While Marshal Dillon is transporting Ben Crown, who is wanted for murder, back to Dodge City, he runs across Quint Asper, who is on a hunting trip. The trio stops at the Devlin farm and discover Willa Devlin tending to the burial of her dead husband. The widow is now all alone a long distance from other people. Matt makes Ben Crown bury the dead man, and he encourages Willa to come into Dodge -- or at least go somewhere so she can be around other people. Willa refuses, but she obviously is attracted to Quint.
Quint feels compassion for Willa and takes note that she doesn't have much in the way of food. He decides to ride back to her farm the next with a deer he has killed. Along the way, Quint is seen by Nally and his wife Lizzie. Nally despises Quint, simply because he is half Comanche. When Quint arrives at the widow's farm, Willa mistakes Quint's concern for romance, but Quint rejects her advances and returns to Dodge.
After Matt receives a telegraph informing him that someone else confessed to the murder for which Crown is wanted, the Marshal releases Crown. Crown heads straight for the widow's farm where he rapes her. (Of course, the rape is never explicitly acknowledged. Everyone refers to the incident in more vague terms. "She has had a rough time." Indeed.)
Nally and Lizzie check on Willa and discover she has been assaulted. Nally instantly assumes Quint is the culprit. They take Willa into Dodge and inform the Marshal of the attack. Willa is still angry that Quint does not reciprocate her interest in him, and she goes along with Nally's accusations.
As an isolated episode, Quint-Cident is very well done. The problem with the episode is that since the introduction of Burt Reynolds as Quint earlier in Season 8, every story that involves him revolves around discrimination due to his half-Comanche heritage. For me, the biggest issue is that in each case, Quint immediately takes out his frustrations on his friends. The Marshal, Kitty, Doc, and Chester have never shown anything but friendship and support for Quint since he arrived in Dodge. Yet, every time Quint is the victim of discrimination, he lashes out at one or more of them, especially Matt.
The supporting cast is great in this episode. Mary La Roche is especially well cast as Willa Devlin. Ben Johnson as Ben Crown portrays the same basic character he often played.