Bonanza (1959–1973): Season 13, Episode 2 - Fallen Woman - full transcript

Jill Conway is an alcoholic mother whose husband was sent to prison (for robbery) on Hoss' testimony. In a pent-up rage, Jill demands that Hoss look after her son, Petey. Hoss, however, wants Jill to see this as an opportunity to ...

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Well, when I came up on him
around the corner there,

Ed Conway was pistol-whipping
Mr. Miller.

That is a lie!

Eddie wasn't there.
He swore to me he wasn't there!

Mrs. Conway, sit down.

I won't sit down.

I got as much right to talk as he has!

He's trying to lie my husband
into prison.

I don't have to sit here
and let him do that.



Mrs. Conway, for the last time,

sit down or I'll have you
ejected from this court.

All right, I'll sit down.

You won't listen to Eddie or to me,

but you'll listen to Cartwright
telling his lies!

Go on, Cartwright, tell your lies.

I'll sit down.

You may proceed, Mr. Cartwright.

Well, there's not really
much else to tell, Your Honor.

Like I say, Ed Conway
was whooping on Mr. Miller

pretty good with his pistol
when I caught him there,

and, well, he beat him to the ground.

That's it.

Did Conway attack you?



Well, sort of. We...

We scuffled for a minute or two,

and I finally got the gun
away from him,

and about that time,
a bunch of other folks came up.

Thank you, sir.

Your witness, Mr. Becker.

Your Honor, the defendant wishes
to change his plea to guilty

and asks the mercy of the court.

The court accepts the plea.

Defendant will rise.

The court sentences you
to five years in the state penitentiary.

No, you can't do that!

This court is adjourned.

Eddie!

Eddie.

You satisfied now?

You lied my husband
into prison five years!

You hear what he said?
Five years in prison!

You don't care, do you?

Nah, you just don't care.

Well, what about Petey?

How's he supposed to eat?

How's he gonna get his clothes
or a roof over his head?

Can you answer me that? Can you?

All right!

You sent his father away to prison.

I can't take care of him. You keep him.

'Cause I sure can't.

Some mother she is
to give away her own child.

Hey. Hey, little buddy.
Come here, Petey.

It's all right.

There's nothing to be afraid of, pal.

Everything's gonna be all right.

Come on.

We'll go for a horseback ride,
maybe, okay?

There you go.

There we go, Petey.

Well, this is where we're gonna
live for a while, Petey.

You know what we're gonna do
first, though?

We're gonna go in and get
some food for that belly of yours.

How does that sound?

Just fine, Mr. Cartwright.

Oops.

Old Hop Sing wouldn't let you
in his kitchen looking like that.

Got to get that face cleaned up.

There we go now.

Clean as a whistle, huh?

But it's not Mr. Cartwright.

I'm Hoss and you're Petey.

Mr. Cartwright's my pa, you got that?

Hoss and Petey.

That's it, Hoss and Petey.

Oh. Hop Sing?

Oh.

This here is Petey.

Petey, this is Hop Sing.

He does the cooking around here

and dang near everything else
that's very important.

Can you say Hop Sing?

- Hop Sing.
- There you go.

Petey, good name.

You big, strong boy.

Petey's a wrangler.

He's gonna go to work for us
tomorrow, breaking horses.

Petey, uh...

Maybe little bit small?

Well, we'll just use small horses.

Right now, old Petey's a might hungry.

You reckon you can round up
some vittles for him?

Right away.

Big meal for little wrangler.

Petey, Hop Sing will get you

something to eat,
and you enjoy it, son.

I'll be in the next room.

Now, first thing, glass of milk.

Taste it. It's good.

Now piece of bread with sugar.

Ah.

Now, where is your mama, papa?

Papa was bad.

He went to jail.

Oh, so sorry.

Don't worry, he come back soon.

Five years.

You got mama. She take care of you.

Mama don't want me.

What you say?

She don't want me.

She gave me to Hoss.

Oh.

Women funny people.

They say this, they say that.
Don't mean nothing.

All the time they change their mind.

Here. You eat the bread.

You see. She come for you.

Now we have bacon
and scrambled egg.

Beats anything I've ever seen
or heard tell of.

Woman just give away her son
like that.

Just push him off.

Just hand him over to somebody else.

What kind of woman is that anyway?

Well, you said she was drinking.

Yeah. Not just a little bit neither.

Well, that might explain it,
but it sure doesn't excuse it.

Not for me it don't.

Hoss, she'll probably think it over

and feel very sorry
about the whole thing

and come by
and pick him up tomorrow.

I hope you're right,
but I'm afraid not.

She's his mother.

She's a terrible woman.

Give away her own son

and him right there
hearing every word of it.

I'll tell you this.

Long as he's around here,
I'm gonna take care of him

like he ought to be taken care of.

Ah, tomorrow you feel fine.

You going to break the horses like 60.

Petey, he say tummy full.

That right, Petey? You full up?

- I'm full.
- Hey, that's good.

Sleepy, too.

Time for new hired hand
to get some shut-eye.

Absolutely. Come along, Petey.

Let's go up and go to bed.

We got a bed up there
that just made fit to you, huh?

And then, tomorrow,
we'll give you a bath.

This thing's a little big, but...

it's roomy and ought to be comfortable.

It sure ain't gonna be binding no place.

There you go.

Into bed and cover up your head.

You know, Petey, this room
needed somebody in it.

When a room ain't used, it'll get rusty.

Do you know that?

I never knew that.

See? You learn something every day.

Hey, he looks better
in that shirt than you did.

Hey. Hey, where'd you get that?

When the Wilson family stayed
with us, they left it behind.

I thought you might
find some use for it.

Oh, yeah. Thank you, Joe.

Hey, look what Little Joe brought us.

His name is Oscar.

Now, Oscar's been down the road
a few miles,

but he's still got a few left in him.

Would you like to sleep with him?

- All right.
- Good.

There you go. Hug him tight.

You make a fine-looking pairing.

You two get some sleep
'cause we got a lot of work tomorrow.

We got horses to wrangle.

Good night.

Cute little guy, ain't he?

Yeah, he sure is.

- Morning, Jamie.
- Oh, morning, Hoss.

So, this is our new wrangler, huh?

This is him.
Petey Conway, meet Jamie.

Petey, nice to meet you.

Uh, I got a little ride
to make this morning, Jamie.

You reckon Petey could help you
with the chores?

You bet your life.

With all this work I got to do,
I need all the help I can get.

Petey, that there's Harold.
He's getting weaned.

Would you like to help Jamie, Petey?

Just fine.

- Okay, see you later.
- Okay, bye-bye.

Petey, where'd you get
that "just fine" stuff?

Papa always said it.

Oh.

Petey, would you like to pet Harold?
He's real nice.

Just go on right over there.
He won't bite you.

See now, what we got to do,
Petey, is, uh,

we got to break Harold there
from feeding from his ma

and teach him
how to eat out of this bucket.

How do you do that?

Well, you stick your hand
down in the milk, see,

with your fingers sticking up like this.

Now, old Harold here thinks that
your fingers are his mother's.

And so he'll start sucking on
your fingers

and sucks up the milk.

Then you take your fingers away,
and old Harold's on his own.

- Get the idea?
- Just fine.

That's good. You want to try?

There, that's it.
Put your hand in the milk.

- That's it.
- Ow! He bit me!

I'm sorry, I should have told you.

Harold doesn't have any teeth.

See, when he feeds on your hand,
it feels kind of funny, that's all.

Nothing to worry about.

And when
the little leprechaun awakened,

he picked up his fat bag of gold
off the floor of his candy house...

Whoa. Whoa, whoa.

Ms. Conway?

Oh, go away.

- Ms. Conway?
- Hmm?

Uh-oh.

I have... company.

I didn't know
I was gonna have company.

Um...

Excuse me.

I was combing my hair.

My comb. My comb.

Excuse me.

Oh.

Oh.

Um...

Here.

Sit down here.

And, um...

I can give you a drink?

Ma'am, I... I think you've had enough.

Yes... No! Ah, you're right.

You're absolutely right.

You're right.

Besides, there's not enough left.

Thank you. Don't mind if I do.

Look what I did!

Be careful, please.

It's very dangerous for your bare feet.

I...

I... I have to sit... down.

I, um...

Been feeling poorly.

Mmm... Dizzy.

Did you hear what happened to Ed?

- I was there.
- You were there?

Oh...

There's got to be a bottle around here.

Look at this!

I have to pick it up.

Mess.

Where's Petey?

He throws things.

Petey...

I...

Where did he go?

Where did he go?

Petey? Petey!

Mrs. Conway.

Petey is at the Ponderosa.

Cartwright!

Cartwright.

You're the one.

You're the one.
You sat there and you lied!

I told the truth, and you know it.

You took Petey. You took my boy.

You gave him to me.

I...

I gave him.

I gave him.

So I did.

I remember. I remember.

I gave him to you,

and I told you to take him,
and I told you to feed him, and I...

I remember!

Well...

Howdy, Pa.

I got to get him a real pony.

Yeah.

I told him you would.

- Oh, you did, huh?
- Yeah.

I went out and talked to his ma.

Yeah, I thought you might.

She's a drunken wreck.

It ain't no house she lives in.
It's a pigpen.

I can't let that young'un go back
out there to that kind of life.

I ain't gonna.

Hey. Petey, how you making out
as a wrangler?

Just fine.

Hey, now, you better watch
that old Tom now.

He's a bucking son of a gun.

Hey, this cowboy can ride
anything that's got hair on it.

Including a grizzly bear.
Ain't that right, Petey?

That's right.

Hey, Hoss.

You know, up at Willow Creek,
that little foal, two months old?

Ah, yeah.

Hey, that's what
we've been looking for.

Let's go up there
and pay him a visit, huh?

- We'll see you later.
- Yeah.

Take it easy.

How's it coming there, pard?

Just fine!

Good.

That's what I like about this place.

Not too many fish come around
biting and bothering you.

Lets a man sleep in peace.

I've been keeping myself
informed since the trial.

Course, I know what happened
in the courtroom that day

when she forced the child on you.

I've been keeping track
of you and the boy.

Been keeping track of her.

Now I think some decision
should be made about the boy.

That's why I asked you to come in.

Yes, sir.

I've seen Mrs. Conway
twice on the street,

once in her home.

At my request, Reverend Smith,
Sheriff Coffee also went to visit her.

I'm sorry to say we all reached
the same conclusion.

She's not a fit mother.

Well, uh, I'm sorry to say
that I agree with that decision, Judge.

Which brings us to the question
of what can be done for the boy.

How do you feel about him?

What do you mean?

Well, he's been with you
for some time.

You've gotten to know each other.

You fond of him?

Fond of him?

Oh, I...

I don't think that says it quite right.

He's a mighty fine young feller.
I...

He means a great deal to me, Judge.

I thought so.

Ben and Joe, how do they feel?

Oh, they feel the same way I do.

Good.

Then, I think
that answered the question.

What?

That you adopt the boy if you want to.

Adopt him?

Can I do that?

Well, if the boy's mother will sign
a paper, giving you custody.

She's indicated she would.

Judge...

These are people we're talking about.

Lives and... And years.

I'd like to have a little time
to think that over.

I'm glad you feel that way.

Take all the time you need.

Yes, sir. Thank you.

I'll... I'll let you know
what I've decided, Judge.

Mama. Mama.

Mama. Mama.

There. Over there.

Petey. Petey.

Little buddy, everything's all right.

You were just having
a nightmare, a bad dream.

I was dreaming about Mama.

Yeah, you, uh...

You mentioned her name
a couple of times.

Is Mama sick?

What do you mean?

She used to be sick a lot.

Oh, yeah.

Well, no, she's...

She's all right.
Don't you worry about nothing.

You just...

You just go on to sleep now.

Don't you worry about nothing,
you hear?

I don't want Mama to be sick.

Oh, good morning, Hoss.

Fire built.

Coffee hot.

Somebody fool around
Hop Sing kitchen.

Somebody gonna get lump
on head if...

Mr. Hoss, you up early.

Yeah.

I fix you breakfast.

Six egg, fried potato, hotcake?

No, no. No, thanks, Hop Sing.
Not this morning.

It's not locked.

It's not locked!

Did you bring the paper
for me to sign?

I brought it.

Well, give it to me.

Let me sign it and get it
done with and over with.

There. Sign it.

What are you waiting for?

He's yours now.
Go on, get out of here.

I said get out of here!

Come here.

Come here!

Take a look at yourself.

I said look at yourself!

I want you to see
what everybody else sees.

Let me go!

We got to get some food in you.

Putting some water on here to heat.

As soon as it's hot,

I want you to clean yourself up.

You hear?

Meantime, I'm gonna get you
something to eat.

Yeah?

Brought you some stew.

Here.

Eat it.

I'm not hungry.

Eat it before I stuff it down you.

Where do you keep your clothes?

Right there.

Is that it?

Mmm-hmm.

That's my best dress.

Katie?

- Well, Hoss Cartwright.
- Howdy.

Uh, Katie, I'd like to have
a dress for this lady.

Oh, fine. I'll get her measurements.

Katie, I need one now.
I mean, right now.

But, Hoss, I have to make it.

Well, what about this one here?

Well, will it fit her?

Yes, just about.

But that's Sara Butler's dress.

Never mind Sara.

I'll... I'll talk to her
and make it all right.

But, Hoss, I can't let you...

Come on, Katie.

Oh...

All right.

And, uh, Katie, can you...
Can you do something about that?

I mean, fix her up a little bit?

I can try.

Well, fix her up best you can.

I'll be back in about half an hour, huh?

This way, please.

Howdy, Katie. How's it going?

Here.

That ought to do it, huh?

Oh, Hoss, you've overpaid me.

Well, it's worth it.

She looks a whole lot better
than she did

when I brought her in here.

I went by the ladies' shop
and had 'em fill this bag

with stuff you'll need
to go with that dress.

We'll get you some shoes
on the way out.

Come on.

Thanks again, Katie.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Enough's enough.

Eat that sandwich.

Eat it or I'm gonna feed it to you.

You're running me out of town,
aren't you?

That's right.

I don't know who you think
you are to do this to me.

Well, let's just say that I'm probably
about the only man around

that'll go to the trouble.

The way I found you,

nobody'd touch you
with a 10-foot pole.

I had friends.

Oh? I wouldn't call 'em that.

Here's another one. Eat it.

Eat it!

Why are you doing this to me?

To get rid of you.

You don't have to.

I signed those papers.
You can adopt Petey.

There's still you.

I don't want you around
dying off inch by inch by inch.

I want to get rid of you
lock, stock, and barrel.

Giddyup.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa.

What are we stopping here for?
I'm not sick.

Well, fella might argue that point,
but we're not here for your health.

Come on.

Hoss, I expected you earlier.

Well, we, uh...

We had a little bit of a delay, Doc.

Doc, this is Jill.

Jill, this is Doctor Hubert.

You didn't tell me she was pretty.

Well, I reckon
that's a matter of opinion.

Uh, come in the parlor.

That's a good face.

Good bones.

Lot of strength in it.

I like it.

Uh...

What are you so angry about?

About this. You two.

What's going on here?

Well, didn't Hoss tell you?

Well, I... I wasn't for sure
I was gonna go ahead

and bring her, Doc,
until the very last minute.

You see, along with
all the other things,

she's got an awful mean temper.

Temper? Good. Good.

I have a temper myself,
and I never apologize for it.

Won't you sit down?

The woman who kept house for me
and helped me with my patients

has just gotten married,

and I've been looking
for somebody to take her place.

Hoss came to me yesterday
and asked me if I'd consider you.

Frankly, I was doubtful.

But now that I've met you,

I'm delighted.

What about you?

I...

I don't know.

I had no idea about this.

Really, I... I don't know.

You should like it here.

It's interesting work. Rewarding.

I'll even pay wages.

My husband's in prison.

Mr. Cartwright tell you that?

He told me all about you.

None of it troubles me.

All I want to hear from you now
is yes or no.

First I want to talk
to Mr. Cartwright alone.

I'll be waiting in my office.

What's troubling you now?

I would like a little truth.

What are you up to?

What do you mean, up to?

Everything's in the open.

Is it?

Of course it is.

You told me you were
running me out of town.

Now you bring me here.

There's nothing wrong with that.

The Doc's as fine a man
as there is in the county,

and anybody'll vouch for that.

And like he said, the work's
interesting and it's rewarding.

He'll even pay you wages.

There's got to be a catch
here someplace.

There's no catch.

It's a chance for you,
and a good chance.

You do with it what you want.

You get drunk, the Doc'll kick you out.

That'll be the finish.

You stay clean and you can make
a new life for yourself.

Why?

Why are you doing this?

Because I want to be able to tell Petey
that I gave his mother every chance.

And that it was her own fault

that she finally ended up
dead in the gutter.

Get out of here.

Get out of here!

Hoss.

Hi, big wrangler. How are you, bud?

Just fine.

Hoss.

Petey wouldn't go to bed
until you got here, so I...

Just read him a little story,
and he fell sound asleep.

Yeah, along with you.

Oh, I was just resting my eyes.

Yeah.

How was your day?

Oh...

About the way I expected, all right.

Now, come on, Petey,
it's time to go to bed.

Tell Pa good night.

Good night, Mr. Cartwright.

Ah, what a big boy.

I have it here.

I took the brandy in the kitchen
to have a nightcap,

and I forgot to put it back.

You can have it if you feel you must.

I've got another idea.

Did you ever play cribbage?

No. No, I never did.

I couldn't sleep either.

A feeling of frustration,

of hopelessness, helplessness.

Losing a patient like Mrs. Johnson,

watching her go these past weeks,

I kept thinking

there must be something
the medical profession can do

to save these people.

Come, sit down.

I'll explain it to you as we go along.

First, I deal six cards.

Now I...

lay away two facedown.

Uh, let's see your hand now.

Eight.

Fifteen, two.

And six is twenty-one.
That's three for me.

And five is twenty-six.

Four for me.

You know, you're gonna
beat me at this game.

Mrs. Conway...

You've won yourself a battle,

and I think it's the last one
you'll ever need to fight.

Thank you.

Come on, off to bed.

This is your day off.

Doggone it.

Hey... got to shoot some.

Dad burn it, it ain't fair.

It is fair.

Yeah, but look
at how you're beating me.

I guess I'm better than you are.

Well, I reckon you are at that,
little buddy.

I think you've been practicing on me.

Hey, I think I hear Hop Sing calling.

Run in there and see if he's got
something good for us to eat.

Hyah
. Hyah.

I ran into Judge Simms today.
He wants to see you.

Oh, yeah?

Reckon it's about Petey.

Yeah.

Been more than a month since
you got Mrs. Conway's consent.

Judge figures you ought to go in

and get the formal
adoption proceedings started.

Yeah.

Mrs. Conway's working in the garden.

- Today's our day off.
- Oh.

- I'll call her.
- Oh, no, never mind.

I'll talk to her out there.

Uh, not until I tell you what happened.

Sit down, please.

She's done very well.

Better than I expected.

Well, that's good news.

Sort of dangerous
leaving that stuff out there

where she can get to it, ain't it?

I put it there deliberately.

She hasn't touched a drop
since she's been here.

She's worked hard.

She's painfully clean.

Well, I...

I reckon she knows you wouldn't
put up with anything else.

Oh, probably, but, uh,
I never had to mention it.

Yeah.

That mean temper she's got,

she couldn't be too good
around sick people.

She's very good with sick people.

They ask for her.

Are you sure we're talking
about the same woman?

Same woman, different environment.

There's been changes,

but that's why
you brought her here, wasn't it?

Yeah.

I want you to see for yourself.

Go out and talk to her.

Yeah, I reckon I better.

You could at least
let a person know you're coming.

I reckon you can work in the dirt

without getting
a little bit of it on you.

What's that supposed to mean?

Oh, nothing, nothing.

Still got that bad temper, ain't you?

Why are you here?

Well, I thought I'd drop by
and see you and talk to you.

Doc tells me you're doing right well at

behaving yourself.

Ha, I bet that disappoints you.

No.

No, you got as much right to do well
as anybody else, I reckon.

I'm going into town

to court tomorrow to adopt Petey.

I thought you did that a long time ago.

Yeah, I...

I tried to. Uh...

I couldn't get it scheduled
in court until tomorrow.

You're afraid I'm gonna try
and stop you, aren't you?

That's why you're here.

Well, things have changed a little.

I wondered what your plans were.

My plans are, I'm gonna stay
with Dr. Hubert a while longer,

then I'm going east.

I got people in Kansas.

Neither you nor the boy
will ever see me again.

Well... say one thing for you.

When you make a bargain,
you stick to it.

Yup.

Especially when you got no choice.

You take Petey. Good luck.

- Hoss.
- Oh.

Everything's all right, little buddy.

I just came by to make sure you
were covered up, that's all.

Petey...

You kind of like old Hoss?

I like you a lot.

Well, that...

Goes two ways, buddy.

Can we go wrangle tomorrow?

I don't know, little buddy. I...

I hadn't thought about it.

Can we go fishing?

I...

I hadn't thought
about that much either.

I found something to do today.

I found eggs for Hop Sing in the barn.

A chicken tried to bite me.

Well, dad burn that chicken anyhow.

We'll go out there tomorrow
and give that...

That old chicken
a talking to, won't we?

You, uh...

You get some sleep now.

Good night there, wrangler.

Here you go, Petey.

Where are we going to?

It's a surprise.

You like surprises, don't you?

Just fine.

- Oh, Hoss?
- Yeah?

Forget this?

- What's that?
- His clothes.

Oh.

Yeah, I reckon I did.

Thanks, Pa. See you.

Have a nice ride, Petey.

Sure.

See you, Pa. Giddyup.

Whoa, whoa.

Where are we?

This is where that surprise is
I promised you.

Come on.

There you go.

- Petey.
- Mama! Mama!

Here's... Here's Petey's clothes.

What are you saying?

I...

I reckon you'll be interested
in this, too.

The piece of paper you signed.

I'll take care of it for you.

Oh, God.

Here, here.

Hey, hey, come on.

Oh, I hated you.

I hated you so.

Yeah, I know.

- Now I...
- Hey.

- I can't. I...
- Hey.

Jill, any... Any changes
that have been made,

you made 'em, not me.

Hey, Pete?

You're gonna be living
with your mama now.

You gonna like that?

Just fine.

Well, Doc, you got you
a family all of a sudden.

It took you long enough, Hoss.

Yeah.

Well, sometimes good things
take a spell, don't they?

You gonna come back and see us?

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I get over this direction
pretty frequent now.

I'll be seeing you.