Air date: January 26, 1962
Mountain man Hyder Simpson (Arthur Hunnicutt) brings some firewood home for his wife Rachel (Jeanette Nolan) and insists that his treasured dog Rip come in with him, since the dog once saved his life. As husband and wife sit down to supper, Hyder says he and Rip plan to go raccoon hunting that night. Rachel warns him not to go out, saying that she's seen several bad omens. Hyder disregards the warning and heads out that night. Rip goes after a raccoon and follows it into a lake, with Hyder in hot pursuit. When Rip doesn't come up, Hyder leaps into the river himself to save his beloved dog.
When day breaks, Hyder and Rip wake up by the side of the lake, with no memory of what happened. As he's heading home, Hyder passes Wesley and Tillman Miller as they dig a grave on his land. They ignore him and once he realizes the grave is dog-sized, he figures they're being silent out of respect. Hyder arrives home to find Rachel dressed in black. She ignores him and Rip and talks to Reverend Wood, who offers condolences for Hyder's death. Rachel talks about how she asked Hyder not to go hunting a month ago, but he ignored her warnings. Hyder looks on as the Miller brothers take his own coffin out and carry it to the graveyard.
Hyder follows them and comes across a fence he's never seen before. He and Rip head down the road parallel to the fence and come to a gatehouse. The gatekeeper comes out and starts taking Hyder's information, asking him how he died. Hyder insists that he's alive, but the gatekeeper has him think back, prompting Hyder to finally realizes he and Rip drowned in the river. He looks down the road on the other side of the gate, which the Gatekeeper describes as Heaven. Rip starts to bark at the gate as Hyder wonders why he doesn't hear any heavenly choir. The gatekeeper says he's unable to hear anything because he's on the outside, and insists that he come in to hear the sounds.
However, when Hyder brings Rip to his attention, the gatekeeper informs him that dogs aren't allowed in Heaven, but notes that there's a special "dog heaven" down the road, promising to deliver Rip there. Hyder refuses to enter, insisting that if it's too fancy for Rip, then it's too fancy for him. The gatekeeper offers to bend the rules a little and slip Rip through the fence later, but Hyder insists on going through the front gate with his treasured dog. The gatekeeper then offers to hold Rip while Hyder looks around and sees if he likes it, but Rip barks at the gatekeeper as Hyder wonders how he'll go raccoon hunting without Rip. The gatekeeper informs him that raccoon hunting isn't allowed in Heaven, which solidifies Hyder's decision. Hyder and Rip head back down the road, despite the gatekeeper's warning that the road goes on for eternity.
Hyder continues a bit down the road, then sits down from the exhaustion. He figures that Heaven must be filled with "big-city folk" if they don't allow raccoon hunting, but he plans to stay with Rip, determined not to leave the dog alone. A young man approaches, identifying himself as "the messenger", and says he's been sent to find Hyder and Rip. He reveals that the gate Hyder and Rip first ventured toward actually led to Hell, since the Devil always tries right up to the last minute to get someone's soul in his clutches. They didn't allow Rip inside because, like all dogs, he would've smelled the brimstone and warned Hyder that something was wrong. The angelic messenger leads Hyder and Rip head down the road to a plain and simple opening which leads to Heaven. Contrary to Hyder's belief, the messenger assures him that there's raccoon hunting and square dancing in Heaven. Hyder is also assured that Rachel will be coming down the road quite soon, and she won't have any trouble with the demonic gatekeeper. With this knowledge in mind, Hyder crosses into the afterlife, his beloved Rip by his side.
"I'm not going without tropes."
- Affectionate Nickname: Hyder and Rachel playfully refer to each other as "Old Man" and "Old Woman" respectively.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: The messenger comes to Hyder in the form of a country boy, even speaking the same country dialect as him.
- An Aesop: As Hyder shows us, never abandon your dog, because they will never abandon you.
- Attending Your Own Funeral: When he returns home, Hyder finds that his wife Rachel, Reverend Wood, and the Miller brothers are preparing to bury his casket. Unlike most applications of the trope, Hyder is dead and attends the burial as a spirit.
- Barred from the Afterlife: Hyder does this to himself. He's allowed into Heaven, but he isn't allowed to take his dog with him. He decides that an afterlife without Rip is a fate worse than death, so he refuses to enter and decides to just wander the path between Heaven and Hell forever. As it turns out, Hyder just saved himself from Hell. Heaven allows dogs and all other species in.
- Berserk Button: Hyder does not take kindly to any insinuation that Rip may have parasites, telling both his wife and the demon that Rip doesn't have any fleas.
- Bittersweet Ending: On the very, very sweet side. Hyder asks the angel if his wife, Rachel, will have any trouble getting into Heaven once she passes. The angel assures him that not only is she guaranteed Heaven, but she's likely to join them soon, implying she's not long left to live.
- Comically Missing the Point: When the gatekeeper says that Rip can't enter Heaven, Hyder's first reaction is an indignant "There ain't no fleas on that dog!"
- Dead All Along: Hyder and Rip. They drown in a river early in the episode, but it takes them until they're at the gates of the afterlife, at least a month later, for it to truly sink in.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: All dogs are able to detect evil and danger. The messenger tells Hyder that while the Devil can fool a man all he wants, he's never able to hide the smell of brimstone from a dog's nose.
- Exact Words: When Hyder asks the gatekeeper if he's St. Peter, the keeper doesn't deny or confirm the question. He only says "I keep the gate, that's a fact". While he's not technically wrong, it's still intended to mislead Hyder about his real identity.
- Faux Affably Evil: The gatekeeper. He's a demon who wants Hyder to walk into Hell and be condemned for eternity, but he's endlessly polite and reasonable. He also only tries to talk Hyder out of leaving, never physically stopping him.
- Foreshadowing: The gatekeeper who claims to be St. Peter attempts to coax Hyder past the gate by saying that once he's over the threshold, he'll hear his favorite hymn. Hyder retorts by saying that he prefers guitar music over church hymnals, implying that "Peter" isn't as all-knowing as he tries to present himself.
- The demon gatekeeper refers to his world as the Elysian Fields, which isn't Heaven, but a pagan afterlife, and, fittingly enough, it's even part of Hades.
- Genre Savvy: Downplayed. Hyder recalls stories of singing and dancing in Heaven, and asks the gatekeeper why he can't hear any of it outside. He's easily convinced when told he'll hear all that once he passes through the gate.
- God Is Good: While He's unseen, God is very forgiving and benevolent towards all of His children. Heaven is a paradise for everyone, and it's not just a fluffy cloud world with singing, it's a pristine backcountry with raccoon hunts and square dances for a simple country man like Hyder. While practicing, good-natured Christians can get in no problem, God will grant tests to people who weren't especially good or pious as a chance to save their souls from damnation. After they pass, He'll send the messenger, who is nothing but jovial and talk to you like an old friend to escort you there. And yes, dogs are more than welcome in Heaven.
- Happily Ever After: Hyder and his beloved dog Rip are dead, and Rachel is soon to follow, but they're all going to be together in Heaven, free to do the things they love the most forever.
- Happily Married: Hyder and Rachel have had a very happy life together even 50 years after they were wed.
- Hats Off to the Dead: After the Miller brothers bury Rip and lower his casket in the grave, they take off their hats as a gesture of respect. It's heavily implied his earnest love for his wife and dog is why God gave Hyder a chance to redeem his soul.
- Hell of a Heaven: As far as Hyder's concerned, a Heaven where Rip isn't permitted and there's no raccoon hunting is no Heaven at all. It's subverted in the end, as what Hyder thought was Heaven was actually Hell.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Hyder loves Rip with an un-ending devotion. He gives his life trying to save Rip from drowning, and his soul is saved because of this same devotion.
- Honor Before Reason: To try to have Hyder enter Hell, the gatekeeper offers to sneak Rip in later. Hyder refuses on the grounds that he doesn't want Rip to feel in any way unwelcome.
- Humble Hero: Hyder is a simple mountain man who loves his dog and his wife a great deal. His unending devotion to his dog helps save his own soul from damnation.
- The messenger counts too. He remarks to Hyder that he has angels' wings, but he prefers walking.
- In the Dreaming Stage of Grief: After Hyder dies, his ghost wanders back to his cabin and finds Rachel mourning his death. He tries to tell her that it's just a dream, but she can't hear him.Hyder: Don't take on, old woman. It's just a dream. We'll wake up in a little and everything'll be like it ought to be.
- I Warned You: Rachel warned her husband against going raccoon hunting that night by claiming to have seen all sorts of bad omens. Sure enough, Hyder and Rip drown in a river. When Hyder spots Rachel during his and Rip's burial, she's seen crying to Reverend Wood that she warned her husband not to go out that night.
- Karma Houdini: The raccoon responsible for Rip and Hyder's death is shown swimming out of the creek and walking away afterwards.
- Meaningful Name: Hyder's dog is named Rip, as in "Rest In Peace". This foreshadows the revelation that Rip and his master have been Dead All Along.
- Hyder also believes that he was only away from home one night, when it turns out to be a month later, just like another Rip (Van Winkle).
- Mundane Afterlife: Hyder is happy to hear that Heaven, which he assumed was for fancy city-folk, has raccoon hunting and square dancing.
- Pet the Dog: Hyder wants nothing to do with any place that would separate him from his faithful dog Rip, even ostracizing himself from what he believes is Heaven itself.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Hyder remarks that his afterlife would've been Hell without Rip by his side. The messenger explains to him how right he actually was.
- Secret Test of Character: The gatekeeper effectively serves as one. If Hyder had listened to him and abandoned Rip, he would have been tricked into Hell.
- Species-Specific Afterlife: According to the gatekeeper, dogs cannot enter Heaven, as they have their own place "just up the road" where humans aren't allowed. This is what makes Hyder choose not to enter Heaven and head down the the road instead, as he decides he'd rather wander aimlessly for eternity than enter Heaven without his dog. A good decision on his part, as the gatekeeper was lying; that was actually Hell. Turns out the real Heaven is welcoming to everyone, pets included.
- Together in Death: The messenger assures Hyder and Rip that Rachel will soon join them in the afterlife without running into the gatekeeper, reuniting the happy family.
- Undying Loyalty: Hyder and Rip to each other. Hyder gives up his life to try and save Rip, and then refuses his (supposed) eternal reward for Rip's sake. Rip, in turn, saves his master from eternal damnation after their deaths.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Averted. The messenger tells Hyder that Rachel will be joining him and Rip shortly, and she won't fall victim to the gatekeeper's trick, either.
- You Are Worth Hell: Hyder would rather wander eternally with Rip that enter Heaven without him.
