A Child With No Name

I just finished watching this episode. it was sad with the death of Laura and Almanzo's baby but the two times that Isaiah Edwards made fun of Harriet Oleson were funny! those two parts made me laugh.

This is one of my favorites episodes from Season 9. While it is very sad to watch Laura and Almanzo go through the death of their son and then Rose's illness, it is wonderful to see Doc Baker finally get the recognition he deserves. I think this is one of Kevin Hagen's finest performances.

I actually wrote a fanfic based upon this episode that takes place on what would have been Baby Wilder's first birthday. Laura visits his grave and is found by Almanzo who was also coming to visit his son on his birthday. It's one of my favorites.

This is one of my favorite season 9 episodes too...I feel bad for laura and Almanzo when they lose Baby Wilder, but I feel just as bad for Doc Baker when he feels that he must leave Walnut Grove because everyone in town has lost faith in him. I always tear up at the end when Laura is apologizing to him...when the tears start rolling down his face, it just breaks me up every time!

I enjoy Mr. Edwards humor in this episode too. His making fun of Harriet is so perfect...in this eppie, she so deserves it!!

This is also one of my favorite episodes from season 9, which is my least favorite season.

Season 9 is a tough one because the show was so changed that it was hard to recognize it as LHOP. Mary and Adam, Nellie and Percival, and the entire Ingalls family are gone, replaced with Jenny Wilder and the Carter family.

While the Carters made excellent friends for the Wilders, like the Garveys and the Edwardses made for Charles and Caroline, it still wasn't the same. And over time I think it's a challenge to keep the storylines fresh when you're dealing with a time period show.

I don't know how the real Laura reacted to the death of her son, but according to what I've read, Rose didn't know she had a baby brother because her parents never spoke of it. She found out after Mama Bess passed away. The nice thing about this particular episode is that it took a real life event and explored the Wilders' grief--mostly Laura's--in a way that was probably very different from what happened, but you can imagine that the real Laura did have some of these angry feelings about the death of her son.

It's interesting that the real Laura never told Rose that she had a baby brother. I guess back in that time, some things were kept more secret, perhaps as a way (they may have thought) to better contain the pain and keep things moving in some sort of order after a tragedy. I know that at least my parents and grandparents were somewhat like that...they didn't talk about painful or controversial things too much; better, they thought, to keep all of that private to allow things (and emotions) to remain running on an even keel ...

My, how things have changed! :cabn:

this episode was one of my favorites as well..it's close to the what really happened to laura and almanzo's baby boy and one of the best shows from season nine...

i agree with you docfan about why they might not have told rose...

It’s a good episode in a bad season with wonderful performances from Melissa and Kevin. But something about the way Harriet took Laura’s side seemed off. It’s just was so out of left field and over-the-top even for Harriet. I think I’m going to have to write a fanfic at some point, explaining her bizarre reaction.

And while I have no problem with Isaiah making fun of Harriet, the “ugly” comments bother me. There is something that rubs me the wrong way about seeing a woman in her fifties being called “ugly”. Katherine MacGregor must have been a very good sport. I wish they had stuck with Isaiah calling Harriet a pack mule or given him a throwaway line to a different character that he meant Harriet was ugly on the inside—but he wasn’t going to let her know that.

NelsHarrietFan wrote:

It’s a good episode in a bad season with wonderful performances from Melissa and Kevin. But something about the way Harriet took Laura’s side seemed off. It’s just was so out of left field and over-the-top even for Harriet. I think I’m going to have to write a fanfic at some point, explaining her bizarre reaction.

It's interesting you say that, because I didn't think Harriet sided with Laura as much as she felt sorry for her and understood her pain. As nasty as Harriet can be, she loves her children fiercely. Like Laura, Harriet and her family had gone to Doc Baker for years. While Laura blames Doc Baker out of grief, since no one understood SIDS or how a seemingly perfectly healthy child could just die, it is determined that Doc Baker must have screwed up. Harriet wouldn't take that chance with her own children.

What I found amazing was not Harriet's reaction, as much as, the entire town's reaction. In all those years, Doc Baker hadn't made a serious mistake in diagnosing a patient. Why did the majority of the town stop going to see him? Why did Laura's words, spoken in grief, weigh so heavily on everyone? And if I inspect the situation under that light, Harriet's reaction isn't any different than her neighbors.

The one thing that irks me about this episode is how seemingly ready Laura and Almanzo are to try to have another child. Up until that night when Doc Baker told them Rose would be okay, Laura was still very filled with anger and grief. When did this conversation take place? How could she be ready to think of having another baby with the passing of her son so recent? While it made for a great ending, I think we could have just had Laura apologize without acting all giddy and saying they were thinking of having another baby.

bethandmanly wrote:

It's interesting you say that, because I didn't think Harriet sided with Laura as much as she felt sorry for her and understood her pain. As nasty as Harriet can be, she loves her children fiercely. Like Laura, Harriet and her family had gone to Doc Baker for years. While Laura blames Doc Baker out of grief, since no one understood SIDS or how a seemingly perfectly healthy child could just die, it is determined that Doc Baker must have screwed up. Harriet wouldn't take that chance with her own children.
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Cheryl, you bring up excellent points. I think if the writing had been a little better, your ideas would have come across on screen. To me it just seemed like the writers went “okay Harriet’s the town meanie, let’s make her cause trouble because she’s so mean”. I’m all for antagonists, but you have to give them motivation. In “The Preacher Takes A Wife” we find out why Harriet’s so against Reverend Alden marrying. In “Harriet’s Happenings” Harriet is motivated by greed, her need to be the center of attention, a lack of caring for others, anger that Nellie wasn’t chosen for the spelling bee, and revenge against Albert. She’s at her worst in that episode, but it was completely character-driven. In this episode, even just a camera shot of her reaction to Laura sending Dr, Baker away from the funeral would have gone a long way in helping establish Harriet’s motivations. Screaming at Nels and throwing a towel in his face just did not cut it for me.

And it did seem like at the end Laura was just like "Okay time for a new baby!” The episodes should not have been so self-contained, but more serialized in the sense that things that happened to the characters had a lasting effect on them in future episodes.

NelsHarrietFan wrote:

Cheryl, you bring up excellent points. I think if the writing had been a little better, your ideas would have come across on screen. To me it just seemed like the writers went “okay Harriet’s the town meanie, let’s make her cause trouble because she’s so mean”. I’m all for antagonists, but you have to give them motivation.

I can see exactly what you're saying here. Makes sense.

NelsHarrietFan wrote:

The episodes should not have been so self-contained, but more serialized in the sense that things that happened to the characters had a lasting effect on them in future episodes.

We were just discussing this on the Imavision forum. Part of this is the era in which the show aired. Other than soap operas, I don't think any shows really used that format back then. Even Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, which covered some of the same years as LHOP didn't do that and it was shot in the 90's. Now, I don't watch any of today's shows, but I think the longer story arcs are much more satisfying for fans than the one time and out episodes of the past.

Although I have the entire series on dvd, I just can't seem to take a firm interest in season9. I only watched the few that Michael Landon appeared in. Its just does not have the same appeal without him. He gave it that extra depth of sincerity. That's just my opinion folks. Many Blessings, highwayangel

It was a big transition for the show to go through. It did not have much of a chance to go beyond the ninth season. But I do applaud the effort given.

I have always wished Laura had named the baby. If she did have a name in mind, we will never know. I think I would have wanted him to be known as something more than Baby Wilder. I know this kind of thing happend alot back then, but it just sort of bothers me.

It always bothered me too Gin. It's silly, I guess, but I just couldn't imagine not naming one of my children.

Doctor Barker? Oh, Sweetheart, sorry but I couldn't help to laugh aloud. I imagine poor doctor Baker becoming a dog and barking all along the show.

But yes, I agree. Laura was very mean to him blaming him for her baby's dead. However, it's pretty common that mothers had this kind of reactions when one of her children dies. You can study the fact in psychology lore. I think that the condition has even a name...It's sad, but it's true.

Vanesa.

 

I can understand Laura blaming Doctor Baker, because she was grieving, but I find it hard to believe the town would turn on him the way they did. I think that is the thing that makes this episode a little over the top. And yes, why would Harriet take Laura's side and turn on Doc Baker? That seems odd to me.

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The one thing that irks me about this episode is how seemingly ready Laura and Almanzo are to try to have another child. Up until that night when Doc Baker told them Rose would be okay, Laura was still very filled with anger and grief. When did this conversation take place? How could she be ready to think of having another baby with the passing of her son so recent? While it made for a great ending, I think we could have just had Laura apologize without acting all giddy and saying they were thinking of having another baby.

Did people back then even have any kind of family planning? I would just assume that they would not have to "think of having another baby" and that they would just accept any babies that came along without having to do any specific "thinking" about having one or not.

amyk wrote:

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The one thing that irks me about this episode is how seemingly ready Laura and Almanzo are to try to have another child. Up until that night when Doc Baker told them Rose would be okay, Laura was still very filled with anger and grief. When did this conversation take place? How could she be ready to think of having another baby with the passing of her son so recent? While it made for a great ending, I think we could have just had Laura apologize without acting all giddy and saying they were thinking of having another baby.

Did people back then even have any kind of family planning? I would just assume that they would not have to "think of having another baby" and that they would just accept any babies that came along without having to do any specific "thinking" about having one or not.

A good point. Did we ever hear Charles and Caroline discussing the possibility of having another baby? These people just did what husbands and wives do and sometimes that meant babies were created. This is modern day thinking infecting the 19th century prairie. Even Mary and Adam never discussed this topic. Yes, it came up in the episode, The Wedding, but that's because Mary told Adam she didn't want to marry him because they might not be able to take care of a sighted child. Once they were married, they didn't sit around thinking about when to have a baby. This was very specific to Laura and Almanzo, who needed to discuss planning their family to give them storylines. In The Nephews, Laura tells Almanzo she wants to teach for two more years before they start a family. Exactly how was she going to pull that off?

I wish in real life Laura and Almonzo would have been able to have another child. It seemed to heal some hurts with Charles and Caroline by having another after Freddie's death. So I just wish it had been able to happen for Laura as well.
I truly think that is one thing she never really wrote or talked about ,because of the pain it caused.

Cheryl...I have wondered that too...especially in among all the "saloon girls." Did THEY do something to prevent a pregnancy??