Hart to Hart (TV Series) Murder in the Saddle (1981) User Reviews

Murder in the saddle

[coltras35 · 8/10 · 17 September 2023]

It's roundup time at the Harts' ranch, but Jonathan and Jennifer are distracted by dying animals, a rumored chemical spill orchestrated by a Texan hoping to strip mine valuable coal from the area, and a murder in which the local sheriff may be involved.

A solid episode that has an environmental slant but not in a preachy way. There's plenty of twist in the plot, and just when you think John Ireland's character is a nice hombre, you learn different later on. Well, his sidekick is Paul Koslo, a regular bad guy in TV, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise. The showdown finale in a deserted town is a standout with Jonathan and Jennifer playing cat and mouse. There's some great landscapes and hard Ridin', however the description about what Ireland did to a brahma bull is a little too explicit and there's a sight of dead cattles.

This one's not for the faint of hart

[HilaryElizabeth9 · 4/10 · 7 March 2009]

The Hart's spend some time back at the ranch where livestock start dying at just the same time as a pesky bad guy keeps trying to buy their land. Before you know it, the gang are fishing folks out of the river, taking water samples, being pursued by bad guys (one with a very bad hairpiece, poor dude), and bonding with really adorable horsies. In the meantime, this is not an episode you want to watch if you're the sensitive type. As an animal lover, I had a hard time watching this one. I'm not sure what the state of "no animals were harmed in the making of this episode" was in Hollywood in the early '80's, but I was distracted from the story by constantly worrying about the wellbeing of the actual animals. I tried not to think about it. But warning to vegetarians everywhere, there's dialogue about one particularly awful act toward an animal that made me wish this was not one I'd seen. Impressive, however, was yet another example of the actors doing real acting while in the element of the scene; they rode real horses, cast real fishing lines, mounted real horses like pros, and if you were Stefanie, wore some of the tightest jeans this side of the millennium! If you're the cowboy type, you'll love this. If you're remotely skittish, animal rightsy, or a vegetarian, skip it!