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It's about time Mastodon had something to say about "Have Gun - Will Travel".

For those who don't know, HGWT was a Western that ran for six seasons, about a principled gun for hire who went only by the name Paladin. A very standard episode would involve Paladin finding out about some problem (like a killer on the loose), agreeing to deal with the problem for a fee, and encountering complications along the way. But as mentioned, he was principled, and would help the person he was sent to bring in if he discovered that they were being railroaded. As he once said, "my sole professional secret is to make profit agree with principle".

It's time for a revival series, and here's my vision: a young Black attorney, who is friends with the aging Paladin, but disagrees with his methods; he's a believer in the law as the way to make things right. I figure that, in the pilot episode, Paladin dies trying to deal with some outlaw who's using an innocent person as a shield, and that's when attorney realizes that, as vital as the law is, there is still a need for a Paladin.

So attorney takes over Paladin's business; he names his law firm Paladin Inc, and he fields a lot of the business that original Paladin did. New Paladin would be a negotiator first, a Maverick-like trickster second, and a gunman last. I figure his father was a Buffalo solider who taught him to shoot and to fight, so he can hold his own; but he also believes the law is how the West can avoid repeating the sins of the east.

I wouldn't call new series "Have Gun - Will Travel" though. The emphasis on guns would be wrong, and people don't get the joke any more anyway*. I'd just call the series "Paladin".

*: In a time agone, actors would advertise their willingness to go on the road, and the fact that they could provide their own tuxedo for performances, with the phrase "Have Tux, Will Travel". It's even the title of Bob Hope's auto-biography.

#HGWT #HaveGunWillTravel