A Rathbone of Contention

The old castle is finally coming down, and the folks of Odyssey nail their old hurts to its last wall and pray them away as the wrecking ball swings. But the dust has barely settled when Rodney Rathbone announces that his father Bart is building an electronics store, the Electric Palace, right on the site. Bart moves fast - selling Whit cut-rate transformers, hiring Lucy to write flyers, and pressuring Eugene to wire the whole building even though he's no electrician. Then the shortcuts start to backfire: the transformers blow up on Whit's train tracks, Rodney secretly plasters Lucy's flyers all over town so he won't have to pay her, and on inspection day Bart throws the main switch... and the faulty wiring erupts in smoke and flame. The grand opening is off, and Bart learns the hard way that whoever digs a pit falls into it - he replaces the transformers and pays Lucy her twenty-five dollars, just as Officer O'Ryan hauls Rodney in with a two-hundred-dollar littering ticket. Pits and stones, Bart. Pits and stones.

Found on It's Another Fine Day... Album 11 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0154 Coming of Age Aspiring young actor Jimmy Barclay starts keeping a journal again just as a string of strange changes - in his family, his body, and his heart - begins turning his world upside down.

1 of 2 0155 Waylaid in the Windy City A business trip to Chicago turns perilous when Whit and Connie cross paths with a fugitive thief and a stolen laptop full of military secrets.

2 of 2 0156 Waylaid in the Windy City When Connie is taken by an old enemy demanding a top-secret computer as ransom, Whit must navigate a Chicago full of double-crosses where no one - friend or foe - is quite what they seem.

0157 Last in a Long Line A chance shortcut through a cemetery leads Eugene to a gravestone bearing his own family name - and a mystery that could rewrite everything he believes about being the last of the Meltsners.

0158 A Day in the Life When a Hollywood producer buys Whit's affectionate short story about everyday life in Odyssey, the whole town lines up for its shot at movie stardom.

0159 The Homecoming A young man with a troubled past returns to Odyssey seeking something the town may not be ready to give.

0160 A Rathbone of Contention When Bart Rathbone fast-tracks the grand opening of Odyssey's new electronics store, his habit of cutting corners - and borrowing other people's talent for free - puts the whole venture on shaky ground.

0161 Isaac the True Friend Feeling friendless, Isaac takes an Imagination Station trip into the story of David and Jonathan and discovers what true friendship really costs.

0162 Peacemaker When two friends' quarrel threatens a church project to help the homeless, Connie learns that making peace takes more than smoothing things over.

0163 A Model Child An eleven-year-old girl's envy of a glamorous young model fades as she discovers the painful cost of growing up too fast.

0164 Sixties-Something When a sixties nostalgia craze sweeps Odyssey, Connie goes searching for the decade's most inspiring writer - and finds far more than she bargained for.

1 of 2 0165 Bernard and Esther With the Imagination Station broken, Bernard proves a well-told story beats any machine by spinning the biblical tale of a brave young queen whose people's fate rests in her hands.

2 of 2 0166 Bernard and Esther At Whit's End, Bernard finishes his cliffhanger tale of Queen Esther, who must risk her life before the king to save her people from the scheming Haman.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 4 more roles

4 supporting roles

Officer Patrick O'Ryan Will Ryan Charlie (d) Phil Lollar Joe (f) Phil Lollar Courtney McNeill Dave Arnold

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director · Producer Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

On the edge of Odyssey, a wrecking ball is about to swing. Whit and his friends have gathered to watch the last wall of the old castle come down - the castle built by a scheming doctor who once brought so much trouble to the town, with the help of a young man who deceived the people who trusted him. Before the demolition begins, everyone writes down the bitterness, anger, and hurt they still feel toward those two, and Whit nails the papers to the wall. At Lucy's suggestion, they pray, asking God to destroy those feelings and tear down the walls around their hearts as the stone wall crumbles to dust. When it is over, Tom heads home, but Lucy stays behind to gather ideas for an Odyssey Times article about the construction. That is when Rodney Rathbone appears with startling news: the site now belongs to his father's new business, an electronics store called the Electric Palace.

At Whit's End, Bart Rathbone confirms it all. A big company out of Chicago owns the store, and Bart is running the Odyssey location, with a grand opening set for just three weeks away. Bart moves fast. He promises Whit wholesale transformers for the train set, hires Lucy to write promotional flyers - with Rodney promising twenty-five dollars if he likes them - and borrows Eugene to set up the computer section. But soon Bart is asking for more. He talks Eugene into wiring the whole building, even though Eugene protests that he is not a certified electrician, because the building inspector is coming early and the real electrician will not arrive in time.

The shortcuts pile up. Rodney keeps telling Lucy her flyers just do not grab him, yet secretly plasters them all over town - because if he never says he likes them, he never has to pay. Meanwhile, the transformers Bart sold Whit blow up on the train tracks at Whit's End. Suspecting trouble, Whit hurries to the store on inspection day and quietly tells Eugene not to shut off the generator until he gives the word. When the inspector, Courtney McNeill, notes that the building is still on generator power, Bart proudly throws the main switch - and the faulty wiring backfires spectacularly. The fire is contained, but the grand opening will have to wait for repairs.

Whit reminds Bart of Proverbs 26:27: if a man digs a pit, he will fall into it. Dishonesty and shortcuts always backfire. Bart agrees to replace the transformers and pay Lucy her twenty-five dollars - just as Officer O'Ryan marches Rodney in with a two-hundred-dollar littering ticket for spreading flyers all over town without City Hall's approval. Pits and stones, Bart. Pits and stones.