aliassmithjones | Witness to a Lynching (Reply)

Episode 49 (S3E11)

Plot summary: Smith and Jones are obliged to guard a key witness against a murdering rancher who has gone free from previous charges because the witnesses against him have disappeared

"We can't say no to Lom Trevors" (Hannibal Heyes)
"Why not? He always says no to us!" (Kid Curry)

Other characters: Amos Sniveley (John McGiver); Cybele Sniveley (Brenda Scott); Lom Trevors (John Russell)

Hmm, I think Lom is getting a bit out of order getting the boys to do his dirty work. Another so-called friend they could maybe do without ... Quite a good episode, mainly because there's lots of shooting. I should have pointed out that I'm very shallow.

Heyes and the Kid apparently are two of the most competent men Lom knows and the only ones who have the "guts and know-how" not to get corrupted which is why he chooses them for the protective custody job. Or it could just be that they're cheap and he can blackmail them.

Amos Snively is yet another "Doc" character. Having his daughter Cybele bellydance to drum up trade is more or less twisted. Two sage hens bite the dust when Kid the Hunter heads out the door. The boys enjoy watching the half-naked dancing show and drinking too much Cure-Al. "..sold 179 bottles in one hour, and there are only 46 people in that town." They have the hangover from hell the next day but it turns out that being ambushed is a fine cure.

Why does Kid call Heyes "Joshua" when they are alone together and being shot at? Not characteristic at all. Such moments of tension, whether there are people around or not, are usually occasions for him to say "Heyes".

There is no hint of attraction between Cybele and either of the boys, despite the fact that they see her in a bikini with a skirt. But it's the Kid who manages to convince her father that she really needs to stop doing the dance of the seven veils and instead make someone a good (ie can cook) wife.

They both collapse rather prettily from the poisoned coffee. There are some nice train chuffing through rocks moments. The Clarion News headline on the newspaper that Kid reads on the train is that the bank at Touchstone has been robbed.

Kid Curry gets left to hold off 7 gunmen on his own. As Heyes realises he has to be the one to leave and get help (there's not even a hint of tossing a coin for this one) he says, dry-mouthed, "You think you can handle this on your own?" Kid Curry, never a bighead which is only one of many reasons why we love him, shrugs rather helplessly. "I really don't know," he says, but goes on to point out that there is no way he will let the gunmen get to their targets. RD Heyes leaves looking rather sick but Pete would have looked sicker.

A bumper amount of sixgun and rifle bullets are fired during this episode and there is much reloading and positioning. Kid Curry is really in his element for this job, and he does it with so much physical grace. What a sweetheart. What a gun-toting, pistol-packing sweetheart. *g*