Ellie Comes to Town

Season 1 > • < Episode 4 >

Air Date

October 24, 1960

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Summary

When Mayberry's local pharmacist falls ill, his niece Ellie Walker steps in as a temporary replacement - and creates turmoil with the town's resident hypochondriac.

Quote

"I'm goin' downhill fast and you're the one that pushed me."
- Emma

Sequential Episode

4

Summary[]

When Mayberry's local pharmacist falls ill, his niece Ellie Walker steps in as a temporary replacement - and creates turmoil with the town's resident hypochondriac.

Plot[]

Ellie Walker comes to town to help her uncle Fred Walker run the drugstore while he is sick. Ellie is fresh out of pharmacy school (she has a "PhG,” so Andy calls her a "Pharmacy Gal") and a "by the book" kind of girl.

When Emma comes in and wants her pills, but doesn't have a prescription, Ellie won't give them to her. Emma reports this to Andy, as though she is being murdered. Andy tries to get Ellie to give Emma the pills, but she insists that the rules she's sworn to follow have to be followed. Emma develops all kinds of symptoms which indicate that she's going downhill fast. Ellie gives in and brings her some soup with her pills. Andy commends Ellie on coming around, but Ellie tells Andy that the pills are nothing more than a Placebo, just sugar, and it's all in Emma's mind.

Notes/Trivia[]

Barney attempts and fails to recite from memory the Sheriff's Rules, a gag repeated with The Preamble to the Constitution in episode 408 Opie's Ill-Gotten Gain.
This episode marks the first appearance of Ellie Walker, Andy's first love interest in the series. Andy usually seemed to gravitate toward educated, professional women.
Ellie's diploma bears the fictitious name "Bernard University.” Perhaps a reference to Barney Fife, whose name is actually Bernard.
Ellie's diploma also bears her full first name as "Elinor,” the same way Elinor Donahue spells it. The usual spelling is Eleanor.
This is the first time a character's name appears in the title of an episode.
Andy says that he was in France during The War. Since according to 319 Class Reunion, Andy didn't graduate high school until after 1946, it's highly unlikely he would have made it to France during the war.
In this episode, the license plate on the squad car is DC-269. It can be seen when Andy and Barney pull up to Emma's house to deliver Aunt Bee's soup. In every other episode where you can see the license plate to the squad car, the number is JL-327.
Emma said she voted for Andy in the last election.
Andy says the bill is $3.23, but he only rings up $3.21.
Key to the drug store is hidden above the door. Hopefully a passerby didn't see Andy getting it from there.
Wilson vs. Thorpe's Pharmacy is the fictitious lawsuit mentioned. "Wilson sues Thorpe for refusing to sell him arsenic to kill rats in his cellar. Pharmacist Thorpe claimed arsenic would be dangerous to Wilson's personal safety, as Wilson was not a responsible person. Wilson, however, proved beyond any doubt, that he was safe and responsible, won the case, and purchased his arsenic on Tuesday, May 4th. He was buried Friday, May 7th."
Emma Brand has moved since episode 2. She now lives across the street from the church instead of in the woods by the lake. The house she now lives in was referred to as "house facade #2" on the 40-acre lot and was two houses down from Andy's house (house facade #4).
The patrol car has a new license plate number. It is changed from JL 327 in episode 2 to DC 269 in this episode.
This is the last episode to have the lake scenery on the left side of the end credits.