BACK TO SCHOOL PT. 2

"Laura is punished when Caroline discovers the secret to the ill-fated chicken dinner Nellie served Almanzo in Part I. Later, Nellie deliberately gives aspiring teacher Laura some incorrect material for an exam, and Laura fails miserably. The two engage in a memorable catfight, and both of them land in the mud. When Almanzo takes Laura back to his place to clean up, Charles finds her wearing his robe and assumes the worst." (Wikipedia)

I saw both pt. 1 and part 2 today and am a bit conflicted. I really enjoyed pt 1 but have some problems with the conclusion. Here's why....

Let me get this straight, Laura pulls the cinnamon chicken prank on Nellie to which Nellie vows revenge. She gets it when she tells Laura that the test includes no history problems. Laura fails the test and starts a fight with Nellie. The two wrestle and tussle in the muddy creek. At the end of the episode Laura and Paw get into a 'who's fault was it' and Laura states it was Nellie that started it!!??
This episode does not set a good example for taking resonsibility for ones actions. Laura cane off like a spoiled little baby demanding to be treated as a woman while her actions were more like that of the half-pint she still was.
That said, it was nice to see Lauras first sputterings of adolecence and the conflict that result from first crushes and hormones running wild.

Saw both episodes, too. Enjoyed them very much. I loved albert's expression when he first sees Eliza Jane. I think Laura said "Nellie started it," because Nellie had her eyes on Almanzo.

Joe wrote:

"Laura is punished when Caroline discovers the secret to the ill-fated chicken dinner Nellie served Almanzo in Part I. Later, Nellie deliberately gives aspiring teacher Laura some incorrect material for an exam, and Laura fails miserably. The two engage in a memorable catfight, and both of them land in the mud. When Almanzo takes Laura back to his place to clean up, Charles finds her wearing his robe and assumes the worst." (Wikipedia)

I saw both pt. 1 and part 2 today and am a bit conflicted. I really enjoyed pt 1 but have some problems with the conclusion. Here's why....

Let me get this straight, Laura pulls the cinnamon chicken prank on Nellie to which Nellie vows revenge. She gets it when she tells Laura that the test includes no history problems. Laura fails the test and starts a fight with Nellie. The two wrestle and tussle in the muddy creek. At the end of the episode Laura and Paw get into a 'who's fault was it' and Laura states it was Nellie that started it!!??
This episode does not set a good example for taking resonsibility for ones actions. Laura cane off like a spoiled little baby demanding to be treated as a woman while her actions were more like that of the half-pint she still was.
That said, it was nice to see Lauras first sputterings of adolecence and the conflict that result from first crushes and hormones running wild.

If you start trying to understand women, especially confused adolescent women on TV, it will make your brain hurt. I mentioned this to someone recently, but my girls are 7 and 9, and they are two of the biggest drama queens I have ever met. I'm not sure what I did to cause it, but I'm shaking my head thinking when they are 14 and 12 and how much drama is going to be filling this house.

First crushes, I mean real ones where you're old enough to have some true feelings, are very powerful--especially for young girls who are bundles of emotions anyway. You don't think clearly, and I believe Caroline and Charles (maybe more Caroline) understood that. Laura doesn't really get off scott free. First, she has to apologize to Nellie, then she has to apologize to Almanzo, probably a fate worse than death in her world. When Laura goes to ask Nellie to borrow her school books, Nellie makes her beg for forgiveness. I'm sure that weighed a lot on Charles and Caroline's handling of the whole thing. Nellie did wrong too, yet, she is never expected to apologize, and never does. Nellie's actions caused Laura's reaction. Why should Laura be expected to shoulder that blame?

Well, Laura did apoligize BUT when Manly asked her if she did it on purpose she lied and said no. That is not someone who is honoring a true apoligy. She wanted to protect herself from Salmonzos (remember how Harriet never got his name right? Funny) negative opinion if she came clean and admitted why she did what she did.
Bethandmanly, Laura shouldn't shoulder all the blame, just her part and I don't believe she honestly did that. In the show we expect Nellie to do Nellieish things and never learn her lesson, not Laura.

I really liked this esp. It was very funny.. I think Laura had it coming for sure. I mean she was very silly to trust Nellie about the test for to be a teacher. It was funny when they were fighting. Nellie did for sure did deserve to be pushed in the lake.


The only reason i think Laura rushed to be a teacher was too prove to every one that she was "Grown up".. kids really grew up fast then.

Joe wrote:

Bethandmanly, Laura shouldn't shoulder all the blame, just her part and I don't believe she honestly did that. In the show we expect Nellie to do Nellieish things and never learn her lesson, not Laura.

I guess I don't understand why we make an exception for Nellie. Isn't her behavior setting just as bad an example? Actually, since Nellie rarely pays for her actions, she sets a horrible example all the time. Why is it worse when Laura occasionally sets a less than stellar example?

bethandmanly wrote:

Joe wrote:

Bethandmanly, Laura shouldn't shoulder all the blame, just her part and I don't believe she honestly did that. In the show we expect Nellie to do Nellieish things and never learn her lesson, not Laura.

I guess I don't understand why we make an exception for Nellie. Isn't her behavior setting just as bad an example? Actually, since Nellie rarely pays for her actions, she sets a horrible example all the time. Why is it worse when Laura occasionally sets a less than stellar example?

Because it is out of charactor for Laura. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that no-one is perfect on the show. (Except maybe Doc Baker).
Perhaps I have put Laura on a pedestal, thinking she should be the picture of perfection, making every decision the correct one. Obviously, that is not the case. In that regard maybe I'm acting like Harriet and how she sees her daughter. We all want to see the best in our loved ones I suppose.
Amazing how years after loving a tv show (!!) one can see things differently that the creators probably didn't even intend.

Whenever Nellie got into trouble. Harriet always made her to be the good one.Whenever she did something wrong. so she got away with "everything"!

Joe wrote:

Amazing how years after loving a tv show (!!) one can see things differently that the creators probably didn't even intend.

Very true. I'm sure they never expected us to be sitting here over 30 years later dissecting the show, that we can now see in our homes pretty much whenever we want.

When I spoke to Dean Butler a bit about the episodes He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not and Laura Ingalls Wilder, it was interesting to hear his perspective on them versus mine. I really thought Almanzo acted like a pig-headed jerk in both of those, but Dean saw them as important in defining Almanzo as a man ready to be out on his own. He also felt what happened in those two episodes where good for Laura.

I like how in this episode we see Laura's struggle. I wonder if it was even harder back in those days for adolescent girls since it seems like one went from girl to woman almost immediately, without opportunity to "find yourself" or whatever it is that young women do these days. I think the episode portrayed fairly accurately how someone of Laura's age and experience may have reacted. It has been quite a while since I've seen this one, though, so I may not remember it perfectly. I do think by now Laura should have known to never trust Nellie Oleson and not to listen to her advice about the exam.

kids grew up quicker in them days...They did't have that time to be teens.

Well...Now, we have people who seems to be in his teens when they have 35 or 40'...

I think the show tries to teach people that no one is perfect in this world...Not even the Ingallses! Charles could be very stout and childish time to time...not only Laura! . We must accept that time to time, adults acts like children. Even the more equilibrated ones!

And it's not true that Nellie always wins. Some times, it seems that Nells spanked her (we don't see it, but we supposes she was), for example in "The Speaking Machine" and " The music box". I don't remember other episodes in which it happened , but I'm sure they must be more than just two.

Vanesa.

yes..I agree adults can be childish sometimes

Vanesa wrote:

And it's not true that Nellie always wins. Some times, it seems that Nells spanked her (we don't see it, but we supposes she was), for example in "The Speaking Machine" and " The music box". I don't remember other episodes in which it happened , but I'm sure they must be more than just two.

Vanesa.

This is very true. What I think the show always displayed well is that all of the Olesons' money didn't mean they were any happier than the rest of the folks in town. Laura often got the better of Nellie or Willie. The only way in which the Oleson children ever truly won is in not having to apologize for their horrid behavior.

If its true that "only the good die young", then Nellie Oleson is alive and well, living in Palm Beach Florida playing Canasta. She'd be what, 154 years old?

back to school part & part 2 are my favorite. Usually part 2 episodes, I only like part 1 or part 2. But, in this case, I love both parts. Back to school is my favorite episode in Season 6. Both episodes were funny.

Quote :

Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that no-one is perfect on the show. (Except maybe Doc Baker).

No, even Doc Baker wasn't perfect. Remember that episode when he was prejudiced and did not think a black man could really be a good doctor? But he admitted his prejudice by the end of the episode.

That's true nellie did get a whiped buy her father for bad things she did.I fogot.

I like both part 1 and 2. Charles over reacted to seeing Laura in Almanzo's robe. Nellie caused him to get mad and confront Almanzo because she lied saying she saw Laura and Almanzo kissing and she knew he kissed Laura on the forehead wishing her luck on her test. Nellie was a troublemaker.

I thought what Laura did was awful, because she offered to do it and was helping Nellie lie and planned the whole thing. At her age, she's not 5, that was just as out of character and immature as her wrestling with a woman she though liked Almonzo too much and she was a "mature" married woman.
Nellie was Nellie, but if Laura never offered to help, (on the Lord's day) he wouldn't have went to dinner or it would have been bad in another way. Laura said she was a "woman" and shouldn't apologize, but being a woman means knowing when you should. And why they had Laura trust Nellie after what she did...that didn't show too much thought. She really wasn't the "forgiving"type. lol

The Ingall's kids hardly ever got punished, they could lie, steal, run away, make "hot" chicken. : ) They did have nice parents though. Nellie and Willie do get punished, insinuated and shown, the Ingalls never really did. Nel's got the belt twice to my memory and both him and Harriet said they better get upstairs many times and you knew they were gong to get punished some way or other.

You can make a list of the things the Ingall's children have done that would give many parents pause and nothing happens.

I can't believe Almanzo leaving Nellie behind when he took Laura to his house to get cleaned up. I'm surprised Dr.Baker didn't go and check on Charles to see how he was doing and if he was healing okay.

littlehouselover wrote:

I thought what Laura did was awful, because she offered to do it and was helping Nellie lie and planned the whole thing. At her age, she's not 5, that was just as out of character and immature as her wrestling with a woman she though liked Almonzo too much and she was a "mature" married woman.
Nellie was Nellie, but if Laura never offered to help, (on the Lord's day) he wouldn't have went to dinner or it would have been bad in another way. Laura said she was a "woman" and shouldn't apologize, but being a woman means knowing when you should. And why they had Laura trust Nellie after what she did...that didn't show too much thought. She really wasn't the "forgiving"type. lol

The Ingall's kids hardly ever got punished, they could lie, steal, run away, make "hot" chicken. : ) They did have nice parents though. Nellie and Willie do get punished, insinuated and shown, the Ingalls never really did. Nel's got the belt twice to my memory and both him and Harriet said they better get upstairs many times and you knew they were gong to get punished some way or other.

You can make a list of the things the Ingall's children have done that would give many parents pause and nothing happens.

I have to agree with you. Laura wasn't really very mature at times...

I love these two episodes. I still find them hilarious all these years later. Mrs Oleson saying "Zaldamo" slays me.

But what still bothers me... how can a town of 120+ poor farmers support a restaurant? It seems the townspeople don't have two nickels to rub together but they can afford to eat out? And Caroline getting paid $2 a day for working 6 days/week? That's about $50 per month - the same amount of money that Charles left the family for a month to work on the telephone crew in "The Godsister". In that epi it was considered such a large sum of money that he couldn't refuse the work yet Caroline makes that amount cooking at Nellie's.

My daughter mentioned that when we watched the episode (which was very funny) when she got the restaurant as a gift. She said, "Isn't everyone one step from the poorhouse in Walnut Grove?" Restaurants were for the city folk that were passing through.
But it was a new avenue for scripts and brought in a lot of funny episodes and people. Where they all came from, I don't know, men back then....I can't picture saying, "Honey, take a load off, lets go to Nellies and have Mrs. Ingall's cook for us". I don't hear that now! LoL

I watched this part 2 tonight, and it seems my previous posted thoughts about it may have changed some. I do like seeing Laura dealing with her emotions, but I do think she was in the wrong in many ways, as others have pointed out. I didn't see part 1 this time around, but I do know that she put the pepper or whatever into the chicken. So that right there was wrong for her to do. It actually all backfired on her anyway since Almanzo found out she did it. As was pointed out, she lied in her apology to Almanzo as well. And why she trusted what Nellie said about there being no history on the exam was pretty foolish. It was a somewhat mean trick for Nellie to play on Laura, but if Laura was that naive to believe Nellie about it, I think that proves that Laura is not mature enough yet to be a teacher anyway.

And for Laura to push Nellie into the pond like that (although it's a great fight scene) was also showing how immature she yet is at this point.

For Almanzo to take her to his house alone with him and have her wearing his robe also seems a bit foolish for him.....wouldn't Eliza Jane have some suitable clothing in the house that Laura could have put on???

Despite all these things, I do still like this episode! But mainly because it marks the beginning of the Laura/Almanzo story arc which will culminate in their eventual marriage.