Critiques (Classic) – Dallas Decoder

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 92 – ‘Head of the Family’

December 7, 2012 by Chris Baker 20 Comments

Down and out

In “Head of the Family,” J.R. is depressed over Jock’s death and getting drunk in his bedroom when Bobby barges in and tells him to snap out of it. J.R. all but ignores his brother, so Bobby yanks him off the bed, drags him across the room and makes him look at himself in the mirror. “Daddy didn’t build this company just for you and me,” Bobby says. “He expected it to be around for his grandkids. Maybe their kids too.”

This is the most pivotal scene in one of “Dallas’s” most pivotal episodes. Until now, this has been a show rooted in its own past: Almost everything that happens to the Ewings and the Barneses can be traced to Jock and Digger’s falling out decades earlier. With “Head of the Family,” “Dallas” begins to move beyond its backstory and look toward the future.

No character demonstrates this shift better than J.R. Since the scene in “Digger’s Daughter” where he gleefully tells Jock about his scheme to bribe Pam, we’ve watched J.R. struggle to make his demanding daddy proud. In “Head of the Family,” with Jock gone, J.R. is forced to find new motivation. Instead of trying to impress Jock, J.R. decides to become Jock. Just as the older man devoted his life to building a legacy for his sons, J.R. sets out to do the same thing for John Ross.

This change – which will drive J.R. for the remainder of the original series – is symbolized in “Head of the Family’s” final scene, when a beaming J.R. watches John Ross climb into Jock’s empty chair at the Southfork dinner table. The child replaces his grandfather as the source of J.R.’s ambition.

Since the first season of TNT’s “Dallas” revival focused so heavily on the relationship between J.R. and his son, “Head of the Family” now feels a little like a template for the new show. Other themes from the TNT series are also present. J.R. is immobilized by depression in “Head of the Family,” just like he is when the new “Dallas” begins. Bobby spends this episode taking charge of the Ewings, just like he does three decades later. And when the newly single Sue Ellen’s first dinner party ends in disaster and she turns to Cliff for comfort, does it not presage the two-steps-forward-one-step-back pattern she comes to exhibit on TNT?

Even without these comparisons, “Head of the Family” remains one of the strongest hours from the classic show’s fifth season. This is the second “Dallas” script from Howard Lakin (“The Fourth Son” was his “Dallas” debut), who once again demonstrates a firm grasp of the show’s mythology. Patrick Duffy also does a nice job in his second turn in the “Dallas” director’s chair; I especially like Duffy’s overhead shot of Sue Ellen’s living room during the dinner party sequence.

Duffy shines in front of the camera too. The actor delivers some of his finest performances on “Dallas” in the episodes that deal with Jock’s death, including this one. In “Head of the Family,” Duffy brings to mind the best of his TV parents: He’s as commanding as Jim Davis and as compassionate as Barbara Bel Geddes. Watching Bobby struggle to keep the Ewings together is moving.

Of course, no one touches me in this episode quite like Larry Hagman, who is downright heartbreaking when Bobby confronts the depressed J.R. At the end of the scene, J.R. slumps onto the edge of his bed and tells his younger brother, “It’ll never be the same, Bob.” Thirty years ago, the line was merely sad. Now it feels prophetic.

Grade: A

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Seat of power

‘HEAD OF THE FAMILY’

Season 5, Episode 15

Airdate: January 22, 1982

Audience: 25.3 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Howard Lakin

Director: Patrick Duffy

Synopsis: Bobby tells J.R. he must pull himself together to secure John Ross’s future. Ray alienates Bobby and Donna, whose publisher wants her to write another book. At her first dinner party, a friend’s husband makes a pass at Sue Ellen.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Stephanie Blackmore (Serena), Lindsay Bloom (Bonnie), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Diana McBain (Dee Dee Webster), Jim McKrel (Henry Webster), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Dennis Redfield (Roger Larson), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Barbara Stock (Heather Wilson), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Ray Wise (Blair Sullivan), Lynn Wood (Ms. Bruce), H.M. Wynant (Ed Chapman), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“Head of the Family” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Digger’s Daughter, Fourth Son, Head of the Family, Howard Lakin, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, TNT

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 91 – ‘Denial’

December 5, 2012 by Chris Baker 20 Comments

Sympathy for the devil

With Jock dead, J.R. goes through “Denial” deeply depressed. He shirks his duties at Ewing Oil and barely takes time to insult Cliff when he runs into him at the Cattlemen’s Club. The only time we see J.R.’s old spark in this episode comes during the final act, when he confronts Sue Ellen over John Ross. “I’m going to get that boy back,” J.R. tells her. “And until I do, you’re not going to know one moment’s peace on God’s green earth.”

As menacing as Larry Hagman is in this scene, he’s also remarkably sympathetic. Moments before J.R. delivers his threat, he backs Sue Ellen against a wall while recalling his complicated relationship with Jock. “All my life, I tried to make that man proud of me,” J.R. declares. “And because of you, he died thinking I’d let him down. He died thinking I allowed you to take my son off Southfork forever. You think I’m going to let you get away with that?”

This is Hagman at his most complex, but don’t overlook the moving performances Barbara Bel Geddes and Patrick Duffy deliver during “Denial’s” final scene, when Bobby sits with Miss Ellie in the Southfork kitchen and tells her the family must have Jock declared legally dead. Ellie, who has spent the whole episode refusing to deal with the loss of her husband, lets Bobby know she’s not ready to let go. “This house is still Jock’s house,” Ellie says, sobbing. “This family is Jock’s family. You’re Jock’s son. And I’m Jock’s woman. And the rules we live by are the rules he made.”

The drama here comes not just from the words and the way Bel Geddes delivers them, but also from her body language. Watch how the actress moves around the kitchen set during Ellie’s monologue. She rests her palms on the counter when she declares, “This house is still Jock’s house.” She pivots and takes a defiant step toward Duffy when she says, “You’re Jock’s son.” The choreography is riveting. It’s like a ballet of grief.

By the way: I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this scene, like all of Bel Geddes’ scenes in “Denial,” takes place in the kitchen. “Dallas” didn’t introduce this set until after Jim Davis left the show, so it’s the only room at Southfork where Jock’s ghost doesn’t linger. Keeping Ellie there symbolizes the protective cocoon she wraps herself in after his death.

Bobby and Ellie’s conversation also demonstrates why Duffy is “Dallas’s” most underrated performer. I love when the actor brings his hand to forehead and looks down when Bel Geddes begins tearing up. By glancing away for that split-second, Duffy lets the audience know Bobby is having a hard time facing his family’s turmoil too. Yet still he soldiers on.

In another good scene, Donna comes home excited after attending an “autographing party” for her book, only to find a depressed Ray getting drunk in their living room. Ray tells Donna her publisher called to inform her the book has cracked the bestsellers list, and Susan Howard’s eyes light up – but only for a moment. The actress knows Donna wouldn’t allow herself to bask in her own glory while her husband is struggling.

Like Duffy, Howard is a quiet force on “Dallas.” Their performances are so subtle, you sometimes forget to notice them. That’s what makes them so great.

Grade: A

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The good son

‘DENIAL’

Season 5, Episode 14

Airdate: January 15, 1982

Audience: 25.3 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Linda Elstad

Director: Victor French

Synopsis: Bobby tries to persuade Miss Ellie to have Jock declared legally dead but she’s in denial, while J.R. and Ray both slip into depression. Cliff tries to reconnect with Sue Ellen. Roger offers to help Lucy become a model.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Stephanie Blackmore (Serena), Lindsay Bloom (Bonnie), Peter Brown (Tom), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Phyllis Flax (Mrs. Chambers), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Dan Hamilton (Eric), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Diane McBain (Dee Dee), Leigh McCloskey (Dr. Mitch Cooper), Jim McKrell (Henry), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Dennis Redfield (Roger Larson), Dbbie Rennard (Sly), Ray Stewart (Mr. Hamilton), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Denial” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Denial, Jim Davis, Patrick Duffy, Susan Howard

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 90 – ‘The Search’

November 21, 2012 by Chris Baker 31 Comments

Gone, but not forgotten

With “The Search,” “Dallas” says goodbye to Jim Davis but not to Jock Ewing. This memorable episode sends J.R., Bobby and Ray into the jungle to find their missing father, but the only thing they recover is his medallion, which Bobby retrieves from the lake where the old man’s helicopter crashed. By the end of the hour, there’s no doubt Jock is dead, even if there’s no body to prove it.

I used to be bothered by the lack of closure for the Ewing patriarch, but I’ve come to appreciate how it heightens the drama in the episodes after “The Search,” when Miss Ellie struggles to accept the truth that her husband is never coming home. I also wonder: Would Jock be the mythic figure he is today if he had died in a hospital bed or been killed in a car crash? Having him disappear after his helicopter falls from the sky feels oddly appropriate for a character who was always a little larger than life.

One thing is certain: The producers waited too long to deal with Davis’s death. The actor succumbed to cancer eight months before “The Search” aired, but “Dallas” kept Jock alive in the interim by sending the character to “South America” (foreign locales on this show are almost always vague) and having the Ewings regularly receive calls and letters from him. It reminds me of those “Three’s Company” episodes where an out-of-town Chrissie wouldn’t appear until the final scene, when she’d phone her roommates to get an update on their latest hijinks.

This criticism aside, I like how “The Search” summons “Dallas’s” western spirit by having the Ewing brothers embark on a dangerous mission to rescue their daddy. The men carry rifles and wear their Stetsons; the only thing missing is seeing them on horseback. While the brothers are away, the Ewing women keep vigil at Southfork, and all the characters experience flashbacks to some of Jock’s most memorable moments.

These old clips are nice because they demonstrate how valuable Davis was to “Dallas.” With the exception of Barbara Bel Geddes and Larry Hagman, no other actor on the show could match Davis in terms of sheer presence. It didn’t matter if Jock was being tough or tender; Davis commanded every scene he appeared in. In an audio commentary on one of the second-season “Dallas” DVDs, Hagman recalls how Davis lacked confidence in his performances. What a shame. Jim Davis was a great actor. He deserved to know it.

One final observation about “The Search’s” flashbacks: Yes, they are a little hokey by today’s standards – each one is accompanied by those wavy special effects – but remember: This episode was produced years before “Dallas” went into syndicated reruns. This was the first time in years a lot of fans had seen those classic scenes.

No matter how you feel about the rest of “The Search,” it’s impossible to watch the ending and not be moved. The sequence begins when Ellie, who has been waiting patiently for word from her sons, awakens in the night and walks downstairs, where she quietly takes her seat at the dining room table. This scene has no musical score – you can even hear Ellie’s footsteps – which is what makes it so effective. In this big house full of people, Mama has never seemed more alone.

While the Ewing matriarch sits in the dark, her sons arrive home and walk into the dining room. Each man is stubble-faced, and each one holds his hat. “I’m sorry Mama,” Bobby says. Her eyes well up, but she holds it together. “Tell me what happened,” she says. Bobby and Ray sit with her at the table and Bobby holds his mother’s hand, but the moment proves too much for J.R., who walks away.

J.R. steps onto the patio, looking a little dazed. He leans against one of the big white columns, reaches into his pocket, pulls out Jock’s medallion and studies it. By now, Bruce Broughton’s score has resumed and started to swell. J.R. smiles and briefly casts his eyes skyward, and when he looks down, we notice how red and wet they are.

The frame freezes and the screen briefly fades to black, and then we get our first glimpse of the Jock Ewing portrait, which will go on to become “Dallas’s” most famous prop. The words “Jim Davis 1909 – 1981” appear. That’s when we know: Davis may be gone, but Jock Ewing is going to live forever.

Grade: A

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Those eyes

‘THE SEARCH’

Season 5, Episode 13

Airdate: January 8, 1982

Audience: 26 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: J.R., Bobby and Ray go to South America, where they determine Jock likely died in the helicopter crash. The brothers return to Southfork and break the news to Miss Ellie.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), George Cooper (Lee Evans), Mary Crosby (Kristin Shepard), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“The Search” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Bruce Broughton, Jim Davis, Larry Hagman, Search

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 89 – ‘Barbecue Two’

November 16, 2012 by Chris Baker 19 Comments

Blue skies, for now

My favorite scene in “Barbecue Two” is small but meaningful. Sue Ellen is in the living room of her new townhouse, arranging a plant on a windowsill. She’s wearing an unbuttoned yellow shirt over a green tank top, jeans with rolled-up cuffs and white sneakers. The house is in disarray. Cardboard boxes and newspapers are strewn everywhere.

The doorbell rings. “Oh my Lord,” Sue Ellen says with a nervous laugh as she greets her unexpected visitors, Miss Ellie and Pam. She invites them in, apologizes for the mess and yanks a sheet of newspaper out of a chair so Ellie has a place to sit.

The dialogue here is unremarkable – Ellie and Pam have come to invite Sue Ellen and John Ross to the annual Southfork barbecue – but the words aren’t the point. The setting is what matters. After all these years of depending on others – first the Ewings, then the Farlows – Sue Ellen has finally found a place of her own, in every sense. Watching her unpack moving boxes and decorate her living room demonstrates how she has become a more fully realized, relatable character. It’s heartening.

The rest of “Barbecue Two” is dominated by the scenes set at the Ewing hoedown, including several that seem to pay homage to the first “Barbecue,” which capped “Dallas’s” inaugural season. Pam, who suffered a miscarriage during the 1978 festivities, skips this party to tend to her newly adopted son Christopher. Lucy, who spent the original “Barbecue” chasing Jimmy Monahan, uses this one to try to win back estranged husband Mitch. Elsewhere, J.R. and Cliff have a run-in at the bar set up on the Southfork grounds, just like Jock and Digger did four years earlier.

Of course, “Dallas” saves the most dramatic moment of all until the end. In “Barbecue Two’s” final scene, J.R. comes down the stairs in the Southfork foyer and finds a shaken Ellie holding the telephone receiver. She announces she just received a call from Punk Anderson, who informed her Jock’s helicopter crashed in South America. Through sobs, Ellie tells her son: “They say that … they say that … they say that Jock is dead.”

These are the hardest words ever uttered on “Dallas.” They signal a turning point for the Ewings, and for the show itself. After this scene, things will never be the same.

Grade: A

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On her own

‘BARBECUE TWO’

Season 5, Episode 12

Airdate: January 1, 1982

Audience: 24 million homes, ranking 5th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Donna’s success as an author irritates Ray. Photographer Roger Larson encourages Lucy to resume modeling. Sue Ellen and John Ross move into a Dallas townhouse. At the Ewing barbecue, Sue Ellen and Cliff get reacquainted and Miss Ellie learns Jock is presumed dead after a helicopter crash in South America.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Bernard Behrens (Harold Haskell), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Dan Hamilton (Eric), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Peyton Park (Larry), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Dennis Redfield (Roger Larson), Debra Lynn Rogers (Toni), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Edward Winter (Dr. Frank Waring)

“Barbecue Two” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbecue, Barbecue Two

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 88 – ‘Waterloo at Southfork’

November 14, 2012 by Chris Baker 28 Comments

Woman of the hour

Miss Ellie is the woman of the hour in “Waterloo at Southfork.” She wheels and deals with Clayton, takes the cartel to the woodshed and keeps J.R. from dragging Sue Ellen’s name through the mud in court. Ellie’s only defeat occurs when she tries and fails to oust her eldest son as Ewing Oil’s president, but no matter. By the end of the episode, J.R.’s respect for his mama has deepened. So has ours.

To no one’s surprise, Barbara Bel Geddes is wonderful every time she appears in “Waterloo at Southfork,” which is a lot: This episode has 29 scenes, and Bel Geddes is in more than a third of them. Choosing my favorite is tough because they’re all so good.

In the scene with Clayton, Ellie sits on a patio at the Southern Cross and offers to sell him the oil J.R. diverted from the Farlow refineries. Clayton agrees, telling her he’ll buy it for $33 a barrel. “That’s very fair,” Ellie says, shaking his hand. Taking a beat, she adds: “I would have taken 32.”

The scene with the cartel is just as terrific. With J.R. in the background, Ellie stands in front of his desk and chastises Vaughn, Jordan and the others for taking advantage of Ewing Oil during J.R.’s reckless war against Clayton. “I don’t apologize for what my son did,” Ellie declares. “It’s a family matter. We may be wrong and we may be right, but we’re Ewings. We stick together – and that’s what makes us unbeatable.”

This most revealing moment in “Waterloo at Southfork” comes near the end of the episode, when J.R. promises Ellie he’ll behave when he and Sue Ellen go to court for their divorce hearing. He’s lying, of course, but it seems like Ellie is going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Wrong. When the hearing begins, she enters the courtroom and takes a seat in plain sight of her son. The moment J.R. sees his mama, he abandons his strategy to embarrass Sue Ellen.

I don’t know if J.R. has learned his lesson, but Ellie has learned not to trust her son. Better late than never.

Grade: A

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Mama’s watching

‘WATERLOO AT SOUTHFORK’

Season 5, Episode 11

Airdate: December 18, 1981

Audience: 22.3 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Linda Elstad

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Miss Ellie sells J.R.’s stockpile to Clayton, persuades Bobby to return to Ewing Oil and chastises the cartel for taking advantage of the company’s misfortune. Pam embraces motherhood. Ray takes a loss on his real estate deal. Sue Ellen leaves the Southern Cross and wins custody of John Ross during her final divorce hearing.

Cast: Robert Ackerman (Wade Luce), Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Paul Comi (Dr. McWright), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Don Hamilton (Eric), Wiley Harker (Judge James Berwin), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Leigh McCloskey (Dr. Mitch Cooper), Patricia McCormack (Evelyn Michaelson), Barry Nelson (Arthur Elrod), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Herbert Rudley (Howard Barker), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), David Tress (Walter Sher), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“Waterloo at Southfork” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Waterloo at Southfork

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 87 – ‘Starting Over’

November 9, 2012 by Chris Baker 29 Comments

Mine!

At the end of “Starting Over,” Bobby enters the Southfork foyer holding Christopher, the infant he believes J.R. fathered with Kristin. Bobby plans to confront his brother with the boy, but when Pam spots the newborn, she assumes her husband has finally found a child for them to adopt. “It happened!” Pam says after she snatches Christopher from Bobby’s arms. “Oh, we’ve got a baby to adopt!”

Freeze frame. Flash credits. Roll eyes.

Since the baby at the center of this scene will grow up to be Jesse Metcalfe’s character on TNT’s “Dallas,” this is one of the most consequential moments in the history of the franchise. It’s also one of the silliest. Do the writers really expect us to believe Pam would see Bobby with a baby and automatically assume it’s for her? For a woman who just checked out of a mental hospital, Pam has never seemed loonier.

Despite this, “Starting Over” is one of the fifth season’s strongest entries. The scene where Sue Ellen finally acknowledges she and Dusty have grown apart is nicely written, even if the dialogue isn’t quite as poetic as the couple’s previous farewell in the fourth-season entry “Lover, Come Back.” I also like “Starting Over’s” shot of J.R., lying alone in his shadowy New York City hotel room. It brings to mind the “Gone But Not Forgotten” scene where J.R. stands silently in the Southfork nursery, missing John Ross. This has been a dark season for our hero, hasn’t it?

My favorite scene of all comes at the beginning of “Starting Over’s” third act, when Miss Ellie summons Ray to the Southfork living room and gently gets him to admit: a) he’s bitten off more than he can chew with his latest real estate deal; and b) he should accept help from her. Ellie isn’t necessarily closer to Ray than she is to her biological sons, but their relationship feels more mature. This makes sense. Ellie and Ray did become “mother” and “son” as adults, and as she once pointed out, neither was born with the Ewing name.

More than anything, I love watching Barbara Bel Geddes and Steve Kanaly perform together. Both are terrific actors who make their characters feel like relatable people. They keep “Dallas” grounded, which is important – especially when Pam is running around Southfork, snatching babies.

Grade: A

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Dark times

‘STARTING OVER’

Season 5, Episode 10

Airdate: December 11, 1981

Audience: 23.2 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Bobby determines J.R. is Christopher’s father and brings him to Southfork, where Pam assumes the boy is a child for her and Bobby to adopt. Miss Ellie agrees to loan Ray $3 million from Ewing Oil to salvage his development deal, then discovers J.R. has depleted the company’s cash reserves. Sue Ellen breaks up with Dusty after he returns to the rodeo circuit.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Edmund Gilbert (Paul Winslow), Bruce Gray (Dr. Alan Cosby), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Laurence Haddon (Franklin Horner), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Barry Nelson (Arthur Elrod), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“Starting Over” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Gone But Not Forgotten, Jesse Metcalfe, Starting Over, Steve Kanaly, TNT

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 86 – ‘Five Dollars a Barrel’

November 7, 2012 by Chris Baker 12 Comments

Keep your grin up

In “Five Dollars a Barrel,” Cliff takes over J.R.’s bank note and offers him an extension on his loan – in exchange for ownership of the oilfield that split up Jock and Digger’s partnership decades earlier. J.R. all but laughs Cliff out of his office when he hears these terms. But by the end of the episode, with J.R.’s confidence fading, he goes to Cliff, hat in hand, and signs over the field to get the extension. “I can’t believe it,” Cliff says as he reclines in his chair. “After all these years, I finally whipped J.R. Ewing.”

It’s a measure of the power of the J.R. character that we don’t feel happy for Cliff at this moment. Quite the opposite. We feel sorry for him because we know he hasn’t whipped J.R. at all. This is a temporary defeat. J.R. is going to come roaring back – and when he does, he’s going to make Cliff pay for trying to humiliate him.

Watching Larry Hagman in this scene makes me appreciate how good he is, not that I need the reminder. When Ken Kercheval delivers Cliff’s line about “finally” whipping J.R., Hagman responds with a single, slight smile. It’s more unnerving – and oddly more satisfying – than any dialogue the writers might have come up with.

There’s also a lot of humor in “Five Dollars a Barrel,” and almost all of it flows from Hagman’s deadpan delivery. In the second act, J.R. is working at his desk when Sly buzzes him. “There’s a Mr. Cliff Barnes here to see you,” she announces. “Who?” J.R. responds.

In another scene, Ray arrives home after dropping off Donna at the airport and finds J.R. waiting for him in the yard, his boots propped up on the Krebbs’ patio table. “You getting good mileage on Donna’s car?” J.R. asks through a big grin.

It’s pretty remarkable that the same smile that seems so sinister at the end of the episode is so hilarious here – but that’s Larry Hagman’s genius.

Grade: A

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Splendor in the grass

‘FIVE DOLLARS A BARREL’

Season 5, Episode 9

Airdate: December 4, 1981

Audience: 22 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Leonard Katzman

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Gary visits and gives his voting shares to Lucy, while Ray rejects J.R.’s offer to bail him out of his foundering deal. With the cartel’s help, Cliff takes over J.R.’s bank note and extends the deadline on his loan in exchange for ownership of one of the original Barnes-Ewing oilfields. Farraday agrees to sell Christopher to Bobby.

Cast: Robert Ackerman (Wade Luce), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Peter Brandon (Greer), Lee de Broux (McCoy), J.R. Clark (Earl Holiday), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Sally Kemp (Mrs. Rogers), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Leigh McCloskey (Dr. Mitch Cooper), Pamela Murphy (Marie), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Robert Symonds (Martin Porter), Aggie Terry (Lori Rogers), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), David Tress (Walter Sher), Edward Winter (Dr. Frank Waring), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“Five Dollars a Barrel” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Five Dollars a Barrel, Ken Kercheval, Larry Hagman

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 85 – ‘The Split’

November 2, 2012 by Chris Baker 20 Comments

Mind games

Sending J.R. and Dusty to the Cotton Bowl for their big showdown at the end of “The Split” doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but who cares? The sequence is a logistical feat, and Larry Hagman and Jared Martin deliver terrific performances. This is one of those moments from the classic “Dallas” series that fans still talk about.

Leonard Katzman, who wrote and directed “The Split,” opens the scene with J.R. arriving at the stadium in his Mercedes. He drives through the gate, down the ramp and parks at the edge of the AstroTurf. This is the sort of thing Ewings can get away with. As J.R. gets out of his car and walks onto the field, we hear whirring, and then Katzman switches to a wide shot as Dusty’s helicopter floats in from the Dallas skyline and touches down on the 50-yard line.

The arrival is another example of how the Farlows are constantly one-upping the Ewings. Southfork is grand, but the Southern Cross is grander. Jock’s relationship with his sons is full of angst, while Clayton and Dusty get along just fine. One family spends years obsessing over the birth of their first grandson, and after he finally arrives, the other family ends up raising him.

Interestingly, J.R. doesn’t summon Dusty to the stadium because he wants him to turn over John Ross. No, this is about Sue Ellen. J.R. wants his wife back, and he knows to get her, he must first drive a wedge between her and Dusty. Why else does J.R. go to the trouble of insulting Dusty’s manhood and insinuating Sue Ellen and Clayton are sleeping together? This whole sequence is confirmation that J.R. still loves Sue Ellen.

As for the setting of the scene, the only reason to have it take place at the Cotton Bowl is for metaphorical value. J.R. and Dusty are a couple of gladiators, after all. And while I’m generally not a fan of excess – please note this site isn’t called “Dynasty Decoder” – there are times when big moments are called for. J.R.’s confrontation with the man who stole his woman is one such instance.

You also have to admire “Dallas” for going to all this trouble, as Martin recalls in Barbara A. Curran’s “Dallas: The Complete Story of the World’s Favorite Prime-Time Soap:”

“[T]he chopper had to arrive on time and touch down at the right spot, the light had to be constant, with no wind, Larry and I would be standing on the right spot, with the cameras rolling and in focus and if either actor came up dry all the elaborate step-by-step mechanics would need to be repeated – at great cost.”

TNT’s “Dallas” memorably paid tribute to Hagman and Martin’s scene at the end of its first episode, “Changing of the Guard,” when John Ross went to Cowboys Stadium to meet with Marta del Sol. Having those characters meet in that setting made no more sense than having J.R. meet Dusty at the Cotton Bowl.

But I loved it all the same.

Grade: A

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He’ll take his wife, please

‘THE SPLIT’

Season 5, Episode 8

Airdate: November 27, 1981

Audience: 23.5 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Jock divides control of Ewing Oil among the family. Bobby decides against running for re-election. Donna’s book about Sam Culver is published, while Ray’s development deal hits a snag. Afton stops moonlighting for J.R. and spills his secrets to Cliff. J.R. tells Dusty he’ll never make Sue Ellen happy.

Cast: Bernard Behrens (Haskell), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Andy Jarrel (Neal Hart), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Barbara Stock (Heather Wilson), Robert Symonds (Martin Porter), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), David Tress (Walter Sher), Joan Van Ark (Valene Ewing), H.M. Wynant (Edward Chapman), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“The Split” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara A. Curran, Changing of the Guard (2012), Dallas: The Complete Story of the World’s Favorite Prime-Time Soap, Jared Martin, Larry Hagman, Leonard Katzman, Split, TNT

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 84 – ‘Blocked’

October 31, 2012 by Chris Baker 10 Comments

The gentleman from San Angelo

Howard Keel makes his ninth “Dallas” appearance in “Blocked,” but this is the first time we get a sense of who his character, Clayton Farlow, is. By the time the episode ends, two things are clear: Clayton has become a formidable foe for J.R. – and Keel has become the show’s best addition since Susan Howard arrived during the second season.

I always remembered Clayton as being the quintessential southern gentleman, so it’s been surprising to re-watch Keel’s first few episodes and be reminded that’s not how the character started out. Clayton is pretty gruff in the beginning. The best example is probably the Farlow family dinner scene in “Showdown at San Angelo,” when Clayton brusquely shoots down Sue Ellen’s suggestion that she and Dusty could go into town after their meal to see a movie.

“Blocked” marks the moment the Clayton I love emerges. In this episode, he learns someone has shut off the flow of oil to his refineries, yet he never loses his cool over it. The situation also reveals Clayton’s compassionate side: He dips into his company’s cash reserves to keep his employees from being pink-slipped, and once the Farlows realize J.R. is behind the shutdown, Clayton refuses Sue Ellen’s offer to leave the Southern Cross to spare the family further trouble.

Of course, Clayton may be kind, but he’s no pushover. In the final scene, J.R. tells Clayton he’ll release his crude – if Clayton kicks Sue Ellen and John Ross off the Southern Cross. Mr. Farlow is resolute: “No deal, J.R.” What a fantastic moment. Often when J.R. is backed into a corner, I sympathize with him, but in this instance, I root for Clayton – which is about as good an indication as any that he’s become a bona fide “Dallas” hero.

“Blocked” has other several good scenes: Senator Dickson chastises Bobby for missing several committee votes (nice of the show to remind viewers Bobby is a public official), Cliff and Afton trade barbs when he drops by the Stardust and Sue Ellen storms into J.R.’s office to confront him over his plot against the Farlows.

“Blocked” also includes the memorable moment where Donna pushes J.R. into the Southfork swimming pool. It’s a fun sequence, but after this episode, it’s pretty clear that if anyone is going to sink J.R., it’s going to be the gentleman from San Angelo.

Grade: B

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The skunk, sunk

‘BLOCKED’

Season 5, Episode 7

Airdate: November 20, 1981

Audience: 24 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Clayton refuses J.R. offer to release the Farlows’ oil in exchange for John Ross. Bobby determines Jordan didn’t father Christopher and fears Pam won’t recover from her depression. Mitch accepts Dr. Waring’s job offer.

Cast: Gary Bayer (Don Martin), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Deborah Benson (secretary), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Robert Ginnaven (Chuck Williamson), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Andy Jarrell (Neal Hart), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), David Tress (Walter Sher), Joseph Warren (Senator Dickson), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“Blocked” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Blocked, Howard Keel, Showdown at San Angelo, Susan Howard

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 83 – ‘The Big Shut Down’

October 26, 2012 by Chris Baker 12 Comments

Here he goes again

“The Big Shut Down” is the first “Dallas” episode John Parker has scored since the third season, and it features many of the compositions he created during that era of the show, including Ray and Lucy’s musical signatures and Bobby and Pam’s love theme. It’s always nice to hear these classic numbers, but does the show have to recycle so many old plotlines to go with them?

J.R. spends “The Big Shut Down” conspiring to buy up the oil supply to Clayton Farlow’s refineries so he can hold the crude “hostage” in exchange for John Ross, who now lives with Sue Ellen and the Farlows at their Southern Cross ranch. To finance this scheme, J.R. turns to smarmy banker Vaughn Leland – just like he did two seasons ago, when Vaughn arranged J.R.’s outlandish ploy to secretly mortgage Southfork.

“The Big Shut Down’s” climax – when J.R. signs the paperwork for his loan – even echoes “The Kristin Affair” scene where J.R. approves the deal that puts ownership of Southfork at risk. Both sequences take place in J.R.’s office and both end with him dismissing Vaughn’s ominous warnings. It’s less homage than outright retread.

“The Big Shut Down’s” other subplots feel just as familiar. In “Dallas’s” previous episode, “The Sweet Smell of Revenge,” the show seemed to go out of its way to suggest Pam’s depression wasn’t linked to her fertility problems. But in this installment, Pam is once again bemoaning her inability to have children. In the third act, she even recalls for Dr. Conrad the whole third-season storyline about her obsession with John Ross, reminding us how we’ve seen all this before.

Of course, not everything here is old news. “The Big Shut Down” marks one of the first appearances of Katherine Wentworth, who’ll go on to become one of the great “Dallas” vixens. Morgan Brittany is sublime in the role, right from the start. In this episode, I especially love Katherine’s deliciously bitchy reaction when she discovers Cliff has redecorated her daddy’s old office at Wentworth Tool and Die.

It’s the first time we encounter what becomes one of “Dallas’s” most enduring truisms: Never upset Katherine Wentworth!

Grade: B

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Her too

‘THE BIG SHUT DOWN’

Season 5, Episode 6

Airdate: November 13, 1981

Audience: 23.7 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Vaughn agrees to finance J.R.’s plot to cut off the Farlows’ oil supply. Jeff Farraday, the mysterious caller who contacted Bobby, sells him more information about Christopher. Pam meets Katherine. Donna steps in as Ray’s partner when Punk drops out of their latest venture.

Cast: Phillip Allen (Lloyd Bettinger), Tami Barber (Bev), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Deborah Benson (secretary), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Tom Fuccello (Senator Dave Culver), Robert Ginnaven (Chuck Williamson), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Laurence Haddon (Franklin Horner), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), David Tress (Walter Sher), Edward Winter (Dr. Frank Waring), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“The Big Shut Down” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.