If I didn't know better I'd say the writer of this episode had an axe to grind against Ben Cartwright. Ben's not a know it all. He's a kind, compassionate, helpful man. This episode is another variation of a lady staying at the Cartwrights and falling for Ben. Can you blame Mary? Her husband's a drunk and he knocks her around. You compare that to a man like Ben Cartwright who wouldn't harm a hair on her head.
Ben shuts down the romance angle, makes reference to how he'd regard her as a daughter.
Thing I don't understand is Mary's taking control of her life. She wants to file for divorce from Russ. Again, I think when love's dead, it's not gonna come back. You get to that point where this is the straw that broke the camel's back and I just don't think you'll ever be able to look at that person from a loving point of view ever again. But Ben's acting so reluctant about Mary wanting a divorce, filing for divorce. Yeah, he knows Russ has been working and keeping it together for a period of time. But you flip that to what Mary said about this being a theme. So he dries out for a couple of days and it's back to usual with him. If this story was supposed to be a romance story, no, I don't see it.