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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Waltons 4.12: "The Estrangement"

Airdate: 12/4/75




The reunions keep-a-comin’: this time Vera, from the season three opener, “The Conflict,” comes to the Waltons when she reveals how her husband, Wade, has turned into a real deadbeat. When John and his father see Wade to investigate, he yells at them and chastises Vera for leaving him. Later, it is discovered that Wade is running moonshine for his uncle, Boone, putting him on the wrong side of the law and causing poor performance at his job, which he eventually quits. He ultimately gets arrested, leading to John putting his foot down and demanding that he do some hard thinking. Wade finally sees the error of his ways and returns to carpentry, and makes good on his promise to build Vera and their child a house on the mountain.

I really liked this episode – it deals with one of my favorite themes: the redemption of a man who has lost his way. Richard Hatch returns to play Wade, and his performance starts as caricature but soon evolves into something much deeper – his silent walk through John’s woodshop at the end is an emotional moment of laconic contemplation. Not too dissimilar is the subplot involving another one of Ben’s get-rich-quick schemes, this one involving selling evergreen saplings by mail order. This one fails because, as Sheriff Bridges points out, he had dug them up too early.

Note of interest: first mention of the Dew Drop Inn.

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