EPISODE: Bitter Water

Reviewed by Nancy

Episode #29, Season 1, Air date April 9, 1960

Guest Stars:  Don Dubbins – Todd McKaren

                     Merry Anders – Virginia

                     Robert F. Simon – Len Keith

                     Ken Becker - Tucker

Written by:  Harold Jack Bloom

 Directed by:  George Blair                  

SUMMARY:

The scene opens where Ben and Adam ride up on Todd McKaren. He is rude and seems very angry. They’ve interrupted him surveying his own property boundaries and Todd informs Adam and Ben that he is planning on selling the McKaren land to Len Keith, a man whose mining Adam states “will poison the land.” Adam then gets into a scuffle with Todd, saying something like you can’t do that, and then Todd walks away in a huff.

The “Bonanza Theme Song” plays, then we see a very cute Hoss reading a book on how to train dogs. He has found a stray and wants to learn some new scientific methods on the subject. Todd McKaren comes up in the conversation and Ben decides he’ll pay a visit to his old friend Andy, Todd’s father, and give him an early birthday present of good southern tobacco.

During Ben’s visit, Andy shares that he has turned the running of the ranch over to Todd.  Ben then informs Andy that Todd is thinking of selling the ranch. Andy tells Ben not to worry…Todd is just sweet on Virginia, Keith’s daughter, and is not thinking straight but he’s got to let his son grow even if he doesn’t always agree with him. Then Todd enters, angry again, and accuses Ben of badgering his Father. Todd has a mini temper tantrum and storms out of the house again. (He seems to do that a lot!) Ben feels bad and says his visit has caused more harm than good today. Andy assures Ben that Todd will never sell out; not to Len Keith. “He has ruined men and the next one could be my son.”

Next we see Todd going to talk to Len Keith. Todd explains that he can’t sell out to him because his father has a twenty year water rights agreement with Ben Cartwright. Len Keith tells Todd not to worry and that his father will come around and the Cartwrights with not stand in their way.

Great scene---Hoss trying to persuade the stray pup he’s found to get in the washtub for a bath. He chases him around the yard and eventually the scruffy puppy jumps into the bath on his own. Hence Little Joe walks in with his vest and southern drawl. Hoss states, “You smell something?” Seems Joe had a little run in with a skunk in one of their traps and…well, you can imagine the rest. Hoss suggest Joe take a bath using this new sulfur soap he bought to clean the pup, which is full of ticks, but Joe declines. Adam and Ben ride in with the latest news on the McKarens. Then Ben says, “Do I smell skunk?” and Joe laughs and explains his misfortune. Adam reminds him of the upcoming dance and Joe only replies, “You think anyone will mind?”

Next scene we are treated to a very sexy Adam, in his white shirt and tie, shining his shoes. There’s a knock on the door and guess who---Len Keith coming to pay a little visit.  He requests some private time with Ben and proceeds to tell him that Todd is his soon to be his son-in-law and he wants to help him anyway he can. Cutting to the chase, Ben says, “Now why don’t you tell me the real reason you came here.” Len Keith wants Ben to persuade Andy to sell out to him (Keith). Ben refuses and we switch to the party.

The boys are dancing and so is Ben. We focus in on Adam attempting friendly conversation with Todd and Virginia. Todd is his ever-ugly self and starts another fight.  With the Cartwright brothers and Ben holding the two men back, Virginia asks her father to take her home. Outside at their buggy, Virginia tells her Father that Todd has changed and she doesn’t like how he’s acting. Len Keith admits that he likes the changes. The two are soon interrupted by Adam who tries to apologize and wants a word alone with Virginia. Len Keith refuses and whisks Virginia away.

The action moves to the Keith ranch, where Len is talking to his ranch hands who tell him some of his cattle are dead. Looks like Texas fever. Keith knows this could wipe out his whole herd and probably all the herds in the area if allowed to spread. Then he gets an idea. He instructs his men to take a few of the infected cattle and cut them into among the Cartwright’s herd. He is evil, isn’t he!

Next we see the Cartwrights on the range, standing near a dead calf covered with ticks. It looks like the Texas fever, states Hoss. Joe agrees and leaves to check the rest of the herd for any other signs of the sickness. Hoss reminds them about the sulfur soap and the new pup and how that soap bath killed all of the ticks. Ben suggests dipping the cattle in a sulfur bath; they can dig pits and run the cattle through them. Hoss travels to Bakers Flats to get the sulfur. 

In the meantime, a concerned Virginia goes to visit her fiancé in the Virginia City and finds him in the Saloon. They argue and Todd accuses her of taking sides with the Cartwrights. Virginia wonders where the man is she fell in love with, and leaves. Then you see Virginia visiting Todd’s father. Andy asks if she and Todd are having problems and she confesses, “Yes.” Then Virginia asks boldly, “Why not sell this place?”  Andy explains that it is not that simple. Andy tells her he has faith in his son Todd and believes he’ll do the right thing. 

Next scene, Hoss is in the buckboard and being shot at! They have him pinned down and guess who comes to save the day? Joe rides up on Cooch and shoots one of the men and runs the other off.  Joe asks Hoss, “Are you alright?”  Hoss replies, “Yeah, I’ve seen that fella before.  Works at the mining camps…” Joe then informs Hoss that two more cows are dead but they were not Ponderosa cattle.

They switch back to the Keith ranch and his hired man tells Len that one of their men is dead. Keith decides to go to town and find Todd. He locates him at the saloon, drinking, and feeds him the story about the Texas fever. Len Keith encourages Todd that it is his duty to inform the other ranchers. Keith then blames the death of his ranch hand on the Cartwrights. Todd stands up and announces something like, “This has got to stop!”

Todd returns home to share with his father his intentions: to gather the other ranchers and ride out against the Cartwrights. Andy shouts, “I won’t let you do it!” and Todd defiantly storms out of the house yet again. (Is that tantrum number three or four…gee I lost count.)

Out on the Cartwright range, cattle are being dipped in the sulfur baths as Hoss approaches rest of the family and says that he had wanted to take a closer look at the bushwhacker’s horse. He found a letter in the saddle bag and he needs to turn it over to Roy Coffee. Adam agrees to bring it into town. Once in town, Adam heads for the saloon to ask a few questions of his own about the men who assaulted Hoss. He discovers they worked for Len Keith and Adam leaves the saloon for the Keith ranch, unaware all the while he is being watched by Len Keith himself.

Adam arrives at the Keiths, where he is greeted by Virginia, and he questions her about the men. He then goes to the bunkhouse and finds one of the men, Tucker, is there, questions him, and ends up shooting Tucker in self-defense. Suddenly a second shot rings out and Len Keith is standing behind Adam with his gun drawn and smoking. Adam can’t believe it and asks Keith why did he kill him?  Keith claims he was protecting Adam. Adam walks out and Virginia is disgusted with her Father.

In town, Todd McKaren is doing a grand job of riling everyone up. Unanimously they agree the only solution to this Texas fever is to kill the infected cattle, that means, the entire Cartwright herd. Len instructs the men to meet at the end of town at sunup to ride out on the Cartwrights. The plot thickens as Virginia finds Todd and tries to explain that her father caused all of this to happen; that he is responsible. Todd doesn’t listen and yes again---storms away! (Ooh!)

In the next scene, we see Adam and Ben at the breakfast table and Ben shares his fear of losing his herd to the fever. He knows he has all of his money tied up in the herd and losing it could break the Ponderosa. They ride out to the range to check on Hoss and Joe who are still dipping (or is it tipping?) cattle. 

As the action continues, we are at the McKaren ranch house again, and Virginia urges Andy to help her convince Todd that the Cartwrights did not cause this. Andy McKaren agrees and they ride out to the Cartwright range.

Finally comes the classic Cartwright finale: the ranchers ride up, led by Todd McKaren and Len Keith with guns drawn. Ben and Todd have words, as well as Adam, and Adam and Todd almost have a showdown. Then arriving at the scene is Andy McKaren and Virginia Keith. Virginia confesses the story of her father’s involvement and Adam fills in the gaps in only the way that our Adam knows how. Len Keith gets nervous when the accusations start flying and maybe they might discover that he is not totally honest. Len Keith pulls his gun, getting shot and killed as a result. In a typical Cartwright gesture, they deal with the crisis, the dead man is ignored, and Ben swears to all of his fellow ranchers that his cattle are free of the ticks that carry the disease. Your cattle can be saved too, Ben tells his rancher friends, just let us help you!    

So, well you guessed it…they do; all the cattle are saved and in the end, Todd has lost his big, huge, giant shoulder chip. (Maybe that should have been cow chip.) In classic Cartwright style, the enemy is now their best friend and the show ends with Ben’s closing comment, “You’re gonna make fine neighbors!”

REVIEWS:

“This is a good episode, corny ending and all.  Joe, as usual, looks adorable (even if stinky, LOL).  Ben seems to have had 20 year water rights with everyone.” Ginny

“This is one of those early episodes where I view the Cartwright as not quite "Ben and the boys" yet. There are some good family moments, such as Hoss with the dog and ragging on Joe about the skunk, and Joe saving Hoss from the bad guys. But there are also a lot of stereotypical scenes in this episode -- the bad guys doing evil things to try to grab the Ponderosa, Ben instantly forgiving Todd for making his life miserable, Todd's father and fiancée showing up just in the nick of time to save the day. It's one of those plots that could have been used for almost any Western, and not a uniquely Bonanza story that I really enjoy. Most of the first year episodes are very forgettable, and this one falls into that category for me.” Susan Grote

“I think the early Bonanza episodes were visually and dialogue-wise more like the Lone Ranger/Roy Rogers/ Gene Autry westerns. Good guys to the rescue...bad bad villains.. virginal heroines...gun play... horses...This episode did actually show ranch life and the hard work that was done... large herds of cattle and horses and even a large number of ranch hands.” Robin

“I can see where Todd would be ticked off to come home after arguing with Ben and Adam only to find Ben already talking with his father. And this is the episode where Hoss teases Adam and calls him a slow worker because Adam went out with Virginia Keith for three years and now she's engaged to Todd. Adam replies that he guesses he didn't get around to asking her! You can see that Adam and Virginia are still friends, but it's a good thing Adam wasn't going to be Todd's best man - disaster surely would have followed!” Melissa J.

“Loved those early eps before they fully developed their characters!” Deb

"Bitter Water" is rather typical TV western fare of its time – interesting enough, but a bit predictable. Some of it is annoyingly stereotypical and, well, stupid. Take for instance Keith's reaction at the end to the accusation of killing his man to keep him quiet. What does this seemingly intelligent and successful schemer do? Despite being surrounded by dozens of witnesses and facing armed men, he pulls a gun so that Adam can conveniently kill him in self-defense.  Yeah, right.  I do like Virginia Keith. She's a rare woman for an early Bonanza episode - she's smarter than most of the men and sees things for what they are.  At least the writer got that part right - it took a woman to help set things right! Todd was lucky to have her.  I think she would have made a good mate for Adam. But in the first season he was evidently too busy dating floozies like that Sue Ellen in "The Sisters". Gads, I'm so glad we got past some of those early episodes.”  Sue W.