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Fourth Season Plot and Character Highlights

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4.89  A Good Sound Profit     John, Mano
John Cannon faces alienation of family and friends when he maintains his decision to aid a band of revolutionists.
Written by George Atkins         Directed by Corey Allen

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Character Highlights:  This is one of the more complex episodes, both in terms of plot and characterizations but is worth the effort to follow it.  John is the primary character here, but Mano is a close second as his values come directly and unavoidably up against John's.  We are led to believe that John has abandoned his principles and certainly his family is convinced that he has.  When things are resolved we find that he has been true to his principles throughout but in the interim nearly all the relationships on the ranch are thrown into turmoil.  Mano's reputation as an irresponsible slacker is betrayed here as his passion and dedication to the cause of his native country do not allow him to stand by and watch it undermined by John.  He takes his stand early and leaves the ranch.  Victoria, Buck, Sam, Joe, and Wind struggle longer trying to understand the justification for what John is doing.  

Mano and Buck's friendship is shaken in what is probably the most hurtful exchange between them in the series when Buck, even though he can't justify what John is doing, refuses to help Mano stop him.  Buck finally leaves the ranch as well to take a solo hunting trip in order to remove himself from the controversy without having to confront John directly. Victoria tells John that while she cannot leave the ranch because she is his wife, things may never be the same between them.  The relationship between Sam and Joe is tested when Joe is forced to choose between his principles and his allegiance to his brother.  Sam is more confrontational with John than in almost any other episode, but finds out what he needs to know when he asks John if this is the sort of thing he would be involved in.  When John answers that it is, Sam's trust is restored without needing further justification.  The resolution scene where Mano believes for a moment that John is considering killing him is a gripping one.  Wind is truly obnoxious in this episode, both when he challenges Buck's motives for leaving and when he gives Victoria marital advice.  John states in this episode that he was born in West Virginia, of some interest perhaps because West Virginia did not exist at the time of his birth.   

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Complete Episode Synopsis:  It seems an average day in Tucson, however, it is anything but. A man has come to town looking to purchase horses, saddles and ammunition, all at premium prices, to help equip the newly forming army in Mexico bent on restoring the totalitarian regime of Maximilian in their attempt to wrest control from Mexican presidente Benito Juarez. No one in town is willing to help support these Maximilianistas - or so it seems, until John Cannon suddenly comes forward, to everyone's shock, and offers to sell them whatever they need.

Joe de Santis as Ruiz

Mano admiring the horses before learning their intended destination.

John is as good as his word, He sends Sam after horses, and when the men return, Manolito is impressed with both the quality and the number. Both Sam and Joe are reluctant to tell him who the horses are for, since all know that John, himself, doesn't need them, but John has no hesitation.  Manolito is appalled when he learns the truth, and confronts John, begging him to understand.  The Montoyas have long been supporters of Juarez, and Manolito assumes John does not realize the impact of what he is doing. As the two men talk, however, it becomes more and more apparent that John does, in fact, know exactly what he is doing, to Manolito's great distress.  Victoria, too, has overheard the conversation and tries to sway her husband, but John insists that Mexico's politics are not his business, or his problem.

John sends Sam after more horses, but Manolito intercepts them on the way, claiming that John has changed his mind about the herd they are to buy. Instead of returning to the ranch with the same fine horses, the men return with a bunch of nags, which Manolito tells John are really the kind of horses the Maximilianistas deserve.  When John still refuses to back down from his position, Manolito leaves the High Chaparral.  That is not the end, however, for Buck has been having his own problems in town.  People no longer say hello, he tells his brother, and somebody even cut the stirrup from his saddle while he was in the saloon.  He presses John for an explanation, and when none is forthcoming, informs John that banker Carlyle has sent him a message that he will not approve the loans John has requested.

Mano decides to leave the High Chaparral.

John prepares to leave for Tucson, but before he does, Victoria tries, again, to convince him he is wrong.  She tells him that just because the victim is on the Mexican side of the border should not make it right for John to arm the shooter, just because he is on the American side.  Still John seems bent on his course, interested only in the profit to be made. In the bunkhouse, Wind, has sensed tension among the men over what John is doing.  He is not happy with the explanation Sam has given him that the men, despite any trouble they may be having with their own consciences, do what they're told because they're paid to.  Buck overhears the conversation and tells Wind that the men follow John because they trust him, and that if Wind isn't prepared to do the same, he doesn't belong on the High Chaparral.