Road trip! The Ingalls were heading home after a lovely visit to Mankato. It was a beautiful spring day and a peaceful ride, until three men rode up to the Ingalls' wagon in a hurry. This was gun-slingin' Marshall Anders and his deputies, out in search of an Injun. A Sioux by the name of Lame Horse. Charles inquires what he did and, according to Anders, being an Injun in these parts was agin' the law. And so they pressed on, and eventually their lovely spring day became a winter blunderland. The wind blew something fierce, snow was falling, it was a full blown blizzard. Unable to go on, Charles finds an abandoned cabin, in which the family takes shelter. The place seemed ideal, it had a fire place and everything, so Charles went out to chop some firewood, but what he didn't know was that he was being watched. So while Caroline and the girls fixed up and secured their home away from home, Charles brought back the firewood and they were warm and toasty in no time. So with cold taken care of, the next item on the agenda was hunger. They only had enough food for a couple days. Worse yet, in almost no time at all, they were snowed-in. After fashioning himself some snow shoes, Charles went out hunting the next morning. He shot himself a deer and struggled to walk back to the cabin in the blinding snow. It was a devastating, torturous trek. Charles soon found himself lost and falling down a snow bank. That's when the man who'd been watching Charles earlier caught up to him.
Meanwhile back at the cabin, Caroline and the girls get a visit from a near-frozen Marshall Anders, having wandered off the beaten path. So while he warmed his frozen feet by the fire, Charles awakened to find himself by a fire in a cave, and staring face to face with a Native American. The kindly man had found the icy Ingalls and brought him out of the cold and even helped him find his way back to the cabin, just as the Marshall regaled the children with a lovely story about how the Sioux killed a bunch of the white men, only for the white men to retaliate with extreme prejudice. Jack Lame Horse was a chief who got away, and speak of the devil, in through the door came Lame Horse, helping a staggering Charles. Marshall Dillweed grabbed his gun and arrested Lame Horse just for...just for being him. Now, why didn't the Ingalls take his gun away when they brought him in? Nevermind. Lame Horse shows great honor by grabbing his rifle and his knife and not killing the savage Marshall as he slept, but instead venturing out into the storm, seemingly to escape. The Marshall blames Charles for letting him get away, then he blames President Lincoln for pardoning the Sioux when they were set to be hung. The Ingallses chose not to listen to his B.S., because they were preoccupied with starvation. With no other alternative, Charles went out to the barn to plug the horse, when who should come wandering up but Jack Lame Horse with the deer Charles had lost. A regular frozen dinner. But then, Marshall A-hole saw him and shot him for no reason. Thankfully, he didn't die and the Marshall felt something close to remorse, and three weeks later, the storm let up so they could all go home! The Marshall finally showed honor by not taking Lame Horse with him, and they went their separate ways, and the Ingalls headed back to their little house on the prairie.
What a happy ending! Things looked pretty bleak at times and there were some tough moments, but it all worked out. Besides the terrific performances of Michael Landon, Karen Grassle and the kids, Robert Tessier was very convincing as Jack Lame Horse, a noble Native American who helped those in need, regardless of race. Jack Ging was also good as the nasty Marshall, who has a change of heart at the end of the show. He was such a ruthless person, consumed by his hate, only to realize the true gravity of the situation and start anew. So if you like the show, you like nitty-gritty survival epics, and you want to see what the Civil War did to some people, then Survival is the one to see. Watch it on a hot day, see if you don't feel cooler.
Meanwhile back at the cabin, Caroline and the girls get a visit from a near-frozen Marshall Anders, having wandered off the beaten path. So while he warmed his frozen feet by the fire, Charles awakened to find himself by a fire in a cave, and staring face to face with a Native American. The kindly man had found the icy Ingalls and brought him out of the cold and even helped him find his way back to the cabin, just as the Marshall regaled the children with a lovely story about how the Sioux killed a bunch of the white men, only for the white men to retaliate with extreme prejudice. Jack Lame Horse was a chief who got away, and speak of the devil, in through the door came Lame Horse, helping a staggering Charles. Marshall Dillweed grabbed his gun and arrested Lame Horse just for...just for being him. Now, why didn't the Ingalls take his gun away when they brought him in? Nevermind. Lame Horse shows great honor by grabbing his rifle and his knife and not killing the savage Marshall as he slept, but instead venturing out into the storm, seemingly to escape. The Marshall blames Charles for letting him get away, then he blames President Lincoln for pardoning the Sioux when they were set to be hung. The Ingallses chose not to listen to his B.S., because they were preoccupied with starvation. With no other alternative, Charles went out to the barn to plug the horse, when who should come wandering up but Jack Lame Horse with the deer Charles had lost. A regular frozen dinner. But then, Marshall A-hole saw him and shot him for no reason. Thankfully, he didn't die and the Marshall felt something close to remorse, and three weeks later, the storm let up so they could all go home! The Marshall finally showed honor by not taking Lame Horse with him, and they went their separate ways, and the Ingalls headed back to their little house on the prairie.
What a happy ending! Things looked pretty bleak at times and there were some tough moments, but it all worked out. Besides the terrific performances of Michael Landon, Karen Grassle and the kids, Robert Tessier was very convincing as Jack Lame Horse, a noble Native American who helped those in need, regardless of race. Jack Ging was also good as the nasty Marshall, who has a change of heart at the end of the show. He was such a ruthless person, consumed by his hate, only to realize the true gravity of the situation and start anew. So if you like the show, you like nitty-gritty survival epics, and you want to see what the Civil War did to some people, then Survival is the one to see. Watch it on a hot day, see if you don't feel cooler.
