Barn Burner 1/5

Serious Dragnet type music plays as we see a wagon rolling into town. 12:08 p.m.: The wagon drives by Hanson Lumber. A crowd is gathered outside. The gathering appears peaceful so the wagon drives by without incident. Ahem. Jonathan Garvey is leading this meeting about wheat prices. Oh, they’re establishing a wheat cooperative of some sort to ensure they get the best sale price in the township. Yay co-ops! A couple of the farmers are skittish about the idea until Jonathan reminds them of the bumper crop fiasco of ’76. Back then the small farmers were totally hosed and they can’t afford to have that happen again. The crowd seems to be in agreement except for one guy: Larabee. He has the largest crop of anyone and is therefore at greater risk should the plan fail. Or as he puts it, “why should I stick my neck out so some ex-slave make the same money as I do?” Uh, sic and sick dude. The one black man in the crowd doesn’t bat an eye and Jonathan comes to his defense. “Do you think Joe Kagan’s the only one who gets hurt if we don’t stick together on this thing?” After Jonathan’s impassioned plea, seconded by Charles, Larabee relents.

With everyone in agreement, Jonathan dismisses the meeting. As he leaves, Larabee makes a point of walking past Kagan and says “free or not looks like the white folks still have to take care of you, don’t it, boy?” Joe gives him a look that reads “seriously?” before he starts laughing at Larabee. John Waters would approve. Larabee doesn’t and walks away.

Later on at the Garvey house, Jonathan is in business talks with a buyer. My goodness there’s a lot of laughing in this episode. The guy Jonathan is talking to thinks the price that is being offered is laughable and is responding in kind. The guy pompously says he’ll stop by again after he buys up all of the other crops and he’ll see what Garvey says then. Jonathan stays cool as he informs the jerk that everyone is offering the same “fair” price. I believe this is what is referred to as a “tell”, Jonathan. Now instead of finding this information out for himself and eventually giving in, your customer is going to try to find some leverage to get someone to go lower. The guy leaves and I can see the wheels turning in his mind.

The next stop for the customer is Joe Kagan’s place where, lo and behold, the price is the same. The customer thinks the small size of the crop doesn’t demand such a high price, but Joe doesn’t budge. The customer then tells Joe that he is going to make sure that everyone is sticking together before he gives in. He says it in a way that makes it sound like it was circled in the script with a note reading “THIS IS EXPOSITION!!!!!! HERE!!!!!” The customer also threatens that his company may pay the shipping cost to get the wheat elsewhere, but I doubt any company is going to be spiteful enough to cut into their profit margin. Joe just smiles as the customer walks away.

The customer tries to dig his hooks into Larabee’s crop. Larabee sticks to his guns, saying he won’t budge on the price, but the customer says he isn’t authorized to pay a price that high. He’ll have to check with his supervisor. I really hate listening to haggling. Before the customer leaves, Larabee offers a discount on apples. The customer is totally uninterested since there is a bumper crop of apples this year. Larabee then works in his pitch that if the company buys the apples for a modest price he can give a discount on the wheat. Uh, I may need to reread the minutes from that meeting from earlier but I don’t recall that sort of deal being okay with the rest of the co-op membership. Both men literally start to cackle.

Now there’s a team of horses racing down the road. Dude, Garvey is PISSSSSSED. He bangs on Larabee’s door before his wife answers. Jonathan demands to see Larabee but before she can stammer out a half-baked diversion, Larabee says to let him in. What is he holding in his hand – a 19th century Viewmaster? Sorry, anyway, Larabee is uninterested in whatever Garvey is there to complain about. He lies and says the customer offered a price on his apples that he couldn’t refuse and gave a discount on the wheat in return. Basically: “too bad, so sad.” Except for this nugget: “Besides, ain’t no nigger gonna make the same profit as me.” Wow. That’s…wow. Garvey is just as flabbergasted, particularly since this spite towards an individual has the potential to bankrupt Walnut Grove. Larabee tells Jonathan to leave, but he just keeps lecturing the bigot. After accusing Larabee of being a thief, Larabee slams his fist on the table, stands up and yells at Jonathan to get out of his house. Well, the way the scene is blocked Larabee is yelling at the ottoman to get out, but Garvey takes the hint. After Jonathan leaves, Larabee is still seething. Both his wife and two sons are looking at him emotionless. Or thinking about what emotion they should be expressing -- it’s not quite clear.