Big Trouble Under the Big Top

Disaster stalks Uncle Max's circus: a trapeze rope cut, a lion cage opened, snakes loose, and now fireworks that blast Wesley the Human Rocket right out of the sky. Someone is sabotaging the show, and suspicion has split the circus in two - the star performers on one side, the clowns on the other. Emily and Matthew are on the case, and every clue points to Noodles, a silent mime nobody can ever seem to find. But when they finally corner him, they uncover a secret double life instead of a saboteur... and the real culprit turns out to be Nina, the overlooked worker who caused the disasters just to prove the circus needed her. Instead of casting her out, the circus family forgives her - though earning back their trust will take more than one apology. Under this big top, the show goes on together.

Found on A Call to Something More Album 57 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

1 of 2 0727 Your Servant is Listening A doubting girl travels back to ancient Israel, where a childless woman's desperate prayer teaches her what it means to hear God's voice.

2 of 2 0728 Your Servant is Listening When the Imagination Station drops Camilla into the tabernacle of ancient Israel, she befriends young Samuel and discovers what it truly means to listen for God's voice.

0729 No Chemistry Whatsoever When a demanding new professor takes over their easy chemistry class, Connie must figure out why she's really struggling while a Sunday-school memorization contest tempts Barrett to cut corners.

0730 The Friend Formula A lonely newcomer to Odyssey trades a rare Elvis record for lessons in a scheming boy's four-step formula for making friends - only to discover what friendship really costs.

0731 More Than a Feeling A new believer's overflowing excitement collides with a string of disappointments, while Connie pushes a long-married couple to prove their romance isn't dead.

0732 Repent After Me With opening night days away and his grades on the brink, a desperate student's shortcut on a science test pulls him into unmasking the anonymous scammer behind it - before the trail leads back to him.

0733 Big Trouble Under the Big Top When a string of suspicious accidents threatens her uncle's circus, Emily and her friend Matthew go undercover among the performers to unmask a saboteur before someone gets seriously hurt.

1 of 3 0734 Life Expectancy When a sudden loss upends Connie's world, the people of Odyssey gather around her - until an unexpected arrival brings a secret she never saw coming.

2 of 3 0735 Life Expectancy As Connie prepares to lay her mother to rest, her estranged father arrives with a surprise that upends an already heartbreaking week.

3 of 3 0736 Life Expectancy As Connie sorts through her mother's belongings, she and her friends in Odyssey wrestle with how faith makes sense of grief and suffering.

1 of 2 0737 The Pilot A young pilot chasing an airline career reluctantly agrees to fly a doctor and nurse to a remote Venezuelan village, where a mysterious illness among the babies tests far more than his flying skills.

2 of 2 0738 The Pilot While flying a medical mission deep in the Venezuelan jungle, Jeff races the clock to discover what mysterious medicine is poisoning a dying patient - and finds a new purpose along the way.

1 of 2 0739 The Launch A goodwill trip to Uganda plunges Whit and Wooton into the middle of a generations-old feud between two cattle-raiding tribes.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 5 more roles

5 supporting roles

Esteban Eduardo Antonio Garcia Nina Hannah Duncan Zara Chani Krich Pockets the Clown Gregg Bissonette Max Jones Greg Baldwin

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Bob Hoose Writer · Producer Katie Wynn Writer Nathan Hoobler Director Jonathan Crowe Sound Designer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

When Emily’s Uncle Max brings his circus to Odyssey, Emily and Matthew spend a weekend among the performers. During rehearsal, a trapeze rope breaks and Rugen falls into the safety net. His sister Zara finds that the rope has been partly cut. Similar disasters have plagued the circus: a lion cage has opened, a ring of fire has exploded, snakes have escaped, and a support cable for the big top has snapped.

Suspicion deepens the divide between the elite headliners and the clowns. Zara believes a shadowy saboteur is trying to close the circus and suspects one of the clowns, especially a silent mime named Noodles. Knife thrower Esteban rejects that prejudice, while Nina, a worker who performs every small job, says that Noodles has been the only person willing to help her develop an act of her own.

Max reluctantly allows Emily and Matthew to investigate after Emily demonstrates how much she has already observed about the performers. Their interviews reveal plenty of resentment but no direct evidence. Noodles remains impossible to find. During the performance, the young detectives finally spot him taking a bag from behind the human cannon and sneaking into Esteban’s trailer.

Fearing that the cannon has been sabotaged, Emily and Matthew race to shut off the power before Wesley the Human Rocket launches. Matthew accidentally kills only the spotlight. The cannon fires as planned, but hidden fireworks explode around Wesley in midair. He escapes serious injury, though sitting down may be painful for some time.

After the show, Matthew finds a master key beside a sharp piece of metal on the cannon, while Emily discovers that Noodles entered Esteban’s trailer. When a telephone call intended for Noodles rings on Esteban’s phone, Emily reveals that the two performers are the same man. Esteban secretly became a clown because comedy is his true love, but he maintained his knife-throwing career to honor his father and grandfather. His double identity also proves that the split between elites and clowns is foolish.

Esteban is not the saboteur. He removed only a bag containing his pocketless clown costume’s supplies and keys. The recovered master key belongs to Nina, whose torn belt loop shows how she lost it beside the cannon. Her access to every prop, her earlier delivery of Esteban’s sharpened knives, and her quick offers to help after each disaster complete the evidence.

Nina admits that she created crises so she could solve them and prove that the circus needed her as a performer. Feeling ignored and unappreciated, she resented Esteban for refusing to make her his assistant, never realizing that he was helping her as Noodles because he believed she had talent. She never meant to hurt anyone, but she endangered the very family whose acceptance she wanted.

Max tells Nina that becoming a performer will now require her to rebuild the trust she destroyed. Zara and the others forgive her instead of abandoning her, though they make clear that trust will return only through dependable actions over time. The divided circus closes around Nina in a family embrace, determined that the show will continue together.