After the family’s brush with the fever, Little House on the Prairie, season 1, episode 5, begins with Charles and Adam working to build a well for the house. Some time seems to have passed as Caroline’s baby bump has grown significantly since the previous episode.
One morning, Adam arrives early and decides to get a jump on things working alone on the well. As Charles comes out with coffee to greet him, he finds Adam unconscious in the well, having gone down without checking for gas, as he forgot to send the candle down first. Thankfully, Charles gets to him in time to pull him up via the well’s rope and saves him before anything happens.
Later, Caroline is braiding Mary’s hair as they discuss the Women’s Society, which Mary is thrilled about and hopes to make new friends through the group. Laura is not as thrilled and sneaks out the window to go out to see her Pa by the horse stable. We learn the horses have not yet returned as Laura asks to help Charles build the church instead of joining Mary at the Women’s Society. She worries the other girls won’t like her, as Charles reminds her she just needs to be herself and they’ll surely like her.
The Ingalls make their way into town, and Caroline reminds the girls to mind their manners to make a good first impression. Caroline and the girls head inside for the gathering as Charles heads off with Eli to work on the church.
As Charles and Eli walk along, Eli reveals he’s sent for federal marshals to help with crime in the area. The pair group up with George, Adam, and several other men in the community to begin working on the church as Eli speaks to the group.
The Women's Society gathering shows Jemma's true colors
Back at the house with the Women’s Society meeting, Jemma begins making introductions as she introduces Caroline to three prominent women in the community: Margaret Parker, Sarah Graves, and Winnie Richardson. Jemma leaves as Caroline and the others discuss Caroline taking on a larger role in the community as a teacher.
Upstairs, Mary and Laura play pretend with Jemma’s daughters Romanzy and Edith. While Mary quickly hits it off with the girls, Laura doesn’t quite connect with the twins like her sister.
Across the street, Charles and the men make quick work of raising the frame of the church. As they work, William stops by to say a quick hello to Charles and thanks him for looking in on his family while he was out of town—to which Charles quickly points out it was Laura who looked after Good Eagle and White Sun when they had the fever.
As the men speak, William informs Charles he met with the Indian agent, Isaac Gibson, who is set on putting a removal agreement into place as soon as possible, a deal, as he clarifies for Charles. There is a lot to be discussed, as seven chiefs will have to agree to the deal, and they’re looking at spring before anything is signed.
After playing dress-up, the girls sit around as the twins tell Laura and Mary about how Adam was left at the altar and is Independence’s most eligible bachelor. Adam apparently comes from money and has a trust fund, and his good looks don’t hurt. When the girls ask Laura for her opinion on him, she blurts out that he almost died in their well before she asks to be excused from the room and leaves.
Once Laura has left the room, the twins ask Mary if she thinks anyone in town is cute, and she asks them if they know Caleb. One of the twins quickly puts Caleb down, but rather than defending him, Mary covers by remarking that she was talking about a boy who lives close and she must have confused him for someone else. The twins remark about how Caleb’s parents left him, suggesting they didn’t want him and he drove them away.
Downstairs, Jemma mentions calling upon Reverend Daniel Franklin to come lead their church as she remarks about the importance of having the right someone to lead the church. Much like Mary, Caroline also backs down from sharing her true thoughts and agrees with Jemma.
Back at the worksite, George helps Caleb’s arm back into place as Emily stops by to drop off cookies for the group. Things quickly get flirty between the pair, and we cannot wait for this pair to evolve into something more.
Emily heads over to Jemma’s home and apologizes for her late arrival as Jemma comes to the door. Rather than welcoming Emily in, Jemma informs her the Women’s Society is only for the married women of Independence as she turns her away.
John Edwards is accused of horse theft in Walnut Grove
As the men eat their lunch, Adam tells the men about how Charles saved his life, and he asks him about his time in the army. He’s surprised when Charles admits he stayed back to help his father with his farm rather than enlisting. Their conversation is interrupted as Russell Kind rolls up and tells Eli he caught the horse thief. To our surprise, when he takes the sack off the man’s head, it’s John Edwards underneath.
Charles quickly comes to John’s defense as Eli tells Russell he’s not the law and he has no proof. Russell claims that John has been lurking around the prairie at night, just like he did back in Tennessee. Before John speaks up, Lacey shows up to defend him, and tensions quickly mount. Eli informs the crowd they’ll hold John at the hotel until the marshal arrives, as Lacey, William, and Charles head out to go meet with the Osage in hopes they can help to clear John’s name.
At the Women’s Society meeting, with lunch finished, Jemma begins to call the meeting to order so they can get down to business. Caroline asks if she can run out quickly before they begin to get Emily so she doesn’t miss anything. Jemma coldly remarks about sending her away and uses her cover of the society only being for married women.
If there was any doubt about the true reason Jemma turned her away, it quickly cleared up when another woman speaks up about being single and Jemma remarks about the woman being from a prominent family. Caroline points out that Emily runs the largest business in the town and is deserving of a place in the group, but Jemma dismisses the notion, quipping that they must follow the rules of society. Rather than stand up for Emily, Caroline, sadly, takes her seat by Jemma’s side as the meeting begins.
Upstairs, the twins and Mary find Laura in a room looking at their father’s sketches, which include Osage men. The twins quickly scold Laura for looking at half-naked men as Laura explains that’s how they dress and begins to explain the meaning of the outfits and colors they wear.
Mary instructs Laura to put the book of drawings away and apologize on her sister’s behalf as Laura holds her ground and reveals her best friend is Osage. The twins are shocked to learn that Indians have come to her house as Laura asks them if they’d like to hear a story. She tells them about the morning she and Jack came home to find a pair of unexpected visitors in the house.
Charles works to clear John’s name with help from Little Puma
William, Lacey, and Charles reach Little Puma, and he makes it clear he hasn’t taken anyone’s horses. William presses him for information on where the horses might have been taken, and he’s not exactly eager to help; however, William convinces him to show them where the horses might be.
Back in town, George goes to the hotel to take a look at John’s bruise. After Adam leaves the room, George questions why John didn’t stand up for himself, as he’s no thief. John informs him he’s been spending the last several weeks working on getting sober, which has been no easy task. Today marks the six-year anniversary of when he returned home to find all of his girls gone, having died from cholera, and every day since it’s been like a knife in his heart. He’s lost his fight and suggests that maybe he’ll get to be reunited with his family if Russell gets his way.
George reminds them there are people in this town who care about him and suggests John starts letting them do that, and begin thinking about a future.
Little Puma eventually leads William, Charles, and Lacey to a camp where a bunch of kids have taken the horses. Rather than confronting the group of boys, Charles suggests they strike up a conversation. He approaches them as William and Lacey approach from behind with guns drawn.
Rather than taking the young men in, Charles tells them to hit the road but reminds them that they might not be as lucky should they try something like this again, as there’s no guarantee he’ll be the one to find them.
Back at the house, the twins are enamored by Laura’s stories, which leaves Mary feeling like the odd man out. As she looks out the window, she spots Caleb and heads out.
Downstairs, Jemma goes on about plans for a founder’s day festival as Caroline stands up and confronts the group about their lack of inclusion. She challenges the group on why, if they’re meant to be a women’s society, they shouldn’t include all the women in their community, not just the ones Jemma deems respectable. Jemma suggests tabling the conversation unless anyone disagrees and no one speaks up. This time, Caroline stands her ground as she places her notebook down, thanks Jemma for lunch, and heads out.
Outside, Mary excitedly greets Caleb, and she tells him about the twins not being very nice. Caleb admits that they’ve always been rude to him as she tells him about the things they said about his parents abandoning him. Just then, Laura and the twins come out, and Laura begins teasing her sister about having a boyfriend as the twins quip about Mary liking the ugly orphan boy. The hurtful comment sends Caleb rushing away, and Mary tries to run after him, but Caroline comes to gather them so they can head out before she has the chance.
The girls follow Caroline over to the General Store where she finds Emily sitting outside alone. She sits down beside her and apologizes for Jemma’s behavior. Emily remarks that she shouldn’t have expected better from Jemma, and Caroline reveals she walked out on her, which gives the pair a good laugh.
Just then, Charles, William, and Lacey arrive with the horses. Before they head home, he has one more stop to make as he heads out for the hotel just as John walks out, having been released with his name cleared. As John holds out his hand, Charles pulls him in for a hug and invites him to join them for dinner. John doesn’t want the girls to see him like this, but Charles insists.
John and Lacey join the Ingalls for dinner, and he plays Laura a song he used to play his girls. As John begins singing, he gets choked up, and Caroline joins in to help him finish the song. They play another song as Laura climbs into bed with Mary and hands her one of the cookies she snuck from the party as a way of apologizing. However, it’s going to take more than a cookie for Mary to forgive her sister as Mary leaves the bed and goes to the other side of the room to get away from her sister without even acknowledging the gesture.
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