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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!

The Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 5

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(272 votes)

    #1 - Hoss and the Leprechauns

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    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. 8.1/10(238 votes)

    #2 - Twilight Town

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    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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  3. 8.0/10(139 votes)

    #3 - The Legacy

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    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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  4. 7.9/10(118 votes)

    #4 - Journey Remembered

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    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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  5. 7.9/10(171 votes)

    #5 - Enter Thomas Bowers

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    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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  6. 7.8/10(142 votes)

    #6 - Alias Joe Cartwright

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    S5:E17

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

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  8. 7.8/10(126 votes)

    #7 - No Less a Man

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    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.

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  9. 7.5/10(125 votes)

    #8 - The Prime of Life

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    S5:E13

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

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  10. 7.4/10(123 votes)

    #9 - The Dark Past

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    S5:E31

    Moody bounty hunter, Dev Farnum, shows up on the Ponderosa, where the Cartwrights are harboring the wife of the man he is after.

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  11. 7.3/10(137 votes)

    #10 - A Passion for Justice

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    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.

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  12. 7.3/10(127 votes)

    #11 - Rain from Heaven

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    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.

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  13. 7.3/10(114 votes)

    #12 - The Toy Soldier

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    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.

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  14. 7.3/10(119 votes)

    #13 - Return to Honor

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    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.

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  15. 7.2/10(152 votes)

    #14 - She Walks in Beauty

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    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.

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  16. 7.2/10(130 votes)

    #15 - A Question of Strength

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    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.

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  17. 7.2/10(124 votes)

    #16 - The Quality of Mercy

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    S5:E9

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

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  18. 7.2/10(113 votes)

    #17 - The Waiting Game

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    S5:E10

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

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  19. 7.2/10(126 votes)

    #18 - Walter and the Outlaws

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    S5:E34

    Hilarious sequel to "Any Friend Of Walter's" in which Obie leaves Walter in Hoss' care. The three outlaws, Macy, Teague, and Willard, kidnap Walter and hold him for ransom, leaving Hoss and the returning Obie to rescue him, but matters turn out the other way.

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  20. 7.1/10(150 votes)

    #19 - Calamity over the Comstock

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    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.

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  21. 7.1/10(111 votes)

    #20 - The Pure Truth

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    S5:E23

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

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  22. 7.0/10(125 votes)

    #21 - Ponderosa Matador

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    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.

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  23. 7.0/10(123 votes)

    #22 - My Son, My Son

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    S5:E16

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

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  24. 7.0/10(119 votes)

    #23 - The Cheating Game

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    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.

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  25. 7.0/10(117 votes)

    #24 - The Roper

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    S5:E27

    Will is having second thoughts about staying on at the Ponderosa, and outlaws hit the ranch and take him with them. The leader, Lee Hewitt, is a young killer and plans on robbing the Ponderosa, so Will must take action to save himself, Hewitt's wife, the doctor, and his newfound relatives, the Cartwrights.

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  26. 6.9/10(142 votes)

    #25 - The Lila Conrad Story

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    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.

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Season 5 Ratings Summary

"Hoss and the Leprechauns" is the best rated episode of "Bonanza" season 5. It scored 8.2/10 based on 272 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 12/22/1963. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Twilight Town".