Gone...

280: Gone...

Preview:

Airdate

September 3, 1994

Last Aired

Date Recorded

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Recorded at

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Album

21: Wish You Were Here!
Good Grief: God's Love in the Midst of Sorrow
AIO Encore Collection

Cassette No.

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Length

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Theme

Difficult goodbyes
Change

Genre

[[Category:{{{genre}}} Episodes]][[:Category:{{{genre}}} Episodes| {{{genre}}}]]

Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:51-52

Written By

Paul McCusker

Directed By

Paul McCusker

Produced By

Unknown

Executive Producer

Chuck Bolte

Post-Production

Dave Arnold

Engineer

Unknown

Music By

John Campbell

Songs By

Unknown

Inventions Used

[[{{{invention}}}]][[Category:Episodes that use the {{{invention}}}]]

Rating

Current user rating: 94% (46 votes)

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Family Store

The Fifth House on the Left, Part 2

Gone...

...But Not Forgotten

Summary

Eugene Meltsner and Bernard Walton return to Odyssey after their road trip to discover that Whit has left for the Middle East.

Plot

Home at last! Bernard and Eugene drive onto the main street of Odyssey. But things are strange: Banners are hanging across the street that say things like, “Good Bye and God Bless,” and “We’ll Miss You!” Curious, they park in front of Whit’s End. Connie frantically runs outside. She grills Bernard and Eugene: Where have they been? Why didn’t they keep in touch? They calm Connie down and ask what’s wrong. Her answer hits them like a punch in the stomach: Whit has left! He’s gone!

Right after Bernard and Eugene left town, Whit got an urgent call from the board of directors at the Universal Press Foundation in Chicago. Dr. Baynes, Whit’s friend and mentor had passed away and left his archaeological mission in the Middle East without a director. Whit came up as the best man for the job of replacing him. Whit thought about it, prayed about it, and talked to several people about it. Then he decided to go.

Eugene nearly falls over from the news. He decides that Whit can’t leave without saying good-bye to him! Connie calls the airport and discovers that there is a slight chance that Eugene could get there in time. Eugene leaves. He does everything humanly possible to get to the airport before Whit leaves. Eugene even nearly gets arrested for running out on the runway after Whit’s plane. But it’s no good. The plane departs.

Eugene is disappointed, but he’s not the only one. Jack Allen, one of Whit’s old friends, has arrived on a different plane to see Whit. Jack and Eugene go back to Whit’s End. They watch a videotape of Whit’s farewell speech to the town and hear a few of Jack’s stories about the early days. Eugene goes back to his dorm room, alone with his thoughts. He peruses his mail and finds a note from Whit. It expresses how much Eugene means to him. The note leaves him with one last, hopeful thought, “The best is yet to come.”

Discussion Questions

1. Why did Whit feel the need to go to the Middle East?
2. Why was Eugene so frantic about saying good-bye to Whit? What do you think Whit meant in his letter to Eugene, “The best is yet to come”?
3. Have you ever had a good friend move? How did you handle it?

Cast

Characters	Actors
Adam Stenowsky	Randy Crenshaw
Bart Rathbone	Walker Edmiston
Bernard Walton	Dave Madden
Connie Kendall	Katie Leigh
Eugene Meltsner	Will Ryan
Jack Allen	Alan Young
John Whittaker	Hal Smith
Tom Riley	Walker Edmiston

Notes

• PARENTAL WARNING: This is a highly emotional episode. It may raise several questions about why Whit had to leave. This episode could be an opportunity to talk about death with your child. Recommended maturity level: 8 and up.

• VERSION DIFFERENCE: The album version adds a scene with Harlow Doyle after Connie slams down the phone. Harlow becomes convinced that Whit has been kidnapped. Apparently this scene was only added to the cassette version since the CD version doesn't include it. This is followed up on in the next episode, ...But Not Forgotten, where it becomes a minor plot point.

• Due to the passing away of Hal Smith, Whit's lines in this episode were taken from several other episodes. See Whit's Foreign Lines or this Article to see where they were taken from.

• The speech which Whit gives was a recording of Hal Smith actually addressing the staff at Focus on the Family after his wife passed away.

• This episode introduces a long term character Jack Allen, whom shared Whit's personality with Jason while Whit was in the middle East.

Quotes

Bernard Walton: Look at City Hall. I haven't seen it so decked out since president Eisenhower came threw. They set up a podium and everything.

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Bernard Walton: That's one of the best things about Odyssey. Whit's End is always the same.
Eugene Meltsner: Indeed.

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Bernard Walton: Say good bye to who?
Eugene Meltsner: Whom.
Bernard Walton: Quiet. Say good bye to who Connie?
Connie Kendall: To Whit. He left Odyssey.

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Bernard Walton: Wait a minute. What are you doing?
Eugene Meltsner: What else. I'm going to run to the airport. I can't let Mr. Whittaker get away!

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Bart Rathbone: So why are you running in the middle of this field?
Eugene Meltsner: Why are you driving in the middle of this field?
Bart Rathbone: I hate traffic jams and decided to take a shortcut.

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Tom Riley: Eugene, you never cease to amaze me.

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Jack Allen: It's nice to meet you all. I'm Jack, Jack Allen.

---

John Whittaker: The best is yet to come.
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  • http://www.odysseyscoop.com/episodes/Episodes_1994.htm#AIO280%7C Odyssey Scoop
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  • http://www.whitsend.org/vault/A000000413.cfm%7CWhits End

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