In this episode, Paladin takes a strongly original approach to selling his services and his uncommonly-acquired load of rifles - offering them at both sides of a violent feud at the same time, more like a Renaissance condottiere in Italy than a righteous medieval knight. Well, eventually he provides both rifles and services to the right side, brave and gunless Mexican farmers at risk of being despoiled of a fairly-owned land bequeathed to them. But before that he has offered them first to the wrong side, the land-grabbing bigwig white farmer - maybe he knew in advance it would be the wrong side and has just been seeking a confirmation, but what if his offer had been accepted?... Fortunately it is not and the Mexicans can have him and his guns - only, as we spectators know and he is not telling them, these guns are totally worthless - at this stage, the moral compass of Paladin appears to have slightly erred. Not so, because Paladin had another bright idea in the first place, make worthless fake weapons worthwhile by using them to impose a real curfew and surrender, by then the title of the episode is fully explained. We should have known that for the twisted sense of humor of Paladin, as a bloodbath-hating, gun use-reluctant gunslinger, the appeal of earning his wages with useless guns, without firing a shot, would be high.
Bright ideas, average rendering into a story - the Mexican characters are not very convincing, in particular, though the scene of the night trap is rather well filmed.
Review of Show of Force
