Olivia and Elizabeth take a car trip; Jim-Bob is forced to also go. They have car trouble. Elizabeth wanders off. Olivia and Jim-Bob find her but by now, all are lost. Jim-Bob uses his skills to keep everyone safe till they are found.
Jim-Bob wonders if he is adopted because he does not look like other family members. No one wants to talk about his birth, so he investigates and uncovers a long hidden family secret.
Ben starts to hunt animals for their skins to sell for profit. Meanwhile, the Rough Riders are holding a reunion. Grandpa, for all his talk about charging up the hill with Teddy Roosevelt, does not want to attend.
A fire breaks out and burns most of the house. John-Boy loses his completed novel in order to save Erin. As John, Grandpa and John-Boy make repairs, the family must send the younger children to friends and neighbors.
Olivia gets a job in the city as a dressmaker. She enjoys it but soon realizes she misses the family too much. Maude Gormley isn't adjusting well to life in a retirement home and returns to the mountain.
Grandma starts a petition to save the old Whitley house, which Grandpa has been contracted to tear down. John-Boy, as editor, writes to suggest that people salvage parts out of the house. Jason plays piano in a music recital.
John-Boy prepares to publish his first newspaper. It includes a story about Ben's troubles, which infuriates Olivia. She demands that he delete it, but John-Boy has to publish the story to follow his convictions.
Nursing student Mary Ellen is sure she knows what is causing Grandma's stomach pains, but it turns out the problem is different-and life-threatening. Erin begins a new job as a phone operator for Fanny Tatum.
Jason's scholarship at the music academy is canceled. He gets a job at the Dew Drop Inn. Red Turner (Merle Haggard previously by Ken Swofford), who lost his son in an earlier episode, is talked into performing at the Dew Drop.
A famous evangelist (John Karlen) is coming to town, and Olivia and Esther hope John and Ben will be converted and baptized. Jim-Bob finds a peacock and names him Rover.
John-Boy becomes the target of public indignation when he insists on printing excerpts from Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in his newspaper. Erin competes in a beauty pageant.
Mary Ellen is engaged to Dr David Spencer and they plan the wedding. Dr Curtis Willard arrives to be the town doctor. Mary Ellen begins to have second thoughts about her engagement.
Mary Ellen is engaged to Dr David Spencer and they plan the wedding. Dr Curtis Willard arrives to be the town doctor. Mary Ellen begins to have second thoughts about her engagement.
In a desperate attempt to make a loan payment on his printing press John-Boy sells his 10 acre meadow on Waltons Mountain, deeply upsetting Grandpa. Mary Ellen experiences her first challenges as a nurse.
Grandpa's 90 year old sister-in-law, Martha Corrine (Beulah Bondi), comes to the mountain to visit. She's a meddlesome house guest, but her cantankerous ways mask a solemn secret. She helps Ben build a pony cart.
Sheriff Bridges is running for re-election but an out of town opponent has more charm and threatens to put Ep out of a job. A wild mustang is captured and Grandpa is determined to make sure it can continue to run free on Walton's Mountain.
Another woman begins to play the church organ instead of Grandma which upsets Grandma. Olivia is restless and decides to get a perm with terrible results.
7.3/10 (128)
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By what name was The Waltons (1972) officially released in India in English?