Kitty Russell should never get on a stagecoach. It seems every time she does, something terrible happens. In this case, Kitty is on her way back to Dodge City from St. Louis on a stagecoach where the other passengers include a couple of private law enforcement agents and a young lady named Carrie Neely. Carrie's father is Dal Neely, a notorious leader of an outlaw gang. The mysterious law enforcement guys are using Carrie in an attempt to lure Dal into a trap.
The lawmen insist on total secrecy and more or less kidnap Kitty to keep her from telling anyone about their scheme. Things do not go as planned, however, and Neely's gang gets the drop on the agents, tie them up, and take Carrie and Kitty with them.
(This is my biggest problem with this episode. The insistence on secrecy such that it required taking someone - in this case, Kitty - captive doesn't make much sense. If they let Kitty continue on the stage to Dodge, how much harm would be done by her telling the Marshal about the agents using Carrie as they were?)
Kitty manages to leave a broach in the stagecoach. When the stage arrives in Dodge, Matt Dillon finds the broach and realizes something has gone terribly wrong. He and Festus Haggen set out in pursuit of Kitty.
Carrie and her father have never spent any time together. Dal cares deeply for Carrie, and in Dal, she finds the father she has never had. But as the story progresses, she repeatedly sees who her father really is, and the truth is difficult for her to face.
This episode features many of the same plot elements as the earlier Season 12 tale, "Mail Drop" - an outlaw father reunited with a child he loves where both desperately want a more meaningful relationship. The overall execution is much better here, but it is curious that two comparable stories were shown so close together.
Kim Darby isn't the self-confident, sassy young woman she played in the original True Grit, but she plays Carrie Neely with the proper amount of innocence and naïveté. Darby tended to stand out in every performance.
Stephen McNally is outstanding in the role of Dal Neely. He manages to elicit a measure of empathy from the viewer as he struggles with his chosen way of life versus the life he desires with his daughter. However, he cannot really escape what he is, and as the story progresses, he tends to revert to the only ways he knows.
The other members of the Neely gang are all notable, excellent character actors, including Val Avery and Warren Vanders.
Amanda Blake is great again as Kitty Russell. I do think the Gunsmoke writers lacked imagination when it came to Kitty storylines. There are numerous episodes where she finds herself taken and held captive against her will, often with another person involved for whom she feels protective.
If it is possible to view this episode on its own, this is a very solid story. However, the timing of the story in relation to the "Mail Drop" episode is puzzling and takes away from its impact, at least for this viewer.
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