The Rifleman (TV Series) The Deadly Wait (1959) User Reviews

Lee Van Cleef in this episode- and you can guess he is not a good guy

[kfo9494 · 8/10 · 6 August 2012]

Dan Maury (Lee Van Cleef) makes his way to North Fork to cause trouble for Marshal Micah Torrance. Seems that Micah placed Dan Maury in jail a few years ago but for some reason has been released. Dan Maury was the man that crippled Micah's arm during the arrest and imprisonment. And now Dan is back in North Fork to get revenge.

But before that can happen Lucas has an encounter with Maury and advises him to leave town. This does not set well with Maury, and he shows up at the McCain ranch and shoots Lucas. Much to the chagrin of Dan Maury Lucas survives the shooting thus making it more of a conflict.

Now Dan Maury is sitting in the saloon for hours just waiting for Micah to make a mistake. Once the mistake happens it is clear that Dan Maury is going to kill Micah for his past arrest. This will be the main plot of the script as we see Micah and an injured Lucas trying to stop Maury for taking revenge. And soon it will come down to Micah facing Maury in a showdown on the streets of North Fork.

Lee Van Cleef is again excellent as he portrays the hatred villain. He is so good as being the bad villain that you have to like him as an actor. A good episode for viewers.

Great episode with major flaw

[mldardar · 9/10 · 26 May 2021]

Lee Van Cleef is perfect as the villain, as usual. Trouble is on his character's first visit to North Fork we're told he arrived at night & drank whiskey all night & is still drinking when Lucas arrives in town the next day. Later, when he returns the next morning, after being run out of town, he begins drinking again. After a while, we see the bartender replace the bottle he just finished. Everytime we see him, he's drinking--never stopping to eat. This goes on until night, & yet he still can walk without even a slight wobble to Micah's office to call him out into the street for a showdown. Totally impossible! Showing him having big meals, would've made it more believable. But still great acting.