Ash

Absolutely one of the best of many Gunsmoke episodes. The end was so tragic and seeing Ben lose his mind, Ash like a true friend stood by him until the end. Then Ben speaking as a dying man, relieved of the ills of his actions....Ash had to live with that killing the rest of his days. So Matt let him go? He spent the rest of his life without his friend and a whole lot of guilt. Wonderfully written

Wow, I didn't think anyone would remember Pete from Fury, " who cut his teeth out of branding iron." Fury was seen on Sat morning tv which starred Peter Graves, Bobby Diamond, and Fury!

Ben and Ash are partners and best friends in a Dodge City freight office. They are both generous good natured people, and the episode spends a good deal of time on how they are partners at everything. But then tragedy strikes and Ben is hit on the head by a heavy barrel. He is carted up to Doc Adams' office, and Doc is not sure that he will live.

A few hours later and Doc sends for Ash, although he won't say why. Ben has regained consciousness and will live. However, his personality has completely changed due to his head injury, and now he is mean and aggressive. And he may be this way for the rest of his life. When he recovers Ash is patient with him, but Ben has taken to drinking heavily, to snapping at everyone, and worst of all he is stalking a saloon girl, Tillie, who he says he plans to marry regardless of what she says. When she says that she is marrying Emmett (Adam West), Ben decides he will kill Emmett. He does know enough to lie about it to Marshal Dillon, but Ash knows the truth, and figures something must be done to stop him.

This was an unusual episode of Gunsmoke on such an untimely subject. The Civil Rights era was in full swing in 1963, so racism being a common topic on Gunsmoke was understandable. But in 1963 people were largely held responsible for their actions regardless of circumstances. I think of the true story behind "The Honeymoon Killers" (1969), in which Ray Fernandez, who always led an unremarkable life, was hit in the head by the steel hatch of a ship and had his frontal lobe injured. From that point forward he developed a complete lack of impulse control, abandoned his family, and embarked upon a career of romancing and fleecing lonely women. He was eventually executed for a murder he committed while running that con. Nobody thought of letting him off the hook because of the head injury. It was just so progressive of Gunsmoke to bring up such a subject in the context of a western.

The script contains its share of contrivances, and what begins as a good-natured, humorous "Bromance" turns tragic, and ultimately very moving.

John Dehner was one of the busiest actors of the day, especially in TV and radio. He played a wide range of character-types but, because of his great facility as an actor, had a tendency to slip into annoying, stage-y mannerisms; the fluttering eyelid thing chief among them. These tendencies work well for the whimsical, light-hearted scenes-- less so for the glowering, dramatic stuff.

However, Dehner's final scene, shot in extreme close-up, is masterfully restrained. Beautifully performed.

But whatever his affectations, Dehner is BOGART compared to Adam West, whose appearance is mercifully brief. GOOD GRIEF-- the guy couldn't deliver a line with sincerity or naturalism to save his life! Total phony, the essence of CAMP-- which, ironically, ended up saving his career. Dee Hartford--a super-model of the day and ALSO a sub-standard actress, manages to give a very respectful performance, light-years better than, say, her role in Twilight Zone's "Bewtichin' Pool".

Anthony Caruso is fine, and his strength and sincerity are the centerpiece of this show. Nice going.

There's a very POWERFUL scene near the end, played in total silence, with Dehner stalking the streets of Dodge in the dead of night, rifle in hand, with a dark and ominous musical underscore in the background. He passes several storefronts, saloons, and homes in the near-total darkness---another example of the SUPERB depth and texture of Gunsmoke's nighttime B&W photography.

Again, it's the Final Five Minutes of this episode that save it---so good, in fact, that most of my reservations seem rather insignificant LR

The final scene between the partners was the most sensitive and affecting scene I've ever seen in a sixties Western. I am trying to recall any episode with John Dehner when the viewers are crying (rather than cheering) when his character dies. And Anthony Caruso also was just perfect here.

I noticed a couple of ironies. Right after Ben is shot, the Marshall says he has to lock up Ash. Which brings up the question why Ben was not locked up after he started acting belligerent. Ben became much more of a threat than Ash. Perhaps the territorial insane asylum was too far away.

Regardless, this episode is not to be missed.