The Devil's Outpost

This is a routine western script that has been played out many times in this series plus is usually a main plot in about every western show or book since the beginning of the written word. What the writer has to do is change the setting and characters to produce and interesting plot and it seems the job was done well enough to at least stir some interest.

The main plot is when one of the gang members has been arrested by the law and the rest of the gang think of a way to spring their friend from the grasp of imprisonment. In this script, Matt is on a stage when Cody Tyce, the younger and wilder brother of the gang leader Yancy Tyce, gets caught by the Marshal when he tries to rob the stage. When word gets to Yancy, he vows to rescue his brother and make the Marshal pay for shooting another member that was in on the robbery.

With Festus out of town, Newly gets a telegram advising to meet the Marshal at an outpost outside of Dodge. When Newly gets to the stopping place the gang of robbers are already there where they will hold Newly as hostage until the stage carrying the captured gang member arrives.

Even though the story was well done by the actors involved, the circumstance of the situation did not lead itself to a suspenseful show. It was fairly obvious how the ending was to be played out early in the episode. And when one of the main characters gets shot, the writer came up with a unbelievable happening to keep the person alive. Not really a poor show but one that was predictable nearly from the start.

Another stagecoach robbery with a predictable ending. I really think the writers of Gunsmoke were running out of ideas in the later seasons. Pretty countryside scenery and Sabrina Scharf who's easy on the eyes are about the only positives I can come up with. I hate to say it but show was way better in the black and white episodes.

Season 15 begins with a thriller that has Matt escorting a criminal to Dodge City. Even though the viewer can easily guess the final outcome of this story, the journey to the end is entertaining enough.

Cody Tice, played by Jonathan Lippe (Goldsmith), who rose to some measure of fame as the "Most Interesting Man in the World" for Dos Equis, is a young, arrogant outlaw. His brother, Yancy, played by the always-stoic Robert Lansing, leads the gang of outlaws of which Cody is a part. Cody decides to rob a stagecoach on its way to Dodge, but he doesn't realize Matt Dillon is a passenger. (Incidentally, the other passengers do not know who Matt is, either.) Matt foils the robbery attempt, of course, and he takes Cody into custody.

Yancy is none too happy with these developments. He is angry at Cody for disobeying direct orders, and, of course, he is angry at Dillon for capturing Cody and the way he ties Cody to the roof of the stagecoach in a spread-eagle manner for transportation.

The rest of the episode is a classic cat-and-mouse game as Matt is determined to deliver Cody to Dodge to stand trial for a notoriously brutal murder of a group of people on a train after the gang robbed the train. Yancy is determined to stop Matt and free Cody.

This episode features another excellent cast of character actors both familiar to Gunsmoke, as well a few new faces. Karl Swenson is particularly notable as the determined stagecoach driver who seems to take special delight in taunting Cody.

I don't share the disdain for this episode some of the other reviewers feel. Yes, the story is based on a familiar premise, but the acting and pace of the direction keep the episode interesting.