Laura and Albert have a friend named Dylan Whittaker, a very skilled painter and day dreamer. He's got a dream of one day seeing the ocean. One night as he was putting the finishing touches on yet another portrait of the sea, Dylan came down with a nosebleed, the third this week. Probably nothing too serious, but we'll let Doc Baker be the judge of that. He ran some tests on his blood, studied his symptoms, and then had to break the awful news to Dylan's mother, Gwen: he had leukemia. When the young boy found out, he made a plan. He was going to run away and see the ocean no matter what. He told Albert and Laura about it and swore them to secrecy, but Albert decided he would go with Dylan as he says he has experience in these sorts of things. He should, he's run away a lot. Laura wrestled with her conscience a bit, and then decided to join the boys. The next day was Carrie's birthday. She eagerly opened her first present, which turned out to be Laura's running away letter. Why she put it with Carrie's presents is beyond me. Anyway, Laura, Dylan and Albert needed themselves a ride to Mankato to board a train heading west. They appeal to an old man named Zacc who, after seeing Dylan's poor health, agreed to give them a ride. He even distracted the aggressive train bouncer long enough for the kids to stow away in a box car. Then, they were on their way. They even had company: a psycho hobo who stole their sandwiches. It's gonna be a very long trip.
Psycho Hobo next showed an interest in the kids' case, containing Dylan's artwork. He wanted to see it and when Albert refused, the monster tried to throw him off the train. In an act of bravery, Laura managed to push the hobo off instead. She may have possibly committed manslaughter, but at least the kids are okay now. At their next stop, Albert bummed an old beggar's cup (trading a hat and a pocketknife for it) to bring Dylan a drink, when he was caught by that violent train bouncer, who flushed out Laura and Dylan as well. Thankfully by this time, Charles had caught up to the train. He found the kids, but he could not convince Dylan to come back with him. After all, this was his last chance and his choice, so being the old softy schmuck that he is, Charles agreed to help him, so the four of them stowed away in the same boxcar, narrowly avoiding that psycho with the club. A few hours later, the kids get hungry, so Albert walks across the roofs of the cars to a coach and stole from food off the nice conductor. En route back to the boxcar, he was spotted by the bouncer! He followed him to the boxcar and was just about to club them all, when Charles intervened and knocked him down because, you know, the Ingallses can't solve grievances any other way. They're gonna see the ocean and nobody's gonna stop them, not even the countless laws they've broken trying to do it. Anyway, they finally arrive in California and bum a ride to the coast from a nice man named William Hearst. He offered to buy their story about Dylan's odyssey for his newspaper and in this case, four folks from Minnesota in California and flat broke, now was not the time to haggle. By this time, Dylan was in pretty poor shape. But Charles carried him out onto the beach. He was able to walk across the sand, and stepped right into the water. It was the happiest day of Dylan Whittaker's life. And the moral of our story is that it's okay to bum rides, stow away aboard a train, steal food and assault people as long as someone is dying. Not a very good lesson there, Little House.
Now, about Dylan's diagnosis, I know Doc Baker is usually always right, but for something as serious as leukemia, you'd think his mother would want a second opinion from a specialist. I know the Ingallses sure would if he were their kid. This episode is really a mixed bag, on the one hand it's sad and depressing for what Dylan is going through, and on the other, it comes off as unnecessarily dark and violent in most places. The hobo and train bounce were very cruel and will definitely upset younger viewers, it's just that the way everything was handled in this episode was morally wrong. The train bouncer didn't have to be so cruel, the hobo didn't have to be so cruel, there were just much better ways of handling things. But anyway, it's well acted and well directed, if you can enjoy it for what it's worth, then The Odyssey is a good way to spend 60 minutes. Oh, and William Hearst is most definitely supposed to be William Randolph Hearst. He seems nice now, but in 1941 they're going to make a movie about him and show just how big a douchebag he really was.
Psycho Hobo next showed an interest in the kids' case, containing Dylan's artwork. He wanted to see it and when Albert refused, the monster tried to throw him off the train. In an act of bravery, Laura managed to push the hobo off instead. She may have possibly committed manslaughter, but at least the kids are okay now. At their next stop, Albert bummed an old beggar's cup (trading a hat and a pocketknife for it) to bring Dylan a drink, when he was caught by that violent train bouncer, who flushed out Laura and Dylan as well. Thankfully by this time, Charles had caught up to the train. He found the kids, but he could not convince Dylan to come back with him. After all, this was his last chance and his choice, so being the old softy schmuck that he is, Charles agreed to help him, so the four of them stowed away in the same boxcar, narrowly avoiding that psycho with the club. A few hours later, the kids get hungry, so Albert walks across the roofs of the cars to a coach and stole from food off the nice conductor. En route back to the boxcar, he was spotted by the bouncer! He followed him to the boxcar and was just about to club them all, when Charles intervened and knocked him down because, you know, the Ingallses can't solve grievances any other way. They're gonna see the ocean and nobody's gonna stop them, not even the countless laws they've broken trying to do it. Anyway, they finally arrive in California and bum a ride to the coast from a nice man named William Hearst. He offered to buy their story about Dylan's odyssey for his newspaper and in this case, four folks from Minnesota in California and flat broke, now was not the time to haggle. By this time, Dylan was in pretty poor shape. But Charles carried him out onto the beach. He was able to walk across the sand, and stepped right into the water. It was the happiest day of Dylan Whittaker's life. And the moral of our story is that it's okay to bum rides, stow away aboard a train, steal food and assault people as long as someone is dying. Not a very good lesson there, Little House.
Now, about Dylan's diagnosis, I know Doc Baker is usually always right, but for something as serious as leukemia, you'd think his mother would want a second opinion from a specialist. I know the Ingallses sure would if he were their kid. This episode is really a mixed bag, on the one hand it's sad and depressing for what Dylan is going through, and on the other, it comes off as unnecessarily dark and violent in most places. The hobo and train bounce were very cruel and will definitely upset younger viewers, it's just that the way everything was handled in this episode was morally wrong. The train bouncer didn't have to be so cruel, the hobo didn't have to be so cruel, there were just much better ways of handling things. But anyway, it's well acted and well directed, if you can enjoy it for what it's worth, then The Odyssey is a good way to spend 60 minutes. Oh, and William Hearst is most definitely supposed to be William Randolph Hearst. He seems nice now, but in 1941 they're going to make a movie about him and show just how big a douchebag he really was.