Episode Details

Originally Aired: November 15, 1959

Gunsmoke #397, "The Square Triangle," presents a tale of deadly temptation when Marshal Matt Dillon warns Red Lawson about the dangerous allure of Ava Morley, a married woman whose past admirers ended up in a fatal gunfight. Lawson dismisses the warning, insisting he's no fool like the others. When Matt encounters Ava prowling Front Street after midnight looking for Lawson, he sends her home and fears the worst. His concerns prove justified when Jesse Wells, a young bartender, arrives at Matt's door with grim news: Al Morley has been knifed in the back at their cattle-buying camp near Buffalo Fletch, and Red Lawson has fled with ten thousand dollars.

Matt and Chester pursue Lawson, tracking him to a water stop where the fugitive waits to board the eastbound train. When Matt confronts him, Lawson refuses to surrender, forcing a gunfight that leaves him mortally wounded. As Doc Adams examines the dying man, Matt reflects grimly on how Lawson became just another fool destroyed by his attraction to Ava Morley, despite the marshal's warnings about the mournful nature of certain kinds of love.