Reviews & Ratings for
"Gunsmoke" The Twisted Heritage (1969)

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

Amanda Blake give a fine performance in this predictable show

Author: kfo9494 from United States
27 September 2012

This episode is typical 'Gunsmoke' as we get Matt making an appearance right at the best moment to save Ms Kitty from a dire situation. But what happens before Matt makes his life-saving appearance is what makes this episode better than most.

The show starts out with Ms Kitty riding solo on a stagecoach on her way to make a connection to Dodge. Along the way the stage gets stopped by Blaine Copperton holding a saddle. His horse had went lame and he was hitching a ride with the stagecoach.

Later the stagecoach gets stopped again but this time by bandits thinking payroll money was in the strongbox. They shoot the driver and then open the box to find little money. As they take Copperton's wallet his takes the gun from one of the bandits and before getting shot himself he shoots and kills both bandits. Now Ms Kitty must find help for the wounded Copperton.

Ms Kitty drives the stagecoach to a hut where squatters, led by Ma Dagget, are camping. When they see that the wounded man is Copperton they refuse to help. The Coppertons own the land and have been trying to get the Daggets off the land for sometime.

Ms Kitty manages to get to the Copperton's farm house where see tells them the story as mother Jessie Copperton nurses Blaine back to health. During the evening Ms Copperton takes some of her ranch staff to the Nagget's shack and burns it to the ground and shoot one of the Daggets in the leg.

The next day Ms Kitty and Blaine's daughter( that is an outcast to the Copperton family)take a walk and are kidnapped by the Naggets. Ma Nagget tells Ms Copperton that they only way to get the child back is to send Blaine, by himself, to take the same gunshot wound that they gave her son. With the family situation at the Coppertons - does Blaine care enough for his daughter to take the chance.

The episode, rather predictable, is nevertheless a nice story with an interesting plot. NOTE- The Copperton's House is the same set used in "The Big Valley' series. The outside and inside are exactly the same with a few modifications in set layouts.

How to deal with thief/killing squatters.

Author: MrTideman from Concord, New Hampshire U.S.A.
30 January 2006

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Kitty's riding on a stagecoach, the driver stops to pick up Blaine Copperton with his saddle but no horse, they continue on down the road and get held up by bandits, including one: Logan Dagget, who dies in a shoot-out, over what they thought was more than the just under $100 in the strongbox, the driver is killed, Blaine is wounded, and Kitty takes over to drive past the Dagget ranch when "Ma" Dagget and her two sons refuse to help their wounded neighbor. Kitty makes it to the Cooperton ranch where Jessie and Tracy Cooperton live, Blaine's mother and daughter respectfully, to where he recovers, but not until after Jesse makes a midnight raid to the Daggets to torch and burn down their squatter ranch, so upsetting Ma that she and her boys kidnap Kitty and Tracey and take them to their cave whereupon Ma "invites" Blaine and only him over to attempt a rescue with gunshots heard by Matt who went looking for Kitty when her stage never arrived back in town. Matt announces he's the Marshall, and Ma surrenders one son by pushing his rifle away, but the other son having to be shot by Matt before the rescue.

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