“Good Night, Grandma”

I am sorry this season was the last of the series. I have enjoyed the refreshing homeyness and family values this good old-fashioned American family embodied, and shudder at what is offered on TV these days…

While the kids are no longer kids, and in fact there are now two grandchildren in the house, the family remains tenaciously bonded in love and respect for each other. Both grandparents are now out of the series, Grampa having passed away in Season 8 and Grandma away caring for a sick relative. Olivia (Michael Learned – Scrubs) is also rare, as she still suffers from her lung condition and spends the rest of the season in a sanitorium. John Senior (Ralph Waite – Carnivàle) is still the rock of the household, but the maturing children take on ever increasingly prominent roles in the shows.

This series is set in the thick of World War II and the Walton boys are all involved in the service of their country, Ben (Eric Scott – The Waltons) and Jason (Jon Walmsley – The Waltons) in the army, John Boy (Robert Wightman – Stepfather III) (who unfortunately is no longer played by Richard Thomas…which to me is very distracting, trying to watch the new replacement actor pretend to be the boyish, mole-cheeked John Boy we all learned to love) returning to health after being shot down in Season 8 on journalism assignment and continuing to pursue news reporting, and a now-tall and very lanky Jim Bob (David W. Harper – The Waltons) having been able to at last join his beloved Air Corps.

One episode, “The Last Ten Days”, is very intense as it covers what happens when Ben is taken captive by the Japanese and how the family copes at home with the news.

In a two/part episode, “The Whirlwind” and “The Tempest”, Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor – Millennium, Stargate SG-1) learns some very confusing news about her husband Curt, supposedly killed at Pearl Harbor and now apparently alive and at least physically well and living in New York. This rocks her world, as she has only recently adjusted to widowhood and starting to consider another man in her life.

In The Pearls, Elizabeth (Kami Cotler – The Waltons) is growing up fast and misses her mom a lot, while she gets pretty serious about Drew, a young man who she has been friends with for quite a while, who now is returning the feelings for her.

In The Lumberjack, Erin (Mary Beth McDonough – Walker Texas Ranger, The New Adventures of Old Christine) finds love at last with a lumberjack who is swept away by her beauty and spunkiness.

Throughout the season there are health threats, near-death situations and family crises, as we all deal with in real life. That is what made this family so endearing to so many; we could relate, or we wish we had that kind of family.

The final “Good Night” as the camera focuses on the night scene of the familiar house is poignant as we know that a piece of our hearts will always remain on Walton’s Mountain with these dear folks who have become like family to so many. We will miss that touching tradition of this big family calling out “Good night” to each other. But everything comes to an end and life goes on, eh?

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives The Waltons: The Complete Ninth Season 4 1/2 out of 5 wholesome trips to a bygone era.

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