Hokey Double-Trouble Endgame

The Lone Ranger was one of my first TV heroes, along with Zorro and Superman; I'm 60 years old.

So I don't mean to offend fans when I discuss something preposterous that I never noticed when I watched it as a kid.

No, it isn't how preachy the LR is, or even how obviously wooden the star's acting is-- especially John Hart, who I think of as a substitute LR. Since the show was already in syndication when I started watching, c. 1959, they probably didn't show episodes in order. So, despite Hart's ultra-wooden delivery, I don't remember even realizing that he wasn't Clayton Moore.

But I digress. There is one plot device that really stands out to me now: in the climactic scene, the LR finally confronts the bad guys to take them down.

But, in almost every episode, just as the LR and Tonto are seemingly wrapping things up some unaccounted-for bad guy turns up and gets the drop on them. Or there's some last-minute accident or surprise that puts the LR and/or Tonto at the mercy of the villains after all. Of course, our heroes always manage to miraculously turn the tables again and snatch victory back out of the jaws of defeat.

Like I say, somehow I never noticed this pattern of double-trouble when I watched it as a kid. That's because the show was written for children, and the writers correctly assumed that kids would be so absorbed by the LR/Tonto being in danger that they wouldn't stop to notice that this always happens.

Once you notice it, though, the LR's climactic-scene bad luck is hilariously improbable. The other thing that strikes me is that most of the time, the LR/Tonto are only able to turn the tables and prevail after all due to pure luck. That is, the bad guys are foiled only because of some unplanned and unpredictable fluke, and not because of the LR's careful planning.

If you think about it, which nobody does for the reasons I mentioned, the LR's stunning string of successes are more a matter of dumb luck than skill. Ouch.