It's Great Being Single!

Now that the fall season of AIO is over, it's probably time that I offered some thoughts on what's happened in Odyssey lately. Consequently, here's a quick look at my feelings on The Deep End.

• It's Jason, it's an overseas location, it's action-adventure espionage. "The Labyrinth" was a show that should've worked, but just didn't (for me, at least). It all felt rather silly, with a totally forgettable storyline and an overload of corny humor. An intense and thoughtful ending is to the show's credit, but it can't make up for all that went before it. Whatever "The Labyrinth" may be, it certainly is nowhere near the fun, excitement, and memorability that is "A Name, Not a Number." 6/10.
  
• You can hear what I thought of "Sgt. York" on AIO Blogcast #35. This probably was the best of the three multi-part shows of the season, but its length and themes made it feel more like a Radio Theatre presentation than an AIO installment (apart from Eugene and Red's attempts to force us to remember that this is AIO, not RT, that we really are listening to). 6/10.
  
• Without wanting to sound harsh, "Something Old, Something New" was a disaster of an episode. It's likely that it's been a year and a half, with "Grandma's Christmas Visit," since we last heard such an obviously poor episode. Nothing--not even the return of Mitch--worked for this episode. Maybe it's nice that the subject of Mitch has been definitively dealt with, but did it have to be in such a ridiculous two-parter? As is far too often the case, Matthew and Emily's investigation was very uninteresting, while Penny and Wooton were more annoying than funny. Connie's issues should be dealt with with more seriousness, instead of being slotted in to a comedy episode. 5/10.
  
• As this blog title hints at, the real winners this season were the three one-part episodes. "To Mend or Repair," "Mistaken for Good," and "Child's Play" were all great episodes--gentle, heartfelt stories that used strong characters well. I particularly liked the storyarch involving Eugene and Katrina's inability to have children, which let us see Eugene and Katrina dealing with an issue together. Katrina has not always had the best writing since Audrey Wasilewski came in to voice her, but thankfully that seems to be changing since last season's "How to Sink a Sub." Oddly enough, it seems that my previously-held belief that multi-part episodes are usually better than single-part episodes isn't holding true anymore for me. 7.5/10 or 8/10 for each of these shows.

So, the final word on this season? A real let-down. Why? Maybe because it tries too hard. Mitch returning, a secret agent mission with Jason, a serious historical episode, Eugene and children: all that is what fans want to hear and should make a wonderful album. And, from what I've heard, many fans are saying that it does make a wonderful album. But I have to disagree. What makes a season or an album great is not so much what happens in it, but how it happens--how well the shows are written. There's some good writing going on in The Deep End, but some less-than-stellar scripts have also made it in here as well. That's a disappointment, because AIO both can and should do better.