Episode Guide - The Gift
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Title: The Gift
Episode No.: 59 Season: 2
Summary: Lost Joe, Ben, Adam and Hoss hunting for him, and lots of emotions.
You’ll like this if: You’re a fan of any of the family.
Synopsis: While on a horse buying trip to Arizona, Joe disappears off to Yuma. Ben does not know why and is more than a little miffed. Eventually, Adam and Hoss reluctantly tell him that Joe has gone to buy a horse for Ben’s birthday, as this was the only way the boys could think of to tell Ben they loved him. Of course, this only happens after Ben has a good old fume, and then feels incredibly guilty. Talk about pulling at the heartstrings from the beginning! The Indians are marauding, and they set out to look for Joe.
Joe, meanwhile, has run out of water, and he and Emiliano, his companion, go to the nearest source of water, which just happens to be an outlaws’ camp to get some. Chief outlaw is Sam Wolfe, and as you might guess, he is a thoroughly bad lot. Joe and Emiliano are taken captive, as Sam wants the white horse meant for Ben. They break out, and Joe rides the white horse in a desperate bid for freedom. The outlaws chase him down, Emiliano is killed and the white horse is shot out from under Joe, who then has to put it out of its misery. Joe heads off further into the desert on foot, and just as he finds water, Sam Wolfe appears and ties him. Just as Sam is filling his canteen, a shadow falls on him. It’s Ben! Ben shoots Wolfe, and frees Joe. Adam and Hoss appear, help Joe onto Sport, and as Ben fills the canteen, he looks heavenwards and whispers “Thanks.”
Clothes: We get to see Adam without a shirt, and Hoss in his underwear. Joe has on his tan waistcoat, which matches Ben’s, with his black hat.
JPM: A stunning JPM. Ben cradles Joe to his chest, while Joe looks about 16. But gorgeous with it. Well, that goes without saying. Pa also drops a manly kiss on Joe’s head, while saying “I’ve got my gift, son.” Ben is almost in tears. Chorus of sighs all round.
Joe: Manages brilliantly, right up to the point where the horse gets shot. He's brave, slightly reckless, rides like an angel, heartbroken when he has to shoot the horse and then almost breaks down completely when Ben arrives, just in the nick of time
Adam: Terribly reasonable all through, and looks quite strained at times. Actually touches Joe in this ep when helping him over to his horse at the end. Exciting shaving scene at the beginning.
Hoss: Shows off his sharp shooting when battling the last of the outlaws. Is very concerned about Joe all the time, as shown by the frown he models.
Ben: Gets to be reckless, angry, thankful and worried. The full gamut of emotions here. Wonderful line “We fools make poor fathers”, when he is told why Joe went to Yuma. Driven by his love and devotion for Joe
Token Female Interest: None at all in this ep. Whoopee!
Marvellous Medicine: Good old plain water. Joe suffers from exposure and a Cartwright Concussion, and both are treated with water. Despite being lassoed, the golden one is otherwise free from any maims. Whew!
Where am I?: Set away from the ranch, so they didn’t have to worry about not being sure which bedroom they were in.
Continuity: what continuity? The location shots and the studio shots bear no resemblance to each other. It was obviously an extensive location shoot, so why not just do all of those sequences outside?
And watch for the classic bit at the end: having been helped onto a horse by his brothers, Joe leans down and plants his fist into the crown of Hoss's hat, denting it visibly. Yup, it's the classic impish humour of Mike Landon at work and it almost seems churlish to wish Continuity were a little more on the ball
Have you been following the plot? Emiliano is killed, of course. He was far too nice a character to live. And he had saved Joe’s life, which was his only function. The horse dies, too. Mind you, it's an awfully ugly albino nag. Did it escape from the circus?
It's a Bloodless Bullet wound: Joe has to shoot the horse and at point blank range too. Luckily for squeamish viewers, there's absolutely no blood visible. Strange that, isn't it?
Guest Stars: Martin Landau gives a classy performance as Emiliano the commanchero. Okay, the bright blue eyes are a little disconcerting. He later went on to star in TV series such as Mission Impossible and Space 1999, winning Best Supporting Actor for his role as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood.
The Crucial Questions No One Asks: How did Adam and Hoss know where to find Ben and Joe? Was the trail that clear?
How come their horses weren’t sweating buckets like Ben’s was?
How did Ben catch up with Wolfe and Joe so fast on foot?
Why has Buck got a curly coat all of a sudden? Were perms in that season?
Presumably they then went
back to the outlaws’ camp to retrieve Cochise, because otherwise they’d be a
mount short to get back. And we all know how Joe feels about Cochise! (To
discover what happened, read Rona’s WHN, Into The Present, on her pages.)