should have been mentioned earlier. Doctor Blackgaard has a PhD with an emphasis in child psychology. I think that more than qualifies him to open up an amusement house for children, don't you?”⁵
YOU JUST GOT CREDENTIAL’D, BITCH.
Besides having an obviously evil name, Blackgaard doesn’t seem that bad so far. This is our big villain? What in this exchange is supposed mark him as evil?
You’ll never fucking guess.
It’s that he has a PHD in child psychology.
Writer Phil Lollar explained this was his way to explore, “psychology being the new secular religion and the danger of psychology infiltrating the church.”⁶
….
I’ve heard a lot of dumb, infuriating, maddening, sexist, homophobic, fucked up shit while researching for this project but that quote?!
Phil, you’re a fucking idiot.
The American Psychology Association (APA) defines psychology as, “the study of the mind and behavior. The discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience — from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the aged. In every conceivable setting from scientific research centers to mental healthcare services, "the understanding of behavior" is the enterprise of psychologists.”
Studying why we are the way we are. Sounds pretty positive to me. We should try and understand why we do the things we do. I’ve been the benefit of psychology for well over a decade in therapy. It’s helped me understand my trauma, analyze why I have certain responses to the actions of others, and generally helps me be a happier and healthier human being in mind, body, and soul. Blackgaard’s degree in child psychology makes him more qualified to work with children than Whit!
How the fuck was psychology “infiltrating” the church, Phil? How was it becoming “the new secular religion?” It wasn’t, he was probably just fucking pissed people could find contentment and understanding outside the Church. He’s totally bought into how great God is and has to remind himself every night that his own (probable) deep well of discontentment isn’t really there. He totally loves his life and anyone claiming to be happy without God is just a lying liar who lies.
If people start asking questions about God? Poking holes and proving the Bible (or MAN’s interpretation of it) isn’t 100% accurate? That would mean everything, his faith, his work, all the people he’s hurt? All a waste. He’d have wasted his whole life. He, a man, would be wrong.
No. No, no, no. That can’t be it. God’s given him power. God’s provided him with a healthy income. God totally reminds him he’s good and right every day. Fuck you, psychology! He doesn’t need you. This faith works. This faith is good! He doesn’t have a problem, you have the problem. TIME TO OWN SOME FUCKING LIBS ON FACEBOOK. FOR GOD.
(Photo: A Facebook post from Phil Lollar during the horrific LA fires in January 2025. Some psychology really needs to infiltrate this guy’s life pronto.)
(Friendly reminder: If any group you're a part of requires you to never seek help outside that group? You're probably in a cult.)
What makes this somehow even more farcical? Phil’s boss, James ‘Kid Puncher’ Dobson, has a PHD in psychology ! (Well not anymore, motherfucker’s in hell!) And that idiot would wield it anytime he needed to validate his arguments, even if his reasoning was moronic.
When discussing the subject of heterosexuality as a foundational aspect of the family, Dobson stated, “Take a good look at male and female anatomy and it becomes obvious that we were crafted to “fit” together. This is not only true in a sexual context but psychologically as well.”⁷
No it isn’t. Moving on.
What’s even WILDER about this whole bit where Blackgaard reminds everyone he’s a Doctor? Dobson did the same thing! (God, I love getting to use past tense when talking about that man. Rest in Piss, asshole.) If a guest at the Focus on the Family Welcome Center, “referred to Dobson without his title, he or she was immediately corrected.”⁸
A connection between Blackgaard and Dobson was even joked about in a book made by Focus on the Family, where they described two children visiting the organizations headquarters.
“(They) were looking at a black-and-white picture of Dr. Dobson from the 1970s (his long-sideburn era). The nine-year-old asked, ‘Who do you think that is?’
His eleven-year-old brother offered a guess: ‘I think it's Dr. Blackgaard from Adventures in Odyssey.’”⁹
Look, they said it. Not me.
If I was still giving these writers credit I’d call this a stealth attack on Dobson but it isn’t. Lollar simply thought, “psychology bad,” and went from there. If you didn’t hear the dog whistle, Blackgaard’s devious nature is better established by his voice actor, Earl Boen, known for his live-action role as Doctor Peter Silberman in the Terminator films and voice roles in Bonkers, The Curse of Monkey Island, and World of Warcraft. He brings a silky smooth yet eerily chilly energy to the performance. Through voice alone you imagine him stroking a cat with a wicked grin, which he ends up doing in a few episodes.
The most intriguing thing about Blackgaard is, like Whit, he shares DNA with Dobson. After all, Whit’s basically the Dobson-sona of the show, what with the life “lessons” and the spanking. There’s metafictional potential in comparing and contrasting two characters who, though inspired by the same man, take on different aspects of him. Not that Lollar has the guts to shit talk his boss, dude can’t even admit he was tricked by AI, but the idea still crackles beneath the surface.
The city council will vote on Blackgaard’s business license in the next few days and Glossman’s concerned that, with Whit and Tom against them, they won’t have the votes. If that’s going to a problem, Blackgaard calmly suggests, they need to make sure Whit and Tom aren’t present for it. Ooo, some tension. Danger! A plotline that isn’t about moralistic nonsense. Just some good old fashioned thrills.
Tying Blackgaard in with Glossman and the plot of Recollections not only ups the threat but rewards fans who’ve been sticking with the program. AIO’s willing to reach back into its own past! That’s the kind of thing that, as a kid, always made me perk up and pay attention. You’re rewarding my being a fan? Awright, let’s see where this goes.
(Photo: Connie screams for release from this never-ending nightmare. You and me both. Art, unfortunately, by Gary Locke, Focus on the Family. Image courtesy of The Odyssey Scoop.)
Connie mopes at home, despondent. Is she reflecting on what happened at camp? Considering how bad her life’s gone since she became a Christian? The camp using its status as “religious” to underpay her to a comical degree? Of course not. She’s agonizing if she should go to see Whit or not. Not in a, “I’d like to ask for my job back” sort of way. She worries she’ll seem pushy. She needs Whit to know she doesn’t blame him for anything. She can’t stop thinking about him. This is giving, “I wanna get back with my ex.” It’s encouraged by her mother when, after Connie decides she’ll go to Whit’s End just to see everyone, teases her with, “say hi to Whit for me.” Girl. You need to get your daughter away from this man, not encourage her weird co-dependent relationship with him.
At Whit’s End, Richard moseys on in, creepily flirting with Lucy, and fishing for information on Applesauce from Eugene. When Connie arrives and sees Eugene’s been hired back it hits like a freight train. Richard carefully observes this and Lucy giving Connie the cold shoulder. In the time since Connie Goes to Camp, Lucy’s walked back her “understanding” of why Connie sent her home. She, rightfully, points out, “It's one thing to get in trouble when you do something wrong but when you get in trouble for trying to keep somebody from doing wrong?” Connie pleads for understanding. Lucy, you had to suffer the consequences. Just like when I got fired! Lucy fires back that Whit clearly gave Eugene another chance, so why couldn’t Connie give her one?
Lucy storms off and Richard, adding fuel to Connie’s doubts, speculates Whit’s playing favorites. Connie wants not to believe that but she’s starting to waver. It only gets worse when Whit and Tom show up. Tom’s overjoyed at seeing her again but Whit keeps his reaction neutral. When Connie comments on Eugene working there again Whit doesn’t take the hint to explain why he hasn’t hired her back. Despondent, Connie leaves with Richard in tow.
Tom wheels on Whit, why didn’t he give Connie her job back?
“She didn’t ask for it back. She has to ask for it back.”
Jesus ‘Gatekeep My Daddy’ Christ. Eugene didn’t ask for his job back! But oh, that was different. Whit explains he saw first-hand Eugene understood why he’d been fired. Wait, understood? Yeah, Whit clarifies that not only does Connie have to ask for the job back but she needs to understand why she was fired in the first place. Well lucky for Eugene that Whit was there to manipulate and judge him at a low point, I guess. Fuck you, Connie. You need to be in front of Whit at all times so he can judge if you’ve been a good girl or not. Bro, can’t you just call up some people at the camp (I know you help run it) and ask if Connie showed the correct judgement or penance or enough pleading to sky daddy to give her the job back? Can’t this man just be the adult in the situation and not make Connie jump through hoops? In what world is a teenager ever going to ask an employer for a job back? Take this as a real-life blessing and never return, Connie!
Richard agrees with me and offers Connie a chance to work for his boss, Blackgaard. DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNNN. END OF PART ONE.
(Art, wretchedly, by Gary Locke, Focus on the Family. Image courtesy of AIO Wiki.)
The first four episodes in this arc were just set-up but this one finally starts to kick things into gear. Blackgaard’s scheming. Connie lured to evil Whit’s End. Richard’s mind games. The very foundations of the show are under threat. There hasn’t been much Blackgaard yet but Richard’s brought a much needed energy. Often AIO builds its conflicts out of (misplaced) moral failings of children and rarely matches them up against an active opposing force. Richard though? This guy comes in and wins Lucy over to his side in seconds. Subtly worms information out of Eugene. Pries open Connie’s insecurities. Finally we have an “enemy” that isn’t just vague notions of God’s supposed will. In Richard the show finally has a character that forces our leads to struggle in ways any audience, Christian or otherwise, can relate to. He has the potential for victory over them. Finally, this arc has the potential to become one of those series-defining arcs I wrote about!
Part Two begins with Connie getting a better job interview from Blackgaard than she ever got from Whit. Mostly because this time she actually knows it’s an interview and Blackgaard doesn’t ask about her family. What a concept! Blackgaard asks about why she was fired from Whit’s End and Connie explains but his reaction catches her off guard.
Blackgaard: “So you were fired for being curious?”
Connie: “Well, no, not exactly. I wasn't supposed to be in the computer room in the first place. In fact, I wasn't even supposed to know there was a computer room.”
Blackgaard: “It still sounds like you were fired for simply being curious. That's terribly unjust. I don't blame you for being upset.”¹⁰
You’d think I’d be cheering Blackgaard on for this, he’s right after all, but I know why the AIO team let him say it. The same reason they let Richard vocalize all the ways Whit’s been unjust. It takes valid doubts listeners may have and puts them in the mouths of villains. That way, if you’re drawing the same conclusion as Blackgaard and Richard? Why, you’re just as evil as them! Only a villain would be curious what their boss does behind locked doors. You’re good, you’d never be curious about what we evangelicals do behind locked doors. Yes, AIO told you back in episode seven that we’re all evil deep down but, uh, that doesn’t apply to faith leaders. Nope. Never. We’re all ordained by God. We’re good. You though? Oof, is that curiosity? You’re kinda being a Blackgaard right now. You don’t want to be evil, do you?
AIO will do whatever it takes to discredit curiosity, doubt, and thinking outside the box. That’s real evil.
Blackgaard grills Connie about Applesauce but Connie dodges the question. He backpedals and offers her a job at the soon to be built Blackgaard’s Castle (baller name) but she’s not sure and leaves. He knows she won’t agree to it, perfectly summing up her current emotional state with, “Whittaker’s hold over her is too great.” Still, she could be of some use. Shifting gears he demands ideas from Richard on how to get Tom Riley out of the way for the business license vote. Richard wavers and Blackgaard rips into him in an exchange that cemented this arc in my head for decades.
Richard: “I'm not so sure about that, I mean... Well, manipulating kids is one thing, but that's too much.”
Blackgaard: “You silly little coward!”
Richard: “What?”
Blackgaard: “You dare even think about disobeying my orders? Just remember, my fine young man, that I hold your future. We both know you're guilty of far worse acts than changing the grades of a few eggheads at the college. Perhaps you'd like me to pick up the phone and tell the authorities about them?”
Richard: “No, no. No, please.”
Blackgaard: “That's better. You're a smart fellow, Richard. I'm going to need people like you when I take control of this town. Just make sure you don't let me down.”
Richard: “I… I won’t.”
Blackgaard: “Aw, don’t have such a long face. This should be a lot of fun for you. After all, it's not everyone who gets to topple two of Odyssey's most powerful men at the same time.” -evil laugh-¹¹
This, without question, is my favorite bit in Adventures in Odyssey since I started this project. Everything about it works. The way it takes the audience expectation that Blackgaard and Richard are equals and subverts it, cementing Blackgaard as a true mastermind. How Blackgaard, calm and collected up to this point, sees one moment of Richard’s loyalty wavering and flies off the handle at him. The bile and venom in his voice that drains away only after Richard’s demonstrated an appropriate amount of respect. Even as Blackgaard rips his smug confidence apart the audience learns Richard’s more of a threat than he initially appeared. What are those “worse acts” he committed? Leaving them ambiguous makes the audience fill in the blanks with crimes more heinous than AIO could ever portray. Blackgaard reveals his intent to run the town but carefully never explains why. Why would he to Richard? That boy’s just a pawn in his game. The way Richard’s voice quivers when he responds, “I-I won’t"? A pathetic attempt to maintain even a shred of his shattered ego.
Richard isn’t willingly working for Blackgaard, he’s held hostage via blackmail. It paints his earlier praise of Blackgaard to Connie as a bleak attempt to lessen the horror of the relationship he’s become trapped in.
(Photo: Corporate wants you to find the difference between these two pictures: Art, heinously, by Gary Locke (left) and, mercifully, Bruce Day (right), Focus on the Family. Images Courtesy of AIO Wiki and The Odyssey Scoop.)
Oh my god. Richard and Blackgaard’s relationship is just how I’ve interpreted Connie and Whit’s relationship but actually portrayed in the show. It’s as if Richard’s ripping through the fabric of fiction to yell at the audience, “don’t you see? Connie and Whit’s dynamic is just as fucked as the one I have with Blackgaard!” Blackgaard just has the deceny to not dress it up in Bible quotes and smiley faces. Holy shit, even in the show as intended, I never thought of Richard as a dark mirror of Connie. That’s fucking awesome! Blackgaard is Evil Whit so Richard has to be Evil Connie. Fuck, I need to sit with that for awhile.
The music here just kills. Harrowing stabbing blasts of (probably synthesized) strings as Blackgaard rails on Richard. The way the music quiets down as Blackgaard takes control himself and the situation. It compliments the real star of this scene, Earl Boen’s performance as Blackgaard. Once again AIO hired a power house voice actor that crushes the material. He grabs the scene by the throat and makes it his own. Even the stirring music’s overpowered by Boen, his voice slowly wrapping around the listeners brain and plunging into its deepest depths.
We come out of this single one-minute exchange with new and exciting possibilities for the story and characters. Richard’s a sleaze ball but the nightmare he’s locked into makes us care for him. Blackgaard dog walking over previously established villains makes him all the more powerful. If he has Richard and Glossman under his control, what else is up his sleeve? Why does he want control of the town? Why this town in particular? Is it because of Applesauce? Whit? Something bigger?
Chills, this scene gives me chills. It blasts open your imagination and redefines what the show can do. The way they’ve weaved these episodes into the scant amount of lore the show’s established puts you right on the edge of your seat. It finally manages, for this one scene at least, to elevate AIO beyond its moral finger wagging and Evangelical-pandering to the level of entertainment it claims to act as an alternative for. This is something that conceivably could lure a kid away from secular Saturday morning cartoons or at least stand beside them. This is a show that takes kids seriously.
Richard returns to Whit’s End and zeroes in on Lucy. He manipulates her feelings about Connie, twisting them to his own ends. It’s not surprising Lucy’s so susceptible to Richard’s flattery, especially after Connie treated her so unfairly. Yet again AIO takes a reasonable opinion, that Lucy didn’t deserve to get sent home from camp, and puts it in the mouth of a villain. A villain who, at the very least, pretends to flirt with a child. Don’t doubt, kids, or this might happen to you. Well, it might also happen to you in the church even if you don’t doubt but we’ll save that discussion for another time.
Lucy’s convinced to set up a rendezvous between Connie and Whit, lying to both to make them think the other initiated it. Lucy’s uncomfortable, her boundaries are being pushed. Unlike Connie though Richard at least pretends to listen and assuage her guilt. She agrees.
Connie indirectly gets the message that Whit wants to meet with her (set up by Lucy) and gets a little too giddy. She nervously asks her mom, “do I look alright?” Girl, he is your former boss! It is a red flag that you’re worried what you look like around an old man!!! The two meet up at the same time Whit’s supposed to be at the city council meeting and hash out the tension between them. By that I mean Connie shares her genuine anxiety that Whit likes Eugene better than her. Which Whit does not disagree with?! He just responds with, “Oh, Connie.” Thanks, weirdo.
She shares what she learned at camp, that, “there's a reason for rules and when you break them, you have to suffer the consequences.” Which, like some of the lessons on this show, is true but, like almost all lessons on this show, does not apply to what actually happened. Of course AIO doesn’t bother digging into what you’re supposed do when those rules are unfair. That’d be doubt! The show’s far more interested in Whit’s giddy reaction to Connie learning her lesson. Whit offers her job back, which she never directly asks for, rendering his posturing about in Part One pointless. He never takes any responsibility for the rift he caused between them and, of course, Connie does all the emotional legwork. Whit could have just rehired her, as he clearly wants to do, but no. Connie’s gotta do the dance of penance and jump through hoops to earn his favor back.
Man, at least Blackgaard didn’t disguise his manipulation of Richard. He just threatened the guy with zero subtly. If I had to choose between working for Whit or Blackgaard? I’d go with Blackgaard, at least I’d always know where I stand with him. Far better communication skills than Whit, that’s for sure!
I keep stressing this but it continually needs to be said. It is a bad idea, for an employer, to be this close with an employee and act as her spiritual mentor. I’m not saying a boss can never be friends with an employee but there’s always going to be a power imbalance when only one of you cuts the check. Whit bulldozed his way into Connie’s life, took up the role of a father figure, and radically altered her worldview. Then, after one mistake (that wasn’t even really a mistake), he dumps her in the trash. You can’t just come into a young person’s life and do that to them. It’s monstrous to play with someone’s heart and mind like that. I know you take your cues from the Evangelical Church where acting like a vengeful God is the operating logic of those in power, but, my guy. I’m gonna need you to-
Whit’s so ready to call down the fire on Connie, yet when it comes to the emotional labor? That’s on you, kiddo! Don’t ask me to deal with negative feelings. That’s what AIO expects children to do! Children don’t exist to be curious, make mistakes, and receive gentle guidance from trusted adults. Nah, God made children to prop up adults and validate them at every turn.
A chilling example of this belief in practice occurs in An Encounter With Mrs. Hooper. Donna meets the cruel Mrs. Hooper who lives in a retirement home and delights in making the young girl cry. Instead of Mrs. Hooper learning not to torture children, Donna’s forced into the role of recognizing what this bitter woman’s going through and find a way to solve it. You know, by reconnecting her with her estranged daughter. Very much a thing a 10-year-old child should be handling for a full grown woman. At the end of the episode Chris explains to listeners that,
“You can help adults by what you say and do. Through your love and your concern, God can use you to comfort them, be their friend, and keep them from feeling lonely. It took a lot of courage for Donna to stay with Mrs. Hooper, but her courage helped change both their lives.”¹²
AIO really gets off to saying the quiet part out loud, huh?
That’s right, idiot children. You’re here to keep adults from feeling lonely. Not just your parents but strangers too! Without you, God wouldn’t have any other way of providing them care. Not at all. He’s too busy making sure your parents aren’t comforting you, ungrateful little worm! Make sure anything you say or do comforts adults. Don’t make them feel bad. Ever. Don’t make them think outside the box, God spent all his energy making sure they didn’t do that as kids. You wouldn’t wanna ruin his work, would you? Man, you’re making God tired. Guess he won’t have any God power left to give everyone on Earth clean water to drink or anything silly like that. Lol. Rofl. Lmao.
This show sure includes a lot of “lessons” that are easily twisted to abusive ends, huh? Woops, sorry, I should be comforting old men, not challenging them. You’re doing great, guys. What’s that, you want me to stay after the service for some special counseling all alone in a secret room? Sure! Anything to comfort you!
(Photo: Whit wondering if he has enough time to give those horses a quick beating. Art, grievously, by Gary Locke, Focus on the Family. Image courtesy of The Odyssey Scoop.)
Whit and Connie reconcile (barf) but their joy’s short lived. Smoke’s coming from Tom’s barn! The two find him knocked unconscious outside his burning barn. Tom pleads with Whit to save his horses. Whit dashes in.
Whit: “Easy. Easy, Rachel. I know you’re scared, but so am I.”
-Whit frees the horses-
Whit: “All right now, let’s go! Hyah! Hyah!”
-Whit leads the horses out of the barn-
Connie: “The fire department’s on its way!”
Whit: “The horses are out of the barn, they’re all right.”
Connie: “Just in time, the roof’s coming down!”
-The whole barn collapses-¹³
If there’s one thing I can never criticize about this show it’s the sound design. I believe every moment of this scene. Whit’s struggle to open the door. How you can barely make out his words as he frees the horses. The pounding blaze all around. The collapsing building. AIO’s sound team was the best or learned from the best and their talent’s on full display. With radio drama a dying art it’s no surprise its refugees were excited to strut their stuff.
AIO also effortlessly avoids the cardinal sin of audio drama. Characters sloppily explaining what they’re seeing. So many audio dramas I’ve listened to are clearly written by people who’d rather be working in live-action TV or films. Thus the stories over rely on visuals and so you’ll get character dialogue like, “We’re in a massive room!” or “Look, a giant space whale that blots out the sun which was shining on us just a moment ago and makes it so you can’t see my very handsome face!” instead of writing to fit the audio format. AIO does occasionally have “explain what they’re seeing” dialogue, there’s a bit in the clip above, but they go out of their way to make it feel organic within the scene. I can believe Whit telling Connie the status of the horses after she rushes outside or Connie exclaiming about the roof collapsing. It makes the immersion all the easier so you can “buy” the world the audio drama’s creating.
This display of master craftsmen at work is a huge reason so many who grew up on the show (and our parents) missed some of the fucked up morals. We were so engrossed in the audio landscape we didn’t stop to question the bonkers shit that came out of these characters mouths.
Tom assumes he inadvertently started the fire but Whit speculates it was set deliberately. As that all goes down the city council finishes their vote and, without Whit and Tom there to stop it, grant Blackgaard his business license. The plot thickens! We close this two-parter out with a Chris lesson drop.
“It just goes to show that God can take even the worst situations and make wonderful things happen from them.”
Just had to end on yet another “lesson” that's easily twisted to abusive ends. Classic AIO.
The Nemesis is a step above the usual AIO fare but that isn’t saying much. It mostly gets by on the one Richard/Blackgaard scene and the possibilities it generates. Aside from the usual moral failings the biggest disappointment here is Connie not going to work for Blackgaard. That would have made an incredible arc of episodes which could have climaxed in a far more impactful reconciliation with Whit. We could have gotten a better idea of Blackgaard’s ultimate goals, seen more of that shaky ground between him and Richard, and, most importantly, give Connie a better reason to miss Whit’s End than, “I maybe wanna date my ex- I mean, boss???”
Will we get any of that in the next two-parter? Is AIO capable of sticking the landing on a great kids show arc? Can it break free of its didactic shackles?
Next Time: The Battle is on.
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Sources:
Eugene’s Dilemma: Written and Directed by Paul McCusker, Production Engineer Bob Luttrell, Focus on the Family, 1989.
(1)
“Adventures in Odyssey: The Official Guide 25th Birthday Edition” by Nathan Hoobler, Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 2012.
(2) Page 119
(3) Page 119
“The Blackgaard Chronicles: A Conversation With Phill Lollar and Paul McCusker” The Blackgaard Chronicles: The Battle Between Good and Evil Comes Home, Focus on the Family, 2011.
(4)
(6)
The Nemesis Parts 1 & 2: Written and Directed by Phil Lollar, Production Engineers Bob Luttrell and Dave Arnold, Focus on the Family, 1989.
(5)
(10)
(11)
(13)
Practicing What the Doctor Preached: At Home with Focus on the Family by Susan B. Ridgely, Oxford University Press, 2017.
(7) Page 106, quoting Dobson’s comments to Breakaway Magazine in 1994.
(8) Page 28
Focus on the Family: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of God’s Faithfulness, Tehabi Books, 2002.
(9) Page 107
An Encounter With Mrs. Hooper: Written and Directed by Paul McCusker, Production Engineer Bob Luttrell, Focus on the Family, 1989.
(12)