The Great Debate: Should Jillison Be a Thing???

We Know it. You know it. Everyone knows it. Ever since Jillian Marshall first met Jason Whittaker the writers have been (not so subtly) hinting that she and Jason will hook up – become a couple – start dating (However you want to say it).

Needless to say the idea of Jason and Jillian being a couple has been the source of much conversation and even debate within the Odyssey fandom. Each side giving reasons why Jillison (Jason and Jillian’s ship name) would make a great couple and why they would not. And today we will be giving our opinion on the matter.

So without further ado let’s jump into this shall we?

For a long time now we have wanted Jason to be in a relationship. Like come on writers?!!! He’s been single for a while now and deserves some happiness in his life especially when it comes to romance. Now our first choice for Jason would be Tasha (we’ll definitely write a post about why we think they are perfect for each other) but we would be perfectly happy with Connie or Monica as they also have wonderful chemistry with Jason and each of their pairings would have great potential storylines (we’ll probably write a post about why Connie and Monica would be good for Jason as well). We would even be open to a completely new character as long as she seemed like a good match for Jason.

And then came….Double L Jillian double L Marshall.

Within seconds of her introduction in the episode “The Shame About Fame” we immediately knew we didn’t like her at all. Her character was too flighty, immature, and childish for us. We thought “really Connie you’re going to pick her for your roommate.” 🤷‍♀️

We were like okay. We can deal with this. Maybe it won’t be that terrible. If we can make it through AIO’s split episode era we can make it through this right? Little did we know things were going to go from bad to worse.

It all started going downhill (FAST!) when we heard Jillian first meet Jason in the episode “Not What I Expected” (The writers definitely picked the right title for that episode because what we all heard was totally unexpected). To say that scene was AWKWARD would be an understatement. It was so painful to listen to especially when Jillian was mentioning how Jason was so cute. You could feel how uncomfortable Jason was. It was at this moment that a horrible thought entered our minds. Are the writers hinting that Jason and Jillian will become a couple in the future? We shuddered at the thought. No! No way! The writers couldn’t! They wouldn’t dare do that to us! We quickly pushed that idea to the back of our minds, trying our best to convince ourselves that it was impossible. After all, Jillian wasn’t the first girl to mention Jason’s good looks and surely the writers could see they weren’t a good match at all. But mostly because the idea of Jason and Jillian being a thing was so repulsive to us that we didn’t want to believe them becoming a couple was an actual possibility.

However, our worst fears were later confirmed as it was revealed in an episode of the Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast that the actress currently portraying Jillian, Monica Padilla (who took on the role from Emily O’Brien), acted opposite Townsend Coleman (the actor who portrays Jason) in a chemistry test before she was cast in the role. Additionally, Jillian was conveniently hired by Jason to work with him at the antique shop so now they would be spending LOTS of time together. And of course who could forget the time they posed as a married couple in “Nightmares by Constance”, during which they also called each other “Pooky bear” and “Muffin top/Honey bun.” Talk about cringe worthy. 😬😬😬

Now you may ask why do we dislike Jillian and Jason being together so much? Well trust us we have plenty of reasons.

First of all, it hasn’t been made clear yet that Jillian is a Christian. Yes, the writers most likely want us to assume that she is a believer but still that is a VERY important thing that should be made absolutely clear. Especially when it’s the main reason why Jason’s past relationship with Tasha didn’t work out.

Secondly, their personalities don’t work together at all! They are the complete and total opposite of each other! Like oil and water and as we all know oil and water just don’t mix no matter how hard you try. Of course Jason and Jillian’s differences are used as a reason by Jillison shippers why they would be a great match as they would help “balance each other out.” In fact, it even seems like the writers themselves are doing the whole “opposites attract” storyline with Jason and Jillian but in this case it doesn’t work. We believe that you can be attracted to someone who is different from you and that their strengths can compliment your weaknesses and vice versa, but we also believe that you have to share at least a few similarities. Jason and Jillian don’t have anything in common whether that be their personalities, hobbies, or interests. Something which makes them completely incompatible! Jillian is irresponsible, flighty, and doesn’t seem to have a real focus in life. The woman has had like twenty jobs! In fact, when we first heard her we thought she was like twenty years old (seriously). Imagine our shock when we found out she’s actually older than Connie. On the other hand Jason is driven, passionate, and focused in everything he does. Sure he may be a bit reckless at times but everything he does, whether it’s working on an NSA assignment or doing mission work, he puts his whole heart and soul into it to make sure that it gets done! He never gives up or quits no matter how hard things get (look at “The Labyrinth”). Jillian was ready to call it quits on her jewelry business after not being allowed to set up her booth at what? Four places? Whatever even happened to the jewelry booth? She went through the whole hassle of hanging it from a tree and we never see it again. The writers probably “forgot” about it because they wanted her to work in the antique shop with Jason. Because of their differences they have a lot of trouble getting along with each other, and if that is the case when they’re just co-workers, imagine what it would be like if they were together. If this was real life, a romantic relationship between them definitely wouldn’t last!

Thirdly, Jillian doesn’t seem at all like the type of girl Jason is attracted to! We know people change and can fall for someone different personality wise than those they usually date. But Jillian is WAY different from Tasha and Monica. Like a complete 180! Tasha and Monica were strong, independent, and intelligent women who challenged Jason. Tasha shared Jason’s sense of humor, wit, and their personalities bounced off each other so well which created a great back and forth banter which we loved. (Just listen to the dialogue in “A Name, Not a Number” between Jason and Tasha ). Same with Monica and Jason (That scene where she teases him about his “expert” fire making skills is so funny and good) but that is not the case with Jillian. She is just so different (and not in a good way) from all the other women Jason has liked and her interactions with him pale in comparison to those that past love interests have had with him.

Fourthly, they have NO chemistry whatsoever! If they did then the scenes where they played a married couple would have been fun, exciting, flirty, and romantic rather than cringe worthy and awkward which they most certainly were. Jillian kept trying to play her part of the gushing wife while Jason kept telling her to keep a low profile and be quiet. It just seems like the writers keep trying to find ways to push them together even though the majority of AIO fans (and all the fans we know) don’t want them to be together.

Finally, they have no real feelings for or attraction to one another! Jillian’s liking of Jason feels more like a crush a teenage fangirl would have on her favorite celebrity, rather than real feelings a woman would have for a man she deeply cared about! And as for Jason he has absolutely no feelings for Jillian at all! In actuality, Connie even admitted in the episode “Good Job” that Jason doesn’t even really like her. There have been some fans of the couple that have said Jason’s behavior towards Jillian is just a cover up of his deeper feelings. However, this doesn’t make any sense as that is something he has never done before. When he liked Tasha and Monica his feelings for them were quite obvious. He rushed off to Geneva as soon as he heard that Tasha was the agent who was kidnapped. It was made quite clear that if it wasn’t for Tasha being in danger he probably wouldn’t have gone. Even Donovan knew Jason would go because of Tasha. He had the plane all ready to go. When Jason first heard he had to work with an intern in Alaska he wasn’t exactly thrilled. But when he saw Monica (who wasn’t a college student as he expected) he quickly changed his tune (It was SO obvious that he was flirting with her). However, in the case of Jillian he shows NONE of those feelings! So yes the annoyance and frustration he feels by Jillian is VERY REAL!

And because of all these reasons, we do NOT want Jason and Jillian to get together but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Please feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions. We would love to see them.

– Elissa and Hannah