Tried It - Didn't Like It

Originally Aired: September 7, 1958 Gunsmoke #335, "Tried It - Didn't Like It," Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester ride out to the Cates ranch on a blistering hot day to investigate a complaint from turkey farmer Hank Jurgen. Hank claims that twelve-year-old Eddie Cates has been shooting his prized turkeys with a Winchester rifle, and this isn't the first time. When they arrive, Eddie's father Grover becomes immediately defensive and hostile, particularly toward Hank. The tension runs deeper than a simple property dispute - Hank and Grover's wife Alma were once close before she suddenly married Grover, and old resentments clearly simmer beneath the surface. When Matt questions young Eddie, the boy vehemently denies shooting any turkeys and counters with an explosive accusation of his own: he's seen Hank visiting his stepmother Alma when Grover is away from the ranch. Eddie, who has never accepted Alma as a replacement for his deceased mother, insists this is why Hank is lying about him. As Alma desperately denies the allegations and Grover sits at home drinking in brooding silence, Matt must untangle the web of accusations, jealousy, and family dysfunction to determine who is telling the truth.