User Reviews

"Yankton" is a decidedly above-average episode. It takes a story we've seen a hundred times before, populates it with complex characters whose motivations aren't fully clear until the end, and produces a decidedly pleasant surprise.

When Yankton loses at cards to the biggest rancher in the area, he apparently decides to get even by seducing his daughter. Apparently. It's not clear what his true motivations are, and the twists and turns as the characters' true (???) motivations are revealed -- such as the father /not necessarily/ being averse to his daughter marrying a saddle tramp -- provides much of the viewing pleasure.

The casting is good, with Nancy Olson as the prim mother who has good reason for being that way; Forest Tucker behaving quietly most of the time; and (especially) James Stacy as the saddle bum, giving a finely nuanced performance.

Strongly recommended.

This is a unique Gunsmoke. Frankly, more akin to what one might later call a "chick flick."

But, the truth is that the acting is very good, and the script truly unpredictable right up to the very end. Writing spoilers would be a travesty. This episode should be sought out simply because of the unpredictable nuances, complex writing, and superior acting to bring it all together.

When Gunsmoke started, folks presumed it would be just another 1950's era "shoot-em-up." But, from the start it was much deeper and nuanced.

This episode is such an example, and shows why the series remains an immortal classic that will endure the ages.

Was pleasantly surprised by this episode as the story turned out to be an interesting tale that was entertaining from the beginning till the end. It began when a drifter, Yankton, is sweet on a wealthy farmer's daughter that is not a raging beauty that we are accustom to seeing. The relationship began as a way to get back at the father, Will Donovan, over a card game but Yankton ended up falling in love with the plain girl, Emma Donovan.

The story does not just follow the relationship between Yankton and the daughter but also goes into the relationship between Will and his wife. You may say that is not an subject matter that usually causes appeal but the way this script is written made the subject powerful and keep the viewers on their toes.

It was nice to see Forrest Tucker play something other than a drunken buffoon as he used his dramatic skills to make the audience part of the father's life. Nancy Olson seemed very cold in her part but when we get to the story's end the reason will be revealed. Nice acting all around for a story that was much better than expected. Good watch.

This episode is disarmingly sentimental, the story is not trite and the characters are genuine. It will leave a lump in your throat if you have any humanity.

Forrest Tucker is imposing as the burly cattle baron Will Donovan. James Stacy seemed born to play benevolent hard luck Yankton. Pamela Payton Wright was very good as Emma but Nancy Olson stole the show! How did her magnificent performance not garner an emmy??

The dialog flows like smooth poetry, there is no disorienting extraneous scenes; everything perfectly builds to the fantastic denouement. Yankton is a love story that is very well done. There have been many attempts in Gunsmoke's history to weave an indelible love story with almost no success. The stories were always protracted and mawkish but Yankton was magic.

I wish this episode could have spawned a spinoff, with the exact same cast. They spun off that revolting Dirty Sally in a new show why not this charmer? I felt so sad when this episode ended, I wanted to go off with the characters.

A drifter identified only as "Yankton" makes a stop in Dodge City. He loses everything he has in a card game in the Long Branch Saloon to a wealthy local rancher named Will Donavan. Kitty Russell agrees to allow the young man to help clean the Long Branch to make some money.

Donavan is regarded as the most powerful cattle baron in the Dodge area. He lives on his ranch with his wife, Henrietta, and his daughter, Emma. Henrietta feels trapped in a life on a ranch in rural Kansas. She longs for a more cultured existence than is possible in her current circumstances. This is important, as it impacts her relationship with both Will and Emma.

When Yankton, who is a very handsome man, becomes aware that Will Donavan has a daughter close to his age, he immediately begins to pursue a relationship with the young woman. Yankton's motivations are suspect by many, including the viewer, because Emma is not a traditional beauty.

Henrietta is particularly opposed to any sort of romance between Yankton and Emma. The precise reason for Henrietta's attempts to prevent the relationship from developing go far beyond Yankton's meager financial prospects, as the viewer will learn as the story progresses.

Actress Nancy Olson stands out among an extraordinarily strong cast as the character Henrietta Donavan. This is Olson's single Gunsmoke appearance. She was an often overlooked, underrated actress. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the classic film Sunset Blvd. She briefly stepped away from acting in the mid-1950s when her first two children were born, and her once promising acting career suffered as a result. However, she had told others she was not necessarily interested in devoting her life to an acting career. As the years passed, she appeared sporadically in television dramas. She all but retired from acting by the mid-1980s, except for a few small roles.

Forrest Tucker makes the last of his six different Gunsmoke appearances as the rancher Will Donavan. This is a more subdued role for Tucker than his previous appearances as Sergeant Emmett Holly. This performance is more akin to Tucker's role in the Season 11 episode "The Storm."

James Stacy of Lancer series fame returns for the first time since Season 13's two-part "Vengeance!" episodes. His sly smile and deceptively aloof nature is ideal for the Yankton character in this story.

This is the only participation in a Gunsmoke episode for Pamela Payton-Wright, who plays the Emma Donavan character in this story. Payton-Wright's acting career was not extensive. She did play the character Louisa Catherine Adams in the PBS mini-series The Adams Chronicles. Her last acting job was as the character Addie Cramer in the soap opera One Life to Live.

As Gunsmoke moved toward the end of seventeen seasons, an increasing number of the scripts lacked much in the way of any connection to the Gunsmoke world. Some, as in this case, take place in Dodge City and therefore involve many of the regular characters and the familiar townspeople. However, none of those people play a vital role in the story.

With that said, the clever Jim Byrnes script and outstanding performances by the guest stars make this one of the better episodes of the season, notwithstanding any minor criticisms.

This is one of my favorite Gunsmoke episodes... Forrest Tucker is also one of my faves as is James Stacy...(whenever I'm having a bad day and thinking, feeling sorry for myself, I reflect on what James Stacy went through...)... This is an unusual Gunsmoke, no gun smoke... No one got killed.... The writers kept us guessing all throughout... Sort of wonder if they may have been tempted to bring Tucker and crew back as semi regular....or returning characters?? Stacy had at least two prior episodes...solid performance.... Forrest Tucker great as always.... Hate to see it end.. life lessons..

The 1970s rolled around and Gunsmoke ran out of steam, and the writers tried to turn Gunsmoke into The Waltons because they lost faith in the traditional Western formula. James Arness wanted to spend less time acting, and many episodes were almost completely guest stars only. Gunsmoke became a Western drama show with random guest stars coming in from week to week.

This episode featured James Stacy as Yankton, and Forrest Tucker as a fat drunk who runs a big ranch. Gunsmoke had dozens or hundreds of characters over the years that had "the biggest ranch" in the territory, and Will Donovan (Forrest Tucker) was just another one. Donovan cheats Yankton at cards, and soon they are hating on each other, so Yankton seduces his daughter. Really classy guy.

As often happens on Gunsmoke, vile and nasty people gradually become less trashy thanks to love or friendship or some other random event that happens during the show. So Yankton starts out to hurt Donovan through his daughter, but gradually comes to love her. Donovan hates Yankton but gradually comes to admire him for loving his daughter.

Donovan's wife hates everyone because she is rich in the middle of nowhere. She wants to be acknowledged as more than the wife of a fat drunken rancher. She wants to travel in Europe, as some kind of wealthy celebrity, and for her daughter to marry a prince or some other important person. She wants to find a better life in Europe, with her Husband's money, but without her Husband. Eventually, thanks to Yankton and his love for the daughter, Forest Tucker and his wife remember when they were young, and they find a reason to love again.

This is a Gunsmoke romance episode, with no guns, no gun smoke, and no Matt Dillon.