Similar to an earlier episode when Charles losses his father, Caroline looses her father:
1. In both episodes, there is the idea of the grandparents coming home to visit. Caroline's folks were actually on the train while Charles' were thinking about it. 2. Charles remembers back to his childhood while Carolie's father remembers hers. 3. Both fathers have a very hard time dealing with the grief. 4. Both fathers have mustaches, and I would swear are played by the same actor, but I didn't check on this... 5. Both grandfathers died shortly after leaving Walnut Grove...
I'm sure there are several other similarities, but these are the ones I thought of.
The storyline surrounding Grandpa is sort of sweet. I thought Albert acted more like a natural child then an adopted child, but he really added a lot to this episode. It was his easy way that got Grandpa to open up and talk. Albert's trickery in first raising the money to get the books and then getting Mrs. Oleson to buy the books were both great!
Mary's story was the sub-plot. A few episodes ago, Mary miscarried. Now, she suddenly shows up nine months pregnant. Besides a talk of fried chicken, labor, and naming the baby there's not much drama, but I still liked this side-story...It's sad knowing what's going to happen in the future. I sort of wish she'd never had a baby...By the way, Mary never gets married or has children in real life. As far as I know, she lived with her parents until their passing, though I think she did go away for a bit to school...