When a man thinks Ethan knows the location of a fortune, he kidnaps him and takes him to a prison where no man has ever escaped from. Amelia turns to her estranged husband, Pierce for help. He takes her to see Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Pat Garrett who agree to help.
Wyatt Earp follows Ethan back home after the big escape. Without noticing it, a reporter also follows them looking for answers.
The town needs a new marshal and Ethan is an obvious candidate, however, he does not want to do it; not even, if it costs him his ranch.
Laid off miners decide to ambush Ethan and Amelia when they are heading to Virginia City to deposit $50.000.
A woman fights an implacable battle against the railroad she blames for the loss of her husband, son, and farm, not considering the cost to her and her surviving daughter.
Ethan confronts the law to rescue a fugitive orphan who was taken away from his sister.
An old Indian warrior wants to bring peace between an old foe in the warpath and a member of the cavalry.
Ethan has to find out who is robbing the graves in the local cemetery; while Amelia takes care of the children whom a beautiful girl she does not know is tutoring. The law also wants her.
The gold rush hits town and Ethan’s land is no exception. Paradise turns into a materialistic town.
Johnny Ryan fulfills his promise of returning to paradise and taking revenge on the person who humiliated him: Ethan Cord.
Paradise is hit by an outbreak of smallpox and Ethan has to deal with George being infected by it.
A symbolic drama centering on two strangers in Paradise: a black-clad equestrian with two grim appointments to keep before the New Year, and a simple youth left in the forest to fend for himself.
A killer who is being escorted by Ethan back to Paradise for trial might never make it because other outlaws want him dead.
Ethan is offered a very well paying job but at the same time very dangerous. To deliver the opium that miners use to keep some Chinese workers more or less enslaved.
Joseph's tomboy friend, Frankie, returns to Paradise, now sophisticatedly attired and married to a controlling, offensive judge who has the control to transfer Ethan to Texas on a murder warrant.
Years ago, Ethan testified against a person. Now that person is the new town’s preacher who is a paroled murderer, claiming to have seen the light. Everyone in town is giving him a second chance, except for Ethan.
The sons of Ethan’s old pal, Gideon, volunteer them as guns in a range war.
Jerome, an obtuse and gentle man, faces a jury for the strangling of a girl who rejected him.
Ethan protects a young deserter wanted by the Army. He also protects him from an armed mother who accuses him of the death of her son.
A con woman visits Paradise and sells the town a trolley. She takes the townsfolk on a ride and while they are partying, she loots the place.
A mass exodus occurs in Paradise when Ethan and Amelia decide to close the mine.
Ethan and the children return to Paradise where Ethan is convinced to take on the role of town marshal. Ethan builds a new home for his family and he and Amelia become engaged. A new character, Dakota, arrives in town and decides to stay. He rubs Ethan the wrong way, but hits it off with Claire, much to her uncle's disdain.
The Carroll children's father Robert returns and tells Ethan he wants custody of the kids. At first resistant, Ethan begins to feel the children might be safer living with their father, however neglectful he has been in the past, than with him. But it turns out Robert may have brought danger of his own into the children's lives.
Paradise is thrown into a state of terror when a serial killer begins targeting the town's woman. Ethan must identify and catch the killer, who has set his sites on Claire.
This episode follows a day in the life of Marshal Ethan Allan Cord, who is considering giving up his badge and leaving Paradise. Over a period of ""twenty-four hours,"" Ethan must contend with a series of disputes between townspeople as well as at home. Spoiler: In the end, he decides to stick it out and remain in Paradise.
Ethan learns that an old enemy of his is headed for Paradise looking to shoot it out. To protect the children, he sends them away on a trip, but they realize that something is wrong at home. As the gunfight nears, both Ethan (in Paradise) and the children (waiting at the train station) both reflect back to how they've become a family (via flashbacks to previous episodes). Spoiler: In the end, the children don't take the train and rush back to their uncle in Paradise. He has defeated the other gunfighter and he and the children are reunited.