The long-anticipated review of “The Rydell Revelations” with Rachel and Josh from the Return to Odyssey podcast has arrived … and it’s unlike any other review of the three-parter. Nothing is held back as the couple presents the case that this end of the Rydell Saga is the worst possible outcome for the series, with flaws ranging from plot deficiencies, broken characterization, and the betrayal of the integrity of John Avery Whittaker.
Despite the criticism of these episodes, I still really enjoy them. But I did enjoy hearing Josh and Rachel’s critiques, and this does break my view of, “Well, it’s only because we had all these theories and all this time to think about the episodes before they were released.” No, they are episodes that break easily under deeper analysis. I did notice, however, your cynical view of your conversations with Phil, even though I agree with what you said about them, i.e. “Well, maybe it’s your mind playing tricks on you.” NO, IT’S NOT! 😂 I will say, what great timing with the release, what with Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off releasing tomorrow. Getting hyped over here.
By the way, I’m in the middle of writing a story, so my writing, even as a comment, is a lot more rich currently than it would be otherwise.
I heard a film critic say something about the show Wandvision that I think describes the Rydell Saga perfectly. “The show was better at building intrigue than delivering on the promise of the premise” I feel like this is exactly what happened with Odyssey. They set it up to be this amazing mystery with a lot of intrigue and Morrie almost seemed like a kid Blackgard or Mr. Charles. Even if they had played him as a Richard Maxwell who had seen the error of his ways and changed. Overall, I was disappointed with the ending and it soured me on the entire saga. Whit was out of character. The Whit I grew up with wouldn’t do what he did here. And it also made me not trust the show as much anymore. When we were going through the Olivia Saga, I had a hard time getting excited and interested because I was afraid it was going to be another dud ending. Thankfully, they mostly delivered on it, but I think it’s going to take the show a long time to recover from the Rydell Ridiculousness.
That’s why I had to compartmentalize. Don’t let your “Critical Rydell Theory” cloud your judgment about Odyssey in general. 😉
I personally wasn’t skeptical about the Olivia stuff because I knew Marshal Younger was manning the helm, and I trusted him. And it seems like the main mistake here is that there wasn’t a plan for the ending from the beginning of the intrigue, so there was no way Phil could deliver on the buildup.
I think the show is perfectly fine. It’s the Rydell stuff itself that’s affected here.