African-Canadian trapper Gideon (Don Pedro Colley) is waylaid first by white runaway slave ship crewman Mason Pruitt (Jim McMullen), then bounty hunter Luke Purdy (Timothy Carey). Purdy chains them together (thinking Gideon a runaway slave) and starts taking them in to collect a joint reward.
In case you missed the hammer to the head, this is a small-screen version of 1958's "The Defiant Ones," in which Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier discover racial brotherhood through joint incarceration, Gideon is apparently well over his previous mental breakdown over the kidnapping of his son (who isn't along for this ride), and again Colley leaves it all on the field in creating a distinct character. Consistent TV guest star McMullen adds good looks to his recovering-racist character, and Carey - known for playing oddball-psychotic roles and bizarre behavior in real life - proves strangely suitable as a lanky half-deranged gunman with a Cajunish overlay,
Dan and Cincinnatus are in pursuit, but the hour mostly belongs to the above trio; its another light week for Fess Parker. The talk-to-action ratio is pretty well skewered in favor of the former, and the suspense level is rather low. The episode was filmed in the summer of 1968, and was likely intended as a racial-healing episode in lieu of MLK's assassination the previous March. The hour is filmed entirely outdoors or on outdoor sets, so a welcome break from the Boonesborough cabin sets.
A lot of spare parts thrown in here, but the sum total is another filler episode, and an early season one to boot; the story would have been better served on an anthology series.
