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.
4 Reviews
Yancey Tucker?
janet-conant19 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This episode was one of the best especially the special effects of the fire. What I can't figure out as someone commented in Trivia was how Olivia Walton would ever allow a wayward kid like Ben to stay with Yancey Tucker. There would be no way Yancey would take in one of the Waltons as he was lazy, shiftless, a complete slob and nowhere for a boarder to sleep. Ben could have stayed with the Baldwins as there was plenty of room but you wouldn't have the shenanigans that Yancey and Ben contribute to the show.
We all know that the old room heater started the fire and not the pipe but we needed John Boy to feel some guilt over his new recreation. Grandpa should have told John Senior he was the guilty party and not keep it quiet. Erin has a new vocation in life too, to preach humility after jeopardizing her life over a new dress. I would have given 10 stars except for that Yancey Tucker bit and how did John get that house rebuilt so quickly.
We all know that the old room heater started the fire and not the pipe but we needed John Boy to feel some guilt over his new recreation. Grandpa should have told John Senior he was the guilty party and not keep it quiet. Erin has a new vocation in life too, to preach humility after jeopardizing her life over a new dress. I would have given 10 stars except for that Yancey Tucker bit and how did John get that house rebuilt so quickly.
Superb episode. Cause of the house fire had to be...
trschoen2 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Viewers of this 2-part episode (one of the very best in the series) are left to wonder what started the Waltons' house fire. Was it john-Boy's pipe, or Grandpa's room heater? The answer is the heater because a pipe will not start a house fire. Every pipe smoker will tell you that keeping a pipe lighted is a constant chore. Set a smoking pipe down and it will almost immediately extinguish itself.
🏆 THE WALTONS AT ITS PEAK
floridacalisurferboy2 February 2022
🌟 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.
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