44-07-21 Sade and the Revolver

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

A neighbor gives an old, beat-up revolver to Russell, but before he can play kid games with it, Sade finds it and demands Vic get rid of it, as she is afraid of guns.

However, before the gun is disposed of, Russell takes a couple of stabs at telling stories about how he would react if he were a gunslinger. 

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

___________________

This could very well be the best script (at the very least, one of the best) of the Russell-era.

It's not only Russell who doesn't want to get rid of the gun, but you can also tell that Vic wouldn't mind having it stay around either.

However, in every situation in the Vic and Sade series where a gun is involved, Sade becomes worried:

• 36-xx-xx Rabbit Hunting from the Back Porch
• 43-04-12 Dottie's New Dress
• and this one. 

Vic says Russell was "childish" for wanting to play with guns, yet Vic is the "childish" one in the other two episodes listed above (and we know he was extremely childish in the Dottie's New Dress episode.)

In 1944 there was still a world war going on.   We know that not only were men sacrificing their lives for their countries but men, women and children were being senselessly brutalized, bullied, hung, burned, poisoned and otherwise killed for things such as their ethnicity.  And certainly, guns were the number one weapon used in the killing of 60+ million people during World War II.

Vic and Sade writer, Paul Rhymer

There were probably friends of Sade and Vic who had sons that had lost a life in Europe or perhaps Japan when this episode aired - and certainly those listening on their radios knew of someone (probably a handful) who had lost a son during this terrible time in world history.

Today, people are still being innocently slaughtered by crazies with rifles or other handguns and it doesn't even take a war for it to happen.  It happens all too frequently.

Sarah Cole examines the subject of Sade Gook and guns here.

Trivia:

* Mis' Donahue comes to the backdoor in this episode to return the Gook's meat grinder which she had obviously borrowed.  In episode 43-11-29 A Garbage Wagon Pass, Willis Rohrback came over to borrow same.  The Gooks must have a great grinder!