THE HANDYMAN

"After Caroline complains about the small size of her kitchen, Charles decides to build an addition onto the house. However, he must leave to take a rush delivery to Mankato. Caroline hires a handsome young handyman named Chris Nelson to complete the job. Chris stays with the Ingalls family and unwittingly becomes head of the household in Charles' absence, prompting Carrie to mistakenly call the man "Uncle Chris." Mary soon becomes convinced that her Ma and Chris are becoming romantically involved, and she freely expresses her opinions. Nellie and Mrs. Oleson don't help matters when they share Mary's suspicions. Eventually, Mary confronts Chris with her suspicions and tells him he must leave, only to find out later it was a misunderstanding. Charles later returns and finishes the kitchen."

So Buck Rogers turns up in Walnut Grove and woos a lonely Caroline. While the cats away the mice will play? Not this mouse. Although I believe Caroline liked the attention and was attracted to the cad, she always had Charles in her mind. And to his credit, the cad backed off and left when Mary demanded an answer of "Do you love her?" That was a great scene.

I liked this esp.I don't like mary very much in this esp. I don't think she should of acted the way she did. I mean she should of talked to her ma first instead...Sometimes our mind plays werid tricks on us.

Miss Krissy, Mary is what I liked about this episode. She had her moms back. She stood up for the union her mother and father entered into. She wasn't about to stand back and watch the one that gave birth to her submit to her baser desires.
But you are right, Mary should have known her mother is a rock, not easily tempted by the fruit of another tree.
(what in the heck am I talking about? I'm giving myself a headache. Lol)

I know what you mean.& I understand that..I just think that mary handled the problem in the wrong way.I can feel for mary and understand how she would be feeling tho.

sweetkrissy2011 wrote:

I know what you mean.& I understand that..I just think that mary handled the problem in the wrong way.I can feel for mary and understand how she would be feeling tho.

Well...Mary was a child at the time, and she handled things the way she could. I agree she must have talked to her mother to know what was exactly going on...but as a child, she acted impulsively. We can't blame her.

Vanesa.

I think it would be hard to talk to Caroline about. I remember one day when I saw something I felt was inappropriate going on between my uncle and my mom. I came right out later that day and asked if my parents were getting divorced, but it was the most uncomfortable moment of my young life. I don't think I was more than 10.

The funny thing is how naive Caroline was that Chris was even interested in her. Mary picked up on it, but Caroline didn't see it?

bethandmanly wrote:

I think it would be hard to talk to Caroline about. I remember one day when I saw something I felt was inappropriate going on between my uncle and my mom. I came right out later that day and asked if my parents were getting divorced, but it was the most uncomfortable moment of my young life. I don't think I was more than 10.

The funny thing is how naive Caroline was that Chris was even interested in her. Mary picked up on it, but Caroline didn't see it?

I think Caroline saw it, I saw it in her eyes and actions. There was temptation, that was the point of this episode, imo.
Miss Beth, I know it is not in good taste for me to ask but do you feel comfortable expanding on your experience? How did your mother and father respond to your question?

yeah!...That's true..Your right..Kids are more honest and just say how they feel....I guess that's the thing i forgot..

Joe wrote:

Miss Beth, I know it is not in good taste for me to ask but do you feel comfortable expanding on your experience? How did your mother and father respond to your question?

I only spoke to my mom, and she basically told me everything was fine--after she recovered from my question. She didn't elaborate or explain away what I saw. I don't think my parents would still be married if she had lived, but I could be wrong.

bethandmanly wrote:

I think it would be hard to talk to Caroline about. I remember one day when I saw something I felt was inappropriate going on between my uncle and my mom. I came right out later that day and asked if my parents were getting divorced, but it was the most uncomfortable moment of my young life. I don't think I was more than 10.

The funny thing is how naive Caroline was that Chris was even interested in her. Mary picked up on it, but Caroline didn't see it?

Think kids pick up on things more

I always loved this episode and so did Karen Grassle. It showed her as a woman and not just "mom" and Gil Gerard is so cute. Little things I didn't see as a child, I see now and Karen mentioned it in an interview.
She never would have cheated on Charles, she loved him, but she liked being seen as a woman by another man. The way she flirted/argued with him about taking his shirt..how she was smiling/beaming while sewing his clothes, and the joy in her voice, "Good Day" at church when he came with them and was carrying Carrie.
Mary was way out of line..but she was afraid.
The one line I thought was unreal was when "Chris" said, "Who would want me?" (I think a line was forming then)

I liked this episode. "Chris" was a cutie and it was nice to see Caroline get a role that made her more dimensional as a character. It was also nice to see the little house expand a bit, Caroline needed more room. Their house was sweet but smaller than any of their friends. I liked it,it was cozy, but hard to entertain. (that at times can be another blessing) : )

Mary should have talked to Caroline. Mary sure showed her temper in this episode.

This is the only time in Little House that I thought some whipping of the behind was in order.
Mary had absolutely no right to accuse her Mother of that. Scared or not scared, she should of had more respect for Carolyn than to accuse her and take it upon herself to ask him to leave. Probably an unpopular opinion, but I think Mary was WAY out of line.

Davetucson wrote:

This is the only time in Little House that I thought some whipping of the behind was in order.
Mary had absolutely no right to accuse her Mother of that. Scared or not scared, she should of had more respect for Carolyn than to accuse her and take it upon herself to ask him to leave. Probably an unpopular opinion, but I think Mary was WAY out of line.

I agree with you. Mary should have never spoken to her mother the way she did and should have never told Chris to leave. It wasn't her place to tell him to leave. Mary should have been punished for slapping Nellie.

I do too...she was beyond rude (and MSA mentioned that I think) to him and her mother. She let Nellie Oleson get her goat and the kitchen could have been done already. : )
On the other hand, she didn't really trust Charles either with the Widow Snyder, following him and basting a dress on her all that. When you think they were the epitme of good character and integrity, it was a stretch. I think if she spoke to Charles that way, he might have punished her.

LHOP had a lot of great guest stars, he was one of them.

I liked this episode. I think Chris should have been made a regular cast member. He could have gotten a job at Olsens maybe and found possibly true love with someone eventually.

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He was a cutey back then, would have had no problem finding someone to marry...Miss Beadle?? Gil had other fish to fry I'm sure though.

he and Miss Beadle would have been great.. never thought of that. Good idea!

Alice Garvey wrote:

he and Miss Beadle would have been great.. never thought of that. Good idea!

Oh, no! And what would you do of poor Adam Simms? I really like him.

Vanesa.

How about the allusive Widow Thurmon..she needed a handyman and Charles did all he could for those dishes. : )

Adam Simms was ok but I always wondered if he was just wanting a mother role for his son.

I think Chris Nelson and Eva Beadle would have been a cute pair

I don't think Michael would want a constant "hunk factor" to compete with. lol

True lol :)