While walking home from school one afternoon, Mary and Laura encountered a charming man named Granville who was returning to Walnut Grove after a 12 year absence, and was looking for Mrs. Whipple. See, he's the long-lost son Mrs. Whipple always talked about and yet never mentioned. So Granville was happily reunited with his mother and taken upstairs to his old room. Granville was a decorated war hero after receiving a medal in the battle of Shiloh, and he'd been with the Philadelphia philharmonic, as Mary explains to us. Granville is also a recovering morphine addict, as he was wounded in battle and they put him on the stuff to ease the pain, but ever since, Granville's been getting those old, familiar urges. The next day, Mrs. Whipple and her son venture into town, where he plans to give music lessons to the folks who wanted them, and to his (mis)fortune, Harriet points him in the direction of his first two students, Nellie and Willie, but hope came in the form of Mary, whom he noted as very disciplined and learned quickly. He offered her free lessons provided she print music sheets for him. It was a deal, and so Granville introduced Mary Ingalls to the tiny piano, and while she caught on pretty quick, Laura struggled to play the fiddle like Charles. That night, Granville brought over his banjo and they had themselves a good old jam session, 1870s style! And with Mary on the toy piano, if we could just get Edwards on drums and Nels on bass, they could form a band.
Next day in town, Granville meets his war buddy Roy Collins' wife, Vera and her son, Roy Jr., whom Granville seemed very tense around, especially when the boy showed an interest in playing the bugle and mentioned how much his father loved having him as a friend. Seems there's some things ol' Granville hasn't told us yet. That night, he learned a very powerful lesson in that old habits are hard to break, because he went right for his morphine stash and come morning, he was very irritable to both his mother and kind Mary who brought over the music sheets. He acted like a creep and walked out. He went down to Oleson's to see about getting some morphine, but they no longer carried it, but pointed him in the direction of Doc Baker's office. The doctor examined Granville's wounded leg and could tell right off the bat that the man was a morphine addict, despite his denial. Granville wouldn't take no for an answer, because that night he broke into Doc Baker's office and stole his whole supply or morphine, and then he had himself a nightmare about Shiloh, featuring the late Roy Collins, who knew Granville's other deep, dark secret. In the morning, Mrs. Whipple learned of her son's addiction starting up again and confronted him on it, where he admits that during Shiloh, he displayed cowardice and Roy Collins ended up dying because of it. Granville blamed himself. However, his mother told him to man up and face his problems, and the first thing Granville decided to do was tell Roy Jr. the truth about the friendship his pa had with him. Meanwhile, Doc Baker discovered his office vandalized and his morphine gone, so he rode out with Charles to the Whipple place to confront Granville, only he was gone and his mother was very worried. When going out to search for him, Charles found his horse, and then just up the trail, he saw Granville's body half-buried under a pile of leaves and a few empty morphine packets beside him. Well, at least now he was truly out of his pain.
Quite a downbeat ending and a tragic end for such a man, and Granville Whipple was a good man, albeit somewhat misguided, impulsive and, you know, a drug addict. Richard Mulligan was really good as Granville, Queenie Smith was also wonderful as Mrs. Whipple, and Melissa Sue Anderson was very good as Mary. B.W. Sandefur turned in a great script and Bill Claxton directed it to perfection. I like how this starts out as a bit of a fun episode what with the musical hijinks, then when Granville starts up his morphine addiction again, it quickly turns dramatic. Such a premise would be repeated in Season 9's "Home Again" where Albert becomes a morphine addict. Pretty intense stuff. I'd say Soldier's Return is definitely worth checking out. If someone you know is struggling with an addiction, tell'em about Granville and let them know they're not alone.
Next day in town, Granville meets his war buddy Roy Collins' wife, Vera and her son, Roy Jr., whom Granville seemed very tense around, especially when the boy showed an interest in playing the bugle and mentioned how much his father loved having him as a friend. Seems there's some things ol' Granville hasn't told us yet. That night, he learned a very powerful lesson in that old habits are hard to break, because he went right for his morphine stash and come morning, he was very irritable to both his mother and kind Mary who brought over the music sheets. He acted like a creep and walked out. He went down to Oleson's to see about getting some morphine, but they no longer carried it, but pointed him in the direction of Doc Baker's office. The doctor examined Granville's wounded leg and could tell right off the bat that the man was a morphine addict, despite his denial. Granville wouldn't take no for an answer, because that night he broke into Doc Baker's office and stole his whole supply or morphine, and then he had himself a nightmare about Shiloh, featuring the late Roy Collins, who knew Granville's other deep, dark secret. In the morning, Mrs. Whipple learned of her son's addiction starting up again and confronted him on it, where he admits that during Shiloh, he displayed cowardice and Roy Collins ended up dying because of it. Granville blamed himself. However, his mother told him to man up and face his problems, and the first thing Granville decided to do was tell Roy Jr. the truth about the friendship his pa had with him. Meanwhile, Doc Baker discovered his office vandalized and his morphine gone, so he rode out with Charles to the Whipple place to confront Granville, only he was gone and his mother was very worried. When going out to search for him, Charles found his horse, and then just up the trail, he saw Granville's body half-buried under a pile of leaves and a few empty morphine packets beside him. Well, at least now he was truly out of his pain.
Quite a downbeat ending and a tragic end for such a man, and Granville Whipple was a good man, albeit somewhat misguided, impulsive and, you know, a drug addict. Richard Mulligan was really good as Granville, Queenie Smith was also wonderful as Mrs. Whipple, and Melissa Sue Anderson was very good as Mary. B.W. Sandefur turned in a great script and Bill Claxton directed it to perfection. I like how this starts out as a bit of a fun episode what with the musical hijinks, then when Granville starts up his morphine addiction again, it quickly turns dramatic. Such a premise would be repeated in Season 9's "Home Again" where Albert becomes a morphine addict. Pretty intense stuff. I'd say Soldier's Return is definitely worth checking out. If someone you know is struggling with an addiction, tell'em about Granville and let them know they're not alone.