User Reviews

Kitty Russell is traveling back to Dodge City on a stagecoach. (Any long time Gunsmoke viewer should realize by now when an episode depicts Kitty traveling via stage, something bad will soon happen.) She has to switch stagecoaches at a way station outside the town of Sayville, and the stage bound for Dodge is delayed. That means waiting for a few hours at the way station.

Kitty's fellow passenger on the stage is a creep intent on having his way with Miss Russell, despite all of her warnings to leave her alone. Beal Brown runs the way station, and he recognizes the man as the outlaw Jay Wrecken. Brown sees dollar signs when he spots Wrecken, because there are multiple bounties for the outlaw's capture, dead or alive.

Wrecken continues to harass Miss Kitty. When she retreats to a back room in the way station, Wrecken intrudes. Kitty has a Derringer pistol and shoots Wrecken. Simultaneously, Brown shoots Wrecken from behind. Wrecken falls to the ground dead.

Brown is delighted that he and Kitty can split the bounties for Wrecken's capture, but Kitty wants nothing to do with the money. She is sickened by the whole ordeal.

Jay Wrecken's brother, Cord, receives word of his brother's death. He makes his way to Sayville where he poses as an investigative newspaper reporter from Tulsa looking into the death of outlaw Jay Wrecken. (Cord is a meticulously careful man, and, since no pictures of him are known to exist, no one knows what he looks like. Cord kills anyone that sees him and learns his true identity to preserve his anonymity.) Cord is able to discover his brother was shot twice, and one of the shots was from a Derringer. Wrecken reckons (pun intended) one of the shooters was someone likely to carry a Derringer -- either a gambler or a woman.

Cord Wrecken's investigation leads him to Dodge City, but not before leaving behind the dead bodies of Sheriff Crane and the undertaker in Sayville. In Dodge, he continues to pose as a newspaper reporter and continues to learn more details of his brother's killers. As he learns more, the danger to Kitty grows.

Steve Forrest portrays Cord Wrecken in this story. Forrest's character is the same arrogant, self-assured person Forrest was so good at playing in other Gunsmoke episodes "Mannon" from Season 14 and "Morgan" from Season 15.

Joe Silver, who had a distinctive voice, makes his only Gunsmoke appearance as Beal Brown, the way station owner. Silver is outstanding in the role. He is greedy enough to welcome the bounty money but is terrified of Cord Wrecken's wrath.

Actor Regis Cordis appeared in five different Gunsmoke installments (one is a two-part episode). In all but one of his appearances, he played a law enforcement officer. In this story, he fills the role of Sheriff Crane.

Two characters in this story talk too much for their own good: The Undertaker in Sayville, played by Eddie Ryder, and Nathan Burke, portrayed, of course, by Ted Jordan.

Watch for a brief appearance by Terry Wilson as a liveryman in Sayville. Westerns fans will remember Wilson for his role as Bill Hawks in the series Wagon Train. Wilson was also a well-known stuntman.

This story is one of the more Dodge-centric so far in Season 18. Most of the story takes place in the town, and each of the regular cast members are present. We even see Howie at the Dodge House in a scene.

Steve Forrest was always superb at playing villains in his Gunsmoke roles. He helps keep the suspense and anxiety levels high for the viewers of this episode.

I do have a couple of minor complaints about this story. First, how does Cord know Beal Brown is one of his brother's killers by simply observing him walking down the street? It is true Brown acted incredibly nervous as he rode into town, dismounted his horse, and walked to the jail. It is difficult to believe Cord watched this from the hotel window and immediately determined Brown was one of the killers. Second, the direction and editing in the scenes where the deputies question Cord in his hotel room followed by a commotion in the street as the deputies announce they have caught Wrecken is extremely transparent.

Nevertheless, this episode is excellent at building tension and suspense, and great fun to watch.

A criminal gang that is comprised of young (and old) very stupid criminals,some of whom are related and some of whom are not related, Vs. Marshal Dillon and company! During a 'robbery-gone-wrong',the youngest,loudest,and stupidest brother in a loose-knit criminal gang manages to get himself locked-up in the Dodge City jail,and his older brothers and crimeys come to break him out of jail. When this plan goes wrong,the gang starts terrorizing the town to encourage the prisoner's release from jail. The gang is calling the shots which is completely out of hand and unacceptable. The plot and pace throughout is pretty intense,and the young guest actors convincingly portray some edgy,gritty characters with big problems.

The actual story itself is interesting and suspenseful. This is a very-good episode.

85/100

Postscript: I saw this episode on broadcast TV and it was in black and white. This seems odd,because pretty-much all tv shows were in color by 1965 or 1966 at the latest. (The other 'sister tv channels' and nearby TV channels were all in color,so I doubt it was a reception problem. Life's little mysteries ... 🤡.