Look, the end result is never in doubt but seeing this excellent episode play out is still quite plenty tense as a no-good, low-down murderer (Lonny Chapman) being taken by Sheriff Micah and Lucas (Paul Fix and Chuck Conners) to a jail for an execution (he killed a stagecoach family) through harsh, sunbaked territory --where there's little water and a lot of desert and rock --rushes off their three horses so he could finagle his captors into letting him free from his shackles in exchange for a location where water is located. That's it with the episode for the most part. It is a psychological struggle as "smiling Stanley" embellishes on the fact that he knows where water is while the older Micah starts to decline, eventually falling down a rocky cliff and breaking some ribs. As the sun continues to wear away on them, Lucas and Micah hope that Stanley will become so dehydrated and desperate he will cave in and tell them where the water is. This episode ably conveys the nightmarish scenario where combating the elements on foot, without water, as the sun beats down good and hot, can be a detriment worthy of perhaps setting free a cold blooded murderer in order just to survive. Micah knows that Stanley deserves to pay for what he did and this alone drives them for a spell but that hot sun and no water would be taxing on the strongest willed individuals. There's an especially good scene where Lucas is starting to fade as his sight is becoming hazy and the thirst is overwhelming. Stanley's nagging mockery and his vile nature as the three of them suffer the wrath of the conditions really paints him as a rotten nuisance. When Lucas grabs him and nearly strangles him for the location of the water (another key scene) makes sense considering what this bastard puts them through. It all results in the eating of dirt and a rather pat, implausible conclusion where every ends nice and tidy for the heroes. What other result could there really be, though? At home with his son as they draw from the ground water, Lucas' reaction is a great moment because it identifies an appreciation for something that we take for granted.
Review of Long Trek
