SEASON THREE EPISODE GUIDE
EPISODE FORTY-FIVE--The Collection This page hosted by
Original telecast: September 27, 1976
In Reverend Alden's absence, two ex-cons, the Hodgkiss', decide to squander money for themselves by getting "donations" from the church. It takes the recovering Reverend to straighten them out. Rare acting turn from Johnny and June Carter Cash.
EPISODE FORTY-SIX--I'll Ride The Wind
Original telecast: October 4, 1976
Mary Ingalls and John Edwards Jr. fall in love and want to marry...however, John is torn between love and the ambition that has suddenly been put forth to him--to use the scholarship he has just been awarded to further his education. Eventually, he chooses the appropriate destiny.
EPISODE FORTY-SEVEN--The Race
Original telecast: October 4, 1976
Laura decides to enter her horse Bunny in the annual Horse Race Championship in which the trophy is a silver cup provided by the Olesons (the former owners of the horse). Nellie and Willie also enter, but when Willie falls ill, it's essentially between Nellie and Laura. Laura wins, but opts to return the trophy to their original owners. This is the third of a four-part story arc about the horse Bunny.
EPISODE FORTY-EIGHT--Bunny
Original telecast: October 18, 1976
In the prequel to the previous episode (part two of a four-part story arc), Nellie is slightly injured after falling off her horse Bunny, then feigns illness in order to be treated. Laura, helping Nellie, eventually discovers her nemesis' ruse and pushes wheelchair-bound Nellie down a hill. Nellie is punished by losing her beloved horse to Laura.
EPISODE FORTY-NINE--The Monster Of Walnut Grove
Original telecast: November 1, 1976
Laura's imagination runs wild on Halloween when she thinks she sees Nels cut off Mrs Oleson's head. Laura tells Nellie and Willie what she saw. Since the Oleson kids know that their mother is really out of town, they decide to scare Laura a little bit more. Everything is straightened up when Mrs. Oleson comes back.
EPISODE FIFTY--Journey In The Spring
Original telecast: November 15, 1976 (Part One), November 22, 1976 (Part Two)
Arthur Hill ("Owen Marshall, Counselor At Law") plays Charles' father, Langsford Ingalls, in this story of resentment and eventual resolution. When Charles' mother Laura Colby Ingalls dies, he brings back his now-widowed father to live in Walnut Grove. When Laura's horse Bunny is seriously injured in an accident and is eventually put to death by Langsford, Laura resents her grandfather. Langsford eventually decides to leave Walnut Grove, but Laura herself convinces him to return. He stays for several months before returning home a happier man. Conclusion to a four-part story arc on Bunny the horse.
EPISODE FIFTY-ONE--Fred
Original telecast: November 29, 1976
The series takes a brief turn towards comedy in this story of a stray goat who wrecks havoc on all of Hero Township--and eventually turns drunk (courtesy of Mr. Edwards' special "potion"). In the end, Fred returns "with his own kind".
EPISODE FIFTY-TWO--The Bully Boys
Original telecast: December 6, 1976
Vistors make trouble for the Ingalls. The Galinders, a new family in Walnut Grove, cause trouble for the entire town. They buy items from the mercantile and lumberyard, promising to pay up in a couple of days. The town gets angry when the Galinders don't pay their bills. They later beat up on the children of the town. The following Sunday, Reverend Alden banishes the Galinders from Walnut Grove.
EPISODE FIFTY-THREE--The Hunters
Original telecast: December 20, 1976
Folk singer/actor Burl Ives ("Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer") plays Sam, a blind person, who miraclously helps Laura find help to save Charles, who had been shot in a freak accident. Powerful 90-minute story that shows the acting talents of the late, legendary singer Ives (who voiced "Rudolph"'s narrator named--coincidentally--Sam!).
EPISODE FIFTY-FOUR--Blizzard
Original telecast: January 3, 1977
The second of four Christmas stories (albeit belated, originally aired one week after the fact) about a man who is determined to weather through a blizzard that has hit Walnut Grove and has trapped Hero Township inside the school/church. The man dies in the storm, but when Christmas Day arrives and the storm finally subsides, it is Charles that has to comfort the man's widow and son (and the rest of Hero Township) with God's Word.
EPISODE FIFTY-FIVE--Little Girl Lost
Original telecast: January 10, 1977
The talents of Lindsay/Sidney Greenbush are spotlighted in this story of Carrie falling down a mine shaft and Walnut Grove's efforts to rescue her. The parallel story is about an ex-miner and alcoholic who ends up saving Carrie's life.
EPISODE FIFTY-SIX--Quarantine
Original telecast: January 17, 1977
The annual plague hits Walnut Grove, this time as an outbreak of mountain fever. Alicia and Mr. Edwards are hit the most, and Laura unwittingly visits them and helps them recover.
EPISODE FIFTY-SEVEN--Little Women
Original telecast: January 24, 1977
The children put on several plays in groups, and Laura works with a fatherless child who is accused of stealing until it is noticed she has sold most of her hair to buy a gift.
EPISODE FIFTY-EIGHT--Injun Kid
Original telecast: January 31, 1977
Acceptance regardless of color or race was explored many times throughout the series. This episode is one of them, about the son of a Sioux Indian who enters into Walnut Grove school only to be bullied by his classmates. His resentful grandfather accepts him only after his grandson stands up for himself.
EPISODE FIFTY-NINE--To Live In Fear
Original telecast: February 14, 1977 (Part One), February 21, 1977 (Part Two)
Mary's health problems continue when she suffers a freak accident with a horse in the barn. Mary's condition deteriorates to a point where she has to be taken to the hospital, but Charles cannot afford to pay for the operation. To compensate, he and Mr. Edwards take a high-risk job and succeeds! Mary later survives her operation.
EPISODE SIXTY--The Wisdom Of Solomon
Original telecast: March 7, 1977
Todd Bridges (pre-"Different Strokes") guest stars as Solomon Henry, an eleven-year-old boy who runs away from home because he feels he's being mistreated. Laura discovers Solomon and the Ingalls take him in. The school accepts him because of his being black. The Ingalls convince him to be proud of what he is. In the end, Solomon returns to his family. A dramatic highlight of Season Three in the fact that this episode is rarely seen in syndication today due what would be conceived today as being "politically incorrect". One thing to remember...when this first aired, there weren't the kinds of differences of race as they are today, just as those same differences are what has kept "Amos And Andy" off the air for the past three-and-a-half decades.
EPISODE SIXTY-ONE--The Music Box
Original telecast: March 14, 1977
Laura becomes friends with a new girl, Anna, who has a speech problem. In the meantime, Nellie starts a club of her own. When Laura is at Nellie's, she takes a music box. Nellie catches Laura and forces Laura to follow her if she didn't want to be told on. Nellie makes Laura join her club and also wants Laura to be nasty to Anna. Nellie eventually pushes her luck, causing Laura to admit what she had done.
EPISODE SIXTY-TWO--The Election
Original telecast: March 21, 1977
Mary, Laura, and Elmer are running for the school election. Elmer, who's constantly picked on at school, ends up winning the position after Mary drops out, feeling the boy would be the best person to fill that position.
EPISODE SIXTY-THREE--Gold Country
Original telecast: April 4, 1977
Two-hour season finale where the Ingalls and Edwards, after a bit of bad luck, decide to improve their luck by venturing into gold mines. The parallel story this time is an old man who befriends Laura and makes her promise to tell him about the gold. When Laura breaks her promise, the old man berates her and commits suicide. Lesson here--sometimes greed is less important than the real riches--just being content with what you have. This would be Victor French's last appearance as Mr. Edwards until the middle of Season Six.
This concludes the "classic phase" of the series. Before next season is over, the entire storyline will start to take the first 160-degree turn from the series' innocence.
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