Harriet Miller knew Cheyenne back in Abilene, evidently quite well, enough to know what an honorable man he is. But she's been with Marshal Tom Grant for years and now she begs Cheyenne not to take the job of Winslow Township's only lawman away from him, because if he does, it will upset plans set in motion some time ago. She tells Cheyenne that she wants Tom to remain in town as marshal; on the other hand, she and Tom have conspired with the McGuire gang to share in the profits of a bank holdup, so he won't be keeping the job of marshal for long. But that's getting ahead of the story.
Cheyenne Bodie arrives in Winslow with a letter for the banker, Mr. Smaller, to find a cantankerous marshal and a town that despises him for being a bit too zealous in doing his job and for being responsible for the railroad deciding to bypass Winslow, at great financial loss to the businessmen who run the town. The latter is the real reason they hate him. Grant has only three days left in his contract and everyone, from Mercer the mayor to Scott the barkeep, can't wait to say goodbye. Until, that is, the McGuires get away with the town's money. When Grant is wounded, Cheyenne is made deputy and realizes that the only man in town he can rely on for help is Lukas, the town drunk. He goes after the bank robbers but begins to suspect that the marshal hasn't been as supportive as he expected. In this story there are layers of deception and malice that in the end it's up to Cheyenne to unravel. The final showdown between the McGuire gang and the lawmen is as justifiable as it is inevitable but, especially for Tom Grant, sad nonetheless.
Don Megowan has played tarnished lawmen before (as in "Star in the Dust"), flawed yet sympathetic and, in some ways, basically heroic after all. Patrice Wymore is the woman who, despite loving him, is willing to help corrupt him to satisfy her own ambitions. Except for Lukas, the townsmen are greedy and ungrateful, beholden for services rendered only so long as their self-interest is preserved. Cheyenne Bodie often encountered similar towns inhabited by like-minded citizens, and Clint Walker showed by his actions and even his facial expressions how his character felt about them. This episode ends with the upstanding townsmen coming out of church after Tom Grant's funeral and the mayor offering Cheyenne the marshal's job. "Tell you what, Mr. Mercer," he replies wryly, "you take the marshal's job for a year. If at the end of a year you're still with it, write me a letter, maybe I'll reconsider." He rides away, confident that the letter will never come.
Cheyenne Bodie arrives in Winslow with a letter for the banker, Mr. Smaller, to find a cantankerous marshal and a town that despises him for being a bit too zealous in doing his job and for being responsible for the railroad deciding to bypass Winslow, at great financial loss to the businessmen who run the town. The latter is the real reason they hate him. Grant has only three days left in his contract and everyone, from Mercer the mayor to Scott the barkeep, can't wait to say goodbye. Until, that is, the McGuires get away with the town's money. When Grant is wounded, Cheyenne is made deputy and realizes that the only man in town he can rely on for help is Lukas, the town drunk. He goes after the bank robbers but begins to suspect that the marshal hasn't been as supportive as he expected. In this story there are layers of deception and malice that in the end it's up to Cheyenne to unravel. The final showdown between the McGuire gang and the lawmen is as justifiable as it is inevitable but, especially for Tom Grant, sad nonetheless.
Don Megowan has played tarnished lawmen before (as in "Star in the Dust"), flawed yet sympathetic and, in some ways, basically heroic after all. Patrice Wymore is the woman who, despite loving him, is willing to help corrupt him to satisfy her own ambitions. Except for Lukas, the townsmen are greedy and ungrateful, beholden for services rendered only so long as their self-interest is preserved. Cheyenne Bodie often encountered similar towns inhabited by like-minded citizens, and Clint Walker showed by his actions and even his facial expressions how his character felt about them. This episode ends with the upstanding townsmen coming out of church after Tom Grant's funeral and the mayor offering Cheyenne the marshal's job. "Tell you what, Mr. Mercer," he replies wryly, "you take the marshal's job for a year. If at the end of a year you're still with it, write me a letter, maybe I'll reconsider." He rides away, confident that the letter will never come.
