vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 512
Likes: 419
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Post by vrkalak on Jul 15, 2023 17:00:49 GMT
I liked this episode. First the way Artie is introduced with a switcheroo--although wasn't it dumb for the wagon driver to have his badge on? Also, after Artie shoots the lawmen in the train-asking the criminals to remove the body seemed a rather risky thing give that they were playing dead. But I did enjoy the scenes with him and the Countess--and the way he removed the henchmen by the train door was funny. I knew the horse was going to toss the Count from the saddle. This is the first episode I can recall where Jim laughs.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, but this episode holds a prominent place on my Worst Episode List. Thanks for continuing your watch, and for sharing your thoughts here! Lots of funny bits in this one: Jim teaching the Count the Tucson two-step. Jim laughing when Count falls off the horse. Ford Rainey reading Stage and Sports. Artie pushing folks off the train.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 29, 2023 6:29:44 GMT
"The Night of the Running Death"- At 30:15-30:27 is the infamous stunt gone wrong with Red West and the piano.
I thought something was amiss with the fight. Jim gets beaten up rather aggressively in this one. That strangling at the start was threatening.
I guessed the identity of the killer rather quickly--I think because I had seen the actor in question don a similar disguise in a movie with Jack Lord--although if I had not had deja vu--I probably would have been fooled. Artie's second disguise was appropriately complex so as not to be recognized by anyone.
The ending seemed strange to me--it ends with the ice cream--and then we get the card game--doesn't it seem odd that they had two end scenes with them alone in the train?
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 512
Likes: 419
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Post by vrkalak on Jul 29, 2023 13:20:22 GMT
Running Death is one of my fav’s. Bullets for my rifle and whiskey for the inner man.
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 29, 2023 15:24:58 GMT
"The Night of the Running Death"I thought something was amiss with the fight. Jim gets beaten up rather aggressively in this one. That strangling at the start was threatening. I guessed the identity of the killer rather quickly--I think because I had seen the actor in question don a similar disguise in a movie with Jack Lord--although if I had not had deja vu--I probably would have been fooled. Artie's second disguise was appropriately complex so as not to be recognized by anyone. The ending seemed strange to me--it ends with the ice cream--and then we get the card game--doesn't it seem odd that they had two end scenes with them alone in the train?
Thanks again for reading my reviews and posting your own thoughts. I always enjoy reading your comments. I only wish we heard from you more often.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 29, 2023 22:12:44 GMT
The Name of the Game is Kill is the movie with TC Jones and Jack Lord.
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 29, 2023 22:40:40 GMT
The Name of the Game is Kill is the movie with TC Jones and Jack Lord. I never heard of The Name of the Game is Kill before now. However, looking at its IMDb page, I see it was directed by Gunnar Hellström who directed three TWWW episodes, including The Night of the Running Death (S3 E15). So apparently the use of T.C. Jones in that movie was due to his earlier appearance in TWWW. Gunnar Hellström also directed The Night of the Samurai (S3 E06). Finally, as noted in Sue Kesler's book, "The first part of The Night of the Fugitives (S4 E07) was directed Gunnar Hellström, but because of a twelve week shut-down after the accident, the rest of the episode was directed by Mike Moder, who got full credit."
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 30, 2023 0:18:58 GMT
If I had not seen the movie I am sure I wouldn't have guessed because I remember i surprised me in the film.
One thing I don't understand--what was the significance of the molasses? I know it tastes terrible--but why did that clue matter? I don't remember them eating ice cream on the wagon train. Did I miss it? Was it something Enzo-in disguise-liked?
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ralfy
New Member
@ralfy
Posts: 38
Likes: 7
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Post by ralfy on Jul 30, 2023 2:29:36 GMT
I remember concluding that around 25 pct of the episodes being good, similar being bad, and the rest average. One thing I noticed for the rest was they tended to drag, although I could not find a quick fix in the storytelling for any of them. They remind me of several episodes from Combat, The Invaders, Land of the Giants, and even the Logan's Run and Planet of the Apes TV shows.
I was also hoping for an atmosphere that was creepier, like what I saw in the Night Stalker series.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 30, 2023 6:46:49 GMT
This last episode wasn't really much of a spy story--I didn't get the vibe of James Bond in the Old West with this one--but I didn't mind the variation. The only episode that has thrown me off is the one with the house that seems to bend time and space. That sci-fi element was too much. The episode I remember best from watching 3 seasons so far (excluding the Puppeteer one which stands out because it has such a self-contained story) is the one with John Dehner as the "superior man" with the 19th century bionics.
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 512
Likes: 419
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Post by vrkalak on Jul 30, 2023 11:33:29 GMT
If I had not seen the movie I am sure I wouldn't have guessed because I remember i surprised me in the film. One thing I don't understand--what was the significance of the molasses? I know it tastes terrible--but why did that clue matter? I don't remember them eating ice cream on the wagon train. Did I miss it? Was it something Enzo-in disguise-liked? Diedre mentioned on the trip from St Louis to Denver her liking of the addition of molasses to cherries jubilee.
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 30, 2023 15:20:34 GMT
This last episode wasn't really much of a spy story--I didn't get the vibe of James Bond in the Old West with this one--but I didn't mind the variation. That's the nature of Season 3 - they changed the format. As I noted in my Season 3 Recap, "The emphasis on traditional western elements did, to some extent, rob the show of its unique identity." However, the series course corrects in the fourth and final season. As I noted in my Season 4 Recap, "Not only did Season 4 return the series to its original concept of 'James Bond in the West', it was a triumph in the face of adversity."
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 12, 2023 4:23:50 GMT
"The Night of the Arrow"I wrote in a previous post, "Looking over the remaining episodes on Disc 3 and those on Disc 4, the only ones I really remember, based on the titles, are 'The Night of the Turncoat' and 'The Night of the Arrow'... The latter is a more traditional western, but a good one." I not only stand by my earlier statement, but would now add that this episode is even better than I first thought. This is a highly memorable hour of television. This was one of the best of the series IMO. For one thing--it had a return to gadgets--the flare gun West uses was cool and the lock picker device Artie has was neat too. Also, this is the first episode I recall where they arrive at the train and are outside before they enter. At night too.
The banter between them and Aimee was really amusing--I would say she was one of the most memorable of femme fatales. Artie's disguises--all three were very clever--the unwanted prisoner I would put in the top ten. That guy was memorable. The story twists were good too--I did not expect it to be so complicated. Another touch I liked was that Jim wanted to watch the boxing match instead of being with the girl.
The only negative I would give it--was no scene of the father learning of his daughter's treachery. That would have been interesting to see perhaps. Just to give her a better denouement.
For once, Artie got the cuter date too I think.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 12, 2023 16:10:01 GMT
"The Night of the Arrow"I wrote in a previous post, "Looking over the remaining episodes on Disc 3 and those on Disc 4, the only ones I really remember, based on the titles, are 'The Night of the Turncoat' and 'The Night of the Arrow'... The latter is a more traditional western, but a good one." I not only stand by my earlier statement, but would now add that this episode is even better than I first thought. This is a highly memorable hour of television. This was one of the best of the series IMO. Artie's disguises--all three were very clever--the unwanted prisoner I would put in the top ten. That guy was memorable.
The only negative I would give it--was no scene of the father learning of his daughter's treachery. That would have been interesting to see perhaps. Just to give her a better denouement.
This is an episode that didn't quite achieve all-time classic status for me, but would have been included as a "great" episode if I had broken them out in my Season 3 Recap. Definitely one of the best of Season 3. That's a good observation about "no scene of the father learning of his daughter's treachery". As always, thanks for reading my reviews and posting your own thoughts.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 12, 2023 19:47:31 GMT
Another thing I noticed--they didn't spoonfeed certain obvious things like how Artie was able to withstand bullet fire. You pretty much guess that he had a protective thing there. I don't remember it being shown.
Another thing is that they don't proselytize much if at all--I was expecting Jim to be preachy or more critical about the attitudes expressed on indians and he doesn't say much if anything. He keeps his opinions guarded--which is what you would expect considering his job and the era of the story. It's not like Kirk. I assume that they wanted Grant to re-appear and that was more important than seeing the colonel again since he was hardly in the story anyway.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 12, 2023 20:56:12 GMT
Another thing I noticed--they didn't spoonfeed certain obvious things like how Artie was able to withstand bullet fire. You pretty much guess that he had a protective thing there. I don't remember it being shown. They have shown Jim wearing a bullet-proof vest before, and even showed him testing it in The Night of the Infernal Machine. So yeah, it's not unreasonable to assume that Artie was wearing a similar vest under his disguise. I assume that they wanted Grant to re-appear and that was more important than seeing the colonel again since he was hardly in the story anyway. That makes sense to me. Even with a fifty minute run time, they can only show so much.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 26, 2023 7:22:59 GMT
"The Night of the Headless Woman" I call this Cottonfinger. I liked the opening location for the stagecoach.
The scene with the mannequins was kind of spooky. Doesn't Artie's pipe count as gas too?
I thought that was a funny bit. Overall I wouldn't rate it too highly despite having Mary Ann and Oscar Goldman.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 26, 2023 16:56:58 GMT
The stunt where Conrad goes along the rope and lands on the horse looked rather impressive.
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Post by Prime etc. on Sept 16, 2023 3:54:03 GMT
"The Night of the Vipers" I liked the music and the look of the vipers. Those glistening hoods were cool. Nick Adams returned! Nice to see him again. Very different from his previous role in the show. I think his last movie was a western in Mexico--I don't know if it has ever been dubbed into English.
The pool shot Artie does is pretty good! I thought it was funny when West is knocked out of the boxing ring and he appears from the upper corner to leap on the guy. I had forgotten about the bomb too-I was expecting gas to come out of that fortune teller statue.
I was expecting Sandra Smith to have a more important role in the conspiracy. I just assumed she would be a sinister figure.
Artie's disguise was pretty simplistic but i guess that has to happen sometimes.
The explosion of the wagon looked rather dangerous--West had to move pretty fast avoid being in close proximity.
The ending is very abrupt.
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Post by alpha128 on Sept 16, 2023 4:01:59 GMT
"The Night of the Vipers" I was expecting Sandra Smith to have a more important role in the conspiracy. I just assumed she would be a sinister figure. Perhaps because you remember her as the villainous Dr. Janice Lester in "Turnabout Intruder", the final episode of Star Trek?
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Post by Prime etc. on Sept 16, 2023 6:01:20 GMT
Perhaps because you remember her as the villainous Dr. Janice Lester in "Turnabout Intruder", the final episode of Star Trek? Also she was the hostile wife in The Greenhouse Jungle episode of Columbo.
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