Post by zimmerman on Jul 9, 2013 15:53:40 GMT -5
It had been quite a roller-coaster production ride for The Wild Wild West for its first season. So many different producers: Collier Young, Fred Freiberger, John Mantley, Phillip Leacock, and Gene L. Coon all had their turn at bat, so many direction and format changes over that season, you would think that the cast and crew would have whiplash by the end of the season !
By the time TNOT Sudden Plague went into production, Gene L. Coon was out, and Michael Garrison stepped in to produce the final episode of the season as kind of a bookend for the year, considering that he produced the stellar pilot, TNOT Inferno ! For the first season finale, he got one of his favorite writers, Ken Kolb, to create another one of his "Ships in the bottle" scripts so that everyone could get a production done in time and under budget. The episode that was made and created for the first season finale, TNOT Sudden Plague, is one of the more interesting episodes made for the series, and is a hundred times better than the similarly-titled TNOT Plague, the episode chosen to close the Wild Wild West after four wonderful seasons on the air .
TNOT Sudden Plague is one of the better mid-line WWW episodes in the entire series. For starters, it has two of the shows finest guest actors as villians in this particular episode: Robert Phillips, who subsequently appeared in Season 3's TNOT Arrow and Season 4's TNOT Fire and Brimstone.
H.M Wynant is a real meancing heavy in this particular episode as Coley Rodman, the leader of the rag-tag group of misfits who rob the townspeople after activating the germ that Doctor Kirby has perfected. Unlike most episodes, we probably get more scenes with the heavies than in any other subsequent episode of WWW. Really enjoyed the fact that one of his men was named "Whitey" in honor of WWW's legendary stuntman Whitey Hughes . Also liked the lackey who always had to leave to do his boss' dirty work just when he had a great hand ! The scene with the one lackey and the missing money was just a touch intense, but it did lead to a great fight scene with James, Coley, and his gang ;D!
Theodore Marcuse does an outstanding job portraying the meancing Dr. Kirby, "A Student of the great Dr. Lister, the man who followed Pastuer in proving that many diseases are caused by tiny bacteria." who "Went to China as a medical Missionary" and helped heal hundreds of people before being disgraced and shunned for not being able to save the wife of the provincial ruler. In retaltation for them killing his wife, he develops new form of bacteria, including the one that James and Artemus have to deal with. Mr. Marcuse as always, is dignified and ruthless, sometimes even in the same scene!! Really like the scene wherein he takes off his wig and goatee: really brought a chilling, dramatic edge to the episode.
Nobu McCarthy did a really good job playing the concerned daughter who wanted to make sure that she and her father be safe from harm from Coley and his gang. It was probably also good that she told Jim and Artie that she was engaged: she does not really seem like the type of a woman that our boys would date on a regular basis ! At least she is a very nice person, who gets to start a new life in San Francisco.
What is up with the Govenor of Willow Springs? He sure does not seem like the authorative type: he seems to be so full of himself, and does not really seem to care about the welfare of his town at all ! At the very least, it did give us a great scene with Jim interrogating him with the razor that would pave the way for the more graphic interrogation techniques that Jack Bauer would use in "24" many, many years later.
As always, this episode has got some Jim and Artie scenes, like the one that CalGal mentioned in her review, about "Jim deliberately bringing up the possibility of poision just as Artie was about to savor a free drink!" plus the scene where Jim uses Artie as an outline to test out his new explosive: "I don't remember ordering a new suit...Ah! It's a portrait! A wonderful way to spend an afternoon. It's very nice, but I don't think you've captured the real me....Just a pinch of salt...Ah yes! Now that's the real me."
Artie has got some great scenes on his own in this episode as well, when he discovers the skeleton in Dr. Kirby's labratory, his cover story for Coley, wherin he references "Bonanza": "I was headed here to hide out. I got into a scrape in Virginia City and shot a man. The law took out after me. Was walking into the fort when everything busted loose." Plus the wonderful brief moment when he talks to one of Dr. Kirby's animals, "Show a little respect. I could be your uncle.". The charming personality of Artemus Gordon and his wit are sprinkled all throughout this episode.
If there is one complaint about this episode, it is that the outdoor scenes at night are too dark and noirish. You can barely see James hard at work outside.
Did you notice the owl in this episode? ? Nice touch.
Overall, a good, but not great, middle-of-the-road episode of Wild Wild West, closing their most successful season, ratings-wise, peaking at #23 on the Nielsen rating charts for the 1965-66 TV Season. Next stop, color, and more bizarre plots for the second season after Bob, Ross, and the gang took a well-deserved break to recover from their roller-coaster ride of a first season.
6 out of 10 from me.