Written by JOHN D. F. BLACK  Directed by EARL BELLAMY  GUEST CAST  SHELLEY MORRISON as Linda LIttletrees MICHAEL CONRAD as Willie G. Tinney  RALPH MANZA as Blue Dog RICHARD DEVON as Max Vander  MIKE RAGAN as Jonesy  WILLIAM VAUGHAN as Sid  RUSS McCCUBBIN as Howie Walker  CHUCK COURTNEY as The 1st Outlaw

Linda Littletrees

Reese suggests a plan to capture Linda Littletrees using her heart’s desire — Joe — as bait.  The Captain puts him off because he has another plan in the works he hasn’t told Reese about.  Tinney, a Ranger from Company A poses as an outlaw and is placed in the jail cell next to Max and Blue Dog, members of Littletrees' gang waiting for the prison wagon.  He escapes using a derringer smuggled in his boot.  He releases Blue Dog and Max so they will lead him to Littletrees’ hideout.  Everything goes as planned until Chad, Joe & Reese, who were ordered to stay in the barracks, spoil the escape.  Joe goes after Max & Blue Dog while Reese  takes Tinney prisoner.

After getting chewed out by the Captain, Reese is sent to replace Tinney at Company A & doesn’t reappear in this episode.  The Captain & Chad spend the rest of the episode in the office fretting about Joe.  Tinney, still undercover, follows the others to the hideout where Joe has been captured by Littletrees.  Littletrees locks Joe in a room with a wedding outfit and sings him a Comanche wedding song outside the door as he desperately tries to escape.  He manages to cut thru one of the bars, but when Linda bursts in the room, she compares the hole in the window to her visualization of Joe’s muscular torso and opens the wardrobe to find him cowering inside.  Some fumbling by Blue Dog and help from Tinney enables them to capture the gang.  Linda tells Joe she won’t love him no more if he takes her to jail, but he is not deterred.

Tinney bargains with Blue Dog & Max

\ Reese spoils the Captain's plan

Waiting for news of Joe's fate

Joe tries to escape.

Caught by Linda

Linda caught

NiteOwl Review:  A good episode for the Bill Smith fans although not for the Peter Brown or Neville Brand contingents.   Cast Note:  Michael Conrad was an enjoyable presence in this episode.  Had they decided to take the second year of Laredo in a slightly more serious rather than a goofier direction, he would have been a good addition to the cast.  He was amusing but not silly.   Bill Smith and Peter Brown both told us that he was one of the actors under consideration to replace Neville Brand who was incapacitated with increasing frequency as the series progressed.  Conrad later became well-known as the Hill Street Blues sergeant who concluded every morning's briefing with "Be careful out there."