Summary :
Guy Royal is a rancher who is methodically taking over the property that lies in a line outside of town. He is not above murder and arson to get his way, and he likes to collect "gifts" from the people he is displacing. The Seven come to the aid of Nettie Wells and her tomboy niece Casey when she asks for help to keep her property. Casey thinks the way to JD’s heart is to beat him at skills contests. Josiah thinks he has another chance at love when an old flame comes to town. Vin will be reminded of his own upbringing, and Chris will have a visitor from his long ago past.
Memorable Scenes :
Scene One - The Town
- When Guy Royal and his men arrive at Nettie Wells' ranch to intimidate her, she stands up to him and he takes a couple of her horses and some of her special irreplaceable treasures. Nettie goes to the Seven for help and Chris and Vin discover that all the ranchers who have been driven out had property in a line, along what they presume will be the new rail line when it finally comes.
- JD arrives to join the meeting, but he is waylaid by Nettie's niece, Casey, who has had her eye on him. She challenges him to a horse race and JD is momentarily tempted, but remembers his position as sheriff and as "one of them". And he is not interested in "racing no girl".
- As the meeting breaks up, Buck arrives.
Buck :I hear we got a little trouble.
Chris : Would you be interested in partaking in a little show of force?
Buck : Show of force? Hell, that's my middle name.
- Vin offers to escort Nettie to the hotel and she calls Casey to come along. Casey casts several backward glances in JD's direction. JD watches her go.
JD : That girl gets on my nerves, Buck. Hell, she ain't even hardly a girl.
Buck : JD, if you were any blinder, you'd be walkin' into walls.
- Vin, Buck, JD Josiah and Nathan ride out to Royal's ranch to reclaim Nettie's property. On the way out of town, Josiah sees a poster on the saloon wall, advertising an upcoming cabaret show, and he stops to read it. Nathan goes back for him.
Nathan : What's wrong with you?
Josiah : Yahweh has answered my prayers.
Nathan : Who's Yahweh?
Josiah : God, to you.
Nathan : You been prayin' for "Gettin' Gertie's Garter" to come into town?
Vin : You ready now?
Josiah : Whatever comes. But I'm not gonna do nothin' that's gonna keep me outta town on Saturday the 14th
Buck : Why's that, Josiah?
Josiah : I'm just tellin' ya. And I don't aim to be killed before then either.
Buck : I'm ridin' with him.
Scene #2 - Royal's Ranch
- The five men have come to retrieve Nettie's things. Royal tells them to get off his property.
Royal :I'm gonna tell you how it is. I believe in the 3Gs - guns, God, and get the hell off my property.
Vin :That's nice. Now I'm gonna tell you how it is. I believe your men ain't good enough to face us. And you're just a coward that threatens old women. So, soon's you give us what we came for, we'll get the hell off your property.
- Royal sends one of his henchman to Lobo County to find Marshall Bob Spikes, whose specialty is burning down the homes of ranchers who do not cooperate. Bob promises to come to help Royal, but he warns that he will "cook and eat the liver of any man that puts a bullet into Chris Larabee before I can do my job."
Scene #3 - Nettie's Ranch
- Vin, Ezra, Josiah and Nathan are helping Nettie repair the damage done by Royal's men. While the others are laboring in the hot sun, Ezra is sitting and enjoying the refreshments in his hip flask.
Vin :Man never drowned in his own sweat, Ezra.
Ezra :A gentleman does not debase himself by engaging in menial labour.
- Josiah tells Nathan about Emma Dubonnet, the great love of his life. He knew Emma many years before and they were going to be married, but not until Josiah finished a 2-year course of religious study with a Cherokee holy man. He hasn't seen Emma since, and now he has a chance to start over with her.
- Mary arrives and tells Nettie that Guy Royal has bought the mortgage on her ranch and is coming to call in the loan. Vin knows Ezra has the money and he wants him to give it to Nettie.
Ezra :When the sanctified dead rise from their graves to receive judgement, I'll start doling out cash.
- For a price, Ezra “loans” the money to Vin and Nettie is able to pay Royal the outstanding amount on her mortgage and keep her ranch. Out on the road, Chris stops Royal and his men. The other four surround the rancher and ask him for his money, as a donation to the “ranch repair fund”. Royal tells the men to use some of the money to invest in their coffins.
Scene #4 - Saloon
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Emma's wagon pulls into town. Josiah calls to her and she tells him to be sure to come to the show. Inside the saloon, Buck and JD are laughing about the way Josiah was carrying on in the street. JD thinks he sounded like a love sick calf.
Scene #5 - Main Street
- Someone rides into town, yelling that Cody Porter's ranch is being burned down and Cody is going to be hanged. Vin, Ezra and Nathan ride out to Cody's and find him hanging from a tree. When they go to cut him down, a shot rings out from behind them and a group of men ride up.
Bob : I got a message for Chris Larabee.
Vin : He might wanna know who from.
Bob : Marshall Bob Spikes. They call me Top Hat Bob. Maybe you hearda me.
Nathan : You s'posed to be famous?
Bob : Hell, yes, I'm famous.
Vin : Damn Bob, you just eat a dead animal?
Scene #6 - Saloon
- Chris and Vin are playing poker and Vin is telling Chris about Top Hat Bob. Chris doesn't remember him. Suddenly, Bob is outside and he's calling Chris out. Buck, Nathan and Vin are outside on the sidewalk first, and then Chris comes out.
Chris : Who the hell are you?
Bob : You're a low down Yankee liar if you say we've never met.
Buck : Seems to me a man'd remember an ugly, one-eyed coward, six and a half feet tall with no hair and a sissy hat.
Bob : Damn you, Chris Larabee, you been scared of runnin' into me since we met.
Chris : There's a couple of ladies I'm scared of running into, but you're not one of them. Well, here I am.
Bob :I will not kill you without the satisfaction of you knowing why I'm doing it.
Buck : Oh, why don't you give him a hint.
Bob : Rail splittin', you pusillanimous son of a bitch.
- Bob has other business and he and his men leave. Vin realizes the other business is probably with Nettie, so the four men ride out to her ranch.
Scene #7 - Nettie's Ranch
- The four ride up and Vin charges in with his gun at the ready. Nettie is in her chair, with her rifle in her lap. When Vin says he's come to take her back to town, she comments on the amount of time he is spending on her.
Nettie : Reckon you got a soft spot for me?
Vin : That I do.
Nettie : Was she a skinny ole biddy?
Vin : Who?
Nettie : Whoever it is I remind you of.
Vin : She was skinny, but she wasn't very old.
Nettie : Where is she now?
Vin: Gone.
Scene #7 - Saloon
- Emma is performing. Josiah is in the audience, in his brand new suit, enjoying the show and with a tear in his eye.
- JD is trying to see inside, but he notices Casey coming down the sidewalk, escorted by Buck. She has cleaned herself up and is wearing a dress, and JD is clearly impressed. As Casey takes a step up, her foot gets caught in her hem and her skirt is ripped off. She stands for a second in her underwear, then she grabs her skirt and runs off, hitting Buck in embarrassment as she goes by.
- Chris and Buck are sitting outside and as JD approaches, they start mooing, and Buck tells Chris that JD is also a love sick calf, after seeing Casey all dressed up. Suddenly, Chris remembers Bob Spikes. They first met at a rail splitting contest in Indiana when Chris was 17. Chris won the contest, Bob started a fight and a brawl broke out. Bob lost his eye in the brawl. Vin arrives and says they should take care of Bob before he can burn down Nettie's ranch. Chris had the same idea, and they prepare to leave, all except Josiah, who has himself a bottle of liquor and a spot on the sidewalk outside the saloon.
Scene #9 - Royal's Ranch
- Emma is in the house with Royal and Bob is in the bunk house. They need a diversion to get Bob outside. Buck has an old stick of dynamite but that doesn't work. Just then Josiah - who stole somebody's horse and rode out to the ranch to save Emma - arrives and creates the perfect diversion. While Josiah is fighting off Royal's men, the other six hold off Top Hat Bob’s men at gun point. Bob comes out of the bunk house and Chris admits to remembering him. Bob wants to finish it there and Chris agrees. They fight and Chris is finally victorious, telling Bob he's going to hang just like Cody Porter. Bob begs Chris to shoot him instead.
- Meanwhile, Josiah has gone into the house and finds Royal and Emma in the bedroom. He wraps his arms around Royal and threatens to crush him unless Royal says, "I'm safe in the arms of the lord." Emma meanwhile is jumping around hysterically on the bed. Royal finally gives in, and Emma tells Josiah that she is there because Royal has paid for the privilege and she doesn’t need to be rescued. Adding insult to injury, she doesn't remember him. Josiah is crushed.
Trivia :
- Eric Close and Anne Haney (Nettie) appeared together in an episode of Sisters.
- Anne Haney also appeared with Ron Perlman in an episode of Beauty and the Beast entitled "Dead of Winter" which aired December 9, 1988.
- Alyson Reed was nominated for a Tony Award for "Cabaret" and a Drama Desk Award
for "Marilyn: An American Fable"
- Vin's mother died of "putrid fever" which is known as diptheria today - it is an infectious disease that causes a membrane to form over the air passage.
