The “Little House on the Prairie” Cast Remembers ‘Disturbing’ and ‘Horrifying’ Episode: ‘It's Still Shocking’

Though fans mightiness deliberation of Little House connected nan Prairie arsenic only wholesome, nan formed thinks 1 section was peculiarly "disturbing," “horrifying” and “shocking.”

On nan Sept. 25 section of nan Little House 50 podcast, Alison Arngrim (who played Nellie Oleson) and Dean Butler (who played Almanzo Wilder) were joined by their co-host Pamela Bob to talk nan play 3 section “Bully Boys.” The section saw 2 big men and a teenager, nan Galenders brothers, get successful Walnut Grove, Minn., wherever they quickly wreak havoc connected nan townspeople. 

“There is truthful overmuch woman-beating successful this episode. It's crazy,” Bob said successful nan podcast.

“They target nan women. They're cowards,” Arngrim, 63, said. “They don't want to conflict nan men. They wanted to onslaught nan girls.” She called nan men “creepy and disturbing” and said location was a Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibe to nan men. Roy Jenson played George Galender, Michael LeClair played Bubba Galender and Geoffrey Lewis played Sam Galender.

“This crippled is very simple,” Butler, 69, said. “It's really astir really overmuch will group take.” Butler besides said nan Galenders were “an illustration of nary civilized guardrails of immoderate kind.”

When Bubba spends clip successful nan schoolyard pinch nan different kids, Bob said, “This was nan craziest segment ever erstwhile he, retired of nan blue, punches Mary successful nan face.” Bubba purposefully knocks a woman down pinch a dodgeball, and erstwhile Mary tells him to extremity being mean, Bubba punches her. 

“It is jarring to opportunity nan slightest arsenic a spectator watching this,” Bob said of seeing Mary, played by Melissa Sue Anderson, beryllium attacked. She added that Melissa Gilbert’s Laura was “a small much nonchalant” than you’d want her to be.  

Even though Mary has a achromatic oculus for nan remainder of nan episode, she feels pressured to support what happened to her quiet. In nan episode, Arngrim’s Nellie tries to make herself Bubba’s girlfriend, which Arngrim called “reprehensible.” “She sees him beating women, and she's cool pinch it,” she said. 

The breaking constituent for nan municipality is erstwhile Karen Grassle’s Caroline “Ma” Ingalls is attacked by nan 2 older men erstwhile she’s stepping into municipality to waste eggs. “

“It's each intersexual innuendo. It's horrible. It's horrific,” Bob said. “It's really bad,” Arngrim agreed. 

In nan scene, nan men leer astatine Caroline and touch her face. She begs them to fto her go, but they drawback her handbasket and each nan eggs autumn and break. She yet breaks distant from them and runs home. 

Butler called nan scene, “probably arsenic overtly a menacing segment arsenic . . . has ever been changeable connected nan show.”

“And this is Caroline. I mean, viewers had to person gone, ‘Oh my god, that's your mom,’” Arngrim said. The scene, she said, was intelligibly “assault.” 

Arngrim praised Grassle for her capacity arsenic she tells Michael Landon’s Charles “Pa” Ingalls. “Her portrayal of trauma from intersexual battle is truthful dormant on,” she said. “The desperation to opportunity it wasn’t that.” She tries to blasted herself arsenic she’s “losing it” until she tells Charles what happened. 

But things yet activity out. Near nan extremity of nan episode, Mary and Laura guidelines up to Bubba and galore of nan kids subordinate together to hit him up. “The children person said, we're going to guidelines together, and we're going to grip this,” Butler said. “And this is nan . . . powerful allegorical infinitesimal for everybody to see. It’s clip to guidelines up together and beryllium counted erstwhile personification is treating you wrong.” He added that sometimes nan hosts person called Mary “a narc,” but there’s “no civilized ambiguity aliases doubt” successful nan character, and that shines successful this episode. 

Ultimately, Reverend Alden (Dabbs Greer), who had been sympathetic to nan Galenders, calls them retired during religion connected Sunday, and nan men thief him eject them from nan religion and nan town. As they locomotion them out, Caroline leads nan women successful religion successful singing “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”

Bob said nan section is “still shocking” each clip she rewatches it, and Butler called it “stunning” to spot this overmuch violence. Arngrim added that LeClair was really very bully successful existent life. 

Little House connected nan Prairie premiered successful 1974 and ran for 9 seasons, ending successful 1983.