We've met Mrs. Whipple and know she's a widow, but today we discover that she also has a son. Granville Whipple fought in the Civil War. Unfortunately, he was wounded and as common knowledge tells you, the war doctors gave the wounded w wonder drug called morphine. It did wonders for the pain, but what they didn't know was that it caused a dependence on it.
Granville is a musician and has returned home to reunite with his mother and teach music. That gets Laura to asking her Pa to teach her the fiddle. Nellie and Willie became his first pupils. And even Mary started to learn the mini-piano in exchange for copying music.
We find out almost right off that he had become addicted to the white powder. His mother had been aware of it and became frightened when she discovered he still had some morphine on him. He assured her that he wasn't using it anymore. And at first, perhaps he wasn't. But the longer he stayed around Walnut Grove, the more he became haunted by the memories of what really happened in the battle he won the medal in. People hailed him a hero, but the memories he had assured the viewers that he was anything but a hero.
As the memories taunt him, things get worse. And then he meets the son of his best friend who was killed in the war. Seeing the son tormented him with the truth all over again. He began taking the morphine. Classic symptoms of drug abuse began and soon he was no longer the nice war hero, but an angry, bitter man who snapped at everyone.
The ending of this episode chills you to the bone. I'm afraid his life ended in tragedy, and though I've seen this episode many, many times I never could figure out what happened to him exactly...
By the way, this isn't the only time the issue of morphine addiction is mentioned in this show. Michael Landon was a very big advocate against drug abuse and often delved into the topic on his shows. We'll see a member from his family deal with this issue in the last season.
Granville is a musician and has returned home to reunite with his mother and teach music. That gets Laura to asking her Pa to teach her the fiddle. Nellie and Willie became his first pupils. And even Mary started to learn the mini-piano in exchange for copying music.
We find out almost right off that he had become addicted to the white powder. His mother had been aware of it and became frightened when she discovered he still had some morphine on him. He assured her that he wasn't using it anymore. And at first, perhaps he wasn't. But the longer he stayed around Walnut Grove, the more he became haunted by the memories of what really happened in the battle he won the medal in. People hailed him a hero, but the memories he had assured the viewers that he was anything but a hero.
As the memories taunt him, things get worse. And then he meets the son of his best friend who was killed in the war. Seeing the son tormented him with the truth all over again. He began taking the morphine. Classic symptoms of drug abuse began and soon he was no longer the nice war hero, but an angry, bitter man who snapped at everyone.
The ending of this episode chills you to the bone. I'm afraid his life ended in tragedy, and though I've seen this episode many, many times I never could figure out what happened to him exactly...
By the way, this isn't the only time the issue of morphine addiction is mentioned in this show. Michael Landon was a very big advocate against drug abuse and often delved into the topic on his shows. We'll see a member from his family deal with this issue in the last season.