Boone Shadler is a condemned prisoner about to be executed. When a priest visits Shadler to encourage him to repent of his sins and seek redemption, Shadler loses his temper and strikes the padre with a bottle of whiskey he had taken from a prison guard. The priest is at least knocked unconscious and possibly killed. Shadler seizes the opportunity to take the priest's garments and escape.
Deputy Newly O'Brien is on his way back to Dodge City after delivering a prisoner to another town. As he approaches the town of Selkirk, he is met by a group of men wearing badges. The men claim they were instructed to prevent anyone from entering the town because a plague has infected the residents there. Newly offers to help since he has "done some doctorin'," but the men refuse to allow him to pass.
When Newly shows his Deputy U. S. Marshal badge and questions their authority, they attack him. (Fortunately, they are not good at shooting people escaping on a horse!) They give chase as Newly rides away.
Newly soon rides by a farmhouse where Shadler has stopped. When Newly sees Shadler standing in front of the house, he sees Shadler dressed like a priest and stops. Shadler tells Newly to hide behind the barn. When the men that were guarding the town arrive, Shadler tells them he saw a man ride by a couple of minutes earlier. The pursuers ride on.
Newly and Shadler return to Selkirk where they find many sick people. As some of the people die, Shadler -- who tells everyone his name is Father John Walsh -- is asked to provide comfort and administer last rites. As the story progresses, we learn that it is no coincidence that Shadler is in Selkirk.
Newly soon discovers the source of the illness in the town is a contaminated water supply. He also finds a man named Cyrus Himes who has been shot and is dying, and a woman who cares for him named Dallas Fair.
Buck Taylor's Newly O'Brien character is the central Gunsmoke character in this episode. There is one scene in Dodge City where Festus Haggen delivers a telegram to Matt Dillon, and they express concerns over the fact that Newly has not returned from his mission. Matt decides to investigate.
This episode features a strong cast of great character actors. Earl Holliman makes his third and final appearance in a Gunsmoke episode. He portrays Boone Shadler in this story. This would not be Holliman's last Gunsmoke involvement, however, as he appeared years later in the film Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.
Actress Diane Hyland appears in her only Gunsmoke role as Dallas Fair. Hyland was a talented actress whose career was cut short when she developed breast cancer and died at only 41 years old.
Denver Pyle, who had been considered for the Matt Dillon role when Gunsmoke was initially being cast, returns to Gunsmoke for the first time since Season 13's "Baker's Dozen." He plays the dying Cyrus Himes in this story. Cyrus was shot by the men who invaded the town and later formed a blockade waiting for what they thought was a plague to kill everyone so they could loot the town. This is Pyle's fourteenth and final Gunsmoke appearance.
Linda Watkins is another Gunsmoke veteran that makes her final Gunsmoke appearance in this story. She plays Boone Shadler's dying mother, Abby.
A few other recognizable character actors have small roles in this episode. Ken Lynch and Pat Conway play some of the men pretending to guard the town. John Carter portrays Father John Walsh who visits Shadler in prison. Meg Wylie is an old, dying woman in Selkirk. Bill Erwin plays Mr. Jonas, an old man who is dying in Selkirk. John Davis Chandler, who excelled at playing slimy sorts, plays the man chosen by the would-be looters to ride into Selkirk and assess the situation.
This is another of the many late-series installments of Gunsmoke that has little to do with anything specific to Gunsmoke. Newly O'Brien could just as easily have been a character from almost any other western series. Except for the one scene set in Dodge City, the entire story occurs away from the town.
The story explores the theme of an amoral, nihilistic person who discovers some level of meaning to life. Shadler initially adopts the priest persona because he thinks it will enable him to get what he wants, but while pretending to be a priest, he is profoundly affected by what he encounters.
The characters that make up the story are fascinating, too. The scenes between Shadler and his mother, Cyrus, and Dallas are all important to the Shadler character's development throughout the story. There is a particularly clever exchange between Shadler and Dallas when she tells the man he is a strange priest. "You don't even have a Bible," she remarks. Shadler responds, "I lost it along the way."
This is an enjoyable story. My only minor complaint is the way the Matt Dillon character is incorporated so superfluously and predictably -- almost as an afterthought.
There is an odd series continuity issue with this story. Newly tells Dallas he has been studying medicine under a doctor. However, the next episode in the series, "Patricia," is the episode where Doc Adams offers to take Newly under his wing and teach him about medicine. According to the production numbers, the production of the "Patricia" episode followed the production of this episode, which makes Newly's revelation even more puzzling.
Deputy Newly O'Brien is on his way back to Dodge City after delivering a prisoner to another town. As he approaches the town of Selkirk, he is met by a group of men wearing badges. The men claim they were instructed to prevent anyone from entering the town because a plague has infected the residents there. Newly offers to help since he has "done some doctorin'," but the men refuse to allow him to pass.
When Newly shows his Deputy U. S. Marshal badge and questions their authority, they attack him. (Fortunately, they are not good at shooting people escaping on a horse!) They give chase as Newly rides away.
Newly soon rides by a farmhouse where Shadler has stopped. When Newly sees Shadler standing in front of the house, he sees Shadler dressed like a priest and stops. Shadler tells Newly to hide behind the barn. When the men that were guarding the town arrive, Shadler tells them he saw a man ride by a couple of minutes earlier. The pursuers ride on.
Newly and Shadler return to Selkirk where they find many sick people. As some of the people die, Shadler -- who tells everyone his name is Father John Walsh -- is asked to provide comfort and administer last rites. As the story progresses, we learn that it is no coincidence that Shadler is in Selkirk.
Newly soon discovers the source of the illness in the town is a contaminated water supply. He also finds a man named Cyrus Himes who has been shot and is dying, and a woman who cares for him named Dallas Fair.
Buck Taylor's Newly O'Brien character is the central Gunsmoke character in this episode. There is one scene in Dodge City where Festus Haggen delivers a telegram to Matt Dillon, and they express concerns over the fact that Newly has not returned from his mission. Matt decides to investigate.
This episode features a strong cast of great character actors. Earl Holliman makes his third and final appearance in a Gunsmoke episode. He portrays Boone Shadler in this story. This would not be Holliman's last Gunsmoke involvement, however, as he appeared years later in the film Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.
Actress Diane Hyland appears in her only Gunsmoke role as Dallas Fair. Hyland was a talented actress whose career was cut short when she developed breast cancer and died at only 41 years old.
Denver Pyle, who had been considered for the Matt Dillon role when Gunsmoke was initially being cast, returns to Gunsmoke for the first time since Season 13's "Baker's Dozen." He plays the dying Cyrus Himes in this story. Cyrus was shot by the men who invaded the town and later formed a blockade waiting for what they thought was a plague to kill everyone so they could loot the town. This is Pyle's fourteenth and final Gunsmoke appearance.
Linda Watkins is another Gunsmoke veteran that makes her final Gunsmoke appearance in this story. She plays Boone Shadler's dying mother, Abby.
A few other recognizable character actors have small roles in this episode. Ken Lynch and Pat Conway play some of the men pretending to guard the town. John Carter portrays Father John Walsh who visits Shadler in prison. Meg Wylie is an old, dying woman in Selkirk. Bill Erwin plays Mr. Jonas, an old man who is dying in Selkirk. John Davis Chandler, who excelled at playing slimy sorts, plays the man chosen by the would-be looters to ride into Selkirk and assess the situation.
This is another of the many late-series installments of Gunsmoke that has little to do with anything specific to Gunsmoke. Newly O'Brien could just as easily have been a character from almost any other western series. Except for the one scene set in Dodge City, the entire story occurs away from the town.
The story explores the theme of an amoral, nihilistic person who discovers some level of meaning to life. Shadler initially adopts the priest persona because he thinks it will enable him to get what he wants, but while pretending to be a priest, he is profoundly affected by what he encounters.
The characters that make up the story are fascinating, too. The scenes between Shadler and his mother, Cyrus, and Dallas are all important to the Shadler character's development throughout the story. There is a particularly clever exchange between Shadler and Dallas when she tells the man he is a strange priest. "You don't even have a Bible," she remarks. Shadler responds, "I lost it along the way."
This is an enjoyable story. My only minor complaint is the way the Matt Dillon character is incorporated so superfluously and predictably -- almost as an afterthought.
There is an odd series continuity issue with this story. Newly tells Dallas he has been studying medicine under a doctor. However, the next episode in the series, "Patricia," is the episode where Doc Adams offers to take Newly under his wing and teach him about medicine. According to the production numbers, the production of the "Patricia" episode followed the production of this episode, which makes Newly's revelation even more puzzling.
