Revisiting the Wild Wild West: The Night Dr. Loveless Died

"The Night Dr. Loveless Died" 

Written by Henry Sharp
Directed by Alan Crosland Jr.

Synopsis: With Dr. Loveless apparently dead, West and Gordon race to solve the mystery of a mysterious key taken from his body that two of his former associates are fighting over.

Trey: This is the penultimate appearance of Dr. Loveless. Michael Dunn was apparently having health issues and wasn't available as much. 

Jim: The bit with the Safety Deposit boxes and duel storylines with Artie and Jim seem like next level storytelling. Artie's monologue to Triste is also quite good. Sharp really outdid themselves with this episode.

Trey: Yes, Sharp has been uneven before, but he's again on game with this script. And it's a great Artemus episode. He gets a lot to do and is portrayed as highly competent--like he could be the lead of a show if West weren't around.

Jim: There are several establishing shots featuring western towns early in this episode. It reminds me of Gunsmoke. I know we are still early in the season, but I keep thinking there was some request by CBS to give the series more of a western feel.

Trey: I think you are on the money there. Making the show more conventional and less fantastic seems to have been one of directives given Irving Moore. By the way, as I like to call out all the guest stars that were in Star Trek: Triste is played by Susan Oliver who was Vina in the original Star Trek pilot "The Cage."

Trey: Speaking of disguises, I was surprised that by the time of Liebknicht's inevitable reveal as Loveless, West appears to be caught completely off guard. He's generally rather suspicious of Loveless and his machinations, so it seems out of character for him to have totally bought the ruse.

Jim: I'll excuse West's inability to recognize Loveless by saying that Dunn does a superb job selling the Liebknicht identity. 

Trey: By the way, Liebknicht is pretty close to lieb nicht, German for "love not," roughly.

Jim: Ah ha! Nice work deciphering that name!

Trey: It's what 3 quarters of German in college will do for you.