Disability as an Excuse for Jerkassery: Wheelchair-bound Almanzo radiates with this attitude so badly that it nearly ruins his character. He totally gives up on happiness and resigns to being a cripple, and it takes a Herculian effort to pull him back into able-bodied life.
Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud: A huge tornado - which the series bible would later dub "The Great Tornado of 1886" - knocks Laura unconscious just as she's trying to enter the storm cellar, a wood beam smacking her in the head. Offscreen, and per the series bible, Joe Kagan and a few one-time characters from several past episodes (including Gideon Hale from "No Beast So Fierce") are said to have lost their lives as this storm plowed through Hero Township.
The Eeyore: Almanzo post-stroke, to the point it arguably becomes annoying how mired in gloom and doom he is. Not even the birth of his child stops him from feeling sorry for himself, one of the happiest events one could hope to experience in life. If it had been a normal length single episode, yes, this might have worked well, but over nearly all of the 90 minutes in part two? Just stop it already!!
Fake Guest Star: Dean Butler is credited as a Guest Star for this episode, while Lucy Lee Flippin is a Special Guest Star. While Flippin's Eliza Jane role was recurring, Butler – the one and only Almanzo Wilder – had been in most episodes since his character was introduced in 1979 and made full time in 1980.
Hourglass Plot: For the better part of the two-part, Almanzo is mired in gloom and convinced he's doomed to be a burden to everyone, while Laura tries to keep hopes up and snap him out of his depression. Then when the tornado destroys his and Laura's house, Laura reaches the Despair Event Horizon and becomes stricken with depression, and it's Almanzo who gets an epyphany and triest to talk her out of it.
Put on a Bus: This is Eliza Jane's final appearance, who departs for the city to take a well-paying job at the urging of her brother, despite the tornado wrecking the Wilder's house.
Secretly Selfish: Eliza Jane seemingly tries to do what's best for Laura and Almanzo by helping them send their land and move with her to the city, even if it means inteferring in Laura's attempts at getting Almanzo to get better. Then after Almanzo starts recovering both physically and mentally, and they have a dinner to celebrate it, an embarrassed Eliza Jane shows up and apologizes for interferring on their life and trying to get them to move with her, admitting that she was doing things based on what she wanted, as she saw the opportunity to have them move with her to the city. Laura is understanding and invites her for supper.
You Look Familiar: Eddie Quillan, who plays the elderly train passenger that Charles talks to while heading back to Walnut Grove, had previously appeared in "To Run and Hide", "The High Cost of Being Right", "Someone Please Love Me", "The Return of Mr. Edwards" and "The In-Laws", then made his final appearance in season 9's "For the Love of Blanche".
You Look Familiar: Eddie Quillan, who plays the elderly train passenger that Charles talks to while heading back to Walnut Grove, had previously appeared in "To Run and Hide", "The High Cost of Being Right", "Someone Please Love Me", "The Return of Mr. Edwards" and "The In-Laws", then made his final appearance in season 9's "For the Love of Blanche".