The Waltons (1971–1981): Season 1, Episode 4 - The Hunt - full transcript

A mountain has no need
for people

but people do need mountains.

We go to them
for their beauty...

for the exhilaration
of standing closer

to mysterious skies...

for the feeling of triumph
that comes from having labored

to reach a summit.

And I remember a day
in the 1930s

when I went
to Walton's Mountain...

in search of manhood.

John-Boy!



What am I gonna do
for eggs if you murder

my best-laying hen?

-Just practicing, Mama.
-Just practicing.

I figured it's time I starteddoing my share of the providing.

Your daddy provides me
for the table.

Why don't you wait
till next year?

Mama, other boys
younger than me go hunt.

One Walton man banging away
at turkeys is plenty.

Let the other one tend
to things at home.

Mama, I'm going on
that hunt tomorrow...

and I'm gonna
bring me back...

the biggest turkey gobbler
on that mountain.

What's the matter
with you, girl?

You could've made me pull the
trigger, kill Mama's best layer. 26



-Let me show you my crack shot.
-That things's loaded.

Pow-pow-pow!
Turkey on the table!

Come on, give it back before
it goes off and kills somebody.

John-Boy, don't shoot
any baby turkeys tomorrow, okay?

Don't worry, that gun
he's using is so old...

he's not likely to hit a turkey
of any size, except by accident.

Hey, Jason.
Hey, Sprocket.

Daddy, when you gonna quit
calling me Sprocket?

Reckless, get off. What do youwant me to call you, son?

How'd that get started
in the first place?

Charlie Sneed named you that
when you were just a wee baby.

-The name kind of stuck.
-I'm not a wee baby anymore.

No, son. I guess
you're long gone from that.

Good job.

Little lint still down there.
Better go after it.

Yeah.

Daddy, when you shoot a turkey,
does he die right away?

If your aim is true.
Right, John-Boy?

Your brother's gonna
be a good hunter, Jason.

And next year,
you can go with us.

-Okay?-Yes, sir.

-Hi, Mr. Godsey.
-Hi, Mr. Godsey.

Look it here. More customers
than I've seen all day.

I'm the customer.
I want to make another payment.

-Hi, Mr. Godsey!
-Hi, Elizabeth.

Another payment? You sure
have been busy, haven't you?

-17 cents.
-How did you earn it this time?

I sold three combs of wild honey
for five cents apiece...

and got a two-cent tip
from Miss Mamie Baldwin.

How do you like that?
17 cents. Okay.

That's 17, plus the $2.63
that you've already paid in. 58

Only 20 cents more,
and it's all paid for.

-Can I hold it for a minute?
-I don't see why not.

It's more yours
than mine right now.

Just wait till G.W. sees this.

I'll be able to handle anything
G.W. throws at me.

-See you tomorrow, Mr. Godsey.
-The big day.

-Hey, G.W.
-Hey, Mary Ellen.

Tomorrow I'll be making the last
payment on the catcher's mitt.

-Hello, Mary Ellen.
-Hey, Martha Rose.

-The candy, G.W.
-Yeah, sorry.

-$0.2 of peppermints, please.-Okay, G.W.

If you'd like to come with me
when I pick up--

G.W., I want you
to look at this dress.

Isn't that the sweetest dress
you've ever seen?

If you say so.

We can take turns
using the mitt, G.W.

Wouldn't I look like a dream
walking in this dress, G.W.?

You'd be something.

Here you are.
Two cents' worth of peppermints.

How much is this dress,
Mr. Godsey?

$2 and 98 cents,
and worth every penny.

Peppermints, G.W.

I'm gonna tell my daddy tojust buy me this little dress.

That's exactly what
I'm going to do.

It's a beauty alright.

Mary Ellen,
are we going home?

Yeah, sure.

Nothing to keep us here.

-Goodbye, Mr. Godsey.
-Goodbye.

More pie, John?

No thanks, honey.

I think I can save some room
for all that turkey

we figure to eat tomorrow.

-Do it again.
-Please, Daddy.

You sound just like a turkey.

-I'm the flock's Rudy Vallee.
-All you need is a megaphone.

Wish I was going hunting
with you boys tomorrow. 96

No, I think I'll just stay home
with my old sweetheart.

My hunting days are about over.

You brought home more game than
three men in your time, old man.

Did I ever tell you boys
about the time...

I brought down four turkeys
with one shot?

-No, Grandpa.
-How'd that ever happen, Papa?

Well, there were these four
turkeys...

three beauties, sassy hens
just sitting up there...

roosting on one branch,
all together. 106

pow!

One, two, three.

But you said four, Grandpa.

So I did.

Those three of them bunched up
together, they was easy.

But the fourth,
an old tom turkey...

he was roosting on another
branch on another tree.

As soon as he heard the sound of
my shot, that set him hustling.

And durned if he didn't fly
right smack-dab into my shot...

just as I dropped the third one.

Grandpa..

Something's at the chickens.

John-Boy, you come with me.
120 00:09:35,008 --> 00:09:37,344

Excuse me, honey.

John-Boy, load up.

Load up?

I told you to stay put.
Now, get inside.

I didn't want
to say anything.

I want to tell you something.
This is just between you and me.

-Do you understand?
-Yes, sir.

-Bear at Nickerson's last night.
-A bear?

Big bruiser.
He killed a calf.

-Rafe shot at him.
-He hit him?

Don't know.

I'm going inside. You be
careful, you hear?

See anything?

Probably just a nighthawk
or an owl. 135

I knew you and me
could handle it.

I reckon.

It's a warm feeling to stand
off and look at your home...

to know your wife and loved ones
are inside, safe and warm.

You'll know one day.

Must've been what it was like
before things got so civilized.

I mean, a man standing
between his family

and anything that
might hurt them.

I'm real proud you're going
with me on the hunt tomorrow.

I know.

A man's first hunt shouldbe something he remembers

all his life.

I asked Charlie and Hawthorne
to go along

because they're good old boys.

We're gonna have a solid gold,
100% good time.

Hundred percent.

We better get in or your mama
will send out a search party.

Now, remember this bear's
between you and me.

-Don't forget.
-I won't.

Maybe I've killed
without knowing.

A spider or a frog
or something I've stepped on.

It's knowing that I'm gonna
take life from something...

that treasures lifeas much I treasure mine.

It's the planning ahead...

going looking for it, hunting
for it that makes it murder.

I'm right sick about it...

and I'm right scared
of tomorrow.

I'm also scared of what my life
is going to be like if I fail.

-Yeah.
-Mary Ellen. Let me in.

I think I'm having
a heart attack.

-Heart attack?
-It keeps going wham!

It stops for the longest time,
and I think I'm suffocating.

How did it start?

I've been trying to go to sleep,
trying to figure out things. 170

and the next day he's off
chasing some other girl.

I know what kind of heart
trouble you've got.

G.W. Haines heart trouble.
Right?

I don't know
what he sees in her.

She can't catch,
can't run, can't throw.

Screams if she sees
a woollyworm.

Not more than a week ago,
G.W. was making fun of her.

What happened?

Well, sister,
there comes a time

when boys like girls
to be different.

And G.W. may be
at exactly that point. 182

than a great
catcher's mitt?

Well, he might still
like the catcher's mitt...

but he'd rather see the girl
in a fancy dress.

Did I leave my harp in here?

No. I don't know, Jason.
Look around.

Alright.

-You got a safety pin, John-Boy?
-Look over on the dresser.

The strings in my pajamas broke.

Can I sleep in here, John-Boy?
There's a mouse under my bed.

Hmm-mm.

-Hey.
-Hm?

What are you writing?

Stuff. Go on to bed.

John-Boy, will youkiss me good night?

Sure, honey. Good night.
Go on to bed now.

Now, what's it doing
under here?

Play something pretty, Jason.

What is this, a family reunion?

Go on writing, John-Boy.
You're not bothering us.

Oh, no? But you are bothering
me. Now go to bed, all of you.

But you said
I could stay.

Well, I am now saying
that you can go.

What do you think I am,
an old mother hen? Go on, scat!

Go on, scat!

Go on, scat!

Out!

Out!

-John.
-Hm?

Have you noticedthe chicken house lately?

Hmm-mm.

There's a hole in the roof big
enough to sling a cat through.

I'll get to it as soon
as I have time, Liv.

Come a good rain, I'm gonna have
a flock of wet, droopy chickens.

I certainly would like
to have that roof fixed.

Why couldn't John-Boy
stay home and fix it?

Now, Liv.

I can't make him stay home.

He's been looking forward
to this hunt for weeks.

Not looking forward.

Dreading.

That's natural.

Going up in the mountainswith seasoned hunters...

like Charlie, and Hawthorne,
and me.

He wants to prove himself a man
in front of men.

He didn't ask
to stay home, did he?

No.

He says he wants to go...

but I'm not sure
he's telling the truth.

He's never in his life
killed a living thing.

Liv, he's gonna
do just fine.

There's more to being a man
than shooting turkeys.

That's for sure.

But part of being a man
is providing food

for a hungry family.

Did you see him practicing
all day today? 238

Coming face to face
with a living creature

and having to kill it
is another.

And he's so heart-bent
to please.

He's a good boy, Liv.

I wish I could
hold back time...

keep these happy days...

my children with me...

young, innocent.

You know...

if you keep your children
young and innocent...

you'll rob them
of what we've found.

Look here, steel
in them firing pins

just as good as the day
I bought it in '02.

Old man, you decided
to go after all? 253

Yes, sirree. It's as good
as the day I bought it.

There they are.

Here we go.

Charlie and Hawthorne. Those
old boys are right on time.

Any kind of a hunt or an open
bottle, then Charlie Sneed's

first to cross the line.

Charlie Sneed's
a sociable type, Mama.

-Good morning, men.
-Morning! Morning!

Beautiful day. Praise the Lord!

Sprocket, are you as good
as your daddy?

Charlie, he's decided he wants
to be called by his right name. 265

Oh, that boy's
gonna be alright.

Don't go calling out like that
where I can't see you plain.

I'm liable to mistake you
for the real thing.

Good morning, Mr. Walton.
You coming with us?

Morning. Not today, Hawthorne.

I'm taking potatoes. Got plenty
of things to do around here.

Where did you get
this old blunderbuss, John-Boy?

That's an old one my daddy
used to have.

You mean this old beanshooter
still works? 275

Any turkey that comes
around you will at least

have a sporting chance.

I reckon.

-Morning, Charlie.
-Hello, Livie.

-Hawthorne.
-Morning, Mrs. Walton.

-Thank you, Mrs. Walton.
-How's your family, Hawthorne?

Oh, hungry 24 hours a day
and growing like weeds.

-Mine, too.
-You know, the Gospel says...

"A man does not
live by bread alone."

I preach it
because I believe it.

My kids need
bread and meat. 287

-Hope you get a turkey today.
-Thank you, Mrs. Walton.

John-Boy, this being your first
hunt, I aim to wish you luck.

-Thank you, Grandpa.
-But you'll need more than luck.

Take this.

That's your gun, Grandpa.

That way, I figure I aim to be
part of this here hunt. Take it.

-Thank you.
-Use it well, son.

Let's go.

Reckless, settle down.

I could use a cup
of coffee, Grandpa.

- How about you?
- Hmm-mm.

-Come on, John-Boy.-I'm coming, Daddy.

Pick them up, boy!
Pick them up!

-What am I doing running?
-This is uphill.

Your daddy started it.

What are you trying to do, John?
Give me a heart attack?

I just felt like
lifting my heels.

No law says you have
to do the same, Charlie.

I swear, that fireplace will be
standing long after all of us.

Your great-great-granddaddy
built that fireplace.

-You know that, John-Boy?
-Yes, sir.

You ever seen him, Daddy?

No. He died long
before I was born. 311

He said he was the biggest
man he ever saw.

Coming to this country
with nothing but a mule, a plow

and a rifle.

They built men
in them pioneer days all right.

Big men, Charlie.

A man had to be his own
carpenter, doctor

hunter, undertaker...
you name it.

Been me, I'd gone back
and got on the first boat headed

for the old country.

I expect a few of my folks
did exactly that.

You joke about that, Hawthorne?

John, my folks had to learnto laugh to keep from crying.

Well, you can't blame that
on any of my family.

I come from a long
line of horse thieves.

Charlie, you know you come
from a long line of farmers...

and you know it well.

Don't spoil my reputation.

A girl wouldn't look
at an old dirt farmer...

but she'd dance all night
with a good-looking horse thief.

Right, let's load up
and hunt turkey.

-That what you say, boy?
-Yes, sir.

Is this okay, Mary Ellen?

Perfect.

You all are learning real fast.
336 00:24:39,712 --> 00:24:41,948

so we can go into the business
for ourselves?

You're still apprentices while
I teach you the junk business.

Ought to be ashamed of yourself,
Mary Ellen having Jim-Bob

and Elizabeth collect stuff
and you getting the money.

It's fair, Erin. We'll
all get to use the mitt.

Yeah, when she and G.W. Haines
aren't playing with it.

Elizabeth, just look
at your hands!

That's what soap is for,
Miss Prissy-Pants. 345

Mama, Mary Ellen's got Jim-Bob
and Elizabeth working for her.

She's got Elizabeth just filthy,
and now she's calling me names.

Mary Ellen, how can you possibly
manage so many things at once?

I'm a good organizer, Mama.

Listen to the noise
of that wagon.

It's like having
your own band.

Mrs. Walton, good morning.

Good morning, Jake.

So...

-You've been busy, Mary Ellen?
-Yes, sir.

Remarkable. Really remarkable.
357 00:26:18,410 --> 00:26:20,279

If I told you, you wouldn't
have to buy them from me.

If I ever thought of taking
in a partner

she'd be my first choice.

I'll give you 12 cents
for the lot.

-25 cents.
-15 cents.

Mama, look.

Don't get in the rain
in that thing.

Jake, you've been nice to me.

See it's gonna be reasonable.

22 cents.

22 cents!

If that's the way she treats a
person who's been nice to her...

17 cents. I'll lose money,
but money isn't everything.

Mama, Jim-Bob'smy husband.

20 cents and the parasol
and hat.

I should make her a partner
before she ruins me.

Alright. 20 cents.

The parasol and the hat.

Thanks, Mary Ellen!

Five...

ten...fifteen.

It's nice to know the richest
girl in the county.

Sixteen, seventeen.

And when I'm bankrupt,
don't feel too bad.

Eighteen...

nineteen...

twenty.

Thanks, Jake. I'll help you
load the stuff on the wagon.

Why don't you come in
for a cup of coffee, Jake?

I wouldn't mind.
I had cider with Ike... 388

What's new with Miss Emily
and Miss Mamie?

-They saw a bear last night.
-A bear?

They found blood, too.

-Means he's wounded.
-A wounded bear, Mama.

Likely it's gone
into the hills to die.

Don't worry. Don't worry.

Ah!

I think I've turned my ankle.

Don't appear to be
no broken bones.

Test your weight on it.

-Hurt bad?
-It's okay.

Look, son...

this isn't the only turkey hunt
we'll be having this year.

No use suffering.
403 00:29:40,046 --> 00:29:42,514

Don't want you
hurting yourself.

Daddy, I'm counting
on getting a turkey

and I'm gonna
be just fine.

Some crime been committed
up there?

I was just sneaking off
to the store, Mama.

Without a word to anyone?

I sort of wanted to go by
myself. It's more dreamy.

As well as selfish not to take
your brothers and sisters.

Mama, I never get
to be alone.

It is harder
to dream in a crowd.

-Go on.
-Thanks, Mama.

Reckless, what'reyou doing here?

You're supposed
to be tied up, boy.

What's he doing here?

Look, Daddy, it must've
been a rabbit.

What's left of it.

Bobcat, most likely.

-Or a fox.
-Hawk.

Whatever killed it,
didn't eat all of it.

I expect it was a fox then.

A fox will kill
just for the fun of it.

I've seen a fox many a times
worry a rabbit to death...

like a cat will a mouse.

Not many animals kill for the
sport of it, though, Charlie.

Don't it give you
a little quiver 429

No, sir.

I'm just thinking,
meat on the table.

Now, Reckless,
how'd you get out here, boy?

How'd you get out, huh?

What're you doing up here,
you old hound dog, you?

You alright, son?

Hundred percent.

Come on, Reckless, durn you.
Why don't you just get on home?

Go on now. Get!

Get! Go!

Sweet potatoes.

Thought they'd go
real good with turkey.

You're worse than John, roasting
your turkey before it's shot.

There's an old tom turkeyup on that mountain.

Must be near
as old as I am.

I sure hope they
don't bring that one.

Be tough as shoe leather.

If there's a turkey up there,
John'll bring it back.

Don't sell that
boy short, neither.

He has a Walton way
with a gun.

We are getting close.

You alright?

-He's your boy, John.
-No mistaking that.

This being John's first hunt...

why don't we let him
take the first shot?

-Certainly.
-Couldn't be no other way.

A plague take that
worthless son of Satan. 457

and you'd have had yourself
the granddaddy of all turkeys.

Don't fret. You'll get
another chance.

Now, boy. Now.

Now.

What happened?

I just can't do that.

You know, the first time I was
ever in water over my head...

Papa decided it was time
I learned to swim...

so he threw me in.

I'm not forcing you into deep
water before you're ready

am I, son?

You see, I am...

I'm just trying to understand,
maybe help you understand, too.

You know how I feel aboutkilling just for the sport

of killing, don't you?

I know.

I'm not one of the most
churchgoing men in the world.

But to me...

life is a mystery.

A sacred mystery.

Part of that mystery seems
to be the struggle

we all have to stay alive.

To keep life in ourselves
and in those we cherish...

sometimes we have to take life.

That's the way it is
with all living animals

right down through
the whole chain of life.

To me, that's what
this hunt's about.

Does it make any senseto you at all?

It makes perfect sense to me.

You want to try again? I'm not
forcing you. I'm just asking.

Daddy, I don't think it would
make one bit of difference.

I've found out
about myself now...

and I'm not
like you or Grandpa.

I'm just cowardly,
and I've shamed you.

Now you stop talking like that.

You stop talking like that now.

Not shooting some old turkey
don't make you a coward.

Sometimes it takes a sight more
guts not to do something...

if it goes againstyour feelings.

You're a Walton.

You're a Walton man...

and you've never done nothing
yet to shame me.

You understand?

I just don't know how I'm going
to explain to Grandpa.

Grandpa understands a lot more
than you think he does.

Well...

Charlie and Hawthorne
want to keep going, probably.

Well...

You mind if I just head on home?

Charlie, Hawthorne...

Well fellows, I reckon
I'll be heading on home now.

Ankle troubling you, son?

No, Charlie, not exactly.

John-Boy don't owe usany explanations.

No.

Y'all can stand around
and jaw if you want.

Me, I'm going
after that turkey.

It is a strutting beauty,
for sure.

Okay...

I'll see you at home.

I'll be danged if I'm not almost
as excited about this day

as you are, Mary Ellen.

It seems like I've been working
right along with you...

during all these weeks.

Fact is, I think I'm more
excited about it than you are.

You are excited, aren't you,
Mary Ellen?

Oh, I'm excited.

Well, it's yours.

All yours.
527 00:39:55,861 --> 00:39:59,765

I don't think it would look too
good with a catcher's mitt.

Catch doesn't seem to be the
game G.W. wants to play anymore.

Mr. Godsey, since
the price is the same

can I have this dress
instead of the mitt?

You want this dress?

Yeah.

Mary Ellen, open this door
at once.

What are you doing in here
with the curtains drawn?

What's that
you got on?

A new dress,
and I hate it.

Look at me, Mama.
Just look at me! 539

Did you ever in your life
see anything so pathetic?

That dress, it's....

It's not your style. It doesn't
bring out your best features.

That's for sure.
I'm a freak.

I better go run off
with a carnival.

I'm not like
other girls at all.

Mary Ellen,
you are not a freak.

You're a fine-looking girl.

Next door to being beautiful.

You only say that
because you're my mama.

Honey, listen...

trying to be somebody she's not
never makes a person happy. 552

That's for sure.

If you like yourself,
others are gonna like you, too.

-Even boys?
-Especially boys.

Mama, how come you're so smart
and I'm so dumb?

Come look
in the mirror.

Do you see anybody dumb
in there?

Mama, would you help me
get out of this thing?

- Sure.
- If I take it right back...

Mr. Godsey will let me trade
it in for my catcher's mitt.

Reckless.

Reckless.

Reckless! What happened, boy?

What happened?
566 00:43:50,395 --> 00:43:53,364

Here we go.

Down here.

That's alright.
Easy, boy. Easy.

Easy, Reckless.

Daddy?

You there? I'm here.

Daddy?

Daddy? You there?

John-Boy...

don't move.

Stay right where you are,
John-Boy.

You're a good man
to have around.

Grandpa's gonna have
a new story to tell.

Is Reckless okay?

Yeah.

Everybody's gonna be just fine.

- Mighty good turkey.
- Hmm.

Kids seemed to think so.

Tomorrow we'll have
a nice turkey hash.

Then turkey soup.
587 00:46:58,884 --> 00:47:00,485

What do you care?
You can't chew it.

I'll be found trying.

That was the biggest bear...

I've ever seen in all my born
days on the mountain.

One minute, Daddy
would be on top

the next minute,
the bear would be on top.

There was one time
I lost you altogether.

But I thought I was a goner,
I'll tell you.

Yeah. He's brought down
with your gun, Grandpa.

A good gun is a good gun. It's
the man behind it that counts.

And when it's a Waltonlike John-Boy....

Livie, these men will be sitting
here bragging all night...

if we don't take
the dishes away.

Where did Mary Ellen
get to?

Mary Ellen is with her
boyfriend.

That's right, I forgot.

Boyfriend? Mary Ellen?

She's too young for a boyfriend.

Come here
and take a look.

Good pitch, G.W.

That's G.W. He's no boyfriend,
he's just a friend.

Have to start somewhere.

I became not a hunter,
but a writer.

And I hope a source of some
pride to my father. 612

one must know why he hunts
or why he writes.

And the why of it all,
for me, lies in that house...

and in the memory of voices
that rise in the night...

and will sweetly
haunt my life forever.

John-Boy.

-What do you want, Elizabeth?
-You asleep yet?

-Not yet.
-What're you doing?

Thinking.

I'm proud you killed the bear,
John-Boy.

Me, too.

Good night, John-Boy.

Good night, honey.