The Wild Wild West > Episode Analysis > The Four Elements

alpha128
Elite Member

@alpha128
Posts: 14,819
Likes: 17,904

The Wild Wild West > Episode Analysis > The Four Elements Mar 9, 2017 1:22:50 GMT Prime etc. likes this

Quote

Post by alpha128 on Mar 9, 2017 1:22:50 GMT

I originally posted this on that other site.

Episode Analysis: The Four Elements of The Wild Wild West

Back in the 1990's, cable network TNT was running The Wild Wild West weekdays. Watching the show five days a week, I quickly noticed a pattern.

The same four elements appeared in virtually every episode:
1.) Fistfight: Jim gets into frequent fistfights with the bad guys.
2.) Disguise: Artemus dons at least one disguise in most episodes. In the fourth season, Jeremy Pike and Frank Harper carry on this tradition.
3.) Beautiful Woman: Almost every episode features at least one beautiful woman. Sometimes she's a damsel to rescue, other times she's a villain. Occasionally, she's just a supporting player.
4.) Gas!: Countless episodes feature some kind of gas. Examples include diversionary smoke, knock-out gas, and poison gas. Sometimes, as in Season Two's "The Night of the Eccentrics", there's no explanation for it, it's just there!

For those looking for an analogy with the four Greek elements:
Fistfight = Earth (The bad guys are left on the ground.)
Gas = Air
Beautiful Woman = Fire (Beautiful to look at, but you may get burned.)
Disguise = Water (Water can take on multiple forms: liquid, solid, gaseous.)

While watching the DVDs, I've maintained a checklist of the four elements as they appear in each episode. Let me tell you, it's made the DVDs even more fun!

I've encountered only one episode that has none of the four elements - Season Two's "The Night of the Man-Eating House". You could argue that the mini-grenade explosion counts as gas, but I make a distinction between "smoke that represents an explosion" and "gas".

I should point out however that in Season Four's "The Night of the Winged Terror (Part II)", I do count the "smoke that represents an explosion" as "gas". That's because the "little poof" is a deception carried out by Frank Harper as part of the story, not just a special effect performed by the production team.

So without further ado, here are the four elements as they appear in each episode.

Season 1:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
                              |   Air    | Fist- | Dis-  | Beau-|     
          Title               |   Date   | fight | guise | ty   | Gas 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 TNOT Inferno                 |  9/17/65 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Deadly Bed              |  9/24/65 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNT Wizard Shook the Earth   |  10/1/65 |    No |    No |  Yes |  No 
 TNO Sudden Death             |  10/8/65 |    No |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Casual Killer           | 10/15/65 |    No |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNO a Thousand Eyes          | 10/22/65 |    No |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Glowing Corpse          | 10/29/65 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Dancing Death           |  11/5/65 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Double-Edged Knife      | 11/12/65 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNT Terror Stalked the Town  | 11/19/65 |   Yes |    No |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Red-Eyed Madman         | 11/26/65 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Human Trigger           |  12/3/65 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Torture Chamber         | 12/10/65 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Howling Light           | 12/17/65 |   Yes |    No |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Fatal Trap              | 12/24/65 |    No |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Steel Assassin          |   1/7/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNT Dragon Screamed          |  1/14/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Flaming Ghost           |  1/21/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Grand Emir              |  1/28/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Whirring Death          |  2/18/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Puppeteer               |  2/25/66 |   Yes |    No |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Bars of Hell            |   3/4/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Two-Legged Buffalo      |  3/11/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Druid's Blood           |  3/25/66 |    No |    No |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Freebooters             |   4/1/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Burning Diamond         |   4/8/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Murderous Spring        |  4/15/66 |    No |    No |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Sudden Plague           |  4/22/66 |   Yes |    No |  Yes | Yes 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Season 2:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
                              |   Air    | Fist- | Dis-  | Beau-|     
          Title               |   Date   | fight | guise | ty   | Gas 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 TNOT Eccentrics              |  9/16/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Golden Cobra            |  9/23/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Raven                   |  9/30/66 |   Yes |    No |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Big Blast               |  10/7/66 |   Yes |    No |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Returning Dead          | 10/14/66 |   Yes |    No |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Flying Pie Plate        | 10/21/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Poisonous Posey         | 10/28/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Bottomless Pit          |  11/4/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Watery Death            | 11/11/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Green Terror            | 11/18/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Ready-Made Corpse       | 11/25/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Man-Eating House        |  12/2/66 |    No |    No |   No |  No 
 TNOT Skulls                  | 12/16/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Infernal Machine        | 12/23/66 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Lord of Limbo           | 12/30/66 |   Yes |    No |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Tottering Tontine       |   1/6/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Feathered Fury          |  1/13/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Gypsy Peril             |  1/20/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Tartar                  |   2/3/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Vicious Valentine       |  2/10/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Brain                   |  2/17/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Deadly Bubble           |  2/24/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Surreal McCoy           |   3/3/67 |   Yes |   Yes |   No | Yes 
 TNOT Colonel's Ghost         |  3/10/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Deadly Blossom          |  3/17/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Cadre                   |  3/24/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Wolf                    |  3/31/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Bogus Bandits           |   4/7/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Season 3:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
                              |   Air    | Fist- | Dis-  | Beau-|     
          Title               |   Date   | fight | guise | ty   | Gas 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 TNOT Bubbling Death          |   9/8/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Firebrand               |  9/15/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Assassin                |  9/22/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TN Dr. Loveless Died         |  9/29/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Jack O'Diamonds         |  10/6/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Samurai                 | 10/13/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Hangman                 | 10/20/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNO Montezuma's Hordes       | 10/27/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Circus of Death         |  11/3/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Falcon                  | 11/10/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Cut-throats             | 11/17/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Legion of Death         | 11/24/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Turncoat                |  12/1/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Iron Fist               |  12/8/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Running Death           | 12/15/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Arrow                   | 12/29/67 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Headless Woman          |   1/5/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Vipers                  |  1/12/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Underground Terror      |  1/19/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Death Masks             |  1/26/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Undead                  |   2/2/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Amnesiac                |   2/9/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Simian Terror           |  2/16/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Death-Maker             |  2/23/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Season 4:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
                              |   Air    | Fist- | Dis-  | Beau-|     
          Title               |   Date   | fight | guise | ty   | Gas 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 TNOT Big Blackmail           |  9/27/68 |   Yes |   Yes |   No | Yes 
 TNOT Doomsday Formula        |  10/4/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Juggernaut              | 10/11/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Sedgewick Curse         | 10/18/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Gruesome Games          | 10/25/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Kraken                  |  11/1/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Fugitives               |  11/8/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Egyptian Queen          | 11/15/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Fire and Brimstone      | 11/22/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Camera                  | 11/29/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Avaricious Actuary      |  12/6/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNO Miguelito's Revenge      | 12/13/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Pelican                 | 12/27/68 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Spanish Curse           |   1/3/69 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Winged Terror (Part I)  |  1/17/69 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Winged Terror (Part II) |  1/24/69 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Sabatini Death          |   2/7/69 |   Yes |    No |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Janus                   |  2/14/69 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Pistoleros              |  2/21/69 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Diva                    |   3/7/69 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Bleak Island            |  3/14/69 |   Yes |    No |  Yes | Yes 
 TNOT Cossacks                |  3/21/69 |    No |   Yes |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Tycoons                 |  3/28/69 |   Yes |    No |  Yes |  No 
 TNOT Plague                  |   4/4/69 |   Yes |   Yes |  Yes | Yes 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Acknowledgements to The Wild Wild West, the Series by Susan E. Kesler for episode information.

vrkalak Sophomore @vrkalak Posts: 510 Likes: 416	The Wild Wild West > Episode Analysis > The Four Elements Mar 10, 2017 1:11:13 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by vrkalak on Mar 10, 2017 1:11:13 GMT Didn't West "disguise" himself as Prof Nielsen in "Wizard Shook the Earth?"

alpha128
Elite Member

@alpha128
Posts: 14,819
Likes: 17,904

The Wild Wild West > Episode Analysis > The Four Elements Mar 10, 2017 2:05:55 GMT

Quote

Post by alpha128 on Mar 10, 2017 2:05:55 GMT

Mar 10, 2017 1:11:13 GMT vrkalak said:

Didn't West "disguise" himself as Prof Nielsen in "Wizard Shook the Earth?"

Technically yes. But Loveless saw through it immediately and Professor Neilsen was killed literally a minute later, making it the most ineffective "disguise" in the history of the series.

My definition of "disguise" is essentially pages 134-136 of Sue Kessler's book, with the inclusion of disguises by Season 4 guest agents.

vrkalak
Sophomore

@vrkalak
Posts: 510
Likes: 416

The Wild Wild West > Episode Analysis > The Four Elements Mar 10, 2017 20:17:25 GMT

Quote

Post by vrkalak on Mar 10, 2017 20:17:25 GMT

Mar 10, 2017 2:05:55 GMT alpha128 said:

Mar 10, 2017 1:11:13 GMT vrkalak said:

Didn't West "disguise" himself as Prof Nielsen in "Wizard Shook the Earth?"

Technically yes. But Loveless saw through it immediately and Professor Neilsen was killed literally a minute later, making it the most ineffective "disguise" in the history of the series.

My definition of "disguise" is essentially pages 134-136 of Sue Kessler's book, with the inclusion of disguises by Season 4 guest agents.

I'm just messing with my friend Alpha.

alpha128 Elite Member @alpha128 Posts: 14,819 Likes: 17,904	The Wild Wild West > Episode Analysis > The Four Elements Mar 10, 2017 23:51:08 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by alpha128 on Mar 10, 2017 23:51:08 GMT Mar 10, 2017 20:17:25 GMT vrkalak said: I'm just messing with my friend Alpha. You raised a valid point. I must admit that my element definitions have always been somewhat arbitrary.

jervistetch Senior Member @jervistetch Posts: 8,866 Likes: 5,331	The Wild Wild West > Episode Analysis > The Four Elements Mar 11, 2017 1:32:54 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by jervistetch on Mar 11, 2017 1:32:54 GMT A staggeringly fascinating analysis, alpha. I commend you and your dedication to a classic show.

alpha128 Elite Member @alpha128 Posts: 14,819 Likes: 17,904	The Wild Wild West > Episode Analysis > The Four Elements Mar 11, 2017 1:49:21 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by alpha128 on Mar 11, 2017 1:49:21 GMT Mar 11, 2017 1:32:54 GMT jervistetch said: A staggeringly fascinating analysis, alpha. I commend you and your dedication to a classic show. Thank you very much!

The Wild Wild West > Episode Analysis > The Four Elements

Post by alpha128 on Mar 9, 2017 1:22:50 GMT

Post by vrkalak on Mar 10, 2017 1:11:13 GMT

Post by alpha128 on Mar 10, 2017 2:05:55 GMT

Post by vrkalak on Mar 10, 2017 20:17:25 GMT

Post by alpha128 on Mar 10, 2017 23:51:08 GMT

Post by jervistetch on Mar 11, 2017 1:32:54 GMT

Post by alpha128 on Mar 11, 2017 1:49:21 GMT