I watched this episode when I was 15 and it was one of the most funny and touching episodes of the later seasons of All in the Family.
With Mike and Gloria gone as foils Archie did also mellow with age. However, when Archie finds out the little girl he and Edith have taken in is Jewish, he goes into full Archie mode, demanding that the girl be baptized into Christianity. As other characters argue that Stephanie will need to make this decision on her own Archie slowly accepts.
The little girl, Stephanie is not actually in the episode that much, but is aware of Archie's attitude. The final scene is on the porch of the Bunker house with Stephanie quietly sitting when Archie comes home. She asks if he is mad at her, and Archie tells her no that she has done nothing wrong. He then gives her a necklace, he picked up on the way home, that has a Star of David pendent The scene is very quiet, Archie puts it on Stephanie, she says it is pretty and Archie excuses himself to go inside. Just before he walks in he looks at Stephanie and tells her that "you have to love someone, to give them one of those. I mean you have to love everything about them"
The show ended there. The scene was very quiet but I will always remember it as one of the most touching things I ever saw on Television. You believed that Archie really did accept and love this little girl and he was becoming her father.
The genius of Archie Bunker's character is that he was a bigot, a misogynist and ill-tempered, but deep down he was a good man. His negative characteristics were the result of his upbringing not that he was a bad person. This episode beautifully showcased why despite it all, we love Archie Bunker.
With Mike and Gloria gone as foils Archie did also mellow with age. However, when Archie finds out the little girl he and Edith have taken in is Jewish, he goes into full Archie mode, demanding that the girl be baptized into Christianity. As other characters argue that Stephanie will need to make this decision on her own Archie slowly accepts.
The little girl, Stephanie is not actually in the episode that much, but is aware of Archie's attitude. The final scene is on the porch of the Bunker house with Stephanie quietly sitting when Archie comes home. She asks if he is mad at her, and Archie tells her no that she has done nothing wrong. He then gives her a necklace, he picked up on the way home, that has a Star of David pendent The scene is very quiet, Archie puts it on Stephanie, she says it is pretty and Archie excuses himself to go inside. Just before he walks in he looks at Stephanie and tells her that "you have to love someone, to give them one of those. I mean you have to love everything about them"
The show ended there. The scene was very quiet but I will always remember it as one of the most touching things I ever saw on Television. You believed that Archie really did accept and love this little girl and he was becoming her father.
The genius of Archie Bunker's character is that he was a bigot, a misogynist and ill-tempered, but deep down he was a good man. His negative characteristics were the result of his upbringing not that he was a bad person. This episode beautifully showcased why despite it all, we love Archie Bunker.
