Post 63: “The Inheritance”

February 22 – GOOD  “The Ingalls inherit what they think is a fortune. They buy everything for Walnut Grove. He also has to sign a paper pledging his farm. They buy fine clothes. They find out it is only confederate money and worth nothing. The town buys all their stuff real cheap and gives it back.”

From Tracy —

Dear Reader,

Profound apologies for not writing sooner. We’re back. We have a new site. We promise not to suck quite as hard.

And now for the episode in question.

What to title it?  The episode that was clearly revenge over a shattered chandelier? Or the episode Tracy always gets confused with “At the End of the Rainbow.” The one with the best dream sequence EVER:

We covered it here: https://www.girlsgonewilder.org/blog/1278?rq=gold

Also, I think dirty, poor Nellie is way prettier than her usual self.

But, before we go too deep, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fascinating duck sequence at the very beginning. Some of them look as though they are wearing adorable pillbox hats ala Jackie Kennedy:

I thought they were just molting or something but then, of course, I had to look it up. These may be examples of the breed known as “Crested Ducks” which is a genetic trait resulting in a “fluffy, ball-like crest of feathers on their head.” 

If I had a big estate, I would definitely have to have some of these floating in my pond. (Dear Reader – do not read further than this into the Crested Duck territory or you will learn some depressing things about duck genetic defects and duck neurological issues and it’s just too sad. There can be no beauty without pain.)

Now back to the episode. (You’re welcome.)

Money doesn’t guarantee happiness, but damn, it sure can soften the edges a little. So, for a while, the usually practical, down-to-earth Ingalls parents lose their minds before they know what’s happening to them. And even before the attorney can tell them the real worth of the estate. 

Of course, the Olesons are at their worst in this episode. Taking advantage of the giddy country bumpkins who were just getting by. I even got mad at Nels for not manning up although he comes through in fine form at the end. And frankly, no one is behaving at their best in this episode.

Couldn’t Mrs. Oleson take some of that stuff back? I know she’s not the UPS Store or Amazon, but damn. A church organ would be really hard to take back, granted. 

Three things I must also note (not mutated duck-related, thank the Gods) in this episode. First off, Nellie Oleson (aka Alison Arngrim) has some of the worst teenage acne I’ve seen on anyone in the LHOP world. Even heavy makeup doesn’t cover it up. 

Secondly, Laura’s fancy new dress is ugly as hell. And how the HELL is Charles going to pay all that back?

More importantly (?), I think this has to be one of the saddest episodes I’ve seen in a while. Ma Ingalls plaintive cry of “Oh! Money!” when she thinks she is staring at real money was the one thing that I definitely remembered. It was buried deep (deep!) in my cranium along with the other scars this show has left on my psyche.  

Finally, you ask, what is this about a chandelier? Well, my childhood self didn’t catch it, but Charles does mention very early in the episode that as a wee boy he had climbed onto ol’ Uncle Ned’s chandelier and swung from it till it crashed to the ground. I think Ned was finally getting back at him all these decades later. After all, chandeliers don’t come cheap. And there are very rarely any free handouts on LHOP.

From Anne —

Tracy, it is so good to be back to blogging with you after five years. It’s like returning to Walnut Grove after a long trip to Mankato. Or successfully making it back to the cabin after staggering to the outhouse in a blizzard.

As usual, you zoomed in on the keys to this episode, LOL: Alison/Nellie’s acne issues, Laura’s deeply disappointing rich person dress, and the failure of anyone to get creative about returning the darn church organ. However the organ got to WG, it could certainly go back the same way!

Seriously: each LHOP is a perfect rorschach test, if not a zeitgeist. This one mirrors America’s current haves-and-have-nots economy, and offers socialist-leaning themes: the inequtitable distribution of resources — i.e. the Ingalls’ sudden status as the 1% — corrupts and divides. Cooperative labor (Charles and Jonathan’s history of helping each other plow their fields) is more important than individual gain. Having your neighbor’s back wins out over capitalism. And at the very beginning of the episode, when Laura and Andrew Garvey are building a club house, Laura suggests they act as co-presidents of the club. How refreshingly radical!

Then again, what if the Ingalls had come into this much cash? They really would have needed to pick some better frocks. Just say no to big droopy bows for Laura and bolero jackets for Mary. 

The moral fall of Ma is the saddest part of this episode for me. Her humility vaishes like a harvest during a drought. She’s ALL IN on being rich, and soon after, vain. I guess the real Ma had to suck it up an awful lot, and she’s just done. 

But why is Alice Garvey so smug when Jonathan says they won’t make ends meet? (Whenever I look at Alice, all I can think of is her highly flammable exit from the series, anyway).

Tracy, I too tend to mix this episode up with “At the End of the Rainbow.” That is admittedly much more fun.

But kudos to whoever decided to float those fancy ducks as an opening shot and as an effective metaphor for “The Inheritance.” And kudos to Tracy for her rabbit-hole Crested Duck research. 

Up with egalitarianism!

P.S. How do you like our new site’s new look? Ah, the bleak gray plains and the hot pink sassiness. Site design by Niina Cochran and logo by Andy Fry. Thanks to both!