Thanksgiving approaches at Boonesborough, but so does a Choctaw war party under Chief Gabriel (Rudolph Acosta). Daniel is heading back, so its up to Cincinatus to round up the Boones and get them to the fort. Becky dithers over the household goods and Israel runs off in search of turkey, but Rebecca's father Timothy Bryan (John McIntyre) shows up with a possible resolution to the crisis.
By this point in Season 2 DB figured to be an NBC mainstay for a while, so it was time to produce the requisite holiday episodes. As mentioned before, Montanan McIntyre ("Wagon Train") lends some authenticity to most of his Western roles, and returning for his second go as an Irishman who can deal with the tribes is a fair approximation of the Hudson's Bay Company Scots who traded and intermarried with the Salish-Kootenai of his home state. (And in a further homage he renders a flute solo of "Garryowen," the Irish marching jig General George Armstrong Custer took to the Little Big Horn in Montana!) Also along as the Choctaw leader is Mexican Rudolf Acosta, specialist in Hispanic Western villain roles.
The series is still using exterior shots of Kanab, Utah - an interesting juxtaposition with some "Drums Along the Mohawk" (ostensibly central New York state, but also Utah-filmed! Again we are hitting an around-the-fort week, so an overdose of Israel and Becky (less of Jemima unfortunately - and the clock is ticking on her character). But, unrealistic to expect more from a Disneyfied holiday episode, so enjoy.
Dan and sidekick of the week Jericho (Robert Logan) take full advantage of the holiday and minimize their screen time, though they do work in an ok wagon wreck. As in all the color episodes, the use of Great Plains accoutrements to depict mid-South tribes becomes glaringly obvious.
The Choctaw draw the straw as tribal foils of the week, though in real life they were more concerned with their home area along the Gulf Coast. Date of the episode is left ambiguous, but during the Revolution some Choctaw fought on the Crown side, others for the Patriots.
Some action vignettes, but we know early we are in for a Kentucky-fried version of the 1621 Plymouth story (Though no Mingo to take on the Squanto duties). An OK chaser to follow the annual turkey-tryptophan binge.
