Bonanza (TV Series) Death at Dawn (1960) User Reviews

Laughing Farmer

[mitchrmp · 8/10 · 15 February 2014]

This episode always gets me. A man walks into the general store, asks the man to pay him for protection, then shoots him in cold blood when he refuses. But what appears to be an open and shut case is anything but when you have a town of people who are too afraid to say anything. Even the widow has to be convinced to testify what she saw him do with his own eyes...

Farmer Perkins' life is pure evil. He's one of those people that has absolutely no value for human life - except for his own. Even when he's found guilty and sentenced to hang, he laughs about it knowing that his friend who seems to run the town will clear everything up. If I'm not mistaken, the actor who plays Sam Bryant, Robert Middleston, played a baddie on The Monroes. He's another of those character actors who plays a good baddie...

Of course, Adam's vainness is allowed to show on this episode. I was with Ben and Little Joe and think the writer's did an injustice by letting Adam prove himself correct.

Good episode. 5 dead.

Adam was right. Tense episode.

[reb-warrior · 8/10 · 6 March 2024]

This is actually a very tense episode. Ben is being held hostage so that Farmer Perkins can be released from being hanged. Perkins is a cold-blooded killer. I didn't quite get why Sam Bryant was so keen on saving him. It's not like that man cares about anyone. All are disposable to him. Just arrogance, I think. Thinking he could do anything he wanted and get away with it. God complex? Mobster mentality.

The best part was Adam struggling with what to do. Joe and Hoss were gun hoe to find Ben or let Perkins go. But Adam felt that Bryant would not kill Ben if they went ahead with the hanging. It was a psychological game. The 3 bros argue over it. Ben, who is held hostage, finds out Adam intends to go through with that hanging and is pleased. Having realized there was no way Bryant would hang him because then he would be proven to be a killer and hunted and hanged himself. Ben even says of Adam's intent, "It's what I would do."

I kind of wanted to see a moment of shocking realization on Perkins' face before he was hanged, that it was really happening. He was just so smug. Seeing him be not smug would have been satisfying.

I enjoyed seeing Bryant's fanboy get taken down. But not before he took out Bryant. He was another smug little twerp. I did enjoy seeing his disappointment though, when Bryan walked Ben back into town, having not gone through with hanging Ben.

Would have liked to have seen Joe and Hoss tell Adam he was right, or even Ben say how astute Adam was at reading people and what a good play it was. 8/10.

Why no jury trial?

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 15 January 2019]

Before Ray Teal became sheriff in Virginia City there was a lot of lawlessness and it had an organized protection racket headed by Robert Middleton one of the mine owners. In its early days there was a lot more emphasis on mining which was why Virginia City was founded.

In any event Nancy Dealle's husband resisited and one of Middleton's thugs, Gregory Walcott just shot him down. Both Dan Blocker and Michael Landon were witnesses and testify as such.

For the life of me I don't know why Walcott didn't ask for a jury trail. He's one hateful lout of a human being, but you would think Middleton could intimidate enough for at least a hung jury.

So in a bench trial he's convicted and he's scheduled to hang promptly. But Middleton and his gang grab Ben Cartwright and threaten to hang him if Walcott swings.

It's here where the Cartwright sons themselves have have a disagreement over what to do. Some fine acting and dialog between Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe.

A good story to wrap season one of Bonanza.