21 DAYS TO TENSTRIKE

• Here come our boys, riding into a new episode looking all trail worn and weary. I must say, for me, it is one of the most appealing looks on them. There’s something about a cowboy, dirty and tired. Makes a girl think of all kinds of ways to dust him off and help him relax.

• I like that the Kid talks to his horse. It is an infrequent occurrence, but one I really appreciate. It always sort of bothers me how easily the two men can sell their horses and buy new ones any time they need to, giving me the feeling they think of them solely as transportation and not something to be cared for and treated well. So when the Kid calls his horse ‘old fella’ or Heyes scratches his mount’s nose it pleases me that they show at least some emotional connection to their steeds.
• You know, for all these months, I have found something about Ben’s portrayal of the Kid slightly unsettling and if I am being honest, even irritating. It is his tendency to get all little boy stupid over simple things. But just this moment, while he did it again as he pulled the quarter he had been saving for an emergency from his vest pocket, I had a revelation that Ben has played this character named the KID with great precision. He has made it a part of his character’s nature to be childlike and inane at times. The Kid is a strong and able man, and yet he exhibits his juvenile, innocent side with the person he trusts most in the world, Heyes. And Heyes playfully teases his partner over other things but he never chides him for that element of his personality. I think it was probably Hannibal Heyes who first gave the Kid his nickname…I can just picture little Jed tagging along behind the slightly older, and probably already self-possessed Hannibal when they were kids; undoubtedly a bit of an annoyance to the big brother Heyes…”All right, kid, I guess you can come with me…”
  

• Peter looks more and more haggard as the final episodes wear on, but I find him extraordinarily alluring here in this scene as the boys consider a job with Mr. Tynan and Jake Halloran. I’ve grown tolerant of the huge sideburns, realizing they aren’t enough to extinguish the intrinsic beauty of this man, and his hair this long has always been very appealing to me. I’ve made no secret of the fact I like him a bit dirty and unkempt, and this image just encapsulates everything I love about Peter Duel’s looks for me. It never ceases to amaze me, though, that no matter how many times I see him, in how many personas, he takes my breath away. I just don’t believe there has ever been anyone better. *sigh*

*sigh*

• Well, money always caps the deal! It tickles me how completely inconsistent the series has been in regard to money, though. In some episodes, fifty dollars is made to seem like a huge amount of money (more in keeping with the times, I would think) while in others, fifty or sixty thousand is made to seem somewhat commonplace. I don’t mind it, I just notice it.
• Oooohhh, a cattle drive! Let’s see how sexy our boys look high in the saddle and cutting through the dust…

• I wonder if the Tynan’s are actually homeless. What else could possibly possess this young wife to ride along? It sure as hell wasn’t for any comfort. If jealousy was the reason, this woman would have to be almost psychotically afflicted to go along on a dirty, exhausting, smelly cattle drive just to keep an eye on her marginally attractive husband. Does she think maybe there is a wagon full of prostitutes, genially providing comfort for the poor drovers? C’mon. It makes no sense for this woman to be along for the ride.
• It seems pretty foolhardy to me for the camp cook to shatter the evening’s calm by hammering away at a metal pan. Isn’t there an easily startled herd of cattle nearby just hankering for a stampede?

• What’s the deal with the weird hat orientation on Jake Halloran? It looks like he is wearing a normal hat with the side facing forward. I wonder why he doesn’t ride side saddle to go along with it. *chuckle*
• In my mind, I simply cannot picture a better actor for the part of camp cookie than Walter Brennan. What a gem this guy is. Just seeing him traveling along, in command of that big old chuck wagon—which at his advanced age I am certain is an illusion—makes me smile.

• Oh, man. Right in the middle of the action of Kid taking on Ralph in a fist fight, there is Walter Brennan without his teeth! I just love that image on so many levels! It totally steals the scene for me, though, and I have to quit smiling and focus on the fight at hand…

• Throughout the series, I have never quite understood the enjoyment Heyes takes in watching Kid get his ass kicked. It makes for interesting viewing, but I can’t quite reconcile this characteristic with the deeply caring and supportive relationship I know these two men to have. If the Kid were really being badly hurt, would Heyes just sit there and watch? I have to believe he wouldn’t—that he would step in and back up his friend in need—but the story almost dictates he would do nothing, and would actually enjoy it. It must be meant to be cute, and in some unexplainable way it is—but it is also disturbing when held up in contrast with the rest of our boys’ relationship.

• I don’t know if all these guest actors are particularly tall but Ben looks small to me in comparison with the others. And does he not look decidedly more boyish and young just as Peter seems to age before our eyes?
• The Kid’s admonishment of Heyes for not supporting him in the fight, even by encouraging words, brings about a funny line from Heyes that he shouldn’t be expected to back a loser. But what really works here is the Kid’s reaction—he falls right into Heyes’ trap and begins a boastful tirade of how he would have won if the fight had been allowed to continue, all to Heyes’ amusement and palpable skepticism.

• In what I consider the second most amazing couple’s moment of the series—bettered only by the exquisite touching of hands when they fell, depleted, to the ground expecting to die in Smiler—Heyes dips a bandanna in the pond and tenderly dabs at the Kid’s bruised and battered face, while speaking in a nurturing, yet masculine tone. It is simply beautiful to see this interaction; the absolute lack of embarrassment on Heyes’ part as he gently tends to his friend; the Kid’s complete acceptance –even expectation—of his partner’s affection and care. I am so enamored with this moment I am resentful of the intrusion by Mrs. Tynan. Personally, as a woman, I think if I saw these two men engaging in such a private exchange, I would stand back for a time in wonderment and would certainly not want to step in and disturb the obvious intimacy of the moment.

• But Mrs. Tynan does intrude and once I am over my irritation toward her, I find I really enjoy Heyes’ teasing of the Kid after she leaves—“Well, here we are, only two days out. You got yourself beat up, made yourself an enemy, and the boss’s wife has got her big brown eyes pointed right at ya. And only nineteen more days to go!”

• There is one tasty glimpse of Heyes’ pride over the Kid’s pugilistic competence when Mrs. Tynan tells him he is the only man who has ever been able to hold his own in a “dispute” with Ralph. Maybe what Heyes is displaying when the Kid gets into scuffles isn’t enjoyment, but tough love—letting him fight his own battles to allow him to better his skills. Ok, that works for me! It isn’t that Heyes is just a cad! *giggle*

• I’ve said it before…I just applaud any actor willing to show himself on TV without his teeth! And somehow, Mr. Brennan without his manages to remain quite cute and charming.
• I absolutely love the stand alone carrot morsel that Gant puts on the Kid’s plate when he laments his meager ration with “Is that all I get?” Old Gant staring down the Kid’s puppy-dog-eyes plea with his own look of amused innocence is just priceless. What a great scene!

• Heyes chews that piece of meat so long I begin to wonder if it is still alive. I don’t imagine the food was particularly well prepared on cattle drives—although I suspect Gantry would challenge that assumption—but it does seem like it should at least be edible on a television production.
• Oh, man. The way Bud speaks as he says, “A man carries a stiletto, he don’t show it arouuund…” really annoys me. It seems so overly dramatic, it’s like the actor is announcing, “I’ve got this one line—I’m gonna make it stand out…”
• Surely a chuck wagon would have its wares tied down better than that, wouldn’t it? I mean really, wouldn’t it?
• I thoroughly enjoy the whole scene in the chuck wagon as Heyes comes to visit the captive Kid. From start (“Hi”) to finish (“See ya!”) the dialog is amusing and on point. I wonder what Heyes keeps looking over his shoulder for, though. Seems like a mighty loud environment to foster any kind of eavesdropping to me.
• I wonder when the Kid gets a chance to pee. It is funny to me that such a thing is never addressed. A few scenes back he looked headed off into the neighboring brush, when he was commandeered by Jake. Now what he has swallowed hasn’t even reached his stomach when he is told his ropes are going right back on. I wonder, and worry, about such things!
• I ain’t talkin’ about Jones. Said so perfectly by Walter Brennan I just can’t help but laugh. I love his voice and his toothless speech and everything about him. What a great old actor. And how wonderful that he graced us with his presence here, in one of the very last performances he ever made.
• What beautiful acting all around as Gant accuses Mr. Tynan of killing the two cowhands. Linda Marsh, who I haven’t found much favor with until now, doesn’t utter a sound but shows clearly on her face the devastation her character feels at being the subject of bunkhouse rumors. Walter Brennan adds a wonderful slant to the accusatory Gant and shows his dramatic expertise quite well and Pernell Roberts is exceptional in his portrayal of the affronted Mr. Tynan, intent on recusing himself. Really, really well done.

• I’m not sure I understand the animosity between our boys in this episode. There has been no reason shown to us, from the beginning of the episode, why they are getting on each other’s nerves. Maybe it is simply because they are working a job they hate and the atmosphere is making them grouchy. It makes for some cute lines but it falls flat for me. I guess I just don’t accept concepts without premise.

• I do like when the Kid turns the tables on Heyes and says basically what Heyes said to him…that he isn’t sure his partner is innocent. The fact that Heyes falls for his teasing and has to finally sheepishly acknowledge it is wonderful. Heyes can see and accept his own foibles…it is a splendid trait. And although he falls victim to this kind of teasing fairly frequently from Heyes, the Kid doesn’t manage to pull it off very often. Turnabout is fair play, Mr. Smith.

• That sound Heyes makes as he is awakened absolutely cracks me up!! It makes it clear to me that he was mid-dream, and pulled mercilessly from the fantasy. What an exceptionally communicative way of letting us know how deeply Heyes was asleep, when it is the Kid who will begin talking about dreaming. Bravo, Peter!

• It amazes and amuses me that Heyes would ask who won when Kid describes his dream where they have to “shoot it out”. He must really have a vivid fantasy life!! *chuckle*

• I wonder if the word “wow” really existed in the 1880s.
• I seriously want to smack that misshapen, set askew hat off of Jake Halloran’s head. I have never seen a cowboy hat look so ridiculous in all my life. And it seems to almost emasculate both the character and the actor in the process of just looking stupid.

• Of course there are rumors running rampant about Mrs. Tynan and almost every cowpoke on the drive. They are a small nomadic community of men with one woman among them—an unattainable woman at that. Men jockeying for position in the alpha roles are always going to claim bragging rights to possessing the female. The simple solution to the whole damn mess would have been for Mrs. Tynan not to have come on the trail drive. Of course, then we would have had no story. I just wish the writers had realized the importance of having a reason for her to be there, to give us a solid tale.
• I like the whole conversation between our boys and Gantry as he joins them to apologize to Thaddeus. Gant is ashamed and they are accepting and amiable and trusting enough in him to allow him into their confidence. There is also a twinkle of what I saw in Heyes in Smiler With a Gun toward Seth—a kindness and reverence toward an old man. It is a charming scene all around.
• How could Gantry possibly use the stiletto against Jake in any way except as evidence? He doesn’t have it, and he doesn’t know where it is. Sometimes it seems like the writers were asleep on the job!
• Is it the bandana around Ben’s neck that makes him look 17 in this episode? I haven’t been able to pinpoint any change in him physically and I have already wondered here if it is just the more noticeable contrast between Peter and him as Peter’s appearance deteriorates. I just can’t seem to figure it out and the only thing at all different is that he is wearing a bandana and no hat. It almost looks like first season Ben to me but that can’t be because Peter looks much older and more tired than he did in the first season. It’s perplexing.
• I love the way Peter delivers the key line in the scene—his response to Gant’s inquiry of why the boys robbed banks— “That’s where the money was kept.” His eyes betray no silliness, he seems to be speaking the truth with a bit of bewilderment at why anyone would need to ask because the reason for robbing banks is so obvious. There are so many ways Peter could have played this moment and the way he chose shines brilliantly.

• That’s some pretty good shooting on ol’ Gantry’s part! I guess already having the gun cocked with your finger on the trigger and not even having to reach into a holster for it saves a bit of time!

• The speed at which Pernell Roberts delivers the lines "I want you to take the responsibility of seeing that he gets to Tenstrike and I want you to turn him over to the sheriff when you get there. Will you accept the job?" and the odd way he drops the tone of the last word, job, makes it seem like he is overacting in a badly made sci-fi adventure movie. He is a good actor, making it hard for me to understand his strange choice of intonation.
• You know, sometimes I think I am just way too picky. But seriously, given the reins himself, if old Gant decided to attempt an escape in the heavy, ungainly chuck wagon, how far do you think he would really get? Is it really necessary to use an able bodied drover to drive Gant to the remainder of the way? I think the Kid could easily make sure his charge gets to Tenstrike by just riding by the wagon occasionally and asking for a hardtack or piece of johnnycake or something. *giggle*

• I wonder why Ben is wearing his Season One hat. Boy, I am getting more and more confused about why he seems to be in Season One while Peter seems to be at the end of the road… *sigh*
• Dick Cavett’s acting is amusing. All he had was a bit more than three lines and yet he managed to make even that seem stilted! I like Dick Cavett very much, but he was a much better talk show host than an actor.
• One of the most special things I have ever found in my non-stop-around-the-clock quest for information on Peter is the video from the Dick Cavett Show of the blocking of the scenes of the boys visiting Gant in jail. I greedily cling to any cherished peek into the reality of Peter the person, and this wonderful behind the scenes look tugs at me even more deeply than most. Maybe it’s that Peter is smoking, which makes it impossible to dispute that it is not his character in this small moment. It may be the way he chews his lip, exhibiting nervousness, or shyness or just humanness as he looks at Dick Cavett, who is talking. Maybe it’s the tiniest glimpse I catch of him breaking into a smile in the next moment over something Cavett has said, and I see that fleeting instance of the smile reaching his eyes. It may be that I notice the courtesy he shows as the gate slips from his grasp and closes prematurely on Ben, and how in the actual scene he has corrected that and his fingers linger, making sure the gate stays ajar long enough. I just feel so moved by this glorious gift of seeing Peter alive at this time in his life, so close to his impending death. It lifts me up at the same time it breaks my heart; which, when I think of what I just said, is exactly what Peter has always done.

♥ Link to the Cavett clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdZ1ScwJZDQ