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This episode was one of the best to date. It did not rely upon intricate plotting or incredible plot twists. Instead it offered the interaction between two characters in a mostly comic story.

The writer did not need to create a backstory or devote an undue amount of time to it. Instead the cast was headed by two "types": Percy Kelton and Hope Emerson, thereby giving us a head start.

The writing seems more inspired here, but it may be due to the quality of the acting. Kelton and Emerson are indeed an odd couple, but their bond is more of a friendship than a relationship. Indeed, the one marriage depicted here is shown to be a miserable failure.

This episode allows two pros to entertain us, and I certainly recommend it to any viewer.

I have great admiration for Bret Harte and his short stories, and if you are unfamiliar with them, most of them are available online. Contrary to what is suggested in this episode, I do not believe that Harte was merely a chronicler or biographer of various characters he encountered. His stories were undeniably true to life, but Harte was an artist and not merely a recorder.

If only one of his stories had been selected, a terrific episode might have been made from the story. But some of his best do not have a necessarily happy ending. Maybe that would have been too advanced for the 1950s. Instead, by presumably presenting a biography of Harte, the episode overlooks the important material: not what Harte was, but what he wrote.

All of what I mention becomes known in the first one-third of the story, so this is not necessarily a spoiler.

At the start, Johnny confesses that "the worst thing is once I start, I can't stop." A valid characteristic of alcoholism. And for laughs, his girlfriend insists that he keep drinking.

We are shown that Johnny robs stagecoaches when he is drunk. And evidently he is a blackout drinker since he honestly can't recall robbing the stages or other important details of the robberies.

However, it is extremely unlikely that someone not disposed to rob stages when sober would do that multiple times successfully when drunk. And with no assistance. And that during a robbery, he would not recall someone he met shortly before, while sober.

Johnny's illness sounds more like multiple personalities than alcoholism. It's a shame that Bret did not ask the robber what his name was, after unmasking him.

However, the story seems to play by its own rules, and that should not diminish enjoyment of it.