Reviews & Ratings for
"Gunsmoke" The Pillagers (1967)

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Introduction to Newly as a member of the 'Gunsmoke' family, 23 March 2013

Author: kfo9494 from United States

The beginning scene of this episode involves Kitty riding a stagecoach on her way back toward Dodge. Right then, as always, we knew that something bad was just around the corner for Kitty. It seems like every time she is on a stage something terrible happens and Matt has to come to the rescue near the end of the show. And sure enough, this episode is not different.

But this time a young looking man, Newly O'Brian, gets on the stage and is carrying a medical case with the title 'Doctor' on the case. Newly had tried medical school for six months but was not happy and was now heading west with the thoughts of opening up a gunsmith shop. The case contained mostly gunsmith supplies.

But when the stage is overtaken by some cowboys, it is driven to a hide-out that contains a gang of bandits. The leader of the gang, Pedro Manez (John Saxton), brother has been shot and he had the staged hijacked because of the suppose doctor aboard. So now Newly has to pretend to be a medical doctor so that he can keep himself and Kitty alive until someone is alerted concerning their whereabouts.

In this introduction to Newly as a 'Gunsmoke' regular, the episode was full of valuable information that will be used through the rest of the run of the series. However, the story was a reused plot with some unbelievable set of circumstances that was hard for even the novice fan to swallow. Not really a bad episode but one so predictable it seemed like a earlier episode that was replayed with different characters.

Buck Taylor did all he could in making this episode as entertaining as possible. And anytime John Saxton guest stars in an episode it is usually a good watch. It just felt like a repeat broadcast watching for the first time.

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