If "Manhunt" does anything, it presents the Seven in a reasonable well-rounded fashion. Biehn and Midkiff don't hog the limelight for once, and the focus is more on Vin and Josiah. J.D., Ezra, and Nathan get their moments, too. I think it's the most input Nathan has had into any story since the premiere.
The plot itself is nothing to write home about. An Indian brave, Chanu, abducts Claire, a missionary's daughter. He gets captured by Vin and Buck, escapes, abducts Claire again, and she turns up strangled to death. Vin feels that he is responsible for Chanu's escape and hunts him down, while the missionary (John Cullum) riles the townsmen up into a mob to burn down the reservation Chanu comes from.
Meanwhile, Josiah visits the reservation. A wise old Indian chief (Gordon Tootoosis) helps him with the issues we didn't know Josiah had with his father. One gets the impression that the production staff knew they had a star on their hands with Ron Perlman, and decided to give Josiah more of the spotlight. Good for them: Perlman deserves it.
It turns out that Chanu and Claire were secretly married. Owen found out about it, flew into a rage and considered the unborn child a "spawn of Hell", and strangled his own daughter when he caught up to her. Vin figures it out and j'accuses Owen in front of the reservation as Owen leads the mob there to burn the place down. Even Owen's son Rafe turns against him, Josiah has an epiphany of sorts although it's not clear why, and everybody rides off into the sunset. Except Owen, who is going to jail.
There's a bit of padding, as two Indian braves attack Vin and Nathan. I don't think we see them before the attack, and the fight just gives us an action sequence and pads the episode out to an hour's time. J.D. embarrasses himself by throwing a bucket of water into the reservation sweat lodge, and admittedly Josiah's apologizing for him is funny. Ezra and Buck are ready to go after Chanu as the murderer, which plays into the previous episodes that showed Ezra as a bit of racist, and Buck as a guy who sympathizes with women. Neither is played up, it just... is. It seems a bit off-kilter, since both of them seem to have gotten over their issues from the early episodes. But it's better than no characterization at all.
Overall, the episode is... okay. It gives each of the Seven something to do, and Nathan does get to act as a sounding board to Vin. Chris doesn't have much to do, but I'm not heartbroken about that. Eric Close as Vin gets most of the spotlight, and he deserves it.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
The plot itself is nothing to write home about. An Indian brave, Chanu, abducts Claire, a missionary's daughter. He gets captured by Vin and Buck, escapes, abducts Claire again, and she turns up strangled to death. Vin feels that he is responsible for Chanu's escape and hunts him down, while the missionary (John Cullum) riles the townsmen up into a mob to burn down the reservation Chanu comes from.
Meanwhile, Josiah visits the reservation. A wise old Indian chief (Gordon Tootoosis) helps him with the issues we didn't know Josiah had with his father. One gets the impression that the production staff knew they had a star on their hands with Ron Perlman, and decided to give Josiah more of the spotlight. Good for them: Perlman deserves it.
It turns out that Chanu and Claire were secretly married. Owen found out about it, flew into a rage and considered the unborn child a "spawn of Hell", and strangled his own daughter when he caught up to her. Vin figures it out and j'accuses Owen in front of the reservation as Owen leads the mob there to burn the place down. Even Owen's son Rafe turns against him, Josiah has an epiphany of sorts although it's not clear why, and everybody rides off into the sunset. Except Owen, who is going to jail.
There's a bit of padding, as two Indian braves attack Vin and Nathan. I don't think we see them before the attack, and the fight just gives us an action sequence and pads the episode out to an hour's time. J.D. embarrasses himself by throwing a bucket of water into the reservation sweat lodge, and admittedly Josiah's apologizing for him is funny. Ezra and Buck are ready to go after Chanu as the murderer, which plays into the previous episodes that showed Ezra as a bit of racist, and Buck as a guy who sympathizes with women. Neither is played up, it just... is. It seems a bit off-kilter, since both of them seem to have gotten over their issues from the early episodes. But it's better than no characterization at all.
Overall, the episode is... okay. It gives each of the Seven something to do, and Nathan does get to act as a sounding board to Vin. Chris doesn't have much to do, but I'm not heartbroken about that. Eric Close as Vin gets most of the spotlight, and he deserves it.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
