(Note: Daniel Boone Season 5 Episode 17 "Jonah" seems to have been pulled from INSP's rotation; the hour deals with Josh inheriting a slave (Yaphet Kotto) and presumably efforts to free him. Hope its due to technical error and not "subject sensitivity.")
Daniel is on a one-man campaign to prevent the British from crossing the Allegheny frontier by blowing up bridges in their path of advance. He is stymied when he runs across farmer Bickford (Simon Oakland), who is resistant to destruction of his market access.
DB returns to its core action-adventure strength with this tightly paced and focused Revolutionary War episode. Good use is made of one of TV's best character actors as Oakland turns in a pretty believable bombastic frontier farmer. His persona is very akin to Jimmy Stewart's Civil War isolationist yeoman in 1965's "Shenandoah." (Though to be honest I tired long ago of "Shenandoah's" message that its noble to be neutral on major moral issues - my preferred ending would have featured a joint Union-Confederate attack on Stewart's sanctimonious homestead.) Oakland brought presence to any drama; my favorite memory of him is as besieged newspaper editor Tony Vincenzo in 1974-75's "The Night Stalker."
Kurt Russell is back for a better turn in DB as one of Oakland's sons after Season 3's horrible "The Young Ones." And, much as Fess Parker was probably a great all-around human being, its refreshing to think of him as more humanized when one speculates that at this point an NBC executive gently took him aside and told him a series named "Daniel Boone" really should feature Daniel Boone, and that Parker needed to start showing up for complete hours again. No Boonesborough baggage in this outing either, which sharpens the story all the more.
The tradeoff for the Revolutionary War action is a Conestoga-full of dubious historical background. There was no British attempt to break into the rebelling colonies from the west, and moving around the trans-Appalachian region in the 1770's was not contingent on using developed bridges - those would not show up until the 19th century. The opening sequence uses maps to purportedly show the Pa.-Ohio locations of Boone's previous bridge-blowing, and its incongruous with any real-life wartime troop movements. The bridge of the title is clearly of late 19th century design, and it crosses what appears to be an easily fordable creek. Finally, Bickford's argument that he needs the bridge to get to market seems dubious - if his farm is as far out as is claimed, he is nowhere remotely near a distribution center, and the bridge looks like it at could most support a small pack train - too narrow for a wagon, let alone a supplied troop column.
Redcoat report - very large, including stock footage; perhaps 30-40, all wearing the uniform of the Royal American Regiment.
A fine flintlock finale, making this the champion DB episode of Season 5.
Daniel is on a one-man campaign to prevent the British from crossing the Allegheny frontier by blowing up bridges in their path of advance. He is stymied when he runs across farmer Bickford (Simon Oakland), who is resistant to destruction of his market access.
DB returns to its core action-adventure strength with this tightly paced and focused Revolutionary War episode. Good use is made of one of TV's best character actors as Oakland turns in a pretty believable bombastic frontier farmer. His persona is very akin to Jimmy Stewart's Civil War isolationist yeoman in 1965's "Shenandoah." (Though to be honest I tired long ago of "Shenandoah's" message that its noble to be neutral on major moral issues - my preferred ending would have featured a joint Union-Confederate attack on Stewart's sanctimonious homestead.) Oakland brought presence to any drama; my favorite memory of him is as besieged newspaper editor Tony Vincenzo in 1974-75's "The Night Stalker."
Kurt Russell is back for a better turn in DB as one of Oakland's sons after Season 3's horrible "The Young Ones." And, much as Fess Parker was probably a great all-around human being, its refreshing to think of him as more humanized when one speculates that at this point an NBC executive gently took him aside and told him a series named "Daniel Boone" really should feature Daniel Boone, and that Parker needed to start showing up for complete hours again. No Boonesborough baggage in this outing either, which sharpens the story all the more.
The tradeoff for the Revolutionary War action is a Conestoga-full of dubious historical background. There was no British attempt to break into the rebelling colonies from the west, and moving around the trans-Appalachian region in the 1770's was not contingent on using developed bridges - those would not show up until the 19th century. The opening sequence uses maps to purportedly show the Pa.-Ohio locations of Boone's previous bridge-blowing, and its incongruous with any real-life wartime troop movements. The bridge of the title is clearly of late 19th century design, and it crosses what appears to be an easily fordable creek. Finally, Bickford's argument that he needs the bridge to get to market seems dubious - if his farm is as far out as is claimed, he is nowhere remotely near a distribution center, and the bridge looks like it at could most support a small pack train - too narrow for a wagon, let alone a supplied troop column.
Redcoat report - very large, including stock footage; perhaps 30-40, all wearing the uniform of the Royal American Regiment.
A fine flintlock finale, making this the champion DB episode of Season 5.
