I have generally considered the more western themed episodes of the third season it and miss. ’The Night of the Running Death” is definitely a hit, in spite of some flaws, ecause the plot twist is genuinely surprising.Jim meets with a contact in a dark hotel room only to discover he has had the life nearly choked out of him. He can only utter two words--“Enzo” and “silver”--before he dies. Jim has the fight a ambush from the murderer. It will be the first of five fist fights he will have with the guy in various disguises.
Enzo is a notorious European assassin. Jim and Artie assume he is on his way to Denver because his girlfriend is part of a wagon train headed west. The passengers are a menagerie of circus performers, a casino owner, several dancing girls, and a den mother. Our heroes join up attempting to catch Enzo before he can kill whoever his target is. Along te way, two girls traveling with them are murdered.
The plot thickens when they get to Denver. The two assume ’Silver’ refers to the governor, as Colorado is the Silver State. They are incorrect, as they learn a foreign military officer is in Denver to retrieve a young princess named Silva who has ben studying in the United states, but must return to assume the throne.
Enzo turns out to e the den mother in drag. His girlfriend and assistant is the second girl supposed killed on the trail. They killed the first girl in order to avoid any questions about her faked death. Our heroes foil the attempt to kill the princess.
The actor playing Enzo/den other is in drag for most of the episode, but it is impossible to tell it is a man. Talk about The Crying Game.
I am darn near bind, so your mileage may vary on how convincing the ruse was.The twist was a genuine surprise. It does feel od that we do not learn about the princess until the three act cliffhanger, however. The revelation comes out of the blue ad that is a little sloppy. So is the unusual comedy bit that ends the episode when it runs a few minutes short.. Still, it is a fun episode to watch regardless of a couple missteps.
Ratings: *** (out of 5)
