Percival and Nellie go to New York so that Percival can run the family business now that his father has died. Mrs. Oleson gets very depressed because of Nellie leaving. The Olesons decide to adopt a girl to take the place of Nellie. While they are in Sleepy Eye, they find a girl that looks almost exactly like Nellie when she was young.

Nancy turns out to be worse than Nellie ever was. She even locks another girl in the ice house. The students devise a plan to teach Nancy a lesson. They trick her into being the star in a dunking tank. Also during this episode, Adam and Mary move to New York so that they can earn a living and Hester Sue comes to Walnut Grove to work at the restaurant.

James is trying to be more like Albert. He even wants to shave like Albert has to. While James is shaving, he breaks Albert's razor. James steals a razor from the mercantile hoping Albert wouldn't notice the difference. When the truth is found out about the razor, James runs away. Albert takes off after him. When Albert finds James, it takes a lot of convincing before James decides to come back home with him.

Dr. Baker posts an ad for another doctor, to relieve his workload (and Mrs. Oleson's constant pestering). He hires Dr. Caleb Ledoux, but doesn't count on him being black. The Ingalls are among the very few to accept Dr. Ledoux, as others are outright hateful and racist. Even Dr. Baker struggles with his prejudice and, to show his spite, gives the young doctor minor cases. In the end, Dr. Ledoux is the only doctor available to call on a pregnant woman who is having labor complications. The woman's husband won't allow the doctor in the house (because he's black), and can only get to her when Charles knocks the man aside. Ledoux performs a successful surgery and delivers a son to the couple. A stunned and shaken Dr. Baker witnesses the surgery and concedes that only Caleb's and his superior training could have saved the woman's life. Dr. Ledoux later angrily tells his wife he plans to leave Walnut Grove. But only Dr. Baker's emotional speech at church convinces the good doctor to stay.

Laura goes to visit Eliza Jane because of a literature seminar that is going on in town. Laura has to find a part-time job to pay for meals and other stuff. She ends up hating the job. There is a person who Laura met on the train who begins to like Eliza Jane. Eliza Jane in turn begins to like the professor teaching the seminar and the professor likes Laura. The professor tells Laura that her writing is bad when Laura tells him she is happily married. The man on the train eventually defends Laura's writing. It only takes one punch by the man to get the professor to take off and leave.

In an episode about hero worship, Charles and Nels share deep concerns over an aging circus performer's influence on the children of Walnut Grove. Particularly since some of them - Albert and Willie in particular - have tried some of the daredevil's more dangerous stunts, with mixed results.

Nels is kidnapped by two crooks. The crooks try to get Mrs. Oleson to pay ransom for her husband, but she refuses to. This makes Mr. Oleson upset and causes him to help the crooks. The kidnappers aren't very lucky. After kidnapping several different people, the crooks decide that they need to try another line of work. They leave without hurting any of the kidnapped people.

Charles travels to Chicago to comfort a deeply grieving Mr. Edwards, whose son John Jr. had died in a tragic accident. But that grief soon gives way to rage when it becomes apparent John Jr.'s death was no accident. Charles and Mr. Edwards enlist the aid of the editor of the newspaper where John Jr. worked to uncover the truth.

An overweight boy comes to school at Walnut Grove. The schoolkids pick on him because he is so heavy. Nancy persuades the boy to bully the other school children. The jokes of the school children get so bad that the obese boy decides to quit school. The school children then decide that enough is enough. They go over and apologize to him.

Mrs. Oleson changes the restaurant into a franchise restaurant, She has a hard time living up to the agreement of the franchise. Charles and Nels get together and decide to open up a restaurant of their own, right across the street. The new restaurant forces Mrs. Oleson's restaurant out of business. The town is now back to normal, or at least as normal as it can be.

James makes friends with Gideon Hale, a young boy who stutters. However, the budding friendship is damaged when Gideon overhears James making fun of him. A wolf that follows James and Charles on a delivery trip may hold the key for bringing Gideon out of his shell.

Laura finds that balancing her teaching duties at school and managing Almonzo's orchard, while he and Charles are gone on a delivery trip to Arizona, too much to handle. Her heart-to-heart talk with a maturing Willie may hold the key to both their futures.

Charles beings making tables so that he could pass on a legacy. While he is at this, Albert begins taking care of the farm. Charles gets very upset when someone steals his design and starts producing the tables in large quantities. Charles soon realizes that memories of his family is a lot more important.

An elderly relative of James and Cassandra tries to get custody away from Charles. He ends up being unsuccessful in the lawsuit, which means that Charles kept custody of the children.

Hester Sue's ex-husband, Sam, comes to town. He tells Hester Sue that he was no longer a drinker and a gambler. Hester Sue believes he has changed and soon decides to marry him. Hester Sue learns the truth about Sam when his wife and kids come and warn Hester Sue that Sam is still a drinker and gambler.

The Wilders' budding marriage is put to its first major test when Almonzo, soon after recovering from an illness, is felled by a stroke.

Almonzo, bitter at his apparent life-crippling illness, nearly gives up on life, despite the birth of little Rose. His attitude nearly drives Laura to consider leaving her husband. A tornado that destroys the farmstead may hold the key to both of their futures.

Mr. Edwards' alcoholism, fueled by John Jr.'s violent death, ruins his marriage, and he travels back to Walnut Grove to see solace with his old friends. However, those long-standing friendships are put to the test when an accident, caused by a drunken Mr. Edwards, nearly costs Albert his life.

A longtime friend of Caroline writes to her and asks for help. Her friend is pregnant and lives at a gold prospector's camp where there is an outbreak of influenza. Caroline finds out that her friend's husband doesn't like her wife. In fact, he wants his wife's baby to die. Caroline's friend dies during childbirth, but the child survives. In another tent, a mother's child dies while be born. Caroline decides to give the baby to the other mother since she knows that the baby will be taken care of properly.

While Mr. Edwards, Charles, and James are in Sleepy Eye, James gets shot during a bank robbery. James, who is in a coma, is taken to the hospital. While James is in the hospital, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Ingalls, and Albert look for the bank robbers. They find them and bring them to justice. Charles continues to believe that James will get better.

When Charles refuses to admit that James will likely never recover from his gunshot wound, he leaves Walnut Grove with his adopted son. He builds an altar in the woods and hopes that God will bring a miracle.