While many long-running series don’t always get the perfect send-off, “The Waltons” series finale was close to perfect.
The final episode is called “The Revel” and features elements of closure and sentimental sweetness. John-Boy returns home after some time away to help find some writing inspiration. He discovers that his time in New York has really removed him from what matters most.
He calls the family mountain the “touchstone to the strength each of us carries within ourselves.”
Earl Hamner Jr., the creator of “The Waltons,” found strength and support in his family. He even trusted his son, Scott Hamner, enough to write the series finale for the show his father deeply treasured.
In the biography, “Earl Hamner: From Walton’s Mountain to Tomorrow,” Scott Hamner talks about how massive of an honor it was to write “The Revel.” Scott’s goal for the finale was not only to wrap things up but also get to the bottom of all the life lessons and core values “The Waltons” preached.
This included the “core values espoused in the show: the celebration of family and the rising above individual differences for the greater good.”
He must have done a decent enough job, seeing as Earl Hamner Jr. had called the series finale his favorite. This likely is because he had his son write it and Hamner had a massive connection to his family.
‘The Waltons’ Connection to Family
In an interview with Nostalgic Magazine, Earl Hamner Jr. opened up about how the show was kind of a parallel to his real-life values. Some fans see Hamner bringing his son in on the show to Walton’s Mountain as a way to blend all of his worlds into one seamless unit.
“I’ve really had three families. I’ve had the family I was born into, my television family, and the family I made with my wife,” Hamner Jr. said.
He is the real-life John-Boy, so it makes sense that he would involve his family in the story-making process.
Although Scott Hamner wrote the episode, his father’s voice and presence are laced into every moment. He even narrates the closing moments of the finale with some of the most serene and calming words, “I hope that you’ll remember this house as I do. The sound of warm voices drifting out upon the night air. A family waiting, and a light in the window.”
There was no comparable feeling for Earl Hamner Jr. to get to finish his show with his son.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Earl Hamner Jr. had his family by his side until the very end. Scott said his dad was surrounded by his family at the Cedars Sinai Hospital when he passed away in 2016. The song “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver was playing.
