Wagon Train: The Fenton Canaby Story (1963) 4 of 10 stars ⭐ Last Two Seasons of 'Wagon Train' are UNWATCHABLE!

Last Two Seasons of 'Wagon Train' are UNWATCHABLE!

Wagon Train: The Fenton Canaby Story (1963) 4 of 10 stars ⭐ 

Season 7, Episode 15

 

 

I'm not sure what happened when 'Wagon Train' went color, but the stories went with the black & white. The addition of Cooper as Ram Rod, is an insult to both the other actors, and characters on the train. He takes over every episode (although not this one).

But now to this episode in particular: Women are not than unpredictable. I'm sure that in the 1960s, there weren't that many female writers, so what we have here is men writing what they think women would do and say (unsuccessfully, I might add).

This wagon train has been passing graves & broken down wagons from previous failed expeditions. There are dead people's belongings spread around in the sand of the desert. Chris Hale, the wagon master, is so afraid of panic, that he has put off water rationing until the last minute. He is considered the best, most successful wagon master in the country, with the best scouts & staff. His most trusted scout Duke Shannon, almost died from drinking poisoned water from a dried up watering hole. To say that the situation is grim is an understatement.

Then, when something unseemly happens to a womanizing drunkard on the train, who no one liked, and everyone should be glad to be rid of, the people of the train begin planning a mutiny.

Mutiny on wagon trains was serious business in the old west. It was met with the same punishment as mutiny in the military-death.

But we are meant to believe that these people, and especially these women with small children, are going to be so dead set on jealously and revenge, that they will disregard the safety and well being of their children to act on these feelings?

This episode might have worked in a town, where circumstances weren't dire, but not in the middle of the desert with no water.

People work on a hierarchy of needs, meaning if your base level needs (food, water, shelter) aren't met, you don't have the luxury to deal with emotions like petty jealousies or revenge. Those things are put on hold until you're out of danger. But not on this wagon train!

If the writers had just asked a mother, she would have told them that the premise of this episode just doesn't work. No mother can pass children's graves, day after day, being confronted with dwindling water, and still have time to act on petty feelings. I believe the people of this train would have kept the most experienced wagon master in charge until the reached safety. I think most women would agree with my assessment.

It's unfortunate that they ruined the last two seasons of this great show.