Little House on the Prairie (TV Series) To Live with Fear: Part II (1977) User Reviews

Mr. Edwards should have been more understanding.

[TOMASBBloodhound · 9/10 · 24 March 2009]

What would Charles Ingalls have done without dangerous railroad jobs always getting him out of a financial crisis? This was by then the third time he was forced to do something dangerous when the Ingalls family faced either a loss of crop, a poor price of grain, or in this case a serious medical emergency. Previoulsy, Charles had run a double jack team and transferred a load of blasting oil through rough terrain. This time, he and Mr. Edwards use dynamite to blast a tunnel for the railroad while Mary lays in intensive care in a hospital. This hospital is very expensive and Charles sees his chance to earn hazard pay by using massive quantities of explosives to blast through the side of a mountain for an advancing track. When he and Edwards arrive at the site, they find a crew of Chinese workers in near mutiny. One of their men has been critically wounded, and the current powder man (James Shigeta) refuses to use so many explosives in the future. Needing the money very badly, Charles promises to get the job done at an even greater speed than before. This pays well, but the Chinese are not pleased by this apparent recklessness. And even Edwards warns Charles not to use so much explosives.

As the show progresses, a huge rift between Charles and Mr. Edwards grows. At one point, Edwards even slugs his best friend after an argument. The story seems to be taking the side of Edwards and the Chinese. Charles is painted as an obsessed man caring little for those around him. I personally understood his actions. He had a critically ill child and no money to pay for her care. Though it may have been disrespectful to blast during the Chinese worker's funeral. Complications arise and Charles is buried in a collapse with the foreman. At first, the Chinese don't want to help Edwards dig them out, but of course they eventually do, and Charles is saved.

There was quite a bit going on in this two-part episode. Maybe even too much. One thing I wish they would have showed is Charles paying off that wimpy financial officer from the hospital and telling him where to go. But that wasn't the kind of man Charles Ingalls was, I guess. Yet another fine episode from this exceptional television show! 9 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

A Matter of Life and Death...

[ExplorerDS6789 · 9/10 · 14 October 2010]

Crisis has engulfed the Ingalls family. Mary was laid up in a Rochester hospital with an ever growing fever and ever growing hospital bills, for which the accountant Benson showed no remorse. While Caroline remained vigilant at her side, Charles and Isaiah Edwards headed off in search of the advertised railroad jobs, but what they got instead was a position digging and blasting away rock to create a tunnel, and it was for the railroad so it wasn't necessarily false advertising. The boss, Harris, was having trouble with his workers, Chinese immigrants. Their leader, Mr. Wing, refused to load the far wall with dynamite for the great risk it would pose to he and his men. Charles and Isaiah were brought in just as the manager, Mr. Franklin, came by to warn Harris of the impending deadline. One way or another, that tunnel had to be finished before that first locomotive came down the line. Charles and Isaiah worked hard loading dynamite, and blew out a good section of the far wall. Later, Wing shows them one of his badly wounded comrades, which was his reason for not wanting to blast the tunnel in the first place. Charles was none too sympathetic toward Wing and his friend, because his daughter's life was the one thing on his mind and he simply had to earn as much money as possible to keep her in good hands. So while Caroline found a very nice job in the hospital's laundry, Charles and Isaiah continued chomping at the bit and blowing up rocks. One fateful day, Mr. Franklin approached Charles, asking if he could clear an extra foot a day for double hazard pay. The Ingalls patriarch stamped his personal guarantee on the offer, while Isaiah was far from certain. He knew that all that dynamite under a few hundred tons of rock was a recipe for disaster, even Mr. Wing tried to warn him against using extra dynamite, but Charles simply would not listen. He would willing to sacrifice himself, and maybe even a few other people for this job. A telegram from Rochester informed him that Mary had finally gotten her strength back and her second operation would commence. This drove Charles to work even harder at clearing another foot of tunnel. At this point, he was virtually unstoppable.

The tension really mounted when the wounded Chinese laborer died and all the works held a funeral service for him. The only one not in attendance was Charles. At this point even Isaiah was fed up with him and vowed to leave as soon as the service was over. Undaunted, Charles went ahead and blasted the tunnel while the funeral was going on...I've heard of a 21- gun salute but a 21-dynamite? Anyway, after the blast, Charles and Harris go inside the tunnel to look over the work, when suddenly what everybody had long since predicted finally happened: a huge section of rock gave way, trapping Charles and Harris. Isaiah raced to help, but found he was alone. The Chinese refused to help, and physically pushing them in did nothing, so Isaiah went it alone. The Chinese changed their minds soon after. Isaiah, Wing and all the rest lifted the rocks away, one at time, heaving and straining. Well, Charles and Harris were finally rescued, and when Mr. Franklin came around to give Harris trouble, he owned up and socked him one in the chops. Then, following some very reasonable negotiations, Franklin backed off and the work was completed successfully. With a bunch of money in his pocket, Charles returned to Rochester to see Caroline and Mary, who had gone under the knife a second time and was now on the road to 100% recovery. Hope, trial and tribulation had prevailed.

Glad to see it all worked out. Mary made a full recovery and would live a healthy, flawless life...until the end of Season 4 when things get dark; Charles Ingalls' example is one to follow: he is a very dedicated man. Dedicated to his family and friends and would do anything for them. He is also a very hard worker as we see in this episode. There should be more men like him. Him and Mr. Edwards, a selfless man who came to help his friend. At one point, Edwards became so fed up with Charles and his restless blasting that he tried to physically knock some sense into him. Not too often have we seen Edwards get violent, since he's usually brooding and gentle by nature, just shows that even Mr. Edwards has his limits. "To Live with Fear" Parts 1 and 2 are great episodes. All Little House viewers should check it out. Characters are truly defined, thanks in part to John Hawkins' writing, Bill Claxton's directing, and especially the acting of Michael Landon and Victor French, not to mention Karen Grassle and of course, Melissa Sue Anderson, who really held her own as hospitalized Mary, and she pulled it off really well. An A+ all around!

Well...

[mitchrmp · 6/10 · 5 June 2013]

I do admit that the second part isn't nearly as good as the first. Disappointingly, it focuses more on Charles earning the money and less on Mary's illness.

Isiah and Charles discover that the railroad jobs were all full, but there was a blasting job that would pay very well. Charles is anxious to get his daughter's medical care taken care of and ignores any warnings that what he's doing is dangerous. Isaiah is understanding at first, but when Charles suddenly becomes heartless his best friend punches him out. I think that was very deserving, though it didn't serve as a wake up call. What happened next did.

I found this part of the episode a bit dull. The cave in was done much better in Bonanza, The Rifleman, and The Big Valley then it was in this one. I thought the emotions were a bit odd as well...

We don't get to see Laura or Carrie in this episode. Walnut Grove isn't seen at all, in fact. But we can assume that by the beginning of the next episode, all will be well.