User Reviews

A masked gunman robs the stagecoach on its way to Dodge City. One of the passengers is murdered. The passenger did not resist. It was essentially an execution.

When Jim Buck, the stage driver, arrives in Dodge, he reports the murder to Matt Dillon. Buck thinks Jesse Daggett, who runs the way station that serves as the stagecoach's destination to-and-from Dodge, conspired with the gunman in the robbery. Daggett knew the stagecoach was carrying a gold shipment. A man named Nat Pilcher also stopped at the way station. Buck is convinced Daggett told Pilcher about the gold.

Matt and Chester Goode ride the stagecoach back to the way station and wait a few days to see if they can catch the killer/thief. They will learn there is much more to this story than is apparent on the surface.

Robert Brubaker appears for the first time in a Gunsmoke episode. He plays Jim Buck, the stagecoach driver in this story. Brubaker portrayed the Jim Buck character in fifteen Gunsmoke episodes from this installment through Season 9's "False Front" episode. After Glenn Strange's death late in the run of the series, Brubaker started playing Floyd, the bartender at the Long Branch Saloon. He continued playing that role through the end of the series.

Actor Barry Atwater follows up his Season 1 appearance in the "Robin Hood" episode with a role in this story. He plays Jesse Daggett. Atwater's expressionless lack of emotion fits well with the stoic nature of the character.

Pernell Roberts appeared in two Gunsmoke episodes produced over ten years apart. He fills the cold, stern Nat Pilcher role in this story. He returned as a gunfighter with a mustache in Season 13's "Stranger in Town." Between those two appearances, he played Adam Cartwright on Bonanza.

A notable attribute of this Gunsmoke installment is that it is another where writer/director Sam Peckinpah wrote the screenplay for a John Meston story that was originally broadcast as an episode of the radio series. (Peckinpah is credited as David S. Peckinpah, instead of the previous Sam Peckinpah credits.) In this case, Peckinpah sticks closely to the Meston script without adding much. Most of the dialog is identical in the radio and television versions. (This episode is a fitting example of translating a radio script to a television script, however. In the radio version, many of the details must be described to the listener, where they are depicted in the television version.)

The opening scene where Chester and Matt are practicing their shooting was added by Peckinpah. There is also a humorous scene added inside the way station where Chester and Matt are dining with other stagecoach passengers, and Chester demonstrates some tentativeness with his dining etiquette. Peckinpah seemed to enjoy writing quirky scenes for the Chester Goode character.

The biggest problem with this story is not Peckinpah's fault. It lies in Meston's contrived viewer deception. Meston wanted to confuse the viewer and does so to the detriment of the story.

The Jesse Daggett and Nat Pilcher characters are quintessential Meston creations, though. Dagget lives by his own "code" and refuses to compromise, even if doing so could prove deadly. His fatalistic outlook on life -- namely that each person has so much luck in life, and when it runs out, there is nothing the person can do -- is quite curious. The Pilcher character lacks any redeeming qualities, which is common among Meston's bad guys.

A lesser entry, marred by a contrived and sometimes confusing plot. A stage passenger is waylaid by masked man and killed in cold blood for no apparent reason. Matt and Chester ride to the stage way-station to investigate. Station manager Daggett (Atwater) acts suspiciously, but there is no proof of masked man's identity. Then a woman passenger is murdered under similar circumstances. Now Matt is angry and flummoxed.

Script is by legendary Sam Peckinpah who did many for the series, including the stellar The Guitar (1955). Here, however, the mechanics behind the mystery don't make a lot of sense. Nor do they to add up persuasively, but seem awkwardly imposed instead. The episode does benefit from the strong presence of Pernell Roberts as the surly stranger, showing why he was soon signed up as one of the Cartwright brothers in the hugely successful Bonanza. Also, this is one of the few early episodes to take place entirely away from Dodge, Doc, and Kitty.