Wave of the Future 4/5

Dinner time at the Ingalls again as the kids look expectantly at Pa making vittles in the kitchen. “Whatever it is it smells awful” mutters one of the daughters to the agreement of the rest of the brood. “Somebody saying something about the cooking?” Charles asks with gruff excitement. The kids hush up before getting busted. I think he’s serving the kids charred gristle. I must say I’m impressed the kids caught on to Charles’ plan almost instantly, unless the Raccoon squealed.

Later that night, Ma and Pa are talking about the restaurant and how Caroline tried unsuccessfully to give notice. Charles understands the situation, but you can see the gears turning in his mind. Not for how to get out of the situation, but for what he wants once the situation somehow corrects itself. “I want a turkey with bread and potato stuffing, sweet potatoes, hot rolls with butter, and a pie. No no! I want two pies! I want a mince pie and…”…a porcupie? I couldn’t quite catch that last one, but neither did Caroline as she fell asleep shortly before “sweet potatoes”.

Major Guffey is back at the restaurant counting the money all Name That Tune style with Mrs. Oleson. Even Harriet is exhausted at this point, but that doesn’t stop Guffey from moving the operation into Phase Three. Basically, Mrs. Oleson has to enlist two friends in other towns into Mrs. Sullivan’s cult, I’m sorry, army. On top of that, Mrs. Oleson would be their supervisor. She brings up the perfectly valid point that she can’t supervise three restaurants when she is struggling to maintain her own place. You would think the home office would be receptive to that sort of concern, particularly since they apparently do not allow her to hire any additional help as it is still only Caroline and Hester-Sue on the payroll. It should be noted that the restaurant is completely empty in this scene except for Caroline who is organizing silverware as she listens in on the conversation. Guffey’s response is to simply brandish the contract, though he doesn’t cite a specific section this time around. Of course, Mrs. Oleson probably still hasn’t read the thing so she is really not helping herself here.

Back at the homestead, Charles cautiously tastes a spoonful of what looks like Chef Boyardee ravioli and throws the spoon back into the pot. I’m probably right about the spoon’s contents because he rounds up the kids to take them to the restaurant. Grace just stares blankly at Charles. Honestly, why did they cast these two girls to play this character? Lack of acting skills aside (because, well, Mary Ingalls) the kids playing Grace aren’t even cute or adorable. Eh.

The restaurant is packed again and Mrs. Oleson is a little frazzled even before Charles drops off the army of children. Meanwhile, we see Nels finishing dinner preparation for his awful, awful children. There is a knock at the door just as Nels sits down. “Would one of you get that please?” he asks of Nancy and Willie. “I’m eating,” they both say. Wow, that would not fly in my house growing up and would have great difficulty working even today. Nels opens the door and it is Charles. Mr. Ingalls asks Nels if he’s tired of cooking all day and cleaning all night and basically playing Mr. Mom. “Well so am I,” says Charles, “and I think it’s time we did something about it.” “But what?” Mr. Oleson asks. Charles smiles, reaches to touch Nels and I’m starting to think we might be getting some Brokeback Prairie action up in here.

Instead, we cut back to the homestead at breakfast time. Charles wakes up Caroline who has overslept. Pa tells Ma that he has some work and they discuss who is taking the minivan and dropping off Albert at soccer practice. Or something along those lines. Charles keeps couching everything he is doing as some sort of “surprise”. “I can almost taste that turkey now,” he says as he heads out. “What?” Caroline asks.

That afternoon, the kids are doing shuttle runs in the restaurant dining room. Hester-Sue yells at them. Why they are running laps while wearing tap shoes I have no idea, but Caroline comes out of the kitchen to shoo the kids away. Mrs. Oleson pops out to icily ask why the kids are even there. The whole scene is weird throwaway dialogue. Anyway, Harriet is making the rounds with the coffee when an older couple enters the restaurant. Mrs. Oleson welcomes the couple who just returned from back east and wanted a slice of Caroline’s lemon meringue pie. Since Mrs. Sullivan only likes brown food, the only dessert option is chocolate cake. The couple decides to go across the street and get pie at the new restaurant there. New restaurant?

Mrs. Oleson goes to investigate and finds a sign that reads “Oleson’s Restaurant”. The downstairs of the Oleson house has been converted to a dining room with Charles wandering around playing the violin. First, how does zoning allow for that sort of use for space? Second, a violin? Really? Mrs. Oleson storms in and starts demanding answers, though I'm guessing her questions are different from mine. Nels is in the kitchen preparing a turkey plate that actually looks pretty appetizing. When Harriet asks what in blue blazes Nels is doing, he prattles on about free enterprise and competition. Speaking of, who’s minding the Mercantile? Mrs. Oleson is less than impressed and storms off.