Little House on the Prairie: Season One (2026)

“This will be our new forever.”

The Little House books were the first series I ever read. When I was eight, all of my friends were binging through them at record speed and I was right there with them. I loved these stories and over the past fifty-some years, I have reread the entire series several times. I have avoided spoilers in this article, but the comments are fair game.

I was not and am not a fan of the original series. While some people remember it fondly as one of the lynchpins of their childhood TV watching, it never worked for me. The weekly moral lessons were too tiresome to bear and Michael Landon decided that Pa was invincible, infallible, capable of solving any problem that the town encountered. The story became more about him and less about Laura and her family.

The news that Netflix was going to revisit the stories was met with horror from more than a few online sites. Many commentators believe that the stories have not aged well, that the portrayal of African Americans and Indigenous People is downright racist. Those who did not want a new version made one of two arguments: the first series was perfect and should be left alone or the books are so noninclusive we should stop reading them. The producer, Joy Gorman Wettels, decided to take these books she loved and remake the series while confronting the criticism head on. She succeeded. I loved this version of stories I have adored for more than half a century.

“Independence” was an outstanding first episode. The heart of the Little House books was always the Ingalls family. This episode captured that heart perfectly. The love they have for each other and the ensuing reliance they command because of that love is thoughtfully written and emotionally engaging.

Wettels isn’t wasting any time facing the critics head on. The doctor who helps them twice is African American and it is he who tells Pa the hard truth about what this family is facing. The shopkeeper in town is African American as well. Their neighbors are Osage, a group who was still legally entitled to the land Pa is building on. As the Ingalls face more than one hardship and even a small amount of heartbreak and second guessing in this episode, it is clear that the family have each other’s backs and they are moving forward together as a unit.

“The House on the Prairie” builds on the theme of family and community. As the Ingalls begin to create a home (literally and figuratively), they start to bond and interact with the people around them. Everyone on the prairie has the story of how they ended up here in Independence, Kansas. Some of the stories are heartbreaking; some are mundane. Everyone, however, is looking for “home,” whether that be a new family or a town that more closely resembles the one they are from.

The actors chosen for this series are outstanding. None is a household name; nearly all deserve to be. Skywalker Hughes as Mary, Luke Bracey as Pa, and Crosby Fitzgerald as Ma all bring a quiet strength to their performances that allow us to care deeply about this family quickly. Alice Halsey as Laura is outstanding. For an eleven year old to bring so much emotion, depth, and nuance to a role is astonishing to watch. I love Laura’s face during the final shot of this episode. The others are tentative; she just wants to be a part of it all.

“News of the World” continues to build on the theme of community both near and far. The Independence community of settlers is small, but we are still meeting new people and hearing their stories.

The episode opens with the town celebrating the new post office. The symbolism of this building is made perfectly clear. Now, the larger world can be part of this smaller one and can influence the people in the town.

Similarly, Pa wants Laura to learn how to read better so she can read about places other than Wisconsin and the prairie. Right now, Laura is content where she is. She doesn’t want to do lessons and can’t understand why she must. She wants to run around outside, help Pa build a house, and make friends with the Osage. She is not bringing the baggage of the past to the present because she is still too young to have much.

This episode also shows both sides of the Osage point of view beautifully. On the one hand, they feel their land has been stolen and they are due “rent” in the form of food and trinkets. On the other, they understand what their reality will most likely shortly become and they are trying to make the best of it.

“Life Let Us Cherish” expands the backstories of several of the adults and begins to bring the community together in a new way. The whole town has come down with an intermittent fever, the cause of which is unknown but which makes its victims extremely unwell. As they hallucinate though the high fevers, we learn that both Ma and Pa have lost someone they dearly loved in tragic circumstances and are still processing the grief. Likewise, White Sun has lost her daughter and cannot let anyone get too close to her.

As the adults heal from their fevers, they also begin to heal spiritually. Pa and Ma strengthen their relationship as they realize that they can’t go back but that they do have each other. The more interesting healing, however, is White Sun’s relationship with Ma. Now understanding that her sister will never accept her choices, Ma inadvertently realizes that someone right in front of her shares her interests and shares her desire to raise her daughters well. White Sun also realizes that she can mourn her daughter yet still move forward with her life.

One of the interesting choices that Wettels has made is to show the devastating effect the Civil War had on this generation. Pa is dealing with his guilt that he did not fight; Mr. Edwards is suffering from PTSD and drinking to get through, but the worst is Pa’s brother George who could not even begin to recover and took his own life. As far as I can remember, Wilder never mentions the Civil War in her books, but of course the aftermath would have been a part of most of the adult men she interacted with as a child and young adult.

“A Circle of Blue Sky” expands the emotional intensity of the series without being preachy or didactic. It shows that life on the frontier is not just about survival and getting out of the well alive, it is about choosing how one is going to belong in a new community.

This episode is split along gender lines. The men are going to build the church; the women are going to have lunch, drink tea, and talk. Laura straddles both worlds. She doesn’t want to hang with the girls (who bore her and who don’t understand her); she wants to build things with the men. Not having a choice, she finds herself struggling to fit in with the older girls. Although she eventually wins over the James girls with her stories, she makes a bad choice when she joins their teasing and finds that Mary is not in a forgiving mood.

I find the women in this episode more interesting than the men. As Caroline is introduced to each of them, they are defined by who their husband is. Caroline is as well, except she is also a teacher. Right away, she is different. Emily is fantastic. She understands Jemma’s meaning exactly and walks away with her head held high. It is Lacey, however, that made me cheer. While the men dither about Mr. Edwards, she storms into the middle of the group defending her friend. It is not an accident that the most interesting women are those who exist outside of the world of women but, at the same time, are not a part of the men’s. Lacey and Emily both run businesses; Caroline can teach.

Making choices is one of the major themes of this episode. Caroline makes the choice to not be part of the group of women who rule the town; she chooses what she (and we) see as the correct choice and stands up with her friend. Charles makes the choice to not fight, to get his horses back peacefully and to allow three young men a second chance. As a result, his friend is now part of the community again and Charles welcomes him back with an embrace.

“Peace on Earth” is a typical Christmas episode of television. You know the lesson — Christmas is about the people whom we love and who love us in return. It is not about peppermint sticks or toys in our stockings. Having said that, Christmas episodes always make me well up. This one did just that.

I’m especially excited about our new couple. I have been rooting for them from the start and can’t wait to watch them begin to build their lives together.

I have been remiss so far in not talking about the cinematography of this show. The shots of the prairie, of the town, of the interior of the little house are all outstanding. But, the scenes this episode of the snow were gorgeous. Even though we understood that it was a storm and it was dangerous, it was also beautiful to look at. The light bouncing off everything gave everything a glow that fit in perfectly with the Christmas aspect of the show.

“A Softer Note in the Sound of the Wind” is clearly a penultimate episode. Things that have been brewing since the beginning are finalized and we catch some glimpses of what is ahead for all these people we have grown to care so much about.

Although anyone with a smattering of American history would know what was going to happen between the Osage and the settlers, it was very difficult to watch. As Pa realizes that he was manipulated and that the choices he has made have led to this conclusion, those of us with modern sensibilities can sympathize at the same time as we can harshly judge the men moving West who changed everything forever.

Meanwhile, Mary and Laura are learning and growing up as well. Laura creates a lovely birthday present for Good Eagle and they officially become best friends. However, that does not mean they will be together forever. Mary and Caleb are the cutest romance and I loved when Emily walked through the door. Although she knew exactly what she had interrupted, she didn’t embarrass them or call them out. That’s why what’s happens to her later in the day made me so sad. Emily deserves so much more.

“This is Now” is very difficult to write about spoiler free (just a reminder that we can discuss it in the comments). As well as I know the books, I did not see this as the ending of the season. But, it works. As difficult as it is to watch (yes, I may have shed some tears), it feels real and earned within this world that has been developed and built over the past eight episodes.

The final scene was perfect. Readers of the books will know the references and know that the story will continue to unfold. The final shot of the prairie was the perfect way to go out until we meet again in season two.
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ChrisB is always excited to revisit stories she loved as a child.