Cale

"Cale" is the best. Carl Reindel is excellent. Don't let that poor rating fool you.

It was obvious from Carl Reindel's first two appearances on Gunsmoke, as Cale, that he was being auditioned for a recurring role. Everyone in the cast builds up his quirks as somehow funny, even though Cale is a very nasty jerk.

Cale is sleeping in Nick Archer's (Joseph Hamilton) barn, when Archer catches Sterret (Robert Karnes), a former employee, stealing his horses. Sterret shoots Archer, and he falls into the barn where he sees Cale pointing a gun at him. So he shoots Cale. Cale presumes Archer is dead, and goes after Sterret, who also shoots Cale. Now he has been shot twice, and Marshal Dillon finds him in the middle of the wide-open prairie.

As soon as Dillon finds Cale, he tries to club Dillon with a piece of wood. He gets nasty when Dillon tries to help him, and when Doc Adams is trying to help him he makes nasty remarks about Doc Adams too. Doc tells Dillon "His big mouth is going to get him in more trouble."

Dillon asks Ms. Kitty to stay with the unconscious Cale when Doc goes to deliver a baby. Cale then tries to sexually assault her twice, and Cale thinks he is very funny and clever. Later he stalks her over at the Longbranch Saloon, and becomes another loser in the long line of characters that think that Ms. Kitty is going to become his woman.

Eventually, Cale and Sterret meet up again. By that time, Cale has beaten and tied up Carl Miller, the livery stable manager who gave him a job.

Cale is built up as some kind of a Steve McQueen type of character. James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, and Dennis Weaver all get to talk about how unusual, handsome, stubborn, etc., Cale is, while they have the look of admiration on their faces. Unfortunately for Carl Reindel, he lacks any charisma or star qualities, and he really comes off as a big mouth jerk. A few episodes later he came back again as Cale, and apparently Gunsmoke finally realized that Cale was awful, and he never returned to the show.

This episode was made worse from the poor acting by Carl Reindel, that played Cale, or we could say it was poor directing. Whatever the reason the person playing the main character was so poorly played that it made the entire episode seem dull. Someone else cast as the lonely Cale could have made this show much more entertaining.

Cale happens to stop by a farm house and takes a nap in barn. He is awaken by gunshots as the owner, Nick Archer, is in a gunfight with a former cowhand named Sterret. Nick gets shot and falls into the barn door. He sees Cale thinking he is with Sterret and shoots him before passing out (Cale thinks Nick Archer is dead). Cale sees Sterret riding off and gives chase but gets shot again by the fleeing Sterret.

Matt happens to be hunting and comes across the ungrateful Cale. He takes Cale back to Dodge where his mouth and poor attitude ticks off nearly the entire town of Dodge.

In the meantime Cale, working at the Dodge stable, happens to see Sterret and forces him to ride back with him to the Archer's farm. There they find Nick Archer still alive holding a rifle on both of them. Cale tries to explain when Sterret knock the rifle out of Nick's hands. From then on it will be everyone for himself.

It was easy to see that the writer wanted the viewer to feel uncomfortable with the character Cale. But even in supposedly friendly scenes the viewer could see that Carl Reindel was uncomfortable playing the character. This is one episode where one wrong cast member can make the entire episode suffer.

Cale steals the show! He has a young Brad Pitt type of attitude - sassy and reckless and his own man. Can't help but like the guy.

This is one of my favorite episodes! Cale is not only super cute but a great actor. I loved the way he portrayed Cale. When he kissed Miss Kitty I thought that was hilarious. I would have kissed him back he is so sexy. I have DVD's of Gunsmoke up to season 12; working on the rest. It is a shame he didn't become a regular like the other reviewer said. Just love the show.