She did it, not I      

THE PEARLS  

If there is one humbled Hite that is undeserving 
of being credited to Mary Worrell, it is 'The Pearls,' 
an episode of The Waltons in its ninth and final season. 
At this point, the youngest Walton, Elizabeth, 
is motherless, fatherless, rudderless. 
Who wafts into town like a fresh unfettered breeze, 
but Orma Lee, the complete opposite 
of prim, inhibited, and sour sister Corabeth Godsey. 
(Hite scholars will spot that Orma Lee arrives and departs—  
and twinnish sister Corabeth leaves and returns—  
bearing...  grips.)  
Before you can spell the words 
inspiration, influence, and spark, 
Orma Lee touches the lives of Ike 
and Elizabeth like a wand. 
There is an emblematic scene where Elizabeth and Orma Lee 
are in a car coming down the bend of the road, 
with the benefits of front windshield and rearview mirror.  
The abandoned and doldrummed Elizabeth 
gets a more movable perspective on life 
from Orma Lee, who tells her a rather adult tale 
about her first dreamboat of a husband.  
A few crises and cathartic scenes later, 
Corabeth, Orma Lee, and Elizabeth learn 
to compromise with life.  
'The Pearls' is no Worrell waste of time—  
there is a brave and bravura performance 
by Ronnie Claire Edwards, 
and much more than a light touch of Hite.  
Like Mary Poppins, Rambling Rose, and Penny Lane, 
Orma Lee was here.  


March 30, 2006 


Copyright © 2006-2011 E. A. Villafranca, Jr.  
All Rights Reserved