Dallas Burning Questions: Season 3, Week 4

Mama sees all

Here are the questions we’re pondering as we await tonight’s telecast of “Lifting the Veil,” TNT’s latest “Dallas” episode:

• What will Sue Ellen do about John Ross? In “Playing Chicken,” Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) continued to plan a traditional Southfork wedding for the recently eloped John Ross and Pamela (Josh Henderson, Julie Gonzalo), even though she harbored lingering doubts about her son’s fidelity to his bride. Sue Ellen told Ann (Brenda Strong) she feared John Ross was sleeping with Emma (Emma Bell); Ann then shared Sue Ellen’s suspicions with Harris (Mitch Pileggi) and asked him to help her reign in their daughter. Meanwhile, Sue Ellen met with Bum (Kevin Page) to determine if he told her the truth about John Ross being faithful to Pamela. After Sue Ellen laid a major guilt trip on Bum, he confessed everything. “I lied to you, Sue Ellen. You were right about John Ross and Emma. I’m sorry,” Bum said. Sue Ellen’s response: “Not nearly as sorry as I am.” How will she deal with the truth about her son?

• What will Judith do about John Ross? When Harris told Judith (Judith Light) that Emma and John Ross are sleeping together, Judith was nonplussed. “Good for her. John Ross is a nice-looking young man,” she said. But Judith changed her tune when Harris told her John Ross now possesses Harris’s secret files, which he said contains “unflattering” information about her. She told Harris, “I’m sure we can find something to compromise young Mr. Ewing enough to convince him to return those files. And by ‘we,’ of course I mean ‘me.’” What should worry John Ross more — the fact that Judith thinks he’s cute or the fact she wants those files back?

• Will John Ross and Pamela say, “I do”? Emma seemed determined to undermine John Ross’s marriage. She buddied up to Pamela during a shopping spree and then ruined her plan to surprise John Ross with new lingerie: Emma bought the same outfit and wore it for John Ross first; when he saw Pamela wearing it, he was rattled and lost interest in having sex with his wife. Given all the turbulence in John Ross’s life, we wonder: Will his wedding to Pamela go off without a hitch?

• What will Elena and Nicolas do next? Nicolas (Juan Pablo Di Pace) tracked down Rhonda Simmons (Emily Kosloski), the woman whose testimony helped convict Cliff (Ken Kercheval) of J.R.’s “murder,” and offered her $25,000 to admit she lied, but Rhonda refused to betray the Ewings. Meanwhile, Elena (Jordana Brewster) came up empty-handed when she searched for surveillance video to prove Cliff’s gun was stolen from the firing range. The setbacks frustrated Elena, but Nicolas confessed his love for her and they had sex — unaware that Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) was digging into Nicolas’s past in Mexico, where he met a beautiful woman named Lucia (Angélica Celaya), who introduced herself as Nicolas’s wife. Should Elena continue to trust Nicolas — and should Christopher trust Lucia?

• What will the Ewings do about their business? John Ross blackmailed Bo (Donny Boaz) into joining his Southfork drilling venture by threatening to expose the ranch hand’s drug-dealing past. But John Ross’s scheming was for naught: Bobby (Patrick Duffy) shut down the project when he revealed the state would refuse to issue John Ross a drilling permit because the project endangered the lesser prairie chicken, a threatened species in Texas. If the Ewings can’t tap the oil under the ranch, how will they finance their Arctic drilling plans?

• Will our old favorites have much to do? John Ross and Pamela’s wedding will bring three stars from the original “Dallas” back to Southfork: Lucy (Charlene Tilton), Ray (Steve Kanaly) and Afton (Audrey Landers). When Kanaly spoke to Dallas Decoder before production on this episode began, he told us Ray and Lucy don’t have big roles in this episode, but suggested Afton will be featured more prominently. If nothing else, will we hear the divine Miss Cooper sing?

What “Dallas Burning Questions” are on your mind? Share your comments below and watch TNT’s “Dallas” tonight.