User Reviews

Forget Gerard! Some of the other characters Kimble meets during his travels just defy understanding.The lieutenant hopes to trap Kimble who is working as a truck driver. The plan goes wrong and Kimble escapes into "Mune-shahn Country". The local sheriff tells Gerard to forget pursuing Kimble since the resident hillbillies don't take to strangers and will most certainly kill him. The sheriff is not willing to to risk himself or his men. Stupidly, Gerard ignores the advice and goes in. In the meantime Kimble has been captured by Cody (Bruce Dern) dressed in overalls and baseball cap and looking nightmarishly like the toothless man from De!iverance. He takes the doc back to hillbilly patriarch Tully (R G Armstrong) who is impressed when Kimble treats Cody's injured arm. Gerard turns up in his car and is immediately set upon. Daughter Elvie drives off in the vehicle and finds Gerard's wallet but Cody takes it from her knocking her unconcious. Gerard finds her and, as usual, the hicks think he did it and put him "on trial" . Meanwhile Cody returns the wallet to the unconcious Elvie, helping himself to 40 dollars. When she wakes up, for some reason she confirms that Gerard beat her up and they plan to lynch him. In an ironic conversation with our man Gerard comes to realise what it feels like to be wrongly accused and convicted. But this does not change his opinion of Kimble. Just as Gerard is about to be hanged Elvie notices the 40 dollars missing from the wallet and begins screaming at Cody to give it back. Tully has to admit Gerard's innocence and lets him go, with a warning not to return. Kimble leaves on foot after a final exchange with the cop. They both know the pursuit will continue. I begin to wonder whether the "hick" story became a backstop for the writers when they ran out of ideas. The inbreds' strange twisted morality and perverted sense of self-righteousness is always guaranteed to put our man in a predicament. The delicious twist here was of course Gerard being on the receiving end for a change.

This is one of my favorite episodes of the series and no matter how many times I view it, i'm always amazed at how Gerard couldn't even give a simple thanks to Kimble afterwards for saving his life.

It's almost as if he thinks that by thanking him, it would make his role as law enforcer less or perhaps by doing so it would make him feel indebted to Kimble in some way, and he couldn't have that.

The workings of Gerard's mind remained a mystery to me throughout the whole series, and we sadly never had the chance to get inside this character's head and I wish the writers did.

Even Kimble appears dumbfounded by Gerard's apparent incapability of displaying just a shred of human emotion or gratitude to him. He's like a programmed robot with a one track mind of catching Kimble. Like a Terminator of the 1960's.

He doesn't voice it, but Gerard IS shown to be internally shook up afterwards by the experience of being in Kimble's shoe's for a while, but it's just incredible how he apparently hasn't learned anything from the experience, or at least will never admit to it outwardly.

It almost makes you wish the hillbillies kicked that chair out from under him before Evie came running out of the cabin! I think this is one of the best episodes of the entire series and seeing the irony of Kimble and Gerard's role reversal play out is incredibly fun to watch.

I think when these two characters share scenes together is when the show really shined the most, and why third season's "Ill Wind" is another top favorite of mine.

The doc is a heap of trouble, but Gerard is in even worse shape in this one. Kimble is being chased from the get-go, but doesn't know if until it's almost too late. He crashes through a road block and jumps from a speeding truck. His superior gymnastics skill enables him to land on his feet and hightail it into the woods, right into a bunch of moonshiners who don't cotton to people who ain't kinfolk. Sheriff Dabs Greer (Andy) tells Gerard he ain't about to go in them thar woods, no sir. Last time he did, Ernest T come into town and broke all the windows. Gerard, ever the hardheaded servant of the law, pursues his guy anyway. Old friend Bruce Dern (Ernest T) brings Kimble to the stronghold at rifle point, where RG Armstrong (Briscoe) holds court. Kimble uses his superior boxing skills to send Ernest T flying into a bunch of bottles, and Ernest notices blood spurting out of his arm. I think the doc beats up Dern in every one of his five appearances on the show. Kimble patches up Ernest's arm and earns the respect of the clan. They teach him the secret handshake, let him drink some shine and they all sing "Dooley". Baby doll Charlene offers Kimble some vittles, as she just took a possum out of the oven. Kimble says he'd like a piece of tail. Gerard drives up and the gang has fun with him, pushing him around and noticing how purty his mouth is while Charlene steals his car. She finds big money Phil's wallet, which contains $340, about 1 million in today's money. Ernest T, who is kin to Charlene in some kinda way (brother, perhaps), but is sweet on her anyway, happens upon her, sees the wallet and starts play rasslin with her. He gets excited by both her and the wallet and acts like Curly when he sees a mouse, and punches her in the face. Charlene hits her head on a rock and is knocked out. Ernest T picks up the wallet and runs away when he sees Gerard approaching. The Darlings soon get there and it seems to them like Phil has gotten rough with the cutest gal in the woods. He swears he's innocent, that he saw a one armed man, or at least a guy in a baseball cap, fleeing the scene. Oh, the irony. Kimble believes him, but the Darlings don't, and it's their world. Kimble goes to see Charlene in the bed, and finds Gerard's wallet under her when he tries to cop a feel. She blurts out that $40 is missing (Ernest T stole it before he gave the wallet back) and it comes to light that Ernest T was the one who done the deed. They remove the noose that was already around Gerard's neck and tell him to git. Gerard has a sheepish look on his face as he looks at Kimble, the closest he can come to thanking him, but then says nothing has changed as he drives away. For a second, Kimble thinks he should have let nature take its course, but his goodness is his curse.

Epilog. Worth noting Gerard's embarrassment when he gets back to Stafford and has to requisition a new gun, since the Darlings took his. It's a wonder Cap'n Carpenter doesn't replace Gerard on the Kimble case as he's become such a laughing stock in the department.