Lawman Season 4, Episode 12: The Lords of Darkness

Trapped

Outlaw leader Hale Connors arrives in Laramie to notify Troop that the stage won't be arriving.

30 min

The Juror

One member of the Cauley gang is captured and brought to Laramie for trial, because the town where he was caught couldn't find anyone willing to serve on a jury. The other 5 Cauleys have threatened to kill anyone who served. Dan is sure Laramie will rally to the cause, but finds that fear is contagious. Finally, learning that it only takes one juror, under extreme circumstances, to try a case, Dan pulls one name out of the tax register list at random to be that juror. To his shock, it's Lily's name. She accepts, and then he must worry about her safety until the trial.

The Four

Four men ride into Laramie, all carrying rifles, and station themselves around town. After one of them is shot and killed, the leader tells Dan they are searching for a young, innocent looking young man who was reported to them as being in the area. He was a cold-blooded killer they had been tracking. Dan deputizes the three remaining men since Johnny was out of town, and together they track the boy down.

30 min

The Son

Troop's only witness to a brutal murder is a blind youngster---who heard the killer's voice. Cole: Chad Everett. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown. Herod: James Westerfield. Mengis: Tom Reese. Lily: Peggie Castle.

30 min

Owny O'Reilly, Esq.

Millie Cotton, the governor's daughter, has run away from home and landed in Laramie. Desperate for money, she robs Owny in an alley with her hairbrush in his back. Both are scared. Owny later describes the robber as a huge, vicious man. Dan, told to be on the lookout for the governor's daughter, recognizes Millie, who sings for Lily and is told honestly that she has a lovely voice. Owny is struck by her, not knowing that she is his assailant. When he finds out, his hurt feelings take over. Later, an escaped convict, Millie, Owny, his horse, and his dog all combine for a scene of pandemonium before everything is sorted out.

The Substitute

In another rather light-hearted episode, the school teacher leaves to get married in a fit of what is deemed 'spring fever'. A search for a substitute teacher until the new one can arrive turns up a man who is very educated, but is now a drunk. Lily volunteers over Dan's objections - he's worried about what the women in town will do to her. His suspicions are proved right, but Lily once again wins over hearts by her kindness.

30 min

The Stalker

Alteeka McClintock, a trapper friend of Troop's, comes to town and accidentally kills a man during some horse play at the Birdcage. Running away, Dan must bring him in before the brother of the man he killed gets his revenge.

The Catalog Woman

When one of Laramie's citizens disappears the day after his wedding to a woman he met through a marriage catalog, Dan does some investigating. Learning that several other men have also disappeared after marrying someone from that agency, he decides to try to flush her out by posing as an eligible bachelor, Arthur Daniels. Lily at first thinks it's funny, but gets serious (and jealous) once Johnny points out that this could be for real - or even fatal.

30 min

The Cold One

An escaped convict blazes a trail of vengeance leading to the woman who betrayed him---his wife. Harris: Michael Pate. Barbara: Joyce Meadows. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown. Lily: Peggie Castle. Rio: Tom Bilson.

30 min

Porphyria's Lover

During a terrible, windy storm, Lily is suddenly terrified by the sight of a book of poetry. She explains that the poem, ""Porphyria's Lover"", by Robert Browning reminds her of a man she helped put in prison. Dan tries to convince her that it's only the storm. The next day her bartender is sent by Dan to go help the men work on rebuilding the schoolhouse, with Lily's blessing. Then while she is alone, the escaped prisoner shows up and carries her off, and Dan must piece together clues from the poem to locate her before she is killed by the madman.

30 min

The Appointment

Dan's old friend, Major Jason Leeds, has come to Laramie to offer Johnny an appointment to West Point. Johnny has never considered a military career, and wants Dan to tell him to stay. Dan can't and won't make the decision for him. We can tell he really cares about Johnny and doesn't want him to go, but he knows it's a very good opportunity for him and doesn't want to stand in his way. Johnny must make a hard decision, made easier by his saving the major's life.

30 min

Tarot

An amateur fortuneteller tries to conceal his own future from the lawmen: he's planning a robbery. Wyatt: Robert McQueeney. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown. Lily: Peggie Castle. Luther: William Zuckert. Jess: K.L. Smith. Jake: Dan Sheridan.

30 min

The Prodigal Mother

Dave and Ella McCallan seek Troop's help when the mother of their foster child returns---after nine years---to take custody of her son. Tad: Billy Booth. Margaret: Catherine Mc Leod. Troop: John Russell. Ella: Mina Brown. Dave: King Calder. McKay: Peter Brown.

30 min

By the Book

Troop (John Russell) faces the loss of his badge when a Government inspector objects to his "flexible" method of law enforcement. Luster: Lyle Talbot. McKay: Peter Brown. Teakwood: Sheldon Allman. Ernie: Walter Burke. Lily: Peggie Castle.

30 min

The Trojan Horse

Armed with a wagonload of nitroglycerin, a Scottish engineer demands the bank's money. Clooney: Kenneth Tobey. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown. Lily: Peggie Castle. Falk: Charles Briggs.

30 min

The Locket

When a friend of Lily's comes in on the stagecoach - unconscious and the only one aboard - a worried Lily nurses her, while her husband waits for her to regain consciousness so he can talk to her. Lily is suspicious of him, and finds the secret to his identity is hidden in her friend's locket.

30 min

Friend of the Family

McKay is stunned to learn that the bank robber he arrested was his father's best friend. Henny: Frank Ferguson. McKay: Peter Brown. Lily: Peggie Castle. Troop: John Russell. Slauson: Vinton Hayworth. Lowell: Don O'Kelly. Selma: Gertrude Flynn.

30 min

The Vintage

Mr. Lazarino is an Italian immigrant who has a wagon full of transported grapevines to plant in his new home, hoping to become a wine maker. After two men destroy most of them in a brawl in the street, his son, Tonio, opens fire and is killed by one of the men. The older man is devastated by the destruction that has occurred, and one of the two men feels strong pangs of conscience.

30 min

The Tarnished Badge

Lon Chaney is cast as an ex-lawman who returns to Laramie---wearing a stolen badge---to rob the stage. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown. Lily: Peggie Castle. Slick: Jack Searl. Jake: Marshall Reed.

30 min

No Contest

McKay's Boston cousin (Richard Rogers) finds the West wilder than he expected. He's mistaken for an outlaw, seduced by a pretty flirt and clobbered by a jealous cowboy. McKay: Peter Brown. Troop: John Russell. Lily: Peggie Castle. Elly: Dawn Wells.

30 min

Change of Venue

Troop (John Russell) tries to keep an accused murderer from the lynch mob trying to hang him---and the gang members bent on freeing him. Shaw: Philip Carey. McKay: Peter Brown. Madelyn: Jan Shepard. Lily: Peggie Castle. Tennant: Roy Barcroft. Clay: Jack C. Williams.

30 min

The Hold-Out

Blake Stevens is a well respected businessman. When he doesn't fight back against a vigilante group of thugs determined to take over Laramie, the remaining town council want Troop's badge, and he isn't going along with their decision.

The Barber

An outlaw gang engineers a bold plot to rob the Laramie bank. McKay: Peter Brown. Troop: John Russell. O'Toole: Pitt Herbert. Jake: Dan Sheridan. Lily: Peggie Castle. Slauson: Vinton Hayworth.

30 min

The Long Gun

Clootey Hutter

Clootey is a female gunslinger who lives up in the hills and has just come into Laramie for supplies. In a pouring rainstorm at night, after spurning his advances in the Bird Cage, she is called in the street by a drunken Earl and shoots him down in a fair fight. Dan is forced to try to arrest her, but she tells him she knows she can outdraw him. Earl's cooler headed brother, Paul, suggests instead she try to 'take him' in a gunfight to prove she really could outdraw the dead man.

30 min

Heritage of Hate

Laurie Kemper (Kathie Browne), who was convicted of killing her husband, returns from prison to face her unforgiving father-in-law. Kemper: Roy Roberts. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown. Billy: Frank Albertson. Fells: William Joyce. Judge: Harry Cheshire.

30 min

Mountain Man

Lex Buckman, a mountain man - huge, dirty, and unshaven - gives the men in Laramie a lot to talk about-and admire- by his shows of strength and prowess. However, once he sees Lily, he tells her he needs a wife and ""You're it!"". Nothing she can say can dissuade him, until she wheedles Dan into telling him they're engaged. Instead of running Lex off, he decides to eliminate the competition. Lily and Johnny spend the rest of the show trying to protect Dan from Lex, some with comic results.

30 min

The Bride

A wealthy rancher refuses to believe Troop's warnings that his beautiful fiancee is a swindler. Melanie: Jo Morrow. Troop: John Russell. Ollie: L.Q. Jones. McKay: Peter Brown. Farnum: William Mims. Lily: Peggie Castle. Jake: Dan Sheridan. Toomey: Grady Sutton.

30 min

The Wanted Man

Troop's efforts to reunite an outlaw with his seriously ill pregnant wife are hampered by a treacherous bounty hunter. Anne: Marie Windsor. Frank: Dick Foran. Ben: Jan Stine. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown.

30 min

Sunday

A lynch mob and a reformed outlaw have their own reasons for wanting to take custody of Troop's prisoner. Boone: Andrew Duggan. Deal: Richard Evans. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown. Lily: Peggie Castle. Young: Greg Benedict.

30 min

The Youngest

A sinister matriarch brings her brood to Laramie to wreak vengeance on Troop (John Russell) for killing her outlaw husband. Ma Martin: Olive Carey. Jim: Evan McCord. Sam: Tom Gilson. Darrell: Charles Briggs. McKay: Peter Brown. Lily: Peggie Castle.

30 min

Cort

A stranger rides into town and collapses. After the doctor's examination, Troop tries to question him, but gets nowhere. All the stranger will say is that there's going to be a lot of trouble around sundown.

30 min

The Doctor

Troop (John Russell) is forced to rely on a booze-soaked doctor when a plague threatens to engulf Laramie. Evans: Sherwood Price. McKay: Peter Brown. Cissy: Eloise Hardt. Weeks: Charles Lane. Burrell: Whit Bissell. Sims: I. Stanford Jolley.

30 min

Man Behind the News

Luther Boardman is the new owner of the Laramie Free Press, and he is in love with the outlaw persona. Feeling the outlaws are the real story in the wild west, he begins a smear campaign against Dan. He accuses him of police brutality because Dan knocked out a man who was rowdy and drunk and threatening to shoot people in the Bird Cage, even though Boardman wasn't in the saloon at the time. He soon has the drunk convinced he needs a public apology from Dan.

30 min

Get Out of Town

Troop (John Russell) is helplessly caught in the middle of a steadily escalating battle between bitter enemies Jim Bushrod and Amos Hall. Bushrod: Bill Williams. Hall: Tim Graham. McKay: Peter Brown. Lily: Peggie Castle. Slauson: Vinton Hayworth.

30 min

The Actor

Troop tries to save a fading Shakespearean actor from the bottle and a scorned woman's vengeance. Troop: John Russell. Hendon: John Carradine. Martha: Mary Anderson. McKay: Peter Brown. Lily: Peggie Castle. Jake: Dan Sheridan. Wilson: Harry Harvey Sr. Carson: Warren Kemmerling.

30 min

Explosion

The lawmen put their lives on the line to shield an emotionally disturbed youth from a lynch mob. Billings: Gary Vinson. Shay: John Qualen. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown. Bobbie: Miranda Jones. Lily: Peggie Castle.

30 min

Jailbreak

McKay (Peter Brown) is hoodwinked by a reckless---but naive---young lady determined to spring her sinister fiance from jail. Bole: Peter Breck. Little Britches: Pamela Austin. Troop: John Russell. Snead: James Griffith. Callaghan: Frank Ferguson.

30 min

The Unmasked

Troop (John Russell) stands between two bloodthirsty bounty hunters and their quarry: the man who shot John Wilkes Booth. Banks: Barry Atwater. Davidson: Charles Maxwell. McKay: Peter Brown. Marion: Angela Greene. Lily: Peggie Castle.

30 min

The Witness

Murder suspect Jim Martin (John Agar) is in double jeopardy: if the jury doesn't convict him, the victim's husband will carry out the punishment. Anna: Sarah Selby. Troop: John Russell. McKay: Peter Brown.

30 min