THE UNWANTED
Episode First Shown:
Ben is visited by his old friend Marshal Luke Mansfield, who is accompanied by his daughter Lorrie. Luke is looking for an escaped convict, Billy Miller, who shot him some years previously. Ben has a ranch hand called Rick Miller and it turns out that he is Billy Miller’s cousin. Rick says that Billy died shortly after he escaped from prison and tells the Marshal where to find the grave. While the Marshal, Joe and Candy look for the grave Lorrie and Rick fall in love.
I thought that the
storyline was a good one - Luke Mansfield as the overzealous sheriff (in terms
of his job and being strict with his daughter Lorrie) set against the now
honest young Rick Miller and the young love of Rick and Lorrie.
Good performances all round. Ben and Hoss doing their usual sterling job and,
in a pretty serious episode, I really did laugh when Lorrie tells Hoss that she
knows how to dance but only with the girls at school and Hoss grins and says that
he thinks it will be a mite different at the Saturday dance LOL!
I actually didn't have any difficulty with BB because of her well remembered
role as Alice Harper Cartwright. I thought that she was good as a young woman
in her late teens. She brought out the confusion and sometimes petulance of a
young woman in contrast to her mature sweetness and strength as
I thought that Jan-Michael Vincent was delightful as Rick. Also the way that he
portrayed a young man who has made a mistake, paid his dues and learnt from it
and was beginning to understand something of life. I thought that his character
Rick came across as a very upright, honest and likeable young man. Hopefully a
nice happy ending for him and Lorrie.
There was one thing that made me uncomfortable and that was the romantic
attention that Hoss, Joe and Candy were giving Lorrie by the corral fence. At
worst (and most certainly not with Hoss, Joe and Candy) it could be seen as
older men preying on a younger woman. At best I think it was completely inaccurate
would not have happened. With someone who was so young and inexperienced I am
sure that they would have treated her with more of avuncular kindness and
deference.
In fact they actually seem to do just that when each of them dances briefly
with her - literally at a good arm's length - at the end and they are all
laughing and smiling happily. Now the contrast of Lorrie and Rick dancing very
close together is just right.
My only disappointment in this episode is that we see too little of Joe and
Candy. I say that not just because I want to see them but because I think the
Lorrie/Rick and Luke Mansfield situations would
have benefited from everyone's input.
My final thought is that I can definitely see Bonnie B as Hoss's wife as I she
convinced me of her characters of both Lorrie and Alice. A good all round
episode even if not one of my top priority list.
Hilary
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