A Most Surprising Answer

Eugene and Katrina have secretly returned to Odyssey with devastating news: a botched experiment on his own brain has locked away every memory of his years in town. Eugene knows the facts - names, faces, dates - but Connie's driving lessons, his friendship with Whit, even his own courtship mean no more to him than pages in a textbook. Whit rebuilds the Imagination Station into a memory stimulator, and Connie hauls out old photographs of graduations, farms, and Whit's End, hoping something will crack the wall around his past. For one shining moment Eugene seems to remember... until he confesses he only pretended, to comfort the friends trying so hard to reach him. Then comes a daring last resort: use the Imagination Station to beam his friends' own memories of Eugene straight into his mind - the very technology that caused the accident. Connie doesn't hesitate for a second.

Found on Eugene Returns! Album 44 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0559 The Coolest Dog Marvin's dream of rock stardom with his two-person band hits a snag when his ego proves louder than his drums.

0560 The Present Long Ago When a classmate demands the school lab key and won't say why, an anxious boy cycles through imagined advisers and wild theories before finding a wiser way to face him.

0561 Lost By a Nose Determined to expose her town's beauty-pageant obsession, a skeptical young journalist goes undercover as a contestant - and gets far more invested than she planned.

0562 The Last 'I Do' When a Roman emperor outlaws marriage to build a more loyal army, a defiant priest named Valentine risks everything to keep performing forbidden weddings.

0563 Tuesdays with Wooton A lonely boy's mailbox scheme unravels when the mailman he's been fooling decides friendship is worth more than an easy confession.

0564 A Most Intriguing Question A government agent's arrival, a secretive all-night invention, and a mysteriously running Imagination Station convince Whit's friends he's hiding something dangerous - and they're determined to find out what.

0565 A Most Surprising Answer When Eugene returns to Odyssey a stranger to his own past, his friends must find out whether love can reach memories that science locked away.

0566 A Most Extraordinary Conclusion With every experiment exhausted and his friends' borrowed memories failing to feel like his own, Eugene makes one last desperate attempt to reclaim the life he's forgotten.

0567 Two Friends and a Truck When Eugene borrows Bernard's beloved old pickup for his big move, a minor mishap sets off a chain of accidents, cover-ups, and comic misunderstandings that puts their friendship to the test.

0568 The Power of One A Kids' Radio broadcast reimagines the Bible's most famous underdogs - from a shepherd facing a giant to a secret-agent apostle - to discover where real strength comes from.

0569 The Invisible Dog When Lester introduces his friends to a dog only he can perceive, Trent sets out to disprove it with logic while Whit suspects the invisible companion is hiding something deeper.

1 of 2 0570 For Better or For Worse Eugene and Katrina's plan to renew their vows in front of friends spirals out of control as an overbearing mother, a competitive wedding planner, and Eugene's quest to be a romantic hero collide.

2 of 2 0571 For Better or For Worse Eugene's romantic rescue attempt strands him and Katrina on a mountain while fires, storms, and a runaway swan dismantle the elaborate wedding waiting for them back at the church.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 1 more roles

1 supporting role

Dr. William Foster Matt Hurwitz

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer · Director Marshal Younger Writer · Director · Producer Glenn Montjoy Sound Designer Bob Hoose Producer Allen Hurley Producer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Connie rushes to greet Eugene and Katrina, but Dr. Foster stops her from entering the room. Only after the couple leaves does Whit explain that they returned secretly a week ago and asked him to tell no one. The reason is devastating: Eugene has amnesia.

Eugene remembers his life before he first came to Odyssey and can learn new facts now, but every personal memory of his years in town is missing. After he and Katrina left Odyssey, he continued work on converting brainwaves into radio waves at the National Institute of Health. When the government ended the troubled research just before an expected breakthrough, Eugene secretly experimented on himself, and the malfunction locked away his memories.

Foster believes the memories are dormant rather than erased because Eugene's brain shows no physical damage. Eugene and Katrina returned to the place where he had been happiest, hoping familiar surroundings would unlock them. Whit adapted the Imagination Station into a memory stimulator, but it has only taught Eugene facts about people and events without restoring the experiences themselves.

Connie, Bernard, and Tom promise to help, though Whit asks them not to overwhelm Eugene. All three soon arrive at the secluded cabin where Eugene and Katrina are staying. Eugene recognizes their names and knows information about each visitor, yet their shared adventures mean no more to him than facts he has recently studied.

When Eugene asks Connie to introduce herself as though they have just met, she cannot bear it. He does not remember her teaching him to drive, his friendship with Bernard, or any of the experiences that made them close. Connie flees in tears, and Katrina follows. The two women share their grief and the hope that something may still bring him back.

Connie gathers old photographs and tries to awaken Eugene's memory with images of Whit's End, her graduation, his courtship with Katrina, and Tom's farm. For a moment, Eugene seems to remember that the Timothy Center was named for Tom's son. Everyone celebrates what appears to be the first crack in the wall around his past.

Eugene soon confesses that he did not remember the farm at all. He combined facts the others had already supplied and pretended to recall it because he wanted to encourage friends who were trying so hard. He had assumed he could not miss what he had forgotten, but now the depth of their love makes him ache for the relationships he knows he once possessed.

Foster proposes a riskier use of the Imagination Station. Facts have failed because memory also contains experience, instinct, emotion, and relationship. Whit believes the machine can convert his friends' brainwaves into radio waves, transmit their memories of Eugene, and convert them back for Eugene to receive.

Katrina recognizes the idea as the technology Eugene had struggled to perfect. Foster insists that the Imagination Station supplies the missing element and says Whit has already tested the process safely on himself. The method resembles the research involved in Eugene's original accident, but it may be the only untried path left.

Connie does not hesitate. If her memories can help restore Eugene's lost life, she is ready to enter the machine and asks where Whit needs to connect her.