When you think of Little House on the Prairie, your mind probably goes to the opening sequence where the Ingalls girls run down the grassy hill chasing their dog, Jack. It’s the kind of cozy, all-American nostalgia Netflix is betting on, too, since its upcoming adaptation has already been renewed for Season 2 ahead of its Season 1 premiere on July 9. But well before that new version arrives, it’s worth remembering that not every episode of Little House on the Prairie is particularly uplifting.
Some feature harsh and unthinkable moments that can make the blood boil and the heart sink. One such episode comes from the series’ sixth season, a two-parter titled “May We Make Them Proud.” Longtime fans might recognize this one immediately, but for the uninitiated, prepare for the show’s most horrific deaths — and it’s not even close.
“May We Make Them Proud” Offers the Most Horrific Deaths in the Series
What starts as a heartwarming episode about raising money for the local blind school — run by Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) and her husband Adam Kendall (Linwood Boomer, yes, the guy who made Malcolm in the Middle) — complete with some fun and lighthearted character moments, quickly turns into the evening from hell. After a full day of raising money and enjoying the company of those around Walnut Grove, Mary, Adam, Hester-Sue (Ketty Lester), and Alice Garvey (Hersha Parady) spend some time relaxing at the dinner table. But unbeknownst to them, earlier that day, Matthew Labyorteaux‘s Albert Ingalls and another local boy had been sneakily smoking a pipe in the basement, and it soon caught fire. It wasn’t long before the blind school began to burn down, and while that’s a tragedy on its own, it’s much worse when Mary realizes she left her baby.
Hoping to save Mary and the baby, Alice Garvey sends Mary outside and heads back in for the child, only to get distracted by saving another. As heroic as her actions were, this resulted in Alice being trapped in an upper room with no escape, as she and the baby were burned alive. Mary, Adam, Hester-Sue, and the children can do nothing but hear her scream. This is one moment where Mary and Adam are likely thankful to be unable to see, though we, the audience, are exposed to some of Alice’s final moments as she tries helplessly to break through the window. The whole thing is incredibly hard to watch and is arguably one of the more gruesome deaths on the show, leaving the outcome up to the imagination. You wouldn’t find this in the real Ingalls story.
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Because of the tragedy, Mary is left grief-stricken and for weeks says nothing but sits quietly humming a lullaby to herself. This hits especially hard when we recall that this is now the second baby boy that Mary and Adam have lost. The first was lost via miscarriage in the Season 5 episode, “The Sound of Children,” so this baby’s death is a particular blow to the Kendall family. Though Mary Ingalls didn’t get married or have children in real life, Little House aimed to give her a happier ending, though “May We Make Them Proud, Part 1” rips much of that away from her. For quite some time, Mary can’t even acknowledge that she lost a child, that is, until Albert gifts her a music box that plays the same lullaby, snapping her out of it and revealing that Albert believes himself responsible for the fire.
Despite the Tragedy, This ‘Little House’ Episode Ends With Hope
The first hour of “May We Make Them Proud” is depressing. Aside from Mary’s resulting condition, Jonathan Garvey (Merlin Olsen) takes his grief out on his son, Andy (Patrick Labyorteaux), and actively blames God for the disaster. It seems as if this horror will forever mark the lives of the Kendall and Garvey families. But, thankfully, the two-parter doesn’t end on such a sour note. Thanks to the efforts of Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon), Jonathan and Albert can come to terms with what happened. In fact, the former even exclaims to the latter that the fire was nobody’s fault. Having been forgiven, Albert returns home to his father, just like the prodigal son.
This two-parter touches on the hardships of frontier living and thrives when waxing philosophical about the nature of why bad things happen. Jonathan’s struggle with his faith and ultimately finding it again (which feels akin to episodes like “The Lord Is My Shepherd”) is a powerful motivator for the man in his final batch of episodes. It wouldn’t be long before Jonathan and Andy were written out of the show completely, moving to Sleepy Eye to find new work and start over. Merlin Olsen would go on to lead his own series, Father Murphy, with the help of Michael Landon, though it would only last two seasons. In any case, “May We Make Them Proud” remains a powerful two hours of Little House on the Prairie, forcing our characters to reconcile such tragedy with the true adage that life does indeed go on, even when it’s hard.
