Reviews

I usually enjoy the episodes involving smart bad guys. This isn't one of them. Other reviewers gave the details here so I'll just jump to my biggest beef in this story. Why in the world woud Joe Lime tell the stable owner to fetch Dillon back to the stable and to tell him he wants to kill him? Smh.

Edward Winter's Colonel Flagg compleley blossoms in this episode. Hilarious lines, delivery and body language. Brilliance! His character got better and better in the series. I would've loved to see a spin-off series featuring Flagg.

Good episode IMO. Since it's been pretty much reviewed by now I'll just point out that I'm convinced this really is the last haircut Little Joe received for the rest of the series' run.

It's already been mentioned what a great episode this is (very few skunks, if any!) but Alan Alda is hilariously brilliant as Groucho Marx and highly recommended!

The episode was rather stereotypical for its time. All I can say is I had a tremendous crush way back in the day for Gale Garnett (of "We'll Sing In The Sunshine" fame).

The character of Sheriff Coffee is unfortunately buffoonish. You mostly couldn't count on him for the simplest of tasks. Seems like a cheap way for plot development. However, this episode is about Coffee's replacement in Virginia City, of course necessitated because of Coffee's ineptitude. Upon recommendation from Ben, the town picks Asa Moran as replacement Sheriff. Moran very quickly becomes full of himself and grows from weak and unsure into a non-law abiding narcissistic bully. The fun is to see how the town and the Cartwrights scramble to deal with their big mistake. Action picks up when Moran arrests and roughs up Adam on trumped up charges. Woe be unto anyone who crosses a Cartwright!

First off, I'll just say Sheriff Coffee was a hindrance in Bonanza. His character was a complete goof, always screwing up. This episode suffered from ridiculous scenes, like when Ben checked out a room for safety and then got jumped on by the bad guy. Not well thought out in my opinion. But, cool to be with the Cartwrights for another comforting episode.

This episode contains what I think is the best line in the entirety of the Gunsmoke television series - and I've seen them all.

-------------------- Chester (to Matt): "Is the coffee strong enough?" Matt: "If it were any stronger I'd deputize it."

Harrison Ford has a bit more involved appearance in this one.

I agree with the review from ccthemovieman-1. I'd like to add there's a great gunfight scene near the end where McQueen really shows us the vulnerability of Josh Randall.

James Stacy doing his best James Dean.

Heats up at the end and certainly had me waiting for Part 2.

I enjoyed this episode. Wayne Morris was a smooth actor and that's only the tip of the iceberg. He was a decorated war hero with Hutzpah. Look up his bio...amazing!

Barrows-09790, good call. According to the book, "Richard Boone - A Knight Without Armor in a Savage Land" it was filmed in Bend, Oregon.

Been watching since from the beginning. At first I was mortified at what they did to the show and characters. Then again, I guess it's its own show and a different time but it doesn't sit well for this fan of the original. No rules, right? I have a definite "get off my lawn" take on this reboot but I'll pass on much of the negative. The show seems soulless with little charm of the old. The production of the show is awful. It suffers from today's TV-itis. It utilizes unsteady swirling cameras with fast cuts and close-ups that often leave you wondering what's happening. For the last several years I've noticed CBS loves to crank the volume of action up so loud that I'm constantly having to monitor the volume with the remote control for the sake of me and my neighbors. What might be my biggest gripe of all is that the background music plays all the way through the show - no let up! It ruins it for me and now I'm at the point where I can't ignore it! It's almost as if they think you need the music to do your thinking for you.

There are two things that I do like about the show - Hawaii and Detective Katsumoto, who underplays the role wonderfully and I think he should have his own show.

I don't like being a downer but, for me anyway, this episode was a misfire. Let's put it this way...one bonk early on from Miss Kitty with a frying pan over the head of any one of these hill people would've reduced the show to 10 minutes at best.

Richard Jaeckel's riveting performance really made this episode worth watching.

Interesting note: Harrison Ford plays one of the bad guys.