THE BOUNTY HUNTER**

• It is a cute scene right out of the gate in this episode, as our boys ride along talking about their finances. Kid chides Heyes for their predicament, expressing he thinks Heyes has failed, even with his nimble mind and silver tongue…and Heyes says, “I am getting the distinct feeling you are beginning to lose confidence in me”, to which Kid replies, “Oh, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that…” Heyes is relieved, obviously, and grins… “You wouldn’t?” only to hear from Kid, “No, but I sure would defend your right to say it.” It tickles me how the Kid holds Heyes entirely responsible for their well-being in every way except the muscle.

• Heyes’ distaste at being made to lie down on his belly is perfect. There are just some things that don’t leave a man with dignity and I would say in his mind this is one of them.
• Mmmm! I do love the look on Heyes’ face as he acquiesces and lowers his body to the ground. Yummy.
  
• Seems to me Joe took a real risk by having the Kid get off his horse to the left—and between his and Heyes’ horses. It is very likely there would have been a rifle in the rifle holster on the right side of Heyes’ horse.
• There is only the slightest acknowledgement of surprise when our boys first see the man capturing them ride up on horseback. I think it is very fitting of the times that they would be slightly taken aback to see a black man as a bounty hunter, but the reaction is portrayed perfectly by both actors…showing just a moment of “oh, he’s black” but not an ounce of racism connected. Very nicely done. Any slight variance in expression by either Peter or Ben and it may have been a story with a very different feel…

• I don’t know why, but when Heyes says, “Say, what’s this all about? Huh?” and “You’re making a terrible mistake, now…” I giggle. There is something in his voice in those moments that just tickles me so...
• A great moment as Heyes lets his head drop hard to the ground as Joe tells them not only who he is but who they really are! I can feel his frustration!
  
• Lou Gossett is an incredible actor. I have been a fan for many years and I just now realize this is most likely the first place I ever saw him. I think he does a brilliant job in this episode and he takes second place on my Top Guest Star list only to Bradford Dillman’s amazing portrayal of Spencer in the yet to come episode, The McCreedy Bust: Going, Going, Gone.



• Ok, am I just a lustful old woman—as a friend recently pointed out and I don’t quibble with—or does Peter even look sexy from the back with his hands up…? I adore the way he holds his fingers…an upward version of his distinctive hands on his hips pose, and I savor seeing a bit of his forearms. This man is as good as it gets in my judgment. A beautiful example of everything I obsess about.
  
• Heyes having to give Kid a bear hug so he can have his hands tied by Joe is a very popular scene to most fans according to fan sites. But even though I am able to watch it now, it is a scene that has always bothered me. I am a very spatial person, and I am also very claustrophobic, so the combination of these two men being forced to be so deeply in each others’ spaces and being bound while doing it, is a moment I find hard to enjoy. For normal people, I guess it is probably just a pleasant, amusing scene. For me, I find it difficult to breathe.



• I am astounded by the many times the boys have called each other Heyes or Kid in front of others. I can usually get past it by thinking, "well they are quite a way from the others..." but not in this case! There stands Joe Sims, as close to the back of Kid's head as Heyes is to the front of his face as Kid says, in full voice--not even an attempt at a whisper--"Heyes, quit breathin', will ya?" Did he think sound waves only travel in one direction? Please.
• Before I say what I must say next, please be advised that death threats to this site, to my personal email addressess or any of my other sites are stictly prohibited. Cowboy up now, and take it like a man as I say I think Peter looks horrible in the first moments of the bear hug scene. It may be makeup, or an attempt to make him look dirty, or it may be Peter, but he has a uni-brow that is so unattractive on him I have to consciously overcome my feelings about how he looks to enjoy what is one of the best episodes of the series.



• I wonder why Clay is giving Peter such a hard time in this episode. He keeps pulling his head back, and is very often moving sideways rather than forward. I wonder if it is the rough terrain they are moving over. Clay usually seems to be a very well behaved horse, so I think it must have something to do with the environment.
• I am surprised to hear Heyes say "damn" for the first and only time in the series. A friend brought it to my attention, as I had apparently missed noticing it the first time around. Being known to pepper my own speech with a fair amount of four-letter words, I find it natural and realistic to hear it said by Heyes.
• A great unscripted Peter moment when Clay stops short as the men are talking about Joe making a damn fool out of himself, and Peter has to spur him forward and demand, “C’mon”.
• It is poignant as Joe describes to our boys what made him become a bounty hunter. His delivery of the words is so matter of fact, portraying a total surrender to the hand he has been dealt and no self-pity, that it is quite touching.
• I gotta say, it is a good thing our boys wear stampede strings on their hats. They have their hats knocked off their heads so often they would go broke replacing them.
• And so the racism begins. A lynch mob is going to teach Joe a lesson—and make sure he never shoots a horse again—by killing him. I always wonder in scenes such as this if it is painful for the actors involved. I know it is play acting, but is it hurtful for Lou Gossett to hear the racist words coming from the mouth of the white actor? Does it hurt the other actor to have to say those words directly to a black man?





• Kid gets a whim of kindness and convinces Heyes they need to try to save Joe from the lynching. The boys lay on their backs to load their guns, and I find this quite appealing. And as they return to their positions on their stomachs, I take note of how nice their butts look in chaps and my mind wanders to the warmth of the rocks beneath them, against their bellies…I admit to another “damn, baby!” moment. ®®§




• I consciously force myself to stop daydreaming about them lying on the warm rocks, and pay attention to their task at hand. Their plan works and the lynch mob retreats, leaving Joe to escape. It was the right, and only, thing to do, boys. You made me proud.
• Oh, my. Lou Gossett really shouldn’t wear stretch pants. Let me just suffice it to say, that is one pretty substantial endowment for the arts…*giggle*
  
• Kid is feeling all giddy about doing a good deed right up until the sound of Joe’s voice breaks the spell. How rotten to do something so good and right and be rewarded by being recaptured. But Joe is a man with a purpose; that much is obvious.



• What a great moment as Heyes, already experienced in what is taking place, begins to lie down on his own…only to hear Joe say, “Wait till I tell you…” and just as he stands back up, Joe says, “All right, get down.” There is no confusing who Joe feels the boss is with these boys. He won’t relinquish even the tiniest smidgen of control. It is a funny moment, but it also gives us a very clear picture of the character of Joe Sims.



• I laugh when Heyes, lying on his belly in the dirt once again, yells to Joe, “I don’t think you fully understand the situation. We, the two of us, have just saved your life.” To which Joe replies, “Yessir.” And without missing a beat, “Now you Mr. Curry…” and proceeds to give Kid instructions on what to do so Heyes can, once again, tie him up. I suspect Joe is not someone who can be swayed by sentiment.



• Exasperated by Joe just wanting the rewards on their heads, Kid says, “In other words, it’s just the money!” “Naw, sir. Not in other words…” Joe counters, “them are the words.” What a great line. Some of the writing in this series is just top notch.
• What terrible filming in the scene as Heyes rips into Kid about saving Joe’s life. The scene itself is funny, but it looks like the boys are sitting still on a wagon or something rather than riding horses.
• There is an exquisitely bright moment in the badly filmed scene…and that is Joe listening and laughing as Heyes rips into the Kid. It is just perfect that he would find such entertainment in the squabble between the two notorious outlaws. And it is fun when Heyes won’t let up and Kid finally shouts, “All right!!” A really well written scene.



• There’s the “preacher” from Never Trust an Honest Man. Robert Donner always does a part justice.

• Yikes! Another scene—this time with Joe speaking—where the filming doesn’t work and it looks like a smooth riding wagon instead of horse riding. What is wrong with this director? His ridiculous filming experiments have been problematic in past episodes, and lord knows I have been vocal about my objections, but this is just downright ruinous to the scene. It kind of saddens me because otherwise, this is such an exceptionally well written and acted episode…and I will even say very well directed except for these few unfortunate—and wildly distracting—missteps.
• He is out to do our boys in, and yet I feel sorry for Joe as Robert Donner and his crew send him packing without a horse, gun or the outlaws he so badly wants to turn in. Somehow, this character is being portrayed so brilliantly that I find myself almost rooting for him to win out over our favorite outlaws. But not quite, of course!
• For a minute there, I thought we were going to be subjected to yet another long, weird, cackling laugh—this time from the man in the tree. But we were thankfully spared…with just a short, but nonetheless irritating, rendition.
• Heyes spinning tales, without taking a breath, about who they “really” are is priceless. Each time he tells it, it becomes more detailed, down to church suits and baking and who Kid is set to marry. I think I would let him go, just to shut him up! And Kid is just riding along, stone faced as ever, but probably still confident his partner will talk them free...
• It is just delicious that Heyes shows such awe at Joe’s skills. He is a man deeply respectful of cunning and street smarts, like his own. We have really never seen anyone Heyes has gone up against and been handily beaten by before. To me it is lovely to see Heyes challenged in such a way. He doesn’t run across many who are his equal and it is an irony and a superb bit of writing that his equal is a black man. Well done!
• "Joe, you're marvelous." What an odd thing for one man to say to another, and yet it works so well here it feels absolutely natural.



• No matter what, we can count on Kid not losing his appetite. Most people, except the Brits of course, *wink* would be put off their food just a bit by the trauma they are enduring. I have a suspicion the Kid would hungrily wolf down his last meal before going to the gallows. He must have the intestinal fortitude of steel.
• Joe is a very smart man. He has outwitted our boys at every turn. When Nate asks Joe if he knows the difference between his left and his right hand, it hits home with me that it is an unfortunate reality in the history of this country that a man with that kind of intelligence can be so disregarded and abused by our society. And simply because of his color, assumed to be ignorant by the most ignorant among us. Shameful.
• I love Joe’s reaction when Kid maneuvers his hands out of his tether and shoots the gun out of Nate’s hand …. “My god, you didn’t go and do it again…” laments Joe. The look on Lou Gossett’s face, the hands on the hips…just perfect.
• Poor Kid, rubs his wrists bloody to get free of his restraints, only to be outwitted once again by the bounty hunter.
  
• It is interesting to me that Peter’s voice has completely changed as Heyes becomes resigned to the fact that Joe is just going to keep outsmarting them. He still tries to talk his way out, but it is with a voice full of exhaustion and defeat. Absolutely perfect acting on Peter’s part.
• What a sweet moment: “Heyes? The Mayor’s daughter?” “I figured you deserved the best.” And the Kid is still sure his partner will take care of things…”You’ll think of something…” That care between them? Better than chocolate.
  
• Now you know I don't want to get crude. And you know I never ever see things with a sexual slant. *giggle* But I just have to wonder what kind of physical release the Kid is having at the moment his shackles are removed...What do you think, Bennies?
  
• It never fails to amuse me that the Kid gets upset when Heyes says something negative about him…even though he knows Heyes is only trying to talk their way out of trouble. “Kid Curry is supposed to be one of the fastest guns in the West, right? Ha—you took his gun away from him twice.” And Kid reacts with a hurt look and an angry retort. I think the Kid is much more emotionally sensitive than he lets on.
• Joe is shot down in cold blood and it affects me the same way this kind of scene always affects me in any show…I feel personally ashamed. It is a horrible commentary on the times then and on our times now. Hate crimes are still prevalent in today’s society, crimes as heinous and unjust as shooting Joe in the back. What have we learned since 1880, or since 1971 or in 2009? I could stand up on my soap box right now and speak the words of the righteous, but I will spare you.

• Another of director Barry Shear’s intrusive camera ploys as Joe dies. Instead of letting Joe fade away, he jars us with a sudden, blurry freeze frame. Man, what a waste of a good moment.
  
• I am proud that our boys, at personal risk to their freedom, make the decision to go to the law about what has happened to Joe. They both have a core of goodness that carries us through the times when they exhibit less than redeeming qualities.
  
• And now that I am schooled on the meaning of the term “clay back”—a dark line of hair from tail to saddle--I can clearly see it displayed on Clay as he carries our hero Heyes off to the next episode.
  
• This was a well done episode. A story that was both painful and funny…old west and modern. It had social value. It is one the actors involved should have felt pride over. Peter, were you able to feel any pride over it?