I was saddened to open the paper yesterday and read of the death of
Dabbs Greer, an actor whose career spanned more than half a century. He
played all sorts of roles over the years but was probably most famous
for portraying Rev. Robert Alden on Little House on the Prairie. Among the most memorable episodes in which he appeared was The Lord is My Shepherd, the emotional first-season two-parter in which the Ingallses welcome, all too briefly, a sixth member into their family.
The first half of the episode is a roller coaster of emotions as
Caroline (Karen Grassle) informs Charles (Michael Landon) that a baby is
on the way. He's ecstatic, not least because of the prospect that after
three girls, he may be about to get the son he's always wanted. He's so
invested in this possibility that he refers to the baby as "he"
throughout the pregnancy, to Caroline's gentle disapproval. When it
turns out he's right, though, nothing can stem his exuberance, and he's
reluctant to take his eyes off the boy for a moment, so eager is he to
revel in this fourth foray into fatherhood.
The town rejoices
with Charles and Caroline, but little Laura (Melissa Gilbert) isn't so
thrilled to see her father so enamored of this baby when she's always
shared an especially close kinship with him. Suddenly she feels cast
aside, and as hard as she might try to do everything a boy can do,
she'll always be a daughter, never a son. She's so bitter about Charles'
lack of attention to her that when Charles, Jr. takes a turn for the
worse, she refuses to say a special prayer for him, horrifying Mary
(Melissa Sue Anderson). When he fails to recover, Laura blames herself
for his death and is utterly miserable until a conversation with Rev.
Alden convinces her that she can accomplish a miracle if only she can
manage to get close enough to God.
This is a powerful episode,
and Landon and Gilbert give especially moving performances as Charles
and Laura struggle through the wrenching pangs of jealousy, grief and
guilt. It's even more overtly religious than most episodes in the
series, with the psalm-inspired title a strong undercurrent throughout
as the characters turn to God for help in their darkest hour.
(Incidentally, this psalm, generally seen as the most beloved of the
150, also provided the title for a second-season LOST
episode rich in religious imagery.) Both Rev. Alden and kindly Dr.
Baker (Kevin Hagen) are deeply frustrated by their helplessness in the
face of the Ingalls' tragedy, but the way the community rallies around
the grieving family is admirable, particularly the very practical help
Mr. Edwards (Victor French) provides when Laura goes missing.
The second half of the episode takes considerable creative license, but
it's such a compelling emotional and spiritual journey for both Laura
and Charles that it's hard to mind. While Charles frantically searches
for Laura, riddled with guilt over the fact that he unwittingly
neglected her in his excitement over the new baby, she stubbornly scales
a nearby mountain in order to be as physically close to God as possible
so she can convince Him to swap her life for her brother's.
Once she reaches the top, she falls in with an enigmatic vagabond by the
name of Jonathan (Ernest Borgnine). Though Laura is initially reluctant
to accept his help, he assures her that he and God are old friends and
that whatever answer she's seeking, she may just have to be patient for
it, and she might as well have something to eat in the meantime. As he
looks after her, he cleverly sets the stage for her father to find her,
never letting on to Laura that this is his intention. When the
inevitable reunion occurs, Jonathan is nowhere to be found, and we are
left to wonder whether this man might just have had a touch of the
angelic about him. I find it interesting that his first name is the same
as that of the celestial main character in Landon's later series, Highway to Heaven.
Little House on the Prairie
was a consistently excellent show, but few episodes packed the
emotional whallop of this bittersweet but ultimately comforting
two-parter. If you only watch one episode of Little House, it should probably be The Lord is My Shepherd.
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