(Rating system: 1 is the lowest score and 10 is the highest and best.)
SEASON ONE
(Originally
shown from 1998-1999)
#1. Changes
Writer: Carl Binder /
Director: Don McBrearty
Jo's
husband Fritz has died a month previous, and parents begin to take their boys
from Jo's school named Plumfield. Then a mysterious young man shows up at
Plumfield, banging away at the shutters as Jo walks up. His name is Nick,
and he wants a job as a handyman. Jo doesn't particularly like how he
tells her school boys of far-off adventures on the sea, but she lets him stay
and work around the house. Jo's nephew, and substitute teacher, Franz
Bhaer, is accepted at Harvard University, but he's not sure he wants to
go. As the students are out picking berries, two of them decide to race
each other through the woods. They get lost. Nick gets into a
conflict with the law. -- My rating is 8/10.
#2. Quarantine
Writer: Eric Tuchman / Director: Rob Malenfant
The
Plumfield children and adults struggle against measles, and they're put under quarantine.
When their medicine runs out, Nick attains more through less than legal means. --
This is a good emotional episode. My rating is 8/10.
#3. Thanksgiving
Wrtier: Melissa R. Byer & Treena Hancock /
Director: Eleanore Lindo
Bess
and her parents (Laurie and Amy) return from England. Jo and Laurie
convince a doubtful Amy to let Bess attend Plumfield. Nan is excited at
the thought of having a girl to make friends with . . . but can they
become friends? -- This is a very nice episode. I give it a 8/10.
#4. Tough Choices
Writer: Michael
Teversham / Director: Rob Malenfant
Jasper, a former street chum of Dan
and Nat, shows up at Plumfield. But he brings trouble with him.
Franz, meanwhile, is worried about the prospective teacher who has differing
opinions. -- This is the first episode I ever
saw and I rate it 8/10.
#5. Emancipation
Writer:
Mark Evan Schwartz / Director: Graeme Lynch
A
black boy is found stealing things from the Plumfield house. Emil and others
overcome their prejudice against African Americans. -- My rating is 7/10.
#6. The Christmas Angel
Wrtier:
Melissa R. Byer & Treena Hancock / Director: Eleanore Lindo
The kids are talking about having
a Christmas pageant and they're out looking for a tree when a badly beaten woman
stumbles onto Plumfield. Nan receives a package from her father, but she
isn't enthusiastic about it because she doesn't know if her father loves her. --
My rating of this episode is 7/10.
#7. Philanthropy
Writer: D.A.
Nathan / Director: Don McCutcheon
Laurie gives Plumfield boxes of
books and they make a library. Franz gives the children an assignment to
do something benevolent for someone else, but the children make a contest of
it. Jo's beloved horse, Penny, becomes deathly ill and she thinks Nick has
shot the horse to put it out of its misery. Instead, Nick and Dan nurse
the horse back to health in secret, learning the true meaning of
philanthropy. Between times of caring for the horse Nick is taught to
read. -- This is one of my very favorite episodes! My rating is 10/10.
#8. Bluffing
Writer:
Eric Tuchman / Director: Rob Malenfant
When Plumfield has an essay
assignment, Nan is desperate to come up with something. She sneaks into
Nat's room and steals one of his previously written stories, then uses it as her
own. She hadn't imagined that her deceit would lead to so many moral
dilemmas. Laurie begins to play poker in town, not realizing what
heartaches it would cause. -- My rating is 8/10.
#9. Coming Attractions
Writers:
Melissa R. Byer & Treena Hancock / Director: Don McCutcheon
A business friend of Laurie's, Edward Trenton,
hears Meg sing a solo in church and is attracted to her. Meg also has
feelings for Edward as they meet and get to know each other. Dan and Bess
are unwillingly paired up by Franz for a science project and find themselves at
odds. Nat and Nan believe that Dan and Bess in actuality, are attracted to
each other, so they come up with a scheme to draw the two closer. -- My rating
is 8/10.
#10. Blame
Writer:
Carl Binder / Director: Richard J. Lewis
As Jo is coming home from town,
a gunshot spooks her horse and the carriage overturns. Jo awakes in a
cabin with an old woodsman tending to her wounds. The man is lonely and
kind, but Jo feels a bit uneasy about something in his manner. A snowstorm
sets in and Nick is concerned that Jo hasn't returned, so he goes to look for
her. Franz is left in charge of the kids and has difficulties in his
attempt to demonstrate his authority. -- I rate it 7/10.
#11. The Living Years
Writer:
Eric Tuchman / Director: Giles Walker
Nick works at the general store
in town and the store owner's daughter, Charlotte, is attracted to Nick.
Jo finds out about it and is jealous. -- My rating is 8/10.
#12. Father Figure
Writer: Michael
Teversham / Director: Don McCutcheon
A winter festival comes to
Concord, and Nat asks Nick to pose as his father in the father-son ski
race. The trouble is, Nick doesn't know how to ski, so he asks Jo to teach
him privately. Nat is picked on by a bully, and Nat determines he needs to
learn how to fight back, so Nick secretly teaches him how to fight. Nat is
injured as he retaliates against the bully, and Nick thinks over his role as a
father figure to the Plumfield kids. Nan and Franz enter the father-son
ski race by disguising themselves. -- My rating is 8/10.
#13. Looking Forward
Writer:
Barbara Covington / Director: Rob Malenfant
Dan goes on an Indian vision
quest and Amy moves to Plumfield to try to impress a woman's organization. -- My rating is
4/10.
SEASON TWO
(Originally
shown from 1999-2000)
#1. Civil Disobedience
Writer:
Carl Binder / Director: Don McCutcheon
Tommy falls from a tree and gets hurt. Eli
McBride brings a negligence suit against the school and tries to get Jo to sell
Plumfield to him, but Jo is adamantly against it, as are the children. -- I
rate it 8/10.
#2. Stepping Out
Writer: Melissa
R. Byer & Treena Hancock / Director: Rob Malenfant
Amy takes charge of the local dance
and proposes an "Enchanted Ball", and Jo wants to go to the dance with
Nick, but a stubborn newspaper man gets in the way. Meanwhile Bess goes on a
picnic with a college man and finds herself in trouble. -- My rating is 10/10.
#3. Dangerous Lessons
Writer:
Barbara Covington / Director: Rob Malenfant
A lion escapes from a circus and Nick, Dan, and others go after
it. Nat begins to take violin lessons from a strict teacher. -- I give it a rating of
7/10.
#4. Opposites Attract
Writer:
Eric Tuchman / Director: Michael Kennedy
Amy and Laurie have some clashes and Franz meets
a girl who is quite the opposite of him. -- My rating is 8/10.
#5. Family Business
Writer:
Guy Mullally / Director: Rob Malenfant
Asia gets a letter from her aunt
asking her to run a restaurant. Jo thinks it's a great opportunity for
Asia, but Asia isn't sure she wants to go. Meg moves into Plumfield and
tries to help with finding a replacement, but she and Jo have a few
disagreements. The children try to find ways to keep Asia at Plumfield,
but in the end they realize it must be Asia's decision. -- My rating is 8/10.
#6. Leap of Faith
Writer:
Carl binder / Director: Don McCutcheon
Jo tries to cope with the fear she
has after being robbed and Isabel tells Franz she's moving to Arizona. -- I rate
it 7/10.
#7. Brothers and
Sisters
Writer: Eric Tuchman /
Director: Don McBrearty
Nick's irresponsible brother, Ben, arrives at
Plumfield. Bess wants to become a singer; everyone but she herself know
that she has a terrible singing voice. . . . Can they find the courage to tell
her? -- My rating is 7/10.
#8. The Lantern Man
Writer:
Carl Binder / Director: Rob Malenfant
A mysterious, dying man asks Jo to write
his biography. Laurie tells the children about the legendary "Lantern
Man" who supposedly is a ghost who has haunted Concord streets on
Halloween. -- My rating is 4/10.
#9. The Weaker Sex
Writer: Melissa
R. Byer & Treena Hancock / Director: Bruce McDonald
Jo, her sisters, and Asia fight
for voting rights. Nan decides she will become a doctor, but Dr. Pierce
encourages her to become a nurse instead. Meg rethinks her
relationship with Edward. -- My rating is 4/10.
#10. For Love or Money
The kids find some money in
the woods and find out it was stolen. Will they do the right thing and
return it to the owner? Meanwhile, Nick tries to repair a crack in the
bathroom door, but Jo thinks he was spying on her. -- My rating is 8/10.
#11. Three Angry Women
Writer: Melissa
R. Byer & Treena Hancock / Director: Bruce Pitman
Jo, Meg, and Amy leave for
Boston, but they end up getting lost in the woods. They each have
different accounts of what happened, and they get into arguments.
Meanwhile the kids have some conflicts. Can they all get over their
differences and be friends again? -- This is a funny episode. I give it a rating of
9/10.
#12. The Sign
Writer:
Barbara Covington / Director: Don McCutcheon
As Jo's birthday approaches, she
reads one of her earlier birthday resolves to become a writer. The running
of Plumfield has taken a toll on her, and she wonders if she's competent to be
both a writer and teacher at the same time. Meanwhile, the kids slack off
on some of their duties as they take up a grape juice business. -- My rating is
8/10.
#13. Home for Christmas
Writer:
Guy Mullallay / Director: Rob Malenfant
Nick's brother, Ben, comes to
Plumfield again. Nick is accused of murder but is he in actuality covering for
his brother? -- My rating is 7/10.