Sylvia 2/10

The next day at school, a girl walks over to Albert and hands him some books. Oh, this must be Sylvia. I think the best way to describe her would be “fourteen-year-old extra on Little House on the Prairie”. He thanks her and apologizes about what happened. She brushes it off and it seems like things are settled. I think they’re totally crushing on each other so the conversation is very awkward.

Laura calls Sylvia from the stoop and asks the young girl to come into the schoolhouse. There’s a special meeting of the school board, which usually means that it is a meeting of the “special” school board. They want to talk to Sylvia, so you can probably guess what the topic du jour is. This week’s board is composed of Charles, Doc Baker, Nels, Harriet, and some townie. Harriet starts off the inquisition by saying that she has heard reports of things going on that have been deemed improper. Sylvia has no idea what Mrs. Oleson is talking about and apparently that has been Laura’s stance throughout the meeting. Harriet asks Sylvia why the boys were at Sylvia’s house. That’s like asking the money why it was in the bank that was robbed. Sylvia is having trouble following Mrs. Oleson’s logic and says that the boys were just being silly. Harriet doesn’t like this definition of silly at all.

Mrs. Oleson then asks the girl why the boys chose Sylvia’s house when there are so many other houses to choose from. It’s a leading question, which Harriet answers by accusing Sylvia of being a tease. There is so much that is absolutely disgusting about this scene. First off, it is apparent by the line of questioning that which ever girl was the unfortunate victim of Willie’s peeping would be subjected to this treatment. Also, it’s not like Sylvia is being an exhibitionist here. Looking at her I don't think she's a Hussy McSluterson, not that that is relevant anyway. She didn't consent to the peeping, so back of Harriet. As obnoxious as Mrs. Oleson is throughout the series, this is by far one of her worst moments and it makes me sick.

Charles finally intervenes, pointing out that the situation is turning into “he said she said”. Mrs. Oleson is bothered that Mr. Ingalls is on Sylvia’s side, despite Albert being “lured” to the girl’s house. Charles relates Albert’s version of the events and chalks everything up to natural curiosity. Harriet considers this condoning the boys’ actions, but Charles equates what happened with peeking around the swimming hole. “I certainly don’t remember any of the boys sneaking around the swimming pond when I was a girl.” Nels mutters something under his breath. Hey, Nels? You picked her. Remember that.

The consensus among everyone except Mrs. Oleson is that boys will be boys. Laura wants to start school and Doc Baker calls for the meeting to adjourn. Harriet storms off as the rest of the board files out. Laura apologizes to Sylvia and lets her ring the bell. Despite all the problems that have come up in the last day or so, that Sylvia is pretty well adjusted. I hope that lasts.

The bell starts to ring as we see the feet of kids scrambling to gather their things and enter the school house. We then get an extreme close up and pan across some flowers. The pan stops on someone’s eye. Uh-oh, that eye is aimed directly at Sylvia. And it does not blink.

After school, Sylvia is walking home with Albert and a couple other boys about forty feet behind her. She turns around, see the boys, and walks a bit faster. The boys start teasing Albert that Sylvia was making eyes at him. The porn critic thinks Sylvia has the hots for Albert and suggests peeking through her window again. Albert pushes the kid to get him to shut up. Albert walks away.

We now see Sylvia walking through a wooded area gathering some flowers. Serene music plays as birds chirp the day away. She arranges the flowers into a bouquet and stops when she hears some twigs cracking. She looks up, but doesn’t see anything. More twigs crack, so Sylvia gets up to investigate. She walks towards the sound and some birds fly out of the tree.

Sylvia smiles as the bluebirds fly away, but suddenly a gloved hand grabs her mouth. Ahhhhh! Whoever grabbed her has on a black hood and a creepy mime or clown mask covering their face. The mask doesn’t have eye holes either, so it looks like a disturbing hybrid of the comedy/tragedy masks. The attacker forces the bouquet out of Sylvia’s hand for maximum symbolism. Yikes. What makes it worse is that the Hallmark Channel thinks this is the best time for a bottom of the screen graphic advertising “another great episode” of Little House coming up next. Stay tuned.