Bently

I enjoyed this episode where we get to see a more serious side of Chester.

It's a shame that we finally get to see him do some good detective work and all his friends think he's crazy. Then he rides off never to be seen or spoken of again.

I agree with the many reviews complaining that Chester's departure was never noted. It certainly should have at some point. That said, it seems Dennis Weaver took some time to decide to leave and how could he be sure that leaving would end up a smart move? I think the writers, by not stating he was gone, left room for Chester's possible return. Nevertheless, at some point Chester should have been celebrated...maybe in a wrap up, gala, final episode. Oh yeah, that never happened!

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.

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?).