Season 1 Overview

Airdate: 05/01/1985

Directed By: Michael Landon

There it is. The audience started to think The Right Thing was the season finale, even though it didn’t seem like one at all. Yet, the network had other plans, and in May 1985—two months after that episode aired—they presented the actual season finale. This first season was quite something, but Michael Landon was ready to move on to even bigger plans for the second. Right now, he has to conclude this, with a huge episode divided in two parts and reported here as such, this being the first one.

Here is part two instead.

• Assignment

For the conclusion of the season, they set for a sweeping, sprawling, ideal love story that encompassed basically any tropes of this first season for a single, great experience with unexpected turns at every corner. In the assignment, the daughter of a horse trainer is in love with the son of her employer. Of course, both families disapprove that, and of course, the man has a strained relationship his dad. So, it has it all: love assignment, father and son problems, recycles (this whole premise is Romeo And Juliet) and sports drama. And what’s missing here (like sickness) will be added in part two.

Basically, there’s anything that has been touched upon in the first season. Except the elderly folks (probably because they had just made an episode about that) and the bums, bins and drugs, but that’s likely because it would have been too much.

• Background

The background of the episode is very unclear: the assignment takes place in a ranch, but it’s hard to figure where exactly that is. Of it were the same as the production, then it’s in Thousand Oaks, California. As for the time span, part one takes place over the course of a month (this detail will be revealed in part two). It could be dated as taking place on Spring 1985 and concludes before June (the beginning of the next season), by assuming this assignment actually takes place as the last one of the season. However, the episode right before it took place on March of the previous year instead; so it’s actually unclear if that’s the case.

• Characters

This episode reveals for the first time that Mark dislikes horses. This detail is rather unusual, as in the later season he won’t seem to show that fear anymore. Maybe he got over it at some point in the series. Or maybe he just forgot about it, the same way he had mentioned he disliked roller coaster but will forget about it in the second season.

But there is one incongruity here: in the episode Going Home, Going Home Mark only told Jonathan that he was sent to his grandpa’s ranch for WWII, as his dad was in the army and his mom was sick. Instead, here Jonathan is surprised by Mark’s comment saying: “You grew up in a ranch”. So, maybe Mark spent more time with his grandpa than what he said on that episode, or maybe the writer modified his backstory at a later point.

Also, at the beginning, Mark complains that people do not need help in Hawaii. This marks the second time in the series he says that (see As Difficult As ABC for the first time), and in a future season they will address that.

But why do people always need help in California, for that matter.

• Actors (Highway Actors, Little House)

This episode boasts an ensemble. And one name is very important for Little House: the character of the doctor is played by Richard Bull, a very familiar actor to Landon and French, and the audience of Little House too. He first met Landon for a Bonanza episode in 1969, where he played a guest character.

Then, five years later, he would be drafted for the first season of Little House as a regular playing Mr. Oleson, friendly owner of the Mercantile alongside his despotic wife.

Eventually, he remained in the series through its whole nine years run, from the very first episode of the first season to the ninth season. Actually, for the first eight seasons he was credited as recurring character, while in the ninth season he became the protagonist, with his name appearing in the introduction. So, by considering credits in the introduction as leading actors, that means Little House had ten protagonists, Richard Bull being one. That makes him basically the only protagonist of that series to have made a guest appearance on Highway (Landon and French do not count as “guests” on Highway, of course). Throughout the nine years he was directed by Landon and French multiple times, so he was pretty familiar with them by the time he found them back here.

And he would also come back: excluding part two of this episode, Bull will play a different character in the fourth season of Highway (making him a Highway actors). Then, in 1990, Landon got him in the final complete project of his career, before Landon’s death in 1991 (excluding the pilot for a TV series that never came to be). Following Landon’s death, Bull continued acting alone until his retirement fifteen years later.

Anyway, for both his appearances on Highway, the character he plays won’t be part of the assignment; actually, in this episode he doesn’t even a name (he’s only credited as “Doctor”), but he’s still involved somehow, and Bull is here to play him.

• Production and Setting.

Unlike that other two part episode of the series, which was written as a single one and then divided at some point during production, this episode was already meant to be a two part episode, with two different scripts each part and two separate production schedules, the first part entirely produced before the second. It’s currently unclear when this episode was produced, though: the script was ready on February 1985 and, considering they plausibly made The Right Thing before (as it was scheduled to air earlier), likely this episode was produced on March for a week (like most episodes), while part two at some later point in the future.

As for the settings, the ranch where most of the episode takes place is the Hidden Valley in Thousand Oaks, so, back to California.

Glossary:

Cute: when Mark tries to get on a horse for the first time upon Jonathan’s advice, and ends on a pond.

Also, it’s likely French doing the stunt here, considering that he apparently never used a double early in his western career, and he’s used to go on horses. I mean, it’s not everyday an actor who hasn’t done a stunt for many years (considering there wasn’t any dangerous stunt involving his character on Little House nor any of his later project) decide to go out there and do it. And it’s a pretty dangerous stunt involving jumping over a fence and riding without any helmet on a crazy horse.

Doozy: although he’s grown man, Garth is a real doozy, complaining about everything, annoying whoever is around. But, unlike other doozy kids, he is well aware of that, which could be seen as an advantage or disadvantage for him. Also, in the episode he said that he just finished college, so he’s not that old either.

References: finally, in the season finale, they start making references to the events of past episodes. Specifically, at the beginning of the episode, when Mark confesses he doesn’t like horse, he surprises Jonathan, who points out Mark grew up in a farm with his grandpa.

That makes reference to what had revealed in the episode Going Home, Going Home, where it was told Mark spent some time over his grandpa’s ranch in Oklahoma. Actually, on that episode Mark only explained that he was sent there during WWII, not that he “grew up” there, but these are just details.

Also, nobody mentions that there were no horses in the Going Home episode. But that would be a digress.

Actors’ early appearance: the main assignment of the episode, the horse trainer, is played by Helen Hunt, recipient of multiple accolades, here in an early role of her career.

Recycle: there are two different recycles here. One is about the production: the white horse named “Hurricane” that appears at the beginning of the episode is familiar.

That’s the same horse of “A Divine Madness“, where he was called Galahad instead.

The second recycle is about David Rose and its background: when Garth is defeated by Lizzy and goes out getting drunk, there is a familiar melody playing while he is there.

It’s the same one that played all through the episode of Song Of The Wild West on multiple instances.

It’s likely they all listen to the same radio on this series, except Mark, who has his own old goodies to annoy Jonathan with.

New “Stuff” Power: in the episode, Jonathan uses the “Stuff” to supposedly tame horses and make them go mad. Actually, there is something edgy about it: when Garth’s future wife buys Lizzy’s horse, he uses the Stuff to get her off.

That’s painful, and it could have endangered her life. But, apparently, he was still allowed to do that. And he finds it amusing as well.

So, he’s allowed to use the “Stuff” also to injure people, sometimes. But never in a church, of course.

Assignment: Jonathan and Mark are assigned to get a ranch owner’s daughter to fall in love with the son of a wealthy businessman in spite of adversities.

As usual, Jonathan and Mark are driving toward their next assignment, now in the countryside. So, they arrive at some ranch and meet the owner’s daughter, Lizzy.

They tell Lizzy they’re looking for work, and she directs them to her father, who is trying to quell a mad horse.

Jonathan proves to be the man who whispered to horses, and they’re hired on the spot as stable hands.

At least this time he didn’t need references.

Some time later, Lizzy meets Garth Armstrong, the son of a wealthy businessman who’s hired Lizzy’s father to find a horse for him.

Because, you know course, it’s the world of equestrian sports, and horse riding is a game for the rich (as Lizzy explained Jonathan and Mark when she told them why she can’t compete). I mean, it couldn’t have possibly been that someone from his background would be into something like soccer.

Anyway, Lizzy and Garth don’t get along, which leads to Garth forcibly kissing her.

That’s totally unexpected and uncomfortable for her—definitely harassment by today’s standards. Luckily, Jonathan didn’t witness it, because, as it turns out, Garth is engaged to another woman. Not sure an angel would be thrilled to see a groom kissing another woman before the wedding.

As expected, Garth doesn’t handle the rejection well. He’s the stereotypical spoiled rich kid who always gets what he wants, so he asks Jonathan, who’s passing by, for advice on how to win Lizzy over, and Jonathan suggests that he might lend her his horse for the upcoming national competition.

On race day, Lizzy meticulously plans every detail, even instructing Mark to brush the horse.

Now, that’s a bit far-fetched: if Mark doesn’t like horses and doesn’t want to carry out the job, what did they hire him for in the first place, and how long has he been working if he still has to get used to being around horses?

Anyway, the horse gets agitated, and Mark clumsily gets over the fence while a girl witnesses the scene. And she will look familiar to Little House audience.

That’s her: Jennifer Steffin, one of the twins who played Rose on Little House in the two concluding episodes of the series. However, here she has a role with no line that lasts less than thirty seconds, and she wasn’t even credited for it; that’s why she isn’t listed in the Little House Actors with Richard Bull earlier. It’s so random too: perhaps her family owned the actual ranch where they were filming, or she happened to be there for some reason.

Now, Garth approaches Lizzy before the race and proposes a bet—whoever loses buys dinner for the other.

However, in the race, Garth’s horse refuses to continue the race, so he just gives up. Lizzy scolds him for quitting and walks out on him, and Garth just goes out getting drunk.

But Jonathan finds him and rescues him.

Just like how he helped Mark in the Pilot.

Also, Jonathan puts his hand over Garth to wake him up, which seemingly implies he uses the “Stuff” to make him recover. That’s unclear, but it could be the case, as there are some Angelic Magic instances in the series, where Jonathan uses the “Stuff” to help Mark recover from serious injuries (as in the Going Home episode). But again, it could be just a coincidence, so it doesn’t count as a “Stuff” instance.

Anyway, what’s clear instead is that Jonathan uses his otherworldly strength to pull out the steering wheel.

That’s a warning to the audience: never driving while drunk, or some angels will break your car.

Then, Jonathan walks Garth home and convinces him to apologize to Lizzy for his behavior.

So, he goes over Lizzy’s place and asks her out.

And they won’t be showing this car again. Probably they only rented it for a day.

The next day, Mr. Armstrong scolds his son for having dinner with a girl like Lizzy, and reminds him that he is already engaged to Lane, a wealthy heir like himself. Later, this Lane shows up uninvited at the ranch to buy Lizzy’s horse, just to annoy her.

Then, when Garth leads the horse back to the stable, he finds Lizzy has fainted, and he helps her up. She resolves visiting the nameless doctor played by Richard Bull to see what she can do about it, and she’s told they’ll have to make a complete check up on her.

He hasn’t changed an iota.

Then, it’s the day of the second race, and Garth approaches Lizzy with another bet for her.

Now, that’s problematic: nobody said she loves him. And they’ve known each other for about a month. I mean, Garth can’t force a girl to marry him by a bet, or he’s not any better than his father, trying to pair him off with Lane. This episode confuses courtesy with modern harassment.

Unless that’s how it used to be in the 1980s, and people liked it.

Still, Lizzy accepts it, and it’s finally Garth’s moment — while David Rose feels rather adventurous.

Eventually, Garth wins the race, and they disappear. What happens after the race is left unknown because the next scene takes place that night, but apparently, Lizzy and Garth eloped just like in the classic stories.

So, Mr. Armstrong storms into the ranch to insult Mr. McGill, demanding he stop the marriage, but Mr. McGill reacts harshly.

Mr. Armstrong even asks what’s the matter.

Like, you’ve relentlessly insulted him, and now you’re surprised he’s reacting that way.

But the real problem is soon revealed.

By this point, the audience can tell the writers have recycled every major issue and trope from past episodes: a Cinderella love story, trouble family drama, so now illness too. Mr. Armstrong hadn’t noticed that the doctor has arrived behind him to inform Mr. McGill that Lizzy has a serious disease and needs urgent treatment.

Also, that doctor must have been very kind to go all the way to Lizzy’s place to inform her about the disease, because he could have just called her (phones existed back then) to schedule an urgent meeting at the hospital with her. He’s surely as friendly as Mr. Oleson in Little House. Or maybe he’s doing it just like the way it used to be in the old days — when people used to trust each other and didn’t use locks, apparently.

Now, there’s a fireplace burning in the house.

Just like the Little House one they barely used in the series.

And that fire gloomily concludes the first part of the season one final episode. Back to those days when the audience had to wait a week to discover the fate of the character: what is going to happen to Lizzy now, and how Garth will deal with his father. But most importantly, will Jonathan help Mark get over his fear of horses (presumably not, because they won’t mention it again in the season).

This episode aired on May 1985, more than a month following the previous one. That was a bet, considering that on May the ratings of most TV show are not as strong as the rest of the year, with the summer approaching (a period to air rerun of old shows, and occasionally burning off series that didn’t fit the Fall and Winter schedule). Yet, this episode managed to get some very good ratings not just for that period of the year (which is evident by comparing it to other programs airing that week), but also for any period, higher than most episodes in the first half of the season. It was definitely a good lead up for the second part.