Jinx, The (TAGS Episode)
Contents
Episode Info
The Jinx
- S2.E17
- Filmed: 49
- Aired: 49
- Original Air Date: 1962/01/29
- Writer(s): Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart
- Director: Bob Sweeney
Plot Summary
Barney gets the whole town on guard when he declares Henry Bennett to be a jinx. No matter how Andy tries to convince the town otherwise, Bennett's mere presence seems to consistently coincide with disaster. Even Andy gives up after a drawing fixed in Bennett's favor fails. Andy then explains to him that a man with as many friends as he has must be lucky.
Summary
The episode begins in Floyd's barbershop, where Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) is engaged in a game of checkers against Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear). Henry Bennett (John Qualen), a quiet and unassuming Mayberry resident, stands behind Barney, innocently observing the game. When Barney makes a poor move and loses, he irrationally blames Henry for "hexing" him and declares Henry a jinx. This accusation quickly spreads through the town like wildfire, fueled by Barney's superstitious nature and the townsfolk's tendency to gossip.
As the rumor takes hold, various mishaps occur whenever Henry is nearby, seemingly reinforcing the jinx label. For instance, small accidents and bad luck befall those around him, leading the community to shun Henry out of fear. Feeling ostracized and dejected, Henry decides he has no choice but to leave Mayberry to avoid causing further trouble. The townspeople, realizing the hurt they've caused, begin to feel remorse for their hasty judgments.
Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith), ever the voice of reason, steps in to rectify the situation. He aims to prove that Henry isn't a jinx and restore his self-confidence. Andy invites Henry on a fishing trip with himself and Barney, hoping to demonstrate that nothing bad will happen. However, complications arise when their boat sinks during the outing, which even makes Andy momentarily question the superstition. Undeterred, Andy devises a clever plan involving the entire town: they stage a series of "lucky" events around Henry to convince him that his supposed bad luck has turned around. This ruse includes fabricated good fortunes and community support, ultimately succeeding in making Henry feel valued and lucky again.
By the episode's end, Henry decides to stay in Mayberry, the superstition is debunked, and the town learns a lesson about kindness and avoiding unfounded rumors.
Odd Facts Known by Few
- Actor John Qualen appeared in the 1940 film "The Grapes Of Wrath."
- This is the first appearance of Ron Howard's younger brother Clint Howard on the show. He plays an uncredited boy at the church social.
- Barney quotes his pseudoscientific explanation of jinxes: "There are atmospheric rays which control bodily motions... And that is a scientific fact!" Andy's retort dismisses it as "the biggest crock of nothin' I ever heard!"
- Barney's shirt changes color from dark to light just before the boat sinks in the fishing scene (a clear continuity/editing mistake).
- Shallow lake reveal: When the boat "sinks," Andy, Barney, and Henry stand up, revealing the water is only about waist-deep).
- This is the second time Andy has had a rowboat that sank. In The Manhunt (S1.E2), his boat, Gertrude, sprang a leak on a regular basis. Andy said he had to caulk it often. The boat sank when a convict tried using it to escape to the other side of the lake. The boat in this episode is not the same boat that appeared in "The Manhunt.”
- In "The Manhunt," Andy's boat was much smaller and had a flattened nose. It was barely big enough for Andy and Opie to sit in. The boat in this episode seats 3 people and has a pointed nose that adds 2 or 3 more feet of length to the boat.
- When Barney asks for an oar, a close-up reveals that there is one near his foot which he could have grabbed.
- This is the first (and essentially only) time it's explicitly stated that Opie has red hair. Barney rubs Opie's head while saying that rubbing a redhead wards off bad luck. Since the series was in black-and-white, viewers couldn't otherwise tell.
- The very first shot of a couple walking past the barbershop window and the man glancing inside is reused directly from the previous episode, "The Manicurist."
- Special filming location for boat scene: The boat-sinking sequence was shot in a shallow 4-foot-deep lake (just across Ballona Creek from the 40 Acres backlot in Los Angeles) specifically chosen so the actors could safely stand up after the "sinking" and because entering the Franklin Reservoir was an issue because it provided drinking water to parts Los Angeles. This smaller body of water was previously used in early Tarzan films.
- Floyd mentions his son Norman missing a fly ball in a baseball game (blaming the jinx). Norman is never seen or mentioned again. The show has broader inconsistencies with Floyd's family—another son Randall appears in a later episode, a wife named Melba is referenced elsewhere, yet Floyd is portrayed as single/childless in "Floyd, the Gay Deceiver."
- This is one of the rare times we see rain in Mayberry.
- The 1999 song "Man With the Hex,” by Atomic Fireballs, quotes parts of Barney's spell-breaking chant almost verbatim in its lyrics. It does not quote the entire incantation. The Man with the Hex is a rhythm and blues song that features on the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode Big Scare in the Big Easy, and also the soundtrack to the 2002 film Scooby-Doo: The Movie where it was also featured as a chase song. It was written by John Bunkley and recorded by The Atomic Fireballs.
- The church lottery winning number of 44 that everyone has on their ticket may be an homage to Andy's movie "A Face In The Crowd" in which Walter Matthau is repeatedly called "Vanderbilt 44" by Andy's character, Lonesome Rhodes.
Quotes
BARNEY: "Fly away buzzard. Fly away crow, way down South where the winds don't blow. Rub your nose, and give two winks, and save us from this awful jinx."
--
BARNEY: "There are atmospheric rays which control bodily motions. Now, if a person containing negative or hexin' qualities gets between you and them rays, why, he creates a static that jars any successful motion into an unsuccessful motion and jinxes ya! And *that* is a scientific fact!"
ANDY: And that is also the biggest crock of nothing I ever heard.
--
BARNEY: Wink'um pink'um,
nodamus rex,
protect us all,
from the man with the hex
--
BARNEY: Come fish come, come fish come,
Sam's at the gate, with a frosted cake,
come fish come.
Fly away buzzard, fly away crow,
way down South where the winds don't blow.
Rub your nose, and give two winks,
and save us from this awful jinx
More Information
Character List
- Andy Griffith - Andy Taylor
- Don Knotts - Barney Fife
- Ronny Howard - Opie Taylor
- Frances Bavier - Aunt Bee Taylor
- Howard McNear - Floyd Lawson
- John Qualen - Henry Bennett
- Sherwood Keith - Sam
- Frank Warren - Art
- Sherman Sanders - square dance caller
- Clint Howard - Leon (uncredited)
