Recap / Little House on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie ran on NBC from 1974 to 1982, was retitled Little House: A New Beginning for the 1982-1983 season, and had three post-series TV movies that aired in 1983 and 1984. The show remains a favorite among fans today.

This page is a work in progress. Note that all multi-part episodes are being compressed into one, under the title; all tropes for the entire story should be included under that title.

Pilot - Spring 1974

1. "Little House On The Prairie": The original pilot movie, from March 1974, where we meet pioneer settlers Charles and Caroline Ingalls and their three daughters, Mary, Laura and Carrie, as they settle on the plains near Independence, Kansas.

Season 1 - 1974- 1975

1. "Harvest Of Friends": Forced off their government land in Kansas, the Ingalls settle on the banks of Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Charles takes on more than he can handle when he tries to pay off his initial mortgage to his farm, and finds that he's made many new friends in the bargain.
2. "Country Girls": Laura goes to school for the first time and meets the mean, snobbish Danielle "Nellie" Oleson for the first time. Laura tries the first of many ways to outwit her tormenter.
3. "100 Mile Walk": When the crop is destroyed in a hailstorm, Charles finds work at a rock quarry. Meanwhile, Caroline mobilizes the farm wives to salvage what crops can be saved.
4. "Mr. Edwards' Homecoming": Isaiah Edwards – the gruff dirt farmer with a soft side that the Ingallses had met in Kansas – drifts his way to Mankato, and Charles is able to guide him to Walnut Grove … and sobriety.
5. "The Love Of Johnny Johnson": Laura has a crush on an older student, Johnny Johnson.
6. "If I Should Wake Before I Die": Charles comes to the aid of a local widow who pines to see her estranged children again.
7. "Town Party, Country Party": To make a girl who walks with a limp welcome, the Ingalls host a special party.
8. "Ma's Holiday": Mr. Edwards offers to babysit the girls while Charles and Caroline go to Winoka for a getaway.
9. "School Mom": When schoolteacher Miss Beadle is injured, Caroline takes over the class … until she gets fed up with the kids making fun of an older student who is illiterate.
10. "The Raccoon": Laura gets a pet raccoon, but Charles fears it might be rabid when she and the family's dog, Jack, are bitten.
11. "The Voice of Tinker Jones": The children summon the aid of town's craftsman, Tinker Jones, a deaf-mute, to build a new bell for the town's church-school.
12. "The Award": Mary's carelessness while studying in the barn starts a fire, and an angry Caroline won't allow her to take an optional history exam.
13. "The Lord Is My Shepherd": The first two-part episode, where Laura is in deep grief after angrily wishing her newborn baby brother would just go away … forever. And then he becomes terminally ill and dies.
14. "Christmas At Plum Creek": The Ingallses go about Christmas shopping, taking odd jobs and doing their shopping in secret to surprise each other.
15. "Family Quarrel": The first episode to spotlight the strange, always-strained but somehow stable marriage of Nels and Harriet Oleson focuses on their plans to separate after the two get into a huge argument over running the business and Harriet's treatment of customers, specifically the Ingalls.
16. "Doctor's Lady": Doc Baker falls in love with Mrs. Oleson's niece, Kate, who is half his age.
17. "Plague": Charles, Doc Baker and Rev. Alden are quarantined at the church caring for residents sickened with typhus, which resulted from a mysterious source.
18. "Circus Man": A circus man claims he has magical healing powers. Mrs. Oleson, who needs her appendix removed, foolishly takes him seriously, and it nearly costs her dearly.
19. "Child Of Pain": The Ingalls help rehabilitate an alcoholic father while keeping him separated from his son, whom he abuses.
20. "Money Crop": A university-trained farmer, Joseph Coulter, convinces the farmers to buy a new hybrid seed but when he fails to arrive with the goods, some of the farmers become suspicious they were talking to a swindler. As they harass his wife, Charles retraces Coulter's path to find out where Coulter is.
21. "Survival": The Ingalls, who are traveling, are forced to take refuge in an abandoned ramshackle cabin when a sudden blizzard hits. An Indian, who is being tracked by the government, helps the Ingalls survive.
22. "To See The World": Johnny Johnson leaves "to see the world" and Mr. Edwards goes along hoping to keep him out of trouble.
23. "Founder's Day": Walnut Grove celebrates Founder's Day.

Season 2 - 1975- 1976

1. "The Richest Man In Walnut Grove": The mill, where Charles has a second job, goes on – temporary, as it turns out – shutdown, leaving the Ingalls patriarch without a way to pay the bills. This forces the Ingalls to come together to pay off a large bill at the Mercantile and confirm Nels' trust and admiration in them.
2. "Four Eyes": The first in a number of episodes focusing on Mary's failing eyesight sees the eldest Ingalls daughter get glasses to help with her schoolwork. When the schoolchildren make fun of Mary and prompts her to "lose" the glasses, Miss Beadle teaches everyone different lessons by showing she, too, wears glasses.
3. "Ebenezer Sprague": The town's new banker has a name that certainly fits his miser, mean personality.
4. "In The Big Inning": Charles convinces a farm wife to allow her talented pitching husband to play in the annual Walnut Grove-Sleepy Eye baseball game.
5. "Haunted House": On a dare, Laura enters what appears to be a haunted house … and helps its resident, the lonely, grieving Mr. Pike, mourn the loss of his wife.
6. "The Spring Dance": Laura and Grace Snider try to get the men whom they've had eyes on to dance with them.
7. "Remember Me": The Ingalls try to find a new home for the three Sanderson children when their widowed mother passes away. Meanwhile, Grace Snider continues to get Mr. Edwards to notice them. Could a new, big family be coming?
8. "The Campout": The Olesons tag along with the Ingalls on a camping trip.
9. "At The End Of The Rainbow": Laura and her friend, Jonah, discover what they think is gold, leading Laura to have wild fantasies about her family being incredibly rich and the Olesons being poor.
10. "The Gift": Laura and Mary try to sell some magic potions to give Rev. Alden an even better gift.
11. "His Father's Son": Mr. Edwards has difficulty bonding with his newly adopted eldest son, John Jr., and is confused as to why he prefers studying (to be a writer) vs. doing man things such as hunting. A frightening encounter with a bear helps both see each other in a new light.
12. "The Talking Machine": Laura and Nellie both fight for the affections of new classmate, Jason, who owns a prototype voice recorder. Nellie and Willie use it to humiliate Laura at school.
13. "The Pride Of Walnut Grove": Mary competes in a statewide math contest, but tempers her disappointment (in finishing second) when she comes home to a huge celebration.
14. "A Matter Of Faith": Caroline develops a serious infection when she scratches her leg on a rusty piece of barb wire.
15. "The Runaway Caboose": Mary, Laura and Carl become locked in a caboose car that detaches from a train, and the caboose's momentum could send it on a crash course with a speeding locomotive not far away. Charles and Mr. Edwards must do everything they can to prevent a tragedy.
16. "Troublemaker": A mean, ill-tempered school master named Hannibal Applewood ("Mr. Crabapple") takes over the class when Miss Beadle is fired. Applewood immediately singles out Laura as the school's troublemaker.
17. "The Long Road Home": Charles, Mr. Edwards and two other men accept a job that involves handling and transporting explosives.
18. "For My Lady": Suspicions arise when Charles takes a job at a beautiful farm widow's house … to pay off the bill for a set of fine china he purchased as a gift for Caroline.
19. "Centennial": A Russian immigrant who is passing through Walnut Grove tells the residents what it means to be an American citizen.
20. "Soldier's Return": Granville Whipple, an aspiring music teacher, is battling a profound morphine addiction and traumatic memories of the Civil War.
21. "Going Home": A tornado heavily damages the Ingalls farm, prompting a distraught Charles to consider moving back to Wisconsin.

Season 3 - 1976- 1977

1. "The Collection": An ex-convict and charlatan promises to help Rev. Alden collect funds but plans to run off with the money.
2. "Bunny": Nellie mistreats her newly-acquired-from-Laura horse, Bunny, and one day falls off. She's uninjured, but wants Laura to think she became paralyzed, hatching arguably her nastiest scheme ever.
3. "The Race": Laura and Nellie race their horses, with Harriet Olsen's prized silver bowl, at stake.
4. "Little Girl Lost": Carrie becomes trapped in an old mine shaft, and Charles gets an alcoholic miner to help save his youngest daughter's life.
5. "The Monster Of Walnut Grove": Nellie and Willie have a lot of fun at Laura's expense when she thinks Nels has cut off his wife's head.
6. "Journey In The Spring": Charles brings his father, Langsford, to Walnut Grove to help him grieve the death of his wife. While in Walnut Grove, Langsford becomes very close with Laura (her Grandmother Ingalls' namesake), but their relationship is severely tested when, after Bunny is severely injured and Charles has to shoot it, Langsford is unable to make good on a promise to nurse the horse back to health.
7. "Fred": Laura's new goat wreaks havoc on Walnut Grove.
8. "The Bully Boys": The Gallander brothers cause no end of trouble in Walnut Grove.
9. "The Hunters": When Charles is seriously injured in a hunting accident, Laura must rely on the help of a blind man to save her father's life.
10. "Blizzard": On Christmas eve, the school children become caught up in a massive blizzard while walking home, forcing the organization of a search party to find the children before it is too late.
11. "I'll Ride The Wind": John Jr. accepts a scholarship to a Chicago university to pursue his long-sought-after journalism career, but it may come at a cost: His budding relationship with Mary.
12. "Quarantine": Laura is quarantined with Mr. Edwards and his daughter, Alicia, after she becomes ill with mountain fever.
13. "Little Women": The Ingalls girls' new friend, Ginny, wants her newly single mother to start dating again … and uses her role in a school play to help draw her out into the social world.
14. "Injun Kid": A teen-aged part-Sioux/part white man comes to Walnut Grove to live with his grandfather, leading to severe prejudices by both the grandfather and the schoolchildren.
15. "To Live With Fear": When Mary needs an expensive operation to save her life, Charles is forced to take a dangerous mining job.
16. "The Wisdom Of Solomon": A young African American boy teaches the schoolchildren of Walnut Grove what it is like to be targeted with hatred and racism.
17. "The Music Box": When Nellie realizes that Laura has stolen a music box from her room, she decides to blackmail her by forcing her to shun and make fun of a girl who stutters, in exchange for Nellie staying quiet. Charles and Nels are able to expose the truth.
18. "The Election": A school election leads to lots of dirty campaigning … and an unlikely winner.
19. "Gold Country": When a storm destroys their crops, the Ingalls and Edwards family move to a gold mining camp and try their luck as prospectors. The Ingalls don't find much, but Mr. Edwards becomes incredibly lucky.

Season 4 - 1977- 1978

1. "Castoffs": Jack, the Ingalls' beloved pooch, dies, and Laura has a hard time getting attached to Jack's successor, Bandit. Meanwhile, Walnut Grove has a couple of new residents: farmer Jonathan Garvey and his wife, Alice (along with their son, Andy, whom viewers will meet in a few weeks) and the eccentric Kezia Horn.
2. "Times Of Change": Charles and Mary travel to Chicago, Mary to visit John Jr. and see if there's any spark left in their relationship, Charles to attend the Grange Convention. Things don't go as expected for either one.
3. "My Ellen": Ellen Taylor, a friend of Mary and Laura, drowns while the three were skinny-dipping, and Ellen's grief-stricken mother holds Laura completely responsible. Eventually, Mrs. Taylor snaps while Laura is visiting and holds her hostage in her cellar, claiming she is Ellen reincarnated.
4. "The Handyman": During the construction of a kitchen addition to the Ingalls' prairie home, Charles has to take an emergency delivery to Mankato, forcing Caroline to hire a handyman to finish the construction. The handsome young man quickly and unwittingly takes over as head of the family, and Mary – then later, Nellie and Mrs. Oleson – soon believe more than just a platonic relationship is going on.
5. "The Wolves": In Andy Garvey's first appearance in the series, he and Laura set up a pen for a litter of wolf pups and their mother in the barn. Their seemingly harmless actions draws a pack of wild, rabid wolves to the Ingalls farm, trapping the two, along with Mary and Carrie, inside and forcing them to rely on outside help and luck to save them.
6. "The Creeper Of Walnut Grove": Laura and Andy become detectives and try to determine who has been stealing from the residents of Walnut Grove.
7. "To Run And Hide": When a terminally ill patient under Doc Baker's care dies, he becomes deeply regretful and, holding himself responsible, retires. His successor is a complete compassionless, empty of empathy jerk and is in the profession only for the money, leading Charles to go all out to convince the good doctor to return.
8. "The Aftermath": The James-Younger gang brings its trail of treachery to Walnut Grove, and find a sucker in Mary when they ask her to run some errands for them.
9. "The High Cost Of Being Right": Jonathan's pride threatens to destroy his marriage when, after the Garveys' barn burns down and destroys their entire harvest, Alice takes a job as clerk at the post office. Jonathan insists that he can support the family on his own.
10. "The Fighter": Joe Kagan, a black farmer who had been a magnificent boxer in his youth, comes to Walnut Grove, he meets up with his estranged son, Timothy, who himself is training to be a great boxer. It's up to Joe to convince Timothy to follow a different career path.
11. "Meet Me At The Fair": A bunch of outtakes of the Ingalls and Olesons as they travel to the state fair, where the highlight is Carrie getting a free ride in a hot air balloon.
12. "Here Comes The Brides": In a rare showing of her softer side, Nellie falls in love with Miss Beadle's fiancé's son, Luke. Wedding bells will soon ring, but it's not for Luke and Nellie.
13. "Freedom Fight": Hatred for the Native Americans takes center stage in this, the latest tale of racism in Walnut Grove, when a Sioux teenager asks Charles to help summon a doctor to care for his sick father. Doc Baker responds, but the real trouble begins when a group of farmers – already outraged that the red man was allowed to cross their land without penalty – want to start a war. Charles finds a way to keep the peace.
14. "The Rivals": Charles and Jonathan compete against another team to win a freighting contract.
15. "Whisper Country": Mary takes her first teaching job in a remote community, but finds the community leader and the patriarch of her host family most unwelcoming, to say the least. Eventually, with Charles' help, Mary is able to expose the community leader's shameful secrets.
16. "I Remember, I Remember": On their anniversary, when he is late arriving home, Caroline reminisces with her daughters about meeting Charles for the first time.
17. "Be My Friend": The search is on for the writer of a note Laura found while fishing at a creek; later, she and Charles find a basket with an abandoned baby inside, and the search expands.
18. "The Inheritance": An attorney informs the Ingalls they have inherited the estate of Charles' late Uncle Ned, causing them to become very large spenders. Then, they get the inheritance in cash – Confederate cash – leading to a very difficult situation.
19. "The Stranger": Nels' spoiled nephew comes to Walnut Grove to live with the Olesons and rehabilitate his behavior, but when Mrs. Oleson undermines her husband's efforts, Nels finally gets fed up and sends the lad to live with the Ingalls.
20. "A Most Precious Gift": Charles and Caroline welcome their fourth daughter, Grace, into the world.
21. "I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away": "I can't see, Pa! I CAN'T SEE!!!!!" That is the petrified, horrifying reality Mary faces when, through a series of illnesses during her teen-age years, she becomes blind. Eventually, Mary is sent to a blind school in Burr Oak, Iowa, to live. Meanwhile, a severe recession hits the Midwest economy, and Walnut Grove takes severe hits financially and economically.

Season 5 - 1978- 1979

1. "As Long As We're Together": The story arc of Walnut Grove's failing economy is carried over into Season 5, when the Ingalls, Garveys and Olesons decide to move to Winoka, where times are better. There, they deal with a cruel local businessman, Miles Standish, but also meet a street urchin named Albert.
2. "The Winoka Warriors": At the blind school, an oversized teen-ager who is blind feels useless … until Adam has an idea to have him play center for Winoka's football team.
3. "The Man Inside": Laura learns a tough lesson about friendship and keeping mean comments to yourself when she talks badly about her new friend Amelia's overweight father, who is a janitor at the blind school. When he is seriously injured in an accident, Laura must convince Amelia – who already is distant with her father, due to her shame over his size – that her father is a kind, caring and gentle man.
4. "There's No Place Like Home": Tired of Standish's overbearing, rude behavior, the Ingalls, Olesons – Nels is the only one initially, as he has to really talk his wife and kids into moving back home – and Garveys get tired of the bustling city life and decide to return to Walnut Grove, bringing Albert with them. This comes only after a friend of theirs gambles away thousands of dollars in a poker game Standish had rigged … and an impromptu fireworks show at the saloon. Returning home, everyone finds Walnut Grove deserted and in disrepair, and town founder Lars Hanson disillusioned and wanting to die. The Ingalls, Olesons and Garveys realize their responsibility lies with rebuilding the town and with some hard work, they make the town bigger and better than ever before.
5. "Fagin": The Ingalls begin to bond with Albert and buy him a calf, whom he names Fagin, to raise for the annual state fair. However, Albert still feels a bit insecure about his place in the family after overhearing a conversation between Charles and Caroline.
6. "Harriet's Happenings": Mrs. Oleson's cousin, newspaper publisher Sterling Murdoch, starts a newspaper in Walnut Grove that turns out to be little more than a gossip rag. When Nellie loses a spelling bee to a gifted student named Erich, Mrs. Oleson sarcastically "praises" the young lad by revealing that his German immigrant parents are illiterate. Charles – after a lie is published about him in a later issue of the paper – eventually scolds Mrs. Oleson and Murdoch in church, then the town for supporting the newspaper that built itself on yellow journalism.
7. "The Wedding": Adam and Mary are married, but not after Mary has some second thoughts about being a mother.
8. "Men Will Be Boys": Albert and Andy want to go to Sleepy Eye alone, and surprisingly, Charles and Jonathan let them. They follow closely behind, however, to make sure nothing goes wrong, but things turn out quite unexpectedly and it is the fathers who learn some things about themselves and their sons.
9. "The Cheaters": When Andrew is struggling with his schoolwork, despite his mother's best efforts, she hires Nellie to be his tutor. Bad move.
10. "Blind Journey": Charles and Joe lead an expedition of blind students from Winoka to a newly established school near Walnut Grove. Mrs. Oleson tags along, thinking she's going to meet a sophisticated society woman named Hester-Sue Tehrune, not realizing until they meet that she is merely the Winoka school's sighted teacher and caretaker ... and black.
11. "The Godsister": When Charles takes an out-of-town job to help a crew install telephone poles in anticipation of the new telephone, Carrie becomes heartsick for her Pa. To ease her loneliness, she invents an imaginary friend named Alyssa.
12. "The Craftsman": Albert becomes the apprentice of Isaac, an elderly coffin maker of the Jewish faith. In this tale of racism of a different brand, Albert's classmates berate him and beat him up, calling him a Jew-lover.
13. "Blind Man's Bluff": Jordan, a teen-aged neighbor of the Ingalls, is involved in an accident. He's not hurt, but he pretends to be blind, this because his parents have decided to get a divorce.
14. "Dance With Me": Toby Noe, the Ingalls' friend from Winoka, arrives and becomes an unbearable houseguest. When he sees spirited spinster Amanda Cooper, he goes about winning her heart ... but realizes there's a lot about himself he needs to change to make him desirable in her eyes. Meanwhile, Laura asks Albert for advice in snaring a boy of her own.
15. "The Sound Of Children": Upon learning that Mary is pregnant, Adam weighs fatherhood with an offer that seems too good to pass up from his estranged father.
16. "The Lake Kezia Monster": Mrs. Oleson gets her way and "buys" (heh heh) Kezia Horn's cottage at Lake Kezia as a "summer home" (Kezia had refused to pay back taxes). When Nels tries to object, the overbearing Mrs. Oleson takes Nellie and Willie with her! Laura, Albert and Andy are all appalled at how Kezia is being poorly treated as the Olesons' maid, so they come up with a plan to run the three wayward Olesons off forever.
17. "Barn Burner": Judd Larabee's racism finally comes to a head when, shortly after he objects to Joe being a member of the cooperative (simply because he's black), he sells his wheat at a grossly inflated price to discourage Joe and others who sympathize with him from buying. Then, things really spin out of control when, after Jonathan confronts Larabee, the racist farmer is accused of barn burning and assault.
18. "The Enchanted Cottage": Mary announces she can sense light and dark and it gives her hope she is regaining her eyesight. Meanwhile, Laura and Albert fix up Mr. Edwards' old cabin as a home for the Kendalls, in anticipation for some good news.
19. "Someone Please Love Me": Charles helps rehabilitate an old friend named Brett Harper, a champion horse breeder whose family is on the verge of collapse due to his alcoholism.
20. "Mortal Mission": It's a 19th-century anthrax scare, but this is due to tainted mutton that had been sold to the residents of Walnut Grove at a deep discount by a pair of corrupt salesmen. Charles and Jonathan are among the few who did not fall ill, and to help Doc Baker (who had also stayed healthy), they rush to bring supplies to help nurse the town back to health. High drama results when a crazed thief robs Charles and Jonathan and refuses to give in, uncaring if Walnut Grove is wiped off the face of the earth.
21. "The Odyssey": Laura and Albert help their terminally ill friend, Dylan, realize his dream of traveling to California's coast line to see the ocean.

Season 6 - 1979- 1980

1. "Back To School": In this season of change, this landmark episode of the series has Laura setting her eyes on the man that she would soon marry and spend 62 years together: Almanzo Wilder. The handsome young farmer from New York and his sister, Eliza Jane, move out west to start a new life, he as a farmer, older sis as the new teacher. But beware – Nellie is also man-hungry and she's willing to fight for Almanzo! Also, Mrs. Oleson decides it's time for Nellie to become involved in the hospitality business.
2. "The Family Tree": While researching his family tree, Albert agrees to Charles and Caroline's offer to be legally adopted. But then, Albert's biological father, Jeremiah, shows up.
3. "The Third Miracle": While Mrs. Oleson and daughter Nellie find out that beekeeping isn't a very honey of a business, Adam and a pregnant Mary are involved in a serious stagecoach accident while traveling to Minneapolis to accept a teaching award.
4. "Annabelle": Nels, seemingly one of the least prejudiced and bigoted residents of Walnut Grove, finds he has some after all upon learning that the circus is coming to town ... and that it is this circus that his long-estranged sister, Annabelle, is working at. Charles helps reunite the pair and Nels work through his grudge, and it is in a very unique way.
5. "The Preacher Takes A Wife": Mrs. Oleson starts a townwide scandal when Rev. Alden falls in love with the widowed Anna Craig, a member of the congregation. When Mrs. Oleson complains to the church synod's leadership, she is forced to confront a very emotionally painful reminder of her own past.
6. "The Halloween Dream": Before going to a Halloween party, Albert and Laura take a nap and have a dream where they are mistaken for Indians and taken to the tribe's camp.
7. "The Return Of Mr. Edwards": Mr. Edwards is seriously injured when he tries to save daughter Alicia from being crushed by a falling tree. Charles and Laura are called in to help perk up their old friend's spirits, but it's a task much easier said than done.
8. "The King Is Dead": Jonathan is conned into becoming a championship-caliber wrestler, in this unique look at the workings of professional wrestling during its 1800s "carney" days.
9. "SPECIAL: The Little House Years": Shown independently of the series — but in original broadcast order, at this point — a Thanksgiving celebration at the Ingalls frames this showcase of several of the top "Little House" episodes to this point in the series.
10. "The Faith Healer": A man claiming to be a faith healer woos parishioners from Rev. Alden's congregation, claiming he is better and more competent than either the good pastor or Doc Baker. Then, a young boy he claims to have healed dies after a burst appendix; not long afterward, Charles learns the truth about the faith healer and hatches a plan to expose him as a fraud.
11. "Author, Author": Caroline's parents come for a visit, but Grandma Holbrook dies on the train of a sudden illness. Grandpa Holbrook is distraught, but then Caroline convinces him that writing an autobiography, to preserve the family's memories, is the best therapy. Also, Mary gives birth (finally) to their first son, Adam Charles Holbrook Kendall.
12. "Crossed Connections": The telephone comes to Walnut Grove, and Mrs. Oleson is the first switchboard operator. She quickly realizes it is her ticket to some of the juici-darn-est gossip this side of the Mississippi River ... but it soon comes at a cost: it could destroy the Garveys' marriage.
13. "The Angry Heart": Charles helps rehabilitate the troubled teen-aged grandson of one of his neighbors, not realizing that the boy has some deep-seated demons from his past that he needs to face and then let go of.
14. "The Werewolf Of Walnut Grove": A bully torments Albert and the others at school and in the community, prompting Albert to come up with a plan of revenge by creating a papier-mâché werewolf costume. But will Carrie ruin the whole thing?
15. "Whatever Happened To The Class of '56?": Charles and Caroline travel to their class reunion and a farmer's convention, and find that many of their classmates have become financially successful. But are they really happy with their lives?
16. "Darkness Is My Friend": A band of outlaws take refuge at the School for the Blind, one of them seriously wounded while escaping their overturned prison wagon. Laura — and Charles — come up with a plan to capture the bad guys without the kids being hurt, but a wrong move could be very deadly.
17. "Silent Promises": Laura makes quite an impression on a deaf boy when she teaches him how to communicate using sign language. The boy falls in love with Laura. Not wanting to hurt him, Laura pretends to have feelings for him as well.
18. "May We Make Them Proud": One of the top episodes of the series, Albert's careless disposal of a lit pipe sparks a fire that destroys the School for the Blind and kills Alice Garvey and baby Adam. This results in several residents — Albert, Mary, and Jonathan and Andrew — having to deal with the severe consequences in an episode that one website says deals with themes of guilt, grief, love and forgiveness,
19. "Wilder And Wilder": Charles tries to steer the lovestruck Laura toward Almanzo's brother, Perley, unaware that Perley is the direct antithesis of Almanzo: irresponsible and high living. Charles realizes his mistake, but then sees that Almanzo has many qualities that will make him a fine husband and son-in-law.
20. "Second Spring": Henpecked Nels finally has it with his family life and starts a traveling mercantile. During one of his stops, he meets the woman of his dreams, someone who appreciates him and makes him feel young again. But will it lead the normally level-headed Nels astray, and will it tear apart his already strange marriage to his wife and two ungrateful kids?
21. "Sweet Sixteen": A courtship soon blossoms into love as Almanzo and Laura's relationship takes its next step forward. This, when she gets a teaching job in a nearby town, and Almanzo drives her.
22. "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not": Setting the stage for future seasons, Almanzo proposes to Laura, but Charles wants the marriage to wait until she's 18, two years from now. Also, with the future of Nellie's Restaurant and Hotel at stake, Nels hires a consultant — Percy Dalton, a successful hotel operator from New York — to help Nellie learn the business; after a few rough weeks, Nellie soon realizes she is good at being a hotel manager and cook ... and she'd make an equally good wife for the long-single Percy! But the biggest miracle concerning Nellie is one you have to see to appreciate.

Season 7 - 1980- 1981

1. "Laura Ingalls Wilder": The marriage of Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder takes place, but not before a number of serious setbacks, including Almanzo being the victim of a land swindler and both debating over whether Laura should pursue her teaching career or be a traditional housewife. Meanwhile, Eliza Jane falls in love and Nellie learns she's pregnant.
2. "A New Beginning": Jonathan and Andy move to Sleepy Eye to start a freight lining business, but soon their business is targeted by a burglary ring. Jonathan makes the matter personal when his son is beaten while their boss is in jail.
3. "Fight Team Fight": Albert joins a new youth football team, but the coach – a former college star who wants to relive his glory days – is more interested in winning than just teaching the kids the love of the game and other life lessons.
4. "The Silent Cry": Two brothers – one mute, the older one with value as a farmhand – are threatened with separation when several families want to adopt the older one but not the mute one. When the brothers run away, it is up to the Blind School's cantankerous caretaker, Houston, to convince the hard-nosed, play-by-the-book adoption agency that he should be allowed to adopt both boys.
5. "Portrait Of Love": Laura's friend, a blind girl named Annie who has a talent for painting and is about to have her work go public, learns the truth about her past and why her mother abandoned her. Meanwhile, Percy enlists the aid of the Ingalls to help convince Mrs. Oleson to stop coddling Nellie, once and for all.
6. "Divorce, Walnut Grove Style": A series of misunderstandings result when a young girl tries to make a play for Almanzo, and it could wind up breaking up a promising marriage.
7. "Dearest Albert, I'll Miss You": Pen pals … not the kind you find in a pig pen, but the kind you write to take center stage in this episode as Albert is apprehensive about meeting his pen pal.
8. "The In-Laws": Charles and Almonzo make a bet in a "friendly competition" to see who can get to Sleepy Eye faster with their goods.
9. "To See The Light": "I can see! I CAN SEE!!!" That's the joyful news Adam gets when he miraculously regains his eyesight in – ironically enough – an accident at the Garveys' warehouse. He makes a decision to continue his pursuit as an attorney but finds himself first having to reassure Mary that she'll always be a part of his life.
10. "Oleson vs. Oleson": Equal land ownership rights for women – still a fantasy in the 1800s – take center stage as Mrs. Oleson (of all people) tries to push a referendum to force men to share and share alike. When Charles, Nels and Almanzo all oppose the referendum, Mrs. Oleson, Caroline, Laura and the other women circle the wagons.
11. "Come Let Us Reason Together": Percy's mother and father visit Walnut Grove and meet the Olesons (for the first time) and to be there in time for Nellie's due date. It is revealed that Percival is actually his middle name – he's really Isaac Cohen. Mr. Cohen and Mrs. Oleson get into a huge fight over the future baby's religion – Christian (the Olesons' religion) or Judaism (the Cohens) – but the matter is settled when Nellie gives birth to twins, and Percy and Nellie show the art of compromise that his father and her mother were unwilling to.
12. "The Nephews": Almanzo and Laura look after Royal's nephews for a few weeks, and it proves to be quite a task.
13. "Make A Joyful Noise": Joe comes to Sleepy Eye to try to develop a relationship with Hester Sue, but she's already got her heart set on marrying an undertaker. Will things change when Joe – usually a buffoon – shows his sensitive side by comforting a student at the school?
14. "Goodbye, Mrs. Wilder": Mrs. Oleson constantly undermines Laura's authority at Walnut Grove School. Laura has enough and says, "You can do it better? Here, have at it." Mrs. Oleson learns a tough lesson about why local standards and not her useless bull are important.
15. "Sylvia": One of the standout episodes of the entire run centers on Albert's friend, a physically mature girl named Sylvia who is living a complete nightmare – a emotionally abusive father and relentless harassment by the other boys … but that's nothing compared to being raped by a masked stranger. Albert tries to set out to make things right and give Sylvia a far better life, but doing so may be too much to ask, especially when she becomes pregnant and Mrs. Oleson spreads a rumor suggesting Albert is the baby's father.
16. "Blind Justice": Adam and Mary move back to Walnut Grove so that Adam can start a law practice there. His first case involves a person accused of swindling landowners in a deal with the railroad.
17. "I Do, Again": Caroline is devastated when she learns that she can no longer bear children, and is further depressed when Laura announces her own pregnancy and sees Nellie mothering her children dearly. Charles helps her realize that, even though she is no longer able to have a child, he still loves her so.
18. "The Lost Ones": While on a delivery run, Charles and Albert witness a young couple get killed in a tragic wagon accident; their son and daughter also witness the crash and are traumatized. Charles and Caroline agree to temporarily take in young James and Cassandra Cooper while they make arrangements with an adoption agency to help find a new family. It seems like the right fit has been made, but when the father of that family is revealed as mean and abusive, James and Cassandra run away. Eventually, Charles and Caroline agree that, despite their "little house," they have a responsibility to care for the kids.

Season 8 - 1981- 1982

1. "The Reincarnation Of Nellie": Major storyline developments abound as both Percy and Nellie, and Adam and Mary separately announce moves to New York for different reasons. In the wake of Nellie's permanent relocation, Mrs. Oleson is devastated and borderline suicidal, and the only thing that will change that is adopting a new daughter … one just like Nellie in her youth. Sure enough, a brat named Nancy is adopted by the Olesons, and she quickly wreaks havoc on Walnut Grove in ways that made Nellie look like an amateur.
2. "Growin' Pains": James, insecure about his place in the family, tries to emulate Albert. However, after James is found to have accidentally damaged Albert's razor and then stolen one from the Mercantile to replace it, James decides to run away, leading Albert to try to convince him to come home.
3. "Dark Sage": Racism takes center stage as a university-trained doctor named Caleb LeDoux takes residency in Walnut Grove. It forces some of Doc Baker's deep-seated feelings of bigotry to the surface, but it isn't until Dr. LeDoux performs a Caesarian section on a woman having extreme difficulty giving birth that Doc Baker is willing to confront them.
4. "A Wiser Heart": Laura attends a writing seminar, but things don't go very smoothly, thanks to differences between her and Eliza Jane, being forced to work as a dishwasher for a cold hearted restaurant owner, and a less-than-honorable professor.
5. "Gambini The Great": Hero worship takes center stage as Albert, Willie, and the other schoolchildren are taken in by the stunts of an aging circus daredevil, and try to replicate them. In the end, one of the daredevil's stunts leads to tragedy.
6. "The Legend Of Black Jake": Nels is kidnapped by a pair of bumbling criminals who demand a $100 ransom. Tightwad Mrs. Oleson refuses to pay the ransom, leaving Nels to plot his own revenge.
7. "Chicago": Charles learns that John Jr. has died and travels to Chicago to comfort a deeply grieving Mr. Edwards. It is there they find out that John Jr.'s death is suspicious and resolve to find out what happened.
8. "For The Love Of Nancy": Nancy charms her way into the heart of an overweight, oafish boy at school, but only is interested in him so she can get her way with the others.
9. "Wave Of The Future": Mrs. Oleson is taken in by a franchiser who promises huge profits and much more, if only she'll restructure Nellie's Restaurant into their store. It's more than Mrs. Oleson can count on, as she'll quickly find out.
10. "A Christmas They Never Forgot": With allusions to "The Long Winter" abounding, the Ingalls and Hester Sue are stranded at the Ingalls' cabin on Christmas Eve, but decide to pass the time by sharing stories of their favorite Christmas memories.
11. "No Beast So Fierce": James' new friend, Gideon Hale, stutters and he sticks up for him. However, a promising friendship is halted when James joins in on the teasing and Gideon overhears it. While Caroline searches for the runaway Gideon, James and Charles go on a delivery run. A feral wolf that follows the Ingalls men plays a key role in this film.
12. "Stone Soup": Willie is the center of this coming-of-age story as he takes seriously Laura's heart-to-heart talk about his (improving) academic performance and being a role model to the younger students at the school, and Caroline's telling of "Stone Soup" to the class. It comes into play when Willie organizes a class effort to manage Almanzo's farm and orchard when the pregnant Laura becomes suddenly ill from exhaustion.
13. "The Legacy": In an episode that begins with a flash forward to the present day, we learn the background of a special table that Charles had patented 100 years earlier, and how a ruthless businessman stole the rights to produce the table and mass produce it, without thanking Charles.
14. "Uncle Jed": James and Cassandra's biological uncle, Jed Cooper, arrives to take custody of his niece and nephew, just as the Ingalls are finalizing adoption proceedings for the two.
15. "Second Chance": Hester Sue's ex-husband arrives in Walnut Grove, claiming that he has reformed himself of his drinking, gambling, womanizing and late-night carousing. Hester Sue believes him and the two plan to remarry … but is she a sucker for a leopard who hasn't changed his spots?
16. "Days Of Sunshine, Days Of Sorrow": The Wilders' marriage sees its most severe test yet when Almanzo suffers a series of illnesses, including a moderate stroke that leaves him paralyzed, both physically and spiritually. Laura finds that managing her pregnancy, Almanzo's severe bitterness and a meddlesome Eliza Jane too much. Even the birth of baby Rose isn't enough to snap Almonzo out of things, but the Great Tornado of 1886 just might.
17. "A Promise To Keep": Mr. Edwards returns to Walnut Grove harboring some devastating secrets – namely, that he has relapsed into alcoholism and that it has ruined his marriage and logging empire. Eventually, he causes an accident that injures Albert and (temporarily) destroys his cherished friendship with Charles. In the end, Mr. Edwards turns to God to help him confront his demons.
18. "A Faraway Cry": Caroline accompanies Doc Baker to a mining camp where an influenza virus has felled many of its residents and where Caroline's childhood friend is pregnant and desperately ill. Caroline vows to give the baby a good home after its mother dies shortly after giving birth.
19. "He Was Only Twelve": James is gravely wounded when caught in a bank robbery. Charles, Mr. Edwards and Albert go on a hunt for the gang responsible for the robbery and shooting of James. Later, when James has remained comatose for months, Charles refuses to admit his son is likely in a permanent vegetative state and will not allow him to die; this causes a huge strain on the marriage and eventually prompts him to leave Walnut Grove with James. He builds an altar in the woods and hopes that God will bring a miracle.

Season 9 - 1982-1983: A New Beginning

1. "Times Are Changing": Charles moves his family to Burr Oak, and a new family – New York transplants John and Sarah Carter, and their sons Jeb and Jason – move in. Also, Royal's daughter, Jenny, comes to Walnut Grove on what she initially thinks is a temporary visit, but winds up being permanent when Royal reveals he is terminally ill. Also, Etta Plum becomes the new schoolmarm.
2. "Welcome To Olesonville": A power-hungry Mrs. Oleson obtains the town's bond and uses it to force an election: Elect Nels mayor or else. The townsfolk realize Nels will merely become a puppet for his wife and fight back with a candidate of their own.
3. "Rage": A local farmer named Mr. Stark flies into a deep rage after learning he was denied a loan at the bank and that he will be evicted from his farm. After a domestic disturbance gone horribly wrong, Stark flees and eventually takes refuge at Laura's home … holding her, Jenny and baby Rose hostage until he gets his way.
4. "Little Lou": A midget circus performer is unjustly accused of stealing from the Mercantile after the bigoted Mrs. Oleson causes him to lose his job as an accountant at the bank. She soon realizes that all people - even midgets – have their value when she has to rely on him to save Nancy's life after she falls down an old well shaft.
5. "The Wild Boy": The circus comes to Walnut Grove, where the main attraction – a "Wild Boy" (actually, one who has been beaten and given toxic levels of morphine) – escapes and becomes friends with the Ingalls. Mr. Edwards hides Matthew at his place, but Nancy – focused on a hefty reward for the boy's return to his circus master – rats Edwards out, forcing him to go all out to convince a judge to allow him to stay where he'll be safe.
6. "The Return Of Nellie": Nellie returns to Walnut Grove, proves herself to be a mature, responsible woman and is stunned when she realizes through Nancy that she was once the town's Alpha Bitch. When Nancy is no longer the center of attention during a party, she runs away, and Nellie is the one that has to find her and convince her that her parents do love her – even if in opposing ways.
7. "The Empire Builders": The promise of the railroad coming to Walnut Grove and joy of more jobs and economic development turns sour when the railroad announces it needs easements, and others learn of plenty of ill repute in several railroad towns.
8. "Love": Laura's childhood friend, Jane Canfield, comes back to Walnut Grove and falls in love with Mr. Edwards, a man twice her age.
9. "Alden's Dilemma": A traveling minister is planning a surprise for Rev. Alden; he is arranging a house for him in Walnut Grove. But this truth does not come to light until Rev. Alden concludes his congregation is planning to leave him.
10. "Marvin's Garden": Jenny loses a necklace in a pond and almost drowns trying to get it. After the incident, she has partial brain damage and has to retrain herself to talk and walk. Jenny's friend, a retired doctor, helps Jenny to force herself to get better. Thanks to him, Jenny makes a complete recovery.
11. "Sins Of The Fathers": Sarah's overbearing father visits from New York, and he wants the family to return so that things can be like before. Sarah eventually stands her ground. Meanwhile, Mrs. Oleson manages to get published a scandalous column about a local resident who has overcome alcoholism.
12. "The Older Brothers": Mr. Edwards, John and Almonzo get mixed up with the criminal activities of the bumbling Older Brothers Gang.
13. "Once Upon A Time": Laura wins a story-writing contest and is offered the opportunity to publish her writings. She writes a book that drives Almanzo and Jenny to tears, a book that in later years will be known as Little House in the Big Woods. The editor agrees to publish it, but only in a heavily edited form. Jenny convinces Laura that this new book is a lie and must not be published.
14. "Home Again": In a standout episode graphically detailing the dangers of drug abuse, Albert and Charles return to Walnut Grove to get him away from the teens that got him hooked on morphine. But Albert's drug abuse isn't going away, and it takes some very tough love … and a horribly painful withdrawal episode … for Albert to recover.
15. "A Child With No Name": Doc Baker is unable to save the life of the Wilders' newborn son, who died of an unknown illness, and Laura angrily blames him as incompetent. Laura knows this isn't true, but it hurts his reputation. Later, when Rose becomes sick with smallpox and, against Laura's wishes, Almanzo calls on Doc Baker, the two are quarantined together. Laura soon realizes what she knew all along: that Doc Baker is a good doctor.
16. "The Last Summer": Jason begins doing odd jobs for an aging woman named Ruth Leland, and Sarah soon disapproves when he appears to be spending too much time with Ruth. Then, Ruth reveals that she is terminally ill and needs to spend her dying days with him.
17. "For The Love Of Blanche": Mr. Edwards makes friends with an orangutan named Blanche, who quickly wreaks havoc on the citizens of Walnut Grove. She nearly finds herself dead when Nancy claims she was attacked and Mrs. Oleson wants the simian shot dead.
18. "May I Have This Dance": Willie stands up to his mother, demanding that he be allowed to marry his sweet young girlfriend, Rachel Brown, and manage the hotel-restaurant bearing his sister's name.
19. "Hello And Goodbye": Matthew's natural father wants to reclaim custody of his son. Matthew shows hatred towards his father for abandoning him, but in the end decides to go and live with him. A devastated Mr. Edwards winds up moving to Laura's new boarding house, where an Englishman named Sherwood Montague, and newlyweds Willie and Rachel Oleson, have also taken up residence.

Season 10 - 1983-1984: The Movies

1. "A Look Back To Yesterday": Albert returns to Walnut Grove for what could well be his last visit – he's suffering from a rare form of leukemia. In the end, he lives through the final scene holding Laura's hand at the top of the hill in front of the keepsake tree. Earlier, Albert's main purpose was to help Charles establish a new farmer's cooperative.
2. "Bless All The Dear Children": The final Christmas movie sees Almanzo and Laura frantically search for Rose, who was kidnapped by a grief-stricken mother that had recently lost her baby girl. Also, Nancy balks at helping with the family celebration, Jason starts his own Christmas tree business and Mr. Montague learns the true meaning of Christmas.
3. "The Last Farewell": In an explosive finale, a hard-nosed land and railroad tycoon named Nathan Lassiter reveals he holds the deeds for every property in Walnut Grove and is going to take over on Easter Sunday. Despite their best efforts, the residents are unable to drive Mr. Lassiter away. When they attempt to resist with force, Mr. Lassiter comes back with a detachment of Union soldiers who order everyone to leave. The town finds a very unique way to respond to Lassiter's demands – and it's one that will have him working for years and spending hundreds of thousands to address.