Little House on the Prairie

Two brothers have sick beasts, but they don't want to lose money on them, so they slaughter them and sell the meat to unsuspecting people across Hero Township. The result is that many of the key players end up with anthrax and the blind school is turned into a hospital.



Of course, it's a repitition of "The Plague", but I found this one enjoyable in its own right, especially as Harriet Oleson showed a human side for the second time in the season! The part that I found the most annoying was when Jonathan and Charles were dispatched to the train station to collect medical supplies which Doctor Baker had ordered. On the way back, they are hijacked by a desperate man with a gun who wants their wagon and horses. He takes them prisoner in his home where his son is ill with anthrax and their home makes the Ingalls family look positively prosperous by comparison. I felt that this entire sub-plot was unnecessary and took away from what was happening in Walnut Grove itself. The two brothers died with anthrax and so did several others but the main characters survived (as we knew they would) and Ketty Lester treated us once again to her lovely singing voice.



I enjoyed it, overall.

Yet another installment where characters are introduced and die in the same episode. When two brothers sell bad meat to the residents of Hero township, the result is anthrax. Many main characters become ill, but of course it's only the ones we've never seen before who die. This episode already played out in season 1's "Plague". The "mission" in the title refers to a trip Charles and Jonathan take to retrieve medicines, only to be held hostage (another recurring theme in seasons 5 thru 10) by a deranged father. Not bad, but don't go out of your way to see it.