"The Threat" marked the return of Richard Bakalyan, back in the same role he played in the pilot, Bart Vogan's constant taunting of the rebel costing him some buckshot in the neck, but the only villain to survive. Still up to the same old tricks, now with two accomplices in another town, holding the citizens in a grip of fear while awaiting the arrival of the 4:00 train and a dozen more henchmen. The townsmen offer money and goods to Vogan, just like they did in Johnny Yuma's birthplace of Mason City, with Sheriff Ike Howard (Trevor Bardette, previously seen in "The Unwanted") an old friend of Johnny's late father Ned, who was gunned down facing Vogan's gang all alone. There are echoes of "High Noon" in both plot and execution, the townsmen showing their appreciation for Yuma's defense of their town by beating him senseless, even the sheriff seemingly powerless to act. Richard Bakalyan would return for one more episode, in the title role of "The Calley Kid," while Ben Wright was making his third and final appearance.
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