A few weeks ago, I briefly mentioned to someone that there was an online rumour going around that Eugene and Katrina can't have kids together. I was curious to know how the show was going to tackle such an issue. That person answered, "Knowing Focus on the Family they'll probably have [Eugene and Katrina] see it as a sign from God to adopt". I sighed, then agreed. This wasn't an attack against Focus on the Family, mind you; the show has simply brought up the subject of adoption countless times, from The Mulligan episodes, to "Clara", to "The Chosen One".
You see, many people believe that they can fill the void of being childless by adopting. Some Christians may see it as a sign from God. Others may see it as a way to bury their pain. However, adopting a child should not be for yourself. The decision should be made by putting the needs of the potential child first. Grieve properly, and only once you have, then begin to consider something like adoption, if you truly believe it's the right thing to do.
I was pleasantly surprised, then, to find out that not only did Adventures in Odyssey not even mention the word "adoption", or the idea that Eugene and Katrina's predicament was somehow God's will, but instead chose to tackle issues such as grief and friendship. As both Eugene and Barrett find out, being a good friend means to be be aware of the needs of others. And as the listener finds out, we should place our grief in God's hands. Friendship, grief, and infertility...it's a mishmash of themes and messages; however, having a cornucopia of themes just makes this episode all the more bountiful. I walked away reflecting on many things. Essentially, "To Mend or Repair" handles its issues terrifically, hitting just the right note in every scene.
Bob Hoose, who directed this episode, really knew which direction to take the show in terms of tone. Many scenes sounded softer, less rushed, and more in-tuned with the personalities of its characters; Eugene, Whit, and Katrina sounded natural and performed their roles quite well; Jay, Barrett, and Mrs. Kramer, piloting the show's lighter moments, seemed conscious not to go too over-the-top with the comedy, noticeably aware of the seriousness of the A-plot. Collaboratively written by Marshall Younger and Paul McCusker, "To Mend or Repair" finds the right balance between that moment to cry and that moment to laugh, while rarely giving the impression that the different scenes don't fit together.
And while I would have preferred if the topic of infertility/miscarriage was made the central focus of the episode--like death "The Mortal Coil", abortion in "Pamela has a Problem", or divorce in "Life in the Third Person", I understand why this decision was made. Imagine the discussion that must have gone on in the writer's room. On the one hand, you could argue that splitting this episode into an A-plot and B-plot diminishes the seriousness of Katrina and Eugene's predicament; on the other, how many children ages 8-12 can truly relate to this issue? Only a few teenagers and some adults, married or considering marriage, can really appreciate the travesty of being unable to have children. Adding a storyline about Barrett and Priscilla is not my personal preference, but it is undoubtedly a logical one. It simply provides children with something relatable to listen to.
Together, these stories don't merely give advice about friendship but communicate that tragedy strikes us all at one point or another. Sometimes the difficulty can be as tiny and short-lived as what Priscilla had to deal with (she'll be over it by the next episode, certainly); other times it will be huge like what Eugene and Katrina went through (no, this won't be the last time we'll hear about it). Teaching children that things do eventually get better is important, but teaching them how to deal with the hurt, what we should do to help others, and, ultimately, Who we should draw our help from, is an invaluable lesson to be learned.
Rating:
I think this was certainly one of the strongest episodes since the hiatus, and so far I am very impressed with album 55. Though this isn't the first episode to have dealt with a serious topic since the relaunch, this was the first one that really felt personal, to me anyway. I personally can't identify with the death of a friend (never for nothing) or infertility/miscarriage (to mend or repair); so why did i have a much stronger reaction to this episode than i did to never for nothing? because it's happening to katrina and eugene. These are characters we have known and loved for many many years - therefore, we should have an emotional reaction this devastating news for them, because at this point we know them so well.
ReplyDeleteI was really impressed with how the episode handled this topic, and also how we got several sweet and realistic scenes of Eugene and Katrina's married life. It made sense to me that Eugene would struggle to relate to Katrina's method of grieving, try in his own fumbling way to make it better, and in the end have Whit gently point out that not only is he not giving his wife what she needs, but he's also been ignoring his own grief. It's all completely fitting to Eugene's character. Great scene between Whit and Eugene; dialogue and acting were excellent.
Have just finished listening to 'mistaken for good', and can't help but notice that we are now 5 episodes into album 55 and we've had no wooton, at all. Seeing as this album also contains a 4-part kids radio production, I don't foresee him playing a big part in this album as a whole. As far as I'm concerned, that can only be a good thing, and I don't miss him at all, but it does seem strange that he should get a spot on the album cover in that case.
Thanks for your review.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. In a way, this did feel more personal because it was happening to Katrina and Eugene.
As for Wooton, having listened to the entire album already, his presence this season is certainly not as big, although he DOES show up eventually.
I'm a bit torn about this episode... On the one hand, I agree with most all of your article and found that all the characters performed very realistically and such (though I didn't really like the scene where Barret tried to get back at Jay), and I agree with the reasons for why they had Barret/Priscilla sub-plot in there along with Eugene-Katrina.
ReplyDeleteHowever... I don't know--on the whole, it just didn't really seem to resonate with me as much as I had hoped (being in high anticipation of this episode after seeing the one-line blurb about it). I guess it just didn't fit together in my mind very well, as I had difficulty adjusting from the more comedic scenes of Barret/Priscilla and the more slow-paced scenes dealing with Eugene/Katrina so that it turned out, at least for me, in having two distinctly different themes/feelings that just didn't mix together very well. I liked the individual scenes a lot, and the final scene with Eugene/Katrina was very touching, however, the scenes just didn't fit together for me as much as I guess it did for you.
That being said, I AM glad that AIO took the initiative of resolving the question about if Eugene/Katrina would have kids in the show (even though I may have preferred that they would have kids) instead of just leaving it open. Both this one, and I am assuming Something Old, Something New (having heard rumors of what happens in it), where it seems like the writers are making important overarching storyline developments, is making me feel very optimistic about where AIO is going.
I'm also interested to see how the events of Mend/Repair will flow into Child's Play...
Anyways, I appreciated your review a lot, as it pointed out a lot of good things about Mend/Repair that I had missed, and am looking forward to the next one!