EPISODE: The Mill
Reviewed by Bev
Episode 36, Season 2, originally aired October 1, 1960
Guest Stars Claude Akins, Harry Townes
Written by Halsted Wells
Directed by John Rich
SUMMARY:
The boys are out in the yard doing various ranch chores when an attractive woman (Joyce Edwards) rides up to the house. Joe comments on what a fine looking woman she is and is reminded by Hoss “to mind your manners –that she is a married lady.” Joe, being Joe, rushes over to help her off her horse but is overruled by Hoss who just picks him up and moves him out of the way.
Ben comes out of the house and his whole face just lights up as he rushes over to greet her. He immediately invites Joyce to dinner and tells Adam to go to the cellar and get some of that “special wine”. It is obvious that
Ben has “feelings” for her. At this point Ezekiel, who has been following her, shows up and she contemptuously introduces him as their new hired hand.
Joyce and Ben go in the house and she comments on how it has been years since she has been at the house. They exchange some small talk before Ben finally gets around to asking Joyce how Tom is. Joyce tells Ben some
troubling things - how Tom is still bitter and has been ever since the accident.
She goes on to explain that all day long Tom follows her around in his wheel chair. In the evening, in front of Ezekiel, he calls her names and says the most awful things. Ezekiel is more than just hired hand –he and Tom are up all hours of the night drinking and gambling. Ben’s comment, “I thought he was incapacitated.” Joyce replies: “Only from the waist down” as she looks meaningfully at Ben.
She then describes how Ezekiel carries Tom upstairs every night – he never knocks just comes into their bedroom and puts him down on the bed next to her. Then Ezekiel looks at her lying there in bed and says “Good Night Mrs. Edwards”-- every night the same . . . Except for last night. “Usually Tom can’t turn over but somehow he managed to. I woke up and Tom was bending over me with a carving knife in his hand and he just smiled at me and said he couldn’t bear the thought of my going first.” Ben replies, “Surely you know Tom didn’t mean any harm” Joyce continues, “I don’t know -- he is always talking about death – his death, my death. (Leaning over her with a butcher knife, constantly talking about death...and Ben doesn’t think he means any harm???????) Joyce’s description sets the scene nicely for how creepy the whole situation is.
Joyce takes her leave, saying “Oh, Tom will be alright if only he could find something to do take his mind off himself.”
Ben rides home part way with her -- meanwhile the boys are enjoying a fine meal and the wine!!! Joe starts a conversation about the accident: “I heard once that it was Pa’s gun that hit him.” Hoss: “That’s a lie.” “Eat
your supper both of you and stop talking about it” is Adam’s comment. But Little Joe isn’t done with the conversation: “Well I didn’t mean he did it on purpose, but did he hit him or not?” He did not! insists Adam. Joe: “You weren’t even there and that’s not what they say in town. Did he or didn’t he?”
Adam retorts, “He did not!" Joe: “How do you know?”
“I was there an hour later. They were out after wild mountain sheep (oooohhhhh sounds dangerous) and Mr. Edwards slipped and fell of the ledge. Pa tried to help him and Mr. Edwards slipped again and his gun went off and got him in the spine,” explains Adam.
“So why does he blame Pa?” Joe queries.
Adam just says, “Eat your supper it’s getting cold.”
Ben arrives home to dinner and announces he needs their help in finding something that Tom Edwards could do. The Edwards are out of money because Tom has squandered it away gambling. Cute scene: Hoss asks Ben a question, but Ben is chewing and motions to Hoss that he’ll answer him when his mouth is empty. Hoss, with a mouthful of food says, “Oh, sorry Pa I wouldn’t want you to talk with your mouth full!!”
Adam suggests a grist mill that they could build and the Edwards could run it. Ben thinks that is a brilliant idea!
Meanwhile Joyce has arrived at home at Tom interrogates her as to where she has been – she admits she was over at the Cartwrights. “Complaining about your husband?” he asks. No, she tells him she thought Ben could help her sell some property she had in San Francisco to help pay off their debts.
Ben rides out to the Edward’s place the next morning to offer Tom the deal. Tom: “Did you come to see me or my wife??” (Joyce isn’t there; she is out picking grapes). Ezekiel tries to interfere by telling Mr. Edwards it isn’t good for him, “ailing chronic the way he is” (I love that phrase). Despite Ezekiel’s protests, Tom accepts the deal and his mood seems to change right then and there – Tom admits to Ben that when he is in pain he blames Ben for the accident but that in his heart, “I never blame you; it was my gun and my fault.”
Ben encounters Joyce picking grapes and stops to help. He tells Joyce the good news. As they walk along, she apologizes for complaining to him yesterday but that life with Tom hasn’t been easy and that it might have been better if she had left him years ago. But she is hopeful that the mill will change everything. She comments that “Adam has made some fine drawings.” She goes on to tell Ben, “You are so fortunate to have your boys.” Ben nods and says, “Three fine boys . . . they can be half your life.” “Only half your life?” Joyce says surprised. Ben: “Sons can’t be everything.” They exchange a lingering glance and then Joyce quickly changes the subject.
The Cartwrights start building the mill –Ezekiel continues to try and cause problems. He calls Adam “professor” and intimates that he knows Adam is interested in Joyce -- Adam stands right up to him though and tells him he
knows he is nothing but a troublemaker.
A cute scene follows this. Adam apologizes to Joe for blowing off steam at him (Joe called Adam “professor” right after Ezekiel had called Adam that and Adam yelled at Joe for calling him that). Joe smiles and says, “That’s all right; I am use to taking all the guff in this family, that’s what I am here for.” Pa overhears the comment and retorts, “Oh sure, you’re really abused!”
Ezekiel tells Tom that he may be worrying about the wrong Cartwright going after his wife. He convinces Tom that Adam is all over Joyce. Tom goes ballistic at Joyce about her and Adam -- tagging each other around, brushing up against him and acting like simpering love birds. Joyce is totally humiliated and runs off crying in to the woods. Tom yells out to Adam, “If you come after my wife again, Adam Cartwright, I’ll kill both of you.”
Adam assures Ben that there is nothing going on between him and Joyce. Ben runs off after Joyce and consoles her.
Adam and the boys finish the mill and get it running. Adam goes up to the house to tell Tom the good news and gets shot at. Tom asks Adam where his wife is and when Adam says he doesn’t known – Tom said that he ought to know where she is -- “she’s with your father – I know he has betrayed me before -- he shot me in the spine, etc. etc.”
Meanwhile, back in the woods, Ben has calmed Joyce down and she his telling him that, “I will always remember this time we had together -- it’s like we escaped to another world.” Ben replies that “it’s been that way for me too.”
Ben begs Joyce not to go back to the house but to come to the Ponderosa and spend the evening. Joyce insists she will be fine at home – that Tom and Ezekiel will be so drunk they won’t even hear her come in. Then they see
that the mill is running and Joyce says now that the mill is running she just has to give Tom another chance. BUT. . . Joyce says to Ben, “Thank you, thank you for everything.” And then she plants a big KISS on him, right on the lips!!!!!!
When Ben gets back home, Adam comes out into the yard and tells him what had transpired at the house with Tom and Ezekiel. Ben hops back on Buck to go back to the Edward’s place. Adam stops him – “Pa, Tom’s suspicions about you and Joyce – it isn’t true, is it?” Ben: “If it was, what would you say?” Adam: “I would say if there ever was a chance, she couldn’t do any better. I’d be happy for both of you.” Ben thanks Adam and rides off.
Meanwhile, back at the Edward’s place, Tom is totally drunk and has gambled away the house, the mill, everything to Ezekiel. Only one thing remains to be gambled away... one cut of the cards – if he wins, Tom gets everything
back -- if he loses, he loses his wife to Ezekiel. Tom loses and Ezekiel starts his maniacal laugh, which brings Joyce downstairs. By the time Ben arrives on the scene, Tom is lying dead on the floor and Ezekiel is sitting
in Tom’s chair – “I want to know how Mr. Edwards felt when he sat in it and how Mr. Edwards felt about ‘everything’” -- as he casts a glance at Joyce.
It ends with Ezekiel dead and Joyce heading back East. Ben tells her that after she has been away for awhile, he hopes she will come back to him – he needs her. “I love you but I can never come back,” Joyce replies. She reminds Ben that “You once told me that when Little Joe’s mother died, you had to get away -- had to meet new people – well, think of it that way.” One more smooch for Ben on the lips and then she’s in the buggy and on her way.
REVIEWS:
“This is a fine western drama -- interesting story and good characterizations. Claude Akins, a staple on 60's television series and a guest star on a couple of Bonanzas, does a superb job playing the creepy Ezekiel. A nice switch to have an (almost) love story for Ben and to see the feelings he has for this woman, but, yet being the honorable man he is he doesn't act on those feelings. I recommend if you haven't watched it in awhile that you dig it out and take a look. There are some cute brother/family scenes that I haven't mentioned that I know you will enjoy.” Bev
“I think Ben and the boys rationalized their way through the whole situation because Joyce was a victim and Ben was a knight in shining armor, ready to rescue her.” Sparky
“It was interesting how Joyce seemed to make several innuendoes towards Ben and he remained ever so proper. I questioned Ezekiel's motives for trying to say that there was something between Adam and Joyce. Yeah, Adam was super oo-la-la in this episode, but it seemed quite apparent that Joyce was only interested in Ben, while also staying by her husband's side.” Miss Maggie
“I've always liked this show because of the way included so many "Cartwright" personalities that we seem to like. The guest stars were superb and just right for the parts, the viewer was really pulled into the story.” Deb
“The early years really give us the opportunity to the roots of the Cartwright Family and the Ponderosa. It seems as if the writers take great care in looking at Ben’s past relationships and blending them into the present series. I would agree that it seemed a bit out of character for Ben to assume that leaning over your wife with a butcher knife was anything but normal. Definitely some manic depression going on? I guess what I like about the earlier shows too is that the entire cast played a role. Adam wasn't in San Francisco or Hoss wasn't in Carson City. All the boys, including Ben were home and raring to go and act in any situation.” Nancy
“It seems everybody had a good part in it. I really liked Joyce for Ben but could not imagine her as the stepmother to his brood. She and Adam appeared to be about the same age! Adam looked mighty fine in this episode as did Ben!“ Gail (bunny bonanza)
“I always get a kick out of the scene where Hoss is driving up with the wagon with the mill stone on it and Joe screams "Here comes Hoss Cartwright--charioteer!!" You have to realize that THE current big film in the movie theatres at that time was "Ben-Hur". Eileen "Fluffy"
“Ezekiel was sooo creepy and scary how he manipulated Mr. Edwards. Was this a take off on Othello? The whole undertone of the episode was so scary but it was sandwiched between some terrific Cartwright family stuff that set up the personalities of all the characters. Adam as the one who figures things out and the leader, honorable Ben who always helps everyone, hard working Hoss, Joe as the scampish kid brother. I loved when they were building the mill and the boys got it up and running and bowed to Adam.” Robin
“The scene where the boys are bickering about all the work, then suddenly pull together to finish the mill is classic -- a real "snapshot" of what Bonanza is all about. Claude Atkins was wonderful as the creepy Ezekiel. There's a weird psychological element to the story when Ezekiel wants to "become" Tom Edwards at the end -- sitting in the wheel chair, wearing the shawl, and, of course, wanting Joyce. Poor Joyce was caught in the web of having two men deteriorating mentally around her and having no way to escape.” Susan Grote
“The climax to this episode was deliciously creepy. It gives me chills when Ben walks in to see Tom lying dead on the floor, the widow weeping at his side, and Ezekiel sitting in the wheelchair composed as can be. He is so calm and so logical - "he tried to go back on a bet and you know a man can't do that” and so totally insane - "I'm the same as Mr. Edwards". The scene was played to perfection by Claude Akins.” Sue W.