Class Reunion

Why put us thru an episode like this? What does it prove?

This little episode shows how life can drag us by the nose into a future we never thought about. When Andy finds the old high school yearbook, he wonders what happened to all those people. He and Barney, with the help of some who have remained in Mayberry, plan a reunion. It works reasonable well. The only problem, other than the obvious "you can't go home again," is the hostility felt by people who go unrecognized. Name tags certainly would have helped. But the conclusion involves Andy hooking up with his first love. They were cutest couple two years in a row, but why did they part? There are some truly touching scenes here that all of us can relate to.

You've heard the phrase: you can't go back". It's catchy and in it is some kind of bigger universal truth we'll all face on different levels. Here's another popular phrase: "time waits for no one". Time is the separator of what was, what is, and what will be. I can see why Pink Floyd wrote a song simply about it on an elemental level. It's a constant that all of existence must bow to. Well, enough of that and back to that you can't go back. In fact, you can, and folks constantly do with functions like class reunions. In the end what the bottom line is you can't go back save for all those great, even painful, memories...but, you must move forward as that is what life is all about. Great episode that makes one ponder a big question.

The high school reunion theme will be used again in "The Return of Barney Fife". It will click better, and be much funnier. The nostalgia of the high school days and the camaraderie of Andy and Barney are highlights of this episode. But, the reunion humor is forced and stalls. The simply dreadfully written meeting of Andy & Sharon is one of the series worst scenes.

This one episode contains much of what made The Andy Griffith show great even though it doesn't have appearances by Opie or Aunt Bee. How? Because it has perfect examples of the show's humor (Barney's landlady growing mushrooms in her basement 'for fun and profit') but also more serious moments, such as when Andy meets his old high school flame at their class reunion. They wonder why they ever broke up, but as they discuss old times and current days, they remember that they split up over having different goals and dreams for the future. Meanwhile, Barney was anticipating seeing his old heart throb and hoping she won't make a fool of herself when she sees him. Quite the contrary, she doesn't recognize him, in fact she doesn't even remember him.

The episode ends with Andy and Barney cleaning up after the reunion, and sort of re-capping the evening. Barney says it makes him kind of sad, seeing the people they went to school with, and how they're all getting older. Repeating a phrase that had been written in one of their high school yearbooks, Andy asks Barney, "Do the tears on your pillow bespeak the pain that's in your heart?" Barney kind of chuckles, but wistfully says "Yeah..." and Andy says "Me too." After a moment's pause to reflect, they get back to their clean-up. That's the ending of the episode, and probably one of the finest ones that ever aired.