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The Adventures of Brisco County jr - Bounty Hunters' Convention
episode 16
USA 1994
produced by Paul Marks, Jeffrey Boam (executive), Carlton Cuse (executive) for Boam/Cuse Productions, Warner Brothers/Fox Network
directed by Kim Manners
starring Bruce Campbell, Julius Carry, Christian Clemenson, Johnathon Schaech, Clare Wren, Morgan Woodward, Ian Ogilvy, Clement von Franckenstein, Rex Linn, J.G. Hertzler, Luis Contreras, Robert Winley, David Youse, Coleman McClary
written by James L. Novack, created by Jeffrey Boam, Carlton Cuse, music by Velton Ray Bunch
TV series The Adventures of Brisco County jr
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Bounty hunters Brisco (Bruce Campbell) and Lord Bowler (Julius Carry)
and their employer Socrates Poole (Christian
Clemenson) are invited to a bounty hunter conference on an island off the
coast by rich philanthropist Hayes (J.G. Hertzler), who figures organizing
bounty hunters is the way to make the West a safer place. And bounty
hunters from all walks of life have come to attend, there's dandy-ish
former Scotland Yard agent Furlong (Ian Ogilvy), young hotshot Nevada
(Johnathon Schaech), cutthroats turned bounty hunters Mountain (Rex Linn),
El Gato (Luis Contreras) and Snakeskinner (Robert Winley), inventor of
non-lethal weapons Dr. Ambrose Curber (Clement von Franckenstein), and
then there's Sam Travis (Morgan Woodward), an bounty hunter from an older
generation still vying for relevance. However, the conference is off to a
bad start when Snakeskinner is blown up in his room and Travis is
dissolved to his skeleton by acid in his bath tub. Also, an attempt is
made on Furlong, but Brisco can save him in the nick of time. Brisco is
beginning to see a pattern, and he starts to investigate, and soon unmasks
Hayes to be nothing but an actor ... just he's not a very likely culprit,
as he's one of the struggling kind who takes any job he can get. Also, he
leaves with the next supply boat, leaving all the surviving bounty hunters
with just his secretary Rosalind (Clare Wren). More bounty hunters fall,
like Mountain and El Gato, and an attempt is made on Brisco's life, but he
can save himself in the nick of time. Meanwhile, Lord Bowler discovers a
secret passage way that leads from his room to the killer's secret lair,
and also to Rosalind's room - and after being almost killed for his
discovery, he and Brisco find out the killer's planning to kill the rest
of them by poisoned champagne, so to find out who the killer is, they
replace the poisoned bottle with one spiked with sleeping pills, to for
the final toast see who'll refuse to drink, as he or indeed she is
logically the killer - and indeed it looks as if Rosalind is behind it
all, though she tells Brisco she actually has been behind the conference
all along and has only hired Hayes because nobody would have taken a woman
seriously, and Brisco is actually kind of impressed - but still has to
insist on her partaking in the champagne ... and he's finally convinced
when she passes out sleeping. With the others all having had champagne and
down for the count as well, Brisco and Bowler pretend to break down
themselves - to ultimately literally unmask the killer to be Travis, who
has only faked his own death by acid by throwing a random skeleton into
his tub. And for Travis, who has somewhat lost his grip on modern times,
this was merely a ploy to get rid of the competition ... It's
fun to see the series deviate from its western tropes for a bit to do a
pretty classic whodunnit, replete with inventive killings, red herrings,
close brushes with death, and a cast of colourful enough characters to
keep the audience guessing to the last. And of course, casting Ian Ogilvy
of The Saint
fame was an inspired idea. But what really makes this episode work is that
despite its genre swap it never falls out of line with the rest of the
series, as the central characters and the whole thing's brand of humour
are still the same, as is its sense for adventure and excitement and even
its slight science fiction tinge, to make this another fine episode.
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