The Career Girl

Kathleen Hite scripted this one, as well as many other episodes of this show. She scripted many episodes of the radio version of Gunsmoke and later the tv version.

Her script is the reason I chose 9 stars.

Once again, though, I wasn't too thrilled with the secondary plot concerning Ike Godsey (and where the heck was his wife and daughter through all of this?)

Still, it was a very enjoyable outing!

I call this a good episode. It's not a great one, but a good one. The main premise of this episode is that upon graduating high school. Erin suddenly realizes she has no particular interest she wants to pursue in her life that sets her apart from the other siblings. Well, anyone who has regularly watched the series up to this point would have already noticed that! I always felt that all the siblings, Erin was the most under-written as a character.

The basic premise sounds a little like a Problem of the Week gimmick, like a plot for a Brady Bunch episode. However, as I perceived it, the "problem" isn't "solved" by the end of the episode. Perhaps mildly it is. Erin has resolved a couple of practical problems by the end of the story. But the story respects the intelligence of the viewer. Erin doesn't suddenly discover a unique interest that could compare to Jason's music or Jim-Bob's mechanical aptitude, etc. Instead, life just goes on as best it can.

Like the one other review that is posted at the time I'm writing this, I wasn't too pleased with the subplot concerning Ike Godsey. He's obsessed with the notion that John-Boy's novel is largely about him, and encourages Jim-Bob to act in a mildly unethical manner to find out. The usually avuncular Ike displays an egocentrism here that is truly out of character. If they insisted on having this small-minded subplot, at least let it come to a satisfying climax. We don't even see any reaction on John-Boy's part. I'm docking the episode one star for this.

So the main premise is not the strongest, and there's a subplot that isn't so good. Otherwise though, you will find the same warmth and good writing that you can expect from the better Waltons episodes.