This was interesting in that it was Gomer Pyle's only onscreen return to Mayberry from the time he enlisted until the reunion movie, twenty odd years later. Still, there were some points I wasn't sure about.
Gomer had supposedly lived his entire life in this little town. He went to school there, he was in the church choir, he dealt with everyone who needed gas put in a car. Didn't he have anyone else that he might have wanted to visit, after being away for four years, besides Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober? Where were his family members and his school and church friends and the people he dealt with at work?
And couldn't he yell for the bus driver to stop when he saw Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober, from out the window? Gomer was wearing a marine uniform and the bus driver was presumably an honorable, patriotic public servant. He would have stopped for Gomer. Gomer was still close enough to walk, or even to sprint since he was a trained marine, to where Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober stood, and to arrive there before they finished unloading their car. If nothing else, Gomer could have gotten off the bus at the next stop and taken another bus back to Mayberry, now that he knew that Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober were back in town.
Since, to the best of my knowledge, no one ever mentioned the incidents in this episode again, I'll assume that Gomer did ultimately figure out that he could get off the bus and he did spend a pleasurable few days with Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober. I couldn't bring myself to think that the happy ending was so close but that the obvious didn't occur to Gomer.
Gomer had supposedly lived his entire life in this little town. He went to school there, he was in the church choir, he dealt with everyone who needed gas put in a car. Didn't he have anyone else that he might have wanted to visit, after being away for four years, besides Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober? Where were his family members and his school and church friends and the people he dealt with at work?
And couldn't he yell for the bus driver to stop when he saw Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober, from out the window? Gomer was wearing a marine uniform and the bus driver was presumably an honorable, patriotic public servant. He would have stopped for Gomer. Gomer was still close enough to walk, or even to sprint since he was a trained marine, to where Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober stood, and to arrive there before they finished unloading their car. If nothing else, Gomer could have gotten off the bus at the next stop and taken another bus back to Mayberry, now that he knew that Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober were back in town.
Since, to the best of my knowledge, no one ever mentioned the incidents in this episode again, I'll assume that Gomer did ultimately figure out that he could get off the bus and he did spend a pleasurable few days with Andy, Aunt Bee, Opie and Cousin Goober. I couldn't bring myself to think that the happy ending was so close but that the obvious didn't occur to Gomer.