Little House on the Prairie Season 7 (1980-81)

Revisited
Charles and Caroline renew their vows

Review

The seventh season of Little House on the Prairie began airing on 22 September 1980 to 11 May 1981 and consisted of 22 episodes. The two-part season opener, Laura Ingalls Wilder, deals with Almanzo being cheated out of his life savings which makes him want to delay the wedding for a couple of years until he gets back on his feet much to Laura’s disappointment. When Laura accepts a prestigious teaching position to help out, Almanzo’s pride gets in the way and they break off their engagement. However, Eliza Jane saves the day when she pretends she is leaving Walnut Grove to get married which will free up her job for Laura. Almanzo and Laura reconcile and finally get married in the blind school in Sleepy Eye.

The newlyweds still have their issues though as both are very stubborn and Laura makes a fool of herself in Divorce, Walnut Grove Style, when she wrongly believes Almanzo is having an affair with an old flame, Brenda Sue Longworth (Tisch Raye), and demands a divorce. They also cannot agree on the issue of children as Almanzo wants to start a family right away but Laura wants to wait so she can teach for a couple more years. However, they get a taste of parenthood in The Nephews when Almanzo’s older brother, Royal (Woody Eney) leaves his sons, Rupert (Rossie Harris) and Myron (Ham Larsen), with them for a couple of days. The boys are extremely naughty and it is Laura who has to get tough with them. The family history of the Wilders has been completely ignored here as Royal married late in life and never had sons.

Elsewhere, the marriage between Nellie and Percival is fairing better and they are delighted when they discover they are to be parents, although Harriet is less enamoured at the prospect of becoming a grandmother. As the birth approaches, Percival’s parents arrive in Come Let Us Reason Together and there is an immediate rift with the Olesons over religion. Benjamin Cohen (EM Margolese), still upset with Percival for changing his surname, insists the child be raised in the Jewish faith which horrifies Harriet. However, Nellie neatly solves the problem by giving birth to twins, Benjamin and Jennifer, and Nels offers a compromise with the boy being raised as a Jew and the girl as a Christian.

There are big changes ahead for Mary as Adam has an accident in To See The Light that restores his sight and he becomes dissatisfied with his life as a teacher as he has always wanted to be a lawyer like his father. Adam and Mary’s relationship has always been a good one but regaining his sight changes Adam so much and he starts to become unlikeable, especially when he sidelines his own wife. It also seems a shame that Mary has to give up teaching to accommodate her husband’s dream but she is very instrumental in persuading the law school to let Adam sit the exam he misses after falling ill. Although Mary and Adam move back to Walnut Grove, their appearances on the show become less and less.

We are also saying goodbye to Jonathan Garvey who moves to Sleepy Eye to start their own freight business after the death of his wife and he eventually disappears from the storylines. Merlin Olson was offered the lead role in another Michael Landon show, Father Murphy, which aired on the NBC network from 3 November 1981 to 18 September 1983. Moses Gunn who played Joe Kagan was also offered a part in that show so his last appearance is in Make A Joyful Noise where he stops Hester-Sue from marrying a man she does not love. The implication is Joe and Hester-Sue will finally get together but Gunn’s departure made that impossible so the story in this episode is rather pointless. With the blind school no longer part of the storyline, Hester-Sue will eventually move to Walnut Grove to work in the restaurant.

As far as the Ingallses go, everything seems a bit disjointed as there are not as many family scenes as before with the main characters generally appearing individually. With Laura now out of the house, we are left with Albert who gets involved in one of the most controversial storylines in the two-part Sylvia which deals with topics of rape and child abuse that many critics felt were too dark for the series. Albert falls in love with Sylvia who ends up being raped by a stalker and when she is left pregnant, he steps up and vows to marry her despite not being the father. The story is tragic as many place the blame on Sylvia for getting pregnant and it all ends in tragedy.

When Laura announces she is pregnant at the end of the series, Caroline tells everyone that she is also pregnant but she is devastated when Doc Baker tells her she is going through the menopause. Realising she is no longer capable of giving Charles a son, Caroline becomes depressed so Charles takes her on a trip to Wisconsin to attend the wedding of their friend’s son. Reminiscing about the past, Charles asks Caroline to marry him again and they end up sharing the young couple’s wedding. Caroline’s borrowed wedding dress looks suitable out of date in comparison to the younger bride, but I’m sure she was just as beautiful in her original wedding dress that was later worn by Mary.

The final two part episode, The Lost Ones, introduces James and Cassandra Cooper to the cast as children who are orphaned when their parents are killed in a wagon accident. Charles brings the children back to Walnut Grove while he attempts to find a new home for them but the children grow attached to the Ingalls family and the feeling is mutual. Having given up on ever featuring Carrie as a prominent member of the cast since the Greenbush twins were not good actors, there was a need for more children to be added to the show so James and Cassandra were added to fill the void.

Further Reading

Explore the characters and books that inspired the series

  • Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon)
  • Caroline Ingalls (Karen Grassle)
  • Laura Ingalls Wilder (Melissa Gilbert)
  • Almanzo Wilder (Dean Butler)
  • Carrie Ingalls (Lindsay Sidney Greenbush)
  • Grace Ingalls (Wendi & Brenda Turnbaugh)
  • Albert Quinn Ingalls (Matthew Labyorteaux)
  • Nels Oleson (Richard Bull)
  • Harriet Oleson (Katherine MacGregor)
  • Nellie Oleson Dalton (Alison Arngrim)
  • Percival Dalton (Steve Tracy)
  • Willie Oleson (Jonathan Gilbert)
  • Mary Ingalls Kendall (Melissa Sue Anderson)
  • Adam Kendall (Linwood Boomer)
  • Dr. Hiram Baker (Kevin Hagen)
  • Reverend Alden (Dabbs Greer)
  • Jonathan Garvey (Merlin Olson)
  • Andy Garvey (Patrick Labyorteaux)
  • Eliza Jane Wilder (Lucy Lee Flippin)
  • Joe Kagan (Moses Gunn)
  • Hester-Sue Terhune (Ketty Lester)
  • 7.01 Laura Ingalls Wilder Part I
  • 7.02 Laura Ingalls Wilder Part II
  • 7.03 A New Beginning
  • 7.04 Fight Team Fight!
  • 7.05 The Silent Cry
  • 7.06 Portrait of Love
  • 7.07 Divorce, Walnut Grove Style
  • 7.08 Dearest Albert, I’ll Miss You
  • 7.09 The In-laws
  • 7.10 To See the Light Part I
  • 7.11 To See the Light Part II
  • 7.12 Oleson versus Oleson
  • 7.13 Come, Let Us Reason Together
  • 7.14 The Nephews
  • 7.15 Make a Joyful Noise
  • 7.16 Goodbye, Mrs. Wilder
  • 7.17 Sylvia Part I
  • 7.18 Sylvia Part II
  • 7.19 Blind Justice
  • 7.20 I Do, Again
  • 7.21 The Lost Ones Part I
  • 7.22 The Lost Ones Part II
  • CHARLES PHILIP INGALLS was born on 10 January 1836 in Cuba, New York, and was the third of ten children born to Lansford Whiting Ingalls and Laura Louise Colby. Charles married Caroline Lake Quiner on 1 February 1860 and they had five children. Charles died, aged 66 years, in De Smet, South Dakota, on 8 June 1902.
  • CAROLINE LAKE QUINER was born on 12 December 1839, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, and was the fifth of eight children born to Henry Newcomb Quiner and Charlotte Wallis Tucker. Caroline’s father died when she was young and her mother married Frederick Holbrook on 2 June 1849. Caroline married Charles Philip Ingalls on 1 February 1860 and they had five children. Caroline died, aged 84 years, in De Smet, South Dakota, on 20 April 1924.
  • MARY AMELIA INGALLS was born on 10 January 1865 in Pepin, Wisconsin, and was the eldest daughter of Charles Philip Ingalls and Caroline Lake Quiner. Mary lost her sight in 1879 after a serious illness and attended the Iowa School for the Blind from 1880 to 1889. Mary never married and lived with her parents for the rest of her life, and then with her sisters. Mary died, aged 63 years, in Keystone, South Dakota, on 17 October 1928.
  • LAURA ELIZABETH INGALLS was born on 7 February 1867 in Pepin, Wisconsin, and was the second daughter of Charles Philip Ingalls and Caroline Lake Quiner. She married Almanzo James Wilder on 25 August 1885 and they had two children, Rose, born in 1886, and an unnamed son in 1889. Laura died, aged 90 years, in Mansfield, Missouri, on 10 February 1957.
  • CAROLINE CELESTIA INGALLS was born on 3 August 1870 in Montgomery, Kansas and was the third daughter of Charles Philip Ingalls and Caroline Lake Quiner. She married David N Swanzey in 1912 but had no children of her own. Carrie died, aged 75 years, in Rapid City, South Dakota, on 2 June 1946.
  • CHARLES FREDERICK INGALLS was born on 1 November 1875 in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, but died, aged 9 months, in South Troy, Minnesota, on 27 August 1876.
  • GRACE PEARL INGALLS was born on 23 May 1877 in Burr Oak, Iowa, and was the youngest daughter of Charles Philip Ingalls and Caroline Lake Quiner. She married Nathan William Dow on 16 October 1901 but they had no children. Grace died, aged 64 years, in Manchester, South Dakota, on 10 November 1941.
  • ALMANZO JAMES WILDER was born on 13 February 1859 in Burke, New York, and was the fifth of six children born to James Mason Wilder and Angelina Albina Day. He married Laura Elizabeth Ingalls on 25 August 1885 and they had two children, Rose, born in 1886, and an unnamed son in 1889. Almanzo died, aged 90 years, in Mansfield, Missouri, on 23 October 1949.
  • ELIZA JANE WILDER was born on 3 January 1850 in Burke, New York, and was the third of six children born to James Mason Wilder and Angelina Albina Day. After teaching for several years, Eliza Jane married twice, first to Thomas J. Thayer, in September 1893 and their son, Walcott Wilder Thayer, was born in 1894. Eliza Jane died, aged 90 years, in Lafayette, Louisiana, on 1 June 1930.
  • ROYAL GOULD WILDER was born on 20 February 1847 in Burke, New York, and was the second of six children born to James Mason Wilder and Angelina Albina Day. He married Electa Maria Averill and they had seven children. Royal died, aged 78 years, in Spring Valley, Minnesota, on 21 April 1925.

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