Martin Nagle & his wife Nancy move to Dodge to open a general store and give nasty Jonas a run for his money. Martin is played by Harry Lauter, who was on Gunsmoke nine times, and also worked with James Arness on the TV series "How the West Was Won," and was on almost every Western TV show of the 1950s-1960s. Nancy is played by Dorothy Green, who had the personality of a paper bag, and just stood around like a mannequin. Green was on Gunsmoke three times. She also worked with Morgan Woodward and Hugh O'Brien on The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp.
Richard Rust plays their son, Lee, and he was a handsome actor who looked like he was going to be a star, back in the 1950s. Rust was on Gunsmoke three times, and on various other Westerns. His Uncle Hutch was played by Gene Nelson, who was on Gunsmoke three times. His last TV appearance was on an episode of Murder She Wrote, in 1987.
Martin, Nancy, and Lee are ready to open their store and start a happy and successful life in Dodge City when Uncle Hutch shows up and ruins everything. Any time a long-lost family member shows up on a TV show, murder usually follows.
In this episode, Richard Rust delivers an excellent performance as the son who is devastated by his Father's death, and cannot get anyone to support his suspicions that Uncle Hutch is a killer. Before long, Mom is warming up the bed with Uncle Hutch, and the sullen son (Rust), is being sent away to Saint Louis. As a viewer, I was getting very aggravated at how the cards were all being stacked against the good son Lee (Rust). But that's where the fun begins, and all hell breaks loose in Dodge.
While most of this episode leaves Matt Dillon and Chester looking from the sidelines, Dillon is there at the crucial climax. This is a very good episode, but Doc Adams and Miss Kitty are barely in it, and I always miss them when they are not in the thick of things.