The Kite

The episode begins with two rides Joe Bryan and Ed Polk are running from a posse after holding up a bank. The two decide to split up with Joe carrying the money and they will meet in Dodge a few days later.

The scene changes and we are at a farm house where an abusive man named Ron Cassidy is having to ride off in search of water. He leaves his wife Clara and his daughter Letty behind. Ed Polk comes riding up and Clara tells Letty to hid. When Clara gets a rifle Polk shoots and kills her. The child runs off into the prairie.

Festus is riding and comes across the lost Letty. After finding out about the killing, Festus says they are going to ride to Dodge where they know Letty can get help. She stays with Ms Smalley until her father returns. But her father is more of a hinder than a help as he parades little Letty up and down the streets of Dodge looking for the killer.

It is not long until the entire town knows the story including the killer Ed Polk. Now Polk has to kill the little girl before she can identify him to the Marshal. But because of the father's attitude about Marshal Dillon, he will be used by Polk to get to the child. It will be too late for Cassidy when he finally learns that Polk was the one that killed his wife.

The episode was actually very entertaining. Even though tragedy struck the child's life, I am not sure that she is worse off. In fact, I was pulling for one of the characters to die so that Latty would be able to grow up as a child. The ending was a little too tidy but the rest of the show was interesting. Good Watch!

For some reason, Gunsmoke episodes often had a negative moral story or a nihilistic ending. In this case, two guys rob a bank. They split up, and eventually they will meet up at the end of this episode. In between, one of them tries to rape a little girl's mother, and kills her. The same guy befriends her Father, and uses him to find the little girl in order to kill her too.

This episode has several twists, and it is one of those that had some good writing and thought go into it. Unfortunately, everyone involved in the little girl's life is nasty or evil or both.

Along comes Festus, and he is not much of a caretaker of children either. All the actors play their roles well, and they are all despicable. After this episode is over, you wish there was some follow-up on what happened to the little girl. Like 99% of these stories, no answers are ever provided. Sad. Even though this story is a work of fiction, every time I see this episode, I wish I could help that poor girl.

Ed Polk and his partner Joe Bryan have robbed a bank somewhere over 200 miles north of Dodge City. A posse is pursuing them, so they separate with plans to meet in Dodge several days later. Polk comes upon a farm on the prairie. The Cassidy family lives on the farm. Ron Cassidy, the father, is an ornery, selfish, bitter man who is fed up with living on a farm where water is scarce. He leaves to scout for a better place to move the family.

When Ed Polk sees there is no man on the farm, he seizes on the opportunity to take advantage of Ron's wife Clara. When Clara sees Polk approaching, she senses danger and tells her daughter Letty to hide and stay out of sight. When Clara attempts to get a gun, Polk shoots and kills her -- all while Letty is watching. Letty manages to escape without Polk seeing her.

Festus Haggen happens to be riding by when he sees Letty sitting under a tree. At first Letty doesn't trust Festus, but after he lassos her, they return to the Cassidy farm and bury Clara. They leave a note for the Cassidy father and make their way to Dodge. A friendship develops between Festus and Letty, and they build a kite together, hence the name of the episode.

Cassidy and Polk both eventually arrive in Dodge. Cassidy is primarily concerned with avenging his wife's death. He doesn't really care so much that she is dead. He is more angry at how the events reflect on him. He decides to parade Letty all over Dodge in the hopes she will identify the man that killed her mother so Cassidy can exact his revenge. He is also a fool with a big mouth which allows Polk to discover Letty witnessed his murder of Clara Cassidy.

While Festus and Matt try to keep Letty safe, Polk is busy attempting to cover his tracks.

This is very much a John Meston story. Meston was a student of the Old West, and he knew as the United States expanded, there was a large number of people who moved west in order to take advantage of the sparse law enforcement. He had a penchant for creating amoral characters, and both Ron Cassidy and Ed Polk fit that bill in this story.

There is a great scene in this episode between Festus and Ma Smalley. We learn that Ma doesn't think very highly of Festus, but Festus doesn't take Ma's insults seriously.

Another notable attribute of this episode is (I think) the first time Festus addresses Matt Dillon as "Matthew," something he would do countless times over the coming years. It is yet another sign of the growing friendship between Festus and the Marshal.

Lyle Bettger was always great at playing villains. One of his more notable roles was portraying Ike Clanton in the classic film Gunfight at the O.K Corral with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. He wasn't the stereotypical brutish bad guy. He was more of the suave, sophisticated type that would smile while he shot someone in cold blood. Here he portrays Ed Polk with the proper level of casual nastiness. Michael Higgins, a veteran of many television shows and movies, is Ron Cassidy. Betsy Hale is Letty. She had a short career playing children characters on television.

Since (some of) the prior contributors did a swell job describing the story, i really just have a comment. Even though i already noticed we don't all agree, imo this was an excellent showcase of Festus. i saw a rough and dirty, fun loving "cowboy" who was MORTIFIED that the townspeople would see him keeping company with a little girl. i found it great fun to see Festus get so frustrated and annoyed with Lettie. Each time she calmly and sweetly put him in his place! But my favorite aspect about this episode is that Festus can't hide his HUGE HEART no matter how hard he tries! If you're a Festus fan (as i obviously am) this episode is a MUST SEE!

Festus is nearly as creepy with children as he is with men, but,otherwise it was a good story albeit a bit farfetched, but well acted.