User Reviews

Another episode that begin in a slow manner and then took off making one of the better shows in the collection. A heartbreaking, tender story that is just as relevant today as it was in the late 1800's.

It begins when Cyrus Tucker wants to talk with the Marshal. He tells the Marshal that his wife, Bertha, of 32 years is missing. For the last three weeks he has been going around to his neighbors asking if they had seen Bertha but no one knows her whereabouts. It seems that Bertha has run off. And Cyrus wants Marshal Dillon to ask around and see if he could find her.

Well it is not long before a poor homesteader, Hody Peel, tries to sell some used clothes to Mr Jonas. Jonas remembers the clothes belonged to Bertha Tucker so he sends for the Marshal. Hody tells the Marshal that he got the clothes from a man about eight miles out of town. Then Hody tells Matt some other details about the clothes that is cause for investigation.

A nicely written story that played out well on the screen. Elisha Cook was excellent as the worried husband that longed for his wife. And when the episode comes to an end you really feel the emotion for the characters involved. Cannot say enough about this episode. Great show!

Hard to write a review of this outstanding episode without giving important plot items away. Ultimately, this episode addresses what happens when someone who's been a core part of your life is suddenly gone, and you really don't know how to deal with it.

The script is another excellent effort by the great duo of John Meston and Les Crutchfield. But, ultimately, what drives this episode is the superb, yet understated acting, especially by guest star Elisha Cook.

This plot slowly builds the poignancy from a ripple to a tidal wave of power, ultimately washing ashore in a very emotional conclusion. It is a very satisfying story indeed, one both beautiful and starkly real at the same time.

It is very sad for Cyrus to go through this alone.

After going through Alzheimer's/dementia with family, this hits close to home. Living far away from "neighbors" makes it even harder.

I appreciate that Matt and Chester are gentle with Cyrus.

Could any woman live 32 years with the creepy Cyrus Tucker (played by Elisha Cook, Jr.)? Cook spent his whole career playing the kind of weird people that could make Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, and Boris Karloff feel uncomfortable. Cook had good roles in The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep, and more recently, just a year before this episode, in 1958, on The House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price. He specialized in being creepy and dysfunctional.

So when he shows up in town to tell the Marshal his elderly wife ran off after 32 years, Dillon looks suspicious, and his reaction to Cook tips off what the conclusion will be. James Arness was not very good at misdirection, and the fact that he knew what the end of each episode would be meant that a lot of times his reaction to events gives the audience a big hint as to what is coming.

So Dillon checks around to see if anyone sold Mrs. Tucker tickets to the railroad, stage coach, etc., but nobody did. Meanwhile Cook is selling his mule team, and giving away his wife's clothes, so it becomes more and more obvious to Dillon that Cook's wife probably took her last trip in a pine box.

The best part of this episode is watching what a terrible job Cook does trying to whittle on a bumpy piece of wood when he is talking to Matt Dillon. By comparison, both Chester and Doc Adams, could sit around talking and whittle away on wood until it looked like something good.

The discussions Chester, Doc Adams, and Dillon were having about Cook were more entertaining than watching creepy Cook ambling around. One of the best things about Gunsmoke is that Doc Adams, Dillon, and Chester had very authentic and interesting discussions in almost every episode.

(*Cyrus Tucker quote*) - "I'd kinda like to sit a spell and talk."

(IMO) - "Odd Man Out" was really a nothing episode that had a half-baked plotline that lead to a fairly predictable conclusion.

I can't imagine a scatter-brained flake like character Cyrus Tucker ever being married to any woman for even 32 days (let alone 32 years).

Nope. This episode of TV's "Gunsmoke" was way too screwy for my liking.