Little Erin Moran shined in this as the young girl forced to face life without her parents. She was torn between an uncle she thought she could trust and a somewhat intimidating, but kind-hearted stranger. There are lies and deceit aplenty. If ever I'm accused of a crime, I pray I have someone like the doc on my jury. Someone who votes according to evidence rather than "feelings" or "hunches". I really like this one, maybe simply because it was about someone a bit different being blamed just because he wasn't like most other folks. There was a trial for a man accused of murder and the towns folks were all too eager to hang him and have it done with. The man who played the part of the stranger, dressed as a mountain man, offered a new aspect to the episodes. Something that we occasionally see in modern day society.
6 Reviews
Story did not follow Matt Dillion procedures for evidence
consultinggroupusa19 April 2022
I agree with wdavidreynolds review but must add that the lack of Matt Dillion, or Newley, discussing the gun / bullets that killed the family is not in keeping with many times Matt talked about the type of bullet and caliber. It is very obvious that the rifle being carried by Lijah fires a large bullet (maybe a 50 caliber) and from what is visible to the viewer is a lack of huge body damage / loss of blood from victims. Plus Lijah's rifle looks to be single action which would have allowed the victims to escape or to get a weapon to fight back. So, in my opinion, the writer of this story sure screwed up. The only weapon that could have killed the three people so close together was a repeater rifle or a hand gun. Lijah did not have either and the difference in size of the bullet would have eliminated him as a suspect.
One of the better shows in the collection
kfo949426 September 2013
I know each person as their own reasons of why they like or dislike a program but was stunned to see that some people thought this was a poor offering. After watching this episode is not only entertaining but one of the better stories in the series.
It all begins when a self-supporting mountain man, Lijah, comes upon a farm where the entire family has been murdered. The only survivor is a small girl that was hiding in the root cellar named Rachel. When a cousin, Hale Parker, rides up on the farm, he sees the murdered family and the mountain man next to the child. He goes for a rifle but Lijah knocks him over the head with a shovel. Lijah takes the girl with him to get her to Dodge but before getting her there, he is arrest by Matt and will stand trial for murder.
But there is more to this story than meets the eye. Some people, including the mountain man, are not exactly what they claim. There will be some hidden secrets that will be revealed but will it be in time to save the life on the innocent mountain man.
A very entertaining episode that was a pleasure to watch. There is many things going on in this program which will keep the viewer on the edge of their seat the entire time. Even with the crowded cast this episode was interesting and came across very well performed. A very entertaining show.
It all begins when a self-supporting mountain man, Lijah, comes upon a farm where the entire family has been murdered. The only survivor is a small girl that was hiding in the root cellar named Rachel. When a cousin, Hale Parker, rides up on the farm, he sees the murdered family and the mountain man next to the child. He goes for a rifle but Lijah knocks him over the head with a shovel. Lijah takes the girl with him to get her to Dodge but before getting her there, he is arrest by Matt and will stand trial for murder.
But there is more to this story than meets the eye. Some people, including the mountain man, are not exactly what they claim. There will be some hidden secrets that will be revealed but will it be in time to save the life on the innocent mountain man.
A very entertaining episode that was a pleasure to watch. There is many things going on in this program which will keep the viewer on the edge of their seat the entire time. Even with the crowded cast this episode was interesting and came across very well performed. A very entertaining show.
Problematic, Rambling Story
wdavidreynolds11 August 2021
A hermit named Lijah that prefers living alone high in the mountains discovers a grisly scene where a husband, wife, and young man have been murdered. He sees the cellar doors of the house move and finds a young girl standing inside. The girl's uncle Hale Parker happens to arrive while Lijah is burying the dead family members. Hale assumes the mountain man is the perpetrator and runs for a rifle leaning against the barn. Lijah sees Hale going for the gun and knocks him out with a shovel. Lijah correctly surmises he will be blamed for the killings. He takes the little girl named Rachel into his care and flees.
Hale subsequently rides into Dodge City and embellishes the events at his cousin's house. Parker, who is given to drink, tells anyone that will listen he and Lijah engaged in an extended fight after the hermit killed his brother and sister-in-law. He also lies that Lijah stated he was going to kill Rachel, too.
Lijah is planning to take Rachel to Dodge before retreating to the mountains where he feels safe, but he knows people will be looking for him and seeking vengeance for the death of Rachel's parents.
Matt Dillon catches up with Lijah and Rachel. He takes the big man into custody and locks him in the Dodge jail pending trial. A series of similar murders in Missouri are tied to the Parker murders. A fair trial is unlikely, but there is one person who is not convinced of the mountain man's guilt.
This story includes the only Gunsmoke appearance by actor Denny Miller. Miller was a basketball player for John Wooden at UCLA during the 1950s, and often played physically strong, brutish characters. He played Tarzan in a low-budget film in 1959. He had a recurring role as Duke Shannon in the series Wagon Train from 1961-1964. He also played a surfer named Duke in an episode of Gilligan's Island and an ape man character in another episode of that series. Miller was a great fit for the Lijah character in this story.
Recognizable character actor Harry Townes portrays Hale Parker in this episode. Hale Parker is the sneaky, slimy, manipulative character Townes played so well. This is his final appearance in a Gunsmoke role. He appeared in a total of seven episodes with his first appearance all the way back in Season 2.
A pre-Happy Days Erin Moran appears in this story as Rachel Parker. She would appear again later in Season 17 in the "P. S. Murry Christmas" episode. In a not-too-distant future she would begin playing Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days and the spinoff series Joanie Loves Chachi.
The jurors for the trial are made up of many familiar Gunsmoke characters -- Lathrop (Woody Chambliss), Howie (Howard Culver), Dump Hart (Lane Bradford), Halligan (Charles Wagenheim), and Tom Brown (Ed O'Connor). Herb Vigran plays Judge Brooker once again.
There are numerous problems with this rambling story. It never knows what it wants to be. The fake courtroom drama is particularly bad. Why was Lijah arrested and brought to trial? There is absolutely no evidence against him, except the story of an obviously disreputable man. Lijah had no motive for killing the Parkers, either. When the trial subplot collapses thanks to a deus ex machina event, a kid-in-the-well scene is tacked on for good measure. "Hey and let's make the dry well infested with rattlesnakes!" Snakes go where there is a source of food, and there is not likely to be much in the way of reptile food sources in an old, dry well.
With that said, if you enjoy creepiness, this story does contain a fair amount. The scene between the Hale and Rachel Parker characters where Hale tells Rachel her parents will not be able to get into heaven unless she lies to make sure Lijah is convicted is one such example. Of course, the idea of someone descending into a snake-infested well is guaranteed to freak out anyone who suffers from ophidiophobia and/or claustrophobia.
Hale subsequently rides into Dodge City and embellishes the events at his cousin's house. Parker, who is given to drink, tells anyone that will listen he and Lijah engaged in an extended fight after the hermit killed his brother and sister-in-law. He also lies that Lijah stated he was going to kill Rachel, too.
Lijah is planning to take Rachel to Dodge before retreating to the mountains where he feels safe, but he knows people will be looking for him and seeking vengeance for the death of Rachel's parents.
Matt Dillon catches up with Lijah and Rachel. He takes the big man into custody and locks him in the Dodge jail pending trial. A series of similar murders in Missouri are tied to the Parker murders. A fair trial is unlikely, but there is one person who is not convinced of the mountain man's guilt.
This story includes the only Gunsmoke appearance by actor Denny Miller. Miller was a basketball player for John Wooden at UCLA during the 1950s, and often played physically strong, brutish characters. He played Tarzan in a low-budget film in 1959. He had a recurring role as Duke Shannon in the series Wagon Train from 1961-1964. He also played a surfer named Duke in an episode of Gilligan's Island and an ape man character in another episode of that series. Miller was a great fit for the Lijah character in this story.
Recognizable character actor Harry Townes portrays Hale Parker in this episode. Hale Parker is the sneaky, slimy, manipulative character Townes played so well. This is his final appearance in a Gunsmoke role. He appeared in a total of seven episodes with his first appearance all the way back in Season 2.
A pre-Happy Days Erin Moran appears in this story as Rachel Parker. She would appear again later in Season 17 in the "P. S. Murry Christmas" episode. In a not-too-distant future she would begin playing Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days and the spinoff series Joanie Loves Chachi.
The jurors for the trial are made up of many familiar Gunsmoke characters -- Lathrop (Woody Chambliss), Howie (Howard Culver), Dump Hart (Lane Bradford), Halligan (Charles Wagenheim), and Tom Brown (Ed O'Connor). Herb Vigran plays Judge Brooker once again.
There are numerous problems with this rambling story. It never knows what it wants to be. The fake courtroom drama is particularly bad. Why was Lijah arrested and brought to trial? There is absolutely no evidence against him, except the story of an obviously disreputable man. Lijah had no motive for killing the Parkers, either. When the trial subplot collapses thanks to a deus ex machina event, a kid-in-the-well scene is tacked on for good measure. "Hey and let's make the dry well infested with rattlesnakes!" Snakes go where there is a source of food, and there is not likely to be much in the way of reptile food sources in an old, dry well.
With that said, if you enjoy creepiness, this story does contain a fair amount. The scene between the Hale and Rachel Parker characters where Hale tells Rachel her parents will not be able to get into heaven unless she lies to make sure Lijah is convicted is one such example. Of course, the idea of someone descending into a snake-infested well is guaranteed to freak out anyone who suffers from ophidiophobia and/or claustrophobia.
dreadful soap opera
grizzledgeezer23 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of those "We don't have any original ideas, so let's make a casserole out of the leftovers." Here are the ingredients:
>> An asocial outsider no one likes -- with a secret
>> An SOB who murders his relatives to get their property
>> A biased "12 angry men" jury
>> A naïve little girl tricked into lying
>> A conveniently located well -- "infested" with rattlesnakes -- for her to fall into *
>> A happy ending for everyone except the bad people
Stir gently, and pour over tripe.
Sure, most stories necessarily borrow from something similar someone's done before. But this one does nothing to freshen the basic story, and it's as predictable as a Kraft Single -- we know what really happened when The Bad Guy reveals he'll be inheriting the farm from his relatives. This is the kind of story we expect from "Bonanza" or "The Big Valley".
Yes, I'm being mean-spirited rating it 1, "awful". But it /is/ awful. Where is John Meston when we need him?
The only good thing is Denny Miller. For many years, Denny Miller was a casting director's "go to" when they wanted a tall, handsome, bearded dude. Miller is one of those very rare actors who shaves only because it's required for a specific role. (There weren't many. You could count the well-known ones on ten fingers, and still have a few fingers left over.) Forty-two years later, he's still damned fine-looking. Woof!
A note to whomever wrote the plot summary... I would suggest he look up the meaning of "itinerant". Calling Lijah an "itinerant mountain man" is like calling Jacques Cousteau an "itinerant oceanographer". Itinerancy (if such it be) is innate in both professions, don'tcha see? (as Festus would put it).
* Although rattlesnakes commonly denned in caves or burrows, especially in cool whether, why they would pick a deep well is beyond me, as it's too cool for a cold-blooded animal. What would they eat -- treacle? How would they get in and out?
>> An asocial outsider no one likes -- with a secret
>> An SOB who murders his relatives to get their property
>> A biased "12 angry men" jury
>> A naïve little girl tricked into lying
>> A conveniently located well -- "infested" with rattlesnakes -- for her to fall into *
>> A happy ending for everyone except the bad people
Stir gently, and pour over tripe.
Sure, most stories necessarily borrow from something similar someone's done before. But this one does nothing to freshen the basic story, and it's as predictable as a Kraft Single -- we know what really happened when The Bad Guy reveals he'll be inheriting the farm from his relatives. This is the kind of story we expect from "Bonanza" or "The Big Valley".
Yes, I'm being mean-spirited rating it 1, "awful". But it /is/ awful. Where is John Meston when we need him?
The only good thing is Denny Miller. For many years, Denny Miller was a casting director's "go to" when they wanted a tall, handsome, bearded dude. Miller is one of those very rare actors who shaves only because it's required for a specific role. (There weren't many. You could count the well-known ones on ten fingers, and still have a few fingers left over.) Forty-two years later, he's still damned fine-looking. Woof!
A note to whomever wrote the plot summary... I would suggest he look up the meaning of "itinerant". Calling Lijah an "itinerant mountain man" is like calling Jacques Cousteau an "itinerant oceanographer". Itinerancy (if such it be) is innate in both professions, don'tcha see? (as Festus would put it).
* Although rattlesnakes commonly denned in caves or burrows, especially in cool whether, why they would pick a deep well is beyond me, as it's too cool for a cold-blooded animal. What would they eat -- treacle? How would they get in and out?
Plot was old hash except for Erin Moran-a great little actress
rap-4244917 April 2024
Warning: Spoilers
The plot exposed itself so early and how it was going to end that I left for 20 minutes to go do something else and then came back to see if the ending was what I predicted. The best part was seeing a 10 yr old Erin Moran pre-puberty before playing Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days. She did an outstanding acting job in her role and cried a river of tears when she confessed at the end that Lijah the mountain man did not kill her parents, but her uncle did. The scene in the well and the rattlesnake was reminiscent of True Grit when the bad guys put the girl and Glenn Campbell in the well with snakes. James Arness looking a little old and puffy. Except for Erin's performance it is the waste of an hour.
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