A trio of Indians came riding in town, nearly scaring everybody to death. Well actually, that happened when a young man came riding in screaming about the approaching Indians and rang the bell to summon every person in town. The acting chief, Little Crow informed them that they had come to get help from a white man's doctor, and Doc Baker was more than willing to help. It seems the true chief, Long Elk, had suffered a nasty stroke, and he was in no condition to be moved, so it looked as though the tribe would have to set up there. Little Crow goes on about how the government cheated them with worthless land they dared to call a reservation. Naturally some folks in Walnut Grove saw a problem with this and raised a ruckus when Doc Baker called a town meeting. The loudest of all was Hugh MacGregor, a large man dripping with hate. Without listening to reason, he formed a lynch mob out of the other residents who were as stupid and bigoted as he was. Fortunately, when MacGregor and his posse arrived on the hill, the Indians had gone. Turns out Charles and Doc Baker pulled a fast one and brought Little Crow's family home. They set up in the soddy where Chief Long Elk could continue to receive care. So while MacGregor's bloodthirsty mob kept up the hunt, Little Crow and his family seemed to be in good hands at the Ingallses', except for his youngest daughter, Yellow Feather, who seemed to have an inherent fear of the white man, because her mother was killed by them.
Next day in town, Doc Baker was stopped by MacGregor. It seems all that horseback riding gave the fat bastard a boil in his giant derrière. Baker told him he was unable to lance it now as he was on an important call, but ever the suspicious lout, MacGregor followed him. Sure enough, he saw the Indians in Charles' soddy, and they saw him too. Looks like they'll have to kill him. But first, they had to evacuate Little Crow and his family tout de suite! They raced away as fast as two horse power could carry them. Evil MacGregor tried to pump Caroline for information, but she wouldn't budge. Didn't matter anyway, because his posse had picked up their trail, so they rode off. While cutting across a field, Charles saw another wagon being driven by an old man bound for California. Getting an idea, Charles offered to trade rigs with him. That'll throw them off the tracks! So they made it safely to the Indians' encampment near the river, but they wouldn't be safe for long. The posse caught up to that old codger, who gave them away. Little Crow and his people prepared for battle, and it was gonna be a messy one. See, the Indians were packing heat. MacGregor and his boys saw and stopped in their tracks. That's when the hothead wanted to talk with Charles, expecting him to tell the Indians to drop their rifles, but nothing doing. He knew the cowards wouldn't dare ride down that hill to face them. MacGregor threatens to bring back an army, and by the time he returned, Indians had all gone, and the army had no desire to chase after them. So MacGregor was foiled and the Indians got away. Strength, cunning and determination had defeated prejudice and blindness.
Thrilling episode, with a good amount of suspense and some great character development. Hugh MacGregor is undoubtedly one of the most hateful characters on this show. He's as bad as Jud Larabee. Richard O'Brien did a great job at portraying such a nasty character, and everyone else in the cast was great too. There was a bit of an out of character moment with Mary after the Indians settled in the Ingalls' soddy, where she called them heathens. What in the world would make her feel this way? A very insensitive moment for this character, but on the other, in "The Aftermath" she admitted to supporting the south, so it's apparent Mary Ingalls has some bigotry bottled up inside her. This and "Injun Kid" were episodes that focused on the Native Americans in a positive light and showed just how horribly they've been mistreated. Unlike that horrible Season 6 episode where Albert dreams that he and Laura are mistaken for Indians. It's called "The Halloween Dream" and I advise you to avoid it all costs. Anyway, "Freedom Flight" was very well done. Michael Landon did a great job directing, Ron Chiniquy and Richalene Kelsay did a good job on the script. I definitely recommend this one.
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