Little House on the Prairie - Season 5

Poor financial conditions influence the Ingalls family to move to Winoka when Mary goes there to teach at the Blind School. They meet Albert, an orphan to whom Charles forms an attachment, even though Laura catches him stealing from the hotel that Charles manages.

Since Mary is teaching at the Blind School in Winoka, and the rest of the family can't make a living in Walnut Grove, they move to Winoka, too. Charles gets a job managing a hotel and Caroline runs the kitchen and dining room. They make the acquaintance of an orphan, Albert, who befriends the Ingalls.

Trying to convince Tom Carlin, blinded by a childhood bout of the measles, that he can lead a productive life, Adam Kendall battles Tom's bitter, skeptical father and is unexpectedly aided by the underdog Winoka Warriors, who have just lost their star player to a rival football team.

Laura befriends a classmate named Amelia Bevins, who is ashamed of her obese father. When the man realizes how much pain he is causing his wife and daughter, he leaves them temporarily for a "business trip" that will change their family forever.

Caroline talks to Mary, and Mary convinces Charles that he should not have to stay in Winoka if he is unhappy. So, the Ingalls decide to return to Walnut Grove. They invite Albert to join them. The children at the blind school give them a horseshoe to hang over their door and sing them home with the song about a horseshoe. The Garveys and the Olesons return home, too.

The Ingalls, Garveys, Olsens, and Albert go back to Walnut Grove to find it run down and in shabby condition. Lars Hansen, who founded Walnut Grove over 50 years prior, has suffered a stroke, and is much like the town – on his last leg. The Ingalls and the Garveys go to the farms around town to let everyone know of their plans to restore the town to its former glory.

Laura Ingalls becomes jealous of the extra attention her father pays to new family member Albert, especially after the boy is given a new calf to raise for the county fair, and asked to call Charles "Pa."

When Harriet Oleson's cousin, Sterling Murdock, comes to town, he brings his newspaper business with him. Everyone is initially excited about this, but trouble ensues when Murdock gives gossipmonger Harriet her own column – and allows her the freedom to write whatever she wants.

Michael Landon's daughter, Leslie, has an uncredited role in this episode. She is sitting behind and to the left of Doc Baker in the final scene in the church. She has several speaking roles throughout the series, but this time, she's an extra.

Adam proposes to Mary, and they plan a wedding in Winoka. Charles and Caroline cannot afford to bring the whole family to the event, so they are forced to make the trip by themselves. All seems to be going great until Mary, who fears that she and Adam can never be proper parents, calls the wedding off.

While their fathers secretly trail them, young Albert Ingalls and Andy Garvey set off to prove their mettle as men by accepting a challenge to live by their wits during a week-long, overland walk from Walnut Grove to Sleepy Eye and back.

Now that she's the new teacher in Walnut Grove, Alice Garvey begins to worry about her son, Andy, who is her weakest student. Alice reluctantly agrees to let Nellie Oleson tutor him, but this ends up being a grave mistake.

The building that houses the school for the blind is being turned into a hotel, so Adam and Mary are forced to move their school. Miraculously, there is a place in Walnut Grove that can belong to them, but with no money for transportation, they must all make the journey by foot.

As the journey from the last episode continues, a woman by the name of Hester Sue Terhoun is prepared to help teach at the new school, and she quickly gets into Joe Kagen's good graces – but not Harriet Oleson's. Meanwhile, Adam reveals a dark secret about himself, and issues concerning racism affect everyone.

Charles and Jonathan take a job on a telephone crew that is working in southern Minnesota, which requires them to be away from home for several weeks. As they gain success and earn more money than expected, they must decide if the job is worth keeping for the long term. Back in Walnut Grove, little Carrie, who misses her father and craves attention, creates an imaginary friend to pass the time.

Lonely after his grown son moves back east to start a life of his own, a widowed old craftsman named Isaac Singerman hires Albert Ingalls as his apprentice. As the two work together and become close friends, Albert faces one of the greatest challenges of his young life when he is harassed by classmates for spending time with Mr. Singerman, who is Jewish.

Laura Ingalls is horrified to witness the fall from a tree that blinds her friend, Jordan Harrison, while he's performing a circus stunt. But when she finds out that Jordan's sight has returned, Laura must decide whether it's right when he asks her to keep it a secret, especially after Jordan tells her that his parents' concern for him appears to have brought them back from the brink of divorce.

Returning home from a business trip, Charles and Jonathan run into an old friend, Toby Noe. He has no money and no job. Charles invited him to live with them temporarily in Walnut Grove. Trouble ensues when Toby becomes obsessed with Amanda Cooper, a spinster who has no interest in him. Laura wants to attend a dance with a classmate named Jason, but has a hard time expressing her feelings to him.

Adam and Mary are expecting their first child. Mary, who knows that Adam has a strained relationship with his father, secretly writes a letter to the man. Thomas Kendall arrives in Walnut Grove for a visit and desires to be closer to his son and grandchild. Meanwhile, Albert Ingalls is smitten with Miss Bennett, a beautiful young woman who is substituting for Mrs. Garvey at school.

Kezia, an eccentric lady, lives happily in her house outside of Walnut Grove, but when she neglects to pay her taxes, the property is put up for auction. Harriet Oleson, flaunting her wealth, purchases it as a "summer home." She moves into the house with her kids and allows Kezia to stay, only if she agrees to work as a maid. Laura, Albert, and Andy hatch a plan to help Kazia reclaim her home.

Trouble erupts when a local farmer, who is hateful and bigoted, refuses to set a fair price for wheat because black farmers would be entitled to the same price. The whole thing escalates when the farmer assaults Jonathan's young son and is later accused of setting fire to the Garveys' barn.

Mary begins to see a bright light every time she stands in front of a window. The possibility of regaining her vision is there, but she and Charles must pay a visit to her eye specialist in Sleepy Eye to get a definite answer. While they are away, Laura and Albert start working on a surprise project for Mary, and the Ingalls family becomes concerned about Adam's recent strange behavior.

While out of town on business for the purchase of new horses for his farm, Charles spends increasing amounts of time with the Harpers. The family patriarch is an emotionally unstable man who uses alcohol to cope with the death of his oldest son. His wife and remaining two children find solace in Charles' kind friendship, and he soon feels obligated to help them heal.

Determined to make it through the winter season, a pair of men earn money by selling tainted meat to the Walnut Grove community. Several townspeople later become infected with anthrax, including Laura, Albert, Adam, Alice, and Nels. The victims are confined to the blind school, and with time running out to help them, Charles and Jonathon go out to retrieve some medicine.

A 12-year-old boy named Dylan has leukemia and has only been given a few weeks to live. His only dream is to see the Pacific Ocean, and when his overprotective mother is too afraid to take him, Laura and Albert decide to help him get there.