After a rollicking morning of peeking at dirty magazines (the ladies' undergarment catalog), Willie, Albert and the boys head over to Sylvia Webb's house to peep at her. See, Sylvia is around their age but she's a bit more physically developed than most girls her age, and this can create a whole world of trouble for herself and others. Unfortunately, they were spotted by Sylvia's pa, Hector. He was a horrible man who was very cruel to his daughter and anybody who dared come near her. The others got away, but Hector managed to catch Albert. He was fixing to do something awful to him when Harriet Oleson came to his rescue...you read that right, however she overreacts when she learns what transpired and gave Willie a hard time. Did she stop there? No, the fat bitch then rounded up the town council to publicly humiliate Sylvia and place blame on her for the boys' peeping. Well, after that disgrace, school was officially in session, and as if Sylvia didn't already have enough problems, a monster was lurking in the bushes near the school, watching her hungrily...and waiting for the right time to strike. It came that afternoon as Sylvia walked home through the peaceful woods. She had stopped to gather some flowers when suddenly, the monster attacked. It grabbed her and forced her to the ground and did something you'd never expect on this show...it raped her.
You would think Mr. Webb would be appalled at what happened and want the best care for his daughter. Well not in this lifetime. He swore Sylvia to secrecy and didn't show any sort of sympathy when Willie and the boys began bullying her for no reason. So with nobody else to turn to, Albert Ingalls became her guardian angel, making sure nobody hassled her. Those little bastards tried, but Albert gave Willie whatfor and he ran off crying just like his sister. It wasn't long before Albert and Sylvia's friendship blossomed into love. It was a match made in Heaven, until Hector stepped in. He forbid Sylvia from seeing Albert again and started working her to death. Folks in town became concerned about Hector's behavior. I guess at one point he was a nice guy or something? Unlikely. Reverend Alden attempted to intervene, but got blown off. Yeah, something was real, real wrong with that man; Next day, Sylvia fainted in class. She was rushed to Doc Baker, who quickly discovered the problem and when he reported the news, Albert was almost ready to faint himself. Sylvia was with child. To mark the "blessed" occasion, Hector confined Sylvia to the house and Albert blamed her for getting pregnant. At this point you just have to ask, why does everybody hate Sylvia? What did she ever do to any of them? Nothing! Her father hates her, Albert now hates her, God hates her, that's a huge burden to bare, and as bad as things were now, they were only about to get worse.
If this isn't the saddest and darkest episode of Little House, it is definitely the runner up. Probably the most controversial, featuring an under age girl getting raped and then getting pregnant. Very touchy stuff. Especially for a family show, which already featured babies burning alive and a young girl going blind. It's the kind of show you just can't do anymore; Royal Dano was magnificent as Sylvia's awful father. He was so nasty and so creepy, he can just suck the joy out of ANYTHING. If you remember the episode "Be My Friend", Anna's father is a lot like Sylvia's. Abusive, controlling, religious nuts with dead wives, claiming it was the devil's doing, and have young daughters who they never let off their leash. Lighten up, you loonies! Anyway, this episode is difficult to watch and very taboo, but if you can take it and you're used to the kind of drama Little House dishes out, then I guess you should see this episode, but other than that, I wouldn't really recommend it, mainly for how dark, bleak and depressing it is. Stay tuned for Part II.
You would think Mr. Webb would be appalled at what happened and want the best care for his daughter. Well not in this lifetime. He swore Sylvia to secrecy and didn't show any sort of sympathy when Willie and the boys began bullying her for no reason. So with nobody else to turn to, Albert Ingalls became her guardian angel, making sure nobody hassled her. Those little bastards tried, but Albert gave Willie whatfor and he ran off crying just like his sister. It wasn't long before Albert and Sylvia's friendship blossomed into love. It was a match made in Heaven, until Hector stepped in. He forbid Sylvia from seeing Albert again and started working her to death. Folks in town became concerned about Hector's behavior. I guess at one point he was a nice guy or something? Unlikely. Reverend Alden attempted to intervene, but got blown off. Yeah, something was real, real wrong with that man; Next day, Sylvia fainted in class. She was rushed to Doc Baker, who quickly discovered the problem and when he reported the news, Albert was almost ready to faint himself. Sylvia was with child. To mark the "blessed" occasion, Hector confined Sylvia to the house and Albert blamed her for getting pregnant. At this point you just have to ask, why does everybody hate Sylvia? What did she ever do to any of them? Nothing! Her father hates her, Albert now hates her, God hates her, that's a huge burden to bare, and as bad as things were now, they were only about to get worse.
If this isn't the saddest and darkest episode of Little House, it is definitely the runner up. Probably the most controversial, featuring an under age girl getting raped and then getting pregnant. Very touchy stuff. Especially for a family show, which already featured babies burning alive and a young girl going blind. It's the kind of show you just can't do anymore; Royal Dano was magnificent as Sylvia's awful father. He was so nasty and so creepy, he can just suck the joy out of ANYTHING. If you remember the episode "Be My Friend", Anna's father is a lot like Sylvia's. Abusive, controlling, religious nuts with dead wives, claiming it was the devil's doing, and have young daughters who they never let off their leash. Lighten up, you loonies! Anyway, this episode is difficult to watch and very taboo, but if you can take it and you're used to the kind of drama Little House dishes out, then I guess you should see this episode, but other than that, I wouldn't really recommend it, mainly for how dark, bleak and depressing it is. Stay tuned for Part II.