- THE JAIL AT JUNCTION FLATS
Original Airdate: November 9, 1958
Synopsis. In Broken Wheel, Wyoming, Bret bumps into the “new” Dandy Jim Buckley, who claims that he’s now making an honest living selling horses. Buckley promises Maverick double his money back if Bret joins him as his business partner. Reluctantly, Maverick loans Buckley $2,000―and is quite shocked when he sees that Dandy Jim is actually buying horses. But Buckley’s true colors show when he plants a rumor about a gold strike, then sells back the horses—at a profit—to anyone foolish enough to check out the “claim.” After Buckley pays Bret his share (then immediately steals it back), Maverick finds Dandy Jim locked inside an apparently impregnable jail in nearby Junction Flats, where Buckley is accused of shooting the sheriff’s nephew. In order to get his money back, Maverick must break Buckley out of jail.
“The Jail at Junction Flats” scored a 46 audience share when it first aired on the night of Nov. 9, 1958, a figure that made it the most-watched episode of Maverick to that point. Both “Gun-Shy” and “The Saga of Waco Williams” would top that mark within a matter of weeks.
Synopsis. While riding a mare he won in a poker game in Denver, Bart meets, and immediately becomes attracted to, Linda Burke (played by Joanna Moore)—a woman of great beauty, few words, and many secrets. Unbeknownst to Bart, Linda’s husband is a mining tycoon with gubernatorial aspirations. Maverick secretly meets Linda every day at a secluded spot in a nearby meadow, much to the suspicion of Linda’s love, Phil Dana, the son of Burke’s former partner. Bart and Phil soon become rivals in cards and in love. When Phil is found shot to death, Maverick becomes the prime suspect.