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The Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 2

Every episode of Bonanza Season 2 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 2!

Binge this in 20h 25m•Peaking at 8.0/10

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 2 Episode 1 - Showdown
    7.4/10(217 votes)

    #1 - Showdown

    S2:E1

    A young bank robber hires on at the Ponderosa in order to keep his gang informed of the law's efforts to discover their whereabouts.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 2 - The Mission
    8.0/10(232 votes)

    #2 - The Mission

    S2:E2

    Filmed almost entirely outdoors, this is more like a feature than a series. Captain Pender is looking for a scout to lead him and his company of men across the desert, along with a currency shipment they are carrying to another army fort. Charlie Trent, a former scout and now a drunk, still blames himself for his troops being led to massacre. Hoss sees that this is Charlie's opportunity to redeem himself and win back his honor. Meantime, Captain Pender is having trouble with Cutter, another scout who is a devious and cunning bear of a man, who agreed to lead him across the desert, but Pender lets him go and with Hoss' suggestion, Captain Pender agress to have Charlie be their scout.

    Director:James Neilson
    Writer:Robert E. Thompson

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  3. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 3 - Badge Without Honor
    7.3/10(235 votes)

    #3 - Badge Without Honor

    S2:E3

    Adam's life is saved by an enigmatic U. S. Marshal who has come to Virginia City to arrest a friend of the Cartwrights.

    Director:Arthur Lubin
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 4 - The Mill
    7.4/10(228 votes)

    #4 - The Mill

    S2:E4

    The Cartwrights construct a grist mill to provide income for a crippled rancher who blames Ben for his predicament. Ben has to contend with the man's depraved caretaker, and finds himself attracted to his wife. "Sons can't be everything," Ben tells her.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 5 - The Hopefuls
    7.1/10(198 votes)

    #5 - The Hopefuls

    S2:E5

    Adam guides a wagon train of Quakers and falls for the leader's daughter, Regina. The force Adam must employ to protect them, conflicts with their passive philosophy of life.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 6 - Denver McKee
    7.0/10(215 votes)

    #6 - Denver McKee

    S2:E6

    While celebrating the return of his daughter Connie, former lawman McKee is asked to assist in the capture of an outlaw gang. While Joe is courting Connie, no one realizes that McKee is involved with the outlaws.

    Director:Jacques Tourneur
    Writers:Steve McNeil, Fred Freiberger

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  7. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 7 - Day of Reckoning
    7.2/10(216 votes)

    #7 - Day of Reckoning

    S2:E7

    Prejudice erupts on both sides when Ben gives an Indian named Matsou and his wife, some of his land, after saving Ben's life from a renegade Indian who almost killed him on the Ponderosa. An intense and magnetic performance by Ricardo Montalban.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 8 - The Abduction
    7.1/10(231 votes)

    #8 - The Abduction

    S2:E8

    Hoss and Joe take their sweethearts to a colorful and strange carnival for the day. Joe's recent girlfriend Jennifer Beale is abducted by the sinister owner, Philip Reed and his accomplice Gerner. Her father is Joshua Beale, the richest man in the Comstock. Gerner convinces Reed to hold her for a $1 million dollar ransom, and her father will gladly pay them to ensure her safe return. Reed's girlfriend Della Thompson is jealous of Jennifer and has second thoughts about the abduction. Hoss and Joe take notice of Jennifer's disappearance and travel deep into the bowels of the carnival, meeting fierce resistance from the carnival people at every avenue. They come up without a trace of finding her.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 9 - Breed of Violence
    7.3/10(195 votes)

    #9 - Breed of Violence

    S2:E9

    Joe's friend Dolly Kincaid is the daughter of the sheriff and she's always getting caught up with the wrong crowd. When she gets close to Vince Dagen, Joe gets worried and tries to intervene.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 10 - The Last Viking
    6.8/10(225 votes)

    #10 - The Last Viking

    S2:E10

    Gunnar Borgstrom is the leader of a vicious band called the Commancheros. They burn houses, kill people and steal anything of value. When the Commancheros get to Nevada, Gunnar decides to visit his relatives, the Cartwrights. Meanwhile the gang capture Little Joe and his girlfriend. When Gunnar returns to the gang, he has no idea who Joe is because he'd never met his nephew before.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 11 - The Trail Gang
    7.2/10(183 votes)

    #11 - The Trail Gang

    S2:E11

    On a cattle drive back to Nevada from Texas, Ben hires a young man who is both an outlaw and the son of the sheriff whose town the Ponderosa cowhands are entering.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 12 - The Savage
    6.5/10(193 votes)

    #12 - The Savage

    S2:E12

    Adam's life is saved by a woman known to the Indians as White Buffalo Woman, but who is actually the daughter of Norwegian immigrants.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 13 - Silent Thunder
    7.5/10(251 votes)

    #13 - Silent Thunder

    S2:E13

    Captivated by the pretty, deaf-mute daughter of a reclusive mountain man, Little Joe teaches the young woman sign language. Thrilled with her newfound ability to communicate, Annie mistakes her gratitude to Little Joe for love, much to the chagrin of Albie, who is determined to have her for his own.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 14 - The Ape
    7.2/10(279 votes)

    #14 - The Ape

    S2:E14

    Hoss becomes friends with dull-witted Arnie Gurnie, who is a brute of a man with the mentality of a child. His temper scares everybody, including the Cartwrights.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 15 - The Blood Line
    6.7/10(208 votes)

    #15 - The Blood Line

    S2:E15

    Ben feels responsible for the son of a man he was forced to kill, but the young man is determined to get even. A professional gunman offers to do the job for him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 16 - The Courtship
    7.4/10(184 votes)

    #16 - The Courtship

    S2:E16

    Hoss plans to marry the widow of one of Ben's friends, not knowing she is a compulsive gambler and refusing to believe it when the other Cartwrights confront him with the truth.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 17 - The Spitfire
    7.4/10(237 votes)

    #17 - The Spitfire

    S2:E17

    Joe becomes the target of a tough and vengeful Kentucky family, after he kills one of them who almost sets the Ponderosa on fire and the Cartwrights take in the dead man's daughter.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 18 - The Bride
    7.2/10(176 votes)

    #18 - The Bride

    S2:E18

    The Cartwright boys are surprised to find that a woman, claiming to have recently married their father, shows up on their doorstep. When Ben gets home, he is just as surprised as they are. Has the lady been swindled by a con-man, or is she something of a con-woman herself?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 19 - Bank Run
    7.3/10(173 votes)

    #19 - Bank Run

    S2:E19

    When they "rob" the bank in Virginia City to save depositors from being cleaned out by its president, Hoss and Joe wind up wanted by the law.

    Director:Robert Altman
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 20 - The Fugitive
    7.1/10(148 votes)

    #20 - The Fugitive

    S2:E20

    Adam goes to Mexico to find out how the son of a family friend was killed, only to learn the man is still alive.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 21 - Vengeance
    7.7/10(142 votes)

    #21 - Vengeance

    S2:E21

    Hoss accidentally kills a drunk he was trying to disarm. The man's brother bushwhacks Hoss, who has lost the will to live. Joe makes a promise to Hoss that he will kill Red Twilight, the vengeful brother who bushwhacked Hoss, no matter what happens, and will not let Adam stand in his way.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 22 - The Tax Collector
    6.7/10(138 votes)

    #22 - The Tax Collector

    S2:E22

    The kindness Hoss extends to shiftless Jock Henry is not exactly repaid when Henry becomes an assistant assessor and raises the Ponderosa's annual tax bill from $375 to $1700.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 23 - The Rescue
    7.4/10(145 votes)

    #23 - The Rescue

    S2:E23

    The Cartwright boys are concerned that Ben might be getting on in years, yet it is he who saves them from cattle rustlers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 24 - The Dark Gate
    7.5/10(175 votes)

    #24 - The Dark Gate

    S2:E24

    Adam is confused by the sudden behavior of his good friend, Ross Marquette. He beats up his wife, Delphine, after accusing her of having an affair with Adam. He also joins a group of rustlers and killers and helps rob a gold shipment. Adam thinks Ross is suffering from insanity, in this highlight of season two.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Bonanza Season 2 Episode 25 - The Duke
    7.3/10(148 votes)

    #25 - The Duke

    S2:E25

    Hoss takes on The Duke Of London, an arrogant, abusive bare-knuckle fighter, though his brawn is no match for the Duke's agile skills.

    Director:Robert Altman
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 2 Ratings Summary

"Showdown" is the best rated episode of "Bonanza" season 2. It scored 7.4/10 based on 217 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/10/1960. This episode is rated 0.6 points higher than the second-best, "The Mission".