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The Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 5

Every episode of Bonanza Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 5!

Binge this in 20h 25m•Peaking at 8.3/10

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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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Bonanza Season 5 Episode 1 - She Walks in Beauty
    7.3/10(169 votes)

    #1 - She Walks in Beauty

    S5:E1

    Hoss wants to marry mysterious Regan Miller, a woman with less than a pristine past. When he thinks Adam is trying to steal her away, he loses control and beats Adam up.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 2 - A Passion for Justice
    7.3/10(152 votes)

    #2 - A Passion for Justice

    S5:E2

    Renowned English novelist Charles Dickens comes to Virginia City. In short order, he is accused of a crime he didn't commit. The problem then becomes how to convince the stubborn author to defend himself.

    Director:Murray Golden
    Writer:Peter Packer

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  3. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 3 - Rain from Heaven
    7.4/10(147 votes)

    #3 - Rain from Heaven

    S5:E3

    A destitute rainmaker and his family arrive in drought-stricken Virginia City. While Ben tries to help him make rain, Hoss tends to the man's seriously ill little girl.

    Director:Lewis Allen
    Writer:Robert Vincent Wright

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  4. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 4 - Twilight Town
    8.2/10(258 votes)

    #4 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 5 - The Toy Soldier
    7.3/10(127 votes)

    #5 - The Toy Soldier

    S5:E5

    Adam encounters drunken artist James Callan, branded a "squaw man" because he is married to an Indian, and whose talent is going to waste in the town of Sheep Head.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 6 - A Question of Strength
    7.4/10(146 votes)

    #6 - A Question of Strength

    S5:E6

    Hoss and a pair of nuns, the younger one having a difficult time training for the order, are robbed and stranded at a way station.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 7 - Calamity over the Comstock
    7.2/10(165 votes)

    #7 - Calamity over the Comstock

    S5:E7

    Joe has a run-in with Calamity Jane, and takes her home with him after promising her dying father to take care of her. At first the Cartwrights (besides Joe) think ""Cal"" is a boy, but they soon find out differently. Cal begins to fall in love with Joe, but Joe finds her attentions unwanted...especially when Cal's boyfriend, Doc Holliday, has it in for Joe.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 8 - Journey Remembered
    7.9/10(135 votes)

    #8 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 9 - The Quality of Mercy
    7.5/10(141 votes)

    #9 - The Quality of Mercy

    S5:E9

    Joe struggles to understand whether his friend was right in killing a dying man who pleaded to put out of his misery.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 10 - The Waiting Game
    7.1/10(126 votes)

    #10 - The Waiting Game

    S5:E10

    Adam becomes involved with the recently widowed Laura Dayton and her little girl, Peggy.

    Director:Richard C. Sarafian
    Writer:Ed Adamson

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  11. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 11 - The Legacy
    8.1/10(162 votes)

    #11 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 12 - Hoss and the Leprechauns
    8.3/10(292 votes)

    #12 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 13 - The Prime of Life
    7.7/10(135 votes)

    #13 - The Prime of Life

    S5:E13

    Ben becomes irritable and reckless when the completion of an important timber contract is hindered by an old rival.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 14 - The Lila Conrad Story
    7.0/10(157 votes)

    #14 - The Lila Conrad Story

    S5:E14

    Joe and Adam protect a saloon girl, who has killed in self-defense, from an angry lynch mob. The accompanying Judge, along with his wife, takes a liking to Lila, and before it is all over, he and Lila discover much more about themselves.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 15 - Ponderosa Matador
    7.2/10(139 votes)

    #15 - Ponderosa Matador

    S5:E15

    Adam, Hoss, and Joe vie for the attention of a pretty young lady named Dolores. Hoss talks Joe into entering a bull fight, but it doesn't work out quite as planned.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 16 - My Son, My Son
    7.1/10(135 votes)

    #16 - My Son, My Son

    S5:E16

    Ben's plans to marry Katherine Saunders are upset when her son Eden is accused of killing his former girlfriend.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 17 - Alias Joe Cartwright
    7.9/10(153 votes)

    #17 - Alias Joe Cartwright

    S5:E17

    A man who looks similar to Joe uses Joe's name and gets Joe in the position of facing the firing squad.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 18 - The Gentleman from New Orleans
    7.0/10(120 votes)

    #18 - The Gentleman from New Orleans

    S5:E18

    The new stranger in town claims to be the famous pirate Jean Lafitte, and Hoss believes him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 19 - The Cheating Game
    7.0/10(133 votes)

    #19 - The Cheating Game

    S5:E19

    In this sequel to "The Waiting Game", Laura resents Adam's advice on how she ought to be running her ranch. A newcomer, Ward Bannister, comes to her aid, but is actually part of a scheme to steal her ranch.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 20 - Bullet for a Bride
    7.0/10(133 votes)

    #20 - Bullet for a Bride

    S5:E20

    While out hunting for a mountain lion, Joe accidently shots Tessa Caldwell causing her to go blind. As a result of his guilt, Joe ends up proposing to the girl. However, other circumstances arise that cause Tessa to make a rash decision - one that both her and Joe may regret in the future.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 21 - King of the Mountain
    6.6/10(127 votes)

    #21 - King of the Mountain

    S5:E21

    When mountain man Jim Leyton decides to marry, he chooses Hoss as his best man. Julie's father, Grizzly, does not agree and Hoss must come to the rescue.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 22 - Love Me Not
    6.9/10(142 votes)

    #22 - Love Me Not

    S5:E22

    While talking with an Indian, Ben is given an unexpected present...a woman. She is a young white woman named Joan who has lived with the Indians since she was a little girl. Through a humorous learning experience, Ben tries to teach Joan how to behave like a white woman. In the process, Ben finds himself in an awkward situation.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 23 - The Pure Truth
    7.2/10(120 votes)

    #23 - The Pure Truth

    S5:E23

    Hoss is suffering from spring fever, goes to the wrong town and is accused of bank robbery.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 24 - No Less a Man
    8.0/10(144 votes)

    #24 - No Less a Man

    S5:E24

    The town council feels Roy Coffee can no longer do his job, and with the notorious Wagner gang on their way to rob the bank, everyone is in a panic. Ben and Adam disagree with the town council and do what they can to help Roy out.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Bonanza Season 5 Episode 25 - Return to Honor
    7.4/10(128 votes)

    #25 - Return to Honor

    S5:E25

    Ben must travel to pay his respects after he learns of the death of his nephew Will. When he visits the grave, he finds his nephew barely alive with a bullet wound. He takes him to a doctor and Will insists that he leave, but Ben refuses. Will explains that the men after him must believe that he is dead. Ben decides his best bet is to take Will home. He and Will are followed by the same men who are interested in some valuables Will is carrying.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 5 Ratings Summary

"She Walks in Beauty" is the best rated episode of "Bonanza" season 5. It scored 7.3/10 based on 169 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/22/1963. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "A Passion for Justice".