“Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow Pt. 2” Recap!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you're listening right now to the Little House fiftieth
Anniversary Podcast, we know something about you. We know that
you're obsessed with Little House of the Prairie.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
For more than half a century, Little House on the Prairie,
the series, and the books have been bright lights for
people all over the world who seek out goodness, decency,
and human connection.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Here on the Little House fiftieth Anniversary Podcast, we celebrate
everything that made Little House so special.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
The stories, the characters, the actors, and the messages that
have made Little House iconic family television.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
And a perfect counterpoint to a world that feels like
it's going off the rails every day.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Where is Michael Landon when we need him most? I'm
your host, Pamela Bob and I'm your Prairie bitch Alice
at Arngrum, and I'm Dean Butler, our hashtag imaginary boyfriend.
Join us for our loving, quirky, and often irreverent conversations
about the finest family drama in the history of television.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
And the imperfect people who made it that way, presented
by our devoted patrons and visit Seami Valley dot.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Com, Hi bonnet hits, How's it going this is Pamela
Bob your host creator and starts living on a prairie
and super fan. I am here with are wonderful, lovely
prairie bitch. That's right, Allison Arnrum looking really almose, particularly today,

(01:30):
and we're also here. You're looking particularly Francie too. Why
not Dean hashtag imaginary I didn't want.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Or not?

Speaker 4 (01:40):
No?

Speaker 5 (01:41):
Maybe drinking coffee, always coffee.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
We're good, We're good our hashtag imaginary boyfriend Dean Butler, Hi,
guys housing, Hey, Hey, what's happened this week?

Speaker 5 (01:57):
I am yeah, no, so yeah, so you're still in France, yeah,
and I am I am.

Speaker 6 (02:06):
I am in sort of midpoints between so we're you know,
we're recording this before it drops, so we so we
don't have to try and skate around time.

Speaker 5 (02:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (02:16):
So I am here at my alma mater talking to
freshman students this week about social media and about storytelling.

Speaker 5 (02:28):
And along and because they know, because they know much
more about it than ye.

Speaker 6 (02:37):
Actually actually, based on yesterday's meeting, they don't.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
But well, I was laughing also because it was only
maybe two years ago that you're.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Like, what's on TikTok?

Speaker 6 (02:52):
But you know it's amazing how fast you can turn
it if.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
You know the stuff we're doing now. Because remember I
spoke in Ireland on a whole whole conference about social
media and it was social media and the power of nostalgia.
I was like, yes, actually we have been about a topic. Yeah,
I know a whole heck a lot about it. And
that's the thing is we've discovered in with the fiftieth
anniversary a little house, and you've exploded on Instagram and

(03:21):
TikTok for a guy who was like, who's what's a who?
Just a couple of years ago, and I, you know,
during the pandemic where I didn't even know what Facebook
Live was and suddenly was queen of the Internet, like overnight.
We've learned so much, so quickly, and for even a
hard age. It is astounding, and it is quite a
thing that you would have to teach them.

Speaker 6 (03:41):
It's it's just it's just sharing the experience of what
it has done and giving them the sense that there
are certain rules, or that it's not even rules. There
are things that you want to be mindful of as
you are creating content in order to uh in order
to reach a target audience and to give them what
they want and keep giving it to them. It's a

(04:03):
relationship that you're creating it. I mean, that's what this
is all about, is creating a relationship.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
So it might be a dysfunctional relationshipships on certain days.

Speaker 6 (04:19):
So yeah, so I think there's you want to be
honest with people, you need to be authentic with people,
you need to be consistent with people, I mean things
and all lessons.

Speaker 5 (04:26):
That we've been learning as we go along.

Speaker 6 (04:28):
Yeah, you know, it's it's like there, Yes, I mean,
it is a test and you see the results of
doing it. But it's more than just throwing an occasional
piece up. You have to be you have to be
committed to it. You have to be involved in it
so and you have to bring yourself honestly and authentically

(04:49):
to it too. So you know that's all these are
things that we're sharing. People think that they can again,
you just can't throw something up. You have to really
you do have to think about it and know what
you're trying to say and what you're trying to reach
and what you're trying to get people to do. So yeah, yeah, anyway.

Speaker 5 (05:06):
You're doing it.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah, when I ran that you're doing it on social media,
my job dropped, and then I thought, I'm very proud
of him.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
He's coming on.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
Now.

Speaker 6 (05:18):
Yeah, well, I and I and I know now primarily
really primarily because of the you know, the jen Xer uh,
Jennifer Brawler, who really has been just amazing with this,
you know speaking, I'm just gonna speak quickly about Jennifer
for a moment. She has been well, she's been remarkable

(05:43):
for me. But what's she has also been because of
what she did for me, she was invited to provide
the same service for the Little House brand for Friendly
Family Productions, and she's involved in the social marketing for
Netflix of the.

Speaker 5 (05:58):
Series she has.

Speaker 6 (05:59):
She has come a big, big distance here in doing
this work. And I think just because she does it
so fully and authentically and she has such joy about
the way she does it that people get it and
I just couldn't be happier for her.

Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yes, really, she's a real band place.

Speaker 5 (06:19):
Yeah she gets it, yes, totally. Yeah, yeah, yeah, No,
it is really nice. It is really nice. Well, we're
going to talk about well, Allison, so how many show
we haven't done? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. You haven't gonna have nine shows here?
It's gonna be good and then come back and hit
the ground running and I got you know, San Francisco
and our fabulous We're going to our little show with
all of us in New York. But then Dina and
I are going to the Chocolate Expo, the Chocolate Expo
in the middle.

Speaker 5 (06:47):
Of all this in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Yeah, in Lincoln and.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Lincoln was it Lincoln? Is it the Lincoln Rhode Island.
And it's great. It's the big Valley's Casino Center thing
event place that's huge, huge, But.

Speaker 6 (07:01):
Yes, gambling and chocolate together. I'm grateful that I'm not
a gambler.

Speaker 5 (07:09):
I'm sorry that I'm a chocolate lover because it's going
to be.

Speaker 3 (07:12):
Like better a chocolate lover than a gambling Yeah.

Speaker 5 (07:14):
Yeah, no, I agree. I completely agree with.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
That you never lose with chocolate is only game.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yes, yes, right, And then after the Chocolate Expo, you
guys will have your fill and then come to New York.

Speaker 5 (07:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Twenty second our Lives podcast.

Speaker 5 (07:37):
I'm wondering what shows I should try, and we also
try and see a show.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
A couple of we can. She will know you.

Speaker 5 (07:47):
And get some tickets.

Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah, yeah, I know. People, we you know, people to
know that we.

Speaker 5 (07:53):
Know, we know why why I know? I know Pamela,
so I know she's right there?

Speaker 6 (07:59):
Yeah, oh god, yeah, I mean Pamela's a Broadway baby.

Speaker 5 (08:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
On stage? Well, how many times have I seen you
on stage? Because I saw you in what was it
Hand to Hand to God?

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Was that performing in Hand to God when you came
or was I just there? I might have been, I think.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
And then I saw you in the Stressful.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
Upside, stressful and upsetting for many many.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
Very stressful and upsetting shows. Everything it was like little
house in the prairie. A lot of bad things happened.

Speaker 5 (08:43):
I know.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
And now I'm understudying Emily Skinner in House of McQueen
and we just got our closing notice, which is very
very sad.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
House of McQueen.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Elizabeth Luke Newton, I believe that's the God I'm terrible
was starring in it as alexand McQueen and he's a
big star from Bridgerton, so he was bringing I mean
it's a four hundred and ninety nine seat theater. It
was full house every performance and then his last performance
was this past weekend, and I think the and his

(09:14):
replacement is incredible, incredible, incredible. But you know, when you
lose a big celebrity, you lose a lot of ticket sales.
And I think the producer, I.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
Know, we can do one of the guys caromed.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
Yeah, so anyway, that's the biz. It sucks.

Speaker 5 (09:28):
Yeah, no, it is. It's totally the reality.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Yeah, space, But it's been a really joyful experience. So
I'm very grateful to be a part of it. Even
if it was for a short stint, It'll still go
on my resume. There we go.

Speaker 5 (09:44):
Let's get into this.

Speaker 3 (09:45):
Okay, listen everybody, we're doing part two. But before we
get into it from Prairie Partners and you be in
go this is the Little House on the Prairie fiftieth
Anniversary podcast. All right, here we go. Last time we

(10:17):
did part one. Today we're doing part two of Days
of Thundered, Days of Depression. No, that is not the title.
Why do I happen a hard time with this title?

Speaker 7 (10:28):
Days of Sunshine, days of Shaw, days of Tornado, Days
of Tornado, Days of more Depression, days of when things
get worse?

Speaker 3 (10:40):
Okay, Dean or else? And what are we what are
we saying? What is it?

Speaker 5 (10:45):
Okay? So I just want to.

Speaker 6 (10:46):
So this is season eight, episode eighteen Days of Sunshine,
Days of Shadow, Part two, premiered on February twenty second of.

Speaker 5 (10:54):
What Got twenty trigger eighty two eighty two.

Speaker 6 (10:58):
Yeah, and it's a one hour episode written interestingly in
this case, we have we had a handoff in the
relay race here. This went from Don Ballock in part
one to Chris Abbott in part two.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
Seem so abnormal to have two different writers writing part
one part two? Is that not abnormal?

Speaker 6 (11:18):
I didn't really, you know, I didn't. I don't think
we ever really saw that. I think it was generally
one writer carried the ball throughout a two part episode.
This was interestingly sort of a longer you know. This
was the first part was was a ninety minute show.
The second part an hour show. But actually it was

(11:38):
less than an hour because the recap is like five
minutes long of part one. To make sure that everybody
knows how depressing it was if you missed part one.

Speaker 5 (11:50):
Michael Michael Ayah of.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
The Era, because you couldn't just go, well, I'll just
replay that episode that I have on my thing on
the because that wasn't you couldn't.

Speaker 5 (12:03):
So, yeah, you needed the recap.

Speaker 6 (12:06):
Yeah, and so it was directed by Michael and you know,
I think he did a I think he did a wonderful.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
Job with this, as he always did, really really good.

Speaker 5 (12:16):
Yeah, yeah, really good. So Allison, what is it? What
is it? Moving apart too? What's it about?

Speaker 1 (12:25):
So much goes on in this here? Okay, okay, Well,
because there's lake they haven't had enough problems. There's a tornado.
There's a tornado because things were going so well, starts
off and out which levels the house and apparently damages
nothing else in all of all, not a tree down
and the road, the house, the ingles are.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
Right with the barn.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
It didn't take out the barn, just the house. Now
that that can happen in tornadoes. They do jump around.
But it is weird that like nobody else in town
mentions the tornado. It's like what carnado there would doesn't say, yes,
there's no scene of nails going yet, we gotta get
a lot of nails and boards out or the mills
because of the tornado that damaged many homes the other night. No,

(13:08):
just just their hus just their hust So there was
a turning. I noticed that Alando at this point decides
he's better off dead. Suicidal ideation right here on the prairie.
Very serious. He's really really depressed. He is now talking
about and and it's cool. He doesn't say he's going
to do it, but he does say, I I've prayed

(13:29):
to God. I don't. I don't. I don't even want
to be here. I prayed God that perhaps I should.

Speaker 5 (13:34):
If there's a God in heaven, he'll let me die.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
He'll let me die.

Speaker 3 (13:38):
But a line, jez it.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Is amazingly the resilience of a geranium plant, which is true.
You can't kill those.

Speaker 3 (13:45):
The he the hero of the episode.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yes, that lights back the path back to life, love
and happiness and then or something you would write yourself.
Ah previous lyon Dze's unshowing Days of Shadow part when
Manly powdered Laura persevered true in part two, after the
tornado levels of House No, Manzo wishes himself dead until
a resilient geranium starts him down the path to reclaim himself.

(14:14):
And it's true he ever tried to kill a guranium.
It's you can be the worst guard in the world.
The uraniums are always still alive.

Speaker 3 (14:19):
The geranium is like taking center stage is the name.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
I love the geranium. It's a big deal. Is much geranium.
It's in for Laura. He rises from his wheelchair, learns
to walk again with Charles by his side, rekindles his
dreams as he builds outs for Laura and his new
daughter Rose and apparently that black cat that is not
freaking going away, and manly earns back his nickname Spare

(14:46):
in some world classbury whining, resilience and a half Bindy
refuses to give up. Yes, can bring the light back
to Walnut grow Wow, he does. He makes a company,
but it is it's about the freaking plant.

Speaker 5 (14:59):
That plant.

Speaker 6 (15:01):
True, the geranium gets the last shot in the episode.

Speaker 5 (15:06):
The.

Speaker 3 (15:09):
Tired monologue after seeing this little geranium plant is of
epic proportions. I literally watched them watch you do the monologue,
which you do very very well. But I was like, Oh,
we're just gonna say it out loud. We're just gonna
speak everything out. There will be no subtext here. We

(15:29):
are saying it. We are speaking it out. It is
going to be very clear what this geranium represents. No
if ands or butts about it. Nose on the nose.
I wasn't mad about it. It's like, oh we are
there is no innuendo we are going.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
To say we do. It's not shuttle. They go, look,
it is a symbol for the thing that is happening here.
They just tell you, Tell you, Dean.

Speaker 3 (16:01):
How did you feel about part two?

Speaker 6 (16:04):
Well, obviously, you know things started to things turned in
a more optimistic direction. I mean, we're still everyone's keeping
secrets from Laura throughout this. No one's telling her anything.
You know, she has to because she has been she
is wallowing in her own sense of despair. But I
you know, but I think what I felt happy about
is I see part two is more of the the

(16:27):
flavor that we established this character with was was invited
back by a world, a view of his life that
was going to be a little more optimistic, and then
you just have to get it done, I think for this,
and I think there was a there was a really

(16:48):
it was nice working with Michael so closely.

Speaker 5 (16:52):
Throughout this. That's, you know, for any.

Speaker 6 (16:55):
Of us who were on the program to have an
opportunity to do scenes. It wasn't like they were like
super and Michael's either just listening and makes a comment
he makes you know, Michael makes cryptic comments. He makes
them sort of the payoff comments in these scenes. But
I love doing the scene, the learning to walk scene
again with him. I like that because it had a

(17:17):
it had a certain physicality to it which I which
I really enjoyed. And then you know, at the end
of the episode, the scene getting up out of the
chair and walking to Laura, I think is probably the
favorite piece of film that has that I have with
the work that I've done. It's a really I love

(17:38):
the way Teddy shot it. Yes, I love the way
David Rose scored that moment. Loved the back and forth
with with Laura and al Manzo and that she was
wonderful in that scene, as as the this is rising.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
But I love it was just simple.

Speaker 6 (17:56):
It was simple and honest, and I just love the
way it played. I have been very That's just really
a favorite moment of mind captured on film.

Speaker 1 (18:05):
It's the crying moment. It's the moment where the audience
person with the good of the house when she is no,
you can't look, I can't look, don't look, and it's
just the house and the music and am That's when
the whole audience because that's the crying moment. Here it is.
And you said about seeing al Manzo spirit gain and
Laura's too. I mean that's the thing is that I

(18:27):
think in the first one I was like, Wow, this
is really going on, because yeah, you're being so pitiful
and MOPy and poudy and terrible and negative. But Laura too,
Her way of acting out is to just be that
didn't get all and they both kind of come back.
Is that as soon as Almanzo shows a hint of
life that he might get up, the Laura we know

(18:48):
comes back and she's not just bitching endlessly. She's like, Okay,
well maybe what And I mean she gets like genuinely
mad when they do the oh I just as we
had Eliza Jane going, I guess maybe I should have
discussed moving with you. Now they lied to her. She
found the house trashed, comes back goes, when were you
going to tell me? I guess we should have told you.

(19:10):
This is the running theme in this episode where people
really blindingly stupid.

Speaker 5 (19:16):
Right, No, that's that is interesting.

Speaker 6 (19:18):
I'm going to say, just between she and she and
I in this one, I really felt, you know, I
felt like you could see that these two.

Speaker 5 (19:27):
People loved each other. Yes, at the end of.

Speaker 6 (19:30):
This And I think that that was that was a
really really nice moment. I think Melissa had a very
nice maturity in that scene.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
I think she's only seventeen doing these episodes. That is crazy.

Speaker 6 (19:47):
Yeah, I mean I believe there was a woman there
when I watched her in that, and there was something
about the way her body language was wonderful, the way
she used her hands, the way she embraced the way
all of that was really was really pretty terrific.

Speaker 5 (20:03):
And then then you have David.

Speaker 6 (20:05):
Rose doing what he does there, and you know, then
you're really feeling like the you know, the tears, just
that little that little tear forming in your eye because
it's just really sweet and it's it's loving, you know.

Speaker 5 (20:20):
I really like that.

Speaker 3 (20:21):
Well, when we get to the end of the episode,
in that moment where you stand up in the chair,
I will tell you, as a viewer how that impacted
me and probably millions of others. Okay, let's take it
on the top of it.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
We're starting off okay again, more negative snaughty people, the
people who come to look at the place again life
showing the place she's bad at this the terrible people
look at it.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
They're terrible. Everybody's terrible. What the cat is on the
counter again? Get the cat off the Why is the
cat on the counter again? And we've now established a stray.
We don't even know where it's from. It's been in
the barn, the mice, and it's on the count. No,
why is the cat on the counter?

Speaker 5 (21:02):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (21:03):
Horrifying? And then the tornado leaves the cat take the baby.
That was good. She did not leave the baby and
run for the cat, which I thought she was actually
gonna do at one point. As like she did leave
the baby.

Speaker 3 (21:13):
I mean she took the baby and put it in
the and then lets the baby.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
But she left the baby in the thing, and it
got very wizard of oz when she doesn't put herself
in the shelter. You totally saw it. You saw you
saw it. She goes to the shelter, anim an em
She's gonna get in the thing, yeah, and then doesn't yeah,
and goes upstairs and it's the same shot of the
bed and the dritna going and it's and if David

(21:37):
Rose is doing the music, who was married to Guti Garlett,
et cetera. Why is David Dress not cranking crazy awesome.
Why do we not have some wisd of oss music.
We should have had some wisted boss music.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
Okay. Not only that, but the way that she grabs
that damn cat from under the bed is so intense.
Even as a kid, I was like, oh my god,
the cat. Okay, but then, but then, this is why
I have beef with cats. This is why I'm a
cat person, because Okay, so she saves the cat, she
runs out of the house, she gets knocked out by

(22:11):
some flying objected in this right, she's passed out, and
the cat's like Sea. Cats are assholes. This is why
I don't like cats. If that was a dog, they
would be standing there licking you, trying to wake you up,
like they wouldn't mean your side. A cat was like Sea,

(22:33):
I don't know, you just saved me.

Speaker 5 (22:35):
I'm out.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
But I would have left the cat. Cat cat would leave.
The cat is not going to die in a tornado.
If the house is falling down, that cat will be
long gone. The cat will bail and run to safety
and find a place.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
You know, do you see a lot of cats hanging
There is no loyal that damn cat.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
The cat would have been fine.

Speaker 5 (22:57):
I just don't understand why the cat. I just stood
the cat the cat so.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
That she could get knocked out because it was just
all right.

Speaker 5 (23:06):
So you're establishing all of this affection. Just get that
knockout moment.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
And the keeps popping up the cats like the damn geranium.

Speaker 3 (23:14):
It's everywhere, like, what is this cat? What is this?
It's like like the ghost of diphtheria future or something.
I don't know what it is, but cats are assholes.
Let's establish it now. This cat was sure.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
The chicken, why didn't she do anything? We're going to
take chickens are done.

Speaker 3 (23:39):
Meanwhile, the next thing, the mercantile, the little house, perfect condition,
no tornado or no, no weird.

Speaker 1 (23:50):
And then one point, why is it all happening to them?
And I actually held out because Mary's not here? This
would all happen to Mary.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
Angles Anderson left the show.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
God say she's gone. You get it there?

Speaker 3 (24:14):
Sometimes, I mean, I bet this episode was. I wonder
whether Melissa Gilbert was daunted by this episode or whether
she was like, oh yeah, I get to do this stuff.
Like I wonder whether she loved the challenge, you know
that I think she did, and she did such a
good job. Again, I cannot believe she was a teenager
doing this because that that is cuckoo bananas.

Speaker 5 (24:37):
She did a great I think so too.

Speaker 8 (24:40):
Actually, she really she really brought whatever young woman she had,
she brought it, and I was, I was there was
a there.

Speaker 5 (24:51):
Was a maturity about what she was doing.

Speaker 6 (24:53):
That was and sort of there was a sensuality about
what she was doing too in certain moments that was
that was really unexpected, and that those moments we're always downplayed, you.

Speaker 5 (25:07):
Know, generally you did not want that.

Speaker 6 (25:09):
But I was thinking, you know her well in the
previous episode when she comes to his bed, can't have it.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
But she's but she's she's doing she's doing the very
they've written her in a very human way, and she
fiulfill that moment.

Speaker 3 (25:25):
Agreed, totally, Yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, So where's the town?

Speaker 1 (25:29):
This is when I also knows people who disappear. Okay,
So Eliza Jane does teach. She does teach, she does
take the teaching job, but she did not we don't
see her doing We finally see her coming out of
the school with the kids, so we go, Okay, I
guess she did show up there because normal world, we
would have seen her in the classroom, and then they
go to the restaurant, but we never go into the

(25:49):
dining room and see the customers. Like I said, it's
a clusterphobic episode. Everything is pulled in just focused on
them because we go to the restaurant, but we don't
got in the dining room, only in the kitchen but
a few and where's words Hester, Sue, where's where's all
the other people? Who's like, we're well and started and before.

Speaker 3 (26:04):
We started recording, you were like, where's Reverend Alden? It's
sores in either one.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Of these episodes, and you're in night in this crisis
and in all this and people talking about wanting to die,
and wouldn't they go get the reverend ad.

Speaker 3 (26:20):
It's so interesting.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
No we see no in their school. No, we don't
see no.

Speaker 7 (26:27):
No.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
And like I said, the out of character things, and
it's as you always say, it's serving the episode. Paul
would have freaking told her about the house.

Speaker 5 (26:35):
Five.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
There's no way the others all going don't tell her
about the house. It'll be the house fell down. Paul
would have said, half point, come here, I'm really sorry,
but the tornado, Yeah, your house, it's it's it's gone.
He would have sat her down and said the house
to Kit, I'm really sorry. Paul would have told her.

Speaker 3 (26:51):
I understood them not wanting to tell her, just waking
up from being unconscious and being I get that, but
do not tell her. Period is like ever.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
Like they accidently leave and goes.

Speaker 5 (27:05):
But you need, you know, you need that moment.

Speaker 6 (27:08):
I described it as sort of a Scarlett O'Hara moment,
as she's, you know, throwing the.

Speaker 5 (27:12):
Boards at the window and she's just like breaking down.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
There.

Speaker 6 (27:18):
There were some really nice or uh, cinematic references we
talked about the Judy Garland moment or the Wizard of
Oz moment. I think that that moment where she's throwing
things that I don't know, she just reminded me of
Scarlett O'Hara in that moment. That moment felt like that
kind of desperation and despair. Tara, Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (27:39):
I don't know she broke up Tera, but yeah, poor
poor Grace who gets the brunt of.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
Grace Tonald's home. How far is it from their house
to the little house? And is Grace like what one
and a half? What I gotta like, did she know
to get home.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
Well, she better because she.

Speaker 6 (28:02):
Right Ranch, I can never separate myself from the physical
distance that we know those sets are from each other.
At Big Sky they probably were, you know, the way
it was written, they were.

Speaker 5 (28:17):
Nothing was that far away for itself.

Speaker 6 (28:19):
But the Little House in fact, you know, you're talking
about a mile and something.

Speaker 5 (28:26):
And that's not just a quick little run home for
for baby Grace.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
She's a toddler. It's like a mile away. It's not
really supposed to be as far as it actually is
at the Ranch, because I wouldn't make a toddler walk
that distance. That seems so yeah, there's lots of kooky
stuff where it's like, well, we're just gonna not pay
attention to that didn't happen.

Speaker 3 (28:50):
So let's go back to a second because because Laura
does find out, because she she decides.

Speaker 5 (28:58):
She goes clean the house, so she takes the Grace.

Speaker 3 (29:03):
And has a total total meltdown when she sees her
destroyed house, goes crazy. Grace is like I'm out. She's
like the black cat see you. She runs away, and
then we're back in the little House and they're like,
we wanted to tell you, but we didn't. And then
she says, I have a What does she say about

(29:23):
the plate?

Speaker 1 (29:24):
The prince?

Speaker 3 (29:25):
We have a we have because the plate is the
only thing that survived that tornado. Imperfect. I don't know
how it's rhyved. It's like glum sprug plate, but whatever it's.
And then she got so mad she breaks the plate.
She smashes it to the floor. And my reaction is,

(29:46):
that's Ma's personal memento. Don't break the plate. That meant
something to aw No.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
You have besides that stupid cat that isn't Maybe.

Speaker 3 (30:02):
We'll come in handy, you know.

Speaker 5 (30:04):
I think where all this.

Speaker 6 (30:05):
Says to me is that because very no one's watching
these things originally and doing this kind of logical breakdown,
this takes, you know, this takes some.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Prospective that's giving us a lot of credit.

Speaker 6 (30:18):
Well it's but I think what it tells you, what
it should tell all of us in the creative space,
is that if you do it fully, if you commit
to the choices that you make. The show tracked. The
show absolutely tracked. It's it's bizarrow in some ways simply

(30:41):
because it's so outside, no community, no reveren Ald, and
tornadoes hit one house, nothing else is touched. Caroline rightly
asks how can this all be happening to them? You know,
fair enough, but you just when you're watching it, you
accept these things that these sort of out of character

(31:01):
because you're just in the story. Uh, we are examining
and poking all the holes that Alison, you're brilliant at finding.

Speaker 5 (31:09):
These things that just don't make sense.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
Uh, watching it about it, I hadn't watched it in
a billion years and sat down and went, Wow, this
does really pull you in, and and you do, you
start crying. But then there's wait, what the heck is
going on? Wait? Where is And I still want to
know when doctor Baker and prescribed Laura nerve tonic? What's
in the nerve tonic? Is it mostly alcohol? I don't know?
But what's in the nerve tonic? We lost Pamela? Did

(31:35):
she freeze?

Speaker 5 (31:36):
Oh she did freeze?

Speaker 6 (31:37):
Okay, so.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
She'll be she'll on my screen?

Speaker 5 (31:42):
And you could there have been what else could be
in nerve tonic? There's it wouldn't be motive. There could
be some opiate. There could be some opiate in.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
That nerve time a lot of booze to set you down.
There might be with lauden them, but that was like
heavy drugs. She usually I probably wouldn't be that with him.
There was a lot of herbal stuff, I guess, sort
of like today's version of of you know, have some magnesium.
There was like root of things. So there was probably
that kind of stuff nerve trying. But generally if someone

(32:17):
was wigging out that hard things like alcohol and laudanum
and morphia, yeah, I wouldn't find their way into those things.

Speaker 6 (32:23):
Sure, I remember watching you know the uh, the the
Kevin Costner Wyatt erp And I'm sure you've seen that
and what the wonderful actress who was the lover that
he was never gonna marry but was just so depressed
because he had found the saloon girl.

Speaker 5 (32:40):
Uh and was just like living on laudnum. I mean,
it was just out all the time. We did not
see La Laura. Laura just took the Laura got the
edge taken off. She wasn't she wasn't.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
I never see her drinking out of that thing. And
we've seen the episodes where like Missus Olson got into
the patent medicines and got drunk, you know, because it
was all alcohol. So yeah, it's a jar a tool
of its day. I don't know what. Doc Baker is
pretty decent.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
One, you know. Interesting. I think if it had been Harriet,
we would have seen the consumption with Laura.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
We were not going with Laura. We we we don't.
It's like militonin or something.

Speaker 5 (33:20):
Yeah, she may have been.

Speaker 6 (33:21):
She may have been, you know, sipping it quietly in
the corner. But we're never going to get a chance
to we we don't want to see Laura having to
medicate to code.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
And she might right against that. I mean, it would
have been a whole scene of nerve tonic. What do
you mean given nerve tonic could like gotten mad, like said, no,
you're not giving me that. So now we've we Now
Pamela's gone dark, which means I guess she's coming back
from the freezing thing.

Speaker 5 (33:48):
I'm sure I'll.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Oh, we did see the post office lady. We don't
get Revernd, but we get we get Ruthie, our friend
Ruthie who we love, Ruthy in the post office mail. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Now the job description. But I was a little concerned,
Remember I said when she said a job, like, what
job in an office is a man's going to do?
But the job offered that crazy Alianza Jane findes is

(34:13):
selling farm equipment and fixing farm equipment, and then it
talks about writing about the latest trends of farm equipment.
I'm like, well, thats not doing that, but they try. Okay,
he could do that, that would be a thing.

Speaker 6 (34:27):
He could do that. Yeah, I think I think that's
the kind of thing that I mean. Clearly, Look, he
could read, he could he could he could process information.

Speaker 5 (34:36):
He was raised.

Speaker 6 (34:38):
If we go outside the realm of the show to
how al Manzo was raised, he would have been perfectly
capable of doing that job.

Speaker 5 (34:46):
That just wasn't his dream. He was a guy who.

Speaker 6 (34:48):
Wanted to be with horses and be a farmer, and
that was going to be his life. And when you
see the pictures of the real Almonzo, this just salt
of the earth guy, you totally believe that that was
his life.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
That's what he was very well educated. When you read
Farmer Boy, you go, no, these people weren't bored. He
was being fought things and so but yeah, selling horses,
who actually would have been his job job? Yeah, he
done on a job with the stable selling horses. He
would have been like on it.

Speaker 5 (35:21):
And what happened to the horses?

Speaker 3 (35:24):
I know, you never hear about the horse ever.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
Again, did they get from the tornado, because okay, we
lost the crop and the hailstorm and we lost the was.

Speaker 5 (35:34):
Never planted, but never does it.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
It's never planted that we're going to breed for more
horses and eck, which Almanzo knew how to do because
I've read Farmer Boy and all about. Yes, he could
read horses and sell the all over it. That was
Lomando stuff. But where are they?

Speaker 3 (35:50):
Did they die within the first minute of episode one?
And then we never hear about them again.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
Because they didn't die, then they're not broke because they
could sell those freaking horses for a lot of money.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
I don't think, I mean, did they ever have the
horses though, because we never saw them and it was
never talked they arrived and then we saw that's right.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
Camera.

Speaker 6 (36:14):
Then it's so it's so interesting and it's just as
Michael did not concern himself. Yeah, that kind of detail.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
And you know what, as a kid, you don't care
about it either. It's just watching anything about it, right,
don't care?

Speaker 5 (36:34):
Uh, yeah, it was he didn't want to have to
own that and pull that thread through.

Speaker 6 (36:39):
Now he chose to pull the thread or Chris Abbott
did the geranium thread that was going to be the thing.
I mean, it would have been much more compelling if
it had been a horse thread. But there's but the
geranium the dream where we used the first time we
see the draanium, he's you know, splinting it up in
the in the bedroom and it's like, you know, it's

(37:00):
it's not coming back, and so on, and then he
has his epiphany moment, yeah, where he realizes he was
over he was over caring for it. He just needed
to leave it alone, and he puts he puts his
whole life together again in that one speech.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
God bless when he goes into the whole thing about
I was overdoing it, that a hero, I was all.
It needed to be left alone to heal. And I
was like, and he's right, and he's right. That's what
he's trying to tellize Jane some to shell leave people alone,
give him a couple of days, yes, I think.

Speaker 6 (37:36):
So he puts his life back together again. And now
we are in the race for the finish. Let's take
a break right here and we'll come back and build
a house.

Speaker 3 (37:45):
We were going to come back and build a house.
Everybody here, We'll be right back.

Speaker 1 (37:52):
The Little House on the Prairie fiftieth Anniversary podcast is
presented in part by Visit Scene Valley dot com. In
the movie and television capital of the World, Seemy Valley
is the television home of the og Little House on
the Prairie television series, and people come to Seeney Valley
from all over the world to feel the Little House love.

(38:14):
Seemy Valley is the home of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library,
celebrating the legacy of an iconic American who embodied the
can do spirit of California. Visit Seeye Valley a warm,
friendly community that knows how to make their guests feel welcome, accessible,
and affordable. Seeney Valley is a great place to live

(38:35):
and a great place to start your next California adventure.
Seey Valley is Hometown America in the Los Angeles Basin.
For more information about your Semi Valley visit, go to
Visit see Valley dot com. Oh, we have to talk
about Lucy Lee really steal on the show. In this

(38:55):
episode a couple of her scenes. She's so good to
it and Lucy she is doing the show right now,
because this is yet when she confesses, she confesses that
she overdid it, and the whole thing and then yes,
it made it about me. Yes, he confesses to the
whole thing is crying. It's just like, yes, she's really good.

Speaker 6 (39:15):
This well, yes she's got she's got a plan and
it's all now at this turning point moment, now there's
suddenly an opposition and so you're gonna have to You're
going to have to deal with that. And and now
now the secrets are being kept from Eliza Jane. Right now,

(39:36):
now Laura doesn't know what's going on, nor does Eliza Jane,
and we and he doesn't really no one wants her
to really know because it's not well. It saves that
moment which she discovers and has this wonderful breakdown. But
you know this, we did this kind of Michael did
this kind of montaging throughout the show where there is

(39:58):
throughout the life of the series where and it's a
very common practice where you're something good is happening, there's
progress being made. When we first time we saw the
house being built in Harvest of Friends, there is this
montage of Pap building the house by lamplight, by moonlight,
by you know, all hours of the day. So this
is this moment, building this new house for Laura Almanzo

(40:22):
and the two guys teaming up to do it, and
it's the smiles and the optimism and you know, look
at this, it's all everything's happening. And I think the
audience loved these moments because it just well, you're advancing
a lot. You're able to advance a lot of material
in a very short amount of screen time, and you're

(40:43):
making progress towards that moment that you really need to
pay off.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
Yeah, and you know what, you know what you say
something that is so like where you said, you know,
I wanted to some I'm paraphrasing, but you said something
like I wanted to die and now I want to
live more.

Speaker 5 (40:56):
Than live, more than ever, right, And it's just, Oh.

Speaker 3 (41:01):
You're really quite beautiful of miss Dean. You're so simple
but so full and that I don't think people realize
how difficult that is to do, of of to make
to make your performance so simple is the wrong word,
but but because it means I don't equate that to easy.

(41:24):
I just mean it's simple. You're not adding anything to it, right,
It's just it's just there. It's just there with nothing
at it on top. But in order for that to work,
it has to be filled with something emotionally without pushing
the gas pedal, right, and you do that so effortlessly.

(41:44):
Has that always been effortless for you? Is that something
you had to build up to, because that is hard
to do?

Speaker 5 (41:52):
You know, I don't know that I can really speak
to that.

Speaker 6 (41:55):
I think the circ I think what it comes down to,
I think, which is if there's an investment in the
circumstance emotionally, an investment in the circumstance, And I think
that kind of simplicity maybe just happens more organically.

Speaker 5 (42:10):
It's just you're vested in what this person is going through,
what your character, your what your life is in the
life of this script. And I know that Michael.

Speaker 6 (42:22):
Allison, we both knew this from working with him. And
I think particularly with these I mean you had you
and Harriet.

Speaker 3 (42:28):
Had you and more theatrical.

Speaker 5 (42:31):
Yeah, you have permission to go anywhere.

Speaker 6 (42:34):
But I think that I don't know how to describe
the delineation between because we're all characters in this, but
maybe we are the as the characters that are supposed
to be more relatable perhaps in a real life sense.

Speaker 5 (42:53):
I think he really wanted He did not want a
lot of craft going on.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
Yeah, very simple. Even with Nellie. If you think about
some of the worst things I said or did, it
was like, just drop it and stand there, right, I
would say to one yeah, where I was, well, country.

Speaker 6 (43:14):
Girls do anything right right right, And it's a twelve
year old just just like filled with evil.

Speaker 1 (43:25):
And so there were many times where I would just
turn around and say stuff go and like, let letus
just drop this on your foot, say this terrible thing
and stand there. And that happened a lot, and it
was just the year. Yes, direct simple, just if we
have several choices, take them one where you're not doing
it really much. Just direct. And that was the thing

(43:46):
is Michael wanted simplicity, Like you said, you have no
don't act, don't act no acting around here, And and
even with the crazy stuff, it was like can you
deliver it just deadpans, straight out.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
And it is a real skill to be able to
do that. I really don't think people realize how difficult
it is to do that, to quote unquote not act
while you're acting, and you have to do it on
camera because if you go, if you did a performance
that you would do on stage, on camera, it would
be ridiculous. Even though on stage it translates as honest,

(44:23):
on camera it translates as acting. So that's and that's
the difference between stage acting and film acting. A film
acting and is that exactly on camera? You have to
you have to pare it down so it's here right
right here, like a little hind drop. And it's a
hard skill to do.

Speaker 5 (44:44):
Yeah, I know, you know. And here's the thing I
think that helped that moment.

Speaker 6 (44:48):
I think if that had been just as an example,
I don't know why it would be this way, but
if that had been the one scene in the show,
there might have been out of in some vacuum where
there's just I don't know what that would be. But
if you feel like you've got to like hit a
home run with one swing of the bat, there's there

(45:10):
is an inclination to do more. I think I think
that I'd had so much to do that was emotionally
based that it made it simpler.

Speaker 3 (45:23):
To be simpler interesting, you know.

Speaker 5 (45:27):
I think if it had been the one scene, I
think there would have been. I think there would have been.

Speaker 6 (45:34):
Knowing me and my my inclination towards working in a
little bit of a Hammy way at times, certainly on stage.

Speaker 5 (45:42):
Now, my wife Catherine always says, it's good hand, it's
not bad ham but it's but it smoked, it's not
spam so but you know, but I think it was.

Speaker 6 (45:57):
I think it was the amount of the amount of
work and the and the full really the full tracking
of the story that made it possible.

Speaker 5 (46:04):
To be simpler.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
Now would Michael Landon if he If were there times
where Michael would come to you after a take or
so and go less, do less?

Speaker 5 (46:13):
Yes, yes, definitely, I mean that was his big direction
to me.

Speaker 3 (46:17):
Is always less so interesting. I mean I'm talking really
as an actor right now. Sorry, if this is I
don't I don't think this would wear the audience. But
this is definitely like I'm doing technical actor talk right
now because it's really fascinating to me.

Speaker 5 (46:30):
But yeah, do less, always less.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
So many conversations with Katherine McGregor.

Speaker 5 (46:37):
But it didn't was pouring the gasoline on. Michael was
wanting to turn it off. Take it away? Worked totally works.

Speaker 1 (46:57):
I know.

Speaker 5 (46:57):
I told you I know I told the I know,
I told this little story.

Speaker 6 (47:02):
But you know, Michael did come up to be at
one point and say, you need to decide who you're
going to listen to on this show.

Speaker 5 (47:13):
It was it was that's and you know, it was
really for me as a sort of someone who was
a sponge for information and we were so young. I
was just looking for information and that's what it was.

Speaker 6 (47:29):
But he was he knew, you know, he could see
what was happening, and so when he was directing me,
it was always less less less less. At one point
he had me sit on my hands. I remember it also,
he said, just sit on your hands, get your hands
out of this, and it's and it quieted the face.
That sitting on the hands quieted the face.

Speaker 3 (47:50):
My gosh, could you imagine if he would teach like
masterclasses or could you imagine being in a Michael land
In masterclass acting class like holy o moly. And and
by the way, I would also do Captain Regregor master
class as well. Yeah, totally different.

Speaker 5 (48:10):
Totally different.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
Yeah. I would sign up for both of them.

Speaker 3 (48:15):
I would sign up for both in a heartbeat. Yeah,
I you know, especially I kept complimenting Melissa, I keep
complimenting Melissa Gilbert on these episodes and she does a
great job. And then every time I would think, God,
she did a great job, and then I would think, well, yeah,
Michael Landon is she's She's been in Michael Landon acting
class and she was eight years old.

Speaker 5 (48:35):
Earth.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
Yeah, now we start talking about good actors. Okay. In
this episode, Lucy Lee Eliza as the show. She has
two scenes in this where I just went, oh, oh
my god, that's right. She's a genius. I forgot that. Yes, Wow,
where she come? I mean because she cops to everything
where she said yes, yes, and oh well you meant

(48:57):
well you weren't trying to cadlim you.

Speaker 3 (49:00):
I was, yeah, yeah, first hoping you would get better. First,
she comes to the house, she sees Almonzo. He is standing,
he's getting better, and she is devastated, and it is
so messed I mean, it is truly messed up. How
upset she is.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
Her brother is better. Of course I don't want to
of course I want him to be better. Why are
you better? No, because it's.

Speaker 3 (49:25):
Earning her life and her plans and her purpose. I mean,
she made her purpose. Now back to taking care of
him and and and oh it's just so deep. I mean,
it is so psychologically courage.

Speaker 1 (49:41):
She comes right out like she is weak and that
she wanted something. This was going to give her validation
and fulfill her and be her life's work. And now
what am I supposed to do?

Speaker 3 (49:51):
But she was like get the job, really good job.
And it's just like, I mean, her plan was not
a bad plan, them moving, and she she got him
a desk job, like she got him a job. She's
fulfilling her part of their moving.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
And it's because she wanted to hit her in the
first episode because she was his busy body from hell.
And in this you go own and.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
Then pause like I think you wanted him in the chair.
I think you like it's it's it's.

Speaker 5 (50:25):
Hard, that's what I was saying.

Speaker 3 (50:28):
Like the truth bomb heart, And I thought, this is
going to make it awkward for family functions from now
on because that that is Wow, that's a little brutal, true,
but brutal Christmas ain't gonna be as fun anymore.

Speaker 1 (50:47):
Technically, Almom's whorry dead of gratitude because although she was
overbearing her and she's now coughing too. Yes, this is
all about me. That she did get him to eat
when he wasn't eating, and for him, Laura was like
two clubs. Her streng feet was like, no, I don't
want my wife feting. So she could get him to eat,
which they did need, and she was doing things at

(51:10):
the house that they did need done. They prefer she'd
have gone. And but she did get him to eat,
and she was taking care of him, and there was
stuff getting does like she does, and she she had
they wanted to move, She had the place and the
transportation was paid for everything, and got him a job.

Speaker 3 (51:25):
So it's not a bad deal.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
So kind of like thank you. But so she was
completely awful, but she does cop to everything. And then
and then they don't invite then like they have lunch
and don't tell her.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
That's that's right, more secret.

Speaker 5 (51:44):
Lunch.

Speaker 3 (51:45):
So I make the awkward at family functions.

Speaker 5 (51:49):
Yes, yes, well Lucy.

Speaker 6 (51:52):
Lucy has this wonderful gift of empathy and likability and
she's so sweet even yeah, yes, even her inner devastation.

Speaker 5 (52:03):
She's so she's so lovable.

Speaker 3 (52:06):
Oh my god, she's so because you see where it's
stemming from. She's not a malicious person. You see it
stemming from right.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
Love and pain, admits to everything.

Speaker 3 (52:17):
Yeah, and then she admits to everything, which is incredible,
and then they invite her back to lunch.

Speaker 1 (52:23):
And there was a great moment like, Okay, we talked
about Michael, how there was always something I show humor
even when things are painful, because in real life, in
real life, when everything's gone to hell and you're crying,
you're still gonna go it will be worthy. There is
he were humans to it. And when Almanzo was explaining
that you know, look we can't we're gonna be pooring.

(52:43):
We built this much of the house. Ah, and Laura,
who's just totally losing her mind that this has happened.
This is totally oh my god, wait now the house
is gone, now the house is here, and having mental
whiplash and now he's up and what is even going on?
And then he says, well, you know we'll be living
in one room, which is yeah, yeah, I'm kind of
used to that.

Speaker 5 (53:05):
Yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (53:08):
Get the water. Yeah I did that, And you can
see it starts almost laughing the whole thing of like, yeah,
why it is called the House of the Prairie. We
did see the first I guess I did that and
It's kind of like, oh, how how adorable. That's a
Michael thing to have the crying and then they have there.

Speaker 5 (53:26):
Have you noticed how we jump all over the place
as we talk about these episodes we did.

Speaker 6 (53:33):
I know, no, I know, I know, but no, so
we jumped to the end and now we're coming back
to talking about the rising up they sort of that, uh,
that the finality or the the what's the right word.
I mean, it is the it's a happy moment, it's
the climax, it's the happy moment.

Speaker 5 (53:52):
It's things are going to be better.

Speaker 6 (53:55):
Yeah, yeah, I said how much I love that mom
just because I just love the way it played with
all the elements involved in. I mean, this is where
the team work of this work. I mean, there's going
to be the actor in front of the camera that's
going to do the work. But what the actor doesn't
see is how Ted Voitlander puts a four hundred millimeter

(54:18):
lens on you, so you get this beautiful compression shot
behind you, and you don't know as you're doing this scene,
the David Rose is going to wring your heart out
with this. Starting with this piano, very simple, gentle Almanzo's
theme on the piano and then and then build it

(54:39):
into this orchestral, beautiful, tender loving. It's just it just
brings everything together. This is it is team sport. It's
always team sport.

Speaker 5 (54:53):
And you know, everyone just has to.

Speaker 6 (54:55):
Do their job, because I can't mean, as you know,
as the actinglishure my well, who's doing everybody's everybody's job.
Who can do everyone's job, But most of us just
have to stay in our lane and focus on what
we're supposed to be doing. And everyone does this well
and it leads to this wonderful effect, this wonderful emotional

(55:19):
catharsis coming together at the end and because everyone did
their job.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
Oh and I mentioned the beginning. I would talk about
this part when we got to it. The beautifully beautifully
shot scene of when Laura sees you stand up for
the real chair. There is something about that shot that
is it's one of those moments in all of Little
House on the Prairie that's that it's a standout moment

(55:45):
like that is a as a fan and as a viewer,
that is a moment that would like took your breath away,
and it's permanently in the brain there that you know
there are a few of those, Like you know, Nelly
going down in the chair, that's a snapshot moment, right,
we will never not have that image in our brains.
And you rising from that wheelchair is another one. It's

(56:07):
a really big deal, just so you know, for the fans,
it's a huge, one, big one big.

Speaker 1 (56:15):
I even felt it like the choking up went the
shot of the house and show and you see you
and she sees I went, oh, here we go, here
we get this is There's.

Speaker 3 (56:22):
Something about that wide shot with the just the posts
of the house up and the trees in the back,
and then that wide shot full body of you standing
that it's not it's not a close up. It's I
don't know. There's something about the way that they the
the way that they shot it is.

Speaker 5 (56:41):
It was a very cinematic. It was a very cinematic
approach to a moment like that.

Speaker 6 (56:47):
Yes, particularly in a four to three environment where you know,
it was really not designed. Yes, we saw lots of
beautiful wide shots, but those were Michael was not afraid
of those wide shots. He knew he was going to
get inside quickly, but he always wanted to show the
world that you see that the audience could see this

(57:08):
world that they were in. It needed to have size
and expanse. Yeah, yeah, and in some cases vast expanse
desolation all beauty in wide shots. This was this thing
where you're seeing Pas standing there, Almanzo in the wheelchair
at the framed house. It's nowhere near done, but something's

(57:30):
been accomplished here, and it's the first time we see it.
I mean, all the building of the house is in pieces.
Close up, you see walls going up, hammering, sawing, all
stuff that's fun to do.

Speaker 5 (57:40):
When you're the guy who's had a hammer in your
hands his whole life. You get to swing the hammer
and show you can do that. And then you see
it and.

Speaker 3 (57:49):
The symbolism of the house, yes, of the house going Also,
can we mention so many children, you know, Lauren Almonzo,
they make up, and then we see the wagon. Mom pop,
and the wagon just full of.

Speaker 9 (58:02):
Children, so many children, all the children, Oh, James, because
oh it's too many kids, y'all.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
It's too many kids. It's so many children in that
wagon and it was so jarring, like, oh, they're all there,
got it.

Speaker 5 (58:23):
Too.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
I saw the wagon on workday.

Speaker 5 (58:24):
Help us, and it's the first time in the episode
that you see them. Yes, yes, you know they're there.
Maybe yeah, even in all these scenes at the little house,
the children are.

Speaker 3 (58:38):
Albert in the beginning, that's it. So then all of
a sudden, when they panned that wagon and it's just
wagon o kids, it's jarring.

Speaker 6 (58:49):
Well it's you know, it's family time and everything. The
family is, the family is back, everything is as it
should be.

Speaker 1 (58:56):
Oh, go on, you're going to go there?

Speaker 6 (59:00):
No, go on?

Speaker 1 (59:01):
How did ma? How did ma? How did she fix
the plate?

Speaker 5 (59:06):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (59:07):
It's a total mystery. Well, also the fact that as
it comes, you know, what I love is that she's
like speaking of plate. It's just like, was she waiting
for someone to bring up the plate to have that
moment apparently maybe speaking of plate? Here it is all

(59:32):
I don't know. How did she fix the plate?

Speaker 1 (59:35):
How did she fix it?

Speaker 3 (59:36):
There wasn't crazy glue that. I mean there wall stops
to glue plate.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
But it's like perfect, there's perfect. You can't. I mean,
she clearly went and got another one. But how did
she like make it look like it never happened?

Speaker 3 (59:48):
I don't That's the magic.

Speaker 5 (59:49):
Of thank goodness for doubles. That's all you can say.

Speaker 1 (59:53):
She had one.

Speaker 3 (59:55):
Maybe she did have one for Carrie later done the lot.
I don't know. Maybe she did multi bread plates. Maybe
Barry did get a bread plate after all. Yeah, she
needs more with all the children she has now.

Speaker 6 (01:00:08):
But yes, you know this, this all worked out well.
In the everyone is welcomed back. There's lies.

Speaker 5 (01:00:21):
All the hurt feelings with the lies are yes.

Speaker 6 (01:00:25):
The way there's no there's it's it's everyone understands why
this happened. You see that, and it's all good.

Speaker 3 (01:00:34):
And then the last shot goes to the star of
the show. Magic. It's amazing, magical.

Speaker 6 (01:00:47):
I wonder how they when they you know, when you're
breaking a story, how I wonder.

Speaker 5 (01:00:53):
I wonder who bravely pitched that? And then and then
and then that.

Speaker 6 (01:01:01):
Became a really great idea and it works, and the
geranium works.

Speaker 5 (01:01:07):
It works, It totally works.

Speaker 3 (01:01:08):
Oh, it totally works. Who was that geranium's agent?

Speaker 5 (01:01:13):
They did? Really?

Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
Yeah, I think we could really focus on the geranium.
Somebody had to.

Speaker 5 (01:01:22):
Yeah, it had to be. Yeah, the geraniums the metaphor and.

Speaker 1 (01:01:26):
There we go, did much work and then we cut
back to the geranium.

Speaker 6 (01:01:31):
Yeah, I mean it came off the you know, you
come to the wide shot, there's the wheelchair there, so
the wheelchair is retired, long, long, slow pan across to
push to the geranium.

Speaker 5 (01:01:45):
Yeah, it's it's uh.

Speaker 1 (01:01:49):
Is my shepherd, Lord is my shepherd? Half pint spin
in the mountains with Jonathan who might be God Ernest
born and his daughter an angel. We're not sure what
is happening here. And he's a supernat being. I know
he's gone. He's founder Paul, And what is the last thing?
We go back to the dove, right, a little dove
and it's gotten better. He's healing the dove was wounded.
He was healing its wing and the dove is now

(01:02:10):
better and flies away because everything's okay now and now
the devil and that's the end of the show. They
cut it, so that's a thing. There have been episodes
where it now cut to the I don't know potato
whatever the thing and it's.

Speaker 3 (01:02:29):
Just you guys, we need to focus on the potato. No,
I know, who knows. The geranium might have started in
other episodes of The Waltons or perhaps.

Speaker 1 (01:02:41):
The Stars or yes, IMDb that geranium.

Speaker 3 (01:02:47):
His name is Stu.

Speaker 5 (01:02:49):
I don't know think you know, the geranium saved the day,
and I'm it all worked out, and.

Speaker 3 (01:02:59):
It works out, and we're happy and they're building a
new life. And that's the Prairie Way, quite frankly and
an incredibly poetic and lovely These episodes are great ten
out of ten in.

Speaker 6 (01:03:12):
My book, right well, And and Pamela, that makes me
feel so much better that you would react that way
to it. When I watched it the other night, I
was just so I was so so despairing, thinking, oh
my god, I used to like this episode.

Speaker 3 (01:03:29):
Before we recorded.

Speaker 5 (01:03:30):
I used to like this. Now I like it now
I feel better about it again because of this conversation.

Speaker 3 (01:03:37):
How do you feel about episode two?

Speaker 5 (01:03:38):
Then?

Speaker 3 (01:03:39):
Did you feel that same way about the second part?

Speaker 5 (01:03:41):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:03:41):
No, no, I thought, no, I think the second part
because there's redemption in the second part. There was no
I think in the structure of networks, you know, an
episode of television, you're used to a payoff at the
end of an episode.

Speaker 5 (01:03:53):
There was no path. I mean, this is why we
do part two. So it's so there had to be
a redemption.

Speaker 6 (01:03:59):
It was just this relentless descent into despair and misery
and giving up and self pity like, oh my god.

Speaker 1 (01:04:09):
But listen, Wealth already real because I thought it was real.
Because what happens when in real life when people are
hurt and they're going to have a financial burden and
the physical burden and maybe they're not going to get better,
and you know what, people do lose it and people
do act out and say terrible things, and people do wallow.
I mean people who do physical therapy at places where

(01:04:31):
people have had severe injury in the hospital and they
have to get them back on their feet or people
have lost a limb, and the people who have to
work with and teach them to walk. Do you know
what they go through. I mean they go through all
the phases and the people yelling at them like no,
I'm not going to walk, leave me alone. This is
what goes on. People go through this and so it's
very real. And families make un fools of themselves when

(01:04:53):
someone is hurting, do dumb things thinking they're helping. This
is what goes on. So it's legit.

Speaker 3 (01:05:00):
And just know when we see in the opening title credits,
part one, after any title, we know we're in for
a wild ride, like it is when you see that
Part one as a fan, as a viewer, you're like.

Speaker 2 (01:05:16):
Oh, oh, it's gonna be good.

Speaker 3 (01:05:18):
It's gonna be epic, Like you know, you're in it
for the long haul. It's gonna be a journey. You're
on a journey. So Part one was just the journey man.

Speaker 5 (01:05:30):
It was a lot, Yeah, it was.

Speaker 6 (01:05:32):
It was a long journey too, as part one. As
part ones go, it was a longer Part one.

Speaker 5 (01:05:41):
I guess that's what I was reacting to as much
as anything else is there's just no relief and that.
But that does set you up. It does for a
big turn.

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
Yeah, it comes.

Speaker 5 (01:05:50):
So I'm glad. Yeah, yeah, well I'm glad to show that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
It's famous for cramming huge emotional DISASTERUS stuff into one episode.
So right, you see part one. Oh no, it's a
little house of the party and it's going to take
them two episodes. How bad is this gonna get?

Speaker 3 (01:06:06):
It's gonna get bad. Things are gonna get real bad,
real fast. Yeah that's it. So don't feel bad about it.

Speaker 5 (01:06:15):
It's no, no, no, I don't.

Speaker 6 (01:06:17):
I feel much better. I feel much better about it now.
I think we've we have we have done this.

Speaker 3 (01:06:22):
We've done it.

Speaker 5 (01:06:24):
Thank you for thank you, and Pamela, I don't know.

Speaker 6 (01:06:26):
I know if Allison it was you suggested this or
Pamela this with your suggestion, so I think this is.

Speaker 5 (01:06:31):
I mean, thank you for thank you for suggesting it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:33):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:06:33):
I'm glad we did a Dean centric two parter. That's
very exciting. Okay, and who knows, we'll see what we
do next time. Anyway, thanks guys for joining us. Join
us on our socials, little House fifty podcast or our
website Little House fifty podcast dot com. All of our
events and doings and goings on are going to be

(01:06:54):
in our show notes and those sites if you want
to go to that. Our live event podcast to New
York City is November twenty second. Tickets should be available, y'all.
They should be available. Oh god, yes, and we will
see you next time. We've done it. Bob, go get
the wig. Let's fly without a wheelchair with.

Speaker 5 (01:07:19):
My wheelchair? Was nice?

Speaker 3 (01:07:21):
Your wheelchair was good?

Speaker 4 (01:07:23):
Yes?

Speaker 5 (01:07:25):
Yeah, why did you have a better wheelchair? I'm rich

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