It's a good thing that Lauri Peters is a fine actress, and she pulls off this very touchy role (another Kathleen Hite "Women's Perspective" character) very well indeed.
But she looks like she's just stepped out of the Mademoiselle Finishing School for Debutantes, right into the CBS make-up department (a few dirt smudges along with the immaculate eyelashes, etc) and into the rough n' tumble American Old West. And that's BEFORE we get to Ms. Peters' hair-style---a perfectly marvelous, perky, mid-60's "do." Then there's the lovely suntan... Sorry, but these things drive me nuts in TV of the era.
As seen by the other comments posted here, CBS fully expected the men folk of America to tune in and ogle Ms. Peters, whose acting talents, thankfully, are excellent. But our sense of credulity is further stretched by the fact that Allie is able to WALK ALONE for Miles and Miles at night, through forest and thicket, with no problem at all...save for the two thugs she has the misfortune to meet. And there are many more inconsistencies in Ms. Hite's script.
Big Matt is in a pretty foul mood throughout, and has no problem SLAPPING people around in situations where his usual calm, restrained presence would NEVER have acted with such violence. But--on the other hand: when Festus tells Matt that the Marshall's office was shot up (which would have killed Matt had he been there) and the guys who did it are now over at the Long Branch (trashing it, as we later find), what does Matt do?? NOTHING. He just turns in for the night (!). It's only during his breakfast outing the next A. M. with Kitty that he decides to....inexplicably... beat the crap out of the bad guy with barely a word spoken between them.
Is this Hite's idea of a less tolerant, more vengeful Matt D, perhaps in mid-life crisis?? The script provides MORE than a hint of Matt's frustration: he resists the young tart's infatuation while--at the same time---resisting the continually-implied advances of "Madame" Kitty Russel, an open invitation to Ms. Hite's subtle probing of the male psyche. No wonder the "conflicted" Marshall of Dodge pounds the living s___ out of anybody who crosses him in this show.
Linda Watkins and Malcolm Atterbury are about as unsavory a couple as you could ask for (but I guess that's the point), and Dean Stanton --who also gets pummeled by Matt--completes the family portrait....that is, except for the brood of squeaky-clean tykes running around the woods, one of whom wears this HUGE, floppy hat like Jackie Coogan wore in "The Kid".
There's just too many silly elements in this episode that I couldn't get past. I understand that the rape issue is not to be taken lightly, but it was handled MUCH more seriously and less gratuitously in "The Violaters" a few shows back.
So, if you are blinded by Lauri Peters's charms to the point that you are willing to ignore the significant dramatic flaws in this episode, hit the "NOT HELPFUL" button--- NOW!!
LR.
But she looks like she's just stepped out of the Mademoiselle Finishing School for Debutantes, right into the CBS make-up department (a few dirt smudges along with the immaculate eyelashes, etc) and into the rough n' tumble American Old West. And that's BEFORE we get to Ms. Peters' hair-style---a perfectly marvelous, perky, mid-60's "do." Then there's the lovely suntan... Sorry, but these things drive me nuts in TV of the era.
As seen by the other comments posted here, CBS fully expected the men folk of America to tune in and ogle Ms. Peters, whose acting talents, thankfully, are excellent. But our sense of credulity is further stretched by the fact that Allie is able to WALK ALONE for Miles and Miles at night, through forest and thicket, with no problem at all...save for the two thugs she has the misfortune to meet. And there are many more inconsistencies in Ms. Hite's script.
Big Matt is in a pretty foul mood throughout, and has no problem SLAPPING people around in situations where his usual calm, restrained presence would NEVER have acted with such violence. But--on the other hand: when Festus tells Matt that the Marshall's office was shot up (which would have killed Matt had he been there) and the guys who did it are now over at the Long Branch (trashing it, as we later find), what does Matt do?? NOTHING. He just turns in for the night (!). It's only during his breakfast outing the next A. M. with Kitty that he decides to....inexplicably... beat the crap out of the bad guy with barely a word spoken between them.
Is this Hite's idea of a less tolerant, more vengeful Matt D, perhaps in mid-life crisis?? The script provides MORE than a hint of Matt's frustration: he resists the young tart's infatuation while--at the same time---resisting the continually-implied advances of "Madame" Kitty Russel, an open invitation to Ms. Hite's subtle probing of the male psyche. No wonder the "conflicted" Marshall of Dodge pounds the living s___ out of anybody who crosses him in this show.
Linda Watkins and Malcolm Atterbury are about as unsavory a couple as you could ask for (but I guess that's the point), and Dean Stanton --who also gets pummeled by Matt--completes the family portrait....that is, except for the brood of squeaky-clean tykes running around the woods, one of whom wears this HUGE, floppy hat like Jackie Coogan wore in "The Kid".
There's just too many silly elements in this episode that I couldn't get past. I understand that the rape issue is not to be taken lightly, but it was handled MUCH more seriously and less gratuitously in "The Violaters" a few shows back.
So, if you are blinded by Lauri Peters's charms to the point that you are willing to ignore the significant dramatic flaws in this episode, hit the "NOT HELPFUL" button--- NOW!!
LR.