Little House on the Prairie (TV Series) Silent Promises (1980) User Reviews

Listen Closely

[ExplorerDS6789 · 8/10 · 16 March 2012]

That little brat Willie just can't stay out of trouble. This morning found him stealing some firecrackers to play a mean prank on the old man at the bank, but plans go tragically awry when Willie sets them off and his team took off like the dickens. The runaway carriage was about to hit a poor boy standing in the middle of the road. Why doesn't he move? Because this boy, Daniel Page, was deaf and could not hear the approaching sound of hoof-beats. Thankfully Laura got him out of the way just in time. The poor lad was shaken so he was brought to Doc Baker, who concluded that Daniel needed a little help, some special teaching, but his pa Nathan wasn't too keen on the idea, because... But then Laura stepped in and offered to step in and help, borrowing some of the doc's books on sign language. So while Laura brushed up on the many other forms of communication, Albert set to work on making a dog house for Bandit. This should be good. Now despite Nathan's doubt and negativity, he allows her to carry out her task. So after berating Albert for his dog house for no reason other than anxiety, Laura begins her first day as Daniel's teacher, and she really has her work cut out for her.

Daniel seemed to pick it up almost from the start, and only on the second day, he made a break through. He and Laura were ecstatic, and although Nathan remained skeptical, Laura put on a demonstration for him, and he was mighty proud. Everything was going great. Nathan borrowed a sign language book to learn to better communicate with his son, so all was well. Albert even showed off his little doghouse on the prairie, but the damn dog refused to to near it. So now that Daniel has mastered communication, there was a message he wanted to convey to Laura, and he does so by offering her his mother's wedding ring, openly admitting he loved her and even kisses her. Go Daniel! She rejects him, he runs away, dejected. Laura tries to confide in Almanzo, only for him to go on a date right in front of her. Love is a strange thing. So Daniel has pretty much given up on everything and not wanting to be responsible for tarnishing her new reputation of being a good teacher and sending her first pupil down the road to eternal damnation, Laura bites the bullet and agrees to be Daniel's girlfriend. She felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, but Charles manages to get her back on the right path by telling her she's got to be tougher with her students and if she doesn't love Daniel, she's gotta let him down as easily as possible. We all know her heart belongs to Almanzo. So, Laura goes to break it off with Daniel. He didn't take it well. Love is a VERY strange thing. But some kind and encouraging words from Nathan put Daniel's woes at ease, and as for Laura, it was Caroline to the rescue. In the end, it all worked out (doesn't it always?) Daniel and Laura made amends, she would continue to mentor him and really get a good education in being a teacher in the process.

As is tradition with Little House bit-players, Daniel and his Pa were never seen or heard from again, but they left an everlasting impression. This episode had a lot of heart, it was emotional and a bit amusing with Albert and his attempts to build a doghouse and then make Bandit sleep in it. Well, at least Carrie has a new place to play. Not to mention another hilarious exchange between Nels and Harriet, where Nels succeeds in breaking the fourth wall. Alban Branton, Melissa Gilbert and Lou Fant were all very good and Maury Dexter directed yet another winner. Little House fans, Laura fans and people interested in learning a little sign language, as well as people who want to see Albert sleeping in a doghouse should give this episode a try. It's got it where it counts and it proves that love is a very, VERY strange thing.

Good intentions gone wrong

[mitchrmp · 7/10 · 9 September 2013]

Laura had no idea that her good intentions to help a deaf young man would be mis-interrupted as something more. Nor did she ever expect to have such trouble with her pupil...

When Daniel and his father rode into town, he was told to stay in the wagon and out of the way. But curiosity brought him into the path of a run-away horse - a result of a dirty trick by Willie Oleson. Laura, who's talking to Almanzo, rushes out to push him out of the way. Almanzo is right behind her. When she begins feeling sorry for the young man, she offers to teach him how to speak with his hands - something Daniel's father thinks is impossible.

But it works! She even convinces Daniel's father that it works! And the time she spends teaching Daniel draws her closer to him. He falls in love with her. The problem? Laura doesn't feel the same way!

While struggling with the fact that she has to tell Daniel no - she doesn't love him, she goes to Almanzo for comfort only to get another big blow to her ego - he's going on a date and even teases Laura that she has a boyfriend! So to spite Almanzo and because she can't break Daniel's heart, Laura gives in and accepts the ring he's offered her.

Laura has to do some fast growing up in this episode, and the "talk" Charles has with her near the end isn't sweet and kind. He gives her the facts of life: Sometimes you have to hurt people and tell them the truth. That's life. Get over it! Laura wants sympathy from Charles but gets none...

Though it's not one of my favorites, any episode with Laura and Almanzo in it has to get a pretty good rating...

Maybe the best example to the series' spirit as various emotions galore

[muratmihcioglu · 8/10 · 5 December 2023]

Daniel is deaf and Laura takes on the challenge of teaching him sign language, which goes well at first. However, the lad develops feelings for her. Feelings that cannot be returned. And this teacher-student relationship involving Daniel falls far from Daniel-San's karate story.

Though nothing is too tragic or too dramatic, every single character and their motivations, delusions, fears have been worked very well throughout the episode. Daniel's father has his reasons to at first object to Laura's offer, as he loves his son but doesn't want him to reach for the stars only to be disillusioned. And in a strange way, his fears prove to have merit even though both he and Daniel learn sign language and begin to communicate much better.

I, too, have felt like Daniel has, many times in my teens, and even much later. An unreturned love is a tough thing to stomach. I wish such episodes had managed to make all of us ready for what would be coming as we navigate life. They do signal a lot, but maybe these emotions are impossible to tackle with before experiencing them first hand.

Albert's dog house story helps ass fun to the separate main story, and Laura using sign language to say "I love you" while watching Almanzo Wilder begins to stroll with another, older girl was a gem of a shot in and of itself.

A very strange high note from the episode is when Mrs. Wilder, upon being asked by Laura if any of her students had fallen in love with her. Laura's intention was to figure out what to do herself, but Mrs. Wilder takes that as a compliment and gleefully thanks first, only to then say "No" in a somewhat disappointed manner. So she DID wish some boy in her class would fall in love with her?

Very balanced episode that can summarize to a first-time watcher what the hype with LHOTP has been about.

Deaf Is Not Dumb

[maryjo-47753 · 9/10 · 17 July 2020]

This is certainly one of my favorite of the stand-alone kind of episodes (characters we see once and ever again) for a number of reasons. First, we see real growth in Laura's character, both in her taking on this teaching task, but also in how firm she is when, with the help of her Pa, she finally realizes that she has to rebuff Daniel's advances because she doesn't reciprocate his feelings. She stands firm and does this gently, but firmly.

Second, as a child, it was for me the first depiction of a deaf person I'd seen, and that deafness did not equate to a lack of intelligence. I went on to learn some sign language myself and having a friend as an adult that has severe hearing deficits and used a service dog, so this episode has special meaning to me. Hopefully other kids can watch it and come away with the same understanding, as far too often people with hearing disabilities do get treated very unfairly.

Finally, the secondary plot of Albert making a dog house is just really comical, but unlike a lot of other comedy elements in Little House, so much more believable. Especially if you are a dog (or cat!) owner and have experienced the same thing, bringing home some item for your pet that you are SURE they are going to love, and they just refuse to have anything to do with it, no matter what you try to convince them. I loved that in a later episode we do see Bandit has given in and started using the dog house, only to be chased out by Carrie who wants it for a playhouse!

The episode gets a bit unrealistic in the skill level of sign language that is learned in what is apparently a pretty short amount of time (particularly when we see the father and Daniel praying the *entire* Lord's Prayer by sign!) as at no time do we even see Daniel having learned to read or write at all. For someone completely inexperienced in teaching as Laura is to find a way to communicate such concepts as "love" so quickly seems rather unlikely, but as usual, we have to suspend disbelief a bit in regards to plot elements like this which are needed to further the story.