The Magnificent Seven Season Two Rides
into the Sunset
by
Kristin Battestella
The
thirteen episode 1999-2000 Second Season of The
Magnificent Seven opens
with action vignettes and heroic punches as gunslinger Chris Larabee
(Michael Biehn), sharpshooter Vin Tanner (Eric Close), ladies man
Buck Wilmington (Dale Midkiff), gambler Ezra Standish (Anthony
Starke), preacher Josiah Sanchez (Ron Perlman), healer Nathan Jackson
(Rick Worthy), and kid J.D. (Andrew Kavovit) take names no questions
asked when crooks think they can ride into their town.
New
federal marshal Peter Firth (MI-5),
however, has a strict approach in the “The
New Law” premiere, enacting a no guns policy and relieving The
Seven of their services. Railroad entrepreneurs want official
assurances that a progressive town doesn't need gunslingers, but up
to no good ranchers Brion James (Blade
Runner), Stacy Keach (Mike
Hammer), and Tim Thomerson
(Trancers)
see an opportunity as our boys move on, each with a moment of humor,
trouble, or doubt on what they will do next. Of course, this is the
season premiere, so we know The Seven will ultimately stick around
amid foolish policies and town raids. While this feels more like a
standard plot than a standout opener, the townsfolk get in on the
action and our boys know where to find each other when they are
needed. Rousing riding montages build as two becomes four, and
finally all seven combine for cavalry ruses, jailhouse rescues, and
pondering the outcome at the saloon. As this season progresses, The
Magnificent Seven becomes
more serious, relying less on action or generic plots of the week and
more on fine ensembles, characterizations, and town-centric tales
with great guest stars. Straight dramas take the forefront before the
more adventurous two part “Wagon Train,” and one can tell this
was probably meant to be the big premiere but was held back for a
February sweeps run as none of the recurring ladies that strengthen
the beginning of the season are featured and more potentially
interesting characters introduced here don't re-appear. Would be
homesteaders, rival land claims, and threats to the judge mean our
boys will escort the train, but stubborn men are reluctant to have
cowboys around their family folk. Multiple flirtations, villainous
vows, a jolly powder man, widows, and ornery kids lead to attacks on
the camp, questions about this must have land, explosions, and deed
double crosses. From fiddling and dancing to shootouts, kidnapping
rescues, and dynamite, The Seven do it all as tensions build to
shootouts and wagon sieges. These quirky bad guys must get rid of
these “seven hooligans,” and by Part Two, ladies are running away
with our heroes amid marriage proposals, gold prospecting, and safety
versus taking a stand. The sappy may be too much for some viewers who
prefer the solid action and the stakes are both made easy yet
insurmountable, but the dangers and dalliances accent the questions
on outlaw living compared to settling down with family. Fortunately,
the jerky men made weak and charming character moments remain
entertaining. When those seven silhouettes ride up the mountain crest
as the crescendos peak, there really isn't any doubt about who's
going to win.
Scared
Chinese railroad works also seek out our heroes in “Chinatown”
after fellow workers are beaten and killed. The
Magnificent Seven shows
surprisingly brutal attacks thanks to rapacious, racist, good ole
boys; slick rail baron Brad Dourif (Lord of the Rings); and
vengeful hot head John Cho (Harold
and Kumar) speaking
out about the wrongdoings.
In town, our boys have official jurisdiction and here they'd be
meddling in a private entity, but that's never stopped them before
and they won't take a family's precious jade as payment, either.
Multiple storylines converge as our boys free abused women, uncover
murder plots, and find evidence proving money and motive. This well
balanced piece addresses hate crimes, immigrant labor, corrupt white
men, illegal business practices, and cooked books with ahead of its
time wisdom. Our young immigrant wants to “learn to shoot so I can
be an American” but our gunslinger answers that “learning to
shoot don't make you an American, but it could make you a killer and
it won't fix the way you feel. Guns and hate is a bad mix.” The
Magnificent Seven tackles
issues we're still dealing with today in some serious storytelling,
but it's therapeutic to
see the good guys win – even if it's only on the small screen for
an hour. Territory freedom versus statehood regulations expand The
Magnificent Seven beyond
generic West simplicity in
“Serpents” as protests begat bar fights and a dead hotel patron
carrying a sophisticated rifle and $10,000. Who hired this assassin
and how did he himself end up dead? The Seven argue about what to do
with the money as whispers and accusations mount. Pairings we don't
normally see bring out each other's ire while multiple temptations
such as ladies, wealth, and weapons test our heroes. The soapbox
speeches go on despite the fatal risks, underhand tactics, and
backdoor deals as our group divided faces their demons. Who's really
the target and will our flawed heroes overcome and save the day?
Bullets are taken and our multifaceted cowboys come through in a deep
episode that fully shows The
Magnificent Seven's potential.
This should have been the finale, as
“Obsession” revisits the Larabee family murder on the crime's
three year anniversary and feels more like a somewhat rushed and
unresolved Season Three premiere than a conclusion. A former flame
turned wealthy widow under fire offers The Seven fifty dollars each
for protection in what should be an easy side job – a day or two
out of town reminiscing on wild times with carriage rides, feasts,
and feather beds. Is there more to life than drinking or fighting?
The saucy romance moves fast, but decisions to stay on the seemingly
idyllic farm have consequences. Conversations waxing on honest hearts
and kind love culminate in multiple wounds and innocents caught in
the crossfire as silhouettes and eerie music accent the titular
creepy. Suspicious paperwork reveals the boys were right to distrust
such quick happiness, and The
Magnificent Seven comes
together for one last shootout.
There
aren't any truly bad episodes this season – The
Magnificent Seven gets
better as it goes on – but serious versus humor pacing issues
hamper several entries amid lingering clues that episodes aired out
of production order, were held over from the First Season, or where
rushed to included more stories as cancellation loomed. The second
hour “Sins of the Past” combines motherly competition, dilemmas,
and history as each of the boys face arrests, romance, business,
rescues, and clearing one's name. It's a somewhat slow, getting to
know them deeper, gray bottle episode, but the acts should be
structured with separated drama and humorous plots. Treating
drastically different stories with standard A, B, C back and forth
doesn't give each tale the focus they deserve even if the humor fades
once the boys bond together. “Achilles” also has too much with
card games, ladies, poetry, robberies, shoot outs in the street, and
innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. The psychological toll
of being a gun toting town protector and unlikely pairings, John
Brown pasts, and vigils over the wounded lady jar with lighter plots
or too briefly featured situations. It's great to see The Seven
struggle amid angry townsfolk, funerals, illiteracy, and more, but
the scale is crowded and uneven. Night time raids versus hanging up
the guns, wisdom from the villain, and more superb elements again
deserved more time, but this late in the season, the series writers
may have been trying to include all their ideas when had The
Magnificent Seven continued,
this would have been a fine episode to have some players depart over
grief, killer instinct, and their perceived heroic shortcomings. This
episode in many ways highlights the best the show has to offer as
well as its problematic, short lived network constructs. Likewise,
“Ladykillers” has
scaffolds, saloon swagger, and sassy female bounty hunters who wound
a man to keep him alive for the higher reward. Buck thinks it's a
dangerous job for women, but they object that giving birth is more
deadly. The serious grit, however, is again played for romance and
male sensitivity rather than strong women and their struggles in the
West. The rowdy, aggressive sister drags men into the barn yet it's
all jokes about getting into their britches and sowing wild oats with
come ons about who is the most handsome of The Seven. Personal
vendettas and debates about if a woman with a gun can be trusted
happen alongside surprising gun shots, injuries, chases, and stand
offs as the humor is then completely dropped for dark redemptive
questions, domestic violence, voiceover prayers, arguments on
executing women, and pulling the trigger in cold blood. The topical
elements may be too much for a friendly Saturday night, but once
again, it's what The
Magnificent Seven could
have been. Imagine if
one of our boys was shot and a woman replaced him?
Chris
Larabee has loosened up a little bit, but Michael Biehn is still
dressed in all black to match his rough exterior. Chris tries to
ignore gunslinging challenges, but today is just as good as any day
to die and he'll shoot up J.D.'s bowler to prove his fast shot.
Memories of his late family, however, are fading from his mind, and
Chris works on his nearby homestead to get away and hold on a little
longer. Of course, he's also jealous when Mary has other prospects –
a safe family life is not exactly something he could give her – but
Chris admits their friendship is special to him and he's not blind to
her headstrong beauty. He doesn't give a damn about a person's past
if they ask for help and won't take their precious tokens as payment.
However, he does threaten to shoot Ezra and won't tolerate when a
sleazy guy puts his hand on his shoulder. Chris yells at J.D. to deal
with his guilt; he won't get sentimental, but tells the kid to change
his mind about leaving, for if J.D. were perfect he wouldn't be one
of them. Chris drinks his pain away and initially objects to his
friends questioning his former flame when he has a new chance at
happiness, but he realizes they wouldn't be suspicious for no reason.
In the absence of the judge when asked who's in charge, he supposes
that's him, taking to this lawman thing more than he admits, yet
Chris lingers in the back of the church by the doors and tries to
remain objective if one of their own is accused. Chris' father-in-law
Ed Lauter (Family Plot)
comes to town in “Vendetta,” claiming to have killed the man who
killed their family, but Tyne Daly (Cagney
& Lacey) is
pursuing him for her own revenge. Chris
resented his disapproval of his marriage and he's angry at his
father-in-law bringing this trouble back to him now. Buck says Chris
should consider his suffering, but the men blame each other and have
it out amid their confrontations with Daly's harsh Irish matriarch
scoffing at the dirty church but confessing she is going to kill and
enjoy it. She's a God fearing woman kneeling at the altar for
forgiveness yet shouting from the balcony how she'll fill 'em with
lead, willing to destroy the rest of her family for vengeance that
isn't as clear cut as it seems in another Magnificent
Seven standout
with prayers and gunfire intermixing for superb drama. Eric
Close's Vin Tanner still has a wrongful warrant hanging over his head
– he isn't afraid to die but will take a stand on being strung up
for the wrong reason. Vin thinks he can defend himself alone, but
Chris brings along his mare's leg and Vin's grateful when all the
boys join his cause. He lies, however, that his handwriting is
terrible to hide his illiteracy. Mary thinks he has traveled and has
many interesting stories to tell, but he rebuffs her newspaper
opportunities before sharing his words on heroics and heart, reciting
poetry on how much he values her mind. She offers to teach him to
read and write down what he wants, keeping his secret the way Vin
keeps Josiah's family confidences to himself. He takes a liking to a
married woman in “Wagon Train,” rescuing her from the bad guys
before insists no woman belongs to a man – a true husband will know
her worth, thank God for her, and never put her at risk. Buck says
his nobility will earn him smooches but also trouble, and Chris
briefly wonders if he can still depend on Vin. He knows the affair
isn't right, but Vin's too wily to settle down and tame land no
matter how he feels. He rejoins the fight despite the nasty husband
shooting at him, and Chris assures him that there's nothing to
explain. Vin resents The Seven for teasing him, but he agrees this is
where he belongs.
Dale
Midkiff as ladies man Buck Wilmington has some then risque bathtub
scenes but loses his touch with several gals this season – much to
the bemusement of the boys. Buck lets a man live when he has the
death blow even if he doesn't deserve it, for he'll always stand up
for what's right, although Chris says he's too proud. The two are
close, but they argue, too, and Buck only tells Josiah when he has
fearful nightmares. He gets stir crazy when it's calm and peaceful,
cutting loose and accidentally taking a Chinese medicine to cure a
“limp noodle” – a condition he insists is not a problem.
Despite being both intimidated and intrigued by a lady bounty giving
him the cold shoulder, he pens a romantic letter to help J.D. Buck
lays it on think, lowering his voice and putting on the charm before
getting a dose of his own love 'em and leave 'em medicine. He's
caught up in a duel for “Love and Honor,” defending a wronged
woman against A. Martinez (She-Devil)
as romances crisscross amid afternoon standoffs and talk of
integrity. The duel is actually a sword fight, yet there's not a lot
of action in the first half of the episode, and we don't notice
because we're enjoying the characters, multi-ethnic plots, and female
but not damsel in distress angst. There's a touch of Zorro,
too,
with spars, swords cutting the candles, and begrudging respect from
Martinez. He says he's going to find six men of his own to watch his
back, and he, too, would have been a fascinating replacement if need
be. Besides, it's also nice
to hear the boys actually called magnificos,
and
had The Magnificent
Seven continued,
Fabiana Udenio (Summer
School)
as sassy bartender Inez could have been fine flair. Her three
episodes are full of Buck foil, for he's unarmed in their battle of
wits, and Vin has her back when confronting the Don from whom she
fled. Sadly, we don't get to see Inez relate to the women in
“Ladykillers,” because after holding down the saloon so well, she
disappears in the cut back second half of the season. J.D.
is tough, too. He's angry at a baddie using dynamite against families
rather than fighting like a man, but the others think Andrew
Kavovit's kid is still hot air. He dreams of riding with the Texas
Rangers, insisting he's no longer the rookie in need of his six big
brothers, yet J.D.'s foolish enough to gamble with Maude and buys a
Chinese potion to make him grow taller. The bowler jokes continue,
but J.D. confides in Buck how often his missing a bullet is just dumb
luck. J.D. knows the townsfolk blame him when his stray shot leads to
a citizen's death in “Achilles” and becomes reluctant to use his
guns. Josiah reminds him to take pride in what he's done for this
town, and these touching, growing up fast, or leaving contemplations
could have been a longer story arc. J.D. regains his enthusiasm when
he doesn't need his holster to save the day, but he gets tongue tied
when trying to court Casey. Their fishing competition and pulling
pigtails banter are charming, but Nathan insists every girl wants a
bracelet, not the frog digger J.D. intends to get for Casey. Dana
Barron appears in five episodes this season as Casey, but the out of
order episodes have her liking him one hour, then hating him the next
before running to his side when he's injured. She gets mistaken for a
boy when her hair is up in her hat, but Casey matures and softens up
with J.D. even as she comes in handy and helps the boys.
Anthony
Starke's Ezra P. – the “P” stands for persuasive – Standish
“Attorney at Law” intends to buy the saloon and improve his new
“Standish Tavern” but he wasn't made honest labor or Puritanism.
When donning the unthinkable Union Blue for a disguise, Ezra at least
makes sure he's a colonel. The only thing that can drag him away from
his down pillow at dawn is the word “bet,” and he takes odds
against Buck in a challenge, encouraging betters to spend
expeditiously. Of course, he, too has on occasion found it necessary
to defend his good name in a sword fight, however Ezra reluctantly
buys an abused girl in “Chinatown” when Nathan doesn't have
enough money to outbid a wealthy creeper and free her. She follows
Ezra to be his servant, but while he may be a scoundrel, Ezra insists
he's always a gentleman to a lady. After a losing a card game with
six suspicious kings in one deck, Ezra ends up with nothing but his
hat, gun, and boots before finding out it was a fake leg under the
table that defeated him. He wonders how he ever let himself come to a
career in law enforcement, and writes to his mother that he is baby
sitting again and gets slapped when he tries to move in on a woman
for her gold claim. Michelle Phillips' Maud Standish wins the deed
to the town hotel in a poker game, and mother and son are so genteel
as they throw down the gauntlet over rival prices, two for one
drinks, and tainted booze. He calls her out for being self-serving,
but she insists she taught him better than using his own money in
business before selling at top value and buying his saloon. Maude's
accused of theft in “The Trial” when missing diamond cuff links
are found in the false bottom of her satchel. Ezra's happy to put his
mother behind bars, but she spruces up her cell with lamps,
furniture, and curtains before sweet talking the Judge, and it would
have been great to see more of their law and con woman opposites
attract. He says she's the first prisoner to ever tell him he's the
most handsome man in the world, but when her accuser proposes
marriage, Ezra draws up a prenuptial agreement including a chef,
maid, and shop accounts. She's supposed to pick out the ring, but
Maude steals his carriage to flee instead. Ezra is likewise tempted
with The Seven's found $10,000. He's tired of being knocked out, shot
at, and disrespected with such indignities for $7 a week but Chris
says he's the only one who complains about the risks they take and
doesn't trust him to guard the cash. Although sharing the wealth is
never his first instinct, Ezra's angry they all think he'd cut and
run. He confides in Josiah that he thought he had proven his loyalty
to his friends, and he tells Ezra to face his demons – giving him
the money so it can serve its purpose and fix his mercenary ways.
(18
year old “Save a horse, ride a cowboy” me would have *loved* to
have screen captures of this back then!)
Ron
Perlman's Josiah Sanchez prays for a sign and finds a dog instead,
but doesn't mind that the Lord loves a good riddle. Money is like
manure and should be spread, but Josiah objects when his church is
called unclean because it's open to all paths regardless of belief –
including dusty folk and troubled souls. When insulted as a mere
handyman, he says Jesus was good with a hammer, too. Josiah provides
forgiveness for those who would be consumed with revenge in great one
on one wisdoms. He's still enchanted by Maude, reads
The Iliad, and waxes on
romance but won't offer J.D. courting tips and claims he's on a vow
of silence and abstinence when a widow takes a liking to him. He
lifts heavy water buckets to avoid temptations when guarding a large
sum of money but ultimately sleeps with it and dreams of angels
before taking up golf as a lesson in humility against your own worst
enemy – yourself. Josiah's proud to defend Nathan's father in “The
Trial;” they share Scripture together and even Maude compliments
Josiah's well spoken parables. He puts the case in perspective by
removing talk of color, slave, and master and instead asks the jury
which one of them wouldn't kill the man who terrorized his family if
he had the chance. Josiah hates funerals no matter how nice heaven is
supposed to be, brings peace to prisoners facing the noose, and says
he's not drinking alone but with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Unfortunately, a drunken Josiah returns to town in “Penance”
spouting righteous atonement amid dust storms and accusations of
murder. The investigating Pinkerton hones in on Josiah's reluctance
to talk because his sins are between him and God before revealing
more of his family history and regrets. The evidence pointing to
Josiah is contrived
and it's obvious who the murderer is; however the
purgatory mood, murder mystery askew, and horror film making create a
unique atmosphere. We had so little time for The
Magnificent Seven to
dig deep with a scary or dark storyline, but Josiah
comes to his senses to minister the criminal just in time. Rick
Worthy's Nathan objects to being accused as a snake oil man but is
often frustrated that his meager medical skills aren't much use. He
wants to pursue his doctoring more but anguishes when his lack of
schooling acerbates fatal wounds. Nathan won't take the given gold
claim from a dying man he tried to save, either – even when Ezra
waxes how they could build a hospital with it. At times, they have a
more lighthearted banter, but Nathan educates Ezra on rapier
techniques in an intriguing spar between the southern con man and the
former slave. Nathan was his master's sparring partner, so his
swordsmanship is not so fond a skill. The boys have his back,
however, in “The Trial” when Nathan's father faces a lynching.
Pleas about the war being over and nasties making the firm
distinction between the black accused and white man victim add
dimension to touching father and son moments. After slavery, war, and
separation, a free man deserves a day in court, but Nathan does not
expect justice and confides his history and fears to Chris. Superb
tears, pain, and performances bring the terrors of the past full
circle thanks to confessions and circumstances that are enough to
break a man's spirit – almost.
Judge
Travis has our boys' backs against the territory bureaucrats, but
Robert Vaughn's crusty lawman won't given them a raise even if he
admits he's glad to see them defeat sleazy prosecutors.
The Judge is sympathetic to men who kill because they had to,
commuting sentences and protecting a charge once justice has been
ruled, yet he's reluctant to hang a woman and being fair doesn't
always help his case.
Once a colder snob when The
Magnificent Seven began,
Laurie Holden's widow Mary
Travis has let her hair down and earned a brief appearance in the
opening credits. Buck doesn't want her to look at a dead body, but
Mary says it is part of her job, and she gets tough when interviewing
a nasty marshal – drinking when he insists women should be wives,
mothers, tea total, and not vote. She may not be able to find a
pencil when it's already behind her ear, but Mary dons a holster and
gets dirty riding to the wild Purgatory town when seeking out the
boys. The Magnificent Seven
has
multiple women relating to each other without taking away from the
men, and Mary vows how they are rare, good men who have helped one
and all many times. When a former flame proposes to her in “Wagon
Train,” however, she doesn't immediately accept but considers her
son, the newspaper, and the opportunity for progress in town compared
to starting over on the farm with a ready made family. Of course,
Chris is not amused –
he says she'd be foolish to turn down a good man, but Mary confides
in him that she isn't ready for such a big decision. This would have
been another great plot to revisit a la Shane,
but
outspoken editor Mary moves on, campaigning for statehood and writing
articles on Freedom of Speech and amendment rights. Old
school western street facades, wooden storefronts, balconies, and
rooftops provide The
Magnificent Seven with
ample places for shoot outs, standoffs, crashes, chases, broken
windows, and close quarter fist fights.
Horses, hats, dusters, ropes, cigars, and poker accent saloons,
wagons, telegraphs, barrels, wanted posters, and Spanish touches. The
slow motion may be a bit too much at times and the outdoor filming
makes for a fuzzy picture today – by the end of the season, you can
tell they're using the same hilly spot from different angles, too.
However, the rustic realism and dirty, dusty action is nicer then
often overly noticeable CGI in HD. The attention to period detail
continues with wallpapers, Victorian interiors, bonnets, bustles, and
fine ladies' silhouettes, and The
Magnificent Seven was
probably quite expensive in its day thanks to well done stunts,
leaps, cannons, and explosions. Blunt,
multi layered gunfire sets off impressive stagecoach heists, villains
caught in the wheels, trick riding shots, and swinging saloon doors
that always end up off their hinges. Surprising sword action is also
intense as wide shots survey the overall battle while above and below
filming keeps the blood and slashes realistically tight. Great
windstorms, dusty roads, flapping shutters, and slamming doors build
suspense, and dark silhouettes show scary attacks when more graphic
violence couldn't be shown in the well choreographed and edited
action. Today maybe costs would be saved in rotating the cast or not
having all of The Seven in each episode, but be it bloody noses or
broken ribs, our boys also get their bumps and bruises with comical
cues or heroic notes to match. The opening titles once again remind
us we're in for a rousing good time with picturesque heroes on
horseback riding onward to save the day.
The
first half of The
Magnificent Seven aired as
a Winter 1999 mid-season replacement before the final episodes were
dumped in a Friday night summer burn off, unceremoniously ditched
after a sweeps attempt to boost the declining Walker,
Texas Ranger and
continue the CBS
Saturday western night post-Dr.
Quinn Medicine Woman. My
crummy, taped off TV VHS tapes certainly got some wear, and I
remember being involved in one of the first internet campaigns to
save the show – embarrassing but now fascinating Geocities websites
chronicling
the transition of television from desperately dependent on Nielsen
ratings and advertising dollars to online fandom and streaming
freedom. If this Magnificent
Seven was
on a premium channel or internet service today for three, ten episode
seasons of arc storytelling with one show runner, who knows what the
possibilities would be. In its second season, The
Magnificent Seven remains
both an action man's adventure and a wholesome television western.
This was as heavy and violent as a network Saturday night show
pre-Y2K was going to get, yet
the
series is great
television when it overcomes such opposing constrains with next level
performances, plots, and swagger. This
show simply ends much
too soon, and it's easy to end The
Magnificent Seven here and
go right back to the beginning for comforting cowboy entertainment.
