I agree with the other comments here re: the improbability of Hacker merely knocking Matt out with a chair, stealing his horse, and riding off. It certainly strains credulity, especially since Hacker is supposed to be such a ruthless killer that Dillon immediately decides to pursue; no if's and's or but's--Matt is gonna track this guy down and bring him to justice.
However, several of the other critical comments here are off-base.
1.) Dillon realizes full well that Hacker's whereabouts are outside of his legal jurisdiction; Chester makes a big point of this in both Parts 1 & 2. Matt simply doesn't care, so determined is he to track the guy down.
2.) Matt's lengthy journey to Cedar Tank, Texas is accomplished by STAGECOACH, as is made abundantly clear by the travel footage. One assumes that several changes-of-horse were needed along the way. When Matt arrives in Cedar Tank, he purchases a horse to ride out to Hacker's place.
3.) The location of Hacker's property is made abundantly clear by Walter Burke (Willie), who tells Matt that it's a 2-day ride due south from Cedar Tank.
ETC, ETC-- so all of the super-critics here should save their comments for the plot points that really matter--- such as Hacker's chair-attack on Matt instead of killing him which, of course, is necessary for the episode (and indeed the entire series) to continue.
In addition, the initial encounter between Matt and Hacker, illogical though it may seem, is still well written; there's considerable rough-hewn, "Who-the-Hell-cares?" sort of charm about the outlaw, well-portrayed (as usual) by the burly, surly Gene Evans.
The SCENERY and photography are GORGEOUS-- one of Gunsmoke's LEAST studio-bound stories, with absolutely stunning, textured B&W TV photography at its best.
Fascinating interactions between the stalwart Mr. Dillon and the various characters he encounters south-of-the-border---the intensity and isolation of his situation heightened by the fact that all of the Mexican characters except for Gilbert Roland and his sweetie SPEAK ONLY SPANISH, and not the typical Mexi-Gringo accented stuff that we usually hear. It's very authentic and well executed, and definitely tilts the balance of power AWAY from Matt, especially considering he has no LEGAL AUTHORITY to be arresting anyone in Mexico.
The always dependable Fred Steiner contributes a big orchestral score to this 2-parter, which I found a bit disappointing. It often sounds overly grandiose, and the fight music resembles the Universal/Germanic Hans Salter stuff more than the usually distinctive Steiner. Also, Fred couldn't resist writing zippy, slightly hoaky Mariachi music every time the action moves into sunny Mae-hee-ho.
Accept for the glaring plot flaw mentioned above, it's a very good show. I kept hoping that Hacker's refusal to kill Matt in the cabin would somehow be explained in part 2---- that Hacker might actually have a sort of admiration for Dillon and may have resigned himself to his fate by letting Matt survive. But no, not really. Still, "Extradition" has plenty of good character interaction, drama and action. (PS-- Hopefully, "the widow" we keep hearing about got some of the reward $). LR
However, several of the other critical comments here are off-base.
1.) Dillon realizes full well that Hacker's whereabouts are outside of his legal jurisdiction; Chester makes a big point of this in both Parts 1 & 2. Matt simply doesn't care, so determined is he to track the guy down.
2.) Matt's lengthy journey to Cedar Tank, Texas is accomplished by STAGECOACH, as is made abundantly clear by the travel footage. One assumes that several changes-of-horse were needed along the way. When Matt arrives in Cedar Tank, he purchases a horse to ride out to Hacker's place.
3.) The location of Hacker's property is made abundantly clear by Walter Burke (Willie), who tells Matt that it's a 2-day ride due south from Cedar Tank.
ETC, ETC-- so all of the super-critics here should save their comments for the plot points that really matter--- such as Hacker's chair-attack on Matt instead of killing him which, of course, is necessary for the episode (and indeed the entire series) to continue.
In addition, the initial encounter between Matt and Hacker, illogical though it may seem, is still well written; there's considerable rough-hewn, "Who-the-Hell-cares?" sort of charm about the outlaw, well-portrayed (as usual) by the burly, surly Gene Evans.
The SCENERY and photography are GORGEOUS-- one of Gunsmoke's LEAST studio-bound stories, with absolutely stunning, textured B&W TV photography at its best.
Fascinating interactions between the stalwart Mr. Dillon and the various characters he encounters south-of-the-border---the intensity and isolation of his situation heightened by the fact that all of the Mexican characters except for Gilbert Roland and his sweetie SPEAK ONLY SPANISH, and not the typical Mexi-Gringo accented stuff that we usually hear. It's very authentic and well executed, and definitely tilts the balance of power AWAY from Matt, especially considering he has no LEGAL AUTHORITY to be arresting anyone in Mexico.
The always dependable Fred Steiner contributes a big orchestral score to this 2-parter, which I found a bit disappointing. It often sounds overly grandiose, and the fight music resembles the Universal/Germanic Hans Salter stuff more than the usually distinctive Steiner. Also, Fred couldn't resist writing zippy, slightly hoaky Mariachi music every time the action moves into sunny Mae-hee-ho.
Accept for the glaring plot flaw mentioned above, it's a very good show. I kept hoping that Hacker's refusal to kill Matt in the cabin would somehow be explained in part 2---- that Hacker might actually have a sort of admiration for Dillon and may have resigned himself to his fate by letting Matt survive. But no, not really. Still, "Extradition" has plenty of good character interaction, drama and action. (PS-- Hopefully, "the widow" we keep hearing about got some of the reward $). LR