If you were a kid growing up in the '80s, your favorite TV shows probably provided a pleasant distraction most of the time. But every now and then, a show that usually had good vibes would suddenly take a dark turn...like the trauma-inducing "Sylvia" episode of Little House on the Prairie or the tragic Growing Pains episode featuring Matthew Perryas as Carol Seaver's doomed boyfriend Sandy.
One sitcom that famously took a few detours into controversial territory was Facts of Life, which dealt with issues like suicide, sexual assault...and in one episode that definitely gave young viewers a jolt, human trafficking.
In the Season 3 episode titled “Runaway,” Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae) tells Tootie (Kim Fields) that she's too young to go along with the older girls on a trip to see a Broadway show in New York City. Naturally, Tootie feels left out...so she decides to go to the city by herself. Things don't go as planned, unfortunately.
After Tootie's wallet gets stolen, she's unable to pay her bill at a diner. Luckily (but not really), a friendly teen named Kristie (Tammy Lauren) comes to the rescue...but it turns out she has an ulterior motive. Kristie is a prostitute, and she's actually trying to recruit Tootie for her pimp, but the naive Eastland student doesn't catch on at first. Thankfully, a waitress named Bernice intervenes before it's too late.
“Those two nice people are going to take you to a nice apartment, give you a nice warm drink, and you’re gonna wake up three days later,” she says. “Do you want to be for sale, like Kristie?"
Luckily, Mrs. Garrett and the other girls come to Tootie's rescue soon after that, and everybody gets home safely after learning a valuable lesson. Facts of Life fans learned a lesson, too, as the comments on a YouTube clip from the episode prove.
"This was my favorite episode...It scared me, but it made me think, it also made me more careful of my surroundings," one person wrote.
"I remember this was a bizarre episode seeing this as a 4th grader," a second commenter recalled, with another adding, "This episode saved my life when I was 10. So very grateful."
But what about Kristie? In retrospect, it could be said that the most disturbing thing about "Runaway" was the fact that the main characters didn't do anything to help the troubled teen.
Related: 'Facts of Life' Star Kim Fields Breaks Down Over Struggles of Former Co-Star in Resurfaced Interview
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