West arrives at Fort Savage just ahead of an angry group of Iroquois. The fort's commanding officer, Major Jason (Len Wayland), has dispatched a report about operations in the area by a Canadian revolutionary named Sean O’Reilley (Pernell Roberts). However, West finds that the fort is already under O’Reilley's control and that the rebel is being assisted by Shiela "Vixen" O’Shaugnessy (Lana Wood), a senator's daughter who had been reported kidnapped. West manages to prevent the fort from being blown up while Gordon sets about infiltrating the revolutionary group; together they work to foil O’Reilley's plans, which they must do within 48 hours if they want to prevent a massacre.
Disguises used by Artie: Ted Bloom/Bluebeard, Trapper
(14:15); Jacques Beaumont, Canadian Emissary from Durain(33:30)
Tropes present in this episode:
- Ax-Crazy: One of Artie's disguises is "Ted Bloom", a crazed mountain man whose unhinged behavior leads Durain to recruit him.
- Disney Villain Death: O'Reilley plunges off a small cliff while fighting Jim.
- Distressed Dude: Jim is trussed up and put on display twice during this episode, once without a shirt. Artie lampshades this by joking that Jim gets "tied up" in his work.
- Evil Laugh: Durain frequently chuckles at "Ted Bloom"'s antics.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: In the opening, Jim gives the commanding officer a description of O'Reilley... and then realizes that the description matches the "officer" perfectly. At which point O'Reilley drops the disguise.
- Eyepatch of Power: Durain's Dragon Briscoe (Russ McCubbin) is (in "Ted Bloom"'s words) a "one-eyed rattler".
- Fighting Irish: Sean O'Reilley, Vixen O'Shaughnessy, and their men are all quite fond of a good brawl.
- French Jerk: Andre Durain (Paul Lambert), O'Reilley's second-in-command, is a genuine example. Artie's persona "Beaumont", a supposed emissary from Durain, exploits this trope.
- Imposter Forgot One Detail: O'Reilley made two mistakes in his Major Jason disguise: referring to the barber by name instead of rank and forgetting the West Point ring.
- Keystone Army: O'Reilley's men instantly surrender after his death despite outnumbering and outgunning West.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping:
- Pernell Roberts as supposed Irishman Sean O'Reilley. He ends up giving listeners a linguistic tour of the British Isles, with occasional quick stops back in his native Georgia.
- An intentional example in the teaser - when O'Reilley is pretending to be Major Jason and he's putting on an American accent, he reverts to Irish when the man shaving him almost cuts him ("Watch it Crocker, ye blasted butcher!").
- Race Against the Clock: O’Reilley takes all the ammunition from the fort with him, leaving the soldiers there defenseless against the hostile Iroquois and Black Feet. Major Jason tells West that the tribes will meet in two days to join forces and attack the fort; if the agents can't get the ammo back by then, the soldiers will be slaughtered.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Seems to be the message of the episode. Vixen is painted as a wide-eyed idealist who has to be brought back to reality; on the other hand, her ideals aren't exactly of the highest, so ridding her of them may not be such a bad idea...
- Third-Person Person: "Ted Bloom" sometimes refers to himself as "this child".
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Vixen is very young and very enthusiastic about her ideals, which supposedly involve "relieving the downtrodden" and suchlike. She's willing and eager to die for them - and also quite willing to kill. She's even okay with letting women and children be massacred. Jim calls her out on this hypocrisy.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Subverted. Jim uses an Expy of the Vulcan nerve pinch whenever Vixen is getting above herself, so no prizes for guessing what leads to the final freeze frame in the upper right hand corner above.
