Laura's got a boyfriend, Laura's got a boyfriend! He just doesn't know it yet. She's got a crush on Henry Henderson, the new kid, and wants to ask him to the spring dance, but can't seem to work up the courage. So it looks as though it might just be her and Willie Oleson going to the dance alone, but of course there's Grace since Edwards never formally invited her neither. Caroline enticed her to fool Edwards into thinking some other fella had asked her. So while Laura tries endlessly tries to get Henry to notice her, Grace tried to get Edwards' attention at the mercantile, picking out material to make a blouse for the dance. Naturally, he was oblivious. Time to put Operation: Jealous Much? into effect. Laura searched the classroom for a decent patsy, and unfortunately, her only option was Willie. Grace, meanwhile decided to find one as well, probably gotten to the point of just asking the first sap who walked into the post office. Right on cue, in comes Doc Baker looking for a package of meds. Grace instantly feigns illness and the doc escorts her to his office. Edwards took notice from the mill. So far, their ploys seemed to be working. Henry saw Laura with Willie and flashed him a dirty look, while Edwards watched suspiciously as Grace flocked to Doc Baker's office. This is getting interesting. Yet another attempt to turn Henry's head failed, it was at the fishing hole as Laura taught a reluctant Willie how to fish. She told him to kiss her cheek and made a big deal out of it to make Henry jealous, but instead he felt like a third wheel and left. Laura blamed it on Willie... hey it was your idea, Half-Wit.
Uh oh, Edwards spies Doc Baker bringing some flowers to Grace, not knowing they were actually from Caroline. Worse yet, after excepting Grace's dinner invitation and arriving promptly at her house by 9:00, he spotted her and Doc Baker's silhouettes on the shade, despite the fact he had just come over to return a book and was examining her eyes. Edwards didn't believe them and stormed out. Laura's next attempt at fooling Henry didn't work either, and the dance was only a few days away. I'm guessing at this point that Grace and Laura have decided that this jealousy thing wasn't such a good idea. No, really?! So after Charles reminds Caroline of how her ploy worked on him, resulting in him being really angry and Caroline being the one who ended up asking him to the dance, she got Grace and Laura together and explained further as to why this was a terrible idea of her's, and told them to just flat out ask their beaus to the freakin' dance. So, Grace did just that, and Edwards accepted. One down, one to go. Thanks to Laura's brilliant plan, Willie won't leave her alone now. However, she spotted Henry, told him the complete truth, how all that screwing around was just to make him jealous. He was flattered, and so they all went to the dance and they had a good time, so all was well and hopefully Caroline will never give such advice ever again. So the moral of our story is to always come right out and tell people directly how you feel and what you want, because pussyfooting around only causes misunderstandings, which lead to trouble.
I have to say, I liked the subplot about Edwards and Grace more than I did Henry and Laura. Henry was such a bland character, so it's obvious Laura only wanted him for looks. On the other hand, I guess 60 minutes of Edwards thinking Grace is going with Doc Baker behind his back would have been too monotonous. While this episode did have some pretty good and funny moments, mainly from Mr. Edwards, it just seems bland and forgettable. Maybe it should have been centered around Mary or maybe Nellie instead of Laura, because for me, it just didn't work the way they did it. Either they could have tried to make the Edwards and Grace subplot work as a whole or use different kids, because Laura and Willie just didn't work. Victor French and Bonnie Bartlett were good and the kids were alright. This would be a good one to see, at least once. Mainly for Edwards' antics. If you like him, you'll like this episode. Other than that, it's somewhat below par. Also, Henry Henderson? Gerry Day is not very creative when it comes to names, is he? First Johnny Johnson, now Henry Henderson? Did he not pick up on this, or was he trying to be funny? It would work if these characters had personality, which sadly, they do not.
Uh oh, Edwards spies Doc Baker bringing some flowers to Grace, not knowing they were actually from Caroline. Worse yet, after excepting Grace's dinner invitation and arriving promptly at her house by 9:00, he spotted her and Doc Baker's silhouettes on the shade, despite the fact he had just come over to return a book and was examining her eyes. Edwards didn't believe them and stormed out. Laura's next attempt at fooling Henry didn't work either, and the dance was only a few days away. I'm guessing at this point that Grace and Laura have decided that this jealousy thing wasn't such a good idea. No, really?! So after Charles reminds Caroline of how her ploy worked on him, resulting in him being really angry and Caroline being the one who ended up asking him to the dance, she got Grace and Laura together and explained further as to why this was a terrible idea of her's, and told them to just flat out ask their beaus to the freakin' dance. So, Grace did just that, and Edwards accepted. One down, one to go. Thanks to Laura's brilliant plan, Willie won't leave her alone now. However, she spotted Henry, told him the complete truth, how all that screwing around was just to make him jealous. He was flattered, and so they all went to the dance and they had a good time, so all was well and hopefully Caroline will never give such advice ever again. So the moral of our story is to always come right out and tell people directly how you feel and what you want, because pussyfooting around only causes misunderstandings, which lead to trouble.
I have to say, I liked the subplot about Edwards and Grace more than I did Henry and Laura. Henry was such a bland character, so it's obvious Laura only wanted him for looks. On the other hand, I guess 60 minutes of Edwards thinking Grace is going with Doc Baker behind his back would have been too monotonous. While this episode did have some pretty good and funny moments, mainly from Mr. Edwards, it just seems bland and forgettable. Maybe it should have been centered around Mary or maybe Nellie instead of Laura, because for me, it just didn't work the way they did it. Either they could have tried to make the Edwards and Grace subplot work as a whole or use different kids, because Laura and Willie just didn't work. Victor French and Bonnie Bartlett were good and the kids were alright. This would be a good one to see, at least once. Mainly for Edwards' antics. If you like him, you'll like this episode. Other than that, it's somewhat below par. Also, Henry Henderson? Gerry Day is not very creative when it comes to names, is he? First Johnny Johnson, now Henry Henderson? Did he not pick up on this, or was he trying to be funny? It would work if these characters had personality, which sadly, they do not.
