Little House on the Prairie

Charles again, got to be the "fixer-upper" for a family, he always had a way of turning alcoholics into decent men in under 60 minutes. : ) I liked how he brought up his son and interacted with the children. I think although a bookend of sorts to "The Handyman", Caroline got to show more emotional leverage, Charles was presented as being more unaware of what was going on with the wife and her feelings. I did think it was odd he said he was in "No hurry" to get home...not like Charles but I guess even he likes a break.

My favorite parts were with the children, his games, "find the dragon" and the simplicity of childhood I miss...we should all still look for dragons and not on video games.

I always wonder why they could not find another actress to play Samantha Harprer Kyle did do a great job but because she had a big part playing Alicia you think Michael Landon would have gotten some other actress to play the Samantha.

This isn't one of my favorite Little House episodes. It's not horrible, but it plays more like a Highway to Heaven episode; family in need, Michael Landon saves the day.



I do like the way Charles Ingalls is portrayed: a good man, father, husband. A man of simple faith. The contrast of course is that Mr. Harper has a huge ranch and lots of money but is extremely unhappy. He drinks because he lost a son - tragic, yes, but Charles lost a son too and has learned to live with it.



My biggest complaint with this episode is probably the way it ends. It wraps up too nice & neat to be realistic. But, maybe the point is just that there is hope, no guarantees.

Chalk this one up as a teaser for "Highway to Heaven" as Charles is once again exalted for his angelic demeanor (especially compared to his abusive, alcoholic boss). Is it realistic? Nah, but that never stopped "LHOTP" before. What I found disappointing was that the caliber of writing wasn't up to their typical standards. This episode vaguely struck me as the male counterpoint to "The Handyman" in an earlier season when Caroline had the temptation of an admirer while apart from Charles. This time it was the unhappy wife who seemed to be crushing on Charles. I wasn't moved or particularly interested in this one.

Charles goes out of town to buy some horses for an elderly man. The owner of the horses, a man named Harper, is a hard drinking man who seeks solace in alcohol due to the death, several years earlier, of his young son, an accident for which he blames himself.



Meanwhile, Charles is a guest of the Harper family and the two remaining Harper children (one of whom is Kyle Richards, who is usually playing Alisha Edwards) enjoy all the fatherly attention that he bestows on them. It seems that Mrs. Harper, whilst professing to deeply love her husband, is strongly attracted to Charles as well. Of course, Charles is able to re-unite the family and they have a child two years later, whom they name "Charles".



This one was a bit dull and somewhat cheesy but my biggest problem with it was that once again, we have a person playing a different role from the one we are used to seeing. Young Kyle Richards played Alisha Edwards in many episodes and now, she turns up as one of the Harper children. The same thing happened with Albert (who used to be Charles) and with a plethora of other actors and actresses who have recurring guest roles, sometimes more than once in the same season, and always playing different characters. Surely Michael Landon could find new people to bring in instead of having those we are already familiar with. It is a constant thing and although I love this show, this aspect really annoys me.

This was a good episode, however a little boring. Charles is sent to buy some horses for a man from town and while staying with the man selling the horses finds out that the man's oldest son died while riding a horse with him. Charles befriends the wife and the children and of course attempts to bring things into a more Ingalls-like atmosphere of love and by the end this happens in the episode. The over voice at the end tells that the couple had another child and names it after Charles. They named the son Charles Michael. I found that a little funny due to Michael Landon.