November 3, 1965
6321
An old childhood friend of Audra's returns whom she'd like to be involved with. She doesn't know however that he is emotionally disturbed - dangerously so.
Read Full Recap » (warning: possible spoilers!)The Big Valley was a favorite series as a kid, and I recently saw this episode again on a Western cable channel. Watching it as an adult, I found it rather disturbing, not to mention outright sexist, that Audra would practically get raped and her mother would ask her if she didn't send out the wrong signals to the neighbor boy! Linda Evans is so demure throughout the episode, despite the sexual harassment, it seems as though she wouldn't send out any signals at all...
Now this episode promised the world what was to come in the history of television. Violence, madness, and a crazy character that was more than a pre-show for later characters on TV. hide show
This episode was very hard to watch, because of the extreme subject matter, although very familiar, but still extreme. When Audra, portrayed by the lovely Linda Evans is continuously harrased by a mental case of an old friend, her family begins to suspect the problems they should deal with. The boys' family are the Barkleys neihbors. Trying to avoid rivalries, Ma Barkley attempts to smooth out the problem a number of times, before a shocking turn of events forces her to do something she knows she has to do. This episode was so thrilling and suspenceful. It had the situation of sexual harrassment and rape. Not only this, but the crazy character was a real pre-show for later crazies in TV like Katherine Wentworth of "Dallas", or even the favored Kimberly Shaw of "Melrose PL." My point being, that it is a great time all around, but very dreadful, and yet very exciting.
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