As our story begins, a local con man by the name of Caleb Hodgekiss races to stop a runaway wagon. He finally managed to slow down the team and saw the unconscious driver: Reverend Alden. Having no idea who this was, Caleb brought him back to his house for he and his wife Mattie to tend to. Reverend Alden was deathly ill and still unconscious as Caleb went through his pockets and took his watch. When he finally came to, he told them he'd come from Grays Corners, which experienced a terrible fire, resulting in the loss of dozens of homes. Alden went on to state that he was en route to Walnut Grove to take up a collection of money, clothes, food and anything else that could be spared for those poor folks. Caleb declared he would be the one to spread the word to the citizens of Walnut Grove to take the collections to Grays Corners themselves. Feeling blessed, Alden happily obliged. Turns out it was an ungodly mistake, for Caleb had planned on fleecing the congregation and keeping the collection for himself. So after donning the reverend's clothes and calling himself Brother Hodgekiss, Caleb set out to the Grove to carry on his nefarious scheme. So after meeting the Ingalls, who were very glad to help with the collection, Caleb went about town to test everybody's generosity, with Mary's help. They collected a very generous donation from Sprague at the bank and Nels Oleson and, with some convincing from Mary, Harriet Oleson too. She agreed to let Caleb and Mary store their collections in the storeroom as part of her donation. Givin' till it hurts, I see, Harriet.
After a generous donation of medical supplies from Doc Baker, "Brother Hodgekiss" accompanies him to visit ailing Addie Bjornesen. Not being an ordained priest, Caleb didn't know what to say or if he should say anything. But they had a nice chat, Caleb even sang her one of his songs. Doc Baker declared him a miracle worker. As if that weren't enough, Nels trusted Caleb with the spare key to his cash box, as well as the store. Never can tell when somebody might come around wantin' to rob the place, and surely you can trust Brother Hodgekiss, right? Look what he's wearing: preachers' duds. Would someone like that lie to you? Anyhoo, after Nels unintentionally and metaphorically tattoos "sucker" on his forehead, Brother Hodgekiss and Mary go out to the Edwards' place, where there has been a tragedy: Alicia's pup took sick and passed on...is that not the saddest thing? A little girl has a puppy that dies? So, Edwards asked Brother Hodgekiss if he might say a few words. Sure enough, he said everything right, which gave Alicia's spirit a much needed lift. Is this con man gifted or what? Back at the Hodgekiss place, Reverend Alden was finally able to get around on his own, and the first thing he noticed was that his clothes and his watch were gone. A grief-stricken Mattie tearfully fessed up about Caleb taking them, as well as taking from the citizens of Walnut Grove. It was all a scam. So as a befuddled Alden hears all the grisly details, Brother Hodgekiss prepares to leave Walnut Grove immediately after he gave a Sunday sermon, so as Mary prepared his uniform, the gold watch he foolishly forgot to take out fell to the floor. Brother Hodgekiss, you've deceived us! So at church, Mary stared at the fake pastor, knowing his deep, dark secret. One would say Caleb's conscience had finally caught up to him, because he discards whatever sermon he'd prepared and gave an impassioned speech, citing everybody's generosity. Just as it seemed he was preparing to confess, in came Reverend Alden. You would think he'd tell everybody the truth, but instead Alden, who had overheard the tail end of Caleb's speech, commended him for his generosity. And what happened then, well, in Walnut Grove they say, Caleb Hodgekiss' small heart grew five sizes that day. He left with Mattie, happy with his life and ready to start anew.
Great episode from start to finish. Here's the rundown: Dabbs Greer was excellent as Reverend Alden, he always was. Johnny Cash was outstanding as "Brother" Caleb Hodgekiss and should have won an Emmy. His wife, June Carter Cash plays his ever-patient spouse. Props to Hope Summers as well as Melissa Sue Anderson in their roles. Now as I said before, the scene of Alicia's puppy dying is very sad, but I think it all works out since Nels promised to give Alicia one of his dog's puppies once she delivers, at Caleb's request. So if you haven't seen this episode before, I highly recommend it. It's too bad Cash didn't come back as Caleb in any later episodes, but I guess his story was complete here. "The Collection" is a really good 'town' episode, including the whole community, though I wish Mr. Hanson had been in it. After all, if it weren't for him, there would be no Walnut Grove. I guess Karl Swenson was too busy? Anyway, great job on a great episode!
6 out of 8 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
