In this entry, as Jamie hogs down the entire contents of a girl's picnic basket, she comments on the strength of one of the men in camp. Jamie remarks on one stronger-and we segue into a time just before the Wagon train left civilization; a fat, very dimwitted boy named Billy leading two horses tells of how he bought them for just ten dollars from some men down the road. Soon it's revealed the real owner is found, barely breathing, but the boy's put in jail for murder nevertheless. At one point in the jail, Billy demonstrates he can bend the cell bars, the one and only reference to tie the "strength" story premise. Doctor McPheeters locates a charlatan for a defense lawyer, only to find in the local crooked sheriff/judge's kangaroo court, the man can be prosecuting attorney in the same case, at the same time.
Meanwhile, Billy is just too startlingly stupid to not comprehend his fix, and the horse owner describes the real perps to the Doctor and Kissel, who must find them before Billy's strung up as the finale of the terrible Judge's town food-and-fun filled outdoor party. (Hence the title.) The three bad guys include Murrel and Baggot from previous episodes. They have a fight and scram out, leaving the third man to be captured and save Billy from a neck stretching.
There's something slapped together about this story. The sitcom like characters that treat the incoherent trial proceedings like petulant kids playing a game, the celebratory crowd that's come to see a perfect stranger die in front of them, the boy's still stunning ignorance of his surroundings, happily stuffing his face with food, sitting at a table about twenty feet from the gallows. Then there's a piece with Coulter the wagon master who was killed off several weeks ago, in footage reused from an earlier episode. Charles Bronson, his replacement, is in the opening credits, but nowhere in the actual show.
Since this is very nearly the last episode, it can be assumed the cast and crew knew it, so no reason to give more than the minimum.
Meanwhile, Billy is just too startlingly stupid to not comprehend his fix, and the horse owner describes the real perps to the Doctor and Kissel, who must find them before Billy's strung up as the finale of the terrible Judge's town food-and-fun filled outdoor party. (Hence the title.) The three bad guys include Murrel and Baggot from previous episodes. They have a fight and scram out, leaving the third man to be captured and save Billy from a neck stretching.
There's something slapped together about this story. The sitcom like characters that treat the incoherent trial proceedings like petulant kids playing a game, the celebratory crowd that's come to see a perfect stranger die in front of them, the boy's still stunning ignorance of his surroundings, happily stuffing his face with food, sitting at a table about twenty feet from the gallows. Then there's a piece with Coulter the wagon master who was killed off several weeks ago, in footage reused from an earlier episode. Charles Bronson, his replacement, is in the opening credits, but nowhere in the actual show.
Since this is very nearly the last episode, it can be assumed the cast and crew knew it, so no reason to give more than the minimum.
