Critiques – Dallas Decoder

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 160 — ‘Hush, Hush, Sweet Jessie’

January 28, 2015 by Chris Baker 30 Comments

Alexis Smith, Dallas, Hush Hush Sweet Jessie, Lady Jessica Farlow Montford

How sweet she is

What do I love about the final scene in “Hush, Hush, Sweet Jessie”? Oh, pretty much everything. The Ewings stand in the Southfork driveway, panicked because no one knows the whereabouts of Miss Ellie and Jessica, whose murderous past has finally come to light. Suddenly, Donna arrives in Ray’s pickup truck. She gets out, bloodied and shaken, and explains that she’s just come from the Krebbs’ home, where Jessica knocked her out, swiped one of Ray’s handguns, took Ellie and drove who-knows-where in Donna’s car. J.R. looks stricken. “We’ve got to find them,” he says. “Jessica has killed once. Who knows what she’ll do with Mama?” Duh-duh-duh!

Is this a moment of pure camp? Yes, of course. How could any scene that requires the audience to imagine Alexis Smith abducting Barbara Bel Geddes at gunpoint not be campy? And what about the way Donna announces her news? Shouldn’t she hop out of Ray’s truck and offer the most important facts first: “Hey, everyone, Jessica has kidnapped Miss Ellie!” Instead, Donna tells the story chronologically; this allows the episode to end with the dramatic revelation that Mama has been abducted, but it isn’t very realistic. There’s also this: After Larry Hagman delivers his “We’ve got to find them” line, we get a reaction shot from Howard Keel and Patrick Duffy, who stand side by side and turn their eyes to the camera in near perfect unison. It’s priceless.

And yet despite all this, the scene is undeniably thrilling. The most valuable actors are Hagman, who makes J.R.’s concern easy to believe, and Susan Howard, whose halting, anguished delivery is pitch-perfect. She gets a big assist from the brilliant composer Richard Lewis Warren, whose underscore lends urgency to the entire sequence. I especially love how there’s no music during most of Donna’s monologue until she recalls awakening after Jessica knocked her out. Warren slowly brings in the orchestra when Donna says, “And then when I came to … they were both gone.” By the time she gets to this line — “Ray, she took one of your guns!” — the music has swelled. Can any “Dallas” fan watch this part without getting goose bumps?

The rest of “Hush, Hush, Sweet Jessie” is almost as good. Smith is as over-the-top as ever when Jessica finally unravels in Ray and Donna’s kitchen, but Bel Geddes, with her believably bewildered expression, manages to keep the scene grounded. Meanwhile, Katherine proves she can wheel and deal with the best of them when she agrees to buy Cliff’s share of Wentworth Tool & Die at a bargain-basement price, and it’s great fun to see Morgan Brittany deliver lines like “Oil, oil, everywhere, and not a drop for Cliff.” Also, how can you not love the long-awaited moment when Pam confronts Katherine after learning she forged the letter that broke up her marriage to Bobby? The slap Pam delivers must be one of the most cathartic moments in “Dallas” history, and isn’t it nice to see Victoria Principal demonstrate some of the spark that once made her character so compelling?

“Hush, Hush, Sweet Jessie” raises a few other questions that probably wouldn’t occur to anyone but “Dallas” devotees. Here’s one: At the beginning of the episode, Lucy speaks on the phone to Jackie, Cliff’s secretary. Is this the first, and perhaps only, time these two women interact? Here’s another: After J.R. confronts Clayton and Ray with Jessica’s diary in a Braddock parking lot, the three men hop into J.R.’s Mercedes and hightail it back to the ranch. Is this the first time we’ve seen J.R. and Ray share a ride since they palled around in the first-season episode “Winds of Vengeance”?

There’s also this: When the producers named this episode, they were surely offering a loving nod to the 1964 thriller “Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte,” which starred Bette Davis as a wealthy spinster driven mad by her scheming cousin, played by Olivia de Havilland. (Future “Dallas” star George Kennedy has a small role too.) The film, which received seven Oscar nominations, is now regarded by some as a camp classic. Did the “Dallas” producers know this episode would achieve a similar distinction?

Grade: A

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Through the looking glass

‘HUSH, HUSH, SWEET JESSIE’

Season 7, Episode 29

Airdate: May 11, 1984

Audience: 20.4 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Gwen Arner

Synopsis: Pam learns Mark knew he was dying and killed himself. Cliff reluctantly sells his share of Wentworth Tool & Die to Katherine, whom Pam slaps after she discovers Katherine’s role in ending her marriage to Bobby. Clayton tells Ray and Donna that Dusty is actually Jessica’s son. After J.R. uncovers evidence Jessica killed Clayton’s first wife, she kidnaps Miss Ellie.

Cast: Mary Armstrong (Louise), Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), James L. Brown (Detective Harry McSween), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), 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), Bill Morey (Leo Wakefield), Charles Parks (Fred Robbins), Edmund Penney (doctor), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Sherril Lynn Rettino (Jackie Dugan), Alexis Smith (Lady Jessica Montfort), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), D.J. Zacker (Louis)

“Hush, Hush, Sweet Jessie” 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: Alexis Smith, Barbara Bel Geddes, George Kennedy, Howard Keel, Hush Hush Sweet Jessie, Larry Hagman, Morgan Brittany, Patrick Duffy, Richard Lewis Warren, Susan Howard, Winds of Vengeance

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 159 — ‘Love Stories’

January 21, 2015 by Chris Baker 13 Comments

Dallas, John Beck, Love Stories, Mark Graison

Leaving his mark

I don’t remember how I felt about Mark Graison’s death when I saw “Love Stories” as a kid, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t move me now. John Beck’s character was never one of my favorites; his shameless pursuit of Pam while she was still married to Bobby was a turnoff during Mark’s earliest appearances, and then he never grew much once he got together with Pam. Mark was more plot device than person — just another detour on Romeo and Juliet’s road to reunion. Nevertheless, he receives the kind of graceful, dignified exit that eludes so many of “Dallas’s” most iconic figures. (Yes, Pam, I’m looking at you.)

Much of the power in Mark’s farewell lies in how quiet it is. At the end of the second act, Mark confronts his best friend and physician, Jerry Kenderson, about the mystery surrounding Pam’s surprise decision to marry him. “I got some questions that need answering. I think you’ve got the answers,” Mark tells Jerry. Cut to a darkened restaurant, where we find the two men sitting together as Mark absorbs the news that he’s dying. The stillness of this scene is striking: The dialogue is spare, there’s virtually no underscore and Beck and Barry Jenner deliver nicely measured performances. This could easily have been a maudlin moment, but it plays instead like something from real life — a sad conversation between two longtime friends.

We next see Mark toward the end of the episode, when he’s lying in bed with Pam. Now the tables have turned: For the first time since this storyline began, Mark has more information than his fiancée — he knows he has a terminal illness and that she’s marrying him out of obligation, if not pity. He keeps her blissfully in the dark, telling her how much he loves her, how happy she’s made him, how much he regrets the years they didn’t know each other. I would expect a scene like this to be sappy, but Beck’s delivery is so touchingly sincere, I get caught up in the moment. I can’t decide what’s sadder: Mark’s realization that he’s dying, or that his illness is the thing that finally won him the woman he loves. This is why the scene’s punctuation mark — when Mark silently slips out of the sleeping Pam’s room after giving her one last look — is so poignant. He’s not walking away so much as he’s freeing her. Finally, at the end of the episode, Pam is stunned to learn Mark’s plane has exploded, killing him. (Until he returns during the dream season, that is.)

Maybe it’s because I find Mark so heroic in this episode, but Bobby has rarely annoyed me as much as he does in “Love Stories.” His rejection of Katherine after she confesses her affair with J.R. feels unnecessarily brutal. Bobby is correct, of course, when he tells Katherine that her love for him is “sick,” but does he have to be so mean about it? J.R. hits the nail on the head later in the episode when he prefaces his advice for Bobby’s love life by pointing out his brother’s self-righteousness. “You go around telling everybody how to live their lives and setting up rules and regulations that only you can live up to,” J.R. says. This is at least the third time a “Dallas” character has made this point recently; in “Fools Rush In,” Jenna criticizes Bobby’s sanctimoniousness, while Sue Ellen suggests he’s inflexible. Will Bob ever take the hint?

There are some nice touches sprinkled throughout “Love Stories,” including another cute scene where Miss Ellie and Clayton plan their wedding, as well as a nice nod to “Dallas” history when Pam visits Cliff’s offshore oil rig and mentions how proud Digger would be of him. Mostly, though, this episode feels bogged down by storylines that are taking too long to peak. I’m especially bored with the mystery surrounding the death of Clayton’s first wife, which is being doled out to the audience in dribs and drabs. I suppose the show’s writers were hoping to raise doubts about Clayton’s innocence, but did anyone watching these episodes in 1984 believe he was guilty for even a minute?

This storyline yields one inspired moment in “Love Stories,” however. It happens when Jessica confides in J.R. by the Southfork swimming pool, telling him that Clayton inherited his wife’s trust fund after she perished in the fire at the Southern Cross. Jessica then storms off, leaving J.R. alone. Standing on the patio set, Larry Hagman slips his hands in his pockets, looks askance and stage whispers his character’s next line: “So he did torch it. Now the hell am I going to prove it?” It reminds me a little of Kevin Spacey addressing the audience on “House of Cards” — except I’ll take J.R. Ewing’s quick asides over Frank Underwood’s gimmicky fourth-wall assault any day of the week.

Grade: B

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Aside effect

‘LOVE STORIES’

Season 7, Episode 28

Airdate: May 4, 1984

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

Writer: Leonard Katzman

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: J.R. learns more details about Amy Farlow and pretends to help Peter, whom Sue Ellen bails out of jail. Jessica remains angry with Clayton for selling the Southern Cross. Jenna accepts a marriage proposal from Bobby, who rejects Katherine after she confesses her affair with J.R. When Katherine gets drunk and reveals Pam’s connection to Jerry, Mark confronts Jerry, learns he’s dying and slips out of his fiancée’s life. Pam is later shocked to learn Mark has died in a plane crash.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), James L. Brown (Detective Harry McSween), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Pat Colbért (Dora Mae), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Brad Harris (Mason), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Barry Jenner (Dr. Jerry Kenderson), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Bert Kramer (Peter’s lawyer), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Denny Miller (Max Flowers), Bill Morey (Leo Wakefield), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Sherril Lynn Rettino (Jackie Dugan), Alexis Smith (Lady Jessica Montfort), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Debisue Voorhees (waitress)

“Love Stories” 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: Barry Jenner, Fools Rush In, John Beck, Larry Hagman, Love Stories

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 158 — ‘Turning Point’

January 14, 2015 by Chris Baker 20 Comments

Dallas, Katherine Wentworth, Morgan Brittany, Turning Point

Poor little rich girl

Am I the only one who feels sorry for Katherine Wentworth in “Turning Point”? At the beginning of the episode, she’s elated when Bobby invites her on a tour of the property he bought from her father’s old company. After plotting for more than a year to make Bobby her own, it’s the strongest sign yet that Katherine might have a shot with him. Then, at the end of the hour, after J.R. makes Katherine sleep with him, he cruelly tells her that he played Bobby the sex tape J.R. made with Katherine earlier. “It’s all over. … He’ll never marry you,” J.R. says. Katherine’s devastation is matched only by her rage. “I’ll kill you, J.R.!” she screams.

I suppose I should feel like Katherine is getting what’s coming to her, and in a way, I do. After all, she did break up “Dallas’s” golden couple, Bobby and Pam. Yet I can’t bring myself to completely dislike the poor thing. Some of this has to do with Morgan Brittany, who makes Katherine seem so nice in her scenes with Bobby and Pam, I kind of believe her, even though I know the truth. But there’s also this: Who among us hasn’t been in Katherine’s shoes? At some point, haven’t we all harbored a secret crush on someone who we know, deep down, will never be ours? Perhaps this, more than Katherine’s big hats and camp appeal, is what makes her an icon to so many gay men in the “Dallas” audience. Bobby is like the unattainable straight guy we all fall for in high school or college.

The question is: Why isn’t Bobby interested in Katherine? Yes, I know he claims he can never think of her as anything but a friend, but come on! Katherine is breathtakingly beautiful — those eyes! that hair! — and as far as Bobby knows, she’s a sincere, caring person. She seems like a much better match for him than his current flame, Jenna Wade, who stopped being interesting the moment she hung up her apron at Billy Bob’s. While we’re on this subject, can someone explain why J.R. wouldn’t want Katherine as a sister-in-law? He says her money threatens him, but as long as he has that sex tape, he has leverage over her. In the long run, wouldn’t the ability to control a wife of Bobby Ewing be worth more to him than any threat posed by her wealth?

J.R.’s game is also off when it comes to Jessica, who drops cryptic hints about the mysterious death of Clayton’s first wife Amy throughout “Turning Point.” Finally, at the end of the episode, after Jessica and Clayton argue over his decision to sell the Farlows’ ranch, she stomps into Southfork and erupts in front of J.R. “Amy died so we could keep the Southern Cross, not sell it!” Jessica shouts. By now, shouldn’t it have dawned on J.R. that he’s in cahoots with a kook? At least our hero still has what it takes to stick it to Cliff Barnes. In “Turning Point’s” niftiest twist, we learn J.R. is secretly paying Cliff’s offshore drilling foreman, Max Flowers, to sabotage the project. J.R. also tricks Cliff into selling the Murphy and Kesey properties, a subplot that has the unusual effect of making me feel happy for J.R. and sorry for Cliff.

“Turning Point” has a few other highlights, including the cute scene where the Ewing women help Miss Ellie address her wedding invitations. Here’s how fascinated I am by the world this show creates: When Sue Ellen asks if “the Crenshaws” should be invited, I find myself wondering who these people are and how they know the Ewings. Ellie explains that one of the Crenshaws is the sister of another family friend, although I can’t make out the character’s name; it’s written in the subtitles as “Pat Bauer,” but it sounds to me like Barbara Bel Geddes says “Pat Powers,” which is the name of the fellow who palled around with Jock and Punk during a few fourth-season episodes. If I’m correct, then kudos to “Dallas” for bothering to mention a name that only the show’s most devoted loyalists would have recognized in 1984.

“Turning Point” has its share of oddities too. It’s a running joke that no one actually eats on this show, but the degree to which Linda Gray and Victoria Principal move their salads around their plates when Sue Ellen and Pam go to lunch is more amusing than usual. Also, why has Jackie, Cliff’s secretary, been replaced by “Susan” in this episode? Furthermore, isn’t funny to see Susan wear the white suit that Principal sported a few times during the fourth and fifth seasons? (My husband Andrew calls this Pam’s “Star Trek” dress because the jacket flap reminds him of the Enterprise crew’s movie uniforms.) Should we believe all the gals in the Barnes-Wentworth secretarial pool wear Pam’s hand-me-downs?

Perhaps more than anything, “Turning Point” is remembered among “Dallas” diehards as the final episode credited to cinematographer Bradford May, who gave the series such a rich, textured look. I’ve read varying accounts about why May didn’t work on the series after this season, but one thing is certain: “Dallas” will never look this good again.

Grade: B

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Wolf at the door

‘TURNING POINT’

Season 7, Episode 27

Airdate: April 13, 1984

Audience: 20.9 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Gwen Arner

Synopsis: To finance his offshore oil project, Cliff is forced to sell valuable land, unaware that J.R. is the buyer. J.R. tells Katherine he played a tape of them having sex for Bobby and arranges for Peter to be arrested for drug possession. Jessica and Clayton argue over his decision to sell the Southern Cross. Pam and Mark continue their wedding plans.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), James L. Brown (Detective Harry McSween), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Pat Colbért (Dora Mae), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Dana Halsted (Susan), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Donald May (Wes McDowall), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Denny Miller (Max Flowers), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Alexis Smith (Lady Jessica Montford), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), John Wyler (wedding planner)

“Turning Point” 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, Bradford May, Linda Gray, Morgan Brittany, Turning Point, Victoria Principal

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 157 — ‘Blow Up’

January 7, 2015 by Chris Baker 11 Comments

Cut a bitch

“Dallas” delivers its share of camp over the years, but “Blow Up” manages to pack more silliness into a single episode than virtually any other. Donna runs around the Southfork patio, snapping Polaroids of the Ewings; Lucy gets stewed to the gills and airs the family’s dirty laundry at a poolside soiree; and Lady Jessica takes a break from helping Miss Ellie chop vegetables to contemplate slicing and dicing Mama herself. These scenes aren’t without their charms, but I can’t help but wish this episode took the characters and their storylines a little more seriously.

The scenes with Donna and her camera are fun because it’s nice to think the Ewings spend their Sunday afternoons enjoying each other’s company, just like so many families do in real life. I also like the picture Donna snaps of Ray and his half-brothers sitting together and holding their beers, although the shot is so casual, it takes me out of the moment. This looks like a picture of Larry, Patrick and Steve, not J.R., Bobby and Ray. I also wish this scene could have been filmed on the real Southfork patio instead of the show’s Hollywood soundstage, which seems faker than usual. Maybe it’s the studio acoustics; notice how you hear every footstep the actors take, something that rarely happens when you see patio scenes that were shot outdoors in Texas.

The patio is also the setting for the party the Ewings throw for Jessica, although these scenes are a little more convincing because they take place at night, when the darkness helps conceal the soundstage’s shortcomings. The gathering recalls the shindig in “Triangle” (right down to Ray’s plaid suit, which he wears to both parties), although I get the biggest kick out of seeing J.R. whisper into Lucy’s ear, feeding her suspicions as they watch Sue Ellen and Peter dance. Uncle and niece are like two characters in a play standing in the shadows, commenting on the action unfolding downstage. Too bad it falls apart when Lucy gets drunk and accuses Sue Ellen and Peter of having an affair. Charlene Tilton gives this performance her all, but Lucy’s preoccupation with Peter is no more believable than Sue Ellen’s interest in him. Also, is it me or is Lucy angrier than she was last season, when she blamed Sue Ellen’s drunken driving for paralyzing Mickey Trotter?

Of course, nothing in “Blow Up” approaches the campiness of Jessica’s big scene. How can you not roll your eyes when you see her standing at the Southfork kitchen counter, a huge knife in one hand and a tomato in the other as she glares at Ellie? How about when composer Lance Rubin’s eerie piano score swells just as Donna enters the room and snaps Jessica out of her trance-like state? Perhaps this scene was genuinely creepy when it debuted in 1984, but now it plays like a parody of a slasher film from that era. “Blow Up’s” climactic moment, when Jessica enters her bedroom and cuts Ellie’s face out of one of Donna’s snapshots, holds up better. I especially like how Patrick Duffy, who directed this episode, uses a handheld camera to follow Alexis Smith as she circles the picture on the nightstand. It adds to the sense that Jessica is spinning out of control.

A lot of “Dallas” fans love the over-the-top depiction of Jessica’s villainy and Smith’s ferocious approach to the role, but I prefer the show to play it straight. Just think: At this point during the previous season, Sue Ellen was walking in on J.R. and Holly Harwood in bed. Yes, it was a scene of pure soap opera, but it set the stage for some of the darkest, most absorbing hours in “Dallas” history. The more I watch the seventh season, the more I find myself wondering what happened to the show that gave us J.R. and Bobby’s contest for Ewing Oil, the collapse of J.R. and Sue Ellen’s marriage and the sweet romance between Lucy and Mickey.

On the other hand: Not everything about “Blow Up” falls short of the show’s usual standards. There’s surprising poignancy to the scene where J.R. tells Sue Ellen it’s time they begin living again like man and wife; Linda Gray does a beautiful job conveying Sue Ellen’s inner conflict, and Hagman gives us the impression J.R. is willing to forgive his wife and abandon his secret plot against her, if only she’d give him another chance. When she turns him down, you feel sympathy for both of them.

I also like Victoria Principal’s performance, although Mark and Pam’s storyline — he doesn’t know he’s dying but she does and is desperately trying to keep the secret — is beginning to feel like demented version of a “Three’s Company” plot. Kudos also go to Morgan Brittany, who makes Katherine’s concern for Mark seem sincere. Sure, Mark’s diagnosis may represent a stroke of dumb luck for Katherine because it’s helping push Pam deeper into his arms, thus making it easier for Katherine to snatch Bobby for herself, but I also get the feeling Katherine genuinely likes Mark and feels sorry for him.

Wait, did I just suggest Katherine Wentworth is becoming a believable character? Isn’t it funny how different this show looks now that Lady Jessica around?

Grade: B

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Who shot the Ewings?

‘BLOW UP’

Season 7, Episode 26

Airdate: April 6, 1984

Audience: 22 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Patrick Duffy

Synopsis: Donna becomes suspicious of Jessica, who assures J.R. that Miss Ellie and Clayton’s wedding won’t take place. J.R. feeds Lucy’s suspicions about Sue Ellen and Peter. Mark refuses to rush his wedding to Pam, who orders Cliff to not ask her fiancé for a loan. Katherine offers to sell Ewing Oil some valuable land in exchange for Bobby teaching her about the industry.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Pat Colbért (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Walker Edmiston (Ewing Oil employee), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Nanci Hammond (hostess), Alice Hirson (Mavis Anderson), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Barry Jenner (Dr. Jerry Kenderson), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Denny Miller (Max Flowers), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Alexis Smith (Lady Jessica Montford), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Blow Up” 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: Alexis Smith, Blow Up, Charlene Tilton, Lance Rubin, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Morgan Brittany, Patrick Duffy, Steve Kanaly, Triangle, Victoria Principal

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 156 — ‘Strange Alliance’

December 31, 2014 by Chris Baker 5 Comments

Alexis Smith, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Lady Jessica Montfort, Larry Hagman, Strange Alliance

Shall we dance?

“Dallas” is at its best when J.R. is at his worst. In “Strange Alliance,” our hero schemes against virtually everyone: Sue Ellen, whom he wants to punish for cheating on him; Bobby, whom he wants to keep from reconciling with Pam; and Cliff, whom he wants to teach a lesson for having the nerve to turn Sly into a spy against him. J.R. also begins laying the groundwork for a conspiracy with Southfork’s newest houseguest: the mysterious Lady Jessica Montfort, who wants to stop her brother Clayton’s impending marriage to Miss Ellie as much as J.R. does. Poor Mama; even she isn’t safe from J.R.’s dastardly ways.

Larry Hagman’s scenes with Alexis Smith, which bookend “Strange Alliance,” are fun for several reasons, including the fact the audience has more information than their characters. Neither J.R. nor Jessica want the Ewing/Farlow nuptials to occur, but since the duo are still getting to know each other, they’re forced to speak in polite code as they figure out the other’s true feelings. When J.R. finally gets around to suggesting Jessica believes the match isn’t “made in heaven,” she responds, “Really? What a strange idea. I’m sure I feel about it the same as you do.” To add to the sense of playfulness, Leonard Katzman’s script also makes the banter flirty, with J.R. observing that Jessica is more “attractive” and “younger” than he expected. It’s almost the flip side of Sue Ellen’s May/December relationship with Peter.

The J.R. and Jessica scenes are also entertaining because Hagman and Smith have a nice rapport, and it’s worth noting that Jessica seems much more down to earth in “Strange Alliance” than she did during her dramatic arrival in the previous episode. I suspect this has a lot to do with Hagman, who directed “Strange Alliance” and knows how to find the subtleties in larger-than-life characters. Of course, as much as I enjoy J.R. and Jessica’s delicate dance, this episode’s real highlight is Hagman’s scene with Dennis Patrick, when Vaughn arrives at Ewing Oil on a weekend to meet with J.R., who sits with his boots propped up on his desk, munching pizza and drinking beer. J.R. offers him a slice but Vaughn demurs, questioning J.R.’s gastrointestinal fortitude. Our hero puts Vaughn’s concern to rest thusly: “J.R. Ewing doesn’t get ulcers. He gives ’em.” I’m convinced the only reason Katzman set up the scene this way is so Hagman could deliver that line, which he does with pure joy.

Other “Strange Alliance” highlights include J.R. and Sue Ellen’s bickering over breakfast, when he tells her to butt out of Lucy’s love life: “It seems to me you might spend a little more time planning that party for Jessica than worrying about your bubble-headed niece.” I also like when Bobby congratulates Pam and Mark on their engagement — it’s always nice to see these characters behave like grown-ups — as well as the scene where Dr. Jerry Kenderson dines with Katherine, Pam and Mark. This is another example of the audience having more information than a character — in this case, we know Mark is dying and Pam and Katherine don’t want Jerry to tell him — and so when Mark asks Jerry why he’s been so eager to speak to him, Hagman heightens the tension by cutting to the worried expressions on Pam and Katherine’s faces. (And even though I believe Pam is wrong to withhold Mark’s diagnosis from him, am I the only one who feels relieved when Jerry bites his tongue and doesn’t tell Mark the truth?)

“Strange Alliance” also marks Denny Miller’s first appearance as Max Flowers, Cliff’s foreman at Gold Canyon 340. Coincidentally, Miller is included in another Dallas Decoder post today: my end-of-year list of the “Dallas” actors who died during the past 12 months. (Miller died in September at age 80.) There’s nothing especially remarkable about the actor’s debut, which is the point. His job is to make us believe Max is the kind of guy you might find working on an oil rig. He succeeds. It’s easy to take performances like this for granted, but we should never forget how much these small parts contributed to “Dallas’s” big, big success.

Grade: A

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Flowers’ power

‘STRANGE ALLIANCE’

Season 7, Episode 25

Airdate: March 23, 1984

Audience: 21.8 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Leonard Katzman

Director: Larry Hagman

Synopsis: As J.R. and Jessica feel out each other, she upsets Clayton by mentioning the house fire that killed his first wife. Pam persuades Dr. Kenderson to withhold Mark’s diagnosis from him and continues to plan their engagement. Bobby tells Jenna he needs time to get used to the idea Pam is moving on. After J.R. and Vaughn scheme to drive Cliff deeper into debt, the Gold Canyon 340 foreman, Max Flowers, persuades Cliff to add a second rig to the drilling site.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), James L. Brown (Detective Harry McSween), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Pat Colbért (Dora Mae), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Annie Gagen (Annie), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Barry Jenner (Dr. Jerry Kenderson), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Denny Miller (Max Flowers), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Alexis Smith (Lady Jessica Montfort), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing)

“Strange Alliance” 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: Alexis Smith, Dennis Patrick, Denny Miller, Larry Hagman, Strange Alliance

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 155 — ‘The Unexpected’

December 24, 2014 by Chris Baker 8 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Bobby Ewing, Charlene Tilton, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Lucy Ewing, Miss Ellie Ewing, Patrick Duffy, Steve Kanaly, Sue Ellen Ewing, Susan Howard, Unexpected

Keeping it real

Lady Jessica Montford makes her memorable debut at the end of “The Unexpected,” sweeping into the Southfork living room on the arm of brother Clayton Farlow and introducing herself to her future in-laws as only she can. Jessica is brazen, asking which Ewing husbands “play around” on their wives, and a little baffling, gifting J.R. with an antique sword. The scene is like something out of a stage play, which should come as no surprise since actress Alexis Smith was a major Broadway star. At one point, with Clayton standing behind her, Jessica asks him a question without turning to face him. It’s as if Smith can’t bring herself to break the theater’s golden rule: Never turn your back on the audience.

I wish the same thing could be said about the series itself. “Dallas” always distinguished itself through the believability of its performances, but “The Unexpected” is another example of how the show cranked up the camp to compete with rival soap “Dynasty,” which was skyrocketing in the ratings at the time with over-the-top storylines and acting. Until this episode, the “Dallas” audience only had to contend with Morgan Brittany’s gentle nibbling of scenery; now we have Smith inhaling it with abandon. Consider “The Unexpected’s” final scene, when Miss Ellie walks Jessica to her guest room, tells her how happy she is to welcome her to the family and closes the door. Jessica’s smile turns to a scowl. “Family?” she says, standing in the middle of the room, alone. “Oh, I don’t think so. I wouldn’t count on you marrying brother Clayton, Miss Ellie. I wouldn’t count on it all.” I’ll admit this moment amuses me, but it also makes me cringe a little.

Let me be clear: It’s not that I dislike Smith or don’t admire the gusto she brings to her role. My point is that her broad performance feels out of place on “Dallas.” On the other hand, Jessica’s swing-for-the-fences debut in “The Unexpected” gives me new appreciation for the regular cast members — particularly the always wonderful Barbara Bel Geddes, who manages to exude warmth, sincerity and the slightest hint of skepticism in Ellie’s scenes with Jessica. Perhaps my opinion will change as I watch “Dallas’s” remaining seventh-season episodes, but in this segment at least, Smith makes Jessica feel like a character, while Bel Geddes makes Ellie feel like a person.

Other storylines in “The Unexpected” yield mixed reactions too, especially where “Dallas’s” leading ladies are concerned. It’s good to see Sue Ellen wise up — she realizes J.R. is only being nice to Peter because he’s hatching some sort of plot against him — but I wish she had the gumption to do something about it. Meanwhile, Lucy finally figures out Peter isn’t interested in her, but only after she sacrifices her self-respect by throwing herself at him. Then there’s Pam, who’s wrong to ask Mark’s doctor to not tell him he’s dying, even if I admire her selflessness in accepting his marriage proposal. (This is another step in Pam’s lamentable journey toward sainthood, but so far it hasn’t gotten too annoying.) The only heroine who doesn’t disappoint me is Afton, who gets so fed up with having to cook breakfast for distracted Cliff and demanding Vaughn, she simply walks out of the kitchen and leaves them to fend for themselves. Good for her.

The other highlights of “The Unexpected” include J.R.’s crashing of Cliff and Vaughn’s lunchtime negotiation at the Oil Baron’s Club, where J.R. slyly manipulates Cliff into signing the paperwork for Vaughn’s loophole-riddled loan. I also like the scene of J.R. and Serena in bed, where he reveals to her — and the audience — that Sue Ellen, not Peter, is the real target of his scheme. “I’ll tell you, she’s like a runaway mare with a bit between her teeth,” J.R. says. “I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried affection, patience, understanding. But she won’t pay attention to anything.” This is a great moment because I love hearing Larry Hagman’s drawl when he delivers that “runaway mare” line, but also because you get the feeling J.R. has convinced himself what he’s saying is true.

There are also two nice segues in “The Unexpected.” In the first, J.R. tells Katherine he’ll give her the tape of them having sex “when Pamela Ewing becomes Mrs. Mark Graison.” Cut to Mark and Pam at a restaurant, where he pours her a glass of champagne and says, “Mrs. Mark Graison — that has a nice ring to it.” Later, the scene that introduces Jessica ends with her raising a glass of bourbon and toasting, “To the Ewings … and to the Farlows.” Cut to another restaurant, where a jubilant Cliff toasts the newly engaged Pam and Mark. “To the Barneses and the Graisons,” Cliff says. He continues by praising “the union of these important families into the biggest, most powerful dynasty in Texas.”

Watch it, Barnes. No need for any “dynasty” talk here. Your show does fine on its own, thank you very much.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alexis Smith, Clayton Farlow, Dallas, Howard Keel, Lady Jessica Montford, Unexpected

Our Alexis

‘THE UNEXPECTED’

Season 7, Episode 24

Airdate: March 16, 1984

Audience: 20.6 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Nick Havinga

Synopsis: After Pam asks Dr. Kenderson to not tell Mark he’s dying, she accepts Mark’s marriage proposal, hurting Bobby. J.R. manipulates Cliff into accepting Vaughn’s loan, even though the terms put Barnes-Wentworth at risk. Sue Ellen grows suspicious of J.R.’s friendliness toward Peter. Clayton’s sister Jessica Montford arrives and privately vows to prevent his marriage to Miss Ellie.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Stephanie Blackmore (Serena Wald), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Pat Colbért (Dora Mae), Robert Donavan (Metcalf), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Wendy Fulton (Jan Higgins), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie Dugan), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Bill Morey (Leo Wakefield), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Alexis Smith (Lady Jessica Montford), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing)

“The Unexpected” 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: Alexis Smith, Barbara Bel Geddes, Larry Hagman, Morgan Brittany, Unexpected

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 154 — ‘Fools Rush In’

December 17, 2014 by Chris Baker 8 Comments

Dallas, Fools Rush In, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

With a twist

One reason Larry Hagman is so damn good is because he knows what the audience wants and how to give it to us. Take “Fools Rush In’s” most entertaining scene, when J.R. chews out Katherine for inadvertently making a Bobby/Pam reconciliation possible. It’s somewhat ridiculous to see a grown man so consumed with his brother’s love life, and so Hagman plays the scene accordingly, making J.R.’s bluster more amusing than anything else. The funniest moment comes when Katherine declares she has “no objection” to Pam’s pending marriage to Mark and J.R. mockingly snaps, “Oh, you have no objection to that, do you? Well, you just better keep pushing until that happens, honey!” Who doesn’t love to see Hagman deliver a line like that?

Of course, great acting involves more than indulging the audience. When “Fools Rush In” begins, J.R. has figured out Sue Ellen has been having an affair and he responds in typical J.R. style — by being extra nice to his wife while he secretly plots revenge. After attending Punk and Mavis Anderson’s anniversary party together, J.R. escorts Sue Ellen to her room and says how much he enjoyed spending the evening with her. Sue Ellen looks positively stricken while J.R. beams — until his back is turned and we see his face drop. Is he having reservations about the trap he’s about to spring? Does he fear he might end up pushing his fragile wife too far? There’s no way to know and it doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that we catch a glimpse of J.R.’s humanity. It’s an example of Hagman giving us what we need to see.

While Hagman deserves much credit for highlighting J.R.’s complexities in “Fools Rush In,” he gets an assist from scriptwriter David Paulsen. We don’t know the details of J.R.’s scheme against Sue Ellen and her lover Peter Richards, but we know he wants to bring the couple closer. Notice how J.R. uses John Ross to achieve this goal. First, he waits until the family is gathered around the breakfast table to suggest hiring Peter to spend time with the child, knowing how excited John Ross will be when he hears his camp counselor might be visiting him at Southfork on a regular basis. How could Sue Ellen say no? Likewise, when J.R. approaches Peter with the idea, he brings along his son, essentially daring Peter to turn him down and break the boy’s heart. Who knew John Ross would turn out to be one of Daddy’s best accomplices?

I also like how Paulsen and director Michael Preece treat the return of Dennia Patrick’s duplicitous banker Vaughn Leland, who makes his first “Dallas” appearance since the fifth season. “Fools Rush In” begins with Cliff scrambling to raise the money he owes the government until — lo and behold! — Vaughn shows up on his doorstep and offers him a loan, which Cliff desperately accepts. At the end of the episode, we see J.R. in his office, fixing drinks for himself and an unseen guest. “Well, everything seems to be moving in the right direction,” he says. Preece’s camera follows him as he carries the drink across the room to — yep, you guessed it — Vaughn, who it turns out is in cahoots with J.R. It’s a nifty twist.

Speaking of Vaughn: I was a little puzzled when Afton reacted so coolly to seeing him in this episode, until I remembered J.R. put her up to sleeping with Vaughn during her early days on “Dallas.” I’m glad the writers didn’t forget about their past, even if I almost did. Other nice touches in “Fools Rush In” include the scene where J.R. hires a detective to snoop into the past of Lucy’s newest boyfriend, Peter. J.R. explains to the private eye why he cares about his niece: “She’s the daughter of my brother Gary, who I’m particularly fond of.” Another fun moment comes when Bobby tells Sue Ellen that Jenna accused him of being stubborn. “Well, you’re not the most flexible person in the world,” Sue Ellen says.

Not everything here works. I’m disappointed we don’t actually see the Andersons’ anniversary party, which the Ewings have been anticipating for several episodes. Not even Oil Baron’s Balls and Ewing Barbecues receive this much buildup. Also, as much as I get a kick out of seeing Ken Kercheval squirm in the scenes where Cliff struggles to raise the money he owes the government, I can’t help but think the feds must have been running one hell of a racket in the 1980s. They allow Cliff to bid tens of millions of dollars more than his competitors for the offshore oil leases, and then they show up unannounced at his office, demanding payment just days after the auction ended? Who says the Reagan administration was business friendly?

But nothing stretches credibility quite like the “Fools Rush In” scene where Pam asks Mark’s physician, Jerry Kenderson, to reveal her fiancée’s mysterious medical diagnosis — and with very little prodding, Kenderson blabs all. So much for doctor-patient confidentiality rules! Then again: Since everyone on “Dallas” is ethically challenged, why should we expect the doctors to be any different?

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Foolin’ around

‘FOOLS RUSH IN’

Season 7, Episode 23

Airdate: March 9, 1984

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

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: Cliff borrows money from banker Vaughn Leland to finance his offshore oil scheme, unaware that J.R. and Vaughn are in cahoots. J.R. warns Katherine to keep Bobby away from Pam, who learns Mark is dying but doesn’t know it. J.R. also springs a trap for Peter, hiring him to spend time with John Ross at Southfork. Bobby has second thoughts about breaking up with Jenna. Miss Ellie and Clayton set a wedding date.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Gerald Berns (James Kenyon), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Barbara Cason (Iris Porter), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Robert Donavan (Metcalf), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Barry Jenner (Dr. Jerry Kenderson), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Sherill Lynn Katzman (Jackie Dugan), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Peter White (Ellis Newton)

“Fools Rush In” 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: David Paulsen, Dennis Patrick, Fools Rush In, Ken Kercheval, Larry Hagman, Michael Preece

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 153 — ‘And the Winner Is …’

December 10, 2014 by Chris Baker 9 Comments

And the Winner Is ..., Cliff Barnes, Dallas, Ken Kercheval

Everybody loves Cliff

Is Cliff Barnes the most lovable jackass in television history? I can think of no other character who manages to remain so endearing despite being such a jerk. Exhibit A: “And the Winner Is ….” In this episode, Cliff wins the auction for the government’s offshore oil leases, but only after J.R. has tricked him into inflating his bid by tens of millions of dollars. Realizing he’s in over his head but not willing to admit it to himself or anyone else, Cliff insults Pam, ignores Afton, alienates Marilee and treats Jackie rudely. And yet you can’t help but like the schmuck.

The question is: Why? I suppose several factors explain Cliff’s appeal, including the vulnerability he’s displayed in previous episodes. Yes, he’s a boor in “And the Winner Is …,” but he’s also the sweet-natured guy who famously reconciled with his estranged mom by offering her a bowl of licorice. We’re also willing to cut Cliff some slack because we recognize how much of him resides in each of us. Consider the “And the Winner Is …” scene where he gets mad at Sly and she smartly disarms him by saying he’s become more ruthless than her boss. It’s music to Cliff’s ears, reminding us that he doesn’t want to beat J.R. as much as he wants to be him. Once you realize that’s Cliff’s motivation, how can you not excuse his bad behavior? I mean, we all want to be J.R., don’t we?

Of course, if you really want to know why Cliff remains a sympathetic figure, look no further than Ken Kercheval. No “Dallas” actor is better at wearing his character’s obliviousness on his sleeve, and no one brings more electricity to their performances. You can feel Cliff’s manic energy throughout this episode: when he runs into Bobby while storming out of Pam’s house (“What the hell are you doing here on a weekday?” Cliff demands); when he pops out of Afton’s loving embrace to call Mark Graison about business; when he summons Jackie to his office to fix him a drink because he’s too wound up to do it himself. You don’t watch Kercheval, you experience him.

This is why J.R. and Cliff’s confrontation in “And the Winner Is …” is so entertaining. Kercheval and Larry Hagman are fire and ice; while Cliff rages, J.R. stands there, coolly burrowing deeper and deeper under Cliff’s skin. Watching this scene, it occurred to me: Just as Cliff wants to emulate his enemy, I have to believe J.R. harbors a secret, grudging respect for Cliff. Who else but “Barnes” would have the courage to stand in the middle of a crowded restaurant and shout at J.R.? Who else has the capacity to keep getting up and dusting himself off after J.R. has knocked him down? If nothing else, J.R. must enjoy having Cliff to bat around whenever he gets bored.

Kercheval’s scenes elevate “And the Winner Is …,” but this episode has several other good moments. I love seeing J.R. helpfully explain to Edgar Randolph that he did him a favor by blackmailing him because it will force Edgar to come clean to his wife. After Edgar punches him in the gut, J.R. deadpans to Sly and Phyllis, “I saved that man’s marriage and gave him a new lease on life. He doesn’t have a grateful bone in his body.” I also like when Miss Ellie and Clayton dine with Punk and Mavis, who reminisce about the beginning of their 25-year-old marriage. It turns out the Andersons were previously married and divorced from other people. Who knew? Speaking of divorcees: I’m charmed by the scene where Bobby and Pam take Christopher out for ice cream — especially when little Eric Farlow “photo bombs” one of Victoria Principal’s close-ups.

Not everything about “And the Winner Is …” works: The auction sequence is far-fetched — does half the population of Dallas show up to see Edgar and his fellow bureaucrats open a handful of sealed envelopes? — and so is the post-auction reception at the Oil Baron’s Club. Is this a government exercise or the Academy Awards? As silly as this is, nothing compares to the ridiculousness of Lucy and Peter’s fashion photo shoot at Southfork. Between the extras who hover in the background holding sparklers and the sight of Charlene Tilton and Christopher Atkins vamping through massive eyeglasses, I have to believe this sequence was every bit as campy when it aired in 1984 as it is today. On the other hand: If Lucy and Peter wore those frames today while walking down a street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, or some other hipster neighborhood, I’m sure everyone would think they looked very cool.

Especially if Peter wore his Speedo too.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Give a hoot

‘AND THE WINNER IS …’

Season 7, Episode 22

Airdate: March 2, 1984

Audience: 21.5 million homes, ranking 3rd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Nick Havinga

Synopsis: Before the government auctions its offshore oil leases, Sly feeds Cliff false information, driving up his offer. After submitting his inflated bid, Cliff wins the auction to drill in Gold Canyon 340, only to learn Marilee has backed out of the deal, leaving Cliff on the hook with the government. Ray and Donna urge Edgar to come clean about his past to his wife. Bobby and Pam grow closer, alarming Katherine. Peter tells Sue Ellen he believes he was the father of the child she lost, which leaves J.R. seething when he overhears their conversation. Ellie encourages Clayton to invite his sister to their wedding.

Cast: Mary Armstrong (Louise), Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Martin E. Brooks (Edgar Randolph), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Wendy Fulton (Jan Higgins), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Alice Hirson (Mavis Anderson), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Rosanne Katon (Billie), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Joanna Miles (Martha Randolph), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Debi Sue Voorhees (waitress), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“And the Winner Is …” 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: And the Winner Is …, Charlene Tilton, Christopher Atkins, Ken Kercheval, Larry Hagman

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 152 — ‘True Confessions’

December 3, 2014 by Chris Baker 12 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Patrick Duffy, True Confessions

True lies

In “True Confessions,” Pam brings Christopher to Southfork to visit Miss Ellie, who bends down and greets the child with a hug and kiss. If I had watched this scene a few months ago, I probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Seeing it now, with Christopher’s recent death on the “Dallas” sequel series still fresh, this otherwise small moment feels poignant. Perhaps every scene involving Christopher is going to feel this way from now on. As much as I’m looking forward to continuing my critiques of the original “Dallas” episodes, I’m not eager to watch this little boy grow up only to die a premature — and utterly unsatisfying — death.

Recent events cast other “True Confessions” scenes in a different light too. After hemming and hawing for a half-season about Charlie’s paternity, Jenna finally comes clean at the end of the episode and tells Bobby she falsely listed him as the father on the child’s birth certificate. Jenna explains she didn’t want her ex-husband Naldo, Charlie’s actual father, to have a claim on the girl, so she made Bobby the father of record. When Bobby asks Jenna why she led him on, she acknowledges she was wrong and then adds, “I know how much the truth means to you, how important it’s been to you all your life.” As soon as these words passed Jenna’s lips, I thought about all the lies Bobby told after J.R.’s death. It makes “Hurt,” the recent TNT episode where Bobby’s deceptions finally unravel, feel even more moving than it did when it debuted.

Patrick Duffy does a nice job throughout “True Confessions,” especially during Bobby’s big scene with Jenna, when Duffy quietly conveys his character’s disappointment without making him seem sanctimonious. Priscilla Presley is also effective in this scene, which must not have been easy given the soapiness of Jenna’s monologue. At one point, she says, “Suddenly, lying there in the maternity ward, I became very frightened that Naldo, who couldn’t care less about children, would one day come back into my life and hurt me.” Good grief. Does anyone talk this way in real life? Likewise, I get a chuckle out of the scene where Naldo interrupts Bobby and Jenna’s lunch at the Oil Baron’s Club to tell them he has something important to say, then arranges another meeting with the couple to deliver his announcement. The characters could make an Olympic sport out of beating around the bush.

On a personal note, “True Confessions” is memorable because it marks the only time I can recall “Dallas” characters coming to my home state of Maryland. It happens with Ray and Donna — in full “McMillan & Wife” mode — visit the town of Hyattsville, hoping to discover the dark secret J.R. is holding over the head of their friend, government official Edgar Randolph. Hyattsville is about 30 miles away from the town where I grew up, which probably excited the heck out of me when I was 10 and watched this episode in 1984. I wonder if I assumed the cast and crew actually came to Maryland to film those scenes?

In that spirit, I’m sure the Krebbs’s discovery that a teenage Edgar molested a child flew over my head back then. Frankly, I’m not sure what to make of it now. “Dallas” seems to go out of its way to make Edgar a sympathetic figure by presenting his now-adult victim, Dr. Barbara Mulgravy, as well-adjusted and forgiving. Whether the writing is progressive or tone deaf, Tricia O’Neill delivers a nice performance as Dr. Mulgravy. O’Neill is a familiar face who pops up in a lot of episodic television from the 1980s and 1990s, including a memorable turn as the U.S.S. Enterprise’s first woman captain during a time travel episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” O’Neill also returns to “Dallas” in the series finale as (presumably) another Barbara — Barbara Barnes, wife of Vice President Cliff.

“True Confessions” also offers two gems from Larry Hagman. In the first, J.R. blackmails Edgar into spilling government secrets while lunching with him in the French restaurant with the latticework décor (“Dallas” got a lot of use out of that set in the 1980s, didn’t it?). When Edgar asks how J.R. can live with himself, our hero smiles and coos, “Oh, it’s not hard. You’ll see. Once you give up integrity, the rest is a piece of cake.” This clip seems to surface whenever there’s a TV history retrospective that includes J.R., making it one of his most famous lines.

Hagman’s other great scene in “True Confessions” comes a little later, when J.R. breezes into Southfork, spots his least favorite ex-sister-in-law hanging out with the Ewings and says, “Hello, Pam. Say, weren’t you here a couple of months ago? You’re not going to make a habit out of this, are you?” After assuring everyone that he was only joking, Miss Ellie invites J.R. to stay, but he demurs and glides back out of the room, explaining that he’s “not too much on nostalgia.”

Maybe not, J.R., but your fans sure enjoy it.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

True detectives

‘TRUE CONFESSIONS’

Season 7, Episode 21

Airdate: February 24, 1984

Audience: 21.9 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Paul Krasny

Synopsis: Naldo confronts Jenna and Bobby with Charlie’s birth certificate, which lists Bobby as the father. Jenna later tells Bobby the truth: Naldo is the father, but she falsified the document to prevent him from having a claim on the girl. Ray and Donna learn Edgar molested a girl when he was a teenager. Edger reluctantly gives inside information on the oil auction to J.R., who persuades Marilee to betray Cliff.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Martin E. Brooks (Edgar Randolph), Pat Colbért (Dora Mae), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), 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), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Tricia O’Neill (Dr. Barbara Mulgravy), Daniel Pilon (Renaldo Marchetta), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Bill Quinn (Percival), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Erica Yohn (Sara Mulgravy)

“True Confessions” 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: Hurt, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, TNT, Tricia O’Neill, True Confessions

Critique: TNT’s ‘Dallas’ Episode 40 — ‘Brave New World’

September 28, 2014 by Chris Baker 66 Comments

Brave New World, Dallas, John Ross Ewing, Josh Henderson, TNT, Which Ewing Dies?

Going down

Throughout “Dallas’s” third season, John Ross strives to honor J.R. without becoming him. He wears Daddy’s wristwatch and belt buckle and embarks on one ambitious scheme after another, hoping to emulate J.R.’s business successes without repeating his personal failures. Nothing goes according to plan, of course, and by the end of the season’s final hour, “Brave New World,” John Ross has lost his company, his wife and his family’s goodwill. In a climactic scene, the young man who was so eager to be a better man than J.R. — the son who previously slammed his hand on Sue Ellen’s kitchen counter and insisted he wasn’t his father — stands before her and Uncle Bobby and repeats this assertion, this time with a caveat. “I’m not just like my father,” John Ross says. “I’m worse.”

Chilling? Yes, but also poignant. The truth is, John Ross isn’t worse than J.R. Not by a long shot. John Ross is more heroic than his father, as we see at the beginning of “Brave New World,” when he defeats the drug cartel and tries to avenge Emma’s rape by nearly killing Luis. John Ross is also much more emotional than J.R., which we witness during this episode’s elevator scene, when — having lost it all — he collapses in tears and listens to an old voice mail in which J.R. says he’s proud of him. How could anyone this sensitive be worse than J.R.? Maybe the setbacks John Ross experienced this season will harden him and make him as cruel and as calculating as his father, but he’s not there yet.

Regardless of how bad John Ross becomes, there’s no denying how good Josh Henderson is at articulating his character’s complexities. Henderson allows us to feel John Ross’s vein-popping rage in “Brave New World’s” opening scene, when John Ross slams Luis to the floor, digs a gun barrel into his face and screams, “You regret what you did to her now? Huh?” Henderson offers a different kind of anger in the scene with Bobby and Sue Ellen, when he doesn’t deliver the “I’m worse” line as much as he growls it. At the other end of the spectrum, there’s the elevator scene, which is moving not just because we hear Larry Hagman’s voice, but also because we see Henderson’s tears. (By the way: J.R.’s voice mail comes from a phone conversation between him and John Ross in the first-season episode “The Price You Pay,” and the song that plays when John Ross begins weeping was written and performed by Henderson. Is there anything he can’t do?)

If John Ross’s elevator breakdown supplies “Brave New World” with its emotional high point, what is there to say about Christopher’s death at the end of the episode? Even though TNT’s promos warned us a Ewing would die, this is still a shocking moment. Much of the credit goes to Jordana Brewster, whose anguish is palpable when Elena sees Christopher’s car blow up with him inside. (And yes, that is supposed to be Christopher, even though we don’t actually see Jesse Metcalfe get behind the wheel.) Nevertheless, this doesn’t feel like the blaze-of-glory exit the heroic Christopher deserves. Is the audience supposed to admire him for dying while helping Elena? Sorry, but I can’t fathom why he remains so devoted to her after all the terrible choices she’s made. I recognize killing off Metcalfe opens lots of new storytelling avenues for this series, but I can’t help but wish Elena had been the one to blow up instead.

Christopher’s death puts a grisly punctuation mark on this season’s better-than-expected drug cartel storyline. There’s also a nifty musical montage in which the braided henchman Jacobo kills Luis and El Pozolero in their jail cell before a cane-wielding Nicolas is revealed as the mastermind behind the murders. (The cool song that powers this sequence: Eric Church’s “Devil, Devil.”) Other highlights include Mitch Pileggi’s beautiful performance when Harris professes his love for Ann, as well as Elena and Nicolas’s dramatic showdown, although I wish she hadn’t shot him. Now virtually every leading lady on this show has plugged someone. Likewise, I could do without Judith Light’s mugging when John Ross tells Bobby and Sue Ellen he’s worse than J.R. — a scene that should’ve been reserved for Ewings only. (And isn’t it funny how the elevator doors open and reveal Judith at the precise moment John Ross announces she’s the new railroad commissioner?)

Criticisms aside, “Brave New World,” which comes from scriptwriter Robert Rovner and director Steve Robin, brings the third season to a satisfying conclusion and resets the table for “Dallas’s” fourth year — and TNT willing, there’ll be one. The scene where Bobby and Sue Ellen foil Pamela’s plan to reclaim Ewing Global is heartening because it suggests the Barnes/Ewing feud isn’t over, despite what Pamela told Cliff a few episodes ago. I especially like how Pamela accuses her in-laws of screwing her over like Jock cheated Digger. (Is she wrong?) The other promising development: the addition of Tracey McKay to the Bobby/Ann/Harris triangle — especially if it means Tracey and Harris will join forces against the newly reconciled couple.

“Dallas’s” most intriguing new storyline, of course, is John Ross’s discovery that J.R. has a secret daughter. Like all “Dallas” fans, I have lots of questions about this one, beginning with the obvious: Who’s the mama? I figured the young woman would turn out to be the product of J.R.’s marriage to Cally, although executive producer Cynthia Cidre tells Dallas Decoder the daughter’s mother is dead. (Cally is still alive in this “Dallas” universe, or at least she was when she showed up at J.R.’s funeral last season.) Will the mother turn out to be J.R.’s longtime secretary Sly, who slept with him shortly before he fired her at the end of the original series? What if Kristin Shepard didn’t suffer a miscarriage after J.R. impregnated her in 1980? Could the daughter be the product of J.R.’s romp with Katherine Wentworth, who may or may not be lurking around somewhere? The mind reels.

More questions: How is John Ross going to use the existence of a half-sister to his advantage? You might think someone like him wouldn’t want other siblings hanging around, especially if there’s a possibility they could stake a claim on his inheritance. On the other hand, he must have something up his sleeve. How else to explain his toast to J.R. and his “Thank you, Daddy” line in the final shot? (Is this a nod to the classic scene where J.R. gazes at the heavens and thanks Jock after sneaking a peek at his will?) There’s also the question of where John Ross’s sister will fit into “Dallas’s” romantic sphere. If she likes guys, she doesn’t have a lot of options among the show’s main cast members, does she? If, however, she likes gals, there are a few tantalizing possibilities. This could be fertile new storytelling terrain for “Dallas,” although I’m not sure the show would want to go that route after the uproar over John Ross, Pamela and Emma’s threesome this year.

Then again, maybe that’s all the more reason to do it.

Grade: B

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‘BRAVE NEW WORLD’

Season 3, Episode 15

Telecast: September 22, 2014

Audience: 1.72 million viewers on September 22

Writer: Robert Rovner

Director: Steve Robin

Synopsis: John Ross’s commandos rescue him and the Mexican police arrest El Pozolero and Luis, who are later murdered in their jail cells by Nicolas’s henchman. When the government seizes the cartel’s Ewing Global assets, Pamela plans to buy them back, but Bobby and Sue Ellen beat her to the punch, infuriating both John Ross and Pamela. Bobby and Ann reconcile, but she becomes alarmed when she finds him comforting a grieving Tracey. Elena realizes Nicolas is responsible for Drew’s death and shoots Nicolas in a fit of anger, but he escapes. John Ross walks in on Pamela and Nasir in bed and later forms an alliance with Judith, who returns Candace’s blue dress to him, replaces Bobby on the railroad commission, and gets her hands on Harris’s tape of her drug deals. Emma gives one of Harris’s secret files to John Ross, who discovers J.R. has a daughter and tells Bum to find her. Elena learns she’s pregnant and is getting ready to leave a gas station when a car bomb planted by another one of Nicolas’s henchmen goes off, killing Christopher.

Cast: Emma Bell (Emma Ryland), Jordana Brewster (Elena Ramos), Melinda Clarke (Tracey McKay), Juan Pablo Di Pace (Nicolas Treviño), Akari Draco (Sheriff Derrick), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Julie Gonzalo (Pamela Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Josh Henderson (John Ross Ewing), Antonio Jaramillo (Luis), Judith Light (Judith Ryland), Jesse Metcalfe (Christopher Ewing), Kevin Page (Bum), Pete Partida (Jacobo), Gino Anthony Pesi (George Tatangelo), Mitch Pileggi (Harris Ryland), Carlos Sandoval (El Pozolero), Brenda Strong (Ann Ewing), Mikal Vega (Walter)

“Brave New World” is available at DallasTNT.com, Amazon and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.