User Reviews

As a perspiring screenwriter, I've found that even episodic television can occasionally offer excellent examples of How to Tell a Story.

Perhaps the most-important "rule" of screen writing is that your story should be about The Most Important Thing That Will Ever Happen to your principal character. "A Matter of Honor" pretty much hits this nail on the head.

On a particularly cold night when Miss Kitty refuses Louie Pheeters another drink, gambler Billy Holland tricks Louie out of his father's musical watch (which /does not/ play "The High and the Mighty") by promising him a bottle of liquor. Louie proceeds to get so thoroughly drunk -- drunker than he's ever been -- that he can't remember anything that happened -- including whether he knifed Holland to get the watch back.

James Nusser consistently portrays Louie Pheeters, the not-comical town drunk, as a pathetic creature (in both the positive and negative senses). There's nothing likable about him -- he just isn't unlikeable. Nusser's willingness to play Louie "straight" shows his skill and integrity as an actor.

This script also offers good examples of knowing what to put in and leave out. For example, we see Lydia Fletcher condemning her father and brothers for failing to do the right thing -- but we don't see the end of the argument, which adds suspense.

An even better "unspoken" moment occurs at the end. Festus has (illegally) let Louie loose just a few hours before he'll be escorted to the territorial prison, so he can confront the Fletchers. When Louie is way late returning, Matt's observation that Louie was never on time for anything doesn't keep Festus from taking off his badge and resigning.

When Louie finally shows up (with proof of his innocence), Festus puts the badge back on, and Louie smiles, showing that he understands. Not a word is spoken -- a literal example of "Show us, don't tell us."

The only real criticism I can offer is that there was (apparently) no follow-up to the events of this episode. Considering how close he came to rotting in prison, Pheeters should have been frightened into making /some/ effort to rebuild his life -- and ultimately succeed. We see in another episode (where Louie is taunted into crawling across the Long Branch's floor for a drink -- and then refusing it) that Louie can /can/ stop drinking -- if only for a few minutes.

Even though this episode started out slow, by the middle of the show it was in full stride as it made its way to being one of the better shows of the series.

When brothers Otis and CV Fletcher confront a man that is seeing their sister things go terribly wrong. Otis and CV accidentally kills the man and then make a quick exit back to the farm.

The town drunk, Louie Pheeters (James Nusser), happens to be in the area and stumbles up on the man. When Festus arrives the last words the man says is 'Louie'. Louie cannot remember what happened and reluctantly is placed in jail. During the trial, Louie even says that in his drunken state that he might have killed the man.

Louie is sentenced to five years and awaits for the prison wagon to pick him up. Festus gambles his job as he lets Louie out of jail for one last time. Will the Fletcher boys speak up before Louie is sent off or will they remain quiet as Louie goes to prison for a crime he did not commit.

A very interesting and entertaining show. John Anderson , that plays the Fletcher's father, gives one of his best performances. James Nusser is again brilliant that makes the viewer feel every aspect of the script. One of the better shows in the series. GREAT WATCH

***SPOILERS*** I'll try to be brief. First, did Louie get his watch back? I can't recall whether he did or not. Second, even when they try to dress Festus up, he still looks like a slob. Third, one of the other reviewers mentioned that Louie wasn't likeable, but the record shows that he had several friends in town who did like him. was he comical? Nope. That's what Festus was for, don'cha see? Actress Katherine Justice plays Lydia (Liddie), and she's Way too good-looking for the dirtbag that was after her; her brothers were right about that. Wonder how it all turned out, after all was said and done? I'm giving it a 9.

A "saloon gambler" named Billy Holland is spending some time in Dodge City. He meets Lydia Fletcher, a local woman who lives on a farm with her overbearing father and protective brothers. Holland begins a flirtation with Lydia. C. V. And Otis Fletcher, Lydia's brothers, see Holland and their sister together, prompting them to warn Holland to stay away.

One night, Louie Pheeters tries to get Sam Noonan and Kitty Russell to give him a drink in the Long Branch Saloon. Kitty denies Louie's request and tells him to get some sleep and something to eat before he comes back. Billy Holland witnesses this exchange and subsequently takes advantage of Louie to obtain the pocket watch Louie's father had given him, which represents the only valuable item Louie owns. Holland gives Louie most of a bottle of whiskey.

Louie does not appreciate being victimized by Holland, but he takes his bottle and retreats to the stable to finish it off. Louie is profoundly drunk when Billy Holland enters the stable to retrieve the saddle for his horse.

The Fletcher brothers have been waiting in Dodge with the intent of confronting Holland and intimidating him into leaving their sister alone. They have been drinking, and Otis stumbles into the stable where Holland is picking up his saddle. Holland pulls a knife on the brothers. A struggle ensues, and Holland is stabbed with his own knife.

C. V. And Otis flee the scene, but a very inebriated Louie investigates, finds the injured Holland, and takes the watch from Holland's pocket. When Festus Haggen enters the stable, he sees Louie standing near Holland's body as Holland says Louie's name repeatedly. Festus finds the bloody knife nearby. When Festus asks Holland who stabbed him, Holland struggles to speak and mutters Louie's name again just before he dies.

Festus arrests Louie for the killing, but no one that knows Louie believes he is capable of killing someone under any circumstances. Nevertheless, Louie is tried for the crime and testifies that he cannot remember what happened that night. He cannot say with certainty he did not kill Holland.

The Fletcher brothers are guilt-ridden and frightened over the situation, and it is worse when they discover Louie has been charged with the crime. When Jess, their father, learns what has happened, he blames his daughter and reasons that neither Billy Holland nor Louie Pheeters is "worth" the lives of his sons. Lydia becomes the conscience of the family at that point.

The two main plot lines separate with Louie's trial in one story branch and the Fletcher's moral dilemma in the other. The plot lines reconverge near the end, of course.

James Nusser's Louie Pheeters character is one of the all-time great television addicts. Despite his best efforts, the lure of the bottle always proves too much. I think the Louie Pheeters character easily ranks with Andre Royo's Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins in The Wire as tragic addicts. There are any number of examples of alcoholics and addicts in television history, but they usually are either portrayed as comic characters, or they are high-functioning addicts (for example, Don Draper in Mad Men). The Pheeters character is hopeless.

Supposedly, Nusser left the Gunsmoke cast because he demanded a contract that paid him on a regular basis, instead of being paid per episode. When the producers denied his request, he left the show. As a result, one of the great, iconic characters in television history was lost.

The rest of the guest cast consists of several regular Gunsmoke faces who are superb in their roles. John Anderson returns for the eighth time as the Fletcher family patriarch. Tom Simcox makes his seventh appearance as C. V. Fletcher. Dan Ferrone returns for the fourth time as Otis Fletcher. (Simcox and Ferrone were only fifteen years younger than Anderson.)

This episode marks the first appearance on Gunsmoke by Katherine Justice, who appeared in numerous television dramas throughout the late 1960s through the early 1990s. She would go on to appear in three additional Gunsmoke stories, including the three-part "Gold Train: The Bullet" episode in Season 17.

Richard Bakalyan appears for the second and last time as Billy Holland. He previously had a small part in the Season 12 episode "The Hanging."

The most special aspect of this episode is Nusser's performance as Louie Pheeters. The story is well-crafted, although it is not particularly original. In fact, one of the best episodes of the series, Season 7's "The Gallows" is based on a similar premise where a character is accused of killing someone, and the accused was too drunk to know whether they are guilty or not.