Adventures of Brisco County Jr. 2 - Socrates' Sister

Plot: Brisco's after Jack Randolph, a notorious thief in John Bly's gang. He even catches him in the first 5 minutes, at the site of what used to be the town of Gravesend (it's now under water thanks to a dam). Randolph's wanted for stealing Treasury plates, which could be use to counterfeit money. Two were stolen, but Randolph's partner only has one, which means Randolph has the other (or knows where it is). But wait, this man insists he is Jack Randolph, but not that Jack Randolph. And he's hired himself a fancy lawyer from back East to defend him. An Iphigenia Poole, who is, as the title says, Socrates' sister.

Unfortunately, her defense of the man is more about the romantic letters he sent her than anything else, and she's soon disillusioned. Brisco's left looking after her while also trying to capture Randolph and his partner, who have swiped Professor Wickwire's latest invention to retrieve Randolph's plate. Socrates makes his first attempt at being active outside the city, which leads to the repeated line 'Too much weight.'

Does Brisco use his gun? No, but his Randolph's partner does. To shoot at Bowler.

Things Comet does: Well, he tracks down Brisco again. And either he can read a newspaper, or he comprehends human speech well enough to understand the crooks were discussing what was in the newspaper, because he steals it to present to Brisco as a clue.

Brisco Kiss Count: 2, both from Iphigenia. (4 for the season).

John Bly Spreads His Arms Dramatically Count: 0 (3 for the season). Bly doesn't appear in this episode.

Is Pete Hutter in this episode: Yes! Pete survived being shot in the pilot!

Pete Hutter Quote: 'So how the hell are we gonna get your plate? With a fishing pole of hope and delusional fantasies for bait?'

Non-Pete Hutter Quote: Wickwire - Do you doubt your instinct, or your judgment? Brisco - It's the same thing isn't it? Wickwire - Brisco, if it were the same thing, would I be standing here in a rubber suit, begging to be plunged to the bottom of the ocean? Judgment says this is crazy, but instinct, it sings the truth, son. It knows what's possible.

Brisco's Coming Things: Wickwire's "inner space suit", which will enable man to explore the depths of the ocean. Honestly, I thought such things existed prior to the 1890s.

John Bly Gang Count: 1, Jack Randolph (drowns). Pete escaped. (2 for the season)

Stuff The Orb Can Do: It doesn't appear, so the same stuff it could do last epsiode, I assume.

Other: As Brisco prepares to pursue the escaped Randolph, he tells Soc there's no worry, Jack has a hideout in Hart's Canyon. At which point Bowler bursts out of the stable and charges off. Turns out that was a ruse by Brisco, as the only thing Bowler will find in Hart Canyon is bees. Mad bees. How did Brisco know Bowler was listening?

Bowler can't swim. Iphigenia is a certified swimming instructor. Iphi uses the cake trick to get Jack out of jail. Fortunate that it's Jack's birthday, though do we ever see people bring prisoners cakes when it isn't their birthday? When I'm away from home, my mom sends me baked goods at times other than just my birthday. Brisco still isn't knowledgable about the Greeks (as we learned in the pilot), since he has to ask Iphi who she was named after. We were told this in the pilot, but Don't touch Pete's piece.

One of the cliffhangers is Randolph and Pete finding Wickwire testing his suit in a tub in his lab. They turn off the air pumps and hold him underwater. But, we see later they didn't kill him, so I'm not sure what that was about. I'm pretty sure intimidation was unnecessary, as Wickwire would probably jump at the chance to test out his suit for real.

In the pilot, there was a runaway stage scene. Brisco details to Dixie all the (highly dangerous) things he could do to bring the stage under control, then opts to have them both bail out instead. This time, he predicts a desperate stuggle underwater against Randolph, Brisco struggling for air while Randolph grins smugly within the suit. This one actually happens, so perhaps it was easier to film, or they didn't want to bait-and-switch too often.

Two sequences I find interesting are the one I quoted between Brisco and Wickwire, and an exchange between Brisco and Randolph in the jail. I like the Brisco/Wickwire conversation because it continues to build John Astin's character as a father figure to Brisco in certain ways. Much of Brisco seems derived from his father the Marshall, but Brisco's curiosity is more simila to the Professor.

As for the chat with Randolph, I like that Brisco's outside the cell, but he's the one who seems impatient, leaning forward, grabbing the bars, trying to push Randolph to tell where the plate is. Randolph, meanwhile, is sitting calmly on his bunk, leaned back against the wall. You'd think he has all the time in the world. It's a nice contrast, though you would think if Randolph is prtending to be someone else, he'd act more panicked. Pleading that he doesn't know anything about plates, Brisco has the wrong man, please let him out.

Next time, the Orb is back, and so is John Bly.