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The Worst Episodes of The Waltons

Every episode of The Waltons ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of The Waltons!

The Waltons live their life in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II.
Genre:Drama
Network:CBS

Worst Episodes Summary

"The Tempest" is the worst rated episode of "The Waltons". It scored 5.4/10 based on 141 votes. Directed by Gabrielle Beaumont and written by N/A, it aired on 2/5/1981. This episode scored 0.4 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Changeling".

  • The Tempest
    5.4/10141 votes
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    #1 - The Tempest

    Season 9 Episode 10 - Aired 2/5/1981

    Mary Ellen finds out that Curt is still alive. He is living in Florida but is quite the different person from the man she remembers. J.D. asks Erin to come back to work by begging Erin.

    Director: Gabrielle Beaumont

    Writer: N/A

  • The Changeling
    5.8/10192 votes
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    #2 - The Changeling

    Season 7 Episode 5 - Aired 10/26/1978

    Just before Elizabeth's 13th birthday, she becomes reluctant to grow up and creates a poltergeist. Jason starts a new job as a radio talk show host giving advice to the lovelorn.

    Director: Lawrence Dobkin

    Writer: Robert Pirosh

  • The Portrait
    6.1/10126 votes
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    #3 - The Portrait

    Season 7 Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1978

    Erin is both attracted and repelled by a brooding artist who is here from Paris. As part of a war-time mural on the wall of an old house the artist asks to paint Erin's portrait.

    Director: Ralph Senensky

    Writer: N/A

  • The Starlet
    6.5/10104 votes
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    #4 - The Starlet

    Season 8 Episode 5 - Aired 10/18/1979

    The film company comes to Walton's Mountain and Pickett plant is used for a war-time documentary. Erin is convinced by the director that she has potential in Hollywood.

    Director: Philip Leacock

    Writer: N/A

  • The Pursuit
    6.5/10134 votes
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    #5 - The Pursuit

    Season 9 Episode 6 - Aired 1/1/1981

    Jim-Bob's ex-girlfriend comes to Walton's Mountain saying that Jim-Bon is the father of her baby. In the Pacific, Ben is still a POW.

    Director: Philip Leacock

    Writer: N/A

  • The Diploma
    6.6/10118 votes
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    #6 - The Diploma

    Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1979

    Mary Ellen subs as the county nurse. John tries to prove to the army that he really did graduate from high school. John can not find his diploma so he takes another test.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Journal
    6.6/10100 votes
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    #7 - The Journal

    Season 8 Episode 6 - Aired 10/25/1979

    A publisher asks permission from John and Olivia about printing the new book that John-Boy wrote in Europe. Jeff does not want Reckless put to sleep after Reckless becomes sick.

    Director: Philip Leacock

    Writer: N/A

  • The Victims
    6.6/10113 votes
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    #8 - The Victims

    Season 9 Episode 16 - Aired 3/19/1981

    The Waltons help a woman who's husband beats her when he is drunk. Jim-Bob decides he will make a fortune by investing in war surplus.

    Director: Lawrence Dobkin

    Writer: N/A

  • The Lumberjack
    6.6/10105 votes
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    #9 - The Lumberjack

    Season 9 Episode 20 - Aired 5/21/1981

    A member of a influential family named Paul Matthews Northridge brings mystery & romance to Erin.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Unthinkable
    6.7/1098 votes
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    #10 - The Unthinkable

    Season 8 Episode 14 - Aired 1/3/1980

    There's a recruit working for Jason's company who is Jewish. He tells how his grandfather was arrested and killed by German soldiers in Warsaw.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Pledge
    6.7/10111 votes
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    #11 - The Pledge

    Season 9 Episode 3 - Aired 12/4/1980

    Mary Ellen feels inadequate as a nurse to help Mountain folk. Against the Dean's advice, Mary Ellen applies for medical school.

    Director: Lawrence Dobkin

    Writer: N/A

  • The Whirlwind
    6.7/10119 votes
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    #12 - The Whirlwind

    Season 9 Episode 9 - Aired 1/22/1981

    Mary Ellen agrees to marry Jonesey but finds out that Curt might very well be alive. The Dew Drop Inn is reopened by Jason.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Indiscretion
    6.7/10116 votes
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    #13 - The Indiscretion

    Season 9 Episode 18 - Aired 5/7/1981

    Corabeth finds Ike's old love letters and files for a divorce. Drew wants to spend a romantic night with Elizabeth.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Burden
    6.8/10111 votes
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    #14 - The Burden

    Season 7 Episode 16 - Aired 1/25/1979

    After a car jack slips and falls and Jim-Bob escapes serious injury, Jim-Bob decides to become a minister.

    Director: Harry Harris

    Writer: N/A

  • The Lost Sheep
    6.8/1099 votes
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    #15 - The Lost Sheep

    Season 8 Episode 7 - Aired 11/1/1979

    Ashley Longworth Jr. comes back and asks Erin to be his wife. She has some serious doubts after he says he has lost his faith in God.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Remembrance
    6.8/10104 votes
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    #16 - The Remembrance

    Season 8 Episode 17 - Aired 1/24/1980

    Zadoc Walton, Zeb's cousin, arrives to keep a 21 year old promise and makes a surprising contribution to Boatwright University.

    Director: Herbert Hirschman

    Writer: Marion Hargrove

  • The Elopement
    6.9/10144 votes
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    #17 - The Elopement

    Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 1/13/1977

    Erin's 1st love, Chad Marshall, comes back and asks Erin to be his wife. She agrees but John emphatically says no so Erin and Chad run off to elope.

    Director: Harry Harris

    Writer: N/A

  • The Seashore
    6.9/10143 votes
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    #18 - The Seashore

    Season 6 Episode 5 - Aired 10/20/1977

    The Waltons have an encounter with a strange English girl while on a small vacation at the Baldwin sister's beach cottage. Ben stays home alone expecting to live the life of a carefree bachelor.

    Director: Lawrence Dobkin

    Writer: Marion Hargrove

  • The Children's Carol
    6.9/10128 votes
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    #19 - The Children's Carol

    Season 6 Episode 12 - Aired 12/15/1977

    Two British children escape the London Blitz to find safety in Walton's Mountain with the Baldwins and the Waltons for Christmas. Meanwhile, Jason contemplates whether he can fight in the impending war, and Olivia has a faith crisis as she can't understand how God could allow war.

    Director: Philip Leacock

    Writer: Kathleen Hite

  • The Obsession
    6.9/10118 votes
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    #20 - The Obsession

    Season 7 Episode 4 - Aired 10/19/1978

    Mary Ellen gets prescription drugs and abuses them in order to study long hours for her Nurse's exam. Cissy Tucker Yancy Tucker's wife has had enough and she puts her foot down.

    Director: Gwen Arner

    Writer: N/A

  • The Silver Wings
    6.9/10129 votes
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    #21 - The Silver Wings

    Season 8 Episode 10 - Aired 11/29/1979

    Jim-Bob meets Betsy, a married woman and falls in love with her while delivering her a package.

    Director: Stan Lathan

    Writer: N/A

  • The Premonition
    6.9/10104 votes
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    #22 - The Premonition

    Season 9 Episode 5 - Aired 12/25/1980

    Cindy has bad dreams about Ben, who becomes a POW. John-Boy falls in love with a french girl in Paris who runs a book shop.

    Director: Bernard McEveety

    Writer: N/A

  • The Threshold
    6.9/10110 votes
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    #23 - The Threshold

    Season 9 Episode 17 - Aired 4/2/1981

    John-Boy comes home to ponder his future and he ends up doing a TV show for Boatwright University. Rose is given a run for her money by Zuleika Dunbar over the affection of Stanley.

    Director: Herbert Hirschman

    Writer: N/A

  • The Hostage
    6.9/10124 votes
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    #24 - The Hostage

    Season 9 Episode 21 - Aired 5/28/1981

    A 14 year old girl is promised marriage in mountain tradition. Mary Ellen interferes and the bride-groom kidnaps Elizabeth to get his bride back. Octavia, an eccentric cousin of the Baldwins, is treated to a visit by him.

    Director: Herbert Hirschman

    Writer: N/A

  • The Innocents
    7.0/10101 votes
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    #25 - The Innocents

    Season 8 Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/1979

    Olivia says the mountain needs a day nursery for children of defense plant workers. Corabeth thinks that Ike has a girlfriend when she sees Rose teaching him to dance.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A