Clay Harvey just got out of jail. He's done five years and doesn't want to do any more time. He doesn't trust himself with a gun, so he hires Paladin to escort him and a wagon load of goods to a town where he and his brothers plan to operate a general store. When they get there, he finds Carew a local lawyer (Strother Martin) trying to auction off his goods. His brothers are wanted men for killing Carew's men and Carew plans to have the posse get Clay as well, even though he had nothing to do with the killing.
In a nice script twist, Clay's brothers, led by Jack (James Coburn) are NOT innocent. In fact, its them that take care of the posse! They ignore their older brothers' pleas to go straight and let the law put them on trial. So it becomes a brother vs. brother fight with Paladin in the middle.
Another outstanding script along with strong casting makes this one of the best episodes of season three. I liked Coburn better in his later appearance as a hired gun in Louisana, but he's good here too, using the "slightly crazy" part of his persona effectively. Strother Martin is good as the crooked lawyer and the lesser known Tommy Cook is solid as the obnoxious Clay Harvey.
In a nice script twist, Clay's brothers, led by Jack (James Coburn) are NOT innocent. In fact, its them that take care of the posse! They ignore their older brothers' pleas to go straight and let the law put them on trial. So it becomes a brother vs. brother fight with Paladin in the middle.
Another outstanding script along with strong casting makes this one of the best episodes of season three. I liked Coburn better in his later appearance as a hired gun in Louisana, but he's good here too, using the "slightly crazy" part of his persona effectively. Strother Martin is good as the crooked lawyer and the lesser known Tommy Cook is solid as the obnoxious Clay Harvey.
