"Lady Killers" is mostly a Western shootout, mixed in with Kate and Maddie Stokes as sisters and bounty hunters who can outdrink and outsex any man. Much is made of Vin's, Ezra's, and J. D.'s confusion when Maddie goes after them and/or Casey hits on the men in a way Buck would be proud of. Meanwhile, Buck deals with Kate and shows his warmer, softer wide.
The story becomes more interesting and takes a few turns when it's revealed that the Stokes were involved with Speeback, the gang leader who Maddie rode with and Kate was kinda/sorta romantically involved with. Then Maddie shoots J. D., and much angst is made of that as he lies between life and death, mostly with Buck and Casey. Maddie gets captured and sentence to hang, and Kate desperately tries to save her sister.
I like the last half. For one thing, Raynor Scheine plays Speeback. And Speeback is pretty one-dimensional but evil, because he's play by Scheine who did that kind of thing. But he does become a little thicker characterization-wise in the back half. Vaughn as Judge Travis also gets a chance to do a little more. He has to sentence Maddie, a passenger that Maddie killed was a friend of his, and there are a couple of scenes of Travis just hanging out with the guys. Which is the only time I recall him doing such a thing. It's kind of weird to see him sitting in the saloon with Chris, or earlier outside with Casey just waiting for news. This is used mostly for exposition purposes, but it's still interesting to see Travis do something other than just play the tough old circuit judge and hand out sentence.
I also like a near-the-end sequence when Josiah recites the Lord's Prayer to Maddie in her cell. Intercut with scenes of Speeback and his gang preparing to ride in to rescue a captured comrade, and Buck and then Casey at J. D.'s bedside. Credit to Perlman, who is good as always and gets a lot more good scenes in the second season than he did in the first. Whether Josiah is making sarcastic remarks about Maddie (who hates preachers), or later taking pity on her and giving her some religious comfort, Perlman is talented.
Rebecca Cross and Ashley Levitch as the Stokes sister are also good. Maddie's psychotic turn is telegraphed but not too subtle. Kate's role as Maddie's over-protective sister, and her relationship with Buck is also interesting.
There are a few off-notes. Chris doesn't have much to do this episode, and the bits he gets are oddly violent. He seems to have a contempt for Kate at some points, saying that he's never killed a woman before but wouldn't mind starting with her, and later sneeringly telling her that she has nothing to trade to Travis in return for Maddie's life.
Vin also gets sidelined early because of a "cracked rib". I suspect a real-life accident that limited Eric Close's participation. Nathan doesn't have much to do except act doctorly. Starke as Ezra gets two good scenes. One where he plays straight man to Casey, who is looking for someone to "sow her oats" after J. D. ends up with Maddie. And another where he's balancing a broom on his toe (??) and pretends to be a lawyer to get information out of Speeback's imprisoned gang members.
And why is Speeback so big on sending his men to rescue first Garber (which gets several of them as well as Garber, killed), and later Kirkland, who was captured during the earlier attempt. Speeback doesn't come across as a warm, caring, sort of guy (because he's played by Scheine). His attempts to rescue his men, and Travis' occasional expository appearance, seem more like plot contrivances than natural extensions of the characterization.
But overall, "Lady Killers" is a good episode. Not a great one, but it has a few good moments, gives Vaughn and Perlman chances to shine, and makes Buck a likeable character.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
The story becomes more interesting and takes a few turns when it's revealed that the Stokes were involved with Speeback, the gang leader who Maddie rode with and Kate was kinda/sorta romantically involved with. Then Maddie shoots J. D., and much angst is made of that as he lies between life and death, mostly with Buck and Casey. Maddie gets captured and sentence to hang, and Kate desperately tries to save her sister.
I like the last half. For one thing, Raynor Scheine plays Speeback. And Speeback is pretty one-dimensional but evil, because he's play by Scheine who did that kind of thing. But he does become a little thicker characterization-wise in the back half. Vaughn as Judge Travis also gets a chance to do a little more. He has to sentence Maddie, a passenger that Maddie killed was a friend of his, and there are a couple of scenes of Travis just hanging out with the guys. Which is the only time I recall him doing such a thing. It's kind of weird to see him sitting in the saloon with Chris, or earlier outside with Casey just waiting for news. This is used mostly for exposition purposes, but it's still interesting to see Travis do something other than just play the tough old circuit judge and hand out sentence.
I also like a near-the-end sequence when Josiah recites the Lord's Prayer to Maddie in her cell. Intercut with scenes of Speeback and his gang preparing to ride in to rescue a captured comrade, and Buck and then Casey at J. D.'s bedside. Credit to Perlman, who is good as always and gets a lot more good scenes in the second season than he did in the first. Whether Josiah is making sarcastic remarks about Maddie (who hates preachers), or later taking pity on her and giving her some religious comfort, Perlman is talented.
Rebecca Cross and Ashley Levitch as the Stokes sister are also good. Maddie's psychotic turn is telegraphed but not too subtle. Kate's role as Maddie's over-protective sister, and her relationship with Buck is also interesting.
There are a few off-notes. Chris doesn't have much to do this episode, and the bits he gets are oddly violent. He seems to have a contempt for Kate at some points, saying that he's never killed a woman before but wouldn't mind starting with her, and later sneeringly telling her that she has nothing to trade to Travis in return for Maddie's life.
Vin also gets sidelined early because of a "cracked rib". I suspect a real-life accident that limited Eric Close's participation. Nathan doesn't have much to do except act doctorly. Starke as Ezra gets two good scenes. One where he plays straight man to Casey, who is looking for someone to "sow her oats" after J. D. ends up with Maddie. And another where he's balancing a broom on his toe (??) and pretends to be a lawyer to get information out of Speeback's imprisoned gang members.
And why is Speeback so big on sending his men to rescue first Garber (which gets several of them as well as Garber, killed), and later Kirkland, who was captured during the earlier attempt. Speeback doesn't come across as a warm, caring, sort of guy (because he's played by Scheine). His attempts to rescue his men, and Travis' occasional expository appearance, seem more like plot contrivances than natural extensions of the characterization.
But overall, "Lady Killers" is a good episode. Not a great one, but it has a few good moments, gives Vaughn and Perlman chances to shine, and makes Buck a likeable character.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
