The Big Valley

first season

Palms of Glory 1-1
9/15/1965

The Barkleys lead the resistance when the Coastal and Western Railroad hire bully-boys to force farmers to give up their land for a pittance. Meanwhile, a young man appears claiming to be Tom Barkley's bastard son.

NickyContent: change the hairstyle! (he does) Amusing bit in the teaser.

Forty Rifles 1-2
9/22/1965

Nick's former Civil War commander and idol stirs up trouble among ranch hands dissatisfied with working for Heath, who is having difficult being accepted as a true Barkley.

NickyContent: central in first half of the episode; no-nonsense. Rating: YY.

"Boots With My Father's Name" 1-3
9/29/1965

Victoria starts brooding about how Tom could have truly loved her if he was once unfaithful to her and fathered a bastard child. She journeys to Heath's hometown to try to find the truth about Tom's relationship with Heath's mother.

"Young Marauders" 1-4
10/6/1965

Audra is saved from serious injury by a young man who says he is a mustang hunter. She falls in love with him; her brothers find him a suspicious character.

"The Odyssey of Jubal Tanner" 1-5
10/13/1965

Victoria sells land to an old friend who was has deeply sentimental reasons for owning it, despite the fact that her own sons are part of a plan to flood that land with waters from a much-needed dam.

NickyContent: good example of Nick's tendency to fight to protect someone from bullying or being dishonored, though he was originally not on his side.

"Heritage" 1-6
10/20/1965

Heath investigates violence during at a strike at a Barkley mine. He finds that the miners hate the Barkleys for promises unkept. The family sets out to right things before the Molly Maguires strike again.

"Winner Lose All" 1-7
10/27/1965

A Hispanic family is in a land dispute with the Barkleys. Maria, the young daughter of the family, falls in love with Heath. Her father disapproves because of Heath's illegitimate birth, and will use the land crisis as leverage to force Heath and Maria apart.

NickyContent: a wrestling match with Heath!

"My Son, My Son" 1-8
11/3/1965

Audra wants to flirt with Evan Miles, a childhood friend now back from the East. Little does she know that he suffers from a dangerous emotional instability.

NickyContent: good in later section; *very* effective (and important) scene with Victoria.

"Earthquake!" 1-9
11/10/1965

In an earthquake, a mission church collapses into a forgotten mine which lies under it. Victoria is trapped there with a pregnant Indian woman and a man with a grudge -- a ranch hand that Nick recently fired.

NickyContent: serious and no-nonsense. Rating: YY.

"The Murdered Party" 1-10
11/17/1965

Jarrod defends a member of a ne'er-do-well family on a charge of murder, though the main witness against him is Heath.

"The Way to Kill a Killer" 1-11
11/24/1965

The only chance Mariano Montoya's herd has to survive anthrax is the newfangled immunization that Eugene learned about at college. Montoya says that if the Barkleys want to prove that the procedure is safe, they must test it on their own prize bull.

NickyContent: Ohhhh...Rating: YY. What a guy... and lovable, too. A nice glimpse of Nick's childhood.

"Night of the Wolf" 1-12
12/1/1965

Nick is bit by a rabid wolf -- a virtual death sentence. Not wanting his family to witness his decline, he leaves, making Heath swear that he won't tell the others what has happened. Nick hopes that in his final 60 days he will do something worthwhile; if he fails, at least he will have tried.

NickyContent: primo. Superb all around. Rating: YY.

"The Guilt of Matt Bentell" 1-13
12/8/1965

The Barkleys learn that the man they have hired to run their logging operations was the commandant of a notorious Civil War prisoner of war camp -- one in which Heath was a prisoner.

"The Brawlers" 1-14
12/2151965

A group of Irish immigrants settle on Barkley land, believing that they have bought the land from a reputable agent. Nick thinks of them purely as squatters, while they can't believe that their purchase was illegal.

NickyContent: lots of good stuff -- funny and charming, angry and maddening Nicky. He does have a conscience --he just wants to reach that point on his own! Rating: YY.

"Judgment in Heaven" 1-15
12/22/1965

Jarrod risks inviting his client home for a Christmas visit: a young woman accused of aiding and abetting her boyfriend, an outlaw who has recently escaped from jail.

"The Invaders" 1-16
12/29/1965

A gang of rawhiders injure Heath, then take him to the ranch for a reward for "saving" him from ambush. While there, they realize that the rest of the menfolk are away, leaving the ranch vulnerable to their thievery.

"By Fires Unseen" 1-17
1/5/1966

Nick brings his bride-to-be back from San Francisco; the family doubts, however, that she's really ready to marry anyone.

NickyContent: centered around him, but I find it an annoying episode. Wonder why?

"A Time to Kill" 1-18
1/19/1966

Jarrod welcomes an old law school friend to the valley, only to find that a secret service agent is on his trail. It seems that every place the friend travels, counterfeit money comes into circulation.

"Teacher of Outlaws" 1-19
2/2/1966

Victoria is kidnapped by outlaws who think she's the local schoolteacher. The reason is unusual: the gang leader wants her to teach him how to read.

NickyContent: not much, but I love the reaction of someone finding out who he is.

"Under a Dark Star" 1-20
2/9/1966

Jarrod is guilt-ridden because he helped convict Keeno Nash of a crime he now knows Nash did not commit. When he is released, Jarrod offers Nash help, despite the fact that he had threatened Jarrod's life at the trial.

"Barbary Red"1-21
2/16/1966

Nick is shanghaied at a saloon run by a woman Jarrod once defended for that very crime.

NickyContent: good balance, especially between Nick and Jarrod. I like when Nick recognizes Heath (let's face it, I like his grin).

"The Death Merchant"1-22
2/23/1966

The Barkleys are plagued by neighbors who claim a boundary changed when a stream changed course. Into the picture comes Handy Random, a gunman who once did the Barkleys a great service. Will he escalate the bickering into a violent feud?

NickyContent: Nice opening scene with Handy; I like his reaction when Handy says "Oh, dear.."! Rating: YY.

"The Fallen Hawk" 1-23
3/2/1966

Heath's guilt-feelings get the better of him when he blames himself for a friend's injury. He seems oblivious to the fact that his friend is manipulating him.

NickyContent: two contrasting NickyMoments, one at the breakfast table, one in the saloon. The breakfast scene is a classic!

"Hazard" 1-24
3/9/1966

Gil Anders, once a friend of Heath, is ambushed by bounty hunters. The Barkleys hide him, and Jarrod seeks to discover the truth about the crime of which Anders has been accused -- despite the fact that Heath believes Anders deserves death.

NickyContent: great NickyMoments evocative of his character, by-play with Jarrod, Heath, Victoria. Major fun, and important in the last section. Rating: YY.

"Into the Widow's Web" 1-25
3/23/1966

Heath's boyhood sweetheart comes to town in a traveling show. Her drunkenb husband turns up murdered, and Heath is arrested by the new district attorney, who is out to show that the Barkleys can't get away with murder despite their wealth and reputation.

NickyContent: brief but amusing scene with the family. He can stalk into a room better than anyone else I've ever seen (does the fact that he wears his gunbelt so low on his hips have something to do with it?).

"By Force and Violence" 1-26
3/30/1966

Heath is trapped under a broken-down wagon, and the only person who can help Victoria save him is an escaped convict.

NickyContent: only one scene, but that's one that rather sweetly shows how his bark is worse than his bite (for his family, at least).

"The River Monarch"1-27 4/6/1966

The Barkleys' riverboat is recovered years after its sinking, but the government gold it had been carrying is nowhere to be found. The local newspaper editor starts a smear campaign, accusing the late Tom Barkley of having stolen the shipment.

NickyContent:: centers on him, and is very good. Oh, those boots and spurs. His relationship with Melanie is quite out of the ordinary: low-key but serious.

"The Midas Man" 1-28
4/13/1966

Scott Breckenridge offers to loan money to ranchers during a serious drought. When he will not give an extension to the loans, the ranchers believe the Barkleys are part of a plot to buy up land which has been foreclosed.

"Tunnel of Gold" 1-29
4/20/1966

Victoria extends credit to help an old friend open a store in Stockton, not knowing that the woman's husband has a shady background, and that his old associates have their eyes on a shipment of gold from the Barkley mine.

NickyContent: Nice small scene with Victoria when they both go in to dinner.

"Last Train to the Fair"1-30
4/27/1966

The Barkleys are on the way to the fair in Sacramento when Audra falls ill. Luckily there is a doctor on the train; unluckily, he is being hunted by men who have every intention of hanging him.

NickyContent: I really enjoy his relationship with Audra in this episode, both the teasing and the protective concern. A fine scene as he sits by her on the train.

Text copyright @ 1997-2000 Karen M. Frederickson. All rights reserved.

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