12. Two Funerals and a Wedding
When concluded storylines are undermined by later additions.
By David Hilder | July 20, 2013
When concluded storylines are undermined by later additions.
By David Hilder | July 20, 2013
AIO has had some significant milestones, particularly during periods of action and intrigue. But at times audio drama, like any other kind of drama, can get a little dramatic. In this editorial I will be discussing two characters who, despite not being regular characters, have had a major effect on the series. Both have only appeared in less than twenty-five episodes. Both were involved in very interesting sagas. Both lived in the world of espionage. Both hacked into computer networks to accomplish their goals. Both have never crossed paths. And both were believed to be dead.
I am speaking of Robert Mitchell and Dr. Regis Blackgaard. Neither lived in Odyssey for a very long time and yet they are fundamental to the Adventures in Odyssey story. They make appearances all the way from Album 5 to Album 55. But by reappearing so many times they’ve had to bend the rules a little. They’re so prevalent it seems they can never die.
Let’s first look at Blackgaard. From the very beginning he was on scene, even when he was behind the scenes. He tried to purchase the Fillmore Recreation Center but was stopped by Mr. Whittaker, who recreated the center into Whit’s End. We heard about this in Recollections in Album 1. He later came to Odyssey in person in Album 5 and attempted to steal the computer program Applesauce. Then in Album 10 he met up with Whit and Connie again in Chicago while he was trying to steal a computer program from the Department of Defense. In Album 22 Blackgaard shows up in Switzerland, apparently on the good side, and is injected with the Ruku virus. Blackgaard’s last words are that he wants Jason to tell Whit that he’s sorry. The audience knows the truth, but Jason and Tasha are unaware of Blackgaard’s malevolent side and his recovery from his supposed death.
You can imagine Jason’s surprise when he learns of Dr. Blackgaard’s return to Odyssey in Album 25. He even confronts him and asks why he’s still alive. Of course, by this time Jason knows Blackgaard isn’t on the good side. He probably phoned his father in the Middle East to pass on Blackgaard’s message and Whit explained to him his history with Blackgaard. Jason’s friends at Whit’s End would have also taken the time to inform him of the crimes Blackgaard committed. At the end of Darkness Before Dawn, Blackgaard dies a second time in a dramatic explosion.
Then the AIO team had the idea to bring Blackgaard back for a fifth appearance in Album 33. Blackgaard’s Revenge came along to add to a saga we all thought had already been concluded. One of the reasons they created Edwin Blackgaard was so they could use the actor Earl Boen again, so it wouldn’t surprise me if a large part of the decision to bring Blackgaard back was so we could hear more of Earl’s acting range. He’s good at playing an overdramatic theatre actor but he’s unmatched when playing a villain.
Blackgaard’s apparent immortality reminds me of The Chronicles of Narnia films. Of the three books that were made into films by Walden Media from 2005 to 2010, every single one has an appearance from the White Witch, played by Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton. She was the villain in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and, spoiler alert, she was killed at the end. She wasn’t supposed to be in Prince Caspian, but the movie brought her back anyways. She appears briefly from within a sheet of ice as a ghost or virtual reality, but then she is defeated a second time. This appearance isn’t that controversial compared to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In this film she appears as an apparition within some evil green mist, a strange plot that the filmmakers added on to the story unnecessarily.
I would say Blackgaard is Odyssey’s equivalent of the White Witch. Blackgaard comes back again and again after he’s been defeated and killed. They even managed to sneak him into Album 34 in I Slap Floor. That episode was intentionally made to be an April Fool’s Day episode, but its premise is surprisingly similar to his post-mortem appearance in the previous album that you almost wonder if Blackgaard’s Revenge was meant to be a joke as well. But although Blackgaard’s Revenge does have an odd premise, I did think it was well executed. As for the question of why did Blackgaard plant a virus in the Imagination Station when he was planning on destroying Whit’s End? This is just a plot hole which shows how this episode was simply tacked on to the end of the Blackgaard saga and that it wasn’t originally supposed to happen.
Now let’s look at Robert Mitchell, better known as Mitch. Mitch comes on the scene in Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips in Album 36 to help Connie with carrying some boxes and the two start dating soon afterwards. But unfortunately for Connie, Mitch’s duties are split between paying attention to her and dealing with the unfolding Novacom saga. And then in Album 37 we get the shocking news that Mitch has been killed. They have a funeral for him and a gravestone made. Connie is convinced he’s dead. The audience is convinced he’s dead. But, surprise, the writers were only playing with your emotions because Mitch isn’t dead after all. He comes back in the next album.
You know the story. Eventually Mitch proposes to Connie and they get engaged. But the very next episode, as the wedding is being planned, Connie changes her mind when she realizes that Mitch isn’t going to stop being a secret agent for her sake. She got him back from the dead but then she doesn’t want him anymore. And so, Mitch disappears for a second time to train with the FBI in Budapest while Connie is left in Odyssey to second-guess her decision.
Would Mitch return yet again? No, it wasn’t possible. The AIO writers made it clear that under no circumstances was Mitch going to come back. Ever. But if Blackgaard’s death wasn’t enough to stop him from coming back, Mitch shouldn’t have a problem returning either. He appeared in Album 55 one last time and revealed that he was getting married to someone else, forever eliminating the possibility of him returning. Unless the writers are inspired to do so yet again.
Bringing back old characters always creates interest and drama. But sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to do so, particularly when a character’s storyline has been concluded. This can manipulate the audience’s emotions and cheapen the experience. I’m glad Adventures in Odyssey has finally moved on from Blackgaard to new and different villains from the Chairman to Dalton Kearn to Mr. Grote. Maybe Connie needs to move on from Mitch to new and better relationships. Funerals and weddings are supposed to be final. Blackgaard is dead and Mitch is married. That should be the end of those narratives. There’s little point in rehashing old ideas when there are so many possibilities for new and better ideas for the future.
I am speaking of Robert Mitchell and Dr. Regis Blackgaard. Neither lived in Odyssey for a very long time and yet they are fundamental to the Adventures in Odyssey story. They make appearances all the way from Album 5 to Album 55. But by reappearing so many times they’ve had to bend the rules a little. They’re so prevalent it seems they can never die.
Let’s first look at Blackgaard. From the very beginning he was on scene, even when he was behind the scenes. He tried to purchase the Fillmore Recreation Center but was stopped by Mr. Whittaker, who recreated the center into Whit’s End. We heard about this in Recollections in Album 1. He later came to Odyssey in person in Album 5 and attempted to steal the computer program Applesauce. Then in Album 10 he met up with Whit and Connie again in Chicago while he was trying to steal a computer program from the Department of Defense. In Album 22 Blackgaard shows up in Switzerland, apparently on the good side, and is injected with the Ruku virus. Blackgaard’s last words are that he wants Jason to tell Whit that he’s sorry. The audience knows the truth, but Jason and Tasha are unaware of Blackgaard’s malevolent side and his recovery from his supposed death.
You can imagine Jason’s surprise when he learns of Dr. Blackgaard’s return to Odyssey in Album 25. He even confronts him and asks why he’s still alive. Of course, by this time Jason knows Blackgaard isn’t on the good side. He probably phoned his father in the Middle East to pass on Blackgaard’s message and Whit explained to him his history with Blackgaard. Jason’s friends at Whit’s End would have also taken the time to inform him of the crimes Blackgaard committed. At the end of Darkness Before Dawn, Blackgaard dies a second time in a dramatic explosion.
Then the AIO team had the idea to bring Blackgaard back for a fifth appearance in Album 33. Blackgaard’s Revenge came along to add to a saga we all thought had already been concluded. One of the reasons they created Edwin Blackgaard was so they could use the actor Earl Boen again, so it wouldn’t surprise me if a large part of the decision to bring Blackgaard back was so we could hear more of Earl’s acting range. He’s good at playing an overdramatic theatre actor but he’s unmatched when playing a villain.
Blackgaard’s apparent immortality reminds me of The Chronicles of Narnia films. Of the three books that were made into films by Walden Media from 2005 to 2010, every single one has an appearance from the White Witch, played by Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton. She was the villain in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and, spoiler alert, she was killed at the end. She wasn’t supposed to be in Prince Caspian, but the movie brought her back anyways. She appears briefly from within a sheet of ice as a ghost or virtual reality, but then she is defeated a second time. This appearance isn’t that controversial compared to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In this film she appears as an apparition within some evil green mist, a strange plot that the filmmakers added on to the story unnecessarily.
I would say Blackgaard is Odyssey’s equivalent of the White Witch. Blackgaard comes back again and again after he’s been defeated and killed. They even managed to sneak him into Album 34 in I Slap Floor. That episode was intentionally made to be an April Fool’s Day episode, but its premise is surprisingly similar to his post-mortem appearance in the previous album that you almost wonder if Blackgaard’s Revenge was meant to be a joke as well. But although Blackgaard’s Revenge does have an odd premise, I did think it was well executed. As for the question of why did Blackgaard plant a virus in the Imagination Station when he was planning on destroying Whit’s End? This is just a plot hole which shows how this episode was simply tacked on to the end of the Blackgaard saga and that it wasn’t originally supposed to happen.
Now let’s look at Robert Mitchell, better known as Mitch. Mitch comes on the scene in Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips in Album 36 to help Connie with carrying some boxes and the two start dating soon afterwards. But unfortunately for Connie, Mitch’s duties are split between paying attention to her and dealing with the unfolding Novacom saga. And then in Album 37 we get the shocking news that Mitch has been killed. They have a funeral for him and a gravestone made. Connie is convinced he’s dead. The audience is convinced he’s dead. But, surprise, the writers were only playing with your emotions because Mitch isn’t dead after all. He comes back in the next album.
You know the story. Eventually Mitch proposes to Connie and they get engaged. But the very next episode, as the wedding is being planned, Connie changes her mind when she realizes that Mitch isn’t going to stop being a secret agent for her sake. She got him back from the dead but then she doesn’t want him anymore. And so, Mitch disappears for a second time to train with the FBI in Budapest while Connie is left in Odyssey to second-guess her decision.
Would Mitch return yet again? No, it wasn’t possible. The AIO writers made it clear that under no circumstances was Mitch going to come back. Ever. But if Blackgaard’s death wasn’t enough to stop him from coming back, Mitch shouldn’t have a problem returning either. He appeared in Album 55 one last time and revealed that he was getting married to someone else, forever eliminating the possibility of him returning. Unless the writers are inspired to do so yet again.
Bringing back old characters always creates interest and drama. But sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to do so, particularly when a character’s storyline has been concluded. This can manipulate the audience’s emotions and cheapen the experience. I’m glad Adventures in Odyssey has finally moved on from Blackgaard to new and different villains from the Chairman to Dalton Kearn to Mr. Grote. Maybe Connie needs to move on from Mitch to new and better relationships. Funerals and weddings are supposed to be final. Blackgaard is dead and Mitch is married. That should be the end of those narratives. There’s little point in rehashing old ideas when there are so many possibilities for new and better ideas for the future.
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