The A plot is that a Federal marshal and his men show up in Four Corners to take Vin back to Texas for a murder he didn't commit. To everybody's surprise except the audience, the marshal and his men are fakes. How they pulled off that particular con, who knows? Even in the 19th century, Federal lawman had to provide valid paperwork, right? But these guys just stroll into Four Corners, try and grab Vin, get stopped, say they're Federal marshals, and take him away.
I suppose I can buy that since there's no sheriff in town, any Federal men would grab Vin themselves rather than try to present themselves and have the local law hand Vin over. Since Vin is part of the local law, it gaslights the entire phoniness of the scenario, and makes the viewer why Texas and/or the Federal government has never sent anyone to bring Vin back to Texas for real.
Heck, in the previous episode, there was a real Federal marshal in town, and he said that he knew about Vin being wanted in Texas but seemed happy to let Vin leave town on his own. Putting the two episodes back to back just raises more questions than it answers, and was a mistake.
The B plot is Ezra buying a saloon, and Michelle Phillips returning to the show as his mother Maude to start a competing business and a wacky war of competition is on! Her intent is to keep Ezra on his toes out of a desire to be a good parent. Maude charms Josiah, giving Ron Perlman a chance to ham it up in an episode that doesn't do much with his character Josiah otherwise. Even Nathan gets in on things when Maude hires him to be her business' physician. Credit to actor Rick Worthy: he does a good job with Nathan's sheepishness for selling out Ezra.
I don't believe that Nathan would abandon the townspeople just to work for Maude. And does he charge for his services?
The C Plot is a woman accusing Buck of being the father of her unborn child. We get a little more of Josiah giving Buck the 19th century equivalent of marriage counseling. Buck decides to do the right thing, only to discover Eudora with the baby's real father. The woman, Eudora, admits that she claimed that Buck was the father to force the real father's hand. This is all portrayed as comedy, although it seems pretty tasteless and mildly immoral.
The Ezra/Maude subplot does gives us Fabenia Udenio as Inez, Ezra's new manager that Maude puts in charge after she buys out Ezra's saloon. Inez will return in a couple of future episodes, and she often made a decent guest star in her 90s appearances and later. Her Inez is no exception.
Overall, "Sins of the Past" is okay. It focuses more on Ezra than Vin, even though it's supposed to be Vin-centric. It doesn't resolve Vin being wanted for murder in Texas, and it exposes the plotholes in that storyline. It probably should have stayed in the background, rather than being the focus of the episode. The less attention on it, the better.
There's nothing else wrong with the episode. The characterizations are good, the Seven all get some ensemble attention, and Starke and Perlman are good as always. There's just not much there there. Why is Eli so hot and bothered about Vin? Who are Yates and his men? Did Eli just go to "Fake Federal Agents R'Us" and hire them? It's implied here there's some big conspiracy going on, but nothing ever comes of it. It seems like a lot for little payoff.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
I suppose I can buy that since there's no sheriff in town, any Federal men would grab Vin themselves rather than try to present themselves and have the local law hand Vin over. Since Vin is part of the local law, it gaslights the entire phoniness of the scenario, and makes the viewer why Texas and/or the Federal government has never sent anyone to bring Vin back to Texas for real.
Heck, in the previous episode, there was a real Federal marshal in town, and he said that he knew about Vin being wanted in Texas but seemed happy to let Vin leave town on his own. Putting the two episodes back to back just raises more questions than it answers, and was a mistake.
The B plot is Ezra buying a saloon, and Michelle Phillips returning to the show as his mother Maude to start a competing business and a wacky war of competition is on! Her intent is to keep Ezra on his toes out of a desire to be a good parent. Maude charms Josiah, giving Ron Perlman a chance to ham it up in an episode that doesn't do much with his character Josiah otherwise. Even Nathan gets in on things when Maude hires him to be her business' physician. Credit to actor Rick Worthy: he does a good job with Nathan's sheepishness for selling out Ezra.
I don't believe that Nathan would abandon the townspeople just to work for Maude. And does he charge for his services?
The C Plot is a woman accusing Buck of being the father of her unborn child. We get a little more of Josiah giving Buck the 19th century equivalent of marriage counseling. Buck decides to do the right thing, only to discover Eudora with the baby's real father. The woman, Eudora, admits that she claimed that Buck was the father to force the real father's hand. This is all portrayed as comedy, although it seems pretty tasteless and mildly immoral.
The Ezra/Maude subplot does gives us Fabenia Udenio as Inez, Ezra's new manager that Maude puts in charge after she buys out Ezra's saloon. Inez will return in a couple of future episodes, and she often made a decent guest star in her 90s appearances and later. Her Inez is no exception.
Overall, "Sins of the Past" is okay. It focuses more on Ezra than Vin, even though it's supposed to be Vin-centric. It doesn't resolve Vin being wanted for murder in Texas, and it exposes the plotholes in that storyline. It probably should have stayed in the background, rather than being the focus of the episode. The less attention on it, the better.
There's nothing else wrong with the episode. The characterizations are good, the Seven all get some ensemble attention, and Starke and Perlman are good as always. There's just not much there there. Why is Eli so hot and bothered about Vin? Who are Yates and his men? Did Eli just go to "Fake Federal Agents R'Us" and hire them? It's implied here there's some big conspiracy going on, but nothing ever comes of it. It seems like a lot for little payoff.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
