The Boy Who Cried 'Destructo!'

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#255: “The Boy Who Cried 'Destructo!'”
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Proverbs 14:7

7Stay away from a foolish man, for you will not find knowledge on his lips.

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The Boy Who Cried 'Destructo!'

“The Boy Who Cried 'Destructo!'” is episode #255 of the Adventures in Odyssey audio series. It was written and directed by Phil Lollar, and originally aired on January 15, 1994.

Summary

Lawrence Hodges claims that agents from Destructo have kidnapped Harlow Doyle near a mysterious cave.

Plot

Lawrence Hodges is stuck in a fantasy world. This time, he imagines himself to be a secret agent on a mission to save a doctor from the science lab of Destructo, an evil, subversive organization that wants to take over the world. Lawrence ends up causing Eugene (the doctor) to mix the perfume chemicals he is working with into a chloroform solution. This causes Eugene to pass out.

Later, Lawrence bumps into Harlow Doyle and draws him into this fantasy world. They head off on Harlow’s moped to destroy the evil Destructo headquarters. They come across two men unloading boxes from their van into a secret cave near Trickle Lake. They decide to split up to spy on the men, and when Lawrence returns to their meeting point, he hears a strange noise. The van, the men, and Harlow have disappeared, leaving behind only the moped!

Lawrence rushes to tell Whit that Harlow has been kidnapped, but Whit is skeptical, and Eugene thinks it is just a fabrication of Lawrence’s imagination. Whit goes to the cave with him to check things out anyway. Seeing no tire tracks, Whit sends Lawrence to search for the missing moped. Whit goes into the cave to search for the boxes. Lawrence hears the same noise he heard when Harlow was kidnapped, but when he runs to warn Whit, he finds only Whit’s flashlight. He runs back to Whit’s End to tell Eugene, but Eugene still does not believe Lawrence and won’t let him call the police. Finally, Eugene agrees to take Lawrence to the cave on the way to the college to have his chloroform perfume examined.

Meanwhile, Jones and Smith, the two men Lawrence saw, turn out to be bootleggers who have captured Whit and left him tied up in the cave with Harlow, next to a distiller. While trying to untie Whit, Harlow knocks over a broom and hits a valve on the distiller that causes it to overheat. Jones and Smith load up the “booze” in their van and head out through a gate, disguised as bushes, to their hideout. This explains the grinding noise Lawrence heard. Eugene hides in the van, and when the men return, he knocks them out with the chloroform. Eugene arrives inside just in time to put out the fire before the distiller blows up, saving Whit and Harlow. Eugene apologizes to Lawrence for not believing him, and Lawrence says he has learned that if he lets his imagination run wild, no one will ever believe him. Well...no one but Harlow.

Discussion Questions

  1. Why was Whit one of the few people who believed Lawrence?
  2. Should Lawrence and Harlow, then Lawrence and Whit, have split up to investigate matters?
    • Why or why not?
  3. Why is it important to control your imagination?

Cast

Role Voice Actor
Lawrence Hodges Gabriel Encarnacion
Harlow Doyle Will Ryan
Eugene Meltsner Will Ryan
John Whittaker Hal Smith
Jones Jerry Houser
Police Officer Tom Williams
Smith Tom Williams


Notes

Trivia
  • This episode was recreated from the Officer Harley episodes #70 – #71: “The Return of Harley”. Also, it is the only Harley remake in which Harley's role was taken by the character specially created to replace him: Harlow Doyle.
  • In this episode Lawrence yells out, "Call Rescue 911! Get Captain Kirk on the phone!" This is a reference to William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk on Star Trek and hosted the television show Rescue 911.
  • The title of this episode is a reference to the story "The Boy who Cried Wolf"; this which makes sense, as both stories have very similar lessons.
  • A Mythbusters episode entitled "Boom With a View" explored whether or not a moonshine still would really explode under circumstances similar to those in this episode.
  • This episode's cast and characters are all male.
  • This was the last episode featuring Whit to air prior to Hal Smith passing away on January 28, 1994.

Quotes

Smith: Well, gents, our work here is done.
John Whittaker: What are you gonna do with us?
Jones (c): The only thing we can do.
Harlow Doyle: You mean...
Smith: Yep. Leave ya here.
Harlow Doyle: Well, that's not the only thing you can do; you can kill us!

Eugene Meltsner: Yes, it is a nice scent, isn't it? Perfect for those pressing social engagements... like jail!

Harlow Doyle: Great barrier reef! Whit's End — a bedrock of evil!

Lawrence Hodges: The police can't stop them! There's only one way they can be stopped.
Harlow Doyle: Asking politely.
Lawrence Hodges: No.
Harlow Doyle: Begging and pleading.
Lawrence Hodges: No! By infiltrating and destroying their headquarters!
Harlow Doyle: Well, yeah, there's always that, but you know...

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