The New Society

This is one of those episodes where Matt Dillon is away from Dodge City acting as a detective in his capacity as U.S. Marshal. The U.S. Army has asked Matt to go to a place called Ridge Town to investigate an incident that occurred 12 years earlier when a man named Felix Smith supposedly shot and killed an army major finance officer named Franklin and permanently wounded Sheriff John Scanlon of the town. Smith was tried and convicted, but he died recently. As he was dying he insisted he was not responsible for the shootings, which led to Marshal Dillon's investigation.

In Ridge Town, the Marshal encounters a citizenry that appears to be quite uninterested in discussing any of the events surrounding the shooting and extremely resistant to Dillon's efforts to reveal the facts. Matt has trouble understanding why no one wants to tell the truth about what happened on the night in question. The more Dillon uncovers, the more the mystery grows and the more anxious the people of the town become.

The situation escalates to the point where some of the townspeople frame Matt for assaulting a woman, beat him, and attempt to run him out of town.

This story is a great example of a situation where fear of the truth drives people to extremes they would likely never consider under less volatile circumstances.

Another great cast is featured in this episode. James Gregory plays the former sheriff, who is now confined to a wheelchair as a result of the shooting. Jeremy Slate makes another appearance on Gunsmoke as the former sheriff's son, Tom, who now serves as sheriff.

Jack Weston stands out as the mentally challenged character Wesley. Wesley vocalizes and portrays the fears of the townspeople in a very literal way.

Other familiar faces include Richard X. Slattery, Sandy Kenyon, Lew Brown, Ian Wolfe, and others.

This is the last of four episodes Calvin Clements wrote in Season 10. Clements would eventually write 43 episodes in the entire series. Joseph Sargent handles the director duties here. Sargent directed seven other episodes of Gunsmoke and enjoyed a long career directing television shows and television movies throughout the 1960s well into the 2000s.

Very intriging plot twists in a well acted thriller.Excellent well known actors.

I don't know why but for some reason, one of the TV stations I watch Gunsmoke on gets this episode mixed up with the next episode "He Who Steals". They show this title but the description is for "He Who steals" and then they show "The New society". I do not care too much for either episode but I had rather see " He Who steals" but from the incorrect description I think that is what is going to occur but it does not. This mix up has been going on for over a year now. Oh well.

Not a review, but a comment about someone's information about adhesive bandages. While adhesive bandages themselves were not invented until 1920, surgical adhesive tape was invented in 1845. The tape held cotton or cloth over the wound.

An unusual Gunsmoke ep. It worked for me, despite the need for more suspension of disbelief than usual.

My biggest criticism of Marshal Dillon is that he was more devoted to "the law" than to anything else throughout his reign. He was gonna carry out his "duty" regardless extenuating circumstances. This usually meant arresting folks for trial whom he knew did not deserve it in a moral sense of justice. In this ep, he let's certain things go in a manner I don't recall ever seeing in any other ep. Giving the viewer an opportunity to contemplate the "rightness" of his decisions is the essence/genius of Manley's show.

The other striking anomaly for me was the camera work and blocking (actor's movements). This was especially jarring in a fight /brawl scene. Great Directing, imo. All Matt and his buddy could see was directly in front of them, all the while taking blows from all directions. The mob who were trying to beat them experienced largely the same. All they knew was to get into the middle of it and hit. Most of their swings missed.

The biggest problem I had was that the entire town knew of the wickedness that had occurred a dozen years before. Yet, never did the secret get out. Given how unwise most all of them showed themselves to be throughout the ep, they ALL somehow managed to keep their yaps shut. Riiiiiight.

Despite this problem, I found this to be among the greatest eps of Gunsmoke. Dillon was as rounded, not rigid, as he ever was. He still adhered to a very difficult code at great peril to himself. Exceptional.