Airdate: 3/19/81
An old chum Erin
and Mary Ellen’s, Carol, moves into the neighborhood with her husband, Ben. But
Ben, a returning war veteran, is a very different man after a few drinks,
becoming violently hostile and hot-headed, then apologizing for it later on.
Predictably, he’s also a wife-beater, and Carol finds herself in the Waltons’
sanctum after a particularly bruising encounter. She won’t press charges
though, or even divorce her husband – she thinks he can be helped, especially
now that she’s carrying her baby. When Ben comes to get her and his turned
away, he barricades himself at his house, delusionally believing he’s still
fighting Nazis. The police arrive, but it’s John-Boy and Jason who daringly
talk him down at gunpoint, and he comes out, apologetic. The final narration
tells us he’s alright now: the couple moved to be near a VA hospital where he’s
getting treatment.
Hello? Ben, this violent, alcoholic, domestic abuser, who
later in the episode turns into a delusional psychopath, is all better now and
has a happy, healthy marriage? This might possibly be the most outrageous
wrap-up in Waltons history, just as irresponsible as any battered wife who is
psychologically manipulated into believing her husband is fine and no
intervention necessary. This guy is so inherently messed-up and prone to
violence that it’s hard to swallow the “war did it to him” or even that alcohol
is all to blame. Maybe time has dated the attitudes prevalent at the time (the
early 80s, not the 40s), but this one just doesn’t hold up.
Subplot involving Jim-Bob in the war surplus salvage
business is simply a waste of time.
1 comment:
The couples names are not Ben and Carol, but Kenny and Laurie Ellis.
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