Critiques – Dallas Decoder

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 125 — ‘The Sting’

August 7, 2013 by Chris Baker 7 Comments

Ben Piazza, Dallas, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly, Sting

Stung

Which Ewing brother do you root for in “The Sting”? I cheer for Bobby at the top of the hour, when he thwarts J.R.’s illegal sale of 100 million barrels of oil to Cuba. It’s nice to see Bobby finally outfox J.R., who’s been riding high in their fight for control of Ewing Oil. Of course, once Bobby secures his victory, my sympathies shift to J.R. With his plot foiled, J.R. finds himself at the mercy of Garcia, the unscrupulous middleman in the Cuban deal. How can you not feel for sorry for the old boy as he squirms under Garcia’s thumb?

The effortless switching in the role of underdog makes “The Sting” an especially clever episode of “Dallas.” I also love the terrific opening sequence, which picks up where “Caribbean Connection,” the previous hour, left off. J.R.’s crony Walt Driscoll rushes out of his motel room, cash-stuffed briefcase in hand, as he heads to the airport to complete the Cuban deal. As he pulls out of the parking lot in his big Oldsmobile, Ray’s pickup truck suddenly strikes it. With Driscoll distracted, Bobby emerges from the crowd of sidewalk gawkers and switches the briefcase with the replica he commissioned in “Caribbean Connection.” Bobby then follows Driscoll to the airport, where he watches as security guards discover a stash of guns in the briefcase and haul him away.

These are fun, exciting scenes. Jerrold Immel’s tingling underscore, which is also heard when Southfork goes up in flames in the sixth-season finale, lends the sequence a sense of mystery. The music fits the action beautifully since we don’t know what Bobby’s up to until the guns are finally revealed. The establishing shots are crucial too. Imagine if Larry Elikann, the director, and Fred W. Berger, the editor, hadn’t shown Driscoll placing his briefcase on the passenger seat when he gets into his car. We’d have no idea what Bobby is doing when he reaches inside the car and switches the real case with the fake one. I also like how “The Sting” plays on the audience’s familiarity with “Dallas.” The moment we see a white pickup’s fender enter the frame, we know instantly whose truck this is.

The other keys to the success of this sequence: Ben Piazza and Steve Kanaly. Piazza, one of the great “Dallas” guest stars, is believably bewildered as the hapless, in-over-his-head Driscoll. I kind of feel bad for the guy when Ray rams his Oldsmobile, and again when those hulking security guards find the guns in his case. Kanaly, in the meantime, is a hoot. What a kick to see Ray pretend to be the kind of straight-and-narrow, by-the-book yokel who insists on flagging down a cop after a fender bender. Kanaly looks like he’s having a ball here, as well as in two other scenes. In the first, a very drunk Ray and Bobby stumble home after celebrating their coup. Later, Ray confronts J.R. and confirms his role in the sting against him. The scene reminds us that this is Ray’s victory as much as it is Bobby’s.

Speaking of J.R.: “The Sting” showcases Larry Hagman too. He gives some of his best performances when J.R.’s back is to the wall, as this episode demonstrates J.R. is flustered when he finds Driscoll behind bars, enraged when he discovers Bobby undermined him and desperate when he tries to salvage the deal with Garcia. David Paulsen’s script also gives Hagman one great line after another. I love when J.R. refuses to bail out Driscoll, telling him, “I wouldn’t give you the dust off my car.” Later, after he’s ended another frustrating phone call with Garcia, J.R. looks up from his desk and sees Holly striding into his office. “When it rains, it pours,” he says, rubbing his temple. Hagman delivers another great line when Katherine drops by Ewing Oil and tells J.R. the two of them have something to talk about. “Oh, don’t tell me. Not Cliff Barnes. I couldn’t handle that,” he says.

“The Sting” also does a nice job exploring Bobby and Pam’s increasingly awkward separation. Miss Ellie and Clayton bump into Pam while she’s dining with Mark in a restaurant, resulting in an uncomfortable moment for everyone. (In one of the show’s most amusing understatements, Ellie tells Clayton, “In many ways, Dallas is a very small place.”) Later, when Bobby arrives at Pam’s hotel room to pick up Christopher for the weekend, the topic of Pam’s date with Mark comes up. Katherine inserts herself into the conversation. “Bobby, it’s not the way it sounds. … Pam was just trying to help Cliff,” she says. This prompts Pam to snap, “Katherine, stop it! I don’t have anything to hide.”

“The Sting” is also remembered as the episode where Lucy finally tells Mickey she was once raped. Charlene Tilton delivers a tender, moving performance, and so does Timothy Patrick Murphy, who makes his character’s sweetness every bit as believable as the cockiness he exhibited when he joined the show. I also like the exchange where Lucy and Mickey share their first kiss. “Lucy, I never asked a girl if I could kiss her. I just always did it. I’m not real sure what to do right at this moment,” he says. Is there any doubt this is Lucy’s most charming romance?

The other highlight of “The Sting”: Elikann’s direction, which is much more artful than what we usually see on “Dallas.” In addition to his work in the opening sequence, I love when Elikann has Patrick Duffy and Hagman lock eyes and shout at each other in the scene where J.R. confronts Bobby. I also like how J.R.’s roll in the hay with Serena ends with him popping a bottle of champagne, and then the scene switches to a waiter popping a cork in the restaurant where Pam and Mark are dining. Interestingly, although Elikann directed several “Knots Landing” episodes and the “Dallas: The Early Years” TV movie, “The Sting” is the only “Dallas” episode he helmed. Perhaps an exchange between Hagman and “Dallas” creator David Jacobs holds a clue. Elikann’s name comes up in the audio commentary on the “Reunion, Part 2” DVD, which was recorded in 2004. Jacobs remembers the director being “very gruff” and tells Hagman that Elikann recently died. “Did he?” Hagman responds. “Good.” He was kidding … I think.

Grade: A

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Charlene Tilton, Dallas, Lucy Ewing, Mickey Trotter, Timothy Patrick Murphy

Good romance

‘THE STING’

Season 6, Episode 22

Airdate: March 11, 1983

Audience: 23.1 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Larry Elikann

Synopsis: Bobby plants guns in Driscoll’s case, which leads to Driscoll’s arrest at the airport. Garcia, Driscoll’s contact in Puerto Rico, demands $10 million from J.R. to complete the Cuban oil deal. Holly vows revenge against J.R. when she discovers the deal is in jeopardy. Katherine offers to spy on Bobby for J.R. After telling him about her past, Lucy and Mickey make love. Pam and Mark’s deepening relationship angers Bobby.

Cast: Mary Armstrong (Louise), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Stephanie Blackmore (Serena), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Henry Darrow (Garcia), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), 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), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Russ Marin (Matthew), Ben Piazza (Walt Driscoll), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), John Reilly (Roy Ralston), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“The Sting” 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: Ben Piazza, Charlene Tilton, Fred W. Berger, Jerrold Immel, Larry Elikann, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Reunion Part 2, Steve Kanaly, Sting (1983)

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 124 — ‘Caribbean Connection’

August 5, 2013 by Chris Baker 4 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Caribbean Connection, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Scene to remember

The final moments in “Caribbean Connection” set up one of “Dallas’s” best week-to-week cliffhangers. J.R. is in a seedy cocktail lounge, delivering $100,000 in cash to Walt Driscoll, along with instructions for him to use the money to pay off the middleman in their scheme to sell oil to Cuba. Little does J.R. know that Bobby has discovered J.R.’s plot and is in midst of creating a replica of Driscoll’s briefcase. The next time we see Bobby, he’s on his office phone talking to Ray, who has followed Driscoll to his motel. “I’m on my way. You keep him busy if you have to,” Bobby says. He rushes through the Ewing Oil reception area and runs into J.R., who steps off the elevator as Bobby steps on. The ever-cocky J.R. tells Bobby that it’s going to be “a red-letter day” for his half of the company. Bobby smiles slyly. “Maybe you’re right, J.R.,” he says. “Maybe it will be a day to remember.”

Freeze frame, cue questions: What is Bobby up to? Where’s the dummy briefcase? How will Ray keep Driscoll from getting away? And who is “Ted,” the person Bobby tells Ray to call before he hangs up the phone? The audience won’t learn the answers until the next episode, the appropriately titled “The Sting,” but no matter. Like all great cliffhangers, this sequence is done so well, we don’t require an immediate resolution. Watching this piece of expertly made television is its own form of satisfaction. Surely Patrick Duffy, who directed “Caribbean Connection,” and editor Lloyd Richardson deserve a lot of credit, but no one contributes more to the success of this sequence than composer Richard Lewis Warren. His underscore, with a steady beat that mimics a ticking clock, adds urgency and tension, making this one of the sixth season’s highlights.

Bobby’s attempt to foil J.R.’s Cuban deal also offers another example of how much the younger brother has changed since the fight for Ewing Oil began. Earlier in “Caribbean Connection,” we see Bobby snoop around Sly’s desk in search of evidence linking J.R. to Driscoll. Later, Bobby and Ray sneak into Driscoll’s hotel room seeking more clues. Bobby is also unusually cranky in this episode: He snaps at Ray when they’re staking out Driscoll in the motel parking lot and he’s rude to Afton when she tells him that Pam helped Cliff forge a business deal between with Mark Graison. “It’s amazing how nice she can be to some people, isn’t it?” Bobby sniffs. The sadness that he felt when Pam left him a few episodes ago has gradually turned into anger. Now Bobby seems downright bitter. Notably, this is the first “Dallas” episode in which Duffy and Victoria Principal have no scenes together.

“Caribbean Connection” yields several other good moments, including Donna’s confrontation with Mickey. I’ve always believed she was a little hard on him in this scene, especially when she calls him a “cocky, snotty little kid.” Then again, who can blame her? The audience knows that Mickey has softened since he arrived at Southfork, but Donna hasn’t been privy to his transformation, which has mostly occurred in his private conversations with Lucy. Besides, the most important part of this scene isn’t what it reveals about Donna and Mickey’s relationship to each other, but what it reveals about Mickey’s feelings toward his cousin. “Ray happens to think the world of you. … I just keep thinking that one of these days, you are going to let him down with a great big thud,” Donna says. Mickey’s response: “I won’t let Ray down!” Timothy Patrick Murphy delivers the line with such conviction, there’s no doubt that Mickey has come to think the world of Ray too.

Another great scene in “Caribbean Connection”: J.R. and Sue Ellen’s meeting with Roy Ralston, the local TV host who’s trying to talk J.R. into running for office. Sue Ellen worries a campaign could bring their marital skeletons out of the closet, but she tells J.R. she’ll go along with his political aspirations regardless. “I’m touched, Sue Ellen. I truly am,” J.R. responds. The exchange brings to mind a terrific deleted scene from the new “Dallas’s” first-season DVD set in which Sue Ellen, now a gubernatorial candidate, tells her campaign backers that she won’t run away from her scandalous past. The “Caribbean Connection” scene also seems unusually relevant, given the real-life political headlines from recent years. Ralston predicts voters won’t hold J.R. and Sue Ellen’s marital troubles against them. He tells the couple: “Despite all your earlier problems, you’re still together and more in love than ever before. I can just see it: True love conquers all!”

Spoken like a modern-day politico, huh?

Grade: B

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Modern marriage

‘CARIBBEAN CONNECTION’

Season 6, Episode 21

Airdate: March 4, 1983

Audience: 20.9 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Will Lorin

Director: Patrick Duffy

Synopsis: J.R. pressures Holly to send 50 million barrels of oil to Puerto Rico, unaware the real destination is Cuba. Bobby discovers J.R.’s connection to Driscoll and works with Ray to set up Driscoll. Katherine encourages Mark to keep pursuing Pam. Sue Ellen worries her past will hurt J.R.’s political prospects. Mickey and Donna clash.

Cast: E.J. André (Eugene Bullock), Mary Armstrong (Louise), 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 (Sly), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Dulcie Jordan (maid), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Ben Piazza (Walt Driscoll), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), John Reilly (Roy Ralston), Patricia Richarde (Ms. Finch), Joey Sheck (Mark’s friend), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing)

“Caribbean Connection” 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: Caribbean Connection, Lloyd Richardson, Patrick Duffy, Richard Lewis Warren, Timothy Patrick Murphy, Victoria Principal

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 123 — ‘Brothers and Sisters’

July 31, 2013 by Chris Baker 11 Comments

Brothers and Sisters, Cliff Barnes, Dallas, Ken Kercheval

Sad as hell

In the best scene from “Brothers and Sisters,” Pam watches as Cliff finally unleashes the guilt that’s been consuming him since Rebecca took his spot aboard the doomed Wentworth jet. “I was supposed to be on that trip! She died and I lived!” he screams. Director Larry Hagman shoots Ken Kercheval in a tight close-up, with the colorful window in Cliff’s living room in the background. It reminds me of Howard Beale delivering one of his jeremiads in front of the stained glass that adorns his news set in “Network.” This homage probably wasn’t intentional, but the comparison fits nonetheless. Kercheval is every bit as mesmerizing as Peter Finch was in that movie. (Coincidentally or not, Kercheval has a small role in “Network.”)

In this scene and others, what impresses me most about Kercheval is his fearlessness. He never holds back during Cliff’s most dramatic moments, seemingly giving the role every ounce of energy he possesses. The result is a character who feels utterly human. Cliff and Pam’s conversation in “Brothers and Sisters” lasts just two and a half minutes, yet during that span Kercheval manages to convey a full range of emotion: depression, anger, self-pity, insecurity, love. The actor achieves this not only through the way he delivers his dialogue, but also through his body language. To see what I mean, watch this scene with the sound muted. Focus on how Kercheval carries himself: the hunched shoulders that demonstrate Cliff’s tension, the downward glances that telegraph his guilt, the way he presses his hands to his chest when Cliff finally gives voice to the rage within him. It’s fascinating.

I also love how Kercheval always seems to bring out the best in his co-stars. This is something I never thought much about until I heard Patrick Duffy praise Barbara Bel Geddes during the audio commentary on the DVD for “A House Divided.” Duffy says he always stepped up his game when Bobby had a scene with Miss Ellie, and it seems like Kercheval had a similar effect on his fellow performers. In “Brothers and Sisters,” Victoria Principal has to work hard to keep up with Kercheval, but she gets the job done. Pam goes toe to toe with Cliff during their shouting match, although Principal’s best moment comes at the end of the scene, when Pam holds her brother in her arms and reminds him how much Rebecca loved him. Principal is the saving grace here; she allows a display of raw emotion to end on a warm note.

The best subplot in “Brothers and Sisters”: Katherine asks Bobby to meet her for lunch at a Dallas restaurant, knowing Pam will be there with Mark Graison. It feels like the kind of thing Abby would have orchestrated on “Knots Landing,” which might be why I like it so much. (Not every great soap opera scheme must involve a multi-million-dollar business deal, something the “Knots Landing” writers knew better than anyone.) Indeed, Katherine’s stunt demonstrates how smart the “Dallas” producers were to bring back Morgan Brittany, who filled the void created when Afton went from troublemaking vixen to put-upon heroine. I especially like how Katherine’s shenanigans lead to Bobby and Pam’s crackling confrontation at the end of the episode. “You know, I wonder whatever happened to the phrase ‘for richer or poorer, for better or worse’? Do you remember any of that?” Bobby asks. Pam’s response: “I wonder what happened to the Bobby Ewing I said those words to?”

The other great moments in “Brothers and Sisters” are small but meaningful. The kitchen scene where Donna realizes Ellie is nervous about her date with Clayton is sweet, and so is Mickey and Lucy’s conversation by the pool, where she tells him she isn’t ready to start dating again. I also love seeing Sly and Phyllis arrive together at the office, chatting about the latter’s date the night before. It’s a throwaway line, but isn’t it nice to know these women have lives outside the office? The next scene is equally revealing: Phyllis enters Bobby’s office and discovers him asleep on the sofa. Rather than wake him, she quietly returns to her desk, buzzes Bobby on the intercom and lets him believe she thinks he merely came to work extra early. Nice of her not to embarrass the boss when he’s sleeping off a hangover, huh?

I also get a kick out of the scene where TV host Roy Ralston drops by Ewing Oil with a bag full of fan mail for J.R., who enchanted Ralston’s viewers after appearing on his show, “Talk Time.” (I wonder: Was Hagman’s real-life fan mail used in this scene?) Ralston urges J.R. to run for office and to treat his show as a platform for his candidacy. This pre-sages what happened in real life nine years later, when another famous Texas, Ross Perot, turned a string of guest spots on “Larry King Live” into a presidential campaign. I doubt the “Dallas” producers ever seriously considered giving J.R. a career in politics — it would have upset the balance of power on the show — yet it’s tantalizing to consider nonetheless.

Mr. Ewing goes to Washington. Imagine the possibilities!

Grade: A

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Here comes trouble

‘BROTHERS AND SISTERS’

Season 6, Episode 20

Airdate: February 25, 1983

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

Writer: Will Lorin

Director: Larry Hagman

Synopsis: Katherine schemes to drive a wedge between Bobby and Pam. With Pam and Christopher gone, Bobby throws himself into the fight for Ewing Oil. Holly discovers J.R. is shipping oil to Puerto Rico, unaware the real destination is Cuba. Talk show host Roy Ralston encourages J.R. to run for office. Lucy tells Mickey she needs time before she’s ready to date again. Clayton sells the Southern Cross and makes plans to move to Dallas.

Cast: Mary Armstrong (Louise), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Tom Fuccello (Senator Dave Culver), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Ben Hartigan (Holly’s advisor) Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Ben Piazza (Walt Driscoll), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), John Reilly (Roy Ralston), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Marilyn Staley (waitress), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis)

“Brothers and Sisters” 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, Brothers and Sisters, House Divided, Ken Kercheval, Knots Landing, Larry Hagman, Morgan Brittany, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 122 — ‘Legacy’

July 29, 2013 by Chris Baker 15 Comments

Ben Piazza, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Legacy, Walt Driscoll

Into darkness

“Legacy” opens with Pam, having decided to separate from Bobby, packing up her Porsche and driving away with little Christopher. It’s a landmark moment in the life of the series. “Digger’s Daughter” shows Bobby and Pam arriving at Southfork as newlyweds, and now she has spent her last night under that roof as his wife. Soon the couple will be divorced, and even though they’ll eventually remarry and Pam will return to the ranch, things will never quite be the same. I know some fans welcome the changes that Bobby and Pam’s split herald, but as far as I’m concerned, a little bit of the old “Dallas” magic dies the moment she pulls out of that driveway.

Pam’s decision to leave is triggered by the death of her mother Rebecca, whose will reading delivers this episode’s other monumental moment. The Wentworth empire, which Rebecca inherited from her late husband Herbert, is divided among her three children, Cliff, Pam and Katherine. The “Dallas” writers make this division mighty complicated — Cliff gets Barnes-Wentworth Oil, Pam and Katherine split their mother’s shares in Wentworth Industries and all three siblings become equal partners in Wentworth Tool and Die — but no matter. What’s important is that Cliff and Pam are now rich, forever changing the original “Dallas” dynamic of the have-not Barneses versus the wealthy, wanton Ewings. It’s also worth noting that the collection of companies that Rebecca leaves behind becomes the basis for Barnes Global, the conglomerate that Cliff uses as his weapon to bludgeon the Ewings during the second season of TNT’s “Dallas.”

Beyond these turning points, “Legacy” offers some unusually nifty camerawork. This is the fifth episode directed by Patrick Duffy, who once again demonstrates a flair for visual storytelling. Two of my favorite shots are found in the sequence where J.R. and Walt Driscoll meet after hours at Ewing Oil. Duffy positions the camera behind the reception desk as Driscoll arrives and steps off the elevator, a unique angle that, as far as I can remember, is never repeated. Moments later, J.R. stands in the foreground, shrouded in darkness, as Driscoll sits behind him, counting the money from their crooked oil deal. The shot makes Larry Hagman look utterly sinister.

I also admire Duffy’s inventive approach in the opening scene. After Pam’s Porsche pulls out of the driveway, Duffy pans the camera upward to reveal J.R. watching from the balcony. We rarely see the Ewings up there — the shot of J.R. gazing at Kristin’s dead body in the swimming pool in “Ewing-Gate” is a notable exception — so it’s neat to see Duffy put this part of the Southfork set to use. (Perhaps the “Dallas” actors are particularly attuned to this sort of thing: When Hagman directed the third-season episode “Mother of the Year,” he showed Lucy sliding down the Southfork bannister — the first time we see someone descend those famous stairs in that manner.) The “Legacy” shot of J.R. on the balcony also reminds us that he was hovering in the shadows the last time Pam left Bobby, at the end of “The Red File, Part 1” a second-season classic.

Scriptwriter Robert Sherman doesn’t deliver many new insights into the characters, but he does a nice of reinforcing what we’ve come to expect from them. I especially like the scene where J.R. paces on the patio, ranting about the outcome of Rebecca’s will reading. It’s always fun to hear J.R. insult Cliff — in this scene, he calls him a “lunatic” and predicts he’ll now be free to do “any fool thing” he wishes — but beyond the humor, the scene allows Sue Ellen to once again serve as J.R.’s confidant. Ever since the state revoked his permission to pump extra oil, J.R. has publicly declared the loss is no big deal. Here, he tells his wife the truth: “I’m in trouble.” It’s nice to see J.R. treat Sue Ellen as a partner — and that’s how she seems to think of herself too. Notice how she asks him, “Are you afraid we’re going to lose?”

Another good scene: Sue Ellen tells Clayton she’s upset that he’s seeing Miss Ellie. “I thought you were my friend,” she says. This prompts Clayton to confess that he was once in love with Sue Ellen, but since growing close to Ellie, he realizes Sue Ellen isn’t the woman for him. “Clayton, I just don’t understand,” she says. His response: “Not then, and not now.” This dialogue makes Sue Ellen seem a bit more self-absorbed than she was when Clayton was secretly pining for her at the end of the fifth season, but Linda Gray manages to make her character sympathetic nonetheless.

The other highlight of “Legacy” is the scene where Lucy and Muriel pull Mickey out of the Braddock saloon after a thuggish cowboy punches out his lights. The next time we see Mickey and Lucy, he’s waking up in his car with his head on her shoulder. It’s a charming moment and the first time we’ve seen the troubled Lucy demonstrate her growing affection for him. More than anything, I like seeing a woman coming to a man’s rescue on “Dallas,” which marks a real departure for a show with chauvinistic tendencies. Of course, I know before all is said done, Mickey will end up rescuing Lucy. Or maybe he already has.

Grade: B

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Cold shoulder no more

‘LEGACY’

Season 6, Episode 19

Airdate: February 18, 1983

Audience: 21.5 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Robert Sherman

Director: Patrick Duffy

Synopsis: Pam takes Christopher and moves into a hotel. Cliff inherits Barnes-Wentworth Oil from Rebecca, while ownership of Wentworth Tool and Die is split evenly among Cliff, Pam and Katherine. J.R., fearing Bobby and the newly wealthy Pam will reunite and join forces against him, offers to end the contest for Ewing Oil, but Bobby refuses. J.R. is forced to sell some of his gas stations and completes his first illegal shipment to Cuba. Clayton tells Sue Ellen he once loved her but now realizes she wasn’t the right woman for him. Lucy rescues Mickey from a bar brawl.

Cast: Mary Armstrong (Louise), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), J.P. Bumstead (Horace), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Karlene Crockett (Muriel Gillis), Michael Currie (Sam Reynolds), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Chuck Hicks (bar patron), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Kenneth Kimmins (Thornton McLeish), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Ben Piazza (Walt Driscoll), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Tom Rosqui (Teddy), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Bill Zuckert (Bill)

“Legacy” 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, Ewing-Gate, Larry Hagman, Legacy, Linda Gray, Mother of the Year, Patrick Duffy, Red File Part 1

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 121 — ‘Requiem’

July 24, 2013 by Chris Baker 20 Comments

Dallas, Pam Ewing, Priscilla Pointer, Rebecca Wentworth, Requiem, Victoria Principal

Goodbye, Mama

Rebecca Wentworth swept into “Dallas” like a character from a Douglas Sirk movie, so it’s only fitting that she leaves in the same manner. Her death in “Requiem” is pure soap opera. In the scene, Rebecca lies in a hospital bed after being injured in a plane crash, but except for the white bandages that frame her face, you would never know this woman had just suffered major trauma. With soft strings playing in the background, Rebecca makes Pam promise to take care of Cliff. “You’re my good girl,” she says. Through tears, mother and daughter declare their love for each other — and then the monitor flat lines, the music swells and a medical team rushes into the room. “Mama? Mama”?” Pam cries.

Larry Hagman directed “Requiem,” and I love how he pulls together all the technical aspects of this scene — the tight close-ups of Priscilla Pointer and Victoria Principal, Bruce Broughton’s dramatic underscore, the monitor’s extended beep — to create a moment that tugs at the heartstrings without apology. Pointer and Principal deserve praise too. The tears from both actresses flow freely, but neither one goes overboard. For an old-fashioned Hollywood death, the weeping feels quite real. (According to Barbara A. Curran’s “Dallas: The Complete Story of the World’s Favorite Prime-Time Soap,” Pointer’s daughter, the actress Amy Irving, was on the set the day this scene was filmed and cried along with her mother and Principal.)

The only thing more emotional than Rebecca’s death is the scene where Cliff finds out about it. It begins when Afton arrives at his townhouse and finds him curled up on the sofa, sleeping off a hangover. He doesn’t know Rebecca was in an accident, much less that she’s gone forever. As Afton breaks the sad news, Hagman slowly zooms in on Ken Kercheval’s face until it fills the frame. His anguished expression recalls the one he wore at the end of the recent “Ewings Unite!” episode of TNT’s “Dallas,” when Cliff orders the explosion of the Ewing Energies oil rig, even though he knows his pregnant daughter Pamela is aboard. Both expressions stir strong feelings: In the 1983 scene, I want to reach through my television screen and give Cliff a hug; in 2013, I want to wring his neck. Is there any doubt Kercheval is one of “Dallas’s” most gifted actors?

Other “Dallas” cast members shine in “Requiem” too. This is the episode that brings back Morgan Brittany after an extended break (before “Requiem,” her most recent appearance came in the 101st episode, “The Investigation”), and the actress gets to show us new shades of Katherine’s persona. I believe the character’s tears are real when she comes to Southfork to comfort Pam, although we’re also left with the impression that Katherine still harbors a crush on her sister’s husband. (“Pam, it must be such a comfort for you to have someone like Bobby,” she says.) We also begin to see Katherine’s knack for duplicity. She’s nice to Cliff when Pam’s around, but the moment Katherine and Cliff are alone, Katherine unleashes her venom and blames him for their mother’s death. “You did this! You killed her!” she screams.

The other highlight of “Requiem” is Rebecca’s funeral, which is one of “Dallas’s” grandest. Hagman opens the sequence with a wide shot of several limousines arriving at the cemetery. Next, we watch as the door to each car opens and the various Barneses, Ewings and Wentworths exit. They all march slowly into the cemetery, along with secondary characters like Jordan Lee, Marilee Stone and Punk and Mavis Anderson. There’s even a handful of reporters present to cover the action. This feels like a funeral fit for a queen, although the emotional kicker comes in the next scene. J.R. is in his office, watching TV news coverage of the burial, when Mike Hughes bursts into the room. Hughes, whom Rebecca was on her way to see when the Wentworth jet crashed, is furious because J.R. has decided to back out of his deal to buy his refinery. Since the point of Rebecca’s trip was to talk Hughes out of selling to J.R. in the first place, this means she died in vain, no?

“Requiem” also includes the famous scene where Miss Ellie speaks to Sue Ellen and predicts the Ewing grandsons will one day inherit their fathers’ rivalry. When this episode debuted 30 years ago, most viewers probably didn’t pay much attention to this scene, but since the debut of TNT’s sequel series, it’s come to occupy a prominent spot in “Dallas” lore. The conversation begins with Sue Ellen drawing a parallel between Rebecca’s death and J.R. losing his variance to pump more oil than anyone else in Texas. Ellie tells Sue Ellen the comparison is ridiculous. “Think 25 or 30 years ahead,” she says. “I won’t be here then. And the fight won’t be between J.R. and Bobby. It’ll be between John Ross and Christopher. Think carefully, Sue Ellen. Your loyalty to your husband is a wonderful thing, but you’re a mother too. And where will this all end?”

The most interesting part of Ellie’s speech isn’t her prediction about her grandsons, but the challenge she lays down to her daughter-in-law. “I won’t be here,” she tells Sue Ellen. The implication: But you will be, and it might be up to you to keep the peace in this family. Are you up to the task? Indeed, to watch this scene now is to see how much Sue Ellen has changed — and how much she hasn’t. In 2013, our heroine is John Ross’s biggest champion, just like she stood in J.R.’s corner three decades ago. But Sue Ellen has outgrown many of her other tendencies. Can you imagine her making the kind of shallow observation that she does in “Requiem,” when she equates J.R.’s business setback with Rebecca’s death? Make no mistake: Sue Ellen still has her share of struggles, but she’s come a long way. Witness the recent scene where she seemed to echo Ellie’s concern about the destructive patterns within the family Ewing.

Mama was right about a lot of things in 1983, but I bet even she couldn’t have predicted how wise Sue Ellen would become.

Grade: A

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Good grief

‘REQUIEM’

Season 6, Episode 18

Airdate: February 11, 1983

Audience: 15.4 million homes, ranking 16th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Linda Elstad

Director: Larry Hagman

Synopsis: Rebecca dies from injuries sustained in the plane crash. Katherine arrives for the funeral and blames Cliff for their mother’s death. Pam decides to take Christopher and leave Southfork. When the Texas Energy Commission revokes J.R.’s variance, he joins forces with Driscoll to secretly sell oil to Cuba.

Cast: John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Jane D’Auvray (nurse), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Tom Fuccello (Senator Dave Culver), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Alice Hirson (Mavis Anderson), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), John Ingle (surgeon), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Richard Kuss (Mike Hughes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Ryan MacDonald (Casey), Ben Piazza (Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Arlen Dean Snyder (George Hicks), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Requiem” 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, Barbara Bel Geddes, Dallas: The Complete Story of the World’s Favorite Prime-Time Soap, Ewings Unite! Investigation, Ken Kercheval, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Morgan Brittany, Priscilla Pointer, Requiem, Victoria Principal

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 120 — ‘Crash of ’83’

July 22, 2013 by Chris Baker 15 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Crash of '83, Dallas, Patrick Duffy

Welcome to the dark side

At the beginning of “Crash of ’83,” the corrupt energy commissioner George Hicks tells Bobby he’ll “never” vote to revoke J.R.’s permission to pump more oil than anyone else in Texas. Bobby’s response: “Hicks, never say never.” The line, which Patrick Duffy delivers with his trademark breathy seriousness, sets the tone for the rest of the hour. Bobby does things in “Crash of ’83” that he probably never dreamed he’d have to do, like using a hooker to snoop into Hick’s private life and then blackmailing the man when his secret addiction to cocaine is discovered. It makes me wonder: Does the title of this episode refer only to the climactic crash of the Wentworth jet, or is it also meant to describe Bobby’s descent into moral morass?

It might seem surprising to see Bobby pulling dirty tricks, but when you think about it, this isn’t altogether out of character for him. Remember when “Dallas” began, Bobby was Ewing Oil’s “roadman,” specializing in spreading around the three “b’s” — broads, booze and booty — to help the company curry favor with state politicians. Bobby also demonstrated a flair for wheeling and dealing when he took control of Ewing Oil after J.R.’s shooting, including turning the tables on devious Sally Bullock after she cooked up an insurance fraud scheme with J.R. That incident reminds me a lot of Bobby’s blackmail of Hicks in “Crash of ’83.” Yes, Bobby sets up a public official, but Hicks isn’t exactly a saint. Bobby is merely reshuffling a deck that J.R. stacked against him.

Indeed, it’s pretty easy to forgive Bobby his trespasses in this episode, even if Bobby has trouble forgiving himself. But even if you don’t like Bobby’s behavior, you can’t deny that Duffy delivers another outstanding performance. Like Barbara Bel Geddes, Duffy has mastered the ability to let us know what his character is feeling with a mere sideways glance or furrowed brow. In this episode, watch his face when Hicks tells Bobby, “Ewing, I gotta give you credit. You’re just as dirty as your famous brother.” Duffy’s pained expression lets us know how much these words sting Bobby. By the way: It’s terrific to see Duffy perform opposite Arlen Dean Snyder, whose smarminess as Hicks contrasts nicely with Bobby’s indignation. (Snyder made a career of playing sleazy southerners. Besides Hicks, my favorite Synder role is Ray Don Simpson, the gold chained jerk who makes the mistake of trying to pick up Julia Sugarbaker in the “Designing Women” pilot.)

Other “Crash of ’83” highlights include the scene where Bobby confesses his sins to Pam, who offers him no sympathy. Victoria Principal is especially good during this exchange, which mirrors a recent scene from TNT’s “Dallas” when Elena expresses her disappointment in Christopher after he crosses over to the dark side. I also admire how Linda Gray ever-so-subtly lets us know that Sue Ellen is a little jealous of Ellie’s friendship with Clayton, as well as the sense of desperation that Audrey Landers brings to the scene where Afton rushes to Southfork to tell Pam the Wentworth jet has crashed with Rebecca aboard. It’s also fun to see J.R. conduct a clandestine meeting with Walt Driscoll alongside a Texas back road; I wonder if this is the same gravelly path where J.R. and Alan Beam used to scheme together?

My other favorite “Crash of ’83” moment occurs when Pam and Rebecca bring Christopher to Cliff’s new townhouse. Pam holds aloft the child and reminds Cliff that he’s never met him (although didn’t Cliff show up at Southfork with an oversized stuffed animal under his arm for his nephew during the fifth-season episode “Waterloo at Southfork”?). Ken Kercheval then picks up little Eric Farlow, the child actor who plays Christopher, and proceeds to mug his way through a scene of Cliff feeding the baby his bottle. This moment is utterly charming, and also very revealing: Only Ken Kercheval could upstage a baby.

Grade: A

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Christopher Ewing, Cliff Barnes, Dallas, Eric Farlow, Ken Kercheval

Say uncle

‘CRASH OF ’83’

Season 6, Episode 17

Airdate: February 4, 1983

Audience: 20 million homes, ranking 5th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Howard Lakin

Director: Bill Duke

Synopsis: Bobby blackmails Hicks into voting to rescind J.R.’s variance. J.R. rejects Driscoll’s offer to get involved in an illegal oil deal. Miss Ellie grows closer to Clayton, who decides to sell the Southern Cross ranch. Lucy defends Mickey to Ray. Cliff is outraged to discover Afton slept with Thurman. Rebecca takes Cliff’s place on a flight aboard the Wentworth jet, which crashes.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), April Clough (Wendy), Jack Collins (Russell Slater), 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), Kenneth Kimmins (Thornton McLeish), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Charles Napier (Carl Daggett), Ben Piazza (Walt Driscoll), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), John Reilly (Roy Raltson), Albert Salmi (Gil Thurman), Arlen Dean Snyder (George Hicks), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing)

“Crash of ’83” 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: Arlen Dean Snyder, Audrey Landers, Barbara Bel Geddes, Crash of ’83, Eric Farlow, Ken Kercheval, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy, Waterloo at Southfork

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 119 — ‘A Ewing is a Ewing’

July 17, 2013 by Chris Baker 20 Comments

A Ewing is a Ewing, Dallas, Holly Harwood, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Lois Chiles

It’s complicated

The most unsettling moment in “A Ewing is a Ewing”: Holly Harwood arrives for an after-hours meeting at J.R.’s office, where he chastises her for telling one of Harwood Oil’s top customers that J.R. has become a silent partner in the company. Holly expresses regret — not for letting the cat out of the bag, but for going into business with J.R. in the first place. She turns her back to him. J.R. approaches from behind, reaches around and slowly begins to unbutton her jacket. “No, J.R. I don’t want this,” she says. He pulls the jacket off her shoulders. “You won’t enjoy it,” she continues. His reply: “You better make damn sure I do.”

The scene ends here, but there’s no doubt intercourse occurs. (Later in “A Ewing is a Ewing,” Holly pulls a gun on J.R. and tells him what transpired in his office will never happen again.) The question is: Is this rape? I can’t decide. On the one hand, Holly tells J.R. “no,” but he has sex with her anyway. How can that be anything but assault? On the other hand, I wonder why Holly makes no attempt to run away or to fight J.R. when he begins disrobing her. This woman is no shrinking violet, as the gun scene later in the episode demonstrates.

Given the ambiguity, perhaps a better question is: What did the people who made “Dallas” want the audience to think when this scene was broadcast 30 years ago? It seems shocking to think that a network television show would allow its lead character to rape a woman (this was CBS in the 1980s, not AMC today), so I wonder if the producers and writers merely saw this as another example of J.R. running roughshod over one of his enemies? Could it be the people behind the scenes didn’t grasp that this might be construed as an act of sexual violence? To be fair, society has a greater understanding of rape today than it did three decades ago, but it’s not like nothing was known about these kinds of crimes back then. Perhaps these two facts are telling: None of the producers listed in the “Dallas” credits during the 1982-83 season are women, and of the 28 episodes produced that year, all but one were written by men. (Linda Elstad wrote “Requiem,” which aired three weeks after “A Ewing is a Ewing.”).

Regardless of what this scene is supposed to depict, I dislike it. I’m usually willing to forgive J.R. his sins, even when my conscience tries to tug me in the other direction. I’m an unapologetic J.R. apologist. J.R. is cheating in a business deal? I say: He’s just trying to make his daddy proud, and who can’t sympathize with that? J.R. is cheating on Sue Ellen? In my mind, he’s merely revealing his foibles. But even I can’t justify my hero’s behavior in this scene. Make no mistake: This is not one of J.R.’s sly seductions. I hate how he how he stands in the doorway of his office and beckons Holly into the room by saying, “Come on, hon. Come on.” He treats her like a child or worse, a pet.

The scene invites comparisons to another disturbing “Dallas” sequence — this one from the 10th episode, “Black Market Baby” — when J.R. angrily pins Sue Ellen to their bed and forces himself on her, despite her repeatedly saying, “I don’t want you.” I don’t like that scene any more than the one with Holly, but keep in mind: It was filmed in 1978, before Larry Hagman had perfected the smiling warrior routine that made him so endearing to fans like me. Other soap opera icons have similar skeletons in their closet — Luke raped Laura before they became a couple on “General Hospital,” while Blake forced himself on Krystle during an early episode of “Dynasty” — but once Luke and Blake were redeemed, their shows were loathe to remind audiences of the characters’ past sins. Why would “Dallas” want to risk the affection that fans had for J.R., unless the show was feeling long in the tooth and trying to recapture some of its earlier edge?

Of course, no matter how distressing I find J.R. and Holly’s scene, I still appreciate how good Hagman and Lois Chiles are in it. Hagman, who also directed “A Ewing is a Ewing,” wisely avoids any hint of mischief, choosing instead to play J.R. as purely menacing. Chiles, in the meantime, makes us feel Holly’s sense of trepidation when she arrives for their meeting, as well as the disgust that grips her when J.R. begins unbuttoning her jacket. Hagman and Chiles are also terrific in the scene where Holly pulls the gun on J.R. I like how he snickers when she produces the weapon, only to breathe a private sigh of relief the moment he exits the room. Frankly, it’s cathartic to see J.R. scared.

I think it’s also worth considering how J.R. treats Sue Ellen in “A Ewing is a Ewing.” At the beginning of the second act, he “confides” in Sue Ellen that he needs someone to refine his crude and suggests she could ask Clayton Farlow to do it on his behalf. Sue Ellen resists this idea, so J.R. exploits her Achilles heel: He suggests that without Clayton’s help, he might lose the contest for Ewing Oil, thus robbing John Ross of his birthright. “It’s funny, isn’t it?” J.R. says. “The one thing I need to beat Bobby, to secure our future — the future of our little boy — is in the hands of a man that despises me.”

This is the second time in recent episodes that J.R. has used Sue Ellen as a pawn in the battle for Ewing Oil: In “Fringe Benefits,” he asks her to host a dinner party for Gil Thurman, even though he knows the lecherous Thurman will make a pass at her. That scheme ends disastrously, and Sue Ellen’s appeal to Clayton in “A Ewing is a Ewing” doesn’t turn out much better. Clayton feels she’s taking advantage of their friendship by asking him to help J.R. and storms away. It makes me wonder: Was this J.R.’s goal all along, to drive a wedge between his wife and Clayton?

Like J.R., Bobby shows he’s also willing to use people to get what he wants in “A Ewing is a Ewing.” (No doubt Bobby’s emulation of his brother inspired this episode’s title.) When Bobby discovers J.R. is in cahoots with energy commissioner George Hicks, Bobby hires Wendy, one of Carl Daggett’s prostitutes, to begin dating Hicks so she can dig up dirt on him. (The seeds for this subplot were planted in “Where There’s a Will,” which introduced the terrific character actor Charles Napier as Daggett, an old friend of Bobby’s.) In “A Ewing is a Ewing’s” memorable final scene, Pam arrives for dinner with Bobby at an out-of-the-way restaurant, but she’s unaware the only reason he asked her out for the evening is so he can spy on Wendy and Hicks, who are drinking on the other side of the room. Bobby isn’t just using Wendy; he’s using his wife too.

I suppose I should be disappointed in Bobby, but I’m not. It’s rather satisfying to see him shed his good-guy veneer, at least for a little while. Or maybe it’s just that after everything else that goes down in this episode, seeing Bobby dabble in prostitution and blackmail doesn’t seem so bad.

Grade: B

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Yep, he’s a Ewing

‘A EWING IS A EWING’

Season 6, Episode 16

Airdate: January 28, 1983

Audience: 22.3 million homes, ranking 3rd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Frank Furino

Director: Larry Hagman

Synopsis: After J.R. pressures Holly into having sex with him, she pulls a gun on him and declares their relationship is now strictly business. Bobby discovers J.R. is in cahoots with George Hicks, a member of the Texas Energy Commission, and hires a prostitute to set up Hicks. Clayton reacts angrily when Sue Ellen asks him to refine J.R.’s crude and leaves for Galveston, where he spends time with the vacationing Miss Ellie. The cartel buys out Bobby’s share of the Wellington property. Cliff urges his party to recruit J.R. as a candidate for office. Mark continues to pursue Pam.

Cast: John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Ion Berger (detective), Robert Burleigh (Harry), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), April Clough (Wendy), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), John Dennis (Ned), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), 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), Paul Mantee (General Cochran), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Charles Napier (Carl Daggett), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Arlen Dean Snyder (George Hicks), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis)

“A Ewing is a Ewing” 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: Black Market Baby, Charles Napier, Ewing is a Ewing, Fringe Benefits, Larry Hagman, Linda Elstad, Lois Chiles, Requiem, Where There’s a Will

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 118 — ‘The Reckoning’

July 15, 2013 by Chris Baker 8 Comments

Dallas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Miss Ellie Ewing, Reckoning

Ewings divide!

Few moments on “Dallas” stir as many emotions for me as Miss Ellie’s testimony at the end of “The Reckoning.” Ellie, who is trying to overturn Jock’s will because it’s dividing her family, reads aloud one of the last letters he sent her before his death in South America. The words are sad and sentimental, written at a time when Jock was ill and missing his wife. When she’s finished, Ellie’s lawyer Brooks Oliver asks if she believes the letter shows Jock lacked mental competence at the end of his life. The Ewing matriarch tries to avoid answering the question, but Brooks persists. Ellie swallows hard. “If that’s the legal term you need to break the will,” she says, “then yes, Jock was not mentally competent.”

Does Ellie genuinely believe this? Scriptwriter Will Lorin keeps things ambiguous, which helps lend this scene its power. On the one hand, we learn from Jock’s letter that he was under the weather when he wrote the codicil that established the divisive contest for Ewing Oil. On the other hand, sick or not, pitting J.R. and Bobby against each other feels very much like something Jock would do. Is Ellie deluding herself when she declares otherwise? This wouldn’t be the first time she’s put on blinders where her late husband is concerned. Or could it be that Ellie is so desperate to end her sons’ rivalry that she’s willing to publicly question Jock’s mental competence, even though she knows deep down that he wasn’t delusional? Either way, I feel sorry for Mama at this moment.

Regardless of Ellie’s motivation, Barbara Bel Geddes does a nice job conveying her character’s torment. The actress uses her trademark halting delivery during the testimony, which works well because it suggests Ellie isn’t sure if she’s doing the right thing. Bel Geddes also allows her tears to flow freely, demonstrating again that she’s one of “Dallas’s” best criers. The testimony is also poignant because the letter that Ellie reads makes Jock seem more human than we usually think of him. He writes about getting older, using an expression — “I’m really feeling the years” — that sounds like something a man from Jock’s generation would say. You have to go back to “Dallas’s” ninth episode, “Bypass,” to see the character acknowledge his own mortality with such candor.

More than anything, this scene seems to offer a tribute to the courage that Jim Davis brought to his final days in the spring of 1981. Jock’s letter conjures images of him soldiering on through the jungle, just as Davis persevered when he continued to film scenes for “Dallas” despite the terrible toll cancer was taking on his body. Back then, the producers didn’t write Davis’s illness into the script because they wanted to give the dying actor hope that he would recover and be able to continue playing his character. Now, seeing Ellie read Jock’s letter in “The Reckoning,” it’s almost as if Bel Geddes is finally giving voice to her late co-star’s grit and determination. It’s quite touching.

This episode also shows us how Bobby is becoming more like J.R. as their battle for Ewing Oil rages. After learning that Gary and Ray would lose most of their inheritance if Jock’s will is overturned, Bobby tries to use the information to manipulate Pam into persuading Ellie to drop her legal challenge. Pam thinks Bobby’s suggestion is ridiculous and lets him know it. “Oh, Bobby, you know your mother. Never in a million years would she hurt Gary or Ray,” Pam says. Bobby can only sigh in exasperation.

“The Reckoning” also shows us a different side of Sue Ellen. She’s played the role of J.R.’s supportive spouse throughout his fight with Bobby, but twice in this episode she demonstrates some independence. In the first instance, while J.R. and Sue Ellen are alone in their bedroom, he muses how it would be good for him if Pam had a fling with Mark Graison, thus creating a distraction for Bobby. Sue Ellen is mortified. “J.R., I don’t want anything bad happening to Bobby and Pam’s marriage,” she declares. (Foreshadowing alert: Sue Ellen then adds, “Can you imagine if somebody did that to you and I?”) Later, during the courthouse sequence, J.R. stands in the hallway with Bobby and Sue Ellen and points out Pam and Miss Ellie, standing a few feet away. “Well, I see your little wife over there, giving aid and comfort to the opposition,” J.R. huffs. Sue Ellen’s response: “Opposition? J.R., that’s your mother.”

A final thought: “The Reckoning” is the first of two “Dallas” episodes helmed by Bill Duke, who would go on to become one of television’s most prolific directors. (Duke, a great character actor, also plays the sharecropper whom Jock befriends in “Dallas: The Early Years.”) “The Reckoning” is one of Duke’s first directing gigs, and his gifts are evident. Besides eliciting wonderful performances from Bel Geddes and the rest of the cast, Duke does two things during the courtroom scenes that I love. First, as each character testifies, we see the bailiff cross off that person’s name from the witness list. Duke also shows us periodic close-ups of the court reporter’s fingers as she rhythmically punches the keys of her typewriter. These are small touches, but they add so much to my enjoyment of these scenes.

I also like how Duke ends this episode with a shot of Ellie emerging from the courtroom after the judge rules against her. The other Ewings follow her lead, evoking memories of the freeze frame from “Bypass,” when everyone coalesced around the wheelchair-bound Jock as he departed the hospital. One difference: In the earlier shot, all the Ewings face forward. Now they’re all headed in different directions, a family together but no longer united.

Grade: A

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The ‘D’ list

‘THE RECKONING’

Season 6, Episode 15

Airdate: January 14, 1983

Audience: 22.1 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Will Lorin

Director: Bill Duke

Synopsis: A judge rejects Miss Ellie’s attempt to overturn Jock’s will. J.R. tells Mark that Pam is interested in him. Rebecca urges Cliff to lay off the Ewings for awhile. Donna fails again to persuade her fellow commissioners to rescind J.R.’s variance. The cartel weighs whether to uncap the Wellington property or buy out Bobby’s share.

Cast: John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Fred Carney (Judge Howard Mantee), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Tom Fuccello (Senator Dave Culver), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Laurence Haddon (Franklin Horner), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), James Karen (Elton Lawrence), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Julio Medina (Henry Figueroa), Donald Moffat (Brooks Oliver), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Arlen Dean Snyder (George Hicks), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“The Reckoning” 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, Bill Duke, Bypass, Dallas: The Early Years, Jim Davis, Reckoning, Will Lorin

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 117 — ‘The Ewing Blues’

July 10, 2013 by Chris Baker 11 Comments

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

Don’t box him in

“The Ewing Blues” includes one of “Dallas’s” cleverest scenes. J.R. appears on a local TV talk show to tout his new chain of cut-rate gas stations, which is turning him into a hero in the eyes of the public. Cliff is watching the interview from the living room of his new townhouse, where a deliveryman arrives with the Chinese takeout he ordered. As Cliff reaches for his wallet, the man notices what’s playing on Cliff’s TV. “That’s J.R. Ewing, ain’t it?” he asks. “I tell ya, if he ran for president tomorrow, I’d vote for him! I would!” Cliff is left shaking his head and muttering, “So much for the intelligence of the average voter.”

With this scene, “Dallas” has a little fun with its audience. For years, viewers — present company included — had been treating J.R. like a hero. Now fictional fans like Cliff’s deliveryman were doing the same thing. The line about voting for J.R. even brings to mind the “J.R. for President” buttons and bumper stickers that cropped up during the summer of 1980, when “Who Shot J.R.?” hysteria was in full swing. (I also wonder if the dialogue reflects the era’s political realities. When “The Ewing Blues” debuted in January 1983, Ronald Reagan’s approval rating had sunk to an astonishing 35 percent, the lowest level of his presidency. In those months before Reagan’s popularity rebounded, perhaps Americans really would have voted to replace him with J.R.)

J.R.’s talk show appearance also offers another reminder of Larry Hagman’s genius. J.R. tells the host, Roy Ralston, that he’s cutting gas prices because he believes the oil industry has gouged consumers for too long. We know J.R. is lying because earlier in “The Ewing Blues,” he tells little John Ross that he has become the oil industry’s version of Robin Hood (“take from the poor and give to the rich”). Yet as J.R. talks to Ralston about how “the American public deserves a better hand than they’ve been dealt,” the sincerity in Hagman’s voice kind of makes us want to believe his character. How did Hagman do that?

More than anything, I love Hagman’s scenes with Linda Gray in “The Ewing Blues,” especially J.R. and Sue Ellen’s exchange in their bedroom. After Ray punches him during a Southfork cocktail hour, J.R. sits on the bed, holding an icepack to his swollen lip as Sue Ellen caresses his face. He tells her that he’s nervous about his talk show appearance in a few days and hints he’d like her to join him — and of course the onetime Miss Texas leaps at the opportunity to take another turn in the spotlight. This might be one of the sweetest gestures J.R. ever makes toward his wife. Think about it: J.R. never loses his confidence. He’s only pretending to be anxious so he’ll have an excuse to invite Sue Ellen on the show and involve her in his life. As he puts it, “We’re partners, aren’t we?”

David Paulsen, who wrote and directed “The Ewing Blues,” doesn’t just show us a softer side of J.R.; he also lets us see Bobby’s edge. To compete with J.R.’s cut-rate gas plan, Bobby wants to uncap the Wellington field, one of the Ewing Oil properties Bobby controls during the contest for the company. The problem: The cartel members are partners in the field, and they want it to remain capped. With help from lawyer Craig Gurney, Bobby tells Jordan and Marilee that he’s prepared to exercise a clause in their contract that requires them to either uncap the field or buy out Bobby at five times market value. “That’s armed robbery!” Jordan huffs. Gurney’s response: “No, that’s Paragraph 17A, Section F.” It’s one of my favorite exchanges during the episode.

The other great scene in “The Ewing Blues” comes at the end, when Ellie and Pam visit Brooks Oliver, the lawyer who agrees to help Ellie try to overturn Jock’s will. Ellie is quite timid at the beginning of the scene, clutching the letters that Jock wrote to her from South America. Oliver predicts their lawsuit will turn ugly and wind up in “the newspapers,” which prompts Pam to rebuke him for upsetting her. “She has to know exactly what she is getting into if she wants to go to court,” Oliver explains. This is when Ellie’s fighting spirit bursts forth. “Mr. Oliver, I don’t want to go to court. I don’t want to do any of this,” she says, slapping her hand on the desk. Besides Barbara Bel Geddes’ dramatic delivery, pay attention to the gentle strings that play in the background of this scene. The score, which helped composer Bruce Broughton win an Emmy in 1983, reminds me a little of the music Rob Cairns delivers on TNT’s “Dallas.”

Finally, some casting notes: Oliver is played by the wonderful character actor Donald Moffat, possessor of the fiercest eyebrows this side of Larry Hagman. Moffat is one of several familiar faces who pop up in “The Ewing Blues.” Gurney is played by Lane Davies, who would later star on the soap opera “Santa Barbara,” while another daytime television veteran, John Reilly (“As the World Turns,” “General Hospital”), plays Ralston, the talk show host. The most significant addition to the cast, though, is John Beck, who joins “Dallas” in this episode and begins a three-season run as Mark Graison. I had forgotten that Mark was introduced as an old Ewing family friend. In one scene, when he calls Southfork and Bobby answers the phone, the two characters chat like old chums. It’s surprising to witness, but I know the glad tidings won’t last long.

Grade: A

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Barbara Bel Geddes, Dallas, Ewing Blues, Miss Ellie Ewing

Mama means business

‘THE EWING BLUES’

Season 6, Episode 14

Airdate: January 7, 1983

Audience: 21.4 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: David Paulsen

Synopsis: J.R. appears on a TV talk show and is lauded for his efforts to cut gas prices. After J.R. threatens to ruin Harwood Oil if Holly doesn’t cancel her refinery contracts, she turns to Bobby for help. To get the cartel to uncap the Wellington property, Bobby threatens to exercise a legal loophole in Ewing Oil’s contract with the cartel members. Mark Graison gives Brooks, his family’s attorney, permission to take Miss Ellie’s case, and Mark grows smitten with Pam when he meets her. Cliff moves into his new townhouse, while Afton grows frustrated with the way he treats her.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Al Checco (deliveryman), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Lane Davies (Craig Gurney), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Bobbie Ferguson (Terri), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Donald Moffat (Brooks Oliver), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Scott Palmer (Farley Criswell), Robert Pinkerton (Elliot), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), John Reilly (Roy Ralston), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis)

“The Ewing Blues” 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, David Paulsen, Donald Moffat, Ewing Blues, John Beck, John Reilly, Lane Davies, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy, Who Shot J.R.?

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 116 — ‘Mama Dearest’

July 8, 2013 by Chris Baker 16 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Dallas, Mama Dearest, Miss Ellie Ewing

Mother knows best?

In “Mama Dearest,” Miss Ellie embarks on a quest to break Jock’s will and stop J.R. and Bobby’s contest for Ewing Oil. This causes the alliances within the family to shift, sometimes dramatically. J.R. and Bobby both oppose Ellie’s efforts, but when J.R. suggests the brothers join forces to defeat their mother, Bobby refuses. J.R. isn’t on his own, though: He gets support from Sue Ellen and Lucy, who believes the competition for the company should play out the way Jock intended. In the meantime, Pam rushes to support Ellie, which strains her marriage to Bobby.

Some of these reactions are surprising, but all of them make sense. I believe J.R. would be the first to recognize that it would be in his best interest to call a temporary truce with Bobby, just as I believe Bobby would be reluctant to join J.R. because he doesn’t trust him. Likewise, Pam’s allegiance to Ellie feels reasonable, although I suspect Pam’s response has more to do with her own opposition to the contest than it does with her concern for mother-in-law’s emotional wellbeing. More often than not, Pam is a pragmatist.

Lucy’s support for J.R. is unexpected, of course, but notice how she never lets him know she’s in his corner. Even if Lucy agrees with J.R., she isn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing it. Instead, Lucy confides her feelings in Ellie. This conversation occurs late at night, when Lucy sits with her grandmother at the Southfork kitchen table and gently questions her decision to break the will. Charlene Tilton, in a lovely performance, manages to convey Lucy’s almost-childlike belief in her grandfather’s infallibility, as well as her confidence that he knew what he was doing when he decided to pit J.R. and Bobby against each other. “I’m sure it’s all turning out just the way Granddaddy expected,” Lucy says. It’s nice to see this character growing up and becoming wiser.

Barbara Bel Geddes, the actress at the heart of “Mama Dearest,” is terrific in this exchange too. She avoids eye contact with Tilton, which helps convey Ellie’s uncertainty about whether her legal challenge is appropriate. Even at the end of the conversation, when Lucy reaches across the table and touches Ellie’s arm, Bel Geddes looks away. Contrast this with her performance in the scene where J.R. joins Ellie for breakfast on the Southfork patio. He tries to turn on the charm, but Mama doesn’t fall for it. “You get a good night’s sleep?” J.R. asks. Ellie looks at him and coolly says, “J.R., I don’t think you really care how I slept last night.” It’s a telling moment: Even if Ellie isn’t sure she’s doing the right thing, she’s smart enough to know she shouldn’t let J.R. know she has doubts. Mama probably would have made a good poker player.

Another great scene in “Mama Dearest” belongs to Patrick Duffy, who also directed this episode. After a frustrated Bobby takes off for a nighttime drive to collect his thoughts, he returns home and finds Pam waiting up for him. Bobby tells her that he’s upset over her decision to support Ellie, and then he explains why he wants the contest to continue. Duffy’s delivery is impassioned; he makes a fist and practically shakes it at the camera as he speaks. The words are as important as the delivery. Here’s his speech:

“Pam, you don’t understand what drove Jock Ewing. And I don’t think you really understand what drives me, either. When I was at the university, making the football team just wasn’t enough. I had to be varsity. I had to be captain. I had to make All-Southwest Conference — and I did! I did all of that. When you and I met, I wasn’t just a roadman for Ewing Oil. I was the best roadman for any oil company. Because that’s what Daddy expected. And that’s what I expect from myself. And J.R. and I are a lot alike because he’s not going to take second best either. You see, that’s why Daddy turned away from Gary. The Ewings must succeed, and Gary didn’t care about that, but Pam, J.R. and I do! Now, Daddy chose that the future of Ewing Oil is going to be in the hands of the son strong enough to run it. And that’s the way it’s gonna be.”

This monologue, besides being one of the highlights of Arthur Bernard Lewis’s script, helps demonstrate why the contest for Ewing Oil is such a satisfying storyline. Bobby is usually the yin to J.R.’s yang, but notice how he doesn’t mention J.R. until almost the end of the speech. This time, Bobby isn’t simply reacting to J.R.’s schemes. For the youngest Ewing son, the contest is as much about proving himself worthy of his father’s expectations as it is stopping J.R. from committing some heinous act. The scene reminds us that Bobby is a pretty interesting character in his own right.

Of course, J.R. remains the most fascinating figure of all in “Mama Dearest.” Throughout this episode, Larry Hagman gives us the feeling his character is genuinely frightened by the prospect that Ellie might stop the contest and sell Ewing Oil out from under him. Notice how J.R. loses his cool with Ellie at the beginning of the episode, after she’s announced her decision to challenge the will, and later when he realizes she’s getting advice from Clayton. (Is it a coincidence that the last time we saw J.R. this rattled occurred after he ran into Clayton and Rebecca at the French restaurant?) I also think it’s telling the lengths he’ll go to shore up support from the other Ewings. When J.R. is trying to persuade Bobby to join him in fighting their mother, he tells him, “We may battle a lot, but I just want you to remember: You’re my brother, and I love you.” The “l word” isn’t one J.R. uses a lot. Later, J.R. stands behind Sue Ellen as she gazes into a mirror and promises she’ll one day be mistress of Southfork and share his power. He really knows how to tell other people what they want to hear, doesn’t he?

J.R. also figures into “Mama Dearest’s” funniest scene, when he arrives at Holly’s home and discovers she runs Harwood Oil from her bedroom. (“You know as many oil deals are made in bedrooms as in boardrooms,” she purrs. The line would be a groaner if Lois Chiles didn’t look like she was having so much fun delivering it.) This is one of those “Dallas” moments that I recall watching as a kid, although my memory turned things around: I mistakenly remembered Holly keeping a bed in her office, not a desk in her bedroom. Either way, I can’t help but wonder why J.R. never followed suit. Imagine how much easier life would have been for ol’ J.R. if the Ewing Oil executive suite had come equipped with a mattress.

Grade: A

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Rising son?

‘MAMA DEAREST’

Season 6, Episode 13

Airdate: December 31, 1982

Audience: 15.2 million homes, ranking 24th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Patrick Duffy

Synopsis: Miss Ellie asks lawyer Brooks Oliver to help her break Jock’s will. Pam sides with Ellie, straining her marriage to Bobby. J.R. orders Holly to cancel her military contracts so she can refine his crude. Donna urges her fellow energy commissioners to not restore J.R.’s variance to pump excess oil. Bobby pressures the cartel to uncap the Wellington property so he can compete with J.R. Cliff buys a townhouse.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Paul Carr (Ted Prince), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Karlene Crockett (Muriel Gillis), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Bobbie Ferguson (Terri), 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), James Karen (Elton Lawrence), Julio Medina (Henry Figueroa), Donald Moffat (Brooks Oliver), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Robert Pinkerton (Elliot), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Arlen Dean Snyder (George Hicks), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Joan Staley (Ms. Stockwood), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

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