dark sage

A new doctor is brought to help doc baker with a increasing workload..DR ledoux is a black men.People don't take kindly to him cuz of his sckin colour.DR.Ledoux saves a women and her baby.DR baker is inpressed and they become welcomed to the town.



Well, I wasn't really pleased with the why DOC baker acted in this esp.Seemed a bit out of his character. Sad how PPL don't accpect ppl based on skin clour.IT still happens today. But at the end iam glad they were accpected.

Great episode...

Ruth wrote:

Great episode...

Glad u enjoyed it

Yeah Dr. Baker seemed out of character for me too!

Harrietfan wrote:

Yeah Dr. Baker seemed out of character for me too!

Yeah,I thought he would of least give him more respect/work to do.

Wasn't it mentioned in an earlier episode of Little House that Doc Baker had a prejudice with blacks due to the civil war?

Anyways, I liked this episode.

I can't believe how rude Dr. Baker was to Dr. Ledoux. Mrs. Oleson thought he was french. I like how he saved Jenny and her baby.

I just finished this episode. Although I had seen it in the past, it has been a very long time and I had forgotten much of it. Wow, I thought this one was really powerful. It had an excellent mix of comedy (with Mrs. and Mrs. Oleson) and drama.

People commented above that they felt Doc Baker was out of character in the way he treated Dr. LeDoux, but I felt that this was the very reason this was such a good episode. Everyone expects Harriet to be prejudiced, and also that jerk of a husband to Jenny was obviously and openly prejudiced. But it is the hidden prejudice in someone that you would not expect to be prejudiced and who is essentially what we would call a "good person" which is what this episode ultimately was about. And I think that perhaps it is trying to make a point that we may consider ourselves completely unprejudiced but there could still be some hidden prejudice that we may need to examine ourselves for. And if that is true in the year 2022, how much more so would it be true of many white people back in the late 1800s? And just because Doc Baker had this hidden prejudice does not negate all the wonderful and selfless things he has done or make him some kind of evil person. But this was his opportunity to recognize this flaw in himself and come to terms with it in a very public way.

And oh, for a church that would function like the one in Walnut Grove. To me, that is what church is for - not just singing hymns and listening to sermons, but to truly be able to be a family in which one can stand and confess his sin and then be embraced in forgiveness. I loved it how Charles hugged Doc Baker as the whole congregation gathered around both Dr. LeDoux and Doc Baker.

My most favorite comedic part was when Harriet was in bed practicing her French out loud and how Nels was going downstairs to read where it was quiet and how Harriet said "I want to talk!" Nels' response was priceless.....I may be paraphrasing a bit but it was something like: "I know that, dear. I've known that for 23 years!" Hilarious!

My only complaint with this episode is that at the end, it seems Dr. LeDoux and his wife are staying in Walnut Grove, but I don't recall ever hearing of them again! That is a real shame. Both characters would have made excellent additions to the show, and could have even helped make the last season better. They could have moved into the boarding house that Laura ran in the final season even. Would have been nice for Dr. LeDoux' wife (was it Maddie or Hattie?) to become a friend for Laura, who never really seemed to have a lasting female friend throughout the series that I can recall.

ChristineLovesLHOTP wrote:

Wasn't it mentioned in an earlier episode of Little House that Doc Baker had a prejudice with blacks due to the civil war?  

Anyways, I liked this episode.

I don't recall anything about Doc Baker mentioning any previous prejudice of black people. In this episode, Jenny's husband confronted Dr. LeDoux about the civil war and how he thought it was a waste of so many men's lives to die so that men like Dr. LeDoux could have the opportunities that he now has (or something like this.....I don't remember his exact words). Loved Dr. LeDoux' response, though. He knew exactly how many men had died fighting in that war and proceeded to state the number, which I don't know off the top of my head, but it was over 600,000 (and the way he said it, you could tell he was deeply affected by that large number of men who lost their lives in that war).

Jenny's husband was not only prejudiced and rude to Dr. LeDoux, but he was also a jerk to his wife. It was as if he didn't really care if she lost the baby even when Dr. Baker was telling him that Jenny had to take it easy. And then he let Jenny be out there hanging the laundry on the line even though she should not have been doing that. I bet he had her up and out of bed shortly after Doc Baker left that one time - probably demanding she cook him supper or something.

He did seem truly affected after they handed the baby to him. I am not quite sure how to take the way he sort of said thank you to Dr. LeDoux. I think he said something like "I supposed I should say 'thank you.'" I kind of wish Dr. LeDoux had just said "you're welcome" and left, rather than telling that guy that he should be thanking Charles (because Charles punched out the husband and enabled Dr. LeDoux to get to work saving the baby and Jenny). On the other hand, I know that Dr. LeDoux was truly (and rightfully) angry about the whole situation. The way that the husband never actually came right out and sincerely said "Thank you" may have indicated that he although he was glad to have the baby, he still could not really move enough past his prejudice to thank Dr. LeDoux. That situation seemed unresolved, which is okay because not everything in life gets wrapped up as nice and neat as I wish it could be....