EPISODE: Day of the Dragon

Reviewed by Barb

Episode 77, Season 3, originally aired December 3, 1961

Guest Stars:  Lisa Lu, Richard Loo, Philip Ahn, Mort Mills

Written by John T. Dugan

Directed by Don McDougall

SUMMARY:

Quick rundown of events.  Joe unwittingly wins girl in poker game (does anyone do a "say wh..wh..what!!??" expression or adorable befuddlement cuter than the boy?) and takes her home to Pa (hey Pa, can I keep her, huh, can I? She won't eat much and I'll clean up after her...")

Of course Pa frees her and tells her to go, which she wisely resists.  Making herself useful and winning the approval of Hop Sing, Su-Ling soon has everyone from Pa on down wrapped around her fingers.  The Cartwrights finally begin to open her eyes about the possibilities available to her in her new country and when Su-Ling meets Dr. Kam Lee, she is inspired to become a nurse.

Enter the devious General Tsung who wants his property back (and call LJ a "loud voiced child".  For this, I think the General must die.) A failed kidnapping attempt leads the good Doctor back and Su-Ling decides to go back to Virginia City with him and take up a life of service to her people as a healer/nurse. Joe drives her in the buckboard. Of course, the General tries to stop them (predictable but great fun.)

A rip-snorting chase and gun battle follows, resulting in an owie when Joe is shot in the shoulder.  Then the evil General calls Joe a "toothless puppy", which of course means that he must double die.  Joe takes care of this nicely with the dork's own machete.  Then we see a wonderful bit of bare-chested Joe and one of the biggest boo-boo's in Bonanza history. The Amazing Bloodless, Unwounded Gunshot Wound, in which Dr. Lee proceeds to bandage a perfectly healthy shoulder. 

REVIEWS:

"Ok.  First up, the description "she won't leave.  She likes her new master." Well DUH!! That's like saying women like chocolate or men like sex.  Who wouldn't want to be Joe's "slave", eh?  Doh!  Chain me to him any day. All in all, a wonderful episode full of humor, Gentleness, adventure, hurt Joe and YES, Sue, Bare-Chested Joe!  I give this an A+ on my Joe-O-Meter." Barb K.

"My favorite part is the way Su Ling has Adam, Hoss, and Joe all peeling potatoes while she just sits there.  Hop Sing hands Hoss that paring knife on his way past and Hoss says something like what is the knife for and Hop Sing says something like you will find out." Ginny

"This ep has one of the cutest brotherly moments in Bonanza history....Pa tries to free Su-Ling and she won't leave, giving them all a sad story about how nobody wants dishonorable her.  (Didn't he know that Joe had already tried that?)  Feeling sorry for her, Ben naturally gives in and tells her she can stay.  (The ol' softie.)  Dinner is called and Adam, giving his best smirk, waves Ben into the dining room ahead of him with the words, "Honorable father."  Ben goes, then Hoss waves Adam in with the words, "Venerable brother."  Hoss then turns to Joe and tells him, "As for you, dishonorable Shortshanks, you can have the leftovers!"  He then pokes Joe in the tummy with a finger and Joe's reaction, to protectively clutch at his middle with a little snort of laughter is just adorable and looks entirely unplanned.  Could it be that our dear Michael was a bit ticklish?  :)" Helen

"I got out my tape of "Day of the D." to see that cute Hoss/LJ moment more closely. It looks like Hoss gave Joe a playful jab in the tummy more than a tickle and then LJ put his hand to his tummy in a mock "I'm hurt" gesture. It did definitely look like an impromptu move on DB's part. Very cute." Debbiejo 

"AS FOR ME, I LOVE THE PART WHERE BEN TURNS TO JOE AND ASKS, AT HIS AGE, IF HE KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GIRL AND A HORSE---AND JOE SMILES AND SAYS "SURE I DO" AND BEN HAS THE MOST RELIEVED LOOK ON HIS FACE  (MAYBE HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT BUCK???)  CLASSIC FATHER AND SON HUMOROUS MOMENT THAT ONLY THE CARTWRIGHTS COULD HAVE PULLED OFF!" WRANGLER

"Someone else as already mentioned my favorite scene -- the one where Ben, Adam, and Hoss arrive home and are brought up short by the appearance of Su-Ling.  Adam's quick to deduce that little brother has something to do with this and his call of "Joe" is immediately followed up by Pa's bellowing of "JOSEPH!" Bev

"I love the bit when Pa, Adam and Hoss first meet Su Ling and she introduces herself as their new slave. LJ is listening, at the top of the stairs, and winces as she says this. Adam, as always, is very quick to catch on that LJ must be involved in this and yells "Joe", love the way he says it, followed by Papa Ben hollering "Joseph" and Hoss getting that look on his face he always gets, when he knows that his little brother is in trouble. Joe skips down the stairs, like he hasn't got a care in the world, saying "You called Pa?" (the house has just reverberated to the sound of Pa's yells - yes LJ, he did call!) Then we get LJ's rather garbled explanation and poor Ben's reaction to the fact that his baby son is up to his neck in trouble, once again LOL." Lynne

"Did you all notice that when General Tsung sent his men to kidnap Su-Ling, Pa burst through the door, firing his gun using his left hand. Or am I just seeing things?" Susan B.

"A curious scene is when Adam gives Su Ling that Chinese mandolin-like instrument to play and sing for them.  She remarks that it makes her heart remember her father’s house, then Adam says something about her telling him how she used to play and sing at home.  But wait, she was only 4 when her father died... ok, maybe she did the playing herself at a later home. But there’s no doubt that this was in China, so how is it that the song she plays and sings so perfectly is in English?  But never mind all that, the best part about this scene is when Joe asks Adam where he got the instrument, and Adam teases, “Don’t be a ‘headblock’...” (alluding to Su Ling’s mix up of the word ‘blockhead’ earlier). The platitude-spouting general is great – what a wealth of material he has." Sue W.

"This episode gets high marks from me because of it's "semi-shirtless" Joe scene, although if they had just ripped the shirt off, it would have been so much better. Joe receives an amazing wound -- not a drop of blood to be seen other than on his shirt -- but that's simply because the gray shirt is actually bullet-proof and the red trickle is really Hop Sing's amazing bullet-proof substance oozing out of the shirt. Besides, blood might ruin our view of what's under that shirt! Joe should have been suspicious of the other two men when he was actually winning at poker, since he is reportedly notoriously bad at that game. However, once he's "stuck" with the girl, Joe acts as a true Cartwright, nobly trying to help the girl, as well as immediately foisting the problem off on Pa. It's telling that once Pa, Adam and Hoss see the strange girl in the house, their immediate reaction is to call for Joe. Obviously, their experience is that any strange girl in the house must have been brought there by Joe. Some people collect stamps; Joe collects girls -- hey, everyone should have a hobby." Susan Grote