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The Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 9

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

Binge this in 20h 25m·Peaking at 8.2/10
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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Bonanza Season 9 Episode 18 - The Burning Sky
    8.2/10(155 votes)

    S9:E18

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 28 - To Die in Darkness
    8.2/10(141 votes)

    S9:E28

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 7 - The Gentle Ones
    8.1/10(134 votes)

    S9:E7

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 20 - Blood Tie
    8.1/10(129 votes)

    S9:E20

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 22 - The Late Ben Cartwright
    8.1/10(125 votes)

    S9:E22

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 24 - Trouble Town
    8.1/10(119 votes)

    S9:E24

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 5 - Night of Reckoning
    8.0/10(124 votes)

    S9:E5

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 19 - The Price of Salt
    8.0/10(129 votes)

    S9:E19

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 29 - The Bottle Fighter
    8.0/10(117 votes)

    S9:E29

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 8 - Desperate Passage
    7.9/10(136 votes)

    S9:E8

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 13 - Justice Deferred
    7.9/10(132 votes)

    S9:E13

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 15 - The Trackers
    7.9/10(109 votes)

    S9:E15

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 17 - The Thirteenth Man
    7.9/10(118 votes)

    S9:E17

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 1 - Second Chance
    7.8/10(123 votes)

    S9:E1

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 6 - False Witness
    7.8/10(122 votes)

    S9:E6

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 9 - The Sure Thing
    7.8/10(117 votes)

    S9:E9

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 26 - A Dream to Dream
    7.8/10(129 votes)

    S9:E26

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 2 - Sense of Duty
    7.7/10(125 votes)

    S9:E2

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 4 - Judgment at Olympus
    7.7/10(128 votes)

    S9:E4

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 16 - A Girl Named George
    7.7/10(129 votes)

    S9:E16

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 21 - The Crime of Johnny Mule
    7.7/10(120 votes)

    S9:E21

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 12 - Check Rein
    7.6/10(110 votes)

    S9:E12

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 27 - In Defense of Honor
    7.6/10(109 votes)

    S9:E27

    Davey - a orphaned Yute that Ben helped raise and has worked as a ranch hand on the Ponderosa - falls in love with one of his own. A fellow Yute's jealousy over the blossoming relationship, and later his murder jeopardize a treaty between the white man (which Ben has helped negotiate) and the Yutes.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 31 - The Stronghold
    7.6/10(116 votes)

    S9:E31

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Bonanza Season 9 Episode 30 - The Arrival of Eddie
    7.5/10(110 votes)

    S9:E30

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 9 Ratings Summary

"The Burning Sky" is the best rated episode of Bonanza season 9. It scored 8.2/10 from 155 votes. Written and directed by Unknown, it aired on January 28, 1968.