SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 12: The Silent Gift (originally aired November 26th, 1966)

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Episode 12 opens with Shane (David Carradine) and Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed) looking over a beautiful Appaloosa colt. Shane wants to buy it for Joey (Christopher Shea) and offers Ryker $50. Ryker gets a good laugh at that, but he does make Shane a counteroffer: if Shane will work at his cattle ranch for one month, he’ll then let Shane have the colt for $50. Shane doesn’t really want to do it, but it’s important to him to get Joey the colt, so he agrees. Ryker allows Shane to go ahead and take the colt to the Starett ranch and give him to Joey. Of course, Joey is ecstatic and can’t wait to start taking care of him. Marian Starett (Jill Ireland) isn’t that happy with Shane about the deal to work for Ryker for a month, but it’s soon clear that no amount of protesting from her will stop Shane from doing this for Joey.

The next day Shane is moving into Ryker’s bunkhouse for the month, and we begin getting a feel for the various men working for Ryker. The foreman Kyle (Jack Ging) immediately takes a disliking for Shane for no particular reason other than jealousy, I guess. He’s a real jerk, and he seems to have some kind of inferiority complex. In more modern times, it seems possible that Kyle might drive a big truck with swinging testicles attached to the trailer hitch. We also meet Jingles (J. Pat O’Malley), an older man who the other cowboys pick on for sport. He takes it because he doesn’t want to ruffle any feathers or get turned out by Ryker. Jingles tells Shane that this job is the only thing he has in life, and he doesn’t know what he’d do if he were to lose it. That night Ryker comes into the bunkhouse and tells Shane that there will be no fighting, and that if he puts his hands on one of his men, he’ll be fired and the deal for the colt is off. Shane just wants to keep his head down and work out his month and then get back to his life at the Starett ranch. Even though Shane works extremely hard and proves to be a good “hand,” it becomes clear that foreman Kyle is going to do everything he can to make his life a living hell. Will Shane be able to finish out a month at Ryker’s place and pay for Joey’s gift? Will Jingles tell the truth when Kyle picks a fight with Shane? Will Joey learn valuable lessons in life from the colt? Will Marian admit to Shane how much she misses him when he’s gone? All good questions: episode 12 has the answers!

While it may be a slight step down from the sheer awesomeness of the prior installment, episode 12, “The Silent Gift,” is another fine episode of the Shane TV series. I mention the name of the episode because its use of the word “silent” captures part of what I enjoy so much about the series. Shane doesn’t say a lot throughout the entire series, but he continuously lets his actions prove out who he is as a person. In this case, his love for Joey is on full display because of what he does for him in this episode. Now don’t get me wrong, words are important, and I still tell my wife and children that I love them daily. But words are hollow if they’re not backed up by actions. Shane always backs up his words. Shane’s motives are the antithesis of a person like the foreman Kyle, who’s outwardly all bluster and bravado, but whose actions are fueled completely by lies and deceit. The character of Jingles, who seems like a nice enough old guy, is also shown to be in sharp contrast to Shane. Jingle’s life is controlled by fear and his actions are all about self-preservation. The sad truth is the fact that there are a lot more Kyle’s and Jingle’s in this world than there are Shane’s. On a positive note, the character arc of Jingles ultimately gives us hope that it’s never too late for any of us to do the right thing.

The main guest stars in this episode, Jack Ging and J. Pat O’Malley, both caught my attention. Ging, who played foreman Kyle, looked very familiar to me. A look at his filmography shows he was the dad in WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS (1974) and appeared in three different Clint Eastwood films a few years after appearing in this episode. One of the first books I remember reading purely for pleasure was “Where the Red Fern Grows.” I loved it so much and watched the movie many times growing up. To be honest, I haven’t thought about it for years, but now I’m hankering for a rewatch. And O’Malley, who played Jingles, also has an interesting filmography. He provided voiceover work for many classic animated films like ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIONS (1961) and THE JUNGLE BOOK (1967). And what really amazes me is the fact that he voiced characters in Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction, including one of the prisoners coaxing the dog with the keys in his mouth. When you’ve been to Disney World as many times as I have, I now see O’Malley as a rock star!

Shane’s relationship with Marian has one really good moment in this episode. When Shane is visiting the Starett ranch one night, Marian tells him how much they miss him, how much SHE misses him, when he’s gone. I believe she would have been open to a big kiss if Shane would have gone for it, but instead he just said “that’s nice to hear” before saying goodnight. Here’s one time I don’t agree with the action Shane takes. With only five more episodes to go, the romantic in me is still hoping for a big-time payoff in love!

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 11: The Day the Wolf Laughed (originally aired November 19th, 1966)

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Episode 11 of Shane opens with a group of outlaws making their way across the valley after pulling off a lucrative robbery. Needing a couple of days to lay low and rest their horses, they decide to take over Sam Grafton’s bar to drink and blow off some steam. They reason it’s a safe place to stay since there doesn’t appear to be any law in the area. Their leader is Reno (J.D. Cannon), with Augie (Skip Homeier) as his right-hand man, Grant (Daniel J. Travanti) as his enforcer, and a couple of others for good measure. Shane (David Carradine) and Marian (Jill Ireland) happen to be shopping in Sam’s general store when Reno and his men come into the bar. They can hear them breaking bottles and bullying Sam around in the next room. Sam comes into the general store and asks his employee Ben (Owen Bush) to ride out to Rufe Ryker’s ranch and ask him if he will come help with these guys. Soon the outlaws walk into the general store, where Shane and Reno immediately recognize each other. It seems the two gunslingers grew up together under the tutelage of an old man they called “The Wolf,” who taught them everything they know. Because Shane knows how skilled and dangerous Reno is, he asks Sam to let them stay for the next couple of days, and Reno agrees to pay Sam well for his trouble. Sam reluctantly agrees and Shane and Marian head back to the ranch.

A little later Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed) and his men ride into town and enter Sam’s bar. Reno gets the drop on them and sends them back out with their tails between their legs. They regroup back at Ryker’s ranch and decide to go back to town and try force the outlaws out of the bar. On the way, Ryker stops off at the Starett’s ranch to try to convince Shane to help. Shane tells Ryker that the best thing he can do is leave Reno and his men alone and wait for them to leave in a couple of days. With his pride hurt, Ryker is in no mood for listening and heads to town anyway. When the shooting starts, Ryker and his men are caught in a deadly crossfire. Trying to retreat, Ryker is shot and severely injured by Reno. While Ryker tries to recover, his men decide they are going to stake out the bar so they can be in position to kill Reno and his men when they try to leave. Feeling trapped, Reno instructs a couple of his guys to go to the nearest ranch and get a hostage to help them with their escape. When the guys grab a local girl named Shirley and Marian, who was in the area looking for their cow Katrina at the same time, Shane finally decides to enter the fight against Reno. Their old mentor “The Wolf” always predicted that their relationship would end with one of them killing the other. It looks like he just may be right.

“The Day the Wolf Laughed” is my favorite episode of the TV series SHANE so far, as it really leans into Shane’s skills as a gunfighter and pits him against a man in Reno who’s every bit as skilled. When the two men first see each other in Sam’s general store you can tell that they really do respect each other. Reno goes so far as to tell Marian that “you have a good man. He’ll fight for you.” As soon as you hear those lines, you know Shane will end up having to prove those words to be true. Even though Shane spends most of the episode trying to convince other people that they just need to leave Reno alone, he doesn’t hesitate to take matters into his own hands the moment Marian is put in danger. This is the first episode of the series where Shane really lives up to the reputation that is always being hinted at in the series, and I loved it!

Episode 11 is also elevated by its game cast of guest stars. J.D. Cannon (DEATH WISH II) is an especially strong adversary for Shane. He can be extremely cold blooded, but he’s also respectful, somewhat likable, and you believe that his word means something. You almost hate it when the two end up squaring off at the end. Daniel J. Travanti (HILL STREET BLUES), with a thick mustache, is quite intimidating as the enforcer of the gang. He seems quiet and laid back until he’s called upon by Reno. His countenance then completely changes, and you don’t really want to be on the other side of his gun at that point in time. It was also nice seeing Skip Homeier show up as Reno’s right-hand man, Augie. Homeier appeared in the excellent 1957 Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott western THE TALL T, and he provides good support here as well. As far as the main cast, David Carradine and Bert Freed take center stage in this episode, with both men doing a great job. Freed, in particular, has created a strong, complex character in Ryker over the course of the first 11 episodes, and I’ve actually grown to like him.

Overall, for a fan of badass western action, this episode was right down my alley. Shane and Marian may not have shared any long, lustful looks, but Shane proves his love by putting his life on the line for her against Reno’s gang. We only have 6 more episodes to go, and it will be fun to see where we go from here.

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 10: High Road to Viator (originally aired November 12th, 1966)

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Episode 10 begins with Marian Starett (Jill Ireland) and her son Joey (Christopher Shea) shopping for fabric in Grafton’s Store. Joey’s not that excited about the shopping experience so he’s just goofing around when he comes across a flyer for a dance in the town of Viator, WY. He shows the flyer to his mom, and you can immediately tell that she would love to go to a dance, even if she won’t say it out loud. Shane (David Carradine) notices how Marian’s face brightens up when the dance is brought up again later that night back at the ranch. He decides right then and there that the family is going to that dance, even though it’s a three-day ride by carriage. Tom Starett (Tom Tully) doesn’t see how they can abandon the work that needs to be done at the ranch, but he relents to Shane when he sees how important the dance is to Marian.

So, the family heads out on the three-day trip to Viator. They sing and laugh and are having the best time as they make camp on the first night. Unfortunately, a group of thieves attack them and steal their food and many of their other belongings. Not to be deterred, Shane convinces the family to keep moving forward to Viator. Thanks to some brave work from Joey and Shane, Marian still has the special dress that she plans to wear to the dance. As they close in on their destination, Shane goes ahead to make arrangements for the family. When he arrives, he finds that Viator is now a ghost town and that the flyer was actually from the year before. The community’s mine flooded about six months earlier and just about everyone left to restart their lives elsewhere. Will Marian still get to dance? Will Joey get to see his mom happy? Will Tom stop thinking about chores? The answers are all here for those who are truly interested!

Episode 10 is the most romantic episode of the SHANE TV series that I’ve encountered so far. The needs and desires of Marian Starett take center stage and Jill Ireland is quite wonderful in the episode. Every action Shane takes is to make Marian happy. When Marian won’t admit that she even wants to go to the dance, Shane knows her true feelings and he’s going to take her no matter who objects. When the thieves steal Marian’s dress and conk her on the head, Shane risks his life to get it back because he knows it carries a special meaning in her life. When they make it to Viator, even though they got the date wrong and the dance hall is now a dusty, cobweb filled mess, Shane wants Marian to wear her dress. He asks her if he can remove the wrap that she is wearing, revealing her in her dress, and for the first time in the series, we see Jill Ireland at her most beautiful. She’s stunning. Shane sweetly begins pretending that there are people and music in the dance hall just so Marian can enjoy herself. She happily plays along and Shane and Marian dance together to the music in their minds and stare happily into each other’s eyes. Tom and Joey walk in and watch them dance. Joey asks his grandpa, “How can they dance? There isn’t any music.” Tom replies “Don’t be too sure of that boy.” It’s an endearing exchange and a testament to just how happy Shane and Marian are in that moment. Next week Shane can get back to being a badass. In Episode 10, he just wanted to make Marian happy, and he did.

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 9: Poor Tom’s A-Cold (originally aired November 5th, 1966)

Posted on February 26, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Episode 9 begins with Shane (David Carradine) riding his horse up to a family looking over some dead cattle. It seems their water source has become poisoned and the patriarch of the family, Tom Gary (Robert Duvall), blames Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed). He believes that Ryker is trying to force him off of his land. After Shane heads off to get the family some fresh water, Gary grabs his shotgun and heads to Sam Grafton’s bar looking for Ryker and some payback. When Shane finds out that Gary is going after Ryker, he and Tom Starett (Tom Tully) take off to try to stop a killing. They get there just in time to stop Gary. Ryker tells them that he had nothing to do with the water becoming poisoned, that it’s just a drought and the area is subject to getting alkaline in the water. That’s what actually killed his cattle.

Three weeks later, Shane, Tom, Marian (Jill Ireland), and Joey (Christopher Shea) are sitting around the table talking about the Garys. Nobody has seen them for a few weeks, so Marian decides she’s going to go visit Ada Gary (Phyllis Love) to check on the family. Ada tells Marian that her husband has become completely obsessed with the idea that Ryker is trying to steal his land and that he spends every night outside with his shotgun. The next day, Ryker rides up and tells Shane that Tom Gary took a shot at him as he was riding his horse along the trail. Moments later, the Gary’s little girl runs up to the ranch and tells Shane and Tom that her pa has shot her mom. When they get to the Gary ranch, Ada is shot but she’s still alive. She tells them that her husband believes everyone, including her, is out to get him, and that he has headed off into the hills with guns and supplies. Shane and Ryker head off to get him, with Ryker wanting him dead…

Episode 9 starts off like a normal episode. It’s very normal for a sodbuster to be into it with Ryker at this point. But after watching the first eight episodes, we believe Ryker when he says he didn’t poison the water supply. We know that’s not his style. As the episode progresses, we begin to learn more about Tom Gary. We hear from his kids and his wife about how scary he is when he’s angry. His kids even tell Joey about their special hiding place outside of the house that they go to when their dad gets mad. We find out that they’ve spent many nights outside hiding from their dad because it’s not as scary as being in the house with him. This is when we realize the episode is going in a completely different direction. Tom Gary isn’t a victim of Ryker and his desire to own all of the land in the valley. The truth is that Tom Gary is abusive and clearly suffering from a mental illness, and the valley is not the place for a man with a violent mental illness. Can you imagine what living hell it must be for his wife and his kids? To be honest, I haven’t ever thought of what it must have been like for those suffering from mental illness, and for those who loved them, back in the old west. And this is from a guy whose wife works with the mentally ill week in and week out. Tom Gary has no help, and his family has no way out. Robert Duvall gives a good performance as Tom Gary, and we definitely see him as a man who has lost control of his faculties and is no longer capable of living in normal society. The writers even go so far as showing Shane as the person who wants to bring him in alive, and Ryker as the person who thinks it will be better for everyone, especially Ada Gary, if he’s dead and she doesn’t have to deal with him any longer.

Overall, Episode 9 is not an easy episode to watch, and it doesn’t provide any easy answers, which is honestly how it should be. I wasn’t expecting the show to go in this direction, even if just for one episode. This episode makes you uncomfortable and makes you think of things you don’t really want to think of, and I’m guessing that’s probably the point. I give the show credit for that, but I’m also hoping episode 10 will get back to more familiar territory.

The Unnominated #10: The Long Goodbye (dir by Robert Altman)

Posted on February 20, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Though the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences claim that the Oscars honor the best of the year, we all know that there are always worthy films and performances that end up getting overlooked. Sometimes, it’s because the competition too fierce. Sometimes, it’s because the film itself was too controversial. Often, it’s just a case of a film’s quality not being fully recognized until years after its initial released. This series of reviews takes a look at the films and performances that should have been nominated but were, for whatever reason, overlooked. These are the Unnominated.

Elliott Gould is Phillip Marlowe!

If I had to pick one sentence to describe the plot of 1973’s The Long Goodbye, that would be it. Robert Altman’s adaptation of the Raymond Chandler detective novel loosely follows Chandler’s original plot, though Altman did definitely make a few important changes. Altman moved the story from the 50s to the then-modern 70s, replacing Chandler’s hard-boiled Los Angeles with a satirical portrait of a self-obsessed California, populated by gurus and hippies. And Altman did change the ending of the book, taking what one could argue is a firmer stand than Chandler did in the novel. In the end, though, the film really is about the idea of Chandler’s tough detective being reimagined as Elliott Gould.

Rumpled, mumbling, and with a permanent five o’clock shadow, Gould plays Marlowe as being an outsider. He lives in a shabby apartment. His only companion is a cat who randomly abandons him (as cats tend to do). With his wardrobe that seems to consist of only one dark suit, Marlowe seems out-of-place in the California of the 70s. When Marlowe’s friend, Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton), asks Marlowe to drive him to Mexico, one gets the feeling that Lennox isn’t just asking because Marlowe’s a friend. He’s asking because he suspects Marlowe would never be a good enough detective to figure out what he’s actually doing.

After Terry’s wife is murdered, Marlowe is informed that 1) Terry has committed suicide and 2) Marlowe is now a suspect. Convinced that Terry would have never killed himself, Marlowe investigates on his own. He meets Marty Augustine (Mark Rydell), a gangster who demands that Marlowe recover some money that he claims Terry stole. Marty seems like an almost reasonable criminal until he smashes a coke bottle across his girlfriend’s face. (One of Marty’s bodyguards is played by a silent Arnold Schwarzenegger.) Meanwhile, Terry’s neighbors include an alcoholic writer named Roger Wade (Sterling Hayden) and his wife, Eileen (Nina van Pallandt). Like Marlowe, Roger is a man out-of-time, a Hemingwayesque writer who has found himself in a world that he is not capable of understanding. Henry Gibson, who would later memorably play Haven Hamilton in Altman’s Nashville, appears as Wade’s “doctor.”

Marlowe, with his shabby suits and a cigarette perpetually dangling from his mouth, gets next to no respect throughout the film. No one takes him seriously but Marlowe proves himself to be far more clever than anyone realizes. Elliott Gould gives one of his best performances as Marlowe, playing him as a man whose befuddled exterior hides a clear sense of right and wrong. Gould convinces us that Marlowe is a man who can solve the most complex of mysteries, even if he can’t figure out where his cat goes to in the middle of the night. His code makes him a hero but it also makes him an outsider in what was then the modern world. The film asks if there’s still a place for a man like Phillip Marlowe in a changing world and it leaves it to us to determine the answer.

Frequently funny but ultimately very serious, The Long Goodbye is one of the best detective films ever made. Just as Altman did with McCabe & Mrs. Miller, he uses the past to comment on what was then the present. And, just as with McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye is a film that was initially released to mixed reviews, though it would later be acclaimed by future viewers and critics. Whereas McCabe & Mrs. Miller received an Oscar nomination for Julie Christie’s performance as Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye was thoroughly snubbed by the Academy. Altman, Gould, Hayden, and the film itself were all worthy of consideration but none received a nomination. Instead, that year, the Oscar for Best Picture went to The Sting, a far less cynical homage to the crime films of the past.

The Long Goodbye (1973, directed by Robert Altman)

Previous entries in The Unnominated:

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 8: The Other Image (originally aired October 29th, 1966)

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Episode 8 begins with Sam Grafton (Sam Gilman) riding up to the Starett cabin as Shane (David Carradine), Tom (Tom Tully). Marian (Jill Ireland), and Joey (Christopher Shea) are chopping and stacking wood. He has a new plow for the family, and he also has a letter that has arrived for Marian from Boston. The letter is from Mr. Warren Eliot (Robert Brown), a handsome former boyfriend who is now a state Senator in Massachusetts. His letter explicitly states the fact, and also reminds Marian, that she was once “the most beautiful girl in Boston.” Tired of working like a mule for little or no appreciation and only discussing things like plow handles and wood for the winter, Marian is excited when Warren’s letter announces that he is coming for a visit. This throws the household, and Shane, into quite a tizzy. And it gets even worse when Warren arrives, for everyone but Marian and Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed) that is. Marian feels like she’s 18 again, and Ryker sees this as an unexpected opportunity to get the Starett’s and Shane out of the valley. Spending their days riding horses and talking about the old times, the new times, and everything in between, Warren eventually asks Marian to marry him and go back to Boston. Marian is unable to say yes or no immediately and asks for a little time to think about it, especially since it would be such a big change for Joey. Of course, all of this puts Shane in a pissy mood, but he still won’t tell Marian exactly how he feels, even though she presses him about it a couple of times. Will Marian agree to marry the dashing Warren Eliot? Will Ryker finally get his hands on the Starett land? Will Joey and his turtle have to travel across the country? Will Shane have to pull up stakes and move on down the trail? I think you probably know the answers, but the fun is always in watching it unfold!

Near the end of my review of episode 7, I made the following comment, “I don’t think they (Shane and Marian) look at each other longingly a single time, which did make me a little sad. Here’s hoping they’ll double that up in Episode 8!” All I can say is be careful what you wish for. In this episode, Marian and her old boyfriend, now Senator Eliot, take center stage. And Shane is off to the side sulking most of the time while Marian is basking in all the compliments and attention. I was kind of hoping that Warren would turn out not to be quite as perfect as he first appears, you know, one of those deals where he has duplicitous motives or something. But no, he really is just about perfect. And Shane, poor Shane… you would think that he might finally tell Marian how he really feels about her. But not our Shane. When she point blank asks him what he thinks she should do, with a little hope in her voice that he might try to talk her out of it, his response is “you’d be crazy not to say yes.” And then he goes off to sulk some more. At the end of the day, I can’t help but wonder if Shane doesn’t have a hell of a point! But the heart wants what the heart wants, and it doesn’t always make sense.

As for the moments where Shane and Marian look longingly at each other, this episode does indeed double up with a couple of doozies. The first time is when Shane tells her that he introduced himself to Warren earlier that day at Grafton’s as her “hired man.” She tells Shane that “you know you’re family. You know that don’t you Shane? Don’t you?” As Shane is hitching up his horse to leave, she runs out the door and stares at him, then he stares at her and then does a double take, and then she stares at him some more. Even I started to get a little uncomfortable! And there was another scene late in the episode where they chop wood together late in the evening that has be serving as a metaphor for making love or something. They are working that wood together and looking at each other and sweating. The scene ends with her saying “it’s good to be needed,” to which he replies, “yeah” while somewhat out of breath. From that point forward, we know poor Warren doesn’t stand a chance. I’ve never watched any of these episodes before starting this series of reviews, so I had no idea this was coming when I finished up last week’s review. Needless to say, Episode 8 fulfilled my quota of sexual tension between the two for at least the next few episodes combined!

Overall, while I did enjoy episode 8, I must admit that it’s not one of my favorite episodes so far, especially with Shane coming off more like lovelorn teenager than a tough gunslinger for most of the episode. The resolution is a little silly as well, with Shane and Warren actually teaming up in a bar fight with Ryker’s men. But with that said, the writers must be credited for providing me exactly what I asked for in my last review, in spades. So, thank you Jack Schaefer and Ellen Violett! As we’re reaching the midway point of the complete series, I’m looking forward to what episode 9 has to offer.

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 7: Day of the Hawk (originally aired October 22nd, 1966)

Posted on February 12, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Episode 7 begins with two drunk cowboys, who work for Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed), raising cane and deciding they’ll go harass some sodbusters just for the hell of it. On this day, they ride over to Ira Jackson’s (Jason Wingreen) ranch, where Marian Starett (Jill Ireland) is there visiting Ira’s daughter Elizabeth (Catherine Ferrar). As the cowboys ride around the house, hooping and hollering and shooting off their guns, a frustrated Ira opens the door and fires a blast from his shotgun. The cowboys shoot back toward the house, hitting a kerosene lamp in the kitchen and starting a fire. Ira gets the ladies out of the house and then commences to fighting with the cowboys, who now realize what they’ve done and are wanting to help put out the fire. While the men and Marian are distracted with the fight, Elizabeth runs back into the house to try to save her calico cat, where she is engulfed by the flames and dies.

We move on to Elizabeth’s funeral and see Shane (David Carradine) ride up with Reverend Harry Himber (James Whitmore). Rufe Ryker is there and he tells Shane and the Reverend that he’s sorry about what happened, that he had nothing to do with it, and that he doesn’t want any trouble. Shane isn’t in much mood to listen to Ryker so he moves on. Reverend Himber, who we will come to find out is a pacifist, begins the service by saying that Elizabeth would want everyone there to remember the good times they had together with her, as well as look inward to find forgiveness and understanding. Hellbent on revenge, Ira just screams “No!”

That night, after chewing his two cowhands out, Ryker decides he’s going to pay them two months wages and send them out of town. He would rather lose a couple of good cowboys as fight a war with Ira. As one of the men, the young Hoke (Dee Pollock), is on his way out of town, Ira shoots him down from the hillside with his rifle. The remainder of the episode consists of Shane and Tom Starett (Tom Tully) trying to protect Ira and the other local farmers from the wrath of Ryker and his men, while Reverend Himber tries to get everyone to talk it out to avoid more killings in the valley.

In episode 7, the character of Rufe Ryker takes center stage, along with Shane and the visiting Reverend Himber, played here by guest star James Whitmore in an incredible performance. This is probably the deepest episode we’ve dealt with thus far, with each character showing some level of moral complexity. Neither Shane or Ryker want a fight, but they both prepare to get bloody for different reasons. Ryker makes it clear that he will protect his men and fight for them even when they’re wrong. Shane makes it clear that he will fight for the sodbusters against powerful men like Ryker even when he thinks they’re wrong. And then there’s Reverend Himber, the pacifist who is willing to do whatever it takes to stop a fight. During the episode we find out that he had been forced to kill six enemy soldiers when they raided the hospital he was working at during the war. This episode drives home the fact that a man’s ideals will at times contrast harshly with the realities of the positions they find themselves in. Each of these three men finds himself in a situation that has grown bigger than him, with both Ryker and Shane recognizing the deal and preparing for the worst. Reverend Himber, on the other hand, tries to take control of the situation, only to be the catalyst for more tragedy. We have all been in situations where we hope for the best, but we’re smart enough to prepare for the worst, because some of the biggest fools alive are the ones who think they can control other people.

Overall, the “Day of the Hawk” is a strong episode that has a surprisingly powerful and emotional conclusion. The storyline belongs to Shane, Ryker and the Reverend, so Shane’s relationship with Marian takes a back seat this time around. I don’t think they look at each other longingly a single time, which did make me a little sad. Here’s hoping they’ll double that up in Episode 8!

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 6: Killer in the Valley (originally aired October 15th, 1966)

Posted on February 5, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Episode 6 begins with Shane (David Carradine) and Marian Starett (Jill Ireland) riding their horses out on the far reaches of the ranch. While enjoying the beauty of the land, they come across a very sick man in a wagon. He seems to be running a high fever. As they check into the situation, they find out that the man’s wife is in the back of the wagon dead. Shane realizes that it’s more than likely that the couple has a deadly disease. The man dies shortly after, so they bury them and burn the wagons.

After returning back to the house, Marian starts coming down with a fever of her own. Shane sends Tom Starett (Tom Tully) to Sam’s general store to get quidine, the medicine they will need to treat Marian. Unfortunately, Sam is all out of quidine, so they’ll have to wait until Barney the medicine drummer (Joseph Campanella) gets to town the next day. Tom takes a room in Sam’s hotel to wait. When local cattle rancher, Rufe Ryker (Burt Freed), gets wind of the fact that the Starett’s are needing quidine, he starts asking questions and finds out that Marian is sick. He decides he needs the quidine for his own farm just in case there’s an outbreak in the valley. When Barney the medicine drummer finally arrives in town, he immediately smells money and decides to hold out to the highest bidder, which means the wealthy Ryker will get the supply, leaving the Starett’s and everyone else out in the cold. When Tom reports this to Shane, and with Marian getting worse by the second, Shane decides he’s got to do something to get the medicine Marian needs, even kill if he has to. To hell with Ryker or anyone else who tries to stop him!

This episode of SHANE reminded me of two very specific times in my life when I actually witnessed my fellow man either taking advantage of a terrible situation or panicking in a way that shows complete disregard for their friends and neighbors. The first time was the Arkansas ice storm of 2000. Beginning on Christmas Day of 2000, this once in a century ice storm descended upon our state, resulting in mass electrical outages in our community. I lived in town so my electricity was restored after three long days. I remember hearing of houses “out in the county” that did without electricity for weeks. There was a local business who had an inventory of generators. They promptly doubled the price of their generators and took advantage of their neighbors who were in a critical situation. The second time was when I lived through the COVID epidemic and witnessed people taking every roll of toilet paper and every drop of water they could find from the local grocery stores. Unfortunately the combination of fear, panic, greed and selfishness can bring out the very worst sides of our human nature!

The bad reminders aside, I enjoyed Episode 6 of SHANE. It was nice to see Shane and Marian away from the ranch together just enjoying the afternoon and talking. It was unfortunate that they were interrupted by the plague. It’s also in this episode that we get to see Shane and Marian kiss for the first time. Of course she was delirious with the fever and thinking she was talking to her dead husband Joe, but it was still Shane that she kissed and that counts for something! It was also nice seeing Shane go to town, kick some ass, and reveal the medicine drummer for the greedy coward that he is. And just for good measure, Ryker decided to kick his ass too. I liked that. I’d even go as far as saying that Episode 6 is one of the best episodes of SHANE yet. I’m still enjoying the series and look forward to episode 7!

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 5: The Bitter, the Lonely (originally aired October 8th, 1966)

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Episode 5 opens with a man riding his horse down the hill towards a sweaty Shane (David Carradine) who’s plowing a field on the Starett ranch. The man gets off his horse, walks up to Shane and punches him right in the face. He then turns around and heads back towards his horse. Not putting up with strangers punching him in the face on this day, Shane gets up and punches the guy back in the face. The guy then surprisingly proceeds to knock Shane on his ass again, this time telling him his name in the most Bond-ian of ways, “It’s Posey…RG Posey” (Steve Ihnat). Through a variety of circumstances, we learn that Posey hates “sodbusters” who put up fences and work the ground. He hates sodbusters so much that when he rode up on a person he thought was a sodbuster, he just decided to knock the crap out of him.

Hanging out at Sam Grafton’s saloon, Posey tells the local cowhands about kicking Shane’s ass, so local cattle rancher Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed) hires him on the spot. He thinks that any man who has gotten the best of Shane is someone he wants on his side. Over time though, Posey’s hateful and bullying actions towards Tom Starett (Tom Starett), his daughter Marian Starett (Jill Ireland), and Shane are too much, even for Ryker. Posey’s one of those guys who refer to farmers as “apple knockers,” “nesters” and “stump jumpers.” On multiple occasions, he even says they’re not human. Ryker makes it clear to Posey that while he’s working with the Ryker outfit, the Starett’s will be treated respectfully. Not content to leave well enough alone, Posey decides to dam up the stream that flows onto the Starett’s ranch just because he can. When Shane finds out, he rides out to confront Posey, and the two men fight it out with shovels. Ryker rides up on the two men and fires Posey on the spot, and even helps Shane break up the dam. Unable to accept that his own bitterness and hate cost him his job, Posey decides to blame Shane and sets out to kill him.

Episode 5 is an enjoyable episode. First, it has a couple of exciting action sequences. The scene where Shane and Posey fight with shovels is the best action scene in the series so far. Grown men swinging shovels at each other is extremely dangerous and this episode certainly captures that feeling. I also enjoyed the scene at the very end where young Joey Starett (Christopher Shea) is running through the field with Shane’s gun, trying to warn him that Posey’s on his way to kill him. It’s a well executed scene that had me on the edge of my seat. Second, this episode tackles an important social issue. Posey hates sodbusters “just because they’re different.” As mentioned earlier, in his own mind he’s reduced them to being less than human. This is beaten into our heads in a pretty heavy handed approach, but that’s perfectly fine. The episode aired over 58 years ago and has a strong “message” that illustrates how Posey’s hate has turned him into an angry, bitter man who blames others for his own bad decisions and problems. For a good example of this these days, just open up any social media app and scroll for a bit, and you’ll see how anger and bitterness continue to steal our joy. Finally, I think Steve Ihnat is good as Posey, a man so full of hate that he doesn’t have the first clue about how to actually be happy. Ihnat had a solid television career, appearing in almost every good TV show in the 1960’s. He would even direct the James Coburn rodeo movie from 1972 called THE HONKERS. Sadly, Ihnat would pass away in 1972 at just 37 years of age.

Overall, I found episode 5 to be very good. It tells an exciting story, while teaching an important lesson about how a person who allows hate to fester in their heart will ultimately end up as a bitter and lonely loser. Shane’s relationship with Marian Starett doesn’t advance much in Episode 5 but they do look at each other longingly at one point. Now that I think about it, with all the hate shown by Posey, it would have been nice to see a little more love in this episode. Oh well, there’s always episode 6 to look forward to!

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 4: An Echo of Anger (aired October 1st, 1966)

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Kemp Spicer (Warren Oates) rides into town and runs into Marian Starett (Jill Ireland) and her father-in-law Tom Starett (Tom Tully) who are there visiting the local blacksmith. Spicer likes what he sees when he looks at Marian, and proceeds to make some creepy advances. He then asks if they know a guy named Shane. When they ask Spicer why he wants to know, he says that him and his family are going to kill him. After Marian and Tom tell Shane (David Carradine) about what they were told, Shane heads into town. He wants to know why they want to kill him, as well as keep the Spicers away from the Starett ranch. When he arrives at Sam Grafton’s saloon, Boon Spicer (Charles Kuenstie) tells him that they are there to get vengeance for Shane killing their brother Joey four years earlier in Abilene. Shane never killed anyone in Abilene so he knows that someone is mistaken, or just flat out lying. Soon other members of the Spicer family arrive in town, led by their Bible-quoting uncle Joshua Spicer (Cliff Osmond). Shane knows he’s going to have to take on these men even though he’s innocent of their family member’s death. He just wants to make sure they don’t go out to the Starett ranch and put the family in danger.

Episode 4 of Shane has our biggest co-star yet, in Warren Oates. It’s fun seeing his Kemp Spicer creep around making threats against Shane, making advances towards Marian, and then questioning whether or not they’re even after the right guy. Cliff Osmond is memorable and interesting as Uncle Joshua Spicer who puts their family honor above everything else. This episode also sees Shane getting some help as he takes on the Spicer clan in the final shootout. This help comes from Tom Starett and Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed), the local foe of the family. I don’t expect this means Ryker has turned good, but he definitely prefers Shane over those “hillbillies” he ran out of the area years earlier. Finally, we continue to learn of Marian’s feelings for Shane in this episode. At one point, she’s willing to leave the entire ranch behind if it keeps Shane safe. Shane doesn’t hear her say this, but her father-in-law remarks that he never realized she loved Shane that much.

I found episode 4 to be an entertaining episode. It features good performances from interesting co-stars. It also makes a good point about how an innocent lie can take on a life of its own and lead to unintended consequences. I’ll be looking forward to Episode 5!