Old Dan

While Doc is riding on the road outside of Dodge, he comes across a man in the ditch. The man could have injuries but the evidence points to him just being drunk. But Doc take caution and rides him back to his office. Here we find that the man's name is Dan Witter.

Dan by his own admission is a drunk. However, when sober, Dan is a charming individual that is pleasant to be around. So Doc decides to give Dan another chance. He gets him a job over a Jonas's store where he fits in very nicely. All goes well until Mr Jonas asks Dan to lock up whereby Dan decides to drink all the vanilla extract in the place.

With that job gone, word comes out that Lem Fetch needs someone to help him around his farm house. Lem has a son named Luke but Luke wants nothing to do with the farm and is even violent and abusive to his father. Dan agrees to work for Lem and all goes well until Luke returns to house.

When Lem asks Luke to leave violence breaks out. Luke hits his father repeatedly with a piece of wood. Dan has to do something but this time he may not get another chance.

A nice story that was played well by Edgar Buchanan. And with a lot of good things happening on the screen it held the viewers interest till the end. Even the ending, while unsatisfying, seemed to be the best thing for all parties involved.

I found the ending to be wholly unsatisfying. That is the nature of tragedy. That somehow there is no redemption to be had despite the taste of its possibility. Comparing this story to "Groats Grudge" is its own study of the way people connect with each other and the degree of support that comes from it.

The story of the two old buzzards resolving a very nasty row with each other and actively being agreeable to each other was satisfying because there is the feeling of redemption in it, the restoration of their humanity for each other, and how this will continue for the rest of their days.

Contrast this with "Old Dan" and the tragic loss of friendship in the death of Lem. That friendship was the saving grace for both of them, that they were good company for each other. The more satisfying ending would have been Lem surviving and for the two of them to have the kind of friendship with each other that the two old buzzards have. I would indeed have preferred the happier ending. There's just something in the human heart that yearns for kindness over cruelty. With that all said, this is definitely a good episode except for the very end.