Spousal and child abuse can take a toll on its victims. Such is the cast here in this episode of The Rifleman, "Heller". The mother felt defenseless in helping her children, and the children were distraught of what to do. Because of that, they turned to anger and revenge.
We also see towards the end of the program, because of the lack of paternal love, Heller takes a liking to Lucas when she and her brother approach Lucas and Mark sitting in the buckboard. Instead of addressing Lucas as "Mr. McCain", she says "Lucas". Notice the look on Lucas' face as he realizes this, and refers to Heller as "daughter". He was trying to send her a gentle message of, "you're too young". Then notice her reaction. The look on her face shows that she realized that he sees her as a daughter and not a companion.
Many folk may not have caught this, but the writers did a great job in depicting the emotions and mindset of abused youth.
Gigi Perreau, Peter Whitney, and Don Grady did a fantastic job in this episode. It's one of my favorite episodes.