Review of Friend Or Foe

Warning. Contains spoilers. This is a “gut reaction review”, meaning I just now got done listening to the episode. Click the “Continue Reading” button to continue.

And just if you don’t want to see the spoilers, my summary is: I loved it.

All, right, Sam. You have been accepted. This was a great, great, great episode. And not like nerdy great that brings a smile to my face, this was more of a great episode that I have a half-frown on my face still. Never before have I listened to an episode that brought an almost satisfied, complacent look like eating a good meal.
Man. This was good. I just- I can’t even explain my reaction. I’ve never had this feeling after listening to an episode. I don’t want to run around with a nerdy grin on my face. I don’t want to write a fanfiction to tack something on. I guess the meal analogy is the best I have for you. I’m full, and I’m ready to rub my stomach and tell you how delicious it was.

And wow. The star of the show (besides the great writing, we’ll get to that in a minute) was John Campbell. John brought this music that- wow. It was like a throwback to the Novacom themes, but better. The tones were rich, the use of the electric guitar and in many of the confrontation scenes it sounded like the almighty Transformers soundtrack. The most epic, simple, great music. And I noticed it, it was almost distracting because it fit so well! The rich tone of the bass, or something he had in there, during the scenes with Jules and Valerie, man. It was so simple, and different, and fitting, and I just enjoyed it thoroughly.

So, the writing was just great. I will get to the plot in a minute but before I do that let’s just clear this up: the plot was obviously based off of the two-part episode from the Novacom Saga called Under the Influence. Obviously. Clearly. But- this episode was not a cheap knockoff. Quite the opposite. Under the Influence was written to convert Aubrey Shephard to a Christian. Friend Or Foe was written to convey the fact that Jules is not. And they both do their own respective jobs very well. And rather conversely, while Aubrey learns her lesson, Jules has in fact decided to hate everyone who tried to protect her. This is character development. I can already see some people saying that this is anti-character development, but no, this is character development. Even if Jules turns worse than she was in the beginning, she is going somewhere, and that’s character development.
And aside from the characters for a moment. The story was fast paced, slower in parts it needed to be. If we must insist on comparing this episode to Under the Influence, I have to say that Under the Influence was in parts too slow. Friend or Foe was faster, and I say again, it pulled back in scenes where we needed to hear what was going on. It packed a good amount of content into a standard 25 minute episode. At about 17 minutes I noted that this is about as much as a standard episode fits in. But no. Sam packed in more, and made the episode feel longer in a good way.

OK so now to completely spoiler the plot for all you who haven’t heard it, because I know how much you love spoilers.

So Connie walks in, you know. Jules is wearing this dress. And so then we find out that Jules watches, wears, and listens to things that are totally not appropriate (especially for us homeschoolers ;D ). So right, so Connie is like, uh no, because Jules wants to go to this concert the next night wearing this dress. Now here’s where something gets interesting. Jules is like, “I don’t remember asking you.” She still doesn’t think she is under Connie’s rule. So this is an interesting angle. Connie is trying to be the parent, and Jules is like, uh, you’re not my parent. This is something that we haven’t heard ever. And then of course Connie wins.
So, also a note right here. Shona Kennedy just is a better actor every time I hear her. This scene with her and Katie- both of them are just really good. The arguing, especially just having her huff as Connie is giving her a lecture. Really good stuff.

So then at school. They have the can drive guy. This is maybe a little bit of a problem I have with this episode. Every scene at school begins with this guy saying something about the can drive, like how the cans actually have to have food in them, and then the next time he’s like, the food has to be IN the cans, etc. And it’s funny. But it is the only attempt to be funny in this whole episode. So- it was a little out of place. Especially having him show up at the beginning of every single school scene over the intercom. This would have fit well in a Jay episode or something. I’m not saying it’s not funny. It just seemed a little out-of-place to laugh at this one guy and then not laugh at anything else.

So Jules is complaining to Buck, who says that he’s surprised she even listens to the Chains of Despair music. He tells her she ought to listen to Connie, and Jules gets all annoyed. Then Valerie drops her books right in front of Buck, and she starts flirting. She’s like, “oh how strong you are”, and he’s like, not taking the bait at all. It almost sounded like she was fishing. Serious. And Buck even, he’s like going ok seriously? You can literally hear the “ugh”. That’s what he says. So that was another thing that I haven’t really heard before.
And then ok Valerie. She- first of all- sounds like the classic bratty kid. Or something. I can’t really place her. Her voice is now different, she got a different actor. She almost sounds like her overactive personality belongs to her voice. Oh! Oh! I just realized! I know who she sounds like!
Yes! OK I was sitting here trying to figure out who she reminds me of. Shannon. From Despicable Me 2. OK so if you’ve seen this movie then you know who I think she sounds like.

So then Jules gives Valerie her concert ticket, because she can’t go, and Valerie can’t buy. So it’s a win-win. And then Valerie is like, come hang out with me! And then Buck is like, you shouldn’t hang out with her! And Jules is like, shut up!
So Jules and Valerie go to the mall the day after the concert. Everything that Valerie is like, whaaaaaaaa, Jules is like, yeah that’s old news. Meeting the singer of Chains of Despair, Valerie is like I would die to meet her, Jules is like, yeah I met her a long time ago. Another interesting thing. Jules is the one who’s seen it all, and she begins to buy things for Valerie. So this is a flip of the roles of Aubrey and Erica. We are looking at the character of Erica now, if we insist on making those comparisons. This is an episode all its own, and it’s different enough that it deserves to be that way.

So Valerie is like keep your inappropriate dress at my house so you can wear it! And then Jules lies to Connie about helping Valerie with math, so she goes to her house to “help out”. She actually goes with Valerie to some movie that I assume was a knock-off title of something. I’m always looking for references. “Blood Slasher 3”. And Jules thinks that she is “being herself”, and she’s always asking why Connie won’t accept that. So they go out to this restaurant and Valerie gives Jules an Chains of Despair album, and they buy a new stereo with Jules’ dad’s credit card, and listen at Valerie’s house.
OK, now since you guys know that my gut reaction reviews get mixed up sometimes, you should be aware that so far, Jules has bought Valerie a new dress, new pair of shoes, movie tickets, Chains of Despair ticket, some kind of deli sandwich thing, and a new stereo, all on her dad’s credit card. Bill Kendall’s credit card. The one that was supposed to only be “for emergencies”.
Continuing…

And this is only ten minutes in. So back at school, Buck comes up to Jules and notes that she has been hanging out with Valerie a lot. Jules is like, yeah you should come with us, and Buck is like, she already asked me. And he’s like, you know why she asked? Because she says you’ll buy whatever I ask for. And Buck just flat out says, “You know she’s been using you, right?” Blam. And then in a surprising twist, Jules is like, shut up. You don’t know what you are talking about. Buck lays out the con right in front of Jules. And she chooses not to see it.

So Jules is helping Valerie plan her birthday party, and Valerie mentions inviting Buck. Jules is like, no, he’s really not my friend at all. He’s like everyone else in Odyssey. YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! NO MORE SHIP! BULES IS DEAD! WHAT. A RELIEF. Finally, there are two characters in Odyssey who are the opposite gender who don’t love each other. Good. Very good.
OK so Jules is actually pretty disappointed that Buck doesn’t support her. And Valerie is saying, cheer up, we’ll have fun. And then- here we go- Jules is going to pay for the restaurant, the DJ, and then Valerie is like, I need the credit card number to pay for a limo. And Jules is like- ehhhh, no. She’s remembering what Buck said and is putting it to the test. Will Valerie be fine with that? As it turns out, she is not, and she threatens Jules that if she doesn’t pay for the limo, she will tell Connie about what she has been watching and listening to and wearing. And Jules agrees to pay.
So during that scene that I just described, begins the most distractingly good music. Eerie, epic, and rich. I have never heard something like this on Odyssey before. Man. It’s just so good to listen to. And then we get a Novacom transition out of it.

So at school again, Annoyed Cans Guy is doing his thing, and Jules comes up to Buck. She invites him to the party. He says no. He’s going to help Eugene with yard work and then they are going fishing. Jules is all disappointed, and she stops him from leaving. She asks if “people are awful everywhere.” He says- awful people are everywhere. She tells him about Valerie’s threat, she wants to know if he can trick her or blackmail her into getting her out of it. And Buck says he could but he won’t. It will make things worse. He tells Jules to go fess up to Connie. And Jules accuses Buck of not actually being her friend. She walks away.
The sound effects were really good in this scene. Just as Buck is about to leave after declining to go to the party, you can hear Jules grab his arm as he starts to walk past. And the picture was painted perfectly- where they were standing, the fact that it was a school locker room. Really good stuff.

So at the party- which is at this restaurant. There’s a problem with the credit card- it’s been declined. Huge bill, Valerie tells Jules to go stall the waiter while they all collect some money, so Jules goes to talk to the waiter and Valerie skips out with all of her fiends. They are totally gone. And so Jules is the last one there. So she calls Connie, who comes down and pays for the bill. And then Connie is like- why are you wearing that dress? So here comes the part that actually was kind of funny. Jules says “I returned it- then bought it back again.” And she makes the totally feeble attempt at a laugh, and Connie says, “Don’t laugh.” and she says “Okay.” That was actually funny, you would have to hear it instead of read about it.
So then it is revealed that Connie talked to Bill about the card already, and that he canceled it. Because, as it turns out, Bill called and asked why Jules wasn’t living with Connie, and Connie is like, what the heck she is in my house 24.7, and so they figured out that Jules was furiously spending money on food and clothes, and Bill though that because of the huge amounts of money she was spending, she was on her own. So he canceled her card after finding out she wasn’t.
So here’s where the phenomenal acting begins again. Katie Leigh is so good at sounding upset! Connie’s voice- as she is reprimanding Jules, you can almost hear the tears in her eyes and her voice cracks and shakes, and the whole thing is just phenomenal.
And Jules is like, stop judging me, you don’t know anything. And Connie says that Jules will have to get a job to pay her back, and that she sets limits because she loves Jules, and Jules is totally just pushing her aside.
So in the last scene, Jules is working at Whit’s End, she is bussing tables and she takes Buck’s empty glass back to the kitchen and cleans up elsewhere. While she is gone, Connie comes over and hints that she knows that Buck is returning all of the things that Jules bought for Valerie. He told on Valerie and offered to take all the stuff back to put it toward the bill that Jules owns Connie. So then he observes that Jules has a lot of people who care about her, and Connie agrees, adding that she hopes Jules will see it someday.

 

So now that you know what goes on, right, that was PACKED. This episode was full. There was no room for fluff. it was a good meat dinner, no time was wasted. And even though Jules is perhaps worse than before, I like the character development. Between both Buck and Jules. Buck is trying to do the right thing, and Jules is trying hard to do the opposite. This is a very intriguing turn of events, versus Connie the Counselor when we assumed that Jules learned her lesson.
Man. I just can’t praise Sam Suksiri’s writing enough. I had thought he would write episodes that I was going to forever hate, following A Perfect Testimony, but we’ll call that a foul ball. If Sam keeps writing episodes that waste no time, just like this one, Odyssey will be in good hands. The acting as well was awesome, sound effects superb (especially the last school scene between Buck and Jules)

Final ratings:

Acting: 9.0. What an amazing performance by Katie Leigh, and Jules was a close second. Buck was also good, especially his confrontation of Jules. Valerie’s new voice is fitting and though she plays it up a bit, it fits pretty darn well.
Plot: 9.5. I just can’t tell you enough how much it filled me, and was fitted together so well. So amazingly good.
Sound Design: A solid 9.5. They did well. Super well, and I know that they have to mix the music too and it was REALLY GOOD.
Music: 10. I have never given John Campbell a 10 before, but he richly deserves it. It was incredible, and new, and yet throwback to the Novacom theme that was played in the first version of this episode.

Overall rating: 9.5. This episode wasted no time. Working together was some of the best writing and best music that I have ever heard from Odyssey, along with masterful sound design and acting. This episode I will surely add to my collection of favorites, as it has brought to the table many original things for Odyssey, while keeping a good story and a tip of the hat to the first version that appeared in the Novacom saga, through the music. This was not a cheap knock-off. Far from it. This was an episode that was inspired by Under the Influence. It is far from a copy and should be treated as its own individual work, because it accomplished so many things that Under the Influence was never able to do.

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