Summary[]
Barney continuously interrupts Andy's vacation plans.
Plot[]
Andy has become uncharacteristically short-tempered. After he yells at Barney for no reason, and fines a quarrelsome couple $10 (which he knows they can't afford) for Disturbing the Peace, he admits he has simply become overworked and exhausted. Barney has been expecting this, as Andy failed to take his scheduled vacation days earlier in the year. He convinces Andy to take a vacation immediately and let Gomer be his stand-in.
Andy plans to spend a week at home resting and reading the National Geographic. However, Barney calls him back to the Courthouse to inspect Gomer's uniform. Later, Barney and Gomer get locked in a cell, and Andy must return to let them out. Various Mayberry citizens call Andy at home to inquire whether he is sick, or to ask for Andy's help, questioning Barney and Gomer's authority. Finally, Barney and Gomer become handcuffed together and come to Andy's house for help. After they leave, Andy takes Aunt Bee's advice, and goes camping in a remote part of the mountains for his vacation.
Meanwhile, state police capture an escaped convict, and leave him in Barney and Gomer's custody. While Gomer and Barney argue over whether or not to call Andy for help, the convict steals Otis' key (Gomer forgot to take it off the ring) and escapes into the mountains. He encounters Andy, who recognizes his prison attire, ties him to a tree, and heads off to find the nearest Ranger Station for help. He also switches coats with the convict, as his own is heavier/more comfortable for someone waiting outdoors.
Barney and Gomer, pursuing the criminal, don't recognize the heavy coat - the criminal hides his face, and they cut him loose. Barney later attacks Andy, mistaking him for the criminal. Once the truth is revealed, Andy, Gomer, and Barney split up to find the criminal. Gomer catches Barney by mistake, and Andy catches the convict, much to Barney's humiliation.
Andy convinces Barney that he is the one who really needs a vacation, after all he's been through, and Barney decides to spend a week in Raleigh. However, this was Andy's ploy to make sure Barney does not interrupt his own rest; he finally settles back behind the Sheriff's desk to read the National Geographic in peace.
Trivia/Notes[]
- Allan Melvin, who plays the escaped convict, appeared as an Army recruiter earlier the same season in the episode Ernest T. Bass Joins the Army. He appeared in eight episodes of the show over its eight seasons.
- Law #302 is disturbing the peace, #710 is assault with a deadly weapon.
- $10 dollars in 1964, is the same as $89.70, as of 2022.
- Only in Mayberry can a live chicken be considered a "Deadly Weapon"; Maudie throws one at her husband Naylor after he refused to eat the dinner she cooked.
- This is the second time that Barney mentions that he has been a Deputy Sheriff for Ten Years.
- After Andy unlocks the handcuffs, Gomer never takes the apple that he wanted.
Goofs[]
Music[]
Quotes[]
Andy: You been talking to that old German again?
Barney: Now look Andy, Old Hugo Hopfleisch might have been on the wrong team back in '18, but he's was a heck of a soldier.
Barney: Well you just bring him in. We'll give him maximum security.
Gomer: What's maximum security?
Barney: That's keys in the drawer.
Gallery[]
