MovieChat Forums > Ditto-head > Replies
Ditto-head's Replies
It's funny how your age can change your perception of things. When I was a kid, I thought Mrs. Oleson was just being mean and snotty (as we were supposed to think.) Then later on, I realized that she was absolutely right. They didn't know Charles. He had no credit history in town, nothing to put up as collateral. He just strutted in like the only rooster in a hen house, and seemed to think a smirk and his big talk was enough to convince them to hand over some expensive goods. As a creditor, I would wonder why he is suddenly moving to this small town if he already knew how to be a successful farmer.
And in the end- Mrs. Oleson was right. His first crop failed miserably. He would not have been able to pay back his debt.
Definitely always had to be about Charles.
Widow Sanderson dying- poor Charles had such a hard time between his crying and the tough decision of where to place the kids.
The Blizzard episode- you already covered that one.
The Olesons have a problem nephew- Charles to the rescue!
The Angry Heart- Charles can fix another brat.
Child of Pain- once again, Charles is the hero who breaks the boozer.
I don't remember the name of the episode, but Charles was staying with a family being emotionally abused by the man who was bitter over the loss of his son. Once again, let's make it about how Charles fixes everything.
Man is sitting on a hillside, cradling his dead son and speaking as if he's still alive- very hard on a tearful Charles.
Olga has one leg shorter than the other, and ingenious master carpenter Charles fits a wood block to her shoe so she can finally play with the other children. Such a hero.
So many episodes (I know there are plenty more) with a chance to tell someone else's story, yet the focus was on Charles baring his chest, laughing like a hyena on crack, swinging his ineffective fists, crying like a kitten, or sawing away on his violin.
Makes me wonder why he didn't get to tell a story of a Christmas He Never Forgot. Maybe it was edited out to fit in the time slot. Would you like to take a stab at what his story might have been, Jason? You're good at coming up with these things.
Yeah, I see now that you were able to post a smiley face. But you're right, it's not quite the same.
I wish we had those emoji things here so I could put in some laughing faces for you. :)
Don't forget to throw a self righteous hissy fit when turned down. ;)
Carrie's mental/emotional disabilities gave her a Get Out of Jail Free card to misbehave without repercussion.
Mary knew too much.
Maybe not the best, but just my favorites:
Country Girls, Christmas at Plum Creek, the one where Laura and Jonah think they struck gold, The Talking Machine, If I Wake Before I Die, May I Have This Dance, and the one where Percival first appears.
Least Favorites:
The Lord is my Shepard (I just hate how the whole story is so rushed and crammed into a 2 parter. They could have kept Freddie around for a whole season.); May Me Make Them Proud, the Halloween Dream, The Lost Ones
He would need a gallon.
Funny thing about your posting name- I have a cousin named Jason who was born in 1988. It keeps reminding me of him.
The first time I smelled a grease trap being emptied, I thought a sewer line had exploded. It would take more than bathing in the cold creek water to get rid of the stench on him.
He'd go on to make a crack about her habit of Super Sizing every meal.
She would retaliate by buying the McDonald's and putting Nellie and Willie in charge. Charles would no longer smirk and whistle while working after Nellie orders him to clean the grease trap and Willie hovers over him, making sure he doesn't miss the corners.
Luckily for Charles, Canada is not too far from Walnut Grove, Minnesota. They could call that episode's sequel "The Trail of Tears, Charles' Style."
But think of what a boon it could be for the local economy (until he declared bankruptcy and the payments stopped):
- The Walnut Grove Salon & Spa, specializing in Tanning and Chest Hair removal
- Lady Jane's Hair Styling for the 1970's wannabe stud trapped in the 1880's
- Gourmet Popcorn Emporium
- Silk Hankies- for the man unafraid to cry in front of his neighbors
Carrie and Willie: the Rise of the Dunces
In the Confession Box with Rev. Alden- learn who the true sinners of W.G. really are
One Hit Wonder Reunion- a "whatever happened to...?" inquiry on all those long term residents who were never seen before their feature episode, then never seen again
an alternate ending to the episode where Nellie gets engaged/married/annulled: Luke and Nellie, Pig Farming and Parenting
In the Twisted Mind of Nancy
I agree.
Other than the show had a habit of ramrodding story lines through, I'd agree with Reverend Alden. Nellie was extremely frustrated, had a lot of pent up emotions, and was hot to trot. (And had been ever since her annulled marriage and almost hook up with the pig farmer.) We were supposed to believe that back then, no one took a roll in the hay without first walking down the aisle. So they either had to hurry up the wedding, or she would have exploded.
I forgot to list one of the worst things Charles ever did:
-He went to the depot to pick up his visiting in-laws, only to find out Caroline's mother had died on the trip. Then he drove the wagon with his mother in law's carcass in back straight up to the front door of the house. Caroline, in delightful anticipation of seeing her mother, ran around to the back of the wagon to greet her, only to be confronted with her coffin. And she ends up shrieking in shocked horror at a sight that will probably haunt her for the rest of her life, all because Charles couldn't stop the wagon on the other side of the hill and walk to the house to gently break the news that her mother had died on the trip.
Deleted scene: Caroline and Charles in their new bedroom. Charles shoving fistfuls of popcorn into his mouth while laughing like a stoned hyena at something that isn't funny. Popcorn sprays across the bed and all over the children sleeping at the foot.
Caroline: "Oh Charles, you'll wake the children!"
Carrie: "ugga bugga Popcorn! Yum yum Goo Gaa!"
Charles laughs even harder.
Grace: "Ma, I thought you said that when Carrie turned fourteen she would stop talking like that."
He actually had a chance to make good, steady money (freighting company with Garvey) but quit.
He was perfectly willing to let Mary hook up with Adam and get married at a young age, since she was just a drain on the family, but when Laura, a potential wage earner, wanted to get with Almanzo, he pitched a fit.
He could fix brats like Todd and Peter, but raised a drug using gang member thug.
He bullied his way and the kids' way into getting a free train ride to California, accepted charity from W.R. Hearst to get home, yet refused to accept Mrs. Oleson's offer of free shoes for Mary and Laura.
When Albert had a legitimate gripe about too many kids being jammed into the loft, Charles reminded him that he was adopted and remarked it was a "good thing Laura and Carrie didn't feel that way" about him. (Apparently forgetting that Laura absolutely did feel that way.)
He endangered the lives of Chinese mine workers for his own interests.
I think he attempted it in one or two episodes, like the one when the women were on strike and he had to cope with running the house. And maybe in the episode where Nels opens the restaurant to rival the one Harriet was running for the corporation. (I'm not sure, he might have just been sawing away on his violin in that episode.)
Charles- when I was younger, I also thought of him as a great dad, Mr. Understanding, etc. (though I never liked the teary eyed over dramatic side of him.) Then I started to see him as a sappy busybody.
Caroline- I always liked her, too.
Mary- she seemed like the textbook bossy older sister, the good one whose footsteps are hard to follow.
Laura- I've always liked her when she was younger. Yes, she got away with a lot. But she was pretty realistic. She did have faults, she did get into fights, she embarrassed herself. And since so much of her character was supposed to be relatable to the kids who were watching the show, I can see where they didn't want to give her the whipping she deserved at times. Kids were usually rooting for her, and wouldn't have wanted to see it happen. I didn't like the rush to have her grow up and court, then marry Almanzo. But I think it was also realistic to have her act so snippy after she was married. In real life, she would have been pretty stressed out and under enormous pressure. She'd gone straight from living with her parents, who did the bulk of the hard work, to having to manage her own household, farm, and still teach school- while still a teenager. Not that it was pleasant to watch sometimes when she'd lash out at people, but it was still better than watching a goody-goody.
Carrie- What can you say about a 7 year old who pees on herself, is afraid of her own feet, and at 13 still believes that Santa is coming?
Nels- always liked him
Harriet- we were supposed to hate her, of course. She was petty, mean, judgmental, snobby, and condescending. But she was also right about not extending credit to a man she had never even met, who hadn't established himself in the community, who strolled right into the store smug as the only rooster in a hen house, demanding goods. And on the flip side of her character, every single time the down was faced with some major drama: illness, people lost in a blizzard, moron down a well, whatever- the Olesons gave freely of ropes, blankets, medicines, and anything else that was needed.
Nellie- hilarious. And forgivable because she always got what was coming to her.