The story the writer was shooting for was actually a nice story. They wanted the viewer to experience Kitty's relationship without Marshal Dillon in the picture. So they develop a way to get Kitty to leave town and then realize how important it is to have a lawful Marshal, that will risk his life for people, running a town. Good concept.
But they way they got Kitty to leave town seemed odd. They had Matt get shot by a bandit, which has been played out hundreds of times, and now all of the sudden Kitty just cannot stand to live where Matt could be killed. I am not sure why this was any different scenario than ten episode previous.
Anyway Kitty takes the stage to a town where one of her friends, Claire Hollis, runs a saloon. What she comes into is a town that is run by one man named Papa Steiffer. Papa controls all aspects of the town down to the Sheriff and the law. Everyone says 'yes' to Papa or they experience the havoc that comes by way of Papa's justice.
When Kitty buys half interest in the saloon, she advises they her first words to Papa will be 'NO'! But then Matt comes to town looking for Kitty. And the story goes that Kitty does not want to live in the shadow of Matt anymore and she lets him know that. But is Matt ready to move on?
This was a nice story. Amanda Blake was strong in this episode as she tries her life away from the town of Dodge. It was a nice predicable story worthy of a watch. This is one that really shows the relationship between Kitty and Matt.