This is the second part to one of the best episodes in the later seasons of Gunsmoke, and indeed, of the entire twenty year run. My full review can be found under Part 1, but just as a quick summary, this was an excellent story, beautifully told, with fine performances from all involved. It's a sad story of lives wasted, of greed, judgement, misplaced love, and love misplaced. It's about the need for forgiveness - and to forgive. Ruth Roman (Maggie), Ellen Burstyn (Amy), Jeremy Slate (Ben Rodman), David Sheiner (Preacher), and Johnny Whitaker (Willie) are all superb in this emotional episode. James Arness, as Matt, has his hands full trying to both protect, and provide moral guidance to a down on their luck group of prostitutes and their madame - refugees from a dying prospecting town - and the newly orphaned Willie, who's grandfather was killed by the same outlaw Matt had been chasing, who (along with his gang) is now chasing the women - and their stash of gold dust.
3 Reviews
Flawed Story with Some Fascinating Elements
wdavidreynolds5 August 2021
Part two of the story begins with Marshal Matt Dillon, Maggie Blaisedell, three of the women that work for her -- Amy Waters, Victoria, and Shirley -- along with Jed Rascoe, a man that also works for Maggie, albeit in a different capacity than the women, and a boy named Willie Hubbard all taking refuge in an abandoned fort. They arrive there hoping to find water, but the well is dry. The Marshal chooses to shelter there anyway and await the arrival of Ben Rodman and his gang who are seeking the gold Maggie is trying to transport to Whiskey Butte.
Part one of the story borrowed from Sam Peckinpah's The Ballad of Cable Hogue with a man who found water in a remote, mostly waterless area and sells it to needy travelers who come by. Part two borrows a bit from Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai by having the Marshal attempt to train the women in the entourage to shoot rifles to help defend their position.
A major subplot of the story involves Willie and Amy Waters, who is actually Willie's mother, Sarah Hubbard. Amy told Willie earlier in the first episode that she knew Sarah in the town of Table Rock, but Sarah had died. Matt soon realizes Amy lied. A significant part of the story involves the relationship between the mother and son.
It is no surprise that Rodman and his gang eventually arrive at the fort and the inevitable showdown ensues. The story does not rush to get to that point, however.
When Gunsmoke expanded from the thirty-minute time slot to one hour, the writers were sometimes guilty of padding the episodes with material just to fill time. The same can happen with the episodes that are expanded to fill multiple hour-long time slots. This episode flirts with that phenomenon, although whether one thinks some of the scenes are filler or necessary may vary from person to person.
For example, there is a scene where Victoria begins singing the song "In the Sweet By and By." As she sings, the camera moves around the room where Matt and the others are essentially trapped while Rodman and his gang are holed-up in another building several yards away. The camera lingers on each character as they listen to the song. As Victoria continues to sing, the scene moves to the other building to show the outlaws. They can hear the singing, and Preacher Jones, one of the outlaws, begins singing along. It is a nice, subtle, unexpected touch.
In this unusual case, the story length allows some of the overarching themes of regret, forgiveness, and redemption to be more fully explored than would be possible in a shorter time. However, fans looking for two hours of action, gunfights, and intrigue are likely to be disappointed.
That is not to say the story lacks flaws. My biggest issue with this story is with the actions Matt Dillon does and does not take in attempting to resolve the situation. He and the people in his care have no water, but they have an ample supply of ammunition. Rodman and his gang are a small group of five. The Marshal first yields the advantage the fort provides by allowing the gang to ride into the fort with no resistance. Since the five men were riding in a tight group, and Matt has unencumbered sight lines for long distances in every direction, Marshal Dillon had a perfect opportunity to pick them off as they approached.
Secondly, the actions the Marshal takes to resolve the situation were available from the time the gang entered the fort, too. Yet, Matt allows several hours to pass with no water before he enacts the plan. There was nothing to be gained by waiting, especially since they had exhausted their water supply much earlier.
Furthermore, the gold could have been left for Rodman when Matt chose to empty the wagon. The outlaws only cared about the gold. It is not likely Rodman and the gang would have continued their pursuit of the group once they had the gold in their possession.
A note about the season to this point: viewers that watch every episode, particularly in syndication where the episodes are shown close together, may have noticed the absence of Milburn Stone in the first four episodes of the season. He appears in the opening credits but is not seen in any of the episodes. Stone suffered a heart attack early in 1971 and had heart bypass surgery in March 1971. As a result, he missed the filming of several episodes at the beginning of Season 17. The next episode in broadcast order is "New Doctor in Town," which introduces Dr. John Chapman, who temporarily replaces Doc Adams in the series. Milburn Stone returns later in the season in the three-part episode "Gold Train: The Bullet."
Part one of the story borrowed from Sam Peckinpah's The Ballad of Cable Hogue with a man who found water in a remote, mostly waterless area and sells it to needy travelers who come by. Part two borrows a bit from Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai by having the Marshal attempt to train the women in the entourage to shoot rifles to help defend their position.
A major subplot of the story involves Willie and Amy Waters, who is actually Willie's mother, Sarah Hubbard. Amy told Willie earlier in the first episode that she knew Sarah in the town of Table Rock, but Sarah had died. Matt soon realizes Amy lied. A significant part of the story involves the relationship between the mother and son.
It is no surprise that Rodman and his gang eventually arrive at the fort and the inevitable showdown ensues. The story does not rush to get to that point, however.
When Gunsmoke expanded from the thirty-minute time slot to one hour, the writers were sometimes guilty of padding the episodes with material just to fill time. The same can happen with the episodes that are expanded to fill multiple hour-long time slots. This episode flirts with that phenomenon, although whether one thinks some of the scenes are filler or necessary may vary from person to person.
For example, there is a scene where Victoria begins singing the song "In the Sweet By and By." As she sings, the camera moves around the room where Matt and the others are essentially trapped while Rodman and his gang are holed-up in another building several yards away. The camera lingers on each character as they listen to the song. As Victoria continues to sing, the scene moves to the other building to show the outlaws. They can hear the singing, and Preacher Jones, one of the outlaws, begins singing along. It is a nice, subtle, unexpected touch.
In this unusual case, the story length allows some of the overarching themes of regret, forgiveness, and redemption to be more fully explored than would be possible in a shorter time. However, fans looking for two hours of action, gunfights, and intrigue are likely to be disappointed.
That is not to say the story lacks flaws. My biggest issue with this story is with the actions Matt Dillon does and does not take in attempting to resolve the situation. He and the people in his care have no water, but they have an ample supply of ammunition. Rodman and his gang are a small group of five. The Marshal first yields the advantage the fort provides by allowing the gang to ride into the fort with no resistance. Since the five men were riding in a tight group, and Matt has unencumbered sight lines for long distances in every direction, Marshal Dillon had a perfect opportunity to pick them off as they approached.
Secondly, the actions the Marshal takes to resolve the situation were available from the time the gang entered the fort, too. Yet, Matt allows several hours to pass with no water before he enacts the plan. There was nothing to be gained by waiting, especially since they had exhausted their water supply much earlier.
Furthermore, the gold could have been left for Rodman when Matt chose to empty the wagon. The outlaws only cared about the gold. It is not likely Rodman and the gang would have continued their pursuit of the group once they had the gold in their possession.
A note about the season to this point: viewers that watch every episode, particularly in syndication where the episodes are shown close together, may have noticed the absence of Milburn Stone in the first four episodes of the season. He appears in the opening credits but is not seen in any of the episodes. Stone suffered a heart attack early in 1971 and had heart bypass surgery in March 1971. As a result, he missed the filming of several episodes at the beginning of Season 17. The next episode in broadcast order is "New Doctor in Town," which introduces Dr. John Chapman, who temporarily replaces Doc Adams in the series. Milburn Stone returns later in the season in the three-part episode "Gold Train: The Bullet."
Sparked only minor interest
kfo949411 September 2013
From part one conclusion, Matt is pinned down at an old fort by Ben Rodman and his gang. To make matter worse Matt is in the company of a boy that is looking for his mother, four saloon girls, bars of gold and the bandits right across the yard.
With the cast pinned down most of this part two show will consist of mainly conversations between the characters which usually does not lead to an entertaining show. There are a few nuggets like when the boy finds his mother and when the leader of the saloon girls, Maggie, tells us about her past with Rodman- but little else that sparks interest.
There was some nice action near the end of the episode but otherwise it seemed like a long unpleasant task watching this show. This did have some nice actors playing well written roles but with the 'Matt-Only' regular cast, it played more like a movie than an episode.
With the cast pinned down most of this part two show will consist of mainly conversations between the characters which usually does not lead to an entertaining show. There are a few nuggets like when the boy finds his mother and when the leader of the saloon girls, Maggie, tells us about her past with Rodman- but little else that sparks interest.
There was some nice action near the end of the episode but otherwise it seemed like a long unpleasant task watching this show. This did have some nice actors playing well written roles but with the 'Matt-Only' regular cast, it played more like a movie than an episode.
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