It all began one day after school when Laura went frogging with her new friend, Jimmy Hill. When trying to catch herself a big old bullfrog, she fell into the creek, and Jimmy fell in trying to rescue her. When they got out, they almost shared a first kiss. It was almost as if a change had come over Laura Ingalls, never having been this close to a boy before. While that was going on, Charles and Jonathan were preparing for a freight moving contest. The first wagon to Mankato would win the freight contract. As Charles prepared for the trip, as well as tending to his bum foot, a soaked Laura walked through the door, but in the physical sense only, as her mind was somewhere entirely different. That night, she dreamed about running through a field, hand in hand with Jimmy Hill. She woke up lying on the floor. Determined to win him over, Laura changed up her appearance for the next day of school, dumping her trademark braids for her natural appearance, and for good measure, practiced kissing with the mirror, and boy did that get awkward when Mary walked in on her. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Charles prepared to make their trip to Mankato. But when they finally arrived a few days later, they saw that their rivals had beaten them there. But it worked to their advantage, since the others had taken their wagon off road, which damaged their load of fine china. Charles and Jonathan's was in pristine condition, so they got the contract!
Despite Laura's best efforts, Jimmy didn't notice her new look at all, and to make matters worse, he went off with another tomboy named Samantha Higgins, new in town. Desperate at this point, Laura turned to Nellie Oleson of all people for advice. She tells her rival about what attracted Luke Simms to her: charm, selflessness, beauty, which she faked at the time. Not to mention, having a good figure, and Laura hadn't yet blossomed in a manner of speaking. Last but not least: she should smell like a woman, so Laura steals some of Caroline's perfume and rubbed it on every exposed part of her body. But smelling like a skunk only repelled Jimmy as opposed to attracted him. So as Laura prepared for Plan B, Charles rode in with the exciting news of getting the contract. Caroline would've been ecstatic if it didn't mean her husband would have to be away from home so much on freight runs. Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder. At school the next day, Laura tried another approach to get Jimmy's attention. She marched into the classroom with two visible bumps on her chest. This warranted plenty of giggles from the other students. Mrs. Simms wrote a big-ass problem on the board and asked Laura to come up and solve it. Then, the crowning moment of embarrassment occurred: one of the apples Laura placed in her dress dropped out. So while things looked down for her, they were really looking up for Charles and Jonathan who, after busting their butts and being away from home so long, the boss was going to give them some much needed help, in the form of another wagon and two more guys. To celebrate, they go to a French restaurant, and watch a happy family at the table across from their's. It made them homesick and miss their own children, and when they were served their escargot, that gave Charles and Jonathan the push they needed to realize living high on the hog was for the birds, so they headed for home. Sure he threw away the chance of a lifetime which would have made them richer and better providers for their families, I guess in retrospect, such things don't matter so long as they all stay together. As for Laura, a talk with her ma helps put everything into perspective: Laura can only be who she is. So things went better for her at school, and I guess she and Jimmy stayed friends until he disappeared into obscurity.
This was a good character builder episode, for both Laura and Charles. It shows that Laura is entering womanhood and she's starting to try and get boys to notice her. Sure, this isn't the first time in the series, but it seems like the first time she was actually serious about wanting a beau. As for Charles, he learned that if making it big meant staying away from his family, he decided to stay a dirt-poor farmer. You gotta do what works for you, I guess. Most people can relate to the dilemmas these two faced in this episode, so it's a good example of what life presents to us and how we face it. So check out The Rivals, well written, directed and acted. A real milestone episode. Incidentally, I think Don Balluck should have watched this episode a bit more closely when he wrote the script for "The Return of Nellie" in Season 9, because they reference the events in this episode, and not only do they incorrectly identify Jimmy Hill as "Jeremy Dobbs", but Laura says she and Nellie both had a crush on him. No, Laura had a crush, Jimmy was looking at the tomboy girl, and Laura got advice from Nellie. Whoopsie, looks like Balluck bollixed.
Despite Laura's best efforts, Jimmy didn't notice her new look at all, and to make matters worse, he went off with another tomboy named Samantha Higgins, new in town. Desperate at this point, Laura turned to Nellie Oleson of all people for advice. She tells her rival about what attracted Luke Simms to her: charm, selflessness, beauty, which she faked at the time. Not to mention, having a good figure, and Laura hadn't yet blossomed in a manner of speaking. Last but not least: she should smell like a woman, so Laura steals some of Caroline's perfume and rubbed it on every exposed part of her body. But smelling like a skunk only repelled Jimmy as opposed to attracted him. So as Laura prepared for Plan B, Charles rode in with the exciting news of getting the contract. Caroline would've been ecstatic if it didn't mean her husband would have to be away from home so much on freight runs. Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder. At school the next day, Laura tried another approach to get Jimmy's attention. She marched into the classroom with two visible bumps on her chest. This warranted plenty of giggles from the other students. Mrs. Simms wrote a big-ass problem on the board and asked Laura to come up and solve it. Then, the crowning moment of embarrassment occurred: one of the apples Laura placed in her dress dropped out. So while things looked down for her, they were really looking up for Charles and Jonathan who, after busting their butts and being away from home so long, the boss was going to give them some much needed help, in the form of another wagon and two more guys. To celebrate, they go to a French restaurant, and watch a happy family at the table across from their's. It made them homesick and miss their own children, and when they were served their escargot, that gave Charles and Jonathan the push they needed to realize living high on the hog was for the birds, so they headed for home. Sure he threw away the chance of a lifetime which would have made them richer and better providers for their families, I guess in retrospect, such things don't matter so long as they all stay together. As for Laura, a talk with her ma helps put everything into perspective: Laura can only be who she is. So things went better for her at school, and I guess she and Jimmy stayed friends until he disappeared into obscurity.
This was a good character builder episode, for both Laura and Charles. It shows that Laura is entering womanhood and she's starting to try and get boys to notice her. Sure, this isn't the first time in the series, but it seems like the first time she was actually serious about wanting a beau. As for Charles, he learned that if making it big meant staying away from his family, he decided to stay a dirt-poor farmer. You gotta do what works for you, I guess. Most people can relate to the dilemmas these two faced in this episode, so it's a good example of what life presents to us and how we face it. So check out The Rivals, well written, directed and acted. A real milestone episode. Incidentally, I think Don Balluck should have watched this episode a bit more closely when he wrote the script for "The Return of Nellie" in Season 9, because they reference the events in this episode, and not only do they incorrectly identify Jimmy Hill as "Jeremy Dobbs", but Laura says she and Nellie both had a crush on him. No, Laura had a crush, Jimmy was looking at the tomboy girl, and Laura got advice from Nellie. Whoopsie, looks like Balluck bollixed.
