Post by zimmerman on Jul 2, 2013 19:22:56 GMT -5
"You see, Demas was different. Several months after his birth, you can tell, well, he was different from his brothers. I thought maybe Leibeg could help him."--Senator Seth Buckley.
In a interview that Sue Kesler conducted for her WWW book, writers Robert C. Dennis and Earl Barrett related that writing for the Wild Wild West was like writing for a comic book, and nowhere is the team more at their comic book best than in TNOT Simian Terror, the penultimate episode of the Third Season, and a welcome change of pace from the mostly-Western-filled plots of the third season.
The plot is great comic book material, even though of course Jim and Artie have to have a real reason for heading over to Senator Buckley's mansion: President Grant has been concerned about the whereabouts of Senator Buckley's whereabouts, since he has not corresponded with him in a very long time. and is eager to expitite the Senators return to Washington. When James and Artie arrive at his house (The Barkley Mansion of course) , they are greeted with "Armed sentries with dogs" and "Guns everywhere. The entire place barricaded." When the Buckley caretaker is found crushed, the real reason slowly emerges throughout the course of the episode: Senator Buckley is having family troubles because his "long-lost son" Demas found out who he was and wants to destroy every last Buckley in order to maintain a large amount of wealth and power, all with the help of his trusted ape/monkey.
Dabbs Greer, in the first of his two appearances on the series, here turns in a masterful performance as Senator Buckley. He really gets into the timidness of the character, and the full range and extent of emotions he is going through with the return of Demas, and the uneasiness of having the big Buckley family secret revealed.
In terms of the supporting characters, another favorite of mine is Doctor Sigmund Herbert Maria Von Leibeg, well-played by John Abbott, who, according to the biographical profile that Artie reads to James, was "Born in 1809 Schweinfurd, Germany. Educated at the University of Hidleburg. Lectured three years at the University." and is the "Well-known naturalist, anthropologist, and author of "On the Nature of the Ape and His Environment" and "the Journal of Ape Culture", who also insists that he went back to being "A simple country doctor", when Dr. Leibeg encounters Artie as "Doctor Marvin Gentry."
Speaking of Artie, as I mentioned in my previous review, he was outstanding as Doctor Marvin Gentry of the St. Louis Anthropological Soceity, who has two copies of Dr. Leibeg's Thesis on the Apes. He really brought a uniqueness to the character, and also brought a slight timidness to the characterizartion. Another great moment is when Artie's Gentry character encounters Demas for the first time, thinking he is the helper of Leibeg, and later tells James "that is the biggest meanest hunk since the Wooly Mammoth." Another wonderful regular Artie scene is when he is the Buckley nursery and he pulls out his voice activated-stephoscope and drills out a small hole in the middle of the floor for his pencil-sized telescope to eavesdrop on The Buckley family conversation before Senator Buckley gives him a major conking on the head when he catches Artie getting close to finding out about the Buckley family secret!
Also, there was also a nod to Ross' Jewish roots when he tells Naomi that her name means "Sweetness" in Hebrew. Plus the scene when Artie encounters Demas in the family Bible is a great moment in the episode.
The Buckley sons, Aaron, Benjiman, Caleb, and Demas, are a very interesting lot. Of the supporting sons, I like Benjiman and Aaron, the latter leading the beast hunt. It was great to see HM Wynant play a good character for a change! Of course, the star of the Buckley sons is Demas, who is wonderfully and masterfully played by Richard Kiel, who made an indelible impression already on the series, playing Voltaire in the first three Dr. Loveless episode. I really enjoyed his initial encounter with Artie as Dr. Gentry, plus the slightly tender moment when he encounters the wind-up Teddy Bear before he very aggressively kills Caleb.
Grace Gaynor is okay as Naomi. She is probably at the bottom of my top favorite females of the series. Plus, it was interesting to see future "Quincy ME" co-star John S. Ragin appear here as Reverened Hastings.
James has also got some great moments in this episode as well, the requiste fight with the Buckley sons, which turned out to be a great highlight of the program, plus getting rescued from the cage, and the death-defying fight of fancy which led to the demise of Demas. Plus the scene where he complains about being cold in the Buckley house shows off another side of his humanity.
I, of course, am in the minority who don't prefer the ape, who is probably the same one that was in TNOT Golden Cobra, but the good news is that the ape is only in a minute number of scenes. the show belongs to our heroes and the top-rate guest stars along for the wild ride on this amazing bizarre installment of "Our Favorite Programme"
8 out of 10 from me.
In a interview that Sue Kesler conducted for her WWW book, writers Robert C. Dennis and Earl Barrett related that writing for the Wild Wild West was like writing for a comic book, and nowhere is the team more at their comic book best than in TNOT Simian Terror, the penultimate episode of the Third Season, and a welcome change of pace from the mostly-Western-filled plots of the third season.
The plot is great comic book material, even though of course Jim and Artie have to have a real reason for heading over to Senator Buckley's mansion: President Grant has been concerned about the whereabouts of Senator Buckley's whereabouts, since he has not corresponded with him in a very long time. and is eager to expitite the Senators return to Washington. When James and Artie arrive at his house (The Barkley Mansion of course) , they are greeted with "Armed sentries with dogs" and "Guns everywhere. The entire place barricaded." When the Buckley caretaker is found crushed, the real reason slowly emerges throughout the course of the episode: Senator Buckley is having family troubles because his "long-lost son" Demas found out who he was and wants to destroy every last Buckley in order to maintain a large amount of wealth and power, all with the help of his trusted ape/monkey.
Dabbs Greer, in the first of his two appearances on the series, here turns in a masterful performance as Senator Buckley. He really gets into the timidness of the character, and the full range and extent of emotions he is going through with the return of Demas, and the uneasiness of having the big Buckley family secret revealed.
In terms of the supporting characters, another favorite of mine is Doctor Sigmund Herbert Maria Von Leibeg, well-played by John Abbott, who, according to the biographical profile that Artie reads to James, was "Born in 1809 Schweinfurd, Germany. Educated at the University of Hidleburg. Lectured three years at the University." and is the "Well-known naturalist, anthropologist, and author of "On the Nature of the Ape and His Environment" and "the Journal of Ape Culture", who also insists that he went back to being "A simple country doctor", when Dr. Leibeg encounters Artie as "Doctor Marvin Gentry."
Speaking of Artie, as I mentioned in my previous review, he was outstanding as Doctor Marvin Gentry of the St. Louis Anthropological Soceity, who has two copies of Dr. Leibeg's Thesis on the Apes. He really brought a uniqueness to the character, and also brought a slight timidness to the characterizartion. Another great moment is when Artie's Gentry character encounters Demas for the first time, thinking he is the helper of Leibeg, and later tells James "that is the biggest meanest hunk since the Wooly Mammoth." Another wonderful regular Artie scene is when he is the Buckley nursery and he pulls out his voice activated-stephoscope and drills out a small hole in the middle of the floor for his pencil-sized telescope to eavesdrop on The Buckley family conversation before Senator Buckley gives him a major conking on the head when he catches Artie getting close to finding out about the Buckley family secret!
Also, there was also a nod to Ross' Jewish roots when he tells Naomi that her name means "Sweetness" in Hebrew. Plus the scene when Artie encounters Demas in the family Bible is a great moment in the episode.
The Buckley sons, Aaron, Benjiman, Caleb, and Demas, are a very interesting lot. Of the supporting sons, I like Benjiman and Aaron, the latter leading the beast hunt. It was great to see HM Wynant play a good character for a change! Of course, the star of the Buckley sons is Demas, who is wonderfully and masterfully played by Richard Kiel, who made an indelible impression already on the series, playing Voltaire in the first three Dr. Loveless episode. I really enjoyed his initial encounter with Artie as Dr. Gentry, plus the slightly tender moment when he encounters the wind-up Teddy Bear before he very aggressively kills Caleb.
Grace Gaynor is okay as Naomi. She is probably at the bottom of my top favorite females of the series. Plus, it was interesting to see future "Quincy ME" co-star John S. Ragin appear here as Reverened Hastings.
James has also got some great moments in this episode as well, the requiste fight with the Buckley sons, which turned out to be a great highlight of the program, plus getting rescued from the cage, and the death-defying fight of fancy which led to the demise of Demas. Plus the scene where he complains about being cold in the Buckley house shows off another side of his humanity.
I, of course, am in the minority who don't prefer the ape, who is probably the same one that was in TNOT Golden Cobra, but the good news is that the ape is only in a minute number of scenes. the show belongs to our heroes and the top-rate guest stars along for the wild ride on this amazing bizarre installment of "Our Favorite Programme"
8 out of 10 from me.