SEASON TWO
1966 - 1967
#40 - "The Road to San Remo"
On the stagecoach from Austin, Joe's nap is disturbed by a bored Gussie who reckons that Joe wouldn't be ignoring her if she were nineteen instead of nine. Joe takes a look when Gussie produces a box that makes sounds like a rattlesnake but disappoints her by not reacting when a spring loaded fake jumps out of the box. Joe does react when Indian Pete and his gang stops the stage and demands that Gussie get out. Joe tells her not to forget her "pet." He uses the fake snake to spook Pete's horse and shoots one of the gang. Joe declines Gussie's request for a scalp.
Gussie is going on to San Remo and makes her good-byes to Joe. Joe is back from Austin just in time for payday. But payday turns into a $5 loan from the Captain because they're all overdrawn. Chad talks Reese and Joe into pooling their money to play double or nothing at the saloon. Reese is thrilled when Chad wins twice and wants to walk away with the $60. But Chad can never leave well enough alone. So they end up broke and wondering how they're going to eat. Gussie, who's found out the stage doesn't go to San Remo where her Uncle Charley is waiting, offers them $100 to drive her there. Reese finds out on the way that the seemingly wealthy little girl has paid her way through Texas bouncing checks on an account with only $10.
On the road to San Remo, Indian Pete makes another try for Gussie and loses another of his men. When the group gets to San Remo, they find only three residents in town. The livery owner and storekeeper claim not to know where Charley Smith lives. When Chad locates the sheriff, he finds an old enemy. Daniels, a proficient gunfighter, gunned down a friend of Chad's who never carried a gun. He got away with it by buying off some witnesses. What stings Chad is Daniels' reminder that Chad never tracked him down. Chad isn't comforted by Joe's reminder that he was just a kid back then.
Indian Pete shows up in San Remo and is shot by Daniels before he can give anything away. Daniels tells them where they can find Charley Smith. However, when they go out to his place, they find the cabin Uncle Charley described to Gussie in his letter, but the man who claims to be Charley Smith is not Gussie's uncle. Chad and Reese are shot at when they discover an oil well on the property. They round up the gang in the confusion caused when he sets the oil on fire. Gussie finds a grave site which they suspect is Uncle Charley, killed for his oil land. The phony Charley tells all when threatened with a bucket of hot oil down his throat. Daniels killed Uncle Charley. Chad takes off for town alone, refusing to wait for the others.
Chad looks for Daniels in town but is shot by the storekeeper who claims Daniels made him do it. Chad's subsequent shoot-out with Daniels proceeds in true TV Western hero style with Daniels getting off two shots before Chad plugs him. When the liveryman takes aim at Chad's back, Joe takes him out, also in hero fashion. He first warns him to "hold it" and gives him the chance to whirl and get off a shot before Joe plugs him.
Joe asks Chad what he thought he was doing coming into town without him. Now that its all over, Chad admits he doesn't know. Of course we all know he had to prove he could take on Daniels. But we're glad to see Chad and Joe working together again.
Back in Laredo, Gussie starts writing checks as though she already  had her oil money. Unfortunately for them, our Rangers told everyone about Gussie's oil fortune and vouched for her checks. When the Captain lets everyone know they won't be good until Gussie comes of age, in twelve years, he also has the Rangers make good on the checks. Suddenly Gussie's good-by gifts, three silver studded saddles with their initials, don't look so good. Then Chad decides he's got "that old tingling feeling." They're off to the saloon to turn the saddles into double or nothing gambling stakes. And it's unlikely Chad will heed Reese's plaintive plea that they quit after they double the money once.
NiteOwl Review: This was our favorite second season episode and definitely a top ten. San Remo plays like a first year episode, a plus in our view. All the elements we liked, Chad conning Reese with Joe's encouragement, Chad coming to grips with an event in his past, Joe and Reese coping with a precocious child. We liked Peter Brown's take on a Chad who has some demons to take care of and the little interaction at the end where Joe chides Chad for coming back to town without him. We know Laredo was popular for its comedy but we craved a little serious interaction sometimes.
Cast Note: For an actor who had so much enthusiasm for the physical action involved in his craft, its somewhat surprising how well William Smith interacted with children. Three of Bill's best Laredo episodes featured him with child actors, "Meanwhile Back at the Reservation" with the young Kurt Russell, "Deadliest Kid in the West" with Gina Gillespie and this one. Bill hasn't had much opportunity to share the screen with children since Laredo. The idea of Falconetti (Rich Man Poor Man), Moon (C.C. & Co.)  or one of Bill's other psycho killers interacting with a young child would just be too disturbing.
On the stage to Laredo Gussie
is bored, Joe ignores her
Joe has Gussie get "her pet"
Indian Pete stops the stage
The fake snake spooks
Indian Pete's horse
The Captain checks the books
The boys are overdrawn
How to make $5 stretch?
Bad answer, lose it gambling
$100 for a ride
to San Remo
Gussie's offer is tempting
a suspicious
almost deserted town
Arriving in San Remo
Reese and Gussie bonding
Chad finds the sheriff
and recognizes an enemy
Joe is worried
Fake Uncle Charlie
Chad and Reese find an oil well
and set it on fire
Uncle Charley's grave
Chad heads for a show down
Chad is shot
He finds the culprit
The storekeeper
TV's best drop, roll and shoot
Daniels shoots first
But Chad shoots best
The livery man takes aim
Stopped by Joe
Joe scolds Chad
The little heiress says good-bye
A handshake for Chad
A kiss for Joe
Chad has a plan to recoup
that Reese doesn't like
Original air date Nov 25, 1966
Directed by Irving J. Moore
Written by Calvin Clements

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
Claire Wilcox as Gussie Smith
Dabbs Greer as Ira
Val Avery as Sheriff Daniels
Allen Jaffe as Indian Pete
Charlie Briggs as Woods
Lane Bradford as Charley Smith
Jan Arvan as dealer
Steve Raines as stage driver
Official Peter Brown Fan Site