The Andy Griffith Show Episode Review: “Opie and the Carnival”

My family and I attended a local carnival a couple weeks ago and, while playing some of the games, I ended up remembering this particular television episode, despite the fact I hadn’t seen it in a long while. So, when I had an opportunity to watch it last night, I just had to see it again.

Even though this episode, like many from the series, is a bit predictable, it is still one I do enjoy watching. This is because, while Andy never loses his good nature, you get a glimpse at just how far he’ll go when someone does something to his son. And, that’s coming from someone who hasn’t been afraid to question his parenting skills when watching other episodes.

All Andy had to do when he found his evidence was arrest the crooks or run them out of town. Instead, he took things much further than that and pretty much just ran them out of business before blackmailing them into letting Opie have another chance at winning the razor (and the fact he let Opie try to win it fair and square rather than just force them to give him an advantage was a nice touch). That, in many ways, was actually a little crueler than you would expect from the Sheriff of Mayberry.

Of course, considering I did just go to a carnival myself, I also couldn’t help but get a bit of a kick out of the prices. I ended up laughing a bit when I heard it was 25 cents for a chance to win and that was only because they were forced to raise their prices. Considering the games our kids played were $3 or more and the prizes weren’t anywhere near as good, it was definitely something I found note-worthy, along with Opie being out more than 3 months-worth of allowance and only spending a little over $3. I wish we could have said the same after our carnival trip.

This is a great episode that really sticks with you if you see it. I know I enjoyed watching it again last night and would definitely watch it again in the future.

My Grade: A