NEVER TRUST AN HONEST MAN**

• Heyes has never been more adorable in a little boy, sweet-eyed way than he is in the opening scene. His voice is soft, his face gentle as he wakes Kid from a sound sleep on the train to tell him they have passed back into the United States and things are going well for them. Kid is startled to be awakened, though, so Heyes instinctively grabs Kid’s hand as he goes for his gun. Beautiful. These men know each other. The entire exchange between the two, with Kid sleepy and annoyed, but still conciliatory because Heyes obviously needs this moment, is really so sweet.

• I am struck by Ben’s acting in this scene…he seems so natural in the half-asleep mode. I appreciate his skill in this scene. Now that I think of it, another scene from another episode where I thought Ben did a particularly good job is in Everything Else You Can Steal, and involved him falling asleep as he is speaking…I wonder if maybe I just like Kid sleepy. *giggle*
• Here we see another example of Heyes’ strong desire to look directly into people’s eyes; which to me translates into his need for deep communication. As Kid begins to wake, Heyes’ searches his face, watching for the Kid’s response to “Hey, Kid, you awake?” Getting a reply from Kid in the negative doesn’t deter him, because he has looked into Kid’s eyes and knowing he is alert enough to understand, Heyes simply ignores him and begins talking…
• There is something that has happened in several episodes that absolutely fascinates me. Peter, again demonstrating the depth of his amazing acting talent, actually changes his voice in scenes where he and the Kid are speaking privately. The changes are small, almost imperceptible, until we hear him speak to someone else in his normal tone. In this case, the variance is almost jarring as Heyes uses his sweet, couple’s moment voice with softened tones and almost childlike cadence as he wakes Kid and then abruptly changes back to his own very male baritone as he responds to James Quirt’s invitation to join Mr. Harlingen for some poker. It is interesting to listen to this scene with ones eyes closed; the variance in Heyes’ voice seems enormous when we only hear it. In this scene and others in which he uses his private voice, we see that Heyes’ gentle way of speaking is reserved only for intimate exchanges with his partner. It is like two entirely different men speaking and it is reflective of the unique relationship these two heterosexual men have with each other. It says more to express feelings than any words spoken in the scene. And it moves me every time I witness it. This exquisite nuance in his acting seems to me to be another example of what made Peter much more than merely a good actor.
• What is with that vest on Quirt…is it Halloween?

• It drives me nuts that the boys are basically railroaded *heehee* into joining Mr. Harlingen and the oddly dressed Quirt for a game of poker. First of all when Quirt condescendingly says, “you boys don’t seem to understand” I want to throttle him. You see, there is absolutely nothing to understand if you have not given any clue to what the hell you are actually talking about. I am already in aggravation mode from that faux pas, when Kid says they really can’t afford to play poker with the owner of a railroad, and Quirt comes back with, “You can’t afford not to”, flashing the most arrogant look at the boys. WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, they can’t afford not to? Is the idiot railroad owner going to throw two paying customers off his nearly empty train for not playing poker with him? Will they be fined, or thrown into jail for turning down a poker game? Someone tell me, please, what would they have lost had they not played poker; what could they not afford???
• A rather nice butt shot of Kid, if you like a rounder butt, and a piss-poor butt shot of Heyes, as the ugly bag pushes its way between Peter and the camera. It’s ok though, we didn’t really miss much. I see Heyes is back in those brown synthetic slacks. What a shame.
• The first several times I watched this episode I thought Harlingen was saying “Heyes bets…” and I just couldn’t understand it. Being of sharp mind, it only took me 15 viewings or so to think to turn on the closed captioning, where I discovered he is actually saying “Ace bets”. That obviously makes more sense but confuses me as to what type of poker they would be playing where a leading card means you bet first. See? Just like I said. You can’t understand something if you have not been given any clue to what the hell they are talking about…
• Several breathtaking close ups on Heyes as the opening credits roll…just sitting there playing poker and looking beautiful. These have become some of my favorite pictures of Peter, as I have now discovered I am not only fixated on his hands and arms, but have developed a full-fledged lust for his freckles. I found, when enlarging pictures for calendars I am making, that he has the most beautiful smattering of them all over his face, his neck, and even on his lips. *sigh* They are the kind that aren’t very evident unless looked for and just give his skin a wonderfully warm tone. He seems to be in less makeup for this episode and I greatly appreciate seeing him in a more natural state. I could just gaze all day…®§ and then ®§ again. *satisfied sigh*

• Mr. Harlingen’s nose enhancement is creepy, with an apparent loosening of the glue around the left nostril. I thought for a minute there we might witness a weird nose meltdown a’ la Michael Jackson, but mercifully, we were spared from that happening and only see a glimpse of the bizarre discoloration and disconnection of the prosthesis from the actor’s real nose.

• I don’t know why exactly, but I have a feeling the little laugh and interaction between Peter and the actor playing Mr. Harlingen right before he says “You gentlemen said you were getting off at Bountiful” was a natural occurrence between the two actors and not the two characters. For some reason I have an instinctive feeling that Peter and Severn Darden enjoyed each other.
• Kid seemed almost non-existent in the opening poker scenes. I am bound to wonder why he had no lines to speak of and basically just filled a chair.
• There is the handsome Heyes, resting with his eyes closed as Kid shaves…to me, as someone who examines every finite detail of movement or expression of Peter Duel, there is an intimacy, a privacy, about it and the way he speaks, half asleep, that is very special to me. It is silly, but it stirs me.

• Kid looks pretty good with his shirt off. Ben’s upper body is quite pleasant to look at, with the beautifully tanned skin and strong chest, arms and back. Not bad. But I am put off by a couple of glimpses I catch of him looking at himself in the mirror…it seems just a bit too self-appreciative for my taste.

• Ok, why is Kid flicking his own nipple? A thought to ponder.

• Heyes is predictably charming as he sees what is in “his” bag and comes fully awake, sits straight up and says, “where’d you get those?” Perfect.

• I love the whole exchange between Kid and Heyes about the bag. Kid obviously realizes this is someone else’s bag, yet Heyes feels the need to clarify “this is not my bag” as Kid continues to tease him…until, that is, Heyes pulls something from the bag…”ooh, a bible,” he says, somewhat reverently. “Now I’m convinced. It ain’t your bag...” says Kid. One of the best lines in the series. Really excellent. ®

• I laugh at the comment “everybody has my bag” from Heyes. I believe this is the fifth episode we have seen it in. I suspect this won’t be the last time we see it either.
• I absolutely love how Heyes’ entire body succumbs to his laugh as the boys talk about the fortune they have just found. He is all little boy and giddiness until he pulls himself in and the mature and responsible Hannibal Heyes takes over. It always astounds me that as an actor, Peter uses his body as adeptly as his words in expressing so many different emotions. What an exceptional actor he was. *sigh*®
• Seriously. What’s up with Quirt’s peculiar fashion sense? We already know he is a bit odd, having seen the garish orange and black vest. Now, on his mission to find Smith and Jones for Mr. Harlingen, he comes gallivanting out of the mansion with a girly-man silk scarf around his neck and an absurdly ill- fitting hat on his head.

• I like that Heyes mispronounces the word 'suite' as he points out what he believes to be Miss McNeice’s room in Harlingen’s house. I think it would be very accurate for a man who hasn’t had much formal education but who loves to read to pronounce it just as he does. My idea of the back story of his childhood and early adult life would support the idea that he sounds out unfamiliar words, as he would as a child because he had the basic teaching as a boy, but in all probability is primarily a self-taught man.

• A great scene as Heyes climbs in Miss McNeice’s window and spies her undressing behind a provocatively lit curtain. I don’t believe for a minute Heyes would look away to speak to Kid, below him. I have to say the filming was pretty suggestive; the shadows reveal no semblance of clothing on the woman. It’s my kind of humor, as Heyes tells the Kid “Considering why we’re here, maybe she won’t be too upset, but she’s gonna be surprised” followed by Miss McNeice seeing Heyes and then only hearing the crash of breaking glass as she falls into a dead faint. Flawless.

• Kid says, after getting a whiff of the perfume Heyes is holding under Miss McNeice’s nose to rouse her, “I think it’s getting to me, too…” hinting at sexual arousal, and Heyes reprimands him, “Kid you are beginning to show an amazing lack of character”. I couldn’t agree more…I mean, geez Kid, this is an unconscious woman. Get a grip.

• I adore ‘Speak to me Miss McNeice, speak to me’ and as she gets ready to scream, ‘No! Don’t speak to me!’ and the gloved hand covering her mouth. Absolutely delightful.

• It is cute that when given cigars by Mr. Harlingen, neither of our boys knows what to do with the bit they bite off the stogies, and they kind of surreptitiously toss the bits behind their backs…What a poor host Mr. Harlingen is though, to not offer the boys some means of disposal…

• Of course, Mr. Harlingen saying he can’t be expected to pay for the boys’ mistake, “…after all, you picked up the wrong bag” makes me crazy. Anyone who leaves a bag containing 5 million dollars worth of rare gems lying around where anyone could accidentally pick it up and wander away with it either has his head up his butt or deserves to have the gems taken and never returned…or both.
• A perfect reaction from the Kid to Heyes’ comment, “You already know that my partner and me are men of integrity”. Excellent job, Ben!
• Here is another example of one of my favorite intricacies about Heyes, or maybe Peter’s acting. It is the beloved disarming smile, get your victim to agree with you, drop the bomb ploy and it works beautifully each and every time. Smiling slightly, Heyes says, “I think we’d like to earn a thousand dollars…” Harlingen agrees…and Heyes, now tight lipped and without even a glimmer of a smile in his eyes, says “for each of us.” Mighty fine, indeed. ®



• Ewww…Harlingen has very feminine, small hands…and wow, what a creepy guy to have played TWO creepy characters. I can certainly understand Miss McNeice’s repulsion by him. The actor is quite skilled though and does a magnificent job of making the two characters feel very different.
• Ugh…I am almost unable to watch the scene as lecherous Alan tries to steal a kiss from Miss McNeice. The poor man is so unappealing, and even more so when he is engulfed in this pathetic display of yearning.

• I can’t figure out where it is that Logan and the Preacher meet to discuss the job. At first it felt like a jail cell to me, but Preacher certainly wouldn’t have a bottle of booze with him in jail. It doesn’t appear to be a home. Is he homeless and drinking in an alley when Logan finds him? I suppose that is the most likely of scenarios.

• Is Richard Anderson reading cue-cards as he tells the boys his plan to let them escape? I can’t figure out why else he would be looking to his left like that when speaking to people directly in front of him unless he is needing some help with his lines. I have seen Peter fleetingly reading his script in a couple of instances in other episodes, I believe, but he is much more discreet and capable at it.
• Don’t look for sympathy from me. Quirt deserved to get shot off his horse and break his neck just for the woman's scarf and goofy looking hat he was wearing.
• A very slick scene when we first see Preacher, standing on the rocks, all in black a’ la Johnny Cash, after he shoots Quirt. “Bless ya, boys…”

• Ok, that is some divine camera work, as we see Heyes, from knee to chest only, walk across Harlingen’s bedroom after climbing in the window. If that beautiful slice of hu-man belongs to a stand-in and is not Peter Duel, I DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO TELL ME. ®§
• I have truly gone off the deep end. I realized that during most of the scenes with Heyes talking to Mr. Harlingen on his bed, when the camera is on Harlingen I am focused on Heyes’ shadow, which is vastly more interesting and attractive than Mr. Harlingen. *embarrassed giggle* ↓

• You don't want to make Kid's finger twitch, Mr. Harlingen. Trust me.

• Heyes is a natural nurturer…he thoughtfully hands Harlingen a glass of water from his night table so he can take his pill…then places it back when Harlingen is done. Ok, let’s make a list: beautiful looking, strongly built, smart, masculine, sexual, funny, loving, sensitive, gentle, sexy, intuitive, nurturing…Oh, my. Some genius has gone and made the perfect man… *huge sigh*
  
• Ford Rainey and Marj Dusay do an excellent job portraying the shamed father and disillusioned daughter in the scene in the old man’s kitchen. Quite nice.

• A giant triple ewww…Miss McNeice is now cozied up to Alan…she is obviously a gold-digger. There is no explaining the alliance otherwise.
• Remuneration. Wow.

• This is number three on my list of favorite comedy episodes. Really good from start to finish.