5 reviews
a welcome return to Mestonish malevolence
- grizzledgeezer
- Sep 15, 2013
- Permalink
Better than expected episode.
This episode begins with a bang when a man recognizes Ira Pickett on a Dodge train as the one that killed his brother. Ira pulls a gun out and shoots the man. A passenger and his son, Arnie and Jared Sprague, hold Ira until they reach Dodge and turn him over to the Marshal.
Waiting at the train station is Ira's father and brother, Osgood and Joseph Pickett, when they hear about Ira's problem they seek out the witnesses to the shooting and make them come around to their way of thinking. Osgood Pickett, who has a smooth way of talking, eliminates one witness and then goes after the Sprague family. He holds the Sprague mother and daughter hostage while Arnie changes his story of the shooting so that Ira will be released from jail. But the ordeal will not be over with the release of Ira.
A better episode than expected. Was not to keen on seeing Harry Morgan playing a rough Osgood Pickett but he came across very convincing and really brought the character to life. In fact was very impressed with the entire cast as the show was so entertaining that the episode seemed short in length. A good watch.
Waiting at the train station is Ira's father and brother, Osgood and Joseph Pickett, when they hear about Ira's problem they seek out the witnesses to the shooting and make them come around to their way of thinking. Osgood Pickett, who has a smooth way of talking, eliminates one witness and then goes after the Sprague family. He holds the Sprague mother and daughter hostage while Arnie changes his story of the shooting so that Ira will be released from jail. But the ordeal will not be over with the release of Ira.
A better episode than expected. Was not to keen on seeing Harry Morgan playing a rough Osgood Pickett but he came across very convincing and really brought the character to life. In fact was very impressed with the entire cast as the show was so entertaining that the episode seemed short in length. A good watch.
Tense, Compelling Entertainment
A passenger train bound for Dodge City includes a young man named Ira Pickett as a rider. Another passenger recognizes Ira as the man who killed his brother during a range war. After the exchange of some heated words, Ira pulls his gun and kills the man.
Two passengers -- Arnie Sprague and Wendell Beecher -- witness the incident. Beecher accuses Pickett of murder. Arnie's son Jared was awakened by the gunfire. When Pickett begins to threaten Beecher, Jared pulls his gun and takes Pickett into custody to be turned over to the Marshal when they reach Dodge.
Upon arriving in Dodge, Matt Dillon locks Pickett in the jail. Judge Brooker is due in town later in the day. Beecher and the Spragues leave for their respective homes.
Two strangers soon ride into Dodge. They are meeting someone arriving on the train. The strangers learn about the incident on the train and the people involved. The pair leave town and later arrive at Beecher's farm where they find Beecher underneath a wagon doing some work. The elder of the pair of strangers pushes a log being used to hold the wagon off the ground, which causes the wagon to crush Beecher.
The pair then proceeds on to the Sprague ranch where they find Arnie. The elder man tells Arnie he is Osgood Pickett, the father of Ira, the man locked in the jail in Dodge. Osgood is accompanied by his other son, Joseph. Since Arnie is supposed to ride into Dodge to testify against Ira, Osgood and Joseph will stay at the ranch with Arnie's wife Martha and his daughter Edda. Osgood encourages Arnie to stop at the Beecher farm on his way into Dodge.
It is soon revealed the Picketts make their living as hired guns. Ira is particularly fast. There is an ongoing conflict over a fence location in Clark County, and the Pickett men have been hired to participate.
Arnie informs Matt Dillon about finding Beecher dead. He expresses doubts to Judge Brooker as to whether Ira's actions on the train were an act of self-defense or not, much to everyone's surprise. Judge Brooker releases Ira due to lack of evidence. Jared Sprague is shocked and disappointed that his father refused to tell the truth, but he thinks it is because Arnie is intimidated by Ira's presence. He knows nothing about the situation at his home.
Arnie is hopeful the Picketts will now be satisfied and go on their way, but, of course, that does not happen. Now that Osgood has successfully bullied Arnie, he decides to continue to take advantage of the situation.
Gunsmoke fans expect casting excellence, and this episode certainly does not fail in that regard. Harry Morgan is absolutely chilling as Osgood Pickett. Morgan was not cast as a villain often, but he makes the most of the opportunity in this story. Morgan's charisma and deceitfully friendly demeanor makes his wicked treachery even more threatening. This episode would have first been shown around the same time Morgan was playing Officer Bill Gannon on Dragnet, and that helps make this role even more jarring. This was Morgan's first involvement with Gunsmoke, but he would return for three additional episodes.
The Pickett sons are played by Ray Young and Dack Rambo. This was Young's only Gunsmoke appearance. Rambo would return as the character Cyrus Pike in the two part "Pike" episode later in Season 16. That episode first introduced the Sally Fergus character played by Jeannette Nolan. Rambo continued playing the Cyrus Pike character in the spinoff series Dirty Sally, which starred Nolan and was based on the same Sally Fergus character.
Veteran character actor Tim O'Connor fills the Arnie Sprague role. This was the second of three appearances in a Gunsmoke episode for O'Connor. Harry Morgan and Tim O'Connor would eventually appear together again in two different episodes of the long running series M*A*S*H.
Barry Brown is Jared Sprague. This is his only participation in a Gunsmoke episode. He plays the impetuous, idealistic son perfectly. Brown was also a writer and was considered a promising talent before he committed suicide in 1978.
Martha Sprague, Arnie's wife, is played by June Dayton. Dayton is a familiar face, as she appeared in many television shows between 1950 and the mid 1980s. This is the last of four different episodes of Gunsmoke in which she appeared.
A young Annette O'Toole makes one of her earliest acting appearances in this episode as Edda Sprague. O'Toole would later appear in numerous films and portrayed the Martha Kent character in the series Smallville. She is married to actor Michael McKean (Laverne & Shirley, This is Spinal Tap, Better Call Saul, Curb Your Enthusiasm).
The character actor I. Stanford Jolley makes his ninth and final Gunsmoke appearance in this episode as the Wendell Beecher character. Jolley was a heavy smoker and was in poor health later in life. His role in this episode is one of his last performances before his death in 1978.
This episode features the first appearance by veteran actor Herb Vigran as Judge Brooker. Vigran would appear as the same character ten more times during the run of the series.
"The Witness" is the first episode in some time that evokes the theme from earlier days of the series of an utterly vile, despicable group. The Pickett men are as mean and nasty as any of the villainous families from past episodes. Their confidence and certainty that they can do whatever they want with no consequences is astounding. Their arrogance and hubris help make them appear more imposing, but it also leads to their downfall. It is the type of story that makes for a tense, compelling entertainment. However, this episode does continue a Season 16 trend of stories where there the involvement of the regular characters other than Matt Dillon is negligible.
Two passengers -- Arnie Sprague and Wendell Beecher -- witness the incident. Beecher accuses Pickett of murder. Arnie's son Jared was awakened by the gunfire. When Pickett begins to threaten Beecher, Jared pulls his gun and takes Pickett into custody to be turned over to the Marshal when they reach Dodge.
Upon arriving in Dodge, Matt Dillon locks Pickett in the jail. Judge Brooker is due in town later in the day. Beecher and the Spragues leave for their respective homes.
Two strangers soon ride into Dodge. They are meeting someone arriving on the train. The strangers learn about the incident on the train and the people involved. The pair leave town and later arrive at Beecher's farm where they find Beecher underneath a wagon doing some work. The elder of the pair of strangers pushes a log being used to hold the wagon off the ground, which causes the wagon to crush Beecher.
The pair then proceeds on to the Sprague ranch where they find Arnie. The elder man tells Arnie he is Osgood Pickett, the father of Ira, the man locked in the jail in Dodge. Osgood is accompanied by his other son, Joseph. Since Arnie is supposed to ride into Dodge to testify against Ira, Osgood and Joseph will stay at the ranch with Arnie's wife Martha and his daughter Edda. Osgood encourages Arnie to stop at the Beecher farm on his way into Dodge.
It is soon revealed the Picketts make their living as hired guns. Ira is particularly fast. There is an ongoing conflict over a fence location in Clark County, and the Pickett men have been hired to participate.
Arnie informs Matt Dillon about finding Beecher dead. He expresses doubts to Judge Brooker as to whether Ira's actions on the train were an act of self-defense or not, much to everyone's surprise. Judge Brooker releases Ira due to lack of evidence. Jared Sprague is shocked and disappointed that his father refused to tell the truth, but he thinks it is because Arnie is intimidated by Ira's presence. He knows nothing about the situation at his home.
Arnie is hopeful the Picketts will now be satisfied and go on their way, but, of course, that does not happen. Now that Osgood has successfully bullied Arnie, he decides to continue to take advantage of the situation.
Gunsmoke fans expect casting excellence, and this episode certainly does not fail in that regard. Harry Morgan is absolutely chilling as Osgood Pickett. Morgan was not cast as a villain often, but he makes the most of the opportunity in this story. Morgan's charisma and deceitfully friendly demeanor makes his wicked treachery even more threatening. This episode would have first been shown around the same time Morgan was playing Officer Bill Gannon on Dragnet, and that helps make this role even more jarring. This was Morgan's first involvement with Gunsmoke, but he would return for three additional episodes.
The Pickett sons are played by Ray Young and Dack Rambo. This was Young's only Gunsmoke appearance. Rambo would return as the character Cyrus Pike in the two part "Pike" episode later in Season 16. That episode first introduced the Sally Fergus character played by Jeannette Nolan. Rambo continued playing the Cyrus Pike character in the spinoff series Dirty Sally, which starred Nolan and was based on the same Sally Fergus character.
Veteran character actor Tim O'Connor fills the Arnie Sprague role. This was the second of three appearances in a Gunsmoke episode for O'Connor. Harry Morgan and Tim O'Connor would eventually appear together again in two different episodes of the long running series M*A*S*H.
Barry Brown is Jared Sprague. This is his only participation in a Gunsmoke episode. He plays the impetuous, idealistic son perfectly. Brown was also a writer and was considered a promising talent before he committed suicide in 1978.
Martha Sprague, Arnie's wife, is played by June Dayton. Dayton is a familiar face, as she appeared in many television shows between 1950 and the mid 1980s. This is the last of four different episodes of Gunsmoke in which she appeared.
A young Annette O'Toole makes one of her earliest acting appearances in this episode as Edda Sprague. O'Toole would later appear in numerous films and portrayed the Martha Kent character in the series Smallville. She is married to actor Michael McKean (Laverne & Shirley, This is Spinal Tap, Better Call Saul, Curb Your Enthusiasm).
The character actor I. Stanford Jolley makes his ninth and final Gunsmoke appearance in this episode as the Wendell Beecher character. Jolley was a heavy smoker and was in poor health later in life. His role in this episode is one of his last performances before his death in 1978.
This episode features the first appearance by veteran actor Herb Vigran as Judge Brooker. Vigran would appear as the same character ten more times during the run of the series.
"The Witness" is the first episode in some time that evokes the theme from earlier days of the series of an utterly vile, despicable group. The Pickett men are as mean and nasty as any of the villainous families from past episodes. Their confidence and certainty that they can do whatever they want with no consequences is astounding. Their arrogance and hubris help make them appear more imposing, but it also leads to their downfall. It is the type of story that makes for a tense, compelling entertainment. However, this episode does continue a Season 16 trend of stories where there the involvement of the regular characters other than Matt Dillon is negligible.
- wdavidreynolds
- Jul 15, 2021
- Permalink
Courage Is Dear, But Cowardice Can Be Costlier
Two Great Character Actors Playing Against Type
We enjoyed this episode - particularly with Harry Morgan playing the heavy and Tim O'Connor playing the Nice Guy.
If you want to see the characters in switched roles - check out Mr. TOC's 2 episodes on MASH.
If you want to see the characters in switched roles - check out Mr. TOC's 2 episodes on MASH.
- spenser-43563
- May 21, 2021
- Permalink