Outlaw and generally nasty-looking guy Rafe Todd (Jack Lambert) and his men trash Daniel's home, rob it, and shove Becky and Jemima around. Then they head toward where Mingo and Israel are hunting, and Mingo has chosen the moment to disable himself via a bear trap. Dan and helpful townsman Tupper (Orville Sherman) set out to remedy matters.
Like last week, we again exit early from Boonesborough for a chase hour. Four-time DB guest star and Westerns specialist Jack Lambert is sufficiently menacing for an outing in which Dan can summon his inner Liam Neeson for "Taken" time. The urbane Hart Bochner enhances the hour as a British officer needing Todd's crew to escort him to Fort Detroit. The Mingo v. Todd duel ups the drama quotient well.
Early on, Israel is given ample opportunity to prove his wilderness chops, and finally gets to use firearms in earnest. Unfortunate that Darby Hinton will just be too young for the series' duration to grow his character continuously. Jemima is present for the opening, but as mentioned previously her character is being eased off the production lot. The hour is unique in that Dan needs to reach beyond his usual bullpen of sidekicks, and Sherman steps up.
Nominally, this is a Revolutionary War episode, but the particulars are not well-grounded. Bochner is trying to get plans of Fort Ninety-Six in South Carolina. That post came into play during the Southern Campaign of 1780-81 and was a Loyalist stronghold besieged by U. S. General Nathanael Greene, but distant Fort Detroit played no part in that. Bochner is said to be an officer in the Royal Lancers - real enough, but they were stationed in Ireland during this period and did not receive the title until 1816.
The episode pushes the familiy-friendly envelope by placing Israel in some serious danger, and on the series spectrum that always gives Fess Parker a chance to shine. An above-average Season 2 outing.
