"Bonanza" The Stranger (TV Episode 1960) Poster

(TV Series)

(1960)

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7/10
A most inconvenient time
bkoganbing3 March 2021
In this episode from the first season Ben Cartwright the first citizen of Nevada is being talked abut for governor. I would seem a fitting climax for his life.

But out of the past comes Lloyd Nolan of the New Orleans police with a warrant for Lorne Greene's arrest. On a 20 year old murder charge stemming from a duel and the duel had something to do with Little Joe's mother.

Both father and son ae concerned about her good name. As for Nolan he was wounded in pursuing a fleeing Ben Cartwright across the bayou and he has a painful limp.

Which gives him a personal reason for pursuing and apprehending Ben Cartwright. Nolan approaches the job with a Javert like intensity.

Intense is Nolan's performance. One of a select group of players who is never bad in anything he does. And he won't disappoint you in this Bonanza story.
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8/10
Plays Out Like A Miniseries in 50 Minutes!
verbusen16 September 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Another awesome Bonanza episode. Here we learn more about the son's mother's. I have watched Bonanza on and off my whole life and still don't really know what it's all about with the 3 sons from 3 mothers, lol. I could cheat online at Wikipedia but since I have waited over 30 years now I may as well play it out and just watch all the episodes to discover it myself. This is a good one, I watched it because I read the summary about Lloyd Nolan bringing in Ben for murder and that was good since Lloyd is a very serious actor and determined in all of his films. I got interested in his deputy who I looked up Hal Baylor, a Marine Pacific War vet who was in Sands Of Iwo Jima who John Wayne (who never served because of health reasons I guess) berates him during training in the film, lol. Oh the irony.

The episode is great, but my main beef with this is that Ben lets the Inspector get off after all of this pain he has cause including a dead man. 50 minutes has it's limits for story and I don't recall Bonanza doing any two parters. It was also pretty early with this show 1960 so loose ends were not resolved so much. There wasn't even enough time for Ben to get back home, where Liitle Joe is itching for redemption against his mother and Adam would obtain counsel in a lawsuit but then again the whole thing was kept out of the courts so Joe's mother's past would stay silent.

8 of 10, played like an epic.
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8/10
Take me, not my son!
mitchrmp3 February 2014
Warning: Spoilers
What do you get when you have one head-strong and short tempered young man, a daddy who is accused of doing something wrong, and a dead mother's good name being threatened? One HECK of an episode!

I'm not sure what the best part was. Little Joe's firy temper in the newspaper office, then later in the hotel where he actually kills someone was good. The drama surrounding the gunfight was good as well. Pa's sacrificing his future for that of his baby boy's was touching. And the journey towards New Orleans was simply sweet.

Unlike many of the episodes of Bonanza and Gunsmoke, this episode ended on a positive note. Ben's almost-too-nice-for-his-own-good attitude was something that helped the turnout. I guarantee you Adam and Little Joe wouldn't have been that nice...
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