The Carnival

This episode aired on September 21 1972, with this opening. Few strangers ever came to Waltons Mountain. We got our news of the outside world from the radio or from an occasional copy of a magazine. However, I remember when I was about seventeen; four visitors arrived and gave me my first unexpected glimpse of the other world beyond our mountain. The children along with John Boy are sitting at the table counting there money, because the carnival is in town. After figuring at how much money they had, Olivia sends them upstairs to be cleaned up before leaving. After cleaning, the money from the table Grandma accidentally throws her glasses on the floor and they break. Olivia tells Grandma that she has 2.00 emergency money to use to get her glasses fix. The children decide to give there money to the cause and forget about the carnival. The next day John Boy is outside fixing Olivia clothesline when Sheriff Bridges pulls up. The Sheriff is looking for John and when he's told that he's gone, the Sheriff tells John Boy to warn his daddy able four circus people being left behind. The next day the children follow a monkey to a barn where they find **** ******. This episode wasn't as good as the first one but it was only the second episode ever. I give this six weasel stars for the family love alone.

The characters and how they are portrayed by their actors are remarkable. The little things I noticed are so accurate to the time period in that they didn't modernize anything. This episode is the first to have the people they interact with are from the outside world with little mention of locals. As often would be the case, they had to make do with what they had, and they would never turn their back on anyone in need, anyone.

There was a lesson on judgment on people you don't understand. Having gotten to know the performers who were traveling through personally, everyone, especially Olivia learned that despite their differences on the outside, there were more similarities than differences.

I am amazed when I stop to realize that the on-screen relationships exist only on screen. If I had to explain one scene in particular to children today, they probably couldn't understand it, even though I do. It's as if they have always been a family, living for the day, dreaming of something more, and often settling for a lot less than they hope for. I don't dislike this episode, I happen to like a lot of episodes a lot more, but this is still excellent in its entirety.