"The Slow Child"

"The Slow Child"
January 24, 1978
B

Dan E. Weisburd, who has very few IMDB credits overall, wrote this episode that plays off of and subverts the predatory!Lenny that we've seen so much of in Season Three.  Mrs. Babish's 18-year-old daughter Amy visits from the "special school" she attends.  In the terms of the time (early '60s, although late '70s, too), she is "retarded," although she's described as being at an 8th-grade level, even if her overprotective mother treats her like she's six.  Both Amy and Mrs. Babish grow up in this episode, and Garrett does some fine acting, including when she's angry with the girls for recognizing that Amy is a young woman, not a little girl.

Lenny, who had to take Remedial Reading a few times in school, is drawn to Amy, not just because she's pretty but because she's nice and playful.  When Squiggy calls her a "retard" and a "dummy," Lenny gets genuinely angry, although the boys make up later, ironically calling each other "stupid" as they shake hands.  It's implied that Mrs. Babish is afraid that Lenny will rape Amy if he's alone with her, although Laverne says you just have to tell him no.  He's actually very sweet with Amy, and she kisses him, following the instructions the girls gave her (on one of Shirley's spare autographed pictures of Fabian).  He even loans her his Lone Wolf jacket, and says that he's never let anyone else wear it before.

Meanwhile, it's St. Patrick's Day, despite the January airdate.  The girls have a party, where they do an Irish dance with Carmine.  And he serenades Shirley with "Danny Boy."  This puts the audience in a sentimental mood, and then Mrs. Babish encourages Lenny to dance with Amy.  So it's understandable that I teared up watching the scene today.

Surprisingly, Linda Gillin, who plays Amy, would come back only nine months later as a completely different character, Denise.  Of course, I can't remember if Amy (or any of Mrs. Babish's other four kids) is ever mentioned again, although they would be Laverne's step-siblings for a few years.

Note that Jake the Snake, who was mentioned on a previous episode, here appears with his gang, the Purple Fiends, but none of those performers are credited.  (Jake the Snake was also the name of one of Angela's high school crushes on Who's the Boss?, but I doubt that was an homage.)