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The Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 2

Every episode of Bonanza Season 2 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 2!

The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch while helping the surrounding community.
Genres:WesternAction & AdventureDramaFamily
Network:NBC

Season 2 Ratings Summary

"Showdown" is the best rated episode of "Bonanza" season 2. It scored 7.2/10 based on 193 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 9/10/1960. This episode is rated 0.7 points higher than the second-best, "The Mission".

  • Showdown
    7.2/10193 votes

    #1 - Showdown

    Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/10/1960

    A young bank robber hires on at the Ponderosa in order to keep his gang informed of the law's efforts to discover their whereabouts.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Mission
    7.9/10209 votes

    #2 - The Mission

    Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 9/17/1960

    Filmed almost entirely outdoors, this is more like a feature than a series. Captain Pender is looking for a scout to lead him and his company of men across the desert, along with a currency shipment they are carrying to another army fort. Charlie Trent, a former scout and now a drunk, still blames himself for his troops being led to massacre. Hoss sees that this is Charlie's opportunity to redeem himself and win back his honor. Meantime, Captain Pender is having trouble with Cutter, another scout who is a devious and cunning bear of a man, who agreed to lead him across the desert, but Pender lets him go and with Hoss' suggestion, Captain Pender agress to have Charlie be their scout.

    Director: James Neilson

    Writer: Robert E. Thompson

  • Badge Without Honor
    7.1/10207 votes

    #3 - Badge Without Honor

    Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 9/24/1960

    Adam's life is saved by an enigmatic U. S. Marshal who has come to Virginia City to arrest a friend of the Cartwrights.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Mill
    7.4/10204 votes

    #4 - The Mill

    Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/1/1960

    The Cartwrights construct a grist mill to provide income for a crippled rancher who blames Ben for his predicament. Ben has to contend with the man's depraved caretaker, and finds himself attracted to his wife. "Sons can't be everything," Ben tells her.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Hopefuls
    7.0/10179 votes

    #5 - The Hopefuls

    Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 10/8/1960

    Adam guides a wagon train of Quakers and falls for the leader's daughter, Regina. The force Adam must employ to protect them, conflicts with their passive philosophy of life.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Denver McKee
    6.9/10192 votes

    #6 - Denver McKee

    Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 10/15/1960

    While celebrating the return of his daughter Connie, former lawman McKee is asked to assist in the capture of an outlaw gang. While Joe is courting Connie, no one realizes that McKee is involved with the outlaws.

    Director: Jacques Tourneur

    Writer: Fred Freiberger, Steve McNeil

  • Day of Reckoning
    7.1/10192 votes

    #7 - Day of Reckoning

    Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 10/22/1960

    Prejudice erupts on both sides when Ben gives an Indian named Matsou and his wife, some of his land, after saving Ben's life from a renegade Indian who almost killed him on the Ponderosa. An intense and magnetic performance by Ricardo Montalban.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Abduction
    7.0/10208 votes

    #8 - The Abduction

    Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 10/29/1960

    Hoss and Joe take their sweethearts to a colorful and strange carnival for the day. Joe's recent girlfriend Jennifer Beale is abducted by the sinister owner, Philip Reed and his accomplice Gerner. Her father is Joshua Beale, the richest man in the Comstock. Gerner convinces Reed to hold her for a $1 million dollar ransom, and her father will gladly pay them to ensure her safe return. Reed's girlfriend Della Thompson is jealous of Jennifer and has second thoughts about the abduction. Hoss and Joe take notice of Jennifer's disappearance and travel deep into the bowels of the carnival, meeting fierce resistance from the carnival people at every avenue. They come up without a trace of finding her.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Breed of Violence
    7.1/10170 votes

    #9 - Breed of Violence

    Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 11/5/1960

    Joe's friend Dolly Kincaid is the daughter of the sheriff and she's always getting caught up with the wrong crowd. When she gets close to Vince Dagen, Joe gets worried and tries to intervene.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Last Viking
    6.6/10195 votes

    #10 - The Last Viking

    Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 11/12/1960

    Gunnar Borgstrom is the leader of a vicious band called the Commancheros. They burn houses, kill people and steal anything of value. When the Commancheros get to Nevada, Gunnar decides to visit his relatives, the Cartwrights. Meanwhile the gang capture Little Joe and his girlfriend. When Gunnar returns to the gang, he has no idea who Joe is because he'd never met his nephew before.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Trail Gang
    7.1/10160 votes

    #11 - The Trail Gang

    Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 11/26/1960

    On a cattle drive back to Nevada from Texas, Ben hires a young man who is both an outlaw and the son of the sheriff whose town the Ponderosa cowhands are entering.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Savage
    6.3/10169 votes

    #12 - The Savage

    Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 12/3/1960

    Adam's life is saved by a woman known to the Indians as White Buffalo Woman, but who is actually the daughter of Norwegian immigrants.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Silent Thunder
    7.4/10218 votes

    #13 - Silent Thunder

    Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 12/10/1960

    Captivated by the pretty, deaf-mute daughter of a reclusive mountain man, Little Joe teaches the young woman sign language. Thrilled with her newfound ability to communicate, Annie mistakes her gratitude to Little Joe for love, much to the chagrin of Albie, who is determined to have her for his own.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Ape
    7.1/10244 votes

    #14 - The Ape

    Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 12/17/1960

    Hoss becomes friends with dull-witted Arnie Gurnie, who is a brute of a man with the mentality of a child. His temper scares everybody, including the Cartwrights.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Blood Line
    6.6/10183 votes

    #15 - The Blood Line

    Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 12/31/1960

    Ben feels responsible for the son of a man he was forced to kill, but the young man is determined to get even. A professional gunman offers to do the job for him.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Courtship
    7.3/10162 votes

    #16 - The Courtship

    Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 1/7/1961

    Hoss plans to marry the widow of one of Ben's friends, not knowing she is a compulsive gambler and refusing to believe it when the other Cartwrights confront him with the truth.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Spitfire
    7.3/10207 votes

    #17 - The Spitfire

    Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 1/14/1961

    Joe becomes the target of a tough and vengeful Kentucky family, after he kills one of them who almost sets the Ponderosa on fire and the Cartwrights take in the dead man's daughter.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Bride
    7.1/10154 votes

    #18 - The Bride

    Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 1/21/1961

    The Cartwright boys are surprised to find that a woman, claiming to have recently married their father, shows up on their doorstep. When Ben gets home, he is just as surprised as they are. Has the lady been swindled by a con-man, or is she something of a con-woman herself?

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Bank Run
    7.1/10158 votes

    #19 - Bank Run

    Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 1/28/1961

    When they "rob" the bank in Virginia City to save depositors from being cleaned out by its president, Hoss and Joe wind up wanted by the law.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Fugitive
    6.9/10133 votes

    #20 - The Fugitive

    Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 2/4/1961

    Adam goes to Mexico to find out how the son of a family friend was killed, only to learn the man is still alive.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Vengeance
    7.5/10126 votes

    #21 - Vengeance

    Season 2 Episode 21 - Aired 2/11/1961

    Hoss accidentally kills a drunk he was trying to disarm. The man's brother bushwhacks Hoss, who has lost the will to live. Joe makes a promise to Hoss that he will kill Red Twilight, the vengeful brother who bushwhacked Hoss, no matter what happens, and will not let Adam stand in his way.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Tax Collector
    6.5/10124 votes

    #22 - The Tax Collector

    Season 2 Episode 22 - Aired 2/18/1961

    The kindness Hoss extends to shiftless Jock Henry is not exactly repaid when Henry becomes an assistant assessor and raises the Ponderosa's annual tax bill from $375 to $1700.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Rescue
    7.3/10129 votes

    #23 - The Rescue

    Season 2 Episode 23 - Aired 2/25/1961

    The Cartwright boys are concerned that Ben might be getting on in years, yet it is he who saves them from cattle rustlers.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Dark Gate
    7.3/10160 votes

    #24 - The Dark Gate

    Season 2 Episode 24 - Aired 3/4/1961

    Adam is confused by the sudden behavior of his good friend, Ross Marquette. He beats up his wife, Delphine, after accusing her of having an affair with Adam. He also joins a group of rustlers and killers and helps rob a gold shipment. Adam thinks Ross is suffering from insanity, in this highlight of season two.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Duke
    7.3/10133 votes

    #25 - The Duke

    Season 2 Episode 25 - Aired 3/11/1961

    Hoss takes on The Duke Of London, an arrogant, abusive bare-knuckle fighter, though his brawn is no match for the Duke's agile skills.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A