He done it
We now know who killed J.R. Ewing.
In “Legacies,” “Dallas’s” second-season finale, the Ewings completed the execution of the master plan that J.R. (Larry Hagman) devised before his death. All of our questions were finally answered:
• Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) learned Pam was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and went to Abu Dhabi to receive experimental treatments. The treatments failed and Pam died in 1989, but Cliff (Ken Kercheval) paid her doctor, David Gordon (Sam Anderson), to create the illusion that Pam was still alive so Christopher couldn’t inherit her share of Barnes Global.
• The police nabbed Roy Vickers (Alex Fernandez), but Cliff had him murdered in jail before he could reveal Cliff was the mastermind behind the rig explosion. Meanwhile, the police arrested Harris (Mitch Pileggi) after Emma (Emma Bell) exposed his role in the Mexican drug trafficking. (The high heels were made of cocaine!)
• After John Ross (Josh Henderson) discovered Cliff had flown to Nuevo Laredo before J.R.’s death, he decided Cliff must have killed J.R. Bobby confirmed John Ross’s suspicions and revealed the gun that J.R. left for John Ross actually belonged to Cliff. To make sure the police caught Cliff, John Ross and Pamela (Julie Gonzalo) planted J.R.’s belt buckle in his safe deposit box; when the cops discovered it, J.R.’s body was exhumed and investigators determined the slugs found in his chest cavity came from Cliff’s gun. The Mexican police arrested Cliff and hauled him away.
But wait, there’s more!
Bobby went to see Cliff in the Mexican prison and offered him a deal: Confess to blowing up the rig, having Vickers assassinated and his conspiracy against the Ewings and Bobby would help him. But Cliff didn’t bite. “I have never done anything that the Ewings asked me to do – and I’m not going to start today,” he seethed. As Bobby walked away, Cliff asked him who really killed J.R. Bobby’s response: “You’ll never know, Cliff.”
Cut to J.R.’s gravesite, where John Ross and Christopher persuaded Bobby to finally read the letter that J.R. left him. Here’s what J.R. wrote:
“Bobby, Doctors say I’ve only got a few days left. Damn cancer. I should have told you earlier, but you know how I detest pity. The feud Digger Barnes started with our family caused more heartbreak than either of us has time to recount. Well, I guess you do have the time. Use it. Put an end to this feud, once and for all.
“I had Bum steal Cliff’s gun. That malignant little troll Barnes comes to Mexico every year for a marlin fishing competition. I’m going to damn well stay alive long enough to be here when he arrives. Carlos del Sol will smooth out the rough edges in Mexico for you. And talk to Bum. He’s the final and most important piece of the puzzle. And the best friend I didn’t deserve to have.
“So remember the time that you got grounded for ‘borrowing’ Daddy’s favorite shotgun? You swore up and down it wasn’t you but Daddy said there was no point in lying because he found those extra shells in your room. Well, we both know it was me who planted those shells. Now it’s time to play that card again.
“I can never make up for all the terrible, hurtful things I did to you, Bobby. And I have no excuses either one of us will believe. But I hope in the quiet place in your heart, where the truth lives, that my jealousy – as powerful as it was – was nothing compared to my love for you. Goodbye, baby brother. I guess I’ll be duck hunting with Daddy. I’ll tell him I was the one who borrowed his gun.”
After the letter was read, John Ross asked who actually pulled the trigger. Bum filled in the blanks: “I shot your father, John Ross. He only had a few days left and he asked me to do it. He said that’s the way it had to be. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Please believe that J.R.’s last act was an act of love. For his family. And for you.”
So for those of you keeping score: Yesterday, I suggested a terminally ill J.R. could have arranged his own death and fingered Bum as the person who pulled the trigger, but I ended up naming Cliff as his most likely assailant.
I should have, uh, stuck to my guns. Because like John Ross told Bum, “The only person who could take down J.R. … was J.R.”
What do you think of the resolution to the big mystery? Share your comments below and read more posts on Dallas Decoder’s “Who Killed J.R.?” page.
Dallas Decoder 
I loved it! That was my guess from the beginning. Made me cry, when Bobby read the letter. These words could have been written by Larry himself. “Damn Cancer!” “Goodbye baby brother”… Oh and I loved the sentence on the gravestone: “The Only Deal He Ever Lost”, in a way, this isn’t true, is it? Because he even cheated death by taking his own life 🙂
Larry Hagman had said a while ago that he thought that would be what J.R. would have on his tombstone. I’m glad the writers listened. 🙂
Great insight, Kait. Thanks.
Ronnie, I’m glad you enjoyed the show. I loved that gravesite scene too.
It was an act of love. Why did Bum soot him mid-conversation? J.R. was on the phone with John Ross when Bum shot him. At least let the man say good bye. This clearly explains why Bobby instructed Bum to make it look like a robbery gone bad. The sloppy police work? Why was it so sloppy as to not even properly identify the gun? How did they claim to know it was a .38 that took out J.R. when the bullets were still inside him? I do not look down on J.R. for having himself killed. It sort of reminds me of John Wayne in “The Shootist.” J.R. gave his life to save South Fork, his family, and also to take down Cliff Barnes and Harris Ryland.
The shooting of JR mid phone call was what I used all along to convince myself he would never commit any form of suicide. Let’s face it if that didn’t happen even people like me would have figured this mystery out.
But I’ll defend the sloppy Mexican police work a bit. I don’t think it was that at all. At this point I believe Carlos Del Sol was a loyal friend and bought the sloppy Mexican police work. He must have someone even supressed a proper autopsy. How else would JR get buried with the bullets still in the body?
Good theory about the bullets, Dan. Thanks.
Jump, now I want to see “The Shootist.” Thanks!
Chris, “The Shootist” is a top notch film. I promise that you will enjoy it. It has a top rate cast. Ron Howard, James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, and of course, “”The Duke”. That film and “Shane” are my two favorite westerns and I can watch them any time.
I’m putting “The Shootist” in the Netflix queue, Jump. Thanks.
You will see many similarities between John Wayne’s character in this film and the way he chooses to go out, as J.R. did. They both were also dying of cancer in real life as well.
I’m excited to see it, Jump. I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve watched it.
Well going in I was so opposed to JR killing himself I didn’t allow myself to see it coming. Now that it happened I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would. Maybe it was the days left part that couched the blow for me.
But once again poor continuity brings down what should have been a great episode. Whatever and whyever Don Cliff is what he is today, the Cliff of 1989 would not have paid anyone to cover up Pam’s death for personal gain. This just doesn’t make sense. First of all Dallas would go on several more seasons. At no point was Cliff ever the head of Barnes Global, Wentworth Industries or even Consolidated Lint. (He was however a partner in Ewing Oil and cooperated quite well with Bobby for a time. So much for never doing anything a Ewing asked of him.) So we are supposed to believe that Cliff during his most sympathetic period bribed Pam’s Dr. to cover up her death in case one day he decided to become evil, takeover Wentworth Industries in a hostile way, rename it, go into gambling (which he never showed an interest in before) and use all that to break the peace he made with Miss Ellie if JR ever ended up in and was released from a nursing home. Talk about foresight…
Why do the writers keep doing this? Sometimes I think I should become one of those bitter people who complain about how this isn’t my Dallas.
And didn`t Cliff and April go to Canada to find Pam, not Houston?
Off the top of my head, Canada doesn’t sound right but I really don’t remember where it was.
Boy was April along on that trip? She might have been. I do remember that Cliff met with Pam and the Dr. alone though. That I’m sure of.
She was in the hallway 🙂
Sunnycd: You say April was in the hall and that is sounding familiar. Might have stayed behind at the hotel too. But I’m going to have to pull out the DVD’s to see if a location was ever given for that meeting. Unless someone else remembers…
Good question about Canada, Sunny. I’ll look into that.
I am, and I’m glad I’m not watching the destruction of this once great show by this woman!
I really like the show, DE. Sorry you’re not enjoying it.
Dan, I understand what you’re saying. I agree: Cliff must have begun his scheme to defraud Christopher during his “good guy” period at the end of the show. I wish I had a good explanation for how this is possible. I suppose Cliff was more duplicitous than we ever realized.
One thing Cliff never was: duplicitous. He’s the dictionary definition of what you see is what you get. This will always be a continuity error in my mind.
“Who Killed JR?” was the mystery that never was. When they had Cliff arrested, I was screaming in my head, “Please let it be Cliff!“ And then we get the cemetery scene and Bum pouting and saying, “It was the hardest thing I ever had to do.“ Ugh. Too safe, too lame.
I didn`t hate the finale, probably 7/10 for me. The Pam wrap-up does give us closure, but again, it was safe. I didn’t believe that the first shot of the woman with the big hat from last week was the same one as the nurse this week. Do you believe that the woman from last week (probably making us believe it was Katherine , who I kept waiting for last night) would be wearing the ugly hat that the nurse was wearing when Christopher turned her around? Runway to grandmother – a diverse wardrobe!
I think it was this website that tweeted how great Ken Kercheval was in the finale and you were right! And the new storyline that he created with Elena is the only one, I think, that creates momentum for the next season.
I wanted a real cliffhanger or two. I wanted my jaw to fly off my face like some of the cliffhangers of old. But despite what Patrick Duffy and Cynthia Cidre wanted us to believe in the press, that didn`t happen.
Good feedback, Sunny. I especially appreciate your point about the difference in the hats — the one in the surveillance camera was quite stylish, while the one seen when Christopher confronted the woman was a little dowdy. I also agree with you about the Cliff/Elena alliance. It’s an intriguing storyline for next season.
Yeah the Pam wrap up gives closure. Closure that ignores continuity. So I have a hard time using the word safe here.
When Cliff was arrested around the half way point in the episode I knew right away it wasn’t him. That was just too soon. But yes despite my feelings on the Don Cliff character, Ken Kercheval plays it so well. I really enjoy his performances immensly.
I thought this season had a decent two part cliffhanger. Season 1 didn’t have a cliffhanger at all. It was more of an annoucment. John Ross just stood there announcing I’m turning heel. But there was no event that left us hanging.
This season we get:
A) Who is Joaquin and what is Elena’s past. Whoever Joaquin is he can’t be a good guy. Perhaps he’s another Mexican drug cartel type? And what is Elena’s connection to him? All along we thought Drew was the bad boy of the family. Now it looks like it might be a family affair. We aslo have the question: will Elena leverage this shady contact into the next war for Southfork? Just how angry and how far is she willing to go?
B) What is up with John Ross and Emma? It looks like John Ross hasn’t been the team player we were lead to believe he’s been since JR’s death. It looks like he’s used his family and Pamela Rebecca in an enemy of my enemy capacity. It now looks like he’s also spent time putting a master plan of his own into motion. What is it?
In my book that is a dictionary definition cliffhanger.
I agree, Dan. Some pretty promising plotlines were left dangling. Bring on Season 3 and the answers.
I was one of the people who officially stated I didn’t believe JR did himself in. But I have to say that I found the answer quite satisfying. The moment Cliff started yelling in that room…I was like…OMG…he did everything else but he didn’t kill JR. The scene. At the graveside was compelling. Bobby crying during that letter, JohnRoss asking in that half sob half begging voice. Uncle bobby who shot my Daddy?, and then Bum…..I cried.
Pam..as I said on another thread…I thought the resolution of that story was done right. Pam and Chris deserved the right to have that story fixed. The original writers completely screwed up their story by having Pam run away forever. I am fine too with cliff’s part in it. 1) the resolution had to have a little mess. It was mangled so badly 24 yrs ago that any resolution would have to stretch some facts of continuity. Cliff has already been altered..so making him the scapegoat in order to redeem Pam …okay. 2). Ad lets face it…we don’t know when Cliff finally found out Pam died. It could very well have been well after 1989. Dr Gordon never said last night that Cliff was told ASAP about Pam’s death. It could have been years before Cliff made the effort to track her down. We only know he never tried again on the original series to find her. (Btw…that never made sense on the original. He just gave up and walked away from her.)
Posted early..oops.
I think the second part set up a third season quite well. Lots of little threads sitting there begging to be pulled and begging to be explained. Clearly, setting up a Ramos/Ewing war….the land deal combined with the SE /Elena deal of this season is gonna fuel this. Drew seemed to always be the one who had issues with the Ewings…but we’ll see if Elena will join him. And how will this effect her damaged relationship with Chris? Who is this Joaquin? Will he join her fight if there is to be one?
Certainly don’t believe that the Barnes/Ewing feud is going to end. Cliff might be in prison..but he still has access to money and will use Elena is possible. Pamela seems to love John Ross…but for how long? He clearly manipulated her into marrying him to get access to 1/3 of BG…. But now she also has access to 1/2 of Southfork and 16.5% of the oil under it. What will she do if she finds out his duplicity with Emma? She went into that marriage fully aware of what he is…he openly admitted to his misbehavior…she will strike back with so e duplicity of her own. It will be a new part of the Barnes/Ewing feud.
What was in that suitcase Emma got for John Ross? He called it the mother lode. What will happen with these two? Both of them certainly belong on the evil side of the equation…. John Ross certainly loves to play with the naughty girls.
So many questions begging to be answered.
Hel, good point about Pamela having access to some of the oil under Southfork. That hadn’t occurred to me. A tantalizing proposition.
Hel,
But doesn’t Cliff have to supress Pam’s death immediately for this to work? If he doesn’t do it right away doesn’t either Pam’s doctor or the nurse go about reporting the death through normal channels so her true heirs get their inheritance? I get this was an international death but surely there is some established procedure for this kind of thing.
If we are to believe that Dr. Gordon was sincere in his full confession to Christopher he knew the complete score regarding Pam’s condition and more importantly her wishes. He obviously had access to her will. So if he was on Pam’s side I have to believe he would have acted on that will right away. That means Cliff had to get to him right away before that window of opportunity to supress the will is lost.
I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t think Pam told the doctor and/or nurse “Here’s my will but no rush on executing it. Yay I feel bad about abondoning my family and all and want to make that right but whenever you get to it is fine.”
No for this to work we have to believe the good Cliff got to them right away in 1989.
That could be true. But we are talking about two people who willingly took money for years, willingly went along with a plan to cheat Chris out of his inheritance, and willingly denied Pam’s wishes. Yes, Dr Gordon sounded all sincere with Chris last night. But think about it….even when Chris first confronted him and begged for Pam, he denied Chris that information. The only reason he confessed was that Chris caught them about to rob the cookie jar and run. So I do not believe in any form or fashion they are two good people. They perpetuated a crime for over 20 years and dishonored Pam’s wish to let Chris know how much she really loved him. Who knows the whole truth? I am not convinced that they didn’t see a great opportunity to get some free money when Pam died. How easy must it have been just to stay quiet and spend that money? Who knows when Cliff first found out about it? It could have been years. Your argument that Gordon was on Pam side doesn’t sound valid. Yes, he said he was last night…..but let’s be honest here….if he ever really was on her side….he would have done the right thing years ago…..because it goes beyond the money…how incredibly heartless do you have to be to deny a child the knowledge his mother really did not abandon him? Dr Gordon could not have cared less about Chris and Pam. He sold them out for a few hundred grand a year.
We don’t know. We only know that Cliff did not ever talk about Dr Gordon those last 3 years on Dallas. We don’t know what happened over the interim 20 years. I am one who believes Cliff found out much later. The only reason not to believe this is if you believe that Gordon was this great decent guy who was forced to do Cliff’s bidding. Nothing was said last night by Gordon to make me think that.
Hel, you make a good point. Dr. Gordon is a real snake when you think about it.
I’m with you, Dan. Cliff’s scheme probably had to begin as soon as Pam died.
Hel, I loved Ken Kercheval’s performance in the scene where Cliff is arrested. It’s so heartening to see him get so much meaty material.
What I liked more than anything else in this episode? PAM IS DEAD.
Joe: I agree but I also believe you and I are in the minority here.
I do think Cidre agrees as well. I recall first season interviews where she stated she had no desire or intention to address Pam in anyway. I believe she was pressured into it by those demanding Pam. In a sense she stuck to her guns and while she went there she went the closure route so she wouldn’t have to go there in the future. She even appears to have pandered to the Pam fans but redeeming her in the process. The only problem is lazy way she did it creates more continuity problems.
You guys are not the minority. I just watched Season 10 and I found myself ff her scenes. I became a fan of the show because I wanted to see Sue Ellen get her act together.
Dan, I agree this creates some continuity problems, but I think the most important thing is that Pam has received closure. That’s long overdue.
Joe, I knew you’d be happy about that one.
I always believed from the beginning J.R. took his own life!!
Mom, you were right — as usual.
I think I should be a detective. This was my theory all along. 🙂
Glad you guessed it, gwh3.
From the start of the mystery I was denying the idea Jr killed Jr I said it wasn’t something he would do it wasn’t shocking enough etc. I thought they would pull a fast one and secretly bring back a dallasite to open up a nice s3 story. Seeing Jr kill Jr executed was brilliant though and maybe that’s why I didn’t like the idea on paper Jr lived scheming and died scheming he took down cliff for good and then to setup s3 they have the new Ramos fued John Ross becoming Jr (with a soul). Having someone kill Jr left more connection to him and I think this lets Jr RIP while continuing the Ewing’s on with a new generation.
Glad you liked the resolution, Zach.
I agree with others I wouldn’t let myself think Jr did it. Now I can’t stop beating my brain for doing that lol. Patrick Duffy was right – they made you replay it in your mind and say Damn I should of known. I love how they executed it and moved the story along. I still can’t believe the answer was there the whole time and I wouldn’t believe it. Okay bring on new season!
Yep, Zach, I feel the same way. I wish I had called this whole thing earlier.
I do not know about anyone else but I thought the explanation of what happened to Pam was a huge slap in the face to Victoria Principal. It was like the doctor who married Pam was really talking to the audience when he said to Christopher “She does not want to have anything to do with you!” and also “She looked so hideous that she wants to be remembered for what she was and not as the ugly deformed monster she had become.” (I know I don’t have the lines down exact.) Cliff Barnes would do something like that. I do not really see any revisionist story line. Cliff could of just used looking for Pam here or there as a smokescreen and wild goose chases. Just because J.R. was bad, it did not mean that Cliff Barnes was good. J.R. knew that John Ross loved Pamela Rebecca Barnes and that there was nothing anyone could do to keep them apart. He knew Barnes and Ryland are coming after Bobby and South Fork. J.R. knew what he had to do to stop Cliff Barnes and Harris Ryland. J.R. also knew he was dying.
Too predictable. JR had bum kill him, Pam Dead, No Katherine, Cliff and Ryland in prison. The elena/Cliff Barnes thing is a snooze. JR’s Masterpiece didn’t make sense. JR was willing to allow an innocent man, (cliff) take the fall for his murder, long before Cliff blew that Rig, had that hitman assassinated, just so the Ewings could win. Also it p****d me off to think John Ross doesn’t really love Pamela Rebecca at all and jumps in bed with Ann’s blonde tart of a daughter. Also Bobby was one heartless sob “I mourned Pam a long time ago.”…………………..When exactly? He shed more tears for JR than he did Pam and the Pam and Bobby love story was one of the biggest romances of Dallas history. The Ewings vs Ramoses can’t wait to see that if it is renewed………….not!
And why is there a big smudge on JR’s painting?
Congratulations Cidre, you have made your current finale a double car crash.
I agree with everything you’ve said. I think the whole ending of the storyline was just insulting to our intelligence.
Sorry you didn’t like the finale, Jamie.
my big problem with this “conclusion” to the Who Killed JR storyline is not so much that JR did himself in to bring down Cliff but more so that “moral compass” Bobby is willing to lie to his whole family and the police about JRs killer…especially since he just went off on Ann for not being honest about her child..and in my opinion, hiding an assisted suicide/framing someone else for murder is worse than not telling someone the truth about ur childs kidnapping 20 years ago…and while im discussing the truth issue, it always comes out so we know Cliff will be free if theres a 3rd season and this whole convoluted anticlimactic story will be for naught. at this point i almost wish they had just said JR died in his sleep and then said he had cancer when the autopsy report came in…i know it wouldnt have been exciting but at least we wouldnt have had some crazy foolishness like this to deal with. i just cant believe Bobby would go along with something like this even if JR wanted him to play it out… and then to have John Ross and Christopher just kinda shrug it off like it was no big deal that they were framing someone for JRs murder…terrible terrible terrible
I literally booed at the TV screen last night. I thought it was a total cop out. I knew within the first five minutes, when everything started to point to Cliff, that it wasn’t going to be Cliff.
So J.R. allows his own son hear him get shot?
He devastates Sue Ellen by leaving a note implying they might have had a future together if only he hadn’t got shot?
Then he leaves his straight up brother to go against everything he stands for and to frame Cliff for his murder? Seems cruel to the people he loved.
So the “masterpiece” was to show up at Pam’s house and just demand that she give all her shares to Christopher and frame Cliff for J.R.’s murder? At best that would have got them 1/3 of Barnes Global.
When he died J.R. had no idea if Pam was dead or alive, if he did he would told Bobby. What if she’d remarried? What if she’d got other kids? Even if she hadn’t why would she give up her shares like that? It was just blind luck that she was dead.
He couldn’t have known Emma would take Ryland down.
He couldn’t have know about the rig explosion, the death of the unborn babies, Cliff being directly responsible for it, then Pamela Rebecca finding out he was, and not only turning against him and turning to the Ewing’s.
It would be one thing for J.R. to die to save his family but make it a masterpiece. There are plot holes large enough to drive one of Rylands trucks through. It’s not big enough. Have J.R. start out trying to get Cliff and Ryland but stumble onto something much bigger, like arms shipments or human trafficking or something, and bring them all down, including the Governor, and in an ironic twist have the ‘scoundrel,’ die an American hero.
I have loved having DALLAS back and I’ve cut the writers a lot of slack with the inconsistencies but last night left me kinda cold. If DALLAS is to get a third season then I think they are going to have to reboot the reboot. Keep the focus on Bobby, Sue Ellen, John Ross, and Pamela Rebecca, rebuild the show around them, and most importantly get in a team of writers that wont insult our intelligence.
I liked the finale, Nick, but I appreciate your points.
At first, I was “bummed” out that JR had himself killed. But after a bit, I realized “who did I really want to kill the biggest icon in TV?” If it was Cliff (which i too didn’t think it was him because they revealed it too early in the show), I didn’t want Cliff to be the one to murder JR. JR is always supposed to come out on top.
As far as the rest of the show, I was a little annoyed with the last scene with Elena. I didn’t think she deserved to be in the last scene of Season 2. She’s just not important enough, even though it appears that Cidre wants her to be. I know that she wants to give the show the Hispanic influence, but so far, all the Hispanics are not particularly nice people. I think she’s stereotyping them, and not in a good way.
I agree that, even though it’s fine to bring in new characters, you need to concentrate on the core — Bobby, Sue Ellen, Josh, Pamela, Christopher, even Cliff, if he survives jail.
I agree, Donna. I’m glad J.R. came out on top. I like Elena and think Jordana Brewster is one of the show’s best actresses. I’m hopeful she’ll get a meaningful storyline next season.
My favorite scene of the night is between John Ross and Sue Ellen very similar to last season’s final scene between John Ross and JR. Josh and Linda have great chemistry. As she tells him it’s tough being a Ewing Bride and he states …
“What do you take me for momma? a scoundrel?” as the Maverick’s song starts to play and they smile at each other and then Sue Ellen picks up the JR bourbon and sashays out the office bottle in hand … in fact, my favorite scene of the entire Dallas TNT series. Great television!
Frank, great point about the parallels between the J.R./John Ross and Sue Ellen/John Ross scene. That hadn’t occurred to me. Thanks for sharing it.
Chris
The beauty of JR’s plan is that it required Ryland and/or Cliff to do something bad for it to work.
I watched an old clip from Dallas on YouTube recently. It was from a time that JR devised a scheme against Cliff (one of his many). JR really didn’t do much except set up circumstances that tempted Cliff. It required Cliff to actually make the decisions to take actions that led to his downfall. If Cliff did the right thing he would have been okay, by doing the wrong thing he got himself into a huge mess. The scene was when JR confronts Cliff with the knowledge that he was the mastermind behind it. He taunts Cliff by reminding him that Cliff’s ego was JR’s willing partner.
JR masterpiece was brilliant because it wasn’t just a set series of steps. Like most of JR scheme’s it requires the target to actually commit wrongs themselves for it to work. JR was pretty sure that his death would result in open season against the family. His plan would not have worked if Cliff had just walked away and left the Ewings alone. Bobby would have never set up the final part…the frame…if Cliff had not taken action against the family. JR didn’t know what Cliff was going to do…he just knew that would do something. JR just set up the pieces to be used if they had been needed. He framed Cliff for the murder….but did it in a manner that gave Bobby the option of following thru or not.
JR did straight up blackmail etc to get what he wanted when necessary. But think back to the original….when he would set up some big scheme…he always would create temptations for his target. If someone was honest and resisted temptation, the scheme wouldn’t work. Like Bobny said to Sue Ellen last week….it is hubris that did Cliff in. He was the architect of his own destruction.
Good points, Hel. Harris, like Cliff, was the architect of his own destruction.
I think the show did a good job. I was glad that they put Digger’s Daughter to rest. Enough. VP didn’t want to come back so why keep asking her? Fans should respect her wishes and move on. I guess I’m ok with how JR orchestrated his own death and blamed Cliff Barnes for it. It was a stroke of genius because they kept us guessing till the end.
I agree, Sandy. I would have enjoyed seeing Victoria Principal play Pam again, but I respect how the show gave the character closure. Rest in peace, Pam.
I didn’t like the idea of Bobby framing Cliff at all, but having thought about it, I can see it’s consistent with Bobby having to step into the shadows and do what JR would have done. Of course he’ll be conflicted about this and no doubt this will manifest itself in season 3.
Far from seeing plot holes, I think it was brilliantly done. JR himself said that Cliff would be the architect of his own downfall – he knew that Cliff would cross a line somewhere and when that moment came, Bobby would have the means to pounce. Of course JR didn’t know the specifics, but he was confident the opportinity would arise. We know too that Cliff was instrumental in the murder of Rebecca’s twins so he’s being jailed for murder – just not the murder he should be in jail for!!
Must say I agree with the comments about Elena and seemingly laying the groundwork for a Ramos Ewing feud, but we know with Dallas that things don’t usually turn out as they first seemed.
Finally, disappointed there was no Pam, but again this is Dallas and you can never be entirely certain of anything….other than great entertainment. Roll on season 3!!!
Thanks, Howard. I appreciate your positive feedback.
I loved it. The second season has been much better. Televison has changed and it is 25 years later. There was better continuity and I am glad we know what happened to Pam. Victoria Principal is retired and owes us nothing. Having her die was satisfying because she didn’t really intend to abandon her child. Also, let’s not forget Cliff was responsible for killing Bobby’s grandchildren and did deserve jailtime for that. Cliff become more evil isn’t a stretch. Cliff’s previous problem was he didn’t have the power to ever truly hurt the Ewings. Once he acheived success he became in some ways even more evil than J.R. It actually makes complete sense. Bring on Season 3. Next year I would like to see at least one of the missing Ewing children return or some mention of them. Season 2 was a very solid year and considering how poorly the other TNT series did, Dallas ratings were actually really good. If anyone doesn’t like the direction of the show, switch the channel. It is that simple.
Thank you for your comments.
It was Real nice. Classy. Bum took J. R. out of his pain & they incorporated Larry Hagman’s actual cause of death into the script. Smart.
While I was not happy about hte possibility of JR planning his own death, in the end I thought it was best. Yes, I wanted Katherine back and wanted her to be the killer. But us old time fans must remember that there are millions who have never seen Katherine or know what type of person she was or even why she hated the Ewings so much. To bring her in at the end of Season 2 would not have worked. Heck, it’s been so many years that I don’t even remember alot of it, except for her hatred of Pam and the Ewings because she didn’t end up with Bobby.
As far as Pam goes, there really wasn’t another way to end the mystery of Pam. She really needed to be dead and I truly think that Cidre did an admirable job, meshing her death with a will and Christopher getting her shares. Many people on another board are trashing Cidre for the Season finals but I thought it was well done.
I agree, Donna. Thanks.
Glad you liked it, R.J. I’m no fan of that painting, though.
Me neither! What is it with that abstract type painting? Jock and Miss Ellie’s painting must be by the same painter….both are ugly.
You said it, Donna. Both paintings are ugly. Even worse, they look cheap. I like this show, but I despise those paintings.
J. R.’s death was poetic in nature. He was released from pain efficiently & quickly, but in a violent manner. But it was the perfect way to entrap Barnes. My cat James Redwing (J. R.) Cat Koopmans (who has 100% control of my house with his feline power seizure like all cats) has decided to give the death sequences & storyline a full “2 paws up.” Check out http://www.rjkoopmans.blogspot.ca “DALLAS Decoder” fans to see J. R. Cat’s picture, he purrs for the ladies, kind of like ol’ J. R. Ewing did! Of course my cat is better at it than J. R. was. Plus, he can be bought for a purrice, at least 3 cans of tuna & a saucer of milk, my cat also likes to sip bourbon like the master did!
Very nice, R.J.! Ol’ J.R. would approve. He was pretty catlike and he had at least nine lives.