The second of the three 1990s reunions for "The Waltons" TV series finds the Virginia mountain clan preparing for eldest son John-Boy's wedding in 1964. This time around, the writers wisely avoid trying to give subplots to each of the now-grown Walton children (most of these former child actors are now much less natural on-camera) and sticks to members of the family who can carry a story: John-Boy (Richard Thomas), John (Ralph Waite), and Olivia (Michael Learned). While the wedding preparations are going on, budding feminist Olivia enrolls in college and finds some prejudice against older students, while county commissioner John is caught in the middle of a minor scandal when he's forced to vote on a project in which the Walton lumber mill has an interest.
The script is less sappy than the last time-around, but there are also far fewer cameos from all the Waltons' friends and neighbors, which is a bit of a shame. Also, Richard Thomas wears a distracting pageboy hairdo which looks completely out of place for the early 60s, and Michael Learned seems to have lost some of the warmth that made Olivia such a wonderful character in the series (at one point, she refers to a fellow student as a "twit"!). The usually-wonderful Holland Taylor seems out of place on the mountain as the meddling aunt of John-Boy's bride-to-be.
But these are nitpicks. This is a solid effort that will entertain even casual fans of the original series.
The script is less sappy than the last time-around, but there are also far fewer cameos from all the Waltons' friends and neighbors, which is a bit of a shame. Also, Richard Thomas wears a distracting pageboy hairdo which looks completely out of place for the early 60s, and Michael Learned seems to have lost some of the warmth that made Olivia such a wonderful character in the series (at one point, she refers to a fellow student as a "twit"!). The usually-wonderful Holland Taylor seems out of place on the mountain as the meddling aunt of John-Boy's bride-to-be.
But these are nitpicks. This is a solid effort that will entertain even casual fans of the original series.