This is an interesting episode. It kind of foreshadowed the exit of Howard McNear as Floyd the barber. The oft quoted cliche "time waits for no one" hangs in the air here. Floyd's barbershop, a Mayberry institution, is the centerpiece. When the absentee family owners of the building Floyd leases decides to sell things seem a bit in flux. Will whoever purchases the building want to continue to lease it to Floyd? Floyd is naturally worried. Fears seem to be allayed when Howard Sprague antes up and buys the building. Upon receiving the deed Howard realizes the owners likely sold the property because their insurance and land taxes had both been hiked. Howard approaches it like the gentleman he is drafting a rental agreement with modest increases. Floyd sees it differently and vacates the premises. A bit of small town chaos ensues where "the hangout" shifts from Floyd's place to Andy's courthouse. Simple taken for granted things such as haircuts become problems. Mayberry isn't ready to change in the most simple of ways. Now, none of this seems particularly entertaining. And, perhaps, it isn't meant to be? The magic of Mayberry, and particularly TAGS, is not immune from the change of the world around it. Fortunately, there's still magic in Andy's wisdom and by episode's end the Mayberry we love gets another breath of life. That said, we will soon see there is much truth to what this episode portends. To me, at least, this makes this episode rise up above the entertainment factor to the realm that no place is totally an island to the world around it.
Review of Floyd's Barbershop
