Little House on the Prairie

It seems as though there isn't a family in Walnut Grove who wants all three of the children, and while they stay temporarily with Grace Snyder, Charles decides that if they are to be adopted by good people, then they will have to be split up. This decision doesn't go down well with the children or with Laura who feels there must be another way.



It is Mr. Edwards and Mrs. Snyder who come to the rescue when they decide to get married after church one Sunday and adopt all three children themselves so that they can all stay together and be a family.

Besides the entertainment value, this episode is notable for some stellar acting on the part of the Sanderson children, as well as Michael Landon reflecting the tremendous strain he is under to do the right thing with the task that he has been given. This episode also featured what became many "staples" of the Little House series: the problem of how to care for orphans became a common story thread.; Laura pitching a fit and running off; this would be the first but not the last undertaking by Mr. Edwards of the care of children not his own.



Some problems of this episode that were not properly addressed: Why would the wealthy Miss Farnsworth not take care of the boys as well? I can understand her desire to have a little girl as a ward, but with all her resources, surely the boys would not be that big of a burden, especially as they were well-behaved and she could have easily sent them to a local boarding school at the very least. She also states at one point that she has no heir. In those days, females had no rights to property anyway, so Alicia's fortune would have been entrusted to her nearest male relatives, which would have been her brothers!



I also have a problem with the way Laura talks to her Pa in the barn when she tells him she is going to give the puppy to Nellie, just like Pa is going to give the orphaned children to people who want them but can't really love them. While I understand that Laura is upset, she is so brutal and flagrantly disrespectful to her father (who stands there and takes it before hanging his head) that it's really hard to watch and you just wish she'd get a much-needed spanking or something before Ma's tender explanation. It might have kept her from similar behavior for seasons to come!

Amazing. Just a beautiful, touching, emotional episode. I think we all lost it at the end when we see Alicia's happy little face and hear Patricia Neal reading: "Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don't remember me at all."



The script was gorgeous. It is impossible not to fall in love with all of the lovely characters we meet in this episode- John Jr., Carl, Alicia, etc. This was the kind of thing that summed up the late, great Michael Landon's view on life. Live life to it's fullest and live in the moment, because once it's gone, it's gone, and you can never get back to it. That man was a genius!

Another powerful episode of "Little House", and the best of Season Two. Patricia Neal plays a widow, Julia Sanderson, who learns she's dying of cancer, so she has to find homes for her three children. When she eventually dies, Charles has a hard time finding homes. He separates one children from the other two, but as he does Mr. Edwards marries Grace Snider. Only then does Edwards decide to adopt all three children. The eulogy to Julia Sanderson's funeral, by the way, pretty much says it all for Michael Landon and his entire life and career.