User Reviews

The transition when Judge and Betsy left the series did not go smoothly, especially with the addition of the Morgan Starr character, who was not too appealing. The best episodes in Season 4 was the final one, "The Mark of A Man". The Morgan Starr character wasn't featured, and James Drury and Clu Gulagher as The Virginian and Sheriff Ryker anchored the episode. It was also greatly enhanced by the performance of guest star Harold J. Stone. While the ending may be "too Hollywood", it was made believable for me with Stone's standout performance. By the beginning of Season 5, the Morgan Starr character was gone. The character of Jennifer, a "niece" who replaced the Betsy character was also replaced. Also gone was the Randy Benton character, who many questioned why he was added to the cast to begin with. I always wondered if he was related to someone with the power to "find a job" for him.

Guest stars take over from the regulars as The Virginian winds up season 4. James Drury has to cold cock young Barry Primus when he's fired as a bar back from one of Medicine Bow's saloons. Back then they were called swampers.

The only two people willing to give Primus any kind of break are Drury and the town's Jewish tailor Harold J. Stone. Stone's also a rabbi, but there aren't too many Jews in Wyoming for a synagogue.

Primus and Brooke Bundy the daughter of the town banker John McLiam are in love, but McLiam thinks he's not good enough for his daughter. He really puts a lot of pressure on Primus and the town to run him out.

This is a real Cinderella story in reverse. And Harold J. Stone dominates the climax where his rabbinical training comes in handy.

TV westerns don't get much worse than this last and least season four effort. Shameless story with dismally maudlin finale plays like a reject from a soppy medical series. Script does promising actor Barry Primus no favors, failing to provide a rational explanation why his disaffected character is shunned apart from a lack of money, surely not an unusual predicament in the Old West. Primus would have a much better western role later in the independent feature "Heartland," giving a tangy performance as a scruffy ranch hand. For not the first time in season four, Shiloh is left to run itself while The Virginian is yoked to Medicine Bow to help the townsfolk sort out their personal issues.