History YMMV / LittleHouseOnThePrairieS7E15Sylvia

** Alternatively, that even well-meaning authority figures can do you dirt. While the other members of the schoolboard minus Hartwig dismiss Mrs. Oleson's attempts to blame Sylvia for the boys' behavior, they do nothing to correct the boys and when Dr. Baker and Laura figure out Sylvia's bruises indicating she was physically abused, they also do nothing despite the signs, then Dr. Baker breaks sigil by revealing Sylvia's pregnancy to Albert and makes the mistake of telling her father about it through the telephone, which is shown to be unsafe due to Mrs. Oleson's tendency to eavesdrop conversations and sure enough, she hears about Sylvia's pregnancy and spreads rumor about Albert being the father.

** When Mrs. Oleson is confronted by Caroline about spreading lies about Albert, she gets defensive and tries to change subject by showing her baby clothes she wants to donate to Sylvia's baby (which she thinks is Caroline's grandson). Is she simply denying that she told any lies and showing her condescending atittude, or was she having second thoughts about what she spread and trying to make up for that by offering clothes, but keeping her condescending mode in the process to shift any blame?
* AngstAversion: While certainly one of the most memorable episodes and seen as one of the best in the show, there are some who refuse to watch it a second time for the enduring ordeal faced by the title character, along with the tragic conclusion.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: While Hartwig is by far the most heinous character in the episode, he barely appears before being revealed as the rapist. Meanwhile, Hector Webb is a consistent source of grief with his emotional abuse towards his daughter, blaming her for the boys' attention on her and then insinuating that he thinks the rape was Sylvia's fault with his "you reap what you sow"; also Mrs. Oleson has a prominent role first blaming Sylvia for the aforementioned incident with the boys and later spreading rumours about Sylvia's pregnancy and refusing to admit to any wrongdoing when confronted about it, making her the third most despicable characters in the episode.

** RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil and SlutShaming and UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming are bad, but voyeurism is a-okay. The schoolboard's opinion that they boys' trying to peer on Sylvia while she was undressing isn't worth making a big deal out of indicates that they see the act of spying on undressing girl as just an example of boyish curiosity and not worth trouble.
** Even well-meaning authority figures can do you dirt. While the other members of the schoolboard minus Hartwig dismiss Mrs. Oleson's attempts to blame Sylvia for the boys' behavior, they do nothing to correct the boys and when Dr. Baker and Laura figure out Sylvia's bruises indicating she was physically abused, they also do nothing despite the signs, then Dr. Baker breaks sigil by revealing Sylvia's pregnancy to Albert and makes the mistake of telling her father about it through the telephone, which is shown to be unsafe due to Mrs. Oleson's tendency to eavesdrop conversations and sure enough, she hears about Sylvia's pregnancy and spreads rumor about Albert being the father.

** Did Mr. Webb really believe the rumour about Sylvia being impregnated by Albert? Given her state after being raped, her outburst at school a few days later and other signs, it was clear that something had happened to her. While he did try to shoot Albert, it might be denial about the obvious (that his daughter had been horribly violated).

* FridgeHorror: The rapist was present at the school board when Mrs. Oleson sets a reunion to discuss the boys' peeping on Sylvia, only to denounce her as a flirt an accuse her of instigating their attitude. Right after that, she's being stalked by the man. What if Mrs. Oleson accidentally contributed to his decision to target Sylvia as his next victim?

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: While Hartwig is by far the most heinous character in the episode, he barely appears before being revealed as the rapist. Meanwhile, Hector Webb is a consistent source of grief with his emotional abuse towards his daughter, blaming her for the boys' attention on her and then insinuating that he thinks the rape was Sylvia's fault with his "you reap what you sow"; also Mrs. Oleson has a prominent role first blaming Sylvia for the aforementioned incident with the boys and later spreading rumours about Sylvia's pregnancy and refusing to admit to any wrongdoing when confrinted about it.

** RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil and SlutShaming and UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming are bad, but voyeurism is a-okay. Te schoolboard's opinion that they boys' trying to peer on Sylvia while she was undressing indicates that they see voyeurism as just an example of boyish curiosity a not worth trouble.

** When Mrs. Oleson is confronted by Caroline about spreading lies about Albert, she gets defensive and tries to change subject by showing her baby clothes she wants to donate to Sylvia's baby (which she thinks is Caroline's grandson). Is she simply denying that she told any lies and showing her condescending atittude, or was she having second thoughts about what she spread and trying to make up for that by offering clothes, but keeping her consdescending mode in the process to shift any blame?

** The rapist's Modus Operandi involves an elaborate disguise and stalking his target, implying that he may have planned his attack beforehand. What if Sylvia [[NotTheFirstVictim wasn't his first victim]] and other girls were targeted by him either in Walnut Grove or elsewhere but never got to tell? Worse, with Hartwig dead and the case pretty much forgotten, it's possible osme of them might never get any justice, not even by learning that their rapist was killed.

** Some believe the rapist survived, due to his disappearance after being shot, and managed to run away, even though getting shot InTheBack from a shotgun at a fairly short distance and not getting proper treatment in time would be almost certainly fatal.

* RealismInducedHorror: What makes this episode particularly hard to acommpany is that it's a rather raw take on what a victim, especially female goes through in the situation:
** Sylvia gets unwanted attention from the boys, who peek on her while she's undressing, violating her privacy and yet the adults either downplay the boys' responsability (even Charles and Laura do) or blame on her (Mrs. Oleson, her father).
** She's the victim of a [[RapeAsDrama horrific crime]] but can't tell anyone because her father is more concerned about their reputation than her wellbeing. Then he blames her saying [[BlamingTheVictim "you reap what you sow"]] and when she tries to beg him to believe her when there's a rumour that she was impregnated by her boyfriend, he yells that he [[SlutShaming "can't believe a whore"]].

** While Laura and Dr. Baker see the signs that something was wrong with Sylvia after her panic attack at school, they don't really do anything to investigate, even after seeing that Sylvia had bruises (inflicted by her rapist) which, combined with her father's attitude, could imply that she was being physically abused at home. Worse, Dr. Baker breaks sygill by telling Albert about Sylvia's pregnancy while trying to figure out whether or not he could be the father, and later informs Mr. Webb about it through telephone, despite all evidence indicating he could be an abuser wasn't the rapist, but still).

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The other members of the schoolboard (minus Hartwig) are supposed to come off as more reasonable than Mrs. Oleson when she summons a reunion to accuse Sylvia of causing the incident with the boys by leaidng them on as the others clear her of any guilt. However, their idea of dismissing Harriet's accusations is saying the boys didn't really do anything that bad, as if there were nothing particularly wrong with boys (the sons of Charles and Nels included) violating a girl's privacy and invoking the "boys will be boys" montality. At least Laura (who also repeats the "boys will be boys" mantra) reminds that if anyone was to be punished, it should be the boys, which makes sense considering that she was victim of peeping-toms twice, [[Recap/LittleHouseOnThePrairieS4E3MyEllen one of which indirectly resulted in the death of her friend]].
** While Laura and Dr. Baker see the signs that something was wrong with Sylvia after her panic attack at school, they don't really do anything to investigate, even after seeing that Sylvia haad bruises (inflicted by her rapist) which, combined with her father's attitude, could imply that she was being physically abused at home. Worse, Dr. Baker breaks sygill by telling Albert about Sylvia's pregnancy while trying to figure out whether or not he could be the father, and later informs Mr. Webb about it through telephone,despite all evidence indicating she could be suffering abuse at her father's hands (he wasn't the rapist, but still).

** When Mrs. Oleson is confronted by Caroline about spreading lies about ALbert, she gets defensive and tries to change subject by showing her baby clothes she wants to donate to Sylvia's baby (which she thinks is Caroline's grandson). Is she simply denying that she told any lies and showing her condescending atittude, or was she having second thoughts about what she spread and trying to make up for that by offering clothes, but keeping her consdescending mode in the process to shift any blame?

** The rapist's Modus Operandi involves an elaborate disguise and stalking, implying may have planned his actions beforehand. What if Sylvia [[NotTheFirstVictim wasn't his first victim]] and other girls were targeted by him either in Walnut Grove or elsewhere but never got to tell? Worse, with Hartwig dead and the case pretty much forgotten, it's possible osme of them might never get any justice, not even by learning that their rapist was killed.

** The rapist turns out to be a well-known member of the community completely off the radar [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse whose appearance and behaviour are completely average and unsuspicious]].

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Did Mr. Webb really believe the rumour about Sylvia being impregnated by Albert? Given her state after being raped, her outburst at school a few days later and other signs, it was clear that something had happened to her. While he did try to shoot Albert, it might be denial about the obvious (that his daughter had been horribly violated).

* FridgeHorror: The rapist was present at the school board when Mrs. Oleson sets a reunion to discuss the boys' peeping on Sylvia, only to denounce her as a flirt an accuse her of instigating their attitude. Right after that, she's being stalked by the man. What if Mrs. Oleson accidentally contributed to his decision to target her as his next victim?

** Some viewers like to think Sylvia survived the fall and merely fell asleep in the end. Indeed, a lot of fanfics in which she's SparedByTheAdaptation portray the final scene where she perishes as DisneyDeath, claiming that she just passed out and Albert assumed she was dead.
** Some believe the rapist survived the shot, due to his disappearance after being, and managed to run away, even though getting shot InTheBack from a shotgun at a fairly short distance and not getting proper treatment in time would be almost certainly fatal.

* RealismInducedHorror: What makes this episode particularly hard to acommpany is that it's a rather raw take on the suffering a victim, especially female goes through in the situation:

** She's the victim of a horrific crime but can't tell anyone because her father is more concerned about their reputation than her wellbeing. Then he blames her for what her rape saying [[BlamingTheVictim "you reap what you sow"]] and when she tries to beg him to believe her when there's a rumour that she was impregnated by her boyfriend, he yells that he [[SlutShaming "can't believe a whore"]].

* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize: Many viewers deduced that the rapist was the blacksmith after seeing that he was portrayed by guest star Richard Jeackel.

** Sylvia gets unwanted attention from the boys, who peek on her wile she's undressing, violating her privacy and yet the adults either downplay the boys' responsability (even Charles and Laura do) or blame on her (Mrs. Oleson, her father).
** She's the victim of ahorrific crime but can't tell anyone because her father is more concerned about their reputation than her wellbeing. Then he blames her for what she suffered saying [[BlamingTheVictim "you reap what you sow"]].
** The rapist turns out to be a well-known member of the community, completely off the radar and [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse whose appearance and behaviour look completely average and unsuspicious]].

* NarrowedToTheGuyIRecognize: Many viewers deduced that the rapist was the blacksmith after seeing that he was portrayed by guest star Richard Jeackel.