(two
hour episode) (3 November 1977)
Writers: Rod Peterson & Claire Whitaker.
Director: Ralph Senensky.
Music: Alexander Courage.
"There came a
time when everyone on Waltons Mountain was looking forward to a very special
event, a blessed one, the birth of my sister Mary Ellen's baby. All the
neighbors shared our anticipation as the day approached and only the
mother-to-be seemed unconcerned that a new generation of Waltons was about to
begin".
Part 1
While Corabeth measures
flannel for Olivia’s first grandchild, Cassie asks for some grape pop. She is a
poor mountain girl who is pregnant but unsure when the baby is due. Mary Ellen
soon walks into the store and Corabeth makes it known she does not think it is
appropriate for her to be so active after seeing her toss the ball around
outside. Miss Emily and Miss Mamie then arrive at the store exuberant over the
expectant mother. The two sisters send out invitations to a baby shower that
they are hosting for Mary Ellen. While the Baldwin’s choose an umbrella for the
centerpiece of the ‘shower’, Ben plans a baby pool predicting the date and time
of the birth for twenty-five cents. Ike agrees to keep the list behind his
counter for others to contribute. Ben and Ike agree is it wise to keep its
existence a secret from Mary Ellen and Corabeth.
Elizabeth tells the
family she wants a niece named Easter Elizabeth. Grandpa informs her
granddaughter that the Walton’s first born is always a
boy and, by tradition, will be called for his grandfather and father (Zebulon
John). Jim Bob, on the other hand, is more concerned about Reckless who is just
lying around. Olivia and John discuss becoming grandmother and grandfather and
agree they both don’t feel like grandparents. At that
moment, Jason comes home dirty and sooty from the Dew Drop Inn after helping to
put out a fire in its kitchen. Jason is now unsure how he will pay his tuition
with the Dew Drop closed for repairs during the next several weeks. Yancy
examines Reckless and announces the dog is expecting puppies. Remembering back
a couple months, he says him and Tiger were working at the Waltons and thinks
his dog is the father. Yancy tells Jim Bob that he wants the pick of the
litter.
Mary Ellen wants to have
the baby at home but Curt insists that Dr. Alexander from Charlottesville will
deliver the baby in the hospital. Grandpa and John agree with Mary Ellen while
Olivia agrees with Curt. The two sides argue about the final decision, much to
the dismay of Mary Ellen.
Ab Hineman, Cassie’s grandfather,
rushes to Dr. Willard’s office because his granddaughter is about to deliver
her baby. Mary Ellen tells Hineman that Curt is in Westin so goes with the man
to his house. A storm is developing as Mary Ellen finds Cassie’s baby
stillborn. Cassie is superstitious believing the baby died because she earlier
saw a dead bird. Mary Ellen tries to explain that the baby was too tiny to
survive. Cassie insists, however, that Mary Ellen leave because she looked into
the eyes of a dead baby. She keeps repeating the omen, ‘Look upon the face of
death. Never feel your babies breathe.’ The situation finally scares Mary Ellen
who rushes out of the room and sees the grandfather making a coffin. Even more
scared now she runs down the road in a downpour seeing ball lightning run up
and down a fence. With hysteria set in, she sees the blinding lights of Curt’s
truck. Curt takes his wife to the Waltons. After calming her down, he angrily
tells Mary Ellen that she could have lost the baby. Curt prepares warm milk for
his wife while Mary Ellen looks into the fire, not totally comforted with his
rational explanations of what happened.
Jason is excited about a
new job he just found. He will be playing the piano at the Jefferson Theatre in
Charlottesville. It is a vaudeville show featured between two movies. The first
night Jason sees a comic announce the performance of Honey Suckle Rose. It is
soon apparent that she is a burlesque dancer, a stripper. Jason is stunned for
a few seconds but as he gazes at her black nylons a smile
appears on his face.
At Mary Ellen’s baby
shower, Miss Emily and Miss Mamie host the gathering of Olivia, Elizabeth,
Erin, Corabeth, Aimee, Mrs. Brimmer, Maude Gormley, and two local ladies. Mrs. Brimmer has a knack for reading tea leaves but after reading from Mary Ellen’s teacup she
suddenly becomes quiet and says nothing was revealed to her. Later Mary Ellen
thinks she has seen someone looking in from the window. When she looks closer,
she can not see Cassie who is hiding in the bushes.
Mary Ellen confides to her mother that everything seems too perfect and almost
expects something wrong to happen
The next day, Curt
visits Cassie hoping to examine her condition. But
Cassie is too strongly controlled by superstition to believe the reasoning that
Curt tells her. After Curt leaves, Cassie begins to hold a Raggedy Ann doll
believing it to be her lost baby. After allowing Aimee and Elizabeth to hear
the baby’s heartbeat, Mary Ellen suddenly knows it’s
time for the baby. She calls Miss Fannie so she can contact Curt who is at the Campbell’s. Ike then receives a call from Miss Fannie. He
relays the message to Olivia that Curt and Mary Ellen are rushing to the
hospital. Olivia runs out of the store exclaiming, ‘Our first grandchild!’
Part 2
Elizabeth and Erin wait
for the birth, both with their own emotions and uncertainties. When the car
drives up, everyone is disappointed to learn Mary Ellen is still pregnant. As
John says, ‘it’s a practice run’. The next day, Grandpa knocks
on Ben’s bedroom door telling his grandson it is high time they share some
man-to-man experiences. According to Yancy Tucker a
‘very interesting’ stage show is being put on at the place where Jason is piano
playing. They have no automobile to drive so summon Jim Bob in order to borrow
his car. He does not trust either Ben’s or Grandpa’s
driving abilities and insists he will drive them to wherever they are going.
Ben says to Grandpa, ‘Is he old enough?’ Grandpa responds, ‘If he isn’t, he
soon will be.’ Sitting in front row seats, the threesome view the dancer
covered with balloons. As she dances a large pin
bursts balloons while still maintaining balloons in strategic places. When the
dancer allows Grandpa to pop a balloon his
enthusiastic manner makes him puncture several balloons. The dancer quickly
backs off from the mischievous gentleman with only a
few balloons still intact.
The next morning, Curt
and Mary Ellen enter church services to many stares from the congregation. Rev.
Buchanan begins his sermon by announcing that three generations of Waltons are
present, with a fourth generation trying to emerge. The minister continues by
saying that temptations that usually exist in big cities are also present very
close to Waltons Mountain. Jason feels he is talking directly to him. Ben and
Jim Bob chuckle throughout the sermon. At Sunday dinner, Elizabeth wants to
know the definition of a ‘fleshpot’? Ben says she
should ask Jason because he would know. Olivia wants to know what he means by
that statement. Ben and Jim Bob tell the family they saw the show that Jason
played for yesterday. The family says they also want to see the show but Jason
says it is not really appropriate for the group. When
Olivia learns he is playing for a burlesque show she does not understand how he
can play for a ‘trashy girlie’ show on Saturday night and then attend church on
Sunday morning.
Aimee unwittingly tells
Mary Ellen about the baby pool that Ike and Ben organized. She tells Ike, ‘Just
what do you think I am, some sort of brood mare?’ and marches off to wring
Ben’s neck, Before finding Ben, Mary Ellen suddenly
doubles over in pain. It is time for the delivery. With screams coming from
Mary Ellen, Elizabeth boils water while Curt and Olivia care for the
mother-to-be. Elizabeth, Erin, and Jim Bob are told to
go to Mrs. Brimmer’s but Ben and Jason say they not kids anymore and wait in
the barn. John and Grandpa drink coffee and wait in the kitchen. As the
delivery drags on and the pain for Mary Ellen increasing, Olivia grow more concerned and Curt says he would hate to have to
perform a cesarean. After a very difficult labor Curt
finally is able to say to his wife, ‘It’s all over now, honey. You’re a
mother!’
Mary Ellen has given
birth to a healthy baby boy but outside Cassie watches and waits. With the
family surrounding the new father and mother, Mary Ellen announces that John
Curtis Willard is the name of their new son. Five days later Corabeth and Aimee
bring a gift of a handmade pillow to Mary Ellen. Later, Jason returns from work
to announce he has a new job as the accompanist for the Old Dominion Gospel
Singers. Dr. Bassett, the director for the singers, saw Jason play at the
burlesque show and hired him. Ben, in the meantime, cautiously approaches Mary
Ellen to apologize. She accepts his apology after buying her a present when
nobody would take back the money. She takes the new baby clothes to Olivia who
is hanging wet clothes on the line. However, when Olivia goes inside to check
on John Curtis she finds him gone. With Mary Ellen in hysterics, Curt believes
Cassie has taken the baby. John, Olivia, and Curt approach the Hineman house
with Cassie singing to the baby. Olivia calmly thanks Cassie for taking care of
John Curtis. With forceful but cautious talk, she convinces the confused woman
to return the baby to Mary Ellen.
"No child was
ever so prized as that first grandchild who arrived in our family. The arrival
of subsequent grandchildren was equally wondrous, as we watched our family
renewing itself and a whole new generation beginning all over again. Today
there are sixteen grandchildren in the family and
already my mother was looking forward to holding her first
great-grandchild".
Erin: Goodnight Jason.
Jason: Goodnight Erin. Goodnight
Elizabeth.
Elizabeth: Goodnight Jason, goodnight Mama.
Olivia: Goodnight Elizabeth, goodnight Ben.
Ben: Goodnight Mama, goodnight Daddy.
John: 'Night.
Jim Bob: Goodnight Mary Ellen!
Erin: Will all you please shhhhhh!
(baby squawks).
Notes:
Mary Ellen is eight months pregnant at the
beginning of the episode.
Olivia delivered all of her babies at home, except for Jim Bob. The Secret, season 4 episode 16, explains why that delivery was so troublesome.
Grandpa recounts (from The
Birthday, season 3 episode 14) when he was sick and the family carried him
outside to the tent so he could see the Mountain and breathe in the good
country air.
Grandpa also recounts (from The Long Night,
season 5 episode 21) when he was thrown out of the hospital and had to visit
Grandma from a park bench across from the hospital.
John recounts (from The Venture, season 3 episode
24) when he was in the hospital with pneumonia.
Charlottesville is 28 miles away from Waltons
Mountain.
Curt mentions Doctor James who practices in
Scottsville and Doctor Clark who practices in Westin.
The Jefferson Theatre is called
the Magnolia Blossom Theatre when the burlesque comic announces the dancer.
The license plates for Jim
Bob’s car is 52-7504 Virginia.
Also appearing:
Ike
Godsey (Joe Conley); Corabeth Godsey (Ronnie Claire Edwards); Aimee Godsey
(Rachel Longaker); Miss Emily Baldwin (Mary Jackson); Miss Mamie Baldwin (Helen
Kleeb); Cassie Hineman (Beth Raines); Ab Hineman (David Hooks); Yancy
Tucker (Robert Donner); Curt Willard (Tom Bower); Maude Gormley
(Merie Earle); Mrs. Brimmer (Nora Marlowe); Hank Buchanan
(Peter Fox); Burlesque Comic (Joe Ross); Burlesque Dancer (Trish Garland); The
Drummer (Frank Devito).