SIX STRANGERS AT APACHE SPRINGS

• How lovely that so many of the episodes begin and end with our boys on horseback, either entering a new town or leaving one, filled with memories, behind. The imagery is always pleasing, because Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry look exceptional on horseback, and never fail to remind me why I love cowboys.

• Is the desk clerk openly checking out our boys butts as they climb the stairs to their room? Hey, keep your eyes to yourself, fella…those butts are for our eyes only!

• This hard old gal Caroline is cracking me up already. But, I don't quite get this woman's appraisal of Heyes and the Kid as "young, healthy, footloose, and not too smart". What on earth has given her the impression they are dim-witted? I think she must be going by the old adage that if you are beautiful you must be stupid, and I think she will soon find out her assumption about these two gorgeous men is far from accurate.

• Ok. Let me just say this to the woman so graciously welcomed with her husband by Smithers: instead of worrying about how to turn off the heat, what say you learn how to turn off your bitchiness? I abhor women like her; never happy, always complaining, treating nice people with contempt and arrogance. She may be dressed in upper class wares, but she is far from upper class in her decorum.

  

• What's the matter, Smithers? Our boys not as appealing to you coming down the stairs all bathed and combed as they were going up, all road tired and dusty? I can certainly appreciate the desire to observe as they climbed the stairs but have to say I would also enjoy the view coming down, certainly enough to look up from the guest register for a long moment and a deep sigh.
  
• I'm not certain if it is Heyes or Peter finding Caroline so amusing, but it in turn amuses me when he laughs at her Annie Oakley type demeanor. She's a strong old broad, and a little warped too, it seems. Her way of speaking reminds me a bit of the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz. Definitely an interesting character, albeit a bit hammy.

• I clearly remember being excited when this episode was airing when I was a girl. I remember being a fan of Sian Barbara Allen, maybe just because I was intrigued by her name, who knows. And, for one thing, I think I was always a bit excited by the presence of female guest stars, because at 13 I very much enjoyed seeing one or the other of our boys kiss a woman and if there was a pretty female guest star, the promise of possible romance was always there. Man. I may not have matured as much as I thought I had.
• The expressions on Heyes and Kid's faces as Caroline chides them for taking advantage of a helpless woman are magnificent. Heyes is entirely bemused while Kid shows a bit of caution before he looks up with a face full of mockery. Off storms Caroline, feeling exploited, while our boys clink glasses at her absurdity. Very amusing.

• Geez, I almost start coughing, just watching the scene where the Neanderthal stage coach driver (would it be too much to expect him to help a lady out?) throws the young woman's dusty bags to the even dustier ground. Good god, how could anyone breathe in that atmosphere? Hey, NOBODY SAY IT--I MEAN IT! I sound a bit like bitchy Mrs. Fielding. Yeah, well, um…I have asthma. I have an excuse… *wink*

• We can always count on the Kid to be chivalrous. He seems to be a natural at it, which leaves me with the strong sense that he genuinely likes and respects women and I like that.
• I love Kid's “hat hair” when the new young lady in town offers him a stipend for his assistance and he removes his hat and says, "No thank you ma'am…it's my pleasure." It's hard to appear gallant with a rooster sticking up off the back of your head, but he pulls it off handily, as we can see by the young woman's gaze as she watches him walk away.

• What a cute exchange as the penniless young woman and the kindly desk clerk work out a way to secure her a room. Sian Barbara Allen has an interesting inflection to her voice that compels us to feel empathy toward her, I think, and also a bit of a downtrodden look about her that just naturally adds to that emotion.
• Is this motel clerk related to Paul Lynde? Close your eyes and listen…
• Oh, sweet jesus--it is our first and only glimpse of the delicious Hannibal Heyes in a bathtub; please allow me just a moment to savor the view. And about this moment, my thoughts for once won’t be shared…*sigh*…just, have mercy… ®§§





• Even more amusing to me than Caroline’s creepy “They could pin you to a Christmas tree and I wouldn’t look” line is Heyes guttural, slightly deranged laugh in response to it. He knows she’s batty and he gets a kick out of it.
• Caroline, just a head’s up…when Thaddeus Jones asks if you aren’t hungry and points his fork at your food, don’t admit it. I think he would eat your supper right off your plate.
• Heyes silently coaches the Kid on his manners with a motion to stand as the Fieldings join the group for dinner. I don’t think it is that the Kid is socially awkward; I think it just takes him a moment to realize, especially when he is eating, what he needs to do and Heyes is always Johnny-on-the-spot and standing before Kid has even looked up to see someone is joining them.

• Boy, things sure weren’t politically correct in 1971, were they? The sometimes disparaging comments I have heard about Indians and Mexicans in several episodes could never be said aloud today; in fact even using the terms Indian and Mexican would be taboo. I admit I do personally take slight offense at Caroline’s comment, “What are you going to do about the land-grabbing (Aw, come on. Are you kidding me?) blood-thirsty Chiricahuas?” but I understand the era the characters were in and I think the feelings they have about such things are probably reasonably true to the times, so I don’t take them to (modern) heart.
• I do very much appreciate, though, the character of Mr. Fielding—protective of the Indians who were lied to and stolen from. It evens out the characterization of the band quite well and to smooth it out even more completely, Heyes’ genuine interest in what caused the Indians to leave the reservation in the first place is wonderful.
• Oooh, I just pulled a muscle stepping down off my soapbox. *wink*
• That Mrs. Fielding is some piece of work. Her comment that what she would like to do is leave compels Heyes to find her entirely distasteful and I believe her husband finds her embarrassing, but is too kindly a sort to speak up. And she should be embarrassed by her own tactless behavior.

• Hmmm, I wonder if Peter borrowed Caroline’s weird hat for his role in Cannon for Cordoba. (Please don't email me to correct me...I know the timing is off. It's a joke.)

• I love the little history lesson from Heyes as the boys ride into Indian territory with Mr. Fielding. I love him intelligent and able to converse on an historical subject and its topical ramifications with awareness and understanding.
• I chuckle at the moment Heyes and the Kid are trying to exhibit nonchalance as they leave the site of the first cache of gold dust after seeing the Indians watching them. When they near the horses it is so cute when Kid reaches up and puts his hand on Heyes’ back, propelling him to move more quickly. We saw that move once before—in Stagecoach Seven—and it is a sweet connection between the two. However, this time Kid means more by it than just a touch of togetherness.



• OH! Peter lost his footing and almost fell running across the rocks to get away from the shooting Indians! I love those moments…the ones that make the show seem so real. I have commented on it before, but I do so love the flaws in this show; the little realisms that sneak in and give us a sense of connection.
• Those actors playing the Indians pursuing our boys are damn good riders to be traveling at such high speed on bareback. I’m impressed. I wonder if Monty may be among them; another chance for him to wear a long black wig…*wink*
• It looked like Peter almost got clobbered in the face by his horse’s head when he pulled him up very sharply. I won’t say too sharply, because I know nothing about stopping a speeding horse, but it would be my guess Peter may have just overcorrected a bit.

• What an odd and strangely engaging character Smithers is. I don’t even know why, but I always find myself smiling as he runs into the hotel shouting in his lilting voice, “Mrs. Fielding…Oh, Mrs. Fielding, they’re here!” Maybe it’s the way he runs. Could this silly, animated man really be the creep who wore his dead wife’s tooth on a chain in The Root of It All? A good, diverse actor, it seems.



• After a failed effort at communication with the Indians, poor Mr. Fielding has to go back and tell his wife he will have to make another attempt later. It is the first time I see the slightest glimmer of understanding on her face, and I realize in this fleeting moment that part of her thoughtlessness has been a cover for the fear she holds that her husband will be killed by the Indians. I think, under it all, she loves the man.
• A single woman with food. A beacon to our ever-charming, ever-hungry Kid Curry.



• The conversation between Sister Grace and the Kid is very sweet. He is quite absorbed in her hard-luck story and shows compassion and understanding. And in Sister Grace we see the depth of her purity and naïveté as she speaks of the “evil” of shell games. I have always had the feeling from some of the things the Kid has said that he had a religious upbringing in his very early and formative years. My sense is that his gently pious mother probably frequently spoke of being virtuous and the Kid carried those parables to adulthood with him, and uses phrases such as “consider that the price of being delivered from sin” and “that’s just the luck of the righteous” fairly frequently himself.
• The whole scene of the rowdy time in the saloon is utterly ridiculous and yet marginally amusing in a slapstick sort of way. This just isn’t my personal taste for humor, and although I find a couple of moments—like Heyes shaking off his hat and the boys lifting their beer mugs out of the way so a flying cowboy can land on their table—cute, none of it really does much for me. I find myself more interested in what that tiny bit of something stuck in the hair on the side of Heyes’ hand is. *giggle*

• The Kid is brutally honest with Sister Grace and maybe saves her from a life of disappointment as an evangelist, because he is absolutely correct in his assessment of her. She is certainly no Elmer Gantry.
• Mrs. Fielding had me on her side for a single moment when I saw a fleck of kindness as she looked at her husband as he confessed his failure with the Indians to her. She has just lost me once again with her “cow-people” and “your Indians” garbage. She deserves a swift kick in the ass, and I am pleased and proud to say our astute Hannibal Heyes deftly levels one on her—verbally. Peter’s acting again excels as we see the distaste he has for this woman as clearly as we hear his words. Simply excellent.





• The Kid’s visit to Sister Grace’s room and the subsequent kiss has undoubtedly changed this innocent young woman’s life. The kiss has plainly given her a taste of the secular world and it is apparent she felt stirrings of desire from this step outside her comfort zone as she looks in the mirror and recalls the moment.





• I love Mr. Fielding’s idealism. I feel tremendous respect for what he is attempting to do.
• I prefer less obvious couple’s moments between the boys than “I can trust you to look after me better” although it is a sweet sentiment.
• For pure comedy enjoyment, there is not a better moment for me than the mule running from the Indian after Kid releases it so our boys can escape. I have yet to watch it that I haven’t laughed out loud and even rewound it and laughed as heartily the second time. ®




• Caroline is a whack-job, it’s patently obvious. Maybe I misunderstood her name. Are we sure it isn’t Caroline Derangedly?
• I don’t like women who challenge a man’s masculinity to get what they want. It irritates me when Caroline starts in on Smithers with “for once in your boot-licking life…”—besides, poor Smithers doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of masculinity to spare.



• *Gasp, followed by slow sigh* Oh, my... Has there ever been a man who looked better walking away than Hannibal Heyes in the scene where he saunters toward Mrs. Fielding? It is one of my top five walking moments in the series. ®®§



• It’s nice that when Heyes and Mrs. Fielding stop and speak to each other, they do it amicably. I believe she has learned a lesson in humility, while he is able to show some compassion for her as he sees her sincere concern for her missing husband.



• Uh, oh. There is the purple dress Betsy wore in A Fistful of Diamonds. I would certainly say it fits this actress much better.
• A chaste (and I am guessing disappointing for Grace) kiss goodbye from the Kid and then I think I hear Grace tell Kid “I love you.” So I watched again and again, at full volume. It took me awhile but I finally got smart and checked the script. False alarm. She simply says, “I’ll never…”



• Even though this is one of my least favorite episodes overall, I greatly appreciate the writers of this episode for the validity of this story. It is not nearly as obvious in its depiction of racism as The Bounty Hunter is, but it does level some strong lessons on us in its variation of types of bigotry from class to skin color to religion. Even our heroes show us a moment of ignorance—a huge requisite to racism—as Kid asks Heyes, while tied up in the Indian camp, what he knows about Indians and Heyes replies, “Only what I heard as a kid, and that won’t make you feel any better.”
  
  A sidenote:The Chiricahuas have a colorful and interesting legacy, having been led by two of the most famous of all Indian chiefs, Cochise and Geronimo. In my interest to try to figure out what years Alias Smith and Jones was supposedly taking place, I came to the conclusion through research that it had to have been between 1883 and 1886 because in 1886 all the Chiricahua band of Apaches were rounded up and exiled to Florida, Alabama and Oklahoma and were no longer free roaming. I don’t believe our boys have traveled to any of those states while trying to get their amnesty nor was this specific episode taking place in any of those states, anyway. Since writing my notes I found reference to the timeline in the book The Story of Two Pretty Good Bad Men, and find I am quite confused by the assertion the episode had to be taking place after September 1886 –and after ALL Chiricahuas were sent east and Geronimo had surrendered peacefully—the very facts that point to the episode being before September 1886. Still, regardless of when Alias Smith and Jones was taking place, this episode has reignited my interest in Indian history and I think I will read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee again for the first time since I was a teenager, and Trail of Tears—about my own heritage—for the first time since the 90s.