King of the Mountain
(October 14, 1972)

Guest Stars

Guest Stars

While seeking his brother, Caine is recognized by Houghton, a man for whom Danny Caine once worked. Houghton arranges for Sheriff Boggs to capture Caine, then claims that he alone deserves the reward. Boggs kills Houghton and shoots Caine, who knocks Boggs unconscious and escapes the jail. Caine is helped by a Chinese woman, Su Yen Lu, who takes him to a secluded cave and cares for him.

Su Yen Lu is the daughter of a great poet, who has been jailed for two years by the Emperor. Su Yen sends to San Francisco for her brother, Wong Ti Lu, and help. While she waits for his arrival, Cain'es wound worsens, and she tends him, holding him until his fever breaks. When Caine improves, they become lovers.

Wong Ti Lu arrives with two helpers, and Su Yen explains her plan to exchange Caine for her father. They go to the cave, and despite her betrayal, Caine gives his word to go with them, because she wishes it. As they leave the cave, Sheriff Boggs arrives and fires on them. Boggs kills Wong Ti, and Su Yen kills Boggs. As he dies, Wong Ti tells Su Yen that their father is dead. Su Yen says good-bye to Caine, even though he asks her to go with him.

The Flashbacks

• Master Po and Caine discuss Caine's past beyond the sea. (This scene was shown in more than one episode.)

  "If a man dwells on the past, then he robs the present; but if a man ignores the past, he may rob the future. The seeds of our destiny are nurtured by the roots of our past." -- Master Po

• Young Caine and Ho Fong are sent to town to buy food for the temple. An old man steers them towards bandits, who rob and beat them. The two boys come back to the temple with only their underclothes. Master Kahn asks them what they have learned. Ho Fong says that he has learned, "Never trust a stranger." Young Caine says the he has learned, "Expect the unexpected." At this point, Master Kahn sends Ho Fong away from the temple, forever.

• Young Caine and Master Kahn discuss why Ho Fong was sent from the temple.

  "Deal with evil from strength, but affirm the good in man through trust. In this way, we are prepared for evil, but we encourage good." -- Master Kahn
  "And is good a great reward for trusting?" -- Young Caine
  "In striving for an ideal, we do not seek rewards. Yet trust does sometimes bring with it a great reward, even greater than good." -- Master Kahn
  "What is greater than good?" -- Young Caine
  "Love." -- Master Kahn
  

  "And what is love?" -- Young Caine
  "Love is harmony, even in discord." -- Master Kahn

Other words of wisdom

"Can a woman be happy alone?" -- Caine
"To be alone, without one to love, is a waste of the body. To be not alone, without one to love, is a waste of the soul." -- Su Yen Lu, quoting her father

"Love born of betrayal is better lost than lived." -- Su Yen Lu, quoting her father

Guest Stars

Written by Halsted Welles
Directed by Robert Butler

The Story

Colonel Benz once owned a gold mine, at which he used Chinese men as slave laborers. After the gold ran out, the Chinese kept working the mine until they found gold, and in the process refound their self-respect. Po Tem worked for Colonel Benz for a while as a kitchen maid, but his hatred for all things Chinese made her go join the miners. Before she left, she and David Benz, the Colonel's son, had fallen in love.

The Chinese miners and Colonel Benz have an ongoing feud, in which many of the miners, the latest being Ying, are shot. Caine works out a compromise between the two sides, but not before Ying's son kills the Colonel's other son, Douglas. The Colonel offers the miners an ultimatum: either they stick to Caine's compromise and Po Tem comes to be David's concubine, or Colonel Benz will kill them all. Po Tem chooses disgrace over the death of her friends. Caine, who has presented himself as a man of peace, chooses to fight a Chinese agent sent to kill him. Finally, David Benz chooses to marry Po Tem and forever leave his father.

The Flashbacks

The flashbacks are of Caine and Master Po discussing philosophy.

"In the pond there are some lotuses that stand above the water, and though their roots feed, they are themselves untouched by it. Some others have risen only to the water's level. And others, still under water." -- Master Po
"Shall I seek to measure these differences, Master, that I may treat them differently, each according to his growth?" -- Caine
"Examine the flower. Is not the flower, in each position, yet a flower?" -- Master Po
"Shall I then treat each man the same?" -- Caine
"As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all." -- Master Po
"Yet, the flower beneath the water knows not the sun. Other men, not knowing me, will find me hard to understand." -- Caine
"Accept the ways of others. Respect first your own." -- Master Po

"I have three treasures which I hold and keep. The first is mercy, for from mercy comes courage. The second is frugality, from which comes generosity to others. The third is humility, for from it comes leadership." -- Master Po
"Strange treasures. How shall I hold them and keep them? Memory?" -- Caine
"No, Grasshopper, not in memory, but in your deeds." -- Master Po

"But Master, how do I not contend with a man that would contend with me?" -- Caine
"In a heart that is one with nature, though the body contends, there is no violence, and in the heart that is not one with nature, though the body be at rest, there is always violence. Be, therefore, like the prow of a boat. It cleaves water, yet it leaves in its wake water unbroken." -- Master Po

Trivia

• Richard Lawrence Hatch, who plays David Benz in this episode, is better known as Apollo from "Battlestar Galactica".
  

Guest Stars

Teleplay by Gene L. Coon
Story by Paul Edwards and Gene L. Coon
Directed by Robert Butler

The Story

Caine, seeking his brother, enters a stockade to speak to Huntoon, who worked a mine with Danny Caine and two others. Huntoon, a large, violent, and mentally slow man, has been jailed for the charge of murdering one of his partners. Huntoon, who claims the other partner committed the murder, tells Caine he will take him to Danny if Caine will free him. When Caine is recognized and jailed as well, Caine agrees.

As the two men flee through the mountains, Caine teaches Huntoon to use his self-control and recognize his own gentleness. Upon arriving at the mine, they find Danny gone, and the partner who actually committed the murder killed by Utes. They are found by Sergeant Bedford, who is facing retirement on a small Army pension, and who is willing to send Huntoon to his death in order to steal the gold found in the cabin. Bedford, because of his greed, stays at the cabin too long and is killed by Utes. Caine finds a safe place in the mountains for Huntoon to live, peacefully and away from other people.

The Flashbacks

The flashbacks are of Caine speaking with his masters.

• "Look at the world you live in and this pool of fish. There are twelve fish, twelve worlds." -- Master Kahn
  "But only one pool." -- Young Caine
  "Many. The one you see, the one I see, and the world of each." -- Master Kahn
  

  "Ten million living things have as many worlds. Do not see yourself as the center of the universe, wise and good and beautiful. Seek, rather, wisdom, goodness, and beauty, that you may honor them everywhere." -- Master Kahn
  

• "Where is evil, in the rat, whose nature it is to steal grain, or in the cat, whose nature it is to kill the rat?...The rat does not steal, the cat does not murder, rain falls, the stream flows, a hill remains. Each acts according to its nature." -- Master Po
  

• "See the way of life as a stream. A man floats, and his way is smooth. The same man turning upstream exhausts himself. To be one with the universe, each must find his true path and follow it." -- Master Kahn
  
• "The river seeks its own level. It will not fight the rock, it flows around it. The rock becomes a refuge in the river." -- Master Po
  

Words of Wisdom

• "You cannot put out water with fire." -- Caine
  

• "How'd you find out about this stuff?" -- Huntoon
  "I listened. -- Caine
  

• "If you plant rice, rice will grow. If you plant fear, fear will grow." -- Caine
  
• "When a man finds his way, heaven is gentle." -- Caine
  

Trivia

• Keith Carradine plays Caine as a young man in the temple in the flashbacks of this episode. He can also be seen as Caine briefly in the opening credits of some episodes.
  

Alethea
(March 15, 1973)

Guest Stars

Written by William Kelley
Directed by John Badham

The Story

Caine comes across nine-year-old Alethea, who is playing a mandolin while waiting for the stagecoach to take her to her uncle's house. Despite the racism of the adults present, they immediately become friends. When the stage arrives, two bandits attack it and kill the drivers, but Alethea believes that she saw Caine shoot one of the drivers. Alethea's uncle, Sheriff Ingram, arrests Caine, and despite her affection for him, Alethea tells the truth about what she saw, and Caine is convicted of murder.

Alethea is sorry that telling the truth will hurt her new friend, but Caine assures her that telling the truth is important. When Caine is on the scaffold, Alethea stops the execution by claiming that she lied during her testimony, and only said that Caine was a murderer because he is Chinese. Caine is freed.

Alethea is unhappy that she told a lie, but Caine offers to take the lie away from her. To do this, he tracks down the two bandits and captures them.

The Flashbacks

The flashbacks are one continuous story, broken up into sections.

• Caine is twelve. He is sent by Master Po to another temple to deliver a copy of the valuable Scroll of Tuan Jo. Caine assures Master Po that he will deliver the scroll safely.
  
• Caine is attacked by bandits on his way to the temple. Before they can kill him, he is rescued by a magician, Shan Tsu. After seeing the scroll that Caine has with him, Shan Tsu offers to accompany Caine to his destination.
  
• Shan Tsu "teaches" Caine to hold his breath underwater, and while Caine is submerged, Shan Tsu disappears with the scroll.
  
• Caine returns to Master Po, and tells the angry monk of his failure. Just then, Shan Tsu is brought before them by the police, who plan to behead the magician for stealing. Shan Tsu claims that he only borrowed the scroll, and reminds Caine that he owes him his life.
  
• Caine asks that they spare the magician's life and take his instead. Master Po orders the police to free the magician. Master Po is still angry, because Caine's innocence has been taken from him.
  

Words of Wisdom

"Reach out, yet be wary of what you allow yourself to grasp." -- Master Po

"If the jury cannot see innocence in my eyes, will they find it in a lawyer's mouth?" -- Caine

"If I never lie again, can I be the same me as I was before?" -- Alethea
"Each waking moment is as a rung on an endless ladder. Each step we take is built on what has gone before." -- Caine

"Caine, if you ain't a road agent and you ain't a itinerant musician, just what are you?" -- Sheriff Ingram
"I am a priest." -- Caine

Trivia

"Alethea" is a Greek name for "a girl who loves the truth."

Guest Stars

Written by Robert Lewin
Directed by Charles S. Dubin

The Story

Caine watches the Hep Darrow gang leave a bank after they've robbed it and killed Mrs. Roper, a customer. Only Caine is not afraid to identify the robbers, because, as he tells the sheriff, he is not afraid of death. The sheriff is delighted to have a witness, and invites Caine to stay at his house until he can gather a posse and arrest the gang.

While the sheriff is gone, Caine stays at his house with his son, Martin. Martin has a limp and lots of self-doubt, and is continually tormented by Victor, a young man the sheriff has hired in an effort to reform him. Victor accuses Martin of being a coward, and Martin hates both Victor and himself.

Caine discusses fear with Martin and Mr. Roper, who is ashamed because he did nothing while his wife was shot. Martin begins to look up to Caine. When Caine tries to avoid the gunfight with the gang, in which the sheriff is killed and one of the gang is captured, Martin believes Caine is a coward and has been lying to him

With his father dead, Martin is the only one in town willing to guard the jail against the gang. Mr. Roper and Caine join him, and they capture the gang when it comes to spring its wounded member. Every learns that everyone else is not a coward.

The Flashbacks

The flashbacks are of discussions between the older disciple Caine and his masters.

• Master Kahn instructs Caine to put out the flames of some candles using Kung Fu. This leads to a discussion of courage and cowardice.

  "Ignore the insulting tongue. Duck the provoking blow. Run from the assault of the strong." -- Master Kahn

  "The wild boar runs from the tiger, knowing that each be well-armed by nature with deadly strength, may kill the other. Running, he saves his own life and that of the tiger. This is not cowardice. It is the love of life." -- Master Kahn

• Caine gives his father's sextant to another monk, in order to not be owned by what he owns.

  "Between father and son, there is a bridge which neither time nor death can shatter. Each stands at one end, needing to cross, and meet....The bridge of which I speak, Grasshopper, is your love for him." -- Master Po

• Master Kahn and Caine discuss loneliness, companionship, and Caine's entry into the temple. Master Kahn describes the monks as having a "companionship of solitude," and tells Caine that "We taught you, young man, because you already knew."

Other words of wisdom

"The pole, the bow, the arrow, are one, not many things." -- Caine, when explaining archery to Martin

"When you cease to strive to understand, then you will know without understanding." -- Caine

"Do you know the praying mantis? It looks like it's praying. That is the position it takes before it kills." -- Caine, when Mr. Roper can think of nothing to do but pray before the gang arrives

Guest Stars

I got the dates on which the episodes first appeared from here. No name was given for the compiler.

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