Laura was on top of the world with her new beau, Almanzo Wilder. But while she gushed over him at every turn, Charles was beginning to get sick at the mere mention of his name. I think someone's jealous! However it wasn't long before a monkey wrench was thrown into the works, a fellar by the name of Perley Day Wilder blew into town. As you might have guessed, he's Almanzo's little brother, and he's closer to Laura's age, something Charles considered a plus. So as Perley gets moved in with Almanzo and Eliza Jane, Laura decides to try out the new horse Manly's been trying to break in, despite his vehement protests or in this case his insinuation that little girls and women can't tame wild horses. She quickly proves him wrong. And speaking of the battle of the sexes, Walnut Grove receives a new family, the Parkers, and instantly Albert, Willie and Andrew take a liking to their lovely daughter Penelope. I wonder who will have the guts to ask her out first. Albert wanted to, but being the shy little bugger he is, he asked Andrew to do it for him. It seems Penelope took a strong liking to Andrew right off the bat, infuriating Albert which sparked a rivalry between the former friends. As if that weren't bad enough, Nellie was trying to put the moves on Perley. Unfortunately she was too dim to realize he lied about liking her cooking, and he stole $5 out of the till which he used to pay for his lunch.
On the outside Perley Day may seem like a suave, friendly young man, but when you get to know the real thing, he's irresponsible, callous and competitive. After using Almanzo's new colt, Barnum, to challenge Doc Baker to a race, which the latter one on account of Perley letting him, the little Wilder brother saw gold futures with this. He could win a mint at the horse races. But such dreams were torn asunder one afternoon as the half-wit raced Barnum to death in the fields, giving him a wounded leg. What to do now? Go to dinner at Laura's, of course. He accepted her invite because Almanzo was too busy. All through dinner Charles continued being a dick about Almanzo and, when he heard about the arm-wrestling competition, in which Manly is quite the champ, Charles began building up non-stop to try and beat him... insecure, much? So came the day of the picnic. It had everything: arm-wrestling, horse racing, and greased pig runs, which is just exactly what it sounds like. So the boys ran around like idiots trying to catch the pig, which I guess is the 1880s way of impressing a girl? Well, as expected, it didn't work and we get to see what a horrible, stuck-up little bitch Penelope is. I think she and Nellie would make good friends. Speaking of friends, Andrew and Albert are again. Crisis averted; well, if you can believe this, Perley decided to enter Barnum in the race, despite his injury, which incurred Almanzo's wrath and so a high-speed horse chase commenced. Finally catching up to his little brother, Almanzo beat some sense into him and said he wanted nothing more to do with him. Perley left quietly as Almanzo tended his wounded Barnum. Charles and Laura soon showed up to help him. Well, with a night of nursing and tending, Barnum's leg was alright and Almanzo and Charles had a better understanding of one another.
This one was alright, nothing too special. We get to meet another odd member of the Wilder family, who I think are worthy of their own spin-off. We got geeky Eliza Jane, Perley Day the troublemaker, bumbling Royal, and then there's Almanzo, the normal one. What a family sitcom they would make. Anyway, Chuck Bloom does alright as Perley, a pretty forgettable character, and this is helped by the fact we never see or hear from him again. Good riddance. Dean Butler was fantastic as Almanzo, a welcome addition to the cast. Melissa Gilbert was indeed born to play Laura and really displays her precociousness and snottiness very well, and I wish Laura would stop claiming she's not a little girl, because she sure as hell acts like one; Now while I said Charles was being a dick about Almanzo, the latter was being kind of a dick himself. I guess because he couldn't tame Barnum and his troublemaker brother breezed back into town and gets everybody's attention? Anyway, I'd say skip this one because it's nothing special, but do see it if you're a fan of the show.
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