Season Two Episode 22

So, there’s been a few episodes of The Virginian that have messed with my fangirl feelings. I’m looking at you “The Mountain and the Sun” *sniffle*. However, this one is another which had me sucked in… and I really wasn’t expecting it. “Smile of a Dragon” is a complex ball of emotions, my friends. Maybe it’s my Richard Carlson bias.

“Smile of a Dragon” is another Trampas (Doug McClure) episode. The story follows as he’s wounded in a stage coach robbery and must escape a stoic sheriff (Richard Carlson) who’s intent on charging him for not only the robbery, but also murder…. neither of which he actually committed. No worries, friends. Not a spoiler.

To escape, Trampas teams up with a disenfranchised young Chinese woman (Miyoshi Umeki) who quickly realizes they’re on the same side. They both can’t stand the sheriff.

Let’s get straight to the important part. Miyoshi Umeki steps into the role of Kim Ho. The Japanese singer and actress took home a historical Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress a few years before for her work in the 1957 drama Sayonara, her Hollywood feature film debut.

This is a story that is, unfortunately not new to Hollywood. Unfortunately, the parts that came Umecki’s way in the years following Sayonara largely struggled to quite reach the level of the drama. While many may recognize Umecki for her work in 1961’s Flower Drum Song, films like Cry for Happy and The Horizontal Lieutenant haven’t enjoyed the same staying power in the pop culture memory. Before long, Umecki made the jump to television where she’d largely stay until she stepped away from the industry in 1972.

Umecki and McClure find a fascinating and tender chemistry in this episode, uniting against Carlson’s frustratingly rigid authority figure. Umecki brings a new level to her character as she talks to talks to Trampas about everything her character’s gone through in her young life. She’s painfully aware that as not only a woman, but also an immigrant woman, she’s not accepted. No one will see her as equal. It’s a moment that hits hard and the resulting relationship she crafts with McClure is beautifully tender.

Richard Carlson, meanwhile, is a perennial Kim favorite going back to watching Hold That Ghost at far too young of an age. Though, he’s probably best known to most co-starring opposite Julie Adams and Richard Denning in The Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954. Otherwise known as, Kim’s favorite Universal Horror movie. More on that later.

Carlson’s character is a tricky one. While I am attempting to avoid spoilers, it doesn’t take long for him to start twirling his metaphorical mustache. He’s just so… evil, and for largely no real reason to boot. Other than, you know, the story. This means this Richard Carlson fangirl was left a trifle wanting.

There’s a hint to the Sheriff’s backstory. We’re introduced to his family, played by guest stars Phyllis Coates and Patricia Morrow. With the exception of that brief scene though, Carlson’s “Sheriff Marden” is given little room to explore his humanity and ends up feeling like little more than an unflinching, “Inspector Javert” like villain.

However, I would be shirking my responsibilities if I didn’t call out Gary Clarke’s moody, but quietly powerful work in the episode. Thinking back on these first two season, Clarke has been my biggest surprise and definitely an actor I will continue looking for.

Ultimately, the young actor has spent most of the first two seasons on the cusp of breaking out. A look at Clarke’s filmography shows that his time with The Virginian largely came to an end at the end of season two. He’s only billed on three episodes in season three.

While there have been a few “Steve episodes” it’s only been in this later part of season two that we’ve really started to see him get some room to experiment. While he’s not the lead this time around, his emotional work helps ground the story in a way that was not only needed, but appreciated. Fans of the show should also check “Roar of the Mountain” (S2E16) which another solid episode for Clarke.

When all is said and done, “Smile of a Dragon” was a bit of a whirl wind of emotions. Umecki and Clarke shine in their supporting work this time around in an episode that will certainly be hard for some from a 2025 perspective.