Though not as traumatic as the first part of this episode, I've chosen not to watch the second part either. I'm writing this review from memory of the last time I watched it - several years ago. Like I said in the previous review, this episode did not appear on television reruns - that's how controversial it was!
This is a harsh episode. There's no feel good - not "and they all lived happily ever after" - no laughter. The entire two-part episode is very dark.
After Alice dies in the fire, Andy is trying to come to terms. He needs his father more than ever but Jonathan is drowning his sorrows in the bottle so he won't have to feel. Andy is so stricken with his father's actions that he comes to the Ingalls. He doesn't want to go home - he begs to stay with them. Charles, of course, goes to give Jonathan some tough love. He cannot stand how Andy's being treated. Alice is dead but Andy is very much alive and needs his father more now than ever before!
Mary is in a sort of trance merely living and humming the lullaby she always hummed to her baby. But when Albert brings in a music box, she goes crazy. Adam cannot control her. She throws her arm through a window and tears her arm up pretty bad. There's even a point when Adam doesn't think their marriage can stay together.
I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to have your child taken away in such a horrible way. You can hear his cries as you sit there helplessly not being able to help him. I can't say that I wouldn't go crazy too. I respect how the writer's wrote Mary's part. I believe it is truly close to how some of us would behave if the same thing happened to us. I feel sorry for Mary - why she got all the difficult things - blindness, miscarriage, and her baby taken in a fire in front of her "eyes" are only a few things. Laura later looses a baby, but it's not nearly as dramatic.
Albert is overcome by guilt and runs away to go live with his father. upon learning of it, Charles takes off to go after him. Jonathan goes with him.
My favorite part is the scene between Jonathan - the man who lost his wife in the fire, and Albert - the one who caused the fire. Jonathan could have hated Albert for what happened. Instead, a heart-wrenching, tear-jerking scene of sorrow and forgiveness is beautifully written.
The episode ends in complete silence.
This is a harsh episode. There's no feel good - not "and they all lived happily ever after" - no laughter. The entire two-part episode is very dark.
After Alice dies in the fire, Andy is trying to come to terms. He needs his father more than ever but Jonathan is drowning his sorrows in the bottle so he won't have to feel. Andy is so stricken with his father's actions that he comes to the Ingalls. He doesn't want to go home - he begs to stay with them. Charles, of course, goes to give Jonathan some tough love. He cannot stand how Andy's being treated. Alice is dead but Andy is very much alive and needs his father more now than ever before!
Mary is in a sort of trance merely living and humming the lullaby she always hummed to her baby. But when Albert brings in a music box, she goes crazy. Adam cannot control her. She throws her arm through a window and tears her arm up pretty bad. There's even a point when Adam doesn't think their marriage can stay together.
I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to have your child taken away in such a horrible way. You can hear his cries as you sit there helplessly not being able to help him. I can't say that I wouldn't go crazy too. I respect how the writer's wrote Mary's part. I believe it is truly close to how some of us would behave if the same thing happened to us. I feel sorry for Mary - why she got all the difficult things - blindness, miscarriage, and her baby taken in a fire in front of her "eyes" are only a few things. Laura later looses a baby, but it's not nearly as dramatic.
Albert is overcome by guilt and runs away to go live with his father. upon learning of it, Charles takes off to go after him. Jonathan goes with him.
My favorite part is the scene between Jonathan - the man who lost his wife in the fire, and Albert - the one who caused the fire. Jonathan could have hated Albert for what happened. Instead, a heart-wrenching, tear-jerking scene of sorrow and forgiveness is beautifully written.
The episode ends in complete silence.