Certainly can't claim the hour amounts to a promo for glamorous New Orleans. Instead we get a gander at some really seamy parts of the dock area. In fact, the 'shed' that Carrie and her mom live in would be condemned in the proverbial Slobovia. It's really Bethune as the impoverished, shy Carrie who makes up the main thread in a multi-plotted screenplay. She's so emotionally needy, I wanted to slip into the screen and hug her. Not pretty in the conventional sense, she does project an appealing presence. Too bad the entry doesn't provide her with more airtime.
The plot's really a mix of Carrie and her embittered mom (Fields); old man Gant (Hull) and a smuggling gang; and Public Health Doctor Stafford (Hamilton) and a possible bird flu epidemic. Any one of these threads could have fleshed out a good hour's drama. But I suspect as a new series, R66 wanted movie vets like Fields and Hull to add name recognition to the marquee. And that meant giving them enough dramatic spotlight to satisfy their standing. Anyway, that scene where a tentative Carrie goes to an upscale dress shop for something suitable for her date with Tod is a highlight. It's likely her first date and she's so poignantly self-conscious as she keeps asking the impeccable salesgirl for something less expensive. On the other hand, there's the raspy Fields with enough eye shadow to scare Karloff. Still, she does get to show her chops in a spotlighted scene near the end. Meanwhile, Buzz gets to slug a few guys, while Tod plays Carrie's protector.
All in all, between the location shots, our two road wanderers, and the appealing Bethune, I expect this third episode helped put the series on the TV map. That and Bethune certainly did for me, as I remember even now.