Friday, July 15, 2011

Waltons 1.23: The Townie


Airdate: 3/8/73

A neighbor of the Waltons, Sarah Simmons (Sissy Spacek), goes on a date with John-Boy, and immediately marriage is on her mind. When he rebuffs her strong advances, she sets her sights on a spoiled townie – a real blueblood straight from the pages of The Great Gatsby. When John Boy tries to slow her down and make her see that this relationship is based on her rebelling against her repressive mother, she elopes with the boy, unaware he had stolen his father’s cash and is armed with a gun.

Melodramatic offering has some sharp-witted dialogue by show scribe Richard Felder. Guest star Spacek is of course at the start of her career here, and one can truly see the talent that would later make her a movie star. John Boy’s relationships are emerging as a focal point of the series now, providing some mature subject matter despite its family-oriented nature. Cute subplot involving a young duckling, hatched by Jim Bob, has some parallels to John Boy’s story.

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