Well, it is December and the Odyssey fans are listening to the currently-releasing Album 74: Buckle Up. “Game Night” was released on December 15, and the fans are anticipating the release of the rest of the album.

In this post, I’ll be going through the things I hope will happen in this album and my predictions for each episode.

But first off, I’ll issue a spoiler warning! Do not read this post if you do not want to know the summaries for the episodes in this album! You have been warned.

Episode Breakdown
I’m now going to go through what we know about each episode in the album and discuss what I think will be happen in each one. The information that I have here is from their AIOWiki pages. It is likely that we have further information from other sources somewhere, but if this is so, I missed it, since I have been behind in the Odyssey News lately. Since “Game Night” has been released already, I will be leaving it out.

King of My Heart

So, we have no summary for this episode, but based on the title, I’m going to assume that it is the next episode of Olivia’s faith arc.

Olivia gives her testimony at church and big questions are raised that she can’t answer.

Album Summary

According to AIOWiki, this episode’s writer and director are unknown, and it has no release date nor characters listed. I am assuming that Olivia will appear in this episode.

My Thoughts

I am assuming that this episode is the continuation of Olivia’s arc. We see that she is now about to give her testimony. A testimony which will likely include what she had experienced in her last few episodes. As the summary says, there are big questions raised that she cannot answer. What are these questions? More doubts? Questioning herself of why she did what she did? Will Leonid Sebanov make another appearance? I am very interested in seeing how this goes. Since no characters are listed on the page, I am going to guess that in addition to Olivia, Zoe, Wilson, Whit and Eva will also appear. Those are reasonable characters to assume, I think. Overall, I’m interested in what this aftermath episode will hold.

Legally Wooton

Wooton faces a courtroom struggle that pits him against an old friend.

Album Summary

According to AIOWiki, this episode is written by Jesse Kellum IV and it features Wooton and Penny Bassett. There is no release date listed.

My Thoughts

Out of all the episodes in this album, I am most intrigued by this episode. What legal problem is Wooton facing? Why is he in court? Who is this old friend that he is in conflict with? I am wondering if this old friend will be a character who has appeared before, but I cannot think of who it could be. Also, it looks like there’s a new writer who has written this episode; Jesse Kellum IV. I’m very interested in seeing what he does with this episode.

Renee Renewed

Renee and Horus have a scientific breakthrough of monumental proportions. But there’s a catch: the technology is based on Mr. Whittaker’s Imagination Station and he didn’t give them permission to use it! Will Renee risk her friendship with Whit in the name of science?

Album Summary

According to its AIOWiki page, this episode is written and directed by Phil Lollar and the characters it features include Renee, Horus, and Whit. It has no release date listed.

My Thoughts

So, we have Renee Carter making her first appearance outside of the AIO Club! And this will be the second time Horus has appeared outside of the AIO Club. He appeared in Album 66: Trial by Fire in the episode “B-TV: Trinity” during the Did You Know segment, but it was very brief. It is about time that these two characters started playing major roles in the mainstream albums. Back in 2019, AIO Update wrote an article about how Renee Carter should not be limited to the AIO Club. We are finally getting her introduction into the mainstream albums, and I cannot be happier. However, a small critique I have is that those who are not in the AIO Club and have not heard Renee before might be confused on who she is and what her story is. It has been confirmed that this episode will bring the listeners up to date on Renee’s story. But I’m wondering how in depth it will go. I guess we’ll see. But I do have other questions: What exactly is this scientific breakthrough that Horus and Renee have made? It’s something that is based on Whit’s Imagination Station technology, so it must be something important. I’m going to guess that they will end up using it without permission in the name of science. But the episode title is what is interesting. Renee Renewed? Why is it called that? Will this episode feature Renee’s salvation? I would be surprised if this is the case.

Tough Call

We have no summary for this episode and very minimal information, but through the process of elimination, I’m going to assume that this is the Buck and Jules episode.

Elsewhere in town, friendships are at stake when Buck and Jules hit a rough patch that could endanger theirs

Album Summary

According to its AIOWiki Page, this episode is written and directed by Marshal Younger. It has no characters nor release date listed. I am assuming that this episode will feature Buck and Jules.

My Thoughts

So, Buck and Jules hit a rough patch that can endanger their friendship. If I’m honest, I’m not feeling very interested in this episode because I think that Buck and Jules are generally always having disagreements. We’ve already been through this in the episode “California Dreams” where they have a falling out. What is it that makes this episode different? It had better be something major that happens between them. I have seen some theories saying that this album’s title, “Buckle Up”, is a reference to Buck and Jules as a couple, since one of their shipping names is “Buckles”. However, I’m not sure if this episode will get into that. I have opinions in regard to whether Buck and Jules should be together, but that’s another post for another time. My predictions for this episode are that Buck and Jules will have a major disagreement, will stop talking, and then something drastic will happen that will either make them realize that their disagreement was petty or will force them to work out their conflict. Hmmm. But then again, the summary saying “rough patch” makes me think that this is referring to an external thing and maybe something not necessarily of their own creation. We shall see.

Results May Vary

Meanwhile, Morrie and Suzu try to find a healthy path toward making new friends

Album Summary

According to its AIOWiki page, this episode is written and directed by Phil Lollar and will feature Morrie and Suzu Rydell and John Whittaker. It has no release date listed.

My Thoughts

So, we have the next installment of the Rydell Saga. This episode has been mentioned quite a few times on the Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast. I was not a big fan of the last Rydell episode, “The Team”, but I am interested in seeing Morrie and Suzu at Whit’s house and his interactions with them, since we have not heard directly from Whit since “The Rydell Revelations”. It seems as though Morrie and Suzu want to make frieds. I am curious how they will go about doing this. Note that the summary says new friends. So, I guess that they will be taking to characters other than Emily. That would be nice, since I do not think that they should continue trying to pursue Emily’s friendship; she clearly does not want it. If they really are going to be talking to other people, I wonder which ones. I would be interested if they were to talk to Bridget and Wyatt Perkins. The summary says they are looking for a “healthy” path toward making friends. I predict that they are going to do something unethical and manipulative to make new friends but will think that they are doing it in a healthy helpful fashion and will not stop until Whit intervenes. That actually sounds interesting; we shall soon see if this will be the case.

I am looking forward to hearing the rest of Album 74: Buckle Up! I’m sure it will be a fun ride. I like that this album’s episodes are focusing on multiple storylines and characters, rather than limiting itself to just a few. Here we’ve got a continuation of Album 73: 28 Hours, a continuation of the arc with Olivia’s faith, a Buck and Jules episode, a Rydell episode, and also a Renee episode. That’s a good distribution of the stories. I wasn’t a fan of the episodes in Album 69: Best Kept Secrets partly because it only included the storylines about two sets of characters: The Rydells and the Kendalls. I am complaining a bit, but I am particular with the episodes that are in these small albums. With six-episode albums, the AIO Team has limited space to tell the stories that they want of each set of characters, so I think that they need to use this space wisely. I am very happy that Album 74 is including a wide variety of different episodes about the different characters in Odyssey. My biggest hope is that each episode advances the story of its respective characters and leaves us with either a good conclusion or a good setup for the stories to continue in future episodes.

Well, those are my thoughts and theories for Album 74: Buckle Up! What are your thoughts on my thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment! And be on the lookout for some more posts this month during this holiday season!

-Signed, Polehaus53
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