Sunday, July 22, 2012

Waltons 5.13: “The Rebellion”


Airdate: 12/23/76

Esther’s position as the sole church organist is in jeopardy; it seems Rev. Fordwick wants Zelda Maynard to alternate playing services with her. No one wants to break the news, and no wonder – when Esther does finally find out, she hits the ceiling. Only the reasonable, pallative words of her son convince her that sharing is a Christian virtue.

Also – Olivia is having another midlife crisis (she thinks it’s menopause, but it’s not). With odd mood swings and feelings of insignificance, she lets her hair down, literally, and gets Corabeth to give her a perm. You guessed it: it’s a mess, making her look like a cross between Medusa and Shirley Temple. Everyone laughs, but Verdie Foster lends her a turban, and John suggests they go off together for the night – in a motel room!

Featherweight episode is yet another installment of Olivia’s unsatisfied housewife chronicles. This time she resorts to a tried-and-true TV trope: the bad hair job – and let the laughs begin. Other plot is another recurrent theme here: Grandma’s stubbornness, only this time, she actually threatens to become a Methodist!

Most politically incorrect scene: Olivia, with the mucked-up coif, asks African-Amercan Verdie Foster how “you people” straighten your hair.

Grandma’s last episode of the season.

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