Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Little House on the Prairie: Season Four Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 16, 2015

Little House on the Prairie: Season Three capped that season with the tale of the Ingalls once again setting off for supposedly greener pastures, this time in search of the always alluring gold, only to realize that, to quote a certain Dorothy Gale, there’s no place like home. The fourth season of Little House on the Prairie finds the Ingalls once again ensconced in their Walnut Grove locale, espousing both the virtues and occasional tribulations of hearth and home. The series had settled into a very comfortable and frankly predictable rut by this season, though the show continued to mine rather commendable amounts of emotion out of the various interwoven stories of the Ingalls and various other townsfolk and, of course, weekly guest stars who passed through Walnut Grove. This season does introduce one of the ongoing storylines which would inform at least some of the long running show’s subsequent years, namely the affliction which begins to affect Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson). (This issue will be mentioned explicitly further on in the review; those who haven’t seen the series and don’t want things spoiled should probably skip down to the technical aspects of the review, below.) The rest of the season has its requisite heartstring tugging moments, and while overly formulaic, there’s simply no denying the simple, homespun allure that Little House on the Prairie continues to offer in its fourth year.

Our reviews of the previous seasons on Blu-ray can be found by clicking on the following links:

Little House on the Prairie: Season One Blu-ray review

Little House on the Prairie: Season Two Blu-ray review

Little House on the Prairie: Season Three Blu-ray review

It probably goes without saying that Little House on the Prairie presents an overly idealized version of life in the not always so very wild west, where the stolid optimism of Charles (Michael Landon) and Caroline (Karen Grassle) Ingalls unites their family against all possible obstacles. That’s part of the allure of the show, but it also means that as the fourth season repeatedly throws up a kind of “disaster of the week,” or at least “minor social issue of the week,” there’s little actual suspense as to what the ultimate outcome is going to be. For the bulk of the season everything from weather calamities to various cases of outcasts trying to fit in are resolved by the episode’s end with a sometimes fairly sappy happily ever after.

That’s actually one thing that (perhaps ironically) gives the late development of Mary’s vision problems such an immediate and lasting impact. For once, things aren’t able to be solved with a hug and/or a prayer, and a major character seems to be confronting a life altering issue for which there are no easy answers and which present serious challenges to faith and, yes, optimism. It’s here that Little House on the Prairie cashes in on a way on the trust the audience has already built up over the course of four years, for suddenly things aren’t quite so simple anymore, and Charles especially finds himself disconsolate and unsure of how to proceed.

Much of the rest of the season though tends to fall into well worn (wagon wheel?) ruts, with a number of colorful guest star turns and new recurring characters helping to provide a bit of variety to the proceedings. Hermione Baddeley has a lot of fun portraying a kind of slightly outré character, maybe a “crow lady” old west version of today’s favorite mad elderly female, the “cat lady.” Of course the Ingalls tend to be the only people able to see the lovable spirit underneath the odd, eccentric exterior. Another kind of unintentionally funny episode finds Caroline maybe not so secretly attracted to a handsome “handyman” (yeah, right) she hires to help around the place in Charles’ absence. As with so many story arcs throughout Little House on the Prairie, an ostensibly major problem is solved with a little common sense and conversation.

One of the more notable things about this season is the slight but noticeable diminution in the ubiquitous presence of Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls (later Laura Ingalls Wilder). She’s certainly not pushed into the background in any meaningful way, but this season seems deliberately skewed more toward other family interactions than more solely focused on the always heartfelt (if occasionally lachrymose) interplay between Charles and Laura. That only becomes more evident in the very last part of the season when Mary’s storyline assumes paramount importance.

It’s probably inescapable for a show that lasts as long as Little House on the Prairie did to repeat itself, and that’s probably the biggest challenge facing viewers during this year. The template has been rather strictly set, and the series very rarely departs from it. Any given episode is filled with misunderstandings, a bit of villainy, and, ultimately, grace and forgiveness. There may be a repetitiveness to it all at this point, but there’s also a comforting assurance to the show that helps it to maintain a solid connection to the emotions even if the rational brain is starting to fidget occasionally.

Little House on the Prairie: Season Four Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Little House on the Prairie: Season Four is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.36:1. This release follows pretty much in the same footsteps as the generally excellent previous seasons in high definition. The elements are in very good condition, though the eagle eyed will still catch various anomalies like small scratches, dirt and the like. Once again the restorative efforts may have included a bit (emphasis on a bit) of high frequency mitigation, as grain is slightly variable, though overall looks organic and resolves naturally. There are also minor inconsistencies with contrast and brightness, perhaps endemic to the elements. The oddest thing I noticed throughout this season is a somewhat variable color space, though I'm attributing at least some of that to different second units and the vagaries of the location shoots out of doors on different days under varying conditions. But a cursory comparison of the blues of the sky in screenshots 2 and 6—to cite just one example—can give an indication of some of the differences. That said, colors are very nicely saturated for the most part, though greens are sometimes a bit on the anemic side. Detail continues to be at very good to excellent levels, and image stability is consistent. There are some baked in issues with shadow detail in some of the nighttime sequences or those filmed in the darker environs of the Ingalls cabin, as with previous seasons, which at their worst feature noticeable crush.

Little House on the Prairie: Season Four Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Little House on the Prairie: Season Four continues as with the previous seasons, with a completely serviceable DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix which capably supports the series' emphasis on dialogue and occasional ambient environmental sounds and sound effects. Everything is very cleanly presented, and the series' good underscore is also conveyed vividly. Fidelity is fine and there are no issues of any kind to report.

Little House on the Prairie: Season Four Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The "Little House" Phenomenon Part Four: A Day in the Life of "Little House" (1080p; 16:50) continues with this set of featurettes, one per volume, in a reasonably excellent fashion. Good interviews offer anecdotal reminiscences about things like production design and shooting conditions. There's some laudable praise given by the cast to various members of the production crew.

Note: All five discs include a "Special Features" option on the Main Menu, but that leads only to Bookmarks except on the fifth disc, which includes the above featurette.

Little House on the Prairie: Season Four Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's just a slight feeling of attrition that starts to afflict Little House on the Prairie during its fourth year, with a few too many return visits to faux tragedies and simple molehills blown up into temporarily unscalable mountains. But the series continues to mine both gentle humor and a lot of heart out of the everyday lives of the Ingalls. The single most interesting aspect of this fourth season comes very late in the game, when Mary's health takes a precipitous decline. Technical merits continue to be very strong on this latest volume, and Little House on the Prairie: Season Four comes Recommended.