This day found the Ingallses very busy: Laura building a clubhouse with Andrew, Carrie being forced to wear Laura's hand-me-downs, and Charles nursing a wounded hand. Luckily Jonathan comes to break the monotony with a telegram for Charles. It was from a lawyer regarding the estate of Lansford and Laura Ingalls. What could this mean? Perhaps the lawyer could address this in person for the next day, Roger Whitehead, attorney at law, pays Charles a visit. It seems his uncle Ned kicked the bucket. The Ingalls patriarch then proceeded to mourn the uncle he'd never heard of before now, even though he remembers smashing his chandelier as a child. There is a silver lining to this dark cloud, however. It seems Charles has been made heir to Ned Ingalls' entire estate, as well as his carriage company. Now as the saying goes, news travels fast. Soon all of Walnut Grove began to kiss up to the Ingallses for a little "hand out". Harriet gets chummy with Caroline, Mr. Hanson wants Charles to invest in the mill, and Nellie nominates Laura as chair person for the school book drive, assuming her pa could just buy them books at a whim. Even Jonathan would like a few bucks slipped his way. Who's next? Reverend Alden, who was hoping that Charles might kick a little money his way for a church organ, and Charles was more than happy to oblige, along with the books for the school. Unfortunately, spending money before you get it can always come back to bite you in the ass. I'd say the Ingallses are about to get more than they bargained for.
The handouts and ass-kissing were only the beginning. Otto Ripley of the St. Louis Eagle wanted to do a news story on Walnut Grove's new favorite family. In light of this, Harriet gets them to buy whole new sets of fancy clothes. What the heck? Might as well go nuts. Charles and Caroline have Christmas early and get each other gifts: tools and a broach respectively. But when it came time for the photo shoot, Ripley was not too happy with the Ingallses' new lavish look. He wanted to them to look dirt poor for dramatic emphasis. He recoiled in disgust at how prosperous they had become. Having finally had enough of Ripley's nitpicking, Charles ejected him bodily. Hooray! Ripley still got his story, through the age-old tradition of libel; now, it seems Charles was really becoming fed up with everybody's attention to their new wealth, especially when Jonathan blew him off on plowing their fields. Mr. Hanson couldn't help but bring up the business proposition again, but Charles told him where to stick it and left, being rich and all, he didn't have to work; well finally the money that had been causing all this fuss arrived. All their troubles were over, right? Nope. It seems Ned's estate was built on Confederate currency, which went out with the Civil War. It seems Ned went a little crazy in his twilight years; Could things get any worse? Oh, you know it. The Olesons' creditors put a lean on the Ingallses' farm due to all their unpaid purchases, and guess who allowed the lean? Heigh-ho Harriet, who then has the audacity to tell Charles one should not spend money one doesn't have...little late for that advice, you greedy bitch, especially since you talked them into doing it right from the start! Well, looks like the end for the Ingalls family. Their little house on the prairie would be auctioned off. Now this is where the true testament of friendship is put into play, for when the day of the auction arrived, the only attendees were Jonathan, Alice, Andrew, Hanson, Reverend Alden, Mrs. Simms, Doc Baker, and Harriet. In short, Jonathan bought Charles' tools and his farm for two cents, and Reverend Alden bought the horses for the same price. They offered to sell them back to Charles for six cents, and his credit was more than good with them. What a great bunch of friends they were. They realized their wrongdoing in begging and this more than made up for it. So, the Ingallses' got to keep their farm and put this whole mess behind them. And as for the Confederate currency? They found a good use for it...and not just for toilet paper.
Very endearing episode with a great message: you can't put a price tag on friendship. My favorite scene is the auction, how they manage to buy everything for two cents, and to think Harriet actually tried to bid $400 for the farm. Of all the cheap, slimy, horrific things she's ever done or tried to do... anyway, great script from Arthur Heinemann, great directing from Bill Claxton, and excellent performances by everybody in front of the camera. This is one episode to check out. And you know what they say, it's when you don't have money that you know who your real friends are.
The handouts and ass-kissing were only the beginning. Otto Ripley of the St. Louis Eagle wanted to do a news story on Walnut Grove's new favorite family. In light of this, Harriet gets them to buy whole new sets of fancy clothes. What the heck? Might as well go nuts. Charles and Caroline have Christmas early and get each other gifts: tools and a broach respectively. But when it came time for the photo shoot, Ripley was not too happy with the Ingallses' new lavish look. He wanted to them to look dirt poor for dramatic emphasis. He recoiled in disgust at how prosperous they had become. Having finally had enough of Ripley's nitpicking, Charles ejected him bodily. Hooray! Ripley still got his story, through the age-old tradition of libel; now, it seems Charles was really becoming fed up with everybody's attention to their new wealth, especially when Jonathan blew him off on plowing their fields. Mr. Hanson couldn't help but bring up the business proposition again, but Charles told him where to stick it and left, being rich and all, he didn't have to work; well finally the money that had been causing all this fuss arrived. All their troubles were over, right? Nope. It seems Ned's estate was built on Confederate currency, which went out with the Civil War. It seems Ned went a little crazy in his twilight years; Could things get any worse? Oh, you know it. The Olesons' creditors put a lean on the Ingallses' farm due to all their unpaid purchases, and guess who allowed the lean? Heigh-ho Harriet, who then has the audacity to tell Charles one should not spend money one doesn't have...little late for that advice, you greedy bitch, especially since you talked them into doing it right from the start! Well, looks like the end for the Ingalls family. Their little house on the prairie would be auctioned off. Now this is where the true testament of friendship is put into play, for when the day of the auction arrived, the only attendees were Jonathan, Alice, Andrew, Hanson, Reverend Alden, Mrs. Simms, Doc Baker, and Harriet. In short, Jonathan bought Charles' tools and his farm for two cents, and Reverend Alden bought the horses for the same price. They offered to sell them back to Charles for six cents, and his credit was more than good with them. What a great bunch of friends they were. They realized their wrongdoing in begging and this more than made up for it. So, the Ingallses' got to keep their farm and put this whole mess behind them. And as for the Confederate currency? They found a good use for it...and not just for toilet paper.
Very endearing episode with a great message: you can't put a price tag on friendship. My favorite scene is the auction, how they manage to buy everything for two cents, and to think Harriet actually tried to bid $400 for the farm. Of all the cheap, slimy, horrific things she's ever done or tried to do... anyway, great script from Arthur Heinemann, great directing from Bill Claxton, and excellent performances by everybody in front of the camera. This is one episode to check out. And you know what they say, it's when you don't have money that you know who your real friends are.
