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The Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 8

Every episode of Bonanza Season 8 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 8!

Binge this in 20h 25m•Peaking at 7.9/10

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 8 Episode 1 - Something Hurt, Something Wild
    7.1/10(137 votes)

    #1 - Something Hurt, Something Wild

    S8:E1

    The Cartwrights' friendship with a neighboring rancher is threatened by his mentally unstable daughter.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 2 - Horse of a Different Hue
    7.1/10(108 votes)

    #2 - Horse of a Different Hue

    S8:E2

    So the Cartwrights will not be killed, one of Ben's oldest friends must make sure Joe does not win a horse race.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 3 - A Time to Step Down
    7.5/10(110 votes)

    #3 - A Time to Step Down

    S8:E3

    After the Cartwrights put wrangler Dan Tolliver out to pasture, the embittered old man plans to take part in robbing the Ponderosa.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 4 - The Pursued (1)
    7.3/10(115 votes)

    #4 - The Pursued (1)

    S8:E4

    A Mormon with two wives is badgered by the town's people and then things get much worse.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 5 - The Pursued (2)
    7.2/10(105 votes)

    #5 - The Pursued (2)

    S8:E5

    As the persecuted party awaits Ben and Hoss' return, Herber is shot and killed. Joe retaliates and shoots Herber's assassin.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 6 - To Bloom for Thee
    6.7/10(117 votes)

    #6 - To Bloom for Thee

    S8:E6

    Hoss is engaged to Carol Attley, a troubled woman with a past darker than he imagines.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 7 - Credit for a Kill
    7.9/10(119 votes)

    #7 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 8 - Four Sisters from Boston
    7.4/10(133 votes)

    #8 - Four Sisters from Boston

    S8:E8

    The Cartwrights come to the rescue of four inexperienced homesteaders, when devious cattle ranchers try to run them off their property.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 9 - Old Charlie
    7.5/10(114 votes)

    #9 - Old Charlie

    S8:E9

    A young cowpoke is killed during a fight with Hoss, but the old blowhard who runs the Virginia City stables, takes the credit, placing him in danger from the dead man's brothers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 10 - Ballad of the Ponderosa
    6.7/10(110 votes)

    #10 - Ballad of the Ponderosa

    S8:E10

    A young troubadour, who blames Ben for the death of his father, returns to Virginia City. In one scene, Ben says the young man is welcome to use Adam's guitar.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 11 - The Oath
    7.5/10(108 votes)

    #11 - The Oath

    S8:E11

    While in another town, on business, Ben runs into a saloon employee who is a big figure, and after he kills an old miner, who has burned down his house, Ben takes him into the sheriff. He is sentenced and hung. Before his departure, Charlie Monahan, has made his half-breed son, Charlie Two, swear an oath to kill Ben. Little Joe is made aware of this and must track him down to prevent him from carrying out his oath against Ben. Charlie Two is unaware that Joe is Ben's son, as they meet on the trail.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 12 - A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town
    7.1/10(126 votes)

    #12 - A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town

    S8:E12

    When the woman he was planning to marry is strangled, Joe forces the only suspect to come forward, in a very tense-filled episode.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 13 - The Bridegroom
    7.2/10(117 votes)

    #13 - The Bridegroom

    S8:E13

    Joe plays matchmaker in this story of a rancher attempting to marry off his supposedly unremarkable daughter.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 14 - Tommy
    7.7/10(113 votes)

    #14 - Tommy

    S8:E14

    The Cartwrights protect a woman and her deaf-mute little son from the boy's outlaw stepfather.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 15 - A Christmas Story
    7.0/10(150 votes)

    #15 - A Christmas Story

    S8:E15

    Warbling Andy Walker returns to Virginia City a big success, along with his shifty Uncle Thaddeus.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 16 - Ponderosa Explosion
    7.3/10(114 votes)

    #16 - Ponderosa Explosion

    S8:E16

    Two Virginia City old-timers fool Hoss and Joe into raising rabbits, and the Ponderosa is overrun with paws and whiskers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 17 - Justice
    7.1/10(122 votes)

    #17 - Justice

    S8:E17

    When the woman he was planning to marry is strangled, Joe forces the only suspect to come forward.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 18 - A Bride for Buford
    7.2/10(102 votes)

    #18 - A Bride for Buford

    S8:E18

    Dolly Bantree has a crooked manager ""Blackie"", who blackmails Dolly to fleece newly rich miner Buford out of his newfound wealth. Hoss suspects something and gets all duded up to pose as a rich mark to test Dolly.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 19 - Black Friday
    7.7/10(113 votes)

    #19 - Black Friday

    S8:E19

    In the town of Chiso, Joe encounters a former Ponderosa cowhand who is now a gunfighter and expecting to be killed on Friday the 13th. John Saxon makes the first of his three appearances in the series, in this episode as Steven Friday.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 20 - The Unseen Wound
    7.6/10(113 votes)

    #20 - The Unseen Wound

    S8:E20

    Ben discovers that his friend, Sheriff Paul Rowan, is suffering from stress brought on by his wartime experiences.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 21 - Journey to Terror
    7.6/10(116 votes)

    #21 - Journey to Terror

    S8:E21

    Joe visits his married friends in Arizona Territory, only to discover the husband has become a criminal and is secretly part of a notorious gang.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 22 - Amigo
    7.3/10(113 votes)

    #22 - Amigo

    S8:E22

    A wounded comanchero sides with the Cartwrights when the rest of the gang, led by Captain Fenner, shows up to burn and rob the Ponderosa.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 23 - A Woman in the House
    6.8/10(112 votes)

    #23 - A Woman in the House

    S8:E23

    Mary Wharton, an old friend of the family, comes to live on the Ponderosa with her shiftless husband. When Ben learns Mary is the victim of domestic abuse, he sends Russ packing.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 24 - Judgment at Red Creek
    7.7/10(103 votes)

    #24 - Judgment at Red Creek

    S8:E24

    Hoss and Joe have their doubts as to who really robbed a way station, suspecting the two men they captured are innocent.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 25 - Joe Cartwright, Detective
    7.5/10(123 votes)

    #25 - Joe Cartwright, Detective

    S8:E25

    Joe becomes fascinated by detective literature and drags Hoss into the picture when he suspects the bank is going to be robbed.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 8 Ratings Summary

"Something Hurt, Something Wild" is the best rated episode of "Bonanza" season 8. It scored 7.1/10 based on 137 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/11/1966. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Horse of a Different Hue".