“A Walton Easter”

Airdate: 3/31/97

Again, roughly the same cast reunites for one last trip to the Mountain. It is 1969, and John Boy and pregnant Janet return home (along with a pesky magazine reporter named Aurora) to help celebrate John and Livy’s 40^th wedding anniversary. John-Boy is still a news anchor and currently working on another book, but the stirrings of home call to him, and he wonders if moving back to Virginia might not be such a bad idea. Of course city girl Janet objects, and becomes enraged when she finds out he had purchased a nearby cabin to use for weekend getaways. To help the lumber business, Drew takes to constructing furniture, but a deal with a local vendor turns out to be a bust – he’s already got an angry Elizabeth on his hands when he finds another girlfriend during Elizabeth’s globetrotting. Oh, it’s ok: Drew never lost his feelings for her, and asks her to marry him; she accepts.

New schoolteacher Olivia is trying to get through to a “slow” mountain boy. Hisparents think he’s slow and don’t want her to meddle, but she does. It pays off when the boy enters, and wins, the county spelling bee. The grand finale ends with the anniversary celebration, the family at a black Easter service(?), and the birth of… twins… to John Boy and Janet!

After 26 years, the Waltons saga concludes with this confluence of events that, in many ways, brings things full circle. 1969 is only 2 years before the 1971 TVM The Homecoming, the pilot for the show, and also the year I was born. In a few epilogue narrations, Earl Hamner mentions 1969 as the year his father died, but surely they wouldn’t have that happen in this movie! Less historical context here – the emphasis is on family history. I’m a bit sad for Jim-Bob, who now is the only never-married Walton child. (I knew he should’ve married Jennifer Jason Leigh when he had the chance!) Just as well, perhaps – only Janet and Toni, Jason’s wife, are present here.

BTW: the best orchestral rendition of the opening theme can be found at the opening here. Give it a listen.

Some bad math here – Johnn and Olivia celebrate 40 years as a married couple, meaning they would have been married in 1929. But they weren’t; they married in 1919, after John returned from WWI. Something’s fishy here!

Oh, well, peccadilloes aside, it’s nice to have all here together again, including grandma and the Baldwins (who officially pass down their “recipe” to the Waltons). Maybe other reunions in the future?  Who knows. But you know the Rocket will be back to blog about it.

Good night, everyone.

“A Walton Wedding”

Airdate: 2/12/95

Almost the entire cast is back again for this TVM (made two years later but set one, in 1964), but the focus is primarily on John Boy and his parents this time. Engaged to his one true love, Janet, John-Boy is aghast when wedding reparations are almost immediately overtaken by Janet’s Aunt Flo, played by veteran actress Holland Taylor. Added to this is another case of writer’s block, possibly caused by John-Boy’s inability to write about Grandma in an honest, warts-and-all way. The problem, he deems, regards a lack of info about Grandma’s father – but he finds a letter from the old man, one that proves he fought for the Union side during the Civil War. Grandma is livid about this disclosure, and threatens not to attend her grandson’s wedding (don’t worry: she does). Olivia reads The Feminine Mystique and gets inspired to take college classes – always a protofeminist during the series, now she can be a part of the modern women’s movement! And John, who’s now a county supervisor, fears a conflict of interest when he discovers been had inked a lumber contract for a proposed subdivision, one he has to vote on as supervisor!

Oh, and the wedding? Delightful – just once small hitch: Toni goes into labor during the “I do’s,” giving birth to her and Jason’s daughter, Patsy Cline Walton. Aunt Flo gets her way to have a “yee-haw” down-home country reception, perfect for the “fertile, folksy” clan that are now her in-laws.

John-Boy, once presumed to be the first Walton child to marry, officially becomes the fifth. Focus is smartly on his travails leading up to the big day (he was hardly in the last TVM), and his chemistry with Janet as played by Kate (House on Sorority Row) McNeil is sweet and sharp. Missing here are Cindy, Jonesy (still in Vietnam?), Aimee and all the fourth generation kids that populated the last one. Still around, despite their age: Grandma, Mamie and Emily.

Prolific character actor Nicholas Pryor plays Janet’s father here. I will always remember him as Joel’s dad in Risky Business.

“A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion”

Airdate: 11/22/93

It’s November, 1963, and Thanksgiving on Waltons Mountain seems like a lonely place. At least John and Olivia, ostensibly cured of her TB, are back at home, and Grandma is too, tuckered out from “visiting relatives” in Buckingham County. But as for the others? We have a lot to catch up on. Here goes:

John-Boy, played again by Richard Thomas, anchors a TV news program in Washington, DC. He keeps asking an attractive co-worker, Janet, to marry him, but she believes his workaholic lifestyle won’t jibe with her family plans. It doesn’t help that, once they arrive back in Virginia for the holidays, John Boy is called back to work upon the news of J.F.K.’s assassination, but later returns for Thanksgiving dinner, when Janet accepts his proposal.

Mary Ellen is a full-time mother and has a child, Clay, whom she is raising whileveterinarian(?) Jonesy is off at Vietnam. No mention made of John Curtis, who is around 23 by now.

Jim Bob runs a private airplane company, but although he enjoys flying around (private charters, crop-dusting), it lacks stability, especially in the eyes of Mary Ellen, when he takes Clay up for an airplane ride.

Erin is a sub teacher. She is now divorced from Paul Northridge on account of his cheating and has partial custody of their children. She and the married assistant principal of her school strike up a friendship, but are clearly attracted to each other, setting the rumor mill on fire!

Rough times for Ben: Still working for his dad at the mill, he grows resentful of his overbearing authority, especially after John won’t spend the money to buy a newer truck. Considering finding work elsewhere, he also realizes he’s away from his wife, Cindy, too often, and that she needs him more than ever since their daughter, Virginia, died (we never find out why) and she may be infertile. Father and son reach an accord, once John remembers what Zeb once said about giving in to the “younger folk.” Ben and Cindy announce they will adopt a child.

Jason is married to Toni and have a few kids, with another on the way, but as an aspiring country singer/songwriter, he is also away from home far too often. Once he sells his song to Elvis Presley, he now has more time to spend with the kids.

Drew is back from the Marines, and still has feelings for Elizabeth, back from Europe. She announces she will join the Peace Corps.

Amid all of this, John is enraged when the assistant D.A., Al Sampson, locks the Baldwins up for illegal moonshining, ostensibly to garner votes in the upcoming county commissioner election. The solution: John springs the sisters from the clink and vows to run for commissioner himself.

Olivia’s just busy keeping everyone together, but wants everyone to come to her with problems. Despite their long-running plans to FINALLY build thart house on the mountain, she and John can’t bear to leave their home – and they don’t.

Whew! Did you get all of that? By all means, don’t skip the first 20 minutes of this one – that’s when you get caught up with everything over that past 16 years. As a true reunion movie, this effort does an excellent job of getting everyone back together – including longtime supporting characters Verdie Wilson, Rose, Yancy, and Aimee Godsey, played by original portrayer Rachel Longaker (she went off with a tattooed mechanic, to Corabeth’s dismay, but it’s overlooked when she returns with her child).

So no real central conflict, but like any family reunion, tons to get caught up on. Despite the newer hairstyles (Erin’s is best) and car models, everything here looks pretty much like business as usual. Also like a reunion, you get to see how everyone’s aged – some better (Eric Scott, Richard Thomas, Mary McDonough) than others (I won’t say). Just glad the gang’s all here!

The ratings for this one must have been pretty good; CBS would do another one two years later (see below). Remember, the late 80s/early 90s was the Golden Age for reunion movies, showing that old TV shows never die, they just get back together again for 2-hour telefilms.

Timeframe: Novembe, 1963, but John says that it’s been 15 years since Zeb’s passing. Really? Zeb died in 1941, making it 22 years.

Janet Gilchrist, John-Boy’s girlfriend, is beautiful but looks far too contemporary for 1963. You be the judge.

“A Day for Thanks on Waltons Mountain”

Airdate: 11/22/82

Roll out the turkey – it’s time for a family get together, only no one’s really getting together this year. We finally hear from John-Boy; he’s in New York (again) stumbling through a novel with a bad case of writer’s block. Jason, trying to find his own purpose in life, is disillusioned with being a saloon keeper and goes to visit his bro in NY, where he sees potential in composing again after he bumps into his old music professor from Kleinberg. Paul needs some breathing room, and privacy with Erin, when being part of a huge family doesn’t agree with him – so he renovates his own cabin for their own private place. Poor Jim-Bob! He ad Yancy buy a boatload of automotive parts from a transient peddler, only to discover they’re cheap junk, and now they have to break the news to the ones who loaned them the money: the Baldwins. When John returns from Arizona to visit, he helps bail them out and advises them to start anew. But Elizabeth is still in the dumps; she wishes everyone could be home for Thanksgiving. When Aimee, the Baldwins, Drew, Grandma, Yancy, and John-Boy’s girlfriend, Jane, honor the invote to come break bread with the Waltons on T-Day, she gets her wish.

Far less intense than the previous two TVMs, this one is nonetheless composed of a series of min-crises, most of them simply involving personal fulfillment. Older now, the Walton kids are looking ahead at their own crossroads, and determining the best course of accident. No breakups, diseases, accidents, floods or famine this time. Here we get the simple joys – togetherness, and that’s the subtle message the show has thus imparted for so many years. Oh, and the most heartstring-tugging moment? John- Curtis has an imaginary friend in the woods that he keeps wandering off to see. We finally find out who it is when the boy excitedly points to a picture of Zeb in an old photo album. “Oh, you know him too?” he asks a sobbing Grandma, as the rest of the family follow in her tears.

Essentially the last Waltons, until we return 11 years later for the next TVM.

“Mother’s Day on Waltons Mountain”

Airdate: 5/9/82

This time we begin with a wedding- that of Mary Ellen and struggling veterinarian Jonesy. A subdued affair (remember this is her second), it is attended by the entire family, minus Olivia, whom we see on the mend at hersanitarium in Arizona. The honeymoon is a camping trip, during which Mary Ellen has a jeep accident and suffers internal injuries, including a ruptured uterus, rendering her incapable of safely

having children. Feeling that she’s let Jonesy, who wants a large family, down, she keeps it a secret from him, and withdraws from him sexually, leaving him confused and angry. After heart to hearts with John and Olivia (whom she visits), she realizes her secrecy isn’t fair to her beloved, and so they both discuss the situation – with the outcome that Mary Ellen and John Curtis are the only family Jonesy wants – and needs.

Sidelined are Erin (she had the spotlight in the other movie), Jason (again), and Grandma and John Boy, neither of whom are in this one. Aimee Godsey returns from prep school, assumedly prim and cultured but actually a bit of a wild child, having received tutelage from a “bohemian” professor who let her be a bit uncouth. Of course this horrifies Corrabeth, and enraes Elizabeth when she starts flirting with Drew. Amiee breaks down when she sees how much she’s alienated everyone, and faces off against Corabeth by doubting her love – considering how often she’s been sent off to boarding and finishing schools. Her adoptive mother has much explaining to do, but not as much as Cindy’s real mom, Bernadette, who’s driving a wedge between Ben and his family – and that includes newborn son Charlie. Again, John intercedes, and now Bernadette is back to being just another annoying mother-in-law.

Spectacular way to celebrate mom’s day – having a story where Mary Ellen can’t be a mother! Well, The Waltons has been no stranger to irony before, but this time it’s a bit of a downer – at least we have Michael Learned here for a couple of scenes. Second reunion movie finds its groove now, and featuring a medical tragedy means it’s a true Waltons holiday.

Different actress, DeAnna Robbins, plays Aimee now – and boy is she a sexpot, to the point where it’s difficult to consider her the same character as before. Joanna Kerns makes a brief appearance as the reverend’s new wife. John Curtis, older now, has a few lines.

With all the Waltons kids now romantically paired up (Aimee appears to be on Jim-Bob’s tail), we have enough wedding potential for the next 4 holidays – and no imminent wars to kill any menfolk off (well…).

Same opening as the previous TVM. Timeframe: same year, 1947.

“A Wedding on Waltons Mountain”

Airdate: 2/2/82

After CBS passed on doing the Waltons TV movies, NBC started airing them in February of 1982. The first, “A Wedding on Waltons Mountain,” brings back 14 stars from the series, including Ralph Waite, who departed after episode 7 of the last season. There’s only an eight-month gap here, so everyone’s nearly the same here as when the series ended. In fact, despite a few missing or changed elements, it pretty much plays as season 10 of the show.

The titular wedding is Erin’s, but of course there are complications. Taking a cue from Mary-Ellen’s wedding episode, the writers have created a love triangle to spice things up. Paul Northridge, from “The Lumberjack,” finally pops the question, and Erin accepts, but he and Ben, now business partners, have a humongous lumber order to fill, and needs the supplies of every mill in their co-op. Erin feels that their wedding plans are being marginalized by his work, and to make matters worse, Ashley Longworth returns to the scene to stir up passions once again. After a misguided attempt to use him to make Paul jealous, Erin has an emotional crisis on her hands. What shoulder can she cry on? Her daddy’s, of course: John returns from Arizona to help matters of the heart and bankbook. He helps here realize Ashley is the past, and should stay there, and helps uncover his complicity in sabotaging Ben and Paul’s order. With that settled, all that’s left is to get married. Rev. Marshall (whose bachelorhood offends Corabeth to the point where plays matchmaker for him, only to discover he had already gotten married – Joanna Kerns!) does the honors, and Hamner’s epilogue tells the marriage is still going strong!

All of the original Waltons, with the exception of Olivia and John-Boy (played by either actor), are back  - even grandma makes an appearance at the end. As I mentioned, it’s a near seamless continuation, although we don’t have the opening or the theme (instead we get a weird, then-fashionable, animated title opening), and the cinematography is different – with a more soft-focus look. Otherwise, the strum und drang is ever-present, even if the lynchpin moment, Erin realizing “Ashley is then, Paul is now,” is groaningly simplistic. Subplots are fair – Elizabeth pines for Drew, who’s in college now, Jason (mustached, and looking like Ron Howard right after he left Happy Days) is pretty much set decoration (not much Dew Drop Inn here), and Jim-Bob’s best scene is pretending to be a horse getting ridden by little ones John Curtis and Virginia. Better is the story with Mary Ellen’s beau, Jonesy. When we last left him, he was about to teach geology at Boatwright. Now he’s a… veterinarian? His practice isn’t doing so well, but he suspects that a prized racehorse is being poisoned, something its owner dismisses, until he sees the proof and allows the fledgling doctor to begin treatment.

Timeline: Just before Valentine’s Day, 1947.

Most unintentionally dirty line – Erin, coming out of the rain with Ashley: “I haven’t been this wet since I first met you!”

Waltons 9.22: “The Revel”

Airdate: 6/4/81

John-Boy moves to New York, expecting his war novel to be accepted for publication. Instead, it gets rejected as too many war novels are glutting the market. Getting a roommate helps at first, until he leaves for Hollywood and leaves John-Boy to pay the rent. Broke, disheveled and jobless, he returns to his publisher, who advises him to return home, which he does.

The Baldwins plan to host a reunion of their finishing school classmates, but all the invites get returned, marked address unknown or deceased. Their morale as low as could be, they ruminate on the brevity of life, but ultimately find cause to celebrate it when the reunion is attended – by all their friends on Waltons Mountain.

No fanfare, hoopla or revelry (despite the title), and no triumphant returns or departures, this is not the gala finale one would expect from a series which lasted 9 seasons. In fact, except for the summative narration at the end, you wouldn’t know it was the Waltons’ last episode, but evidently the producers had not intended this episode to be the finale (see post under episode 9.8). Their plan was to create three TV movies to wrap up the series, but when the idea was proposed to CBS, they declined. NBC picked them up, and aired them all in 1982, the year following the last Waltons episode airdate. As such, they can hardly be called “reunion” movies, but rather 3 two-part episodes. Little House on the Prairie did something of the same thing over at NBC, a network which must be amenable to such ideas.

But back to this episode – as low-key as it is, it’s a rather lovely way to end the series run. The Baldwin sisters bookend the show with some profound dialogue. When planning the party, they wax philosophical on life’s fleeting quality, and in a speech to the townfolk they espouse the true riches of life – friends, family, love – all part of the legacy – the mark – that one must leave before passing on. Beautiful words, something the show, through ups and downs, was really all about.

Standard goodnights here, followed by Hamner’s narration, which addresses the audience and adds a more personalized touch.

Timeframe: According to the Baldwin’s invitation, it is June 4^th, 1946, 35 years to the date before the episode aired. It also means that the show’s time frame, which began in the spring of 1933, ran just a little over 13 years.

Good night all... for now.

Waltons 9.21: “The Hostage”

Airdate: 5/28/81

One of Mary Ellen’s hillbilly patients dies, and one of his dying wishes is to see his 14-year old granddaughter, Sissy, married to a mountain man. Job, a sort of surrogate father to the girl, decides he will be the groom, but Mary Ellen puts a stop to that by seizing Sissy and taking her back to the Waltons. Job follows her and kidnaps Elizabeth, only releasing her in exchange for Sissy. After several cat-and-mouse chases, Sheriff Bridges and the Walton boys face Job in a standoff, and it’s Elizabeth who talks some sense into him, coaxing his capitulation and returning to her family. Epilogue: Job’s sentence is reduced, he learns to read, and Sissy marries, and not as a child bride.

Oft-referenced Cousin Octavia finally makes her appearance, visiting the Baldwins and beguiling them with her quirky-bird ways. She’s also a bit of a fix-it woman, but Ike suspects she may be trying to kill the Baldwins. All is set straight in the end – she’s only a kleptomaniac!

Hostage drama has its moments, but really does little in developing the main characters any. The moutainfolk are pretty much as caricaturish as they’ve always been in the series, particularly Job’s mom (who doubtlessly understudies for Ma Kettle on the weekends). Subplot features the legendary character actress Mary Wickes as Octavia, but her oddball character really doesn’t make any sense.

Waltons 9.20: “The Lumberjack”

Airdate: 5/21/81

Paul Matthews, a local lumberjack, attempts to sell his high-quality and eco-friendly but more expensive wood to a recalcitrant Ben, to no avail – more successful is his chemistry with another Walton, Erin, who moons over him with the strongest passion this side of Ashley Longworth. There is, of course, a catch, and it comes in the form of a secret Paul had been keeping: his real name is Paul Northridge, son of the head of Northridge lumber, the Walton co-op’s main rival. When Erin meets him, she feels like a pawn used by Paul, and rushes back home. Both Paul and his dad follow her back, and Paul, trying desperately to break the shackles of his privileged lifestyle, wants to woo her back on his own.

The subplot also addresses the environment. Ike and Jim-Bob get a Geiger counter, hoping to strike it rich by finding uranium on the mountain. They do find something and have it analyzed, only to find it to be radioactive waste from a local laboratory, which processes radium for watch dials, among other things. Finding financial disappointment, they do get some solace from being lauded as heroes for uncovering a serious threat to the local air and water supply.

Two good stories, both with environmental messages just as timely now as then. The Erin situation looks like it was inspired a bit by Dallas: girl from the enemies of a big-business family falls in love with their son, who bears more than a passing resemblance to John Schneider from The Dukes of Hazzard, another then-popular CBS show. Happy ending seems to set the stage for a continuing romance between the two.

Waltons 9.19: “The Heartache”

Airdate: 5/14/81

Stanley has just gotten a promotion at his newspaper job, and sees this as the perfect opportunity to try his hand at marriage once again with Rose. Seems like it’s going fine, until her “heartburn” is officially diagnosed as chest pains, potentially leading to a heart attack. Not wanting to drag a husband down to a life of watching by the sidelines, she calls off the wedding, but tells no one, especially Stanley, the reasons for change of heart (pun intended). Gradually everyone finds out (it is the Waltons after all), Stanley tries to change her mind one last time before leaving. He does, and they both “do,” as conjugal bliss awaits them both.

The Waltons most charming romance ends with this show, as both characters exit the series now, ostensibly leaving a family with no authority figures. Schallert is once again engaging here, although to be sure this episode drags, even by Waltons standards – I think it’s essentially a non-problem here, protracted to fill out a hour’s worth of drama. Subplot, involving Cindy entering the workplace at a boutique and unreluctant to leave her daughter during her most formative years, is borrowed from other storylines, particularly the one involving Olivia in the same predicament.

Home stretch now – only 3 episodes to go!!!

Waltons 9.18: “The Indiscretion”

Airdate: 5/7/81

Or The Taming of the Shrew, Godsey style. Corabeth is mad as a hornet at Ike, but this time it’s serious: she moves out and serves him with divorce papers, all allegedly over a romantic interlude he had entertained 5 years earlier. Corabeth refuses to discuss the matter with Ike, so he is first confused and later retaliatory, even hiring an escort to make his wife jealous. When he finally discovers the basis for her allegations, he admits his guilt, but also that it was ended once his paramour realized she could never break up such a loving marriage. The couple reconcile, but oh, what a brawl this “indescretion” hath provoked! On the Walton side, Drew is hot and heavy for Elizabeth, and wants to “spend the night” with her on their anniversary. After much soul searching, she puts on the red light (not that red light) and admits she’s not ready.

Provocative installment notable for the acid-tongued Corabeth at herhighfalutin’ nastiness, and the series’ continued handling of all the hot-button topic of the day, in this case: teen sex! (Well, this was the year that was supposed to be more youth-oriented.) Of course, everything turns out chaste in the end, but shouldn’t the larger issue here be absentee parenting? What do you expect with no John or Olivia? Next week: savvy businessman Ben turns the house into a brothel.

Heightened presence of Ike and Corabeth gives them more screen time this season than in all previous put together. Why not make them the parents?

Waltons 9.17: “The Threshold”

Airdate: 4/2/81

At Boatwright, a new invention is being tested out: television. Unfortunately, the board of trustees has no interest in devoting any money to its study, but John-Boy thinks he can change their minds with a televised demonstration of the nascent medium. After a failed attempt to use Greek mythology to appeal to their academic sensibilities, he realizes that it’s really all about images – something he discusses in his first TV broadcast, one that the family can now enjoy thanks to Jim-Bob’s fixing up of an actual television set – a huge appliance with an enormous… 5” screen. On the other front, Rose is green with envy when Stanley seems to fall prey to the feminine wiles of Zuleika Dunbar, and goes on a health-compromising diet to complete.

Plenty of foreshadowing in this episode, in which John-Bob eyes a potentialcareer in television writing. Of course, most middle-class Americans didn’t get their sets until the 1950s, but this TV is a primitive model, and it makes sense that an institute with money – a university – would have one. As for Jim-Bob building one, well – he is a mechanical whiz-kid after all.

This coming around full circle idea reminds me of the later years of Little House on the Prairie, when Laura Ingalls Wilder starts to get the idea to write the Little House books, or when Alex Hailey at the end of Roots II gets the light bulb to research his ancestors. Final goodnights feature some winking byplay, when Elizabeth speculates what John-Boy would call his show: “I don’t know. The Waltons?”

Anachronism alert: the book John Curtis reads with John Boy to make him rethink his broadcast is Richard Scarry’s “Best Mother Goose Ever,” published in 1964!!!

Waltons 9.16: “The Victims”

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.

Waltons 9.15: “The Pearls”

Airdate: 3/12/81

Corabeth covets a set of pearls bequeathed to her sister by their dying aunt, so she goes to Doe Run to settle the matter; only problem is, her sister, Orma Lee (also played by Corabeth portrayer, Ronnie Claire Edwards) has come to Waltons Mountain – and no one can believe they’re related. Extroverted, flashy and “uncouth,” Orma Lee knows how to party with the best of ‘em, even outdrinking Ike over a game of pool. The Waltons themselves seemed charmed by woman who knows how to have a good time, but when homesick Corabeth returns, old wounds reopen, and buried feeling reemerge. Ultimately, Orma Lee lets her sister have the pearls, and Corabeth relinquishes half her inherited china.

While visiting, Orma Lee inadvertently put the idea in Elizabeth’s head that she should run away. Already feeling neglected by the absence of her parents, she decides to picks up the next bus to Arizona, but Jason intercepts and promises to drive her there himself once Olivia recovers.

Edwards is an absolute hoot in her role as Orma Lee – you can tell her delight in acting a role that’s the polar opposite of Corabeth. Spouting sassy, homespun phrases and witticisms, she is makes it hard to believe the same actress is playing both parts. Of course, in the end we get the old split screen/over the shoulder shots to have both characters in the same scene, but the acting really pulls it off.

John-Boy is ostensibly home, is nowhere in sight. How is he still narrating events he isn’t there for?