The Way We Were

As far as "Family Ties" episodes go in tackling the heavy issues, this is one of the better attempts, with Elyse's Aunt (Barrie) making an unannounced visit that reveals she is suffering from Alhzeimer's disease.

Barrie plays with dignity her role of the effervescent and fiercely independent woman struggling to understand her forgetfulness. The penultimate scene is obvious and reasonably moving, it's a strong episode without the typical happy ending, though not necessarily without the possibility of one eventuating (although we'll never know).

Baxter seems to invest a lot of herself in this episode and it was pleasing to see the script take the subject matter seriously without resorting to many gags to soften the impact (one or two jokes are made about Steven's name, but their tasteful in context). Not an Emmy-Award winning teleplay, but Barrie's performance is pretty good nonetheless.