The Adventures of Long John Silver: The Necklace

Purity Pinker holds the titular necklace and questions Long John about its origin.

Plot synopsis: A necklace is stolen from a rich woman. Long John acquires the necklace and is accused of having stolen it and having murdered its owner.

Thoughts:

The dying words of the husband of the murdered woman worked well as part of the story because the setting was pirates and pirate culture. Since pirates are often portrayed as having one leg, one arm, one eye, or one ear due to their scurvy mishaps, such utterances while expiring could only cast suspicion on a wide variety of men in a pirate story.

The audience learns several minutes into the episode that the thief and murderer is a man with one ear. In modern television, a fake sense that Long John might be in jeopardy would be sustained for far longer because modern writers seem to think the viewer is foolish enough to buy the premise that the hero might be guilty. Of course, in some television series, the hero can actually be guilty, but continue to survive unfettered by the consequences of his actions (e.g., Dexter).

Long John and Purity are supposed to have some sort of affectionate relationship with one another, but sentimentality does not get in the way of commerce as Long John asks his lady love to pay for the necklace just before being arrested for the crimes related to the necklace.

Favorite moments:

The bad guy comes on to Purity Pinker and asks her to call him "sweetheart" even though she's a pudgy, middle-aged lady and not some anorexic nymph. He also toasts her beauty when they have a drink together and paws at her.

Long John calls Purity "my pretty bird" and has not a trace of malice toward her despite her holding back on turning in the real killer in an effort to extort him into marrying her.

Favorite quotes:

Mr. Wainwright: "It was a man with one, with one, aaaughhh..."

Purity Pinker: "Swear you're telling the truth, by Jim Hawkins's life."

Stray notions:

The man who gave Long John the necklace was named Sligo. I grew up in a town named Sligo.

Mold to Gold Rating:

Miss Purity is a good character as a foil for Long John and someone who tries to pull him closer to the straight and narrow against his pirate instincts. That being said, she's a bit much in large doses and her manipulation of the circumstances in order to blackmail Long John into marrying her are a bit too cliched even for someone who is as patient with old tropes as me. That being said, the hammily acted ending scene with both Purity and Long John is almost worth it.