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Friday, April 5, 2013

Waltons 6.7: “The Grandchild Parts 1 & 2”


Airdate: 11/3/77

Pregnant Mary Ellen is eight months along and everyone’s looking forward to the grand arrival, oh, except a local girl who just delivered a stillborn child and is now expecting the same for the Walton baby. This, on top of portentous tea leaves and the usual prepartum neuroses, and you have one worried mama and a bevy of drama- two hours worth, to be exact. Why, Olivia is so preoccupied she can’t even deliver her usual Baptist harangue when she finds out Jason’s been playing piano at a burlesque show!

A Walton’s milestone is delivered in the usual fashion, as a double-length episode, yet it still feels quite padded. The dramatic crux, involving a clearly troubled and mentally unsound young woman, gives this episode an eerie tone, as well as an unexpectedly suspenseful finale. I’m not really spoiling anything by revealing that all’s well that ends well, and the ever-expanding Walton’s clan now has the cuteness factor, and a potential “Next-generation” reboot, if all else fails.

FYI: Charlottesville is 28 miles away from Walton’s Mountain. WWII is barely mentioned.


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