Episode Snark: Journey to San Juan
Jul. 12th, 2011 12:52 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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This is one of those "love-it/hate-it" episodes for me. On the one hand, I love the way Our Boys look -- scruffy, shaggy, unshaven. This is an especially good Hair Episode. On the other hand, Claudine Longet's character annoys the hell out of me! I keep wanting somebody to slap her.
The plot is one of the more interesting ones. The Lads are in Mexico again, trying to lure a murderess across the border into the States so that she can be arrested and tried. They discover a complication in the form of a French (from New Orleans) musician who has no money and is trying to get back home.
As a cover for their interest in Blanche, the murderess, Heyes and Curry pretend they are in Mexico to round up maverick cows on the local mesa -- upon which happens to reside the local bandito gang! Between eluding El Clavo (I looked it up: it means "Nail") and courting Blanche, Heyes is caught between two equal dangers. He has to come up with both a way to safely round up the cows, and a way to lure Blanche back over the border.
I like the way Heyes comes up with an alternate lure once their cover is blown, too. And Claudine is good in that scene, when she convinces Blanche that they are really Heyes and Curry. And did I mention that this is an especially good Hair Episode? Heyes is all scruffy and shaggy and adorable; Curry is fluffy and (for once) has no bad hat-hair scenes. And Heyes looks lovely with five-o'clock shadow (although I never really like Pete with a full beard for some reason). And I adore the way Heyes says "Noooooo" in that deep voice! *shivers with delight*
The odd thing is that, once again, The Boys seem to understand passable Spanish. Despite claiming they don't speak any South American, in several episodes they respond to Spanish phrases, and both of them can be heard to actually speak short phrases in some. This just backs up my claim that you can't live in the Southwest without picking up a little Spanish.
The part of this episode that I despise is all the damn singing! For cryin' out loud, this is a Western, not a musical! It's like that bloody "Posse That Wouldn't Quit" episode! One or two verses of the soft French tune would have been fine! But noooooo (said in Heyes' lovely baritone), they had to rehash the song and add a dopey number that I'm not even certain was popular back then! And since I can't find the song on the internet, I can't prove it one way or the other.
I did find This List of Most Popular Songs of the 1800's - could the producers not have used one of the 100 songs on that list?! As an aside, the song Heyes sings in "Posse" was not one he'd have known, either -- it's an old Shaker hymn, and was not popularized outside that faith until 1932 or so!
For those of you who are shaking their fists at me, I'm not knocking either of The Lads' singing voices. Pete, especially, had a lovely mellow baritone that I always enjoy. Oddly, I've read essays where people believe he can't sing. I can only believe that those people must themselves be tone deaf. The man was quite musical. No, I just hate singing-for-the-sake-of-doing-something scenes!
I also dislike the show's habit of reusing actors in major roles, or switching actors for the same role. In this case, I have two questions: Why is the Alcalde running around the hills calling himself El Clavo? Or perhaps, Why did the people of Santa Marta elect El Clavo as their Alcalde?
In the "Snark" section of the essay, I present:
Heyes: I feel alright. You feel alright?
Curry: Wonderful.
Heyes: Yeah, a good fuck'll work wonders every time.
*a shriek sounds from the wagon*
Curry: What is it?
Heyes: I dunno, but it sounds wild!
Michelle: You two really have been out here too long if you can't remember what a woman's scream sounds like!
Heyes: (winks) It's usually the men I hear screaming my name, sweetheart.
Heyes: I know what you're thinkin'
Curry: I'm only thinkin' about our cover!
Heyes: Our cover is that we're a couple of gay men traipsing about the countryside pretending to look for fuckin' cows!
Heyes: This is my associate, Thaddeus Jones.
*long pause*
Heyes: We're together.
Blanche: Hasn't anyone told you what else is up on that mesa besides maverick cows?
Heyes: Maverick bulls? (grins knowingly)
*Blanche looks Heyes up and down, nods*
Blanche: I suspected you two swung that way.
Heyes: Kid, nobody has to tell me how to handle myself in the clinches!
Curry: Well, sometimes you forget and call me Julie.
*editor's note: Julie is the wife in "Love on a Rooftop"*
Heyes: What's the matter? Don't you trust us, Blanche?
Blanche: (rolls eyes)
Curry: PSST! We told her you were Heyes, remember?
*the banditos pursue the wagon, shooting*
Curry: You'll have to do better'n that! ...
... toss Michelle out the back -- it'll take awhile for them to shut her up!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-12 05:17 am (UTC)(As for "Simple Gifts" in "Posse", I think it must have been a favorite of Roy Huggins, as it cropped up more than once on the show. But yeah, there was entirely too much of it, too.)
Maybe El Clavo did wind up as the alcalde of Santa Marta. He wouldn't the the first fellow to work both sides of the law in that period.
This episode does have its redeeming features. I always liked Susan Oliver, and Blanche was an interesting character. Oh, and it has this (http://www.framecaplib.com/asjlib/html/episodes/images/journey/journ018.htm), which I thought was an awfully cute shot.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-12 11:49 am (UTC)Journey to San Juan
Date: 2011-07-12 11:13 am (UTC)And I also agree- why on earth did the producers have to keep hiring the same actors and put them in different roles? was there a shortage of acting back then? How many times did Slim Pickens appear, for example? A good actor, but still!
Loved the cute stills, by the way.
Re: Journey to San Juan
Date: 2011-07-12 11:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-12 03:29 pm (UTC)Claudine Longet was very popular back then--until she shot her lover Spider and ended up in jail in '76 in Aspen, Colorado, but she never did much for me. For one thing, her speaking voice is so soft and insipid. I do kind of like the line "Now I know why they call you Kid." (or something like that.)
no subject
Date: 2011-07-12 03:43 pm (UTC)And yes, the line is:
There's still a lot of little boy in you, isn't there? I guess that's why they call you Kid."
Of course, she said this right out in the street in front of a stagecoach full of passengers!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-12 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-12 07:25 pm (UTC)*rolls across floor holding stomach*
Oh wait ... you mean Pete ... heh!
I dunno ... he doesn't seem to be ... here (http://www.asjcollection.com/current/graphics/pd150.jpg) or here (http://www.asjcollection.com/current/graphics/pd152.jpg) or here (http://www.asjcollection.com/current/graphics/pd167.jpg) or even here (http://www.asjcollection.com/current/graphics/pd113.jpg) ... whooo! *fans self*
no subject
Date: 2011-07-12 11:44 pm (UTC)what is the canon that Heyes isn't shy? I agree he's probably not, but think about how he slinks down in the bathtub when that lady walks in on him. and i think that's the only time we see him shirtless on the show, whereas Kid will strip down for any reason.
Heyes doesn't seem fazed when he has to be patted down to enter a jail...but i dunno if that's the same thing or not.
thinking about this now...
no subject
Date: 2011-07-13 12:20 am (UTC)lol :)
Date: 2011-07-13 06:00 pm (UTC)we always said he didn't have as many manners as Heyes
Re: lol :)
Date: 2011-07-15 12:12 pm (UTC)Re: lol :)
Date: 2011-07-15 07:55 pm (UTC)pete pics
Date: 2011-07-12 11:30 pm (UTC)Re: pete pics
Date: 2011-07-13 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-14 01:11 am (UTC)100 percent agreed. When they're sitting on their beds in the room after the women have left, they could not possibly look more fantastic, especially Pete. And Claudine Longet is one of those people who became briefly famous for absolutely no fathomable reason. I do like her line about being more American than either of them due to her New Orleans lineage, but other than that, ack ack ack.
I quite like Susan Oliver and Nico Minardos is hot (though I like him better as the stern but honorable alcalde in Miracle at Santa Marta).
no subject
Date: 2011-07-14 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-15 06:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-15 12:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-16 05:29 pm (UTC)