User Reviews

One of my favorite "flashbacks" ever. Kevin imagines during the war, his dad saving the baseball coaches life, and makes him promise one day if he has a son to make him a starter on his baseball team.

Alright, so this one isn't overtly about Kevin's relationship with his dad. It's about the grade school politics of being "favored," the realization that maybe you don't quite cut it in the sport you love, and the desperate urge to make your parent(s) proud. Hey, we can all relate, right?

From watching this show as a kid, my memory of Jack Arnold was that he was a stereotypical hard-ass '60s dad. Like a less-funny Red Foreman. But my adult rewatch has shown that this isn't the case. He does have the stoic, grumpy thing going on a lot, but he's always genuinely rooting for Kevin, concerned when Kevin's struggling, and eager to help. For the time period, he's a pretty involved dad. (Dan Lauria is also simply a joy to watch, and it's great when he gets the rare comedic scene like the battle one here.)

For all its sentimentality, The Wonder Years didn't generally end episodes the way this one does -- which is a good thing -- but I think it was done perfectly here. I think every kid has one perfect, inaccurate memory like that.

A lovely episode, centring on the relationship between father/son, and achieving on your own merits.

The final scene was a joy, really lovely stuff.

This show is consistently great, the quality is something else!