William Poole, a journeyman munitions expert hired to clear tree stumps from the Ponderosa using a new substance called nitroglycerin, harbors some sinister secrets: He is a predator who is suspected in the death of Little Joe's girlfriend. Her uncle, felled by a debilitating stroke and the only witness to the assault, has the key evidence that might link Poole to the crime.
In more ways than one, his nickname, "Thunder Man," is quite appropriate ... but not in the way anyone would approve.
Tropes present in this episode:
- A God Am I: Poole — threatening Joe with a vial of nitroglycerin — declares that not even God can stop him. God may not have ... but Joe did.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The seemingly amiable Poole (as he presents himself to others) is really a violent, sadistic, misogynic predator and killer. Viewers are in the know from the start; most of the drama in this episode comes from his concealing his true personality and Joe uncovering it at episode's end.
- Dramatic Irony: Viewers — and Ann's elderly uncle, Fred — are the only ones initially in the know that the man known as William Poole is a sexual predator. He works very hard to conceal his criminal activities, even declaring to old Widow Gibson (with whom he boards during his contract at the Ponderosa) that he is a lonely man who has never had a lasting relationship.
- Ironic Last Words: Poole's declaration that he is a God thanks to being able to use nitroglycerine as a weapon. Joe proves him wrong a fraction of a second later, shooting Poole and causing the substance to blow up and kill him.
- Ironic Nickname: To most people, Poole's use of the nickname "Thunder Man" is simply that of a man who is an expert in munitions, specifically nitroglycerin, as the explosions he creates sound like thunder. To the women he stalks and kills — as he admits to Joe when he is found out — it refers to the side of that man who is willing to violently rape and kill them to satisfy his sexual desires and his unquenchable thirst for power over women.
- Just Between You and Me: Poole — upon being confronted with evidence he killed Widow Gibson and fingered as the likely killer of Ann — goes on a rant and virtually admits he killed Gibson (and other women), thinking that he will be able to kill Joe and, without evidence of a confession, get away with his most recent crimes.
- Karmic Death: To Poole, after declaring he is invincible and that he is master above all, especially women, just as he is about to throw a vial of nitroglycerin at Joe (to kill him). However, Joe is too fast, quickly retrieving his gun and shoots Poole. As Poole is staggering back, the nitroglycerin is thrown into the air and spills on him, and he is killed instantly in the resulting explosion.
- Motive Rant: After Joe calls Poole out for who he is (a serial sexual predator and killer) Poole says he's turned on by women for their "fair skin" and "shiny hair," and is entitled to enjoy said qualities in a woman, and claims that women don't understand him. When Joe vows to bring him to justice, Poole — holding a vial of nitroglycerin — then declares he is invincible: "I'm a Thunder Man, and not a force in Heaven and Earth can even begin to move me!"
- Not the First Victim: As Joe pieces the clues together and confronts Poole for the rapes and murders he's committed during his time on the Ponderosa, the littlest Cartwright suspects that Ann and Widow Gibson are likely far from Poole's first victims. Poole sneeringly confirms the accusation, admitting he "don't rightly know" how many women he had victimized, before declaring himself master of women and nature and then attempting to take out Joe.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Poole isn't the trope codifier, but he might rank up there as an expression of pure evil crosses his face when he assaults Ann (at episode's beginning) and later, Widow Gibson, and then at the end when he tries to justify his personality to Joe. That look of evil can best be described as chilling.
