Gunsmoke – The Queue, Ben Wright, Reused Script. 571117

A Chinaman has arrived in Dodge, and the bullies who bother him cause Chester to get Matt to break up the scuffle. The outpouring from the bullies is pure, typical racial prejudice at the arrival of the newcomer. Matt gives Chin Wan a hand in finding a job, and things go well for a while.

Matt learns that Chin Wan is more brilliant than he first let on, and can speak English better than the stereotype that he let the bullies believe.
The normally hard working Chin is suddenly brooding. Is it his sore tooth? Is it something else? Chin explains the importance of his queue, or pigtail, and the bullies who cut his off. It’s a matter of preserving dignity, and if Matt can’t get the queue back from the bullies, Chin feels obligated to kill those who injured his pride.

Who’s going to win this faceoff? With the trail of bodies that pile up, probably nobody. Chin had a treasure box that the bullies wanted. Was the violence that resulted worth the contents of it?