Jim Hardie has been sent to Placer City to investigate a robbery where a Wells Fargo employee was killed. The holdup gang is smart, methodical, and nothing is known about them. When his stage is stopped by bounty hunters who intend to murder a passenger, Frank Woodson, in cold blood to collect a reward, Hardie intervenes and saves his life. Later in Placer City, Hardie finds that one of the the holdup gang was captured, a young man around 20yrs old named Bud Sawyer. Hardie decides to impersonate Jessie James, who has just been killed, in the hopes a staged jailbreak might trick the kid into leading him to the murderous holdup gang.
Here we have another episode involving an historical character, but with a different slant. Although Hardie is posing as an outlaw named "Jessie", he never claims to be Jessie James directly. In fact, he purposely avoids using the last name, saying his last name is Howard, but it doesn't take much to plant the seed. Although Hardie seems to know a lot of famous outlaws in other episodes (for example, the Daltons), he claims only to have met Jessie James once some time back.
This is the second episode where the parable "cast your bread on the water" is used, the first being The Pickpocket, three episodes back. But the two episodes had different writers, so no harm no foul, since both episodes involve a favor repaid.
I won't say this one is bad, since Jim Hardie is always a great watch. It has a decent reveal at the conclusion, involving another famous name. But I would rate this one in somewhere in the middle area of the series, there isn't much action and the plot isn't particularly original. Nevertheless, ToWF absolutely adheres to EWIBIG (Even When It's Bad, It's Good).
I can't say anything about the cast, since I only recognize one member, Gene Roth, from his appearance in one of the best eps of Cheyenne, Big Ghost Basin. But looking up their credits, they made some great creature/alien/lost-world pictures for sure.
Not one of the greater episodes, but a decent watch.
Here we have another episode involving an historical character, but with a different slant. Although Hardie is posing as an outlaw named "Jessie", he never claims to be Jessie James directly. In fact, he purposely avoids using the last name, saying his last name is Howard, but it doesn't take much to plant the seed. Although Hardie seems to know a lot of famous outlaws in other episodes (for example, the Daltons), he claims only to have met Jessie James once some time back.
This is the second episode where the parable "cast your bread on the water" is used, the first being The Pickpocket, three episodes back. But the two episodes had different writers, so no harm no foul, since both episodes involve a favor repaid.
I won't say this one is bad, since Jim Hardie is always a great watch. It has a decent reveal at the conclusion, involving another famous name. But I would rate this one in somewhere in the middle area of the series, there isn't much action and the plot isn't particularly original. Nevertheless, ToWF absolutely adheres to EWIBIG (Even When It's Bad, It's Good).
I can't say anything about the cast, since I only recognize one member, Gene Roth, from his appearance in one of the best eps of Cheyenne, Big Ghost Basin. But looking up their credits, they made some great creature/alien/lost-world pictures for sure.
Not one of the greater episodes, but a decent watch.
