Little House on the Prairie

Season 6 Episode 13

The Faith Healer

Aired Wednesday 12:00 AM Nov 19, 1979 on NBC



  • Trivia

    • When Charles sees Reverend Danforth "cure" the same group of people for a second time, he asks the guy standing next to him where he will be preaching next, and the guy knows the exact time and place for the following day. If the Reverend really was influencing people like that, you'd think that more people would be following him to his next worshipping service, and they would know then that he was lying. It appears that nobody except Charles and the Walnut Grove townspeople ever thought to go to another service. You'd think more people would be flocking after him, especially since Reverend Danforth obviously wasn't able to stay in all those towns he visited on a regular basis, and in reality, once they saw him "cure" someone once, hundreds of them would want to come back and ask him to perform miracles for them. It was pretty odd that Reverend Danforth clearly never stopped to think that maybe someone would see his little act twice in a row.

    • The plot of this episode is somewhat similar to Season 1's The Circus Man, where a man came to town and convinced everyone that his special powders would cure any illness. Coincidentally, Harriet Oleson caught appendicitis in that episode, just as the child does this time around.

    • Major Goof: For the young appendicitis-stricken boy in this episode, Doc Baker says he isn't sure of the diagnosis and is not capable of the surgery, so he tells the boy's father to go to a hospital in Mankato. However, in Season 1's The Circus Man, Doc Baker performed an appendectomy on Mrs. Oleson all by himself, without a second thought.

    • Travel time to Mankato is suspended in this episode. Normally it takes three days to get to Mankato, but Doc Baker tells the sick boy's father that they can get there by nightfall if they leave right away.

    • At the very end of the episode, we get a glimpse of both Almanzo and Eliza Jane Wilder, who became regular characters at the beginning of this 6th season. I find it a little strange that they did not stick with Reverend Alden's Church services when nearly everyone else was flocking to hear the "faith healer." I guess I can see a person like Eliza Jane being fascinated by the faith healer, so Almanzo followed her, but still, it is unusual, seeing as they shared very similar values with the Ingalls family. It was never explained in the episode, either; neither Almanzo nor Eliza Jane had any dialogue.

    • During one of the faith healers meetings, an organ can be heard playing in the background. It seems that this is not any kind of instrument from that time period, instead, it is an ELECTRIC organ, perhaps a Hammond.

    • Goof: Note how the wheel-chair woman is wearing the same costume on three separate days.
      Reply: I think this was intentional. The blind woman (and others) were merely "actors" in the Reverend's play, and they certainly didn't "perform" more than one show in any given town, so there was no need to travel with a bunch of different outfits.

  • Quotes

    • Harriet: Oh, people are going to come from miles around to be healed. And it was my idea to bring him here in the first place, so don't you forget it.
      Nels: I'm sure I won't forget it.

    • Laura: (overvoice at the end of the episode) The Reverend Alden remained our pastor. His courage to admit a simple man, a shy man, dreaming of being what he wasn't, only strengthened our love and respect for him.

    • Caroline: You don't have to worry about the people of Walnut Grove. You have a loyal congregation.
      Rev. Alden: Not the whole flock, Caroline. Otherwise, why would Mrs. Oleson invite the Reverend Danforth here in the first place?
      Albert: She probably figures she needs more than one church service to get forgiveness for all the stuff she does.

  • Notes

  • Allusions

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