Airdate: 9/27/79
Olivia’s cousin Rose (how many does she have?) arrives at
the Waltons with her two grandchildren, Jeffrey and Serena, under somewhat
mysterious circumstances. In no time all, the kids start stirring up trouble:
Jeffrey talks back, smuggles chickens, drives a car into a fence, pulls an
air-raid siren and starts a fire in the mill, while Serena is a kleptomaniac,
stealing jewelry from all the Walton women and denying it. Rose can’t stop
apologizing for them, but John’s fuse is getting short. When Jeffery starts to
get nightmares, Olivia suspects something, and her suspicions are confirmed
when everyone sees welts on the boy’s back. Rose fesses up that she had taken
the children away from their alcoholic, abusive father, and needs not simply a
place to stay but a refuge. Naturally, the Waltons oblige.
A tried and true TV staple – in a family sitcom/drama, when
the original kids are too old to be cute anymore, send in new ones (e.g., Family Ties, Full House, Cosby, The Brady
Bunch, etc). These tykes seems to fit the bill, and if Jeffrey looks
familiar, he’s played by Keith Mitchell, who would later become Keith Coogan,
adolescent star of many 80s movies, the most famous probably being Adventures in Babysitting. It’s a
testament to the patience of the Waltons clan that they put up with him for as
long as they do- ANYONE else would’ve given him the boot on the first day.
Rose sticks around too. You might remember her as Boss
Hogg’s better half, Lulu, on The Dukes of
Hazzard, playing that role simultaneous to this one.
Again, no Grandma. Her absence is explained as her visiting
cousins throughout Buckingham County. And she’s off the opening credits. Ouch.
No comments:
Post a Comment