Into the West

It isn’t everyday that a movie/TV genre you previously thought was dull and boring eventually becomes a favorite.  I was never a fan of the Western genre for a number of reasons.  The whole “gunslinger” archetype made my eyes roll, someone always seemed to be feuding with someone else, and the landscape was noticeably lacking in greenery (guess I’m too used to seeing a carpet of grass around…).  I was convinced that nothing would ever change my mind.

Enter Simon Oakland.

Though, it did take a while for him to get me to change my mind.  I never counted his “Cowboy” role from Get Smart as a Western (the character had been on his way to a costume party), and my eyes were otherwise drawn to Tony Vincenzo and General Moore.  It was sometime afterwards that I found out about a character called Mel Barnes, from the Bonanza episode “Justice Deferred.”

Out of sheer curiosity, I took at look at “Justice Deferred.”  Surprising though it was to see Simon playing a character so cruel and malicious (and yet thrilling to see him break the fourth wall in the opening credits—in the most adorable way possible), it was even more surprising for me to realize that I liked the episode, despite its Western genre.  I quickly wrote this off as a one-time thing.  Sometime after that, I looked at another Bonanza episode: “Thunder Man.”  Once again, Simon played a character that was cruel and malicious… but, this time, the character (William Poole) was also a wonderful singer.  “Thunder Man” still remains the only time I’ve ever heard Simon sing, but that alone cemented this episode as a favorite for me.  Poole has intrigued me so much as a character, as well, from his mysterious backstory to whether or not he was once a decent man who was corrupted by madness.

I conceded that I was now a fan of Bonanza.  Even then, I considered it to be a fluke—the one Western that I would like.  And, once again, Simon would prove me wrong.  First The Virginian episode “Letter of the Law” and then “The Secret” episode of The Big Valley warmed me up to the genre slightly more.  I found that, thanks to Simon’s wonderful acting, I could look past the feuds and the lack of greenery and enjoy the story.

However, there was still one more hurdle to get me to get past my dismissal of the Western genre—the “gunslinger” archetype.  Looking back, it was a weird quirk of mine; I couldn’t stand watching an Old West gun duel, yet if people were dueling with tamed monsters or a card game, I was all for it.  But I stayed away from shows like Gunsmoke just to avoid the archetype.

And then came my first watching of the “Overland Express” episode of Gunsmoke, in which Simon’s character (Jim Nation) was, for once, not a cold and malicious character.  And I was enamored.  The archetype wasn’t as bad as I thought, and it was a thrill to see Simon play a good guy, for once (and it was also amusing to see him trying not to break character at one point; he was smiling in amusement when one of the other characters was talking about greasing a wagon wheel with cheese).  Seeing other episodes of Gunsmoke, even ones where Simon wasn’t even in, eventually followed.

Sometimes, all it takes is one person to get us to see things in a different light, with a more open mind.  And I am forever grateful to Simon for introducing me to a genre that was intriguing after all.

~Crystal Rose

No Sympathy for You! Simon's Detestable Villains

It seems that even though Simon is equally capable of playing both good guys and bad guys in general, he is also capable of portraying sympathetic bad guys and unsympathetic bad guys. Out of all the ones I’ve seen, and up to this point I’ve seen quite a few, I have only found three villains that I absolutely cannot pity in any degree whatsoever. With all of the others, for one reason or another, I find some reason to be fond of them and feel sorry for them in spite of what they’ve done.

The first unsympathetic villain is Mel Barnes, from the Bonanza episode Justice Deferred. Barnes is lustful, sadistic, and wholly unrepentant. Unlike William Poole from The Thunder Man, he shows no hints of having been a good person somewhere beyond his insanity. He has his way with women and then breaks their necks. And he is more than willing to let a look-alike of his in town take the blame and be hanged.

The second is Bolivar Jagger, from the Rawhide episode Incident of the Travellin’ Man [sic]. Bolivar is determined to do things his own way and doesn’t want anyone telling him what to do or trying to put him on a righteous path. Despite the fact that the main characters save his life, he eventually turns against them all and seriously injures more than one of them.

The third is DeCruz, from The Twilight Zone episode The Rip Van Winkle Caper. DeCruz is a robber, with no qualms about running down and killing one of his companions with his fast-moving truck. While traveling with the only other remaining party member, he charges the poor man a bar of gold for every swallow of water.

However, despite the fact that I cannot stand the characters, it is fascinating to watch them. I am amazed and awed by Simon’s ability to play them so believably, especially when he also plays such upright characters such as Captain Beechum and Tony Vincenzo. Simon was a true acting master.

His characters also have quite a way of getting under one’s skin, no matter which character it is. When I viewed The Rip Van Winkle Caper, I went to sleep later and had a rather restless time of it. A large part of my dreaming was taken up by a dream of enacting a role-play featuring the characters from that episode and trying to find a way to redeem Simon’s character DeCruz. Unfortunately, now I don’t quite remember what my dream-self was attempting to invent. Nor am I certain how one could even go about trying to redeem a fellow such as he, if he were kept in-character. But that did not stop my dream-self from trying, and in the dream, whatever she/I was doing made sense. Of course, dreams often do make sense—until we awaken.

~Lucky Ladybug