Johnny's Character Learns That Ill-gotten Cash Isn't Worth the Cost in The Collection

My grandma has a sizable collection of Little House on the Prairie videos, and when I was over at her house recently, we had a little marathon. The first episode we watched was third-season premiere The Collection, and it's notable for its guest star, a gentleman by the name of Johnny Cash.

Since I saw Walk the Line last year, I have a better sense of the arc this remarkable singer's life followed, and it strikes me that his is largely a redemptive story. Growing up poor, rejected by his father and burdened with guilt over his brother's death, he took a few wrong turns in his desperation to make his own way. Eventually, though, thanks to some very dedicated friends, with June Carter Cash at the forefront, and a faith that had never really left him, he became the man God intended him to be.

Art imitates life in The Collection as Cash portrays a man who drifts from town to town, swindling folks who are scarcely surviving themselves but rationalizing his actions by insisting to his protesting wife (Carter Cash) that it's their only way of getting by. As the episode begins, he crosses paths with Reverend Alden (Dabbs Greer), who has taken ill. Walnut Grove's sage minister was headed home to tell his flock about a fire that ravaged a nearby community and solicit donations, but the Man in Black (as he soon will be, since he nicks the pastor's church robes and hat) offers to take up the collection for him while his wife nurses Reverend Alden to health. His intent, however, is to keep the gifts and high-tail it out of town with the missus at the end of the week, leaving the reverend to wait for him at the appointed meeting place miles away.

Undeterred by his wife's Jiminy Cricket-ish pleas, he heads to Walnut Grove on horseback, his glorious voice melodiously echoing among the surrounding fields, reaching the appreciative ears of Mary Ingalls (Melissa Sue Anderson), who immediately takes a shine to the man who introduces himself as Brother Hodgekiss. She's so impressed with him, she offers to shadow him as he collects his donations, advising him on which folks are more likely to be generous and turning on her girlish charm when he has a tough sell. She even manages to trick miserly Harriet Oleson (Scottie MacGregor) into offering her storage room free of charge, since money is hard to come by in this tiny town but most people have some food, clothes or old odds and ends to contribute.

Although his tenure in Walnut Grove is to last just a few days, Brother Hodgekiss inspires the town to muster up as much goodwill as they can for their neighbors in need. He is a gifted and persuasive speaker. What's more, he seems to have a knack for seeing right into people's souls and administering just the right comfort, whether it's to a fiery old widow longing for her salty sea dog of a husband or a little girl whose puppy has just met with an untimely demise. As soon as he dons those robes, he begins to act the part of a deeply caring albeit unconventional preacher so compellingly that we soon can't help but wonder if he's convinced himself that he is who he claims.

Whatever his motivations, as the days progress, Brother Hodgekiss makes a tangibly positive impact upon the community. But every time someone praises him for his virtue, he can do little more than nod uncomfortably and excuse himself. I think Cash is marvelous in this episode, pouring his soul into a character who obviously has enormous potential for goodness, who cares deeply about other people if he can stop thinking about himself long enough. And we get to hear him sing. Reverend Alden is crucial too, especially when he returns to Walnut Grove in restored health for a pivotal culminating scene, and Mary, whom Brother Hodgekiss describes upon their meeting as an angel, truly becomes that for the vagabond, unwittingly instilling in him the seeds of a virtuous life.

Nels Oleson (Richard Bull), an upright, long-suffering soul who is always a source of comic relief as he struggles to maintain his ethics and his sanity under the constant gaze of his shrewish wife, caught my eye here because it seems to me that, up until a critical point in the episode, he is the only one who suspects that this traveling preacher may not be all that he appears. Perhaps I misread him, but I detected a certain edge to his voice, a hardness in his stare in most of his scenes with Brother Hodgekiss. I suspect that Nels gives him the key to the store to test him, yet if this is the case, the only power he exerts over Hodgekiss is a candy-coated guilt trip much like the sarcastic platitudes Maria offers during her first dinner with the Von Trapps in The Sound of Music. In both cases, underneath the wry humor is the implication that these statements can still be true if the listeners choose another course.

The Collection is a powerful episode about community and compassion. Johnny Cash steps into his role so completely, it seems he experiences anew the transformative power of love, convincing whoever may be watching that it's never too late for a second chance.