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Bonanza episode
“Triangle”
Season 5, Episode 33
#167 in Series
Triangle
Air date May 17, 1964
Production code
Guest starring:
Written by Frank Cleaver
Directed by Tay Garnett
Episode Guide
Previous Episode:
The Pressure Game
Next Episode:
Walter and the Outlaws
External links
IMDb IMDb
Triangle on IMDb

Summary[]

Laura's and Adam's wedding plans begin to derail when another man's kiss puts doubt in Laura's heart and a bad fall from the roof of the house he is secretly building for their new life together lands Adam in a wheelchair.

Plot[]

Adam is secretly building a house on the Ponderosa for Laura so that when they're married, she'll have a home of her own that is separate from the ranch. Ben talks to Adam about concerns he has over Adam's eagerness to build the house without Laura knowing. Adam pays little attention to his father's wisdom and continues to work on the house. Meanwhile, at night he is so exhausted from his work that he falls asleep while Laura is trying to talk with him. Laura does not know that Adam's reluctance to set a wedding date is contingent on having the house completed in time.

In the meantime, Adam's cousin Will spends more time with Laura as Adam is absent. When Adam is unable to make it to the party Laura was so eager to have, Will is there and escorts her home instead. When he kisses her, she realizes that she is also more in love with Will than with Adam. She tells Will this, and the two of them set off to find Adam to tell him how they feel.

Going up the lane where Will has often seen Adam heading, they come upon Adam putting the beams on his new home. Neither Will nor Laura had any idea this was happening, and Adam loses his balance as he overhears people approaching. Falling two stories to the ground, Adam is pinned underneath the beam he was lifting.

Stricken with the knowledge that Adam may never walk again, Laura and Will decide that they can not go through with hurting Adam further. They keep their love a secret, and Laura nurses a wheelchair-bound Adam while Will stays on the Ponderosa per Ben's request for more help.

When Laura learns that Will finally will be leaving for San Francisco, she confronts him in the barn and professes her love again. Adam overhears their conversation, and speaks to them both privately, telling Will that he knows now that he didn't love Laura really, and telling Laura that Will can love her better than he would. Neither is willing to believe him, until in the final scene Adam gets out of his wheelchair and walks, proving that he doesn't need their pity.

Cast and Characters[]

The Cartwrights

Recurring[]

Other[]

  • Bill Clark: Cowboy in Blue Shirt
  • Grandon Rhodes: Doctor

Notes[]

Did you know?[]

  • German episode title: "Adam baut ein Haus", meaning "Adam Builds a House".
  • This episode is the first time that Little Joe and Laura Dayton were on screen together, as in all the rest of the episodes featuring Laura, Joe was not in any of them.

Quotes[]

"People who are engaged are supposed to miserable when they're not together all the time."
Joseph Cartwright[src]

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Bonanza_Triangle

See also[]

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