A grizzled, tough frontiersman named Clint Sorils is eating a meal in the town of Spokes while a rancher named Red Conniston and his ranch hands are engaged in a bit of wild, drunken revelry in the room next door. Conniston is sitting high in a chair on top of a stack of tables firing his gun and yelling. Sorils tries to ignore the party, but when a stray bullet destroys his hat, he goes next door to demand retribution.
Everyone ignores the attempts by Sorils to get their attention, so Sorils knocks over the stack of furniture on which Conniston is precariously perched. Red is knocked unconscious, and Sorils picks up the gun Conniston was firing. Ben Conniston, Red's drunken son, draws his gun and shoots Sorils in the back. Sorils quickly spins, fires, and kills Ben. Sorils then takes Red's hat, announces he is going to Dodge City, and leaves the saloon.
Ben's twin brother, Jed, was not part of the incident in the saloon. When he learns of his brother's death, he angrily confronts his father. After learning Sorils went to Dodge, Jed follows on his own in a quest for revenge. After recovering from his injuries and regaining some measure of sobriety, Red Conniston organizes his men, and they set out for Dodge as well.
Sorils arrives in Dodge in very bad shape. Doc begins treating his wound, but he doesn't give him much chance of survival. Now Matt Dillon is faced with the prospect of trying to protect Sorils from Jed Conniston with the knowledge that Red Conniston and his large group of ranch hands are on their way to Dodge.
The situation becomes even more complicated when a man named Martin Brewer begins questioning Matt's actions in allowing Sorils to remain in Dodge City. Brewer and some of the citizens of Dodge think if they could move Sorils elsewhere, any potential danger to the town would be averted.
This episode is filled with outstanding performances. Chill Wills is Red Conniston and Gene Evans is Clint Sorils. It is easy to imagine the Conniston and Sorils characters having some level of mutual respect under different circumstances, as both characters are rugged individualists obviously accustomed to doing what they want. Wills and Evans were always good at portraying these kinds of characters. Wills makes another appearance later in Season 13's "A Noose for Dobie Price." Evans appeared in a total of ten different Gunsmoke episodes. He also appears again in Season 13's "The First People."
Tom Simcox is no stranger to Gunsmoke viewers. He appeared in eight different episodes. Here he plays both twin brothers, Ben and Jed Conniston. Robert Sorrells is likewise a familiar Gunsmoke guest, appearing here in one of his fourteen different episodes as Conniston's ranch hand named Louieville. H. M. Winant makes one of his eight Gunsmoke appearances as Martin Brewer.
This is arguably the best in a string of strong Season 13 Gunsmoke episodes. Everything about the episode is noteworthy with solid writing by Ron Bishop, taut direction by Robert Totten, and excellent performances from everyone. I especially enjoy the complexity of the main characters in this story. They are not simply one-dimensional stereotypes. Highly recommended.
