The Wild Wild West - General Discussion

[chessiegal]

Saturday August 26, 10 am MeTV will air "The Night of the Assassin". Original air date September 22, 1967.

Quote

West and Gordon accompany the Ambassador to Mexico who's trying to establish diplomatic ties with them which has not been going so well. They attend a festival wherein the Mexican President makes an appearance while riding in his carriage. West sees a sniper so he throws a wrench in the plan. He and Gordon try to get the shooter but he gets away but they get the his accomplice whom they recognize as an American criminal. They keep the Mexicans from finding him because as mentioned the Ambassador's mission has not been going well and if word gets out that an American tried to kill the President that will surely kill the Ambassador's mission. So they try to find the shooter and find out what he knows. But the Mexicans get him and take him to a prison where a Colonel Barbosa who is knows as Colonel Arsenic because he's skilled at making anyone talk. West and Gordon goes to see the man with Gordon disguised as the man's father. He talks to the man who will tell all but first wants to be brought back to the U.S. So West and Gordon plan an escape but the Colonel catches them.—rcs0411@yahoo.com

The above recap is from the show's IMDb page.

Artie wears 4 disguises in this episode.

In the early part of the show West jumps off a wall and splits the rear of his pants. He turns around and engages in fighting without missing a beat.

[chessiegal]

A tragic footnote on "The Night of the Assassin" - Ramon Novarro who played Don Tomas was brutally murdered in his home a year after this was filmed. Two hustlers beat him to death because they thought he had a large stash of cash in his home. Novarro started his acting career in 1917 in silent films. 

For all Dr. Loveless fans, next Saturday morning MeTV will be airing "The Night Dr. Loveless Died". Because of Michael Dunn's health issues, this is the only episode he appears in Season 3.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 8/25/2023 at 5:46 PM, chessiegal said:

Saturday August 26, 10 am MeTV will air "The Night of the Assassin". Original air date September 22, 1967.

The above recap is from the show's IMDb page.

Artie wears 4 disguises in this episode.

In the early part of the show West jumps off a wall and splits the rear of his pants. He turns around and engages in fighting without missing a beat.

This was a somewhat boring episode, despite Novarro making an appearance and Artie getting so many disguises.  I suspect there was a big wardrobe budget to buy Conrad new pants to replace the ones that ripped.

[chessiegal]

@Tom Holmberg I agree that was a boring episode. As far as Conrad's pants splitting open, he claims it happened so often he started wearing black underwear. I never noticed it. From what I can tell Conrad had a tendency to play fast and loose with the truth. 😄 He said that sometimes they wanted his pants so tight they sewed him into them, and they were so tight he couldn't sit down. In "The Night of the Underground Terror" (Season 3 Episode 19), we get to see a lot of Conrad's underwear. This is what IMDb says about the end of that episode.

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During the climactic fight scene, Jim West's famously tight trousers rip apart in the crotch, amply revealing his very 20th-century white jockey briefs. A few shots later, the rip mends itself and the pants are split down the right outer seam instead.

 

[chessiegal]

Saturday, September 2 at 10 am ET MeTV will be airing "The Night Dr. Loveless Died", Season 3 Episode 4. Original air date September 29, 1967.

Quote

West and Gordon travel to Hayes City where Dr. Loveless is laid out in state, apparently shot while robbing the local bank. A small war promptly develops between the agents, a woman named Triste and a man named Deuce as they follow a trail of clues Loveless left behind. West soon finds himself roped into acting as Loveless' executor and protecting Dr. Werner Otto Liebnicht, who is introduced as Loveless' uncle, in exchange for certain incriminating documents; Gordon, meanwhile, works on getting to the bottom of things through lovely, treacherous Triste.

The above recap is from tvtropes. The Night Dr. Loveless Died

Because of Michael Dunn's personal and health issues, this is his only appearance in Season 3. It's his 9th appearance on the show.

In German, Leibnicht translates to Loveless.

How West and Gordon cannot see that Dr. Liebnicht is a disguised Loveless requires some suspension of disbelief.

Artie has one disguise in this episode as a doctor.

When West is strapped to the operating table, the strap is already mostly cut before West cuts it.

In the end, our evil genius gets away to appear again another day.

 

 

 

[chessiegal]

"The Night Dr. Loveless Died" - I only noticed one syndication edit. Before Gordon shows up at the Sanitorium, the attendant admits 2 men that they show walking down the hall. That's gone and we immediately get Gordon gassing the guy. It doesn't take away from the story, but it does show doctors showing up to observe the operation on West.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 9/1/2023 at 4:12 PM, chessiegal said:

How West and Gordon cannot see that Dr. Liebnicht is a disguised Loveless requires some suspension of disbelief.

Of course Loveless never recognized Artie in disguise, so its only fair.

[Tom Holmberg]

The Greatest Villain of the Spy Craze

(I agree 100%)

 

https://hmssweblog.wordpress.com/2023/09/01/greatest-villain-of-the-spy-craze/

 

[chessiegal]

MeTV aired "The Night of Jack O'Diamonds" today. I couldn't muster up enough enthusiasm to post a synopsis. It's about as close to a straight up Western the series did. The only thing of interest to me was them filming at Vasquez Rocks, a Hollywood favorite. Conrad looks handsome in his traditional cowboy clothes.

[Tom Holmberg]

Normally an episode that didn't follow the the WWW formula are the boring ones and this episode had no supervillains, steampunk devices or love interests.  However, it did feature the wonderful Frank Silvera, who always stands out.  Silvera was an African-American actor, but, due to being light-skinned, he often played ethnic roles unrelated to his race. He portrayed a lot of Mexican roles, like here or in "Hombre", or Italians, as in "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre," Indians, or Polynesians, as well as roles of an indeterminate race.  In the 1960s he was active in the Civil Rights movement. Although he often had relatively small parts, he always stood out for me.

https://thefsww.org/frank-who%3F

Also Robert Conrad didn't wear his traditional bolero jacket and tight pants for most of the episode.  He was dressed more like a traditional TV cowboy.

[chessiegal]

IMDb says that Frank Silvera was the standout of this episode.

[Tom Holmberg]

9 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

IMDb says that Frank Silvera was the standout of this episode.

Definitely, he did a good job being sympathetic as a Mexican bandido.  I always like his line in "Hombre" where he says, after being gut shot by Paul Newman, "Hey, Hombre, I not have bellyache like this since I was little boy!"

[Tom Holmberg]

"The Night of the Samurai" had two good actors playing bad guys: Khigh Dhiegh, best known as Wo Fat on "Hawaii Five-O", and Thayer David, who I best remember as Count Petofi on "Dark Shadows" (but as usual with "Dark Shadows" he played many different roles.).

[chessiegal]

I'll have to watch my DVD of the original "The Night of the Samuari" but it seemed to me there was a syndication edit at the end about the worth of the jewels and that they couldn't keep them. 🤷‍♂️ Maybe I'm thinking of another episode.

I'm looking forward to next Saturdays airing of "The Night of the Hangman". It has some great plot twists.

[chessiegal]

Saturday September 23 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing "The Night of the Hangman".

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When West and Gordon are present when a town's philanthropist is shot and West chases the shooter and finds him just sitting clutching the gun as if nothing happened. At his trial, a witness claims that he's the shooter. And the banker who denied a loan he asked for, who appears to have been the actual target, testifies that the man threatened him. The defendant claims to have no memory from the night before till West found him. He's found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging withing two days. When Gordon raises some anomalies, they decide to look into it deeper. They start by talking to the defendant who tells them of why he woke up just as West found him. They check it out and find a device that was used but someone burns the place and they have no evidence to give to the judge and the prosecutor convinces the judge not to delay the execution so they have to rush to prove the man's innocence.

The above recap is from the IMDb page of the episode.

I'm hoping I get to watch it. We're forecasted to have a major storm come through tomorrow, which means we might lose power.

Some good plot twists. A complicit "grieving" widow.

 

[chessiegal]

I did get to watch the show today. Ophelia hasn't knocked out our power (yet). When I tuned in I got our Baltimore channel showing news about the storm. They did switch back to the WWW.

I'd forgotten that tv's favorite curmudgeon Charles Lane was in it. I think of him from being on The Andy Griffith Show.

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I'd forgotten that tv's favorite curmudgeon Charles Lane was in it. I think of him from being on The Andy Griffith Show.

I always found it interesting that in those days someone could have a career basically playing one character in multiple shows, like Charles Lane as a curmudgeon, or Bert Mustin as an "Old Guy".

[Tom Holmberg]

In re: "The Night of the Hangman".

I always thought cattle was the main industry in the Old West, but based on this episode and previous ones it appears making mechanical toys was.

[chessiegal]

Every time I see rooms filled like that one with all the toys, I think of all the work and expense production must have gone to.

[chessiegal]

Saturday September 30 at 10 am ET MeTV will be airing "The Night of Montezuma's Hordes", Season 3 Episode 8. Original air date October 27, 1967.

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James West travels to a museum to meet Professor Johnson for a search of Montezuma's lost treasures. Unbeknownst to West, the real Professor Johnson has been replaced by a phony, who has been hired by Slade, who comes along as the head excavator. Along the way to the Aztec location, they rendezvous in a small town with Colonel Sanchez of the Mexican army. Artemus Gordon, disguised as a desert rat, who is hired as a guide. The expedition discovers an Aztec temple.

The above recap is from the IMDb age for this episode.

The Villian of the Week is our favorite Martian, Ray Walston.

Disguises used by Artie: Swedish Waiter (7:50); Old Desert Guide (similar to "Mojave Mike")(15:45)

When Jim pours acid on Artie's stock, you can see a wire pulling it apart.

Artie refers to the Aztec death trap as Montezuma's Revenge. 😉

West convinces the Aztec sun goddess he and Artie are the good guys by kissing her. Oh, the power of West's caresses.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 9/29/2023 at 2:59 PM, chessiegal said:

Saturday September 30 at 10 am ET MeTV will be airing "The Night of Montezuma's Hordes", Season 3 Episode 8. Original air date October 27, 1967.

 

Yes, I like they got Montezuma's revenge worked in.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Tom Holmberg

[chessiegal]

The chant we hear from the Aztec's is the same chant we hear in "The Night of the Druid's Blood". Never let a good chant go to waste!

[chessiegal]

MeTV has been airing episodes in the order they were aired since it started with Season 2. The next episode in Season 3 which they are airing would be "The Night of the Circus of Death". However, this Saturday October 7 they will be airing "The Night of the Man-Eating House", Season 2 Episode 12. Checking their web site I see that since it is October, they are having their "Boonanza". Never mind that Halloween is weeks away, since it's October it's time for spooky stuff.

The network changed this episode so that it was a dream by Artie. They were afraid children would be too frightened by a haunted house. I didn't realize children in the 60s were such snowflakes. I know I wasn't!

Saturday October 14 will be back to the regular airing sequence.

[Tom Holmberg]

20 hours ago, chessiegal said:

However, this Saturday October 7 they will be airing "The Night of the Man-Eating House", Season 2 Episode 12.

I was wondering why they were rerunning an episode that already ran.

[chessiegal]

2 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I was wondering why they were rerunning an episode that already ran.

I was getting ready to do a summary of "The Night of the Circus of Death" and decided to check and make sure that's what they would be airing. When I saw it was going to be "The Night of the Man-Eating House" listed on my onscreen line-up, I went to the MeTV website. All of the episodes airing on MeTV this Saturday will have some kind of spooky aspect.

"The Night of the Man-Eating House" has the smallest cast of the series - 4, plus an uncredited female voice. In addition to West and Gordon, William Talman that many may recognize as the prosecutor on Perry Mason appears as a sheriff and Hurd Hatfield who is the prisoner being transported. Hurd plays a character very similar to the character that made him famous in The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Edited October 6, 2023 by chessiegal

[chessiegal]

On rewatch, "The Night of the Man-Eating House" is perfect for MeTV's "Boonagli". 

Bubonic plague was spread by fleas, not ants. Day claims it killed 3/4 of the population of 15th century Europe when it was closer to 1/3.
 

[Tom Holmberg]

On 10/5/2023 at 12:03 PM, chessiegal said:

The network changed this episode so that it was a dream by Artie. They were afraid children would be too frightened by a haunted house. I didn't realize children in the 60s were such snowflakes. I know I wasn't!

That didn't bother me.  WWW was supposed to be set in the real world, so the story would have been outside the world of the show. I hate it when supernatural shows do this, though.  I think it was the network who were the snowflakes.  Kids of that era, like me, were obsessed with monsters, they watched monster movies on TV, collected monster trading cards, read monster magazines, made monster models, etc.

[chessiegal]

6 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I think it was the network who were the snowflakes. 

For sure! I had no idea networks were that concerned with scripts until I started getting deeper into WWW behind the scene info. 

[Tom Holmberg]

Ross Martin

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/560416747351447781/

[chessiegal]

Saturday October 14 MeTV will air "The Night of the Circus of Death", Season 3 Episode 9 that originally aired November 3, 1967.

Quote

Faced with a possible catastrophe due to the wide-spread introduction of near-perfect counterfeit bills, West and Gordon attempt to track one which turned up in Denver back to its source. The trail leads first to Moore's Emporium and then to a murdered tightrope walker named Bronzini, an employee of the Colorado and South West Circus. When their best bet as to the source of the fakes, expert counterfeiter Harry Holmes, is confirmed to be dead, the agents concentrate their attention on the emporium and the circus; however, they soon begin to realize that someone in the U.S. Mint itself is involved.

Disguises used by Artie: Emmerson P Gentry, Southern Gentleman (seen at 18:50)); Elderly Janitor(35:00)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Circus of Death

This is an interesting piece of trivia from the episode's IMDb page.

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Paper currency issued by the U.S. government was generally considered unconstitutional before the time of Pres. Grant. The U.S. Constitution only allows Congress to "coin" money and only allows legal tender coin to be used for legal payment. Before then, only paper currency issued by private banks (hence the term banknote) were circulated. Once the Civil War broke out, the U.S. government resorted to printing paper currency (the original greenback) in order to help pay the enormous cost of prosecuting the war. The presumed unconstitutionality of the greenback was temporarily ignored until the war was over. Once Grant was President, he nominated two judges to the Supreme Court whom he knew would rule in favor of the constitutionality of paper money, much as abortion is the litmus test for the nomination of a judge now. It was the issuance of paper currency by the US government, and the problem of counterfeiting, that led to the creation of the Secret Service, an agency of the Treasury Department.

As noted, this is one of 2? episodes where the agents are actually doing what the Secret Service does, investigating counterfeiting.

Two other pieces of interesting trivia from the IMDb page.

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Sharon Cintron, who plays the secretary, was Playboy Magazine's Playmate of the Month for May of 1963. It was her first of three appearances in the series

Quote

The name "Priscilla Goodbody" was a running gag on The Tonight Show when Johnny Carson was the star. He claimed that it was the name of the NBC censor.

 

[chessiegal]

Found it. The first counterfeiting episode was Season 1 Episode 4 "The Night of the Sudden Death". MeTV only aired the first 3 episodes of Season 1 before moving onto Season 2, so MeTV did not air this episode. 

[Tom Holmberg]

22 hours ago, chessiegal said:

The name "Priscilla Goodbody"

Very much a James Bond name.

[chessiegal]

Calling all Robert Conrad fans. He's guest starring on Adam-12 on Wednesday at 5 pm ET.

[chessiegal]

Saturday, October 21 at 10 am ET, MeTV will air "The Night of the Falcon", Season 3 Episode 10. Original air date November 10, 1967.

Quote

West and Gordon assist in the evacuation of Tonka Flats, a small Colorado town. Promptly at noon the town is completely obliterated by a single cannon shell - just as a mysterious man calling himself "the Falcon" had claimed it would be. The Falcon is demanding $1 million in exchange for not blowing up Denver. The agents are tasked with tracking down the Falcon and his weapon before that threat can be carried out; their investigation lands them in Sinful, Colorado, a group of international criminals and a whole lot of danger.

Disguises used by Artie: Felice Munez , Chief of a Spanish crime syndicate(16:00)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Falcon.

Our villain of the week, Dr. Horace Humphries/The Falcon, is played by Robert Duvall.

The lovely Lisa Gaye plays Lana Benson, The Falcon's assistant. Gaye appeared with Robert Conrad in 5 episodes of Hawaiian Eye. 

Joseph Ruskin plays Munez, who, according to tvtropes, chews up the scenery until he is killed and replaced by Artie. Ruskin previously appeared in "The Night of the Fatal Trap", where he also did a lot of scenery chewing.

From the episode's IMDb page:

Quote

In the opening teaser scene, a semi trailer truck can be seen driving in the background (upper left) at 1:28 minutes.

The cannon, The Falcon, is the largest prop used in the series. It was made mainly of Styrofoam.

At the end, West leaves his gun where Benson can pick it up. When West tells her it's empty, she tosses it. Artie picks it up and is none too pleased to find out it was loaded. Oops.

 

[chessiegal]

I watched "The Night of the Falcon" on DVD yesterday. I noticed 2 syndication cuts on this morning's airing on MeTV. The first was short. At the beginning, when the bad guys are waiting for the destruction of Tonka Flats, Benson is shown on horseback also watching and retrieving a falcon. The second is much longer. When the baddies are at the table negotiating, they show Jim climbing up to watch. In the original, West blows a note to Artie asking where the cannon is. Artie picks the note up from the floor and proceeds to describe how to get to the cannon. All that is cut, as the next we see is Jim finding the cannon. Gotta get those extra commercials in.

[Tom Holmberg]

The French honor Robert Conrad (I like the French title for "The Wild Wild West" series).

https://lemagazinedesseries.com/portraits-en-series/acteurs/robert-conrad-le-heros-des-nuits-de-l-imaginaire/

 

[chessiegal]

This Saturday, October 28, at 10 am ET MeTV is airing " The Night of the Cut-Throats" which originally aired November 17, 1967.

Quote

The Secret Service receives a letter from a man named Arthur Cole, resident of a town called New Athens, claiming knowledge of a matter so important he can only reveal it face to face. West and Gordon are sent to investigate. They discover the citizens of New Athens are fleeing town due to the arrival of a band of cut-throat outlaws. Attempting to meet with Cole, West and Gordon find their potential informant murdered. Rescuing mayor John Cassidy from an altercation with the outlaws, West and Gordon learn a recent arrival in town, Mike Trayne, was once a rich, influential citizen of New Athens. The mayor believes the outlaws are Trayne's method of exacting revenge on the town that sent Trayne to jail three years before. West and Gordon are now the town's only hope of survival.—Christopher D. <imdbreviews@gmail.com>

The above recap is from the episode's IMDb page.

There are two actors of note, Jackie Coogan and Walter Burke, in the episode. Jackie plays the part of Sheriff Koster. Walter Burke plays John P. Cassidy.

Coogan's parents worked in Vaudeville. Coogan started acting at age 4 and was touring at age 5. And the world knows him as Uncle Fester on The Addams Family.

IMDb describes Walter Burke thusly:

Quote

Highly recognizable Irish-American character actor whose small stature and wizened features made him resemble a leprechaun (a role which he played on more than one occasion). Probably best known as Willie Stark's bodyguard in All the King's Men (1949).

I didn't find this to be one of the better episodes, but as long as Conrad and Martin are on my screen, I'm a happy camper.

[chessiegal]

I saw 1 syndication edit in the episode this morning. In the early part of the episode, West visits the sheriff where he is sitting at his desk shoveling mashed potatoes and other food into his mouth. That scene is not shown. At the end when West tosses the sheriff an apple and tells him to watch the carbs, it makes less sense.

The keys on the piano Artie plays in the saloon don't go down - they are solid.

When Artie rides back into town and jumps the barricade, they made no pretense of the rider being a stunt double. You can clearly see it's not Ross Martin.

Conrad was looking mighty fine in this episode in his blue suit, vest, and ascot. /sigh.

 

[Tom Holmberg]

On 10/27/2023 at 1:50 PM, chessiegal said:

I didn't find this to be one of the better episodes, but as long as Conrad and Martin are on my screen, I'm a happy camper.

It's more of a straight-forward Western, with none of the usual Steampunk elements. No girls show up in the train at the end.  Which is okay. I like when shows get out of their usual routine.

I can't see Walter Burke without thinking of Lucky Charms.

[Tom Holmberg]

Wild Wild West goofs

 

 

[Tom Holmberg]

Are they really repeating "The Night Dr. Loveless Died" Saturday?  They ran it in Sept. I like Dr. Loveless episodes, but why not run the first season episode before repeating ones they've shown.

[chessiegal]

8 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Are they really repeating "The Night Dr. Loveless Died" Saturday?  They ran it in Sept. I like Dr. Loveless episodes, but why not run the first season episode before repeating ones they've shown.

My onscreen guide says MeTV is airing Season 3, Episode 12"The Night of the Legion of Death" tomorrow morning. I think MeTV's web site is wrong. I noticed that also on the MeTV web site schedule.

[chessiegal]

According to my cable onscreen guide, MeTV will be airing Season 3 Episode 12 "The Night of the Legion of Death" Saturday November 4 at 10 am ET. Original air date was November 24, 1967.

Quote

Jim and Arte uncover an unscrupulous plot devised by an ambitious dictatorial governor who has plans to become President of the United States. The candidate for president is territorial Governor Winston E. Brubaker, but he is really a front for the real power-hungry Secretary Deke Montgomery. The territory has strict policies about outsiders who may want to interfere with their political ambitions. There is a sizable army of green-clad soldiers led by a ruthless captain who quickly put down any opposition. Arte just about gets hung for interfering until Jim "kills" him with a drugged rifle round from a upper-story window that faces the square with the gallows. Then Jim is imprisoned for murdering the man Arte was impersonating. Jim's charm works on one the governor's lady friends to learn about a secret tunnel into his house. Also helping is the daughter of a community member who has been outspoken against the Secretary and Governor's plan. Jim has to stand trial for the supposed murder of Arte's alter ego. But he is acquitted and barely able to outwit all the guards to retrieve Arte body from the morgue so that he can be revived instead of buried.—Garon Smith

The above recap is from the IMDb page for this episode.

This episode follows Season 3 being more Western than Steampunk.

In spite of the title of this episode, no one dies.

It's interesting that the brains behind the plan to make the Governor President is his Secretary who, because of a scarred face, is considered not suitable for President.

West's hairstyle varies from flat to combed back in various scenes.

Anthony Zerbe, who plays Zeke Montgomery, is a character actor whose career spanned many decades.

IMDb lists this as one of the goofs in the episode.

Quote

The militia troopers wear distinctive green uniforms with black hats. During the wagon chase scene, rather than shooting the scene with the militia troopers, stock footage from another TV show or film of galloping US cavalrymen is inserted. Also, there are 8 or 9 troopers in the long shots, but after West and Gordon jump from the wagon, there are only four following it.

The IMDb page for this episode has lots of interesting information.

IMDb "The Night of the Legion of Death"

[Tom Holmberg]

On 11/3/2023 at 2:52 PM, chessiegal said:

Anthony Zerbe, who plays Zeke Montgomery, is a character actor whose career spanned many decades.

Zerbe was always a good villain.

[chessiegal]

Looking at Zerbe's credits, he's been in shows I've watched, but I didn't recognize him.

I did catch the not militia but a cavalry scene they threw in. Makes you wonder if it was a producer joke, or they just wanted more men on horses chasing someone.

[Tom Holmberg]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I did catch the not militia but a cavalry scene they threw in. Makes you wonder if it was a producer joke, or they just wanted more men on horses chasing someone.

Cost-saving move.  If you watch "Maverick" when ever one of the Mavericks go to a larger city they always have stock footage from older Western movies of street scenes. Then the actual set is just the studio's general western street.

[chessiegal]

I've seen them reuse other shots like Jim going down a shoot or swimming.

[chessiegal]

Saturday, November 11 at 10 am ET MeTV is airing Season 3 Episode 13 "The Night of the Turncoat". Original air date was December 1, 1967.

Quote

A number of strange things begin happening to West and he flies off the handle, leading to his dismissal from the Secret Service. He is soon recruited by a mysterious gang led by criminal mastermind Elisha Calamander (John McGiver). They engineered the events leading up to West's dismissal in the hope that he would eventually join them and perform a particular, very difficult task. They are unaware that West and Gordon have been playing along the entire time in order to find out what that task is and prevent it from being carried out.

Disguised used by Artie: Docker/Longshoreman(12:25) ; Waiter(24:00); Mailman(39:05)

The above recap is from tvtropes The Night of the Turncoat

The villain Elisha Calamander is played by recognizable John McGiver who started acting in his 50s.

We get to see Conrad show off his athletic abilities. He does some underwater swimming where they used the same film several times, watch for the same fish swimming by his feet.

We have West's supposed fiancé giving him back his engagement ring. Engagement rings were not commonly given in the 1870s when this episode was set.

Fun episode.

[chessiegal]

I'd forgotten that the last time West dives back down his hair is dry - not wet. Then we have West having a knife in his hand and not having a knife in his hand while diving. 

[Tom Holmberg]

22 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I'd forgotten that the last time West dives back down his hair is dry - not wet

That's not uncommon in TV shows and movies.  A number of comedies made fun of this.