Riley and Amanda are back, and this week someone fakes their own death on the prairie. Honestly, respect.

In episode six, your Little House guides tackle Season 1, Episode 7 — If I Should Die Before I Wake — in which a delightfully dramatic old woman named Amy decides the best way to get her estranged children to visit is to pretend she has died. It works. Charles gets fully swept up in the scheme, Caroline says "Charles" in that specific tone at least twice, and everyone ends up at an impromptu party eating cake by the handful.

Before all that, Mattie — Amy's best friend and housemate — actually does die on screen while sitting in a rocking chair. Nobody was expecting that, including Riley and Amanda. Also Doc Baker and Nels have a completely unprompted conversation about inflation that is related to nothing happening in this episode.

Favorite line of the episode goes to Mary, delivered from bed during a late night conversation about death: "We don't have wakes at our church because they're fun, and if they're fun, they're sinful." Theological consistency, at least.

Trauma Meter: 2/10 (as adults, fine — as children, the black veil was a lot)

Survivability Rating: 10/10 (Riley and Amanda are confident they would be excellent at faking their own deaths)

Charles Count: 1 solid Charles, 1 borderline

Big Opinions: treasure the people around you before it's too late. Also be as dramatic as possible every single day. Amy understood the assignment.

Next time: one of both Riley and Amanda's all-time favorite episodes — a wholesome, classic prairie story with a lot of good moments and low trauma. The traumatizing ones are coming. But not yet.

🌾 Find them on Instagram, TikTok & email: @littlehousebigopinions | littlehousebigopinions@gmail.com