User Reviews

When Newly O'Brien catches a woman trying to steal his horse, he suddenly finds himself caught in the middle of a bad family situation. The would-be thief is a woman from "the hill country" named Merry Florene, and she is trying to escape two mean, ornery, abusive half-brothers named Elbert Moses and Roland Daniel.

The characters of Merry Florene, played by Lane Bradbury and Elbert Moses, portrayed by Anthony James -- both very recognizable character actors of the period -- would return in a total of four different Gunsmoke episodes. Victor French, a frequent Gunsmoke guest, portrays the other half-brother, Roland Daniel, who would appear as the same character in one additional Gunsmoke episode with Bradbury and James.

Newly reluctantly takes Merry Florene back to Dodge, and Elbert Moses and Roland Daniel are not far behind.

In Dodge, Newly tries to help Merry Florene. He introduces her to Kitty Russell, Matt Dillon, Doc Adams, and Festus Haggen. (Festus seems a bit smitten with Merry Florene, but she wants no part of his friendship. She does not trust anyone involved in law enforcement, and she only has eyes for Newly.) Newly uses his influence to get her a job working for Mr. Jonas at the General Store. Unfortunately, Merry Florene is still terrified of her half-brothers, and she finds escaping their abusive dominance difficult.

The story primarily concerns Merry Florene trying to establish a place in Dodge while also struggling with her fear of her terrible kinfolk and their influence.

While the episode introduces some tense scenes, it also manages a few light-hearted and humorous moments. The outstanding cast lifts this episode above the average, predictable script they were given. Of note is Dabbs Greer's final performance as Mr. Jonas., and a scene between Kitty Russell and Merry Florene where Kitty reveals several details about her younger years.

Both Dabbs Greer and Victor French would go on to play recurring roles on Little House on the Prairie.

This episode demonstrates what can be achieved using a fairly routine story through superior acting, direction, and script writing.

In this episode we get a familiar plot when one of the cast members stumbles up on a mistreated female and ends up with more than they bargained. This time it is Newly. He comes up on the women, Merry Florene, that is attempting to steal his horse. Little does Newly know that her step-brothers are pursuing her since she left the hill country not long ago. Seems like Merry Florene was being abused by her brothers and wanted to leave and start a new life.

After being briefly detained by the brothers, Newly and Merry Florene manage to make their way to Dodge City. In one of the best scenes, Newly comes riding into Dodge with Merry riding with him. And by chance they meet the Marshal, Doc and Festus. It is an awkward moment for Newly when he tries to explain why he is riding with the female on his horse.

Anyway Merry Florene gets a job at the local store and is being treated very well by the owner. It goes sour when the two step-brothers come into town and persuade Merry to leave the back door open so they can steal items. When the owner makes a surprise visit back to the store it ends up with two people shot.

Merry Florene is the one that can either leave town with her brothers or help place her brothers in jail. The decision will be made but at what cost.

Even though this show was a regular concept in the series, there were some good moments. Not enough good moments to make a fine show but enough to hold the interest of the viewer. There is plenty of comic relief and very little drama going on in this script. But at the end, I was interested in the final outcome of our hill girl, Merry Florene.