"Skeletons in the Closet" was the twelfth and final episode of Legend, and first aired on August 8th, 1995. It was written by David Rich and directed by Steve Shaw. You can watch the episode via Amazon Prime Video or DVD.
An accident while filming a motion picture highlight from one of Pratt’s books uncovers a skeleton wearing a Mexican, probably Aztec, ring. Ramos takes the skeleton and the ring to the sheriff in nearby Bell, Colorado, who treats Ramos in a highly patronizing manner, but that bothers him less than the fact that, when the racist sheriff assumes that Ramos is an expert on the Aztecs, Ramos must confess that he isn’t, even though these are the people of his own ancestry. The distraught Ramos thus takes it upon himself to investigate the man’s death and resigns his position as Bartok’s assistant. Finding Ramos missing when they return to the laboratory, and learning of the reason for Ramos’ resignation, Pratt suggests that he and Bartok must help Ramos in his quest. 
The next day, Bartok and Pratt (in full Nicodemus Legend regalia) travel to the sheriff’s office in Bell. The sheriff is less than helpful, and no less racist speaking about Ramos to "Nicodemus Legend" than he was to Ramos' face, but Pratt (who makes no effort to conceal his disgust at the sheriff’s attitude) and Bartok are at least able to secure the ring to aid in their investigation. Ramos, in the meantime, has taken a position as household staff for Seamus Calhoun, who has already been informed by Mashburn, his foreman, about “Legend’s” inquiries. When he reunites with Pratt and Bartok, Ramos explains that Calhoun’s name had come up quickly when discussing his quest with the locals, as Calhoun is known to be a collector of (most likely stolen) Aztec artifacts. Despite his inside access, Ramos hasn’t been able to get very far in his inquiries, as questions presented by Mexicans are not taken very seriously by whites such as Calhoun. 
Pratt, as Nicodemus Legend, pays Calhoun a visit, and Calhoun is able to recognize the markings on the Aztec ring as belonging to the San Luis Potosí region of Mexico. Calhoun downplays the significance of the ring, which Ramos had previously identified as likely worn by someone on a sacred mission for his tribe. When Pratt observes Calhoun’s collection, and wonders why Mexicans would allow such artifacts out of their country, Calhoun’s attitude comes to light. Modern Mexicans, in Calhoun’s mind, are among the lowliest of people, and have no appreciation for their own history. It’s up to people like Calhoun to "rescue" such objects. Pratt quietly observes that this might make people like Calhoun seem like “banditos” to the Mexicans, and Calhoun nervously laughs it off. When Pratt ponders the possibility that the wearer of the ring might have worked for Calhoun at some point (but suggesting that it would be too much of a coincidence), Calhoun knows that he needs to be on his guard. Maria, Calhoun’s maid, catches Ramos eavesdropping on this conversation, and calls him on it. He asks her about the man wearing the Aztec ring, and it’s immediately apparent that she did indeed know him, but is terrified to say anything about it, and in fact has already informed Calhoun of Ramos’ duplicity. Ramos is immediately dismissed from Calhoun’s employ.
Pratt, Bartok, and Ramos take the Legend Balloon to San Luis Potosí, where the local cleric, Father Jaime, identifies the ring as having been worn by a local man named Felipe Ruiz, who had gone to Colorado in an attempt to retrieve the Aztec artifacts stolen a few years previously, and who had been given the ring in hopes that it might provide him with divine protection. They are also introduced to Felipe’s mother, and Ramos promises to avenge the death of her son. In turn, she gives the ring to Ramos to wear, and Ramos promises to return the Aztec artifacts to San Luis Potosí. 
While Pratt and Bartok discuss next steps, Ramos notices a cigar on the ground and realizes that some of Calhoun’s men have followed them to Mexico. Ramos is barely able to pull Pratt and Bartok out of harm’s way just before bullets start flying. While Pratt and Bartok bicker about the (unfortunately uncharged) electrofulminator, Ramos is able to make it to the Legend Balloon, from which he is able to access the Ball Lightning Generator and subdue some of their attackers while getting the Balloon into the air. Bartok and Pratt are able to confuse the rest with some smoke bombs, and together they climb into the Legend Balloon and return to Colorado. Back at Bartok’s laboratory, Ramos shares his discovery of the cigar, which is of the kind frequently smoked by Mashburn, but it’s not enough to prove a case in court, nor does anything yet connect Calhoun to Ruiz. Ramos is convinced that Maria may know something and ignores Pratt and Bartok’s warnings against going back on his own to try to persuade her to help. Ramos confronts Maria in her room, and she tells him that Mashburn is the one who killed Ruiz, at Calhoun’s instruction, but before he can convince her to tell the local sheriff, Mashburn breaks into the room and takes Ramos away at gunpoint, leaving Maria (who Mashburn had been using for sexual favors, and who he believes won’t say anything to anyone) behind.
Maria soon arrives at the Bartok compound and tells Pratt and Bartok what happened. Leaping into action in the quadrovelocipede, they quickly find Mashburn driving a carriage with Ramos tied up in the back. Although Pratt is ready to zap Mashburn with the (now fully charged) fulminator, Bartok advises against it, as they are too close to a cliff, and without a driver, the carriage (and Ramos) might go over it. The choice is made for them, however, when Ramos (still tied up) manages to dislodge Mashburn on his own, and the two of them fight in the back of the carriage. While they fight, Pratt manages to climb onto the carriage while Bartok blasts Mashburn, enabling Pratt to safely reach the front of the carriage just in time to stop it from tumbling over the cliff. 
Having obtained enough evidence to prove Calhoun’s guilt, Ramos and Maria prepare to journey back to San Luis Potosí and return the stolen artifacts. Before he goes, Ramos has a word from the heart for Pratt: “Your books are getting better.” Pratt accepts the compliment, noting that it comes from a man who studied literature at Harvard. Bartok agrees. The books have been getting better, “ever since you came here.” Some additional notes:
- Bartok calls the motion picture device seen at the beginning of the episode a praxinoscope, and this appearance would predate the actual invention of the praxinoscope by roughly a year. Unfortunately, whether through a mistake or artistic license, we appear to actually be looking at a zoetrope, which had been around for several decades by this point, even becoming a mass-produced toy from Milton Bradley at the end of 1866, nearly a decade before the setting of Legend. The zoetrope is characterized by slits in a circle, through which the image is viewed, while a praxinoscope has no slits, but rather has an inner circle of angled mirrors, allowing the viewer to watch from a more comfortable position while allowing more light into the moving images.
- Bartok seems to make a reference to “Method Acting,” famously promoted by Stanislavski, but I have to assume that Bartok’s friend in Budapest is NOT Stanislavski, however. Not only is Stanislavski a Russian, but he would only be about 13 years old in 1876!
- The actress playing “Theresa Dunleavy” in Pratt’s dream is an uncredited Lara Flynn Boyle, who was dating Richard Dean Anderson at the time this episode was filmed and aired. Although I don’t have precise filming dates, Richard Dean Anderson’s relationship with Lara Flynn Boyle places the filming of this episode no earlier than June (and Wikipedia suggests it was no later). In any event, the relationship was mere weeks old, at most.
- Unlike Sheridan, which is an actual city in Colorado, I've not been able to find any evidence of a "Bell, Colorado." Either it was made up, or my Google-Fu is failing me.
- Once again, I’m going against IMDb in how I’m spelling a character name. They suggest that the murdered man and his mother’s surname is spelled “R-U-I-S,” but the much better-attested surname is spelled “R-U-I-Z,” so I’m going with that.
- This episode was not only the last first-run episode of Legend as aired, it was also the last to be filmed.
- According to Bill Dial, the reasons for Legend's cancellation weren't exclusively (and perhaps not even primarily) down to low ratings. UPN was still in its infancy, yet had already had a shake-up at the top, and the new head of the network sought to make their mark on the network by cancelling everything from UPN's first year excepting for Star Trek: Voyager, which not only had a two-year commitment, but presumably represented too much of a "flagship franchise" to Paramount for them to touch. As Dial said, "A mere network president trying to screw with Star Trek would be like some Disney vice president trying to fire Mickey."*
- Knowing that the show was ending (as they had done when filming these last four episodes), the final scene seems to have been written to reflect this. I’ve always thought that “Fall of a Legend” would have made for more of a “big finale,” but we have what we have, and at least Ramos finally gets a moment in the spotlight before it’s all over.
I hope you've enjoyed this attempt to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this all-too short-lived show. Please come back next week as I turn my attention to something entirely different.
*Source: E-mail from Bill Dial to Mark Wright dated April, 2000.
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