This is the only episode of TAGS that I really disliked from the time of its first broadcast, when I was in my teens. For one thing, I just wasn't comfortable with the implicit sexualizing of Andy. I wanted him to stay safely PG-rated (though that rating system didn't exist at the time, of course!).
But the other reason this episode bothered me so much was that we were hearing a lot of horrible true stories coming out of the South back then involving racial & sexual abuses of prisoners in small-town jails. That was a time when someone could be made to disappear permanently by a cop allowed to misuse his authority and when sexual favors could be demanded behind a small town's code of silence. Think "In The Heat of the Night". To this day, I won't/can't watch that episode. I still think it's totally distasteful and very inappropriate to the TAGS series. HistoryBuff P.S. I apologize for all the "=" signs that showed up in Thelma Lou's original post. I have no idea what caused it. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janet Anderson" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 10:30 PM Well, there's been some discussion lately about the "Prisoner of Love" =pisode, so I decided to re-watch that one and think about Holland's =uestion. I have found it interesting to note the differences in how =en and women have responded so far. It seems to me that Harvey =ullock, the writer, was intentionally vague as to Andy's motive for =eturning to the court house. However, I'll offer my own opinion. Obviously, both Andy and Barney are initially smitten with the lady =risoner. But I think the turning point comes when Andy leaves the =ourt house and goes home. He realizes that he needs to separate =imself from the temptation. While he's at home, he's turning all this =ver in his mind (Aunt Bee says he's restless). Yes, as a man, Andy =ppreciates the woman's beauty and the scent of her perfume. But he's =lso thinking about the fact that she is a criminal and he is the =heriff. He may be mulling over how she tried to manipulate him and how =e nearly fell into her trap. And he's probably thinking that if he =early did, Barney was sure to! Andy is no fool. He's always a keen =udge of character, so I don't think he would allow himself to get into = dangerous situation with the woman twice. Rather, I think Andy =ealized that leaving Barney alone with that woman was not a good idea. =es, Andy may have wanted to see her again, but I don't think that was =is primary motive for returning to the court house. I have always found this to be a curious episode, and I wonder if Mr. =ullock purposely wanted to show a weaker side of Andy and expose some =ulnerability that we don't normally see by using a very attractive and =ubtly manipulative woman. I can understand that, intellectually. =till, I find Andy out of character in this episode. We expect Barney =o be easy prey to a wily woman, but not Andy. And then there are the ethical and legal issues. Was it appropriate for = male officer to be alone with a female prisoner? It wasn't in "Andy =nd the Woman Speeder" from season two. Remember, Andy said a female =risoner had to have a matron at the jail, so he brought in Aunt Bee. =ut that is overlooked in this episode (glaringly so). Also, what =harges would Andy have been subject to if he had not been interrupted =y Barney and had actually kissed the prisoner? Seems to me that would =ave been pretty serious. I think Andy lives by the maxim, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me =wice, shame on me." He wouldn't have returned to the court house to =eliberately fall into the prisoner's very alluring trap. Thelma Lou (Janet) _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list [email protected] http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
