- Welcome back to this new segment
of "Behind the Scenes of The Waltons".
Today, I'm talking about the episode, "The Quilting",
and if you're enjoying this, please do like, and subscribe.
"The Quilting" is an episode from season four,
and really takes us through the transition
of Mary Ellen from being a child and a teenager
in to being a young lady.
She's right on that cusp.
And she is not going that direction meekly,
but in typical Mary Ellen fashion,
she is digging in her heels and determined
to do things the way she wants,
and not the way her mother, or particularly,
her grandmother feels she should.
Really bucking against those,
what she considers old-fashioned traditions.
For Olivia, she's a little bit caught in the middle.
She wishes that Mary Ellen would appreciate
this particular tradition,
appreciate the importance of it to her grandmother,
but also feels that it is a sweet thing
to be shared with the community.
However, Mary Ellen has decided
that all she can see is this embarrassing,
humiliating aspect of the community,
now having it announced that Mary Ellen is ready
to find a husband.
And since Mary Ellen is so not interested
in going husband hunting at this point,
she resents everything about it,
and it is not helped by the fact
that some of the other members of the family,
some of the other kids,
are having fun at Mary Ellen's expense and making comments
about painting the door blue,
and that in Mary Ellen's case,
they'll have to paint the whole side of the house blue
to announce it, because clearly,
no one's going to be interested in Mary Ellen as a wife.
So those just push Mary Ellen
completely in the wrong direction,
and being completely stubborn, as she can be,
she just digs her heels in more.
Olivia's caught in a difficult position,
because she recognizes Mary Ellen,
Mary Ellen's personality,
and wants to respect that
and her right to not have this quilting.
She also understands grandma's point of view,
but Grandma steps over that line,
and really pushes Olivia too hard.
And Olivia pushes back,
and reminds Grandma that they're her children,
and that Grandma should not be bypassing Olivia
and making those decisions,
and ignoring Olivia's point of view on it.
So that causes some conflict
amongst the three generations.
Along the way, there are some beautiful scenes.
I loved doing the scene with Michael in the attic
with the hope chest and all that that represented.
That's just such a typical example
of the beautiful work that Michael created as Olivia.
It's just sweet, and does touch on a beautiful tradition,
and trying to get Mary Ellen to see it that way,
as opposed to just a way to announce
that she's there to be married.
This all culminates with Mary Ellen
telling off Grandma,
and then Olivia telling off Grandma,
and yet, also telling Mary Ellen
that she can't speak to her grandmother that way.
Ultimately, John Boy is the one who really helps change
Mary Ellen's mind,
because he just says it like it is,
about how selfish she's being,
about how this is all being done out of love,
that the women of the community are coming together
to share a nice moment with Mary Ellen
that she is throwing back in their face.
So I really liked that.
That he just didn't,
he didn't walk on eggshells around her.
He just really put it to her,
and let her know that she would regret this
if she didn't back down and graciously accept it.
Of course in that moment, she doesn't agree to that.
But then shortly after,
she does come down and does do her best
to be gracious about it,
which was the right ending for this,
that she does thank the ladies for being there
and take part of it.
And then there's the beautiful moment of Grandma
giving her the money that Grandma won
from the Poetry Pantry contest.
So, sweet reconciliation all the way around.
I love the subplot regarding Grandma
wanting to win the money for the Poetry Pantry
for "Blue Ridge Bluing".
She needs to submit some sort of a poem
that concisely says what she likes
about "Blue Ridge Bluing".
She's not sure that any of hers are right,
asks John Boy to help her.
John Boy gives her, offers her a poem that he wrote,
which Grandma doesn't feel right about.
She recognizes that it isn't at all
the way she would write it,
and then she doesn't feel right
about submitting something, in her name, that she didn't do.
And ultimately writes something that is very "Grandma",
and wins anyway.
So, quite sweet.
There's the other fun storyline
about Grandpa and the pool party.
He convinces Ike that it's Ike's idea
to have the men of the community come together
and have a pool party,
while the ladies are having the quilting.
Grandpa thinks he's bringing the recipe with him.
Turns out to be turpentine.
Yancy cooks up some chili,
and a number of the men have fun,
while the ladies are having the quilting.
And then, a little on the drunk side,
come home singing and share the final moment
with all of the ladies.
It's interesting in this episode
that there is actually mention of a beau of Miss Mamie's.
We always hear about Miss Emily
talking about Ashley Longworth.
Well, in this episode, Miss Mamie
talks about Mr. Porter Sims, who was a beau of hers.
It's the only time I ever remember her
talking about one of her beaus.
Now for Mary Ellen, GW was a part of her life
for the first few seasons,
starting off playing catch together
and various different things.
She takes him to the Easter dance,
teaches him to dance, all those sorts of things.
But, in this episode,
because he understands the tradition of the quilting,
he thinks he better show up with flowers
and announce his intentions
and get in the front of the line.
Mary Ellen is really annoyed about this,
but I loved that she was very gracious with GW.
That she doesn't take it out on him,
that she is sensitive to what he is doing,
and to him as a friend,
and just has a lovely conversation with him,
which, I thought was mature of her
and a reflection of the fact
that she is right on that cusp
of going from being just a stubborn, selfish child
to being a more understanding adult,
even though it doesn't fully reflect in this episode.
But I appreciated that moment,
and what the writers created there for her.
Well, there you are, with this episode
of "Behind the Scenes of the Waltons", "The Quilting".
Thank you very much for joining me.
I hope to see you again, next time.
Thanks for watching.