Little House on the Prairie Season 3 – TV Series Review

Summary: The life and adventures of the Ingalls family in the nineteenth century American Midwest.

Title: Little House on The Prairie

Rating: 12

Runtime: 1 Hour

Cast: Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson, Lindsay Sidney Greenbush, Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Katharine McGregor, Dabbs Greer, Richard Bull, Bonnie Bartlett, Victor French, Kevin Hagen, Jonathan Gilbert and Alison Arngrim.

Directors: Michael Landon, William F. Claxton, Victor French, Leo Penn, Alf Kjellin, Lewis Allen and Victor Lobl

Want to read my Review of Season 1 & 2

Review:

I’m continuing my rewatch of Little House on the Prairie, seeing this whole show differently so am writing up my reviews of it. As this show is older I won’t holdback on spoilers so I can go into details I want too.

So many changes happened in the change over of just one season. The girls all three got new more grown up outfits, Mary is officially dating and gets engaged and a house starts to be built. Laura is competing in horse races and actually having a full on battle with Nellie. Carrie is talking now and getting storylines. The show starts to actually focus on more with the kids.

We also see Charles as a kid and his family relationship which isn’t great and actually explained a lot about the way he treats his family. But it was sad that his mom who he loved died and he didn’t get to say a goodbye nor did she get to see her gran kids again, that was really sad storyline.

Mary I still don’t like this girl much, she’s always so mean even though everyone around her acts like she is perfect, she’s not. She was completely rude to her sister which caused a huge problem of Carrie falling down an old hidden mine shaft and almost dying down there as they couldn’t get to her. It’s ridiculous she got no punishment for neglecting her and causing it all. At the start of the season we see a more grown up Mary who has fallen in love and ready to be married and that all falls apart due to his dreams and he goes to college. Then at the end of the season she gets sick and has to have such huge surgery it takes a strain out on her whole family, but is an important storyline for later seasons.

Laura is growing up a lot still daydreaming over boys she likes, still butting heads with Willie. She and Nellie finally actually have a huge battle with each other, but she does find herself getting used by Nellie over and over again within this series. I hated everything that went on with her horse, in a matter of a few episodes Laura was finding her dreams back with Bunny, being able to ride so fast she could have been a professional at it. Then her father decides it had to be put down and she wasn’t allowed to have any feeling about it at all. It was honestly so cruel, poor Laura. And she idolises this man why? I will never get it.

Carrie is finally a part of the series not just sitting in her high chair, she’s really cute and though hasn’t done a lot yet is a bit more active which I like to be able to see.

The series itself hasn’t been that great and I’m seeing things so differently on this run through for a start we have way too much racism in this series. I don’t care what era it was set in or even filmed in, it was a huge theme in this series using people of different races and cultures and they would say the worst things and bully them and it was awful. Plus then you’d have Charles acting like a white saviour thinking he was the nice and kind one to them all, but yuck he still wasn’t even if he wanted to act like it. This topic has been one of the big reason I haven’t enjoyed this season much.

The second big theme of the season has been death, illness, sickness almost every character has had some form of huge accident, or being almost at deaths door in sickness or faking that they were sick. It’s weird exactly how many stories this season followed that thread. Charles mom died, Alicia gets a plague, Mary has to have surgery, Nellie almost becomes paralysed, carries falls down a mineshaft, Charles gets shot and also stuck in a collapsed tunnel and lastly the blizzard that almost killed all the children and men. It was a lot of illness, injuries and death in this season.

Overall I liked the way this season started and thought oh we will finally get some really good episodes but unfortunately not, they just sort of got worse as it went through and were a little off putting. It’s rather strange with this being one of my favourite shows, that now I am rewatching and actually watching with a reviewers eye I’m spotting so many flaws and issues and just not enjoying them as much as I used too. Oh and should I mention that Nellie has braces, let’s see did they exist back then? No! Should she have had them whilst filming this show nope! Did the creators seem to care at all? I guess not. But it annoys me a bit as it’s so inaccurate to the time period and it was obvious too.

So yes I will still slowly be rewatching every season and you can keep a look out for my reviews if you are interested I will write them as it’s been enlightening for myself honestly, seeing how I feel about this show now.

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Little House on the Prairie S1&S2 – Tb Show Review

Summary: The life and adventures of the Ingalls family in the nineteenth century American Midwest.

Title: Little House on The Prairie

Rating: 12

Runtime: 1 Hour

Cast: Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson, Lindsay Sidney Greenbush, Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Katharine McGregor, Dabbs Greer, Richard Bull, Bonnie Bartlett, Victor French, Kevin Hagen, Jonathan Gilbert and Alison Arngrim.

Directors: Michael Landon, William F. Claxton, Victor French, Leo Penn, Alf Kjellin, Lewis Allen and Victor Lobl

Review:

I’m a huge Little House on the Prairie fan and I’ve watched it so many times in the past but I’m finding this time rewatching it I’m seeing things different so I figured I’d write my reviews of it, I know it’s an old show so I’m probably gonna go into more details with spoilers.

I love the simplicity of this show, of the town, of the way they live and are raised its gorgeous and I always love things set in this style or era. It’s like a dream almost in how they live, just basic living, fresh air, open land, a tiny school and church, a community where you know and help everyone it’s blissful.

There are definitely parts of the show that are dated due to how long ago it was filmed but for the most part it holds up pretty well I guess the theme helps with that.

So let’s dive into the opinions more and things I never noticed previously.

Mary Ingalls this girl I always saw as a total perfect child and angel oh my gosh is she not, why is Laura seen as the troublesome one? Please someone tell me, in just two season Mary causes so much trouble. I’ll list the things I noticed she broke Laura’s doll, she burnt down the barn and her teachers book, she lead a boy on that she wasn’t interested in at all, she hid her glasses (that were expensive) in a tree bark and told her parents she lost them. She went behind her Ma’s back and studied and prepped for an exam she wasn’t allowed to take yet stays there for it anyway. She brought home a wild raccoon for Laura to have as a pet that caused so much drama and could have killed Laura and Jack the dog. She was ungrateful when the town sent her on a trip to enter a math contest and she came second and had the wrong attitude fir having done so well, she started dating a boy behind her families back. She let Willie and Mrs. Oleson get poison Ivy and be sick from it, instead of telling them what the lead actually was. She stayed up late with the lights on studying and she used Sunday School church funds to by medicines and tried to sell them to get more money. That is just in two seasons. Honestly I think this is the thing that shocked me the most over everything within the show, I never realised just how naughty and mean Mary was, she always seemed like the perfect wonderful daughter/sister and now she’s not. It’s so strange to me honestly as they make it out as though Laura is the bad seed but she’s really not she’s so sweet in comparison.

Laura Ingalls the strongest child in the family she does everything she can to help out her family and seems to only get in trouble when it comes to the troublesome Oleson kids. She’s so friendly to everyone and such a day dreamer always finding a new older boy in school to adore. She’s such a oddball kid and very different to most girls in her school. I always thought she did more though, got into more trouble than she actually seems too. She has wild ideas sometimes that Mary goes along with or that Laura just carries out crazily. Though she always has a kind reason behind her wild ideas, she always wants what is best. She helps strangers and other kids in the small town that others ignore or treat badly. Like Olga who couldn’t walk or run properly she got her Pa to help her, the old man in the old house she befriended him and helped him greive instead of being grouchy and alone. At this age of Laura I honestly just remembered her bring trouble and not having the kindness that she does have. Though there are times she isn’t, like her wild idea after her brother dies to run off to the hills and no one can find her for days and a random man looks after her all because she didn’t pray for her brother as she was selfish. She’s shown as Avery emotional child, that does her best but ends up doing things wrong as she creates a unique way to do things.

Pa had too many episodes centred around him, in two seasons there have been more episodes on him than on Laura and the show is about Laura. He’s had to go and do so many dangerous different jobs, decides so many things without asking anyone else, is incredibly rude and bossy to his family yet they love him? Laura literally idolises her Pa but I always no matter how many times I watch fail to understand why? What are his redeeming qualities? He isn’t generally nice to them, he doesn’t comfort them when they are sad or confused, he shouts at them alot, forces them to go without things or to let them help him which they do regardless. Maybe it’s the era, maybe it’s the actor, maybe I just don’t like him but yeah I’m not a Charles Ingalls fan really he isn’t that great of a father. There are times he isn’t bad but mostly I’m not a fan.

The Olesons are such a strange family, Nels and Harriet don’t even seem to love each other, Nellie and Willie are devils because of their mother and then act up when Nels shouts or disciplines them. I don’t get why they are together or why they raised the kids the way they did, I don’t know quite how Harriett got so mean and bossy and unfeeling. So very strange but they add drama and entertainment I suppose. They are great antagonists to the rest of the town and family, everything has to suit Harriet and her children.

I love this show I always have done and I always will do, even with its faults I still end up loving it. The show is a great escape, beautiful landscaping and even though characters annoy me or aren’t nice it doesn’t stop me living it or from continuing to watch it.

Season 1 was miles better than season 2, season 2 had very few episodes that actually focused on Laura herself whereas season 1 had plenty. The second season seemed to branch out more to focus on so many other people in the town which is fine but isn’t what I always want to see. They play a part and the Ingalls are always involved in everything but still I like when they focus just on the Ingalls and we get lots of Laura.

This show is such an easy watch, though sometimes things are distressing or scary, they are still always fun. I have been loving my escape back to the prairie and seeing this different era of life. Look out in future for other seasons reviews.

The Case of the Light House Intruder – MG Mystery Book Review

Synopsis: Fayson has always wanted to be a detective. When her cousins recruit her to their top-secret gang on the island one summer, her dreams seem to be coming true. But the Greatest Gang of All Time don’t live up to their name, and keep getting distracted from missions by things like food, falling asleep and a fair bit of squabbling!

Guided by her favourite mystery novels, Fayson takes charge and tries to track down clues about the strange shadow that has been appearing in the island’s lighthouse. With tensions stirring within the gang, can she use all her smarts to solve the case?

Release Date: 1st June 2023

Genres: Middle Grade, Mystery, Friendship, Family,

Pages: 224

Thank you so much to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Review: Fayson is invited to stay on a private island with her cousins she hasn’t seen in years to help solve a mystery. The mystery of the shadow in the lighthouse each night. She struggles to fit in with the lifestyle of everyone on the island, but the mystery and solving it keeps her going even in the toughest times.

What a unique and interesting mystery, I honestly had no clue who was doing it, who the shadow was at all not once. It was so fascinating seeing Fayson linking it all together and solving who it was and why they were doing it.

I liked meeting the big eclectic group, each of them were so different but it made the dynamic really work well and I enjoyed seeing the friendship grow within the group. I also liked that even though Fayson didn’t feel like she fitted in, she found her place with them in the end.

I didn’t like her aunt and uncle, especially the uncle he was so nasty and mean, even when he explained why he was forcing her to speak differently he never once apologised for the way he was doing it. Not for belittling and degrading her making her feel like she was worthless and less than him because she spoke a different language to him. I really hated the mis-treatment towards her.

This was a really interesting book, I liked the setting of it being on a private lighthouse island in Jamaica it was so fascinating to me, and I love lighthouses and stories about them so it was just beautiful. I loved the illustrations before each chapter a really great little addition to the story.

If you love solving mysteries this is certainly one that you should look into it’s so much fun, it’s got a unique mystery and the way it’s solved was so fascinating. The characters are fun and you will really grow to love Fayson she’s such a sweet girl.

My Little Pony: A New Generation – Movie Review

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS THOUGH I DO MY BEST TO NOT INCLUDE ANY, BUT KEEP IN MIND IF YOU HAVEN’T YET WATCHED THE MOVIE

Summary: The unimaginable has happened: Equestria has lost its magic. Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi are no longer friends and now live separated by species. But idealistic Earth Pony Sunny (Vanessa Hudgens) is determined to find a way to bring enchantment and unity back to their world. Teaming up with open-hearted Unicorn Izzy (Kimiko Glenn), the pair travel to faraway lands where they encounter the likes of charismatic and brave Pegasi Pipp (Sofia Carson) and Zipp (Liza Koshy) and the ever-responsible fellow Earth Pony Hitch (James Marsden). Their mission is full of misadventures, but these new best friends each possess their own unique and special gifts that may be just what this ponyverse needs to restore magic and prove that even little ponies can make a big difference.

Title: My Little Pony: A New Generation

Rating: PG

RunTime: 1 Hour 30 Mins

Cast: Vanessa Hudgens, Kimiko Glenn, Sofia Carson, Liza Koshy, James Marsden, Ken Jeong, Elizabeth Perkins, Phil LaMarr, Micheal McKeon & Jane Krakowski

Directors: Robert Cullen, José Luis Ucha & Matt Fattibene

Writers: Bonnie Zacherle (Characters), Tim Sullivan, José Luis Ucha, Robert Cullen and Gillian Berrow

Review:

A beautiful new tale of friendship and harmony, as a huge fan of this franchise I love and adore this movie. It had all the perfect essence of the others and a sweet story and adorable characters to go along with it.

A generation many moons after twilight, a young filly is told tale after tale of the union of Earth ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns in a land where they live in fear of each other. As an older pony all alone she is still determined to unite everypony, but is alone in her effort. Then a unicorn shows up scaring all and together go on an adventure to solve why there is no magic, and solve for once a union between them all.

The animation is stunning in this, the music is catchy and beautiful, the characters are adorable and quirky. I love everything about this movie apart from *Spoiler* the slaughter of a beautiful lighthouse. *spoiler over* The adventure is really fun and I loved discovering it, seeing how they all lived in this segregated world. It was also beautiful seeing how they were afraid of each other for no real reason.

If you have a pony fan then you’ve probably already seen this, I have watched before but never wrote my review until now as I rewatched and loved it just as much. It’s one I do recommend highly it’s so stunning so sweet and so magical. From heart to hoof.

Bleak House (Easy Classics) – MG Book Review

Synopsis: After surviving fourteen long years with her horrible aunt, and nothing but a doll and an old handkerchief for company, Esther Summerson’s life is finally looking a little brighter. She’s going to school and making friends, real friends! The only thing Esther’s missing now is a mother. But long-lost parents don’t just turn up out of the blue on a rainy afternoon do they?

Release Date: 15th October 2020

Genres: Middle Grade, Classics, Classic Literature, Historical, Crime, family

Pages: 96

Review: What an interesting story there were so many characters it got a smidge confusing for a second but it all cleared up. I really loved how the storylines all tidied up perfectly together and the hilarity of the ending with the lawsuit finally being over.

It had so much going on with the many characters and many storylines but I think the bite size pieces created in this book worked really well to paint a great picture of the story over all.

I really enjoyed reading this one as I hadn’t ever read the full classic before so it was a good way to learn of the story and read it in a much simpler and easier way.

I love this easy classics series they are so perfect for children to get into a classic or for anyone that finds huge classics daunting but still wanting to know the stories and with these you can learn the story in such a fun yet easier and smaller way. I love them and highly recommend them to anyone interested in classics.

About Transcriber: Philip Gooden is a graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford and taught English for many years and is a member of the Medieval Murderers group who have written ten books together. He is the author of the Nick Revill series and of The Durham Deception and The Ely Testament. He has also written a large number of non-fiction books including literature guides for students and popular reference titles about language.