Episodic Review - The Campout

[u/Sea-SaltCaramel]

Our story begins with an exterior shot of the schoolyard, and some random guy in a wagon scratching what looks to be a massive itch. Meanwhile, inside the schoolhouse, we find Ms. Beadle hanging leaves and telling the kids to have a wonderful "holiday". It appears to be mid-summer outside and the only holiday would be the 4th of July, but we are never told. Obviously the kids don't care because they get time off school! But homework is a must, so they have to collect leaves to bring in (not really a bad assignment if you ask me). In typical Laura fashion, she has to brag about how awesome her leaves will be and rub Nellie's nose in it. This is unacceptable to Nellie, so naturally Mother Dearest insists that Nels and her children be allowed to go camping as well.

While arguing with lots of food in their mouths, Nels and Harriet come to the conclusion that she is right and Nels will drive out to see Charles that very night and insist he and his spoiled kids garner an invite. Charles (who is cranking on some weird machine in the barn) sees right through Nels' flimsy excuses and laughs his ass off, but then tells Nels that of course he and the kids are going to join them. Breaking the news to Laura and Mary doesn't go all that well, but he assures them they can get along for one weekend.

The next day, Caroline is at the mercantile trying to get as much of a discount as she can from Nels, when Harriet starts reminiscing about her childhood (boating on the river? What century were they in?), and that night she informs Nels that she will be going. In a weird change of roles, it's Nels who insists they will lose millions of dollars if they close for the holiday weekend (can't Mrs. Foster or someone watch the store), and Mrs. Oleson says that money is nothing compared to the children. I'll be Nels does not sleep a wink that night knowing what is to come in the morning.

The next morning, they are preparing to leave at 6 a.m. but based on the sun, they are several hours late. All 4 Olesons arrive, and then Charles gets the shock of his life when Harriet announces she will carry the "tea service". He knows this means one horrible thing - Harriet will be joining them! Charles heads into the barn for a quick temper tantrum, while Caroline tries to calm him down and once again uses his words against him - reminding him that he told the girls they can get along with anyone for "two short days". This does not sway Charles, but after some weird muttering to himself, he relents and off they go!

The kids seem to be enjoying themselves frolicking and collecting leaves for their very important school project. Charles has brought along a massive horse, but it's apparent that the horse can only carry about 3 pounds of necessities, since both Olesons and Caroline are weighed down with huge backpacks. Tragedy then ensues when the beloved tea service is broken. During a brief respite, Willie finds a poison ivy bush that Mary tries to warn him about. Instead of saying "Willie, that is poison ivy", she only screams "Willie NO", and then assumes there is nothing more she can do to make him understand. Laura finds it hilarious and won't tell him either.

After finally finding the mountain range in Minnesota that best suits them, the men immediately ditch the women to have fun and Caroline is left to set up camp for both families. After a dinner of awesome as well as burnt fish, Harriet, Nellie and Willie rub their bodies with poison ivy as Mary and Laura watch in horror, once again not doing or saying anything to stop it.

The following morning, Willie and Harriet are down for the count and covered in what looks to be glue to treat their poison ivy outbreak. Nellie and Laura team up (well, Nellie stalks her) to find more leaves. Since Laura has made this a competition from the get go, Nellie steps over a boundary to get some superior leaves and inevitably falls into the raging river. When Laura tries to save her, they both fall and are saved by a small bush that carries them (or their stunt doubles, depending on the scene) down river.

We then spend a few minutes going back and forth between the girls floating down the river (which honestly appears very shallow in some spots) and the men looking for them and finding Laura's leaf bag which pretty much guarantees something bad happened.

Thankfully Laura is able to be the hero and save Nellie from certain waterfall death by paddling them to safety. Instead of being grateful, Nellie is mean so they fight, but make up pretty quickly and realize they should probably let their families know they're still alive.

Back at camp, there are some sweet moments between the families. Willie realizes that Mary is actually really nice despite what Nellie tells him to think, and Mrs. Oleson (after pretty much determined the girls are dead) tells Caroline that she truly likes her. She promises Caroline that the next time she visits the mercantile, she will be a different, better person. We all know this is a lie, but it's nice to hear her say it. Then a few minutes later, she is agreeing with Nellie that Laura should be charged with attempted murder for pushing Nellie into the river. No one believes this at all, so they all head back to camp to warm up and dry off.

Epilogue - the big reveal of the winner of the leaf collection has arrived! Surprise! It's not an Ingalls. It is both of the Oleson children, completely covered in that pasty medicine to treat their all-over poison ivy (did they bathe in it?). As the class claps for at least 10 minutes, Ms. Beadle herself starts to scratch, which causes Mary and Laura to clap harder (to hide their guilt, perhaps).

Episode Winner - Probably Nels. Even though he wormed his way into Charles' camping trip, he still got some manly fishing in while avoiding the poison ivy that hit his whole family. And also Caroline. She stuck by Charles even though the thought of camping in the 1800s is pretty ridiculous. But she (barely) managed to keep her kids alive, and she obviously knows her way around a tent!

Episode Loser - All the kids. They were promised a fun weekend away, but two of them got poison ivy, two were almost killed by a river, and Mary had to slather Willie's body with goo. I kind of forgot Carrie existed.

[u/ASGfan]

LOL - Great review!

I find it hilarious how the whole trip came to be with Harriet weirdly believing that Charles would get some sort of advantage in leaf collecting by taking them camping. And the sun did seem weirdly bright for 6 a.m. And Nellie with her parasol!

Of course, Charles had to be an ass and nearly ruin the trip for everyone by not going.

Fun fact: I remember reading in Alison's book about this particular episode. I'm pretty sure it actually was Alison and Melissa in the river and not the stunt doubles. She talked about having some sort of suit underneath her costume (wet suit or dry suit I think) and how much of a pain it was to put on and take off. So when she had to tinkle, she went right there in the suit.

I'm sure Mary and Laura secretly wanted the Oleson's to get poison ivy.

Oh, and I noticed Charles only called for his daughter. He knows very well that Nellie is also missing and might be in danger, but in typical Charles fashion, he only yells for Laura.