Critiques (Classic) – Dallas Decoder

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 140 — ‘Morning After’

November 25, 2013 by Chris Baker 6 Comments

Christopher Atkins, Dallas, Linda Gray, Morning After, Peter Richards, Sue Ellen Ewing

Special needs

The characters on “Dallas” usually have affairs when they fall in lust or in love, but neither scenario is true for Sue Ellen Ewing and Peter Richards. Their romance is based on their mutual neediness. Sue Ellen, having been betrayed by J.R. once too often, needs to be reminded of what life was like before it turned into one extended heartache. Peter, a bright young man who is eager for the world to take him seriously, needs to feel like a grownup. Put another way: She needs to feel younger, he needs to feel older. This doesn’t make their relationship right, but I can see why they’re drawn to each other.

In “Morning After,” Sue Ellen and Peter finally acknowledge what’s happening between them. It begins when Peter visits Southfork and overhears J.R. and Sue Ellen arguing. J.R. wants his wife to sleep with him; when she refuses, he suggests it’s because Peter is “getting” to her. Sue Ellen insists this isn’t true but wonders if J.R. is jealous. His response: “Jealous? Are you kidding? The one thing I don’t have to worry about is a schoolboy with a crush on my wife.” The next day, Peter persuades Sue Ellen to meet him at a quiet pier, where he says he doesn’t think he should continue working with John Ross because he’s developed feelings Sue Ellen. She tells Peter it’s “not so unusual” for a young man to be attracted to an older woman, comparing him to a student who develops a crush on a teacher. Sue Ellen urges him to not “give up” on John Ross, who adores Peter and would be sad to lose him as his counselor. “It’ll all work out. You’ll see,” she says.

Except this is “Dallas,” and so of course things won’t work themselves out. To begin with, Sue Ellen is also attracted to Peter, although she doesn’t want to admit it. Why? Scriptwriter David Paulsen never makes this clear, but it seems safe to assume the always ladylike Sue Ellen believes it would be wrong for a woman in her 40s to desire a college student like Peter. Regardless of the character’s motivation, Linda Gray does a nice job bringing Sue Ellen’s conflicted feelings to light. This is especially true in the scene where Sue Ellen shoots down Lucy’s suggestion that Peter has a crush on her. Gray delivers her lines with just enough defensiveness in her voice to let the audience know that Sue Ellen doesn’t believe a word of what she’s saying. Charlene Tilton’s skepticism in this scene is also pitch-perfect. When Sue Ellen insists Peter is nothing more than John Ross’s friend, Lucy snaps, “He’s John Ross’s friend? John Ross is 5 years old. Peter is in college.”

Sue Ellen’s denials bring to mind one of “Dallas’s” earlier May/December romances: Jock’s affair-of-the-heart with Julie Grey. Like Sue Ellen does with Peter, Jock initially denies anything is happening between him and Julie, although he eventually realizes their relationship is wrong and ends it. Also, like Sue Ellen and Peter’s romance, Jock and Julie’s affair is rooted in mutual neediness: He needs Julie to help reclaim his vitality after his heart attack, while she needs Jock to validate her self-worth. One difference between the two relationships: Julie fools herself into thinking it’s OK to pursue Jock, but Peter does no such thing when it comes to his feelings toward Sue Ellen. Even after Peter eavesdrops on J.R. and Sue Ellen’s spat and realizes they aren’t the happy couple they pretend to be in public, Peter tells Sue Ellen their friendship can’t continue. “You’re married. I just don’t think anything should happen between us,” he says.

Ultimately, this is why Sue Ellen is so attracted to Peter: Unlike the husband who has caused her so much pain, Peter is principled. He still has some growing up to do, though. The day after Sue Ellen’s conversation with Peter at the pier, she drops John Ross off at camp and discovers Peter hasn’t shown up for work. Sue Ellen returns to the pier, where she finds Peter sitting on the dock, looking like a sad little boy. She again reassures him that everything will work itself out, then holds his hand and walks him toward her car, where, in the episode’s final scene, he kisses her. The sentimental underscore lends this scene a “Summer of ’42” vibe, and Christopher Atkins is earnest enough to make Peter’s kiss seem gentle and sweet. But isn’t it also kind of childish? For all of Sue Ellen’s talk about how mature Peter is, he apparently isn’t grown up enough to control his impulses.

Sue Ellen and Peter’s relationship will take more twists and turns as “Dallas’s” seventh season progresses, but by the end of “Morning After,” it feels like their affair is already doomed. The qualities that attract these characters to each other are the same qualities that seem destined to tear them apart them. Sue Ellen is drawn to Peter’s youth and, having had her first taste of self-empowerment in the previous episode, she seems to enjoy being the dominant player in their relationship. Notice how she goes to the pier to retrieve him, and she takes his hand and walks him to her car. Peter’s attraction to Sue Ellen, in the meantime, is based on how she treats him like a man. As their relationship deepens and she asserts herself more, will he still feel the same way?

Peter isn’t the only character who comes clean in “Morning After.” In one of this episode’s most interesting scenes, Katherine finally tells Bobby she loves him and is surprised to see the revelation shocks him. I suspect a lot of “Dallas” fans probably share Katherine’s surprise, although Bobby’s explanation (“You’re Pam’s sister. I could never think of you in any other way.”) seems reasonable to me. Regardless, I feel sorry for Katherine. Yes, she did an awful thing by working with J.R. to orchestrate Bobby and Pam’s breakup, but Morgan Brittany imbues her character with such sad desperation that she becomes a sympathetic figure. I also have to admire how Katherine goes after what she wants, unlike so many of the other women on this show who never seem fully in control of their own lives.

Other notable moments in “Morning After” include the scene where Cliff invites Pam to join him for a business dinner with Ben Kesey, whose oil company Cliff wants to buy. Of course, smarmy Cliff arrives late because he knows Kesey will be attracted to his sister and wants them to have plenty of time alone together. This won’t be the first time Cliff will use a woman named Pam in this manner, is it? Fortunately, in “Morning After,” Victoria Principal’s Pam is smart enough to figure out what’s happening and calls Cliff on his manipulation. Too bad Donna doesn’t demonstrate the same gumption in her scene with Paul Morgan. After she thanks Morgan for defending Ray during his murder trial, Morgan flirts with Donna shamelessly, predicting she’ll “wake up one day and leave that guy.” Why doesn’t Donna slug him? On the other hand, Morgan isn’t wrong, is he?

The other great scene in “Morning After” showcases Larry Hagman’s wonderful chemistry with Tilton. It begins when J.R. arrives for breakfast on the Southfork patio, ranting about his brawl with Cliff at the Oil Baron’s Ball the previous night. When J.R. reveals Cliff bit him, Lucy snickers. Says J.R.: “It’s not a laughing matter, young lady. A human bite is a very serious thing. Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of Cliff Barnes.” Lucy’s response: “Are you going to bite him back?”

Perfect.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Who bit J.R.?

‘MORNING AFTER’

Season 7, Episode 9

Airdate: November 25, 1983

Audience: 21.2 million homes, ranking 3rd in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: After Cliff is named oil baron of the year, he gets into a fistfight with the Ewings. Katherine declares her love to Bobby, who says he considers her a friend. Peter confesses his crush to Sue Ellen and kisses her. Cliff uses information from Sly to steal another deal from J.R.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Glenn Corbett (Paul Morgan), Joe Dorsey (Ben Kesey), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Debi Sue Voorhees (Caroline), Tom Williams (Joe Clooney), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Morning After” 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: Charlene Tilton, Christopher Atkins, David Paulsen, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Morgan Brittany, Morning After

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 139 — ‘The Oil Baron’s Ball’

November 18, 2013 by Chris Baker 17 Comments

Dallas, Linda Gray, OIl Baron's Ball, Sue Ellen Ewing

Open door policy

J.R. and Sue Ellen’s relationship takes a lot of twists over the years, but nothing fascinates me more than when she starts emulating him. It begins during Linda Gray’s final seasons on the original “Dallas,” when Sue Ellen becomes a wheeler-dealer in business, and it continues on TNT’s sequel series, when we see her reach into J.R.’s bag of tricks to defeat enemies like Governor McConaughey. In “The Oil Baron’s Ball,” Sue Ellen’s transformation into J.R.’s protégé is still a few years away, but this episode nonetheless offers a glimpse of where Gray’s character is headed. By the end of the hour, we see just how much Sue Ellen is learning at the feet of the master.

Gray has three notable scenes in this episode. In the first, Sue Ellen is strolling through a park when she notices all the happy young couples surrounding her. Eventually, she comes across a group of attractive, shirtless men playing football and stops to watch. Writer-director Leonard Katzman shows the game in slow motion, allowing the camera to linger on the players. There’s no doubt what this scene is supposed to represent: Sue Ellen’s sexual desires, which have gone unfulfilled since she moved out of J.R.’s bedroom several episodes earlier. By today’s standards, the football scene seems a little campy — especially when all those half-naked, straight-from-the-80s hunks start falling all over each other — but it also strikes me as surprisingly progressive. Here’s “Dallas,” easily one of the era’s most chauvinistic TV shows, taking a moment to acknowledge that women don’t exist solely to please men; they have needs of their own. How can you not admire that?

As soon as the football scene ends, Katzman cuts to Southfork that night, where J.R. is reading in bed. Suddenly, the door opens, revealing Sue Ellen’s silhouette. “Do you want something?” he asks. She strides into the room, flings the door closed behind her and climbs onto the bed. “Yes, I want something,” she says, taking the book out of J.R.’s hand and kissing him aggressively as the screen fades to black. The next time we see the couple, Sue Ellen is turning on the bedside lamp as a beaming J.R. watches from under the covers. When she tells him she’s going back to her room, he’s confused. Sue Ellen explains: “You see, J.R., I have no desire to live with you. Now, granted, from time to time, I may need you. And if and when that happens, then I’ll be back. But that’s all. That’s as close to being married as we will ever be.” J.R. is furious and accuses her of treating him like “some kind of stud service.” Her response: “What other possible use would I have for you?”

This is a terrific scene for a lot of reasons, beginning with Gray’s playfully sultry delivery. It’s a moment of triumph for Sue Ellen — and Gray savors every second of it. Indeed, consider how far her character has come: In “Spy in the House,” “Dallas’s” third episode, a sexually neglected Sue Ellen buys a negligee, hoping to get J.R.’s attention; when he calls it “cheap” and walks out on her, she collapses in tears. Sue Ellen soon begins turning to other men, but “The Oil Baron’s Ball” marks the first time we see her take charge of her sexual relationship with J.R. It puts her on the same page as Pam, who is the original “Dallas’s” most sexually liberated woman (occasionally incurring her own husband’s wrath). Perhaps more anything, J.R. and Sue Ellen’s bedroom scene is an exercise in poetic justice: The man who has treated countless mistresses as sexual playthings now gets a taste of his own medicine — and from his wife, no less.

Sue Ellen’s most J.R.-like moment in “The Oil Baron’s Ball” is yet to come. In the third act, our newly empowered heroine visits Windsor Meadow and sends John Ross to summon Peter, the camp counselor to whom she finds herself increasingly attracted. Sue Ellen asks Peter to escort Lucy to this year’s Oil Baron’s Ball, although it’s pretty obvious that Sue Ellen really wants Peter for herself, not for her niece. Peter is reluctant to accept — the young man harbors a secret crush on Sue Ellen and has never even met Lucy — but every time he comes up with an excuse to not go, Sue Ellen is one step ahead of him. When Peter tells her that he would feel out of place at the ball, she responds there’s no place he wouldn’t fit in perfectly. When he says he doesn’t own a dark suit, Sue Ellen reveals she has already arranged for him to visit J.R.’s tailor to be fitted for a tuxedo, compliments of her. Peter has no choice but to say yes, demonstrating once again how much she has learned from her husband. Sue Ellen has always had a manipulative streak, but her use of charm, confidence and gifts to bend Peter’s will comes straight from J.R.’s playbook.

The rest of “The Oil Baron’s Ball” is a mix of heavy drama and light moments. The episode picks up where the previous hour left off, with Lil taking the stand in Ray’s trial and revealing he did indeed pull the plug on Mickey, but only because she couldn’t bring herself to do it. This is a fake-out worthy of TNT’s “Dallas” (admit it: you thought Lil was the culprit), and Kate Reid does a nice job delivering her character’s monologue. The most moving moment, though, comes when Donna tells Ray that even though she believes he had no right to take Mickey’s life, she doesn’t want him to go prison for it. I love this scene because Susan Howard is so good in it — she makes me feel very ounce of Donna’s anguish — and also because it clearly spells out the character’s dilemma of reconciling her personal beliefs with her desire to stand by her husband.

Still, I can’t help but think this conversation between Ray and Donna should have occurred at the beginning of the “who killed Mickey?” mystery, not at the end. For that matter, I also wish this storyline should had been wrapped up in the previous episode, “Ray’s Trial.” No sooner has the judge handed down Ray’s sentence — parole, not jail (naturally) — then Ray and Donna are dancing at the glittery ball. It’s odd to see these characters move on so quickly. Likewise, we never see Lil bid farewell to the Krebbses; after the verdict is announced, Reid simply vanishes from “Dallas” (although she does pop up again briefly a few years later). After the trial, wouldn’t it have been nice to see Ray, Donna, Lil and Lucy visit Mickey’s grave? Besides giving the audience a sense of closure, it would have served as a nice bookend to the memorable Amos Krebbs’s funeral scene a year earlier, when the Trotters were introduced.

Even if the juxtaposition between the courtroom and the ball is jarring, I must admit: The latter scenes are awfully fun. Ken Kercheval somehow manages to make Cliff seem both humbled and overbearing in the instant when the character is named oilman of the year, and the clash between the Ewing and Barnes/Wentworth women in the powder room is delicious. Above all, I love the bon mots J.R. drops during the course of the ball. When Pam arrives and drops by the Ewing table, J.R. delights in re-introducing her to Bobby’s date, Jenna Wade. Bobby tells him to cut it out, but J.R. can’t help himself. “Well, for those who don’t have a program, I’m just going to have to announce the names of all the players, aren’t I?” he says. Larry Hagman’s smile is even more mischievous than usual.

Later, when J.R. sees how uncomfortable Bobby, Pam and Jenna are around each other, he declares this is going to be “one of the great nights of my life.” Leave it to Sue Ellen to put him in his place. “Nothing brings out the best in you like other peoples’ unhappiness,” she says. The line makes me think: Perhaps J.R. has a thing or two to learn from her too.

Grade: B

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Dallas, Donna Krebbs, Oil Baron's Ball, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly, Susan Howard

At last

‘THE OIL BARON’S BALL’

Season 7, Episode 8

Airdate: November 18, 1983

Audience: 23 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: After Lil testifies that Ray pulled the plug on Mickey at her request, Ray is found guilty but given parole. Sue Ellen treats J.R. like a sexual plaything and persuades Peter to escort Lucy to the Oil Baron’s Ball. At the ball, Pam and Jenna clash and Cliff is named oilman of the year.

Cast: Charles Aidman (Judge Emmett Brocks), Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Delores Cantú (Doris), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Glenn Corbett (Paul Morgan), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Richard Jaeckel (Assistant District Attorney Percy Meredith), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Priscilla Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Debi Sue Voorhees (Caroline), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“The Oil Baron’s Ball” 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: Kate Reid, Ken Kercheval, Larry Hagman, Leonard Katzman, Linda Gray, Oil Baron’s Ball, Spy in the House, Susan Howard, TNT

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 138 — ‘Ray’s Trial’

November 11, 2013 by Chris Baker 12 Comments

Dallas, Ray Krebbs, Ray's Trial, Steve Kanaly

His day in court

I always remembered the mystery surrounding Mickey Trotter’s death as boiling down to a single question: Did Ray or Lil pull the plug on him? Last week, when I re-watched “Ray’s Trial” for the first time in a few years, I realized “Dallas” also poses a second, more complicated question: Did Mickey want to live or die? Ray and Lucy each offer different answers during the course of the episode, and technically, both of their statements are accurate. Does that mean both statements are also true? I’m not sure anyone can answer that definitively, which makes the storyline feel a lot more interesting than I previously gave it credit for.

To appreciate this aspect of “Ray’s Trial,” it’s worth remembering two crucial scenes from the preceding episodes. In “My Brother’s Keeper,” when Mickey is struggling to come to grips with his paralysis, he pulls Ray aside and tells him, “The idea of living like a vegetable with some damn machine keeping me alive disgusts me. It’s the worst horror I can imagine. … If it happens, I hope and pray that no one’s going to let me live that way.” Later, in “The Quality of Mercy,” Mickey’s mood brightens when he realizes Lucy is determined to stand by him despite the fact that he’ll never walk again. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll get married yet,” Mickey tells her.

But this is “Dallas,” so of course that never happens. When Mickey slips into a coma, his respirator is disconnected off-screen by either Ray or Lil, the two people with him at the time. The district attorney charges Ray, although the show goes out of its way to drop hints that the real culprit is Lil and Ray is only covering up for her. “Dallas” doesn’t solve the mystery until the next episode, allowing the audience to spend “Ray’s Trial” pondering what Mickey wanted, which turns out to be the more interesting question anyway. At the top of the hour, Ray meets with his lawyer and recalls Mickey’s “worst horror” comment, holding this up as evidence that Mickey preferred death to being kept alive via medical machinery. Later, when Lucy testifies at Ray’s trial, she recalls the marriage plans she and Mickey were making before he slipped into the coma. “He wanted to live. He really did,” she says.

Once again, these are two characters offering two technically accurate but fundamentally different answers to the question of whether Mickey wanted to live or die. Who you choose to believe may come down to where you stand on the issue of euthanasia, which is where “Ray’s Trial” ultimately falls short. Scriptwriter Arthur Bernard Lewis doesn’t devote much time to examining the moral implications of Mickey’s death, which is somewhat surprising considering the difference of opinion Ray and Donna apparently bring to the issue. At one point, Ray tells his lawyer, “What I did was not immoral.” This seems to put him at odds with Donna, whose personal beliefs are hinted at in the previous episode when she declares, “Nobody has the right to play God.” So why doesn’t “Ray’s Trial” give us a scene of husband and wife debating the issue?

Even if the material feels incomplete, Steve Kanaly makes the most of it. In my recent interview with him, Kanaly recalled growing up watching westerns and admiring actors like Gary Cooper. The comment must have lodged itself in the back of my mind because when I watched “Ray’s Trial” a few days later, I was struck by how much Kanaly reminds me of Cooper. The actors share similarly quiet, dignified mannerisms, and both are able to say a lot without uttering a single line of dialogue. In Kanaly’s case, watch his haunted eyes in this episode and you’ll see everything that the script doesn’t tell us about what Ray is feeling.

The other performer to watch is Charlene Tilton, who appears only twice but makes a lasting impression. She does a beautiful job delivering Lucy’s tearful testimony, which supplies “Ray’s Trial” with its moment of emotional catharsis. My favorite scene, though, comes a few moments later, when Donna comforts Lucy in the courthouse corridor after Lucy reluctantly testifies against Ray. This is a brief scene and the script doesn’t give Tilton much dialogue, but none is needed. Her anguished expression says it all. The courtroom scenes also feature a couple of old pros — Richard Jaeckel as prosecutor Percy Meredith and Glenn Corbett as Paul Morgan, Ray’s defense lawyer — as well as a young Steven Williams, who appears here as a bailiff and later plays the police captain on “21 Jump Street.”

This episode’s other notable moments include Mark Graison’s polo match, which might be “Dallas’s” most thrilling horseback riding sequence since Jock Ewing surged across the Southfork plains at the beginning of the second-season classic “Bypass.” “Ray’s Trial” also marks Lois Chiles’ final appearance as Holly Harwood. In her last scene, Holly approaches J.R. in a cocktail lounge and taunts him over losing the battle for Ewing Oil. Besides giving Chiles one last opportunity to spar with Larry Hagman, I like how this scene mimics J.R. and Holly’s first on-screen encounter, which also takes place in a cocktail lounge.

The other highlight of “Ray’s Trial” is the arrival of Priscilla Presley, who makes her “Dallas” debut as Jenna Wade. It’s a fine first appearance, although it includes a bit of a curiosity. In one of Presley’s scenes, Bobby pulls up in front of Jenna’s home as she approaches the sidewalk. He invites her to join him for lunch, but when director Michael Preece offers us a close-up shot of Bobby’s car radio, we see the clock reads “5:45.” From this, we can deduce one of two things: Either Ewings eat lunch very late, which makes them a lot different than you and me, or Bobby has yet to figure out how to set the clock in his car, in which case he’s just like us.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello again

‘RAY’S TRIAL’

Season 7, Episode 7

Airdate: November 11, 1983

Audience: 22.4 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: Ray goes on trial and frustrates Donna with his reluctance to defend himself. Bobby runs into Jenna, who now works as a waitress. J.R. woos the cartel.

Cast: Charles Aidman (Judge Emmett Brocks), Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Glenn Corbett (Paul Morgan), Michael Cornelison (Dr. Snow), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Steven Fuller (bailiff), Tony Garcia (Raoul), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Richard Jaeckel (Assistant District Attorney Percy Meredith), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Joseph R. Maross (Dr. Blakely), Andrea McCall (Tracy Anders), Priscilla Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing)

“Ray’s Trial” 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: Arthur Bernard Lewis, Bypass, Glenn Corbett, Larry Hagman, Lois Chiles, Michael Preece, My Brother’s Keeper, Priscilla Presley, Quality of Mercy, Ray’s Trial, Richael Jaeckel, Steve Kanaly, Steven Williams

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 137 — ‘Check and Mate’

November 4, 2013 by Chris Baker 19 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Check and Mate, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy

Endgame

“Check and Mate” brings J.R. and Bobby’s contest for control of Ewing Oil to a satisfying but somewhat silly conclusion. In the final scene, the brothers learn J.R. boosted the company’s profits by $40 million, making him the clear-cut winner. With his victory clenched, J.R. announces he’s reneging on his earlier promise to split the company with Bobby, even if Bobby comes up short. Suddenly, Bobby receives some last-minute news: He just made a killing on his Canadian drilling deal, making him the contest’s winner. J.R. wants to go back to their original power-sharing deal — and of course Bobby agrees. Would we expect anything less from this show?

Indeed, this is another example of “Dallas’s” rather fanciful approach to big business. J.R. and Bobby receive the contest results while meeting with lawyer Harv Smithfield on the last day of the competition. Legally, shouldn’t this meeting have taken place the following day, when all the profits could have been counted? Also, in the previous episode, Bobby’s Canadian partner Thornton McLeish still hadn’t struck oil; now we learn Bobby and McLeish not only hit big, they managed to sell their shares to some bigger oil companies. Talk about a fast sale!

But even if this scene stretches credulity, it remains one of the best corporate showdowns from a series that practically invented them. Bobby’s 11th-hour victory is surprising and dramatic; I usually don’t like to see J.R. get beat, but when Bobby does it, I let it slide. Besides, Larry Hagman gets to show a lot of range here — unabashed smugness when J.R. thinks he’s won, muted humility when he realizes he’s lost — and that’s always fun to watch. (I also appreciate how the sequence includes one last letter from Jock, whose explanation that the true purpose of the contest was to bring his sons together makes the storyline feel like Jock’s version of J.R.’s master plan from the TNT series. Or maybe it’s the other way around.)

The lasting consequences of J.R. and Bobby’s fight yields mixed feelings too. There’s no doubt the battle has changed Bobby, who compromised his integrity in his quest for power and ended up losing his wife and son along the way. Bobby is now a damaged man, and Patrick Duffy does a nice job imbuing his character with a sad, soulful weariness. I wish we could say something similar about J.R. After the Southfork fire, J.R. had an attack of conscience and agreed to jointly run Ewing Oil with Bobby, regardless of which brother won the competition. He changed his mind pretty quickly and spent the episodes before “Check and Mate” secretly plotting to stab Bobby in the back when the final results were announced. No one wants to see J.R. turn into a good guy, but wouldn’t it have been more interesting to watch him wrestle with breaking his promise to Bobby? It would have revealed a new depth to J.R.’s character and made the yearlong battle for Ewing Oil, one of “Dallas’s” milestone moments, feel even more meaningful.

Even with these slight shortcomings, “Check and Mate” remains the seventh season’s strongest hour yet. With J.R. and Bobby’s war ending, the show shifts its attention to two supporting characters: Ray and Donna, whose marriage is rocked after Ray is arrested for Mickey’s mercy killing. (This makes Mickey one of the last casualties in the war for Ewing Oil, along with Rebecca Wentworth and Walt Driscoll.) Did Ray pull the plug? Or was it Lil, the only other person in the room at the time? Steve Kanaly is a portrait of quiet resolve as Ray goes through this episode refusing to discuss what happened in the moments before Mickey’s death. The silence is frustrating, but it’s also perfectly in keeping with the character of Ray, a laconic cowboy if ever there was one. Whether Ray pulled the plug himself or he’s simply taking the fall to protect Lil, we wouldn’t expect him to talk about it.

Even if Ray doesn’t have much to say, Kanaly still manages to give the audience a sense of Ray’s inner torment. In “Check and Mate’s” moving next-to-last scene, he sits at the patio table outside his home and asks the deeply depressed Lil for permission to bury Mickey at Southfork. Kanaly’s delivery breaks my heart, but as I watched this scene I remembered Ray and Jock’s memorable conversation at that very table in “The Fourth Son,” when the old man told Ray he was his son. It’s a subtle but poignant reminder of how Ray tried to take Mickey under his arm, the way Jock did with Ray, and how Ray’s efforts ultimately fell short. On the other hand, whether Ray killed his cousin himself or he’s just protecting Lil, is he not exhibiting a Jock-like sense of duty and honor?

Like Kanaly, Susan Howard also makes the most of her time in the spotlight. She has two terrific moments in “Check and Mate.” In the first act, Donna speaks to Ray in jail after his arrest; the glass partition separating the couple feels like a stand-in for the bigger barrier, which is Ray’s willingness to open up about the circumstances surrounding Mickey’s death. Donna seems to believe Ray disconnected Mickey’s life-support system, and Howard makes her character’s disappointment palpable. “Nobody has the right to play God,” she says with signature breathiness. Donna’s reaction makes sense, given the character’s strong moralistic bent. It’s another example of how well “Check and Mate” scriptwriter David Paulsen knows these characters.

Howard’s second great moment comes at the beginning of the third act, when Donna rides out to a Southfork pasture to confront Ray about his lack of willingness to defend himself. She reminds her husband that his only duty wasn’t to ease Mickey’s suffering; Ray also has an obligation to his marriage. Once again, Paulsen gives Howard a great line, and she delivers it beautifully: “You’re what I wanted all my life. You may not think your life is worth saving, but I sure as hell do.” With this single line, Paulsen manages to encapsulate Donna’s entire history with Ray, including her affair with him during her marriage to Sam Culver and when she rescued Ray from depression after Jock’s death.

The other great performance in “Check and Mate” comes from Charlene Tilton, who is moving and believable in the scene where Ray comes home from jail and is greeted by the Lucy, who in her grief-stricken rage beats on his chest and cries, “You murdered him!” It’s another example of how Tilton, when given good material, is a terrific actress. I also have to hand it once again to Howard, who allows the scene to end on a graceful note. “For God’s sake,” Donna says as she tries to comfort Lucy. “Don’t you know that it’s tearing him apart too?”

Like all great “Dallas” episodes, the details in “Check and Mate” are also worth paying attention to. Toward the end of the scene where Sue Ellen offers to throw a barbecue for Peter and his fellow camp counselors, Linda Gray touches Christopher Atkins’ shoulder; right at that moment, composer Bruce Broughton brings a few piano keys into the background score to ensure the audience doesn’t miss the significance of the gesture. Moments later, when Peter runs back into the building to retrieve John Ross, watch how Atkins bounds up the stairs. Peter is still a boy himself, isn’t he?

Elsewhere, director Leonard Katzman also gives us a great shot during the scene where Cliff approaches Sly as she leaves Ewing Oil for her lunch break. Debbie Rennard stands with her back to the building, facing Ken Kercheval, whose face is reflected in the façade. It’s a clever way to get both performers’ faces in the frame, but is it not also a symbol of how Cliff is increasingly reflecting the underhanded sensibilities of the enemy who works there?

Grade: A

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Cliff Barnes, Dallas, Debbie Rennard, Ken Kercheval, Sly Lovegren

Two-faced

‘CHECK AND MATE’

Season 7, Episode 6

Airdate: November 4, 1983

Audience: 22.5 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: The contest for Ewing Oil ends with Bobby the winner, but he agrees to share the company with J.R. When Ray is arrested in Mickey’s death, Donna hires Paul Morgan to represent him, while Lil slips into a deep depression. Pam goes to work with Cliff, who uses inside information from Sly to steal a big deal out from under J.R. Bobby tells Holly can never date her.

Cast: Dan Ammerman (Neil), Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Jack Collins (Russell Slater), Glenn Corbett (Paul Morgan), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), John Hostetter (Gerber), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Kenneth Kimmins (Thorton McLeish), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Bill Thurman (Allen Murphy), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Check and Mate” 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: Check and Mate, Christopher Atkins, David Paulsen, Debbie Rennard, Larry Hagman, Leonard Katzman, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy, Steve Kanaly, Susan Howard, TNT

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 136 — ‘The Quality of Mercy’

October 28, 2013 by Chris Baker 15 Comments

Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Quality of Mercy

Pool shark

J.R. Ewing is a man of supreme self-confidence, but he has a jealous streak too. His primary goal in life — to grow the Ewing empire — is rooted in his determination to win Jock’s approval and supplant Bobby as their father’s favorite son. Sue Ellen also arouses J.R.’s envy whenever she turns her attention to other people, whether it’s for love (Cliff, Dusty) or friendship (Pam, Clayton). In “The Quality of Mercy,” J.R. finds himself feeling threatened anew, and this time by his unlikeliest rival yet: Peter Richards, the boyish camp counselor who has managed to captivate both Sue Ellen and John Ross.

Many “Dallas” fans don’t care for this storyline, but since I began re-watching the show’s seventh season, I’ve been fascinated by the contrast between dark, devilish Larry Hagman and blond, beatific Christopher Atkins. “The Quality of Mercy” is a crucial chapter in their on-screen rivalry because it represents the moment J.R. begins to see Peter as an enemy. This revelation begins to unfold in the sweet scene where J.R. tucks John Ross into bed and learns Peter helped the boy deal with a bully at camp. J.R. says he’s pleased his son’s problem has been resolved, but he also tells him: “The one person you come to when you’re in trouble is your daddy. You remember that.” Later, J.R. watches from the Southfork balcony as Peter spends time with Sue Ellen and John Ross by the pool. Hagman’s stony expression makes it clear: J.R. doesn’t share his wife and son’s enthusiasm for their new friend.

After the poolside romp, Sue Ellen, John Ross and Peter retreat to the patio for lunch. When Peter mentions his desire for success, Sue Ellen, who has been hurt by more than one ambitious man in the past, looks crestfallen. Peter explains he isn’t interested in wealth and power; he only wants to succeed in his career as a child psychologist. Sue Ellen’s face lights up, giving us our first clue that she has romantic designs on him. Sue Ellen then turns the subject toward Peter’s love life. She tells him how “mature” he is; this time, his face lights up. This is when J.R., who’s been eavesdropping, rounds the corner and announces it’s time for him to take John Ross to the barbershop. After Peter thanks his hosts and departs, J.R. tells Sue Ellen the young man clearly has a crush on her. She accuses her husband of having a “sick mind” and J.R. smiles impishly, but he isn’t really amused, is he? J.R. now sees Peter as a problem; the only question that remains is how he’s going to fix it.

Through it all, Hagman does a masterful job letting us inside J.R.’s head, while Linda Gray and Atkins are quite effective at slowly revealing Sue Ellen and Peter’s attraction to each other. I also appreciate Atkins’ scenes with Omri Katz. As the season progresses, Peter’s friendship with John Ross strains credibility, but in this episode, it seems perfectly believable. I’ll also confess: Given the amount of time Atkins spends in Speedos and half-shirts on “Dallas,” I’ve always dismissed him as another pretty face. Seeing his first few episodes with fresh eyes, I’m impressed with the way he establishes his character.

“The Quality of Mercy” also kicks off one of “Dallas’s” best storylines: the medical mystery surrounding the death of Mickey Trotter. It begins in the third act, when Mickey slips into another coma. His weary loved ones are once again left to deal with their frustration and grief, although no one seems more devastated than Lil, who declares she doesn’t want to watch her son kept alive by a respirator. Then, in the final scene, a nurse is at her station when she hears Mickey’s monitor flat line. She rushes down the corridor with a doctor and an orderly, only to discover the door to Mickey’s room won’t open. Cut to Ray, who is on the other side of the door, struggling to keep it closed. The camera slowly pans across the room’s medical equipment, Mickey’s body and Lil, who is seated next to him. Eventually, the medics overpower Ray and brush past him as he slumps onto the floor.

What I like best about this scene is how director Nick Havinga keeps his camera focused on Steve Kanaly, even as the doctors and nurses struggle to revive Mickey. There’s no need to show anything else because Kanaly’s tired, defeated expression says it all. We don’t even see Kate Reid’s face when Lil walks toward Ray and cradles his head against her leg. Before the freeze frame, we hear the off-screen doctor announce Mickey’s fate. “We’ve done all that we can,” he says. Who pulled the plug on Mickey? The answer won’t be revealed for a few more episodes, but there’s no doubt this is one of “Dallas’s” most haunting moments. (Trivia: Mickey’s nurse is named “Rettino,” an apparent tribute to John Rettino, the show’s longtime property master. Rettino later married producer Leonard Katzman’s daughter Sheril Lynn, who coincidentally returns to “Dallas” in this episode as Jackie Dugan, Pam’s coworker at the Store.)

“The Quality of Mercy” also includes a terrific scene where Cliff, channeling J.R., blackmails Sly into spying on her boss, as well as a lovely heart-to-heart between Sue Ellen and Lucy, two characters who don’t often interact. (I suspect if Barbara Bel Geddes was available for this episode, this would’ve been a conversation between Lucy and Miss Ellie.) There’s also the deliciously bitchy moment where Holly interrupts Bobby’s lunch with Katherine. Both women are oh-so-polite to each other, yet it’s clear that Katherine is furious that Holly is stealing Bobby’s attention. As Bobby chats with Holly, the camera cuts to Katherine seething. It’s fun to watch Morgan Brittany sighing heavily and shooting daggers with her eyes, but don’t overlook Lois Chiles, who has a tougher assignment. She must let the audience know that Holly has Katherine’s number, which the sly Chiles achieves with a few subtle, suspicious glances at Brittany.

This scene marks the beginning of Chiles’ “Dallas” swan song. (Hill Place, a classic TV and movie blog, just posted a thorough review of her exit from the show.) Watching her impressive performance here, I can’t help but wonder: Must we say goodbye to Holly Harwood?

Grade: A

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Dallas, Kate Reid, Lil Trotter, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly

He done it?

‘THE QUALITY OF MERCY’

Season 7, Episode 5

Airdate: October 28, 1983

Audience: 20.1 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Leonard Katzman

Director: Nick Havinga

Synopsis: Holly invites Bobby to lunch, angering Katherine. Pam moves into her mother’s house and considers going to work with Cliff, who blackmails Sly into spying on J.R. for him. J.R. suspects Peter has a crush on Sue Ellen. After Mickey slips into a coma, someone unplugs his respirator, killing him.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), Mary Armstrong (Louise), John Beck (Mark Graison), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Jack Collins (Russell Slater), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Robert Gribbin (doctor), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie Dugan), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Joseph R. Maross (Dr. Blakely), Joseph Miller (security guard), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Kimberly Ross (Nurse Rettino), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

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

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 135 — ‘My Brother’s Keeper’

October 21, 2013 by Chris Baker 9 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, My Brother's Keeper

Brotherly love

J.R. goes through “My Brother’s Keeper” trying to buck up Bobby, who’s feeling down as his divorce date approaches. In a memorable scene, the brothers go out for a night on the town, where J.R. arranges for Bobby to bump into a call girl he hired to take Bobby’s mind off his troubles. Does it matter that J.R. is also secretly plotting to shut Bobby out of Ewing Oil, or that J.R. knows Pam will be at the restaurant and will spot her estranged husband dining with the other woman? Of course it matters. But even though J.R. has ulterior motives, the concern he displays for his brother in this episode feels very real.

It’s another example of what makes J.R. a forerunner for the protagonists of modern television drama. As critic Matt Zoller Seitz recently noted, one of the reasons the final hours of “Breaking Bad” were so riveting is because they showed how Walter White, the loving husband and father, and Heisenberg, his ruthless alter ego, had come to co-exist within the same mind and body. You can say something similar about J.R. Even though he’s scheming against Bobby and helped orchestrate the breakup of his marriage, he genuinely loves his brother and wants to help him cope with the loss of Pam and Christopher. J.R. is nothing if not a compartmentalist.

Like J.R., Cliff also balances his love for a sibling with his desire to advance his own agenda. In Cliff’s case, he wants Pam to divorce Bobby so she can marry Mark and pave the way for Cliff, Pam and Mark to form a business partnership. But unlike J.R.’s relationship with Bobby, Cliff’s affection for Pam feels a little less complicated. Watch the sweet scene in “My Brother’s Keeper” where Cliff insists on accompanying Pam to the courthouse for her divorce hearing. The warm rapport between Ken Kercheval and Victoria Principal makes me believe Cliff’s concern for Pam trumps everything else. (Interestingly enough, J.R. and Cliff essentially switch roles on TNT’s “Dallas,” where J.R. extols the virtues of putting family first and Cliff is willing to sacrifice his own daughter in his war against the Ewings.)

Three more scenes in “My Brother’s Keeper” deserve mentioning. In the first, Donna stands with Ray at a fence outside their house as he laments the tragedy that has befallen his family since Amos Krebbs’ funeral a year earlier. The shot echoes one from “Where There’s a Will,” the sixth-season episode where Ray and Donna stand in the same spot as he debates whether to attend the funeral. I also like the “My Brother’s Keeper” scene where Bobby and Pam sit silently in an office while their lawyers politely discuss the terms of their divorce. Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal avoid eye contact throughout this sequence, making it feel even sadder than their farewell conversation at the end of the previous episode.

My other favorite scene from “My Brother’s Keeper” is also notable for what isn’t said. It comes at the end of the second act, when Katherine answers a knock on Pam’s hotel room door. “Who is it?” Katherine asks. The voice on the other side of the door belongs to Cliff, who jovially asks: “Who are you?” The eye roll that Morgan Brittany offers in response is priceless. In an episode that leaves us pondering sibling connections, this scene is a reminder that some of these relationships aren’t complicated at all.

Grade: B

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Dallas, Donna Krebbs, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly, Susan Howard

Don’t fence him in

‘MY BROTHER’S KEEPER’

Season 7, Episode 4

Airdate: October 21, 1983

Audience: 21.2 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Bobby and Pam’s divorce is finalized. J.R. and Bobby learn their battle has depleted Ewing Oil’s reserves. Mickey tells Ray he doesn’t want to live as an invalid. Sue Ellen gets to know Peter.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Stephanie Blackmore (Serena Wald), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Lew Brown (Clarence Colby), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Glenn Corbett (Paul Morgan), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Sean McGraw (Moran), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Tracy Scoggins (Diane Kelly), Harold Suggs (Judge Thornby), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Chana Vowell (Dee)

“My Brother’s Keeper” 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: Ken Kercheval, Morgan Brittany, My Brother’s Keeper, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal, Where There’s a Will

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 134 — ‘The Letter’

October 14, 2013 by Chris Baker 33 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Letter, Pam Ewing, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal

This is how it ends

In “The Letter,” Katherine forges a note from Pam in which she “confesses” she no longer wants to be married to Bobby. When Bobby sees the note, he’s so distraught he resolves to give his wife the divorce he’s been tricked into believing she wants. It’s another example of a “Dallas” character making a major life decision based on half-truths and false assumptions, and yet Patrick Duffy manages to sell it. He makes Bobby’s anguish feel real and believable; I’ve never wanted to reach through my screen and give a television character a hug as much as I do during this episode’s final scene, when Bobby tells Pam he’s decided to let her go.

Of course, Duffy gets help from scriptwriter David Paulsen, whose dialogue casts Bobby as the more sympathetic spouse. The scene opens with him sitting in Thanks-Giving Square, a downtown Dallas plaza, waiting for Pam to arrive and watching a young mother read to her child. When Pam finally shows up, she cheerfully recalls how she used to visit the square with Liz and Jackie, her coworkers from the Store. Bobby’s response: “I know. I used to meet you here too. Remember?” The exchange leaves me with the impression Bobby and Pam’s marriage meant more to him than it did to her. For Bobby, the square holds memories of the times he spent there with his wife. For Pam, it’s notable mostly as the site of workday lunch breaks.

No mention is made of Katherine’s letter during this scene because really, it isn’t all that important; the letter is merely the plot device that brings Bobby and Pam to the moment of truth in their relationship. The real breaking point came during the middle of “Dallas’s” sixth season, when Pam left Bobby because she felt he was too preoccupied with his fight for control of Ewing Oil. This represented a significant change of tune for Pam, who once urged Bobby to take his role within the family business more seriously. In the Thanks-Giving Square scene, Paulsen seems to have Pam allude to this when she mentions how much she and Bobby have changed. Says Bobby: “I don’t think people change so much, really, Pam. It’s feelings that change.”

This is the line that best captures the spirit of the scene, although the dialogue that “Dallas” fans seem to remember most is Bobby’s declaration that his and Pam’s feelings for each other are “just yesterday’s memories.” It sounds harsh until you consider what Bobby is doing: He’s pushing Pam away because he believes it’s what she wants. Regardless, I appreciate how Paulsen doesn’t cast blame for the marriage’s failure on either spouse. Yes, Bobby comes off as the more sympathetic figure, and he sacrifices his own happiness when he agrees to let Pam go. And yes, Pam’s shifting values and dawdling about whether or not to return to Bobby makes her seem a bit wishy-washy. But how can you not feel sorry for both characters in the final shot, when husband watches wife walk away in tears? Katherine’s manipulations notwithstanding, this marriage failed because the spouses grew apart. It’s a breakup with no real villains — just two victims.

Nevertheless, “The Letter” is Katherine’s finest hour. Even if she isn’t the root cause of Bobby and Pam’s split, she still gets bragging right for breaking them up, something J.R. himself couldn’t achieve. I get a kick out watching Katherine slink around Pam’s hotel room in this episode, playing the role of supportive sister while secretly plotting against her. And even though I generally prefer “Dallas” when it resists its campier impulses, I love when Katherine fools Pam into signing the forged letter, then steps into the hallway and says — to herself — “I think you may have just signed away your marriage, sister dear.” It reminds me of something you would see in an old black-and-white potboiler, which is why casting Morgan Brittany was so brilliant. Brittany, with her striking features and piercing eyes, has always exuded old Hollywood glamour. Other actresses could have played this role, but no one but Brittany could have made Katherine this delicious.

“The Letter” is notable for a few other reasons. Composer Bruce Broughton won an Emmy for this episode’s underscore, which soars during Bobby and Pam’s Thanks-Giving Square scene. The episode also marks Christopher Atkins’ debut as fair-haired camp counselor Peter Richards, and seeing him come face to face with Larry Hagman for the first time is a little like watching Luke Skywalker clash with Darth Vader. Speaking of J.R.: My other favorite moment in this episode is the scene where he visits Serena, his favorite call girl, and laments the turn his life has taken. It’s a rare moment of introspection for the character, and it also makes him seem like as a bit of a hypocrite, given his opposition to sending John Ross to therapy. After all, what is Serena, if not J.R.’s headshrinker?

Grade: B

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Dallas, Katherine Wentworth, Letter, Morgan Brittany

Counterfeit correspondence

‘THE LETTER’

Season 7, Episode 3

Airdate: October 14, 1983

Audience: 18 million homes, ranking 12th in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Nick Havinga

Synopsis: Katherine forges a letter from Pam in which she confesses she no longer loves Bobby. When Katherine shows him the note, he tells Pam he wants a divorce. To help John Ross deal with his emotional problems, J.R. and Sue Ellen enroll him in a day camp, where they meet counselor Peter Richards.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Stephanie Blackmore (Serena), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Diana Douglas (Dr. Suzanne Lacey) Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Tony Garcia (Raoul), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis)

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

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 133 — ‘The Long Goodbye’

October 7, 2013 by Chris Baker 15 Comments

Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Long Goodbye, Pam Ewing, Victoria Principal

This time, it’s personal

J.R. Ewing is a man with many enemies, but his conflict with Pam is unique because it reveals his otherwise well-concealed insecurities. When Pam arrives at Southfork, J.R. fears she and Bobby will beat him and Sue Ellen in the “race” to produce the Ewings’ first grandson. It doesn’t happen, but Pam manages to solidify her position within the family nonetheless. One by one, she wins the hearts of the people J.R. loves most: first Bobby, then Jock and Miss Ellie and eventually Sue Ellen. Even John Ross enjoys a special bond with Aunt Pam, at least for a while. In J.R.’s eyes, the family’s affection for Pam gives her power. That’s what makes her dangerous.

The final scene in “The Long Goodbye” draws upon all of this subtext, resulting in one of the all-time great “Dallas” moments. It begins when J.R. turns up unexpectedly on Pam’s doorstep and asks to speak to her. She reluctantly lets him in; little does she realize he’s about to get inside her head too. After exchanging acidic “pleasantries,” J.R. lets Pam know that he’s aware of her plans to reconcile with Bobby. He then tells her that if she doesn’t go through with the divorce, he’ll destroy the people she loves most — beginning with Bobby. “I’ll call off this truce that exists between him and me. We’ll end up in a dogfight that will make what went on before look like a love match,” J.R. says.

Everything about this scene works. Leonard Katzman, who wrote and directed “The Long Goodbye,” has Larry Hagman deliver his lines while slowly circling Victoria Principal, making J.R. seem downright predatory. The dialogue itself is some of Katzman’s sharpest, and Hagman seems to relish every syllable. My favorite exchange: Pam mocks J.R.’s interest in her “happiness” and he responds, “Oh, no. I don’t give a damn about you or your happiness, honey. But I do care what’s good for me.” Principal, in the meantime, gives as good as she gets. When the scene begins, she counters Hagman’s winking bravado with steely sarcasm. But as J.R.’s language grows more venomous, Pam’s face falls, her shoulders drop and her eyes shift downward. By the time he slithers out of the room, she looks genuinely rattled — even though J.R. is probably the one who feels more threatened.

This is the kind of “Dallas” scene you can call up on DVD and enjoy any time, although it’s best appreciated when you consider it within the context of what was happening on the show at the time. Three episodes earlier, at the end of “Dallas’s” sixth season, J.R. had an attack of conscience as his battle with Bobby for control of Ewing Oil reached its destructive crescendo. In “The Road Back” and “The Long Goodbye,” the first two hours of the seventh season, J.R. calls a truce with Bobby and tries to patch up his broken marriage to Sue Ellen. It’s always nice to see “Dallas” showcase J.R.’s softer side, but no one wants J.R. go warm and fuzzy. This is why his confrontation with Pam at the end of “The Long Goodbye” is so crucial. It’s the moment J.R. gets his groove back.

It’s worth considering the scene from Pam’s point of view too. More than anything, Katzman designs “The Long Goodbye” to remind us what a terrific couple Bobby and Pam make. The characters share several charming scenes throughout this episode, including one at Southfork where Pam watches as Bobby returns from a horseback ride with little Christopher. Later, Bobby and Pam spend a night out on the town, where they reflect on their many years together. It feels like “Dallas” is paving the way for the star-crossed lovers to finally reunite. So when J.R. turns up on Pam’s doorstep and throws cold water on their reconciliation, it packs an emotional punch.

“The Long Goodbye” also includes a good scene where Afton accuses Cliff of wanting Pam to divorce Bobby because it will free her to marry Mark, thus allowing Cliff, Mark and Pam to form a business partnership. Cliff concedes his ambition often gets the better of him, but adds that he honestly believes Pam is better off without the Ewings. Ken Kercheval’s delivery here is so sincere, I believe every word Cliff says. In another highlight, Clayton tells Bobby that Miss Ellie is counting on him to be Southfork’s caretaker in her absence, presaging the role Patrick Duffy would go on to fill many years later on TNT’s “Dallas.”

“The Long Goodbye” also delivers another fun scene featuring Sue Ellen, who has been on a roll for the past two episodes, striking her husband with one wicked zinger after another. In this episode, J.R. drops by the pool at the Quorum, the hotel where he’s staying with his wife and John Ross during the reconstruction of Southfork. Sue Ellen tells J.R. she plans to go to the ranch to pick out the new wallpaper for their bedroom, along with a new bedroom for herself. “A new bedroom? What’s wrong with the old one?” J.R. asks. “You’re in it,” she responds. It’s a delicious quip, although I must admit: I cringe when Katzman cuts to a reaction shot from little John Ross, who sits there helplessly as his mother explains she will no longer sleep with her husband.

The things this poor kid witnessed during his childhood. No wonder he grew up to become the man he is today.

Grade: A

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Dallas, Linda Gray, Long Goodbye, Sue Ellen Ewing

Zing!

‘THE LONG GOODBYE’

Season 7, Episode 2

Airdate: October 7, 1983

Audience: 19.9 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Pam considers returning to Bobby, upsetting Katherine, Cliff, Mark and J.R., who tells her he’ll destroy everyone she cares about if she reconciles with his brother. Sue Ellen decides she’ll remain married to J.R., but they’ll have separate bedrooms and separate personal lives. A hopeful Mickey proposes to Lucy and she accepts, but his mood dims when he learns his paralysis is permanent.

Cast: Mary Armstrong (Louise), John Beck (Mark Graison), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), John Devlin (Clouse), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Joe Maross (Dr. Blakely), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), George Wallace (accountant)

“The Long Goodbye” 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: Larry Hagman, Leonard Katzman, Long Goodbye, Patrick Duffy, Road Back, TNT, Victoria Principal

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 132 — ‘The Road Back’

September 30, 2013 by Chris Baker 29 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Road Back

What hath they wrought?

With “The Road Back,” “Dallas” delivers the first hour of its seventh season and the most thrilling opening in its history. It begins with a nighttime shot of Southfork, which looks familiar against the dark sky except for the flames shooting out of the roof. Director Nick Havinga then brings us inside the house, where we find the occupants right where we left them at the end of “Ewing Inferno,” the previous season’s cliffhanger: Sue Ellen and John Ross are asleep in their beds, each unaware of the smoke filling their rooms; Ray is unconscious in the foyer; and J.R. has collapsed in a hallway. Next, we see Bobby zipping down Braddock Road in his red convertible. When he spots the blaze, he slows down and stares for a moment. “Oh, my God,” he says.

And then, the rescue sequence: As Jerrold Immel’s underscore surges, Bobby guns the car down the driveway and screeches to a halt near the garage. He leaps out of the vehicle and dives into the swimming pool, then runs into the house, where he finds Ray awakening. Together, the two men race upstairs and drag the dazed J.R. down the hall and through the doors to the balcony. Bobby and Ray go back into the house and retrieve Sue Ellen and John Ross, and when they return to the terrace, Ray orders everyone into the pool below. With sirens wailing in the background, J.R. cradles the screaming John Ross and jumps into the water.

When I revisited “The Road Back” for this critique, I had no doubt these scenes would retain their emotional value, but I was surprised by how well they hold up from a technical perspective. The wide shots of the burning house look a little crude by today’s standards, but they still work. Likewise, the scenes inside the home are as chaotic and scary now as they were three decades ago. “Dallas” producer Leonard Katzman built replicas of the Southfork sets so he could burn them down, so those are real flames you see surrounding Patrick Duffy, Steve Kanaly and Larry Hagman. I’m guessing “The Road Back’s” opening was filmed at the same time as the final scenes in “Ewing Inferno,” although if it turned out Katzman staged one fire for the cliffhanger and another for the resolution, I wouldn’t be surprised. This man had a DeMillian appreciation for spectacle.

“The Road Back” also includes a fantastic scene where Bobby summons J.R. to a Southfork pasture to broker a truce between him and Ray, whose beef with J.R. caused the fire in the first place. Ray angrily reminds J.R. how he made an enemy of Walt Driscoll, the vengeful bureaucrat who tried to kill J.R. but ended up injuring Ray’s cousin Mickey instead. J.R. responds by pointing out that Bobby and Ray had a hand in ruining Driscoll too. “None of us have clean hands, boys. None of us,” J.R. says, and for once, he isn’t twisting the truth. In another poignant moment, J.R. and Bobby stand inside the charred Southfork living room and survey the damage. “We sure made a mess out of everything. Ewing Oil, Southfork, the family. Every damn thing,” J.R. says. It’s nice to see him humbled for a change, no?

I also like the scenes in “The Road Back” that show J.R being nice to the embittered Sue Ellen, not just because it’s good to see his compassionate side, but also because it allows Linda Gray to deliver some terrific zingers. In my favorite exchange, J.R. gets a call from Bobby and rushes out of the hotel room where he’s staying with his wife and son. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” J.R. says. “Don’t remind me,” Sue Ellen responds. Later, when J.R. encourages Sue Ellen to get some rest, she turns to Pam and quips, “Isn’t it wonderful how thoughtful he can be when he’s caught with his boots parked under the wrong bed?”

(J.R. and Sue Ellen’s dynamic here brings to mind the third-season opener “Whatever Happened to Baby John, Part 1,” when he makes a sincere attempt to patch up his broken marriage, only to discover she’s unwilling to forgive him. Other scenes in “The Road Back” also harken to earlier “Dallas” moments. For example, when J.R. drives away from his meeting with Bobby and Ray, the shot of his Mercedes rolling across the Southfork plains recalls a similar shot at the end of “Digger’s Daughter.” Also, during “The Road Back’s” cattle drive sequence, we hear Ray speak on his walkie-talkie to Hal, a ranch hand seen during the first season, while Miss Ellie and Clayton spend this episode at Lake Takapa, the subject of a major fourth-season storyline.)

Of course, even though the tragic events of the previous season reveal J.R.’s humanity in “The Road Back,” this episode makes it clear he hasn’t been fully redeemed. In one scene, he schemes with Katherine Wentworth to ensure Bobby and Pam don’t reunite. Later, after Sue Ellen delivers her “boots-parked-under-the-wrong-bed” remark, J.R. and Pam get into a nasty spat. (J.R.: “I’ve never heard a woman open her mouth more and say less.”) His most mischievous moment comes in the final scene, when J.R. and Bobby visit Harv Smithfield and tell him they want to call off their fight for Ewing Oil. I believe J.R. feels genuine regret, but when Harv tells the brothers that it’s legally impossible to end their contest, notice the slight, ever-so-subtle smile that break across J.R.’s face. My guess is this is Hagman’s way of signaling to the audience that even though J.R. feels bad about everything that’s transpired, he’s glad he’s going to have a chance to beat Bobby after all.

“The Road Back” also offers the classic scene where Pam takes Sue Ellen to a French fashion boutique to rebuild her wardrobe after the fire, only to watch in horror as Sue Ellen lustily accepts the glass of champagne offered by snooty Madam Claude. Says Sue Ellen when Pam suggests they should leave: “Pam, don’t be a nag.” This episode is also chockablock with casting trivia: Omri Katz makes his first appearance as John Ross; Dan Ammerman, who originated the role of Ewing family physician Dr. Danvers in the second-season episode “Bypass,” shows up here as the Farlows’ doctor; and daytime soap opera star Stephen Nichols (“Days of Our Lives,” “General Hospital”) and Fox News Channel anchor Arthel Neville have bit roles.

“The Road Back” also marks the debut of my favorite version of the “Dallas” title sequence music, the one that features the synthesized riff when the signature three-way split screens begin. The sound effect is pure ’80s, which his probably why I love it so. “The Road Back” is also the first “Dallas” episode to feature the work of cinematographer Bradford May, whose camerawork gives the show a rich, textured look. It’s a dramatic contrast from other years, especially toward the end of “Dallas’s” run, when the show looks flat and washed out. Sadly, May is with “Dallas” for just 27 episodes. I’m not sure why he didn’t last the whole seventh season — there are conflicting explanations for his departure — but one thing is certain: Thanks to him, “Dallas” finally looks as good as it is.

Grade: A

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Dallas, John Ross Ewing, Omri Katz, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly

Hot heir

‘THE ROAD BACK’

Season 7, Episode 1

Airdate: September 30, 1983

Audience: 23 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Nick Havinga

Synopsis: Bobby rescues J.R., Sue Ellen, John Ross and Ray from the fire and later brokers a truce between his feuding brothers. J.R. and Bobby tell Harv they want to call off the contest, but Harv informs them it’s legally impossible. Sue Ellen discovers the car accident wasn’t her fault. Mickey emerges from his coma. Mark fears the fire will reunite Bobby and Pam, while J.R. and Katherine agree to work together to keep them apart. Clayton tells the Ewings that Miss Ellie needs rest and won’t return to Southfork for awhile.

Cast: Dan Ammerman (Neal), Mary Armstrong (Louise), John Beck (Mark Graison), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), John Devlin (Clouse), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Dana Gibson (Ellison), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Gloria Hocking (Madam Claude), Anna Kathryn Holbrook (Ann), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Betty King (Groves), Kay E. Kuter (Sampson), Michael Krueger (Henri), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Arthel Neville (waitress), Stephen Nichols (paramedic), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), David Sanderson (Buck), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing)

“The Road Back” 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: Arthel Neville, Bradford May, Bypass, Dan Ammerman, Digger’s Daughter, Jerrold Immel, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Nick Havinga, Omri Katz, Patrick Duffy, Road Back, Stephen Nichols, Steve Kanaly, Whatever Happened to Baby John? Part 1

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 131 — ‘Ewing Inferno’

August 28, 2013 by Chris Baker 26 Comments

Dallas, Ewing Inferno, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Surprise, surprise

“Ewing Inferno” famously ends with J.R., Sue Ellen, Ray and John Ross trapped inside Southfork as fire sweeps through the house. I wonder: When this episode debuted in 1983, did anyone doubt all four characters would escape the blaze? After all, three of them appear in the opening credits and the fourth is a child; by the conventions of 1980s television, their survival seems assured. Not that I’m complaining. This may not be “Dallas’s” most suspenseful cliffhanger, but it does put a poetic punctuation mark on the sixth season. After a year in which everything goes to hell for the Ewings, what could be more fitting than seeing them surrounded by flames?

Besides, it’s not like “Ewing Inferno” doesn’t deliver its share of surprises, especially where J.R. is concerned. When the episode begins, he’s business as usual, demanding $20 million from Holly to leave her company. Later, in one of their classic clashes, J.R. lobs such ugly insults at Pam that she slaps him. (“Damn, I hate that woman,” he says as she stomps away.) Then, in the second act, J.R. has an honest-to-goodness epiphany. He brings little John Ross into the bedroom to give Sue Ellen a goodnight kiss, only to find her passed out, an empty bottle of booze at her side. J.R. sends the boy away, sits on the bed and gazes at his wife. “I know you’ll never trust me again, Sue Ellen,” he says. “But I love you. … We should’ve had a wonderful life together. What have I done to you?” The monologue brings to mind the second-season finale, when J.R. sits at the hospital bedside of a comatose Sue Ellen and laments the turn their marriage has taken. Now here he is, four years later, delivering a similar speech. As Miss Ellie wondered a few episodes ago: Doesn’t he ever learn?

Perhaps he does. In the next scene, Bobby comes home and finds J.R. alone in the Southfork living room. The mood is somber, serious. Bobby asks how Sue Ellen is doing. “Not good,” J.R. responds. He tells Bobby that he’s been thinking “real hard” about their fight for Ewing Oil, and the toll it has taken on the people around them. Both brothers’ marriages have suffered. Miss Ellie is heartbroken. Rebecca Wentworth is dead. Mickey Trotter is dying. “I’m not sure that this fight between us is worth what it cost the family,” J.R. says. Bobby is stunned and asks J.R. if he wants to end the contest. J.R.’s response: “By my calculation, I’m way ahead of you, but I really don’t give a damn.”

I really don’t give a damn. Not since J.R. slipped into his deep depression after Jock’s death has our hero seemed so unmoored.

‘Into Oblivion’

Dallas, Ewing Inferno, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing

But not oblivious

J.R. and Bobby don’t get around to finishing this conversation, but no matter. There’s no doubt J.R. has been humbled. Consider the third act’s final scene. After ordering Teresa to lock up the liquor, J.R. finds Sue Ellen getting drunk in the living room, having swiped a bottle of burgundy from the kitchen. The confrontation that follows plays like something out of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” As J.R. stands still and stares ahead, Sue Ellen circles him, a glass in one hand, the wine bottle in the other, and releases her fury. She references his marital sins (“Did you find someone new to sleep with today? Or did you have to rely on one of your old mistresses?”) and tells him he “ruined” her life. Then, to show how she has stopped giving a damn, Sue Ellen moves closer to J.R. and whispers, “Now, why don’t you do one kind little thing for me, hmm? Unlock the liquor, because I’m going to drink myself into oblivion.”

Linda Gray and Larry Hagman are magnificent in this scene. Every one of her lines drips with acid, while his stoic expression makes this a cathartic moment for the audience. J.R. doesn’t fight back because he knows he’s wrong. He accepts Sue Ellen’s punishing words because he deserves them. Even at the end of the scene, when Sue Ellen flings the bottle at him and it smashes against the wall, J.R. barely flinches. Where his wife is concerned, J.R. simply doesn’t have any fight left in him — although as the big red stain on the wallpaper foreshadows, a different kind of battle is about to come to him.

‘The Last Person in the World’

Dallas, Ewing Inferno, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly

Daddy’s watching

J.R.’s chastening during the course of “Ewing Inferno” is thorough but incomplete. In the final scene, when Ray arrives at Southfork to confront him, J.R. offers his half-brother a typically frosty greeting. “Ray, you’re about the last person in the world I needed to see tonight,” he says. I usually laugh when Hagman delivers a line like this, but there’s nothing funny about J.R.’s dark mood. Before long, the two men are scuffling, and even though the fight scene isn’t exactly credible — stuntmen are clearly substituting for Hagman and Steve Kanaly in the wide shots, J.R. knocks out Ray with a plastic telephone — there’s something deeply poignant about Ray’s attempt to avenge Mickey and J.R.’s determination to rescue his family once the fire starts. How can you not feel moved when he notices the blaze, cries out for his wife and son and braves the flames to try to save them?

Also, consider this: For two seasons, J.R. and Ray have each struggled to honor the dead father they worshipped. J.R. tries to do it through business, while Ray tries to emulate Jock by taking Mickey under his wing, just like Jock did with young Ray. I suppose that’s why it’s so fitting that J.R. and Ray’s fight occurs under the watchful gaze of Jock’s portrait, which looms in the background of so many crucial scenes during the sixth season, including the will reading and J.R. and Sue Ellen’s spat after she catches him in bed with Holly. What hath Jock wrought?

‘Our Marriage Doesn’t Work’

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Ewing Inferno, Patrick Duffy

Cry, Bobby

For all its poignancy, the true cliffhanger in “Ewing Inferno” has nothing to do with the Southfork fire. The question I’m left asking is this: What will Bobby do? After J.R. offers to call off their fight, Bobby receives a phone call from Pam, who tells him she’s decided to give him the Tundra Torque, the experimental drill bit he needs to move forward with his Canadian oil venture. Since the deal is a guaranteed blockbuster, it will almost certainly allow Bobby to clinch victory over J.R. Bobby now has a dilemma: Should he make peace with his brother, or should he see the contest through until the end, knowing he has what it takes to finally beat J.R.?

By the end of the episode, Bobby’s decision isn’t clear, although his conversation with Katherine in the next-to-last scene suggests he will indeed use the drill bit. Regardless, I wish scriptwriter Arthur Bernard Lewis had paid more attention to this subplot and shown Bobby weighing his choices. After a season of tough ethical compromises, wouldn’t this be Bobby’s biggest decision yet?

On the other hand: Lewis has a lot of narrative ground to cover, and he does a nice job bringing the other storylines to a climactic finish. The cast does good work too. The scene where Pam tells Bobby she wants a divorce (“Our marriage doesn’t work anymore”) is very moving, especially when that single tear begins its slow journey down Patrick Duffy’s cheek. I also love when Pam tells Cliff and Katherine that she’s decided to give Bobby the drill bit. What’s more fun: Ken Kercheval’s combustible response or Morgan Brittany’s sly smirk? The guest stars shine too: Kate Reid is mesmerizing when she delivers Aunt Lil’s weary monologue, Ben Piazza is the profile in agony when Driscoll visits Mickey’s bedside, and thanks to Barry Corbin, I feel every bit of Sheriff Washburn’s frustration when Ray goes rogue during the investigation into Mickey’s accident.

Like so many other “Dallas” episodes during the sixth season, “Ewing Inferno” also makes me appreciate the technical expertise behind the camera. Fred W. Berger, the editor, won an Emmy for this episode. Surely director Leonard Katzman deserves one too. In the fourth act, I like how he shows J.R. escorting Dr. Danvers out of the bedroom, through the hall and down the stairs into the foyer. The sequence establishes how these spaces fit together, so that during the fire, when J.R. races up the steps and collapses, we understand his proximity to his wife and son.

You also have to admire Katzman’s lack of restraint. According to Barbara A. Curran’s 2004 book “Dallas: The Complete Story of the World’s Favorite Prime-Time Soap,” Katzman built a replica of the Southfork foyer, just so he could burn it down for this episode’s final scene. That’s pretty spectacular, even if it isn’t all that suspenseful.

Grade: A+

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Welcome to Hell

‘EWING INFERNO’

Season 6, Episode 28

Airdate: May 6, 1983

Audience: 20.3 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: J.R. offers to end the contest for Ewing Oil. Pam decides to divorce Bobby but gives him the Tundra Torque, enraging Cliff. Driscoll kills himself after revealing he drove the car that struck Sue Ellen and Mickey’s vehicle because he thought J.R. was behind the wheel at the time. After Ray learns of Driscoll’s role in the crash, he gets into a fight with J.R. During the scuffle, Southfork catches fire, trapping J.R., Sue Ellen, Ray and John Ross.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Barry Corbin (Sheriff Fenton Washburn), John Devlin (Clouse), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher 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), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Ben Piazza (Walt Driscoll), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), John Zaremba (Dr. Harlan Danvers)

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