Incident on the Road Back Feb 24, 1961
Incident of the New Start Mar 3, 1961
Incident of the Running Iron Mar 10, 1961
Incident Near Gloomy River Mar 17, 1961
Gil and his main men are driving a herd of horses back to Texas, (they are cheaper in Missouri). They get accused of stealing one and the money Gil has for the investors in his recently completed drive is stolen while he's in jail. To add to the mix, the Sheriff is a reasonable guy and very good with his gun - especially for a man who has gone blind and is hiding it. He also has a wife who aided her lover in stealing the money.
They get to Texas and are preparing for a new drive when Gil finds out that he will not be the trail boss this time. John Dehner plays a rancher who wants to prove he is still up to the task, even though he's in his 50's. His age is not his problem. It's his refusal to listen to people, including Favor, who is now his ramrod, making Rowdy just another drover. But what resolves the problem is not a disaster on the trail. It's a domestic one back at home.
Gil connects with an old friend, Frank Miller, (no, not the bad guy in High Noon), played by veteran character actor Addison Richards, who helps him by spotting brands that are not supposed to be in his herd - strays from local ranches who joined the herd. He invites Gil to his house to meet his son Andy, (Darryl Hickman- Doby Gillis', err Dwyane's brother). There are some rustlers in the area and drover Jim Quince finds one, preparing to change the brand on a steer. That man runs off and a vigilante committee arrives, (Led by Frank Williams, Elliot Ness' boss). They want to hang ol' Jim but Rowdy and some of the boys arrive in time. Williams insists on taking him in for trial and Rowdy follows to make sure Jim winds up safely in jail. Favor encounters a persnickety military officer played by William Schallert, (Dobie's high school teacher), who is checking everything in the sutler's store item by item. He jokes that he's the type of guy who likely has his own hands in the till - and he's right. It turns out Andy isn't all his father had hoped he is. Never have so many 50's TV characters met in one episode.
Two pieces of advice for bad guys: don't pick a fight with the hero if it's at the end of an episode, (unless it's a two-parter), and don't fight the good guy next to something you wouldn't want to fall into.
John Ericson and John Cassavetes are gloomy because they are related to each other but don't much like each other. John C. Had already started his career as an independent film maker with 'Shadows', (1958), and was doing a lot of TV work to pay the bills. He'd just finished playing Johnny Staccatto in a private eye/jazz musician show and was now doing guest shots. Here he's playing the older brother of John E, who looks younger, (and hunkier), but is actually 3 years younger. John E.'s career got off to a great start with the movie 'Theresa' in 1951 and then played the William Holden part in the original Broadway production of 'Stalag 17'. Ericson could have made it big but he refused to sign a studio contract. Most of his work after that was on the small screen, including as Honey West's brawny partner in the short-lived but iconic 1960's series.
Here the older brother is the wild sibling and the younger one the solid citizen. The plot starts out as the traditional big rancher who wants to become richer, (Leif Erickson - no relation to John E but his character has a secret relation to John C.), who wants a smaller ranch and tried to force the people out by damming up a stream, (which impacts the trail drive and gets them tangentially involved in the story). Now the smaller ranch house has burned to the ground and the big rancher seems an obvious candidate. But the boy's mother, (Rosemary DeCamp), isn't so sure. Meanwhile both brothers want Erickson's beautiful daughter, Anne Helm. They will get back to the actual trail drive next week.
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