The Quality of Mercy

#23: “The Quality of Mercy”

 General   Crew   Links 

Paired with

[[{{{split}}}|“{{{split}}}”]]

Airdate

April 23, 1988

Last aired

April 23, 1988 ↓

• April 23, 1988
  

Original Release Date

{{{rel_date}}}

Date Recorded

{{{rec_date}}}

Recorded at

[[{{{rec_location}}}]]

Album

The Officer Harley Collection

Album

The Officer Harley Collection ↓

• The Officer Harley Collection
• Aventuras en Odisea: Volumen 1

Cassette No.

{{{cassette}}}

Intro

Object Lesson

Intros

Click to show or hide ↓

• Object Lesson
• Whit's Invention
• Story

Wraps

Story Conclusion

Wraps

Click to show or hide ↓

• Story Conclusion
• Letters

Theme

Mercy

Genre

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

Scripture

Matthew 18:21-25

²¹Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

²²Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. ²³"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.

²⁵Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

Songs Included

[[{{{song}}}]]

Inventions Used

[[{{{invention}}}]]

Featured Charity

[[{{{charity}}}]]

Short Used

[[{{{short}}}]]

Spanish Name

La calidad de la misericordia

Spanish Airdate

Soundtrack length

{{{soundtrack}}}

Previous title

“{{{name2}}}”

Host

Chris Anthony

Written by

Paul McCusker

Directed by

Phil Lollar
Steve Harris

Produced by

Bob Luttrell
Phil Lollar
Steve Harris

Executive Producer

Chuck Bolte

Post-Production by

Bob Luttrell

Production Assistant

[[{{{production_assistant}}}]]

Engineered by

Bob Luttrell

Music by

Library

Songs by

Unknown

Other websites

Official Site
AIOHQ
Odyssey Library
Odyssey Scoop
Soda Fountain

Promo

Not Available

Sample

A Simple Addition

The Quality of Mercy

Gotcha!

“The Quality of Mercy” is episode #23 of the Adventures in Odyssey audio series. It was written by Paul McCusker, and originally aired on April 23, 1988.

Summary

Ten-year-old troublemaker Scott Williams is let off the hook when he is caught trying to steal apples from Tom Riley. Unfortunately, Scott doesn't extend the same mercy to others.

Plot

The city is Odyssey. Young Scott Williams is nabbed by Officer David Harley for trying to steal apples from Tom Riley's farm. Scott breaks a fence in the process, and Tom figures the damage comes to about $30. Scott professes poverty and begs Tom to forgive the debt, which Tom does.

But instead of passing the favor along, Scott immediately hunts down Robbie Holt and demands repayment of a $2 loan. Robbie only has $1, so Scott throttles him and pushes him into a stack of garbage cans. Tom Riley hears of this and has Officer Harley find Scott and bring him back to the farm.

Once there, Tom tells Scott to fix the fence and pick up all the apples around the area to pay back the debt he owes Tom. Scott protests that Tom said the debt was clear! It isn't fair! But Tom says he's being as fair with Scott as Scott was with Robbie Holt. When Tom adds that Scott's father agrees, Scott realizes that he's run out of appeals. He groans loudly, then picks up the hammer and nails and begins making restitution.

This plot section is too short and should be expanded. »

Discussion Questions

1. What does it mean to forgive someone?
2. How many times does Jesus say to forgive your neighbor?
3. Describe a time you have shown, or failed to show, someone mercy.

Cast

Relative Importance / Chronological

Role	Actor
Father	Phil Lollar
Son	Unknown
Tom Riley	Walker Edmiston
David Harley	Will Ryan
Scott Williams	Doug Davis
John Whittaker	Hal Smith
Connie Kendall	Katie Leigh
Robbie Holt	Nathan Fisk
Ben	Michael Parisi
Bill Williams	Phil Lollar

Relative Importance / Chronological

Role	Actor
Tom Riley	Walker Edmiston
Scott Williams	Doug Davis
David Harley	Will Ryan
John Whittaker	Hal Smith
Connie Kendall	Katie Leigh
Robbie Holt	Nathan Fisk
Ben	Michael Parisi
Bill Williams	Phil Lollar
Father	Phil Lollar
Son	Unknown

Notes

Trivia

• This episode would later be remade as #115: “An Act of Mercy”, with Rodney Rathbone (appropriately) replacing Scott Williams and Bart Rathbone replacing Bill Williams.
• This was the first episode featuring the title Adventures in Odyssey so as to not alienate fans outside of the United States. Later, most of the first 22 episodes had the wraparounds changed from Odyssey USA to Adventures in Odyssey as well.
• Along with the title change, this episode marked the first time Chris started signing off as "Chris" rather than "Chris Lansdowne," as she had done in previous episodes.
• This is the first episode that the show writers dubbed a "parallel parable," an AIO story that parallels a parable in the Bible.
• This episode is the first show where another character (in this case, Tom) does the teaching instead of Whit.
• This episode is only available to members of the Adventures in Odyssey Club.

Goofs

• Whether intentional or not, Walker Edmiston's voice when portraying Tom Riley is "off" during the scene of Scott's return to the farm, sounding more like his voice for Henry in #129: “Not One of Us” and Principal Mike Coogan in #308: “Subject Yourself”.

Quotes

Connie Kendall: Say, Mr. Riley, I heard about the excitement out at your place this morning.
Tom Riley: Excitement?
Connie Kendall: Yeah, Nicky Creshaw heard from Steve Perry that Michael Turner was over at Thelma Gardner's, who said that she saw seven police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance with the sirens going full blast pull out on to your road!
Tom Riley: Well, that... that was nothing. Officer Harley caught Scott Williams going through some of my apples.

---

David Harley: Okay, I'll whistle for him. <shouting> Yoo-hoo! Scott!

---

David Harley: Uh, oh. I know that tone on your face.