User reviews

The return of Charles and Albert Ingalls in "Home Again" makes us realize how lacking certain episodes during Season 9 were without them. If the characters had been exhausted and needed a break, this terrific and inspiring two-part episode shows that they were only temporarily exhausted with a huge breath of fresh air to welcome them back despite a very touchy storyline.

Perhaps it is hard to believe that Albert, the righteous hero of numerous previous episodes within the series, has allowed himself to succumb to the peer pressure of street thugs and get himself involved with such a dangerous drug. Albert is however an important central figure to highlight here and in my opinion the message is much more powerfully conveyed than if, say, Willie Oleson had become the addict.

Our interest is sparked almost immediately with the presence of Michael Landon and the knock at the door of Janes and Son by the police officer just a few minutes in. An even more immediate tastebud-tingler occurs for those of us who are "Father Murphy" fans as well: Mister Rodman has crossed over to the other show, yet is just as villainous! A classic cameo appearance by Charles Tyner.

Matthew Laborteaux is excellent as usual. Albert eventually beats the addiction and survives, although the message is clearly sent that he was lucky. That speech in the classroom near the close is worthy of memorization.

It is no coincidence that "Look Back to Yesterday" is also one of the strongest episodes as "Little House" nears its conclusion. The presence of Charles and Albert proves to be very powerful, and their chemistry with the other main characters makes the whole cast stronger.

Repeated viewings of this scary yet triumphant problem-solver rarely if ever make us sorry to go "Home Again".

I admit Season 9 of this series was pretty stale compared to the seasons before it. Everyone noticed the absence of Charles Ingalls and the family which was the weak point of this new reboot called, "Little House - A New Beginning".

The former atmosphere of the original show was brought back full throttle though with the "special guest star" appearances of Michael Landon and Matthew Labyorteaux. This time around, Albert has turned into a hoodlum in the big city with Charles unable to control him.

In true Charles Ingalls style, there's an emotional plea to a store owner to not press charges against his son who would've been fated to serve time in a "work house" for the next 3 to 5 years. Albert had stolen from the man's store.

Well, an agreement is worked out and so is the decision for Albert's future. Charles decides to take him back to Walnut Grove and to get him out of the city environment which he believes was a bad influence on the boy.

That's where things get extremely tense due to Albert not wanting to leave due to his addiction to morphine. He wouldn't be able to access it due to the limited options available in a place like "Walnut Grove".

He's forced to go there though with Charles and is deeply resentful of that and it showed. Laura even noticed how he "wasn't the same anymore" after she cheerfully greeted him.

Albert then focuses on Doc Baker who is supplied with the precious "morphine". He steals a couple of packets from him and later substitutes "powdered sugar" in place of the drug when a shipment arrives for the Doc.

This addiction of Albert's is eventually uncovered and then the "drying out" period begins. The cabin owned by Mr. Edwards is the spot chosen for this difficult time.

The one thing I love about this episode was the extremely strong father/son bond that was shown between Charles and Albert. Charles did everything he could to save his son from the addiction even though it got really difficult.

The withdrawal scenes with Albert were disturbing and it was touching to see his father there no matter how excruciating it got. It did indeed get really intense.

There were the screaming sessions, the begging and the pleading for morphine, but Charles refused to give in. He had to get that "poison" out of his son's body.

Yeah, a really riveting episode out of Season 9 and one enlivened by the potent performance of Michael Landon and Matthew Labyorteaux. The old feelings of "Little House On The Prairie" was brought back with those two.

They also had to thrown in a subplot though to cater to the "newbies" in the series. It was about Jason Carter faking poor eyesight to get glasses and appear smart.

Doc Baker saw through that ruse though and played along with it. I admit I got excited whenever scenes with John Carter came on. I've always found him so extremely sexy.

Anyway, the one thing I like about this particular episode was the strong father and son relationship that was depicted between Charles and Albert. The son was worried about his father "leaving him", but the father stuck by him no matter what which was the major potency of it all.

Drug addiction is never an easy matter and this episode perfectly showcases that, even giving a depiction of how it can be for an addict to endure the withdrawals.

This is indeed one of my favorite episodes out of season 9 though I consider "Little Lou" to be the best show out of them all. The sexy John Carter was a highlight in that one.

This one scared the Cr*p out of me. It shows, in excruciating detail, Albert going through morphine withdrawal. Now you may be thinking, "yeah, sure, on Little House, what are they going to show?" Everything. Every once in awhile, the writers of this usually "sweet little show", turned the tables on you and totally freaked you out when you were least expecting it. As far as I can remember, the only other Little House episode that was this jarring and disturbing was one entitled "Sylvia" in Season 7 (but that's a whole other review). The writers of this episode sure weren't kidding. I saw it when I was about 16 and it has stuck in my mind ever since. If I ever seen an effective deterrent for taking drugs, this episode is it.

I have to agree, this one scared me half to death, too. Without going into details, I was able to identify with Albert's misery and the horror of going through what he went through. It has bothered me ever since I saw it & even now, later in life, I still have nightmares about having seen it (like when I saw scary movies as a kid).

Every graphic, violent, awful detail of narcotic withdrawal is shown. I don't think I've seen anything that even comes close ever since then, but I won't go into detail since some of you may not have seen it. Let it just be said that Albert has to go through the bowels of hell to get over it.

I think it's interesting that this came out during the Reagan administration, when the "just say no" campaign against illegal drugs was at its height. It ought to scare anyone into never wanting to touch an illegal drug, EVER.

Every parent ought to make their teenage kid watch this. It's a great deterrent to using drugs. It shows very plainly not just how it can wreak havoc on a person's body. It shows how it ends up hurting everyone in the addict's life.

Geez....I get the heebie-jeebies just thinking about Albert & Charles in that cabin.

'nuff said.

Congrats to these two episodes. Drug use was legally widespread in the decades after the Civil War but perhaps not guides for parents recognizing symptoms. It's so great to see Charles - though he a bit confusingly has work in both the city and in Walnut Grove...??? - and Albert, Dr. Baker, and Mr. Edwards - all four - give outstanding performances that keep this episode from being yet another anti-drug show. Albert really portrays the lengths an addict will go to quite well. Nicely done, Season 9.

Omg! this episode was just SO freaky! oh my gosh! Albert went crazy because of the morphine. But it was interesting and exciting. I was so shocked on how hard it is to spend one night without drugs. You see, i think more teenagers should watch that episode because it was like what drug addicts really go through. That morphine really screwed up that part of his life. And when he got violent i was like "Wow..." I really enjoyed watching this episode and i would watch it over and over again until i got tired of it or something like that. But overall, i think that Albert's character did an excellent performance. One of the best i've seen.

This is another one of little house on the prairie's outstanding episodes and Micheal Landon did a great jod AGAIN as director and actor in this episode. This is the first time we see Charles and Albert since their departure in the last episode on season 8. In this heart gripping first part of a 2 part episode we see how Albert is addicted to drugs Morphine and you can just see from the get go how drugs affect your personality and its not for the better. But I loved this episode even though its dark it's very important to watch because it takes on a subject that is really worth watching and learning about. Stay tuned to the 2nd part where you will see what happens when Albert stops and the withdrawal symptoms kicks in

(Not a review of the story. More of a tribute to Michael Landon) This shows how vital Michael Landon was for the show's success. Such a powerful performance by the best actor of the series. No one even comes close. Not only did he act in this episode, but he also wrote it and directed it. He made everyone around him look good. Sadly, from what I've read, some weren't very appreciative of his talent and more critical of him. Perhaps, they should be more introspective. Also, they should consider what kind of career they would have had had they not worked with Michael Landon. Other than Victor French (Who did respect Michael), I don't recall any of the other cast members doing anything memorable.

Aside from For the Love of Blanche and the Christmas reminiscence episode with the Family in the Ingalls home place Home Again, 1 & 2 are amongst my favorites. I'm reminded of former First Lady Nancy Reagan and her Just Say No to Drugs Campaign of the 1980s every time I see it! I often wonder if between Laura Ingalls Wilder's writings and that particular anti-drugs campaign if that's where they got the idea for this two part attention grabber? Watch. Enjoy! Be inspired to fight for your children and their betterment in life always.

I don't know. I guess I'm still hung up on the fact of why the Ingalls left Walnut Grove in the first place. Pa had 3 jobs he was working while Ma worked at the restaurant. How did they not make ends meet with all that income coming in? Certainly 5 children wasn't enough to make them struggle. We don't see Almanzo struggling and he's doing all three jobs that Charles did.

Then pa is seen working in a tailor shop all dressed up when he never hardly dressed that way the entire first 8 seasons. Seemed so out of character. A tailor shop wouldn't be open in the evenings during this time period and yet we are to believe ma and pa had no time to pay attention to where Albert was and spend time with him? None of this makes sense.

The deaf child living with Edwards is now back after he was gone in the episode where Edwards fell in love with the young blind girl. Strange.

Charles is back in town yet when Nels sees Albert, it was like the first time they had seen each other. Surely Nels would have went to see Charles when he found out he was back.

As Albert is leaving the school after his apologetic speech, I can't believe his best friend Willie didn't even stand up to hug him goodbye.

Just too many discrepancies in these two episodes.

This is the first of three very dark episodes in a row.

Albert is not adjusting well to city life, which is interesting since he lived on his own in the city before Charles came along. But he found some influential friends that weren't influencing him in the correct ways. A personality change was caused by drugs, as we'll soon learn.

Charles doesn't want Albert to go to the work house for three years, so he takes him back to Walnut Grove. I'm guessing he plans on leaving him there for Almanzo and Laura to raise, but he sticks around for awhile to make sure Albert adjusts alright.

Drug abuse is an awful thing. It has no loyalties or friends. Albert begins stealing from his friends and lying. Dr. Baker is a victim since he can provide (unknowingly, of course) Albert with the one thing he needs - morphine!

This might be the only episode in the House saga (with the eventual exception of " May we make them proud") which is "barely for the whole family".Second part includes scenes which are almost unbearable:Albert (Laborteaux) was not one of my favorite characters,by a long shot,being too perfect and too straight (I 'd always liked Willie Oleson best) ,but here he steals the show ;it is his best episode by such a wide margin that it is hard to think of another one (maybe " may we make them proud" ).Albert's struggle with morphine is so realistic you often feel like looking away.

Charles Ingalls -who returns in the series where he's been replaced by the bland M.Carter- is no longer the sturdy man with a big white smile and strong shoulders.Her hair is white and he seems jaded,disheartened .In the first sequences ,he seems to have lost his legendary self-confidence .Landon gives a moving portrayal,almost always on the verge of tears.

The question the friends of the little house will always ask themselves:what has become of Albert?Laura's voice over tells us about Albert's return as a doctor in Walnut Grove;but in "look back to yesterday" ,one of the final films ,he is terminally ill.Generally people think that a miracle happened.