Bently

Man, I wish this character was on the whole length of the show. What an interesting guy Chester is. I know why Dennis Weaver chose to leave, and it made sense but, I thoroughly enjoyed all his appearances. Thats why I gave it a 10, based solely on his performance. I loved how the writers brought out another facet not normally seen in him, and his exchange with the episode's antagonist on the street was cleverly handled.

This episode wasn't perfect, much of the action in it and the behaviors of some of the characters were somewhat hard to believe but, I'm glad Dennis Weaver's last appearance on the show was more well-rounded than usual.

The accepted answer is that Ned wanted to make life easier for his widow. Maybe Ned was delirious on his deathbed--such a reason is just not rational, especially not in light of the town's mob mentality. That said fact is demonstrated in an early scene.

Thankfully, Ned's decision is not the central focus of the drama. If we do not dwell too long on the reasoning, the episode can be enjoyed for several reasons. First of all, where the widow comes to live. Second, the hired gun's big scene (and it is awful that other comments may have spoiled this). But most important, Dennis Weaver's farewell--another excellent performance as a valedictory.

This is the last episode that the character Mr. Chester Goode was on Gunsmoke. The writers and producers of Gunsmoke never did explain what ever happened to Matt Dillon's best buddy Mr. Chester Goode. Especially disheartening since this character was beloved by so many of the Gunsmoke fans up till this time April 11, 1964.

I much prefer the earlier episodes of Gunsmoke. I think the series worked better in the half hour format, but let's just say I like the B&W episodes. This was a good episode, and one of the earlier ones that made it clear that the ensemble cast could carry an episode without James Arness.

He had already started to reduce his participation in the show, a tendency that would grow, and continue to the end of the series. Chester was a great character, and it was the show's good fortune that they were able to find Ken Curtis, as Festus, to take his place as the marshal's side kick.

There was much less (mainly none) attention paid to tying up loose ends in series TV in those days (this was 1964). I can't be the only one who finds the handling of Chester's disappearance frustrating at least, and an insult to the memory of the character. An episode that included a story explaining his exit would have been not just appropriate, but probably wildly popular (during sweeps maybe?).

A mystery to be solved! Not to give too many spoilers, but this episode is a good one. I've seen it many times, and it never gets old. Marshall Dillon would be real proud of Chester as he single handily breaks a murder case which has a twist. He catches a real scoundrel. In an alternate reality, I like to think Chester made the right decision to leave Dodge and move to Californ-I-A with his guitar and strike it big as a successful singing cowboy.

Some of his compositions include: "Run Rabbit Run" & "Pack Up My Bag to Californ-I-A".

He later changed his identity to Chester McCloud, LOL. Bentley.