To celebrate this fine summer afternoon, Mary, Laura, Carrie and their new friend Ellen Taylor were going swimming. Eager to get to the lake first, Laura attempts to cut through Busby's yard, but being a buzzkill, Mary had to remind her it was off limits. Strangely, Mr. Busby was watching them the whole time. I guess he's either really bored or a perv. Anyway, so while the girls splashed around and played in the lake, two mischievous boys were hiding in the bushes hoping to catch one of the Ingalls girls naked. They're discovered by Carrie, but naturally she's oblivious to what they're doing and bought their fib about fishing. When the other girls discovered their peepers, they dove under the water, leaving the junior pervs ample time to flee. Mary and Laura emerged to see if the coast was clear and decided it was time to go, but they couldn't find Ellen. Had she not come up too? They called to her, but she didn't respond. That night, a crew dragged the lake and they found Ellen at the bottom. Well, sir, Eloise and Cal Taylor were beside themselves over the death of their daughter. Particularly Eloise, and where do you think this hysterical woman placed blame on this accident? Herself? The water? The boys? Nope, Laura. Um...why? Why Laura? Just because she backed up Ellen's request to go fishing? Geez, how fickle can you get? Reverend Alden came to console Eloise, only for her to get mad at God for not answering her prayers to resurrect Ellen and told the reverend to get lost. The blame train didn't stop there. Next she blamed Cal for being away from home working when Ellen came home. A woman fit to be tied if I ever saw one.
The next day at Hanson's Mill, Charles and Jonathan set to work fixing the water wheel and get it working...with Jonathan still on it. Guess he won't need to take a bath tonight. After that, Reverend Alden stops by to tell Charles of the Eloise situation and suggests Caroline try to talk to her. That didn't work either. Yeah, Eloise was losing it at a tremendous rate. Want proof, here it is: Laura decides to bring her some flowers. After Eloise coddles the flowers, she starts hallucinating and sees Laura as Ellen. Next, she asks Laura to go down to the root cellar and fetch her some apples. The little idiot was more than happy to go down into a creepy, crazy stranger lady's dark cellar, no way could anything bad happen to her... oh wait, Eloise locks her in. Who'd-a-thunk it? When Charles notices her gone, he and Jonathan head out to see Eloise, who denied Laura ever having been there. Next, we finally get to meet that reclusive Mr. Busby, who had apparently been enjoying the things Laura had dropped. When Busby saw them, he flew the coop. A search party is organized, including Cal Taylor with a loaded shotgun. So while the men went about their wild goose chase, that crazy bitch continued to think Laura was her daughter. So much so that she began preparations for her 12th birthday... somebody please just put her out of her misery. Meanwhile, the men finally find Busby...thanks to trigger-happy Cal. Luckily he's a bad shot and Busby was fine, but laid up in Doc Baker's office, where they didn't manage to get much out of him because he was too weak. Again, thanks to Cal. Help, however, comes from the most unlikely place: Mrs. Oleson, who tells about Eloise and the birthday party she was preparing. Thankfully, Laura managed to escape and I guess Eloise snapped out of it when she saw Ellen's grave. And so it all worked out, and Laura and Mr. Busby became friends, even though we'll never see him again, and I guess the Taylors moved out of Walnut Grove, and hopefully into a padded institution.
If dark and dramatic is your thing, look no further. "My Ellen" is a tour de force drama and psychological thriller. It's also got some moments of comedy, like Jonathan and the water wheel to liven things up. The late Corinne Camancho really pulled off Eloise well, as she looked like she was ready to go ax crazy any moment. Also good was Ken Johnson as Busby in an unforgettable cameo. Mia Bendixsen was adorable as Ellen, and of course, all the regulars did a fantastic job too. I think young boys will like the beginning of this episode since Mary and Laura swim in the nude. I guess they didn't have swim suits or long-johns to wear that day, but hey, I'm not complaining. So if you like what you've heard, give "My Ellen" a go.
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