Annabelle 3/5

Awkwardness is approaching the school for the blind as Nels rides up to make his delivery and Annabelle is in the classroom. She is telling the kids about her coworkers, including the dog trainer, offering to let the kids pet the dogs after the show. The kids like this idea. Annabelle has been speaking to the class for a while, so she asks them what they think she does in the circus. All the kids start shouting out ideas before Hester-Sue tells them to go one at a time. One girl, Susan, guesses that she is the showgirl who rides the elephant’s trunk. Annabelle cracks up at this idea, though the only other person in the room who knows what’s going on is Hester-Sue who doesn’t seem all that interested. Roscoe is next to guess and he goes with the magician’s assistant who gets cut in half. Annabelle decides to give them a hint, telling them she is in the sideshow. This clicks with Roscoe, who immediately guesses Bearded Lady. Everyone laughs at this answer, causing Roscoe to get defensive. Annabelle says that there are bearded ladies, she just isn’t one of them. The class gives up, so she tells them that she is the fat lady. They don’t believe her. To prove it she invites the blind children to come up and walk around her as they touch her and listen to her voice so they can experience “what a fat lady really feels like.” Words can’t describe the level of inappropriateness that is on the screen right now. As the children circle and grope, she makes a joke about how she doesn’t want to be tickled in any hemisphere. At this moment, she notices Nels standing in the doorway and no one is quite sure what to say. You know, even if he approved of his sister’s choice of livelihood, I think it is totally reasonable to be concerned about letting a bunch of kids feel you up, even if it is voluntary. He and Hester-Sue walk out of the classroom to complete the supply delivery. Once the delivery is complete, Nels hightails it out of there as Annabelle watches from the window.

That evening at the homestead, Laura is working on a dress as Charles reads by the fireplace. Laura notices that Pa has nodded off, so she walks over to close his book and put it away. This wakes him up and claims that too much of Caroline’s cooking is what put him to sleep. Caroline only heard the “cooking” part of his statement and checks to see what he said as she joins the family in the main room. As Laura returns to her project, Ma compliments the design so far. Laura thanks her, but says she wishes this project was for someone a little nicer. Is it a prom dress for Hedda Lettuce’s mom? No, it’s for Christie Norton, an apparent little Miss Perfect. “I bet she doesn’t even sweat,” Laura snarks. Pa gets a chuckle out of this, but Ma chastises Laura saying “when people pay us to do a job we don’t talk about them behind their backs.” I’m guessing Caroline hasn’t had much job experience in the world of customer service. Even my boss, one of the nicest customer service oriented people you will ever meet, has called someone an idiot immediately after an overly elaborate phone conversation.

Albert comes down from the loft as this is happening and announces that he finished his homework. He also announces that he is going to bed because he’s “pooped”. Caroline sputters at this word choice and tells Albert that he is “tired”. I think Caroline’s cooking has made her a bit uppity this evening. Albert says “good night” to his parents and starts to head back upstairs. On his way, he asks Laura if she would like his circus ticket so she can go with Almanzo. Caroline gives Laura a knowing glance while Laura gives Albert a “Dude! Keep that on the DL!” glance. Laura tries to play the “Boys? Ew!” card, but it doesn’t seem to work. Albert goes up to bed and you can sort of tell that Laura knows that she may have fumbled a bit in the politics of puppy love. Ma knows what’s up and tells her daughter that Albert was just trying to be nice. Laura acknowledges this and heads up to the loft to apologize. Albert is surprisingly steamed about what just happened and tells his sister that she should have just said she didn’t want the ticket. Of course, Laura actually wants the ticket she just couldn’t say so in front of Pa. What’s funny is they are having this conversation in their normal tones of voice at the top of the loft ladder. You know, the ladder that Pa’s chair is at the base of where he is currently sitting. Pa doesn’t say anything when Laura returns from the loft, though I wonder if he did after Albert calls down from the loft that she should ask Almanzo first thing in the morning.

Morning arrives and Laura has run down to the mill and notices Almanzo across the way at the Feed and Seed. Before going to see him, she rehearses what she is going to say. The scene is a little difficult to watch because things have not changed in 130 years in terms of how much you can beat yourself up over what you want to say to your crush. In the course of her rehearsals she comes up with four or five different strategies, but immediately discounts each one. She eventually decides on the one that I find most effective: Fight or Flight. She slaps herself in the face, tells herself to “just do it” and runs over to Almanzo. He is loading a wagon and notices “Beth” standing by the side of the building. He asks if he could interest her in a sack of grain, but the way he postures and says it makes him come off a bit smarmy. Laura uses his question as a cue to ask if she could interest him in going to the circus with her. Atta girl. Unfortunately, he already has a date for the circus. I don’t know if the smarminess is intentional, but it is extremely palpable. And creepy, given how there appears to be at least a twelve year difference between the two of them. Laura tries to play it off, but before it can turn into the pity party of near-tears and near-vomiting (if you’ve been in this situation you know what I’m talking about) a woman calls out for Almanzo. Oh, it’s Christie Norton, how ironic. Amazingly the show managed to create a character even prissier than Nellie. She asks Laura about the dress and admonishes her for not stopping by to reassure her about the delivery time of five o’clock. As Laura leaves, we can overhear Christie say to Almanzo “I hope that child finishes my dress on time; I do so want to look lovely for you.” How did she end up in Walnut Grove? She might as well have a British accent. Laura walks away defeated.