User Reviews

This episode not only produces a very well written script but also a mystery worthy of a Sherlock Holmes book. Two skinners ride into Dodge, Ben Spadden and his trusty worker Ritchie. Ben is a tough boss man that carries nothing but a knife and treats Ritchie like a second citizen by bossing him around in nearly every movement.

At the Long Branch, Ben stabs a man that was taunting him and Marshal Dillon places him in jail. But when it appears the man is going to live, Matt has no other choice but to release Ben. Later after getting intoxicated and thrown out of another location, he demands that Ritchie return to the bar and get him a bottle so he can drink in the alley. But before any more drinking takes place Ben is found passed out next to a man, Jim Cornet, that had been stabbed in the back. Matt will again arrest Ben and take him before the Circuit Judge. But this is not the end of murder in Dodge City.

A very tight episode that was entertaining to watch. The script had just enough action and just enough mystery to make for an interesting program of western TV. With well defined character and nice acting by the parties involved, this episode turned out to be a much better show than expected.

Buffalo hunter Spadden is one belligerent character. He pushes his scrawny skinner Ritchie around like a slave who's too meek and mild to complain. In Dodge, Spadden picks a fight and almost kills the guy, but Matt has to let him go. Meanwhile, Spadden has a running feud with another tough guy, Cornet, who ends up dead in an alley while Spadden is wounded. Oddly, it's not clear what happened.

Good unpredictable episode. The guys are really grungy enough to look like buffalo hunters. Fun to see Tobey (Spadden) and Arness together after their big roles in the sci-fi classic The Thing (1951). Also good to see TV vets like Clark and Wynant pick up a payday. My only complaint is that the entry would have worked better had we seen at least a hint of another side to the cringing Ritchie.