"THE PRIDE OF WALNUT GROVE"

Mary is excited when she has the chance to participate in a state-wide math competition. The problem is that Charles can't afford to have her go. The town council decides to pay all of these costs since Mary would be representing the entire town. Mary ends up finishing second in the competition. Mary feels that she let the town down until she returns home to a hero's welcome.



This is one of my favorite episode. Mary shows how mature she was when her Pa told her that they didn’t have the money to send her and she said she understood and made it seem like she did not want to go after all but inside she was hurting and Charles even more because he would love to do everything he could for his kid…

I love how Laura takes care of the house and even tries to fill in Caroline’s role in sitting with her Pa at the end of the day asking him how his day was. It’s too funny.

I like this one, too. I also like the way Laura took care of the house, when it was hard for her. I've felt like that a few times when my mom was sick or something, trying to take care of everything for her.

I love this one...I liked a lot the parts when Laura wants to be like Ma and doesn't succeded since she was not yet a "big girl". But how proud Pa was of her! She tried to do what ma would do and she put the better of her to do so.

And even if I also feel sorry for Mary didn't have but the second prize, she did what she could to be the best one. And in her own way she certainly was the best one.

The moral of this epie is that one must give the best of one-self, and this will be allright, even if we don't have the first place in what we are doing!

Vanesa.

Vanesa wrote:

The moral of this epie is that one must give the best of one-self, and this will be allright, even if we don't have the first place in what we are doing!
Vanesa.

Very true Vanesa. I think that Mary felt very pressured because she kept thinking the town had paid for her trip and in her mind, the way to give her thanks was to place 1st... If her Pa had paid for it, I dont think she would have been so hard on herself.

If Mary would have only realized that the town was actually proud of her the day she got chosen to go take the test... and placing 2nd! Well, she really DID place Walnut Grove on the map!

*I would also like to say thanks to Farmer Girl for helping me w/ this episode review and providing the pics for me to use. Thanks so much!!

A great episode.

FanofLHOTP1 wrote:

A great episode.

iagree

Love this one! I like Laura's bun in her hair...

Yeah, Laura was trying so hard to be grown up. Then she fell asleep sewing.

jes9 wrote:

Then she fell asleep sewing.

She was so anxious to be "like Ma"! I feel sorry for her when the coffe came out and she couldn't do things as well as she believed she should do it. Looking at her Ma, she believed that doing housework was quite easy...

She learned a lesson: you don't become a woman in a day, nor in two. And she also knew how hard Ma must work to have the house clean and the daily chores done.

Vanesa.

Vanesa wrote:

She was so anxious to be "like Ma"! I feel sorry for her when the coffe came out and she couldn't do things as well as she believed she should do it. Looking at her Ma, she believed that doing housework was quite easy...

She learned a lesson: you don't become a woman in a day, nor in two. And she also knew how hard Ma must work to have the house clean and the daily chores done.

Vanesa.

Good summary!

very nice Episode

For me, this episode is just kind of average. It is not bad, but I don't feel like it is one of the really excellent episodes. It has its good moments, but nothing that really makes it outstanding to me. But that's okay, too. Sometimes it is probably best to have more low-key kind of episodes that just try to make a good point rather than too much drama all of the time. I thought it was interesting that Mary said she was sometimes jealous of Laura because it seemed like Pa loved Laura more than her. Maybe that was hard on Mary. However, I think Pa does love Mary as much as Laura, as evidenced in episodes like the one when she goes blind, etc. I think he may have a harder time showing love to Mary, since she and him don't have as much in common as he and Laura, perhaps. Kind of like Mr. Edwards and John, Jr.

You made a good point there. This epie is not excellent, but it shows that Mary could have also her little weakness and that she could be jealous of Laura too. Generally, we are used to think that Laura was the only one to have faults, while Mary is almost perfect. There are only three or four episodes in which Mary misbehaves, I suppose that only to make us remember she was not a little angel but a girl.

I think that Mary and Pa had not very much in cmmon, but that they loved deeply to each other. I just love their interaction when they went to Chicago to visit John Jr.

Vanesa.

good episode. I like, how Laura tried be like Ma.

Buttercup wrote:

good episode. I like, how Laura tried be like Ma.

Me too.It was sweet.she tired so hard.

Good episode ....."Pa make them go away. Don't they know I didn't win"

I think when she was younger, Laura was the "son" Charles didn't have which is why she was so jealous of Little Charles. She loved to fish and do things Mary didn't.

I like it when they each got to show their colors, some shows more with Laura, others Mary.

re-watch this episode. Mary, being upset of winning second place. With all those kids there. That's good.


Telling her Pa, tell all the town people leave town.

I think Mary AND Laura psyched themselves out way too much. Mary had herself convinced she wouldn't do well, and...came in second. Laura was a little girl, she held the house together, but Ma has years of cooking experience. Of course she won't cook like Ma for awhile yet.
Having high expectations can backfire on a person. All you can do is your best.

It was sweet seeing how Laura was trying to be like Caroline, to take care of Charles and Carrie. She even put her hair in a bun like Caroline did, which made her look very grown up. It was heartwarming to see how proud everyone in Walnut Grove was of Mary when she arrived home from the competition.

Why did Mary lie to Miss Beadle that she decided not to take part in the state-wide math competition; rather than telling her that Charles didn't had the money to afford it?

I love that the whole town came together