Incident at Deadhorse: Part II

This review sort of encompasses both parts 1 and 2.

There was not enough material for a two-parter. The first episode had way too much filler. Burgess Meredith prattling on and on, Hey Soos walking in circles all night, and other dullness dominated the hour.

The show also lacked action. Very little cattle, no gunfights, just a lot of talking.

Burgess Meredith was very popular back in the day, but his acting here has not stood the test of time.

It also makes no sense for Wishbone and Mushy to hang around town for hours. They were supposed to pick up supplies; instead they are in the Sheriff's office, trying to argue their position (or rather, the position of Burgess Meredith). Surely Mr. Favor would want these drovers back in the camp ASAP, not lingering in town sticking their nose into other people's business.

Speaking of Wishbone and Mushy, it would be one thing for Rowdy Yates or Gil Favor to insert themselves into this explosive situation. But Wishbone the cook? He is going to confront a mob of vigilantes? No, not likely.

When the Locals bring Burgess, Wishbone, and Mushy back into the drovers' camp, the story bogs down again. Way too slow. When is something going to happen?

We get yet another soliloquy from Burgess Meredith. This is really starting to drag. Come on, please, we want some action!

Finally, the end of the show is mercifully approaching. We get the action we have been waiting for. But it's too little, too late.

The best I can do for Part 2 of Incident at Dead Horse is

* * * * * * * 6 Stars * * * * * * *

Florida Fred

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Again a completely ridiculous plot defeats a guest cast of some fine players. Continuing on from part one, hangman Burgess Meredith goes back to the town of Death Horse to hang Broderick Crawford. But his sons Paul Carr and Hampton Fancher won't let that happen. Paul Brinegar and James Murdock bring Meredith back to town and then are roughed up and have to stand by while Meredith is tarred and feathered.

Although it is none of their business and Eric Fleming argues it so, still he leads his trail crew into Dead Horse to see justice done. Of course the fact that Wishbone and Mushy got assaulted does play into things.

As I said in my review of part one, this thing never should have gotten as far as it did which colors things for part two as well. The ending is completely ridiculous, never could have, never should have played out as it did.

I believe the reviewers need to understand that justice was quick and harsh in the old west, due to the ramped lawlessness people were hung for crimes that in the East would have been a long prison sentence.

It amazes me how people often side with killers, just because they murdered someone that killed their adult children or father - disregarding if the adult children or father was a criminal or if their murder was self-defense...

We are all someone's children, so not sure why we are suppose to feel empathy when a 17 or 18 year old criminal/murder is killed in self-defense. In my book, anyone over the age of 15 that is not mentally disabled knows what they are doing when they pick up a gun to rob, kill, rape, etc., they deserve no empathy - it's an automatic 20 years prison sentence.

I gave Part I a high vote because the story was so imaginative: the richest, friendliest, most powerful, most popular man in town does something that admittedly everyone in town would have done in his situation -- gun down the lowly card sharp who murdered his son. But a judge and jury convict him of premeditated murder and sentence him to hang, as a warning to others that you shouldn't take the law into your own hands! The condemned man (Jud Hammerklein, played by Broderick Crawford) professed not to be worried because he didn't think anyone in town would execute him, he being so popular and justified. I had to suspend disbelief, but I enjoyed the episode and wondered how this would turn out in Part II. I saw Part I on Friday and eagerly awaited Part II on Monday.

****spoilers galore****

Well, they hung him, to my great surprise and disappointment! Among my qualms: (1) there were so many extenuating circumstances that I don't think Jud would ever be condemned to death in real life. A prison term would have been enough of a punishment to show that no one is above the law. (2) in real life there would be lawyers involved and disputed facts; the date of execution would not be so soon; there would be appeals; and there would be a pardon or commutation of sentence, especially for such a rich and popular old man, a pioneer. (3) if the out-of-town professional hangman would be scared away, there would always be another under guard, or Jud would have been moved out of town -- so much for Jud's idea that no one would execute him. (4) Favor and his men have to be the luckiest group alive. This is the umpteenth time that there is a potentially violent standoff of opposing armed forces at the end of the episode, and just in the nick of time Favor and his men are saved by the opposing forces coming to their senses and giving up! (5) are Jud's sons going to be jailed for attempted murder of the executioner? Never mentioned.

Broderick Crawford is the wealthy rancher/villain who does not want to hang after being convicted of murder.

His best friend is the master of bad acting, Chill Wills. Great at portraying one-dimensional characters. Here he plays Crawford's best friend, and the somewhat corrupt town sheriff.

Crawford's sons are played by equally bad actors Hampton Fancher and Paul Carr. They are the one-diminsional protective sons who want to kill the hired hangman (Burgess Meredith) and the drovers.

Burgess Meredith is the "special request hangman" that is sent because nobody else wants to do the job. Meredith's broken neck is forever bent and shaky because he survived a lynching once. Since then, his life has been dedicated to properly hanging criminals, so they won't survive.

Just a totally ridiculous story that goes off the rails. The rancher's sons try to kill off Meredith three times, and the drovers keep rescuing him, and healing him back to health.

Meredith just keeps telling Wishbone all the reasons he cannot quit, regardless of how much trouble he is causing everyone. Meredith keeps getting on his horse to go back to town, because he would rather die than not do his job.

Why Gil Favor stays behind for three days to babysit Meredith is never explained. Why do the drovers keep rescuing Meredith? At one point the town villains bury Meredith under a stack of rocks, and that would have been a good time for Favor, Rowdy, Quince, and the rest of the drovers to drift on by with their herd of beeves.

Meredith explains to anyone that will listen that he is willing to die because his family died because of him. The only thing that has meaning in his life is hanging criminals. Bizarre story about a creepy weirdo trying to hang an arrogant wealthy rancher, so he can feel good about himself. This should have been one episode.

The acting is worth a few laughs. I always enjoyed Meredith because he specialized in strange and bizarre characters. He was on the Twilight Zone a few times as a weirdo.

He was previously on Rawhide in an episode called "The Fishes" where he was a man who abandoned his wife so he could travel with his beloved tropical fish and put them into new lakes and ponds so they would spread. Just like in that episode, Meredith's character creates mayhem for everyone, and he couldn't care less. It was only about him.