Little House on the Prairie

Ted Gehring, who portrays an honest farmer in this episode, would later go on to play Ebenezer Sprague, Walnut Grove's first cold-hearted banker. Ted Gehring didn't play an honest farmer, if Charles hadn't come along he would have kept horses that didn't belong to him.

Actress Julie Cobb (Mrs. Coulter) is the daughter of veteran actor Lee J. Cobb, and she was married to Victor French (Mr. Edwards) from 1976 to 1978.

Notice how Mrs. Coulter runs for a long distance after taunted by the other men in town. For a pregnant woman, she sure does move quickly, and in fact, many women who are not pregnant would have a hard time running that fast. Reply: While this is true, it's important to remember also that Mrs. Coulter looks very young--probably in her early 20's--so she is physically strong.

While Mary is usually depicted as a very shy and reserved girl, this is an episode where she really loses her cool and dares to call a group of grown men names, telling them that God will punish them for their cruelty. For a child like Mary, especially, this is a sight to see, and it's one of the few times in the series that Mary gets in someone's face and lets them see what's behind her sweet, gentle smile(refer also to Season 2's "Troublemaker" and Season 4's "Whisper Country").

Normally the first to be the gossip-spreading rumormonger, Mrs. Oleson is defensive about the Coulters, whom she hardly knows. She calls the men gathered on the steps of the mercantile, who are loudly complaning about Mr. Coulter, "a bunch of animals," and falls all over herself to accomodate Mrs. Coulter and the Ingalls girls when they come into the store, and she later chases the men off with a broom. Though fairly kind and even reserved in the first season, Mrs. Oleson would eventually evolve into the kind of person who would be the first to criticize people in the Coulter's position. Reply: While it is a good example of how the character was still developing in the first season (honestly, it is shocking how friendly she is to Mary and Laura), it should be pointed out that Mrs. Oleson did mention the affect the cursing gang of men was having on the business. This is perfectly consistent with her character, who is so often just out for her own best interest.