Summary[]
Aunt Bee stages a protest when a farmer is threatened with eminent domain.
Plot[]
Local egg farmer Mr. Frisby comes by the Taylor House to give Opie his rooster Beau and Aunt Bee a moustache cup. He proceeds to explain that the county is running him off his property, so he's having to get rid of his belongings. Aunt Bee says that she will go to the courthouse to speak to Andy about the matter.
When Otis is leaving the courthouse, Barney and Andy try to ask him who his latest supplier is, but to no avail. Barney then decides to give Otis his version of the third degree, yelling in his face and doing what he can to intimidate him. When Aunt Bee arrives to speak to Andy, Otis seizes the chance to flee. Aunt Bee refuses to listen to Andy's explanation that, without the highway, emergency vehicles cannot access certain areas of the county quick enough to be effective. He also explains that Mr. Frisby is getting many times what the property is worth, in government money, and that Andy cannot change the court's decision. Aunt Bee then rants about the evils of "The County,” and the evils of thinking money can solve everything. Barney chimes in and is almost persuaded to join her side, until Andy reminds him that they're on the county's payroll.
Aunt Bee and Mr. Frisby get many of the local women on their side, eventually staging loud protests outside the courthouse, much to Andy's frustration and Barney's terror. The day of the eviction, the demonstrators block the bulldozer crew and refuse to move, demanding Andy go against the court's decision and save the farm. Opie, whom Aunt Bee brought along, hears Beau crowing strangely. He finds Beau, drunk, in the cellar of the henhouse. While Barney stalls the demonstrators, Andy investigates, and discovers that Mr. Frisby has six stills, one of the biggest moonshine operations in Mayberry. As soon as Andy explains this to the demonstrators, the tides turn; the lawmen have to rescue Mr. Frisby from the mob of enraged women, who now realize he was only playing on their sympathy to keep Andy from stopping his lucrative 'sideline'.
Later, Aunt Bee comes to the courthouse to apologize to Andy, but the two soon start arguing again over whether or not her actions were justified. Barney chimes in between every comment, until the other two become exasperated with him and tell him to leave.
Notes/Trivia[]
- Among the protest signs the women carry are "The County Has No Heart"; "Highways Are Killers"; "Is There No Mercy?"; "Don't Patronize This Jail"; "Stop The Land Grab"; and Aunt Bee's sign, "Sheriff Taylor Is Unfair."
- Barney quotes law #204: "Bribery, collusion, tampering with and/or intimidation of material witnesses."
- Mr. Frisby is hinted as having been the Taylor's butter and egg man for some time, though he is never shown before or after this episode.
Goofs[]
- The scene involving the drunken rooster (Beau) was staged with fishing lines, attached to the animal's tail and neck. In several frames, the fishing lines catch the light and are visible as the animal trainer pulls them, off-camera.
- Aunt Bee says they've been getting butter from Mr. Frisby for years. There are no cows on the Frisby farm, when we at last see it, however, and Andy only refers to him as a chicken and egg farmer.
Music[]
- The women sing a variation of the old hymn "I Shall Not be Moved.”
- Barney sings "Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
Quotes[]
- Otis: "Would you betray a trust?!"
Barney:(Slapping a ruler on the palm of his hand) "Where you gettin' it..where you gettin' it.....Where You Gettin' It.....WHERE ARE YOU GETTIN' IT???!!"