Gunsmoke - "Milligan"

by Ted Davis

Original Air Date: November 6, 1972

Directed by: Bernard McEveety

This review contains a severe Kitty Carnage Warning!

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!

Synopsis: Mild-mannered hard-working farmer Johnny Milligan (Harry Morgan) is a good man, a kind and loving husband to loyal and supportive wife Janet (Lynn Carlin), who has a close and affectionate relationship with sweet daughter Wendy (Patti Cohoon). But Johnny is reviled and attacked by the worst element of the Dodge City citizenry after he inadvertently back-shoots and kills charming but vicious outlaw Jack Norcross (Joseph Campanella), who was lionized by some of weaker minded townspeople as something of a folk hero. Eventually, the attacks spread to Johnny’s family and he responds to that violence with righteous violence of his own, supported by the indomitable Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness).

Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): At the start of the episode, while Johnny is applying for a loan to tide the family over during the current drought, Janet and Wendy wait outside in the buckboard with another family member, Jim Grim the ginger cat, who Wendy pets throughout the sequence.

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Janet Lynn Carlin and Wendy Patti Cohoon waiting on wagon with ginger tabby cat Jim Grim

When Johnny comes out of the bank empty handed, Jack and his gang are close behind with the loot they’ve just stolen, some of which they throw at the family which sits, shocked.

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Johnny Harry Morgan, Janet Lynn Carlin and Wendy Patti Cohoon on wagon with ginger tabby cat Jim Grim

Jim Grim is next seen as he and Wendy stargaze on the front porch when Johnny returns home.

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Johnny Harry Morgan and Wendy Patti Cohoon standing on porch with ginger tabby cat Jim Grim

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Johnny Harry Morgan and Wendy Patti Cohoon standing on porch with ginger tabby cat Jim Grim animated gif

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Johnny Harry Morgan leaving porch and Wendy Patti Cohoon with ginger tabby cat Jim Grim

The next morning, Wendy and Jim Grim join Johnny near the barn while he’s toiling on a stubborn wheel. Johnny humorously asks the cat if he has any ideas on how to get money, but Jim Grim vouchsafes no reply. Wendy and her cat stay outside after Johnny goes back to the house to meet with Marshal Dillon.

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Johnny Harry Morgan and Wendy Patti Cohoon with ginger tabby cat Jim Grim next to broken wagon

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Johnny Harry Morgan and Wendy Patti Cohoon with ginger tabby cat Jim Grim

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Johnny Harry Morgan and Wendy Patti Cohoon with ginger tabby cat Jim Grim animated gif

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Wendy Patti Cohoon with ginger tabby cat Jim Grim

Severe Kitty Carnage Warning! After supper, Wendy goes outside to find Jim Grim hanging from a tree, brutally killed by the scum of Dodge City. Her screams and cries alert her parents to the vile atrocity. Thankfully the cat is certainly fake.

Gunsmoke - Milligan - silhouette of ginger tabby cat Jim Grim hanging from tree

A sad and heartbroken Wendy mourns at Jim Grim’s grave, marked by a headstone in respect and remembrance for the lost family member.

Gunsmoke - Milligan - Johnny Harry Morgan and Wendy Patti Cohoon at graveside of Jim Grim

As the family pack up their belongings in preparation to leaving Dodge, a town delegation arrives, headed by Wendy’s schoolmates who had cruelly tormented her earlier in the episode. The sincerely repentant children want to make amends and beg Wendy and her family not to leave. They also offer Wendy a new ginger kitten, which she joyfully accepts. Johnny observes, “I guess it wouldn’t be right to take that kitty travelin,’ not when she just got here.” And with that, the Milligans begin to unpack.