31. A Time for Aftermath
What happens after an action-packed saga?
By David Hilder | October 3, 2018
What happens after an action-packed saga?
By David Hilder | October 3, 2018
Did you know Adventures in Odyssey almost ended in 1995 after Album 25? It’s true. This was shortly after the death of Hal Smith, the first voice of Mr. Whittaker, and the showrunners were planning on making Darkness Before Dawn a climactic end to the entire show. Thankfully, that isn’t what happened. Why? It just wasn’t possible.
Album 25 was originally meant to wrap up the show’s storylines, but that turned out pretty difficult to do. It would still have left fans asking the question: What happens next? The 2012 Official Guide explains, “As often happens with Adventures in Odyssey, every answer we attempt to give actually raises more questions” (page 285). Ending the show would have left unanswered questions about Eugene and Katrina’s relationship, Edwin Blackgaard, the future of Whit’s End, whether Mr. Whittaker would ever return to Odyssey, and more. So after the dramatic climax of Album 25, the show kept going. That album turned out to be more of a beginning than an end and the events that happened in it, such as Eugene’s conversion to Christianity, went on to affect the show for years to come. AIO kept going because we all wanted to know what happened in the aftermath of Album 25.
When we think of our favorite Odyssey episodes, we often point to exciting highlights like the end of the Blackgaard and Novacom sagas. We won’t soon forget moments like Jack Allen’s showdown with Dr. Regis Blackgaard in the tunnel (Album 25), the epic hunt for Mr. Whittaker in the Middle East (Album 27), Connie Kendall getting kidnapped by Mr. Charles (Album 38), and the wild train ride in the Green Ring Conspiracy (Album 53). It’s scenes like these that get your blood pumping and your adrenaline rushing. But if that’s all Adventures in Odyssey was, it would be pretty exhausting. We need a breather between these action-heavy episodes. We need time to process everything that’s happened.
In this editorial I talk about the importance of what I call the “aftermath episode.” This episode type comes sometime after an epic saga. The word aftermath refers to the later effects that occur as a result of a major event. You could also call this episode type the fallout, the denouement, or the follow-up. Why is it so important? Would Adventures in Odyssey still work without it? The truth is that some shows do work without having aftermath episodes. They’re called Saturday morning cartoons.
Cartoon shows typically do not have aftermath episodes. No matter the insane hijinks that may occur in a particular episode, no matter the earthshattering revelations, by the time the next episode rolls around everyone will have forgotten all about it. On a show like that it doesn’t matter what order you watch the episodes because nothing ever changes. The characters go back to normal in the blink of an eye. But that’s never how Adventures in Odyssey has operated. Since the beginning when Connie Kendall was introduced as a non-Christian in Album 1, character development has been a fundamental part of the show. We hear it in Connie’s desperate escape from Odyssey to California in Album 3 and subsequent conversion experience. And in the aftermath of that conversion, Connie continues to grow as she puts her newfound faith into practice and matures as a believer.
Adventures in Odyssey has aftermath episodes because the show’s creators treats their characters like real people. In real life decisions have consequences. Whatever the writers have happen on the show, they’re always thinking about how this will change the characters we know and love. Listeners are constantly asking when certain characters are going to get married or have children, or when others are going to return to the show. As fans we’re often looking forward to the big and dramatic turn of events, but we can’t forget that the people of Odyssey will have to continue their lives in the aftermath of those events.
Climactic episodes are big and exciting. The aftermath episode is perhaps underappreciated because it doesn’t draw attention to itself. It’s an attempt to transition the show back to normal everyday life, or at least some semblance of normal life. It’s often quiet. For example, think of the episode The Homecoming (Album 10). Whit and Connie have just finished their Waylaid in the Windy City adventure with Dr. Blackgaard in Chicago and are now safely at home in Odyssey. Blackgaard’s Castle, which caused so much trouble five albums ago, has finally been demolished and things are returning to normal.
Except, things aren’t so simple for one of the characters: Richard Maxwell. It was in Chicago that Richard made a pivotal decision to give up on his schemes and no longer seek revenge. And now in The Homecoming we hear the aftermath of that decision. Richard returns to the town of Odyssey because he believes he has “unfinished business” there. He wants to apologize to the people he hurt. People like Whit and Connie, having just witnessed his change of heart in Chicago, are very receptive to him. Eugene initially bristles at him, and then offers conditional forgiveness. Lucy takes it very hard, angry and hurt about how Richard used her. But she too eventually does forgive him. And yet, not everyone can forgive Richard Maxwell. It was Tom Riley perhaps who lost the most during Dr. Blackgaard’s first reign of terror. Tom’s barn was burned down and he almost lost his horses. Tom tells Richard to leave and tells Whit, “He has nothing to say I wanna hear.”
The Homecoming is a somber addition after the thrill of Waylaid in the Windy City, but I don’t think it deserves to be skipped over. It is brimming with significance and perfectly illustrates the subtle power of the aftermath episode. It also feels incredibly real. After all, it is really so easy for former villains to reintegrate into society? Was it easy for the Apostle Paul to be accepted into the Christian community after his legacy as a persecutor of the faith? Not at all. Whit tells Richard to stay in Odyssey, but Richard doesn’t think that’s realistic. Richard says, “There’s no life for me in Odyssey.” Richard and Tom’s reconciliation is left to be dealt with in future episodes, and powerfully pays off in Album 25.
The aftermath episode acknowledges that life isn’t often as neat and tidy as some stories might suggest. It also serves as a nod to the significance of the climactic events that came before. Things can’t just go back to exactly the way they used to be. That’s a truth that really hits me whenever I read or watch The Lord of the Rings. At the end of that story Frodo Baggins returns to the Shire to find out it’s not the same home he left. Over the course of his journey Frodo himself has been changed as well, burdened with wounds not easily healed. Like a soldier who has returned from combat, Frodo can’t un-see what he has experienced. There is no going back. No real return journey. There’s only going forward in the aftermath.
But the aftermath episode doesn’t have to be somber to be meaningful. Right after the very heavy Mortal Coil two-parter (Album 16) comes the humorous episode Best Intentions. It doesn’t ignore the previous episode’s plot of Whit’s near-death, nor does it trivialize it. Rather, it presents a realistic portrayal of Whit slowly recovering and his friends being naturally overprotective of him, resulting in comedy gold. It serves as a perfect transition episode for Mr. Whittaker to get back on track after his ordeal.
Similarly, immediately after Blackgaard’s demise in Album 25 we get the episode Love is in the Air (Album 26). It features the return of Katrina Shanks and Tasha Forbes to Odyssey and continues the developing stories of Connie, Jason, and especially Eugene following his conversion. The Official Guide notes that the AIO team had originally considered bringing back Katrina and Tasha during the action of Album 25, but decided against it (page 290). That might have made Album 25 even more dramatic, but I think saving these characters for the aftermath instead was a wise choice. They remind us that life will go on beyond Blackgaard’s reign, while at the same time showing us that the events of Album 25 have left an indelible mark on the people of Odyssey. I mentioned earlier that the aftermath episode is often a quieter show. When it came to writing Love is in the Air, The Official Guide says, “The show originally ended with Tasha getting kidnapped by unknown forces. We decided to cut this plot point as we had just finished the intense Darkness miniseries and thought we should stick with more normal episodes for a while” (page 296). Interestingly, The Labyrinth (Album 55) is followed by Jason’s return to Odyssey in Home Again (Album 56), which takes a different approach and opts for more action and adventure, making it less of a breather. But as we hear in the beginning of the episode, at this point in his life Jason isn’t very good at dealing with the aftermath of his life as a spy. It’s obviously taken a toll on him, and yet it’s hard to imagine him giving it up. We’ll have to keep listening to hear where the writers take him next.
Another example of aftermath comes after Album 53: The Green Ring Conspiracy. Album 54 wasn’t originally going to mention the events of Album 53 at all, which I think would have been a huge mistake. The Official Guide acknowledges that “listeners would feel cheated if the characters didn’t talk about such a huge adventure for a whole album” (page 543). So the episodes A Penny Saved, A Penny Earned, and Childish Things were added “to tie up some of the remaining threads” from Album 53. In these episodes we hear Penny Wise grappling with the betrayal of her professor Dr. Trask as she tries to see a way forward with her newfound friends. These Album 54 episodes give weight and significance to the events of Album 53. From those follow-up shows we know that the people of Odyssey won’t soon forget the events of The Green Ring Conspiracy.
You can find examples of the aftermath episode everywhere. The folks in Odyssey deal with the aftermath of Whit’s departure in …But Not Forgotten (Album 21), in The Benefit of the Doubt (Album 39) Mitch finds that no one wants to hire him after his takedown of Novacom, in Eggshells (Album 42) Connie has to deal with people treating her differently after her breakup with Mitch, Eugene struggles to find his place in Odyssey in Back to Abnormal (Album 45), and in Child’s Play (Album 55) Eugene and Katrina continue to deal with their sense of loss after having discovered that they can’t have children.
In a sense the three-part show Life Expectancy (Album 57) is an aftermath episode because its major plot point happens within the first few minutes and the rest of the show is spent dealing with the consequences. Wooton’s frantic phone call comes two minutes into the episode, and three minutes later we learn that Connie’s mom has died. Some fans were disappointed that in an episode all about June Kendall’s passing, June doesn’t appear. The reality is that death can be very sudden. It doesn’t always involve weeks in and out of the hospital, as was the case with Connie’s grandmother in A Touch of Healing (Album 24). It can strike without warning, and then those left behind have to deal with their grief in the aftermath, as Connie Kendall has to.
Real life is all about living with the reality of consequences, both good and bad. Our choices and the choices of others all have an impact on our lives. A show that highlights the aftermath episode I think will always be better than a show that ignores dealing with aftermath. That’s one of the reasons I love Adventures in Odyssey. It isn’t like a cartoon where everything from the previous episodes is forgotten. The fans will always remember and reminisce, and so it’s nice when the character do as well. Odyssey seems more like a real place where the characters go through the same struggles we do. We need a break from the action from time to time. Now, a break can mean having our attention distracted or diverted to other things. But it can also mean directing our attention back to the significance of what has just occurred. It can mean processing what’s happened. The aftermath episode is important because it helps lend meaning to everything we’ve gone through before.
Album 25 was originally meant to wrap up the show’s storylines, but that turned out pretty difficult to do. It would still have left fans asking the question: What happens next? The 2012 Official Guide explains, “As often happens with Adventures in Odyssey, every answer we attempt to give actually raises more questions” (page 285). Ending the show would have left unanswered questions about Eugene and Katrina’s relationship, Edwin Blackgaard, the future of Whit’s End, whether Mr. Whittaker would ever return to Odyssey, and more. So after the dramatic climax of Album 25, the show kept going. That album turned out to be more of a beginning than an end and the events that happened in it, such as Eugene’s conversion to Christianity, went on to affect the show for years to come. AIO kept going because we all wanted to know what happened in the aftermath of Album 25.
When we think of our favorite Odyssey episodes, we often point to exciting highlights like the end of the Blackgaard and Novacom sagas. We won’t soon forget moments like Jack Allen’s showdown with Dr. Regis Blackgaard in the tunnel (Album 25), the epic hunt for Mr. Whittaker in the Middle East (Album 27), Connie Kendall getting kidnapped by Mr. Charles (Album 38), and the wild train ride in the Green Ring Conspiracy (Album 53). It’s scenes like these that get your blood pumping and your adrenaline rushing. But if that’s all Adventures in Odyssey was, it would be pretty exhausting. We need a breather between these action-heavy episodes. We need time to process everything that’s happened.
In this editorial I talk about the importance of what I call the “aftermath episode.” This episode type comes sometime after an epic saga. The word aftermath refers to the later effects that occur as a result of a major event. You could also call this episode type the fallout, the denouement, or the follow-up. Why is it so important? Would Adventures in Odyssey still work without it? The truth is that some shows do work without having aftermath episodes. They’re called Saturday morning cartoons.
Cartoon shows typically do not have aftermath episodes. No matter the insane hijinks that may occur in a particular episode, no matter the earthshattering revelations, by the time the next episode rolls around everyone will have forgotten all about it. On a show like that it doesn’t matter what order you watch the episodes because nothing ever changes. The characters go back to normal in the blink of an eye. But that’s never how Adventures in Odyssey has operated. Since the beginning when Connie Kendall was introduced as a non-Christian in Album 1, character development has been a fundamental part of the show. We hear it in Connie’s desperate escape from Odyssey to California in Album 3 and subsequent conversion experience. And in the aftermath of that conversion, Connie continues to grow as she puts her newfound faith into practice and matures as a believer.
Adventures in Odyssey has aftermath episodes because the show’s creators treats their characters like real people. In real life decisions have consequences. Whatever the writers have happen on the show, they’re always thinking about how this will change the characters we know and love. Listeners are constantly asking when certain characters are going to get married or have children, or when others are going to return to the show. As fans we’re often looking forward to the big and dramatic turn of events, but we can’t forget that the people of Odyssey will have to continue their lives in the aftermath of those events.
Climactic episodes are big and exciting. The aftermath episode is perhaps underappreciated because it doesn’t draw attention to itself. It’s an attempt to transition the show back to normal everyday life, or at least some semblance of normal life. It’s often quiet. For example, think of the episode The Homecoming (Album 10). Whit and Connie have just finished their Waylaid in the Windy City adventure with Dr. Blackgaard in Chicago and are now safely at home in Odyssey. Blackgaard’s Castle, which caused so much trouble five albums ago, has finally been demolished and things are returning to normal.
Except, things aren’t so simple for one of the characters: Richard Maxwell. It was in Chicago that Richard made a pivotal decision to give up on his schemes and no longer seek revenge. And now in The Homecoming we hear the aftermath of that decision. Richard returns to the town of Odyssey because he believes he has “unfinished business” there. He wants to apologize to the people he hurt. People like Whit and Connie, having just witnessed his change of heart in Chicago, are very receptive to him. Eugene initially bristles at him, and then offers conditional forgiveness. Lucy takes it very hard, angry and hurt about how Richard used her. But she too eventually does forgive him. And yet, not everyone can forgive Richard Maxwell. It was Tom Riley perhaps who lost the most during Dr. Blackgaard’s first reign of terror. Tom’s barn was burned down and he almost lost his horses. Tom tells Richard to leave and tells Whit, “He has nothing to say I wanna hear.”
The Homecoming is a somber addition after the thrill of Waylaid in the Windy City, but I don’t think it deserves to be skipped over. It is brimming with significance and perfectly illustrates the subtle power of the aftermath episode. It also feels incredibly real. After all, it is really so easy for former villains to reintegrate into society? Was it easy for the Apostle Paul to be accepted into the Christian community after his legacy as a persecutor of the faith? Not at all. Whit tells Richard to stay in Odyssey, but Richard doesn’t think that’s realistic. Richard says, “There’s no life for me in Odyssey.” Richard and Tom’s reconciliation is left to be dealt with in future episodes, and powerfully pays off in Album 25.
The aftermath episode acknowledges that life isn’t often as neat and tidy as some stories might suggest. It also serves as a nod to the significance of the climactic events that came before. Things can’t just go back to exactly the way they used to be. That’s a truth that really hits me whenever I read or watch The Lord of the Rings. At the end of that story Frodo Baggins returns to the Shire to find out it’s not the same home he left. Over the course of his journey Frodo himself has been changed as well, burdened with wounds not easily healed. Like a soldier who has returned from combat, Frodo can’t un-see what he has experienced. There is no going back. No real return journey. There’s only going forward in the aftermath.
But the aftermath episode doesn’t have to be somber to be meaningful. Right after the very heavy Mortal Coil two-parter (Album 16) comes the humorous episode Best Intentions. It doesn’t ignore the previous episode’s plot of Whit’s near-death, nor does it trivialize it. Rather, it presents a realistic portrayal of Whit slowly recovering and his friends being naturally overprotective of him, resulting in comedy gold. It serves as a perfect transition episode for Mr. Whittaker to get back on track after his ordeal.
Similarly, immediately after Blackgaard’s demise in Album 25 we get the episode Love is in the Air (Album 26). It features the return of Katrina Shanks and Tasha Forbes to Odyssey and continues the developing stories of Connie, Jason, and especially Eugene following his conversion. The Official Guide notes that the AIO team had originally considered bringing back Katrina and Tasha during the action of Album 25, but decided against it (page 290). That might have made Album 25 even more dramatic, but I think saving these characters for the aftermath instead was a wise choice. They remind us that life will go on beyond Blackgaard’s reign, while at the same time showing us that the events of Album 25 have left an indelible mark on the people of Odyssey. I mentioned earlier that the aftermath episode is often a quieter show. When it came to writing Love is in the Air, The Official Guide says, “The show originally ended with Tasha getting kidnapped by unknown forces. We decided to cut this plot point as we had just finished the intense Darkness miniseries and thought we should stick with more normal episodes for a while” (page 296). Interestingly, The Labyrinth (Album 55) is followed by Jason’s return to Odyssey in Home Again (Album 56), which takes a different approach and opts for more action and adventure, making it less of a breather. But as we hear in the beginning of the episode, at this point in his life Jason isn’t very good at dealing with the aftermath of his life as a spy. It’s obviously taken a toll on him, and yet it’s hard to imagine him giving it up. We’ll have to keep listening to hear where the writers take him next.
Another example of aftermath comes after Album 53: The Green Ring Conspiracy. Album 54 wasn’t originally going to mention the events of Album 53 at all, which I think would have been a huge mistake. The Official Guide acknowledges that “listeners would feel cheated if the characters didn’t talk about such a huge adventure for a whole album” (page 543). So the episodes A Penny Saved, A Penny Earned, and Childish Things were added “to tie up some of the remaining threads” from Album 53. In these episodes we hear Penny Wise grappling with the betrayal of her professor Dr. Trask as she tries to see a way forward with her newfound friends. These Album 54 episodes give weight and significance to the events of Album 53. From those follow-up shows we know that the people of Odyssey won’t soon forget the events of The Green Ring Conspiracy.
You can find examples of the aftermath episode everywhere. The folks in Odyssey deal with the aftermath of Whit’s departure in …But Not Forgotten (Album 21), in The Benefit of the Doubt (Album 39) Mitch finds that no one wants to hire him after his takedown of Novacom, in Eggshells (Album 42) Connie has to deal with people treating her differently after her breakup with Mitch, Eugene struggles to find his place in Odyssey in Back to Abnormal (Album 45), and in Child’s Play (Album 55) Eugene and Katrina continue to deal with their sense of loss after having discovered that they can’t have children.
In a sense the three-part show Life Expectancy (Album 57) is an aftermath episode because its major plot point happens within the first few minutes and the rest of the show is spent dealing with the consequences. Wooton’s frantic phone call comes two minutes into the episode, and three minutes later we learn that Connie’s mom has died. Some fans were disappointed that in an episode all about June Kendall’s passing, June doesn’t appear. The reality is that death can be very sudden. It doesn’t always involve weeks in and out of the hospital, as was the case with Connie’s grandmother in A Touch of Healing (Album 24). It can strike without warning, and then those left behind have to deal with their grief in the aftermath, as Connie Kendall has to.
Real life is all about living with the reality of consequences, both good and bad. Our choices and the choices of others all have an impact on our lives. A show that highlights the aftermath episode I think will always be better than a show that ignores dealing with aftermath. That’s one of the reasons I love Adventures in Odyssey. It isn’t like a cartoon where everything from the previous episodes is forgotten. The fans will always remember and reminisce, and so it’s nice when the character do as well. Odyssey seems more like a real place where the characters go through the same struggles we do. We need a break from the action from time to time. Now, a break can mean having our attention distracted or diverted to other things. But it can also mean directing our attention back to the significance of what has just occurred. It can mean processing what’s happened. The aftermath episode is important because it helps lend meaning to everything we’ve gone through before.
This site is in no way affiliated with Focus on the Family. "Adventures in Odyssey" is a registered trademark of Focus on the Family.