User Reviews

The Cole brothers, William and Amos, have lived much of their lives in the shadow of their father's death twelve years earlier. Their father, Frank Cole, was an outlaw with a $15,000 "dead or alive" bounty on his head. Someone shot him in the back and killed him inside the Long Branch Saloon, but the identity of the shooter has been kept secret by court order all the years since.

(Side note: Frank Cole must have been a really bad guy, because $15,000 would have been an incredible bounty amount during this time. $15,000 in 1873 would be well over $1 million in 2021. For example, a $15,000 bounty was offered for Robert, Emmett, and Gratton Dalton -- all three combined -- in the late 1800s.)

Frank's father, Jonathan, still lives near Dodge, although he is in failing health. William and Amos make their way to Dodge to reunite with their grandfather, but -- more importantly -- to try to find the identity of their father's killer and possibly exact revenge. (William is more inclined to leave the matter alone, but Amos is more driven to solve the mystery and gain some measure of vengeance.)

Matt Dillon tries to discourage the sons from opening these old wounds. He cannot disclose the identity of the shooter, but he assures the brothers there is nothing to be gained by their pursuit.

The young men are being encouraged in their endeavor by a reporter named Stoner who has made a career writing about Frank Cole and the way he was killed. Stoner eventually develops a theory that Matt Dillon killed Frank Cole, primarily based on the fact the bounty was never claimed. Amos Cole, who now carries his dead father's gun, decides to challenge Marshal Dillon to a gunfight.

Even though this episode was filmed in Season 12, it fits well with a string of fine episodes during this part of Season 13. The viewer is supposed to be surprised by the resolution of this story, but the surprise revelation is easy to guess early in the story. That does not detract from the quality of the unique tale, however.

The chronology of this story raises an interesting curiosity for die-hard, long-time Gunsmoke fans. Frank Cole was killed twelve years earlier, and Kitty Russell states she bought the Long Branch Saloon one year before Cole was shot inside the saloon. Miss Kitty bought a half-interest in the Long Branch during the second season of Gunsmoke. (This transaction is mentioned in the episode titled "Daddy-O.") The timing means at least thirteen years has passed between the airing of the season two episode in 1957 and this episode in 1967.

This episode features another strong ensemble of guest stars. Lew Ayers is Jonathan Cole, and he is nearly perfect in the role of the aging Cole grandfather. Charles Robinson appeared in a sizable number of television shows from the early 1960s well into the 1990s. Here he plays Amos Cole in his only Gunsmoke appearance. This is the last of four episodes that featured Richard Evans. He plays William Cole in this story.

Lee Krieger plays Eli, the nervous hotel clerk that gives everyone the impression he knows a lot more about Frank Cole's death than he is willing to tell. Lamont Johnson is another television veteran who makes his only Gunsmoke appearance in this story as the determined Stoner.

Since this episode was filmed for the previous season, we get our last glimpse of Roger Ewing as Thad Greenwood, although his name does not appear in either the show opening or the end credits.

In one of the most complete and better episode we have witnessed in sometime, us viewers get a nice look into a situation that happened in Dodge City some fifteen years ago. The incident involved a killing of an gunslinger named Frank Cole that was shot in the back inside the Long Branch Saloon. But thanks to a newspaper writer the story has been changed to where Frank Cole was a near heroic gunman that was killed by a coward in the lawless west. And now his two sons, Amos and William Cole, have come to Dodge to revenge their father's death. But no one in Dodge, including Marshal Dillon, wants to revisit the killing.

When Frank and Amos get to Dodge they meet their grandfather, Jonathan Cole, that has a farm outside town. Jonathan was with Frank that night but due to a stroke he has trouble remembering exactly what happened.

When the newspaper man, Stoner, baits a citizen into telling them that Marshal Dillon was the one that shot Frank in the back, Amos vows to have it out with the Marshal.

This episode is very well written and very well performed. With some episode not living up to the 'Gunsmoke' standard, this show returns to the roots that made the series such a great program to watch. This is one of the better shows in the entire collection. Great watch.

NOTE: This episode was filmed in the 12th season but was preempted and never shown. It was placed in the line-up for the 13th season. Roger Ewing (Thad) had left the show and was not in the new cast opening credits. Therefore, Roger Ewing is uncredited in this episode even though he had a speaking part. They did cut out a scene where Matt, Doc and Thad were talking and Thad was going to check Front Street and he meets the brothers entering the Marshal's office. That is why it looks kind of awkward when the scene starts with the brothers already talking with Matt.

Outstanding episode. One ov the best of the entire series,

Much is positive about this episode, including a suspenseful story and terrific acting. But, I have to disagree with the general premise of the plot. In my mind the two grandsons were entitled to know who killed their dad. I can understand them not being told at the time their dad was killed since they were so young. But, they should have been told the truth by the time they were adults. In my opinion Marshall Dillon should have known that trouble would occur as the result of their not knowing the truth. There was trouble, however, and it was very much avoidable. Of course, if the young men had been told the truth when they first arrived in Dodge at the beginning of the episode (as they should have been), there would have been no story that would make for an interesting episode. So, we got an interesting story, but one that is very flawed.