Wow, I'd really like to move to Odyssey! It's January, yet warm enough for Wooton to go swimming and apparently enough flowers about that Rodney can fill a jar with bees. Maybe I'm a little cynical, considering there's two feet of snow on the ground and the windchill has brought temperatures to -40, but still... it's nice that Whit refers to the month (which gives Odyssey a chronological time-line shortly after "A Lamb's Tale") but other aspects of the show undermine it.

I guess I just have a tendency to draw out the minute things and make a big deal out of them. Overall, the show wasn't that bad. It was an entertaining slice-of-life show with enough plot to keep listeners interested until the end. I was also pleased that Dr. Hawthorne was back as I enjoy the character quite a bit. He's extremely harsh, doesn't give kids a chance to explain themselves, and jumps to conclusions... like every teacher I've ever had! He's probably not loved by everyone but the truth is, he gets listeners emotionally attached to the show. Who didn't want to reach into their radio and strangle him after his punishment of Trent ultimately led to his life being saved and neither of them will ever know? He's a villain, yet he's not... and that makes him an intriguing character.

I also really like the new voice of Marvin. While Jordan Calloway really grew on me and I didn't mind (too much) the way he portrayed Marvin before, Kendre Berry has a lot more range in his voice and sounds very natural. Unfortunately the character doesn't come across as shy and afraid as before... in fact, he was the one egging Trent on to attack Rodney Rathbone! Somehow I think Marvin would have said "Oink! Let's get out of here!" and Trent would have agreed... but I guess that would have made for an uninteresting episode. And please, I beg of the writers, get Rodney out of school! His character has absolutely no depth and his antics have become tiresome over the many years he's been on the show. Let him branch out... graduate and get a job, or do something different than bully school kids. He's been doing this what, for 18 years now? It wouldn't be that big of a deal if the characters around him didn't age, but he's the only one stuck in this time warp now since Connie finished school. Explore another side of the bully story... what happens to them when they grow up. I don't think a radical change is what's needed, he could stay the same old Rodney for all eternity... but at least place Rodney in different circumstances and situations. His one note role has become a little too repetitive.

Speaking of repetition... what's with recycling the music cues from "Waylaid in the Windy City I & II"? I'm not opposed to library music (in fact I prefer the early style of music to the style currently used), but that music is specific to that particular episode and hearing it immediately draws me out of the show. Music should never distract a listener and it did on several occasions in this show. If composing original music for a show isn't an option, couldn't less "episode specific" music be employed? Perhaps I'm the only one who noticed it, in which case I respectfully declare my insanity, but it did bring memories of Blackgaard and Maxwell, when I was supposed to be thinking about Trent alerting Dr. Hawthorne of the bees.

Truthfully the show was a good quality show which is all I ask for. It wasn't a huge season premiere, but it didn't need to be as we only waited a short month for a new batch of episodes to air. As usual, I'm hoping the rest of the season is a memorable one!