The Home Front episode provided a strong start to season 8 of The Waltons. This episode was presented in two parts when originally aired in 1979, and I am reviewing only part 2.
Home Front shows life on Walton's Mountain during the early stages of World War II. Young men are being drafted and lives are being disrupted. In part 1 of the episode Michael Learned returns in the role of Olivia as she takes a respite from convalescence, while John has to deal with the negative aspects of being on the country draft board for the war effort. A subplot is Elizabeth being excited to see her best friend Aimee Godsey return home from boarding school and Erin being stressed out at work.
Most of Home Front focuses on the furious reaction Calvin Satterfield has to the news his son was killed in the war when his transport ship was sunk. He blames the local draft board for his son's death and vows to take revenge on John Walton and the Walton family. There is some very good drama and tense moments in this script and I enjoyed watching how the story played out. It shows how the war effort reverberated through the countryside and caused heartbreak and sorrow far away from the war front.
Elizabeth gets a fairly big role in this episode too, when she realizes her friend Aimee has become more sophisticated while away at school, and more interested in boys (particularly Jim Bob). Elizabeth has to learn an important lesson about how friendships change as we go through life. Erin is showcased a little bit as she has to deal with the obnoxious JD Pickett at work. As the episode concluded the Walton's received an urgent and frightening telegram from the war department with news regarding John-Boy and the war.
Overall I thought Home Front was a very good episode. It dealt with some heavy-duty issues and showed how the family pulled together when they had to. Olivia's role was a bit limited though, and she would only appear in eight more regular episodes in the series.
In hindsight I would say this episode proved to be pivotal too, since the series soon started adding new characters that were far less interesting than the multiple characters who were no longer on the show.
