With McCrae killed off at the end of that one, this unequal sequel gets its emotional kick mainly from the conflict between the aging Call, played to a stoic standstill by Jon Voight, and his reluctantly acknowledged son, Newt–Rick Schroder, in one of “Returns” few repeat performances, and probably its best. Lou Gossett Jr., as the script’s obligatory black buddy (Danny Glover filled a similar bill in the original), is along just for the ride. Barbara Hershey, as Gus’s grieving sweetheart, Clara Allen, seems to have wandered West from the Upper West Side. And then there’s Britain’s Oliver Reed, hamming a hissably villainous cattle baron with a burr that could shred a bagpipe.
The series has its highs–for one, a terrifying brush fire that swallows Clara’s little manse on the prairie. But the sudsy plot complications Gus left an illegitimate daughter whose mom was accidentally killed by Captain Call who…–mostly get in the way of the scenery That, at least, shot partly in Montana, is worth tuning in.
