Uncovered
TV Guide’s ace columnist, William Keck, delivered a must-read preview of “Dallas’s” third season earlier today. Now it’s time for fans to fill in the blanks with their own theories about what we might see when TNT begins televising the new episodes on Monday, February 24.
• One of Keck’s most intriguing tidbits: The new season will feature a pregnancy storyline. Almost any of the show’s leading ladies could become expectant mothers, but my money is on Emma (Emma Bell). Imagine the complications that would ensue if John Ross (Josh Henderson) impregnates his wild-child mistress! Pamela is also a possibility, although would the producers force Julie Gonzalo to wear a padded tummy for a second season in a row? One out-there contender: Suppose Ann (Brenda Strong) delivered a late-in-life bundle of joy to Bobby (Patrick Duffy)?
• The new season will also include a shooting, a death and a wedding, Keck reports. I have no idea which characters might get shot and/or die, but the nuptials seem easy to figure out: After John Ross and Pamela’s quickie wedding in Las Vegas at the end of Season 2, aren’t they due for a lavish Southfork ceremony?
• According to Keck, Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe), who sports a beard in the Season 3 cast portrait that accompanies the TV Guide article, will meet his new love interest Heather (AnnaLynne McCord) when he stumbles upon her fighting with her ranch hand ex-husband. Again, this is pure speculation, but a recent tweet from the set suggests Donny Boaz, who appeared last season as Bo, the ranch hand who supplied Emma will pain pills, will be back next season. Could he be Heather’s ex?
• Keck tells us we’ll finally meet Joaquin, the mystery man Elena (Jordana Brewster) met in Mexico during the second-season finale. The article doesn’t mention who has been cast in this role, but I wonder: Will Nicolas Trevino, the new character played by Juan Pablo Di Pace, turn out to be Joaquin?
Consider this: On April 23, about a week after TNT showed the finale, the Elena character tweeted, “Can’t wait to introduce you all to my uncle Joaquin. He’s quite a character. And a potentially powerful ally.” This tweet is no longer in the character’s feed. Could this mean the producers’ vision of Joaquin has evolved from someone avuncular to someone younger like Di Pace?
• Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) will continue drinking in Season 3 after discovering John Ross is cheating on Pamela. According to Keck, “Sue Ellen’s struggle will climax in a midseason cliffhanger similar to one of the original series’ memorable season enders.” What could this mean? Is Sue Ellen going to wreck her car? Shoot someone? Make another movie?
• Keck reports Bobby might cheat on Ann, either with a “familiar face from the past (Priscilla Presley’s Jenna Wade?) or a lovely newcomer.” Nothing to add here, except this: !
• It looks like “Dallas” won’t forget Larry Hagman anytime soon. Showrunner Cynthia Cidre tells Keck, “We open with Bobby at the Ewing cemetery looking at the graves of J.R., Miss Ellie and Jock, saying, ‘I guess I’m the only one left now.’” The only question raised by this revelation: How many tissues will we need to get through that scene?
What do you think of the storylines previewed by TV Guide’s William Keck? Share your comments below and read more news from Dallas Decoder.
Dallas Decoder 
I LOVE the idea of Bobby and Ann becoming older parents, especially since Bobby and Pam were never able to have their own biological children; I think Bobby would be thrilled with a flesh-and-blood kid. However, I do NOT like the idea of Sue Ellen continuing to drink in S3!! Linda Gray deserves better than that, in my opinion! Now Emma getting pregnant with John Ross’s baby would be a very interesting storyline!
I wonder: If Emma becomes pregnant with John Ross’s baby, will she give birth? Will J.R.’s second grandchild come courtesy of a Ryland?
Bobby the only one left? What about Gary ?
Can’t forget Ray as well (the ‘half-breed!’)
Ha ha. Poor Ray.
Perhaps Bobby means “the only one left at Southfork”?
I like John Ross cheating on his new bride. Its poetic, its fitting, its a J. R. Ewing type manouvre & therefore appropriate b/c he’s got to supply a little sugar to Emma for supplying him with the Ryland documents & a chance to seize power away from Uncle Bobby & Cousin Christopher with his sexy & vivacious mama!
“A little sugar.” That gave me a good chuckle, R.J. Thanks.
I like Sue Ellen drinking but I hope it’s not the same ole same ole. I want her to drink as part of her character. Sue Ellen is powerful and has it together but drinks privately …always in control. Maybe just let things slip here and there when needed for dramatic effect like a Fabulous cliffhanger! Sue Ellen shouldn’t be a role model. She is an exciting character with a lot of layers. Clair Danes character Carrie on Homeland is bipolar and is brilliant. Sue Ellen can be many things … Powerful, Strong, Compassionate, Loving, Bitch, Wise, Slut, Wicked, Fun and Drunk!
Interesting ideas, Frank. What if the show depicted Sue Ellen as having her drinking under control? No matter how the show plays it, I agree: She should always remain a complex, layered character.
btw … I LOVE the new cast pic! Best cast pic ever!
Ain’t it cool?
Only one left? What about Gary & Ray?
Maybe Val ate Gary alive after his dalliance with Sue Ellen?
Making Sue Ellen get drunk just because of John Ross’ antics is really a dumb move on Cidre’s part – it seems like she’s fixated on the times when she was drunk early in the original series instead of the successful and powerful woman she was on there before she left in 1989. If Linda Gray is in favor of these story lines, I really feel for her, as she’s not only dissing Sue Ellen, but also herself for all of the years she fought to get her character off the sauce in the first place!
Lets wait and see how it plays out before you jump on the negative nelly bandwagon! Sue Ellen is drinking because of the loss of JR … the love of her life not because John Ross is cheating!
I’m with you, Frank.
The idea that Sue Ellen would drink because of John Ross’s scheming sounds a little odd to me too. Let’s see how it plays out on the show.
Sue Ellen did so much to save the day with her money, connections, and influence. To have her grandchild as a result of an extra-marital affair may make her realize that her efforts were all for the benefit of greed and not for family. It was so bizarre that Sue Ellen would not hold John Ross when he was a newborn. I wonder if she will have similar behavior towards her newborn grandchild. I am assuming that the newborn is from John Ross and probably Emma as the mother.
If John Ross does have a child this season, it’ll be interesting to see if the show draws will parallels with John Ross’s own arrival in the world in 1979.
While I think it is fitting for John Ross to be a cheating louse like his Dad and it will no doubt provide good drama, his new bride just lost two babies because of her father’s deliberate actions. It seems too soon and too cruel to a woman who is trying to rebuild her life after such a crushing tragedy. I might find his cheating a delicious plot twist later on but right now it feels too soon.
I see your point, Garnet, but it’s par for the course for this version of “Dallas,” which moves at the speed of light.