[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Boomer

We watched the first episode of 1883 last night.

It did not hook me right away, but I have always wondered about people who decided to go West so I kept watching. (I sure as heck would never have done that just because some man thought it was a good idea.)

Besides, I had to see if Sam Elliott’s still got it at 77.

Anyway, it’s getting interesting, except I think the young woman who plays Elsa Dutton over-acts a bit. I’ll get used to it.

There was a scene where Sam Elliott is instructing the Germans he is getting ready to lead in a wagon train. The poor Germans are completely out of their element. They don’t know anything about what they’re going to face.

First, Sam shows them a stuffed rattlesnake and tells them to watch out for those things because you can die if they bite you.

Then, he holds up a handful of oak leaves — just plain oak leaves — and tells them that it’s poison oak and poison ivy and to never touch it because it could make you wish you were dead. (We backed up to make sure we had seen those leaves right. We were right.)

Geez. Where was the producer or writer or director or whoever it is who is supposed to take care of that kind of stuff.

Also, I am crushed because Sam Elliot, rugged outdoor type, does not know oak tree leaves when he sees them and made all those Germans either really confused or terrified of oak trees.

Detail-geared Boomerang

Maybe they didn't want their star to catch poison ivy or poison oak?