Gunsmoke The Wreckers (1955–1975) watch online HD

Matt and Kitty are on vacation together when Matt spots a convict and arrests him. Like always Kitty is disappointed that her holiday is now ruined and they are on their way back to Dodge riding a stagecoach with a prisoner.

A gang of bandits sabotage the stage to rob the cash box. When the stagecoach breaks away from the horse team, the stage flips severely injuring the prisoner and knocking out Matt. When Kitty hears the bandits outside she removes the Marshal's badge from Matt's chest and places it on the prisoners.

After the prisoner dies it is not long before the bandits know they have the famous Marshal Dillon. The only chance of saving the Marshal's life is if the town of Dodge to pay ransom money. But there are no givens when it comes to these bandits.

Amanda Blake gives a very strong performance as she is in some very physical scenes during many parts of the show. Even though the ending was kind of odd- the story was strong and the action was entertaining. One of the best parts of the show was when Louie, the town drunk, ask to delivery the ransom money because he has no money to donate and Matt is his friend. A very nice start to season 13.

My introduction to "dramatic arts" was "The World of Star Trek", by David Gerrold. He ripped into the series for its repetitive "puzzle box" stories, in which the principal characters are captured (or something similar) and have to work their way out. As we //know// the characters are going to be back next week, where is the pleasure in this sort of mechanical story telling?

"The Wreckers" is such a story, but a lot more pleasurable. Matt and Kitty find themselves in a Really Terrible situation, one likely to result in both their deaths. What makes this such a terrific episode is how they do it, by playing on the fears and insecurities of their captors. The dialog is smart, and you're occasionally left wondering exactly what's going on. For what is to a large degree formulaic story telling, "The Wreckers" works up a surprising amount of suspense.

Matt //does// shoot his way out at the end, but it doesn't play out the way you might expect. It's very satisfying.

Also satisfying is seeing Dodge's cowardly citizens //finally// supporting Matt.

A top episode, worth more than one viewing.

Outlaws rob the stage not knowing Matt and Kitty are on it. The stage is wrecked deliberately by a man who swapped the hitch pin with one made of wood. It was certain to break when the stage started up a steep incline. The stage broke free of the horses and went crashing down the hillside. Matt and his prisoner were knocked out. Seeing the outlaws approaching, Kitty switched identities with Matt and the prisoner for fear the outlaws would shoot the Marshall on sight.

Kitty is sent back to Dodge to tell the townsfolk Matt is being held for ransom. Doc has to remind the people how much Matt has done for them, then Louie offers to escort Kitty back to the hideout. There are a few surprises and a big shootout.

This episode broke three cardinal rules of good fiction writing.

Number 1. You want your protagonist to encounter difficulties which he or she has to overcome, but the difficulties have to be caused by things he or she can't control, things from the outside, not by his or her own stupidity. When the protagonist brings things upon himself or herself, the reader or the viewer is not interested. That viewer just gets disgusted. In this case, both Kitty and Matt acted stupidly and caused the very problems the viewer was supposed to care about.

Number 2. You don't want to have people acting out of character, because that just doesn't make sense to the reader or the viewer. In this case, the deputies acted out of character in that they did not try to help.

Number 3. Your protagonist should get out of his or her difficulties by his or her own wits, not by chance or fluke. In this case, our protagonists did not get out of their difficulties by their own ingenuity but instead basically by fluke.

I would provide more specific information except that I don't want to give it away to people who haven't seen it.

I do not wish to see any other shows written by Hal Sitowitz.