An Act of Mercy

This is a parable and a modern day story all in one. First is the introduction of Odyssey's resident bully Rodney Rathbone and his father Bart. Second is the debut episode of Jimmy Barclay (see Behind the Scenes: David Griffen).

Well in this episode we see there's more to Tom Riley than just a farmer and baseball coach, he's also wise. That and you don't want to get on his bad side. When Rodney trespasses on Tom orchard, steals his apples and breaks his fence; Tom shows Rodney mercy and lets him go. But later, Tom hears about how Rodney pushed a boy (a friend of Jimmy's) into a trash can because the boy owed him a dollar! So Tom brings Rodney back, with the permission of Bart) and teaches him a lesson he wont soon forget.

I wouldn't forget rebuilding a fence and picking up a hundred apples either.

A funny side is that while the main story is going on, every time Tom walks into Whit's End Whit and Connie are playing checkers. Whit is amazing at it and Connie can't get a "king" much less win, but she's stubborn... By the end Connie is behind 0-7 :).

The episode lines up almost exactly (minus the checkers) with the parable of the servant in Mathew 18. An Act of Mercy is a really funny episode.