Ask anyone who grew up watching Little House on the Prairie what is the most traumatizing image they recollect from the show’s run and you’re likely to get a surprisingly wide array of answers. From Caroline almost taking a knife to her leg while in the throes of a fevered infection to Alice screaming and trying in vain to shatter glass as she and baby Adam burned in a fire, the show contains more than a few moments that call into question its cultural legacy of family friendliness. These moments aside, however, the show never delved into explicitly horror territory until its seventh season when a two-part episode entitled “Sylvia” leveraged the genre’s tropes to completely rewrite audience expectation.
The premise of the episode is something straight out of a horror movie. Sylvia, a sheltered 15-year-old whose upbringing has been dominated by a controlling father, is stalked and ultimately raped by a mask-wearing assailant. Although she survives the attack, her rapist remains at large and there is ample evidence that he intends to strike again.
The graphic nature of Sylvia’s rape is suggested instead of shown.
“Sylvia” is an especially interesting contribution to the state of horror in the early 1980s for the ways in which it both challenges and reflects what was happening in the genre. In an era noted for its excessive gore, “Sylvia” stands in direct contrast to that aesthetic. Although violent acts occur, nothing is explicit. This choice is most obvious in the depiction of Sylvia’s assault. That the rape is suggested instead of shown in graphic detail makes sense, as LHOTP is ultimately a family show. But when coupled with explicit stalking scenes leading up to the rape, the non-graphic nature of the assault is rendered even more horrifying because our imagination is left to fill in the details. When Sylvia appears at her father’s door bruised and battered, the violence of rape is clear.
Slasher meets Giallo
Fleeing the killer.
Written and directed by star Michael Landon, “Sylvia” meshes together elements from a variety of horror sub-genres, most notably Giallo and slasher. By relying upon ominous sound cues, jump scares, killer point of view shots, and a sympathetic victim destined for a tragic end, “Sylvia” successfully creates a sense of foreboding and fear instantly recognizable to horror fans. This point is underscored by how the two episodes leverage well known moments in horror. In a moment echoing the famous flower scene in Frankenstein (1931), Sylvia’s surface tranquility in the forest is underscored by a foreboding soundtrack suggesting to viewers that all is not as it appears.
What’s especially fascinating about this episode is how differently it reads in the #MeToo era. It’s important to note that the time period of the show profoundly shapes how Sylvia is depicted. For a 15-year-old, marriage certainly wasn’t unheard of and so Sylvia’s sexualization does have an historical context that it’s important to acknowledge. But that the episodes take such pain to underscore her emotional immaturity is deeply problematic.
Body shaming meets rape culture.
Sylvia’s victimization begins when she is continually shamed for her body’s development. Like the titular character in Carrie (1976), Sylvia does not have access to an adult figure who can prepare her for impending womanhood. Consequently, she reads as much younger than her years. This makes the other characters in the town casting her as a temptress all the more horrifying. The gossip that surrounds Sylvia comes across as not only unfair, but as slut shaming. While we expect characters like Mrs. Olsen to engage in malicious gossip, Charles, Mr. Olsen and Laura excusing the peeping behavior of teenage boys comes out of left field. As the show’s bastion of morality, Charles’ agreement with Laura and Mr. Olsen that “boys will be boys” in response to the news that Albert and his friends were peeping on Sylvia without her consent is one of the episode’s most uncomfortable moments.
That grown men feel comfortable commenting upon an adolescent girl’s developing body is also deeply troubling. This positioning of Sylvia’s body as an entity to be commented upon by men is important because it establishes a clear chain of victimization that culminates in the rape. Because we see so many of the townspeople comment upon her physical attributes, her father’s declaration that you “reap what you sow” suggests she shares some culpability in her attack. This point is underscored by the fact that she had been told to bind her breasts before leaving the house.
Sylvia continues to endure abuse post her rape.
In the wake of Sylvia’s rape, the character is re-victimized by the reactions of those closest to her, most notably Laura and her father. When Willie and his crew grab Sylvia after her attack, she responds by physically fighting back. This leads Laura to slap Sylvia across the face in an effort to calm her down. Both Laura and the town’s doctor realize something is amiss given Sylvia’s bruises, but neither pushes the issue. Sylvia is reprimanded both physically and verbally for acting out while seemingly nothing happens to the boys who grabbed her. Sylvia’s father continues his egregious treatment of his daughter by trying to keep her housebound for fear her rape will be discovered and bring shame upon the family. His declaration to his daughter that he can’t believe “a whore” precipitates the action that will result in Sylvia’s demise. Interestingly, while the rapist receives his just deserts, none of Sylvia’s other tormentors receive any type of comeuppance. While it could be argued that the loss of his daughter counts as her father’s moment of reckoning, there is no moment of accountability.
Sylvia’s final moments are dictated by three men and a boy.
Even Sylvia’s death is ultimately controlled by the men around her. Instead of being told the truth about the extent of her injuries, the men who surround Sylvia—Albert, Charles, Sylvia’s father and Doc—construct a fantasy for her final moments. While this decision does come from a place of compassion, it erases her agency. Once again, men decide Sylvia’s fate without giving her any choice.
It has been years since I last watched this episode and I was shocked both by how well the horror elements hold up and by how utterly disturbing Sylvia’s treatment in the episode is by all characters, even those we love. It’s telling that this episode doesn’t play in rerun rotation very often and that when it does, it’s heavily edited. For horror fans, especially those interested in how televisions interprets the genre, “Sylvia” is a landmark moment not to be missed.
You can order the DVD from Amazon, as well as stream either the season or the 2-part episode.
