The Iron Butterfly - first shown November 28th 1971
'Lucky Hoss gets to escort the actress Lola Fairmont to
Guest Stars: Mariette Hartley as Lola Fairmont, Peter Whitney as Senator Carson, Allen Garfield as Charlie, Stefan Gierasch as Grady, Jack Collins as Mayor, Mills Watson as Fontaine.
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Actress Lola Fairmount is to appear in
Hoss wades into the river and clears much of the debris but cannot repair the
bridge before the imperious Lola arrives. (Nice treat for the Hoss/Dan fans as
he works in a sleeveless undershirt – watch those biceps LOL!!) Hoss carries
Lola and her belongings across the river to his waiting buckboard.
When they stop at a staging post, Lola's former boyfriend, Carson, lies in
waiting and attacks Lola who has entered alone. Hoss rushes in to rescue her
but is knocked unconscious by the evil Carson who tries to shoot him. Lola
kills
Lola heads to
Meanwhile injured Hoss tries to make his way home. He passes out and is rescued
by Grady, a small homesteader who cares for Hoss using herbal medicine that he
learnt from an Arapahoe. Hoss is still delirious and begins calling for Lola so
Grady takes affairs into his own hands. He brings Lola back from Virginia City
and she is very touched when Hoss starts to whisper lines from Romeo and Juliet
in which she was due to appear. She has become very fond of Hoss.
Although Grady had lied to Roy Coffee and a posse about Hoss's whereabouts, Joe
tracks him down at Grady's home. Joe persuades Hoss not to take the false blame
for Lola but to give evidence in court on her behalf, thus protecting her, the Cartwrights
and the Ponderosa. It's a nice role reversal scene where Joe is wiser as the
younger brother and gives good advice to his misguided older brother.
Just as Hoss and Joe reach home, Senator Carson arrives at the Ponderosa and
tries, unsuccessfully of course, to browbeat Ben. Lola arrives and takes a courageous
stand against the senator and promises to tell the truth about his abusive son
in court. There is a sad ending when Lola leaves Hoss to face her future alone.
Mariette Hartley gives a good performance as the imperious but brave Lola
though her backcombed hairstyle and pale lipstick kept reminding me of Dusty
Stefan Gierasch is marvellous as Grady and it's this character that provides
the "glue" that holds the whole episode together. The Grady character
is very similar indeed to Obie in the "Walter" episodes with a
delicious dry humour and laid back style.
Dan, as ever, is endearing as Hoss – he can convey so much about Hoss's
thoughts by just a look - and I really liked the way that he helped Lola. I'm
not sure that Hoss would really have agreed to take the blame for the killing
but this was the story line.
I feel that the opening scenes were overly long and that the episode would have
benefited from more Ben and Joe searching for Hoss. However there is plenty of
Hoss, Stefan Giersach is a delight as Grady and Mariette Hartley does her best
with the Lola role. Definitely worth a view due to Hoss as the central role and
the
guest stars in supporting roles but not at the expense of Hoss.
Final comments: I strongly suspect that Dan and Michael may have made mischief
with the script as there were a couple of scenes that had me rolling around
laughing! When Hoss is unconscious in Grady's home he calls for Lola in such an
over-the-top, theatrical way that I strongly suspected that Michael was on the
set making faces at Dan!
There is also such a funny line, not exactly Bonanza family rated, from Grady
as he tends Hoss. Hoss complains about the herb compress on his head to which
Grady replies that an Arapahoe woman taught him that one winter. Hoss asks what
else she taught him and Grady gives a wry grin, pauses and says with perfect
comedic timing: "Well, it was a long winter…..." I really do wonder
if Dan and Michael added that line for Stefan Gierasch LOL!!!!