Josh Randall delivers malevolent Lee Van Cleef to Rogue City, where he was sentenced to hang by town Judge Coogan, played by Alexander Scourby. Van Cleef had previously escaped after swearing vengeance on the Judge, who is understandably scared.
The town sheriff, played by Tyler McVey, had a long history in Western TV shows. McVey goofs up when he is putting Van Cleef in his cell, and loses his gun and his life. Van Cleef then yells out that he captured the sheriff and wants a horse to get away again.
In comes his daughter, played by Marcia Henderson. She is out of control the whole episode, shading Randall as a crummy bounty hunter, wanting revenge on Van Cleef, wanting her father traded for Randall, etc.
Judge Coogan is only too eager to trade in Randall's life, in exchange for the sheriff (who is already dead). Randall becomes "the hostage" in the title of this episode, and all hell breaks loose. The ending features Randall, Van Cleef, and Marcia Henderson in a brawl that ends with a surprise.
All of the supporting characters in this episode were very harsh towards Randall, and they put no value on his life. The only one that even mentioned that Randall was a human being was the bartender, played by Michael Fox (the announcer in The Longest Yard 1972).
At the end, when Randall gets offered the job of sheriff because "You've got friends here." Randall says, "Sometimes it is easier to know your enemies than your friends" and walks away. This is what I think of as a classic Steve McQueen line, full of his great personality.