It is hard to understand, yet very true, that an abused child does not want to be removed from his abusive situation. It is all the child knows and even as bad as things are, they prefer the known (abuse) to the unknown. This is no exception to the little boy in this episode who is being abused by a father who blames the child for his wife's death (she died giving birth to him). Though the father loves his son, he drinks to forget the pain of losing his wife, and when he drinks, he becomes mean and beats his little boy. As happens in real life, the abuse only worsens as time goes on until the boy nearly dies. At this point, the community comes together to confront the dad.
Charles, much to his chagrin, gets put in charge of drying out the dad and showing him if he doesn't clean up his act, he will lose his son forever. The road is difficult and there are many times Charles would prefer to just leave the guy to rot and return to his own family than to put up with the hidden bottles of booze and the lousy, thankless attitude. With time, the father sobers up, acknowledges to himself that he was blaming the son, and promises to love his boy the way he always should have. Abuse is a very serious problem and it was good to see the community recognizing it as such.moreless
EDIT
Episode Summary
When a young boy named Graham Stewart arrives at school every day with various bruises, nobody has the courage to do anything until his alcoholic father almost kills him in a drunken rage. The Walnut Grove community is reluctant to help, but Caroline encourages them to do it for the child's sake. While Graham boards with Caroline and the girls, Charles moves in with John to help him become sober. Information is gathered from both sides about John's genuine (and somewhat unconscious) feelings for his son.moreless
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Melissa Gilbert
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls/Wilder
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Dabbs Greer
Reverend Alden
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Melissa Sue Anderson
Mary Amelia Ingalls/Kendall (1974 - 1981)
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
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Trivia
ADD TRIVIA- Notice the scene where Charles goes into the barn and sees the father pouring out the alcohol. The same shot is shown twice when the father goes into his speech saying "Just in time. That's my hold out bottle. This is the one i didnt tell you about..." Edit
- Notice the clothes that Caroline, her daughters, and Graham are wearing in the scene where they are eating chicken pot pie for dinner. They are all the exact same clothes that they are wearing in the next scene, which takes place the next day as the kids get ready for school. It's very likely that these scenes were shot at the same time, even though they were supposed to be a day apart. Reply: It's important to note that frontier people had very few clothes, and that doing laundry was no easy task. It would have been common for people to wear outfits for several days in a row, until they were officially "dirty" enough to be washed. If anything, the girls changing clothes regularly would be considering inaccurate. Edit
- Notice Nellie's hair in the second scene of the episode, in the classroom, when all the kids are staring at Graham. Nellie's hair is impeccably curly. The ringlets are perfectly placed, and so are her hair ribbons. Very rarely has her hair looked this perfect on camera. Back in the first year of the series, when Alison Arngrim didn't have a wig yet and was forced to curl her hair every single day for the role, it didn't come out as nicely as this too often. Arngrim has recalled how the often hot and sticky filming days caused her hair to be less than cooperative, which was why they finally decided it was best to get a wig. Edit
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Notes
ADD NOTES- Filming Locations: Filmed at Big Sky Ranch, Simi Valley and Paramount Studios, Hollywood, California. Edit
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Quotes
ADD QUOTES- Charles: I sure do miss my wife. When did you lose yours? John: A long time ago. Charles: What was her name? John: Lucy. Charles: What did she die of? John: What's the difference? Charles: None to me. I just wondered. What did she die of? John: (long pause) She died giving birth to the boy. Charles: I guess that's why you blame him for her death, huh? John: Why I what? Charles: You heard me. Why you blame him for your wife's death. John: I don't blame him! Charles: Well, of course you blame him. You tell him that every time you beat him. Every time you're drunk, you tell him that. You tell him he's the reason his mother died. John: That's not true. Charles: Well, of course it is. He's not gonna lie about it. You blame him, don't you? Edit
- Charles: (to Graham's drunken father) Now, you listen to me! I went out to your place an hour ago and found your son lying unconscious behind a table! Are you gonna tell me he did that to himself? John: I don't believe that-- Charles: You don't remember! What, somebody else went out there, tore up your house, and beat up your son? John: (near tears) I don't remember. Charles: Well, maybe you ought to see for yourself! (shows John his son lying unconscious) Edit
- Graham: (about his mother) Her name was Lucy. Caroline: Lucy? That's a pretty name. Graham: Pa says it sometimes when he's been drinking, but that's the only time he ever talks about her. Caroline: I knew she had died. Graham: When I got born. Caroline: Those things happen sometimes, Graham. Graham: Pa must miss her something terrible, just like you'd miss Mr. Ingalls. When he gets drunk, it makes him mad. Caroline: At you? Graham: Yes. But only when he's drunk, and he never remembers. Caroline: (long pause) What happened to your mother.....you musn't blame yourself for that, Graham. Graham: I don't. Pa does. Edit
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Allusions
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