THIRD SEASON (1959-60)
| 09/12/59 |
First, Catch a Tiger |
One of several hostile patrons at an
inn has been hired to assassinate Paladin, but which one? |
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Fine tale of everlasting hatred |
| 09/19/59 |
Episode in Laredo |
Paladin and a famous, unbeatable
gunfighter manage to like each other -- but will
circumstances force a deadly showdown anyway? |
|
One of the very best |
| 09/26/59 |
Les Girls |
Paladin escorts pretty French
mail-order brides and their chaperone on journey to
future husbands |
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Pretty ladies, pretty boring script |
| 10/03/59 |
The Posse |
On the trail, Paladin chances upon a suspicious character -- who soon frames Paladin for his own act of double-murder |
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Too relaxed for a man about to be hanged |
| 10/10/59 |
Shot By Request |
In order to put a stop to
challenges by other gunmen, an aging
gunfighter hires Paladin to shoot him in the hand |
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Easier said than done |
| 10/17/59 |
Pre-empted? |
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| 10/24/59 |
Pancho |
Engaged by a Mexican lord
to escort his daughter to safety in San Francisco, Paladin keeps running
into young Doroteo, a revolution-minded peon lad |
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Guess what his compadres
call him.... |
| 10/31/59 |
Fragile |
French
restauranteur hires Paladin to escort him, his wife, and a beloved
plate glass window on very bumpy trip to his mining town eatery |
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Cracks
appear early and often |
| 11/07/59 |
The Unforgiven |
A dying Civil War general with several axes to grind -- including one with Paladin -- asks his help in mending some fences before he passes away |
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Features some of the best lines Paladin has ever uttered |
| 11/14/59 |
The Black Handkerchief |
Paladin tries to prevent the
execution of a self-absorbed, upper-class young man who fell in with murderous
buffalo hunters |
|
Includes Paladin's very interesting
existential rumination |
| 11/21/59 |
The Gold Toad |
Paladin gets involved with a male farmer and
female cattle rancher, both desperate for water and feuding over possible
Indian buried treasure |
|
Toad, frog -- what's the difference if it just doesn't hop? |
| 11/28/59 |
Tiger |
Pompous hunter believes he's cursed, doomed to be killed by a tiger; he's heard of Paladin's past safari prowess, hires him as anti-feline bodyguard |
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Decently-crafted tale of a man haunted by guilt, fear |
| 12/05/59 |
Champagne Safari |
Paladin is hired to help protect
Britishers "on safari" in Indian country, after
a member of their party is killed by an arrow |
|
The Indians are the best part of this
one |
| 12/12/59 |
Charley Red Dog |
Paladin helps young Indian, a correspondence school "marshal," get hired and live through first few days on job in tough town |
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Climactic shootout is as phony as his Indian make-up |
| 12/19/59 |
Naked Gun |
Paladin makes an unwanted, unwashed,
goofy friend -- a small-time cattle rustler named Monk --
then must protect him from a vicious, fast-draw, trick-holstered trailboss |
|
Acceptable change of pace does have
some action |
| 12/26/59 |
One Came Back |
Reformed Civil War raider released
from prison hires Paladin, to escort him and a wagonload
of goods to town where his brothers operate a general
store |
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Story is only marginally convincing |
| 01/02/60 |
The Prophet |
The Army commissions Paladin to find a renegade Civil War colonel, now training Apaches in the art of battle -- and preparing them for war |
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Fairly complex character study |
| 01/09/60 |
The Day of the Bad Man |
Male schoolteacher from back East wants to be respected as Western tough guy, for just one day; Paladin makes his dream come true... |
| ... and creates a nightmare for us |
| 01/16/60 |
The Pledge |
Paladin is hired to escort a salesman and his wagonload of trade goods to hostile Indians holding the man's wife hostage |
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Ten little Indians, all in a row.... |
| 01/23/60 |
Jenny |
Paladin encounters countless
counterfeiters |
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Simply bogus |
| 01/30/60 |
Return to Fort Benjamin |
Paladin is asked by Indian chief to
see that his condemned son gets tribal burial rites after impending
execution at U.S. fort |
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Complex, adult story puts current TV
drama to shame |
| 02/06/60 |
The Night the Town Died |
Townspeople who lynched a man years
ago fear that his brother, just released form prison,
will soon arrive seeking vengeance; they hire Paladin to
protect them -- and him! |
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Hokey stage-play is moribund from the
start |
| 02/13/60 |
The Ledge |
Paladin and a diverse group of
wayfarers must cooperate and risk their lives to save an
unconscious man who fell down a ravine |
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Promising idea is badly directed,
tedious |
| 02/20/60 |
Lady on the Wall |
Old men in ghost town cling to
memories evoked by woman's portrait, then it disappears |
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Nonsensical story and predictable
ending |
| 02/27/60 |
The Misguided Father |
When a friend is found murdered,
Paladin takes his body back home to timber country, where
he suspects a hostile timber magnate and his psychotic
son |
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Weak script goes nowhere |
| 03/05/60 |
The Hatchet Man |
In San Francisco's Chinatown, Paladin
helps Chinese detective marked for assassination by
Chinese gang |
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Relentlessly tedious Oriental fare |
| 03/12/60 |
Fight at Adobe Wells |
Traveling by stagecoach, Paladin, his
wealthy client and wife, and others, are pinned down
along with a buffalo hunter by hostile Indians |
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Another talky stage-play |
| 03/19/60 |
The Gladiators |
A woman hires Paladin to stop a pistol
duel between her father and another old man, but the
other side then hires its own gunfighter |
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Nice allegory of upper-class folly |
| 03/26/60 |
Love of a Bad Woman |
Wealthy woman advertises in newspaper
for new husband, but she already has a husband;
he hires Paladin to investigate |
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Bad woman, good episode |
| 04/02/60 |
An International Affair |
Various international figures search
for a signet ring in the Hotel Carlton |
|
International House of Pancakes is
more interesting |
| 04/09/60 |
Lady With a Gun |
Paladin protects man who killed
woman's brother in Civil War from her sadistic hireling,
a gunman who also likes to use "fighting spurs" |
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Adult study of guilt, revenge and
remorse |
| 04/16/60 |
Never Help the Devil |
Paladin is asked by a wounded
small-town gunman and bully to escort him to Santa Fe
before the now emboldened townspeople tear him limb from
limb |
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Does the black knight have any choice? |
| 04/23/60 |
Ambush |
A psychotic Frenchman holds a shotgun
on five nervous people at a ferryboat station --
including Paladin and his prisoner -- awaiting arrival of
his mysterious employer |
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Yet another stage-play |
| 04/30/60 |
Black Sheep |
Young fugitive, the illegitimate son
of a Virginia colonel, has been named heir to his $5
million estate; Paladin must bring the boy in for trial
before he can collect |
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Weak acting by "the
son" mars otherwise fine episode |
| 05/07/60 |
Pre-empted? |
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| 05/14/60 |
Full Circle |
Paladin responds to wire, travels to see con man who once set him up, then says "forget it" to his desperate plea for help |
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Quite un-Paladin-like at the start |
| 05/21/60 |
The Twins |
Accused murderer hires Paladin to
prove he was framed by identical twin brother |
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Even we can't tell until the very end |
| 05/28/60 |
The Campaign of Billy Banjo |
Old friend running for state senator
asks Paladin to protect his opponent from own wife's
deadly machinations |
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Strummin' for office |
| 06/04/60 |
Ransom |
Paladin and other interested parties
search for mysterious, missing Mexican colonel who may
have huge, hidden treasure |
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Engrossing philosophical tale |
| 06/11/60 |
The Trial |
Paladin lands in kangaroo court, on
trial for his life, after bringing in the corpse of a
wealthy man's son accused of murder |
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One of the better
"courtroom" episodes |
| 06/18/60 |
The Search |
A dying woman asks Paladin to find her
missing son of 20 years; the trail leads to a town ruled
by a wealthy, murderous psychopath |
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Somewhat interesting, but too stagey |
