The Burnout

Enjoyable yarn about how the Waltons house nearly burns down and the opportunity it affords the kids to get a reprieve from their possessive mother. Farmed out to various neighbors while the house is being repaired we find Jason living like the Duke of Windsor at the Baldwin sisters; Ben whooping it up and living in filth with Yancy Tucker; and Mary Ellen at Doctor Vance's house, maniacally reorganizing the doctor's drug supplies. Meanwhile John-Boy, his manuscript destroyed in the fire, struggles to overcome his own whininess and rewrite the blasted thing. Elizabeth, still stinging from the death of a butterfly she imprisoned in a jar, finally snaps when she finds her doll has burned up in the fire and enters a kind of catatonic state of nihilism. Worth viewing for the house fire scene itself, which is very well done and actually quite thrilling (the actors were so close to the flames Judy Norton had her hair wetted down for fear it would catch fire). Handsomely filmed. Seven stars, would have been eight but for the presence of the cackling Zuleika Dunbar.

🌟 THE BURN-OUT Parts 1 & 2 are THE WALTONS AT THEIR BEST!!... This is an example of the EMMY WINNING SERIES when it was TOP NOTCH... The Story, The Performances, The Emotions... ALL ARE AT THEATRICAL MOVIE LEVELS... If you have never seen THE WALTONS before, watch this two parter and you'll be hooked to the decade long hit series ... And If you are already a fan of this classic series, these two episodes will remind you why you love this show so much.. DON'T MISS THIS TWO PART SPECIAL.