All In The Family

All in the Family was made up with the four main family members Mike, Gloria, Archie, and Eidith. In this particular episode Mike and Gloria make the decision to move to California so that Mike can start a new career. This episode is pivitol in character development in which Archie for the first and only time truely expresses his love for Mike. This expression of love is one of the few tearful moments of the All in the Family series. When All in the Family returned the following season without Mike and Gloria it was just not the same. The show slowly went down hill and never had a proper ending. If you are a fan of the series and would like to watch the show have a proper ending, this episode would be the one to stop at. The closing scene is Archie and Eidith sitting by themselves.

I must admit, this episode does bring a tear to my eye everytime it has aired in reruns...



All in the Family, pretty much ended when Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers left the series. The characters were always a part of the series, which was essential to Archie and Edith's relationship and interaction with the 'current' generation at the time. All of us can relate to our relationship with our parents and in-laws, which brought the reality home to all of us when we watched this series.



The reactions of both Archie and Edith at the conclusion of the episode and the sudden realization that they are now really alone, made me think about my relationship with my own parents and how painful 'growing up' can really be.