Our story begins in Carson City, 1865. Boxer Joe Kagan has just lost another fight. He isn't as young and focused as he used to be, and despite his confidence, his wife Janie insisted that he hang up his gloves. Now we fast forward to Walnut Grove, 1879, the present day. It seems that Joe is coming out of retirement and is looking for a contender to face him in the ring for one round. With a $50 prize being offered, I'm sure they'll be lining up around the block. Laura and Andrew hear about it and start debating about whose Pa is the strongest. When they told their fathers, Charles knew boxing wasn't for him, but Jonathan was seriously considering entering the match. Nellie even thought that her father had a chance, seeing as how Nels was the undefeated champion for three years in a row back in the day. The family saw no reason why Nels shouldn't fight Joe Kagan, although he could think of a couple, and raised their glasses to toast his good health, or what was left of it. A few days later, Joe arrived in town. The champ was in pretty bad shape: world weary, beaten down, his wife divorced him, not a care in the world. So while Charles set to work building the boxing ring, Jonathan trained non-stop in Hanson's grain room. But unfortunately, during one of his rigorous exercises, he failed to notice Mr. Hanson remove one of the grain bags and subsequently punched the wooden beam it was previously tied to, damaging his hand. He was out of the fight now and feeling miserable. That is, until, he thought of Charles. It took a lot of convincing, and when Charles realized he did owe Jonathan a favor, he gave in. So the night of the fight came, and Nels Oleson reluctantly climbed into the ring to face Kagan. He didn't last one second. Next up, Charles climbed in to take one for the team. For the first half of the match, Joe had him against the ropes, but then his eyes started acting up on him again, which gave Charles the advantage. They went toe to toe, Charles worked the stomach then knocked him down.
When the fight ended and the champ still didn't get up, they took him to Doc Baker. It seems Joe had been told by several other doctors not fight again, but his greedy, soulless manager, L. Moody, didn't pay them any mind. Baker put it plain and simple: if Joe didn't quit fighting, he would die. And so, Moody packed his bags and then the bastard walked out on his former fighter. Well, Charles' conscience got to him and decided he wanted to give his prize money to Joe, so at Doc Baker's request, he went over to visit Joe personally, and they got there just in time as the beleaguered fighter was about to hang himself! Thankfully he failed. He was in horrible shape, but Charles stayed by his side. Joe was extremely stubborn and aloof at first, but as time went on, he began to recover and become more like his old self again, and he and Charles became good friends. Meanwhile in Chicago, Moody was looking for a few fighter to manage and it just so happens he found Joe Kagan's son, Tim, a rough and tumble boxer like his old man. It seems Tim holds a grudge towards his father, who supposedly walked out on them and never sent them any money. So with his fighting days behind him, Joe decided to buy himself a farm and settle down, so he and Charles were into town to see about a loan. While there, Joe saw a poster advertising for fighter Tim Kagan looking for a contender. He saw his two-timing manager had gone after his boy, so after confronting Moody and threatening him with death if he ever came near his son again, and then sending Charles on his way, Joe worked up the courage to confront his own flesh and blood. Oh, and remember when Tim said his father never sent home money? Turns out Joe tried, but Moody never sent it. So that night, Joe got into the ring with his son, using an alias, and he won. Moody dumped Tim, as per their agreement. While Tim never did find out his opponent was his father, they got to talking and the boy planned to go to Denver and help run the family store. Joe wished him well and they parted ways.
And there you have the origin story of Joe Kagan. He reappeared on the show a few times in Season 5, then got a send off two seasons later. He was a pretty good character, very positive. Moses Gunn was very good in this episode, so were Michael Landon, Merlin Olsen, Richard Bull and Raymond St. Jacques as Moody. For those of you who want to see Jonathan in the ring, check out Season 6's "The King is Dead" where he goes up against a veteran wrestler, and I think we can all agree that Jonathan's injury here was indirectly Hanson's fault. I definitely recommend "The Fighter", it's a great episode in a pretty good season. Season 4 marked big changes for the show, some for better, others for worse. My favorite Season 4 episodes are Be My Friend, The Inheritence, Times of Change, Meet Me at the Fair and To Run and Hide, while my least favorites are The Aftermath, The Rivals and The Wolves. So if you like Joe Kagan, see his humble beginnings in "The Fighter."
When the fight ended and the champ still didn't get up, they took him to Doc Baker. It seems Joe had been told by several other doctors not fight again, but his greedy, soulless manager, L. Moody, didn't pay them any mind. Baker put it plain and simple: if Joe didn't quit fighting, he would die. And so, Moody packed his bags and then the bastard walked out on his former fighter. Well, Charles' conscience got to him and decided he wanted to give his prize money to Joe, so at Doc Baker's request, he went over to visit Joe personally, and they got there just in time as the beleaguered fighter was about to hang himself! Thankfully he failed. He was in horrible shape, but Charles stayed by his side. Joe was extremely stubborn and aloof at first, but as time went on, he began to recover and become more like his old self again, and he and Charles became good friends. Meanwhile in Chicago, Moody was looking for a few fighter to manage and it just so happens he found Joe Kagan's son, Tim, a rough and tumble boxer like his old man. It seems Tim holds a grudge towards his father, who supposedly walked out on them and never sent them any money. So with his fighting days behind him, Joe decided to buy himself a farm and settle down, so he and Charles were into town to see about a loan. While there, Joe saw a poster advertising for fighter Tim Kagan looking for a contender. He saw his two-timing manager had gone after his boy, so after confronting Moody and threatening him with death if he ever came near his son again, and then sending Charles on his way, Joe worked up the courage to confront his own flesh and blood. Oh, and remember when Tim said his father never sent home money? Turns out Joe tried, but Moody never sent it. So that night, Joe got into the ring with his son, using an alias, and he won. Moody dumped Tim, as per their agreement. While Tim never did find out his opponent was his father, they got to talking and the boy planned to go to Denver and help run the family store. Joe wished him well and they parted ways.
And there you have the origin story of Joe Kagan. He reappeared on the show a few times in Season 5, then got a send off two seasons later. He was a pretty good character, very positive. Moses Gunn was very good in this episode, so were Michael Landon, Merlin Olsen, Richard Bull and Raymond St. Jacques as Moody. For those of you who want to see Jonathan in the ring, check out Season 6's "The King is Dead" where he goes up against a veteran wrestler, and I think we can all agree that Jonathan's injury here was indirectly Hanson's fault. I definitely recommend "The Fighter", it's a great episode in a pretty good season. Season 4 marked big changes for the show, some for better, others for worse. My favorite Season 4 episodes are Be My Friend, The Inheritence, Times of Change, Meet Me at the Fair and To Run and Hide, while my least favorites are The Aftermath, The Rivals and The Wolves. So if you like Joe Kagan, see his humble beginnings in "The Fighter."
