Review

The fifth season of Little House on the Prairie began airing on 11 September 1978 to 19 March 1979 and consisted of 24 episodes. In the two-part opening episode, As Long As We Are Together, the Ingalls family have left Walnut Grove which has been financially ruined by the railroads and are starting over in Winoka. Caroline and Charles get jobs running an hotel which is owned by the arrogant Miles Standish (Leon Charles) who also owns many of the buildings in town, including the saloon. The Ingallses are packed into two rooms at the hotel which is far from ideal but they have to make the most out of their situation as they need the money.

Feeling isolated and constantly at loggerheads with Standish, Charles is relieved when the Garveys arrive in town and Alice sets about opening a new school for the children. The Ingallses are even happy when the Olesons arrive soon after and begin working for Standish in the saloon. All three families soon gather together to celebrate Mary’s sixteenth birthday which is almost ruined when Standish’s goons beat Charles for standing up to them. When things continue to deteriorate in town, Charles yearns to go home to Walnut Grove but he is reluctant to leave Mary behind until his daughter convinces him she is a grown woman. Hearing the Ingallses have decided to leave Winoka, the Garveys and Olesons decide it is time for them to go home too.

When the families arrive back in Walnut Grove, they find the town is largely still abandoned except for Doc Baker who remained behind to take care of Lars Hansen who has suffered a stroke. Upset at seeing Hansen so depressed, Charles and Jonathan decide to encourage more families to return to the town and Hansen is pleased when he sees the town returning to life. We are told Hansen died six months later but as a content man which is poignant since the actor, Karl Swenson, died a week before the episode aired so it was a fitting tribute.

When the Ingallses return to Walnut Grove, they bring along Albert Quinn, a streetwise orphan, who became attached to the family when they were in Winoka and he soon settles on the farm. When Albert is given a new calf to raise for the county fair in Fagin, Laura begins to feel left out when her father spends more time with Albert than her. Realising he is causing problems, the boy decides to run away and Laura feels guilty. At the county fair, Laura enters Fagin into the contest as planned and when he makes it through to the final, a tearful Laura tells everyone that the prize belongs to her brother unaware Albert is secretly watching. Moved to tears, Albert rushes to hug Laura as Charles watches on proudly.

When Adam and Mary announce they are getting married, Charles and Caroline head back to Winoka but the wedding is put into jeopardy when they reminisce about Mary’s childhood and she suddenly realises how difficult it will be raising a child without sight. When Mary rescues one of her pupils who is stranded after a sandstorm strikes, she realises how wrong she has been and the wedding goes ahead. A few months later, the newlyweds are dealt a terrible blow when Standish buys the school building and evicts them just as they are about to merge with another blind school led by Hester-Sue Terhune. When Mary writes to her father, Reverend Alden tells Charles the large house Hansen willed to the church would be perfect.

With the blind school in Walnut Grove, Mary becomes more involved in the storylines again and we finally meet Adam’s estranged father when Mary writes to tell him he is going to be a grandfather. When Giles Kendall (Philip Abbott) arrives in town, he is determined to persuade Mary and Adam to live with him in New York but withdraws the offer when Mary has a miscarriage. Realising that he was more interested in his grandchild than them, Mary and Adam decide to stay in Walnut Grove.