Professor Lute Bone travels with his sidekick Wellington selling a "cure-all" elixir. Bone is convinced his elixir is helpful, and Chester is willing to endorse the product. Doc Adams has seen the harmful effects of the liquid on the Ringle baby he treated when Mr. And Mrs. Ringle admitted they gave the baby some of the elixir. Matt Dillon sides with Doc, but he lacks the evidence to arrest Bone for any crime.
When Doc discovers the medicine contains opium, he is livid. Doc is willing to do anything to stop Bone, and Bone wants to settle in Dodge permanently. Matt tries to impose mandatory labeling on Bone.
Actor John Abbott often played eccentric characters, and he was frequently cast as doctors or professors. He is excellent as Professor Lute Bone in this story. Abbott appeared in one additional episode in Season 5.
Jester Hairston makes an appearance in this episode as Bone's banjo-playing sidekick Wellington. Hairston was a renowned composer and singer, as well as taking on numerous acting roles. His appearance here marks the first time a black actor appeared in a Gunsmoke episode. This is Hairston's only Gunsmoke role.
Strother Martin makes the first of eleven Gunsmoke appearances in this story as Hank Stooler (credited as Mr. Stooler). Martin has the distinction of being one of the few actors that was not part of the regular cast that appeared in both the first and last seasons of Gunsmoke.
Despite the outstanding guest cast, this story contains too many questionable elements to be considered one of the better episodes. Milburn Stone's exaggerated fury becomes almost comical at times. Matt's relative ambivalence about forcing Bone to leave Dodge is odd. Matt's thoughtless humiliation of Chester is distasteful. It is not believable that Bone has been traveling throughout the prairie selling this liquid and has not previously encountered any protest or resistance. The sudden resolution to the dilemma after everything that has happened to that point is not realistic.