The Hockett men are back. Jed Hockett's three sons managed to find women willing to marry them (by abducting them and forcing them to work on their farm). This episode begins where the awful Season 20 episode "The Wiving" ends.
Harry Morgan returns to the role of Jed Hockett, the patriarch of the family. He is no better in the sequel than he was in the earlier episode. The other sons and their prospective wives again include Linda Sublette as Emily, Herman Poppe as Luke, Dennis Redfield as Shep, and Michele Marsh as Sarah. This is the last appearance in the series for each.
Karen Grassle and John Reilly appeared in "The Wiving," but they are replaced in this installment by Amanda McBroom as Fran Carter and David Soul as Ike Hockett. (I like to think Grassle and Reilly read the script and refused to reprise their roles.) McBroom would later find widespread success as a singer and songwriter. Her most famous composition to date is the song "The Rose," which was a huge hit for Bette Midler and the title song for the movie of the same name.
Soul appears here following his memorable performance as a vigilante policeman in the film Magnum Force starring Clint Eastwood. A few years earlier, Soul starred in the wholesome, family-oriented ABC series Here Comes the Brides, which has some high-level similarities to this story. Shortly after his appearance here, he would begin starring as Detective Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson in the series Starsky and Hutch.
Actor Jim Backus makes his sole Gunsmoke appearance in this story as the obnoxious "no-stripe" Reverend Sims. Of course, Backus will always be known for the character Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island and for providing the voice for the cartoon character Mr. Magoo.
Fran Ryan appears for the second time as Hannah Cobb, the owner of the Long Branch Saloon. Clearly the Gunsmoke producers chose to lessen the importance of the Long Branch to the life of Dodge City in Season 20. Where it had been a major focal point of so many stories in the first nineteen seasons, it was relegated to background noise in Season 20. In fact, the Bulls Head Saloon is featured about as prominently as the Long Branch in Season 20.
This is the last episode in the series directed by Victor French. Technically, this was French's last involvement in Gunsmoke, as it was the next-to-last episode filmed. (The last episode filmed was "Hard Labor.") However, French guest starred in the episode "The Sharecroppers," which was the last first-run episode to be broadcast.
Unfortunately, the strong cast cannot save this stinker. This episode is the worst in the entire series. The regular cast is all but completely absent. There is only a brief early scene with Matt Dillon and Festus Haggen in conversation with Miss Hannah in the Long Branch after she receives a letter asking her to be the Maid of Honor at the weddings. (This scene is sometimes cut from the episodes in syndication, which renders the episode free of any of the regular cast members, other than Fran Ryan. Calling her a regular cast member is questionable since this is only her second appearance in the series, and she does not appear in the opening credits.)
Nothing of consequence happens in the story. Most of this mess is boring with an extraordinary amount of talking about nothing. The proceedings are confusing and nonsensical with numerous scenes that serve no purpose other than to fill time.
Reverend Sims is conducting baptisms by the river. The Hockett party happens to find the good Reverend, and he insists on having a "box social" in the afternoon before conducting the weddings in the evening. (We learn this from the shouting confrontation between Jed and the Reverend.) Then a group of cowboy bullies led by Jinx Tobin and his cousins happens to come along to introduce some tension into the proceedings. Preacher Sims decides to conduct an auction with the picnic lunches the betrothed women just happened to bring along. He auctions the picnic baskets, and the companionship of the preparer is included. Meanwhile, Jed complains about the delays and proceeds to get drunk.
(There is even a scene where Jed exclaims, "I have been bored half to cryin' up to now, anyway!" to which the audience may feel compelled to agree.)
Only Gunsmoke completists should bother with this episode. As I said in my review for "The Wiving" it is astounding that anyone associated with the show considered that episode warranted a sequel. It is even more perplexing this waste of screen time was written, and that someone read this script and thought it was worth filming. The episode is a disgrace to the generally excellent body of work that was Gunsmoke, and it is an insult to the devoted fans of the series. I'm with the reviewer that said they would give this a zero rating if they could.
