Daniel, Mason and Cully are on posse duty tracking down a homicidal highwayman, who is promptly dispatched by Cully. They come upon his orphaned son (Ron Howard) and take him back to Boonesborough, but he proves a moody ingrate with revenge on his mind. In the meantime the British are occupying Boonesborough and blockading at the Cumberland Gap munitions needed for the fort's defense against the tribes.
Its largely back to around-the-fort this hour, and the doings are centered on giving Howard a chance to break out of the "Andy Griffith Show's" cute kid Opie persona. Understandably, DB is hardly the best format for troubled-youth antics, and his overacting is obvious. The Opie character would be hard for any actor who played it at length to break out of, and Howard was probably better destined for directing anyway. Being compelled to deal with a problem kid other than the normally pliable Israel would have been a chance to expand Becky's repertoire, but its a road untaken. Child actor Claire Wilcox is given a substantial role as a fort girl who takes an interest in Howard. She might have been intended by NBC for bigger things, but she was done with acting by 1972.
The more interesting story is Daniel's attempt to break the blockade by building a covert suspension bridge, but it takes up minimal screen time, is insufficiently concluded, and once more the human interest angle floods the series.
A minimal history component his week; its possible that the redcoats, Mason and Cully are here because this and the previous episode were filmed closely together or adjacent to save some time. There never were redcoats in Boonesborough, and the setting here - clearly in the run-up to the Revolution- is impractical; the settlement went up pretty much concurrently with the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington and Concord.
Redcoat report - eight, with no commanding officer in sight; again wearing Royal American Regiment livery.
The tone is really too Disneyish minus the more satisfying Disney writing and acting, and the hour is probably mainly of interest to what Ron Howard acting fans there are.
Its largely back to around-the-fort this hour, and the doings are centered on giving Howard a chance to break out of the "Andy Griffith Show's" cute kid Opie persona. Understandably, DB is hardly the best format for troubled-youth antics, and his overacting is obvious. The Opie character would be hard for any actor who played it at length to break out of, and Howard was probably better destined for directing anyway. Being compelled to deal with a problem kid other than the normally pliable Israel would have been a chance to expand Becky's repertoire, but its a road untaken. Child actor Claire Wilcox is given a substantial role as a fort girl who takes an interest in Howard. She might have been intended by NBC for bigger things, but she was done with acting by 1972.
The more interesting story is Daniel's attempt to break the blockade by building a covert suspension bridge, but it takes up minimal screen time, is insufficiently concluded, and once more the human interest angle floods the series.
A minimal history component his week; its possible that the redcoats, Mason and Cully are here because this and the previous episode were filmed closely together or adjacent to save some time. There never were redcoats in Boonesborough, and the setting here - clearly in the run-up to the Revolution- is impractical; the settlement went up pretty much concurrently with the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington and Concord.
Redcoat report - eight, with no commanding officer in sight; again wearing Royal American Regiment livery.
The tone is really too Disneyish minus the more satisfying Disney writing and acting, and the hour is probably mainly of interest to what Ron Howard acting fans there are.
