He Was Only Twelve

I haven't watched either parts of this episode yet, but after watching The Lost Ones, I think I want to see this one. what did everyone else think of it?

I watched both parts of this episode last night, it was a sad one! I felt so bad for young James, but certainly not for the man who was an accomplice to the bank robbers who was shot and died later on. I have to say that Matthew Laborteaux did some great acting in this episode, though I would have liked to see Albert and James together at the end of the episode. BUt during the episode, when Charles is feeding James the soup and James's eyes are open, were they really open or was Charles just imagining it because he was filled with grief?

Even though this was a sad one and I did not like some parts, it was still a good episode to watch!

I don't really like this one. It would have been OK if viewers weren't asked to accept that a lightning bolt cured James. I need a plausible scientific explanation for how James went from no hope of survival to completely back to normal, and I didn't get that. It just didn't work for me.

I don't care for this one....at the end Michael Landon was "chewing the scenery"....it was too melodramatic for my tastes.

I have to say that I agree...this wasn't a favorite for me for the reasons already stated. It was too melodramatic and unbelievable...I believe that miracles can and do definitely happen, but for some reason, this one was just too much...

I agree with both of you. I would have liked it if the episode was longer, and James woke up naturally, not because of a bolt of lightning. was James in any episodes after this one?

ingallsfan2008 wrote:

I agree with both of you. I would have liked it if the episode was longer, and James woke up naturally, not because of a bolt of lightning. was James in any episodes after this one?

No, because the Ingalls family left Walnut Grove after that--which we didn't even get to see.

Part of me appreciates Charles's faith in this situation and how he truly believes that God will heal his son. But the other half of me wonders why he had to do it in that way: leaving his family, building the altar, not listening to anyone who loved him and James, etc. It just made no sense, and Charles was a common sense kind of man. And then, later on, why didn't he think that God would heal Albert in the same way that He healed James? Why not build another altar and pray for Albert's healing? In "Look Back to Yesterday" Charles decides to accept that Albert will die without much of a fight.

But the most disturbing part of the whole episode, is that it's the last one with the entire Ingalls family in Walnut Grove, and yet, they spend a great deal of the episode at odds and living apart. Wouldn't the fan base have been better served by an episode that transitioned them into a Walnut Grove without the Ingalls family? Have Charles and Caroline talk about their financial struggles and the possibility of moving...even having them pull out at the end of the episode in their wagon together with Laura, Almanzo, and Isaiah--maybe even some of the townsfolk--waving goodbye. "He Was Only Twelve" just wasn't the way to end LHOP as we knew it.

Hey if I was put out in the great outdoors and a lightening bolt hit that close...well, I would wake up from any kind of sleep!!
I enjoy anything that shows faith as strongly as Charles had. I do think he wanted to show that anything is possible with God on our side.
Maybe Charles acted this way because of loosing Freddy as he did. He had already fought SO hard for James and Cassandra that the thought of loosing him was just not acceptable.??

I sometimes wish Albert had gone with them though. Does anyone know how many viewers there were for this episode?

it would have been nice if they had shown what life was like for the Ingalls family in the city, other than what we saw during "Home Again"!

I liked it, I thought a lightening bolt (or God healing him) was great :) After reading the blurb that came with the DVD set, I actually thought James died so it was nice to see him live

jes9 wrote:

I don't really like this one. It would have been OK if viewers weren't asked to accept that a lightning bolt cured James. I need a plausible scientific explanation for how James went from no hope of survival to completely back to normal, and I didn't get that. It just didn't work for me.

to me it makes perfect sense.

The brain is electrical in nature and things like electro-convulsive therapy used in modern days times can "reset" the brain, aiding things like depression or even psychosis in the past.

Making that connection, the electricity contained in the bolt (according to the storyline) are enough to reset or jar the brain back to working again..like an ignition stater or switch.

The fact that this was a storm of life ties into the storyline and this is showing how every storm has a silver lining.

It also shows that prayer and faith can change things even that seem impossible.

The use of nature (the lightening bolt) shows the cure came from God as he made nature, in addition to the angel old man who made sure the viewer knew the cure was God-sent.

The use of electro-shock therapy was used fairly heavily in the era that Michael Landon grew up in and thus it probably seemed like a way to get across all the above concepts while still seeming kind of plausible to the viewer of the time the series aired. It is still used today of course.

Noone is saying this would work in real life but it seems plausible given the electrical nature of the brain even things like electro magnetic fields are being studied and showing some results today in studies seeing if strong electro magnetic fields such as mri can help depression.

Medical science cannot always explain things. I had a relative once had an aureism in the brain..I forget the technical term but he was, (I think they called it a cerebral hemorrhage) according to doctors in a coma and going to be a vegetable for life because of the damage to the brain from the hemorrhaging and suddenly one day, he opened his eyes and asked for a cigarette and his was awake and functioning the same as before the events to the astonishment of the doctors..they said he made medical history at the time, so who knows what could bring someone out of a como..science does not always have explanations but I do know his saintly mother, my grandma, and the whole family was praying a great deal.

Faith is the absence of things seen and that is the nature of miracles.

If one is a believer, which I am and Charles was, they know there is no explanation for how Jesus cured the lepers, made the blind see and the lame walk (either) but they have faith that it happened (could happen).


If it did, we do not always know why. Perhaps God had some scientific law or principle he used that we have not yet discovered. Just because science cannot explain everything does not make it impossible to occur.

Personally I really loved this episode for the way it reinforced faith and helped support the values I was trying to instill in my children when they were younger.

Docfan wrote:

I have to say that I agree...this wasn't a favorite for me for the reasons already stated. It was too melodramatic and unbelievable...I believe that miracles can and do definitely happen, but for some reason, this one was just too much...

hi please see my response to this in my previous post..that might help make it seem a little more believable

That second half really picks up toward the end.

The end of that final Season 8 episode was "Little House on the Prairie"
and "Highway to Heaven" combined. The genius of Michael Landon.

I like this one, specially toward the end. Michael Landon shows spiritually things greatly. He is beyond any other's opinion. Charles Ingalls knows that God will do some miracle on his dear boy. He has Faith and knows James would not die. He is so faithful that he put tears on my eyes every time I see this epie.

Vanesa.

Jason Bateman did a decent job too in his last LHOTP episode. Matt Laborteaux was terrific in Part 1. Yet Michael Landon steals the show in those spectacular episode-ending and Season 8-ending moments.

Jason Bateman did a great job in this one, you 're right, and it should be nice to see him later, at least, at the last episode. Suddenly, it was like Charles and Caroline have no Carrie, no Cassandra, no Grace, no James...The people who was following the show from season 1, would have liked to said "ggodbye" to the characters they have learned to love!

Vanesa.

I wish all of the kids could have come back for "The Last Farewell", and Mrs. Oleson too. I really missed Mrs. Oleson in the "season 10" movies. It would have been nice to have seen Mary, Adam, Nellie, and Percival again too. Unfortunately, the reality was many cast members were unavailable after the show ended and they decided to do the movies.

I'am sorry BUT i really don't like this episode too much. It's just not one i enjoy watching too much. It's seems to un- real for me.In other words not believeable/

The first part of this episode contains Carrie's last line of the series: "What are you going to spend it all on, James?"

jes9 wrote:

The first part of this episode contains Carrie's last line of the series: "What are you going to spend it all on, James?"

At least , it was a half-intelligent line. Generally, her lines were very baby-like, extremely poor...

Vanesa.