There comes a time in life when a young girl's fancy turns to boys, and such is the case with Laura and Nellie, each vying for the affections of Jason, a boy who is obviously much older than they are. Laura followed him to the field after school one stormy afternoon. Apparently young Jason is going to try and imitate Benjamin Franklin by flying a kite with a key attached to conduct electricity. Jason admires Franklin, because after all, he was president. Not of the United States, but of a stone company, so I guess he gets partial credit. Laura still thinks the world of him...what is it with Laura and older guys? Meanwhile, Charles became a temporary wheelwright again, fixing the wagon wheels for Hannibal Godfrey, a traveling salesman. He'd come to town trying to peddle his latest acquisition: a talking machine invented by good ol' Tom Edison. He tried selling it to the Olesons earlier, but they blew him off. Why would anybody want a machine that could record your voice and play it back for you? Stuff and nonsense. Undaunted, Godfrey tried to con Charles into accepting the prototype in lieu of a cash payment. Just then, Nels stopped by, having reconsidered purchasing the talking machine. Charles traded it to him for having his debt at the mercantile wiped out. It was a done deal. Actually, Nels wanted it for Nellie. What do you suppose she's going to do with it? What else? Impress Jason. At the moment, castle thunder roared and he ran out of class to play Ben Franklin again. He and Laura got soaked, and the latter got burnt when lightning struck the kite and caught a cold, but at least the experiment worked! Ben would be proud...or roll over in his grave.
Being the science nut that he is, Jason was soon introduced to Nellie's talking machine, which of course made Laura jealous. However, Charles assured her that Jason was more into the machine than Nellie, and rightfully so, because a machine you can turn off. Pa was right, as always, because the next day Jason and Laura were down at the creek, trying out his model steam ship. He also gets a kick out of Laura's idea for a flying steam ship, or "steam powered airplane," despite the fact nobody used the term "airplane" until the early 1900s. So while Jason enjoyed a lovely supper with the Ingallses, the Olesons had a less peaceful meal with Nellie bellyaching over Jason and Nels showing his prejudice against folks from Massachusettes. So Nellie goes to her room and throws a tantrum. Honestly, I've seen 2-year-olds more mature than her. That's when she saw the talking machine and an evil idea formed in her wicked brain. The next day, she invited Laura up to her room, getting all buddy-buddy with her. Nellie got Laura to open up on her feelings for Jason, not knowing that little corner-bug Willie was recording the entire thing. Next day in class, Nellie played it for all the students to hear. They all giggled, Laura was embarrassed as hell and took off running. Charles learned about this from Mary, and so he went off to find Half-Pint, and they had one of their world famous talks. After that, Charles marched into the mercantile and told Nels what happened. After promising this incident would never repeat, Nels grabbed his belt and walked upstairs to Nellie's room. Apparently he didn't hit her hard enough, because the next day at school, guess who wrote Laura and Jason's names with a heart around them on the board? Miss Beadle demanded to know who the author was, even though she knew damn well who did it. Jason stands and takes the blame, and considering the fact he was outside with Miss Beadle when the message was written, there is no way it was him, but no matter, Jason admits his true feelings for Laura, and so all was well.
That talking machine was quite a wonder to behold. The next time you all use your mp3 players and iPods, remember what they started out as. Other than the use of the machine, this episode was pretty standard. Just your basic Laura vs. Nellie, with the latter being a horrible little brat, so nothing much out of the ordinary. Melissa Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, Michael Landon, Richard Bull and Eric Shea all turned in great performances, and Harold Swanton did a good job on the script, though he probably should have omitted references to the "airplane." Little House fans should definitely see this one, as well as aspiring inventors. Who knows? Maybe YOU could be the next Jason.
Being the science nut that he is, Jason was soon introduced to Nellie's talking machine, which of course made Laura jealous. However, Charles assured her that Jason was more into the machine than Nellie, and rightfully so, because a machine you can turn off. Pa was right, as always, because the next day Jason and Laura were down at the creek, trying out his model steam ship. He also gets a kick out of Laura's idea for a flying steam ship, or "steam powered airplane," despite the fact nobody used the term "airplane" until the early 1900s. So while Jason enjoyed a lovely supper with the Ingallses, the Olesons had a less peaceful meal with Nellie bellyaching over Jason and Nels showing his prejudice against folks from Massachusettes. So Nellie goes to her room and throws a tantrum. Honestly, I've seen 2-year-olds more mature than her. That's when she saw the talking machine and an evil idea formed in her wicked brain. The next day, she invited Laura up to her room, getting all buddy-buddy with her. Nellie got Laura to open up on her feelings for Jason, not knowing that little corner-bug Willie was recording the entire thing. Next day in class, Nellie played it for all the students to hear. They all giggled, Laura was embarrassed as hell and took off running. Charles learned about this from Mary, and so he went off to find Half-Pint, and they had one of their world famous talks. After that, Charles marched into the mercantile and told Nels what happened. After promising this incident would never repeat, Nels grabbed his belt and walked upstairs to Nellie's room. Apparently he didn't hit her hard enough, because the next day at school, guess who wrote Laura and Jason's names with a heart around them on the board? Miss Beadle demanded to know who the author was, even though she knew damn well who did it. Jason stands and takes the blame, and considering the fact he was outside with Miss Beadle when the message was written, there is no way it was him, but no matter, Jason admits his true feelings for Laura, and so all was well.
That talking machine was quite a wonder to behold. The next time you all use your mp3 players and iPods, remember what they started out as. Other than the use of the machine, this episode was pretty standard. Just your basic Laura vs. Nellie, with the latter being a horrible little brat, so nothing much out of the ordinary. Melissa Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, Michael Landon, Richard Bull and Eric Shea all turned in great performances, and Harold Swanton did a good job on the script, though he probably should have omitted references to the "airplane." Little House fans should definitely see this one, as well as aspiring inventors. Who knows? Maybe YOU could be the next Jason.
