Another strong episode of the series, due in great part to guest star James Best, who succeeds in stealing the show and whose Luke Perry character even gets the better of Josh Randall (no mean feat!).
Josh Randall comes into this episode with a bad attitude and encounters an even badder one in stagecoach driver Luke Perry. Randall's swagger and cockiness fail to impress or intimidate Perry. When Josh pulls out the paper from Perry's boss okaying him to ride along, Perry is dismissive. On the frontier and in his stagecoach, it's Perry who calls all the shots.
Already treading on thin ice, Josh can't resist further frustrating Perry by presumptuously taking and playing with his horsewhip. Perry calls the custom-made whip his "right arm," foreshadowing a later scene. Perry asks Josh if he'd like strangers handling his Mare's Leg. At this point it seems the men strike a begrudging understanding of one another. I was bracing for one of them to throw the first punch, but it never happened. They're practical men.
Luke Perry and his shotgun rider Abb are delivering a load of dynamite across bumpy terrain. They're cautious because this is the first time they've handled so combustible a load (though Randall and his bad attitude must run a close second). Conversely, Josh is in a helluva hurry, having to get his prisoner Gillette to Bannach by noon on Friday to prevent the hanging of Murdock, an innocent man and friend of Josh's.
The episode unfolds at a very leisurely pace compared to others in the series. I admit I grew a little impatient with the river crossing and later the blasting the bridge footings scene. Watching it a second time I appreciated them more, less interested in finding out what happens next and able to watch on as the grudging respect Perry and Randall held for one another grew and deepened with each crisis conquered, especially when Perry plays a proto-Indiana Jones and disarms the pyromaniacal prisoner.
A tip of the ten-gallon must be given to Sam Buffington's character of Abb, the shotgun rider. Several times when Perry and Randall are each too cocky to blink first Abb will step up and make the call, saying it's time to pull out or to kick the horses into high gear. He's a necessary safety valve.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Perry, Abb and Randall begin to pull together and work as a team to get Josh to Bannach on time. The anticlimactic ending was a real surprise and a delightful debunking of audience expectations. I sure didn't expect it to end as it did, but I'm glad that it did. Looking back at the episode, I realized there were no guns fired, no fists thrown nor any loss of life; a real rarity for this series and a welcome change of pace.
I came away from watching the episode convinced that James Best managed to steal the show out from under Steve McQueen. Best is an outstanding actor and 1959 was a standout year for him. He appeared in RIDE LONESOME with Randolph Scott and also in the cult classic KILLER SHREWS with Ken "Festus" Curtis. It's a shame he's known by many people exclusively as the bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on the DUKES OF HAZZARD, a role he played to perfection, BUT he was so much more than that. I wish I could sit down every DUKES fan and make them watch "Six-Up to Bannach" or RIDE LONESOME or the two ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW episodes where Best played "the guitar man." A great actor and a great performance here on WDOA clashing egos and swaggering alongside Steve McQueen.
Josh Randall comes into this episode with a bad attitude and encounters an even badder one in stagecoach driver Luke Perry. Randall's swagger and cockiness fail to impress or intimidate Perry. When Josh pulls out the paper from Perry's boss okaying him to ride along, Perry is dismissive. On the frontier and in his stagecoach, it's Perry who calls all the shots.
Already treading on thin ice, Josh can't resist further frustrating Perry by presumptuously taking and playing with his horsewhip. Perry calls the custom-made whip his "right arm," foreshadowing a later scene. Perry asks Josh if he'd like strangers handling his Mare's Leg. At this point it seems the men strike a begrudging understanding of one another. I was bracing for one of them to throw the first punch, but it never happened. They're practical men.
Luke Perry and his shotgun rider Abb are delivering a load of dynamite across bumpy terrain. They're cautious because this is the first time they've handled so combustible a load (though Randall and his bad attitude must run a close second). Conversely, Josh is in a helluva hurry, having to get his prisoner Gillette to Bannach by noon on Friday to prevent the hanging of Murdock, an innocent man and friend of Josh's.
The episode unfolds at a very leisurely pace compared to others in the series. I admit I grew a little impatient with the river crossing and later the blasting the bridge footings scene. Watching it a second time I appreciated them more, less interested in finding out what happens next and able to watch on as the grudging respect Perry and Randall held for one another grew and deepened with each crisis conquered, especially when Perry plays a proto-Indiana Jones and disarms the pyromaniacal prisoner.
A tip of the ten-gallon must be given to Sam Buffington's character of Abb, the shotgun rider. Several times when Perry and Randall are each too cocky to blink first Abb will step up and make the call, saying it's time to pull out or to kick the horses into high gear. He's a necessary safety valve.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Perry, Abb and Randall begin to pull together and work as a team to get Josh to Bannach on time. The anticlimactic ending was a real surprise and a delightful debunking of audience expectations. I sure didn't expect it to end as it did, but I'm glad that it did. Looking back at the episode, I realized there were no guns fired, no fists thrown nor any loss of life; a real rarity for this series and a welcome change of pace.
I came away from watching the episode convinced that James Best managed to steal the show out from under Steve McQueen. Best is an outstanding actor and 1959 was a standout year for him. He appeared in RIDE LONESOME with Randolph Scott and also in the cult classic KILLER SHREWS with Ken "Festus" Curtis. It's a shame he's known by many people exclusively as the bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on the DUKES OF HAZZARD, a role he played to perfection, BUT he was so much more than that. I wish I could sit down every DUKES fan and make them watch "Six-Up to Bannach" or RIDE LONESOME or the two ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW episodes where Best played "the guitar man." A great actor and a great performance here on WDOA clashing egos and swaggering alongside Steve McQueen.
