Why I love Pa

Last night, I watched some of the Little House on the Prairie marathon (TV Land temporarily changed their logo to TV Landon—how cute). I did like the program when I was growing up but when I started reading the books and realized how much the show deviated from the truth, it turned me off. Still, I was sucked into an episode I had never seen before but heard about: the school for the blind burned down.

First, let me clarify something. Mary Ingalls never got married and had a baby. She did go away to a school for the blind because yes, she was blind. After she graduated, she moved back home and lived with ma and pa until they died. Then, she lived with Carrie until Mary finally died. I digress. The Ingalls also never adopted a boy named Albert. All of this was done for ratings and storyline. And now…the episode….

Albert’s smoking a pipe in the basement of the school. Hattie comes down the stairs and startles Albert who hides the pipe in a box of kindling or something. What an idiot. Anyhow, the place catches on fire and everyone is evacuated except for Mary and Adam’s baby. Alice, a friend of the family, goes back to get the baby and I swear to you…this is one of the scariest, heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever viewed. Alice is overpowered by the flames…they were everywhere. She starts screaming. Hattie is with the blind adults and kids on the lawn. She tries to go back inside but the fire is too overwhelming. She races back to where the others are and then looks back to the house. Alice is at the upstairs window with the baby in her hands. She is panicking and knocking out the glass with her bare hands. She is literally panicking, suffering and I almost lost it. All of this is pretty intense for such a family show. I guess I don’t have to tell you Alice and the baby perished.

Mary flips out and goes into a severe depression. Alice’s husband, Jonathon (played by Merlin Olson) also goes off the deep end by severing his ties with God. Now…for the point of this whole blog. This scene really got to me.

Pa and Jonathon are sitting under a tree while Jonathon is cursing at God. This is from memory so it isn’t exact.

J: There is no God. If there was a God he could have performed a miracle to get them out of that fire, just like all those miracles he performed in the Bible.
Pa: Don’t say things like that. You know you believe.
J: Charles, he took your grand-baby and my wife! Aren’t you angry?
Pa: Yes, but it was an accident.
J: He could have stopped it (sob). He could have….why didn’t he, Charles? Why didn’t he save them?
Pa: I don’t know…(pause)…if I did, I’d be God.

I thought that was handled beautifully. I was expecting Pa to say, “I don’t know. I’m not God.” I get that a lot when I ask people why. This was the same basic thing…but different and it made an impression on me. I miss shows like Little House…