SEASON TWO
1966 - 1967
#36 - "Finnegan"
When they ride in, they interrupt two thugs roughing up a shopkeeper who's afraid to press charges. Sheriff Gorman has disappeared and been replaced with a sheriff picked by Finnegan. When they locate Tom Fox, Reese draws against him and appears to win. Reese was badly outmatched but unbeknownst to Reese, Finnegan shot Fox because he is now wanted in Texas and therefore unwanted by Finnegan. Reese, of course, spends the rest of the episode bragging about outdrawing the fastest gun in Oklahoma.
When Chad reports back about the goings-on in Dry Wells, the Captain sends Erik and Joe to infiltrate the gang as Arizona outlaws Zack Johnson and Cherokee Joe. Chad goes back to let Reese know the plan. When Joe and Erik ride in, Erik shoots off Reese's hat and Chad makes a show of backing down to give them credibility. Once accepted by the gang, Erik plants the seeds of dissension by suggesting some big targets not approved by Finnegan. When Finnegan decides to dispose of Reese, Erik comes up with a plan. They plant his feet in cement and roll him into a lake in a wagon to drown. However, they plant Joe inside the wagon with a length of tubing and a barrel of air to keep Reese from drowning until Joe can haul him out.
While the men are gathered at the scene of Reese's supposed drowning, Erik dupes them into heading off to rob a supposedly unguarded payroll wagon without Finnegan's consent. Chad and Captain Parmalee spring the trap and most of Finnegan's men end up in jail. Chad returns to Dry Wells just as the real Zack Johnson and Cherokee Joe arrive. Muldoon and Finnegan get the drop on Chad, Joe and Erik who end up trussed up in a mine with a burning fuse only moments away from setting off enough dynamite to bury all evidence of foul play. However, Reese arrives in the nick of time, saving the day, something he's not going to soon let them forget.
NiteOwl Review: A very good episode as the second season went. The storyline was balanced to give each of the four about the same screen time and they all brought their own strengths to the story.
Finnegan's School for Scoundrels
Sean Finnegan is importing Chicago-style organized crime to Texas. He gathers a group of outlaws wanted elsewhere, but not in Texas and schools them in the appropriate rackets and techniques. The victim of a stage robbery in which a man was murdered reports that Tom Fox, an Oklahoma outlaw was the culprit. Captain Parmalee sends Chad and Reese to Dry Wells, a town which hasn't had any hold-ups, to see if the Sheriff Gorman has heard anything.
The Captain makes a plan
With Chad's help
Reese and Chad arrive in Dry Wells
They rescue the storekeeper
Chad is incredulous
when Tom Fox is killed
Reese replays his gunfight for
awe-struck children
Sean Finnegan
His right-hand man Muldoon
Joe as Cherokee Joe and Erik
as Zack Johnson, from Arizona
Reese is mad when Erik
shoots off his hat
Joe and Erik are welcomed
by Finnegan himself
Joe hooks Reese up with air
Reese awaits his execution
Joe tries to crack cement without cracking Reese's shin bone
The Captain springs the trap
Joe, Chad and Erik in jeopardy
Reese saves the day
"The only fate worse than death is having Reese save your life"
Original air date Oct 21, 1966
Directed by Alexander Singer
Written by Edward J. Lakso

Regular Cast
Neville Brand as Reese Bennett
Peter Brown as Chad Cooper
William Smith as Joe Riley
Robert Wolders as Erik Hunter
Phil Carey as Capt. Parmalee

Guest Cast
Malachi Throne as Finnegan
Mort Mills as Muldoon
Ken Lynch as John Clayton
Stuart Anderson as Kid Case
K.L. Smith as Tom Fox
Roy Roberts as Kelly
John Harmon as Jonas Kale
Fred Scheiwiller as Ned
Bruce Todd as Gunter
Fred Carson as Stacy
Sandford Jolley as old man
Budd Perkins as Greely
Official Peter Brown Fan Site