Eighth Season (1981-1982)
146. The Reincarnation of Nellie [2 parts]
147. Growin' Pains
148. Dark Sage
149. A Wiser Heart
150. Gambini the Great
151. The Legend of Black Jake
152. Chicago
153. For the Love of Nancy
154. Wave of the Future
155. A Christmas They Never Forgot
156. No Beast So Fierce
157. Stone Soup
158. The Legacy
159. Uncle Jed
160. Second Chance
161. Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow [2 parts] (1st part is 90
minutes)
162. A Promise To Keep
163. A Faraway Cry
164. He Was Only Twelve [2 parts]
146. The Reincarnation Of Nellie 10/05/81 [2 parts]
Percival and Nellie go to New York so that Percival can run the family business now that
his father has died. Mrs. Oleson gets very depressed because of Nellie leaving. The
Olesons decide to adopt a girl to take the place of Nellie. While they are in Sleepy Eye,
they find a girl that looks almost exactly like Nellie when she was young. Nancy turns out
to be worse than Nellie ever was. She even locks another girl in the ice house. The
students devise a plan to teach Nancy a lesson. They trick her into being the star in a
dunking tank. Also during this episode, Adam and Mary move to New York so that they can
earn a living and Hester Sue comes to Walnut Grove to work at the restaurant.
147. Growing Pains 10/12/91
James is trying to be more like Albert. He even wants to shave like Albert has to. While
James is shaving, he breaks Albert's razor. James steals a razor from the mercantile
hoping Albert wouldn't notice the difference. When the truth is found out about the razor,
James runs away. Albert takes off after him. When Albert finds James, it takes a lot of
convincing before James decides to come back home with him.
148. Dark Sage 10/26/81
Doc Baker post an ad for another doctor. A black doctor answers the ad. Doc Baker decides
to give the black doctor just a few minor cases. Doc Baker soon realizes that the black
doctor is probably better than him after the black doctor saves a pregnant mother and her
child. Doc Baker even asks the black doctor to stay.
149. A Wiser Heart 11/02/81
Laura goes to visit Eliza Jane because of a literature seminar that is going on in town.
Laura has to find a part-time job to pay for meals and other stuff. She ends up hating the
job. There is a person who Laura met on the train who begins to like Eliza Jane. Eliza
Jane in turn begins to like the professor teaching the seminar and the professor likes
Laura. The professor tells Laura that her writing is bad when Laura tells him she is
happily married. The man on the train eventually defends Laura's writing. It only takes
one punch by the man to get the professor to take off and leave.
150. Gambini The Great 11/09/81
Gambini, an escape artist, stops by Walnut Grove. Albert quickly takes an interest in what
Gambini does. Albert decides to forget about his schoolwork and instead, practices to be
just like Gambini. Albert changes his mind about the job after Gambini dies when he is
unable to escape.
151. The Legend Of Black Jake 11/16/81
Nels is kidnapped by two crooks. The crooks try to get Mrs. Oleson to pay ransom for her
husband, but she refuses to. This makes Mr. Oleson upset and causes him to help the
crooks. The kidnappers aren't very lucky. After kidnapping several different people, the
crooks decide that they need to try another line of work. They leave without hurting any
of the kidnapped people.
152. Chicago 11/23/81
Mr. Edwards adopted son gets killed, which causes Mr. Edwards to become very depressed.
Mr. Ingalls helps Mr. Edwards through this period. They do not believe that the boy died
accidently. They, along with the help of an editor from a city newspaper, help find the
corrupt businessman who paid to have the boy killed.
153. For The Love Of Nancy 11/30/81
An overweight boy comes to school at Walnut Grove. The schoolkids pick on him because he
is so heavy. Nancy persuades the boy to bully the other school children. The jokes of the
school children get so bad that the obese boy decides to quit school. The school children
then decide that enough is enough. They go over and apologize to him.
154. Wave Of The Future 12/07/81
Mrs. Oleson changes the restaurant into a franchise restaurant, She has a hard time living
up to the agreement of the franchise. Charles and Nels get together and decide to open up
a restaurant of their own, right across the street. The new restaurant forces Mrs.
Oleson's restaurant out of business. The town is now back to normal, or at least as normal
as it can be.
155. A Christmas They Never Forgot 12/21/81
Mary, Adam, Hester Sue, the Wilders, and the Ingalls are all together for Christmas. The
snow begins falling and soon they are snowed in by a blizzard. To pass time, several of
them tell stories. Laura talks about the Christmas in Kansas when Mr. Edwards came.
156. No Beast So Fierce 01/04/82
A new kid in school, Gideon, has a speech problem. Although James has become friends with
Gideon, he and the other school children make fun of Gideon. This causes Gideon to run
away from home. Caroline is the one that eventually finds Gideon and takes him back home.
When James sees Gideon again, he immediately apologizes.
157. Stone Soup 01/18/82
Charles and Almanzo go away for a while, leaving Laura, who is pregnant, to take care of
the farm. When a drought occurs, Laura goes out in the heat trying to water the plants.
She ends up working herself so hard she suffers a heat stroke. She ends up being OK. The
greatest part of this episode occurs when the school children come over to Laura's place
and water the crops.
158. The Legacy 01/25/82
Charles beings making tables so that he could pass on a legacy. While he is at this,
Albert begins taking care of the farm. Charles gets very upset when someone steals his
design and starts producing the tables in large quantities. Charles soon realizes that
memories of his family is a lot more important.
159. Uncle Jed 02/01/82
An elderly relative of James and Cassandra tries to get custody away from Charles. He ends
up being unsuccessful in the lawsuit, which means that Charles kept custody of the
children.
160. Second Chance 02/08/92
Hester Sue's ex-husband, Sam, comes to town. He tells Hester Sue that he was no longer a
drinker and a gambler. Hester Sue believes he has changed and soon decides to marry him.
Hester Sue learns the truth about Sam when his wife and kids come and warn Hester Sue that
Sam is still a drinker and gambler.
161. Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow [2 parts] (1st part is 90
minutes) 02/15/82, 02/22/82
Almanzo suffers a stroke when he goes out to work soon after he was very sick. He ends up
being partially paralyzed. When Laura has her child, Almanzo's sour outlook on life
doesn't change. Eliza Jane decides it would be better if Almanzo and Laura came with her.
Things get worse when a twister comes by and destroys the Wilder's home. This causes
Almanzo to finally wake up and try to walk again. With the help of Charles, he is able to
learn to walk again and rebuild the homestead.
162. A Promise To Keep 03/01/82
Mr. Edwards begins drinking again because he can't forget the death of his son. His wife
finally asks him to leave. Mr. Edwards returns to Walnut Grove. Laura and Almanzo decide
to have Mr. Edwards become the godfather of their child. Meanwhile, Albert is trying to
earn enough money to buy a microscope for a school project. Charles allows Albert to go
along with Mr. Edwards to Sleepy Eye to pick up some goods. In Sleepy Eye, Mr. Edwards
gets drunk. Mr. Edwards speeds out of the town with the wagon causing Albert to fall off
it. Albert gets seriously injured when he is run over by another horse and wagon. Charles
is furious at Isaiah and never wants to see him again. Laura steps in to help Mr. Edwards
get over his drinking problem. Mr. Edwards gets better until he finds out that his wife
wants to divorce him. He goes into Walnut Grove to get some alcohol, but when he sees the
church, he changes his mind. Mr. Edwards then goes into the church to pray for the
strength to get through this rough period.
163. A Faraway Cry 03/08/82
A longtime friend of Caroline writes to her and asks for help. Her friend is pregnant and
lives at a gold prospector's camp where there is an outbreak of influenza. Caroline finds
out that her friend's husband doesn't like his wife and never wanted children at all (including this
baby). Caroline's friend dies during childbirth, but the child survives. In another tent, a
mother's child dies while being born. Caroline decides to give the baby to the other mother
since she knows that the baby will be taken care of properly.
164. He Was Only Twelve [2 parts] 05/03/82, 05/10/82
While Mr. Edwards, Charles, and James are in Sleepy Eye, James gets shot during a bank
robbery. James, who is in a coma, is taken to the hospital. While James is in the
hospital, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Ingalls, and Albert look for the bank robbers. They find them
and bring them to justice. Charles continues to believe that James will get better.
Charles has a vision and builds an altar for god. He brings James there and prays. That
night a thunderstorm moves through and the lightning strikes the altar where Charles and
James were laying. When Charles wakes up, he discovers that James has somehow recovered.
This is a GREAT Episode that must be seen!!
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