Tom Tryon guest starred several times in The Virginian, but here he is Cliff Darrow, an old friend of Ryker (Clu Gulager). Now a wanted man, but hoping to start a new life, Darrow arrives in Medicine Bow under as assumed name with his wife and stepson. Ryker recognising him threatens to throw a spanner in the works, but so strong was their past friendship that instead of arresting him, Ryker rolls up his sleeves and starts to help the novice farmer and his family.
Bringing into the regular cast, a character with such a chequered past as Ryker must have been a boon to the scriptwriters, who could mine his background for new material, material which reveals more about him than the self-possessed Ryker would ever give away. Who would have thought that the former gunfighter and gambler could rope cattle and build fences as well as any Shiloh hand? The fact does not go unnoticed by Sheriff Abbott (Ross Elliott) who is furious when he learns that his deputy has been helping a felon instead of handcuffing him. The murder of a blackmailing cowboy who discovered the truth of Darrow's past seals the man's fate. It also loses Ryker his job but, dogged detective that he is, he continues to investigate until the whole truth is revealed.
Bringing into the regular cast, a character with such a chequered past as Ryker must have been a boon to the scriptwriters, who could mine his background for new material, material which reveals more about him than the self-possessed Ryker would ever give away. Who would have thought that the former gunfighter and gambler could rope cattle and build fences as well as any Shiloh hand? The fact does not go unnoticed by Sheriff Abbott (Ross Elliott) who is furious when he learns that his deputy has been helping a felon instead of handcuffing him. The murder of a blackmailing cowboy who discovered the truth of Darrow's past seals the man's fate. It also loses Ryker his job but, dogged detective that he is, he continues to investigate until the whole truth is revealed.
