thistlechaser: (Puzzled (Getbackers))
[personal profile] thistlechaser
Play the game, boggle along with me! What TV show is this storyline from?

An underaged schoolgirl matured faster than her classmates. After looking at "porn", some boys decided to go peep at her. Her father, an abusive man, caught them. He blamed his daughter for the boys' actions.

A short time later, the girl is raped. A man was hiding in some bushes and grabbed her. The details weren't shown, but it was very clear what happened.

The father again blames her. He grabs her, bruising her as he shakes her and yells at her. "You reap what you sow!" He makes her swear to never tell anyone what happened.

Couple days later, boys circle her, harassing her, grabbing her. She's wild with fear, a teacher has to rescue her.

The father fills her every free moment from then on with hard, physical work.

The girl collapses at school. Turns out she's pregnant. Father says they'll have to move, all because of her.

Couple days later, the girl runs away. The rapist finds her again. The music as he stalks her is enough to give me nightmares -- it raises the hairs on the back of my neck. She falls off a ladder while trying to escape him, her father and another man from town show up and shoot the rapist, and moments later the girl dies of her injuries.

---

What edgy show is this? Something on cable? Late night TV? No, it's Little House on the Prairie. I don't watch the show often anymore, but I've enjoyed the few eps I've caught. None of them have been like this two-parter though.

I watched the series multiple times as a child, I suppose most of this must have gone right over my head. It had some good lessons in it, especially for the times (the 70s!). Charles Ingalls spoke a few times about how it wasn't her fault, no one should blame her when they don't even know what happened, etc. I'm just boggling at how dark and sad it is.

You know, come to think of it, all the episodes I've caught as an adult have contained very mature themes. One about racism and the other about the death of a parent. If I had the time, I bet this would be a series well-worth rewatching.

If you get the Hallmark Channel and care to watch, they seem to show three episodes a day at 5, 6, and 7 PM. (Likely repeated at other times of the day, too.)

Edit: Stop smiling, "shocked" mood icon. I don't mean the smiling kind of shocked!

Date: 2013-07-24 01:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bastets-place.livejournal.com
Well, remember that the book series itself (starting at the very beginning) is about how a woman who married far beneath herself tries to figure out how to keep her family alive as her ne'er do well husband bounces from job to farm to job to...

Date: 2013-07-24 02:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistle-chaser.livejournal.com
You know, I don't think I've read the books... As a kid I thought they were too girly (haha), and I never got around to it as an adult. I really should check them out.

Date: 2013-07-24 05:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] voidmagus.livejournal.com
Gods...Little House on the Silent Hill, sounds like. Girl should've died from her injuries, but doesn't and instead unleashes a horrible but not undeserved curse on everyone involved.

Date: 2013-07-24 06:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ani-mama.livejournal.com
I loved the book series as a kid, and still like it...but it sounds like the TV series was a lot more intense!

Date: 2013-07-24 01:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistle-chaser.livejournal.com
Ha! That would fit...

Date: 2013-07-24 01:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistle-chaser.livejournal.com
I suspect so! If things like rape were in print, it would be much clearer than it was in the show.

Date: 2013-07-25 08:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com
I remember that episode! I caught it a few years ago, as an adult, and was very impressed by how dark and serious it was.

Date: 2013-07-25 03:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistle-chaser.livejournal.com
Same! It's stuck with me for days now.

Date: 2013-07-25 11:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] teaandfailure.livejournal.com
Reading the books as an adult is a whole new experience too. I don't agree with the poster above that the father is a shiftless ne'er do-well, but he does have the wanderlust and put them in a lot of danger, and it is a glorious moment when the mother finally puts her foot down about it.

However, when I read them as a kid, I didn't realize a lot of things. There's a scene in one of the books where Laura is talking about how she likes hearing the railroad workers come home in the evening, and Pa says, oh, you should hear them singing when they work, and Ma says, "Charles," and he immediately turns around and is all DON'T YOU GIRLS EVER GO NEAR THERE. EVER. DO YOU HEAR ME? EVER? As a child I had no idea what it was about. As an adult I realize they were afraid the daughters would be raped.

Also one book is basically about how they all almost starve to death one winter when the trains can't run.

I STILL LOVE THEM THOUGH.

Date: 2013-07-26 02:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistle-chaser.livejournal.com
Okay, I need to read these books for sure. ...bah, looks like they're not out in ebook format yet. One day! One day all books that ever existed will be in e-format!

Mumble. :/

Date: 2013-07-26 01:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kamalloy.livejournal.com
There is this thing called a library... ;)

I should find where my copies got stored and re-read them, because I totally didn't pick up on things like that when I was younger, either.

Date: 2013-07-26 02:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistle-chaser.livejournal.com
Haha indeed, or I could buy the physical books, but I really don't want physical books...

Date: 2013-07-26 03:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] webbapettigrew.livejournal.com
Little House on the Prairie (I know I'm late to the party on this). That episode creeped me out!

Date: 2013-07-26 03:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistle-chaser.livejournal.com
Never too late! And same, it creeped me out, too.

Side note: Somehow you fell off my friends list! Ack! *adds you back on* Sorry for my unintended radio silence towards you!

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