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The Best Episodes of Bonanza

Every episode of Bonanza ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Bonanza!

The Best Episodes of Bonanza

The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch while helping the surrounding community.

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  1. 8.2/10(274 votes)

    #1 - Hoss and the Leprechauns

    S5:E12

    In what is arguably the best comedy of the series, Hoss swears he has seen green elves running around the Ponderosa and a smooth-talking Irishman complicates matters even worse.

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  2. 8.2/10(110 votes)

    #2 - Kingdom of Fear

    S12:E27

    Ben, Hoss and Joe, along with Candy and a fellow rancher, are jailed on false trespassing charges by a greedy mining tycoon. The despot runs a gold mine (i.e., a thinly-veiled prison camp) and acquires slave labor by pressing phony criminal charges against the unfortunate inmates.

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  3. 8.1/10(238 votes)

    #3 - Twilight Town

    S5:E4

    Joe is bushwhacked in the desert and awakens to find himself in Martinville, a town that may or may not be populated by ghosts. An errie, surrealistic and well-produced episode.

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  4. 8.1/10(117 votes)

    #4 - To Die in Darkness

    S9:E28

    While the others are away, Ben and Candy are lured by an old friend of Ben's to go somewhere. The ""friend"" traps them in a deep pit. He comes back to give them food, but how long will he be feeling ""generous""?

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  5. 8.1/10(141 votes)

    #5 - The Stillness Within

    S12:E24

    Blinded by an explosion, Joe wallows in self-pity, and at first resists the efforts of a woman trying to teach him to live without sight, not knowing she is also blind.

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  6. 8.0/10(280 votes)

    #6 - The Avenger

    S1:E26

    A restaurant owner whom Ben and Adam have confronted over stolen Ponderosa beef ends up dead one night. His daughter, Sally Byrnes runs the cafe and in her resentment, wrongfully accuses Ben and Adam of murdering her father and they are sentenced to hang. A rancher by the name of Hawkins is also jealous of the Cartwrights and has hired his men to stop the town from helping Ben and Adam, ensuring they hang. Hoss and Joe are willing to stop them, but Ben insists they stay within the limits of the law.

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Bonanza

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  8. 8.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - The Honor of Cochise

    S3:E3

    The Cartwrights and a bigoted army captain are pinned down by Cochise and his braves, who claim the officer poisoned 30 of their people.

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  9. 8.0/10(144 votes)

    #8 - Thunder Man

    S4:E31

    Little Joe's 19-year old girlfriend is killed by a good samaritan, an explosives expert who had stopped to render aid to the woman's uncle after he suffers a stroke. Unable to talk, the only clue he can offer the investigating Cartwrights is a scrawled title of the song the assailant was whistling — ""New Orleans Woman.""

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  10. 8.0/10(140 votes)

    #9 - The Legacy

    S5:E11

    Adam, Hoss and Joe mistakenly believe their father was murdered. They split into 3 different directions to confront the supposed killers. In his heart, Ben knows his sons will not act outside the law; but he is not 100% sure that Joe will behave correctly.

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  11. 8.0/10(113 votes)

    #10 - The Other Son

    S7:E4

    A mule skinner and his two sons are hired by Ben to transport nitroglycerin to California.

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  12. 8.0/10(119 votes)

    #11 - All Ye His Saints

    S7:E14

    In this series' highlight, little Michael Thorpe heads to the high country to ask God to spare his critically wounded father, believing he has found Him in the form of longtime fugitive Tom Cain.

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  13. 8.0/10(110 votes)

    #12 - The Gentle Ones

    S9:E7

    Most people consider Mark Cole a coward, but he does not hesitate to step forward when his brother attempts to break a horse by torturing it.

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  14. 8.0/10(130 votes)

    #13 - The Burning Sky

    S9:E18

    A cruel, sadistic, alcoholic and racist rancher named Aaron Gore stalks the wife of Ben's friend, whom he has hired as a horse trainer. The woman is a glowingly beautiful Sioux who befriends Mr. Gore's son, whom he regularly beats up. Mr. Gore uses some incredibly vicious means to ensure she regrets ever having anything to do with his son.

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  15. 7.9/10(247 votes)

    #14 - Death at Dawn

    S1:E32

    Virginia City is plagued by organized crime, Sam Bryant and his gang. One of his men, Farmer Perkins, kills a storekeeper, and at his trial, the wife of the store owner is afraid to testify. When Perkins is sentenced to hang, Bryant kidnaps Ben and wants to exchange Ben for Perkins, which leaves Adam with the most difficult decision of his life. A stellar cast.

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  16. 7.9/10(179 votes)

    #15 - Any Friend of Walter's

    S4:E26

    Classic comedy in which Hoss first meets prospector Obie and his lazy but allegedly brilliant mongrel dog, Walter.

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  17. 7.9/10(118 votes)

    #16 - Journey Remembered

    S5:E8

    Ben finds an old journal that he kept while in a wagon train travelling from St. Joseph, Missouri to Ash Hollow. As he is reading it Ben remembers the journey he undertook with his wife Inger and a young Adam. During the trip Hoss is born and they have trouble with some Indians.

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  18. 7.9/10(171 votes)

    #17 - Enter Thomas Bowers

    S5:E30

    After a triumphant tour in Europe, a famous Negro singer encounters racial prejudice in Virginia City when he arrives for a concert.

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  19. 7.9/10(122 votes)

    #18 - A Man to Admire

    S6:E11

    Hoss relies on clever attorney Whitney Parker, who has a drinking problem, to clear him of a murder charge.

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  20. 7.9/10(128 votes)

    #19 - The Flapjack Contest

    S6:E15

    Hoss unknowingly enters a flapjack contest and Joe puts Hoss on a diet which Hoss doesn't care for. Joe's betting on the flapjack contest could get him into some trouble and will he ever succeed in getting the window pane his Pa wants?

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  21. 7.9/10(137 votes)

    #20 - Found Child

    S7:E7

    Hoss comes upon an overturned stagecoach and discovers a little girl suffering from shock. After the Cartwrights suceed in bringing her around, Hoss is disappointed she has relatives and cannot stay. The girl's uncle turns out to be the enemy and Hoss saves her.

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  22. 7.9/10(114 votes)

    #21 - Mighty is the Word

    S7:E9

    Virginia City's newest preacher is an ex-gunfighter who wants only to build a new church, but the brother of one of his victims has other ideas. The blueprints for the church are said to be a gift from Adam.

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  23. 7.9/10(117 votes)

    #22 - Credit for a Kill

    S8:E7

    Though his friend is badly in need of the reward money, Joe insists it belongs to him, to protect his friend from the dead outlaws' brothers.

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  24. 7.9/10(111 votes)

    #23 - The Wormwood Cup

    S8:E31

    A woman - convinced Little Joe intentionally killed her brother - offers $1,000 to the man who kills the youngest Cartwright in what she deems a ""fair fight."" Joe, meanwhile, must overcome his guilt over killing another man in self defense while trying to avoid the dead man's bitterly grieving father.

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  25. 7.9/10(110 votes)

    #24 - Night of Reckoning

    S9:E5

    A sadistic outlaw named Dibbs along with his gang, take siege of the Ponderosa, holding Joe, Hoss, and Candy prisoners. Their foreman, Donny Buckler, has stashed $60,000 dollars and Dibbs will stop at nothing short of murder to get his hands on it.

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  26. 7.9/10(115 votes)

    #25 - Desperate Passage

    S9:E8

    Driving horses to Utah, the Cartwrights and Candy discover only two people left in a town wiped out by rampaging Paiute Indians. Together, Mary Burns and Josh Tanner must travel through hostile territory, along with the Cartwrights and Candy.

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Best Episodes Summary

"Hoss and the Leprechauns" is the best rated episode of "Bonanza". It scored 8.2/10 based on 274 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 12/22/1963. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Kingdom of Fear".