Season Two, Episode Twenty-One.

Holy guest stars, Batman! Kids, I must admit I’m a little surprised how much Peter Graves has (and will continue to) come up in Piercing Pop Culture over the coming weeks. With that being said, here he is again in “A Matter of Destiny,” our next installment of The Virginian Vault.

This, kids, is a Trampas (Doug McClure) episode. We have not seen one of those in a while. This story sees the crew at Shiloh struggling with the arrival of Robert Gaynor (Graves), a brash cattle baron. He not only takes no prisoners, but he’s also taking a shine to Trampas’ girl (Jean Hale). If I’m being honest though, she isn’t fighting the advances THAT hard.

At the same time though, the mysterious Pat Wade (Richard Jaeckel) arrives. Being a friend of Trampas’ from way back, he easily lands a job at Shiloh. However, it quickly seems there might be more to his story. I won’t spoil this 61 year-old-episode.

This a solid script for McClure, who goes through a lot of feelings. We see moments of closed off vulnerability from him in ways that we haven’t often seen in the show up until this point. All at once, this brash cowhand is insecure. He can’t figure out what changed. And he’s also forced to face down his own feelings as the episode comes to a compelling conclusion. (I’m really aching to talk about that ending!).

It’s probably not a surprise though to say Peter Graves dominates the brunt of the episode’s “A-Story”. This ranges from Gaynor and Trampas butting heads on a cattle drive, to Gaynor making enemies with the entire town of Medicine Bow. Interestingly though, this is a rare Graves role that doesn’t remind me of Captain Oveur in Airplane. Despite how much I love Airplane, the episode is much better for this.

Meanwhile, I have to admit my biases… and I have plenty. Richard Jaeckel is a performer who I’m convinced has never received the love he desperately deserves. In truth, he is a challenging “type” to pin down. It’s hard to really call him a “character actor”, but he’s not quite a lead either. He’s just… scrappy. However, he made a long career out of “scrappy”. He worked steadily in Hollywood for almost 50 years.

I stumbled on Jaeckel’s work when I watched Sometimes a Great Notion at far too young an age. Speaking honestly, I don’t remember much from the movie, but Jaeckel stuck with me. He received his only Oscar nomination for his work in the drama. (He would lose the award to Ben Johnson for The Last Picture Show). What’s better? An Oscar nomination, or co-starring in The Green Slime? You be the judge.

In this episode, Jaeckel is the gritty, pitbull of a character that was often his bread and butter during the first part of his career. He spent a lot of time in westerns and war films. This time out, he’s edgy and mysterious in a way I very much liked. He doesn’t say a lot, but Jaeckel is a great actor in the quiet moments. He uses that a lot here and it stays with you.

When all is said and done, “A Matter of Destiny” gives us so much western drama. This really was a fun one. I loved the interplay between the characters, especially the use of Jaeckel and Graves. I am a card-carrying Richard Jaeckle fan though. I admit it. This episode is made for me. All the actors shine in the tension hanging over this episode. No seems to quite trust anyone else and it’s riveting in that nail biting kind of way. Here’s to seeing where The Virginian goes from here.

The Virginian is easiest to find on DVD. However, those with “Inspiration” should also be able to find episodes of the long-running western currently airing.