I liked this episode more than kfo9494. It has the standard revenge plot that we've seen a thousand times and without which the western movie would never have existed.
The locations are superb, including the rocks of Lone Pine, California, used so atmospherically in the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott Ranown series - Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station etc. For me, it was a welcome change from the claustrophobic air-conditioned Radford Avenue studio set seen at least once in almost every episode and which is one of the major downers in Gunsmoke. When the action moves into the open town set, as it does briefly in some episodes, it's literally a breath of fresh air. I presume it was simply cheaper to use the open air set as little as possible.
Anyhow, I liked this episode. It had plenty of action, despite dragging a little in places as kfo9494 says. When Dillon faces down the bandidos amongst the desert rocks, there's a gentle nod to the similar sequence in the underrated The Professionals, with Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster.
The locations are superb, including the rocks of Lone Pine, California, used so atmospherically in the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott Ranown series - Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station etc. For me, it was a welcome change from the claustrophobic air-conditioned Radford Avenue studio set seen at least once in almost every episode and which is one of the major downers in Gunsmoke. When the action moves into the open town set, as it does briefly in some episodes, it's literally a breath of fresh air. I presume it was simply cheaper to use the open air set as little as possible.
Anyhow, I liked this episode. It had plenty of action, despite dragging a little in places as kfo9494 says. When Dillon faces down the bandidos amongst the desert rocks, there's a gentle nod to the similar sequence in the underrated The Professionals, with Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster.