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Season One Episode #2 J/A intimacy ***** (but I always think that--especially in the b/w eps) Jim beauty ****** (is Jim just extra beautiful in the b/w eps because he was younger and the stress of weekly tv hadn't gotten to him yet or would I be better off getting a b/w tv and watching all of the eps in b/w?) Artie beauty ***** (he's darn cute--well, the Indian thing wasn't so great. And the old man, but when he was lounging around in the Indian's camp while Jim was getting "tortured'" he was awfullly cute--and he sure looked guilty that Jim caught him flirting w/ the Indian maidens) Shirtlessness 0 (none that I can recall) Comprehensibility of plot, spackleability ***** I think it's a pretty decent plot, and I can't think of anything to spackle in the ep h/c, angst *** Artie deliberately made a fool of himself and got himself beat up so that he could get his hands on the bad guy's knife. It was very sweet how crazy it made Jim when Artie was getting himself bashed, and even sweeter when Artie was thrown down beside Jim, and Jim said, "What were you trying to prove?" and Artie shows him the knife, and Jim smiles proudly. Poor Jim worshipped General Ball, so it was very tough on him that the general turned out to be a bad guy. Too bad that only the indian, American Knife, noticed. Why didn't Artie notice? guest stars: Jim Kirk's lawyer is a bad guy who betrays his boss and threatens to kill Jim and the girl. special gadgets: breakaway derringer in his boots. How does he decide what he's going to put in his boots from one day to the next? Stuff I loved: Jim worshipped General Ball. He just beamed when he saw him, and he was sooo excited about working w/ him. I was just imagining Jim as an eager young lieutenant (and so was Ball). But then Ball stepped on him like a li'l whipped pup. Poor Jim. His reaction to Ball's traitorous behavior was far too internalized. He probably went home and cried himself to sleep. I don't usually get excited about Jim kissing women, but I really liked the kiss that he gave to TheGirlWhoWoreJeans. I don't know why. I just liked it. I loved the way Jim told Artie, "no whiskey and no women," when he was dressed up like an Indian. I loved that Artie has brandy in his morning coffee, and that was when he toasted, "to Sin," and Jim toasted , "And to salvation." I loved how darn proud Artie was of Jim throughout the ep and at the end when they were toasting his success (although I did feel a bit disgruntled that Jim was taking all the credit. Artie deserved to be toasted, too. So there.) That American Knife went to Dartmouth. stuff I hated: the fake torture. I hated the way Jim was moaning. It was gross, not at all the way he moans when he's having sex w/ Artie. actually, I couldn't stand the Indian girl. Hated the tag where, after they said they were on their way to Chicago, the girls popped out of *Artie's* kitchen w/ their "delicacies and Jim cuddled on the couch w/ them. How the heck are they going to get home after dinner? They slow down the train and boot the girls out and they have to jump the next freight. It also bothers me when they show that the train is leaving and Jim and Artie are still talking about going into town to look for girls. "Um, Mr. West, Mr. Gordon, I'm sorry, but you can't get off the train now to go into town. Town is 'bout 10 miles behind us." Um, plot, yeah, there's a plot: Somebody is trying to shut down the railroad. Supposedly, it's the Cheyenne. They threaten to kill 5 workers a day unless they get paid a half million dollars in gold. Jim sends Artie out dressed up like an Indian to get info. Oh, BTW, Jim says it probably isn't Indians. He doesn't think that Indians are smart enough to organize like this. Very offensive ep if one is of Native American descent. When Jim goes into town to investigate, he starts following a cute girl in blue jeans, and Artie, steps out of the saloon , and looks at Jim reprovingly. Jim goes home w/ the girl. Kirk's lawyer throws 'em in the cellar. Jim wires the door shut, so they don't get interrupted, and then he seduces the girl. Of course, they are fully clothed when hours later, Artie shows up to get them out. Jim acts innocent when they climb out of the cellar, so I don't know whether they did anything but neck. Artie doesn't get much info as an Indian, so he dresses up like a railroad worker. Very cute, flirty, close-up conversation, and Jim watches with amused affection ("That my boyfriend!") as Artie walks out the door. Jim follows Artie, while they are talking about what's going on w/ the attacks, a group of Indians ride up and attack the five railroad workers. Jim and Artie ride after them. Artie gets shot off his horse (I guess the horse actually threw him 'cause he was fine). Jim goes back to see if Artie is okay. Artie says, "I'm fine. Go ahead. You'll miss all the fun." Jim shoots an Indian off his horse, but when he gets close, he gets captured by American Knife who takes him back to their camp to propose that the Cheyenne go voluntarily into a fort until the real bad guys are found. Oh, BTW, the "Indian" that Jim shot was really a white guy. Yeah, Jim killed someone. It's still early, so he gets to kill people. Jim agrees to the proposal too readily. AK says that his elders will insist that he be tortured. The Indian girl who is supposed to be torturing him compliments him on his fake screams of pain and releases him so that he can kiss her instead. When she releases him, they walk out and Artie is lounging around in the Indian camp making eyes at the Indian women. He looks somewhat abashed to be caught thus. They decide that whoever is pretending to be the Indians will have to come back at night to get the dead body, so they go out at night, Artie pretends to be the dead body, and Jim and American Knife ambush the bad guy. They go back to the camp, Artie walks in on some guy kissing a girl, and the girl decides, after the guy insists on having Artie clout him, that he's awfully cute, and she wants to go w/ Artie instead. Unfortunately, Artie has to run off, so he doesn't get any. Unfair since Jim has already been w/ both the GirlWhoLikestoWearsJeans (but who is now wearing a dress, presumably transformed into a woman by being kissed by Jim West) and the Indian girl. Jim listens in on the bad guys plotting the next ambush. The bad guys give fake info. Apparently, Jim figures that out, because instead of arranging an ambush at the fake ambush place, he goes back to his adored general and the railroad men and advises them to pay. Artie looks kind of cute in this scene, lounging around trying to look unconcerned, and after, he tells James how brilliant he was in putting up the smokescreen, but General Ball is suspicious (and I don't blame him) that West would give up so easily. Did I already mention that Ball is in on it. Poor Jim. He'll be so disappointed when he finds out that his hero is really a zero. Ball orders the bad guys to pick up West and Gordon. They also pick up poor Tennyson and GWLTWBJ. They take them back to the bad guys camp and one of the bad guys who looks like Stacy Keach to me, but isn't, has a list of where Jim hides his weapons, so they take away all his guns and knives and his wire, but they let him keep his lock pick, but I can't remember if he uses it later or not. When Jim is shoved to the ground, stripped of his weapons, Artie stands up and picks a fight w/ the bad guy. Only he does it in such a ridiculous manner that the bad guy looks at him in amazement and then laughs at him and knocks him on his ass, but meanwhile Artie has stolen a knife out of the bad guy's boots. When Artie finally falls down beside Jim, Jim says... oh, wait I mentioned that above. Anyway, it's cute how concerned JIm was when Artie was getting beat up and then amused Jim is when Artie tells him why he did it. They get taken to a cave or something and General Ball shows up to reveal himself as the bad guy. He says to Jim, "You don't seem too surprised." I'm actually a little disappointed that we don't see the moment that Jim figures out who it is, because, as I said before, Jim worships this guy. It's got to be a turning point in Jim's life to be betrayed by him. It has to affect him, so I think they blew it by not showing his angst at discovering the truth. Anyway, Jim and the guy talk about what Ball is going to do, and Jim is very restrained, tells him that he just may succeed. Oh, BTW, the reason Ball is doing this is that he's pissed that after losing his hand, he was in the hospital for 8 weeks and got a minor command out in the Southwest Territories while Grant is in the White House. I don't know if he lost his hand in the Civil War or subsequently. Guess I should. Um, earlier Jim told him that even w/out his hand he was twice the man most guys were and... Heck, you gotta see the way Jim smiles at the guy. I'm willing to entertain the possibility of a Ball/West thang back during the War. Anyway, Ball's going to take the 1/2 million dollars and "his" Army is going to invade Mexico. So, Ball takes West and Gordon and the others out to the plains, so they can watch the fun. Artie has the knife, so he cuts Jim loose. Tells Jim that he'll get himself loose, too. Jim jumps their guard and steals his rifle. Gives the rifle to Artie and he goes off to attack the guy who is going to fire the blasting caps and kill all the good guys who are in the baggage car which is on the train, which is pushing a car with the ransom money--which is in the form of gold in the shape of railroad spikes in barrels. Jim blows up the blasting caps, and the bad guys make their move too soon. American Knife's Cheyennes ride out of the baggage car and there's a big gun battle. One of the bad guys rides up and picks up one of the barrels (full of gold spikes--nope, if it was full of gold spikes, he would never be able to lift it as easily as he does), but he gets an arrow in the back. Anyway, the bad guys are vanquished, and the gold is safe, but Ball sneaks up on Jim and they have a big fight. Of course, Jim still has a tough time hitting Ball and he can't shoot him, so American Knife has to shoot him in the back, and American Knife says, "I know how hard it is to kill someone who was a friend." The tag start w/ Jim and Artie laughing uproariously at something. The railroad guys congratulate Jim for his cleverness (poor Artie doesn't mind being chopped chicken liver), Tennyson serves firewater (firewater and soda for American Knife), and they toast Jim. The railroad guys leave, American Knife says he hopes that he sees Jim again, and maybe Jim will someday say that some of his best friends are Indians (whatever). Jim and Artie are alone and they crow about going back to civilization (Chicago), for "wine, women, and off-key harmonizing," and Artie slips out the door. I guess to tell the engineer that they're ready to go, but then the dumb girls come out fo the kitchen w/ Buffalo Tongue and Irish Stew, and they sit on the couch surrounding JIm and he embraces them both declaring that he has the stomach for both. Yick. But, in spite of the puzzling icky girl tag, I love this ep. I have no spackle ideas, but love the whole look of it. I am puzzled, however, why in TNOT Two-Legged Buffalo, Jim had to trick Artie into disguising himself and going into a dangerous situation when he apparently volunteered to do it himself in TNOT Double-Edged Knife. |