vivacious_dan

Seriously? Another reviewer gave this episode ONE star out of ten? For real?

I thought this episode was the perfect way to end the series and was truly everything in the series coming full circle.

Two older crotchety neighbors, Old Tony and Joe Static, are involved in a feud that goes on throughout the episode. Mark and his friend Lorrie are invited to Tony's property to look for arrowheads and to have lunch with him. Danger arises when Mark and Lorrie get stuck in quicksand and Lucas has to save the day.

So, okay, that's what the episode is about on the surface. But there is more going on here. Old Tony is basically where Lucas may potentially end up. The series started when Mark was 10 and he is now a 15 year old teenager. In a few years, he will fall in love, move off the ranch, get married and have children and a family of his own. Micah is getting older, not younger, and will clearly not live forever. And Lucas is obviously not married and there is no real way to determine where things may have gone with Lou, she may have moved out of North Fork like Milly did. So, where would that leave Lucas? A loner widower, who may have eventually become a bitter recluse like Tony. So, Tony is a cautionary tale for Lucas to not shut himself off from the world when Mark moves off of the ranch.

Mark is now fully grown and we as the viewer have watched him grow from the young boy in "The Sharpshooter" to a young man in this final episode of the series. His friend Lorrie asks him what he thinks makes a good marriage and, although he repeats what Lucas told him in a previous episode that friendship is the most important ingredient, he is clearly uncomfortable and seems to think of Lorrie more as a friend than anything else. But this episode conveyed to the viewer that Mark has matured to the point where he is ready for a serious romantic relationship and is old enough to contemplate marriage with the right woman. Mark has had childhood crushes before (notably in the episode where he sang "Something Special") but nothing serious. This is a progression for the character in the series and was signaling that the time was approaching that Mark would be leaving the ranch to establish his own family.

I also absolutely loved Mark's rendition of "Greensleeves". It was a great scene where someone like Tony who had shut himself off so much emotionally from the world was able to be deeply touched by Mark's singing. I am upset that the song was never released on LP.

Okay, yes, was it stupid for Mark to literally walk into quicksand after Lorrie? Should he have grabbed a rope or a branch? Of course. I did cringe a bit watching that scene. But you know what, I did not mind one bit Lucas saving him because that is one of the themes that the show was centered on: the love that Lucas had for his son and him coming to his rescue time and time again. I did not mind being able to see that one last time as the series came to an end.

So, to me, this was the perfect way to wrap up the series.

I am a huuuuge Western fan..Wyatt Earp, The Rifleman, Cheyenne, Maverick, Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke, Wanted: Dead Or Alive. They really don't make them like that anymore.

One of the things you notice, along with the great characterizations and how an entire world is introduced to you with fully fleshed out characters in just 30 or 60 minutes, is just how much you can learn from these Westerns.

The show and the episode that really made me think about this was The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp and the episode was Marshal Earp Meets General Lee. Wyatt is offered a local Sheriff's office in Wichita. While he is thinking this over, he hears a woman scream for his help. The woman is a saloon owner, Mrs. Mary Donagher, and her saloon has just been destroyed by ex-Confederate soldiers who don't take to kindly to the fact that she has "turned Yankee" (her husband was a Confederate soldier) and has relegated General Lee's framed picture to the back room of the saloon.

Wyatt breaks the fight up and informs the men that they were supposed to check their guns in when they entered Ellsworth and that they are under arrest for destroying the saloon. Mrs. Mary estimates the damages at $1500 and Wyatt advises the men that they will be held in jail until they can pay the damages.

Steve Darrell, the leader of the posse of men who are in jail, rides into town and demands that they be released without paying the $1500. Wyatt flatly refuses. Darrell then advises there will be hell to pay and that he and his men will be back the next day to burn Ellsworth to the ground.

Marsh Murdock, who has traveled from Wichita to offer Wyatt the local sheriff's job, advises Wyatt that they will need at least 100 armed men to stop Darrell and his men, and if they don't have that level of back up, Ellsworth will be burned to the ground. Wyatt says he doesn't think that level of force will be necessary and Murdock advises that he would hate to see Wyatt permanently injured or worse, killed, especially when he is on the brink of getting such a huge promotion to the Wichita posting.

This is where the learning things about life from Westerns comes in. The stage has been set: the men in jail have even crazier, more Confederate-pride obsessed men coming to the town, to burn down and destroy it. Wyatt is risking his health, his reputation, his career and his very life. So, what does he do? Does he take Murdock's advice and get the women and children out of town and round up 100 armed men and turn this into a bloodbath, that he may not get out of?

Wyatt is too smart, and more importantly, sly to do that. He has the wherewithal to remember that the day of the attack is General Lee's birthday. He takes the framed portrait down from Mrs. Mary's saloon and sets it up with decorations and a banner wishing the General happy birthday. Darrell rides into the town with a dozen of his men as promised and is confused when he sees the set up. Wyatt assures him that he knows what today is and this is for General Lee's birthday. Darrell says he is surprised that a blue blooded Yankee would even know anything about General Lee, much less what his birthday is. Wyatt responds that he knows this and that he respects him. Darrell steps forward towards the portrait and away from his men to pay his respect and asks Wyatt to do the same and Wyatt complies, removing his hat. The two are then standing mano e mano. Wyatt then drops his rifle and says that now they are squaring off evenly, just like General Lee would want it, since Lee was a man of honor. Darrell then rethinks his position and rides off, after having his men also pay his respects to General Lee.

There was so much taught in 30 minutes of this episode. When to fight and when to stand down. When to hold to your convictions, even unto death. What things are truly worth dying for and giving your life? When does courage turn into bravado for bravado's sake? When can a situation be solved without violence and when does it absolutely require one? When is standing down not looked at as being unmanly and cowardly but as the right thing to do? When is it the right time to use your brains over your brawn and your weapon?

Wyatt said he understood that the South had a lot of hurt pride and that they were certainly entitled to those feelings given how the Union treated them after the War. What was called for wasn't 100 armed men and the evacuation of the women and children of Ellsworth. What was called for was a little compassion, a lot of smarts, a bit of slyness and knowing what the current time was calling for - was it a time to kill? Or a time to heal?

All delivered within 30 minutes.

This is another GREAT episode of The Rifleman. I am currently watching it an hour a day Monday through Friday on ME TV and for hours on AMC every Saturday morning. This ranks right up there with the best episodes.

It starts out with Lucas and Mark having a fight over Mark's deceased mother. Mark feels like he never even had a mother and Lucas is shocked by this, saying he had a mother for six years, how can he not remember her? Mark says he doesn't want to go on a trip with Lucas and Lucas says he doesn't very well feel like taking him, giving how he is acting but he has no choice.

During the trip, Mark drinks contaminated water and contracts typhoid fever. He gets extremely ill and could possibly die. During his illness, he starts to get visions, of the doctor who is treating him, of his father and then, finally, of his mother. The scenes with the mother are beautifully shot as she is wearing a lacy white wedding dress with white flowers in her hair and she is classy, elegant and extremely feminine (just how I always pictured her!). Her face is not shown and is under a veil for most of Mark's vision then finally towards the end, the veil is lifted and he sees that it is his beloved mother. Mark then states he wants to stay there with her.

In the second to best scene in the episode, Mark's mom explains that, no, he needs to go back to his father but to please give his father a flower which she hands him and explains to Mark that eventually they will all be together again. Mark regains consciousness after this and sees that his father has not shaved. He asks Lucas what happened to his razor, not realizing that his father has not been shaving because he has been too worried about him. Lucas starts to explain then gets choked up and tears fill his eyes and he wraps Mark up in an embrace. I must admit, I got tears in my eyes from this scene. I only wished that Mark had told his father about the vision of his mom. Must see episode for any Rifleman fan.