![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/791c96af21137a26e2f3e1b570875c76b1-LHOTP-106-Unit-00975RC.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n Photo: ERIC ZACHANOWICH\/NETFLIX\n <\/p>\n
It\u2019s Christmas on the prairie, and you know what that means: dreamy snow, so much singing, and your recapper repeatedly crying because maybe we can have nice things even if it\u2019s just for 42 minutes. And as for something you may not have expected? A baby! That\u2019s right. Caroline has her baby on Christmas Eve in the middle of a snowstorm because, of course, she does. Nothing is easy, even on holiday episodes.<\/p>\n
While \u201cPeace on Earth\u201d isn\u2019t exactly heavy on plot, it does provide a lot of great character moments, especially for a few supporting characters about whom we know little. On a snowy Christmas Eve that becomes too hazardous to have the big friends and family dinner the Ingalls had been planning, we split our time between the Ingalls family still trying to find a way to make a Christmas by themselves feel special, and an impromptu Christmas picnic at the General Store that gives us a deeper look at Emily, Caleb, and Dr. Tann. Plus kissing. And only a real fucking scrooge can hate on Christmas kissing.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start at the little house. While Charles and Caroline are starting to worry about money \u2014 they\u2019ve been waiting on a payment from their tenants for six weeks, and they\u2019re already starting to stress about how they\u2019ll afford the plow they\u2019ll need in the Spring. Still, Charles would prefer to keep these worries from their daughters \u2014 he wants to keep them light and full of hope and, on this Christmas, full of magic.<\/p>\n
Charles\u2019s Christmas wish might be a problem. First, Mary is already onto the money issue. When she brings it up to him, he tries to brush it aside and instead gets Mary to talk about the tension still going on between her and Laura. Well, maybe it\u2019s less \u201ctension\u201d and more \u201cangry any time Laura even breathes.\u201d It\u2019s bad! When Mary tells her father she knows exactly what he\u2019s going to say \u2014 that Laura\u2019s younger and so Mary needs to forgive her and be a good role model, etc., etc., etc. But instead, Charles tells her that he has no idea what it feels like to be the oldest and how sometimes it must feel like a burden. He trusts Mary to figure out what to do when she\u2019s ready. This man is whittling a star for the tree and standing up for eldest daughters everywhere? It\u2019s just too much.<\/p>\n
It seems the time for Mary to forgive Laura will not be following Christmas Eve dinner. Instead, as Laura bugs her sister long enough about just forgiving her already, Mary explodes. Everything is always about Laura. It doesn\u2019t matter how good she is, it doesn\u2019t matter how perfect she is; Laura is always everyone\u2019s favorite. Even their parents. As we all well know, this house is little, which means Ma and Pa can hear every word of this, and it must be noted, neither refutes this accusation! But then Caroline goes into labor.<\/p>\n
Again, let me reiterate, this is a little-ass house! Can you imagine having to listen to your mother give birth a month early and with no doctor around? Terrifying. Caroline breaks down \u2014 she\u2019s never done this without her sisters \u2014 but damn if Charles isn\u2019t the calmest, most reassuring husband ever put on this earth. Again, I say, it\u2019s just too much!<\/p>\n
The moment also puts Mary and Laura\u2019s ongoing feud into perspective. Mary can see how worried her sister looks and sits by her while\u2026 her mother expels another human being from her body, behind the very thin curtain just a few feet away. She assures Laura that everything will be just fine, and when Laura wonders aloud if the baby will hate her as much as Mary does, Mary finally finds it in her to let this one go. She doesn\u2019t hate Laura; she gets annoyed by Laura \u2014 she could never hate her sister. That seems good enough for Laura. And then: there\u2019s a cry from beyond the curtain.<\/p>\n
Prairie folks, please meet Miss Caroline Ingalls. Charles wants to name his third daughter after the most badass, hottest chick he knows. Okay, he doesn\u2019t technically say that, but you can see it in his eyes. Welcome to the little house, sweet baby, who, honestly, was so well cast, she is adorable. Made for TV!<\/p>\n
In a quiet moment, early on Christmas morning, Laura finds her Pa holding her new sister. She finally brings up what she had been worried about for months \u2014 she mentions to her father that she knows he really wanted a boy. Pa dispels with that idea immediately: \u201cIt\u2019s been the privilege of my life raising two brave, kind, and thoughtful girls. And she\u2019ll be wonderful, too. Just look at her.\u201d Hey, does anyone else in the Dead Dad Club have an intense and possibly outsized emotional reaction to hearing a dad talk about how much he loves his daughters? I\u2019m still sobbing about it, it\u2019s fine. Dads, guys! We love them.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s stuff our feelings back inside and move over to Christmas Eve at the Henderson General Store. No babies are born, but it is no less exciting\u2026 for me, personally. After Dr. Tann and Emily realize it\u2019s too dangerous to head out to the Ingalls house, Emily puts together a feast of treats from the store in hopes of keeping the Christmas spirit alive. She loves Christmas. Her brother Samuel is back home with their family, celebrating (they switch off every year), so this is a little different than what she\u2019s used to, but she\u2019s determined. What she doesn\u2019t know is that neither of her guests is a fan of the holiday.<\/p>\n
When Caleb refuses to come to the table, Dr. Tann goes to have a chat with him. All of the stuff about his parents that Mary and the twins brought up has obviously stirred some shit around; He tells Dr. Tann that Christmas is for families, not for people \u201cwho happen to be stuck together.\u201d Dr. Tann gets it. He tells Caleb about the last Christmas he had at home, right after the war. It was supposed to be this big party, but he couldn\u2019t stomach it. He left and took a volunteer shift at the hospital rather than sit around and pretend to be happy. But tonight, he asks Caleb, maybe they can both pretend a little since it would make Emily happy.<\/p>\n
And he\u2019s not wrong! They have a nice dinner together. But you know what doesn\u2019t make Emily happy? When she starts to very obviously hint about her feelings for Dr. Tann, and he lays on her that he\u2019s been married before \u2014 he wanted a life out west, his wife did not \u2014 and he thinks she deserves someone who hasn\u2019t tried and failed at a relationship before. As she goes on about yes, being surprised, but also that he, like everyone else out here, deserves a fresh start, he leans in to kiss her \u2014 finally \u2014 but they are interrupted by Caleb. Dr. Tann bolts, saying he needs to go check on Caroline Ingalls even though it\u2019s obvious he will not get anywhere in this snow.<\/p>\n
Emily is beside herself with worry (and also wondering what the hell she has to do to get a fucking kiss around here!), but is soon distracted by Caleb finally opening up to her. He tells her about how his parents hated each other, how his mother just let his father take him out West without any kind of fight, and how one morning he woke up to find his father gone. No one wanted him. Well, Emily wants him. She calls him \u201ca gift.\u201d It\u2019s very sweet.<\/p>\n
Even sweeter? When Dr. Tann busts back into that General Store and scoops up Emily in a big kiss. Finally! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!<\/p>\n
Wait, just kidding, I can\u2019t say good-bye yet because I must tell you about how Mr. Edwards rolls up to the little house Christmas morning with a tale about how he ran into a man in a red suit the night before, and he has gifts to deliver to Laura and Mary. There are just too many hot men on this show that I would like to hold me just for a little, okay!! Instead, Edwards lovingly holds baby Caroline, whom he dubs Carrie. She is too little to trip down a hill just yet (IYKYK), but maybe in season two.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s other good news, too. Caroline gets a letter from her sister full of cash for a train back home, but Caroline decides it\u2019s money for the plow. She is staying in Kansas. And finally, Dr. Tann, Emily, and Caleb arrive, exchange gifts, and have that big family dinner they all had hoped for. Laura declares this to be her favorite Christmas of all time, and honestly, I can\u2019t blame the girl.<\/p>\n
Sign Up for the Vulture Newsletter<\/p>\n
Entertainment news, for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n
Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n