This is easily one of the most star studded episodes of Wagon Train. We even have affable Sam Drucker (Cady) in this "who's who" episode.
And it has lots of "punch".
It isn't the most remarkable story. It's a routine "bad guy" story about legendary outlaws who are more cruel than likable.
They do have motivation, however, and that sets them apart from other outlaws.
They adopt a fairly new member of the Wagon Train regular cast, Burns, who stumbles into being an outlaw with them.
The young newcomer goes through ups and downs, and doesn't know which of the two outlaws is worse. In the end, both are evil with evil intentions, and in fact, both are so consumed by their evil that it becomes their motivation more than their motivation becomes evil.
It's not exactly a novel idea. Nearly all of the depictions in Westerns of outlaws show the outlaws to be sadistic and ruthless. You have to cherry pick the ones that actually romanticize Western outlaws. For every "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" there are nine "Bullet For a Badman" movies, and the Butch-Sundance movie was basically a comedy.
So, while it is the formula TV episode, it does have the punch and pizzas to be exciting, because we see it through the eyes of Burns, who has to react to the evil around him.
And it has lots of "punch".
It isn't the most remarkable story. It's a routine "bad guy" story about legendary outlaws who are more cruel than likable.
They do have motivation, however, and that sets them apart from other outlaws.
They adopt a fairly new member of the Wagon Train regular cast, Burns, who stumbles into being an outlaw with them.
The young newcomer goes through ups and downs, and doesn't know which of the two outlaws is worse. In the end, both are evil with evil intentions, and in fact, both are so consumed by their evil that it becomes their motivation more than their motivation becomes evil.
It's not exactly a novel idea. Nearly all of the depictions in Westerns of outlaws show the outlaws to be sadistic and ruthless. You have to cherry pick the ones that actually romanticize Western outlaws. For every "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" there are nine "Bullet For a Badman" movies, and the Butch-Sundance movie was basically a comedy.
So, while it is the formula TV episode, it does have the punch and pizzas to be exciting, because we see it through the eyes of Burns, who has to react to the evil around him.