Incident of the Stalking Death Nov 13, 1959
Incident of the Valley in Shadow Nov 20, 1959
Incident of the Blue Fire Dec 11, 1959
Incident at Spanish Rock Dec 18, 1959
A puma, (mountain lion) is stalking the herd. Favor has a, (rather stupid), encounter with the cat, is mounting to walk into some tall grass where, (after warning his men against this), he shoots but fails to kill it and gets mauled by the angry cat. He manages to get to his frightened horse and unwind the leash from a tree branch and partially climb on before the horse bolts. He's lucky and relieved to get back to the camp until later a coach rides up. In it is an aristocratic Spanish lady who informs Gil with contempt that the puma he's wounded has killed her son. He accuses him of cowardice for not finding the cat and killing it. Favor then feels obligated to hunt the cat down. He's joined by Cesar Romero who will allegedly help him but wishes to kill him. Wishbone's along too, because he "used to be a mountain man".
Rick Jason is back in the Valley of the Shadow, this time as a peaceful Indian chief married to a white woman, (Fay Spain) how had been captured by his tribe in the old days. Both actors suggest an Indian 'accent' by s p e a k i n g v e r y s l o w l y. It turns out there's a reward from the family of the white woman to bring her back to civilization- even those she's totally assimilated into the tribe and happy to be Jason's wife. His peacefulness is a risk in the face of this. Some drovers want to grab her and collect the reward. Disappointingly, Favor decides to "take her back to own people" because "it's the right thing to do." It's another situation a businesslike trail boss would be unlikely to get himself involved in.
The Blue Fire, on the other hand, is all about the trail drive. When a storm is imminent, the atmosphere can be so electrically charged that the cattle seem to be surrounded by some sort of neon shadow, making them nervous and ready to bolt. Favor enforces his command to minimize any sort of noise except the 'lullabyes' the drovers sing to the cattle. Meanwhile a new man in camp, (Skip Homeier), is nicknamed "Lucky". It's an ironic title, he explains, because he seems to bring nothing but bad luck.
Incident at Spanish Rock returns us to the episodes that have nothing to do with a trail drive. These guys have been on the rail for a TV season and a half, (this is the 34th episode, since they started out as a replacement series in January, 1959), and yet they still seem to be near the Mexican border. Frank De Kova, (playing 'Villegro') leads a group of alleged Juarez supporters who have turned to banditry and want to grab one of Favor's drovers, Frank Volero, who is the son of an enemy of theirs. Gil refuses. Later, they find Marie Carroyo, who has fallen off her horse. They agree to return her to the ranch of her father, Juan, (Jacques Aubuchon), also a former revolutionary. It's a trap and Pete Nolan is wounded Favor and Rowdy go after them but are also captured. Marie changes sides when Villegro killed her grandfather tortures Volero and winds up shooting Villegro. Juan joins her in the shoot-out. The most interesting thing about this on is that Marie is played by Elena Verdugo, who a decade later would play Marcus Welby's benign nurse but here is in full Mexican spitfire mode. I recall reading an interview that she had grown tired of people seeing Latino women in this way and wanted to show them a different image.
A puma, (mountain lion) is stalking the herd. Favor has a, (rather stupid), encounter with the cat, is mounting to walk into some tall grass where, (after warning his men against this), he shoots but fails to kill it and gets mauled by the angry cat. He manages to get to his frightened horse and unwind the leash from a tree branch and partially climb on before the horse bolts. He's lucky and relieved to get back to the camp until later a coach rides up. In it is an aristocratic Spanish lady who informs Gil with contempt that the puma he's wounded has killed her son. He accuses him of cowardice for not finding the cat and killing it. Favor then feels obligated to hunt the cat down. He's joined by Cesar Romero who will allegedly help him but wishes to kill him. Wishbone's along too, because he "used to be a mountain man".
Rick Jason is back in the Valley of the Shadow, this time as a peaceful Indian chief married to a white woman, (Fay Spain) how had been captured by his tribe in the old days. Both actors suggest an Indian 'accent' by s p e a k i n g v e r y s l o w l y. It turns out there's a reward from the family of the white woman to bring her back to civilization- even those she's totally assimilated into the tribe and happy to be Jason's wife. His peacefulness is a risk in the face of this. Some drovers want to grab her and collect the reward. Disappointingly, Favor decides to "take her back to own people" because "it's the right thing to do." It's another situation a businesslike trail boss would be unlikely to get himself involved in.
The Blue Fire, on the other hand, is all about the trail drive. When a storm is imminent, the atmosphere can be so electrically charged that the cattle seem to be surrounded by some sort of neon shadow, making them nervous and ready to bolt. Favor enforces his command to minimize any sort of noise except the 'lullabyes' the drovers sing to the cattle. Meanwhile a new man in camp, (Skip Homeier), is nicknamed "Lucky". It's an ironic title, he explains, because he seems to bring nothing but bad luck.
Incident at Spanish Rock returns us to the episodes that have nothing to do with a trail drive. These guys have been on the rail for a TV season and a half, (this is the 34th episode, since they started out as a replacement series in January, 1959), and yet they still seem to be near the Mexican border. Frank De Kova, (playing 'Villegro') leads a group of alleged Juarez supporters who have turned to banditry and want to grab one of Favor's drovers, Frank Volero, who is the son of an enemy of theirs. Gil refuses. Later, they find Marie Carroyo, who has fallen off her horse. They agree to return her to the ranch of her father, Juan, (Jacques Aubuchon), also a former revolutionary. It's a trap and Pete Nolan is wounded Favor and Rowdy go after them but are also captured. Marie changes sides when Villegro killed her grandfather tortures Volero and winds up shooting Villegro. Juan joins her in the shoot-out. The most interesting thing about this on is that Marie is played by Elena Verdugo, who a decade later would play Marcus Welby's benign nurse but here is in full Mexican spitfire mode. I recall reading an interview that she had grown tired of people seeing Latino women in this way and wanted to show them a different image.
