When San Francisco detective Pete Gerson asks Well Fargo to take custody of his female prisoner and deliver her to San Francisco, Hardie agrees. He finds that the woman is actually a material witness in a political corruption investigation. But Gerson is murdered as the stage prepares to depart. Faced with murderous pursuers, Hardie decides that the odds are better if he and the witness leave the stage and proceed on foot.
When Hardie first sees the witness, Gerson has her in handcuffs. It's obvious that she's uncooperative. Hardie attempts to convince her to do the right thing, but she's pretty much adamant in her refusal, even after seeing Gerson gunned down in cold blood, stating that the evidence is all lies.
This episode includes what I suppose is one of the more pedestrian plots of the series, although there was a good amount of action which elevates the episode. The viewing audience is very much aware that the bad guys' agenda includes eliminating the witness. But for whatever reason, she's oblivious to the truth defiantly until the inevitable confrontation.
And I had a couple other questions, like why the one heavy tried to nab the witness from the stage in the middle of town, or why Hardie dove into the lake deliberately during the big fight, other than for the entertainment value. But I'm not complaining here, as the big fight was one of the longest of the series, and Hardie took way more punishment than he typically gets, and that's a definite plus for the episode.
In fact, the wet/dry clothing scenes were most amusing. The witness fell into the water in one scene, next scene her clothes were completely dry. Then Hardie's clothes were soaking wet, next scene they were completely dry. With no wrinkles at all! Permanent press in the old west...hahaha!
The cast is pretty much unknown, other than Stafford Repp as Pete Gerson. Repp made a lot of appearances on the small screen...5 Gunsmokes, 3 ToWF, and a lot more. But he'll be forever remembered as Chief O'Hara in the Adam West Batman series. Darlene Fields appeared as Ellen Lambson, the witness. She made mostly singular appearances in some TV, with a couple film roles, most notably 20,000,000 Miles to Earth. Still, she's unknown.
Not the best plot, but still a fun episode!