This is the debut episode of one of the greatest television shows ever made. There is a blueprint here for how to make a great, entertaining TV show that is funny, emotional, and very compelling.
Andy Taylor and his son, Opie, live in the small North Carolina town of Mayberry with their housekeeper, Rose. Rose has decided to get married, and, therefore will leave the Taylor household. Opie resents this development in his young life. After all, Opie already lost his mother, apparently at a very young age. (Did she die giving birth to Opie? We are never told.)
Andy reaches out to his Aunt Bee Taylor, who played a crucial role in Andy's upbringing. Aunt Bee agrees to move to Mayberry to help care for Andy and Opie. The episode revolves around Opie's reluctance to accept Aunt Bee.
The true beauty of the episode -- and the series as a whole -- is not in the resolution of the drama that is created by Opie's refusal to embrace Aunt Bee, or the other dramas created to support the stories. It is in the interaction of the characters as they go about their relatively uneventful, easygoing, small town lives.
There are early flaws in this episode. During Season 1, Griffith played the Andy Taylor character with a much more exaggerated country-bumpkin personality. Barney Fife, as played by Don Knotts, is more of a sideline character. Nevertheless, the foundation is well built here for what would go on to be an incredible television series.