My Thoughts - The Andy Griffith Show: Citizen's Arrest (1963)

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Synopsis: After Barney (Don Knotts) writes Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) a ticket for making an illegal U-turn, Gomer turns the tables by conducting a "citizen's arrest" when he sees Barney do the same thing. Andy (Andy Griffith) attempts to diffuse the situation by writing Barney a $5 ticket he intends to pay himself, but an outraged Barney decides to take five nights in jail instead before handing in his letter of resignation.


My Thoughts -

It's probably sacrilegious to say it, but I just realized I don't like Gomer Pyle. To be clear, I think Jim Nabors was a national treasure so please don't confuse the two. I just can't stand his most famous character, at least when it's not in small doses. I think it's because everyone gives him a pass since he's always so good natured/simple minded even though this episode and others have proven he can also be kind of a jerk at times.

And don't even get me started on the citizens of Mayberry. Look, I know Barney has his irritating moments and has overstepped his authority on more than one occasion, but Gomer did break the law, and he was just doing his job. He didn't deserve their ridicule or the aggressive way they crowded him.

Andy didn't help either. I am going to be fair and say he did the only thing he thought he could do in the situation. However, he didn't need to take Gomer's side in front of everyone and could have just as easily asked both men to come to the courthouse so he could hear both sides in a calm and orderly manner before making a decision as justice of the peace.

That said, Barney did need to take a pill. In all honesty, he of all people should have understood doing things by the book and, given his personality, even been insisting on getting a ticket. The temper tantrum was unwarranted and maybe even out of character for him.

Otis (Hal Smith) doesn't get enough credit for his role in this series. His back-and-forth with Barney probably went on for a bit too long but was still hilarious. The way the two characters played off each other in these early seasons makes me believe Smith and Knotts could have carried a television series by themselves, perhaps as a pair of bumbling private investigators or something.

Gomer calls in a fake armed robbery and all he gets is a ticket? Either Mayberry is way too lenient on crimes like that, or Gomer was once again getting special treatment. Imagine if Andy had called in the state police for assistance before finding out the truth.

Final Opinion: Other than the scene with Otis and Barney, this is not a favorite episode of mine. Both Gomer and Barney do not come away from this looking good and Andy was in a no-win situation. It made me glad Nabors left the series at the end of the season.

My Grade: D

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Here are some of my other Andy Griffith Show-related entries:

The Andy Griffith Show - Where are Andy's Relatives?

Did The Andy Griffith Show's Mayberry Have a Serial Killer?

Thoughts From The Andy Griffith Show Episode Barney's Replacement (1961)

My Thoughts - The Andy Griffith Show: The Shoplifters (1964)

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