The Kite

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!

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.

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.

...I'm totally hating on this episode mostly because of the father. He's a hateful, cruel man, selfish and self-centered, and even though the idea of the episode itself is pretty good though parts are truly far fetched, he practically makes it unwatchable. But, I'm only continuing to watch this (I'm watching it as I write this) to see what happens to the little girl. So many people were unjustifiably mean to her, and that just didn't sit right, how the writers handled it. And, usually I like all these writers' episodes for the most part.

Honestly, I hope someone disposes of that worthless dad.