What if?

I wasn't quite sure where to put this, so I figured I would put it here. Over at the DQ forum, we have a thread titled "What if?" which allows us to post a question about what might have happened if this particular event occured or something in the show didn't happen. For example, what if Almanzo had left Walnut Grove in the Werewolf of Walnut Grove? This opens the door for some conversations on what might have happened to get him back to WG so that he and Laura would eventually get married. Another example, what if John Jr. hadn't gone off to college? Would he and Mary stayed engaged? Would they have gotten married? What would have happened when she went blind?

Sometimes it's just fun to ponder these things. Other times it inspires fan fiction stories. I don't know, I just thought it would be neat to see if it generated some engaging conversations.

Hmmm...Good excercise!

What if John Jr. would stay in Walnut Grove? In this case, he must have married Mary, as it was planned. But in this case...what must we do with Mary blindness? Must she marry John and become blind, after all? Mary's blindness is something that MUST be in LHOTP and we cannot put it off.


And if Almanzo would left Walnut Grove, Laura could meet him at De Smet, were she was send as a teacher. It's a good way to introduce real Wilder's life in the show.

And what about Mary remaining single, as she was in real life? What kind of aventures could we create for her?

Vanesa.

Vanesa wrote:

What if John Jr. would stay in Walnut Grove? In this case, he must have married Mary, as it was planned. But in this case...what must we do with Mary blindness? Must she marry John and become blind, after all? Mary's blindness is something that MUST be in LHOTP and we cannot put it off.

Well, I was kind of thinking, would one of them have gotten cold feet and decided not to get married right away? Then, it’s possible they would still have been engaged when Mary went blind and that broke them up. But then, John Jr. is still turned into a cad.

Vanesa wrote:

And if Almanzo would left Walnut Grove, Laura could meet him at De Smet, were she was send as a teacher. It's a good way to introduce real Wilder's life in the show.

Very true. I really like this one.

Vanesa wrote:

And what about Mary remaining single, as she was in real life? What kind of aventures could we create for her?

I’m not sure this would have happened in the show, as getting Mary to fall in love and marry Adam was almost like her brief reprieve of happiness. Bad things were always happening to her. Even in her married life she wasn’t spared from being the bad luck magnet. Though I really like this idea of her going off to college and not hooking up right away.

What if ....lol.... I like this Cheryl...makes a sleepy mind think!
Its hard for me to think of Mary with any other man besides Adam. Although I think they could have had a better life than they had.

What if....in Sylvia, She and Albert had married. Would he have still have wanted to become a Doctor? Would Albert have moved to the city with the Ingalls or stayed in Walnut Grove? What other issues would they have faced as a couple?

What if....in Injun Kid, Spotted Eagle had stayed in Walnut Grove (more than one episode) and Nellie took a shine to him?

bethandmanly wrote:

Vanesa wrote:

What if John Jr. would stay in Walnut Grove? In this case, he must have married Mary, as it was planned. But in this case...what must we do with Mary blindness? Must she marry John and become blind, after all? Mary's blindness is something that MUST be in LHOTP and we cannot put it off.

Well, I was kind of thinking, would one of them have gotten cold feet and decided not to get married right away? Then, it’s possible they would still have been engaged when Mary went blind and that broke them up. But then, John Jr. is still turned into a cad.

And I always SO hated that they turned him into a cad. John Jr. reminds me a great deal of my older son....there is no way going off to college would turn a guy with such morals into a total cad. I always thought it was completely unbelieveable that he would hurt Mary.


This is a neat thread Cherly....I'll ponder over it and get back later!

Gin wrote:

What if....in Sylvia, She and Albert had married. Would he have still have wanted to become a Doctor? Would Albert have moved to the city with the Ingalls or stayed in Walnut Grove? What other issues would they have faced as a couple?

What if....in Injun Kid, Spotted Eagle had stayed in Walnut Grove (more than one episode) and Nellie took a shine to him?

Whoa, those are really good ones. Nellie and Spotted Eagle, eh?


Oh, I just thought of a great one. What if Jenny Wilder had never come to town?

I guess if Jenny hadn't shown up in Walnut Grove she wouldn't have shown up in Melissa Gilberts book either. I had it when a good actress turns out to be not so good in real life. Such a waste.

I like the idea of sending Mary to College, Maybe we can marry her after a while, but her adventures at school could have been nice to watch, too.

Yes...What a shame the writers changed John's romantic character into a womanizer and rather frivolous guy. If they wanted him out of the show, they must have decided to write a mother credible story for those who , like me, liked John Jr. a great deal.

I also would wish that the new characters introduced in the show must have remained in it. Olga and Anna were very nice girls and I always liked to see them as Laura 's friends. Too bad that the Kennedies must left Walnut Grove so soon (In real life they also did, but much later) and that Nellie ent to N.Y, and that Doc Baker wouldn't marry Kate.

And of course, my deep wish is that writers wouldn't kill Albert and let him to indeed become "Doctor Albert Ingalls"!

Vanesa.

P.D: Nellie and Spoted Eagle? Great! She was the kind of girl that always choices the guys whose mother doesn't like! Did you remember Luke?

AAAHHH Luke....love is SO blind.


What if.....Albert had inherited Jeremy Quinn's land and farm. What would he decide to do with it? Could it be a site for another Blind school or would he keep it to build a hospital someday??

Gin wrote:

What if....in Sylvia, She and Albert had married. Would he have still have wanted to become a Doctor? Would Albert have moved to the city with the Ingalls or stayed in Walnut Grove? What other issues would they have faced as a couple?

Sylvia’s father would never allow it. Charles wouldn’t have let them run off either, so I just can’t imagine that happening. Maybe Albert would have tried to run away with her again, but if Sylvia lived, I’m thinking Mr. Webb would immediately have taken her away.

If by some freak of nature they did get married, I don’t see them happy. Albert would be raising a child that wasn’t his, and the memory for both of them as to where that baby came from would be an issue.

Gin wrote:

What if....in Injun Kid, Spotted Eagle had stayed in Walnut Grove (more than one episode) and Nellie took a shine to him?

Again, I have trouble seeing this. It goes against Nellie’s character. Maybe not the Nellie she would become after meeting Percival, but the Nellie back then. If it did happen, Harriet would have made everyone’s life miserable, and the relationship wouldn’t stand a chance.

Amy wrote:

bethandmanly wrote:

Vanesa wrote:

What if John Jr. would stay in Walnut Grove? In this case, he must have married Mary, as it was planned. But in this case...what must we do with Mary blindness? Must she marry John and become blind, after all? Mary's blindness is something that MUST be in LHOTP and we cannot put it off.

Well, I was kind of thinking, would one of them have gotten cold feet and decided not to get married right away? Then, it’s possible they would still have been engaged when Mary went blind and that broke them up. But then, John Jr. is still turned into a cad.

And I always SO hated that they turned him into a cad. John Jr. reminds me a great deal of my older son....there is no way going off to college would turn a guy with such morals into a total cad. I always thought it was completely unbelievable that he would hurt Mary.

I didn’t see it as totally unbelievable, as John hadn’t been outside of Walnut Grove ever. Chicago was a big deal and would put him in touch with things he had never experienced before. Over time he would have come around, but I could see him losing his common sense for a while. Not only that, think about the whole story of falling in love with the girl next door. How often does it happen and actually turn into marriage—a successful one? People change so much.

The writers used this opportunity as way to get rid of John now that the Edwards family was no longer in the picture, but I think they could also have done something that was a bit more unrealistic, but would at least have left Mary less hurt. Maybe John gets a once in a lifetime chance to study in Europe. He returns to WG to share the news with Mary and they decide it is better to break off their engagement. There was nothing tying John to WG except Mary after his family left anyway. If it was a mutual decision, it would have been better.

Amy wrote:

Oh, I just thought of a great one. What if Jenny Wilder had never come to town?

Try not to smack me for this one, but I was watching Times Are Changing the other day and I realized how important it was for Jenny to come to town. In essence, when Charles and Caroline left town, Laura and Almanzo sort of became them—the older, wiser parent types. But Rose was so small that the viewer couldn’t see them in that role. In walks Jenny, the newly orphaned niece who comes with a boatload of troubles that need motherly and fatherly advice. I had always thought the reason to bring Jenny in was more to create what was popular in the past, but after watching this episode again, I see they really needed to do it or Laura’s and Almanzo’s characters could easily have faded into the background behind the Carters.

Gin wrote:

What if.....Albert had inherited Jeremy Quinn's land and farm. What would he decide to do with it? Could it be a site for another Blind school or would he keep it to build a hospital someday??

This is an interesting question because I don’t understand why he wouldn’t have inherited the land after his father’s death when he was Quinn’s only living relative. As his adopted father, Charles would have control over what was done with the land until Albert turned of age, and then of course, we believe Albert died before becoming a doctor. If he hadn’t died, I could see him using that as a place to set up his own doctor’s office.

The Carters easily could have been introduced, but I wonder who they would have been friends with more--Charles and Caroline or Laura and Almanzo. Melissa said their introduction was to give Manly and Beth some friends their own age, but the Carters seemed older to me, though not quite Caroline and Charles's ages. They could have moved into the old Edwardses' place or the Garveys' home.

I still think to develop Laura and Almanzo they had to introduce Jenny. There needed to be a growth in their characters instead of them just being husband and wife.

If the Ingalls hadn't moved away, however, Albert never would have gotten hooked on morphine, so perhaps he would have been working alongside Doc Baker, trying to learn the ropes before going away to college.

ChristinaAL wrote:

Ooh, what a fun topic! You guys have come up with so many good ones already, it's hard for me to think of any that haven't been brought up yet. The only thing I can think of at the moment is,

What if the Ingalls hadn't moved away in season 9? Would the Carters have still been introduced (just not living in the Ingalls house)? The same goes for Jenny. It would have been interesting to see them interacting with the Ingalls, especially all the kids. And how would Albert's future have played out? If they didn't move to the city, he wouldn't have fallen in with a bad crowd...so maybe he would've gone to college after all and could've have a different date than what "Look Back to Yesterday" showed.

Oh...Yes. I forgot all about Jenny. Yes.The Ingalls MUST remain in Walnut Grove whatever could happen. No Carters and no Jenny going around...What a relief! I like Nancy's character and the Cooper children were not so bad, so we may keep them for the show, but Jenny and the Carters...

Vanesa.

Okay, here's my "What if" for today:

What if Baby Charles had lived? Take out for a moment that this part is based in fact. How would that have changed--if at all--Pa and Half-pint's relationship?

bethandmanly wrote:

Okay, here's my "What if" for today:

What if Baby Charles had lived? Take out for a moment that this part is based in fact. How would that have changed--if at all--Pa and Half-pint's relationship?

Do you mean little Charlie? I don't think that Laura and Pa's relationships would change for the baby will remain alive. Just think that when Albert entered to the family, there were no essentianl changes in Laura's and Pa's relationships. Laura always was his little girl and the strong relationship between a father and a daughter are not the same than a father could have with a boy, even if the daughter is tomboy-ish.

Vanesa.

I would tend to agree with you Vanesa, but I wonder if Laura would remain jealous of her little brother and now that might affect her relationship with Pa and the baby.

Next one...

What if Doc Baker had married Harriet's niece in Season 1? How would that have changed his life and his relationships?

bethandmanly wrote:

I would tend to agree with you Vanesa, but I wonder if Laura would remain jealous of her little brother and now that might affect her relationship with Pa and the baby.

Maybe for a while, but the writers would have solved the conflict between the siblings as they did in "Fagin". By the way, I supose that if they would let Charlie alive, Albert Ingalls should never exist in the show...

Vanesa.

Agreed.

What if Doc Baker married Kate Thurwald after all?

As he should have.....

Of course, Savannah!

Vanesa.