Before I start my review of 'Hindsight', I would just like to give a very special thank you to Wooton Basset from the Unofficial AIO Blog for giving me my new fancy logo. A couple people have commented on my lack of a logo, saying that I needed one. And so, hearing that Wooton was great at designing logos, I contacted him via the Soda Shop Message Boards, and he said he was happy to design one.
So check the logo out! I really like it, but what do you think? Leave a comment and tell me what you like/dislike about the logo, this review, or the website in general. And now, I'll finally get to the review.
Has anyone ever noticed how Room of Consequence adventures a lot of times begin the same way? In almost all Room of Consequence episodes, the show opens with a kid talking to Whit. They have a problem, or they need his help, or whatever. Then, he escorts them into The Room of Consequence, and they experience what would happen if they: were able to read minds, have no rules, or watch as events play out backwards, the latter one being the case in today's show. The first scene has Liz talking to Mr. Whittaker.
After a quick explanation of what the ROC adventure will be like, Liz climbs in and hears a strange talking clock that says: "You will now travel three years into the future." Liz finds herself in a hospital. Doctor Morton informs her that she's been unconscious for thirty minutes. She also says that the police will question her in a few minutes. That line made us realize that this was no fall down the stairs.
After a quick chat with Doc Morton, Liz travels back in time thirty minutes. I would like to say before I go on that Marshal Younger's idea of backwards time travel was brilliant. I've never heard anything like it before. It brings an interesting angle to the Room of Consequence.
Anyway, Liz is dropped in the middle of Pete's Gas & Chow, the beef jerky co-op that Bryan Dern advertised in 'Top This!', another Marshal Younger episode. Soon after realizing that she will hit her head and go unconscious, a teenage hoodlum comes in, openly stating that he plans to rob her. Liz makes constant remarks about how he'll hit her in the head, and then, he recognizes her.
"It's you," he says.
"Yes, it's me," Liz replies. "But that's no reason to hit me in the head!"
The criminal kid replies that he was in Juvenile Detention for a while and he's on wanted posters. He starts to leave, but he shouts one last thing: "Be careful, you just mopped the floor!"
Liz slips, and falls on her head, though she feels no pain. She then travels back three years and witnesses the criminal, who she discovers is named Norton Hollingsworth, steal Mandy Strausberg's TV.
She keeps traveling back and finds that Norton is in The Bones of Wrath, and he stole the TV for them. I must say that although I liked this way of travel, when Liz talked to herself in between time traveling, it got to be unrealistic. She just had to say a few sentences to know one in particular, just to let the audience know what she was thinking. I know it's radio drama and it's hard to convey thoughts realistically, but I think they could have just had her say nothing.
She travels back to the schoolyard, where Rodney approaches Norton and refers to 'what happened on the bus'.
This is another element that the backwards time traveler can be used for. The element of suspense. We're seeing this whole story backwards, so we don't know what they're talking about a lot of the time.
Rodney asks Norton if he wants to join the Bones of Wrath. Just as Norton might make a decision, Liz travels back again. This is the part where Max Hampton. I've always liked Max. He's mischievous, but not excessively mean. Until now.
Really, Max? Are you that insensitive to comment on Norton's odor every two minutes? And do you really have to stupidly mock him every chance you get? Max was incredibly immature in this episode.
Once again, I believe it was unrealistic. Middle-Schoolers may pick on each other sometimes, but if they did what Max did, they would look like idiots. Liz travels back one last time, denying Norton a seat next to her and realizing that, in the broadest possible sense, her not letting Norton sit next to her caused her to have a serious head injury! She silences Max and says she wants Norton to sit next to her.
I actually admired Liz's integrity. If I was faced with a similar situation, I'm not positive that I would have done the same thing that Liz did. And I liked how Liz said, "Believe me, it's for the best." Finally, the talking clock brings Liz forward in time, to Whit's End.
She sees Norton, and asks him if he's in The Bones of Wrath.
"No way," he replies. "Why would I want to be one of them?" She finishes her conversation with Norton and comes in for a landing at Whit's End, where Whit tells her that Norton is, in fact, a real person who comes to Whit's End.
Overall, this was a great ROC episode. It had a couple flaws, but it was a great slice-of-life show in a time of job decisions, long road trips, and almost marriages. And I would definitely rank Hindsight among the best ROC episodes. Thanks for reading!
Hindsight Rating: 7/10
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