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The Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 9

Genres:WesternAction & AdventureDramaFamily
Network:NBC

Every episode of Bonanza Season 9 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 9!

The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch while helping the surrounding community.
Episodes
34
Avg. Rating
7.5
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3

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  • To Die in Darkness
    8.1/10(116)
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    #1 - To Die in Darkness

    Season 9 Episode 28

    Aired 5/5/1968

    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""?

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Gentle Ones
    8.0/10(109)
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    #2 - The Gentle Ones

    Season 9 Episode 7

    Aired 10/29/1967

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Burning Sky
    8.0/10(129)
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    #3 - The Burning Sky

    Season 9 Episode 18

    Aired 1/28/1968

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • Night of Reckoning
    7.9/10(105)
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    #4 - Night of Reckoning

    Season 9 Episode 5

    Aired 10/15/1967

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • Desperate Passage
    7.9/10(115)
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    #5 - Desperate Passage

    Season 9 Episode 8

    Aired 11/5/1967

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • Justice Deferred
    7.9/10(107)
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    #6 - Justice Deferred

    Season 9 Episode 13

    Aired 12/17/1967

    An anguished Hoss discovers that his testimony helped hang an innocent man accused of murder. As he struggles to bring the real killer to justice, Hoss must also combat the cowardice of another witness and the jury foreman, an influential banker.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
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  • Blood Tie
    7.9/10(105)
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    #7 - Blood Tie

    Season 9 Episode 20

    Aired 2/18/1968

    A band of outlaws enact a scheme to rob the Ponderosa, by tricking Hoss and Little Joe away from the ranch and leaving a wounded Ben alone at home.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • Trouble Town
    7.9/10(101)
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    #8 - Trouble Town

    Season 9 Episode 24

    Aired 3/17/1968

    The Ponderosa ranch hands are at Riverbend during a cattle drive. While there, Candy meets an old friend, Lilah Holden, working in a saloon. When the cattle drive is ready to move on, Candy resigns to stay and help Lilah. It is not long before Ben, Hoss, and Joe are involved.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Bottle Fighter
    7.9/10(94)
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    #9 - The Bottle Fighter

    Season 9 Episode 29

    Aired 5/12/1968

    Hoss is accused of stabbing a man to death, and his only hope of acquittal is a once great trial lawyer who is now a hopeless drunk.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • Sense of Duty
    7.8/10(106)
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    #10 - Sense of Duty

    Season 9 Episode 2

    Aired 9/24/1967

    Ben, Hoss and Little Joe help the Virginia City militia escort a renegade Indian, who believes he is the Almighty, through hostile Indian territory to prison.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • False Witness
    7.8/10(100)
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    #11 - False Witness

    Season 9 Episode 6

    Aired 10/22/1967

    While at the bank in Sandust, Little Joe and the bank's secretary witness an armed robbery. During a subsequent gunfight, the main culprit kills the banker, but is quickly brought to justice. Joe, Hoss and Candy agree to be witnesses but must avoid being killed in the meantime.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Trackers
    7.8/10(93)
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    #12 - The Trackers

    Season 9 Episode 15

    Aired 1/7/1968

    A man, recently released from prison for bank robbery, is accused of robbing the same Virginia City bank and gunning down a teller. The Cartwrights try to protect the accused man from a posse that intends to lynch him before his trial.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Thirteenth Man
    7.8/10(101)
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    #13 - The Thirteenth Man

    Season 9 Episode 17

    Aired 1/21/1968

    The ranchers are once again losing stock to rustlers and not everyone agrees with range detective Marcus Alley's preventive methods.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Price of Salt
    7.8/10(114)
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    #14 - The Price of Salt

    Season 9 Episode 19

    Aired 2/4/1968

    When a young woman inherits her late father's salt mine, a greedy rancher wants to buy all the salt for himself. Ben, standing for the smaller ranchers who cannot afford to pay the heiress' prices, bids against the wealthy rancher to get a fair price for all.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Late Ben Cartwright
    7.8/10(107)
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    #15 - The Late Ben Cartwright

    Season 9 Episode 22

    Aired 3/3/1968

    In order to ruin the plans of a corrupt politician, Ben allows everyone to think that an attempt on his life was successful.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • Second Chance
    7.7/10(103)
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    #16 - Second Chance

    Season 9 Episode 1

    Aired 9/17/1967

    Renegade Indians have been on the rampage attacking settlers and raising havoc in the West. Joe and Hoss have gone to warn the settlers when Joe is shot with an arrow. Hoss tries to remove the arrow, but the shaft breaks and it is imbedded in Joe's shoulder, leaving Joe gravely wounded. Hoss desperately searches for help and comes upon a wagon train with an odd assortment of people. There are two women, a thief, a dying doctor, and a coward on the wagon train.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Crime of Johnny Mule
    7.7/10(100)
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    #17 - The Crime of Johnny Mule

    Season 9 Episode 21

    Aired 2/25/1968

    Hoss stands alone in refusing to convict Johnny Mule, a ""slow"" ranch hand who is accused of robbing and murdering his boss. So when Johnny Mule - fearing he'll be lynched, regardless of the verdict - escapes from jail during jury deliberations, it's Hoss who takes the heat.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • A Dream to Dream
    7.7/10(105)
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    #18 - A Dream to Dream

    Season 9 Episode 26

    Aired 4/14/1968

    An alcoholic rancher, drinking away his bitterness, makes live unbearable for his wife and children. Hoss helps reform his friend while bringing happiness and stability to his family.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Sure Thing
    7.6/10(92)
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    #19 - The Sure Thing

    Season 9 Episode 9

    Aired 11/12/1967

    A young girl's ownership of a beloved stallion is jeopardized by the "big plans" of her scheming father.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • A Girl Named George
    7.6/10(110)
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    #20 - A Girl Named George

    Season 9 Episode 16

    Aired 1/14/1968

    Trick photography is employed to help a killer beat a murder rap, to prove he was not there at the time of the murder he committed. However, the camera also proves to be his undermining.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Stronghold
    7.5/10(96)
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    #21 - The Stronghold

    Season 9 Episode 31

    Aired 5/26/1968

    Joe and Candy sell a herd to the Farrell Brothers in Arizona, but are paid a worthless bank draft. The widow of the man one of the brothers killed helps them get their money back, and the brothers' hatred for each other is their undoing.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • Pride of a Man
    7.5/10(105)
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    #22 - Pride of a Man

    Season 9 Episode 32

    Aired 6/2/1968

    Joe reluctantly takes a job as a substitute teacher and must contend with two older students who have no use for an education.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • Judgment at Olympus
    7.4/10(107)
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    #23 - Judgment at Olympus

    Season 9 Episode 4

    Aired 10/8/1967

    Candy is arrested for committing murder in the town of Olympus. He is accused of killing Jed Wheelock, the son of wealthy A. Z. Wheelock. He insists on finding his son's killer but he wants a fair trial for Candy. Joe accompanies Candy to make sure things go smoothly, but when Joe is accused of killing a witness who claims he saw Candy kill Jed, Joe is locked up for murder with Candy, and it is up to Hoss to find the killer.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • Check Rein
    7.4/10(90)
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    #24 - Check Rein

    Season 9 Episode 12

    Aired 12/3/1967

    An injured rancher, who has enlisted the aid of the Cartwrights to buy back one of his horses after his farm is foreclosed, must avoid getting killed by his ruthless uncle, who will stop at nothing to gain full control of the ranch.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0
  • The Arrival of Eddie
    7.4/10(92)
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    #25 - The Arrival of Eddie

    Season 9 Episode 30

    Aired 5/19/1968

    Eddie McKay, the son of a robber and murderer who Hoss killed several years ago in a shootout, returns to Virginia City to make a good start. Hoss wants to help reform Eddie and help him get over his bitter feelings for the Cartwrights, but it's an uphill battle. Not helping matters, a rancher who wants Eddie to help him steal from the Ponderosa.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

    Comments

    0

Season 9 Ratings Summary

"To Die in Darkness" is the best rated episode of "Bonanza" season 9. It scored 8.1/10 based on 116 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 5/5/1968. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "The Gentle Ones".