Calling Parents by Their Name: John once referes to Mr. Edwards as Isaiah, and later Grace when she tries to call him out on giving up university.
Early-Installment Weirdness: While a major plot point in both Laura's and Albert's romantic lives would eventually be that Charles is firmly and passionately opposed to his children even considering marriage before the age of eighteen, the show's first venture into the topic has him downright pleased to let Mary get engaged at thirteen as long as the wedding is put off until she's fifteen.
Manly Man and Sensitive Guy: Mr. Edwards is the Manly Man to John's Sensitive Guy, and that becomes part of their complicated father/son relationship.
Parents as People: Isaiah genuinely loves John, and wants to bond with him and respect his life choices, but can't bring himself to bond with his poetry talents, which he's completely alien to, let alone with the idea of him attending Literature University instead of farming in Walnut Grove like him.
