Branded
Season 1
TV-G
In the 1880s Jason McCord travels the country trying to prove he's no coward. He needs to do this because the military career of this West point graduate came to an end when he was thrown out of the army after being accused of cowardice.
Where to Watch Season 1
16 Episodes
- Survival
E1SurvivalJason McCord is traveling through the desert when he comes upon a dead horse. He follows the trail of footprints and comes across a tired, thirsty man. His name is Colbee and he and McCord strike out together to make the next town before their water runs out. He's a family man with a wife and daughter and his fear of not seeing them again forces him to steal the horse and water and leave Jason in the desert. - The Vindicator
E2The Vindicator""What happened at 'Bitter Creek'?"" That's what Ned Travis - a newspaper reporter from the New York Herald wants to know. His editor sent him west to do a story on Jason McCord. He searches out the widow of Lt. John Pritchett who was third in command and served under McCord. While questioning John's widow the reporter finds out that she has some letters which her husband had sent her and how he talks of General Reed and that he feels there was something wrong with him and how McCord always covers up for the General. Jas tells the reporter ""What happened at 'Bitter Creek' is between him and his conscience."" Jas talks to Mrs. Pritchett and tells her that the letters could destroy the peace with the Indian Nations and convinces her to destroy the letters. So Jason roams the west still ""branded"" a coward. - The Test
E3The TestAttacked by drunken Commanches while traveling alone, McCord seeks shelter behind a wagon driven by a local priest. McCord kills 3 of the assailants, which puts the padre in a dangerous position: his mission has a school for the tribe's children. Ex-Cavalryman McCord and the minister are both named Jason, and immediately strike a bond when the pacifist Father Durant reveals he rejected Cavalry life for the cloth. - The Bounty
E5The BountyWhile standing at the bar in a saloon, some cowboy comes up behind Jas and paints a yellow streak down his back. A fight breaks out amongst Jas and the Starrett brothers. Another cowboy by the name of Johnny Dolan steps in and helps Jas. Jas later finds out that his new friend is a bounty hunter and he is ""The Bounty."" The stranger forces Jas outside of town, but before he could kill Jas the Starrett brothers intervene and in a shoot out the bounty hunter gets shot but before he dies he tells Jason of a Paxton Detective Agency that is offering a $5,000 reward for the death of Jason McCord. So Jas goes to find out more on this bounty and pretends he killed Jason McCord and wants the reward. Using a grave, his sabre and his sexton as proof. Matthew Paxon the owner was just a go between and a meeting was set up between the two men with the man offering the reward. The man offering the reward was Thomas Frye, he was a civilian scout for the calvary and General Reed had hired him agai - Leap Upon Mountains...
E6Leap Upon Mountains...While passing by a cemetary; Jas notices a Quaker lady kneeling over a grave. While talking to Mrs. Cooper; some riders approach them and give her a rough time. Jas tangles with a man by the name of Karp and beats him. The Man in charge - Renger - lost his arm fighting for his country and won't let this women forget that her husband, being a Quaker did not fight. He also wants to buy her land because she has the water rights. She tells him he can have all the water they want but he wants the land and she can't sell it because she has 6 other families coming to live on it. She and her husband had wanted to start a community of Quakers. Jas offers to help this lady around her ranch. Renger gets jealous and wants to court her for a month and maybe marriage. With all the land he owns and her water rights they could have one really large ranch. Of course she turns him down but wants to be a good friend and neighbor to him and who know what will happen later? You can see the chemis - Coward Step Aside
E7Coward Step AsideA young deputy (Johnny Crawford) is ordered by a gang of thieves to surrender the town so they can rob the bank. Because of a silver strike in a nearby town, all that's left of the town is a deputy, a one-legged bartender and the senior citizens. They take the deputy's wife hostage and threaten to burn the town if he does not do what they say. While on his way to do a engineering job, Jas stops in this town and offers to help the deputy and the town. He tells Clay (the deputy), ""you'll have to stand up to them boy.....I'll back you."" Jas, the deputy and the town's citizens all pitch in and help Jas take back their town. Jas gives the young deputy some fatherly advice, a scene that they shared on the ""Rifleman"" hundreds of times. - The Mission (3)
E10The Mission (3)McCord turns on the Mexican bandits as they try to steal the gold from the Army fort. Unfortunately, the Commanding Officer recognizes McCord and decides that the coward of Bitter Creek deserves hanging as much as the others. Despite pleas to contact Washington, the C.O. plans to go through with hanging all of the men, including McCord. Only an ingenious last second stunt that tricks one of the Mexicans into confessing that McCord was a spy saves Jason. - The First Kill
E11The First KillMcCord pays a call on the family of a Confederate officer he was forced to kill in battle during the war. The father hasn't taken the loss of his first son very well, taking it out on his younger son in the form of perpetual disappointment. When the younger son learns that McCord killed his brother, he decides to gain his father's favor by killing Jason. - That the Brave Endure
E14That the Brave EndureWest Point Cadet Bain faces expulsion for making statements that support McCord's actions at Bitter Creek. Taking his outstanding record into account, the Academy gives Bain one month to re-consider his opinion. If he doesn't tender an apology to the Commandant, who happens to be the man who wrote the opinion on McCord's court martial, after a month, the cadet will face his own court martial. Meanwhile, Jason is working as an engineer on a silver mine that won't drain. Bain joins up with the outfit McCord is working with and tries to determine the truth about Bitter Creek. - Taste of Poison
E15Taste of PoisonAt a well, which young bucks on the warpath may have poisoned, McCord and a female doctor are surrounded by the warriors. McCord was escorting her to a colleague's desert office, but they came across the male physician, killed by arrows. The pair have used up almost all their water, caring for the wounded cavalryman they found with Dr. Marshal. Already at the oasis are a duplicitous pair of prospectors, and a tiny old man with kyphosis. - Price of a Name
E16Price of a NameJason and his friend Roy ride into a town after working on a long cattle drive. Miss Benson hires McCord as a supervisor for her expanding ranch but when Jason begins his new job, he finds a number of men waiting to rough him up. As the abuse continues, Jason begins to suspect that this is more than just a group of people seeking revenge for Bitter Creek and all of the clues point to McCord's lovely new boss.
