EPISODE: The Gift of Water
Reviewed by Bev
Episode 87, Season 3, First aired: February 11, 1962
Guest Stars: Royal Dano (first of three appearances on Bonanza), Majel Barrett, and James Doohan (both of whom were later regulars on Star Trek)
Written By: Borden Chase
Directed By: Jesse Hibbs
SUMMARY:
Hoss saves the life of a man after the well he is digging collapses around him. The man and his wife and daughter (11-12 years old) live on a parched piece of land. The area is in a middle of a drought with no end in sight. Many of the residents of the “flatlands” are talking about moving up into the high country.
Hoss rides back to the Ponderosa and relays the story to his Pa and brothers. Hoss is determined to help out the family and gets the rest of the family enthused about doing the same. All the Cartwrights contribute
ideas to get the well dug and Ben also handles a bunch of vigilantes who don’t want a bunch of flatlanders overrunning their land -- yup, Ben says he will give each family a piece of the Ponderosa!
Lots of just too cute scenes in this episode – first some background. The little girl (Linda) has a crush on each of the Cartwright boys as they come on the scene – first Hoss and then Adam and then the dreamboat Little Joe
shows up and the other two go right out of her mind.
LJ comes up with an idea for the well and Hoss says “It’s so simple I’m surprised I didn’t think of it” to which LJ replies “Funny, I’m not.” Hoss responds to this by giving LJ a good swift kick in the rear which knocks Joe
to the ground. Linda starts to pound on Hoss and yells “quit hurting him.” Hoss says he’s not hurt that’s how we play to which LJ replies “yeah, that’s how he polishes his boots, dear.”
Then Adam tells Joe to start building the walking beam – LJ interjects that “I don’t build things like walking beams and things like that, I just do the plans.” Hoss: “Little brother, there is plenty of work for everybody.
We’re all going to join in so come on along.” With that, he just picks Joe up and starts walking. Linda is at the ready to defend Joe telling Hoss that he had better put Joe down. Hoss: “Do you really want me to put him
down” and drops Joe to the ground with a thud!
As Linda is firing up the forge she works the bellows and blows soot all over Joe’s face. She then proceeds to drop a sledge hammer on his foot and after that she leave one of the tools on the forge and Joe picks it up and
burns his hand. He yells at her that he doesn’t need any help and would she just please leave him alone – LJ: “Why don’t you find some tin soldiers and play with them.” Linda: “I am a girl I don’t play with tin soldiers.” Joe replies, “All right so if you leave me alone I’ll cut you some paper dolls later on!” Can you just see Little Joe cutting paper dolls!
Later Linda takes Joe’s gun to clean it and he yells at her again. “Didn’t I tell you before to leave my things alone.” Linda is crushed and says, “I won’t come near you, ever! Hoss grabs her as she runs by and comforts her
by saying, “Don’t you pay no attention to him; he thinks he’s terrible grown up don’t he – you know what I call him – shortshanks.”
As the episode ends with water gushing from the well, Linda comes out of the cabin all dressed up and walks up to Joe as he sitting on Cochise.
Linda: “Here, boy, maybe now you will have time to play with this now." She hands Joe a paper flywheel.
Pa: “Yeah, come on boy no playing for you plenty of work at home."
Adam: “Come on little buddy will make you a little red wagon so you can help us.”
Hoss laughs heartedly while LJ just rolls his eyes.
REVIEWS:
"I just love this episode because it has lots of brotherly interaction, humorous scenes and all four Cartwrights + Roy Coffee – unfortunately Hop Sing wasn’t shown." Bev
"I loved that each of the Cartwrights came up with part of the plan, and a way to put it into action. What's great about it is that each of them respects the others' idea and cheers them on with their portion of the project. Hoss is the one keeping the little family's spirits alive, and one by one, everyone else follows suit and refuses to give up until they meet success. Joe once again shows himself to be a lot more educated than he is often given credit for as he first knows about how ancient cultures ground wheat for food and then draws up the plans for the walking beam that Adam looks over and gives a thumbs-up with what I like to think of as a look of big-brotherly pride." Helen
"There's a couple of things I like about this episode. The first is how all the other Cartwrights think Hoss' attempt to find water is futile, yet one by one, they show up to help and contribute to the project. It's a wonderful example of the typical Cartwright mentality -- willing to try to solve a seemingly impossible problem, as well as help each other out. The other part I like is this episode shows how the Cartwrights refuse to "go along with the crowd". Ben resists the invitation to join the vigilantes (much to Joe's delight), Joe challenges the men who want to stop him on the road, and Ben is willing to risk guiding the farmers through the armed men to safety. It would have been easier to simply not get involved, but that's not the Cartwright style." Susan Grote
"This episode is a favorite of mine, because it features all the family and we have them working together as a team. I love the brotherly teasing and the little girl's obvious crush on Little Joe. It is a turnaround for Ben, happy to allow flatlanders to settle on the Ponderosa, when in earlier eps, he didn't even like people crossing his land, but it's still a good ep. My favorite scenes are the bit when Hoss kicks LJ in the butt and then lifts him up under his arm and drops him on the ground and then the end, when Adam makes his remark about the little red wagon, it cracks me up every time I hear it." Lynne