There were lots of big things happening in this episode. The main plot was about Jim-Bob's graduation from high school, set in June 1944.
The first part dealt with the school's new substitute teacher, set just to finish the school year when nobody else could be found--Corabeth Godsey. She told Jim-Bob on her first day that if he did well on his final examination in science--his best subject--that he would have the highest grade point average and be the class valedictorian.
Jim-Bob, not eager to make a speech, didn't want to be valedictorian. He told people he planned to answer incorrectly on that exam on purpose. This upset his family members, who tried to get him to change.
Unlike most episodes, there wasn't really a second plot. There were several smaller stories--smaller in terms of the time devoted to them. Erin was concerned about not hearing from Ashley for a long time--then she finally did hear from him, but wished she didn't. Elizabeth got into a fight with her boyfriend Drew about his interest in the war lasting long enough for him to join the service. Ben got a surprise leave to visit home--but only because he was about to be shipped out to somewhere--he didn't know where. The family listened to the radio reports about the D-Day Invasion.
Corabeth struggled to get the class to be open to her ideas for graduation and was rather hurt that she seemed totally unappreciated--until she was shown appreciation and complimented from an unexpected source.
Jim-Bob wound up leading his classmates--in his class of 6--to make that year's graduation ceremony most memorable to everyone.
In the foreground of all the plots was how deeply WW II affected the lives of everyone, particularly the young men who served in the Armed Forces. The attitudes expressed here were, I'm sure, quite realistic in terms of typical young men of 1944, even if we in the 21st Century or those of us who grew up during the Vietnam War have some trouble understanding that attitude.
One thing that struck me as I watched was the thought that it was odd that this high school class would have 4 boys and 2 girls in their graduating class. From old class photos I have seen from that era, albeit larger schools, a school that just before the war that might have had 20 graduates, half boy, half girl, would, by 1944 be more likely to have 15 graduates, 11 girls and 4 boys, or maybe 12-3, as many, many young men enlisted before graduating, or went off to work replacing someone else who had gone off to fight.
It turns out there was a solid reason why Jim-Bob's class had the numbers they did, but I'll give away too much if I say more on that point.
In producing this series to proceed through WW II, this episode was more important to have than most and it stood out as a rather emotional episode, which is why I rated it a 9 out of 10.
The first part dealt with the school's new substitute teacher, set just to finish the school year when nobody else could be found--Corabeth Godsey. She told Jim-Bob on her first day that if he did well on his final examination in science--his best subject--that he would have the highest grade point average and be the class valedictorian.
Jim-Bob, not eager to make a speech, didn't want to be valedictorian. He told people he planned to answer incorrectly on that exam on purpose. This upset his family members, who tried to get him to change.
Unlike most episodes, there wasn't really a second plot. There were several smaller stories--smaller in terms of the time devoted to them. Erin was concerned about not hearing from Ashley for a long time--then she finally did hear from him, but wished she didn't. Elizabeth got into a fight with her boyfriend Drew about his interest in the war lasting long enough for him to join the service. Ben got a surprise leave to visit home--but only because he was about to be shipped out to somewhere--he didn't know where. The family listened to the radio reports about the D-Day Invasion.
Corabeth struggled to get the class to be open to her ideas for graduation and was rather hurt that she seemed totally unappreciated--until she was shown appreciation and complimented from an unexpected source.
Jim-Bob wound up leading his classmates--in his class of 6--to make that year's graduation ceremony most memorable to everyone.
In the foreground of all the plots was how deeply WW II affected the lives of everyone, particularly the young men who served in the Armed Forces. The attitudes expressed here were, I'm sure, quite realistic in terms of typical young men of 1944, even if we in the 21st Century or those of us who grew up during the Vietnam War have some trouble understanding that attitude.
One thing that struck me as I watched was the thought that it was odd that this high school class would have 4 boys and 2 girls in their graduating class. From old class photos I have seen from that era, albeit larger schools, a school that just before the war that might have had 20 graduates, half boy, half girl, would, by 1944 be more likely to have 15 graduates, 11 girls and 4 boys, or maybe 12-3, as many, many young men enlisted before graduating, or went off to work replacing someone else who had gone off to fight.
It turns out there was a solid reason why Jim-Bob's class had the numbers they did, but I'll give away too much if I say more on that point.
In producing this series to proceed through WW II, this episode was more important to have than most and it stood out as a rather emotional episode, which is why I rated it a 9 out of 10.
