I pains me to report that my entire family agrees that these three episodes are just awful! I struggle to even find words to characterize these three stories but melodramatic, over-the-top, ill-contrived, and stupid (the word my kids used most often) are just a few. I’ll try not to provide a spoiler, but I will say that the first episode involves killing off one of the principal characters.

Which brings me to a point that has bothered us many times as we’ve viewed the entire series–there is a terrible problem with continuity. It’s as if no one can remember what was written in previous episodes. I seem to recall in a previous season that the very same character who is now dying was said to have gone on to lead a very productive life, pursuing their dream. Likewise, the final episode involves the takeover of the town by someone who supposedly has the deed to all the land, which seems to conflict with episodes in previous seasons that dealt with land ownership–ie, when the railroad wanted to force everyone to sell to them. Of the three, the second episode involving the kidnapping of Rose, is perhaps the most ill-contrived story line in all of LHOTP.

In fairness, I’ll admit, we did enjoy the interviews with Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson. Ms. Anderson stunned me with her continuing beauty as she has not aged at all. The camera person was also impressed, as evidenced by the many close ups of her. (Sorry, no close up of Ms. Gilbert. )

The two stars we’ve given reflect our enjoyment of the interviews and the fact that there was some entertainment value in that we laughed our fool heads off while watching! What a contrast to season one, which always left us with a tear in the eye and a warm spot in our hearts.
Rating: 2 / 5