上一集和印第安人的纷争，达顿家大儿子被凯斯的大舅子枪杀，凯斯连开数枪杀了大舅子。警方根据验尸报告推测是当时也在场的凯斯所为。父亲约翰不得不让其他目击证人住嘴，为此还动用了牧师的关系，更重要的是要销毁证据——杀死验尸官并把自己的儿子从坟墓挖出来火化。本集主要是他处理危机的艰难选择，同时作为对比的他儿子凯斯想回到部队，夫妻之间为此的争吵，同样面临婚姻、家庭和事业的矛盾冲突和选择，最后还穿插了印第安人酋长托马斯的智慧之语。
“......No,sir,not a thing on this planet stays where it is.Not one......”
不是的，先生，没有一件事情是说过去就过去的。没有一件。
“....That's the difference between raising a son and a daughter.All you do with a daughter is just keep her from getting be screwed.All you do with a son is try to keep him from screwing himself.....”
养儿和养女的区别就是，你要拼尽全力不让女儿被别人搞，拼尽全力不要儿子把自己搞死。
“....I have seen too much bad in my life to believe god exists.....I don't regret one sin I have committed.It's the one I am about commit that worries me......”
在我的生命中我已经看到过太多不好，以至于我不能相信上帝的存在。我不后悔我犯下的罪。接下来要做的一件（犯罪）烦恼着我。
以上是约翰的对白。
下面是酋长托马斯饱含古老哲理智慧的“演说”：
“Every child looks like their father when they're born.Doesn' matter,boy or girl.Does't matter who they look like three days later.When they come out of the womb,they're a perfect reflection of the man who made them.It's nature's way of proving that you are the father.So that you don't think the baby belongs to someone else,and kill it.”
每个孩子在出生的时候都像父亲，无论男孩还是女孩。不管三天以后像谁，当他们出生的时候，他们简直就是父亲的一个影像。这是生物本能，证明你是父亲。这样你才不会怀疑孩子是别人的，而杀掉他。
