Wednesday October 9, 1974
1005
When a new boy named Johnny Johnson arrives at school for the first time, Laura is immediately smitten. Johnny is a friendly boy--if not a bit scatterbrained--and although he is oblivious to Laura's crush on him, he certainly makes it clear that he is interested in Mary. Even though Mary does not share the same feelings, the "love triangle" is enough to cause tension between the sisters.
Write a Recap »Melissa Gilbert is just precious in this First Season episode about young heartbreak. Crushing on (much) older Johnny Johnson (who only has eyes for Mary), Laura learns the hard way about unrequited love. hide show
I marvel at this early episode because it really showcases the acting abilities of the two Melissas. The nuances in both their emotional expressions throughout are amazing, given their young ages. I also appreciated the parents for the sensitivity they show towards Laura during this difficult time. One thing: when Maw and Paw are talking about their youthful experiences and how Charles was older than Caroline, it appeared that the age difference was about five years. It was obvious to me that the actor playing Johnny was waaay older than Laura OR Mary! Was Melissa Gilbert 10 when she starred in that episode? She looks way younger (like 8).
Half-Print has her first (and there's more to come) crush on an "older man." Mitch Vogel, with his mid-seventies, teen magazine good looks, plays good natured but not-the-deepest-thinker-in-the-world, Johnny Johnson. His very name conjures up rubery. hide show
It all starts with Johnny's casual remark to Laura, "You're a pretty good runner, for a girl," and she's head-over-heels. Throughout this episode, Laura gets frustrated with Johnny's utter cluelessness as he consumes all her oatmeal cookies while drooling over her Marcia Brady-esque-on-the-prairie sister, Mary. In this particualr episode, we get a more in-focus look at Laura and Mary's differences: "I thought Reverend Alden's sermon on the mission in China was interesting," remarks Mary. Ma asks, "What did you think, Laura?" "I thought the sermon was too long. My legs fell sleep!" Pa's jealousy, upon learning of the love triangle between the girls, is quite hilarious. "Caroline, he's 15! That's not a boy, that's man! Do you know what a man's like when he's 15?" "No, Charles, what were you like at 15?" "I gotta go feed the stock." Towards the end, knuckleheaded Johnny asks Laura to "meet me by the sweetheart tree" and you will laugh out loud when you see Laura's wide eyed, gaspy reaction, "Oh, yes!" But she's devestated when she sees that he carved Golden-Haired sis's initials on the tree instead. But all is well again as Pa reassures his little one that time will heal, she'll grow into a swan like her Ma did, and all the while he'll love her madly.
Episode 5 - The Love of Johnny Johnson - My review hide show
This episode mainly focuses on Laura Ingalls.
Laura falls in love with Johnny Johnson, a new student. Johnny compliments Laura as a good runner and Laura can’t seem to take her eyes off him. Johnny however notices Mary and starts to like her. Laura decides to impress Johnny in many ways like how high she can throw something, or how fast she can run. Johnny however notices how smart Mary is with her studies and how hard working she is. Laura even starts asking her parents how they first fell in love to get some ideas on how she can impress Johnny. Charles tells Laura that he first noticed Caroline as a good cook. Laura thinks the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so one day she invites Johnny Johnson to go fishing with her and takes a lot of oatmeal cookies with her. Johnny is disappointed that Mary didn’t show up, and soon even Laura gets disappointed because her plan didn’t work. One day Johnny comes to the Ingalls’ home and asks Mary if she can help him with his reading. Laura becomes upset but doesn’t give up. Caroline finds out about the love triangle when Ms. Beadle tells her about Laura’s infatuation. Laura starts having fights with Mary when Mary passes remarks about Johnny. One day Johnny asks Laura to meet her by the sweetheart tree (where couples scratch their initials). Laura becomes upset to see Johnny print out his and Mary’s initials. She throws out her anger on Mary. Later Charles meets Laura by the river and has a good talk with her.
This is one of my favorite episodes of this Season. I think Melissa Gilbert acted wonderfully in this episode. It was fun to watch her looking at Johnny all the time, and the ways she tried to impress him. I would definitely watch this episode more than once.
Michael Landon is pure genius. This is a very touching episode to me, extremely well done with a timeless theme. Laura falls for a slightly older boy in school named Johnny Johnson, who is also having a little bit of trouble learning. He needs helps with various things like his reading words. Laura does everything she can to win his attention. She asks Ma what she and Pa did back in the days when they were "courting", and Ma told her the story of how she invited Charles to a picnic- and Pa shyly told her his yes. Laura invited Johnny to the pond to go fishing, and he comes-but to her disappointment, he isn't as romance stuck as she is. Laura is something of a tomboy, which may be the problem. He is too busy chasing Mary her sister, but she has absolutely no interest in her. (And we see a classic love triangle). He asks Mary to help him with his spelling words- a job Laura is dying to do. She is really bummed because she keeps getting the rejection slip, and Ma gives her a comforting talk on the bed. I don't wanna grow up to be a woman, Laura says-It hurts. Well, we never do completely, says Ma. "Because in every woman there's a little girl, and in every little girl there's a woman." Laura feels better, and at school the next day she gets really excited-Johnny has asked her to meet by the sweetheart tree where the schoolkids carves their names.We finally think she won her man! Until she sees the other side of the tree, and Johnny really just wanted her opinion on his and MARY's name that he carved! What a blow!!!! Laura runs all the way home, and accuses Mary of stealing her man, which leads to a small fight. Laura goes back down by the pond, and Pa comes to comfort her. Laura apologizes for her nasty words to Mary-saying that she was jealous of Mary. Pa says he guesses he felt the same way-a little jealous that a new boy wanted to take his "best girl" Half Pint. But he tells her not to worry-that someday Johnny Johnson will find her again-and so will a lot of other interested boyfriends.
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