Campfire Character Exploration: A campfire scene, where Joe and Coproral Bill Tanner first meet. The two seem to become fast friends but, as they converse, the topic turns to hunting, man killing for sport vs. animals preying on other animals for food. Later, when the two agree to end the debate and agree to disagree, the two say goodnight when Joe offers to let Tanner stay at the campsite. As Tanner is trying to fall asleep, he has a flashback in his head of the day he was sentenced to prison (on charges in connection with a series of mass murders he committed), saying aloud "It was my duty!" Joe hears him and, thinking Tanner was having a nightmare, asks him if he's OK. Once he's assured everything is alright Joe goes back to bed, but Tanner is still visibly unhinged. Both set up the meat of episode's main conflict: Tanner stealing all of Joe's supplies and then forcing him to run, warning him that he is an expert tracker and will eventually hunt him down and kill him.
Closed Circle: How Joe finally manages to outwit Tanner ... he tricks him into thinking he's hiding in the jail cell in a ghost town and locks him in.
Egomaniac Hunter: Joe may classify Tanner as this. In all likelihood though, Tanner is so insane he likely doesn't know why he's stalking Joe, except that this is some sort of game.
Hearing Voices: Tanner constantly is haunted by flashbacks of his trial, where he has been convicted as criminally insane — and sentenced to imprisonment at the Wheaton Asylum — of a mass murder, where women and children were killed. Tanner, in the flashback, answers the judge by claiming, "It was my duty," after which the judge tells Tanner, "I sentence you."
He's Dead, Joe: Joe passes out from exhaustion after finally trapping Tanner in the ghost town's jail cell, the last thing he heard was Tanner screaming to be let out and wildly firing his rifle and that he was (somehow) ordered to kill innocent women and children as part of "my duty." When Joe is awakened by the town's lone remaining resident — an old prospector — Joe asks where Tanner is, perhaps thinking that the man is a law enforcement officer who has taken Tanner into custody. The prospector explains that if he's referring to the man inside the jail cell (Tanner), "he's dead." (It is presumed that, after the closing — viewers hear the courtroom exchange between the judge and Tanner one last time, with an overhead shot Tanner's corpse — the prospector brought Joe back to the Ponderosa and explained the situation to Ben, and also brought Tanner's corpse to Virginia City for identification and final burial.)
Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Joe becomes the victim of Tanner's game. Robbed of all his supplies, the youngest (biological) Cartwright must rely on his own wits to outsmart and defeat Tanner.
Insane Equals Violent: Tanner likely has developed a number of mental illnesses as a result of the Civil War, including what today might be classified as post-traumantic stress disorder (or PTSD) and schizophrenia. It is likely, given how institutions for the mentally ill were run in the 1870s, his incarceration and how he was treated there only made things worse.
Just Following Orders: Tanner's response to the judge ("It was my duty") when asked why he committed a mass murder of women and children ... evidence that he was so insane that he truly believed he was ordered by his superior officers to commit such a heinous crime. The flashbacks that torment Tanner are constantly heard in his head.
Meanwhile, Back at the…: Joe making final preparations for his business trip to Fort Bragg, telling Ben he expects to be back in a week, just after a scene where Tanner comes upon a campsite and kills an Army officer at point-blank range (to steal his supplies).
Mercy Lead: Tanner does this twice. During the initial hunt-and-chase scene, Tanner gives Joe a four-hour head start before he begins pursuit. Later, when Joe tries to make a getaway on a wild horse but the horse is shot and killed, Tanner gives him a one-hour head start.
Motive Rant: When Tanner is finally trapped in the ghost town jail cell and has one final psychotic flashback of his sentencing, he finally screams out, "IT WAS MY DUTY!!!!"
Predation Is Natural: During their first encounter (at a roadside camp), a friendly meeting between new friends Joe and Tanner devolves into a philosophical argument between hunting for sport vs. hunting for food. The two agree to disagree and they both agree go to sleep, although Tanner — likely sleep-famished due to years of hearing his sentencing play out in his head — uses this opportunity to set up for what will be the main part of the episode ... his pursuit of Joe to eventually beat him down and kill him.
The Most Dangerous Game: Many of the plot elements from the 1932 film were used to craft this, the final episode of Bonanza.
Suddenly Shouting and Villainous Breakdown: When Tanner is finally locked in the ghost town jail and begs to be let out, after having one final psychotic flashback to his sentencing has one of these, screaming "IT WAS MY DUTY!!!!" and shooting off his shotgun at random, trying to break free. The scene cuts, presumably an instant before he has what today would be classified as an excited delirium episode, or an instance which causes him to go into shock and suffer a fatal heart attack.
Would Hurt Women and Children: In the opening scene, Tanner — through a psychotic flashback to his trial — is revealed to have committed a mass murder, killing numerous women and children (possibly a la the My Lai-style massacre during the Vietnam War).
