JOURNEY FROM SAN JUAN

• I really don’t think Heyes could possibly look any cuter than he does in the close up as he gets the bull to mosey away with his tone of voice. And Kid is very appealing as he looks on with an appreciative smile at Heyes' antics.



• I guess perfection really does soothe the savage beast. Oh, wait a minute. That’s music…
• And what an adorable one-horned bull he is. I bet he’d have some stories to tell…
• I like episodes where Heyes is full of sarcasm and dry wit. It is fitting on him, because he is intelligent with a quick mind and he is quite adept at cute yet caustic retorts. His smartass comments to the bandido questioning them about why they are out there rounding up cattle are point on—sharp, swift, and dripping with sarcasm. Superb.
• That bandolero with the huge sombrero is mighty familiar…I am certain he goes on to play the Mexican bandit in nearly every western movie or TV show known to man. Somehow, he loses some of his machista when you look at the odd slider on his stampede strings, however. Does that look like a daisy to you?? And it has matching pieces above his ears…I have to say, not so masculine…



• Of course there is the slight invasion of reality as the bandido tells Heyes, “that is much hard work, and you could maybe die before your time.” But Heyes lets us escape quickly with his reply…”I feel all right. You feel all right?” he asks Kid.
• Very, very funny as Heyes climbs into the chuck wagon and we hear a blood curdling woman’s scream…Kid pulls his gun, Heyes jumps out of the wagon…“What is it?” asks Kid. “I don’t know, but it sure sounds wild!” Yep, these are worldly men, all right.
• Suddenly who should reveal herself but a doe-eyed, heavily accented, fetching Claudine Longet. I don’t know for sure, but I have a feeling this is the type of woman men fantasize about. A flutter of her kohl-lined eyes and they want to take care of her. Hell, I want to take care of her. She just gives off an air of dependency.



• I love the exchange between our boys as they discuss whether Michelle looks or sounds Mexican. When the woman counters that she is American, Heyes says “Nope. You’re not that either.” It is all very charming. There is nothing at all offensive about it, but in this day and age this scene could never have gone this way. People would be up in arms that it is too politically incorrect.



• Claudine Longet may do the best innocent little girl act I have ever seen. When she first says, forcefully, “I’m not hiding!” but then lowers her eyelids and looks up at the boys all coy and childlike and admits, “I’m hiding…” the portrayal is just perfect. Now, I have an inkling, although I try to avoid any insight into other fans’ feelings about the episodes or guest stars—that this actress is widely disliked by most of Alias Smith and Jones fandom. This is one of the times I will take the road less traveled. I think she does quite well in the role; I think she is attractive in a wispy, baby bird sort of way; and I love her heavy French accent. I also never hated her for her personal life.
• Uh-oh, Kid seems a tad bit smitten already, and Heyes is unable to: first, quit staring, and second, quit grinning. Men are such suckers for needy women. Hey, Heyes…over here….I’m needy….
  
• Boys, promise us you won’t embarrass us with those goofy grins every time you lay eyes on Michelle.
• Hey, I recognize that bag!! My god. Did they have no budget at all on this poor show??
• It is strange how Peter enunciates the words “take a look” with his teeth held tightly together and a kind of gangster movie affect to his mouth. [:nancye I am not sure what it is meant to say to us.
• It is cute when Heyes asks Michelle if she sees any sign of McRavish” and she doesn’t understand at first and says, “oh, you were making a small joke…” to which Heyes replies, with a laugh, “smaller than I figured.” I love that Heyes can laugh at himself. He isn’t always brilliant, but he accepts that about himself and actually finds humor in it.



• I am not sure what is going on with Peter’s hair in this episode. It looks freshly washed, but unkempt—like he just woke up. I am not complaining, mind you—I happen to be quite fond of the tousled look. It just looks different than I have seen it before.
• I love the interaction between Heyes and the Kid as Heyes tries to dissuade Kid from pursuing Michelle, but I can’t quite read the emotion behind it. Is Heyes jealous, not that Kid gets the girl, but that the girl gets Kid? For me, it is one of those moments where we know one of them will love a woman, but always come back to the other in the end. It is what their relationship is based on. They can not ever become committed to any woman, no matter how much they may want to, because they will always remain fully committed to each other. ®

• I laugh every time the little Mexican guy comes up and just stands there staring at our boys. It is just a little touch that really doesn’t seem to signify anything in the storyline, except that the boys are being watched, but adds this wonderful charm and humor to the scene.
• The actress playing Blanche, Susan Oliver, is pretty but she seems older than the part to me. She seems in her late thirties, if not early forties but I get the feeling the character is closer in age to our two ladies men, in her late twenties.



• When Heyes flirts with Blanche after first meeting her, she tilts her head, rolls her eyes, kind of gently smirks and walks away, giving the impression she finds him foolish. I have to wonder if she is sane.
• I find it attractive, very sexy and just a bit unnerving that Heyes makes such an effort to look directly into people’s eyes, as he demonstrates here by lowering his head and seeking her gaze as he invites Blanche to join them for supper. We will see this in other episodes as well, such as Never Trust an Honest Man after he wakes Kid on the train. No wonder he has a silver tongue and can talk his way out of almost anything. Not only meeting someone’s eyes, but searching out deep eye contact is a sign of great confidence and exhibits total honesty, and our boy can easily do it while lying through his teeth! Brilliant.



• Being a moderately educated person, and an ardent fancier of words, I am ashamed to admit I had to check the dictionary for the pronunciation of chanteuse…I knew it sounded wrong coming out of Kid’s mouth—shan-too-zee—but when I thought about it I just wasn’t certain. Is 50 too old to take French lessons?
• I love the line from Michelle about her singing talent, “I may not be as good as my mother thinks, but I’m much better than I think.” Very clever.
• When Heyes tells Blanche, “I never said we were ordinary…” I want to scream, beautiful man, you couldn’t be ordinary if you tried…and I particularly like the fact that Heyes realizes they are far from average…
• Ugh—I can’t stand the sophomoric joke Kid makes as he walks Michelle to her door—“well, I could take you back downstairs and we could come up again!” I am not sure the writing on this series was any more even handed than my notes! It seems Ben gets more than his share of stupid lines.



• Kind of an awkward dry kiss between Kid and Michelle, which is surprising, because I think they actually have some chemistry. Of course, Michelle was the aggressor; maybe that put the Kid off a bit.
• I find it fascinating how many of the guest stars on Alias Smith and Jones Peter had worked with before. My friend and I even made an email game out of it. Tonight, three of the guests have been in Peter’s other projects…Susan Oliver in Name of the Game: The White Birch, Claudine Longet in How to Steal an Airplane, and Nico Minardos in Cannon for Cordoba. It must have felt like old home week to Peter.
• Ben looks so young, and quite handsome in the scene where he tells Blanche his gunshot wound stopped bleeding before he even got his shirt off. And not meaning to be persnickety here, but if the bullet only grazed him and the wound isn’t even bleeding, why is Kid wrapped the way he is in all those bandages? I think the Old West equivalent of a band-aid would have done the trick.

• Heyes’ body language as he moves close to Blanche as she pours drinks while Michelle tends to Kid’s gunshot wound speaks volumes. Pelvis jutted forward toward Blanche, almost against her; chest—and heart—pulled back and away; one hand around her shoulder, the other hand at his hip, near his gun. He would obviously favor an intimate encounter with this woman, but he would not permit his heart to become involved.®



• Both women walk out on our heroes, unhappy that they are not taking the danger of going after El Clavo’s cattle more seriously. Michelle even takes it so far as to say, “I don’t think I want any more to do with someone who’s trying to get himself killed.” That sounds like a seriously final goodbye, and yet, all is well and the feelings never spoken of again only a couple of scenes down the road.
• A very tasty scene as Heyes and Blanche flirt and get very close to a kiss. Heyes is acting quite suave and for some reason, when he says, “we’ll try again later…all right?” I swoon a bit, and find the way he speaks to be very sexy, indeed.



• What a moment, as Kid chides Heyes about his getting cozy with Blanche. When Heyes responds that it is good, Kid says, “yes it is, less’n you get careless in the clinches” to which Heyes replies, with a tiny version of that beautiful arrogant grin of his, “Kid, no one needs to tell me how to handle myself in the clinches…” *deep sigh*
  
• It amazes me that any actor would appear on screen without his teeth. That is quite a commitment to the craft, I'd say.



• I like Michelle’s little soft French ballad, but, ugh, have to hit the fast forward button when the boys start singing along with the more upbeat tune she sings next. I feel embarrassed for them. I suspect for most fans, the reaction is just the opposite.



• It seems awfully dangerous and difficult to move from a fast moving horse to a fast moving covered wagon…kind of like changing drivers in the middle of the freeway…and yet, I have seen it in many, many westerns.
• I like that Kid takes the initiative in this episode, and during the cattle drive north at least seems to be more in command than Heyes. He is the one who spots El Clavo and his men, and Heyes asks his opinion as to what they are doing. It is also Kid who makes the solitary decision to stampede the herd. Both of these actions are very contrary to Kid's normal role in their relationship, and I wonder if the original script may have had the actors playing the opposite roles, with Heyes falling for Michelle and the Kid romancing Blanche. I am not in possession of a script for this episode, which I would normally use to research this idea, but their roles certainly seem reversed to me.



• Not even a backward glance from Heyes as he leaves Blanche in the custody of the sheriff and his deputy, although both boys look somewhat gloomy as their employer identifies her.
• I am aware I shouldn’t favor Heyes the way I do and should give Kid the same amount of accolades—and I do apologize to my Kid loving friends for my obvious bias, but I cannot leave it unsaid that there is not one scene, not one fraction of one second, where Heyes is not just absolutely gorgeous in this entire episode. See? I ask you, am I in heaven?

• Now it is time for Kid to say goodbye to Michelle. Heyes watches through the windows of the stagecoach from his perch on the steps…a nice touch. Kid is truly sad to say goodbye, and after another overwhelmingly feminine discourse from Michelle, they kiss and part. Heyes joins Kid as they watch the stage coach disappear, and softly asks “you feelin’ all right?” Ah, it’s just our boys, back together again…