Tropes associated with this episode:
- Asshole Victim: Both of the Fenton brothers succumb to anthrax … themselves having eaten the anthrax-laced mutton.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: When Mrs. Oleson – one of the few unaffected by the anthrax strain and who was pressed into service as a nurse – is caring for Nels, he – despite briefly having trouble breathing – admits he loves her, and there is a rare tender scene between the two. The final scene also shows a rare sense of family unity with the Olesons, as Mrs. Oleson gives everyone medicine; Willie is especially thankful that his father is becoming well, and it is clear Nellie (who had no speaking lines in this episode) is also glad her father is recovering.Harriet: (to Nels) I don't know how you put up with me sometimes.Nels: I don't "put up" with you- I love you!
- Broken Tears and Manly Tears: Dr. Baker, after the end of the crisis, breaks down in both exhaustion and in grief over those who didn't make it, and in relief that the anthrax outbreak is near its end and people are starting to become well again.
- Death of a Child: One of the Blind School students and Nate Berwick's son are declared dead on camera. It is implied several other children have succumbed to anthrax-related illnesses.
- He's Dead, Jim: Doc Baker pronounces two boys - one of the Blind School students and the son of Nate Berwick, already grieving his wife's death - dead, just by listening for a pulse. When Berwick sees Virgil Fenton (one of the farmers who sold the tainted meat) lying in the main classroom and in a blind rage goes to strangle him, Doc Baker pulls him off and tells him Virgil has also died.
- Hostile Weather: A train from Minneapolis to Rochester, carrying crucial medical supplies needed to control the anthrax virus, is delayed due to a blizzard in central Minnesota. Charles and Jonathan themselves try to hurry back to the Blind School with the supplies before the storm reaches the area.
- I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: Reversed. When Charles and Jonathan are late with the supplies and more and more people are either dead or near death, Doc Baker dejectedly concedes defeat. "I'm not a doctor anymore! I'm a funeral director."
- Mama Bear: When Jonathan and Charles are trying to retrieve the wagon with medical supplies stolen by Nate Slade, and he has his wife Bess tie them up while he holds them at gunpoint, she initially puts up with his scheme as they need to feed their ill son Ethan, but when they warn the couple that what their son has is almost certainly anthrax, as Slater had butchered and fed him meat from a dead horse which had escaped from the Fenton farm (where the animals were falling sick) and Slade refuses to believe them despite all the evidence, Bess grabs her husband's gun and forces him to release them so they can take her son to Doc Baker before it's too late.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Berwick does this twice to Virgil Fenton. The first time, he does so when he sees Doc Baker try to inject medicine into him; Berwick – holding the Fentons responsible for knowingly selling his family anthrax-laced meat – objected to Baker treating him. Later, when his son dies, Berwick again lunges at Fenton, but by this time, Fenton has died.
- Temporary Blindness: An anthrax-stricken Laura, at one point, temporarily loses her eyesight. By episode's end, her sight is restored.
- Tonight, Someone Dies: At least three people – one of the Fenton brothers, young Seth Berwick and a Blind School student named Ethan – die on-screen. Berwick's mother died earlier, and Garth Fenton is also acknowledged as dead. Cutaway shots throughout the episode show pallbearers grimly carrying out at least three more bodies from the Blind School.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Notice that Carrie and Grace appear only in the scene where Laura and Albert complain of illness. Caroline summons Doc Baker and tells Carrie to watch Grace while she's gone. Neither Carrie nor Grace (who are 9 and 1, respectively) are seen in any scenes for the rest of the show (though they are mentioned as staying at the Blind School in Hester Sue's room during the epidemic).
