Badge Without Honor

When two men attempt to gun down an unsuspecting Adam Cartwright, a man claiming to be a deputy U. S. Marshall kills them. He is a charming man, deft with words and a quality swordsman. A woman close to the Cartwright's and considered equivalent to a sister to the Cartwright boys is married to a man that has a dark and unknown past. The Marshall states that he is there to escort the husband back to San Francisco in order to testify at a trial. However, uncertainties are developed as there are some inconsistencies in his story. Adam decides to accompany the two men to San Francisco, a development that the Marshall does not like. He is in fact a hired killer whose mission is to kill the husband. This forces am armed confrontation between Adam and the Marshall. This is an excellent episode, the supposed Marshall is many things, even a ladies man as he charms the woman, taking what would be scandalous liberties with her in the days being depicted.

Dan Duryea guest stars in this one as a US Marshal from San Francisco on the hunt for a fugitive in Virginia City. Said fugitive is a friend of the Cartwrights, but when Duryea saves the life of Pernell Roberts from a pair of bushwhackers who thought it was Duryea coming up the trail instead of Adam, the Cartwrights are in a pickle over who to believe.

As George Sanders is usually an English cad, Dan Duryea perfected the American cad role. Not that he hasn't played good guys on the big screen and the small, but he's so much better as a smarmy villain you just love to hate.

I remember in a couple of reviews of other things he's appeared in, I've written that he fools you when he turns out not to be a cad. But that isn't what happens in this episode of Bonanza.

Claiming to be a federal marshal, Gerald Eskith (Dan Duryea) arrives in Virginia City, armed with a subpoena for Jason Blaine (Fred Beir). Eskith demands that Jason accompany him to San Francisco to testify in the trial of the notorious Murdock gang. Although he owes his life to Eskith, Adam Cartwright is suspicion of the self-styled lawman, and insists upon accompanying the two men on their long and dangerous journey.

There's a slight shade of Silverlode ( which starred John Payne and Dan Duryea) where Duryea masquerades as a marshal and arrives in town to take Payne to another place for trial. Of course, he wants to kill him once out of town. Similarly, Duryea in this episode plays a deputy Marshal who is looking for Jason Blaine, to take him to another place to be a witness. Duryea, of course, is the centre of this episode, pulling it out from its pedestrian status; he's at usual slimy self and has a few underhanded tricks with a derringer. Nice showdown in the tunnel.