
Showdown Full Episode – Bonanza, Season #02, Episode #01
Fans continue to witness the daily adventures of the fictional Cartwright family as Bonanza, the hit Western television series, launched its second season on September 10, 1960, with its first episode, Showdown, written by Dean Riesner.
Sam Kirby (Ben Cooper) and his gang of outlaws hide out on the Ponderosa as they evade the law. Sam finds work as a ranchhand at the Ponderosa, disguising under a false name to keep track of the sheriff and any posse that may discover their hideout. Everyone on the ranch is happy to have the friendly stranger join them, except Joe Cartwright, who found Sam suspicious.
Ray Teal plays Sheriff Coffee for the first time in the series. Other actors, like Jack Lambert, acting as Pardo, and Jody Warner as Ellie, joined the cast.
Read the storyline and some interesting trivia, or watch the episode below.
Watch the Full Episode of Showdown
Watch the Full Episode of Showdown:
Main Cast
Showdown, the premiere episode of Bonanza’s second season, featured some of the program’s recurring and supporting cast members. The entire cast of the episode consists of:
- Michael Landon as Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright
- Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright
- Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright
- Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright
- Ben Cooper as Sam Kirby
- Jack Lambert as John Pardo
- Ray Teal as Sheriff Roy Coffee
- Jody Warner as Ellie McClure
- John Maxwell as Tom McClure
- Norman Leavitt as Rudy the Telegrapher
- Boyd ‘Red’ Morgan as Link (as Red Morgan)
- Bill Clark as Fight Spectator at Picnic (uncredited)
- Chuck Hamilton as Fight Spectator at Picnic (uncredited)
- Cactus Mack as Cartwright Ranch Hand (uncredited)
Full Story Line for Showdown
John Pardo and his gang of outlaws rob the Virginia City bank. They later decided to hide in the Ponderosa, sending Sam Kirby to work as a ranch hand to be on a lookout if ever the town decided to form a search party or summon a platoon from the army.
Adam, Hoss, and Joe Cartwright are riding horses when Sam arrives at the Ponderosa ranch. Sam’s laughter draws the horses’ attention when one of the horses throws Joe. He asks for a job, but Joe claims he and his brothers are taking care of all the tasks in the Ponderosa. After successfully riding the horse that threw Joe and declaring a reference from a former Ponderosa hand, Adam offers him a position on the ranch, which he accepts immediately.
Sheriff Coffee arrives at the Ponderosa to notify the Cartwrights about the robbery at Mr. McClure’s bank.
Ben decided to start searching the area before it got dark. Joe informs him about their new hire, but Ben and Adam shrug it off since they believe their former ranch referred him.
To cover more ground, Ben sends the boys to different areas in the Ponderosa in pairs. When Sam realizes Hoss is heading towards the gang’s hideout, he volunteers to accompany him. Sam suggests returning, making an excuse that it’s getting late. However, Hoss finds some suspicious markings and starts examining further. Seeing his words not stopping Hoss from investigating, Sam tried to draw his gun. Joe shows up in time to stop him. Joe claims he saw Sam pulling his weapon, but Hoss doesn’t believe him. Meanwhile, Sam argued he only reached for his gun upon hearing somebody coming. They leave the area, and Joe starts to find Sam suspicious.
Ben reports to sheriff Roy regarding the areas they covered. Adam and Sam arrive shortly after, and the sheriff thinks Sam is familiar. He asked when the Cartwrights hired him and where he was during the night of the robbery, to which he replied that he was on the trail. The Cartwrights, except Joe, believe there’s nothing wrong with Sam. A telegraph arrives at that moment, stating that the army will come into town. Joe noticed the telegrapher’s doubtful look at Sam, so he went outside to ask. The telegrapher informs him that he might have seen Sam with two other men that night a gang robbed the bank. Although the telegrapher is unsure about what he saw, Joe becomes increasingly suspicious of Sam.
At the picnic party, Hoss introduces Sam to Ellie McClure, daughter of the bank’s owner. Sam becomes friendly with Ellie, helping her set up one of the picnic tables. Ellie expresses her dismay about the bank robbery and how her father feels responsible, even if it wasn’t his fault that some robbers stole the money. However, she’s happy to hear about the upcoming arrival of the army. Pleased to meet Sam, Ellie invites him to the Thursday dance.
Joe suddenly comes back, believing Sam’s getting Ellie from him. A fight erupts, and Sam’s shirt gets ripped at one point, exposing whip scars on Sam’s back. Feeling angry and humiliated, Sam insisted on leaving. Adam hands him his vest to cover his back. Ben, Hoss, and Adam want to know why Joe acted that way towards Sam. Joe reveals what the telegrapher, Rudy, told him about Sam, saying he won’t be surprised if Sam has a connection with the robbery. However, Ben believes it wasn’t enough evidence to conclude that. Joe feels bad and says he’ll apologize to Sam.
Sam returns to the gang’s hideout and reports about the army troop’s arrival and the posses’ location. Pardo noticed Sam’s vest and asked about it. He tells him that Adam gave it, and Pardo’s impressed, even amused, to see how the Cartwrights trusted Sam. Despite Sam’s objections, Pardo insists he returns to the Ponderosa.
Joe followed Sam’s trail, which eventually led him to their hideout. Two of the gang members brought him in, and there he saw Sam. When Sam is about to leave, Joe hits him, so Pardo punches him back, knocking him down. Pardo tried to hit Joe more, but Sam stopped him. Pardo thinks Sam’s going soft for the Cartwrights, then sends Sam back to find more about the army troops.
Adam asks about Joe upon hearing Sam’s arrival. Sam claims he hasn’t seen Joe, much to Adam’s surprise, since Joe left immediately after Sam to apologize. Hearing this makes Sam feel even worse. Adam considers him a friend, but Sam says a man’s sole friend is himself. Adam doesn’t argue and calmly informs Sam that the sheriff is inside to see him.
Sheriff Roy states he sent a telegram to the ranch hand in Arizona. Although they know Sam, the ranch fired him when they discovered he had a prison record in Texas. Sam admits to killing his stepfather in cold blood several years after his mother’s death. Growing up, his stepfather consistently beat and whipped him, causing scars on his back. Sam waited ’til he was big and strong enough to fight back, then served his time in prison. Ben thinks the sentence he faced was enough, but Roy wants to take Sam with him. He refuses to let Sam go with the sheriff, so Roy tells him he’s now responsible for Sam. Although Ben treats him kindly, even offering a home for him in the Ponderosa, Sam leaves and tells him not to expect any from him. Adam believes Sam’s not used to the kind of treatment Ben gave him.
Adam visits Sam in the bunk house that night. He sees Sam preparing to leave, wondering if their kindness and friendship overwhelmed Sam. Adam was about to reach for his vest when Sam knocked him out before leaving.
Ben finds Adam leaving the bunk house. They realize the sheriff and Joe were right about Sam the whole time.
Sam goes back to the gang. Pardo fails to get information from Joe, so he asks Sam to do it for him. Sam refused, so Pardo accused him of softening since he lived in the Ponderosa. Sam argues that Joe will never reveal the details, considering Joe’s a Cartwright. Pardo orders his men to kill Joe, but Sam persuades him to do otherwise. He says they’ll get away with Joe riding upfront, so he’ll die if the Cartwrights start shooting at them. The idea satisfied Pardo. When the men go to pack up, Sam aims his gun at Pardo’s head. A scuffle ensues, giving Joe the time to obtain a gun and shoot Pardo. At the end of the fight, Joe assures Sam that he has friends now.
The following morning, the Cartwrights are searching the area when they see Joe and Sam leading the gang toward them. There they realize that they misjudged Sam Kirby.
Full Script and Dialogue of Showdown
[Music] let it go [Music] hurry up make it fast this whole town ain't deaf well it looks like we made it clean portal this sure sleeps on to virginia city don't they let's go [Music] sam ponderosa's off in that direction well i reckon i can find it you know what you're gonna do when you get there we've been over it 97 times pardo just once more all right i go to the ponderosa and i hire on as a hand and i keep my ears open and if a search party comes down this way i'll let you know first especially if it's a platoon from the army then what well then when things quiet down i come on back and we light out mark that big old dead tree we'll be uh a mile and a half south of here you'll see a big granite boulder leads into a box canyon that's where we'll be waiting you just let old sam take care of it you're my eyes and my ears i'm dependent on you sam let's go sam cover up those hoof prints they probably want to know where you came from tell them about that ranch you used to work on that fella was always talking about the ponderosa that ought to convince him what if it doesn't what what if somebody starts getting extra nosy you got a gun haven't you sam [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] ah [Music] hey riding cowboy come on stick with him adam [Music] i know i told you it was too much horse for you now you're next broncbuster that's what they call me hey joe you ain't been making no rash promises to ellie mcclure have you i ain't had a chance are you sure because there comes a point in the sheriff right now hey i wonder what they want i don't know but now me always sort of went for june wedding for lots of apple blossoms yeah well you know a fella could do a lot worse than ellie mcclure oh excuse me all the pieces well you gonna ride this thing or not coming up if you'll excuse me ladies it's time for your writings now we'll see some fun stay with him boy ride him [Laughter] well i'm glad somebody enjoyed it i'm sorry i didn't know it showed what can we do for you well you wouldn't happen to have an easy job in a cool place now would you yeah but my brothers and i take all of those what else you do well i've accidentally managed to break a horse or two in my day and well we just happen to have one on hand yeah well i was hoping you'd take my word for it now what's this cowboy wants to try his luck in that hammerhead you ever busted any broncs before a button one or two i guess well if you ain't for sure right now it'd be a real good time to back out well no i don't reckon i'd want to do that you think we should let him do it well it's his hide some fellas have to learn the hard way job oh [Music] that's what i call riding the horse oh you gotta admit i tired him out a little bit well you might as well face it joe some people just better with horses than others nice ride kid i'm out of cart right sam kirby these are my brothers uh horse and little joe hey hi pleased to meet you you uh looking for a job sam well ed limp said you might be hiring some hands ed limp you friend of his well he ram-ratted an outfit i worked for down in arizona the barbie i see yeah i'd give you a letter to show well yeah i uh i got it uh packed in the saddle bag there if you really want to see it if you say you got it you got it high's old lead in here oh he's meaner than ever still thinks mighty higher the ponderosa though well we uh pay 30 a month bunking beans well you just hired yourself a hand now as far as posses are concerned we got them here here and up here looks like they're well covered now i've been on a telegraph to every long man in the territory so i believe we got him pretty well sealed in that is within this general radius yeah oh boys come in please you know mr mcclure share of coffee yeah sure if i can't honey hey mr mcclure are we getting all set for that birthday party sunday i'm hoping we'll be able to have a birthday party little joe well why what's the matter uh mr mcclure's bank was robbed last night i thought that bank was pretty near robert proof yeah so did i how much they get away with just about all there was right now we'd be lucky if we could pay off five cents on the dollar uh boys that information is not to leave this room you mean the people don't know about it well they know we've been hit but they don't know how bad we can't afford to have a run on the bank right now if we can get that money back by the first of the month we got a chance to weather it you'll be fine tom any idea who did it sheriff yeah it could have been the john potter bunch he pulled a job just about like this something but last year well what are we waiting for oh wait a minute joe the sheriff has plenty of help up north he's holding us responsible for the ponderosa chances are they'll hole up for a while anyway this thing cools down a bit i want to see to it that they don't hold up on our land so keep your eyes open for anything unusual you know smoke tracks that hadn't ought to be there drifters that got a lot more money than they ought to have anything like that well we'll let you know if we see anything roy uh much blood she ben more than likely they won't come down this way at all but it don't do no harm to make sure no it doesn't bye hello hi mr mcclure i sure hope ellie can have that birthday party i hope so too little joe we're waiting to hear from fort mckay we're trying to get help from the army well i'm sure they'll want to help so do we tom then when i think about some of the small ranchers around here i i'm just not man enough to tell them that they've worked five 10 15 years for nothing it's a tough thing to face up to no not tom that's enough of that kind of talk they'll find pardon his outfit you mark my words i hope so thank you ben [Music] let's finish breaking those horses pop now forget about the horses for now there's still time to do some looking before it starts getting dark you boys saddle up and tell a horse in the men hey bob i was uh i was just thinking about what the sheriff said about drifters huh what about him well we just hired one a little while ago i just thought i'd mention it come on joe just because he out roger doesn't mean he's a bank robber look i told you to stop kidding me wait a minute now wait a minute what about this new man well ed lamp sent him he's all right followed there by the corral sam kirby in the gray shirt well if that lamp watches for a man that's good enough for me tell her the vendor satellite uh we'll cover more ground if we split up in twos joe you take the arroyo and everything east right phi horst yes sir you get out south as far as the wash adam and i will take the west spot all right take a minute let's get busy okay yeah let's bird dog i'm out of there come on so oh i don't know about you i think i'm going to stretch him out well uh don't you think it's getting kind of late shouldn't we get back yeah that's how i work out 15. wonder how the others are doing i don't know i hope they're doing better than we are [Music] it's funny you find something yeah this bush here it's been broke all fresh you wouldn't have that come to me well a stray maybe [Music] well i don't see no tracks in it well it uh it's deer brush maybe some indian took it for his fire maybe that's me and you take a look around in here [Music] plus what's trouble joel ah nothing i guess it's from back there it looked like he was drawing down on you oh say i'm here well i just heard somebody coming i just want to be sure joe you're letting this whole thing spook you boy yeah i guess so i reckon he was right about that deer brush boom let's get on in for supper [Music] i sure will find something tonight i never had roast beef that good in my whole life get your gear stowed away no i i better get to it want some help no thanks i don't have that much if you need anything sam just holler do you uh suppose it's something serious i don't know i think the cat's got his tongue no i was just thinking about l.a mclaren no doubt uh no doubt now i was thinking about sam kirby well now you can't still be stealing about him breaking that horse this morning no i told you that had nothing to do with it no it's like i was telling you before a supper he's all bothered because he thought he caught old sam drawing down on me out there in a wash forget that joey told you how that happened didn't he yeah he told me what's the matter with you then i don't know i was just do something about him well on friday we we covered the south and the west part then yesterday we took the east and this morning we split up and swept north no luck huh ah not unless adam found something i didn't oh it kept you well sam saw some uh smoke up around bitter creek turned out to be ollie ludlow's posse always been watching the dayton road don't i know you son i couldn't say sheriff i don't think i know you roy this is sam kirby he's working for us now since when since friday all right on friday huh where were you thursday night sam you mean the night the bank was robbed i was on the trail you can prove that of course not unless you want to take the word of my horse sam's all right sheriff he had limps in him up here from the barbie oh how's old ed meaner than a snake well i guess sheriff the tariff got a message for you from fort mckay thanks rudy get my glasses come to town for the picnic mr cartwright oh you mean uh ellen mcclure's birthday party uh that was being called off wasn't it looks like they call it back on again you know about ladies and parties and such they say it's gonna be a real dew hot dogs that's what i call real good news and here's some more good news the army's gonna bust loose for the whole troop of horse soldiers says they'll be here tomorrow afternoon tomorrow well that is good news sheriff that changes things considerably now we can organize a search that'll really mean something well tom mcclure be happy to hear about that what's up rudy who's that young feller in there joel that's the new hand we hired why well nothing i just thought maybe i saw him in town with two other men the night the bank was robbed are you sure well he sure looks like the fella i've seen hell maybe you ought to come in there and tell the sheriff oh no wait a minute i ain't that sure anyway it was kind of a dark night that night [Music] well i'll see you back at the ponderosa mr cartwright all right sam aren't you going to the picnic sand no no i'm not much good at picnics well you ain't never seen the kind of big mix we have around here well i think i just ride on back to the ranch house why don't you come on it'll do you good well some other time oh joe and me are gonna look pretty silly packing you all the way over there ain't we oh maybe he's got something better to do all right you win i'll go well hope she's got some of that blueberry pie yes sir i sure relish a couple of them blueberry class full supper now for the team of adam cartwright and troy fuller adam cartwright come on all right come on boys ellie i wouldn't do all this work for just any girl i hope you know how much i like you you mean i'm the only girl you ever carried a picnic basket for a little joe let's just say you're the only girl i'd carry one for now little joe cartwright right in front of all these people yeah well you know we could go behind that wagon all right all right i'll get the rest of the groceries the pickle fork pickle fork where did i put that health card right ma'am it was a great big old horse fly here and i i i i was just i know what you was just you cartwrights if it isn't one thing it's the other there'll be no refreshments served until after the games yes miss ellie ain't that your pickle fork over there i don't see any horse card right remember ma'am i'm just a growing boy hey sam hey sam come in what you doing setting off over there all by yourself i'm just watching well that ain't no way to do it at a picnic you got to get around here and meet some of these pretty gals oh no don't bother i'm fine yeah but you'll be a lot finer when you meet some of these gals come here miss ellie miss ellie i i want you to meet a friend of mine this here sam kirby how do you do mr kirby my pleasure man you better be nice to miss ellie her father owns a bank is that so oh you two will excuse me i i better find pulling at them and learn them something about shooting them horseshoes you like picnics mr kirby well i don't exactly know you don't know you see this is the first one i've ever been to didn't they have picnics where you grew up not hardly what kind of a place was that i don't think you'd much want to hear about it i'm sorry i didn't mean to be inquisitive it's my fault i i didn't mean to give you a short answer that's all right if you'll excuse me i've got to finish setting this table is there anything i can do to help you thank you i didn't think i was gonna have a party today at all that's all you heard about the bank being robbed yeah i heard pop has been awfully upset and mom and me too naturally i guess you would be so many people trusted papa the wilsons and ludlows even the cartwrights i think it would just kill papa if they were to lose everything well i i don't see where it's his fault he feels responsible to his friends it doesn't matter now anyway we had some real good news today i suppose you mean about the army coming in yes isn't that wonderful yeah wonderful ellie have you seen the napkins yes miss you maker they're in that basket over there well come on girl the party can't wait all day you mind setting them out of course not me shoemaker it was nice meeting you mr kirby i hope to see you again thank you ma'am well as a matter of fact there's a dance next thursday it doesn't amount to much but the cartwright boys usually come why don't you come along with him well thank you ma'am i think i'd like that thirsty then yes ma'am oh let me get that [Music] what are you trying to do kirby i wouldn't say i was trying to do anything now little joe mr kirby and i were only talking yeah sure i saw the way he was talking and it looked at me like he was trying to put his arm around you joe cartwright what business is this of yours carter i'm making you my business kirby just because i've gone on with you once or twice it doesn't give you the right to think of me as your personal property now you stay out of this ellie there's a lot of questions i wanted to ask you kirby now's as good a time as any well i'm not answering any questions you know you're gonna answer this one where were you thursday night joe mr kirby please [Music] make it [Music] it's all right folks everything's all right boys who are just getting a little hungry that's all i think uh mr mcclure would like us to adjourn to the tables for a little food yes friends over here we have fried chicken sam we didn't mean no harm we we didn't know your back was scarred up like that he's supposed to be all right if i went along now where do you want to go sam back to the ranch if it's all right of course it's all right sam little joe didn't mean nothing we just want you to have a good time that's all horse sam put this on it'll cover your back [Music] well it wasn't much of a picnic for him paul you reckon what to do a man's back like that but the only thing i could figure is bullwhip [Music] what are you all looking at oh forget it joey nobody looking at you well all right what was i supposed to do you didn't have to poke him oh i didn't have to poke him look he's the one who threw the first punch come on now you've been down on him ever since he rode that horse i told you that's got nothing to do with it well what is it then joe what do you got against that boy all right i'll tell you rudy told me he saw him in town thursday night i wouldn't be surprised if he had something to do with a bank robbery hey joe that's going a bit too far in it boy it's a pretty serious charge joe you have any real evidence to support it already told me thought he saw him in town he thought he saw him in town and you call that real evidence i guess not i'm sorry paul i should have known better look maybe i better ride after him tell him i'm sorry yeah good idea [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] come on coach [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] me sam [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so oh hello sam how's the boy just fine carter thing's quieting down no you're getting hot there's an army troop of cavalry headed in from fort mckay yeah when i only do in virginia city tomorrow afternoon what time i'm afraid i didn't say that oh well we'll have plenty of time where are the bosses well i got them all spotted yeah you sure i had a good long look at the map in the sheriff's office sheriff's office they must have trusted you pretty good yeah they trusted me fine why no reason where'd you get the new vest adam cartwright he uh he gave it to me he gave it to you i gotta hand it to you you sure got away with your sam yeah all right we'll take out of here in the morning before the cavalry pulls in [Music] now what's so funny i got right fella given you is best [Music] brahmos [Music] there's one thing still left for you to do sam i want you to go back to ponderosa spend a little more time with your friends why now for one thing you might want to return that vest you're thinking of turning on me sam you better forget it and what makes you say that i don't know i just said it now get back to that ranch and find out which way the soldiers are coming in [Music] pardo do i have to go back there yeah you have to go back there [Music] where'd you find him looks like he was trailing sam remus and me thought you might be interested you know him yeah it's joe cartwright it's a small world in it kirby i thought you said you had him fooled no not all of us what's that mean nothing just keep him here i'm going back to the ranch leave him alone are you going soft sam good time up get on back to ponderosa before those cartwrights get suspicious and find out which way those horse soldiers are coming in you're here i hear you [Music] that's you little joe oh it's me sam oh i thought uh joe would be with you but you thought wrong it's funny you rode out of town right after you did he uh felt kind of bad about what happened at the picnic today he went after you to tell you he was sorry oh well you tell him i said not to lose any sleep sam i haven't known you for very long but i uh conscious a friend let me tell you something a man's only got one friend one guy in the whole world he can count on who'll go out on a limb for him and that's himself all right the sheriff's inside sheriff wants to talk to you sam but why me why don't you ask him about yourself [Music] that headlamp i tried to convince him to stick it out in this territory but he never did think this country to mount to much hired out to arizona did pretty well out there had all that golden silver right here under his feet yeah and the lumbered cattle oh sam when uh you know the sheriff yeah um i said i'm saying no thanks sheriff tells me he has some uh information about you i thought you'd want to be here when he told us that's nice to you mr cartwright seems uh sheriff coffee here got to worrying about you this morning after we left his office well that was real nice of you too sheriff i sent a telegraph message about you down to barbie ranch old ed limp here's the answer it says they'll let you go more than six months back on account of your prison record in texas to check on that too didn't have to is that the whole story funny thing about a prison record mr cartwright they say you do your time and you pay your price but don't you believe it sam did you serve your timeout eight years and i was pardoned i suppose they left that out it's all there now roy what's all this about since when do we hound a man has paid for his mistake it wasn't exactly a mistake now just what does that mean he murdered his father in cold blood is what he's saying true yeah some he was my stepfather and he needed killing nobody needs killing he did i was six years old when my mother died you know what he did when we come back from the funeral he took a whip to me just to show you he says just to show you things are going to be different from now on that was my stepfather see from then on he beat me every day i can remember except when he was too drunk and it was he who did that to your back he did [Music] so i waited i waited till i figured i could handle him [Music] and i waited till he was stoned cold sober i wanted him to know what was happening and who was doing it that's premeditated murder yeah [Music] and then one night he came for me and i was ready and i killed him [Music] i was 14 years old and that's what you served your sentence for for 10 years i served eight i think you'd better come along with me boy i'm not going anywhere with you kirby you haven't got a chance against the four of us sam all right now what's the charge against him no charge don't need any he can't prove where he was thursday night he's got a prison record that's enough to take him in that's not enough to take a man off this ranch now what does that mean ben roy half the people in this territory couldn't prove where they were thursday night let's remind having a prison record once he served his sentence his debt is paid and that's it boy stays here you're refusing to cooperate with the law i'm refusing to allow to lock the boy up without a valid reason no law in the world says you can do that i could deputize some men well sure if i reckon you better get you a whole bunch of them all right ben but it's your responsibility then you're sticking your neck out a country mile because if you've made a mistake you're gonna have to account for it uh well sam looks like little joe and the rest of us owe you a new shirt yep you go down and get the best one you can find sam with pearl buttons and all sam and what's been said here has been said and that's the last of it i want you to know that you have a home here in the ponderosa for just as long as you want it uh paul you'll have to excuse sam he uh has some theories about people going out on a limb i guess they kind of fell apart huh that's where you're mistaken y'all just made me see how right i am so i got a home in the ponderosa have i well i can't use it sam look what do we say that forget it just don't you do me any favors and don't you expect any oh what got into him i guess he's not used to being treated like a human being why little joe didn't come back with him oh boy he probably got halfway out and decided to go back and make up to ellie should have been home hours ago strange boy that sam kirby man i guess that's what happens when you never been given a helping hand yeah he got himself so far out on that limb he didn't quite know how to get himself off well it's been a hard day pie i better get to bed don't worry about little jimmy paul he can take care of himself yeah goodnight house good night adam good night good night paul he's sure enough worried about joe wadey yeah well you know how he always is about him hey where are you going and i'll be right back you think you'll need any help so couldn't even wait till morning huh why you so touchy sam no reason i just want to get out of here but nothing my father said made any difference to you why don't you cartwrights leave me alone i'm full up to here and here's your vest i don't want it sam is it really the kindness that's killing you or is it something else i just don't like a lot of people asking me questions why not what have you got to hide who says i got anything to hide little joe right about you all alone is that what bothering you sam [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] adam [Music] adam are you around what's my i got hit in the head kirby slammed into me and ran off i guess he had his whole food and particularly me i think the sheriff is right about him little joe too he might have the answer to joe's whereabouts let's get awesome get settled up and pick up this trail since it turns light all right once more you're wasting your time which way about time you were getting here we got to get moving what are you doing to him how'd you find out did you find out which way the horse soldiers were coming in no i didn't get a chance uh maybe we still have a chance he probably knows which way they're coming in why don't we just have you make him tell us yeah why don't you make me talk sam go on after all you're practically one of the family oh what are you waiting for you asking that living with the cardroids is making you go soft it's his kind that put you in jail and took eight years out of your life you're forgetting that no i'm not forgetting that but i know that carter cartwright's well enough to know that he won't talk now if we stay here any longer we'll never get out of here let's get going now he'll never get out of here when my pond brothers find out i didn't come home all night then the cavalry will be all over the place you're not gonna make it uh maybe we won't but you won't be alive to know it kill him hold it link he he just gave us the answer yeah yeah take him with us joe cartwright riding out there in front and if we get trouble from any of the other cartwrights he gets a bullet right in the back might work promise go get andy saddle up the horses blank get the money out of the cave all right pardo [Music] plano [Music] you sure waited long enough you took 10 years off my life well i just hope i didn't take 10 years off my life too don't worry you got friends now friends that'll stick by you i know that i'll be all right what about those other two yeah let's pick them up [Music] [Music] it looks like little joe didn't wait for the army hey he's got sam with him looks like he was wrong about sound paul yeah looks like we were all wrong about sam kirby [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you
Behind the Scenes of Showdown
This episode is the first one with Sheriff Roy Coffee. It also marks Ray Teal’s first out of 88 appearances in the series.
Sheriff Roy Coffee gave the Cartwrights the written report on Sam Kirby’s past. Ben picks up the piece of paper, glances at it, crumples it, then throws it into the fire shortly after. He missed throwing the crumpled paper, leaving it in front of the fireplace and between Hoss and Adam. Ben gazes into the fire, pretending to watch the paper burn, then walks over to Hoss and Adam’s position. By that scene, the paper has disappeared.
Ben was laughing for a moment before quickly returning to his serious face during Sam and Joe’s fight scene at the picnic.
There were initially a series of law enforcement officials in Virginia City (one marshal, nine sheriffs, and three deputies) during its first season. For its second season, the show has settled on a permanent sheriff in the form of Ray Teal as Sheriff Roy Coffee. Meanwhile, law enforcers outside Virginia City in the first season included one Texas sheriff, a marshal from Los Angeles, and a police sergeant from San Francisco.
Looking for More Bonanza Episodes?
All 14 seasons of Bonanza are worth watching by yourself or with the family. The program ran under the NBC network’s production from September 1959 to January 1973. Showdown is the 31st episode out of 430 and the first for the second season.
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