Episode about transporting race horse on Cannonball (spoilers)

Today ME-TV had the episode where Homer Bedloe had a scheme involving the Cannonball being supposed to transport a valuable race horse. To me, this episode really made no sense in most ways.

Along with all the other things that didn't work, there was a totally unnecessary meeting between Bedloe and his accomplice right in the hallway at the hotel--a scene that seemed designed only to let eavesdropping Kate learn that the two were in cahoots, even though it wasn't until later she learned the important information. What I mean is, Bedloe and his accomplice had no reason for this brief meeting--it didn't serve to further their plans in any way. Bedloe would have been clever enough to make sure NOT to talk to the man in any revealing way while at the Shady Rest.

As far as the horse was concerned, Bedloe was supposed to be able to shut down the railroad if they allowed the valuable cargo to ride without a "certified" baggage man (Floyd) present with the horse during the entire trip to Pixley. With Charlie gone, Floyd was now a one-man operation.

That meant the only person who could run the engine, if Floyd stayed in the baggage car, was Betty Jo. But she had just gotten into an argument with Steve, who insisted his new wife greet him when he comes home each day in a nice dress and not some sort of work clothes, as she did in this episode because she was fixing a plumbing problem.

What troubled me was the memory that Betty Jo's ability to help Steve fix his plane was one of the things that got him romantically interested in her. Since his independent pilot work certainly caused him to have irregular hours, it seems stupid for him to insist that she sit around in that pretty dress just waiting for him to arrive home, whenever that might be.

Beyond that, on this episode, Betty Jo was totally unwilling to even tell Steve about this emergency, where she seemed to be the only person who could save the Cannonball, and with it, the Shady Rest, because he wanted her to put on a nice dress to join him for dinner in a nice restaurant. No matter how much he would have wanted her to NORMALLY wear a dress, he would have never wanted the Cannonball to be shut down and would have had no problem letting her help out in this emergency. But Betty Jo wasn't even willing to ask him if it would be O.K. This seemed most inconsistent with either of their established characters.

Just couldn't buy it. Not even in an earlier era would this have made sense, but certainly not in the hay day of women's lib.

The solution they came up with (won't spoil it here) was even dumber, if that is possible.

I liked the series, including many of the later episodes, but this one really was a dud.