Blizzard

Season 3, Episode 12, Aired

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On Christmas Eve, Miss Beadle decides to surprise the schoolchildren by letting them go home early. This proves to be a grave mistake when the kids are trapped by a vicious blizzard outside, and none of them can find their way home. As Doc Baker turns the school into a makeshift hospital for frostbitten victims, the men must brave the extreme weather conditions and track down their loved ones.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (5)

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  • Great episode

    8.5
    "Great"
    By 1lawfan, Jan 26, 2012
    This is one my favorite episodes, it shows how fast, especially in their neck of the woods, weather can turn. You really appreciate how hard it was then to deal with harsh weather and appreciate your conveniences.
    One thing I loved about this show was how everyone would pull together, they way the Amish do now, and even when things didn't turn out perfectly, they were there for each other. All our electronics are nice,but we lose something in all the cyber talking and work.

    When I was young and wanted to iive on my own praire and "little house" my mother would point out the good but remind me of things like out-houses with below zero temperatures and no fans in the oppresive heat. I still would love 1 weekend living there, the feeling I get watching would be nice longer than the hour.moreless

  • It's Christmas and a big snowstorm is coming, so Miss Beadle decides to let the children go home early as a treat. What she doesn't know is just how severe the weather really is ...moreless

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Lady_Lancaster, Dec 12, 2011
    The Walnut Grove school has been busy preparing for Christmas, as have the ladies of the town. Miss Beadle decides to close the school early as a treat, unaware that the weather is turning into a blizzard that is going to cause the children journeying home from school to be in grave danger.

    As the weather turns more dangerous, the adults go out and look for their offsprings while the women and children pray and wait in the church. Grace Edwards is very worried as her husband and children are missing, just like several others. Needless to say, their IS a loss of life, but all the children are found safe and sound, which is the main thing.

    A terrific episode and well worth watching for all fans of quality family drama.moreless

  • On Christmas Eve, Miss Beadle sends the children home from school early, unaware that a major blizzard is about to strike Walnut Grove. Chaos and death ensue.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By ceosmom, Apr 05, 2011
    Whenever I see this episode, I'm reminded not only of how difficult pioneer times were, but of how fortunate we are today to have conveinences like cell phones, which would have prevented the drama in this episode. When Miss Beadle lets the children leave school a little early on Christmas Eve, her efforts are rewarded by a sudden, heavy snowstorm that may very well keep the children from getting home alive. When the mothers of the students show up at the school en masse (apparently, they were heading to school as a group, presumably for a holiday party--would Miss Beadle not have been aware of this?) they are told by her that all of the students but the Oleson kids have been gone for some time. Some of the menfolk show up and it's decided that several search parties will form and the women will stay at the school to man a makeshift triage unit/hospital. Unfortunately, it proves necessary. As usual in such tearjerker episodes, a townsperson whom all the characters seem to know well, but whom the viewer has never seen, is killed off to either feed the plot line or make a point. Still, it's a gripping, who-will-live-and-who-will-die episode that's a must-see for true LHOTP fans.moreless

  • Big Blizzard on the Prairie...

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Fallaya, Apr 23, 2008
    Miss Beadle has NO IDEA that the flurries she sent the children home into would turn out to be a terrible blizzard! It's actually NOT her fault. I don't think anyone really blames her for what happens, but she feels terrible about it. Good thing Pa and Mr. Edwards stopped by the school before going on home, otherwise there may have been more deaths than there were (two I believe). I liked the tender moment between Willie and Miss Beadle, as he reminds her that it wasn't her fault the children were out in the storm. Too bad the parents didn't have the same idea!!moreless

  • Sent home early from school on Christmas eve, many of the children are now lost in a sudden blizzard. The townsfolk band together to save their families.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By DrCook920, Apr 17, 2008
    This episode is a fine example of how terribly harsh life on the prairie could be. Storms such as this did indeed spring up seemingly out of nowhere and escalate rapidly. It's a Christmas episode, one of very few done during the series' run, but there is no attempt to sugar-coat the tragic events or to have a miraculous rescue of all followed by a happy ending. It is real to the point of harshness. This is not the first time that we have seen someone die on 'Little House', but it seems so much more bleak in these circumstances.
    Poor Mrs. Beadle. She meant well and thought she was doing the right thing. Now she is blamed, though mostly wordlessly, for the peril of the children. I love the scene where Willie goes to her as she weeps at her desk and he strokes her hair. It is a comforting gesture typical of a child and so poignant here. A lovely moment.
    There is a good deal of tension in this episode; whose children will be found, by whom and when. When Edwards must press on to find Carl and Alicia after the Ingalls girls are found, there is a moment between the two men as they agree this is how it must be. It is unspoken, but you can feel how hard and scary this is for them. Of course, the viewer is certain, almost, that Edwards will be OK, it's not the first time he's braved this type of weather after all. The moment when Charles returns with the girls is gripping as well. First, he must tell Grace that Isiah went on alone and then he must report the death discovered out in the snow. The new widow's scream of grief and pain is horrible to hear. It's a very sad moment. The most enduring image of the episode for me is the tableau formed the next morning of Edwards and the children being greeted, the new widow and her son standing alone and Charles reading the bible. Goosebumps.
    A fine episode, and a good one for Christmas, because it reminds us of the precious gift of life.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (4)

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    • Little Carrie--who is about 5 years old here--comes to school on Christmas Eve with her older sisters as a "special visitor." She does not start school until the following year, Season 4, which is strange, since at the age of 5, she is certainly old enough to be in school. Reply: There was no "kindergarten" in the United States until the 1960's, and most children did not attend school until the age of six before that time.

    • This is the first holiday episode that ends with a main character reading a Christmas passage from the Bible. The only other time this was done was in Season 10's Bless All the Dear Children, where Laura's overvoice read from the Bible about the birth of Jesus.

    • This is the second time in the series where audiences are expected to believe that Mr. Edwards braved heavy snow and immensely cold weather to reach a certain destination and come out of it alive. This happened for the first time in the pilot movie three years ago. Although Mr. Edwards is portrayed as a highly resourceful mountain man, it's still a bit of a stretch that he can survive such horrid weather conditions.

    • This is the only Christmas episode on Little House that ends on a somber note. The pilot movie, Season 1's Christmas at Plum Creek, Season 8's A Christmas They Never Forgot, and Season 10's Bless all the Dear Children all had happy endings.

  • QUOTES (1)

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    • Nels: (after searching for children in the blizzard with Mr. Hanson) Who's still missing? Harriet: Oh, um, the Ingalls girls, and the Edwards children. Nels: (eyes begin to close) We'll rest for a while, and then we'll go back out. Harriet: Oh, but Nels, you can't. It's too dangerous, it's-- Mr. Hanson: He can't hear you. Harriet: What? Mr. Hanson: He is asleep. Total exhaustion. He will sleep for hours.

  • NOTES (3)

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    • Because the show was filmed largely in California, it was very difficult to depict the snowy weather that was so reflective of a typical prairie winter in the 1800's. Therefore, according to series producer Kent McCray, the ultra-intense blizzard scenes used in episodes like this were performed on a sound stage, where the stage could be "dressed up" as necessary. Also, there were several fans used to make it sound as if harsh wind was blowing, so McCray once discussed how dialogue was very minimal when these loud fans were being used in the middle of filming.

    • On January 12, 1888, when the real Laura Ingalls Wilder was in her 20's, a severe storm hit where she was living in South Dakota. Because so many children were killed during it, it became known as "the children's blizzard." This horrific event was the inspiration for this episode.

    • Another Christmas episode for Little House was not filmed until 5 years after this one, in Season 8's A Christmas They Never Forgot.

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