Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

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

The Ingalls settle in.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 5, 2014

The music business is rife with stories of artists who storm out of the gates incredibly strongly with a first album that enjoys incredible sales, with at least one hit single (and sometimes several hit singles), only to experience a so- called “sophomore slump” with the release of a second album that either fails to live up to expectations or simply fails outright. Many “one hit wonders” actually had at least two albums to their name, but only rabid collectors will often know of—or own—anything past the first, most celebrated, album. Television is a different entity altogether, of course, and yet Little House on the Prairie suffered something akin to a sophomore slump in its second season. The show had been one of NBC’s most anticipated series of the 1974-75 season after a well received made for television (pilot) movie aired to good ratings and considerable critical acclaim in early 1974. The first season of Little House on the Prairie did extremely well, placing in the Top 20 for that year, a feat which, if not exactly up to Michael Landon’s Bonanza legacy, at least guaranteed a second year for the show. However, despite retaining its same airing time and supposedly resting on the laurels and audience appreciation of that first season, the second year of Little House on the Prairie was decidedly less alluring to viewers for some reason. This is peculiar on at least a couple of fronts, for while the sophomore year of the series does trundle along in some fairly obvious ruts on more than one occasion, it’s also undeniable that the cast is much more at ease in their roles (especially with regard to the kids), and that the series’ finely tuned amalgamation of pioneer grit and heartstring tugging emotion was generally finding its target more often than not. Landon, assuming a kind of trifecta as star, frequent director and writer, continues to recycle some ideas and outright plot points from his long tenure as Little Joe in Bonanza, including having a gaggle of new kids show up to keep the show’s population stocked and diverse. Little House on the Prairie really has no pretensions of greatness, and while perhaps unambitious in terms of its storytelling techniques, it still manages to provide gentle lessons in morality while offering a wholesome look at a family and community working together to overcome each and every obstacle or temporary problem which may arise.

The core of Little House on the Prairie’s enduring appeal rests upon its focus on community—whether that be the town of Walnut Grove, or the nuclear family of the Ingalls, including father and husband Charles (Michael Landon), wife and mother Caroline (Karen Grassle), and daughters Laura (Melissa Gilbert), Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) and little Carrie (played by twins Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush). Unlike the series’ first season, which concentrated as much on the Ingalls’ matriculation into Walnut Grove society as on anything else, by this second season the Ingalls are well ensconced and well known, if not always well loved. The foundation already established in the first season therefore creates an ambience where the series doesn’t spend as much time attempting to establish characters, assuming that most audience members are already going to be well enough acquainted with at least the major players in the story to go with the flow if and when new folks wander into town.

Perhaps for that reason, this second season tends to have “guest townspeople” a bit more than the first season did, though new recurring characters are also introduced along the way, including a fussy banker and as mentioned above some adorable orphans, just in case the Ingalls children don’t provide enough grist for an admittedly sugary sweet and sometimes unbearably poignant mill. As with the first season, whole episodes can be built out of seemingly (and, frankly, actually) mundane issues like Caroline becoming jealous when Charles spends time with a local widow. The show does tend to make mountains out of molehills rather regularly, one of its abiding flaws, since it’s virtually preordained that everyone is going to end any given episode with a soothing salve of forgiveness, redemptive grace and as much happiness as a hardscrabble pioneer life can provide.

One of this season’s more interesting episodes, at least from a historical perspective, places the show firmly in its 1976 timeframe, when the United States was busy celebrating its bicentennial. In a rather astute and even prescient episode, the Ingalls and all of Walnut Grove celebrate our nation’s centennial in 1876, have to come to terms with both the benefits and, yes, detriments of living in the country. It’s a surprisingly balanced piece of writing (by John Hawkins) that addresses the still relevant issue of taxation without representation that helped to found our country. Other episodes have more minor but still requisite trials, including the Ingalls girls getting into trouble when they scheme to increase a fund to buy Reverend Alden a new bible, or various competitions the kids get into, whether it be baseball, math or, in the case of a couple of the young schoolgirls in Walnut Grove, attracting the attention of a handsome schoolboy.

Probably the emotional high point of the season is an unabashedly manipulative but still rather unexpectedly moving two parter which introduces the orphans mentioned above. Oscar winner Patricia Neal offers a really nicely done, if rather lachrymose, account of a mother facing a terminal illness who must make sure her children will be cared for after she’s gone. Of course Charles plays an integral part in the solution, and if things are wrapped up in a rather too pat homespun version of a Deus ex Machina answer to fervent prayers, this set of episodes shows what really makes Little House on the Prairie continue to be so popular. This is a series which isn’t ashamed to wear its heart on its sleeve, detailing the simple yet profound emotions that color the everyday lives of folks in sometimes trying circumstances. The kind of fortitude and determination shown by almost all of the main characters in Little House on the Prairie was shared by the series itself—after this year, it would shake off its sophomore slump and become a Top 20 (and in several years, Top 10) staple for most of the rest of its healthy original broadcast run.

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

Little House on the Prairie: Season Two is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.36:1. This second season of the series continues the largely winning ways which were witnessed in Little House on the Prairie: Season One, though commendably without as much of what appeared to be some minor but noticeable high frequency filtering in the first volume. The elements here are in generally very good condition, though virtually every episode still has manifold (small) specks and flecks, along with occasional little bits of dirt which crop up now and again. Colors are accurate looking and nicely saturated. As with the first volume, sharpness and clarity can be somewhat variable (some of which is surely due to varying shooting conditions), as can contrast. There's some minimal crush apparent in some darker sequences, notably some of the "loft" moments in the Ingalls cabin where Charles tends to talk to the girls at night before they go to bed.

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

As with the first season, the second year of Little House on the Prairie on Blu-ray offers up excellent sounding DTS- HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mixes which more than capably recreate the somewhat limited sonics of the series. Dialogue is presented very cleanly and clearly and some of the sound effects (like carts being horse drawn through the wilderness) are surprisingly vivid. There's no damage of any major import to discuss, and, while narrow, the tracks on the 22 episodes in this set sound just fine, if not particularly amazing.

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

• "In the Beginning. . ." (1080p; 15:59) doesn't pun horribly like this season's "In the Big Inning" episode, continuing along the path of the first part of this supplemental series found in the first season Blu-ray set. The kids of Ed Friendly and Michael Landon are among the interview subjects in an interesting but fairly predictable retrospective.

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

This second season of Little House on the Prairie sees everyone settling down into a routine—perhaps too much of a routine in some cases, for this season, after all only the second of a series which would go on to chalk up a rather lengthy run, already begins to show some signs of a tiresome repetitive quality. But the better angels of the show —and there are many—far outnumber any niggling issues some may have with this or that episode. This second season provides more than enough heartfelt drama and occasional comedy to satisfy even the hardest of hearts. As with the first season, technical merits continue to be generally very strong, and this second season comes Recommended.