Ignore the ‘woke’ backlash, this Netflix reboot is great
Little House on the Prairie ★★★★
Who would have thought of a reboot? Little House on the PrairieWill the film, adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books published almost a century ago, be one of the most talked about productions of the year? There has been both uproar and backlash since Netflix announced it was reimagining the TV series, which ran for nine years from the mid-70s; Second, predictably, conservative Americans were concerned that this new iteration would be “too woke.”
Wilder’s fictionalized accounts of his childhood on the American frontier in the 1870s and ’80s have long been of interest. Criticism of “colonial stereotypes” (yes, racism), the original TV adaptation, produced by star Michael Landon (who also frequently writes and directs), explicitly eschewed these parts of the source material. Landon may have been a lifelong Republican and friend of then-president Ronald Reagan, who said the series was his favorite TV show, but his adaptation included many progressive storylines, from racism to child abuse and even mental illness.
The “wokism” that disturbs some conservatives this time is, of course, related to the updated highlighting of Native Americans in the new series. By Rebecca Sonnenshinemen And Vampire DiariesThis series, which is also the showrunner and executive producer, tells the story that made up the original pilot episode of the Ingalls before they settled in Walnut Grove.
Family patriarch Charles (Australian actor Luke Bracey), Ma/Caroline (Palm Royale‘s Crosby Fitzgerald) and their daughter Laura (Alice Halsey, veteran Days of Our Lives The 10-year-old actor) and Mary (Skywalker Hughes) set out in their covered wagon from Wisconsin to a settlement called Independence in Kansas. This is a place where settlers were promised “free land” under the Homestead Act after the Civil War.
After staking out a claim and beginning the backbreaking work of building a cabin—eventually with the help of a local bachelor, Mr. Edwards (Warren Christie), a man who suffers for his family and drinks too much for Caroline’s liking—Charles begins to realize that the settlers may have been lured to Independence under false pretenses. The local First Nations tribe, the Osage, has yet to reach any agreement with the government.
Paralleling the Ingalls’ story, this series follows the Mitchells, an Osage family whose land the Ingalls built and whose daughter Good Eagle (Wren Zhawenim Gotts) Laura befriends. Although Caroline is initially skeptical about the land belonging to the Osage, Charles has no doubts.
Netflix’s big-budget portrayal of life on the prairie looks gorgeous, and while it’s closer to the books, fans who only know the series will still get a nostalgic hit. I admit this as a huge fan of the original (even when Saturday afternoon repeats of the last few series were shown in Australia, I was watching Michael Landon’s billowing shirt sleeves and suspenders as much as Laura’s misadventures).
Dad still plays the violin in front of the fire in the evenings, Laura is an adventurous tomboy with a heart of gold, Mary is a sensible person, Ma is surprisingly progressive, and everyone hugs each other. Too much. Yes, it’s relentlessly wholesome, and every episode has a lesson as well as the harsh realities of the farm (take notes, they’re impressive).
But this carefully produced version maintains the family-friendly appeal of the original while offering a bolder portrayal of post-Civil War America, from the nuanced portrayal of First Nations people to the production design that even features custom-made costumes using historically appropriate reproduction fabrics.
While it may seem like an incongruous reboot for 2026, the original is worth considering. Little house A resurgence has been seen during the pandemic (alongside social media trends toward modern farmhouses and “cottage” aesthetics) and was reported by Nielsen as: most watched old show 2024.
With its themes of resilience, self-sufficiency and inclusivity in difficult times, it could be argued that it is actually a reboot entirely appropriate for our times, combining joyful moments with brutal history.
Little House on the Prairie currently streaming on Netflix.
