Search in Limbo  

first shown February 20th 1972

 

'Ben suffers a head injury on his way to close a land deal with Sid Langley, whom he'd despised for years. When he wakes up, he cannot account for one day. He learns Sid Langley had been shot during that time, and several people say they saw him at Langley's office.'

 

Guest Stars: Albert Salmi as Sheriff, Lucille Benson as Mrs Melody, Gerald Hiken as Dr Jacob Penner, Lawrence Montaigne as Sid Langley, Chubby Johnson as Old Man, Lee McLaughlin as Clerk, Kenneth Tobey as Notary, Charles P Thompson as Old Man, Pamela Payton-Wright as Amy

 

 

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This Ben centred mystery revolves around Ben's inexplicable amnesia, the death of a man he hated and three potential murder suspects. As in all good detective stories the truth is only revealed in the final scene.

Ben has gone to conclude a financial deal with Sid Langley whom he hates because the man used women and caused the death of one. Only the deed remains to be signed and Ben arranges to collect it at 3 o'clock. Throughout the opening scenes Ben is tired, rather dazed and has a headache. He wakes in his in his hotel room at 5 o'clock but doesn't realise that it is 5 o'clock the next day.

Mrs. Melody in the hat shop says that she saw Ben going out of town the previous evening, the notary says that the deed was signed and there is something strange about the hotel waitress who is wary of Ben. Yet Ben cannot remember anything. He consults the alcoholic doctor who is more interested in his fee and drink than Ben.

Meanwhile Hoss has arrived and has a detailed talk with Ben, trying to reassure him that he would never kill anyone.

The sheriff, who hates Ben because Ben outbid him in a cattle deal, wants to arrest Ben, amnesia or no. (Albert Salmi always gives me the creeps and he is certainly creepy as the shady sheriff.) Ben bumps into the waitress again but can't place her. In his mind, Ben hears Langley calling out his name which makes no sense.

When Ben and Hoss check at the livery stable they discover that Buck was brought in muddy and sweating the day before though Ben had no idea that he rode anywhere. The deed is found in Ben's saddlebags though he didn't put it there. (Watch out for Chubby Johnson as the elderly livery man – you'll have seen his face in westerns dozens of times!)

Again the sheriff is determined to find Ben guilty and now decides that there must have been a love triangle between Sid Langley,
the waitress Zena Harris and Ben. However he still has no evidence to arrest Ben.

So now, apart from Ben, there are three possible murder suspects – the dubious doctor, the shady sheriff and the mysterious waitress who may have had a relationship with Langley.

Ben, following a hunch rides out of town and finds himself at Zena Harris's home but still cannot remember who she is. The sheriff then turns up and arrests Ben on the crime of passion premise.

In jail Hoss, Joe and Jamie talk things over with Ben. Suddenly Ben hears the wind outside and remembers that a falling branch hit him on the head outside the hotel and this explains the headaches, the amnesia and the time loss.

The sheriff then decides to take Ben and Zena Harris to Langely's office, the scene of the crime. There he extracts a false confession from Zena who says that she saw Ben shoot Langley. But the scene triggers Ben's memories and he now sees the image of Zena shooting Langley and Langley calling out his name as Ben entered the office. Zena confesses to the crime, to remembering Ben entering the office and to planting the deed in his saddle bag.

Ben walks slowly down the steps from Langley's office to where Hoss, Joe and Jamie are waiting and the Cartwright family is safe, complete and together.

The very experienced Bonanza twosome of writer Don Ingalls and director Leo Penn give Lorne fine material to work with and the major supporting roles of Albert Salmi as the sheriff and Pamela Payton-Wright as Zena Harris enhance the episode. Neither upstages Lorne and both interact really well with him. Even the minor roles of the hat shop owner, the doctor, the notary, the hotel clerk and the livery man are well cast and well acted.

The script is very skilful where each scene reveals a tiny piece of Ben's amnesia puzzle and the viewer really wants to know "what happened next?" (I didn't guess that the killer was the waitress; I thought it was going to be the sheriff.) The direction is particularly effective in juxta positioning an ordinary shot of the town with Ben seeing a memory flashback. Also using sound - where the wind and branches have a specific significance or when Ben hears a few words in his mind. The slightly surreal photography and general suspense reminded me a little of "Twilight Town".

I would have liked to see rather more of Hoss and a lot more of Joe and Jamie. However it remains a really good Ben episode and a nice ending with the family of Cartwrights all together. Knowing that Ben, Hoss, Joe and Jamie would soon be safely back at the Ponderosa is always a happy ending for me!

Well worth a view, especially for the Ben fans.