Meet John Stewart (the farmer, not the comedian). He was a good man. A hard working man. A family man. Did the best he could to support he and his son. But unfortunately he had a terrible desire for the bottle, destroying the good man and turning him into a total bastard. His wife died so now it only he and his boy, Graham. On this night, John came home plastered, forgetting to buy meat for dinner. Mad at himself, he tried turning to the bottle, but alas, there were no more bottles to turn to. In a vain attempt to curve his Pa's drinking, little Graham smashed every bottle he had. With no other way of numbing his pain, the jerk decided to take it out on Graham with his rawhide belt. During school the next day, Miss Beadle escorted the boy to Doc Baker. Charles happened to be there also, so all three saw the horrifying marks on Graham's back. They knew what it was, but didn't know what to do about it. They knew John Stewart was an abusive drunken asshole who wouldn't listen to reason. Charles suggests they have a public intervention after church. So with Charles, Caroline, Reverend Alden, Nels and Harriet Oleson, Mr. Hanson, Doc Baker and the rest, they confronted John as he waltzed into the church with Graham. He basically told them where to shove it as they couldn't do nothing about it, despite Charles making it abundantly clear that they could, up to and including taking the boy away. With that, Graham does his impression of an ignorant, battered housewife and begged not to be taken away from his Pa and he "just gets a little mad sometimes" and "it's not his fault." Makes me sick. Have it your way, ya little snot. Next day, Graham wasn't in school. Fearing the worst, Miss Beadle told Charles, who rode out to the Stewart place to look for him, and sure enough, the place was in shambles and poor Graham lay passed out on the floor, beaten within an inch of his life.
Thankfully the boy was alright, and a majority of the town wanted John hung. Caroline, however, posed the solution of helping him get better, which in turn would help Graham as well. But who would take on the daunting task of watching John and making sure he would get on the wagon for good? Charles Ingalls, of course. So while Graham stayed with the Ingallses, Charles forced John to take every last whiskey bottle in the house and pour it out. Now comes the hard part: de-tox. That night, John went crazy with hallucinations of bats all over the place. He flipped out and tried to escape, but Charles nabbed him in time. Boy, the things a guy's gotta do to help his community. While Graham continues to be a loner and recover from this horrible ordeal on his own, Charles has a brilliant idea of having John work his ass off to rid himself of the DT's a whole lot quicker. A little hard work will cure what ails ya. The same token seems to work for Graham as Mary lets him help feed the chickens and she even explains the differences between boy and girl chickens. She even let Graham have one, a chicken that until recently belonged to her. He named it Supper; as time went on, both John and Graham adjusted nicely and started to miss one another. Graham opens up to Caroline about his late mother, and Charles figures out something about John: he blames the death of his wife on Graham, seeing as how she died giving birth to him. It would appear John has finally had a revelation, as that night he sneaks off to the barn where he secretly kept his last bottle, and he poured out every last drop of booze. He realized that he was in fact blaming Graham for the death of his wife, and he also realized just how much he loved that boy. John Stewart was a new man. The next day, he was happily reunited with Graham, and Charles happily reunited with his own family. Strength, hope and love had prevailed and all was well again.
This one may be intense and tough to watch for some people, particularly those who have themselves been victims of parental abuse. This episode takes the issue head on and presents a very plausible solution. The problems that John and Graham Stewart experience are still prominent in modern times, except there aren't very many people like Charles and Caroline Ingalls to intervene. Having friends at your side in hard times is one of the greatest luxuries in life; Michael Landon was great once again, as were Karen Grassle, Harris Yulin and Johnny Lee. As I said, a very intense story, but well acted and definitely worth a watch. For Little House fans young and old, it comes recommended.
Thankfully the boy was alright, and a majority of the town wanted John hung. Caroline, however, posed the solution of helping him get better, which in turn would help Graham as well. But who would take on the daunting task of watching John and making sure he would get on the wagon for good? Charles Ingalls, of course. So while Graham stayed with the Ingallses, Charles forced John to take every last whiskey bottle in the house and pour it out. Now comes the hard part: de-tox. That night, John went crazy with hallucinations of bats all over the place. He flipped out and tried to escape, but Charles nabbed him in time. Boy, the things a guy's gotta do to help his community. While Graham continues to be a loner and recover from this horrible ordeal on his own, Charles has a brilliant idea of having John work his ass off to rid himself of the DT's a whole lot quicker. A little hard work will cure what ails ya. The same token seems to work for Graham as Mary lets him help feed the chickens and she even explains the differences between boy and girl chickens. She even let Graham have one, a chicken that until recently belonged to her. He named it Supper; as time went on, both John and Graham adjusted nicely and started to miss one another. Graham opens up to Caroline about his late mother, and Charles figures out something about John: he blames the death of his wife on Graham, seeing as how she died giving birth to him. It would appear John has finally had a revelation, as that night he sneaks off to the barn where he secretly kept his last bottle, and he poured out every last drop of booze. He realized that he was in fact blaming Graham for the death of his wife, and he also realized just how much he loved that boy. John Stewart was a new man. The next day, he was happily reunited with Graham, and Charles happily reunited with his own family. Strength, hope and love had prevailed and all was well again.
This one may be intense and tough to watch for some people, particularly those who have themselves been victims of parental abuse. This episode takes the issue head on and presents a very plausible solution. The problems that John and Graham Stewart experience are still prominent in modern times, except there aren't very many people like Charles and Caroline Ingalls to intervene. Having friends at your side in hard times is one of the greatest luxuries in life; Michael Landon was great once again, as were Karen Grassle, Harris Yulin and Johnny Lee. As I said, a very intense story, but well acted and definitely worth a watch. For Little House fans young and old, it comes recommended.
