Edith's Crisis of Faith

"Edith's Crisis of Faith" is a two-part episode of the U.S. sitcom All in the Family. It aired as the 13th and 14th episodes of season 8 in 1977.

Production

The episode saw the third and final appearance of Beverly LaSalle (played by Lori Shannon), after "Archie the Hero" (where Archie Bunker saves her life) and “Beverly Rides Again” (where she invites the Bunkers out to dinner).

Plot

After Beverly, a transvestite and recurring character, is murdered a few days before Christmas (the result of a gay bashing), Edith Bunker has a crisis of faith and begins to wonder how God would allow people to punish one of his children. She believes that all people are worthy of love and feels a sense of loss and sadness at the tragic event, and doesn't understand it.

Critical reception and analysis

Pop Matters thought this episode highlighted the "social stigma against trans(sic) persons, an act of injustice emphasized by Edith's inability to understand humanity's rejection of people like her dear friend."[1] NewNowNext thought the storyline was groundbreaking for 1975 and even by 2016 standards.[2] The Queer Encyclopedia of Film and Television deemed the episode "daring and disturbing".[3] DVDTalk notes that while Edith notes that while Beverly was killed because of "who she was", the episode is coy about define what that is, and argues that an earlier episode would have hit the gay-bashing aspect of this violent crime head on.[4] The Age of Netflix argues that by choosing to air both parts of the episode on Christmas night 1977, the episode " massively recalibrates the episode's affective stakes" by forcing viewers to associate the holiday with a time to "(mourn) queer loss".[5]

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References
  1. "Beyond Jodie Dallas: TV's 10 Most Important LGBT Characters". PopMatters. 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  2. "#TBT: The First Drag Queen On Network Television". LOGO News. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  3. Summers, Claude (2012-04-24). The Queer Encyclopedia of Film and Television. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781573448826.
  4. "All in the Family: The Complete Eighth Season". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  5. Barker, Cory; Wiatrowski, Myc (2017-08-25). The Age of Netflix: Critical Essays on Streaming Media, Digital Delivery and Instant Access. McFarland. ISBN 9781476630236.
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