P.S. The way Johan looked at his sister was not very brotherly!

I think "Death at Dawn," the final episode of Season 1, would have made a good ending - good screentime for all four Cartwrights, and the themes center around Cartwright family dynamics and the future for Virginia City.  It ends hopeful on both those ideas, and finishes with the four Cartwrights walking off down the street together.  "Prime of Life" in mid-season 5 would have been a good finale too - again, all four Cartwrights featured, and the story centers around Ben's role in the family and on the Ponderosa, concluding with status quo restored and the four Cartwrights riding off together.

What episode would you pick for a finale?  What do you think would make an episode a better conclusion to the series?  Anyone care to defend "The Hunter"? 

Death at Dawn

The Julie Bulette Story

Plot:  Little Joe falls in love with the owner of the town's newest saloon, much to the embarrassment of his family, the chagrin of the moralizing town leaders and citizens, and the anger of the rival for her affection.
Original Air Date:  October 17, 1959
Director: Christian Nyby
Writer: Al C. Ward

You've watched the episode. Now it's your chance to sit in the director's chair, or better yet, sit at the editor's desk.  What would you have done differently in The Julie Bulette Story?  How would you have made the episode better?  Add a scene?  Delete a scene?  If so which one(s) and why?  Change an actor portraying a guest star? Would you have taken an entirely different route after the opening credits or before the ending credits?

Do you have any behind the scene tidbits to share?

Feel free to share screen shots of your favorite scene(s) from The Julia Bulette Story.

PS:  When commenting, please be respectful of the actors, directors, writers, and other Forum members.

Respond to this thread between now and midnight (EDT) April 6, 2026 (the date of the Championship game in Indianapolis, IN) with any images from Bonanza where you would 'swear' that the one (or more) of the Cartwrights, Recurring Characters, or Guest Stars have gone "MAD"! (Remember Martin Landau as Emeliano in 'The Gift'?)

Please remember to include the episode title with the screen cap.

Claire shows the picture of Marie to Joe and asks if she was his mother. He said yes. Then she mentions that he was probably quite young when she died. He said yes and that she died right after he was born. In other episodes that mentioned the death of Marie, Joe was either 4 or 5 years old when she died.

Marie's picture was the only one of Ben's three wives on the desk. What happened to the pictures of Elizabeth and Inger?

In September 1964, an intruder broke into the Fat Jones Stables in North Hollywood, where the show's horses were boarded and savagely maimed a number of them  some of which had to be put down, including Cochise. Michael offered a $5,000 reward (=$52,250 today) but the culprit was never found.

Post your favorite Joe/horse pic (any horse) and tell us why you chose it and/or discuss the episode.

First, it really struck me how disturbing it is when Rowan has his initial break and starts randomly shooting at people on the street (including hitting Ben).  It's quite a violent moment and shocking in its suddenness and randomness.  Including a woman and her child on the street (who I don't think are shot - we don't see them again) adds an additional layer.  I actually wonder if this moment feels more unsettling now than it did in 1966, after so many years of mass shootings in the news - because that was very much what this evoked for me.  I looked up the timing and this episode aired just five months after the Texas Tower Sniper incident - considering Rowan holes up in a high place and continues shooting, I wonder if that was part of the inspiration for the episode.

I appreciated Ben's compassion for his mentally ill friend, but I wish the episode had given him an actual plan for trying to deal with the situation.  They paint the character who wants to burn Rowan out as brutal and violent, but...Rowan is deeply delusional, heavily armed, and shooting anyone he sees.  They have to do something, and Ben's only plan of "wait and give him time" is not actually a plan or solution.  He seems to be arguing that there's no harm in waiting, but then, sure enough, two more people get shot, including Rowan's young son.

I had not remembered the boy being shot either, and that really struck me as a sign of where we are in the series.  I'm almost certain this was the first time a child was shot (though it was...relatively minor, which is a strange thing to say about a bullet wound!!)  I feel like in an earlier season it wouldn't have happened, and in the final couple of seasons the boy would have died.  Right here in Season 8 we're still in the middle of those two ends.

It also was interesting that Ben and the doctor spoke very candidly about the terrible conditions in most mental hospitals of the time, something I also feel like an earlier season would have brushed past.  I appreciated the reference to the real-life Dorothea Dix and her reform efforts - nice to see a heroic historical woman mentioned.

And final thing, somewhat on the other side, I couldn't help comparing this episode to the Season 8 opener, involving the mentally unwell Laurie.  It was striking that when the man has a psychotic break, it's rooted in war-time violence and comes out in violence and anger, with heavy military connections.  When the woman has a psychotic break, she does become violent in some ways, but it's rooted in trauma related to her parents, her acting out is very much connected to sexuality (flirting with men, then accusing them of assaulting her), and her demeanor is very child-like in some ways (clutching the portrait of her mother, some of the ways she speaks to her father).  And in the final scene of each episode...  Rowan is shown as mentally clear again, nicely dressed in a suit, and actively, personally choosing to travel to a hospital to seek help - very much in control and having agency for seeking his own healing.  Laurie isn't even in the final scene of her episode - the implication is that she's upstairs in bed, while a room of men speak hopefully about her healing.  We don't get anything from her about what's happening.  Oh, Bonanza - you really tried, but sometimes your 1960s-ness was showing!!

I do appreciate that they tackled a complex subject like PTSD with compassion and nuance.  A very rich episode with a lot to explore!!

The Brandsters are giving our member the chance to discuss the episodes as if you were the writer or maybe even sat in the director's chair. 

What is your take on the episodes?

We'll start with where Bonanza first began:     A Rose for Lotta

Note:  The earlier discussions have been archived.  They are available for viewing, but commenting has been turned off in favor of new discussions when the respective threads are opened. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk4FR4GV4TY

I remember that the first time I saw this episode (relatively recently because it wasn't on syndication), I was quite surprised to see Ben Cartwright speak out favorably about polygamy - although on this rewatch, I think he's speaking much more strongly on tolerance, which is a bit of a distinction and actually very Ben.  It's still a little surprising for the television era, although we're into 1966 by now so maybe there were some shifts happening.

What really struck me, though, was the ending and how it contrasts with the rest of the episode.  Throughout the episode, the script goes over and above to emphasize the Clausens as a happy and loving family, and the townspeople attacking them are portrayed very negatively, especially the bigoted parson.  It seems like a clear viewpoint, and yet...they still couldn't get a happy ending.

Maybe the intention in having Heber and Elizabeth Ann die was only to emphasize the cost of intolerance, and it does lead to Susannah's powerful final speech - but I'm also seeing the echoes of a time in Hollywood (maybe earlier, maybe still in play at this time?) when certain moral transgressions (usually sex related) meant a character would inevitably be dead by the end of the story.  The parson even says that the sin is with the second wife, and while I don't believe we're meant to take him as a moral authority at all, it is the "innocent" first wife who's the only survivor.

Susannah's final speech also makes it explicit that Heber married Elizabeth Ann because Susannah couldn't have children - which kind of gives a more "socially acceptable" reason for the second wife, even though the rest of the story makes it very clear that Heber is romantically in love with both women.  It could just be to emphasize Susannah's tie to Heber and Elizabeth Ann's child, but it also kind of throws in a final appeasement - "look, it's okay, he just had the second wife to have babies!"

I'd really be curious about whether there were earlier versions of this script, what voices were involved in deciding about the ending, and whether the deaths ended up in the story because someone got cold feet somewhere along the way.

 I suppose the struggle for independence of these women creates a tension necessary for the plot line, but would a benign maternal figure have so over burdened a script? Just musing…

I'm an Adam Gal and like very few of the episodes post-1965, but there are a few I really like. My favorite is "The Medal". I think it really portrays issues experienced by veterans coming home. Dean Stockwell was excellent. 

Tonight I'm watching Her Brother's Keeper. I'm about half way through it and still trying to figure out the brother's plans for his sister, Claire. However, I just discovered an odd statement by Joe that throws a big monkey wrench into his memories of Marie (and canon/fanon) and how old he was when she died.  The sister who's at the Ponderosa with Ben asks about Marie after seeing her picture. Joe says, "She died right after I was born. I never knew her." When she says she's sorry about that, Joe replies, "Oh don't be. It's something I never had, so I don't miss it." She asks, "Never?" Joe, "Almost never."

Update: I finished it and discovered the brother's 'issues'. What a heartbreaking ending. I found the brother's manipulations odd throughout, based on the reveal at the end. He was a desperate soul. 

There's no right or wrong answers here. They're just curious as to which Cartwright we like the best, which season we like, etc. My answers were 93% similar 

https://www.metv.com/quiz/bonanza-fans-saddle-up-tell-us-your-bonanza-opinions