The Pearls

"The Pearls" is a great Walton episode for many reasons. The main part of the episode centers around Corabeth and her estranged sister Orma Lee, who has come to visit when Corabeth heads to Doehill because of her mother, Cordelia's, death. (As a side note, Ronnie Claire Edwards does a fine job of performing dual roles, Corabeth and Orma Lee.) Orma Lee is able to give helpful insight to a struggling Elizabeth, who, now 15, is finding it hard to grow up without Grandma, Grandpa, Mama, or Daddy. "The Pearls" shows in a way how much the Waltons have changed from Season 1 to Season 9, through the Depression and World War II, and how the younger Walton copes with the change. A great episode worth watching.

I didn't think ronnie claire edwards could possibly be more obnoxious (either the actress or her roles) but I was wrong.

The 9th season of the series is the worst. "The Pearls" is easily the worst one that I've seen so far in Season 9. The whole thread with Elizabeth is just silly, the the story with Cora Beth's so-called sister is just slapstick. Peeeeuuuu!

Ronnie Claire Edwards was great as Orma Lee, Corabeth's estranged and somewhat yet likeable tarnished sister. Probably the best episode of season 9 for me.

Now in it's ninth and final season, we find "The Waltons" accelerating its' nosedive to its looming, merciful end. Once the gold standard of TV drama, "The Pearls" finds the once sterling show stumbling around pointlessly in one of the most tired TV tropes ever: the "never before mentioned identical twin who is the exact opposite of his/her sibling in every way" trope. Why nobody ever mentioned that Corabeth had an identical twin FOR THE PAST SIX SEASONS is a mystery fit for Agatha Christie. Despite the admirable efforts of the always marvelous Ronnie Claire Edwards, none of this tripe even remotely rings true, and nobody else seems to buy into it either; the actors, especially the Walton siblings, seem to be in a say-their-lines-and-go-home mode. It's a pointless, jaded exercise by a creative team that has officially checked out. A secondary plot about Elizabeth missing her parents is anemic, though it seems the better idea would have been to put some industry and effort into this story and leave the identical twin garbage to third rate sitcoms. Oh well, at least we'll always have the first few seasons!