Waltons 7.7: “The Captive”

Airdate: 11/9/78

Episode focusing almost exclusively on the Godseys shows a different side of Corabeth. Frustrated with the lack of culture on Waltons Mountain and her husband’s lack of interest in her, she vows to open a dance school, but her increasingly heavy drinking interferes with the demands of the job. When she drives Aimee and Elizabeth home, intoxicated, Elizabeth must take the wheel (she had been learning to drive), leaving John to help sort out the Godsey’s marital difficulties as only the paragon of matrimonial accord can do.

Great to see the featured players on the show get a turn in the spotlight.Corabeth’s character had been growing more elitist and agitated lately, so her plummet into drink is a credible evolution. Ronnie Claire Edwards delivers some poignant dialogue here (including a mini-soliloquy singing the praises of her quaint hometown, Doe Hill), revealing a fragile, insecure human being behind a façade of haughty propriety.

Funniest scene: Inside the car, Jason tells Elizabeth he’d rather not teach her to drive; as the camera slowly zooms out, it reveals the car is half submerged in a pond!