Note: In syndication, the title shown for this episode is "The Bullet: conclusion."
The finale of the only three-part episode in Gunsmoke history begins with Matt Dillon's condition worsening. He no longer has any feeling in his legs.
Army Captain Darnell has managed to regain control of the train after Matt shot the gang member named Concho, and the other gang member left behind to guard the train, Blanchard, is subdued, thanks to a hearty whack in the head with a rifle stick by Doc Adams. The able-bodied male passengers begin cutting wood to fuel the train, because Sinclair's men had made sure the wood the train was carrying for fuel was burned.
Meanwhile, Sinclair and the remainder of his gang are pursuing Festus Haggen and Newly O'Brien on foot. The Dodge City Deputies are fleeing in a wagon loaded with the gold being pulled by two mules.
When it becomes obvious the mules are not going to be able to pull the heavy wagon much longer, Festus and Newly disconnect them from the wagon and mount them to ride back to the train. They leave the wagon loaded with the gold behind.
The gang on foot soon reaches the wagon. With no horses or mules to pull the wagon, getting it back to the train will be a challenge. One of the men suggests leaving the wagon and returning to the train, but Sinclair insists they push the wagon back to the train.
Back at the train, Doc has decided he has no choice but to perform surgery to remove the bullet from Matt's spine. Further delays could result in permanent paralysis, or even death. Doc prepares for surgery with the help of Kitty Russell and two passengers, Father Sanchez, and Allie Dawson.
Tension builds as the gang is trying to get back to the train, and Captain Darnell is doing everything he can to get the train moving while Doc is engaging in an extremely dangerous operation. Doc has warned everyone if the train moves at all, it could kill Matt.
This is an exciting, memorable episode with several interesting moments. Doc's return; the Marshal being critically injured (again!); Kitty's stern rebuke of Beth; the Orley character loving a pair of boots so much he refuses to remove them, even when he can feel his feet bleeding (I can remember seeing this episode as a kid and being disgusted at the idea of bleeding, swollen feet inside boots); Katherine Justice playing a character that is beautiful but wicked; and the irony of the gang becoming rich beyond their wildest dreams and having no way to enjoy the wealth.
One of the most interesting scenes is Kitty recalling her arrival in Dodge City and meeting Matt. Although it was often implied that Kitty and Matt were engaged in a romantic relationship, it was rarely acknowledged in any definite way. The scene where Kitty is reminiscing is one of the only times the relationship is fully confirmed.
However, this episode is not without its problems. The writing and direction are often sloppy with significant continuity issues and implausible plot elements. There is a scene when Doc and Father Sanchez carry on a conversation outside the train. The obviously painted background does not match the scenery around other shots of the train exterior. Furthermore, as the dialog shifts between the priest and Doc, the background contains the train at one point, and it mysteriously disappears later.
Jack Sinclair and his men are supposed to be incorrigible outlaws, but Sinclair wastes precious time allowing Newly and Caldwell to dig graves and bury two men killed during the initial conquest of the train. (As callous as it sounds, if Sinclair were as bad a man as he was purported to be, he would have massacred everyone to eliminate the risk of having anyone interfere with the theft.)
A wagon loaded with as much gold as in this episode would be extremely heavy, but when Festus and Newly first steal the wagon, it moves relatively quickly -- much too quickly for a wagon loaded so heavily. They certainly would not have been able to quickly distance themselves from the bandits as they were.
The story timing seems off at times, too. For example, it appears that Festus and Newly drive the wagon a significant distance from the train, but it takes them almost no time to get back once they abandon it. Sinclair and his men have little problem pushing the loaded wagon. It is highly unlikely four men would have the strength to push the wagon back to the train so quickly as heavily as it is loaded.
The wisdom of attempting to transport someone with a serious, possibly lethal spinal injury such a long distance is dubious at best, especially considering it is being done by train. Since Doc ends up performing the surgery, anyway, it makes the decision to transport Matt even more curious.
The biggest problem with the story is the horribly ill-conceived scheme Sinclair has in place for transporting the gold. Stealing the treasure is one thing but transporting it somewhere so it can be of any use appears to have not been considered with any seriousness. The train is stopped in an extremely remote location purposefully. They offload the gold onto a wagon that has no special reinforcement to carry heavy weight, and they are going to have to transport it an extremely long distance with only two mules. The journey would be agonizingly slow. Even with the one-day head start Sinclair had planned, it would not take long for men on fast horses to catch them. Tracking them would be no problem, as the wagon is going to leave deep tracks.
Even IF they could have successfully transported their bounty successfully, the bars would have to be melted and the gold extracted. After all, the reason the gold had been mixed with another metal was to discourage theft. How was Sinclair going to accomplish the separation? Stealing the gold was by far the easiest part of the endeavor.
In the end, this is a long, entertaining story, but it is not without significant problems that require avoiding much in the way of scrutiny.
9 out of 10 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
