On the Trail (6 Feb. 1989)

With the loss of Sean O'Brien, the cook refuses to cross the river and Woodrow and Gus find themselves in their old stomping grounds of San Antonio looking for someone to prepare their ... See full summary »

Director:

Simon Wincer

Writers:

Larry McMurtry (novel), William D. Wittliff (teleplay)

Stars:

Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Duvall	...	Augustus 'Gus' McCrae
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Woodrow F. Call
Danny Glover	...	Joshua Deets
Diane Lane	...	Lorena Wood
Robert Urich	...	Jake Spoon
Frederic Forrest	...	Blue Duck
D.B. Sweeney	...	Dish Boggett
Ricky Schroder	...	Newt Dobbs
Anjelica Huston	...	Clara Allen (credit only)
Chris Cooper	...	July Johnson
Timothy Scott	...	Pea Eye Parker (as Tim Scott)
Glenne Headly	...	Elmira Boot Johnson
Barry Corbin	...	Roscoe Brown
William Sanderson	...	Lippy Jones
Barry Tubb	...	Jasper Fant

Storyline

With the loss of Sean O'Brien, the cook refuses to cross the river and Woodrow and Gus find themselves in their old stomping grounds of San Antonio looking for someone to prepare their meals. On the trail, Jake Spoon abandons Lorena temporarily to go off gambling. Gus visits her but is far more concerned when an old foe, Blue Duck, appears. Blue Duck rides off but later returns and takes Lorena hostage. She has a very hard time of it. Meanwhile, Roscoe Brown is trying to catch up with July Johnson in Texas. He finds him but not before being joined by a young woman and coming face to face with two bandits. They all meet up with Gus and July helps Gus locate Lorena. It's not so good for those July's left behind at his own camp however.

---

Plot Keywords:

bar shootout | dead child | rape

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Western

---

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 February 1989 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Motown Productions, Pangaea, Qintex Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Wade comes back to the camp from turkey hunting, he finds Luke trying to rape Elmira. He grabs Luke's boots and drags him off, on his belly. The next scene, Wade is holding Luke's boots and the heels are facing out, as they would be if Luke was still on his belly, but in the next scene, Luke is on his back. Again in the next scene, Wade is still holding Luke's boots, belly down, but Luke is still shown on his back.

---

Quotes

Monkey John: [Blue Duck has shot an Indian that disagreed with him] Life is cheap up here on the Canadian.
Blue Duck: It's apt to get a lot cheaper. Let's gamble.

User Reviews

"These lives are lost for good, son"

The saga continues north. The first episode was a broad , leisurely weave, like sitting around with the boys. This one is for the most part a revenge western, more anxious and violent, life is really not worth a damn on godless plains like these, it just blows this way and that with the sand. The focus is on Gus as he trails after kidnapped Lorie and an old enemy.

A pattern begins to emerge; the different strands of plot are obviously going to converge ahead in Oglalla, but in the meantime, we are given different shrapnels of broken lives to contemplate.

Women are the narrative center, this is nice to see in a western. Everything is threaded around lust for them, love, memory.