Jim Hardie has been sent Deadwood, SD to ride shotgun on a Wells Fargo stage caring a $51,485 payroll. When the stage is robbed outside of town, the circumstantial evidence points to a former gunfighter, Billy Reno, who is going straight and is operating a gold mine. When Hardie arrives in Deadwood, his timing is impeccable when he notices the stable manager digging red clay from an exhausted horse's hooves. Later, when the horses arrive without the stage, Hardie, the sheriff, and the posse track the horses back and find the Wells Fargo men shot in back and the payroll missing, and the only clue is a hat found at the scene. When the hat is identified as Billy Reno's, Hardie and the local sheriff head to his mine to pick him up. But Billy's struck it big at the mine, and Hardie begins to suspect a frameup when he notices the same clay at the mine he saw on the horse at the stable.
Well, I can't put this episode at the top of the heap at all. First, It's a bit confusing why the town of Deadwood is used in the story. As famous as the town was with it's reputation for murder and vice, and its historical characters such as Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, these things weren't really mentioned. In fact the town didn't seem to be overly wild from what we saw, other than the stage robbery. Any town would've worked in the place of Deadwood. Then, Hardie rides into town and the very first person he encounters, the stable manager, is the clue to the whole affair....acting totally suspicious, with some serious shifty eyes. Not to mention more of Hardie's impeccable timing, when he arrives just at the right moment to see clay being dug out of the hooves of the horse used in the crime. Then, later when Hardie questions the manager the guy pretends to have forgotten. Unfortunately it's a case of sloppy writing.
Plus, I had a hard time understanding why Bess Hollister did all the things she did. The stage robbery was extremely risky. With two Wells Fargo men shot in the back, the company would be highly motivated to solve the crime and would never give up. It also wasn't the smartest operation. The stable manager figured things out with no problems, and he was no genius. Hardie could've just kept his eye on this guy, who made a beeline to Hollister with intent to blackmail her. The only thing missing was her saying "don't worry, you'll get what's coming to you". Then, framing Billy Reno made even less sense. He'd hit a half million dollar strike and had little to no motive to rob a stage. Half of his mine would've been hers since she grub staked him, and all of it she married him. Lastly, she'd be the only one to profit from Billy's hanging, according to the agreement she had him sign saying she gets the mine if something happens to him. But the showrunners enjoyed including femme fatale characters, and this one was even more cold-blooded than the previous shady ladies on the series.
The cast was full of TV players from the era, but none that were overly well known, other than Roy Barcroft. Mari Aldon appeared as Bess Hollister, and I always associate her with lovely actresses from the decade like Merry Anders or Marie Blanchard. Richard Crane appeared as Billy Reno, and had a modest career. Barcroft was the best known of the bunch, credited with 385 appearances. Interestingly, both Crane and Barcroft appeared in Republic Pictures' "Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe".
As Hardie said, things just look "too pat". I'd have to agree here. But, EWIBIG y'know...
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