Rod Blakley (Richard Long) comes to Paladin desperate for help ruining Paladin's evening with actress Gloria Pall (who played Zamba in "Space Patrol"). He claims a powerful rancher named Pete Hollister (Denver Pyle) has kidnapped Faye (Joan Weldon) the woman he loves, forced her to marry him and now keeps her locked up on the ranch where no one can get to her. He offers Paladin $1,000 if he can just get ten minutes alone with Faye and find out if she still loves him.
This is a very well written episode. Boone does a great job of toeing the line between finding out if the woman is being held a prisoner and making sure he's not helping someone break up a marriage. Long is also good as a young man desperately in love. But the one who really makes this story work is Joan Weldon as Faye. She does a good job of portraying Faye as a user, someone who's really just out to further her singing career by whatever means possible (and in fact Weldon was once a member of the San Francisco Opera Company!). The way Boone reads her and then later exposes her both to Blakly and Hollister shows why this series was such a hit: Boone is really a pretty good actor, NOT just an action star.
Finally the script has a nice final turn the way it treats the relationship between Hollister and his wife. He's no fool. He knows what she is. But he loves her anyway.
This is a very well written episode. Boone does a great job of toeing the line between finding out if the woman is being held a prisoner and making sure he's not helping someone break up a marriage. Long is also good as a young man desperately in love. But the one who really makes this story work is Joan Weldon as Faye. She does a good job of portraying Faye as a user, someone who's really just out to further her singing career by whatever means possible (and in fact Weldon was once a member of the San Francisco Opera Company!). The way Boone reads her and then later exposes her both to Blakly and Hollister shows why this series was such a hit: Boone is really a pretty good actor, NOT just an action star.
Finally the script has a nice final turn the way it treats the relationship between Hollister and his wife. He's no fool. He knows what she is. But he loves her anyway.
