Summary

• Little House on the Prairie episodes tackle dark, emotional topics like death, sexual assault, and suicide attempts.
• The series emphasizes lessons of kindness and comion while also delving into tragedy and heartbreak.
• Emotional moments like Mary's blindness, Laura's jealousy, and Sylvia's assault make for tear-jerking episodes in the beloved show.

The Little House on the Prairie episodes discussed include death, sexual assault, and attempted suicide.

Created by TV legend Michael Landon, who also starred as Charles Ingalls, Little House on the Prairie is one of the most beloved family shows of all time, but the wholesome series also features a lot of episodes guaranteed to make the audience cry. Based on the "Little House" series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, which in turn were inspired by her own family's life, the TV series was notorious for emotionally charged episodes. It followed the Ingalls family during the days of westward expansion as the children grew up.

Episodes were stuffed with hugs, kisses, triumphs, tragedies, and life lessons alike. The most common theme of the series was that the adults of the show would teach their children to be kind, comionate, and faithful people who could grow up to become leaders in their community. Along the way, however, there were quite a few episodes that depicted tragic events of the time, and some that were downright dark for the family show. Little House on the Prairie was not a series that was scared to make its audience cry.

The Last Farewell

TV Special And Series Finale

“The Last Farewell” is not technically an episode of Little House On The Prairie. Instead, it’s a made-for-TV movie. Following the events of the ninth season of the show, the decision was made to bring the series to an end, and that was done with three specials that aired as an unofficial tenth season of sorts. The three specials were created to give closure to the characters and the audience.

Written and directed by star Michael Landon, “The Last Farewell” is the final of the specials. In it, of the Ingalls family pay a visit to their old home in Walnut Grove only to find out that a developer is interested in the little town and has bought all the property that was thought to belong to the citizens. When the townspeople and the Ingalls can’t find a way out of their homes being taken out from under them, they perform one last defiant act: they destroy them all.

Explosives are set in the buildings and the town is nearly completely destroyed as everyone moves out and moves on. The act made fans cry to see where the series started leveled - all except, of course, the titular little house and the church.

The only reason the little house and church remained standing was because of the sentimental value attached to those built sets. A promise was made to the real-life town that the sets built would be destroyed upon completion of filming to return the town to the way it was before camera crews moved in, and the production team made good on that promise.

The Raccoon

Season 1, Episode 10

Against his better judgment, Charles allows Laura to keep an orphaned raccoon, which she names Jasper. The animal causes more trouble than he's worth, but ultimately becomes part of the family. Jasper bites the Ingalls' loyal dog Jack after feeling threatened and also bites Laura during the fracas. The animal runs away but appears to come back a few nights later, at which point Charles kills him after the raccoon attacks.

The scarier part of the episode is when further investigation reveals the dead raccoon to be rabid, which means both Laura and Jack could have rabies. A week later, Charles reluctantly goes to the barn with his shotgun after hearing Jack barking wildly - a sign the disease has arrived. Charles discovers Jack was actually barking at Jasper who had returned, meaning the dead raccoon was an imposter. The family tearfully celebrates with hugs and laughter.

Fagin

Season 5, Episode 7

Laura is jealous of her newly adopted "brother" - an orphan named Albert. Charles seems to be spending all his time with the boy and Laura feels left out. After gifting Albert a bull calf he calls Fagin, Laura completely turns on him, wishing that he never came to live with the family. Feeling guilty about causing trouble between Laura and her Pa, Albert runs away.

Charles searches but is unable to track him down. Laura and Charles eventually bring Fagin to the county fair, where he is entered in a competition and wins. While accepting the award, Laura tells the crowd the prize really belongs to Albert, whom she finally refers to as her brother. Surprisingly, Albert had been watching the competition and finally reveals himself after hearing Laura's acceptance speech. They embrace and everyone goes home together, providing happy tears for the audience.

Country Girls

Season 1, Episode 2

Laura is nervous about an essay she has to read in front of her class on parents' night. Her mother encourages Laura to simply do her best, noting that no one expects her essay to be like Mary's until she's older. Laura's anxiety throughout the episode is certainly relatable to the audience, but her heartwarming words about her mother later in the episode are enough to make any parent a little teary.

After Laura reads a seemingly well-written essay about her wonderful mother, it is revealed that the story was from memory and her essay contained only brief sentences about Ma. After discovering the truth, Laura's mother encourages her to show the real essay to her teacher, Ms. Beadle -who smiles thoughtfully upon seeing the actual writing and tells a beaming Laura to keep up the good work.

Christmas At Plum Creek

Season 1, Episode 15

While everyone else is excited as Christmas approaches, Laura has the holiday blues because she has no money to buy her Ma a Christmas gift. She eventually works out a deal with the town's kindly shopkeeper, Mr. Oleson to get her mother exactly what she wants. On Christmas morning Caroline is shocked after opening a brand-new stove from Laura who confesses to trading her beloved horse, Bunny to Mr. Oleson in exchange for the stove.

While her gift is a sweet one, it gets worse for Laura after she opens a gift from Pa - a saddle he made for the horse she traded away. While sad for their daughter, Charles and Caroline are extremely touched at the sacrifice Laura made. While this is the first time the show would pull this type of switch, making for a touching moment for the audience, it actually wouldn't be the last, and the audience is almost guaranteed to tear up each time.

I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away

Season 4, Episode 21

Often cited as the best episode in the series, the season four finale deals with Mary's impending blindness. With dreams of becoming a teacher and marrying her sweetheart, Mary's eyesight begins to deteriorate. The Ingalls' worst fears are confirmed when an eye doctor informs them Mary is going blind. In one of Little House's most chilling moments, Mary wakes up screaming for her Pa, terrified to be completely blind so suddenly.

The Ingalls send Mary to a special school for the blind where she slowly comes to grips with her condition. She meets a caring teacher, Adam Kendall, who will later become her husband. Mary eventually returns home but only to say goodbye, since she is ing Adam in Winoka, South Dakota to teach at his blind school. The episode marks some of Melissa Sue Anderson's best work in the series.

Me

Season 2, Episode 7

One of the more tragic aspects of the time that Little House on the Prairie deals with throughout the series is children left without parents. " Me" is one of the earliest episodes in the show's run to address it. It's left up to Charles to find a home for three children after their mother es away. In the meantime, the kids are cared for by Grace and Mr. Edwards. They are happy together until Charles informs everyone the children will be split up into separate families since no one in the area is willing to adopt all three.

On the day of the adoption, as the siblings are saying their goodbyes, Mr. Edwards finally speaks up. He tells everyone he is tired of being alone and has grown to love the three children. He then asks Grace to make it official and become his wife. They all head into the church as a family for the impromptu wedding.

Journey In The Spring

Season 3, Episode 6

This episode features one tear-inducing moment after another. Charles breaks down sobbing after learning of his mother's death. Then, after traveling hundreds of miles to visit his widowed father, he has to pull him out of a burning fire after the elder Ingalls man attempts suicide. He'd rather be dead than live without his wife. Charles eventually convinces his own Pa to come back to Walnut Grove with him, and it would seem that reuniting with other family would be good for the man.

Things are going smoothly until Charles is forced to shoot Laura's horse after Bunny runs into a barbed-wire fence. Laura blames her grandfather for not stepping in. Feeling guilty, Grandpa Ingalls attempts to leave Walnut Grove. Eventually, Laura realizes her Pa had to put Bunny out of her misery, and she convinces her grandpa to stay a while longer, giving a more hopeful note for the end of the episode.

May We Make The Proud

Season 6, Episode 18

Perhaps the most shocking episode in the history of Little House on the Prairie, "May We Make Them Proud" featured the death of two main cast - Alice Garvey and Mary and Adam's baby boy - who both perished in an accidental blind school fire. The events of the show shocked and saddened the audience when the series first aired the episode.

Shortly after the fire, the Ingalls' adopted son Albert runs away after it's revealed he accidentally caused the blaze to ignite by smoking a pipe in the basement. Charles, along with Alice's widowed husband Jonathan, tracks Albert down. Jonathan forgives him, telling the boy he doesn't blame him and they all return home. Like many episodes of the show, it offered a thinly veiled lesson that actions have consequences, even those that are accidents.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

Season 1, Episodes 13-14

Laura is very close with her family, which might be why there are so many episodes that involve her learning lessons about jealousy when new family are introduced. This is one of the first to do just that with some pretty heartbreaking moments. Laura resents the Ingalls' new baby because of all the time her Pa spends with her new little brother. Feeling neglected, she wishes the child had never been born. Sadly, the baby dies from a mysterious illness a short while later.

Racked with guilt, Laura runs away to a mountaintop where she asks God to take her instead of her brother. Eventually, Laura meets a mysterious traveler, Jonathan, played by guest star Ernest Borgnine. Jonathan appears to have a connection with God and convinces Laura she belongs at home with her Pa. Charles finally finds his daughter and she runs into his open arms.