The Hunter

Bonanza episode
“The Hunter”
Season l4, Episode 15 #430 in Series
Air date	January 16, 1973
Production code
Guest starring:
Written by	Michael Landon
Directed by	Michael Landon
Episode Guide
Previous Episode: The Marriage of Theodora Duffy	Next Episode: Bonanza: The Next Generation
External links
IMDb The Hunter on IMDb

Summary

Unhinged by the war, Bill Tanner takes sadistic pleasure in the role of predator. He escapes from a military asylum and encounters Joe. After taking Joe's horse and supplies, he declares Joe his prey and gives him a four hour head start. Joe spends the rest of the day using every trick he can think of to throw the psychotic killer off his trail.

Plot

During a delivery run, Joe meets Cpl. Bill Tanner, who turns out to be a war-deranged madman who enjoys stalking down his helpless victims before killing them.

After stealing Joe's wagon and his supplies, the psychotic Tanner explains that Joe just became his latest "prey," and that he intends to stalk him down and brutally murder him.

With no help in sight, Joe must rely on his wits and intuition to defeat Tanner.

Cast and Characters

• Dan Blocker: Hoss Cartwright
• Lorne Greene: Ben Cartwright
• Michael Landon: Little Joe Cartwright
• Mitch Vogel: Jamie Cartwright

Other

• Don Collier: Military Judge (voice only)
• Grizzly Green: Harve
• Hal Burton: Man
• Peter O'Crotty: Old Man
• Phillip Avenetti: The Mexican
• Tom Skerritt: Corporal Bill Tanner

Notes

• This is the last episode of Bonanza.
• Three TV movies & a spin-off show followed

Did you know?

• This show was remade on "Gunsmoke" as "Matt Dillon Must Die," the opener to that series' final season.
• With mostly action and very little dialog, this was Michael Landon's shortest script: only 39 pages.

Gallery

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Videos

See The Hunter/videos