Times of Change

Episode aired Sep 19, 1977
TV-PG
50m

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

346

YOUR RATING

Melissa Sue Anderson in Little House on the Prairie (1974)

Drama Family Romance Western

An excited Mary Ingalls accompanies her father to the Chicago Grange Convention to surprise her true love, John Edwards, by accepting his invitation to a cotillion in person. But, surprises ... Read allAn excited Mary Ingalls accompanies her father to the Chicago Grange Convention to surprise her true love, John Edwards, by accepting his invitation to a cotillion in person. But, surprises are in store for everyone as both Charles and Mary experience a trip very different from t... Read allAn excited Mary Ingalls accompanies her father to the Chicago Grange Convention to surprise her true love, John Edwards, by accepting his invitation to a cotillion in person. But, surprises are in store for everyone as both Charles and Mary experience a trip very different from the one they each expected.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

346

YOUR RATING

6User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos7

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Trivia
According to Alison Arngrim's book, Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated, the writers were going to have Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) marry John, Jr. (Radames Pera); however, Anderson personally disliked Pera, and so he was written out.

Goofs
In all the scenes before the cotillion, Mary's ballgown is spring green. At the cotillion and in the hotel scene after it, her ballgown is powder blue.

User reviews6

Review

Featured review

10/10

New Directions

In this episode, without recapping every little detail and completely spoiling the show for new viewers, Charles and Mary Ingalls travel by train to Chicago. Charles is thrilled to represent Walnut Grove in the farmer's convention, and Mary to reconnect with her old sweetheart, John Jr at the cotillion dance he mentioned in a letter. Trouble is, the Ingalls arrive unannounced. This creates unforeseen obstacles further into the episode. Times have changed dramatically in more ways than one, at the grange and in John Jr's personal life as well. John Jr is no longer the country boy who left Walnut Grove to pursue his aspirations as a writer.

In the big city, so different from their little prairie town, the Ingalls are an anomaly with their prairie clothes and small town mannerisms. Things start to happen during the episode that indicate life has gone in new directions at the grange convention and in matters of the heart. Big city politics, distance, career choices and time change people for the long term.