Gunsmoke: Season 2
Season 2 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Gunsmoke Season 1.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 2 Progress Shield
Cow Doctor
Sep 8, 1956 · 26 min
After he is summoned unknowingly by Ben Pitcher to treat one of his cows, a human patient of Doc's dies. During a fight with Pitcher, Doc is knifed.
Brush at Elkader
Sep 15, 1956 · 26 min
After his friend Ben Williams is shot down by Lou Shippen, Matt travels to Elkader to bring him him. The only problem, he doesn't know what he looks like and the town is protectin
Custer
Sep 22, 1956 · 26 min
Matt refuses to turn the rustler Joe Trimble over to Major Banker for court-martial.
The Round Up
Sep 29, 1956 · 26 min
Matt closes up shops to a group of drunken cowboys, which causes trouble.
Young Man with a Gun
Oct 20, 1956 · 26 min
After gunman, Sam Kercher is killed by Matt, his 16-year-old brother arrives to fight Matt.
Indian White
Oct 27, 1956 · 26 min
At Fort Dodge, home of the third cavalry, Mrs. Mary Cullen tells the colonel that the twelve year old white boy they recovered from the Cheyenne is her son Dennis. The tribe had ta
Legal Revenge
Nov 17, 1956 · 26 min
Doc comes upon a homesteader with a busted leg—and a gun to protect himself from his wife.
The Mistake
Nov 24, 1956 · 26 min
Matt leaves Dodge City unprotected when he sets out to find a killer (Mike Connors) (Bert Rumsey credited as 'Bartender', but referred to by Chester as 'Sam Noonan').
Greater Love
Dec 1, 1956 · 26 min
An outlaw threatens to kill Doc if he does not help his wounded buddy.
No Indians
Dec 8, 1956 · 26 min
Matt and Chester act as decoys to ambush outlaws (including Mickey Simpson) that are masking their crimes as those of renegade Indians (Fintan Meyler and Herbert Rudley appear).
Spring Term
Dec 15, 1956 · 26 min
Matt discovers that he was the intended victim of a murder he is investigating.
Poor Pearl
Dec 22, 1956 · 26 min
Matt helps a woman whose suitors are about to duel for her affections.
Cholera
Dec 29, 1956 · 26 min
A landowner (Paul Fix) tries to terrorize homesteaders (Bartlett Robinson and Peg Hillias) off their land (Gordon Gebert, John Smith, and Stuart Whitman appear).
Pucket's New Year
Jan 5, 1957 · 26 min
An old buffalo hunter (Edgar Stehli) swears revenge on the skinner (Grant Withers) that left him to die (Richard Deacon appears as banker Botkin, Bert Rumsey credited as 'Bartender
The Cover Up
Jan 12, 1957 · 26 min
Matt traps a cattleman (Tyler McVey) who shot two homesteaders (including Roy Engel) (Malcolm Atterbury and Vivi Janiss appear).
Sins of the Father
Jan 19, 1957 · 26 min
An Indian woman (Angie Dickinson) faces prejudice for her father's raid on Dodge City (Peter Whitney and Paul Wexler appear).
Kick Me
Jan 26, 1957 · 26 min
A bank robber (Robert H. Harris) murders his wife and frames Tobeel (Frank de Kova) for the crime (Paul Lambert appears).
Executioner
Feb 2, 1957 · 26 min
A young gunfighter, Tom Clegg, forces farmer Abe Curry into a duel and kills him. Matt can't arrest Clegg since Abe drew first. However, Abe's brother Morgan plots revenge.
Gone Straight
Feb 9, 1957 · 26 min
Townspeople protect an outlaw (Carl Betz) they believe has reformed (Tige Andrews, Joe De Santis, John Dierkes, Marianne Stewart, and Ward Wood appear).
Bloody Hands
Feb 16, 1957 · 26 min
The shooting of several members of an outlaw gang, though in self defense, triggers an emotional crisis in Matt, haunted by memories of all the men he has killed (Lawrence Dobkin,
Skid Row
Feb 23, 1957 · 26 min
An Eastern girl makes the long trip to Dodge, only to find that her fiancé has lost his money and won't marry her.
Sweet and Sour
Mar 2, 1957 · 26 min
Rena Decker, a new dance hall girl, purposely gets her admirers into fighting over her. Despite Kitty's negative opinion of her, Matt befreinds Rena and gets her a job at the Long
Bureaucrat
Mar 16, 1957 · 26 min
A Washington official is determined to tame Dodge City.
Last Fling
Mar 23, 1957 · 26 min
Kitty gets annoyed by a pair of old farmers who are each trying to have a fling with her.
Chester's Murder
Mar 30, 1957 · 26 min
Chester is drinking at the Long Branch and gets into an argument with a gambler over a girl. When the marshal breaks it up, he tells Chester to bring the man to jail. On the way th
The Photographer
Apr 6, 1957 · 26 min
Dodge City meets a Photographer who shows the residents how a camera works. Jacoby wants to take pictures of how the Wild West looks. When Matt learns someone died, he thinks the
Wrong Man
Apr 13, 1957 · 26 min
A cowboy vows revenge for the shooting of his friend, who was mistaken for a criminal (Don Keefer and Catherine McLeod, real-life husband and wife, appear as a husband and wife).
Big Girl Lost
Apr 20, 1957 · 26 min
Philip Locke is looking for Laura Simmons, a saloon girl, but she doesn't want him to know where she works. Laura tells Matt that she and Philip were previously engaged, and she as
What the Whiskey Drummer Heard
Apr 27, 1957 · 26 min
Matt fakes his death to lure a gunman (Vic Perrin) out in the open (Robert Karnes appears, Bert Rumsey credited as 'Sam').
Cheap Labor
May 4, 1957 · 26 min
A former gunfighter has turned away from violence, but his fiancee's brother is determined to goad him into a gunfight.
Moon
May 11, 1957 · 26 min
After Charlie Brewer is found dead, Jack Salter who was a friend of Charlie Brewer comes to Matt's office saying Vint killed Brewer. Matt then tries to find out if Jack is right.
Who Lives by the Sword
May 18, 1957 · 26 min
Joe Delk causes trouble at The Long Branch after shooting two men who were unarmed.
Uncle Oliver
May 25, 1957 · 26 min
Matt goes after an outlaw (Earle Hodgins) who shot Chester (Paul Wexler appears).
Daddy-O
Jun 1, 1957 · 26 min
Kitty's father, Wayne Russell, arrives in Dodge to meet his daughter after abandoning her and her mother as a baby. He insists that saloon life is not fit for a proper lady and wa
The Man Who Would Be Marshal
Jun 15, 1957 · 26 min
A former Army Officer wants Matt Dillon's job. Matt then takes Mr. Egan on his rounds. Matt lets Egan try his brand of justice that almost costs Egan his life.
Liar from Blackhawk
Jun 22, 1957 · 26 min
A braggart tries to provoke a gunfight with a harmless drunk.
Jealousy
Jul 6, 1957 · 26 min
Jack Kelly plays a hot-tempered husband who thinks Matt is after his wife.