A very special Little House

While on break from work, I was flipping through the channels and came up on one of my favorite episodes of the TV show “Little House on the Prairie”. In a special 2 part episode, first shown in 1981, Albert falls in love with a girl named Sylvia. I do have to admit that the reason I loved the episode is that at the time I had a crush on the girl playing Sylvia so it is a bit creepy because of the plot of the episode is about a pretty girl who triggers the hormones of the local boys and gets undue attention from an older man who ends up raping her.

Here is a 30 sec recap of the entire episode for those who need a reminder:

The 30-Second Little House: Sylvia

A quick text recap is Sylvia is a pretty girl who has “developed” a bit more than the other girls in Walnut Grove. That sets off the hormones of the local boys and also an older man who attacks the girl while she walks home from school. We then find out that Sylvia is with child from the attack and Albert tries to “save” her by saying he was the father. The girl’s over protective father forbids the kids from being together so they decide to run away. At an old barn the attacker returns and tries to attack Sylvia again. It is then his identity is revealed which is a shock plot twist. Albert then shows up to fight the guy. Sylvia falls off a broken ladder and the girl’s father with Mr. Ingalls in tow, shoots the bad guy with a shot gun. Sylvia doesn’t survive her injuries leaving Albert devastated.

It was one of the best episodes of the show because it had a memorable actress playing Sylvia, the plot was not something the show usually had on, and if I remember right there was some controversy about it because of the theme of the rape of a child on a usually family show. It did introduce the topic for families to talk about it.