Little House on the Prairie

Once an excellent student, Miss Beadle, Charles and Caroline are concerned when Mary's once excellent grades begin to slip significantly. It doesn't take long for Charles to figure out that Mary is doing poorly with her studies because she can't see properly and an eye doctor in Mankato gives her a pair of shiny new spectacles that make all the difference. Most unfortunately, Nellie and Willie Oleson, among others, decide to start calling her 'four eyes' which makes Mary feel so terrible that she pretends she has lost her glasses. After some deep thought and a conversation with Miss Beadle, she realises she will never get her work done without them and miraculously finds them again.



Given what happens to Mary and her eyesight in later seasons of the show, this was an excellent piece of foreshadowing and very well acted by Melissa Sue Anderson.

This episode contains almost every element central to the themes of Little House series: a minor family crisis, a health issue, problems at school and fights with bullies, the importance of family and accepting differences. The issue of Mary\'s failing eyesight provides a sad foreshadowing, considering what eventually happened to the real (and TV) Mary Ingalls. This episode ranks as a favorite because the central issue is not failing eyesight, but the insecurity of a pre-teen girl. The episode is pertainent to real life today: we all just want to be accepted. A recommended viewing for young girls 8-12 going through identity and acceptance issues.