Mon, Jan 8, 1979
Albert becomes an apprentice for a craftsman who is Jewish. His classmates accuse him of being a Jew-lover and Laura is embarrassed because they accuse her when she tells them to quit picking on Albert. Albert learns to take pride in his work and when Mr. Isaac Singerman dies at the end of the summer, Albert follows his way of planting an acorn to grow a tree to repay the earth for the one he used in his carpentry.
Mon, Jan 15, 1979
Laura Ingalls is horrified to witness the fall from a tree that blinds her friend, Jordan Harrison, while he's performing a circus stunt. But when she finds out that Jordan's sight has returned, Laura must decide whether it's right when he asks her to keep it a secret, especially after Jordan tells her that his parents' concern for him appears to have brought them back from the brink of divorce.
Mon, Jan 22, 1979
Charles and Jonathan are picking up a freight delivery for Mr. Olesen when they bump into Toby Noe, an old friend from Winoka. Charles convinces him to come visit them in Walnut Grove. Toby comes to visit. He goes to church with the Ingalls the next day and when he's greeting people at the door, Rev. Alden tells Charles they need to have a meeting to find someone who can play their new organ instead of Harriet. Toby can play, so he agrees to play that very morning. Unfortunately, he's a spirited player and Miss Amanda Cooper fusses at Rev. Alden for that 'un-church-like' music. Toby finds her spirited and it's love at first sight. He tries everything to make her like him. At the same time, Laura is trying with Albert's help to get Jason, a boy at school, to like her. Unfortunately, Laura and Toby both go to the annual barn dance alone, but they both end up with the partner they want.
Mon, Feb 5, 1979
Adam Kendall is more than a little surprised when wife Mary's letter to his estranged father announcing her pregnancy brings the man to Walnut Grove. But it soon appears that the anticipation of a sighted grandson and not a change of heart towards his blind son may be the reason for the elder Kendall's visit.
Mon, Feb 12, 1979
Kezia doesn't believe in paying property taxes, and it isn't long before Mrs. Oleson decides to foreclose on the property and purchase it for herself as the family's vacation home. Nels objects to the purchase, knowing she had acquired it unfairly and that Kezia would have no place to go, but Mrs. Oleson responds by moving herself and Nellie and Willie to the lakeside property. Mrs. Oleson, in a show of pity, hires Kezia to be their servant and forces her to live in the shack. Laura, Albert and Andy watch from afar and are disgusted at how cruelly the three Olesons are treating their friend Kezia, and also aware that Mrs. Oleson used underhanded means to buy the property. One night, after hearing Caroline read a story about monsters, Albert comes up with an idea to concoct a monster to drive the Olesons off the property. Working with Kezia, the children set their plans in motion, but Mrs. Oleson, Nellie and Willie are too smart for any tricks and harden their resolve to stay on "their" property. Eventually, Laura, Andy and Albert bring out the heavy artillery: creating a Loch Ness monster out of paper maché. When they hatch their plans, Mrs. Oleson and her children are convinced that the (non-existant) monster poses a real threat to their safety and they beat it. Nels celebrates the success of Laura's plan with Kezia and the others, and it isn't long before Kezia's ownership in her property is restored ... with the promise she will pay her property taxes, no matter what she thinks.
Mon, Feb 19, 1979
Jonathan loses his cool at Jud Larrabee for not keeping his word about not changing their prices when someone comes along to buy grain from them. Later, Larrabee goes to Jonathan's to "get back" but finds his son, Andy, and attacks him. Andy goes to his father and they go back home and they find their barn on fire. They think Larrabee did it so they go and arrest him. He's brought to trial. Larrabee claims what happened to Andy was an accident and that he didn't burn the barn.
Mon, Feb 26, 1979
Hoping for a miracle, Charles takes Mary to a specialist in Mankato to find out if the light she has been seeing means that her sight may be returning, while husband Adam worries that she won't need him anymore, and an excited Laura enlists Albert's help to fix up an abandoned cabin to serve as the Kendalls' new home.
Mon, Mar 19, 1979
Talented young painter Dylan Whitaker promised his dying father that he would some day see the ocean he loves to put on canvas; but "some day" comes too soon when Dylan is diagnosed with incurable leukemia and, to keep his promise, he and his concerned friends, Laura and Albert, sneak away from Walnut Grove to hop a railroad freight car bound for the California coast.
Mon, Sep 17, 1979
The sixth-season begins with several new stories. First, there's the arrival of new teacher Eliza Jane Wilder and her handsome brother, Almanzo. Rivals Laura and Nellie have their eye on the 25-year-old New York native, and are determined to do anything to snare him. Mrs. Oleson, meanwhile, gives recent Walnut School graduate Nellie her own business: A hotel and restaurant in her name!
Mon, Oct 8, 1979
During a trip to a teaching awards ceremony in Minneapolis, the stagecoach that Adam, Mary and a pregnant woman named Marge are riding in is involved in a rollover accident. Mary is the only one who is able to free herself and is left to rely on her own wits to find help. Meanwhile, Laura and Albert give Nellie and Mrs. Oleson quite a buzz when the Ingalls' youths offer a hive of bees to their honey- and money-hungry rivals ... not telling them that the "hive" is really an old log.
Mon, Oct 15, 1979
Nels becomes apprehensive when he learns that a traveling circus--in which his estranged sister, an obese woman named Annabelle, is one of the stars--is coming to Walnut Grove. When he is asked to be ringmaster of the circus, he realizes that he must deal with his insecurities and make amends with his sister.
Mon, Nov 12, 1979
Aging professional wrestler Milo Stavroupolis comes to nearby Mankato to "fight" the locals. Stavroupolis' promoter, the shrewd Jimmy Hart, convinces Jonathan Garvey to fight the old man ... unaware that the fight was "fixed." But there's even more heartbreak ahead, as Stavroupolis is suffering emotionally (and physically) after years of fighting; his beloved wife, Anna (herself desperately ill) has begged him to retire. The old man is convinced by Jonathan to substitute for him in the upcoming championship
Mon, Nov 19, 1979
On Mrs. Oleson's invitation, the Rev. James Danforth comes to Walnut Grove to give residents his charismatic, fiery style of preaching. The hypnotic Danforth claims to have actually "witnessed" the Word of the Lord and can perform great miracles as a faith healer. He demonstrates his abilities during one of his revivals, restoring sight to a blind person and giving a crippled person the ability to walk. The people are awestruck and soon flock to his services. Rev. Alden, Dr. Baker and Charles have all seen Danforth at work and reject his ministry; in the aftermath, attendance at Rev. Alden's Sunday services declines sharply, while Dr. Baker's practice also suffers. Later, a farmer's son complains of abdominal pain and places complete trust in Danforth to have it healed. Dr. Baker is nearby and urges the farmer to have surgery instead, but Danforth seems to heal the boy. But later that night, the boy's appendix bursts (just as Dr. Baker feared was about to happen) and he dies; the farmer is forced to admit that God "chose" his son to come home. Meanwhile, Charles is on a delivery run to Sleepy Eye and learns that Danforth is holding a revival there. He confirms his initial suspicions that Danforth is a charlatan and - working with the farmer, the Olesons and Dr. Baker - hatches a plan to expose Danforth as a liar. It isn't long before Walnut Grove residents return to their old congregation and all is forgiven.
Mon, Dec 10, 1979
When the telephone comes to Walnut Grove, Mrs. Olesen is hired as the switchboard operator. The telephone company is unaware that Mrs. Olesen loves to gossip, and her new job will simply be another means to spread rumors about Walnut Grove's residents. One of the subscribers to the new Walnut Grove exchange is the Garveys. Alice places a call to her mother, in which she learns that her first husband (a hard-drinking, gambling outlaw named Harold) has just been released from prison for robbery. Alice - who has kept this fact from Jonathan - thinks this is a private conversation, but is unaware that Mrs. Olesen is listening in. Word quickly gets back to Jonathan Garvey, who demands an apology from Mrs. Olesen (she refuses, but an embarrassed Nels does before he reprimands his wife). Jonathan then goes home and gets an explanation from Alice; she didn't tell him about her first marriage because it was a mistake and thought it didn't matter, but Jonathan is angered even more because of this revelation. In the aftermath, Jonathan and Alice stop speaking to each other and Andrew becomes very upset. Jonathan decides to go on a delivery run with Charles to sort things out. After teaching Nellie a separate lesson about eavesdropping, Laura and Albert decide to teach Mrs. Olesen a real lesson about her behavior by working with town banker Bill Anderson to set up a phony stock tip. Mrs. Olesen acts on the tip and loses her share of the family's savings as a result; Nels refuses to sympathize with his wife, effectively telling her she has learned her lesson. Meanwhile, Charles and Jonathan stay with Alice's mother in Minneapolis and learn the whole story about Harold. They later meet up with Harold, who is working in a tavern and very disheveled after his (18) years in prison. Jonathan (who never tells Harold who he is) learns from Harold that Alice was the best thing he ever had but let her slip through his fingers through his wild, foolish living, and that the man who married Alice should consider himself very lucky. Jonathan realizes he needs to go home and make up with Alice ... and get rid of that darned ol' telephone.
Mon, Dec 17, 1979
A 17-year-old budding criminal named Tod Dortmunder is sent to Walnut Grove to live with his grandparents after his mother loses patience with his ill-tempered behavior. His behavior becomes more violent, and when he is caught stealing Charles' watch, the grandparents (in part because they fear for their safety) turn to Charles for help. Charles proves to be the role model Tod never had, and efforts to rehabilitate the lad seem to be working. But even Charles is unaware of some dark secrets from Tod's childhood that don't surface until he destroys the present he gave him.