The Debt

"The Debt" is the 23rd episode of The Rifleman Season Four and the 133rd episode overall. Directed by Richard Donner and written by Calvin Clements, it aired on March 5, 1962.
==Synopsis==
Mark deliberately disobeys his father for the first time when he allows a convicted prisoner to escape.
==Watch==
==Plot==
The episode opens with Marshal Torrance making camp in the wilderness, transporting a prisoner to Indian Bend. Lucas and Mark arrive on horseback to deliver a message to Micah, that the sheriff at the county seat said Micah can take the prisoner to Santa Fe instead. Mark recognizes the prisoner as Mr. Renolds, a man who had saved Mark's life three years prior after Mark was bitten by a rattlesnake. Mark learns with horror that Mr. Renolds is on his way to Santa Fe to be hanged.
Mark and Lucas stay the night at the camp with Micah and Renolds. During the night, a mountain lion bothers the horses, so Lucas and Micah go together to calm them down; Micah leaves behind the key to Renold's shackles by mistake. Renolds notices this and manages to grab the key, and Mark spots him unlocking the shackles. Before Mark can alert Micah and Lucas, Renolds argues that Mark would be dead if it wasn't for Renolds, and Mark is convinced to not alert Micah and Lucas. Renolds escapes.
Micah and Lucas return to find Renolds gone. After a series of questions, Mark reluctantly admits that he could have called out or run to Micah and Lucas to alert them but he couldn't do it and deliberately let him escape since he saved his life. Lucas takes Mark to Abe Merar's farm to stay there while he and Micah go after Renolds.
After Lucas leaves Abe's farm, Renolds arrives and threatens Mark and Abe with a gun he found in Abe's barn. He forces them into the house, where he demands Mark and Abe to give him food, water, and a horse. Abe tries to draw a gun on Renolds, but Renolds shoots him in the shoulder nonfatally. Renolds says that he is going to take Mark with him to the border as insurance, and tells Abe to inform Lucas if he shows up. When Mark goes out to fill canteens with water for Renolds as ordered to, he sneakily fills the canteens with kerosene instead.
Renolds and Mark set off; meanwhile, Micah and Lucas deduce that Renolds may have stopped at Abe's farm. Renolds takes a sip from the canteen and realizes Mark has filled them with kerosene; knowing that they won't be able to make it to the border without water, he decides to detour to a ghost town where they can get water. Lucas and Micah arrive at Abe's who informs them that Renolds has taken Mark hostage.
At the ghost town, Renolds ties Mark up in an abandoned building while he gets water, and he lights a candle. He discards the kerosene on the floor of the building. While tied up, Mark knocks the candle over, lighting the kerosene and causing a severe fire. Renolds runs into the burning building and saves Mark right as Micah and Lucas arrive in the ghost town after tracking him down. Mark desperately tells Lucas that Renolds saved his life again and Micah can't take him to Sante Fe to hang.
Micah and Lucas inform Renolds that they decided to go up to Sante Fe together to talk to the governor and try to convince him to swap Renolds' hanging for a prison sentence, which pleases Mark.
==Cast==
===Main===
*Lucas McCain - Chuck Connors
*Mark McCain - Johnny Crawford 
*Micah Torrance - Paul Fix
===Guests===
*Renolds - Keith Andes
*Abe Merar - Hank Patterson
Category:Episodes
Category:Season Four episodes
Category:Episodes where Mark gets kidnapped
Category:Episode pages with completed plot sections
Category:Episodes with no fatalities