This elegantly made episode is a surprising high point of LITB's final season. Wally is organizing a party at home for himself and his friends, and June and Ward are lending their hand in the preparations. Amidst all the hubbub, Beaver feels ignored and neglected; to make matters worse, Wally acts like a haughty jerk and tells Beaver flat-out he's not invited to the party. (Believe me, Wally is downright unlikeable in this episode!) Gilbert Bates - that snake in the grass who always gets Beaver in trouble - convinces Beaver to sabotage Wally's party by planting tricks from a novelty store all around the house - rubber cheese, fake spiders, the works. But Wally, on the encouragement of Ward and June, makes an eleven-o'clock decision to invite Beaver to the party after all. You can imagine the spot Beaver is in now!
The writing here is top-notch, with an imaginative reconciliation scene for Beaver and Wally and a funny surprise coda. Season 6 had a new cinematographer, Jack MacKenzie, and his style is noticeably different: more chiaroscuro lighting, and more extensive use of closeups and tracking shots. The episode looks stunning.
An even bigger surprise is that we get to see the inside of Ward and June's bedroom - a sacred precinct that was scrupulously avoided throughout most of the show's run. The couple sits there watching television as the youngsters dance the Twist downstairs, and the camera cuts between them and the youngsters. Perhaps with the series heading towards the end and the Cleaver boys growing more mature, the writers felt they could afford to be a bit more daring. Yet the decorous conventions of the era were still in force: twin marital beds, and June shown lounging on the bed with one foot on the floor.