The Donna Reed Show: Season 2
Season 2 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of The Donna Reed Show Season 1.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 2 Progress Shield
That's Show Business
Sep 24, 1959 · 30 min
Mary does a kind deed by encouraging a shy, insecure fellow student, Kenny, to appear in the school play. When she does, he ends up being paired with her in a dance number. But she
Sleep No More My Lady
Oct 1, 1959 · 30 min
Donna is too excited to sleep because Alex is giving a speech at a convention. While trying to sleep on the plane, Alex gives Donna a tranquilizer to help her sleep, which leads to
A Penny Earned
Oct 8, 1959 · 30 min
Donna has trouble deciding whether or not buy a new dress.
A Friend Indeed
Oct 15, 1959 · 30 min
Jeff's 'friend' Doug keeps getting him into trouble at school, and Jeff silently takes the blame for him because he knows Doug's mother constantly picks on him and wonders why he c
The First Child
Oct 22, 1959 · 30 min
Alex must contend with overly anxious new parents who constantly call him in a state of panic, thinking that there is something wrong with their baby.
Going Steady
Oct 29, 1959 · 30 min
Mary wants to meet a boy, so she talks Jeff into going to his kid sister's party.
The Neighborly Gesture
Nov 5, 1959 · 30 min
Alex is hurt that Jeff likes the new neighbor.
Nothing Like a Good Book
Nov 12, 1959 · 30 min
Donna mistakenly accepts an invitation to 'culture vulture' Lydia Langley's cocktail party, at which Lydia mentions that she also conducts a book discussion group. She goads Donna
Flowers For the Teacher
Nov 19, 1959 · 30 min
Jeff's class has a new teacher, Miss McGuinness. The boys in particular complain that she is too strict, so Donna meets with the new teacher to get matters settled.
All Mothers Worry
Nov 26, 1959 · 30 min
Jeff's friend, Phillip, has a problem. He wants to play football, but his mother is over-protective and won't let him.
Jeff Joins a Club
Dec 3, 1959 · 30 min
Jeff finds out the reason why he wasn't made a member of a club: He is friends with a boy no one else likes.
The Punishment
Dec 10, 1959 · 30 min
Dilemma in the Stone household: How to discipline the children without having Donna look like a villian by meting out the punishments, or having Donna look like a squealer when Al
A Difference of Opinion
Dec 17, 1959 · 30 min
Donna gets cornered into accepting an invitation from a couple that neither she nor Alex really care for. Alex refuses to go, sparking an argument that they try to keep quiet from
The Homecoming Dance
Dec 24, 1959 · 30 min
Alex and Donna chaperone Mary's date with a college man.
The Lucky Girl
Dec 31, 1959 · 30 min
Lately, all Donna has been hearing is how wonderful Alex is, and how lucky she is to be his wife. After a while, this gets Donna wondering if what people really mean is that Alex
The Broken Spirit
Jan 7, 1960 · 30 min
Jeff causes problems for everyone else in the house due to his selfishness and inconsideration for others. Because of this he gets a lecture, which he blows off. But then these sam
The Secret
Jan 14, 1959 · 30 min
Mary gets an engagement ring and a phone call from Matt, a freshman at UCLA, but doesn't tell anyone in the family about the ring or why Matt is calling. So what's going on? As D
The New Mother
Jan 21, 1960 · 30 min
Little David Barker is very excited. His father is getting married and he hopes this means he can leave military school and live in a real home, but things don't work out the way
Just a Housewife
Jan 28, 1960 · 30 min
Donna becomes offended by the way people seem to use the word ‘housewife’ condescendingly.
The Free Soul
Feb 4, 1960 · 30 min
Alex's Uncle Dan takes a break from traveling all over the world. Jeff likes the idea of going to Alaska, Saudi Arabia, Malaya, Australia, and doing whatever he wants, just
The First Quarrel
Feb 11, 1960 · 30 min
Donna and Alex advise a newly married couple after their first big argument.
A Place to Go
Feb 18, 1960 · 30 min
Jeff and his friends get into trouble when they are discovered breaking into an abandoned house. This prompts Donna and the other mothers to create a nice meeting place for the ch
A Night to Howl
Feb 25, 1960
Mary gets scared of how people get in ruts and seem to lose their sense of wonder and magic as they get older. She shares this feeling with her parents, who decide to do something
The Editorial
Mar 3, 1960 · 30 min
Jeff makes editor at the school paper. Excited about his first editorial, he decides to write about how he believes some teachers assign too much homework. But his topic is rejecte
The Gentle Dew
Mar 10, 1960 · 30 min
Alex lays down the law when Jeff and Mary slack off on their responsibilities at home and their schoolwork. Now Alex is furious when it appears that Mary didn't come home from a b
The Fatal Leap
Mar 17, 1960 · 30 min
Alex's wild room-mate from college is getting married, and Alex is invited to the bachelor party. Donna doesn't like this idea at all.
The Perfect Pitch
Mar 24, 1960 · 30 min
Donna makes Jeff take trumpet lessons when she discovers he has perfect pitch. Jeff would rather be on the track team.
Pickles for Charity
Apr 7, 1960 · 30 min
When the Woman's Medical Auxiliary Dance costs more to produce than the income from ticket sales provided, each member agrees to contribute $27 using her skills in moneymaking to m
Mary's Growing Pain
Apr 14, 1960 · 30 min
Mary suffers a lack of confidence when Roger shows up at her door, before a ski trip she and her friends are supposed to go to together, and informs her she’s now going with Tooey
Alex Runs the House
Apr 21, 1960 · 30 min
Donna goes away to be with Jeff, who’s on Spring vacation at uncle Bill’s farm, and Alex has to manage the house and Mary.
The Career Woman
Apr 28, 1960 · 30 min
Donna's old school mate, who has been a single career woman all these years, is now engaged to a doctor. She visits Donna to see what life is really like for a doctor's wife.
Jeff, the Financial Genius
May 5, 1960 · 30 min
Jeff starts swapping possessions to pay off his debts.
Mary's Crusade
May 12, 1960 · 30 min
Mary vows not to go to the school dance unless Ellen has a date for the dance. Ellen is rather plain so Mary goes to work to transform Ellen into a glamorous young lady.
The First Time We Met
May 19, 1960 · 30 min
Donna and Alex have different stories about how they first met. Also, Donna plays matchmaker to a new doctor in town and a pretty nurse at the hospital.
The Gossip
May 26, 1960 · 30 min
Donna tells Emily, the town gossip, that Kay Watson is having a baby. Then Donna learns from Alex that Kay is keeping it a secret so that she can stay working longer. Donna is crus
Love's Sweet Awakening
Jun 2, 1960 · 30 min
Sixteen- year-old Petie is home from military school and visiting the Stone family. Petie and Mary have been friends for years, but seeing how beautiful Mary has become, he would n
The Wedding Present
Jun 10, 1960 · 30 min
Aunt Lettie is coming to visit, so Donna and Alex try to find the wedding present she gave them so she would be certain to see it. It would help if they could just remember what it
Cool Cat
Jun 18, 1960 · 30 min
Jeff wants to keep a cat that followed him home, so can Harry the Cat stay? The Stone family will decide by using the democratic process.