User Reviews

This was one good episode. Gene Barry at this point of playing the beloved character of 'Bat' Masterson was fitting and adjusting nicely to the role. I like the way Barry portrayed 'Bat'. Calm, cool, charming, confident and somewhat cocky. But then again he could "walk the walk and talk the talk" per say. Being a great gunfighter and really good at fighting fist to fist and really good with that cane of his! All this and a Ladies man too! I always wonder how Barry would have made out as The Avenger's John Steed role or at least have had him as a guest star on that show battling Patric Macnee's Steed. we shall never know..

Anyways, back to this wonderful episode, it has Masterson going to investigate rumors of someone impersonating to be 'Bat' Masterson! And the late Lance Fuller as 'Chad Hornsby/Fake 'Bat', did a great job. He personified what 'Bat' would of or could have been , had he been evil and a bad guy! Just chilling. I like how Fuller's 'Bat' looked like a snake or lizard ready to strike per say. His scenes with Barry were priceless. There's a wonderful "Cane Showdown Fight" at the end, a total classic!

The late Richard Reeves and the always great Richard Bakalyan played Fuller's thug henchmen. They both did a great job. They both had real good confrontation scenes with Barry's 'Bat' that were serious and funny at the same time.

The lovely late Yvette Vickers played Jessie Simmons, a lady-friend of Barry from the past, who gives him the lowdown on the fake 'Bat'. And supports him and anyway she can without provoking the fake 'Bat'.

All in all a great ,great episode. One of my favorites so far! I'm am so happy to see this wonderful classic series in it's entirety for the 1st time! Can't wait to finish it!

Clever episode of Bat Masterson has our hero heading to Trinidad to confront an imposter claiming to be him! This fake in derby hat, carrying the cane, and holding position of sheriff (just long enough to rob gold coming in to the transfer station located in the town) has two gunmen at his side, with the townsfolk all intimidated by him. Bat isn't about to allow some joker to rob a gold transfer post, defaming his name into notoriety as a criminal and get away with it. So Bat gets the goods from a lady friend in town, Jessie (the cute Yvette Vickers, who has terrific chemistry with Gene Barry), on this guy, learning his name is actually Chad Hornsby (Lance Fuller). So Bat will play around with Chad for a little bit, acting temporarily like some uneducated bumpkin (however, he turns one of Chad's men into a laughing stock, always causing him to trip and fall on his face in the floor), before standing up to him in a saloon. Soon Bat will challenge Chad, with the two of them dressed exactly alike (or very similar in appearance), engaged in a cane fight right in the middle of the town, with the locals all attentive and eager to see who the victor might be. There should never be a doubt that the real Bat will prevail but seeing him ruin Chad's masterplan is a great deal of fun, as is Barry's work opposite Vickers, as the two flirt while Bat's in town to set things right. The opening, prior to the visit to Trinidad, has Masterson diminishing a large drunken brute, smashing the plates of a miniature salesman, by using his cane to quell a possible attempted strike with a bottle…it is one of those little scenes that introduces the reasoning behind the ongoing adventure story for Bat, while once again providing an excuse that allows him to show off with his cane. The showdown at the end is extra fun because Bat has Jessie hold a gun on one of Chad's gunfighters while his attention is diverted to the cane combat; she doesn't flinch during this duty, either. What I like about Jessie is that she even seems to be enjoying herself when becoming inadvertently involved in this whole mess, sort of linked to Chad but quite fond of Bat. This is an entertaining episode and Barry excels in this part because of how comfortable he is as the character.