User Reviews

I won't repeat what others have said about Whitney Blake's excellent performance in her role - that goes without saying. I was always a huge fan of her as the mom in the sitcom "Hazel".

My favorite twist in this episode was how Matt managed to put a stop to the couple's scam permanently, without killing either of them (for a change!) or sending them to jail. In the final shootout with Frank, instead of killing Frank as he usually did, Matt shot Frank's right hand, permanently maiming it so that he could no longer manipulate the cards to cheat when was dealing; also, it was his gun hand, so he could not even draw a gun skillfully when necessary. If Matt had simply run them out of town, they would have just continued their scam elsewhere, with no justice or consequences for their actions. This way, they were both put out of their crooked partnership permanently.

It was the best possible outcome for this situation!

I particularly enjoyed watching Dolly's smug, taunting attitude towards Matt, as they were about to board the stage in the last scene, transform instantly into anger and desperation, as Frank explained to her why Matt was letting them leave town "free and clear," rather than keeping them in jail and making them stand trial.

**SPOILERS** would this game, that looks like a sweet little racket actually work? I don't know; I've never even heard of this confusion. If there's $100 that the guy winning ends up with, and Dolly gets 20%, that's $20. Where did the original hundred come from? Well, if all Paris was doing was dealing, and not buying into many hands, yeah, there would be a profit. IF you could keep players in the game.

I think Kitty comes and gets Matt, and Jonas tells Chester he HAS to sell him the candy now that Chet's put his dirty fingers all over them. Chet says put it on Matt's bill. The issue is guys shooting each other over Dolly's Luck (?).

It was just clever as heck the way Dolly dared Matt to throw her on the stage in front of everyone. Later, it was funny to see her get carried to jail. Again, though, neither one is breaking any law, so I don't think Matt had any law to stand on, and there was a court in Dodge to decide those issues.

The most common (and reliable) way of running a profitable card game was to stay sober while the other players were not; they're easier to fool that way. The next is to be really good at cheating. westerns make a big deal about honest gamblers; there were almost none of those anywhere. The statement "He don't have to cheat; he's GOOD" means he's Good at CHEATING. If caught, consequences could be dire, so it took guts and smarts to make it work, but there were almost ZERO honest gamblers.

One thing Matt didn't try was having Kitty stop the game. She was making money, too, though. Wasn't Dolly working for Kitty? How come she didn't have to do what she was paid for? A lot of loose ends, but very entertaining episode.

Chester's 1st line is "Underwear sure smells good when its fresh" as he's sniffing away. Just hilarious as Dillon just stares at him with a straight face. Dillon should have said why don't you smell mine, they only been on for a week. Then Chester wants 12 candy sticks, but as usual, he doesn't have the 12 cents to buy them. So he takes it out of Dillon's money. How is Chester still in Dodge?

Anyway, Whitney Blake playing Dolly Varden is the best thing about this episode. It seems Dillon has met his match. He knows she's running a con with the dealer Mark Miller (Frank Paris in his only appearance on Gunsmoke, and still alive today). But Dillon can't throw a lady out of Dodge, so he does the logical thing and goes after Frank Paris. Dillon did everything right, but I was hoping more of a struggle with Dolly, instead its a lame shootout with Frank, which Dillon injures his dealing hand. But I enjoyed the episode till Dillon concentrated on the dealer.