Air date: Oct. 16, 1959
Al Denton (Dan Duryea), local drunk, is the laughingstock of his town, so desperate for liquor that he goes as far as singing drunken songs at the bequest of young bullies led by Dan Hotaling (Martin Landau). One day, he finds a gun lying on the ground. The bullies take notice and try to goad him into a shoot-out, as Denton used to be hot stuff. Denton tries explaining that he doesn't have it anymore, but the gun goes off, shooting the bully's gun out of his hands. While this wins the town's respect and awe, Denton feels he's gotten himself in trouble.
Denton admits that his alcoholism was born of fending off an endless parade of challengers, trying to build their reputations by taking him on, the last of which was a teenage boy. Denton knows that it's going to happen all over again, and is proven right when he receives a challenge from one Pete Grant (Doug McClure). Denton tries to practice, but all he learns is that his earlier feat was just a fluke. The night before the duel, Denton meets a peddler by the name of Henry J. Fate (Malcolm J. Atterbury), who goads him into buying an elixir that will make him an expert marksman – for about ten seconds. Denton buys it, but knows that he's just prolonged his end by about one duel.
At the saloon, Denton meets Grant, a young hopeful who thinks he's unbeatable. Denton sees that Grant has a bottle like the one he bought from Fate, and realizes that they've been set up. The two gunslingers shoot their guns out of each others' hands, causing minor damage that has ended their ability to pull a trigger. Denton tells his young rival that they've been given a chance for a better life, as now neither of them will be able to kill again. Before riding out of town, Fate tips his hat to Denton.
Mr. Denton on Tropesday:
- The Alcoholic: Al was once the fastest gun in the West, but he became a miserable alcoholic when the latest man to challenge him turned out to be a sixteen-year-old boy. Like all of the others, he killed him. Denton gets a second chance from a peddler named Henry J. Fate.
- Artistic License – Medicine: Getting shot in the hand with a .45 caliber revolver is bloodless, doesn't have them howling in pain, and ol' Doc can bandage it up in less than a minute. In reality, their hands with have been mangled to the point that amputation would have probably been necessary. On the other hand, it does permanently damage their trigger fingers, for what it's worth.
- Blasting It Out of Their Hands: A subversion of the usual effects of this trope, as both men suffer permanent damage. Grant's reaction isn't clear, but Denton is thrilled to finally be free from having to prove himself as a killer.
- The Dog Bites Back: Downplayed. Denton didn't mean for his new gun to scare Hotaling, but after a shot or two, he makes it clear that they should stop demeaning him if they know what's good for them.
- Dramatic Gun Cock: Hotaling does this prior to his second and more serious showdown with Denton.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Denton fell into a habit of drinking away his memories of killing challengers as a gunslinger at some point in the past.
- The Gunfighter Wannabe: Grant is the latest in a long, long line (with the implication that said line is what broke Denton to begin with).
- He's Back!: "Don't call me Rummy ever again!!"
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Before he found the gun Fate left for him, Denton was once a famed gunslinger who men for miles around would challenge to a duel. After a moral dilemma caused by shooting a teenager dead, Denton's been reduced to a drunkard who sings to entertain the bullies who pick on him.
- Jerkass: Hotaling, who enjoys tormenting Denton way too much.
- Kick the Dog: Hotaling gets his kicks making Denton beg like a dog for free alcohol and sing just to amuse him and his friends.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is Fate just a normal peddler, or something more?
- Meaningful Name: The peddler is Henry J. Fate.
- Miss Kitty: Liz Smith (Jeanne Cooper), a saloon girl who takes pity on Denton.
- The Perils of Being the Best: Mr. Denton, it turns out, used to be a famous gunslinger, but all the challenges from would-be-gunfighters who wanted to beat him to take his fame for themselves (particularly the young ones) and the subsequent deaths on his conscience psychologically broke him and turned him into a shell of his former self.
- Sore Loser: Hotaling goads Denton to draw against him, and the former gunslinger winds up outdrawing him. Instead of just accepting his loss, Hotaling follows Denton into the saloon and threatens to shoot him in the stomach, with only another Fate-induced quick draw keeping him from doing so.
- The Wild West: The first episode of the series set here.
- Weird West: A place where mysterious strangers may give you magic potions and conjure guns out of nowhere.
