Season 15 begins with a thriller that has Matt escorting a criminal to Dodge City. Even though the viewer can easily guess the final outcome of this story, the journey to the end is entertaining enough.
Cody Tice, played by Jonathan Lippe (Goldsmith), who rose to some measure of fame as the "Most Interesting Man in the World" for Dos Equis, is a young, arrogant outlaw. His brother, Yancy, played by the always-stoic Robert Lansing, leads the gang of outlaws of which Cody is a part. Cody decides to rob a stagecoach on its way to Dodge, but he doesn't realize Matt Dillon is a passenger. (Incidentally, the other passengers do not know who Matt is, either.) Matt foils the robbery attempt, of course, and he takes Cody into custody.
Yancy is none too happy with these developments. He is angry at Cody for disobeying direct orders, and, of course, he is angry at Dillon for capturing Cody and the way he ties Cody to the roof of the stagecoach in a spread-eagle manner for transportation.
The rest of the episode is a classic cat-and-mouse game as Matt is determined to deliver Cody to Dodge to stand trial for a notoriously brutal murder of a group of people on a train after the gang robbed the train. Yancy is determined to stop Matt and free Cody.
This episode features another excellent cast of character actors both familiar to Gunsmoke, as well a few new faces. Karl Swenson is particularly notable as the determined stagecoach driver who seems to take special delight in taunting Cody.
I don't share the disdain for this episode some of the other reviewers feel. Yes, the story is based on a familiar premise, but the acting and pace of the direction keep the episode interesting.