Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘She Was Kristin’

The survivor

In “Dallas’s” fifth-season episode “Gone But Not Forgotten,” after the Farlow limousine parks in the Southern Cross ranch’s driveway, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) exits and walks away, followed closely by Dusty (Jared Martin).

DUSTY: Sue Ellen?

SUE ELLEN: Kristin is dead. I knew it but it didn’t hit me until right now.

DUSTY: I know darling.

SUE ELLEN: That beautiful young girl is gone. My sister. We didn’t play together very much when we were growing up. She always made fun of my boyfriends. And then when she went to high school, she was no longer “Sue Ellen’s little sister.” She was Kristin. She had an identity. She was real smart. She could have been anything that she wanted to be.

DUSTY: What happened?

SUE ELLEN: [Pauses, faces him] Mama is what happened. Mama wanted us girls to have everything that she wanted but couldn’t get by herself. We were like little dolls, created to fulfill all the things that she wanted. She wanted wealth and position and decided that we could get it for her. Maybe that’s why Kristin turned to drugs. Because she failed to live up to the goals that Mama had created for her. Maybe that’s why I had a problem with alcohol.

DUSTY: What about your father? Didn’t he have any say in how you were brought up?

SUE ELLEN: Daddy? The only thing I remember about my daddy was the smell of liquor on his breath. He left us right after Kristin was born. And I guess it was about a year later Mama got a letter saying he was dead.

DUSTY: Well, I think I had better go to that funeral with you.

SUE ELLEN: No, John Ross and I can go to Albuquerque. I don’t think I can explain you to Mama. [Smiling] Not quite yet, anyway. [They kiss.]

DUSTY: I think you had better leave John Ross here at the ranch with me.

SUE ELLEN: No, he’ll be all right. My mama hasn’t seen him since he was a little baby anyway.

DUSTY: [Touching her face] You ready to go in now?

SUE ELLEN: Yes.

She kisses his hand and they walk toward the house.