Back to the Planet of the Apes: ep 9 "The Horse Race"

 "The Horse Race"
Airdate: November 8, 1974

Written by David P. Lewis & Brooker Bradshaw
Directed by Jack Starett
Synopsis: To save a condemned boy, Virdon agrees to ride Prefect Barlow's horse in a race against Urko's best horse. Urko has never lost a race, but of course, as our heroes discover, Urko doesn't play fair. 

Trey: You asked for it and you got it: John Hoyt is back as Prefect Barlow. And he's still an ape with very little concern for the value of human life. More than your average gorilla, true, but not much.

Jason: Did I? In any case, Hoyt delivers! His Barlow is a likeable jerk, willing to go pretty far into morally nebulous territory if it further his own ends. I feel like Hoyt's characterization hits just the right note - he knows deep down that humans are just as sentient as apes, but it serves his aims to continue to dominate them, so he kids himself. 

Trey: The blacksmith, Martin, here is played by craggy-faced character actor Morgan Woodward who is probably most iconically the mirrorshade-wearing symbol of oppression in Cool Hand Luke, but also is also in two episodes of Star Trek, mostly memorably as the antagonist in "The Omega Glory."

Jason: I remember him well and he gives a decent performance here. The script requires him to make a rather abrupt turn, but that's not Woodward's fault. 

Trey: Yes, he seems a bit too trusting in ape benevolence given he's a man that spent his life under their thumb, but I guess he's desperate to save his son.

This episode also shows a dishonest side of Urko we haven't seen before. It's not a break with his previous character necessarily, but it's a new facet.

Jason: Urko is a jackbooted authoritarian speciest, sure, but yeah, this episode seems to erode ape integrity at every turn. Urko gets in some great one-liners and death threats out of it. Mark Lenard's delivery of the line "I love racing!" is a classic moment of ape absurdity. 

Trey: I like this one. It's straight forward but moves along well and has a lot of good action. Urko is beginning to get a bit of a Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane vibe with them Astronaut boys always just one step ahead!

Jason: Burke and Virdon are the original Beau and Luke? I enjoyed it as well. Just as I finally begin to acclimate to this version of the eponymous Planet, we're starting to run out of episodes!

Trey: True, but we've still got a few to go. And the next one sees Burke renditioned and put through some harsh interrogation techniques!