All in the Family SE01 EP06 - "Gloria's Pregnancy"

Episode Name: Gloria's Pregnancy (also known as Gloria Has a Belly Full)
Original Airdate: February 16, 1971

Gloria and Edith come back from the doctor's with good news - Gloria's pregnant. At first, Michael panics, as he has no job, he's currently going to school, and they don't have their own apartment. When Archie accuses Michael of being irresponsible for getting his daughter pregnant under these circumstances, Michael decides to quit school, get a job, and move out of the Bunkers' house.

Edith tells Archie that he should be happier about the fact he'll be a grandfather, but Archie can't get over how irresponsible he sees the whole thing. After a day in thought, Archie decides to embrace the fact he'll have a grandchild, but then learns that Gloria had a miscarriage.

Heartbroken, he talks to his daughter, resting in bed, and reaffirms his love for her.

Archie receiving the news

Gloria and Archie talking

This was a rather emotional episode, which is to be expected when dealing with pregnancies and miscarriages. That said, the vocal point was far more on Archie's reaction to the news as opposed to Gloria and Michael's plans to move out of the Bunkers' house.

We did see some humanity from Archie, which I don't know if we've seen before. Once he quiets down and listens to the news of the miscarriage, he truly does appear heartbroken. Though he's not an emotive person, he does do what he can to express how he feels to Gloria. That said, it doesn't excuse the dismissive way he consistently treats Edith or his son-in-law, as far as I'm concerned.

Michael shows here that he is willing to put his education on the backburner to make a good life for children he and Gloria may have. That said, I think things would be better should they wait until Michael graduates.

It was a pretty decent episode, though I did prefer the previous one's topic matter more. Still, this was well-done.

Quote of the episode:

Archie: "In my day, nobody went around calling themselves 'Chicanos,' 'Mexican-Americans,' 'Afro-Americans.' We was all Americans. After that, if a guy was a jig or a spic it was his own business."

Rating: Above Average

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