Season 9 of Gunsmoke features several excellent episodes, and "The Magician" is one of the best.
Jeremiah Dark and his daughter Alice operate a traveling show where Jeremiah sells an elixir and performs magic tricks. Dark's act and wares are basically entertainment designed to bring joy to others. Dark and his daughter barely exist on the small amount they make off selling the elixir. They stop in Dodge City in the hopes of finding a place to rest for a few days, although Marshal Dillon forbids Dark to sell his elixir in the town.
When Jeremiah visits the Long Branch Saloon to buy a bucket of beer, Aaron Wells, a Dodge area rancher, demands Dark join the card game where Wells and his son Tom are engaged. The Wells father and son are drinking heavily while they play. Dark plays an honest game, but the Wells men are so drunk, winning is easy for Dark.
Dark even tries to leave the card game, because he realizes he is taking advantage of the inebriated state of his opponents, but the two Wells men insist Dark stay in the game. When a guy named Ned, who has already expressed his unhappiness with having Dark in town and hates traveling peddlers for some reason, accuses Jeremiah Dark of being a card sharp, the younger Wells beats Jeremiah mercilessly and throws him out of the saloon.
When Matt questions everyone involved in the incident, Dark refuses to tell the Marshal that he was playing an honest game. Red Banks, who observed the card game, realizes Dark was not cheating, but he doesn't say anything.
Later, a very drunk Aaron Wells heads back to his ranch, but Tom tells his father he will be home later. Tom then makes his way to the place where Jeremiah and Alice are camping and rapes Alice. Of course, in 1963 television, censors were not going to allow the word "rape" to be used, but it is obvious that is what occurred. The Gunsmoke writers actually dealt with rape on a few different occasions without ever naming it.
The story now begins to focus on the realization of everyone involved of the depth of the evil within Tom Wells. Jeremiah and Alice Dark witness it firsthand and bear the brunt of Tom's actions. Matt suspects Tom's depravity, but he cannot convince Jeremiah to take action to stop it. Even Red Banks can see it and tries to tell Tom's father. It takes Aaron longer to wake up to the realization his son is what he is.
The casting is, as usual for Gunsmoke, stellar. Lloyd Corrigan is fantastic in the role of Jeremiah Dark. Brooke Bundy is a familiar face on television beginning around the time this episode aired through the 1990s. She has also appeared as a recurring character in some of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Tom Simcox was a frequent Gunsmoke guest actor, and he plays the evil Tom Wells with the appropriate level of nastiness. The smirk on Simcox's face when Alice refuses to implicate Tom Wells in her assault and again when Aaron Wells tells Tom he "bought off" Jeremiah Dark perfectly convey the depths of the character's depravity. Barry Kelly is outstanding as the father who slowly becomes convinced of the evil nature of his son.
This episode is a real treat from beginning to end by veteran television writer John Kneubuhl, who was only responsible for two Gunsmoke episodes. It should not be missed.
Jeremiah Dark and his daughter Alice operate a traveling show where Jeremiah sells an elixir and performs magic tricks. Dark's act and wares are basically entertainment designed to bring joy to others. Dark and his daughter barely exist on the small amount they make off selling the elixir. They stop in Dodge City in the hopes of finding a place to rest for a few days, although Marshal Dillon forbids Dark to sell his elixir in the town.
When Jeremiah visits the Long Branch Saloon to buy a bucket of beer, Aaron Wells, a Dodge area rancher, demands Dark join the card game where Wells and his son Tom are engaged. The Wells father and son are drinking heavily while they play. Dark plays an honest game, but the Wells men are so drunk, winning is easy for Dark.
Dark even tries to leave the card game, because he realizes he is taking advantage of the inebriated state of his opponents, but the two Wells men insist Dark stay in the game. When a guy named Ned, who has already expressed his unhappiness with having Dark in town and hates traveling peddlers for some reason, accuses Jeremiah Dark of being a card sharp, the younger Wells beats Jeremiah mercilessly and throws him out of the saloon.
When Matt questions everyone involved in the incident, Dark refuses to tell the Marshal that he was playing an honest game. Red Banks, who observed the card game, realizes Dark was not cheating, but he doesn't say anything.
Later, a very drunk Aaron Wells heads back to his ranch, but Tom tells his father he will be home later. Tom then makes his way to the place where Jeremiah and Alice are camping and rapes Alice. Of course, in 1963 television, censors were not going to allow the word "rape" to be used, but it is obvious that is what occurred. The Gunsmoke writers actually dealt with rape on a few different occasions without ever naming it.
The story now begins to focus on the realization of everyone involved of the depth of the evil within Tom Wells. Jeremiah and Alice Dark witness it firsthand and bear the brunt of Tom's actions. Matt suspects Tom's depravity, but he cannot convince Jeremiah to take action to stop it. Even Red Banks can see it and tries to tell Tom's father. It takes Aaron longer to wake up to the realization his son is what he is.
The casting is, as usual for Gunsmoke, stellar. Lloyd Corrigan is fantastic in the role of Jeremiah Dark. Brooke Bundy is a familiar face on television beginning around the time this episode aired through the 1990s. She has also appeared as a recurring character in some of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Tom Simcox was a frequent Gunsmoke guest actor, and he plays the evil Tom Wells with the appropriate level of nastiness. The smirk on Simcox's face when Alice refuses to implicate Tom Wells in her assault and again when Aaron Wells tells Tom he "bought off" Jeremiah Dark perfectly convey the depths of the character's depravity. Barry Kelly is outstanding as the father who slowly becomes convinced of the evil nature of his son.
This episode is a real treat from beginning to end by veteran television writer John Kneubuhl, who was only responsible for two Gunsmoke episodes. It should not be missed.
