The Fatal Journey

Most definitely one of the better episodes, well acted and enough suspense to keep viewers attentive right through till the end. Sadly many of the actors have now passed away in real life (due to natural ageing etc) however we have these wonderful episodes to keep them in our memory till we too are gone. RIP James "The Virginian" Drury, Lee J Cobb, etc. We got Roberta "Betsy" Shore, Clu Gulager still with us so treasure them folks. They don't make em like that anymore.

Plenty of suspense in this episode as the Virginian has to go undercover. Robert Lansing is excellent as the cold-blooded leader of an outlaw gang, and several other typical Virginian guests appear in memorable roles. Well-acted and well-written and an explanation of Molly Wood's disappearance from the show (which happened in Season One).

Robert Lansing is the guest star in this Virginian episode about a former army colonel who uses his military training to lead a band of outlaws operating from a hideout in the badlands country. Molly Wood has printed in her paper an editorial asking for the army to come in and clean them out. Their response is to have some of them come into Shiloh and empty their six guns into the newspaper office killing her.

Although Pippa Scott had left the series the previous season this episode officially kills off her character. It also gives James Drury a motive to find these outlaws and bring them to justice. Again quite contrary to the original novel which justified lynching when there was no law around.

Drury finds the outlaws and finds Lansing as well and also finds a US Marshal undercover with the outlaws. The two of them play one dangerous game.

Some elements of such classic films like The Redhead And The Cowboy, Kansas City Confidential, and White Heat are in the plot of this good Virginian episode.

Happened to catch this episode on tv. Not as knowledgeable ab the Virginian as i am some other westerns and i was confused. Had questions concerning Molly. Enter the Reviews! Very often i check for these reviews on IMBd when i'd like more information ab an episode. Usually i find the answers i seek. This time i found two great reviews! In fact "bkoganbing" did an especially swell job, the review is quite interesting and informative. So when i (just) realized how often i come here i felt compelled to THANK EVERYONE who takes the time and mental fortitude necessary to write a great review. Also hopefully to encourage everyone to please leave their own opinions ab the episode. More is better and a lot would be just wonderful! 😬