Stage Stop

When Doc Adams finds himself more or less stuck at a stagecoach way station with a blind man, a frail, sickly woman, a less-than-honorable station manager, and surrounded by outlaws, he proves just how tough he can be.

I disagree with some of the more critical reviews of this episode. Doc actually strategizes an outcome that he thinks might save the lives of others at his own peril. When he is backed into a corner, he does what he has to do, even when it is contrary to what we might expect.

I don't want to reveal any more details, but we see in this episode that Doc is even tougher than we might have thought. My only complaints with this story include the unlikely accuracy of a blind man with a shotgun, and at the very end when we are treated to Matt's requisite fortuitous appearance.

This is one of the so-called "location" shoots Gunsmoke producers would frequently employ where most of the story takes place away from Dodge. This is definitely a "Doc episode" with minimal involvement by the other Gunsmoke stars.

John Ireland is perfectly nasty as the cruel station master who verbally and physically abuses his poor wife. Michael Vandever's seemingly conscienceless Lingo character is positively evil with the way he laughs off his cruel deeds and the fateful demise of other characters. We also get to see the great Sid Haig, quintessential heavy and veteran of numerous low-budget films.

Jack Ging plays the blind man, Simon Dobbs, who was a lawman before losing his eyesight. Ging appeared in roles in the Clint Eastwood films High Plains Drifter and Play Misty for Me. He also appeared in recurring roles on both Mannix and The A Team.

Anne Whitfield is Lori Coombs in this episode. Ms. Whitfield began her career on radio as a young child and went on to appear in many television shows during the 1960s and early 1970s before leaving Hollywood and beginning a second career as an educator and ecologist.

This is the first episode of Gunsmoke directed by veteran television director Irving J. Moore. He would eventually direct a total of fourteen different episodes of the series. He also directed numerous episodes of other series including 77 Sunset Strip, Perry Mason, Maverick, Eight Is Enough, and especially the popular late-1980s dramas Dallas and Dynasty, of which he directed over fifty episodes each.

I see that this episode has some negative review. I completely disagree with those. This is a story where, of our Gunsmoke regulars, Doc Adams carries the story--and heroically, too! In this episode, we see that Doc can be one tough hombre when circumstance require it, which is definitely the case here. The actor portraying the blind man does a fine job. He is a former lawman struggling to come to terms with what to do with his life now. His short, clipped way of speaking shows that he is struggling to deal with his blindness. That's how I read it. The stage station wife is beautiful and gives an excellent performance. And--there is a big plenty of action! This is a great episode.

The episode began strong and ended on a heartwarming note but what was in-between was questionable fiction at best.

The story begins at a stage stop run by Jed Coombs and his wife, Lori. With the stage carrying lots of gold the driver is cautious about what is ahead but he should have been leery of Jed since he alerts a gang of bandits that the stage is pulling out of his location. Sure enough down the road a gang of bandits jump the stage.

However, the stage is able to make it back top the rest stop with some of the passengers still alive. Doc Adams is one of the passengers followed by a blind man, Simon Dobbs, and the wounded driver. But the ordeal is not over. The remaining bandits know where the money is located and plan on storming the stage stop to get their booty.

The story was not really bad- it was just the actions of the characters that was questionable. The action of Doc when he found out that Lori was being abused by her husband just did not fit the profile of the Doc Adams from past episodes. Jack Ging, that played the blind man, for some reason always talked in staccato sentences making it difficult for the viewer to get the true feeling of the character. And when you add Doc's gun-play and the accuracy of the blind man's aim, it was like the writer took us for fools. Nothing wrong with the story it was the script that let us down.