Julie Gonzalo and Emma Bell donned Pamela and Emma’s green corsets again in “Dallas’s” midyear cliffhanger, but this time around, the question isn’t who wore it better — it’s who used the lingerie more effectively?
The corsets debuted earlier this season, when Pamela wore the sexy undergarment for John Ross on the night before their wedding. Little did she know Emma had worn an identical corset for him the previous evening, knowing it would spoil Pamela’s surprise. In “Where There’s Smoke,” this week’s episode, Pamela finally discovered John Ross and Emma’s affair and went to the Omni to interrupt their latest tryst. Emma had her corset on again, and as we soon discovered, Pamela was also wearing hers — part of a twisted plot to lure her husband and his mistress into a threesome before going into an overdose-fueled seizure on them.
Some fans feel the three-way sex scene was too graphic, but I was too busy pondering the symbolic value of the costumes: In the earlier episode, Emma wore her corset in a scheme to undermine John Ross and Pamela’s marriage; in “Where There’s Smoke,” Pamela wore hers in a scheme to ruin John Ross and Emma’s affair. Like J.R.’s wristwatch and Candace’s blue dress, it’s another example of how costumes play an important role in “Dallas’s” storytelling.
Two more looks in “Where There’s Smoke” caught my eye. Costume designer Rachel Sage Kunin smartly dressed Josh Henderson in another three-piece suit, which helped project John Ross’s sense of confidence when he finally met Judith Ryland. And even though many of us were heartbroken when Christopher shaved off his beard, the loss was eased a bit by seeing Jesse Metcalfe sport that nifty brown varsity jacket. Not only is the jacket stylish — the lettermen look is big in menswear this spring — but what could be a better accessory for all-American Christopher?
Let’s just hope the Ewings know a good dry cleaner; that jacket is going to be full of soot come August.
What were your favorite looks in “Where There’s Smoke”? Share your thoughts in the comments section below and read more “Dallas Styles.”
Dallas Decoder 
Pamela wears her corset way better than Emma. Pamela is much prettier than Emma by a long shot. John Ross & Christopher looked awesome.
One of the questions I had before season 3 started was how the relationship with Pamela and Emma would pal out. Emma used the green corsets to play games with Pamela and John Ross. Cynthia Cidre, in her recent interview said that Pamela’s own game with the green corsets – “She wanted them never to be able to have sex again without thinking of her vomiting on them.”
It is a great scene and one that I will always remember.
I’d like 2 c Christopher’s jacket in say a teal green or soft blue.