We open with a man hitchhiking, looking quite disappointed when a car slows but doesn't stop to pick him up. Right away we have an unusual bit to this episode that contrasts with all, or almost all, other eps-that hitchhiker is not a victim nor a killer, nor anything. He is off camera seconds after the show starts and never seen nor mentioned again.
That car is then seen stopping to pick up a different hitchhiker, who is soon seen getting out of the car to examine the right passenger tire when the car stops. Suddenly, the driver is clobbering him with a tire iron, killing him.
At the police station, we learn that this killing which was made to look like an accident with a car going over a cliff was murder because the man was hit on the back of the head, instead of going through the windshield and hitting the front of his head. They report that he is one of several migrant workers who have died recently, all with insurance claims collected on them.
The beneficiaries all got their mail at Hutkins' Country Store-where the kind proprietor tells Dan how they don't have regular addresses, so it's a service that he collects their mail in his large rack of pigeon holes. Learning what Dan is after, Hutkins points the finger at former convict Hank Willis.
But after investigating Willis, Dan decides he is not the man, but suspects Hutkins himself. He winds up setting a large trap and he and other officers barely arrive in time to save the day at the end of the episode.
One of the highway patrolmen, a sergeant, unnamed in the cast list, is played by John Hart, who for two years played the Lone Ranger on the TV series. I have watched those Long Rangers and believe that the only real criticism one can make of his portrayal of the "masked man" is that he wasn't Clayton Moore. I mean, he played the role quite well and could have been the people's favorite had he not come in after they were used to Moore.
As for this Highway Patrol, Dan had to do much more detecting than usual. It wasn't just find out where the bad guys were heading, setting up road blocks, and having a shoot-out with them wherever the bad guys chose to stop their vehicle. We viewers did not see the killer in those early scenes, only the victim, so we had no idea who the killer was-which is another thing they rarely did on this series.
Overall, I thought this was about as good an episode as this series had, so I give it a 9. It really stands out from their ordinary episodes.
That car is then seen stopping to pick up a different hitchhiker, who is soon seen getting out of the car to examine the right passenger tire when the car stops. Suddenly, the driver is clobbering him with a tire iron, killing him.
At the police station, we learn that this killing which was made to look like an accident with a car going over a cliff was murder because the man was hit on the back of the head, instead of going through the windshield and hitting the front of his head. They report that he is one of several migrant workers who have died recently, all with insurance claims collected on them.
The beneficiaries all got their mail at Hutkins' Country Store-where the kind proprietor tells Dan how they don't have regular addresses, so it's a service that he collects their mail in his large rack of pigeon holes. Learning what Dan is after, Hutkins points the finger at former convict Hank Willis.
But after investigating Willis, Dan decides he is not the man, but suspects Hutkins himself. He winds up setting a large trap and he and other officers barely arrive in time to save the day at the end of the episode.
One of the highway patrolmen, a sergeant, unnamed in the cast list, is played by John Hart, who for two years played the Lone Ranger on the TV series. I have watched those Long Rangers and believe that the only real criticism one can make of his portrayal of the "masked man" is that he wasn't Clayton Moore. I mean, he played the role quite well and could have been the people's favorite had he not come in after they were used to Moore.
As for this Highway Patrol, Dan had to do much more detecting than usual. It wasn't just find out where the bad guys were heading, setting up road blocks, and having a shoot-out with them wherever the bad guys chose to stop their vehicle. We viewers did not see the killer in those early scenes, only the victim, so we had no idea who the killer was-which is another thing they rarely did on this series.
Overall, I thought this was about as good an episode as this series had, so I give it a 9. It really stands out from their ordinary episodes.