A loud-mouthed, hard-drinking buffalo hunter named Abihu Howell (I always wondered where the Gunsmoke writers came up with some the names that were used for various guest characters on the show) happens upon two men hunched over a body on the trail. When the men see Howell, they take off. When Howell investigates the injured man, the viewer can see it is Doc Adams, and he has a bad head injury.
Howell loads Doc in his wagon and takes him to Dodge City. Matt Dillon is away in Hays City. Doc is severely injured. He was returning from a trip to a mining company to treat someone with a broken leg, and the Marshal had asked him to bring back $1,500 that was waiting at the mining company.
When Howell relates his story of seeing the two men with Doc, Festus Haggen and Breck Taylor, the lawyer who first appeared in the earlier Season 10 episode "Breckinridge," set out to find the two suspects. It doesn't take them long to catch up with the men, take them into custody, and transport them back to the Dodge City jail to await Matt's return.
Howell enjoys the attention he gets from the Dodge townspeople and embellishes his account of seeing the two men on the trail with every telling. Doc is well loved, of course, and the people become increasingly upset that two "bushwhackers" everyone knows are guilty are being held in the town jail. Even Festus isn't so sure the two men deserve any protection from the mob.
Breck Taylor is concerned about the environment that is developing in Dodge. He sends a young man to alert the Marshal to what is happening. Will Matt get back before the situation in Dodge is completely out of control?
A little comedy is even injected when Festus tries to explain "due process" to some of the angry men that think the two men deserve lynching.
This episode features another stellar cast of familiar character actors. Harry Townes plays Abihu Howell. Townes specialized in playing boisterous, highly animated characters, as is the case here. Ben Cooper reprises his role as Breck Taylor, but this would be the last Gunsmoke episode that would feature the attorney character and the last that would include Cooper in any role.
George Lindsey, who was best known for his performances on The Andy Griffith Show as Goober Pyle, was an underrated actor. His performance here as Billy Yeager, one of the two robbery suspects, is excellent. Jay Ripley, who was usually cast in roles as an excitable, impetuous kid, is Yeager's partner Ned Moore.
There are several uncredited performances in this episode by the various townspeople. Many are familiar faces that often appeared in Gunsmoke stories.
There is nothing especially unique or profound about this episode, but it does offer an entertaining hour of television.
Note: As some of the other reviewers point out, this episode is sometimes confused in television listings with Episode 35, "The New Society." On some networks, the episode listed as "Two Tall Men" is actually "The New Society," and the episode listed as "The New Society" is actually "Two Tall Men."
